"Your Majesty, what are you doing?" Xu Da was so frightened that he peed his pants and knelt down on the spot and kowtowed.
"You absolutely can't do it, Your Majesty! This is the Emperor's hidden residence, and no ministers can live there!"
"Go, go, we don't live here anymore, this is just an ordinary house." Zhu Yuanzhang said nonchalantly: "Why, it's too old, can we build a new one for you?"
"It's not a matter of old or new, it's that ministers should strictly abide by their duties and not overstep their bounds!" Xu Da, however, had a firm attitude and kept kowtowing.
"You and I, commoner brothers, are brothers in love and are different from others. If anyone dares to slander, we will kill him." Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Besides, if you are rewarded with a mere old palace for the great merits of Heaven, who would gossip?
"
"Your Majesty is so kind and virtuous, and I am very grateful to you, but I really can't live in this old residence of the royal palace." Xu Da's forehead was bruised, and he begged bitterly: "The Emperor really loves and cares for me, so he shouldn't reward me.
Anything that is not suitable for me will only harm me, Your Majesty..."
"Oh, you guys are really cautious." Zhu Yuanzhang was helpless by Xu Da's numerous refusals, so he could only vaguely say: "Get up first, and come in with us and sit down before we talk."
"Yes." Xu Da then stood up and followed Zhu Yuanzhang in.
~~
After entering Prince Wu's Mansion, he discovered that it had been cleaned again, the doors, windows and walls had been completely renovated, and all the furnishings had also been completely renewed.
In front of the main hall door, there is also a couplet inscribed by the emperor:
"Spring King Zhengshuo awarded it to the first family of founding fathers for thousands of years."
It can be seen that Boss Zhu is not just testing, but sincerely wants to give this old residence to himself.
"Why, do you think we are testing you?" Boss Zhu said angrily: "Tian De, no one will test you if we test you. If you have second thoughts about us, we won't be the emperor of Lao Shi Zi, so hurry up
It is better to abdicate in favor of someone more worthy."
"I will naturally be loyal to the emperor for all my life." Xu Da said with a wry smile: "But if the emperor is not secretive, the minister will lose, and if the minister is not secretive, the minister will lose his virginity. The emperor cannot show his love for the minister without restraint, and the minister cannot accept the emperor's gifts without limit.
"
"Hahaha, we were wondering who the girl of yours was following? It turns out she was following you." Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help laughing.
"What happened to Miaoyun?" Xu Da asked hurriedly.
"We have people tidy up this place. We want your son and daughter to move in first and wait for you, but your eldest daughter firmly disagrees. She insists on waiting for you to come back to make up your mind." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a bitter smile: "Let's take it for granted.
Father-in-law, you can't get angry with your unmarried daughter-in-law, so I didn't force it. I didn't expect that I would be in trouble with you again."
"Miaoyun follows the law and is prudent in running the family, so I can rest assured." Xu Da couldn't help but feel comforted, but he also felt a pain in his heart when he thought that such a good daughter was now someone else's.
"Haha, that's great. The fourth child's shameless monkey needs your eldest daughter to take good care of him." Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely satisfied, as if he had gotten a huge bargain.
"Tiande is really good at educating children. Do you still have a little girl?" The emperor pressed further and asked: "We have agreed that she will also be my daughter-in-law."
"Your Majesty, my Miaoqing is only ten years old..." Xu Da said depressedly, "It's too early to say this."
"Let's make a reservation first. It's not like you don't know that we have many sons." Zhu Yuanzhang laughed loudly, put his arm around Xu Da's shoulders, and walked into the flower hall.
In the flower hall, a banquet has already been set up, as well as Xu Da's favorite steamed goose.
"Your sister-in-law made it by herself." Zhu Yuanzhang pointed to the plate of steamed goose and said, "It was originally a housewarming banquet prepared for you, but now it can only be regarded as a welcoming banquet."
Xu Da hurriedly thanked the emperor and empress, and after Zhu Yuanzhang sat down, he stretched his buttocks and sat down.
~~
Zhu Yuanzhang personally held the cup, and after a few glasses of wine, the emperor and his ministers started talking.
"Tiande, we know why you came back early." Zhu Yuanzhang held the wine cup and looked at the slightly swaying wine.
"The soldiers and horses went ahead with food and fodder before moving, but this time the military supplies were not available, which delayed the army's Northern Expedition. It was the imperial court and we who failed you."
"I know that the emperor and the court must have difficulties," Xu Da nodded and said with infinite regret:
"But if we send troops in time this winter, it is very possible that we can take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and sweep the Northern Yuan Dynasty's caves clean and kill them all. Not to mention that we will never have any future troubles, at least there will be no more border troubles for decades.
"Now the troops will have to be dispatched in the spring of next year at the earliest. By then, the Mongols will be chasing water and grass and scatter. It would be a fool's errand to think of catching them all in one fell swoop." Xu Da sighed painfully:
"And without Wang Baobao, it will be difficult for the various ministries to gather together again, and it will be difficult to have the opportunity to gather together and annihilate them in the future..."
This is the reason why Xu Da has been depressed - once the strategic window period is missed, it will probably never appear again...
"We know, we all know." Zhu Yuanzhang's view of the overall situation is just as good as Xu Da's. He raised his neck and drank the bitter wine from the cup and said:
"No one wants to erase Hu Yuan from this world more than we do. But it's really difficult now - the governments everywhere have reasons to do half-hearted work; originally, they could still count on Kaizhong merchants to supply the front line, but they all thought that the people would not be able to do so.
On the grounds of accepting treasure money, they all gave up their picks."
Xu Da nodded, he naturally knew that half of the imperial court's supply to the front line depended on the government, and half of it depended on Kaizhong. The so-called Kaizhong means that merchants use money to buy grain in the mainland, transport it to the front line in exchange for salt, and then return to the mainland to sell salt to make money.
profit.
This year, the imperial court implemented the banknote law, which only allowed private transactions with copper coins and treasure banknotes, and prohibited the use of gold and silver. Now Kaizhong businessmen say that farmers are unwilling to accept treasure banknotes, so they cannot purchase military supplies, which makes Xu Da feel really ridiculous.
"Since when do you need to use gold and silver to do business with the common people?" Xu Da said: "The common people don't accept banknotes, just use copper coins."
"That's the reason. Just like the government, it's just an excuse." Zhu Yuanzhang sneered and said: "It's up and down, inside and out, trying hard to give us some color."
"Are they so arrogant?" Xu Da took a breath.
Boss Zhu didn't answer and asked instead: "Brother Huaixi, do you also have strong opinions on the reform of the provincial capitals and bureaus?"
"..." Xu Da hesitated for a moment, but nodded with difficulty. "Yes. After being changed to Dusi, the power has been greatly reduced, so the old brother will naturally have complaints."
"Yes, we knew it." Zhu Yuanzhang said bitterly: "Everyone regards the army as their own private property! Do you think the warlords are still fighting in a melee? Do you want to support the army and respect yourself?! That's why we must take back the military power, to offend the public's anger.
It’s better than being attacked by a group!”
Xu Da nodded and did not dare to answer. However, he knew very well that after canceling the capital relocation, Boss Zhu took the initiative and started a prison in Fengyang and took away the military power of the capital guards. This would lead to the Huaixi old brothers
counterattack.
"Do you know who is going against us behind the scenes?" Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Xu Da with a serious look.
Xu Da knew that this was not the time to pretend to be confused.
In the current injured and fragile state of the emperor, if he pretends to be ignorant, he will regard him as siding with the enemy.
