The Ming Dynasty: A Modern Return, Building an Overseas Empire

Chapter 93 Zhu Di's Sorrow and Regret: Second Prince, I need to get you back sooner!

Zhu Gaoxu set off again, and this time Zhu Huan not only did not stop him at all, but also took the initiative to see him off.

"Your Highness, if you bring back some grain and iron this time, the situation here will be greatly alleviated."

"I have prepared five more large ships for Your Highness, all empty. If Your Highness feels this is not enough, I can reduce some other expenses and send five more over."

Zhu Huan was determined. He was willing to make those who needed boats, such as fishermen and patrollers, work harder, but he would replace the boats and provide Zhu Gaoxu with enough large boats to go out with him.

With the results of this trip to Korea, Zhu Huan now has complete faith in Zhu Gaoxu.

In his view, Zhu Gaoxu would surely return with a full load of spoils once he went out.

Zhu Gaochi's lips twitched. They really thought he was omnipotent, that he could always bring dozens of boats of grain...

The iron and other supplies have returned, right?

"Alright, these ships are enough. Don't touch the others lightly."

Now this place is finally on the right track, and everything is developing in an orderly manner. Let's keep it up.

"I'm leaving things here to you. If you're unsure about anything, go to the Queen."

"Your Highness, please don't be anxious. I'm serious, perhaps we should adjust some more..."

'

As Zhu Huan watched Zhu Gaoxu about to leave, he chased after him, muttering to himself.

It wasn't that he liked to nag, but he was well aware of the depletion of supplies, and he wouldn't feel at ease unless he had more in hand.

Zhu Huan didn't care how Zhu Gaoxu got it; he was happy as long as he could get it back.

Zhu Gaoxu had no desire to pay attention to Zhu Huan, who was already obsessed. He could understand that, but he didn't want to reply.

Once aboard the ship, they immediately ordered anchor to be raised and the ship to set sail.

With his fleet and five empty ships, Zhu Gaoxu headed towards the three kingdoms of Ryukyu.

When Zhu Gaoxu set off again, Shimazu Motohisa of the Shimazu clan, also known as Sun Motohisa after changing his name, also set off from Hyuga towards Hanjing in Handong Prefecture.

Meanwhile, within the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di was listening to a secret report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard below.

"Your Majesty, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, along with a group of more than ten others, secretly discussed and wanted to persuade the Crown Prince to ascend the throne."

The plan was to have the Crown Prince, with the power of overseeing the country, mobilize the anti-Japanese garrison to march north when the Emperor went on his northern expedition.

Among the participating local officials, the Right Vice Minister of the Zhejiang Provincial Administration Commission and the Left Vice Minister of the Huguang Provincial Administration Commission even raised...

During the northern expedition, if the fighting becomes intense, try to disrupt the supply lines to cause the army to run out of food, while simultaneously revealing the army's location and information to the Oirat.

If... if the northern expedition fails, the crown prince will be elected to the throne.

Meanwhile, in various localities, officials promoted by His Highness the Crown Prince secretly colluded with local officials and gentry to find ways to reform and implement any policies ordered by the Emperor.

As for the policies suggested by His Highness the Crown Prince, we will do our utmost to promote them in order to solidify His Highness's position.

As the Imperial Guard spoke, he lowered his head further and further, speaking cautiously, his heart pounding wildly, and beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Zhu Di had already purged the area once before, and now these things were happening again. Even the Embroidered Uniform Guard was terrified.

Zhu Di stared intently at the Imperial Guards before him.

"Are you afraid? You think I'm old and that the Crown Prince will ascend the throne in the future, and you're afraid you'll die then?"

"As the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, my personal guard, you have quite the nerve!"

"Li Zhong! Drag him away and beat him to death!"

"Investigate thoroughly! Find out who else in the Embroidered Uniform Guard is involved, drag them all out, and execute them!"

"I'm giving you three months. If you can't finish, you can go to the imperial prison yourself!"

"Arrest and execute all those involved!"

The person who led this will have their entire family wiped out!

Li Zhong was promoted by Zhu Di to the position of Left Commander-in-Chief, and was intended to succeed Zhu Gaosui as Commander after Zhu Gaosui left.

Watching Li Zhong leave with the Imperial Guards below, Zhu Di's face immediately darkened. He leaned on the desk with one hand and put the other on his hip, bending over, feeling an extraordinary pain in his heart.

Having experienced the previous incident, he saw a new way of playing, which made his northern expedition incredibly smooth.

However, problems soon followed.

Zhu Di was well aware that he was following in the footsteps of his father, the Hongwu Emperor, the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.

In the later years of the Hongwu reign, all the civil officials in the court were hoping for Zhu Yuanzhang's death and for the benevolent grandson of the emperor, Zhu Yunwen, to ascend the throne. He was well aware of this.

Now, all the civil officials in the court are hoping for his death and for the benevolent Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi to ascend the throne.

To achieve this goal, these people even considered colluding with the Oirats! Colluding with those Tartars! They even wanted to take direct action against him!

Zhu Di knew that there were Tartar henchmen within the Ming Dynasty, but he never expected that Ming officials would betray him like this!

Why would they want him dead so badly!

Zhu Di was well aware that this was because too many people had been killed last time, and those people were all afraid after surviving the last crisis. They were all afraid of him.

Just like during the reign of Emperor Hongwu, when everyone feared his father Zhu Yuanzhang, everyone is now afraid of him.

He came from the Hongwu era, and he knew all too well why he wanted to do this.

These people must have problems too. Rather than waiting to die, we might as well kill them.

As long as Zhu Gaochi ascends to the throne, those people will actually have the merit of supporting the emperor and will be able to advance further.

These people banded together for mutual support in order to achieve their goals.

Some people rushed in, waiting for him to kill them, which would provoke even greater conflict.

It would be a win-win situation if the living treated the families of those he killed kindly.

However, despite the great actions of those people, Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi made no move whatsoever and paid no attention to them whatsoever.

Zhu Di was filled with sorrow, as if he were being swallowed up by endless loneliness.

What son? This is already a coup attempt against him.

Zhu Gaochi was simply brilliant in his approach.

When others do this kind of thing, they bring a large army and force it.

Zhu Gaochi wielded a soft knife, making these civil officials willingly comply in this manner.

It's true that the most insidious attacks are the subtle ones.

At this moment, Zhu Di even began to understand Zhu Yuanzhang's decision back then.

Against this backdrop, the civil officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty were all waiting, hoping and expecting the arrival of a benevolent monarch.

Otherwise, the conflict would probably explode from within.

What utter nonsense about benevolence! These people just don't want to live in constant fear of being killed; they're all only thinking of themselves.

"Hehe, haha! Great! Excellent!"

As he thought about it, he gradually started to laugh out loud.

But this laughter was filled with sorrow and was so cold.

Did you intend to pressure him in this way? Did you want to do those things in front of him?

Do you really think he wouldn't dare to kill him?

Zhu Di closed his eyes, gradually calming down, but then began to feel a pang of regret.

At this moment, Zhu Di somewhat regretted letting Zhu Gaoxu go out like this.

After Zhu Gaochi left, these people became increasingly unscrupulous, thinking that he had no other choice but Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Di regretted that he should have let Zhu Gaoxu go out later.

He wasn't fully prepared, so much so that things were increasingly slipping out of his control.

Without the struggle between Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaochi, these people had far fewer constraints.

"Second brother, it seems I need to bring you back sooner."

Zhu Di's eyes gleamed. At this point, no matter what Zhu Gaoxu's situation was outside, he couldn't wait until next year.

This year, we must bring Zhu Gaoxu back to stabilize the situation.

Just then, a eunuch hurried over from below.

"Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince is requesting an audience outside."