"Fourth brother, I know what you are thinking, but this time I can only say sorry, because my father's attitude towards this thing is very clear. I will no longer be able to study this thing in the future. If you come out here again
What happened? I don’t have such good luck."
Zhu Gui's helpless and self-deprecating explanation made a look of disappointment appear on Zhu Di's face.
"That's such a pity. With such powerful firearms, we can drive the Mongols out of the grassland and create the largest territory that our Ming Dynasty has the strength to conquer."
Zhu Di said regretfully.
Only then did Zhu Gui remember that the later Emperor Yongle in front of him not only pioneered the Ming Dynasty's emperor to guard the country, but also fought many times with the Mongols during his military life, greatly expanding the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and even ended up being
Died on the journey.
From a certain point of view, the two people in front of him have similar ideas. Zhu Di just lacks understanding of the entire world.
Zhu Gui thought of this and once again confirmed his idea.
"Fourth brother, what do you think of Yun Wen becoming the crown prince?"
Zhu Gui suddenly changed the topic.
Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gui with some surprise and said: "Opinion? What opinion? That is an imperial edict issued by the emperor himself. Who can have any opinion?"
Although Zhu Di said this, a gloomy look flashed across his face.
After all, he was the most promising to take over as the crown prince, but he didn't expect that in the end, a twelve-year-old boy took away the position that should have belonged to him.
And he can't show this yet.
Hearing this, Zhu Gui was silent for a moment and continued: "Fourth brother, I want to see the prince, can you help me?"
"Meet the prince, can't you just explain the situation to your father?"
Zhu Di was stunned for a moment, a little confused by Zhu Gui's change of topic again.
"You know my father's attitude towards me. Even if I apply, it may be difficult to pass. Fourth brother, if you help me this time, I can give you this."
Zhu Gui took a wooden box with a pistol inside.
Zhu Di opened the box slightly, took a look, and immediately closed it again, with a look of joy on his face.
"Okay, although it's a bit difficult, who told Fourth Brother to appreciate you? Let's do this, you stay here for a while, I will deal with the matter now, and there should be news later."
After Zhu Di finished speaking, he picked up the box and walked out, fearing that Empress Zhu Gui would regret it.
"What did you give King Yan? Why did he suddenly agree?" Xu Miaoqing pulled Zhu Gui and asked in confusion.
"It's just something that he is very interested in. By the way, you don't want to go with me in a while. You go to Xu Mansion and wait. I may not come back tonight."
Zhu Gui thought for a moment and said.
"Are you going to spend the night in the East Palace? The prince's situation is not good." Xu Miaoqing rarely objected this time, but asked with some worry.
"Don't worry, I am sensible. By the way, I recently found a small toy. Now that I have some time, I will pass it on to you. You can use it to kill time when you are bored in the future."
Zhu Gui pulled out a Go chess set like a magic trick.
"What, it's just Go, I can do it too." Xu Miaoqing said helplessly.
"Although it's Go, it's not the same game. It doesn't take as long as a Go game. It's called 'Go-bang'. It looks like this. As long as the same-colored chess pieces form five pieces in a row, you win."
"
Zhu Gui explained.
"Is it enough to make five pieces in a row? Is it that simple?"
Xu Miaoqing asked suspiciously after hearing Zhu Gui's words.
"It sounds simple, but it is also full of game wisdom just like Go. Give it a try."
Zhu Gui said with a smile.
So before Zhu Di rushed back, the two had already played dozens of games in the room.
From the beginning, Zhu Gui could still take some advantage, but after ten games, Xu Miaoqing was able to win occasionally.
In the end, Zhu Gui couldn't win ten consecutive games.
This made Zhu Gui wonder if Xu Miaoqing was a genius.
If this happened in later generations, the academic achievements of the two people would probably be very different.
Almost all the things Zhu Gui taught Xu Miaoqing, except cooking, she could quickly pick up and do better than his master.
Zhu Di's return gave Zhu Gui an excuse to end the chess game.
"On behalf of the king, this is the invitation to enter the palace, but it is only for entering and exiting the palace gate and the east palace. You must not cause trouble, otherwise we will not be able to put an end to it."
Zhu Di ordered.
Zhu Gui took the name card, then nodded and said: "Fourth brother, who do you think this king is? Even if I am a bastard, I will not dare to cause trouble in the palace. We know the emperor's temper best."
Already."
Zhu Di did not comment on Zhu Gui's words, and then said: "Anyway, I will leave early tomorrow morning. Without a special opportunity, I am afraid we can only meet again at this time next year. Take care."
Zhu Di came over and patted Zhu Gui on the shoulder, with a reluctant smile on his face.
Zhu Gui nodded, feeling a little uncomfortable in his heart.
But this is the price of being a vassal king. It seems to have unlimited glory, but it also has to sacrifice some things that ordinary people regard as ordinary things.
After the two chatted for a while, Zhu Gui and Xu Miaoqing left Prince Yan's Mansion.
He first sent Xu Miaoqing to the Xu Mansion. He did not enter the door himself, but headed towards the palace. At the same time, he also sent someone back to Dai Wang's Mansion to see what was going on there.
When Zhu Gui's carriage arrived at the entrance of the palace, the people sent out also rushed here.
The other party reported the situation there.
The person in charge of the Datong caravan has reached an agreement with those small merchants and is willing to purchase their goods at a price that is 10% higher than their purchase price, and also offered refined salt as exchange.
Although recently, many salt shops in Nanjing were unsalable due to the practice of Datong Chamber of Commerce shops selling products with refined salt.
But refined salt is still the hard currency in this era, not to mention that the refined salt from Daiwangfu is even better than the official salt, and the price is one-third lower (in Datongfu it is half as low).
Zhu Gui was not surprised at all. After he had no worries, he entered the palace alone.
With the name card and his status as Dai Wang, he was quickly escorted to the East Palace.
The East Palace side is obviously also well prepared.
However, the situation here surprised Zhu Gui. Before he entered the palace, he could already smell the strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine.
The situation inside looked very bad, with the imperial doctors and eunuchs making a mess.
But it was strangely quiet in the prince's palace. There was only a young figure kneeling in front of the window, it was the emperor's eldest grandson Zhu Yunwen.
