Zhu Xi, the king of Qin in the Ming Dynasty, who dressed himself like a bear, dragged Zhu Yunxi from the corridor between Chengtianmen and Duanmen to the Ancestral Temple area in the east with a mournful expression on his face.
Tian Mai, who was originally preparing to escort him, followed closely. After seeing the true appearance of the 'criminal', he looked helpless and turned sideways to look up at the sky.
Zhu Yunxi also saw clearly the appearance of his second uncle, and he had no choice but to use his skill to break free from the other party's restraints.
After rubbing his sore arm, Zhu Yunxi looked at Zhu Xi with a wry smile.
God knows where Zhu Xiang got such a bear skin. The hair on his body was dark, and there was not a single stray hair mixed in. The hair was even more shiny and smooth, swaying slightly with the cold wind, and pieces of snowflakes fell lightly and got stuck in the bearskin hair.
"Second uncle, why are you still in Beijing?"
Zhu Yunxi looked suspicious. He had not paid attention to his second uncle's affairs recently. When he returned to Beijing last time, he knew that he was called back by the old man.
It's just that after such a long time, I haven't left Beijing to continue working on business, which is a little different from the previous two years.
Zhu Xi coughed twice, without saying anything, and pulled Zhu Yunxi to move forward.
Zhu Yunxi looked at the surroundings and raised the corner of his mouth slightly: "Second uncle, you won't be punished by grandpa to kneel in the Ancestral Temple, right?"
Being exposed to his face, Zhu Ping couldn't go on. He stopped and let go of his hand, with an extremely resentful look on his face: "It's not because of you!"
Zhu Yunxi immediately took several steps back, with an expression of shock that seemed to be unprecedented on his face, and kept shaking his head and waving his hands: "Second uncle, I don't dare to say that!
My nephew returned to Beijing not long ago this year, and he was busy planting sweet potatoes, making steam engines, etc., and later building cement roads. He just finished his wedding some time ago.
You see, I wanted to add many children and grandchildren to our old Zhu family, but it snowed heavily again, and my nephew started busy with this matter as soon as he opened his eyes today. "
After finishing speaking, Zhu Yunxi looked at Zhu Xi slightly sideways. That look in his eyes seemed to be saying: Look, I am a very busy person. I am so busy that I don’t even have time to have a baby. How could I possibly cheat you?
Zhu Xiang was so angry that he scratched his head and cheeks, and stamped the snow with his bear paws: "Shameless! I have never seen such a shameless person!"
After finishing speaking, Zhu Xiang's face was full of grief and anger, and he waved his hand to Zhu Yunxi: "If I don't return to Xi'an, second uncle, your aunt will run away with someone else!"
"Wouldn't it be possible for my second uncle to find a younger and more beautiful princess?"
Zhu Yunxi curled his lips and cooed quietly.
Zhu Xiang glared immediately: "What are you talking about!"
"My nephew said that my aunt's love for my second uncle is as strong as gold. I can tell from the sun and the moon. I will never let you down, my second uncle." Zhu Yunxi hurriedly explained loudly.
But he didn't want to be grabbed by Zhu Xi again, so he was about to pull him into the Ancestral Temple.
Two deep marks soon appeared on the snow.
Zhu Yunxi was helpless and shouted: "I'll go with you, second uncle, please let me go first!"
Zhu Fang glanced back and saw that his eldest nephew, whom he had labeled as a cunning person as early as Zhejiang Road, really had no intention of escaping, so he let go of his hand.
Zhu Yunxi took a deep breath and saw his second uncle staring at him dimly, as if he would immediately continue to attack him as long as he wanted to run away. He shook his head with a helpless smile and walked straight to the Ancestral Temple.
Although everyone knows that the old man has always advocated frugality, and he has maintained a simple spirit by setting an example. But he paid special attention to the matter of clan sacrifices and treated them with high standards.
On both sides of the Meridian Gate and Chengtian Gate, in a huge area half the size of the imperial palace, there are only two building complexes: the Ancestral Temple and the Sheji Altar.
To the east is the Imperial Ancestral Temple, which now enshrines the four generations of ancestors of the Ming Dynasty. Huang Gaozu, Huang great ancestor, Huang Zu, Huang Kao.
It can be said that the imperial architecture of the Ming Dynasty was basically the same.
Entering from the main entrance of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, you can see the main hall blocked by the front hall and located at the back of the Sanzhong Danshang.
After entering the Ancestral Temple, Zhu Xi seemed to be a different person, with a more relaxed expression and a more natural demeanor.
It's like...
It's like going home.
"Relax, there's no one here, just treat it as if it's your grandson's mansion."
Zhu Ming smiled heartily and led Zhu Yunxi through the front hall and to the square in front of the main hall.
Zhu Yunxi looked around, and at a glance he could see dozens of imperial officers and soldiers holding halberds on the left and right of the corridor of the main hall. Even though the wind and snow were blowing at the moment, these people were still guarding the temple like pines and cypresses.
Zhu Ping looked back at Zhu Yunxi and hummed: "They are all blind. You don't need to worry about them. Come this way."
As he spoke, Zhu Xi took Zhu Yunxi to a row of palaces on the east side of the Taimiao Hall.
Creak.
The door hinge seemed to have not been oiled for some days and made a creaking sound.
Already inside the house, the heat on the shop floor is overwhelming.
Zhu Ming closed the door with a smile to block the wind and snow outside, then turned around and took off the bearskin, and walked straight to the charcoal stove placed in the center of the room.
There was a clanging sound.
Zhu Xi was already lighting up the charcoal stove, making eight-treasure tea and roasting oranges, dried dates, peanuts, beans and other snacks.
When he sat cross-legged on the thick cushions next to the charcoal stove, he looked up at Zhu Yunxi, who was still looking around, and hurriedly waved and said: "Nephew, come and sit."
Zhu Yunhe glanced twice again, then sat down cross-legged and looked at Zhu Xi, who was already drinking tea and chewing food, with a smile on his face.
"Wasn't my second uncle punished by my grandfather to think before the ancestral shrine?"
Zhu Xiang raised his head and rolled his eyes at Zhu Yunxi, threw the unfinished baked goods in his hands on the table, clapped his hands and rolled his eyes: "Do you remember that your second uncle is punished by the old man every day? I can't be inappropriate. Is that why you live here?”
Zhu Yunxi smiled and nodded, staring blankly at His Highness King Qin of the Ming Dynasty, who should have lived in the Ancestral Temple for three or four months this year.
I saw that my second uncle had already poured eight-treasure tea for him.
Zhu Yunxi silently held the tea cup in his hands and took a sip. The sweet aroma was mixed with honey.
Zhu Yunxi couldn't help but twitch his brows, thinking that the second uncle's eight-treasure tea was quite good.
Then, he held the tea cup in one hand and picked up the baked food on the stove with the other hand and chewed it carefully.
Zhu Xi blinked, frowning silently, and quietly rubbed his thighs with his hands under the table.
But Zhu Yunxi just didn't speak.
Either drinking tea or eating baked goods, it was treated as a meal.
Zhu Xi couldn't help but become anxious, but a smile brighter than the flowers appeared on his face: "Eldest nephew, how is the second uncle's craftsmanship?"
Zhu Yunxi was eating roasted peanuts, which were very fragrant and even more fragrant when paired with eight-treasure tea.
He couldn't help but nodded: "Second uncle is good at his craftsmanship."
Zhu Xiang's brows were about to be pinched off, this guy's reply was too perfunctory!
Feeling anxious, Zhu Xi said with a smile: "Look, your aunt has always liked eating these things made by her second uncle in the past years. Your aunt has not eaten them in two or three years now!"
Zhu Yunxi crushed a peanut shell, picked out four plump peanuts and put them into his mouth. He tilted his head and looked at his second uncle with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth: "Second uncle, I heard that my aunt has been in Xi'an in the past two years. The general is being raised very well. Aunt Deng, on the other hand, often writes to Yingtian asking Brother Bing when the second uncle and Brother Bing will be able to return to Xi'an."
After finishing speaking, Zhu Yunxi glanced at Zhu Ping blankly.
But just such a look made Zhu Ping blush and look elsewhere.
Zhu Yunxi chuckled silently and continued drinking tea and eating baked food.
Everyone in the imperial court didn't know that this second uncle of his family loved his concubine Deng to no end, but was extremely alienated from his wife Wang, and even moved to another place, delivering meals and food in a covered container every day.
Seeing that he was exposed, Zhu Xi shook his head and waved his hands indiscriminately: "I'm talking about Mrs. Deng, she...she is also your aunt!"
Zhu Yunxi smiled and did not speak. Instead, he lowered his head and swallowed the last bit of tea and the messy things in the teacup. Then he clapped his hands and wiped his hands on both sides of his thighs.
Finally, Zhu Yunxi took a long breath and looked at Zhu Xi who was sitting in front of him: "Second uncle, my nephew knows that it is very hard for you to be the tax envoy of Six Roads. But this is a national policy, and Grandpa personally nodded to confirm it. The national policy of the Ming Dynasty.
The nephew also understands that the second uncle knows these truths. Such matters related to the Ming Dynasty must be personally supervised by my Zhu family clan.
So, what is the reason that makes my second uncle so reluctant to continue with this matter, and even hides with our ancestors for three or four months. "
After finishing speaking, Zhu Yunxi sighed softly with twinkling eyes.
As the royal princes of the Ming Dynasty, especially the first few princes who grew up with the founding of the Ming Dynasty, regardless of their personal character and temperament, no one is a coward.
Just like now, the second uncle obviously has a hundred reasons in his heart that he does not want to continue to do the job of sharing the land with the peasants and paying the grain to the officials and gentry. Don't look at him now, like a ghost crying like a wolf or a wolf howling like a ghost, unreasonably trying to get rid of his errands in front of him.
But when the second uncle comes to the old man, he will only be more obedient than anyone else, and he will never say a word that he doesn't want to do anything.
Zhu Xi was obviously stunned for a moment.
He knew that there would always be a time to talk, but he never expected that he would say what he just said in this way.
After just thinking about it briefly, Zhu Xi sighed: "Brother Xi, things are difficult! Since you have said so, my second uncle will no longer cover up."
Zhu Xi straightened his back, coughed twice, and then said solemnly: "Second uncle is not afraid of the infamy he will get for doing these things. When we were in Zhejiang Road, we killed half of Zhejiang Road. You saw my second uncle blinking. ?
No!
Your second uncle is not afraid of any infamy! Second uncle doesn’t dare anymore! My second uncle has been taking care of these things for two years. If we want to say who in the Ming Dynasty knows the most about the land tax reform, except for my second uncle, no one dares to say that he knows better.
It is because of this that the second uncle dare not continue to do it, and he is also afraid of continuing to do it. "
Zhu Yunxi had been quietly watching Zhu Xiang who stated these things with true feelings. The second uncle did not tell lies, he only said what was in his heart.
Involuntarily, Zhu Yunxi frowned.
The second uncle was right. No one in the entire Ming Dynasty knew the land tax reform better than him.
"So, second uncle, why are you afraid to continue?"
"They are so abnormal!" Zhu Xi said urgently, and then he, who was sitting cross-legged on the mat, almost stood up: "From the winter of the 24th year of Hongwu to the spring and summer of the 25th year of Hongwu, we are Implement national policies in Zhejiang Province.
Later, starting from the winter of the 25th year of Hongwu, I took on the responsibility of reforming the six-course land tax. By the 26th year of Hongwu, you and Chang Sheng led the troops south, and I, the second uncle, carried out the national policy alone. Even in the twenty-seventh year of Hongwu this year.
At the beginning, there were occasional local resisters and those who did not follow the national policy. But what happened next? Later, everyone seemed to be willing to do so. As long as our people left, they would obediently take out the account books with the amount of the land.
Things are going so smoothly! Brother Hei, I have never seen anything related to the country be handled so smoothly! "
Speaking of this, Zhu Ping suddenly trembled.
It was as if he was surprised.
Then under Zhu Yunxi's gaze, Zhu Xi, who was originally calm, suddenly seemed to have seen a ghost, with a frightened expression on his face.
Zhu Xi also said more urgently: "What are they thinking? What do they want to do? What are they preparing for? Are they going to overthrow the Ming Dynasty of my Zhu family? Brother Xi! Brother Xi! What do you think they are? What do you want to do?"
After mumbling for a while, Zhu Xi began to breathe heavily, and his face that was originally rosy from the charcoal fire turned pale in the blink of an eye.
"Second uncle! Second uncle!"
Zhu Yunxi called several times in succession, and even stood up and stretched out his hand to press on Zhu Ming's arm.
Zhu Xi's expression finally calmed down, and then he took a deep breath and looked fixedly at Zhu Yunxi who was comforting him in front of him.
"Yunxi! Listen to my second uncle's advice. This matter cannot be handled in such a hurry."
"Second uncle is really afraid. If we continue to do this, what will happen in the world."
Zhu Yunxi sighed quietly: "Second uncle, since ancient times, there has been no innovation without bloodshed. I am waiting, waiting for them to jump out. Yingtian's 100,000 forbidden troops and 200,000 Beijing troops are already ready to go, sharpening their swords.
I'm waiting for them to show up, so that they can sweep away the world with the power of thunder, and clean up my Ming Dynasty, so that I can move towards the prosperous age of my Ming Dynasty safely. "
Zhu Xi kept rubbing his thigh with one hand and looked solemnly: "Yunxi, if you want to use troops, my second uncle will be your pioneer! But you don't know where they are hiding and how many there are. You I don’t even know how many of these people have been connected in series now.
In the countryside, there were county magistrates in ancient times, but now there are gentry, and the people are led by them. If there is chaos all over the place, the army can suppress it, but if there is war everywhere, have my Zhu family taken the surname of Dragon King?
At present, they are just promoting the sharing of grain between farmers and the government, and they may feel that it is just a little more money and grain. But they definitely have countless ways to even out this income.
But you have already implemented the restructuring of grain chiefs and tax collectors in Yingtian Mansion. The tax bureau has become so popular that even their last bit of local power will be taken away. "
Zhu Xi stood up, with worry on his face: "My family is going to take away all their benefits and leave them no way to survive. Rabbits can bite people when they are cornered. If they are cornered, my family will Do you really want to sit back and watch the world go to war?"
Zhu Yunxi's face was gloomy, his eyes were shining, and he said with a hint of murderous intent: "Second uncle may not know that due to the snowy conditions this winter, I have mobilized 30,000 Beijing troops to leave the capital. I just came from Qianqing Palace and I have already confessed to grandpa. One hundred thousand Beijing troops can be used."
Zhu Ping suddenly turned around, his eyes widened, and then his eyes gradually softened, and he sighed: "Maybe nothing will happen this winter, but once you implement the reform of grain chief and tax collector in Liudao, trouble will definitely happen!"
After speaking, Zhu Xi walked in front of Zhu Yunxi in three steps and two steps, and slapped his shoulders heavily with both hands.
"Yunxi, my second uncle knows that there are innovations in every dynasty. You are now the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty. Although the old man is already old, your father is in his prime and you are even younger.
Isn’t it good for my Xu Xu Tu to do it?
The second uncle can take care of the six-way land tax change for you, but if you continue and something happens, the second uncle won't be able to handle it! "
Zhu Yunxi did not speak, but sat down, frowning, and thought deeply.
Zhu Xi spoke out all the worries in his heart today. He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. The burden that had been weighing on his heart in the past seemed to be swept away in this moment.
Seeing Zhu Yunxi meditating, he also sat down and carefully poured a cup of eight-treasure tea for each of them.
After a long time.
Zhu Yunxi finally made a sound from his throat, and then opened his eyes that he had not known when he had closed: "Second uncle, it's time for Brother Bing to get married. He has been strong since he was a child, and now he has superb martial arts. You are making rapid progress, and after you get married, you should be like Brother Chi and work for my Zhu family."
Zhu Xi was stunned for a moment and didn't understand why he was still talking about things related to the danger of the Ming Dynasty. This boy thought about it for a long time and then turned around and talked about his son again.
Zhu Xiang's eyes turned, and he suddenly banged the table in front of him, and said loudly: "Zhu Yunxi! I have already risked my life to take the blame for you, you can't bring trouble to Brother Bing anymore!"
Zhu Yunxi spread his hands: "Brother Bing pestered me and shouted that he wanted to be a general, but I didn't encourage him at all."
Zhu Xiang suddenly became anxious.
He stood up and clasped his hands, pacing back and forth.
Then he stared at Zhu Yunxi intently, waved his hand and said: "You want to use the Beijing army, this is something that the old man has agreed to. I will take the blame for you to fight, this is what I am willing to do. If you let Brother Bing go down and kill people for you, This is absolutely impossible!”
"I can't control this matter. The legs are on Brother Bing, your second uncle's biological son. I suggest that if you are worried, just break his legs."
Zhu Yunxi hummed and cooed for a while.
Then, under Zhu Xi's questioning gaze, he slowly stood up and walked towards the door.
The door hinge, which had not been oiled for a long time, once again made a creaking sound.
Outside the house was full of wind and snow, and people were squeezing in front and back.
Zhu Yunxi faced the wind and snow and looked back at Zhu Ping.
"Second uncle, the weather will not change tomorrow, don't worry."
"Don't worry, don't be upset."
"The heaven and earth here will surely make the sun and moon shine forever!"
