Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 389 Winter of the Ninth Year of Xuande
"Father!" Upon hearing his maternal grandfather Xia Yuanji's words, Zhu Qiyu immediately turned his gaze to his father, Zhu Zhanhe. Although he was young, he vaguely guessed from his grandfather's words that something big was about to happen!

"It's snowing~" After hearing his son's call, Zhu Zhanhe lazily got up from the recliner, glanced at the snowflakes falling outside the window, and sighed softly.

"Your Highness~!" Seeing that his prince was not answering his question, Xia Yuanji called out softly again, trying to bring back his prince's unruly heart.

"That old man Yang Shiqi actually remembered me now."

"It seems that our Emperor's health is truly failing!" With a series of cracking sounds, Zhu Zhanhe rose from the recliner like a dragon awakening, went straight to the window, looked at the snowflakes outside, and said softly.

After Zhu Zhanhe finished speaking, the room fell silent. After all, none of the few present could get a word in edgewise when the prince spoke.

"You still want to summon me?"

It's good enough that he didn't kill me!
What's going on? Are you planning to lure me to the capital and then assassinate me?

The last message I received was to persuade Zhanqi not to continue attacking Korea!
What's wrong? You've remembered me again?
"Tch!" Zhu Zhanhe knew perfectly well that Yang Shiqi's letter summoning him to Beijing meant that the Xuande Emperor, Zhu Zhanji, was on his deathbed and about to make his final arrangements. Yang Shiqi's intention in sending Zhu Zhanhe was clearly to let the dying Xuande Emperor see the dragon and get him to sign the imperial edict, thus ensuring Zhu Zhanhe continued to protect the Ming Dynasty.
Such a despicable act! I am not the kind of person who goes back on his word! Zhu Zhanhe couldn't help but complain about Yang Shiqi's actions.

"Your Highness~~~!" Seeing his lord starting to spout nonsense again, Xia Yuanji had no choice but to remind him. After all, a prince should maintain his dignity. Saying such things was rather unreliable and tarnished his imposing image!
In reality, Xia Yuanji had already been internally complaining. Even if all the civil and military officials of the court were to attack, they still couldn't kill Your Highness! Just one look at your massive, several-meter-long alligator dragon, and the imperial army would be utterly routed! What's the point of killing anyone?! Who knows who will kill whom in the meantime!
Of course, Xia Yuanji only thought these things to himself and didn't dare to say them to his son-in-law.

"Alright, I'll go see Yang Shiqi."

"Let's continue discussing the current progress of the Prince's army." After admiring the snow scene for a while, Zhu Zhanhe returned to his recliner, sat down steadily, and began to inquire about the current progress of the Prince's army's advance.

As Zhu Zhanhe sat down properly, an imposing, mountain-like aura emanated from him and swept over Xia Yuanji and the others. Even Zhu Zhanhe's son, Zhu Qiyu, standing beside him, involuntarily took a step back.

Seeing this, Xia Yuanji and the others couldn't help but lower their heads slightly. Only then did they realize that they still preferred their prince to be lounging around so lazily! At least they didn't feel so much pressure!

"Replying to Your Highness."

General Wang Jinghong's First Naval Fleet completely occupied the entire territory of Rosas (Australia) a little over a month ago. Furthermore, they also occupied the island of Nava (New Zealand) off the coast of Borneo. Judging by the timeline, the army has likely already finished clearing out any remaining enemy forces on the islands.

General Xia Xuan's Second Naval Fleet has occupied the entire territory of Persia (Iran) and is currently resting and recuperating there.
"General Hu Tian's First Army and General Qian Zhongcai's Second Army are currently locked in a standoff with the main forces of the Mughal Han Kingdom (Pakistan, Afghanistan, and parts of Xinjiang and Tibet), and we believe there will be results soon; General Jiang Xiaohu's Third Army is conducting a second comprehensive campaign of mopping up in Sindhu (India) and assisting in local development." Mu Sheng, worthy of being the Minister of War, reported the progress of Zhu Zhanhe's two naval forces and three army forces in just a few words, even including the current progress of expansion.

"What about the construction work in various places?" After hearing Mu Sheng's answer, Zhu Zhanhe continued to inquire about the progress of the construction work in the various places that the Prince's Mansion had already occupied.

"Replying to Your Highness."

Today, Sinicization education has been fully implemented throughout the Indochina Peninsula region; a systematic system for the training, promotion, and appointment of officials has been established; and various tasks such as taxation, criminal law, and water conservancy have been thoroughly completed.
In the ocean beyond the peninsula, except for Rhodes, the official system is in place on all the islands, and taxes and criminal laws have begun to be implemented; the Taoist temples in various places are already operating normally; and local construction and education work is underway.

In India, the entire system, including the official system, has been fully established, just like in Annam and other places.

However, the people of India are truly ignorant! Truly crude and barbaric! Progress on all tasks is far too slow.

The Iron-Faced General was furious about this. This time, he personally took charge of the operations in India and had another group of ignorant people killed. He also ordered the royal caravan to relocate the people there. Even so, it would probably take another two years to fully tame those ignorant people! Xia Yuanji, as expected of the Grand Secretary of the Han Prince's Mansion, reported on the basic situation of the areas that the Han Prince's Mansion had already occupied, as if he knew them by heart.

However, when it came to Sindhu (India), the birthplace of Buddhism, Xia Yuanji couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows and shake his head repeatedly in anger.

Xia Yuanji discovered that the people of Sindhu were utterly despicable! Ignorant! Obsessive! Even their food and sanitation were appalling! After all, when Xia Yuanji went there himself, he saw the people of Sindhu urinating and defecating in the streets! And afterwards, they even ate with their hands! What's worse, the food was simply horrific!
Thinking about all this, Xia Yuanji felt nauseous and wanted to vomit! What a waste of such a fertile place! Xia Yuanji utterly loathed India!
Of course, Xia Yuanji believed that the Iron-Faced General, the ultimate executioner of the Han Prince's mansion, also deeply loathed this awful place, Sindhu. Didn't you see? Even the Iron-Faced General couldn't resist and launched a second round of cleanup operations in that hellhole!

Xia Yuanji believed that once the Iron-Faced General finished his purge of India, that awful place would be left with only women who could bear children and a few men willing to talk!

At the same time, Xia Yuanji couldn't help but marvel at the ruthlessness of the Iron-Faced General! It could be said that in the entire Han Prince's expansion, all the post-war cleanup of the remaining rebels was basically done by the Iron-Faced General! And basically, after the Iron-Faced General consulted with the remaining rebels, all possible resistance forces in the area would be thoroughly wiped out! Leaving only the obedient citizens!
In the son-in-law's words, this is called "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free!" Such ruthless methods are even more deadly than those of a god of war!
However, Xia Yuanji wasn't stupid; he naturally guessed the Iron-Faced General's identity. Therefore, Xia Yuanji didn't stop the Iron-Faced General's ruthless killings at all; in fact, he went along with it, eliminating even more unsettling elements!
After all, Xia Yuanji, who had held power for many years, knew that some darkness was inevitable on the path to greatness!
Now it seems that Mr. Iron Face is the most suitable person in the Han Prince's Mansion to walk in the shadows and eliminate them!
"Your Excellency Huang, we must accelerate the training of scholars in various regions."
Accelerate the popularization of schools in various regions;

Even the basic military training courses in various schools should be popularized as soon as possible! After listening to his father-in-law Xia Yuanji's words, Zhu Zhanhe turned his attention to Huang Zhong, the last person from the Han Prince's Mansion to be appointed as the second-in-command of the cabinet.

Yes, the Huang Grand Secretary that Zhu Zhanhe called out was Huang Zhong, whom Zhu Zhanhe had promoted in Annam!

(End of this chapter)