[Yiwei, Liu Ning, the governor of the Houjun Governor's Mansion, died. He was from Bo County. He was first under the command of Liu Futong. He came in Bingwu to be in charge of hundreds of military households. He had made great contributions to the governor Qianshi's eighteenth year and died at the age of seventy due to old illness. five】
[Bingshen, dismiss the officials of Tianfu Longjiang and Dashenggang drawing points]
[Bingshen, clothed more than 62,000 people from the Third Guards of Datong and the Military Academy of Weishuo Dongsheng and Fourth Guards, 216,100 pieces of silk, 5,100 pieces of cotton, and 94,000 catties of cotton]
【Wuxu...】
In Wuying Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but rub his brow as he looked at these memorials.
His action lasted for a long time. After being seen by Zhu Yunwen in the palace, he quickly got up and poured him a cup of tea:
"Grandpa, what's wrong with you?"
His inquiry made Zhu Jixi, Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Shangbing in the hall hear it. Among them, Zhu Jixi no longer had the high spirits of a few months ago, Zhu Gaochi also frowned, and only Zhu Shangbing was still energetic.
"No, I just don't know why I feel a little uneasy today."
Zhu Yuanzhang responded to Zhu Yunwen, and he was also curious about his own status.
He has not been in this state for many years. He doesn't know why he has been like this since lunch break today, as if something big is about to happen.
"What's going on in Yunnan and the north recently?"
Zhu Yuanzhang asked Zhu Yunwen, hoping that there would be external changes, but Zhu Yunwen shook his head:
"The rebellion in Yunnan was successfully suppressed. Now Wei Guogong has led his troops to besiege Nong Zhenyou in Vimo, Guangnan for half a month. It is estimated that if the siege lasts for another two months, Nong Zhenyou will have no choice but to surrender in Kaicheng."
"There is no war in the north. It is estimated that the snow has not yet melted and the spring grass has not grown, so it will be difficult for the northern captives to go south."
"If anything happens, I'm afraid it's just that my second uncle brought hundreds of rebel children into the mansion recently..."
Before Zhu Yunwen finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned.
"Is that all?" Zhu Yuanzhang knew Zhu Xi's temperament well. If he brought someone into the house, it would definitely be more than just a lack of slaves.
"Second uncle..." Zhu Yunwen glanced at Zhu Shangbing vaguely, but saw that Zhu Shangbing was nervously clenching the brush in his hand.
Seeing this scene, a smile appeared on his face, but before he could speak, the military attache of the Jin Yiwei ran into the hall with a pale face.
"His Majesty……"
"Why are you panicking?" Looking at the military attaché's appearance, Zhu Yuanzhang was dissatisfied, but the military attaché's next words made his mind go blank.
"Your Majesty...King Qin...King Qin passed away..."
There was a thunderbolt in the head, and Zhu Yuanzhang and everyone in the palace went blank.
"You...tell me one more time..." Zhu Yuanzhang hoped that he heard wrongly, but the military attaché kowtowed:
"Your Majesty, Xi'an is eight hundred miles away. The King of Qin died of poisoning at the hands of three assistant cooks in the Houfu..."
"Nonsense!" Zhu Shangbing stood up excitedly, pushed the desk to the ground, and stepped forward to kick the military attaché.
Looking at this scene, Zhu Jixi, Zhu Gaochi, and Zhu Yunwen had not yet come to their senses, but Zhu Yuanzhang came to his senses and cursed: "What do you want to do?!"
"This...grandpa, my dad..."
Zhu Yuanzhang's angry curses woke Zhu Shangbing up. Although he didn't have deep feelings for his father, how could he calm down when something like this happened just after the Qin government took over the military power in Shaanxi.
"As a frontier vassal king, he favored the partial concubine and bullied the main concubine. He did not listen to his father's teachings and imprisoned the main concubine in the palace."
"Because of his behavior, there is no owner in the harem, and there is no one to take care of his food and daily life."
"I reminded him over and over again, but he ignored it and indulged in illegal torture. This earned him the hatred of the palace people and he died in the palace..."
After Zhu Yuanzhang woke up, his first reaction was not to vent his anger for his son, but to curse loudly because he hated iron.
Although he was reluctant to kill his children, no one knew better than him what kind of character his children were and what kind of people they were.
After so many years of ups and downs, he also knows that people cannot be resurrected after death, and it is useless to pursue it now...
"Draft the decree..." Zhu Yuanzhang pushed away his chair and walked up to the military attache and Zhu Shangbing:
"The Ministry of Rites examined the Song Dynasty system and stayed away from the court for five days. Today, there is one day after the noon court. The princes, princesses, princesses, princes and princes of the princes and princesses all wear the same uniforms as the funeral ceremony of King Lu."
"All the children in the clan will wear plain clothes for thirteen days. The rest of the posthumous titles will be decided upon by the Ministry of Rites."
After that, Zhu Yuanzhang walked out of Wuying Palace and raised his hand to signal everyone not to follow him.
Looking at his leaving back, Zhu Yunwen gradually came back to his senses and looked at Zhu Shangbing unconsciously.
At the moment, Zhu Shangbing was like an eggplant beaten by frost, but Zhu Jixi and Zhu Gaochi had not yet recovered.
"He's actually dead..." Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Originally, he was thinking about how to deal with Zhu Ping, but he didn't expect that Zhu Ping died in the hands of three women before he took action.
"After all, he was the leader of all kings, but he died like this, haha..."
Zhu Yunwen walked out of the hall, his mouth was hard to suppress.
Although he despised Zhu Ping's death, he still took it as a warning. After walking out of Wuying Hall and sitting on the carriage, he said to Li Quan, the eunuch in charge of the East Palace: "In the future, the meals in the East Palace must be inspected more."
"My slave, take your orders..." Li Quan's face turned pale, and he obviously also knew the news that Zhu Ping was poisoned to death.
As he and Zhu Yunwen left, it was a long time before Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Jixi, and Zhu Shangbing walked out of the hall.
Zhu Shangbing's face was pale, and Zhu Jixi and Zhu Gaochi were nowhere to be seen.
People like them never thought that one day they would be poisoned.
Zhu Ping's death inevitably aroused their suspicion. After all, it was really unconvincing that just three old women could kill a prince with poison.
But no matter what they thought, they couldn't think of anyone who wanted to poison Zhu Ping.
The method of poisoning is too obvious. Unless it is desperate, no one will think of doing it.
It's not that they didn't suspect Zhu Yunwen, but Zhu Yunwen didn't have the need.
Zhu Fang is different from Zhu Fan. His in-laws, whether Wang Baobao or Deng Yu, are no longer alive, which means that the old tribe is still broken up, and there is no chance or capital to compete for the heirloom.
Moreover, Zhu Fan was in front, and no matter how stupid Zhu Fang was, he would not imitate Zhu Fan in fighting for the throne.
So in the end, the three of them could only accept the facts.
Zhu Ming was indeed poisoned to death by several cooks who all of them looked down upon. Such a cause of death, combined with his identity, is indeed unbelievable, but it is indeed true...
Not long after, the news of the death of King Zhu Fang of Qin came out. The temples and Taoist temples in Nanjing rang the bells 1,500 times. The bells did not completely dissipate from noon until dusk.
In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting on the steps of the Babu bed, as if some of his strength had been drained away.
At this moment, he no longer had the energy to scold Zhu Xi in Wuying Hall, and was only left a little lonely.
Outside the Babu bed, the military attache of Jinyiwei was kneeling and waiting for Zhu Yuanzhang to speak.
The two sides were in a stalemate like this. It was not until the sound of the evening drum that Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head.
He slowly closed his eyes, feeling a little desperate: "What happened before my second brother died..."
"Your Highness..." The military attache hesitated for a long time, and then explained with difficulty: "His Highness likes to eat cherry pancakes, and those three old women secretly poisoned His Highness's cherry pancakes."
"The palace people wanted to test the poison for His Highness, but His Highness was not happy and expelled him."
"A quarter of an hour after taking Cherry Decoction, His Highness felt unable to breathe, then scratched his chest violently, and finally fell to the ground bleeding from all his orifices and died..."
When the military attache explained, Zhu Yuanzhang could even imagine the tragic situation before Zhu Ping's death, but because of this, he felt that Zhu Ping was stupid.
"I called him as stupid as an animal in the early years, but I didn't expect him to be as stupid as an animal..."
Although Zhu Yuanzhang said this, tears could not stop coming from his eyes.
He lowered his head and closed his eyes. After wiping away the few tears with his hand, he suppressed the grief in his heart and said to the military attache:
"Although he died more than deservedly, he is my son after all. I plan to execute the three old women who poisoned him, order the concubines in the harem to be buried as martyrs, give him the posthumous title of "Menglie", and reduce the funeral specifications."
"This..." the military attache hesitated: "Your Majesty, this seems to be a bit overstated..."
"Do as I say." Zhu Yuanzhang said sternly, and the military attaché could only agree.
Seeing that he agreed, Zhu Yuanzhang also stood up and walked to the desk, picked up a pen and wrote a memorial poem.
Then, he asked the military attache to take the memorial text to the Ministry of Rites, and he sat at the window in the dusk.
How he feels at this moment, perhaps only he himself can know...
It was a pity that before he had time to calm down, the military attache who had left the palace before came back.
His face was pale and a little heavy at the same time, and Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes also raised: "What's wrong..."
"Your Majesty..." the military attache bowed, took a deep breath and continued:
"Song Guogong, passed away..."
"I'm dead..." Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widened a little, but he calmed down after a while, and finally just said lightly: "I know."
Upon seeing this, the military attache withdrew from the Palace of Qianqing, and the news of the death of King Zhu Feng of Qin and Duke Feng Sheng of Song was also announced by Di Bao on almost the same day.
Regarding Feng Sheng's death, many people were as filled with regrets as they were with the news of Fu Youde's death.
However, many people just lamented Zhu Ping's death, thinking that it was humiliating for a noble man like him to die at the hands of three assistant cooks.
But when thinking of his cruelty, many officials shook their heads.
With the news of Zhu Ping's death, the news of Feng Sheng's death seemed insignificant.
Among them, the people in the Guanzhong area were the most active. The news of the death of Qin King Zhu Ping made many Guanzhong people secretly applaud.
Even Zhu Yuanzhang, who was a father, knew this very well. Therefore, at the funeral on the ninth day of March, most of the memorial texts written by Zhu Yuanzhang were derogatory.
[I have the world, and all the feudal scholars are in the imperial house of Fanping. In the second year of Erhe's reign in the East Palace, he was first granted the title of Qin. Your country has no good name. It is nicknamed like a villain and is debauched. Drinking and sex are rampant in the territory. He was so angry with the heavens that he was taught and reprimanded many times, but in the end he failed to realize it and died. Even though you are dead, it is obvious that you are still guilty. I will keep all the crimes you have committed in the past and make a list of money and edicts for you to listen to...]
In the memorial text, Zhu Yuanzhang believed that Zhu Ping was more than worthy of his death. Even if he was dead, Zhu Yuanzhang would still count the crimes he committed during his lifetime.
Zhu Yuanzhang first pointed out that Qin King Zhu Feng was unfilial and ineffective in governing the territory. He also accused him of listening to his second concubine Deng and living a luxurious life, which caused hardship to the people and officials in the territory.
Not only that, many of the almost perverted evil deeds of Zhu Xi and his second concubine Deng were also written by Zhu Yuanzhang in the memorial text, such as buying gold and silver from the army and the people, causing the army and the people to be in dire straits and having to pawn their children, and making the queen's clothes and clothes. The partial concubine Deng wore it and made a five-claw nine-dragon bed for herself to rest on...
In addition to the above, Zhu Yuanzhang also denounced him in his memorial text for not subsidizing his subordinates and soldiers, for mishandling Xifan, etc...
In short, it seems that in order to make Qin King Zhu Ping still convinced after his death, Zhu Yuanzhang listed his crimes in great detail and wrote them one by one in the memorial. At the end, he did not forget to make a summary statement:
[Woohoo, what you have done is unprecedented in ancient times. According to the public law, the crime cannot be punished. Now I order your family members not to be buried with you, but I still save you and give them a shallow burial with public rites. You will suffer the punishment in the dark world to vent the anger of the gods and men. If you have the knowledge, you will serve as sacrifices. 】
"It's so miserable for my second son to be scolded..."
Looking at the memorial in his hand, which was almost written as a plea to the thieves, Zhu Di in Beiping City couldn't help but sigh.
Beside him, Mrs. Xu and Yao Guangxiao were accompanying him. Upon hearing his words, Mrs. Xu also sighed:
"It's a pity that Mrs. Wang was ordered to be buried. She was also a miserable person."
The Wang family in Xu's mouth is the sister of the deceased Wang Baobao, the king of Qi in the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and the Guanyin slave written down by later generations.
According to Zhu Yuanzhang's edict, she and many concubines and maids will be buried for Zhu Chong.
Such an end made Xu sigh, and at the same time she looked at Zhu Di: "The old Duke has also passed away, but His Majesty did not even grant him a posthumous title. I wonder if Gao Xu will be sad after hearing this."
Mrs. Xu has been worried about Zhu Gaoxu these days, but Zhu Di feels good about himself: "I haven't heard the second brother complain, so I think he is doing well."
With that said, Zhu Di looked at Yao Guangxiao: "Daoyan, you said my second brother is dead, what will my father do now?"
Seeing Zhu Di asking him, Yao Guangxiao stopped thinking about the beads in his hand, saluted with one hand and said:
"The poor monk thinks that although His Majesty has denounced the King of Qin, the King of Qin is still your Majesty's own flesh and blood. Shang Bing, the Crown Prince of Qin in the capital, will probably leave to return to Xi'an to join the feudal clan in the near future."
"As for the Jin Mansion, as far as the poor monk knows, the King of Jin has been depressed and unhappy since the death of Yongping Hou Xie Cheng, and it may not last long."
"What His Highness should do now is to strictly abide by His Majesty's edict, be prepared with peace of mind, and at the same time not interfere in His Highness's affairs."
Yao Guangxiao still used the same rhetoric, hoping that Zhu Di would stay on his own side and not help Zhu Gaoxu at the same time.
Even though he had said his words thousands of times, Zhu Di still felt a little uncomfortable. After all, he liked Zhu Gaoxu the most among the three sons.
Now that Zhu Gaoxu is so outstanding but cannot return to Peking to be used by him, sometimes Zhu Di can't help but complain about his father in his heart.
But when he thought of Lao Zhu's angry appearance, Zhu Di quickly apologized to Lao Zhu in his heart.
His mind turned around, and when he thought that Zhu Shangbing would be returned to Xi'an to attack the Qin throne, Zhu Di thought of his eldest and third sons:
"Dao Yan, when will the boss and the third child be released?"
"I'm afraid not in the short term." Yao Guangxiao answered without thinking and continued:
"The Second Highness has been released to Jilin City. If the Crown Prince and the Third Highness are released again, His Majesty will have no leverage over you, Your Highness. You'd better not have any expectations."
Although he already knew the answer, Zhu Di still felt a little uncomfortable when he heard Yao Guangxiao say this.
But now that his sister Xu was still around, he had to pretend to be happy and smiled at Mrs. Xu:
"Sister Xu, I have to go to Kaiping Weibi with Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng and the others in May. It will take five months this time. You have to take good care of me at home. I don't want to die like my second brother. I don’t understand.”
"Your Highness..." Although she knew Zhu Di was joking, Mrs. Xu still looked unhappy. Upon seeing this, Zhu Di immediately coughed and stood up:
"I'm going to check out the stables. Daoyan, come with me."
After the words fell, before Xu could speak, Zhu Di took Yao Guangxiao out of the palace.
Looking at Zhu Di's leaving figure, Mrs. Xu was also amused.
But that smile didn't last long, as Mrs. Xu restrained it, and then looked worriedly out of the window, her mind filled with worries about Zhu Gaoxu learning that Feng Sheng had passed away.
As for the people he is worried about, they have no idea about the major events happening in the south and are still carrying out his plans...
"Your Highness, this slave is back!"
In the Bohai Palace, probably when Zhu Gaoxu was instructing a craftsman to carve a sand table, the sound he wanted to hear most at the moment came from the front yard behind him.
He suddenly turned around and walked out, and after a few breaths he saw the dusty Yi Shiha and two unfamiliar Jurchens.
"Yishiha, I've been waiting for your news for a long time!"
Zhu Gaoxu walked towards Yi Shiha enthusiastically, and before he could bow to him, he hugged him like a bear.
Sixteen-year-old Zhu Gaoxu is already five feet nine inches tall. Compared with him, Yi Shiha, who is only five feet three inches, is really not tall.
His enthusiastic behavior also made Yishiha feel warm in his heart, and the smile on his face became even wider.
After Zhu Gaoxu let go, he immediately introduced Zhu Gaoxu enthusiastically:
"Your Highness, this is Ta Shi, the eldest son of Hurha Khan in Fotijin City. He is negotiating with us on behalf of Hulha Khan."
"The son of Hurha Khan is missing, and he is here to see His Highness the King of Bohai..."
After Yi Shiha introduced him, Ta Shi, who was in his early twenties, knelt down on one knee and saluted Zhu Gaoxu.
His Mandarin wasn't very good, but Zhu Gaoxu could understand him.
He was not tall, only about five feet tall. Even if he stood up, he could only reach Zhu Gaoxu's chest, so Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand to hold him back and prevent him from kneeling.
"No one needs to kneel here, except the enemy."
Zhu Gaoxu said as he pulled Ta Shu towards Chengyun Hall.
Seeing this, Yishiha smiled at Tashi's guards and said in Jurchen dialect: "My Highness is easy-going, I didn't lie to you about this."
"I have indeed never seen a Han official who was so kind to us, and he was an official as big as him." The guard also gained knowledge and couldn't help praising him.
The two followed the footsteps of Zhu Gaoxu and Ta Shi and entered the Chengyun Hall. Of course, it was called the Chengyun Hall, but in fact it was taller and more spacious than an ordinary house.
After pulling Ta Shi into the Chengyun Hall, Zhu Gaoxu did not sit in the main seat, but sat side by side with him in the guest seat.
Yishiha sat aside and translated some words for Zhu Gaoxu that he did not understand, and Zhu Gaoxu also said to Tashi:
"I have always respected the tribes who are close to my Ming Dynasty, especially heroes like Hurha Khan."
"This time I sent Yishuha to Futijin City so that we can live in peace and trade with each other in the future."
Zhu Gaoxu said it very straightforwardly, because he was worried that Ta Shi would not understand, so Ta Shi did not mince words about this, but straightly said:
"Yishihad has already told my father about His Highness's affairs, and I have also heard a lot about your deeds."
"My father has already told Yi Shiha about our trade with Jilin City. You can ask him before making a decision."
After Ta Shi finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Yi Shiha, who also explained to Zhu Gaoxu:
"What Hurha Khan means is that he only exchanges what he needs. If he exchanges enough, he will not continue the trade. Instead, he will wait until the next transaction before sending someone to notify us."
"Hurha Khan needs food, the more the better, followed by five hundred iron pots, and preferably swords, guns, weapons and arrows."
"For this, he can exchange cows, horses, lambs, and fur ginseng with us. One stone of grain and one mink skin, or five deer and wolf skins. Bear skins and tiger skins cost three stones of rice. The price of the iron pot is the same. "
"As for weapons, he is willing to give two mink skins for each weapon and ten arrows for one mink skin."
"If we want to buy livestock, it's two shi meters for a sheep, five shi meters for a low-grade horse, ten shi meters for a medium horse, and twenty shi meters for a cow."
"But if His Highness is willing to sell them a thousand kilograms of tea leaves, they can buy the tea leaves for twenty cows."
Yi Shiha gave an overview of commodity prices. Basically, in the vast northeastern region north of Jilin, food is the hard currency, while tea and iron pot weapons are second-class goods.
"I can't sell weapons, but I can give them a thousand iron pots. In addition, I can also spend eight thousand stones of grain to buy draft horses, cattle and furs."
"We can transport food to them by water, but they have to send troops and people to protect them."
What Zhu Gaoxu needs most now is cash. After all, it is only a month and a half before Yang Bin arrives in Jilin City.
During this month and a half, he must exchange the excess grain in his hands for furs and livestock as quickly as possible, so that Yang Bin can provide him with support as much as possible.
Facing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Ta Shi was a little confused, so he was silent for a long time before nodding and said: "Okay, I will go back to the tribe now. When will we trade?"
"How about April 15th?" Zhu Gaoxu asked Ta Shi, and Ta Shi also looked at the guards he had brought.
The guard nodded. Seeing this, Ta Shi also looked at Zhu Gaoxu and nodded: "In this case, I will go back now. I hope you can send us off by boat."
"Of course this is not a problem." Zhu Gaoxu showed a smile on his face and turned his head to signal Yi Shiha to take care of it.
When Yishiha saw that the deal was concluded, he also warmly greeted Tashi and the others to stay for dinner, but Tashi and the others were anxious to go back.
This is not surprising. In the Northeast of this era, every tribe was experiencing food shortages before and after winter.
The eight thousand stones of grain that Zhu Gaoxu traded with them this time was enough to feed more than 20,000 people in the tribe for nearly two months.
These two months were enough for them to be busy until the spring plowing was over, and then they went hunting in the forest.
After the autumn harvest, they might be able to catch up with the second trade with Jilin City and spend a comfortable winter.
Seeing that Ta Shi and the others were anxious to go back, Yi Shiha did not force them to stay, but escorted them to the water village to take a boat back to Fotijin City.
In this way, Zhu Gaoxu only needs to wait until April 15th to trade...
(End of chapter)
