Zhu Yunxi didn't say anything, and looked at Lan Yu quietly, waiting for the next step.
"His Highness's words today are a revelation to me! Over the years, the high officials, high salaries, titles, and power have made me forget my duty. With a little merit, it's okay not to be grateful for God's grace, but to become more and more indulgent!"
"Fortunately, His Highness never gave up and defended it many times, so Lan Yu can be where he is today!"
As he spoke, Lan Yu's face became more serious, "Back then, before His Majesty ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, I waited for these people to discuss privately, what titles will we bestow upon His Majesty when he proclaims himself emperor? What rewards will we receive?"
"At that time, the capital city was not so big, and His Majesty's palace was just an official residence snatched from Dayuan Daru Huachi."
"There is no trace of the Jinluan Palace at all. They just decorated the lobby of the government office and held the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China!"
"On that day, His Majesty said to his ministers: You have followed me to get up hard, and you have fought hundreds of battles to achieve today's achievements. Remember, it is difficult to start a country, and we are from humble origins."
"The purpose of establishing a country today is not to honor one family and one surname, nor is it to give you glory and wealth. It is because the Meng Yuan has lost its virtue and is not worthy of being the master of China. The Ming Dynasty has come from heaven and must replace it and become the master of China!"
"In the past, you were my generals! From today on, you are all ministers of the Ming Dynasty!"
"Being my general is like an arm, I cherish it!"
"To be an Ming minister, you need to be wise, sensible, considerate of your family and country, and know your dignity and inferiority!"
After speaking for a long time, Lan Yu sighed and said, "Your Majesty has made it very clear a long time ago. After the founding of the country, rules are greater than friendship, and national laws are greater than merit! However, at that time, we, the people, only thought about these matters.
The title of Marquis was completely forgotten!"
"Actually, some of Lan Yu's achievements in life were not done by Lan Yu for His Majesty. Rather, Lan Yu did it for the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty!"
"As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, it is my duty to dedicate myself to the Ming Dynasty! But I always confuse these achievements with His Majesty's rewards. I always want this or that, and I always think that before the founding of the country, meritorious service will be rewarded heavily!"
"Forget about dignity, forget about national laws, forget that you are a subject of the Ming Dynasty!"
"I even feel a little disrespectful in my heart. I always secretly think that it was us who helped His Majesty conquer this world. We are complacent and arrogant, forgetting that in the past, without Your Majesty's shelter, we might have been nothing more than nothing.
A nameless corpse in troubled times!"
"I also forgot that the path His Majesty is taking us is a path that will be remembered in history."
Having said this, Lan Yu straightened out her clothes and cupped her hands in the direction of the Forbidden City, "I, you are confused!"
Zhu Yunxi smiled and said, "Just think about it! What's in the past is in the past!"
"Your Highness!" Lan Yu said, "In the future, Xu Chen will die on a horse! If he dies, his body does not need to be transported back to the Central Plains. His bones will be buried in the border desert. His back faces Mobei, and his head faces the Central Plains.
In this way, you are worthy of being a minister of the Ming Dynasty!"
As he spoke, his eyes became wild, "On the second day after Your Majesty ascended the throne, two hundred thousand soldiers were ready to go. Your Majesty personally went to the army to toast, and I still remember what Your Majesty said at that time!"
"Since the Zhao and Song Dynasties, the Hu people have repeatedly gone south, occupying our country and homeland, and killing our innocent people!"
"Today, the Ming Dynasty rises, and the wind of Han Dynasty rises!"
"Raise the spear and decide the country!"
"Sons of the Ming Dynasty! Drink this bowl of wine from the Central Plains and recover the sixteen states of Yanyun!!"
As he spoke, Lan Yu became excited, clenched his fists, with tears in his eyes, and roared, "Northern Expedition! Northern Expedition!"
He figured it out and understood it!
I figured out why the emperor hated him so much! I also understood what he had lost in these years!
"Okay!" Zhu Yunxi smiled and said, "I promise you!" He stood up and said, "One day, I will build a city at the place where you died, the Great Ming Jade City!" After saying that, he turned around and smiled again,
"When you come to the capital, stay at the Founding Duke's Mansion!"
Lan Yu bowed silently.
~~~
The emperor's grandson drove slowly towards the imperial city.
In the carriage, Zhu Yunxi opened the curtains and looked at the streets of the capital.
Seeing this, Li Jinglong, who was following on horseback outside the carriage, leaned over and said, "Your Highness, it's rare that you have time. Why don't you give me a favor and go to my house to sit there?"
As he spoke, he said in a low voice, "There is a Suzhou cook in my family. He is very good at his craftsmanship. Please give your Highness a try! There is also good Shaoxing yellow rice, and"
Having said this, he lowered his head and looked around, and whispered, "There are also some Yangzhou thin horses, who are good at singing, dancing, and playing the flute."
"Tsk!" Zhu Yunxi said displeasedly, "Why do you always talk to Gu about these irrelevant things!" After saying that, he also lowered his voice and said, "Old Li, you are living a good life these days! Isn't your wife a tigress?
You dare to keep it at home!"
He said with a bluffing face, "You don't know the laws of the imperial court, officials are not allowed to raise singing girls!"
"It's not what I wanted to raise!" Li Jinglong whispered, "It was sent by someone from Prince Ning. How dare I not accept it?"
"Prince Ning?" Zhu Yunxi frowned, "Tell me clearly, what's going on?"
Li Jinglong simply dismounted, walked outside the carriage, and whispered, "Didn't His Highness grant Chen the salt monopoly in Pyongyang and other places in Goryeo? At that time, I felt that transporting salt from the Huaihe River was too far, so I bought a salt farm in Jiaodong directly!"
Zhu Yunxi glared at him, "Really bought it?"
He knew in his heart that it was absolutely impossible to be as relaxed as Li Jinglong said. The salt farm was the lifeblood of the local salt merchants, who would buy it?
However, when you meet Cao Guogong, you have to sell even if you don't want to! After all, those salt merchants are not good people. As long as Li Jinglong doesn't go out of his way, it's not a big problem.
"I really bought it, fair trade!" Li Jinglong said quickly, "How can I be so worthless and do things that are beneath my status when I follow His Highness!"
"Go on, why are you involved with King Jin?" Zhu Yunxi continued to ask.
Li Jinglong whispered, "I have a salt farm in Jiaodong, so it is much more convenient to sell salt. A few days ago, several Shanxi businessmen came to me, and there was a handwritten letter from King Ning, asking me to give these merchants five dollars in the Jiaodong salt farm."
Thousands of catties of salt!" He said, and then added, "Those few Yangzhou thin horses are the benefits that King Ning asked people to give to his ministers!"
At this point, he whispered even more, "It is said that those thin horses were bought by those businessmen to honor Prince Ning!"
Zhu Yunxi's face was ashen. Prince Ning Zhu Quan thought he was just a face-saving young man. He hadn't paid much attention there in the past few years, but he didn't expect him to appear here again.
Prince Ning's fiefdom was in Daning. There was no shortage of soldiers and horses, no shortage of iron tools, and no shortage of salt. But he was short of money, so it made sense why he wanted to buy salt privately.
He's just a prince, why does he need so much money?
There are so many ways to get money, why does he have to sell salt?
"You agreed?" Zhu Yunxi thought about it and asked.
"How dare I agree!" Li Jinglong whispered, "My man, I accepted it, and I listened to what I said. But I only have one word, procrastinate! Even if I want to give it, Your Highness has to say it, so I dare! I
He is your man, and although he, Prince Ning, has a noble status, he still has to step aside!"
"Fifty thousand pounds, your tone is not small, don't worry about killing him!" Zhu Yunxi said angrily.
Then, he suddenly thought of a question.
"Buy salt from the Jiaodong Salt Farm and transport it to Daning. It's such a long distance and there's no waterway there. Aren't you afraid of someone checking on you along the way?"
After listening to Zhu Yunxi's words, Li Jinglong looked around again and whispered, "Those businessmen and ministers said that they have already taken care of things along the road and no one will check!"
"Oh?" Zhu Yunxi sneered, "You really have great hands and eyes. You can hide 50,000 kilograms of salt from the sky. Then in the future, the ordnance, food and grass of tens of thousands of troops can also be hidden from the sky!"
Li Jinglong's face tightened, his eyes rolled, and he pretended not to hear and refused to answer.
"You guys, it's a lie to let me be a guest in your home, but it's true to complain!" Zhu Yunxi looked at him and sneered.
"Your Highness knows everything, so I can't hide this little thought from you!"
Zhu Yunxi came closer and asked, "Are you the only one who knows about this?"
"As far as I know, I didn't tell anyone!"
"Okay!" Zhu Yunxi said, "Come here with your ears!"
This chapter has been completed!