Zhu Gaojie looked at Zhu Zhanji and couldn't help but chuckle: "You are still young."
Zhu Zhanji frowned: "It sounds like you are several years older than me."
Zhu Gaojie was born in the twelfth lunar month of the 24th year of Hongwu, and Zhu Zhanji was born in February of the second year of Jianwen. Although the two were uncles and nephews, Zhu Gaojie was only six years older than Zhu Zhanji.
But now the emperor's grandson looked at King Qi's tone, as if he was decades older, lamenting that time is not forgiving, and missing his youth.
Zhu Gaojie, on the other hand, smiled and said nothing more.
His two lifetimes combined were older than Zhu Di's. Over the years, he had slowly merged with the personalities in his mind, and his mental age had long exceeded what normal humans could understand.
It was as if ten souls were stuffed into the same body, and different temperaments appeared on Zhu Gaojie's body:
He has the rebelliousness of a champion, the domineering awe of the First Emperor, the condescension of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, the indifference and ruthlessness of some people, the strategizing of the Soldier Immortal, the heroic and arrogant Emperor Wu of Wei, and the unscrupulous tactics of the Prime Minister of Qin...
If it were an ordinary person, he would have collapsed under such a huge mental burden. However, Zhu Gaojie was able to blend these personalities just right. Although his style changed, the main personality was always him.
His figure seemed to span thousands of years of history, with a young body and a vicissitudes of soul, making it difficult for everyone to understand what kind of person King Qi was.
…
In the corridor of Qianqing Palace, Prince Zhu Gaochi walked in, kowtowed and saluted: "My son Zhu Gaochi, I wish you the best."
"Actually, it doesn't matter whether you come or not. You can't protect him today."
Zhu Di said slowly, "The lessons learned from the third child are still fresh in my mind. Now this boy Zhanji wants to imitate Li Shimin back then, and joins forces with that boy Xu Qin to launch a mutiny. It's a pity that he is not Li Shimin, and I am not Li Yuan. He failed." Yes, you must admit your mistakes and stand upright when you are beaten. He is not beating the kid next door, he is rebelling!"
"What do you plan to do with the child Zhan Ji, father?" Zhu Gaochi asked.
"Although he has committed a serious crime of treason, he is my son and grandson after all. He can be exempted from death penalty, but he can't escape the death penalty. He will be deposed from the position of grandson and demoted to a commoner." Zhu Di said, "As for you. As a father, you have to spend three years behind closed doors, during which time you are not allowed to go out without permission."
Such a punishment may seem like a devastating disaster, but it is actually very light.
Zhu Di made it very clear just now. What Zhu Zhanji committed was not a child's fault, he committed rebellion! Conspiracy with Duke Xu Qin of Wei to rebel and launch a mutiny!
If Zhu Zhanji had succeeded in this matter, King Qi would have been doomed, and Zhu Di's fate would probably be similar to that of Li Yuan, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty. He had the title of Supreme Emperor, but in fact he was no different from a mascot.
Ji Gang was accused of "treason" and was sentenced to death in Lingchi, to be cut into pieces with a thousand swords, and to wipe out all three clans!
"Zhan Ji made a big mistake, and I, the father, am also guilty. It was my failure to teach my son that led to such a disaster." Zhu Gaochi breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "It is the father's fault that the son does not teach me. Please tell me, father." Your Majesty, blame me, the crown prince!"
Zhu Di frowned slightly: "What do you mean?"
Zhu Gaochi smiled: "If the fourth brother wants to ascend to the throne, but his name is not right and his words are not right, as long as I, the crown prince, are still in the capital, then King Qi will never be able to match the inherited position. Don't let me, the crown prince, occupy the shithole. Shit, I’m not in good health, and my fourth brother is still young and strong, so why not take this opportunity to make room for my fourth brother.”
When Zhu Di heard this, he finally understood what Zhu Gaochi wanted to say: "Do you want to resign as the prince and keep Zhanji?"
Zhu Gaochi did not answer, with a relieved smile on his face.
Dong Gong and his son seemed to have a perfect understanding.
Zhu Zhanji wanted to use his own life to preserve the foundation of the East Palace and his father's position as prince.
And Zhu Gaochi wanted to use his position as prince to keep Zhu Zhanji.
Everyone is thinking about each other, even if they occasionally disagree, occasionally Zhu Zhanji will be rebellious and disobedient, and occasionally Zhu Gaochi will feel that Zhu Zhanji is too violent... These little bits and pieces of daily life, I think about it now. But how warm it is.
They are both willing to use everything they have to exchange for each other's happiness.
"Are you sure?" Zhu Di's face was solemn.
Zhu Gaochi did not answer directly, but used memories to tell something: "Father, do you still remember that when you asked Prince Qi's Palace to marry the British Duke's Palace, the Han Dynasty Party went crazy and set fire to Zhang Fu in the court?"
"My memory is very good, of course I remember it." Zhu Di closed his eyes lightly and said, "In those years, King Qi was not as powerful as he is now. He was isolated and helpless in the court. Facing the Han Dynasty Party that was in full swing at that time, it was you who The East Palace stood up and helped King Qi suppress the Han king's party, and then the boy Lao Si beat the Youdu Yushi Chen Jin to death in front of the court with the back of a knife, and his blood spattered the Fengtian Palace!"
"Father, do you know why I, the East Palace, wanted to help King Qi in the first place?" Zhu Gaochi asked again.
"I'm also very curious." Zhu Di stroked his frost-colored beard, "What did the fourth child say to you the night before the blood spattered Fengtian Palace?"
This time it was Zhu Gaochi's turn to be confused.
The night before the "blood splattered on Fengtian Palace" incident occurred, King Qi went to the East Palace in the dark to talk to the prince. This matter was extremely secret. Even the grandson didn't know about it. How did Zhu Di know about it?
What did King Qi say? No, why is King Qi telling the old man this when he has nothing to do...
Zhu Gaochi suddenly felt as if the entire Jinling City was in the palm of the old man's hands, and nothing could be hidden from him, which made people awe-inspiring.
However, this has nothing to do with him.
"That night, King Qi found me with a map." Zhu Gaochi said slowly.
"Map?" Zhu Di became interested, "What map?"
What kind of map is it that can make the prince willing to take action for Prince Qi's Mansion?
"It's a map, a map I've never seen before. Thinking about it now, I still feel confused."
Zhu Gaochi recalled, "He called that map a world map. There were countless countries on the map, some I knew and some I didn't know. I can't remember exactly. I only remember... France, England, and Great Britain. ,Spain Portugal……"
Zhu Di was a little confused when he heard this: "What the hell?"
Zheng He visited many places during his voyages to the West, but he has never been to Europe. The main countries he visited were: Champa (Southern Vietnam), Chenla (Cambodia), Siam (Thailand), Sumatra and Old Port (Sumatra, Indonesia), Bangni (Kalimantan, Indonesia), Java (Java Island, Indonesia), Malacca (Malacca), Mount Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Liushan (Maldives), Bangla (Bangladesh), Guri ( Calicut, India)…
Therefore, Zhu Di did not know much about Europe.
"King Qi said that the greatest threat to the Ming Dynasty is in the north, that is, the Mongols, Jianzhou and other foreign races, but the greatest threat to the Han people is not in the north, but in the West." Zhu Gaochi said slowly, "The Mongols have only been able to carry out their development for a hundred years. Barbarians armed with scimitars and plundering on horseback, but those Westerners are different. They are developing civilization. In another five or six hundred years, Europe will become the biggest enemy of the Central Plains."
"It's a joke, it's just a Western..." Zhu Di's voice suddenly paused.
He suddenly remembered the simulated Southwest Qi Palace before.
Prince Qi's Mansion in the southwest seems to be isolated from the world and has little contact with the imperial court. According to some clues, Prince Qi's Mansion's goal has always been the West. Why is Prince Qi so obsessed with the West?
At that time, Prince Qi's Mansion was already unbelievably powerful, possessing unimaginable powerful technology. It could easily destroy hundreds of thousands of Emperor Jiajing's imperial troops. If Prince Qi was determined at that time, he could have taken advantage of the situation to march to the north and conquer. Beijing.
However, their target has never been in the north, but in the West.
"Lao Si took the map and made some gestures. He told me that he would lead the army to fight from here to wherever." Zhu Gaochi continued, "From the Ming Dynasty to a city named Paris, it will take ten years to fight. It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter if he fights for a hundred years, if he doesn’t finish the fight while he is alive, then let the descendants fight, descendants, and generations to fight!”
"From that time on, I felt that I couldn't compare to him, whether it was in terms of vision or ambition."
"The Ming Dynasty needs King Qi. If I succeed to the throne, I will only be a conservative king. But if King Qi succeeds to the throne, he will be a great emperor like Genghis Khan who made the empire's territory infinitely vast."
There are only a handful of emperors who can be called "great emperors" throughout the ages.
Zhu Gaochi was able to give such a high evaluation, which surprised Zhu Di.
"If the father wants the King of Han to succeed to the throne, his sons will fight to the death to stop him. Although the King of Han is also ambitious, his strength is not worthy of his ambition." Zhu Gaochi said with relief, "But if the father wants King Qi to succeed, I will fight, but I won’t fight tooth and nail. Now that I have lost, I am convinced that I lost.”
"As the crown prince, I, as the elder brother, should be able to do the last favor for my younger brother."
…
Zhu Gaojie lay stretched out on the golden armchair, sleeping so soundly that his lips almost dripped with tears.
Zhu Zhanji was leaning under the red paint pillar, wondering what he was thinking.
The great eunuch Tang Cheng walked into the Nuan Pavilion. When he saw this scene, his lips twitched slightly: This King Qi really regards the Emperor's Qianqing Palace as his own home!
"Ahem." Tang Cheng coughed.
Zhu Gaojie slowly opened his eyes. After seeing it was Tang Cheng, he said lazily: "Who did I think it was? It turned out to be Uncle Tang. If it's okay, I'll sleep a little longer. I ran all over the capital in the middle of the night. , I’m so sleepy.”
Tang Cheng said: "Your Majesty asked you to go there by yourself."
"……Fine."
Zhu Gaojie was a little depressed when he heard this, but he had to get up and walk in the direction of Zhu Di.
(End of chapter)
