The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 113 Visiting the Duke of Ying's Mansion to Speak to Zhang Fu
Li Xianmu noticed Zhu Gaochi's question and smiled slightly, "Your Highness, it's not difficult at all. I only said one sentence."

'His Highness the Prince of Han truly possesses filial piety and brotherly love, yet he wishes to let His Highness the Crown Prince monopolize the limelight. It seems the rumors circulating in the court and among the people are indeed not entirely credible.'

Zhu Gaochi was taken aback at first, then couldn't help but chuckle. He tried to suppress his laughter, but the corners of his mouth revealed his true thoughts: "You father and son are really my brother's nemesis."

They practically had it under their thumb.

Li Xianmu didn't respond this time. He dared to provoke the Prince of Han simply because of their blood relationship, which was nothing to be proud of.

The courtiers in the hall surged out of the hall like a flowing river.

Xie Jin, Wang Gen, and others approached Li Xianmu. After bowing to the Crown Prince, they said to Li Xianmu with lingering fear, "Mingda, you really scared us to death today! You dared to attack all the officials! Under heaven, who else but His Majesty would dare to do such a thing? You actually dared to do it!"

Zhu Gaochi also deeply agreed, even he himself would not dare to do such a thing, after all, in the struggle for the throne, he needed the support of the ministers to secure his position as crown prince.

The group headed out of the hall. Once outside, Xie Jin and the others consciously separated from the Crown Prince, as it was never a good thing for a minister to associate with the Crown Prince.

Li Xianmu and the Crown Prince also took their leave and left the palace.

Everyone knows that although the outcome of the battle in the palace today has been decided, the matter is far from over.

……

After several years, the Imperial Guards reappeared in the capital on a large scale and then stormed into the homes of various officials.

This familiar scene gave the people of the capital a feeling of returning to the Hongwu era, and then the events that happened at the grand court assembly spread throughout the capital.

Now everyone knows that the capital is really going to be moved.

The people of the capital were naturally unwilling, as living under the emperor's nose was always quite advantageous.

But they had no say in these matters. For those officials whose homes were raided, this was probably the luckiest thing, at least the people of the capital did not curse them.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard rarely knew when to stop, and soon began to implicate and expand their operations, using this opportunity to strike at dissidents. Ji Gang was very excited, finally getting his chance to show off his power.

Li Xianmu even suspected that Ji Gang was doing this on purpose to show him. After all, Ji Gang had wanted to implicate many people during the Yuan History Case, but his father stopped him. Ji Gang was a petty person and would inevitably hold a grudge. Now that his father had passed away, he was deliberately trying to teach him a lesson in the matter of moving the capital.

Even if he guessed it, Li Xianmu wouldn't take any action. The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was not someone he could touch; that was a true powerhouse in the officialdom.

He was invincible until the emperor abandoned Ji Gang!
However, Li Xianmu's inaction does not mean that no one can control Ji Gang, who is about to return to the capital.

That's right, it was Marquis Zhang Fu of Xincheng!

Li Xianmu had received clear information that Zhang Fu would be granted the title of Duke after returning to the capital, becoming the de facto head of the nobility.

Despite how enthusiastically Ji Gang acted in front of Li Xianmu, he was nothing more than a small fry in front of Zhang Fu.

Therefore, after the grand court assembly that day, Li Xianmu continued to perform his duties at the Hanlin Academy as usual.

But his reputation grew rapidly, like an inflating balloon.

As the news of his angry rebuke of the officials in court that day spread further and further, a large number of upright scholars believed that Li Xianmu was a man who truly cared about the world and was worthy of being the biological son of Li Zhongwen.

Almost every day, letters arrived from all over the country. To modern people, this seems incredible—who would write to a stranger?

But this was the nature of scholars in ancient times. When they admired someone, they would not only write letters, but also travel thousands of miles to visit them, and the person they visited would receive them warmly.

This is what it means to have known each other for a long time!
Li Xianmu is now quietly waiting for the emperor's next summons. With the credit for the proposal to move the capital, even if he were to suddenly assume an important post, it would not attract any criticism.

……

In the early summer of the sixth year of the Yongle reign, the turmoil in the capital caused by the relocation of the capital gradually subsided, and not many high-ranking officials were involved.

A month ago, the imperial court officially issued an edict to move the capital, renaming Beijing as the temporary capital and removing the word "temporary capital" from it, and making Yingtian the Nanjing capital, thus formally establishing a system of two capitals.

All the government offices, including the Five Ministries and the Six Departments, had already sent people to Beijing to set up the framework of their offices. The relocation of the capital was completed roughly before January of the seventh year of the Yongle reign, which took about eight months in total.

This matter was finally settled, and those who had made contributions during the relocation of the capital were gradually rewarded. Even Xie Jin received encouragement, which excited him for a long time, as he no longer had to worry about being kicked out of the capital at any time.

Aside from the intensive preparations for the relocation of the capital, the most significant event in Beijing today is the return of the southern expeditionary army to Nanjing.

This was the first major victory against foreign powers since the Yongle reign, and the results were extremely fruitful. The Annam puppet dynasty was almost completely wiped out in one battle, and its ruling group was wiped out in one fell swoop. The emperor attached great importance to it and ordered the crown prince to go thirty miles outside the city to welcome the army.

After a grand welcoming ceremony, Zhu Di hosted a banquet at the Fengtian Hall for the returning generals and composed the poem "Peaceful Southern Song" to celebrate.

Li Xianmu's official rank would normally disqualify him from attending such a grand ceremony, but due to his status, he was granted special privileges and witnessed one of the most glorious moments of his father-in-law's life.

Zhu Di issued an edict to promote Zhang Fu to the titles of "Supporting the Nation and Pacifying the Troubles: Military Minister of the State", "Grand Master of the Palace", "Right Pillar of the State", and "Duke of Ying", with an annual salary of 3,000 shi (a unit of grain), and granted him a hereditary title certificate. From then on, the Ming Dynasty had another hereditary duke.

Three days after Zhang Fu returned to the capital, having presumably rested enough, Li Xianmu paid him a visit, bringing gifts carefully selected by Princess Lin'an.

Zhang Fu is currently a very popular figure in the capital, and they are also legitimate relatives by marriage, so of course we must maintain this relationship well.

Even after Zhang Fu removed his armor and wore only a robe, he still possessed a captivating demeanor, the kind of bearing only a general who had emerged from countless trials and tribulations could possess.

Li Xianmu treated his junior with utmost respect, showing great admiration for generals like Zhang Fu who had earned their fame on the battlefield.

The reason why the Ming Dynasty had the rule that no title would be conferred without merit for military service to the country was because Emperor Taizu had come from the battlefield and witnessed the deaths of too many people in front of him, so he knew how difficult it was to achieve military merit.

Throughout history, which of the founding fathers of a nation did not risk their lives? This is not the case for civil officials.

During this campaign against Annam, Duke Zhu Yong of Cheng died on the battlefield. Although he died of illness, it was undoubtedly due to the severe miasma in Annam. Every time he went on a campaign, he was risking his life.

During the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, the defeat at Hetongbo forced all the Eight Banners to wear mourning clothes, making it difficult to make a living.

Zhang Fu is now a duke, in charge of the Five Armies Commandery, and has been promoted to Left Commander of the Vanguard Commandery. He can be considered a true important minister of the dynasty. With his own demeanor, after Li Xianmu bowed, he put down the tea and said softly, "Mingda, I already know what you did in the palace in the capital. Not bad, very much in the style of Duke Li Zhongwen."

"It is precisely in accordance with my late father's will."

"Our Emperor is a man of great loyalty and affection, much like Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin. It is always right for us to be dutiful and loyal to His Majesty."

Li Xianmu knew that Zhang Fu was giving him a hint, and the words were quite veiled.

It was referring to Emperor Taizong of Tang, but it was actually a veiled reference to the late emperor, saying that Zhu Di was different from Zhu Yuanzhang and would not kill meritorious officials, so that Li Xianmu could do his job with peace of mind.

“Xianmu understands.”

Zhang Fu glanced at him twice, confirming that Li Xianmu truly understood what he was saying, and smiled. Even though he was a duke, his affection for Li Xianmu had not diminished in the slightest.

"It's a pity that Wan'er is only nine years old and far from coming of age. I can't wait to have you as my son-in-law."

Even the usually composed Li Xianmu couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Even if people in ancient times married early, nine years old was still too outrageous. "This matter is not urgent. The Li family has successors, and Mother is not in a hurry for me to get married and have children."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fu burst into laughter, but then said with concern, "Alas, if only I had such an outstanding son as you."

Li Xianmu was at a loss for words. Zhang Fu was having a hard time having children. He had several daughters, but only one legitimate son, who was weak and sickly and it was uncertain whether he would outlive Zhang Fu.

The two men were unaware that the last person in history to inherit Zhang Fu's title was his only son born out of wedlock. This son was born late in life and, like Zhang Fu, lived a long life, reaching the age of seventy-five and passing away during the Zhengde era. The father and son together lived for nearly half of the Ming Dynasty.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Zhang urged them to have dinner. Although Zhang Wan was only nine years old, she was already quite knowledgeable about many things and was not supposed to meet any men outside the marriage, but betrothed couples were naturally an exception.

Besides, it's unlikely that either family would back out of the engagement.

Zhang Wan naturally couldn't dislike such an outstanding young man as Li Xianmu. Zhang Fu and Zhang Shi were naturally happy to see it happen. Although marriage is usually arranged by parents and matchmakers, it would be even better if their beloved daughter liked him.

This is a good thing for both companies.

Although the Li family is not as prestigious as the Zhang family now, they never looked down on the Zhang family when the Li family was more prominent than the Zhang family. Moreover, Zhang Fu valued Li Xianmu more.

Moreover, based on Zhang Fu's understanding of the Crown Prince and the Emperor, if things continued as they were, it would be almost inevitable that the Li family would be restored to their former titles, at which point the Li family would also be a dukedom.

After a very satisfying meal, Zhang Fu led Li Xianmu to the study.

"Xianmu has come today not only to pay his respects to me, but also to discuss important matters."

"Uncle, you are wise enough to see through this; it cannot be hidden from you."

"Go ahead."

"Uncle, during your campaign to pacify Annam, did you carefully observe the land along the Red River?"

Zhang Fu was taken aback. He had thought Li Xianmu would talk about matters of the court, since he had made quite a few enemies, but he did not expect it to be about Annam.

“The land of Annam is still shrouded in miasma, and is also covered with jungles and insects. This campaign was launched when the miasma had dissipated. Otherwise, the army would have been plagued by disease and would have been difficult to conquer.”

Upon hearing this, Li Xianmu immediately frowned. "Does Uncle mean that Jiaozhi will rebel again?"

Zhang Fu was startled and immediately understood Li Xianmu's meaning. Wherever the Central Plains Heavenly Army could not maintain a garrison at all times, it was destined to be in constant rebellion. Wasn't Yunnan the same? If it were the Marquis of Xiping's mansion, now the Duke of Mu's mansion, constantly using troops in Yunnan to suppress rebellions, Yunnan would have long since broken away from the prefectures and counties.

It was precisely because he saw the enormous role the Mu family played in Yunnan that Zhu Di briefly prepared to deal with the Mu family after ascending the throne, but then quickly abandoned the plan, effectively making the Mu family the garrison princes of Yunnan.

Zhang Fu said uncertainly, "Jiaozhi has been converted into a prefecture and county. As long as it is governed properly, it shouldn't be so easy for it to rebel."

"No!"

Li Xianmu immediately dismissed Zhang Fu's guess. After all, Zhang Fu was a military general and did not understand these matters of governing people's livelihoods. "I am almost certain that Annam will continue to rebel, which is the most terrible thing."

Zhang Fu frowned deeply. He knew how intelligent Li Xianmu was. If he weren't still young, he would have been a famous minister long ago. He trusted Li Xianmu's judgment quite a bit.

Conquering Annam and expanding territory by thousands of miles was his unparalleled achievement. If Annam could remain within the territory of the Ming Dynasty, his fame would continue to resound. However, if Annam were lost later, his merits would be greatly diminished.

Zhang Fu's guess was indeed very reasonable. In later short videos, every time Xinjiang was mentioned, the comment section would be filled with countless bullet comments and comments containing Zuo Zongtang's name. Even Emperor Qianlong, amidst countless criticisms, would occasionally remark, "Only in the matter of recovering Xinjiang did I have some merit."

Because Annam was later lost, Zhang Fu's name disappeared from mainstream textbooks. People who are not familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty may not even know that there was such a general in the history of the Ming Dynasty who "captured the false king three times and was awe-inspiring in Annam"!

A hint of ferocity gradually crept into Zhang Fu's brows as he coldly said, "Even if Annam rebels, I can quell it. Once my army arrives, the southern bandits will be nothing more than annihilated."

“My uncle is a renowned general of our time. My father once praised him as the number one man in the world after His Majesty. Naturally, he is invincible.”

Li Xianmu first praised, but then said in a deep voice: "But the key to the peace of the South has never been whether we can win, but whether we can stabilize it within the Ming Dynasty."

If their rebellions continue, and the Ming Dynasty wastes countless resources only to find that it has been a waste of time and can never be quelled, what choice will the court make?
Uncle, Annam and Mongolia are fundamentally different!

Zhang Fu fell silent. What was different?

Everyone knows that the Mongols posed a fatal threat to the Ming Dynasty, so fatal that the emperor had to personally move the capital to guard the country's borders. Annam, on the other hand, only posed a certain threat to the Ming Dynasty, and could never defeat Guangdong in the next life.

If one day the court discovers that Annam is a bottomless pit, bringing no benefit and only constantly bleeding the Ming Dynasty dry, becoming an "imperial graveyard," then the only option is to abandon it and withdraw troops to Guangdong.

According to Li Xianmu's analysis, this possibility is quite high. Zhang Fu was also a bit confused. He was a military general, not a civil official, and was only responsible for winning battles. What should he do?

His gaze fell on Li Xianmu.

"Xianmu, do you have a solution?"

(End of this chapter)