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

Chapter 993 Annan invites you
Zhu Su said to be careful, but Old Zhu did not hear his rather rebellious complaint, and instead became concerned about Xu's situation.

"We have found all the useful offerings in the palace for you this time. Just relax. The Xu girl has always been in good health. She is the daughter of a general, so there is no reason for her to be in any trouble." said Old Zhu.

Seeing that Zhu Su was still very nervous, he suddenly felt a little emotional, raised his hand, and patted Zhu Su on the shoulder: "...You are going to be a father soon. If your mother were still alive, I don't know how happy she would be."

It was rare to see him care about her, and Zhu Su was also touched. He was afraid that he would think of Empress Ma again, so he changed the subject and asked, "You suddenly came here today, don't you have any relationship with the court?"

"Heroes have won a great victory over the Tatars in the northern border, and the trial of military reform has achieved results. You should be very busy now."

"It doesn't matter. With Biaoer in charge of the cabinet, even if we let go of the affairs of the court, it won't cause any trouble." said Old Zhu.

"Some time ago, I thought about whether I should abdicate and become an emperor to enjoy the company of my grandchildren, or travel around the country. I have lived in Yingtian for more than ten years, so it is time for me to travel around."

"But Biao'er doesn't want to succeed to the throne..." His tone was still somewhat regretful. "Speaking of our Ming Dynasty, there are still many major issues to be resolved, and they can't leave us for a moment..."

If it were someone else, saying that he did not want to succeed to the throne might be a humble remark. But when Zhu Biao said that he did not want to succeed to the throne, it was absolutely sincere.

Now he is just a prince regent, but he is very busy. All day long he is either reviewing memorials or on his way to review memorials. A few years ago, he was as handsome as his other brothers, but in recent years he has become more and more old.

996 is really torturous! What if he becomes the emperor?

Wouldn't that make you very busy?

Even the carefree fourth brother Zhu Di felt horrified when he saw the miserable condition of the eldest brother Zhu Biao.

If history had not changed, I might have ended up like my elder brother now...

Absolutely not!

Being an emperor, how can you compare to riding a horse and conquering wars everywhere!

So Zhu Laosi ran back to his fiefdom and continued to manage his army in preparation for the Western Expedition...

Zhu Suzheng was chatting with Old Zhu, his thoughts wandering, when he saw Erhu running in from the front yard, coming to Old Zhu and reporting: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Rites has important matters to report, and the Crown Prince said he dare not take the initiative, so he came here to invite Your Majesty back to the palace."

"Important matters?" Old Zhu frowned. The father and son of the Zhu family get along very well with each other. And there are few important affairs of the Ming Dynasty that Zhu Biao must not take charge of. He even specially found Old Zhu who was in disguise, which shows that it is indeed a very important matter.

"State affairs are more important, father, please leave now. As soon as there is any movement here, I will report it to the palace immediately." Zhu Su said to him.

Old Zhu thought for a moment and nodded. Just as he was about to say something, Xiang Deng suddenly stumbled in, shouting, "Your Highness, Your Highness!"

"The princess has given birth! She has given birth!"

"Give birth to a prince!"

"What?" Upon hearing this, Zhu Su no longer cared about Old Zhu, and hurriedly followed the old servant Xiangdeng who was crying with joy, and ran quickly to the back house.

As soon as he ran to the backyard, he felt someone following him. It was Old Zhu. Hearing that he had a grandson, Old Zhu no longer cared about the urgent report from the Ministry of Rites.

"Is the princess all right?"

"Come on, let us see our darling grandson!"

Seeing the midwife opening the door and walking out, the father and son rushed forward. The midwife was also an old servant in the palace. She was about to announce the good news to Zhu Su, but when she looked up, she saw that the emperor had come in person. For a moment, she didn't know whether to announce the good news first or to pay her respects first.

Old Zhu was still strong and he pushed Zhu Su aside. He looked at the little baby in the midwife's arms and laughed, "Is this our good grandson? Hahahaha, good! Good!"

"Rewards, everyone will get rewards! Hahahaha, come, let me hug you..."

"Hey, what a solid kid!"

Old Zhu had experience in holding children. He took the child very skillfully and held him carefully in his arms.

Upon hearing that the emperor had a reward, everyone in the courtyard knelt down hurriedly to express their gratitude.

"Is the princess okay?" Zhu Su asked.

"Your Highness, the princess is in good health, and both mother and child are safe," the midwife replied. "But it's very stressful for a woman to give birth, and she needs to be rested at this time. Your Highness should not come in to visit."

"As long as he's healthy, as long as he's healthy, as long as he's healthy." Zhu Su didn't have time to turn around and look at his precious son until now. He only took one look at the fleshy boy and couldn't help but blurt out:
"Eh, so ugly!"

"You rebellious son, what are you talking about!" Old Zhu, who was holding his grandson, heard it. He raised his dragon boots, which he hadn't kicked anyone for a long time, and kicked Zhu Su hard.

It is said that Old Zhu is still strong. At this age, he raised his boots to kick people, but the child still closed his eyes, his upper body did not move at all, and his lower body was so stable. On the contrary, Zhu Su dodged sideways and almost sprained his waist.

"All newborn babies look like this. You think our grandson is ugly? You weren't even this handsome when you were born!"

As he spoke, he held the child in his arms and looked at him from left to right, his eyes showing his love. Suddenly, he thought of something and asked, "Have you chosen a name for the child?"

He had been obsessed with naming for a long time, and without waiting for Zhu Su's answer, he muttered to himself: "'You Zi Tong An Mu, Qin Chao Zai Su Gong', according to the rules we set, your branch should be the next one with the character 'You'."

"Let's call this child 'Zhu Youdun'!"

Zhu Su's face darkened. Old Zhu loved naming things, but his taste in naming was hard to describe. Zhu Youdun, why does it sound like a pot of old-fashioned soup?

Ignoring Zhu Su's dark face, Old Zhu lifted Zhu Youdun high up and said, "Our grandson has an extraordinary appearance."

"In the future, you can become the master of Fengmingzhou!"

Among the people present, some were excited after hearing this. The King of Zhou had made many contributions to the Ming Dynasty, but His Majesty had never revealed anything about the fiefdom of His Royal Highness the King of Zhou.

The King of Qin, the King of Yan, and others have already been granted fiefdoms, but His Majesty has always kept silent about the King of Zhou, who has made greater contributions. There have been many rumors about this, and everyone is speculating where this legendary prince will be granted a fiefdom. And today, when the prince was born, His Majesty finally let the cat out of the bag!
It’s Fengmingzhou!
You know, Fengmingzhou is equivalent to a piece of white land, and its land area is not much less than that of Daming. Moreover, the land has not been mined, and there are many gold, silver, copper, iron, rare treasures, and precious stones. Except for the distance, it is a real treasure land.

Someone once said that as long as they were sealed off in Fengming Island, who knows if another China would rise there thousands of years later.

Unexpectedly, His Majesty actually wants to give this precious land to His Royal Highness the King of Zhou!

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, His Royal Highness!" Everyone shouted in congratulations. When the news of His Majesty's favoritism spread, there was no doubt that His Royal Highness Prince Zhou, the already legendary prince, would stir up even greater waves and become a rising star that many people would flock to.

Zhu Su was also quite surprised. He originally thought that Old Zhu would use Fengmingzhou as a raw material production area to provide blood transfusion for the Ming Dynasty. But he did not expect that he would decide to give the American continent to himself so quickly.

But now was not the time to say more or ask more questions, so Zhu Su had no choice but to lift his clothes and kneel down, shouting:
"Thank you, Father, for your grace!"

……

Old Zhu seemed to be in a very happy mood when he returned to the palace. The Zhu family had grown and the fifth son, the youngest son of himself and his sister, had given him another grandson, which made Old Zhu feel even happier.

To be honest, Old Zhu has always had a sense of unreality towards his son Zhu Su, a time-traveller who has memories of his past life. He knows very well that Zhu Su is incompatible with this world, and is afraid that if his son stays away from him, he will disappear and return to what he called the "previous life world".

This feeling of uneasiness also made him unwilling to confer a title on Zhu Suyuan, and he showed a little more preference for him. Now that Lao Wu had given him a new grandson, Lao Zhu felt much more relieved.

At least, with the addition of a son, the fifth child would not be able to just walk away and go back to his "previous life".

Therefore, after returning to the Jinshen Hall and summoning the officials from the Ministry of Rites, Old Zhu still had a smile on his face. Before the officials could speak, he threw his dragon robe and said, "We just went to Old Five's house. Old Five had a son today, and we have a new grandson."

"Such a happy event should be celebrated with all the ministers...Come, take a seat with all the ministers, and ask the imperial kitchen to send some cakes and other things, so that everyone can have fun together."

The officials from the Ministry of Rites looked at each other in surprise when they heard this. The Emperor went out of the palace in disguise just to see the Fifth Prince's new son... The Emperor attached so much importance to the Fifth Prince that all the officials raised Zhu Su's status to a higher level.

However, they still had business to attend to. After thanking the emperor for the gift, the Minister of Rites Ren Ang immediately said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

"In the Honglu Temple, the Annan envoy came to me today and said that he wanted me to be the middleman and invite Mr. Song Lian to go to Annan to talk about new learning in order to boost the academic atmosphere in Annan..."

"How should I respond to this matter? Your Majesty, please make the decision!"

"Annan?" Upon hearing the word Annan, Lao Zhu couldn't help but sit up straight.

The affairs concerning Annan were now the top priority of the Ming Dynasty. As for the next expansion target of the Ming Dynasty, all the affairs were handled by Zhu Yuanzhang himself. No wonder Zhu Biao did not dare to make his own decision.

However, this request from the Annan envoy made Zhu Yuanzhang quite hesitant.

The Annan envoy had been in Beijing for several days, and Zhu had met him before. He had only received him once before, and as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible for a foreign envoy to see him again.

Annan has always been a thorn in the side of the southern countries. This time he was willing to take the initiative to meet the emperor, so he must have some ulterior motive.

Although Zhu was concerned about the situation in Annan, he did not want to break the rules and arouse suspicion, so he just had people secretly keep a close eye on the Annan envoys. Since they had come all the way to Yingtian to meet the emperor, they would inevitably lose their temper. When the time came, he would show his true colors and then deal with them.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang never expected that the Annan envoy, after keeping it secret for so many days, would reveal such a secret.

Invite Song Lian to Annan to boost the academic atmosphere in Annan? Is Annan really so eager to learn?

"Is this your only request?" Old Zhu asked.

"Yes. Only this one." Ren Ang frowned and nodded.

As a close confidant of the Emperor and the Crown Prince, he, the Minister of Rites, also knew that the Ming Dynasty would soon launch an attack on Annan, so he was unwilling to alert the Annan envoys.

This request is neither small nor big. Song Lian is a leader in the Ming Dynasty academic world. Annan said that he admired the Ming Dynasty and wanted to invite Song Lian to boost the academic style of Annan. There is no problem at all. This is a private request. Whether to agree or refuse, it is not good to delay for too long.

But Ren Ang didn't know Annan's intention, so he couldn't reply easily. But if he didn't reply for a long time, it would not be a good idea, in case Annan became alert...

Therefore, regarding the request of the Annan envoy, he had no choice but to come to the emperor.

"Oh, the Annan Kingdom is extremely rebellious. It calls itself the 'Dai Viet Kingdom' behind closed doors. On the one hand, it pays tribute to us, but on the other hand, its ruler is usurping the throne in every way possible, calling himself the Supreme Emperor, and using the same rituals as me."

"A country like this would really admire the Chinese culture, and why would it want to promote academic style?"

Old Zhu doesn't believe it at all.

"Yes, I have the same thought..." Ren Ang said.

Old Zhu pulled at his short beard, which had begun to turn gray, squinted his eyes and thought for a while before saying, "Xuan Jiang Li."

Soon, the commander of the Imperial Guard, Jiang Li, came to see the emperor. Zhu asked him, "You, the Imperial Guard, have you found out the background of this Annan envoy?"

"Tell me in detail."

"Yes." The emperor paid attention to Annan. Annan has been the key infiltration area of ​​the Jinyiwei in recent years. The Jinyiwei had already investigated the Annan envoy.

Jiang Li immediately took out a file written in secret code by the Jinyiwei from his bosom, unfolded it and read: "Li Jibai, a doctor of the Ministry of Rites of Annan, is from the famous Li family of Annan. Although he was promoted to an official, he was a playboy. When he was ten years old, he peeped at his neighbor's wife and was reported to the police. When he was fifteen, he raped a girl from Annan..."

"There is no need to explain such dirty things one by one." Old Zhu waved his hand and said with great disgust. He also looked down upon the Annan envoy.

"For a person like this to think about learning from the king? How ridiculous!"

"His last name is Li. You said he is from the Li family?"

"Yes." Jiang Li said. "In terms of family background, this person is the cousin of Annan Prime Minister Li Jili."

"The cousin of Le Qui Ly, so since he came to our Ming Dynasty, it must be for the Le family, not for the King of Annan." Zhu thought. Because Zhu Su had revealed it in advance, Zhu knew that the Le family, the powerful minister of Annan, coveted the throne of Annan, and that it was Le Qui Ly who usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor.

What the Ming Dynasty had been waiting for was the opportunity for Le Qui Ly to usurp the throne and for power to change in Annan.

Old Zhu narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking about everything from Li's intentions to Li Jibai's bizarre request. After a moment, he laughed and said, "What a traitor with wolfish ambitions, what a traitor Li is."

"He actually wants to use the power of our Ming Dynasty to support the Li family's attempt to usurp the throne... He is so courageous." Old Zhu sneered.

"Your Majesty... What, what does this mean?" Ren Ang was very surprised. He didn't expect that Zhu Yuanzhang only asked a few questions and he guessed the intention of the Annan envoy so quickly.

He scratched his head but couldn't figure it out!

(End of this chapter)