Ming Dynasty: I, Zhu Yunwen, started by resurrecting my grandmother.

Zhu Yunwen was also bewildered by this sudden change.

He was also somewhat flustered, after all, he had just inherited the throne and lacked experience in dealing with these matters.

He paced back and forth in the study with his right hand behind his back, then suddenly stopped and looked at Zhu Yunwen: "You say we are besieged by the Northern Yuan outside and bandits inside, and it seems Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi have also rebelled. What good strategy do you have for this situation?"

"Your Majesty, please appoint Xu Huizu. Although Your Majesty has sent an imperial edict, Zhu Gaochi may not necessarily carry it out."

Since he harbors rebellious intentions, is your imperial edict still of any use to him?

Please send Xu Huizu to lead his troops to meet the enemy.

"Xu Huizu?" Zhu Yunwen shook his head after hearing this. "Don't you know the relationship between Xu Huizu and Zhu Di?"

His elder sister, Xu Miaoyun, married Zhu Di.

Zhu Gaochi was his own nephew; how could an uncle and his own nephew fight?

Zhu Yunwen waved his hand: "No, let's find someone else!"

"I think Xu Huizu is the most suitable candidate."

Xu Huizu is stationed at the Yellow River ferry crossing, and Tie Xian is stationed in Jinan. There is no chance of anything going wrong. I will give this matter some thought.

How's the battle going with Chen Zuyi's pirates?

Zhu Yunwen then briefly recounted what had happened.

Zhu Yunwen found it all quite intriguing: "What? Chen Zuyi and his group have some kind of two-headed snake monster?"

This is unheard of!

"Your Majesty, it is indeed so. That monster was taller than our palace. When it opened its mouth, it could swallow an elephant whole. With a flick of its tail, it could lift stones into the sky and create a strong wind on the ground. If we hadn't seen it with our own eyes, it would have been hard to believe."

"Okay, is there anything else you need over there?"

Zhu Yunwen thought to himself, "Last time we came back and asked the court for food and medicine, we were refused. This time, I have to bring it up again."

So he said to Zhu Yunwen, "We are short of manpower, food and military supplies."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen frowned and said, "I already know about what you've said. I will have Qi Tai make the arrangements later. You should go back and rest."

"Go back to the barracks tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhu Yunwen has left.

Not long after, Qi Tai walked in from outside.

Zhu Yunwen first scolded him, and Qi Tai was completely bewildered, nodding and agreeing.

"It was you who suggested that Zhang Xin go to Beiping."

"If it weren't for Zhang Xin, none of this would have happened!"

Qi Tai broke out in a cold sweat, knelt on the ground, and kept saying, "Your Majesty, I am guilty, please punish me."

Zhu Yunwen thought to himself that this was a time when he needed capable people, and he couldn't afford to offend Qi Tai, after all, he was the Minister of War, in charge of the country's military forces.

Zhu Yunwen held back for a moment, then his expression softened slightly: "Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Qi Tai stood up again and stood respectfully to the side.

Zhu Yunwen then recounted the whole story to Qi Tai.

Qi Tai pondered for a moment and said, "The matter of establishing an empress and a crown prince is of utmost urgency. Moreover, apart from Ma Enhui, no one else is suitable. The crown prince will definitely be Zhu Wenkui, there's no question about that."

Zhu Yunwen shook his head: "Ma Enhui doesn't want to be empress. Am I supposed to force her to become empress?"

"Let's put this on hold for now and try to comfort her gradually."

Zhu Yunwen nodded and said, "This matter can only be handled this way."

Afterwards, the two discussed Zhu Gaochi's plan to send troops to reinforce Zhu Yunwen in his fight against the pirates.

Then Zhu Yunwen asked, "Do you think it's appropriate to send Xu Huizu to the Yellow River front?"

Qi Tai stroked his beard and pondered for a moment: "Strictly speaking, Xu Huizu is Xu Da's son and inherited his father's title. He should be loyal to the court."

However, he is related to Zhu Di, and it would be a bit risky to let him guard the Yellow River. If he were to side with Zhu Di and let the wolf into the house, we would be completely finished.

There are so many capable generals in the court; we don't necessarily have to use him.

Zhu Yunwen felt that what he said made some sense, and that using Xu Huizu was too risky.

Zhu Yunwen highly recognized Xu Huizu's military command abilities. The only thing that worried him was the kinship between Xu Huizu and Zhu Di.

After all, Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Gaoxu, and Zhu Gaosui were Xu Huizu's nephews.

"My dear minister, if we don't use Xu Huizu, who do you think would be suitable?"

"Your Majesty recommends Geng Bingwen to lead the troops. He has rich combat experience and enjoys extremely high prestige in the army."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen frowned: "Geng Bingwen is getting on in years; is he capable of taking on this responsibility?"

"Your Majesty, you can't say that."

Back then, Lian Po was seventy years old, yet he was still able to lead troops into battle.

He led the Zhao army in a long-term battle against the Qin army, and the Qin army was unable to defeat him.

The reason for the defeat at the Battle of Changping was that King Zhao replaced Lian Po with Zhao Kuo. If Lian Po had not been replaced, Zhao would not have been defeated at all.

Zhu Yunwen thought for a moment and said, "Alright, then let Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying go together."

They appointed Geng Bingwen as the commander-in-chief and Guo Ying as the deputy commander, leading 10,000 troops to defend the Yanjin ferry crossing on the Yellow River.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

After this matter was arranged, Zhu Yunwen felt much more at ease.

"Zhu Yuntong and Chang Yuchun are fighting pirates in Suzhou and request more military rations and medical supplies."

Qi Tai then asked, "Why is Zhu Yunwen back? He left his post without permission; he should be punished."

Zhu Yunwen was thinking to himself, "I am already overwhelmed with problems. There are the Northern Yuan, pirates, and rebellions by vassal kings. How can I punish Zhu Yunwen now?"

"You only gave him a little over a thousand men to deal with so many pirates. Isn't that a bit too few troops?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Tai quickly said, "Your Majesty, you must not be so sentimental as to be a woman."

We want him to try and fight a losing battle, to bring about his own destruction.

Doesn't that eliminate one threat for you?

Zhu Yunwen slumped into a chair, looking tired. "We can't keep thinking about losing all our brothers. The problem we need to consider now is how to stabilize the overall situation."

It seems there might be a rebellion in Beiping. It's probably not just Zhu Gaochi; there are other vassal kings as well.

Could they join forces with those in Beiping to cause trouble?

Qi Tai and Zhu Yongwen discussed the matter until late at night before finally concluding.

Kunning Palace.

With Zhu Yuanzhang alive, Empress Ma felt much better.

Although she sometimes hated Lao Zhu, they had been husband and wife for so many years.

The emotional foundation is quite deep.

When she had free time, Empress Ma would play chess, drink tea, and chat with Emperor Zhu, and the two of them enjoyed a few days of sweet and happy life together.

But tonight,

Old Zhu was punished again by kneeling on a washboard.

The reason was that Emperor Zhu actually mentioned Consort Sun in front of Empress Ma.

This greatly angered Empress Ma.

Empress Ma knew that Consort Sun held a very important place in Emperor Zhu's heart.

Even Consort Li and Consort Guo were not granted the title of Imperial Noble Consort.

Emperor Zhu alone bestowed upon Lady Sun the title of Imperial Concubine.

Sun was originally Ma Shixiong's adopted daughter, and she was still unmarried at the age of eighteen.

Later, by chance, Ma Shixiong met Lao Zhu.

On the recommendation of others, Ma Shixiong sent his adopted daughter, Sun, to the palace.

It is said that Emperor Zhu expressed his intention to make her his empress in the future.

Therefore, Empress Ma was very wary of Lady Sun.

In addition, there was another reason why Empress Ma made Zhu Yunwen kneel as punishment today: Empress Ma learned that Zhu Yunwen had reduced Zhu Su's fiefdom.

Zhu Su was Empress Ma's youngest son, and Empress Ma doted on him very much.

Therefore, Empress Ma had nowhere to vent her anger.

Empress Ma meant that if Emperor Zhu didn't pass the throne to Zhu Yunwen,

How could Zhu Su have been demoted to a commoner?

Ultimately, all of this is your fault, Old Zhu.

Old Zhu was filled with grievances, but he couldn't express them.

Old Zhu didn't know how long he had been kneeling; his knees were numb.

He looked around and, seeing that Empress Ma was not there, stood up and rubbed his knees with both hands.

He was just about to get a drink of water when he suddenly heard footsteps.

He quickly knelt down again.

Sure enough, the person who arrived was Empress Ma.

Empress Ma glared at him and asked, "Who told you to stand up just now?"

"Hey girl, I'm not standing here."

"You didn't stand?"

I saw it all, and you still dare to deny it?

"That's just your problem, you can never change it. Have you realized your mistake?" Empress Ma asked with a stern face.

"Girl, I was wrong, I was really wrong."

Empress Ma raised her face: "Then tell me, where did you go wrong?"

"I shouldn't have mentioned Consort Sun in front of my sister."

Actually, you're the only one in my heart." Old Zhu said sincerely.

Empress Ma waved her hand: "Alright, stop with the nonsense, what else?"

"I spoiled Zhu Su. He's quite handsome, and I've liked him since he was little. I let him do whatever he wanted, which made him arrogant and conceited. He became disrespectful of others and the law, which led him to commit many mistakes. That's why Zhu Yunwen punished him."

Empress Ma sat down at the table: "Zhongba, I'm telling you, your understanding isn't deep enough."

Is it simply because you spoil him?

Ultimately, it was the imperial power that caused all this trouble. If it weren't for the imperial power, how could so many things have happened?

Where did this imperial power come from?

Isn't it all thanks to you?

If we were just an ordinary family, would they really need to fight like this?

Now that Zhu Su has been deposed and Zhu Di has gone mad, is this the result you wanted?

"Sister, you're absolutely right. It's the imperial power that's to blame. In ordinary families, brothers and uncles love each other. How could they possibly turn against each other with swords drawn?"

"No matter what, I'm guilty!" Old Zhu felt very guilty.

Empress Ma sighed: "After careful consideration and deliberation, you passed the throne to Zhu Yunwen. I believe you must have had your reasons for doing so."

However, if you do this, there will be serious consequences. Would Zhu Di be an easy person to deal with?

On your deathbed, you issued an edict forbidding all regional princes from coming to the capital to mourn you.

Do you think this decree is appropriate?

Human ethics have been completely destroyed.

Zhu Di came to offer condolences, bringing with him an army of 100,000.

He said he was passing through this place on his way to fight against the Northern Yuan, which created a rift between Zhu Di and Yunwen.

What will be the ultimate consequence of all this meticulous planning? It will probably backfire.

"Girl, you're right. Looking back now, I realize I made a lot of mistakes."

Finally, Empress Ma helped Zhu Yuanzhang stand up.

Old Zhu stretched his limbs: "Girl, your family rules are a bit too strict. When I was young, I could kneel without a problem, but now that I'm old and frail, it almost killed me."

Besides, if word gets out about something like this, how will I ever save face again?

"Hmph, don't I know you? As soon as I give you a little kindness, you take advantage of me," Empress Ma said irritably.

Old Zhu put the washboard away and set it aside. Then, he went behind Empress Ma and began to massage her shoulders and back.

"Sister, I, Old Zhu, owe my current position to you. Without your secret help, I wouldn't be emperor, and I would have lost my life long ago."

Empress Ma rolled her eyes at him: "You know that's good, but you still made me angry like that!"

Was it because Consort Sun, that vixen, was exceptionally skilled in bed?

Upon hearing this, Old Zhu grinned and said, "Young lady, how old are you? Still thinking about that kind of thing?"

Empress Ma pursed her lips: "That's not necessarily true. Back in the day, Emperor Wu of Han was over sixty years old, and when he saw the young Lady Gouyi, he couldn't resist her charms."

"You even had a son, Liu Fuling, with her. Are you inferior to Emperor Wu of Han in this respect?"

Old Zhu nodded: "He's indeed formidable; I concede defeat!"

Zhu Yunwen, who was listening outside, wanted to laugh but dared not.

At this moment, he entered and knelt on the ground, saying, "Greetings, Grandfather and Grandmother!"

Emperor Zhu and Empress Ma were quite surprised to see Zhu Yunwen return.

Empress Ma looked at Zhu Yunwen with a kind gaze: "Yunwen, please get up."

"Yes, Grandmother!"

"Where did you come from?"

Zhu Yunwen stood up, his attitude respectful: "Replying to Grandmother, I have rushed back from the front lines in Suzhou."

"What's wrong? Why did you come back so quickly?" Ma Xiuying asked.

"I have received reliable news from the front."

"What news?"

"Fourth Uncle isn't crazy. Moreover, Zhang Xin betrayed the court and joined Fourth Uncle, and has already detained Xie Gui."

At the same time, Zhang Bing, the Provincial Treasurer of Beiping, was also placed under house arrest. "Zhu Yuntong's voice was clear and resonant.

Empress Ma and Emperor Zhu were both quite surprised upon hearing this. They exchanged a glance, and Empress Ma asked, "Are you saying that Zhu Di is talking nonsense, that he's faking it?"

"Yes."

Empress Ma felt a mixture of worry and joy upon hearing Zhu Yunwen's words.

The good thing is that Zhu Di didn't go mad, after all, Zhu Di was his own son.

What's worrying is what Zhu Di is up to, and why he's doing this?

Did Zhu Di not know that doing this was tantamount to rebellion?

That's a heinous crime punishable by the extermination of an entire clan!

What can't be discussed? Why be so extreme?