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

Chapter 839 Liu Bowen's Last Words

Zhu Su, however, no longer had the heart to care about these old friends and students. It had not yet been the seventh day since Liu Bowen's death, and the old man's coffin was still placed in the hall. In addition to the coffin, there was an ordinary spirit tablet placed in front of the incense burner, which attracted all of Zhu Su's attention.

He pushed aside Yang Shiqi and others, walked in through the crowd, and stared blankly at the name on the tablet.

The people in the hall who were originally surprised looked at his actions and became quiet. Then, gradually, whimpering sounds were heard.

The burning white candles illuminate the mourning hall, and the sad voice calls out softly, with tears staining her clothes.

The ashes of paper money rise and the incense smoke curls, looking back on the past seems like a long dream.

"Today is a national celebration. Your Highness should go to the emperor's court and celebrate with the people. It is not in accordance with etiquette to come here suddenly." A vicissitudes of life voice came. Zhu Su turned his head gently and found that Song Lian was also in the mourning hall. He looked haggard, with two lines of tears under his eyes, but no tears were flowing. Among all the officials, he and Liu Bowen got along best. The two of them were as close as Boya and Ziqi.

Today, an old friend passed away first. Song Lian burst into tears and was heartbroken. If the students had not seen the situation and hurriedly found a chair for the old gentleman, I am afraid that the old gentleman would have followed his old friend to die in class.

What Zhu Su saw at this time was a gentleman with a sad face and a weak breath, but he still stood up and tried to correct his impolite behavior. Leading the army to triumph and celebrating with the people is a national ceremony, but mourning the ancestors is a private ceremony. Moreover, Zhu Su was a vassal king and a monarch. Although Liu Bowen was older, he was a subject. It was unacceptable for the monarch to send off the subject.

Even though this "private gift" was for his old friend, Song Lian would never allow Zhu Su, a student of the vassal king, to do anything inappropriate.

"Sir, why... why did you become like this?" Zhu Su hurried forward and supported Song Lian who was trying to stand up. Looking at this old man, he felt even more sad. He consoled him, "Sir, don't worry. The triumphant return and the ceremony of paying respect to the emperor have been completed. I asked for my father's permission to come out of the palace..."

"Besides, Mr. Bowen is the backbone of the country. Now that our Ming Dynasty has lost a national hero, can't I, a mere vassal king, see him off?"

"......, ah." Song Lian's face changed, and finally, he sighed deeply and stopped asking. Then, Liu Lian, the eldest son of Liu Bowen, dressed in mourning and full of sorrow, came to Zhu Su, bowed deeply, and said earnestly: "I am honored that Your Highness, King Zhou, has come to see my father off. It is really a pity that your humble servant..."

Perhaps he recalled his late father's voice, appearance and smile, Liu Lian burst into tears before he could finish his words.

Zhu Su also had a sad face, and he helped Liu Lian up: "My dear brother, please accept my condolences... The deceased is gone, and it is a happy funeral that the master died of old age. If he were still alive, I think he would not want to see you so heartbroken."

"Yes, yes..." Liu Lian wiped her tears and nodded repeatedly.

To be honest, Liu Bowen's life span has actually been extended a lot. In history, Liu Bowen was good at planning for the country, but he was not good at planning for himself. Because he offended Hu Weiyong when he was discussing the appointment of prime minister in his early years, in the eighth year of Hongwu, Hu Weiyong took the opportunity to bring the imperial physician to see Liu Bowen and tampered with the prescription, causing Liu Bowen's cold, which should have been harmless, to gradually become a serious illness, until it was incurable.

Even Liu Lian, the eldest son of Liu Bowen, was coerced by Hu Weiyong's party and fell into a well and died in the 12th year of Hongwu.

However, now, because of Zhu Su, Zhu had the idea of ​​dismissing the prime minister ahead of time, and Hu Weiyong died early at Zhu's hands. Hu Weiyong had not yet had time to assassinate Liu Bowen's family, which also allowed Liu Bowen to live longer. It is now the beginning of the 20th year of Hongwu, so Liu Bowen has actually lived for more than ten years. It can indeed be considered a happy funeral.

Liu Lian lifted his collar and wiped the tears from his eyes, then said to Zhu Su, "Indeed, before my father passed away, he heard the news that Your Highness had wiped out all the bandits in the South China Sea. Although he was unable to walk, he laughed three times with joy, and then he passed away with a smile on his face... This is a happy funeral, and I really shouldn't be so sad. I'm sorry, Your Highness, please forgive me for making fun of you."

Then he turned around and gave his younger brother Liu Jing a few instructions. Not long after, Liu Jing came up from behind, carefully brought out a memorial wrapped in silk cloth, and handed it to Liu Lian.

Liu Lian said, "This is my father's last memorial. Before he died, he worked hard and asked me to present this memorial to Your Majesty after he passed away."

"Since Your Highness is here, please wait for a moment and then I will present my father's will to Your Majesty."

"It can be considered as fulfilling my father's last wish."

Zhu Su looked at the memorial, which was actually a thick stack, almost like a book, and felt solemn. Before Liu Bowen passed away, he spent a lot of energy to write these magnificent words for the Ming Dynasty... Such a thoughtfulness could not help but move Zhu Su.

"I understand." Zhu Su treasured the memorial and put it in his arms. "This memorial must be the master's precious words, and I will treasure it."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Liu Lian bowed.

Although many students from the Imperial Academy kept vigil for Liu Bowen, Zhu Su was a vassal king and could not pay homage to the king as a subject. So after paying his respects to the coffin of his old friend, Zhu Su left Liu's mansion.

……

"Sincerely, the minister Liu Ji respectfully reports: This is a memorial to clarify the people's livelihood and economy of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the expansion of territory."

"I have heard that the emperor is the master of all the people and all things in the world. However, as the master of all the people and all things in the world, the responsibility is extremely heavy. Now the emperor has driven out the invaders, expanded the territory, and established this unprecedented achievement..."

In the Jinshen Palace, on the imperial desk, Old Zhu was concentrating on reading the memorial written by Liu Bowen before his death. After a long while, he put the memorial down, leaned back on the dragon chair, let out a long breath, and then waved to Zhu Biao and Zhu Su, saying, "Old Master, Old Five, this memorial by Old Master Liu... you should also take a look."

Zhu Biao and Zhu Su bowed their heads and agreed. Then Zhu Biao stepped forward, took the memorial and read it with Zhu Su.

"What do you think of this memorial?" asked Old Zhu.

Zhu Su read through Liu Bowen's posthumous memorial at a glance. This memorial consisted of tens of thousands of words, but there were not many useless words. As for the meaning of the memorial, there was only one central idea: the Ming Dynasty had been established for more than 20 years and had been expanding continuously. It was time to recuperate.

Zhu Su's idea of ​​expanding territory was essentially to use things that would happen a hundred years in the future to incite Zhu Su: Be prepared for danger in times of peace. Although the Ming Dynasty now seems to be at peace, its foundation is still not strong enough. We should take advantage of the fact that the Ming Dynasty has just been established and is still strong, and attack from all sides, trying every means to take over the resources and land of the surrounding countries into our own hands.

(End of this chapter)