Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 261 The wind is blowing, and the "secret" is spreading everywhere!
Unlike the rent reduction regulations that were announced with great fanfare, the imperial court never made any public statement regarding the princes and nobles going to sea.

Even the relevant content, such as allowing private individuals to spend money to form mercenary groups as long as they are supervised by the court, was not officially announced to the public soon.

Zhu Yunhuan was drunk that night and mentioned the voyage to the sons of nobles, but told them that it was a secret of the court and asked them to keep it confidential.

But there were too many people at the banquet to hear anything, and the sons of noble families swore verbally that they would never reveal the news, but in fact they immediately told others as soon as they left.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince got drunk and revealed a "big secret" to us.

This is a big deal.

If you prepare first, you can seize the initiative.

The news spread at an extremely fast speed among the circles of nobles and high-ranking officials in the court, and continued to ferment and spread to all directions.

……

Jinling City.

A certain duke’s mansion.

"What do you want to do, little bastard?"

The Marquis' voice was as loud as thunder and full of anger.

The servants in the house were all trembling with fear.

I don’t know what the young master did to make the marquis so angry.

"It's okay if you just spend your days drinking and partying."

"At least our family still has a title for you to inherit. As long as you don't do anything reckless, it will be enough for you to have food and clothing for the rest of your life."

"But, you...you...you actually sold the family's land secretly without telling your father?"

"Do you know how much effort and blood and sweat I shed to have that little fortune?"

"That is the capital for our family to make a living in the future and to support our descendants."

"You're so good, you just sell it!"

"You don't feel bad if your son sells your father's land, do you?"

"Today I must beat you, this disobedient and unfilial bastard, to death!"

The Marquis roared and rushed towards his beloved son with a stick.

"Master, what are you doing?"

Before the stick could hit him, it was stopped by a woman.

"If my son does anything wrong, you can just scold him and teach him a lesson."

"If you use such a thick stick to hit him, what will you do if he gets hurt?"

"I only have this one precious son. If anything happens to him, I will die!"

"Have you been bewitched by some slutty little whore again and want to support her illegitimate son to take the throne, so you want to beat your legitimate son to death? Master, you have such a cruel heart..."

The woman cried and screamed, trying to stop the marquis, while at the same time using her eyes and waves to signal her son to escape quickly.

But unexpectedly, her son didn't leave at all.

"Mom, I won't leave. I have done nothing wrong." The dandy young man said stubbornly.

This made the Marquis even angrier.

"You sold your family's land without permission, and you did nothing wrong?"

"You're unrepentant, aren't you?"

"How could I, a great marquis of the Ming Dynasty, give birth to a prodigal son like you?"

"Forget it. Today I would rather have no offspring than beat you, this disobedient and unfilial son, to death!"

As he said this, he increased his strength and rushed towards where his son was.

Although the woman tried her best to stop him, how could she stop the marquis who was as strong as an ox?

Just as he was about to rush to his son's side, a trembling voice rang out: "If you want to hit me, kill me first, then kill him, and then everything will be clear."

As the voice fell, an old woman walked into the yard, supported by a group of maids.

It was none other than the Marquis's old mother.

The Marquis had no choice but to stop and stepped forward to greet her, saying, "Mother, it's so cold, why are you out here instead of warming yourself by the fire in your room? What if you get caught in the cold wind? You'd better go back to your room and rest."

The old lady glared at the Marquis, blocked her grandson's way, and snorted, "You want to beat him to death, how can I not come?"

"I'm telling you, if anything happens to my grandson, I won't live anymore."

"We will all go downstairs to accompany him, leaving you alone to guard the mansion, and you will be happy."

After that, he looked at his grandson with a doting look, reached out and touched his head, and said: "The child is still young, if there is anything, can't you talk about it nicely?"

"Do we have to hold sticks and shout and kill? What if we scare the children?"

The Marquis was so anxious that he stamped his feet and pointed at his son angrily, saying, "Is he still young? He can even sell our own land secretly without telling me. If I don't educate him well, sooner or later, the little fortune our family has worked so hard to earn will be squandered by him."

Hearing this, the old lady's eyes gradually became solemn.

In this era, selling ancestral property, especially selling family land, is a big deal.

Although the dandy young men are uneducated and are good at eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, in fact most of them are like Ximen Qing. They are lustful and fun-loving, and they are also idle all day long and do not work properly.

But to say that he is a spendthrift, that is not necessarily the case.

On the contrary, many of them, like Ximen Qing, have good business acumen.

They spend their days in debauchery, but they also use their identity and status to gather information and engage in various businesses to profit from them.

For many of them, their wealth is not decreasing, but increasing.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

This is a common development trend in any dynasty.

These children of nobles are the most typical rich people.

Among them, except for a very small number of people, most of them are just having fun, but when it comes to making money, they are not vague at all.

After all, rich people don't make money by selling their labor or their working time.

Therefore, there is no need to spend a lot of time struggling and working hard like the poor.

Being idle and doing nothing has no effect on the wealth of the rich.

Because the capital they hold will generate wealth continuously, and as time goes by, it will become more and more.

This principle remained unchanged in the feudal era.

The difference between the rich and the poor is that the poor have to work to make a living and need to keep making money to meet their own needs and support their families.

And often the money earned is not enough to cover the daily expenses of oneself and one's family.

If they encounter a major change or are plagued by illness, they will completely collapse. The rich will receive money every day even if they lie down. They seem to spend money lavishly, but in fact, they can never spend it all.

The money they amass will only keep growing.

For the children of nobles, not doing their job properly, being idle and indulging in pleasure are not really a big problem.

It's impossible to spend all the money like this anyway.

You can’t spend it all in your lifetime.

If the ancestral property can be sold, its nature will change completely.

The old lady's face darkened and she asked, "My dear grandson, please tell me what happened?"

"Even if I sold it, so what?" The young dandy was not at all timid.

The marquis was so angry that he almost exploded. He picked up the stick, pointed at his son and said, "Mother, listen to this, listen to this, as a father, don't I have to discipline this bastard son?"

"What the hell are you doing disciplining me? Why don't you ask me why I want to sell myself?" The young dandy immediately retorted, "You just beat your son without knowing the reason. Have you asked clearly?"

"You have already sold your family property, what else do you want me to ask?" The Marquis was furious.

"I was responding to the call of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." The young dandy said unhappily, "It's not me who wants to sell it, it's His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who wants my family to sell it. How come you are so shameless that you don't even give His Royal Highness the Crown Prince face?"

As soon as these words came out, the Marquis's face suddenly became serious.

The imperial court recently issued a rent reduction regulation, which included content encouraging people to sell their land to the imperial court or transfer it to a special rental management agency.

There is no doubt that this is the national policy formulated by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince himself.

However, national policies are national policies, and there is absolutely no reason to force his family to sell their land.

In other words, he can simply not respond and pretend it doesn't exist.

Anyway, the court only encourages, not forces.

But judging from what his son said, did His Royal Highness the Crown Prince talk to him in private?
This nature is different.

The Marquis quickly asked, "What do you mean by that? Did His Royal Highness the Crown Prince tell you that in person?"

"Yes!" The young dandy said proudly, "A few days ago, at the Duke of Kaiguo's house, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince invited a few of us to drink. He said that we are all sons of noble families, the support of the court, and the people His Royal Highness the Crown Prince trusts the most."

The Marquis' eyes widened when he heard this.

If there was anything that worried him, it was undoubtedly the relationship between his family and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Back then, he followed Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the world and was promoted to marquis for his merits.

Back then, Lao Zhu and I had a life-and-death friendship.

That is the "friendship" earned by fighting on the battlefield, charging into battle countless times, and sharing life and death together.

But nothing in the world remains constant.

Especially in the power arena of the court.

Later, Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor and he was granted a title of nobility. Gradually, the relationship between the two could never go back to the way it was before.

Of course, there is definitely still emotion.

It’s just that it is no longer as deep and pure as it once was.

As for the younger generation, Zhu Yunhuan was still a child before, and because his mother died early, he developed a solitary personality under the upbringing and education of Lu, and his family did not have much contact with Zhu Yunhuan.

However, his uneducated son had a good relationship with Zhu Yunhuan's uncle, Duke of Changsheng.

At present, Zhu Yunhuan is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and his position is stable and he holds great power.

Everyone could see that the Ming Dynasty would be handed over to him in the near future.

At this time, if he could make friends with him, the Marquis would be willing to pay any price.

Accompanying you is like accompanying a tiger.

Even though he had been granted the title of nobility, he knew very well in his heart that the old emperor was more or less suspicious of them, old men.

Although his position in the court could not be said to be as precarious as an egg, it was definitely not as stable as a rock.

The friendship that was accumulated on the battlefield and through fire and water cannot compare to the weight of these four words: "the mountains and rivers of the world".

He had to find a way to maintain his position, but he had no idea how to do it.

In order not to upset his family, the Marquis could only bury his worries deep in his heart and not show them.

At this moment, from what his son said, it seems that he and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince have become "good friends"?

Drink together in private?
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to rely on his own son?
With this relationship, wouldn't my family be able to rest easy from now on?
Compared with this, selling ancestral land is no big deal.

Thinking of this, how could the Marquis not be excited?

With a swish, he suddenly exerted his strength, broke free from his wife who was blocking him, rushed to his son, grabbed the front of his shirt, and asked hurriedly and nervously: "You said that His Royal Highness invited you to drink, and that you are the person he trusts the most. Is this true?"

The young dandy was suddenly lifted up and had difficulty breathing. He shouted, "Can I lie about something like this? Dad... I can't breathe, let me go."

The Marquis then realized that he had exerted too much force and quickly relaxed.

The old lady next to him scolded again: "Look at you, what do you want to do? Is it a bad thing for our grandson to drink with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? Are you going to beat him?"

The Marquis rubbed his hands nervously and excitedly, and said with a smile: "Mother, I was just nervous just now. You see, I didn't even take the stick."

After saying that, he turned to look at his son and asked in a trembling voice, "Little bastard, what's going on? Tell me everything quickly."

"This is a secret of the court. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince accidentally said it when he was drunk, and he specifically told us not to tell anyone outside." The dandy boy was very stubborn: "I can't disclose the secrets of the court casually."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Marquis slapped him on the back of his head: "What secrets! Your father is also a marquis conferred by the court. What secrets are there that I cannot listen to? Besides, since His Royal Highness can tell you, he will not expect you to keep it secret. Come on, tell me."

"If you don't tell me, I'll slap you to death!"

The young dandy struggled for a while, and seeing that he couldn't escape his father's control, he had no choice but to speak up: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that the court is going to march overseas, and wants us, the sons of nobles, to take the lead in going to sea and establish meritorious services for the court. He said that we can make money and get rich, and he will also give us a chance to be awarded a title."

The Marquis' pupils shrank slightly, and light suddenly shone in them.

It was no secret that the imperial court was planning to march overseas.

This matter is almost out in the open.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been continuously investing money in building warships and developing the navy, and he is certainly not throwing away huge sums of money just to make a splash.

With the example of the previous expedition to Japan, both the government and the public had high expectations for overseas expeditions.

Later, Zheng He was sent out to sea, and then Prince Jin and Fu Youde went overseas.

Although people have different opinions on whether the Prince of Jin's voyage was a prelude to the court's overseas conquest or simply for the purpose of exiling the Prince of Jin.

But no matter what, it was certain that the imperial court would expand overseas.

The key point is the following words.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is going to use the sons of nobles to go to sea?
The significance of this matter is of great significance!

……

(End of this chapter)