Ever since he personally sent off the army in Longjiang to set off for the southern expedition, Boss Zhu's heart has been hanging on him.
Although it has been carefully considered and prepared, the place in Yunnan is too evil, as if the sky has conquered the king's master.
How many times did the Central Plains dynasty attack Yunnan with overwhelming force, but most of them were inexplicably defeated? Even Kublai Khan, the most successful, after conquering Kunming, seventy-eight percent of his army died due to plague, and he finally had to
He gave up halfway and left the army after King Dali abdicated and surrendered.
With all the past events, the emperor had to worry about gains and losses, otherwise he would not have delayed taking action until the 14th year of Hongwu.
As a result, before the army even set off for the campaign, General Zhengnan overturned his vehicle first.
Later, as soon as the army set off for the expedition, Aicui and Song Qin were killed again, which directly put the army in a difficult situation. How could Boss Zhu continue to be confident despite all the difficulties?
It was precisely because of the fear of failure that he overrode the situation and urgently transferred Lao Liu from Guangzhou to Guizhou. He really hoped that this evilly strong son could control this evil place in Yunnan...
Strange to say, since Lao Liu arrived in Guizhou, the Ming army seemed to have changed its fortunes. First, it successfully solved the problem of water to the east and water to the west, and then defeated Puding, Pu'an, and Luoshan with overwhelming force, and cleverly captured Pu'an and Luoshan.
After entering the Shengjing Pass, I completely took the initiative in the battle.
After taking the Shengjing Pass, Boss Zhu felt a little calmer. However, after all, the army has not entered Yunnan yet, and he was only able to sleep well at night. He would still be distracted unconsciously when he had nothing to do, worrying that he was in the southwest.
Is the army safe?
He forced Lao Liu to write a report every day detailing the army's supplies, morale, injuries and other conditions and send it to the capital.
You should write no matter what happens, not even a day should be missing.
I don’t know whether it was annoying to deliver the letter or not. Anyway, Lao Liu was very annoyed. At first, he could still say a few perfunctory words, but later he simply wrote four words - ‘nothing to do today’.
Boss Zhu looked at him and cursed him, saying that this kid was too shameful and that he would be punished when he came back.
But when the prince asked him to change his report to another person and specified that he would not fool his father, he refused to do it. He insisted on letting the sixth child continue to report, and then he got so angry that he scolded his mother every day, as if he never tired of it.
It wasn't until the evening of New Year's Eve that he finally received a different report at the New Year's Eve dinner table——
'Reporting to my father, on the 11th day of the twelfth lunar month in the fourteenth year of Hongwu, the southern general Yingchuan Hou Fu Youde and the left deputy general Xiping Hou Muying led the army out of the customs and marched into Qujing!'
Then came Lao Liu’s signature.
"It's gone?!" Boss Zhu angrily scolded his mother again: "You damn boy just perfuses me, why don't you say a few words about such a big thing? How many days of food has the army brought?
What route, what's the enemy situation, what's the weather like? You don't even need to tell me anything, are you going to scare me to death?!"
"It's probably because General Zhengnan will also submit a memorial, so Lao Liu feels there is no need for my father to read it again." The prince presented Fu Youde's memorial.
Only then did Zhu Yuanzhang take it with a groan, and opened it to read. Sure enough, everything he wanted to know was written clearly, but he still said angrily: "We still feel that he doesn't take me seriously."
"It's enough to keep it in your heart." The prince said with a bitter smile: "After all these years, my father still doesn't understand? Lao Liu really keeps the Ming Dynasty in his heart."
"Humph, he did it for you." Zhu Yuanzhang knew this, but still argued: "If I am the only one who cares about you, do you think he still doesn't care about you?"
"Bah, bah, what are you talking about? It's the New Year." These words attracted Empress Ma's criticism. "You can't make sense if you throw Lao Liu into a place like Yunnan and you won't be able to get it back during the New Year, right?"
As she spoke, she glanced at Concubine Hu and said, "Do you know how Sister Hu has been living these past few months? She drinks to drown her sorrows every day..."
Concubine Hu was exchanging cups with the Crown Princess. She nodded vigorously when she heard this and drank more confidently.
"I finally understand. You are all looking towards Lao Liu, thinking he is some kind of good bird. Do you know why he chose the 11th day of the twelfth lunar month to go out? It's because he picked it right, and the express delivery shop passed the letter from Shengjing.
It takes nineteen days to send it to the Forbidden City, so we can see it on New Year's Eve!" Zhu Yuanzhang puffed his beard and glared: "He is deliberately making it difficult for us to live this new year, do you understand?!"
But no one in the whole family believed it. Even Concubine Da Ding, who used to be the most energetic, didn't dare to pick on him. There was no way, now Boss Zhu couldn't pay for the money, and the whole family in the palace depended on Hai Zheng Yamen for support.
If she says one more nonsense here, her life in Changyang Palace will be shortened by three points next year.
And she was not stupid, how could she not see that only the emperor could scold Lao Liu? If she dared to answer the question, she would have to give him a meal from the emperor.
It's real sorting, not pushing and pushing...
Sure enough, Boss Zhu did not continue his crusade against Zai Laoliu, and even slept in Concubine Hu's Yongshou Palace that night. This was New Year's Eve.
When she thought that Concubine Hu, a drunkard, could actually enjoy the emperor's escort on such an important day, she became so jealous that she wanted to go crazy. But the queen didn't say anything, so what could she do?
Angrily, she returned to Changyang Palace, but she was still angry, so she habitually wanted to call Lao Qi to vent her anger.
"Lao Qi, Lao Qi." Concubine Da Ding called several times, but Lao Ba timidly responded:
"Concubine, seventh brother is back."
She then remembered that Lao Qi was already married. Although he had not yet become a vassal, he and Princess Qi left the palace after having the New Year's Eve dinner in the palace.
Then he looked at the grown-up Lao Ba and said, "If Lao Qi isn't here, you can do it...get down!"
"Alas..." Lao Ba was extremely depressed. In fact, he should have stayed at Dongwu House tonight, but on New Year's Eve, he had to stay with his mother and concubine, so he didn't go back.
I regret it now...
~~
But Boss Zhu said something too much. He has indeed been very uneasy this year.
It wasn't until the seventh day of the Lunar New Year that he received the news of victory from the front line and learned that the army had won a great victory over Baishijiang and that Dalima's 100,000-strong army had vanished into thin air, did he finally feel relieved.
"I didn't expect that King Liang's army was so vulnerable." The prince also marveled and said: "Now it seems that we were a little too lenient with the enemy."
"It is right to be lenient when you anticipate the enemy. It is better than underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly." Zhu Yuanzhang then boasted with a smile: "We have known for a long time that King Liang is not far enough. We just thought that he was not stupid enough to see the situation clearly and should be able to take the initiative. Surrender. It's a pity that he still treats himself as a dish. Now that's good, what else can I say?"
"Oh, that's right..." The prince nodded and didn't reveal who it was. He was so anxious that he didn't even think about food and drink, and he couldn't live the New Year well.
"By the way, where is Lao Liu's report?" Zhu Yuanzhang looked for it but didn't see it.
"It's still like that, there's nothing interesting to see." The prince smiled and said, "It's better not to look at it."
"Still those four words?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.
"No, there is one more."
"Bring it!"
The prince had no choice but to submit Lao Liu's report. Zhu Yuanzhang took a look and found that there were only five words:
