Zhu Di still doesn't know about Yao Guangxiao's transformation.
But he no longer cares about Yao Guangxiao, because tomorrow morning, he will set out for the coast as the coach of Pingwo East Road.
In the 23rd year of Hongwu's reign, when Zhu Di and Zhu Fan divided their armies into two groups to conquer the remnants of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, he was also the commander of the east group.
Everything now seems to be history repeating itself, and Zhu Di certainly understands the significance.
His last victory completely overshadowed his third brother Zhu Fan's glory. I don't know what will happen this time.
The entire Prince Yan's Mansion has already begun to pack their bags, waiting for the early morning of tomorrow before setting off.
"Chi'er, just stay in the capital and study hard."
Zhu Di said to Zhu Gaochi.
After finishing speaking, he hesitated for a moment and then said: "If possible, it shouldn't be a bad thing to get closer to your elder brother."
Zhu Gaochi rarely heard such gentle words from his father and was a little at a loss.
Normally, his father didn't like him, he mostly scolded him, and he didn't like him wherever he looked.
After a short period of adaptation, Zhu Gaochi also understood his father's thoughts and replied: "The child will definitely remember his father's instructions."
Zhu Di nodded and waved his hand for Zhu Gaochi to go down. It was already very good to be able to say one or two more words.
Zhu Gaochi left the hall without disturbing his father.
Just when he turned the corner, he paused slightly, as if hesitating, but finally chose to leave without looking back to speak.
Although Zhu Gaochi is a little fat, he is still considered smart.
As for some of the plans of his father and Yao Guangxiao, even if he didn't deliberately eavesdrop on anything, he would certainly make some guesses when they were under the same roof every day.
"Father, why do you have to be so keen on that position? Why don't we become vassal kings? Peiping and the Ming Dynasty are like cubs on a tree, and the light of fireflies competes with the bright moon."
"And if it's a bad move, there's no way out, and it's a path of losing everything."
"Even if we cut down the vassalage to accommodate Yun Wen's temperament, our family will still be able to be in a good situation, so it won't be like this."
Zhu Gaochi is much smarter than Zhu Di imagined.
Perhaps because he was overweight, his two younger brothers and his father were not very friendly towards him. Zhu Gaochi's mind was more sensitive than that of ordinary people.
Zhu Gaochi and several other princes, including Zhu Yunwen, grew up together and had a good relationship.
But some time ago, the prince Zhu Biao passed away and Zhu Yunwen was positioned as the grandson.
Zhu Gaochi discovered that Zhu Yunwen deliberately kept a distance from several vassal princes.
At first, he just thought that this change was due to the change in status. After all, Zhu Yunwen would be the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the future, and the relationship between them was first and foremost the relationship between emperor and minister.
But Zhu Gaochi soon discovered that, except for a few vassal princes, Zhu Yunwen did not change much in his dealings with other people.
This made Zhu Gaochi a little confused, and then he accidentally inquired about some of Huang Zicheng's opinions, especially about the vassal king.
In fact, such things as cutting off vassals have happened in all dynasties. Zhu Gaochi has read history books and knows the reason why.
It's just that my father is obviously unwilling to miss out on the throne.
Sighing softly, in the face of such a situation, Zhu Gaochi was not in a position to intervene.
As the eldest son of King Yan, he will definitely support his father no matter what the situation is.
It didn't take long for Li Jinglong to arrive at Prince Yan's mansion.
"Jinglong, why are you here free today?" Zhu Di asked with a smile.
"Your Highness is about to go out to conquer Japan tomorrow. I'm here to congratulate Your Highness." Li Jinglong replied.
Zhu Di looked at the guards and servants around him and led Li Jinglong to the study to discuss matters.
"Cousin, what's going on with Master Dao Yan?"
As soon as he entered the study, Li Jinglong frowned and asked.
Yesterday he looked for Dao Yan, but found that he couldn't find him, so he went to ask in person.
"Master Daoyan is imprisoned in the Sutra Pavilion of Tianjie Temple." Zhu Di said in a deep voice.
Li Jinglong was shocked when he heard this and said hurriedly: "How is this possible?"
Yao Guangxiao is responsible for overall arrangements. Li Jinglong is aware of these matters. After all, he has surrendered to Zhu Di a long time ago.
In other words, he has always been on Zhu Di's side.
"That boy Zhu Ying did it." Zhu Di replied with a frown.
"Zhu Ying?"
Li Jinglong was a little confused when he heard this name.
When Zhu Di heard the sound, he realized that Yao Guangxiao had not told Li Jinglong about Zhu Ying's existence.
So he explained Zhu Ying to Li Jinglong.
After listening to this, Li Jinglong suddenly realized: "It turns out that this is the person Yunwen was talking about."
Seeing that Zhu Di was a little confused, Li Jinglong explained to Zhu Di that he had just come out of Chunhe Hall of the Imperial Palace.
Then he said: "Yunwen is trying to win over the ministers and stabilize the position of the grandson."
Zhu Di sneered and said: "Emperor Yunzhen's nephew is really ridiculous. With my father here, there is no point in wooing more ministers. Is it possible that those ministers still dare to oppose my father's edict?"
"Besides, the identity of the eldest nephew is the orthodoxy. Maybe once the father announces the identity of the eldest nephew, the Confucian civil servants will support him faster than anyone else."
When Li Jinglong heard what Zhu Di said, he couldn't help but ask: "Cousin, is it possible that Zhu Ying is really His Highness King Yu? Why does this feel so unlikely? Is there someone behind the scenes?"
Zhu Di glanced at Li Jinglong, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Although it is a bit incredible, it seems that Zhu Ying is indeed my eldest nephew."
"The possibility of being manipulated is low. Zhu Ying is not a simple person. Don't underestimate him. You were in charge of the tea and horse trading market in Xifan before. You must have heard of the Qunying Chamber of Commerce."
Li Jinglong heard this and said: "Of course I know that the name of Qunying Chamber of Commerce is very loud in Xifan, and I have had many dealings with their people."
"To put it bluntly, after crossing the border of the Ming Dynasty, the tea and horse trade was basically controlled by the Qunying Chamber of Commerce. Among many tribes, this chamber of commerce has a very high reputation, and many native tribes are extremely supportive of it."
"Especially Qunying Chamber of Commerce's snowflake salt is a best-seller in Xifan. The way they control quotas, almost no one dares to offend them."
Speaking of this, Li Jinglong couldn't help but ask: "Cousin, do you mean that Zhu Ying is related to the Qunying Chamber of Commerce?"
Zhu Di snorted coldly and said: "What does it mean to be related to the Qunying Chamber of Commerce? The owner behind this chamber of commerce is Zhu Ying himself."
"This, how is this possible? I have also inquired about the man behind the Qunying Chamber of Commerce. It is said that this person is a mysterious dragon who appears and disappears in the Western Regions, deserts, and grasslands, and it is difficult to find traces."
"If Zhu Ying were His Highness Prince Yu, he would only be eighteen this year. The Qunying Chamber of Commerce was established five years ago. How old was he at that time? Thirteen years old? How is this possible?"
Li Jinglong exclaimed.
The Qunying Chamber of Commerce is not well-known in the Ming Dynasty, but in the border areas of the Ming Dynasty, it is especially engaged in the trading of snowflake salt, tea, horses, silk, etc.
There is no way around the Qunying Chamber of Commerce.
Not only is the Qunying Chamber of Commerce holding a large amount of precious goods, but the main reason is that the Qunying Chamber of Commerce also has a very powerful cavalry team on the border of the Ming Dynasty.
If some unscrupulous businessmen take advantage of the Qunying Chamber of Commerce, they will definitely not see the light of day the next day.
The Qunying Chamber of Commerce itself has many large tribes joining it.
The Mongolian khanates, the leaders of the larger forces on the grasslands, and even some generals, nobles, and even kings of small countries all have considerable profits and dividends from the Qunying Chamber of Commerce.
Such a huge interest complex, without participating in the struggle or impacting the Ming Dynasty.
It is fundamentally difficult to shake and has widespread influence.
"How is this impossible? You also know the foundation of the Qunying Chamber of Commerce. His boss can still be manipulated." Zhu Di said.
Zhu Di said it lightly, but Li Jinglong was always in shock.
In fact, in terms of level of understanding, Zhu Di really didn't have a deeper understanding than Li Jinglong.
After all, their statuses are different. For Zhu Di, although he knew that the Qunying Chamber of Commerce was very big, he thought it was just a chamber of commerce and had a lot of money, that's all.
Li Jinglong is different. He is responsible for the tea and horse trading market in Xifan. He has to deal with it in person. Naturally, he can understand the terrifying influence of the Qunying Chamber of Commerce in this.
To what extent is it specifically affected?
In other words, even if the tea-horse trade in Xifan in the Ming Dynasty was not open, the Qunying Chamber of Commerce could provide a large amount of tea to the nomads.
The situation of exchanging bad tea for good horses is being constantly smoothed out by the Qunying Chamber of Commerce.
Not only did it reduce the trading volume in the tea-horse trade market, more nobles no longer bought tea here in the Ming Dynasty.
This is also the reason why Li Jinglong was transferred to Xifan to be in charge of the tea and horse trading market.
The most important purpose is to investigate the specific situation of the tea-horse exchange market.
"No wonder, I submitted a report to His Majesty about the situation at the Tea and Horse Exchange, but to this day, Your Majesty has not received any orders."
Li Jinglong said with sudden realization.
Presumably, Your Majesty has long known that Qunying Chamber of Commerce is controlled by Zhu Ying. This is completely his own property, and it belongs to his eldest grandson.
Naturally no action will be taken.
Zhu Di said again: "My father now attaches great importance to his eldest nephew. Especially after the Xiaoling Mausoleum, he has completely believed in Zhu Ying's life experience. Even many memorials are sent to his eldest nephew for review."
Hearing this, Li Jinglong said with some confusion: "Then why didn't His Majesty directly summon His Highness Changsun into the palace?"
Hearing the title of His Highness Changsun, Zhu Di took a deep look at Li Jinglong, and then said: "You serve in the Zuo Army Governor's Mansion, so you must be aware of the recent transfers."
"Dong Guo of Liang, Duke of Song, Duke of Ying and others have been summoned back to the capital. My father intends to give his eldest nephew full control of the military before entering the palace and announcing his identity."
"At that time, who can shake the status of the eldest nephew? As for Yun Wen, hehe, it is really a dream to still think about the position of the great grandson."
Li Jinglong quickly understood what Zhu Di meant.
There was silence for a while.
The current situation can be said to be quite clear. With His Majesty on guard, no one in the Ming Dynasty can cause any trouble.
Then the position of Zhu Ying Taisun is unstoppable.
The most critical reason is that Zhu Ying is also the owner of Qunying Chamber of Commerce.
A ruthless man who founded such a large chamber of commerce at the age of thirteen is also the eldest grandson of the Ming Dynasty.
Putting the two together, Li Jinglong suddenly shuddered.