Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 199: Old Zhu's Three Insights, Zhu Chong's Eyes Light Up [Please Subscribe]

Zhu Biao thought for a moment and said, "I feel that when Zhu Qizhen first became emperor, he was indeed as my father said: ignorant and foolish. With these two qualities, he must also be incompetent."

"After his restoration, his treatment of Yu Qian was extremely despicable. Although he later eliminated Xu Youzhen, Shi Heng, and Cao Jixiang one after another, I think that his ability to do this was only normal for a Ming emperor, and it cannot be considered outstanding."

"But this also shows that Zhu Qizhen is by no means a fool. If he is well educated and ascends the throne when he matures, he should be able to be a king who maintains the status quo."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, then looked at Zhu Di, "Fourth Brother, what do you think?"

Zhu Di said, "I have similar thoughts to you, brother. But in the final analysis, the defeat at Tumu Fortress, which nearly brought about the fall of the Ming Dynasty, was ultimately the fault of that bastard Zhu Qizhen's favored eunuch, Wang Zhen. I wish I could give him a beating decades later!"

"Enough, stop talking nonsense." Zhu Yuanzhang scolded him lightly, then sighed, "I've learned a lot from listening to Zhu Qizhen's story, so I'll share it with you two."

Zhu Biao didn't feel anything special.

Zhu Di was excited when he heard this, thinking to himself: This old man is training me just like my elder brother! Even if he has no intention of letting me inherit the throne, it also shows that I am the most valued among the vassal kings!

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Zhu Qizhen's favoritism towards Wang Zhen led to the Tumu Incident. Ultimately, it was all due to Zhu Zhanji's early death. Later, Zhu Qiyu allowed Zhu Qizhen to be restored to the throne because of his poor health, childlessness, and death in his prime."

"So we think that to be an emperor, one must first be in good health. Only with a good body can one control the court; and only by living long enough can one accomplish things."

At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Biao and said, "Biao'er, you need to take better care of your body and exercise more."

"Also, the Imperial Medical College must pay more attention and strongly support the medical research of those famous doctors, so as to improve the medical level of our Ming Dynasty as soon as possible, so that our Ming emperor will not die from any disease in the future."

Zhu Biao said, "Father, I am in very good health now. As for the medical school, I have always paid close attention to it."

"It's good that you know." Zhu Yuanzhang stepped down from the imperial throne with his hands behind his back. "My second realization is that the empress must be a virtuous woman—listen carefully, virtuous, not virtuous."

"Under normal circumstances, the Empress only needs to help the Emperor look after the harem, but if something happens to the Emperor, the Empress's role becomes apparent."

"During the Tumu Incident, if Sun hadn't shown courage and decisiveness at the crucial moment, Yu Qian wouldn't have had the opportunity to display his abilities. Or if he had bypassed Sun and supported Zhu Qiyu, he would have become a powerful official, and perhaps even ended up fighting against the new emperor and becoming a traitor."

"My final realization is that the crown prince must undergo a certain amount of experience before ascending the throne. Otherwise, he could easily be deceived by those he is close to and trusts, leading him to make naive decisions on national affairs."

"Do you remember these three points?"

Zhu Biao and Zhu Di hurriedly bowed and said, "Your sons will remember this!"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled, came over and patted Zhu Di on the shoulder, saying, "Come on, the three of us will have lunch together. We can talk about it during the meal. What Liu Kuan said today, and his behavior while he was talking about it, there are many things worth pondering."

Zhu Di was so affectionately patted by Zhu Yuanzhang that all the grievances he had felt from being beaten disappeared. He was so happy that he wanted to hum a happy little song...

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On August 14, there was only one day left before the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Zhu Chong was still working at the dock as usual, carrying bags.

He didn't think there was anything wrong - the other laborers at the dock were all there, and everyone was afraid of having less work, so no one wanted to take a day off early.

Even tomorrow, there will still be many laborers working at the docks.

Zhu Chongping in Japan is not as hardworking as other strong men. He carries relatively fewer bags and earns less, so he will not work less for no reason.

If he earns less money, not only will he not have enough to eat and drink, but he will also have to endure the bullying of the two women at home.

Now the two women grow and sell vegetables during the day and weave textiles at night. They earn four or five times more than he does!
Although he has the identity of Zhu Er, he is not as tough as before in front of the two women.

Recently he has been thinking about whether he can find a way to make more money that is both easier - he has thought of several ways, but he is afraid that the other person will not let him.

After carrying the cargo from a ship, Zhu Chong sat aside to drink water and rest, listening to the conversation of other Liba.

"Ever since the Jiangdong Wharf was built, the work that a small wharf like ours can receive has been decreasing."

"Who says it's not? I'm planning to give it a try at the train station. I heard the salary is several times higher than here."

"The train station is also recruiting Liba?"

"Haven't you heard? Open recruitment started a while ago, but I heard there are quite a few requirements. Being healthy, able-bodied, and having a family are all good things. They even require literacy, or a willingness to learn to read."

"Liba also requires literacy? That's so strange. Does carrying heavy loads at the train station require brains?"

Zhu Chong's eyes lit up when he heard the conversation between the two. He thought to himself, "Isn't this requirement just for me? I wonder if that person would allow me to switch to carrying the load at the train station?"
"Second Master, someone is looking for you!" A dock manager suddenly shouted towards Zhu Chong.

The only person at this dock who can be called "Second Master" is Zhu Chong - now almost everyone here knows his identity. They cannot call him His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin, and it is not appropriate to call him Second Young Master Zhu, so in the end they just call him Second Master.

Zhu Chong picked up the kettle and walked over. When he saw the person next to the manager, he was stunned.

"Fourth?"

Zhu Chong recognized that the person was Zhu Di, but he was a little hesitant to acknowledge him.

Firstly, he and Zhu Di had not seen each other for almost five or six years. When he went to Xi'an to be enfeoffed, Zhu Di was still a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old, but now he has become a handsome man with a bronze-dark complexion, an upright body and a mustache on his upper lip.

Secondly, in his understanding, the princes who had been enfeoffed were not allowed to enter the capital easily, let alone meet privately. Therefore, Zhu Di's appearance was completely unexpected. "Could it be that the fourth prince also made a mistake in Peking and needs to be retrained in the main hall like the third prince?"

"But looking at the fourth brother's cheerful expression, it doesn't seem like that."

Zhu Chong had a few thoughts in his mind, and then he saw Zhu Di smiling and said, "Second brother recognized me, but I almost didn't recognize you."

Zhu Chong was displeased when he heard this and said coldly, "Old Four, you came here just to laugh at me, didn't you?"

"How could that be?" Zhu Di, whose relationship with Zhu Chong wasn't particularly close, explained hastily, "I didn't expect my second brother to have become so dark and thin. He must have suffered greatly in the past two years."

After hearing Zhu Di's sympathy, Zhu Chong was no longer hostile to him, but he still didn't want to talk any more. He asked directly: "You don't need to worry about how much suffering I have endured. Tell me, what do you want from me?"

Zhu Di still had some emotional intelligence and said, "I mainly wanted to come and see my second brother, and also to bring a message to my father."

"The Emperor said that you and your two sisters-in-law have performed well this year. If you keep up the good work for a few more years, you will hopefully be reinstated as a prince."

Although Zhu Chong usually criticized and even cursed Zhu Yuanzhang in secret, he immediately changed his attitude when he heard what Zhu Di said.

He excitedly grabbed Zhu Di's sleeve, and asked with anticipation and trepidation, "Really?"

Zhu Di laughed and said, "Second brother, I dare not falsely convey the emperor's instructions."

After receiving a positive answer, Zhu Chong almost couldn't help jumping for joy.

If he was still resentful and had little hope of regaining his royal title when he was first demoted to a commoner, then after being a commoner for nearly two years and experiencing many "hardships", he deeply realized how precious his previous identity as a prince of the Ming Dynasty was.

Originally, he had almost given up hope of regaining his title of king, but now that he knew there was a chance of a turn for the better, his eyes suddenly lit up.

“That’s great! That’s great…”

Zhu Chong clenched his fists, muttered, and walked around in circles several times before stopping.

At this time, Zhu Di said, "Tomorrow, on Mid-Autumn Festival, the Emperor asked you to bring your two sisters-in-law to the palace. On the one hand, it is to let the sisters-in-law meet the children, and on the other hand, it is to let more than a dozen of us brothers gather together to discuss the matter of overseas fiefdoms."

"Emperor Taizong's plan to send all the princes overseas?" Zhu Chong recalled something Zhu Yuanzhang had mentioned when he first arrived in Beijing two years ago. He couldn't help but wonder, "Father...Is the Emperor really going to send all the princes overseas?"

Zhu Di smiled and said, "This is a long story, I can't elaborate on it. When the brothers gather tomorrow, you will understand it naturally."

After saying this, Zhu Di took two small jars of wine and a large bag of cakes from the guards and handed them to him. He said, "I finally got to see my second brother once, but my father didn't allow me to bring anything too expensive, so I bought some food. Please don't despise it, second brother."

Zhu Chong wanted to accept it but felt embarrassed, and wanted to refuse but was reluctant to do so.

Seeing this, Zhu Di directly stuffed the thing into Zhu Chong's hand to save him from having to make a choice.

Zhu Chong was touched for a moment and thought to himself: The fourth old man is quite nice.

···
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On the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Liu Kuan held Su Caiwei's hand and asked again, "Caiwei, do you really not want to follow us into the palace?"

Zhu Huilan said, "Caiwei, I've already informed the Queen Mother. She also wants to see you. Why don't you come with us to the palace?"

Su Caiwei stroked her already sizable belly and said with a smile, "There are many people in the palace today, and I'm pregnant, so I'd better not go. The princess can take me to visit the Empress another day."

After hearing this, Liu Kuan also agreed - all the princes who had gone out to serve as fiefs had also come to this royal banquet, and there were so many people. It would be bad if something happened to Su Caiwei.

In addition, as his concubine, Su Caiwei was of lower status than the royal family, so she might not feel comfortable going there.

So he stopped Zhu Huilan who was about to persuade him again and said, "Forget it, let Caiwei stay at home."

Zhu Huilan sighed and stopped trying to persuade her.

Then the couple left the house and entered the palace.

They arrived relatively late. When they arrived at the Dashan Hall, they saw more than ten of Zhu's sons gathered together, plus a large group of daughters-in-law, daughters, and concubines. It was really a lot of people.

Fortunately, the Dashan Hall is big enough, otherwise it might not be enough for Mr. Zhu and his entire family to hold a banquet.

There was no sacrificial ceremony requiring Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao's participation during the Mid-Autumn Festival, so not long after Liu Kuan and Zhu Huilan arrived, the two also came.

After Zhu Yuanzhang sat down next to Empress Ma, he smiled and said, "Let's start the banquet first and talk about other things after the meal."

After saying that, he waved to Liu Kuan, "Liu Kuan, come and play a few songs to cheer me and my sister up."

　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)