Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1080: New Year's Eve Banquet
"Huh?" Old Zhu glared and looked at Zhu Su.

To be fair, Zhu Yuanzhang has been keeping a low profile in the palace over the years, and his temper has subsided a lot. At least he is much better than the Hongwu Emperor in history who was easily irritated.

But after all, it is easy to change the country, but hard to change one's nature. If one has a hot temper when he is young, he will never become a good man when he is old. Moreover, Zhu Su's short sentence has already stepped on two landmines of Zhu.

In his lifetime, Zhu had lost his parents and relatives to the harsh rule of the Yuan court. The various tragedies in his early years were also caused by the Yuan court. Therefore, in his life, the Yuan court was the one he hated the most. When he heard Zhu Su, the bastard, implying that his knowledge was not as good as his, he was already very unhappy.

As both of them were founding emperors, Zhu Yuanzhang actually compared himself with Temujin in his heart. When he heard Zhu Su say that he had not seen as much as Temujin, his displeasure suddenly increased to 100 points. Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily, "Temujin was just a barbarian from the grassland. I was originally a commoner, but I was able to drive out the Tartars and reopen China. What a great achievement! How can I be inferior to Temujin Borjigin?"

"You saved China from collapse and revived China's prosperity. Your martial arts skills are no less than Genghis Khan's. Genghis Khan left behind a huge mess after his death, which caused the Mongol Empire to fall apart. However, you spent the rest of your life consolidating the foundation of the Ming Dynasty and created this prosperous era."

"This achievement in civil governance is far greater than that of Temujin."

After Zhu Su said this, Zhu's expression eased a little, and he thought to himself that you kid said something sensible. But Zhu Su immediately changed the subject and said, "But Temujin was a master of the east and the west, he was really a master. You unified the north and the south, but you saw it in the documents and memorials in this imperial city."

"How magnificent is China? How many different customs are there in the world? Since you want to retire, why don't you travel around and take a good look at the beautiful land under your rule? It seems to be in decline."

"This is not what I think the Hongwu Emperor should be like."

"You kid." Old Zhu scolded with a smile, "Are you trying to trick me into traveling around?"

"The emperor's tour is a waste of money and labor. We don't want to do the same as this incompetent emperor."

"The emperor's tour is indeed a waste of money and labor. But it is reasonable for the emperor to travel incognito to enjoy the scenery of China." Zhu Su said with a smile. "You also feel that it is almost time for you to die. Why not just hand over the position to your elder brother a few months in advance, throw away the heavy burden of the world, and live a few more years without any worries."

"I have governed the world for my entire life, but I have never seen the world with my own eyes. What has it become under your rule? Thank you so much."

What you want in business is to appreciate the sense of achievement from remoteness to grandeur. Old Zhu was busy with documents all his life, and when he got old, he could only imagine what the prosperous Ming Dynasty was like from the documents and Yingtian Prefecture in this corner of the world.

Thanks! The sense of accomplishment has been halved!
Old Zhu shook his head and laughed. The only person who dared to say that he had "passed away" in front of him was his fifth son who was disrespectful to his parents. However, Zhu Su's words aroused his interest.

"Touring incognito..."

There was a hint of smile in his eyes, and then he waved his sleeves and walked forward with his hands behind his back.

"We will discuss this matter later!"

The pace has become lighter.

……

On New Year's Eve, some white snow fell sparsely in the sky of Yingtian Prefecture. I don't know if it was the early effect of the Little Ice Age. In short, in Yingtian, where it rarely snows, this little bit of snow added a sense of surprise to the people of Yingtian Prefecture during the New Year.

It has a bit of the meaning of "auspicious snow heralds a good harvest".

The New Year's Eve feast in the palace actually started in the morning. In previous years, the New Year's Eve feast was hosted by the Ministry of Rites and prepared by the Guanglu Temple, which was already very solemn. This year, in order to make it more grand, the Ministry of Works, the Honglu Temple, and the inner court of the palace were called to co-organize. In the morning, Lao Zhu and all the officials worshiped the heaven and earth, read the sacrificial text, etc., and were busy until the afternoon. In the afternoon, the snow was falling, and the feast was set in the imperial city, officially starting today's New Year's Eve feast.

During the Hongwu era, many systems were not strict. After the daytime sacrifice, the atmosphere of the evening banquet was not so serious. Old Zhu liked to listen to operas in recent years. Not only was there a stage for operas at the banquet, but all the rules were also much more relaxed than before. The officials and nobles sat behind the desks, and they were not as restrained as they were during the court sessions on weekdays.

Old Zhu sat high in the hall, just like when he was young, when he was still the King of Wu, drinking and playing finger-guessing games with a bowl of wine, not acting like an emperor. However, no one dared to go up and make a desperate appeal. First of all, those who could be in the inner hall were all the core nobles of the Ming Dynasty, including Old Zhu's old brothers. After the policy of enfeoffment overseas was decided, a large number of Old Zhu's old brothers were saved.

Secondly, most of the officials in the court today are supporters of the New School. The New School is different from the old Cheng-Zhu School. It does not have so many inflexible rules and regulations. They also despise those scholars who do not focus on practical matters and only know how to make death-defying remonstrations to gain fame. Anyway, since Your Majesty is so happy, it will not hinder any state affairs, so no short-sighted officials will come forward to spoil the mood.

"Even Duke Wei has returned." Beside Zhu Su, Zhu Di was holding a cup of wine, looking around without any image. Zhu Di held a New Year's Eve banquet, and all the princes who were enfeoffed in other places naturally came back. Even Xu Da, who was guarding Karakorum, returned to Yingtian after a long absence.

Xu Da is now nearly 70 years old, but he is less worried and well-maintained, with black hair on his head. He sits below Old Zhu and chats and laughs with Old Zhu. Old Zhu has Xu Da on his left and Tang He on his right. He eats meat and drinks with these two old brothers, and is as happy as a god.

"In recent years, the remnants of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty on the grasslands have not caused any trouble. Duke Wei has entrusted all major matters to Yun Gong... Now that he has nothing to do, he naturally wants to answer the sky." Zhu Su said with a smile. "This is a big surprise for the emperor. Fourth brother, you see, the old man can hardly close his mouth."

"Indeed. Father never has a good face when he sees me. This morning, after offering sacrifices to the heaven, he took the time to scold me again." Zhu Di stroked his beard indignantly. "I am already old, and it is rare for me to respond to the heaven. Why do you still scold and beat me like when I was a child?"

"It's you who's making a fuss about sending troops to the west." Zhu Su said with a smile.

Over the years, Zhu Di had been preparing for war in his fiefdom, and he would submit memorials requesting to go to war at any time, which annoyed Zhu Di a lot.

Given Old Zhu's temper, he was already very kind by not hanging up and beating Zhu Laosi during the New Year.

If he and Zhu Laosi had performed a scene of loving father and filial son at this time, it would have been recorded in history and Zhu Di would have been infamous forever.

"You have already expanded the territory in Annan, and I have been preparing for a long time. Why can't you allow me to continue the Western Expedition?" Zhu Su told Zhu Di his point of view, and Zhu Lao Si felt wronged. "Fifth brother, do you know that the West has obviously become wary of our Ming Dynasty?"

"Western countries have temporarily stopped their hostility and are seeking alliances. They are eyeing the power of our Ming Dynasty extending to the West. The Ottoman Empire is extremely hostile to our Ming Dynasty merchants, which has led to the blockage of the Silk Road in our Ming Dynasty. It has even recruited troops and intends to swallow up the three Khanates that were split from the original Timurid Empire."

"And the 'Kalmar Alliance', after its establishment, its first rule was to boycott Ming Dynasty products. It's obvious that they regard Ming Dynasty as an enemy."

"As well as the Portuguese and other countries, they are all seeking a sea route to Fengming Island, obviously wanting to seize the interests of our Ming Dynasty in Fengming Island."

"The barbarians' evil ambitions towards our Ming Dynasty are obvious. If we don't strike first, do we have to wait until they come to our Ming Dynasty and shit on us?"

Zhu Su smiled and said nothing. What Zhu Di said was indeed realistic, but the Western countries did not have the courage or ability to launch a large-scale unified action against the Ming Dynasty. Firstly, they themselves were still a mess and could not pose a qualified threat to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Di's theory of naked Western threat is self-evident. But Zhu Di's temporary suppression of sending troops to the West must have made sense. In the final analysis, for the current Ming Dynasty, fighting the West is a thankless task. The Ming Dynasty has few foundations in the West, and even if it conquers the land, it will probably take a lot of energy to manage it.

It's a thankless job.

But as far as Zhu Su is concerned, he is actually very interested in teaching those future Western powers a lesson.

While thinking about the feasibility of scheming to sow discord in the West, an official from the Honglu Temple came in and kowtowed to Zhu, saying, "Your Majesty."

"Prince Anle asked me to present this to Your Majesty, saying that today is New Year's Eve, and he is very happy to see that the Ming Dynasty is peaceful and prosperous. Prince Anle is half drunk, and wants to perform a dance in front of Your Majesty to praise the majesty of the Ming Dynasty."

"I wonder if that's okay?"

All the officials in the palace were stunned, with a look of surprise on their faces. Some nobles who had returned from afar had already begun to ask people around them in a low voice who was the Prince of Anle, but Old Zhu was not surprised at all, he just waved his hand and said: "He likes to dance, let him dance!"

"It just so happens that I am tired of listening to this play. It would be nice to watch some other kinds of dance and music!"

The official from the Honglu Temple received the oral order and backed out.

After a while, a short middle-aged man came in with a few people and a group of musicians. He kowtowed to Lao Zhu in fear and trepidation. The man was wearing a prince's robe that should have been majestic, but it looked a bit ridiculous on him.

"Why is this guy's face painted so white?" Zhu Di asked curiously.

Then, he began his performance: several musicians played strange music in a minor key, and the Prince of Anle bent his waist and knees, and performed a strange dance with his companions in an obscene manner. The hall seemed to have become gloomy because of this strange performance, and the prince would occasionally shout "Ah hey" or "Ah hey", which scared the sleepy people of Daming.

Zhu Su already understood that this Anle County Prince was the title given by Zhu to the former Japanese emperor. Zhu had actually brought the Japanese emperor, who was under house arrest, to Yingtianfu to perform a show.

"That's enough, that's enough..." The performance was only halfway through when Old Zhu put his hand on his forehead, looking like he couldn't bear to watch it any longer. "What kind of weird thing is this? Get out of here."

"It looks spooky and scary, and it ruins the mood of our party."

The Japanese emperor who had conferred the title of Prince of Anle went down, trembling with fear. Beside Old Zhu, the historian in charge of the daily records was writing furiously, obviously intending to record this event in the history books.

Zhu Su saw it all and understood it clearly. The Emperor Go-Kameyama who returned to the Ming Dynasty with him had passed away. The current "Emperor of Japan" was the only son of Emperor Go-Kameyama. This only son had never been very peaceful. It was said that he had contacted some of the remaining forces of Japan some time ago, hoping to seize the opportunity to restore the country.

However, most of the Japanese daimyo have become commanders of the Ming Dynasty, so how can they hope to be officials of your country? Zhu asked him to dance at the banquet, which was also a warning to him. It may also show the martial arts of the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time tell those reactionary forces in Japan that if you dare to come and show your head, the Ming Dynasty will definitely kill you all.

It was thought that the "dance performance" had come to an end, but afterwards, the official from the Honglu Temple came in again. This time it was Haixi Hou Naha who volunteered to perform wrestling for the banquet to liven up the atmosphere.

"I'm tired of watching the Japanese dance. It's not bad to watch the wrestling on the grassland!" said Lao Zhu.

So Nahachu and a former Mongol noble performed Mongolian wrestling at the banquet, which was very much to Zhu Yuanzhang's and other nobles' liking. Zhu Yuanzhang and other veterans cheered loudly. The historian kept writing and recorded it.

Zhu Su had already begun to feel that something was wrong, so he changed his attitude and watched everything as if he were watching a show.

Next, a large number of people came in to perform dances. The descendants of Lee Seong-gye of Goryeo performed Goryeo dances, and someone from the Western Regions performed Western Region dances... In the end, even Hu Jinyi came. The "Emperor of Dayu" who had previously been clamoring to commit suicide was now dancing in the center of the banquet, presenting Zhu with a rather charming but also very eye-catching Annan dance.

The historian kept writing, and Old Zhu was very interested, but Zhu Su rolled his eyes in his heart.

...I was wondering why the Honglu Temple was involved in the preparations for the dinner. I guess it was for this...

The performances at this banquet were not all humiliating. For example, the performances by the Three Mountain Kingdom and the Yindian tribe of Fengmingzhou were very sincere and hard-working. As for the fact that some people might feel humiliated, who would care? Perhaps what Old Zhu wanted was to show off the power of the Ming Dynasty while stimulating all the demons and monsters buried under the water to jump out.

In short, in the history books, this night was a night of singing and dancing, praising the military and cultural achievements of the Ming Dynasty, and it was a harmonious night.

(End of this chapter)