I slept in a familiar small courtyard and went to meet my good brother early the next morning.
Zhu Zhanji still remained diligent and got up early in the morning. Sun Ruowei accompanied him, but there was no sign of his concubine Hu Shanxiang. He actually said that Hu Shanxiang was boring, so Zhu Zhanji never liked her very much, and everyone knew it.
Hu Shanxiang was not favored, but the Crown Princess recognized Hu Shanxiang unusually, and said that a woman like Hu Shanxiang was a qualified concubine who would not cling to a man or take up his working time.
Because Sun Ruowei did not become a princess, her mentality still changed to a certain extent, and she had to follow Zhu Zhanji all the time. Overall, she was much more interesting than Hu Shanxiang. Sun Ruowei always got Zhu Zhanji's preference.
"Brother."
"Fifth brother."
"Brother."
"Fifth brother."
The two were filled with enthusiasm as soon as they met.
"Hello, sister-in-law."
Sun Ruowei smiled slightly: "Your Highness, Fifth Highness, you must call me sister-in-law."
The title sister-in-law was given to Hu Shanxiang, and Zhu Zhanzhen couldn't care less: "It's okay, I'm used to calling you sister-in-law. Sister-in-law can just call me fifth brother, but calling me fifth highness is unfamiliar."
Zhu Zhanji pulled Zhu Zhancheng to sit down and said, "Zhancheng, do you know about Grandpa Huang's Northern Expedition?"
"I know, third brother told me on the way back yesterday."
"What's your attitude?"
"Yesterday, third brother told me that my father asked me to persuade Grandpa Huang."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhanyi frowned slightly. Zhu Zhanyi's persuasion would still have a certain effect. After all, Zhu Zhanyi now has more soldiers than he and his second uncle combined.
Zhu Zhanzhen laughed: "But when I met Grandpa Huang yesterday, I said that we must fight."
"You kid, you want to show off with me first," Zhu Zhanji also laughed. He is a true warrior.
"Now that the Ming Dynasty has strong troops and horses, there is no reason to let the barbarians in the north be so arrogant. At the same time, Jiaozhi in the south has been pacified, and the Japanese pirates have not dared to approach our coast in recent years. It is time to deal with the north." Zhu Zhanyang did not establish anything about the last Northern Expedition.
Immortal merit is still a bit dissatisfying.
Zhu Zhanzhen also agreed with his point of view.
"Zhan Zhen, this time we are expected to leave after the spring of next year. During this period, my mother still wants you to decide on the matter of choosing a concubine. My mother will leave this matter to your two sisters-in-law. You
Tell me how you like it."
The Crown Princess left the matter of Zhu Zhanzhen's selection of concubine to Sun Ruowei and Hu Shanxiang, and also gave these two daughters-in-law a little training. Of course, it was only the first half. In the end, the most important final selection step had to be done by herself.
Li Xiaozhu and Zara are both of different races and cannot become Zhu Zhanzhen's principal concubine, so they will both become side concubines. In this case, including the upcoming principal concubine, the third concubine is certain.
The Crown Princess was very worried that Zhu Zhanyi would give birth to an heir, so she had to put it on the agenda as soon as possible.
"As soon as the news of choosing a concubine for you was released, there were a lot of princes and noble ladies who wanted to be your concubine. There were so many people that I was shocked."
It's true when I think about it. The power Zhu Zhanzhen now holds is enough to make all the princes and nobles want to marry him.
Sun Ruowei added tea to the two of them and asked: "The fifth palace...the fifth brother, the granddaughter of Duke Qi, the legitimate daughter of Ping Jiangbo, the granddaughter of Yuanshan Marquis, and the youngest daughter of British Duke, these are the more outstanding ones."
As soon as I heard the name Zhu Zhanzhen, the daughter of the British Duke, I thought of Zhang Zhong's appearance. If the two brothers and sisters looked alike, then forget it.
Moreover, the royal family of the Ming Dynasty actually had an unwritten rule when it came to marrying wives, that is, they rarely married daughters from high-ranking official families, as they were worried about their relatives interfering in politics. Instead, they chose daughters from lower-ranking official families based on their appearance and virtue.
Concubine Taisun’s father was just a minor official.
The only one among these people that Zhu Zhanzhen really cared about was Ping Jiangbo's legitimate daughter. As we all know, Ping Jiangbo Chen Xuan did not have a legitimate daughter. His legitimate daughter was the daughter of his adoptive sister, Cao Xinyue.
He has not seen Cao Xinyue again in these years, and every letter exchange has been about business matters. The conversation is very simple, and it seems that he deliberately wants to keep a distance from Zhu Zhanzhen.
"Fifth brother, you must have met this daughter of Uncle Ping Jiang. I remember she should be familiar with you."
Zhu Zhanchen nodded.
"This Miss Chen is famous all over Nanjing. She is good at poetry, calligraphy, etiquette and music. In recent years, people who have gone to Chen Marshal's house to propose marriage have almost crossed the threshold, but she has never agreed. It's a pity that she is better than
You need to be a little older by two or three years."
Generally speaking, when choosing a concubine, you will not choose someone older than yourself.
Zhu Zhanji patted him on the shoulder: "You have to choose your concubine carefully."
This sentence was profound. Zhu Zhanzhen glanced at Sun Ruowei, but her expression did not change.
But I, Zhu Zhanzhen, am not like you Zhu Zhanji. I love the whole world.
…
He had to go to court early the next morning, so Zhu Zhanzhen had to get up early.
Today's morning court was very lively. Zhu Gaochi's four sons, Zhu Zhanji, Zhu Zhanyi, Zhu Zhanyong and Zhu Zhanzhen, were all here, as were his second uncle Zhu Gaochi and his third uncle Zhu Gaosui.
The three generations of the Zhu family are full of talents. Zhu Di is very happy today. When discussing the affairs of the court, the top priority today is whether to carry out the Northern Expedition.
In the whole Zhu family, only Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanyong did not agree with the Northern Expedition. Zhu Zhanyong was warned by Zhu Gaochi first, otherwise he would not have got involved in this matter based on his character.
"Prince."
"My son is here."
As expected, Zhu Gaochi was called out as soon as he opened his mouth.
"Now that the national treasury is full, do you think the Northern Expedition is feasible?"
"My minister believes that the northern ethnic groups have been honest in recent years. They have not invaded the border and have no basis for sending troops. If the name is not correct, the words will not be followed, and the words will not be reasonable."
Zhu Di's good mood was completely shattered by Zhu Gaochi's dishonest words.
He actually dared to say that Emperor Yongle's name was unfair. Zhu Zhanchen didn't expect that Zhu Gaochi would say this, and he broke into a cold sweat. My dear father, why have I never seen you so brave before?
"How many times have the northern barbarians betrayed their faith and slaughtered our people in the Central Plains in the past few decades, and you tell me that their name is unfair? Going back hundreds of years, how many years have the northern barbarians bullied the Central Plains, and you tell me that their name is unfair?"
Zhu Di was instantly furious, really moved and really angry.
If you want to know how to make me angry, you have to look at your own son.
Zhu Zhanji and Zhu Zhanyi immediately walked out and said in unison: "Grandpa Huang, please calm down."
Zhu Di's complexion improved a little. Everyone knew that Zhu Di was definitely going to expedition to the north this time, and most people also felt that the current Ming Dynasty was capable of conquering the grassland.
No one wants to touch this bad luck, only Zhu Gaochi is here.
It is a bad thing if everyone in the court opposes it, but it is not necessarily a good thing if no one in the court opposes it.
Zhu Zhanji took the lead and said: "Grandpa Huang, my grandson is willing to lead an army as a pioneer and go straight to the fishing sea."
"Grandpa Huang, my grandson is also willing to lead an army from the west." Zhu Zhanquan wanted to express himself at the right time.
Zhu Gaoxu immediately stood up and said: "Father, my son and I are also willing to lead the army."
"They are all my good children and grandchildren, where is Zhan Zong?" Zhu Di suddenly called his name.
"My grandson is here."
"Why didn't you say that you would lead the troops to fight? Do you think it was wrong for me to go on the Northern Expedition?" Zhu Di asked Zhu Zhanzhen for his opinion.
Zhu Zhanzhen glanced at the pitiful Zhu Gaochi, hey, who is his biological father? I can only help you.
"What my father said is not unreasonable."
Zhu Zhanzhen's words made Zhu Di frown.
"What's the point?"
Zhu Zhanzhen then said: "Conquests are for opening up territory, but after opening up territory, we have to recuperate and make the grassland people willingly surrender to the Ming Dynasty."
"Oh? Then what do you think we should do?"
"Grandpa Emperor, you have given titles to several tribes in the north. Why don't you order that the grassland, like the Central Plains, be divided into several proclaimed chief ministers for their jurisdiction?"
Zhu Di's eyes lit up. Due to the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty in recent years, most of the best-known grassland tribes had received titles. This was the opportunity Zhu Zhanyi wanted.
"Okay, that's a way."
At this time, a minister came out and asked: "Your Majesty, Prince Zhujiang, what if the grassland barbarians are unwilling to resist?"
"To hold the title of Ming Dynasty and destroy Ming Dynasty's job, isn't this treason?"
Isn't this reason enough to raise an army?
The reason for doing this is that if any tribe is willing to accept the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty's Chief Secretary, just like Jiaozhi, it can be divided due to interests, so that there will be fewer enemies.
The people in the grasslands are more determined than those in Jiaozhi, but are the entire grasslands full of wandering prodigals who are unwilling to live a stable life? There are always some people who are willing to receive the salary of the Ming Dynasty and become officials of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Di smiled with satisfaction, while Zhu Gaochi sighed. He thought that Zhu Zhancheng had changed his temper, but he didn't expect that he was just helping him in appearance, but in fact he was helping Zhu Di plan the Northern Expedition to the Desert.
Zhu Di was extremely satisfied when he saw the now heroic Zhu Zhanzhen, and recalled the memorial given to him by the British Duke Zhang Fu, saying that although the Prince of Pearl River County was not good at leading troops in war and could only bombard indiscriminately, he was shrewd in plotting.
"According to this method, the cabinet will study the distribution of the various tribes in the grassland starting from today and divide them as carefully as possible. I will divide the grassland into at least 10 tribes and declare them as chief secretaries." Zhu Di was very satisfied with Zhu Zhanzhen's proposal.
His Royal Highness the Prince insisted on his opinion: "Father, the desert is vast. If we want to conquer it, it may take several years and waste the national power."
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is tired today, let's go down first." Zhu Di ignored Zhu Gaochi's opinion and let the eunuch lead him down, but there was no punishment.
Zhu Zhanzhen didn't quite understand why Zhu Gaochi came out to sing the opposite tune. Even the civil servants of the Manchu Dynasty did not dare to say so much this time.
After discussing other important matters, Zhu Di suddenly looked at Zhu Zhanyi and smiled kindly: "Zhanyi heard that this time your mother wanted to decide on your choice of concubine before the year. What do you think?"
"The orders of the parents, the advice of the matchmaker, and the grandchildren all obey the mother."
Zhu Di didn't believe his nonsense. When did Zhu Zhanxun become an obedient child? How many years had he changed his temper in Guangzhou? Impossible, he did amazing things in Guangzhou.
"Well, I grant you the right to participate in the selection of concubines. You can decide which one you like?"
The main reason is that I am afraid that Zhu Zhanzhen will cause trouble. He is such a big man, and it is not easy for a child to cause trouble. If something happens, Yan Guan will annoy you to death.
What is this wave? This wave is about nip in the bud.
------Digression-----
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