The courtiers here basically wanted to finalize the candidate for the crown prince as early as possible, but before they could say anything else, Zhu Yuanzhang had already given instructions: "Go ahead and tell the vassal princes from all over the country not to return to the capital. If they violate the rules, their princes will be deprived of their titles and demoted to common people. Guard generals from all places. You are not allowed to return to the capital without an order, and those who violate it will be punished for treason! From today on, Li Jinglong, the commander-in-chief of the Left Army, will take over the defense of Yingtianfu. The Yingtianfu Yamen and the City Patrol Department must cooperate more, and the officials of the six departments must not slack off in performing their duties. As for the establishment of a crown prince, Let’s wait until later!”
Now that the prince is dead, what he fears most is that someone will take advantage of this matter, so Zhu Yuanzhang directly asked Li Jinglong to take over the defense of Yingtian Mansion. From this, we can also see Zhu Yuanzhang's love and trust in Li Jinglong.
Zhu Yuanzhang has said his word to death, and these courtiers will naturally not get into trouble. Although they have not been able to appoint the person they support as the crown prince, they have not established an opponent. The future is long.
All the courtiers saluted Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said, "Is Zhang Ren here?"
Zhang Ren immediately poked his head out of the corner and raised his hands, not forgetting to say: "Your Majesty, I am here."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded towards Zhang Ren and said, "Zhang Ren will stay, and the rest of the people will leave."
The courtiers retreated. Li Jinglong took a deep look when he passed by Zhang Ren, seeming to be a little dissatisfied that Zhang Ren could be left alone.
However, the decree was given by Zhu Yuanzhang, so Li Jinglong couldn't say much and could only retreat.
But when Jiang Wei passed by Zhang Ren, he said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "If you have a smart mind, don't say the wrong thing."
Zhang Ren looked at Jiang Yu angrily and thought, what? Do I look out of my mind?
Jiang Wei walked out as if he hadn't seen him before.
It wasn't until all the courtiers were gone that Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and leaned on the backrest.
Zhang Ren looked at the wrinkles on Zhu Yuanzhang's face and the gray spots on his temples, and couldn't help but worry: "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."
Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand with his eyes closed and asked softly: "Zhang Ren, who do you think can be the heir apparent?"
you still need to ask? This question was left to Zhang Ren to choose. Of course he would choose Zhu Yunwen, the one with whom he had the closest relationship.
Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly thought of Jiang Wei's reminder just now.
I am just a small member of the royal family, am I qualified to speak about establishing a heirloom? The answer is obvious.
Zhang Ren's mind became extremely smart and transparent at this moment. He knew that he could not express any position on the matter of establishing the crown prince, let alone make small moves. In this situation, who can become the crown prince does not depend on the power behind it. , but decided based on the words of the old man in front of him.
Before Zhang Ren could answer, Zhu Yuanzhang asked again, "Why didn't you reply?"
Zhang Ren immediately lowered his head and cupped his hands towards Zhu Yuanzhang, saying: "Establishing a prince is a matter for the whole world. I am just a small household, and I really don't have much say. Besides, Wei Chen doesn't count either." You are smart, and you can’t understand the good or bad of the princes, but it doesn’t matter, there is still you in this world, Your Majesty. With Your Majesty’s discernment, you will definitely choose the most correct person to become the crown prince.”
Zhu Yuanzhang still did not open his eyes and could not see any expression, but he also said softly: "You say you are not smart, but I think you are much smarter than many courtiers, so let those courtiers who think they are smart fight. Well, I want to see what kind of waves these people can make."
….
Hearing this, Zhang Ren couldn't help but feel a chill down his back. He didn't know how Zhu Yuanzhang would treat it now if he had just said that Zhu Yunwen could be the heir apparent.
Maybe be demoted? Maybe be exiled? Or beheaded directly?
Zhang Ren didn't dare to think about it. He wanted to stay away from the whirlpool, but he was already in it. The only thing he could do now was probably to follow the trend.
Zhu Yuanzhang finally opened his eyes. At this moment, the pain of losing his son was no longer in his eyes, only the glory of being an emperor was left in his eyes.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied when he saw the respectful Zhang Ren in front of him, and began to say: "Zhang Ren, remember, you only need to do one thing now."
Zhang Ren stood up straight and said, "Your Majesty Danqing ordered."
Just listen to Zhu Yuanzhang say: "Protect Yunwen, no matter what, you must protect Yunwen."
Although it was not stated explicitly, this statement also indicated that Zhu Yunwen would become the next crown prince.
Zhang Ren was glad that he made the right bet.
He bowed forward and accepted the order: "I will protect His Majesty the Emperor Sun from all dangers!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said softly: "Okay, go out, but if there is any trouble, you can enter the palace at any time."
Zhang Ren exited the imperial study, and Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes again.
…
In James's house, Zhu Yunwen, dressed in mourning clothes, was kneeling on the newly built mourning hall. At this moment, his tears couldn't stop flowing, and all he could do was to wipe his tears while silently burning paper money.
Jia Yuntong outside the mourning hall sighed silently, turned to Sun Qiyue and said: "The prince is so pitiful, he died at such a young age."
Sun Qiyue glared at Jia Yun angrily and said, "If you have anything to say, just say it!"
Jia Yuntong thought for a while and then said: "To be honest, the prince was not kind to us when he was alive. Do we want to help him?"
Sun Qiyue looked at Bai Fan, who was swaying in the wind, and asked, "Everyone is gone, how can we help?"
Just listen to Jia Yuntong say: "The prince is gone, but doesn't he still have a son? We can help his son ascend to the throne. This will not be in vain for our acquaintance with him, and it can be regarded as fulfilling the righteousness of the monarch and his ministers."
Sun Qiyue looked at Zhu Yunwen in the mourning hall, shook his head and said: "The prince has two sons, should we choose Zhu Yunxi or Zhu Yunwen? Furthermore, do you think Zhu Yuanzhang can listen to us?"
Jia Yuntong leaned against the big tree, changed himself into a comfortable position, and then said: "Choose Zhu Yunxi. After all, he is the crown prince's legitimate son, so we will help him become the crown prince. If Zhu Yuanzhang does not agree, we will directly force him." !」
Sun Qiyue looked at Jia Yuntong like an idiot and said, "Although our martial arts skills are not bad, we probably can't get close to Zhu Yuanzhang. I can feel that he is protected by masters."
Jia Yuntong wanted to say something more, but he never thought that a voice came from behind: "Eunuch Jia, Grandma Sun, I'm not talking about you two. Even if you have to choose, you have to choose Yunwen. Why choose Zhu Yunxi?"
As soon as these words came out, Jia Yuntong and Sun Qiyue were startled. They turned around and saw Zhang Ren walking out from behind the tree.
Jia Yuntong spat on the ground and said, "You kid, do you want to scare us to death?"
Sun Qiyue's eyes were filled with coldness as she asked, "Did you hear everything we just said?"
Night rivers and lakes.
...
(Remember to bookmark it for next time reading!)
