Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 106 Stop It, Dad
At the Naval Office for Preparing for Japanese Aggression, Marquis Jinghai Wu Zhen frowned as he looked at the letter in his hand.

His expression seemed particularly solemn.

He read it in silence for a long time, then suddenly slapped the letter hard on the table.

The wind created when the arm was raised caused it to fall to the ground.

Wu Zhong, who was standing nearby, bent down and carefully picked it up.

He turned around and looked at his father.

Seeing that his father had no intention of stopping him, he just kept turning the iron walnut in his hand, making an irritable clicking sound.

He lowered his head and looked at the letter.

I want to see what is written in this letter that can cause such a big reaction from my father.

Wu Zhong was the son of Wu Zhen, Marquis of Jinghai.

He had been studying in the main hall before, and was one of the study companions of Qin Wang Zhu Chong, Jin Wang Zhu Gang, and Yan Wang Zhu Di.

Also serving as the prince's study companion was Wu Gao, the son of Wu Liang, Marquis of Jiangyin, who was also Wu Zhong's cousin.

And the children of other dukes and marquises.

According to normal procedures, Wu Zhong would have to study in the main hall for at least two more years before he could finish his days of accompanying the prince in studying.

The reason why it ended so early was that several princes had undergone great changes after their trip to Zhongdu.

The three princes, the King of Qin, the King of Jin, and the King of Yan, all finished their lessons in the main hall ahead of time.

The younger King Wu, Zhu Su, also stopped going to the main hall to study.

I heard that he is now spending every day in the Imperial Hospital.

He spent the whole day either studying medical books or asking imperial physicians for advice on medical techniques.

It seems that he wants to give up his studies completely and develop his medical skills.

I don't know what the Emperor and the Empress were thinking. They actually allowed a prince to be so idle and develop in such a small way.

In short, several older princes no longer study in the main hall.

The oldest remaining prince was the sixth prince, Prince of Chu Zhu Zhen, who was only eleven years old.

It would be inappropriate for people of their age to accompany the prince to study in there.

So they all finished their studies at the main hall.

Some nephews and nieces of noble families who were about the same age as the King of Chu and the King of Qi accompanied the prince to study in the main hall.

After watching for a while, Wu Zhong's brows gradually furrowed.

The content of this letter is not too much.

The main point is that the emperor opened up trade with the grasslands and raised the commercial tax rate to an outrageous level of 10:6.

At the same time, it was said that the emperor asked the Chaohu navy to participate in some material transportation.

"Dad, this 10% tax and 6% tax is really too high. I've never heard of such a tax rate.

The emperor is crazy about money!"

After reading the letter, Wu Zhong suddenly understood why his father reacted that way.

The iron walnut in Wu Zhen's hand stopped turning, and he shook his head with his back to Wu Zhong.

"A 60% tax is indeed too high, but if it is limited to the trade between the north and the grasslands, it is not unacceptable.

Most of our business is in the south, on the sea.

There is only a very small part in the north, so it would be fine even if it were all abandoned and given to the emperor.

What's more, this trade is really profitable.

Even a 60% tax rate would still be profitable."

Isn't it because of the 10% tax?
Wu Zhongwei was stunned for a moment.

"Dad, are you angry about the Chaohu Navy getting involved in this?"

The letter only mentioned two things in total. Since it was not 10% tax and 6%, it must be the Chaohu Navy.

As soon as he said this, Wu Zhong saw that his father was obviously holding the iron walnut with force.

Wu Zhen had a strong resentment towards the Chaohu Navy.

It can be said that he has always lived in the shadow of the Chaohu Navy.

The timing of the Chaohu Navy's appearance was just right. As soon as they started working in partnership with their superiors, they began to fight a series of tough and major battles.

The Battle of Poyang Lake, in particular, can be said to have directly affected the fate of the Ming Dynasty, which had not yet been established at the time.

The Chaohu Navy has made great contributions, has long qualifications and a special status.

The two brothers were promoted by the emperor.

With these brothers as the core, a new navy was formed.

In order not to disappoint the emperor's trust, he seized this great opportunity and soared into the sky.

What they did next was tie their heads to their belts and fight for their lives.

Later, he followed Tang He to defeat Fang Guozhen and pacify Chen Youding, and his brothers all made great efforts in it.

I thought I had fought well enough in these two battles and could be proud of myself.

But some people still say that this is an opportunity given to them by the emperor to make meritorious deeds.

The purpose was to promote them so that they could be used to check and balance the Chaohu navy.

The two battles against Fang Guozhen and Chen Youding were okay.

But compared with the Chaohu Navy, there is still a gap.

If the Chaohu Navy had fought these two battles, they would have been fought more beautifully.

Apart from anything else, at least it will prevent a large number of remnants of both sides from escaping to the sea and becoming pirates.

Until now, it is still causing trouble.

Anyway, in short, no matter how you compare them, the two brothers are no match for the Chaohu Navy.

If it weren't for the purpose of balancing the Chaohu navy, his two brothers would never have come into being.

Even if the emperor promoted them blindly and showed favoritism, the two brothers were still no match for the Chaohu navy in any way.

Moreover, as far as he knew, many of the remarks here came from the Chaohu Navy.

Being able to fight his way to the top and having two marquises in his family, Wu Zhen naturally felt proud.

I think that the brothers’ achievements today are all due to their own abilities and their courage to fight.

It has little to do with the rest.

The Chaohu Navy is not much stronger than their brothers.

With this kind of mentality, one can imagine what people feel when they hear these remarks from time to time.

They were extremely angry about the Chaohu navy.

He wanted to see the Chaohu navy suffer misfortune.

When Yang Xian fell from power, the Chaohu navy was implicated and suffered heavy losses, forcing them to give up a large amount of profits in the north. These brothers put a lot of effort into this matter.

Later, the Chaohu navy's illegal salt trafficking was exposed, and the two brothers also made great contributions.

After a series of actions, Liao Yongzhong, the only remaining pillar of the Chaohu Navy, was finally beheaded by the emperor.

He let out a long sigh and felt extremely refreshed.

I think the Chaohu navy will never recover.

According to the emperor's character and the disputes between him and the Chaohu Navy, it is not impossible to completely abolish the Chaohu Navy even if it is disbanded.

Who would have thought that the attack on the Chaohu navy would only last for a few months.

When the capital was under the rule of Zhongdu, the Chaohu navy was even called upon to do the work.

Not to mention that, now we have to let the Chaohu navy go north and get involved in the trade with the grassland!
This shows that the Chaohu Navy has completely overcome the life-and-death crisis!
And once again gained the emperor's trust.

For him, this kind of thing is so painful!
The emperor was no match for him either. He even wanted to keep the Chaohu navy to check and balance his two brothers.

The two of them were loyal to him, had made contributions to the Ming Dynasty, and had shed blood for the emperor, yet he actually thought of his brothers like this!
“Just look at these things.

The Chaohu navy is nothing but a broken-back dog.

All those who can really handle things and accomplish great things are dead.

The remaining few, like Yu Tongyuan, Yu Tongyuan, and Liao Dingguo, are unlikely to achieve anything significant."

He turned the iron walnut in his hand again and said nonchalantly.

Wu Zhong was silent for a moment after hearing this, then he looked at his father's back and said, "Dad... let's not do the 2,000-ton ocean-going ship thing.

Stop it immediately, Dad."

"What sea ship? Who told you about a sea ship?"

Wu Zhen's movement of turning the iron walnut paused unconsciously.

After about a breath, it started to rotate again.

He turned around, looked at Wu Zhong and asked back with just the right amount of doubt.

It was as if he was completely unaware of all this.

Wu Zhong's eyes were somewhat evasive.

But after a moment, he mustered up the courage, looked at his father and said, "I already know about the secret transportation of the large sea ships from the Longjiang Treasure Shipyard and the sale of them to the Fang tribe pirates.

Dad, stop it."

There was hesitation in his voice, but he spoke seriously.

The calm expression on Wu Zhen's face did not disappear.

With his hand behind his back, he held the iron walnut and unconsciously exerted force.

"What nonsense are you talking about, kid?
Who told you this?
How could your father do such things?"

Wu Zhong's eyes shifted away from his father's face, he lowered his head and said nothing.

No matter where he got the news from, he would never tell his father.

Otherwise, according to my father's temper, anyone who said these things to me would definitely not have a good ending.

The room fell into silence for a moment.

“I don’t want you to know this.

Sometimes knowing more is not a good thing.

The more you know, the more trouble you have."

After this silence lasted for a while, Wu Zhen spoke first.

The voice sounded low and no longer as calm and relaxed as before.

“I want you to always live in the light and not be exposed to the darkness.

Now it seems that my idea is still a little wrong.

Light and darkness exist in the world.

Even the emperor could not make his son see only the light and not experience the darkness of the world.

You are gradually growing up, and in the blink of an eye you are taller than your father and me.

I will eventually grow old, the title is yours, and the burden will eventually fall on you.

It is indeed time for you to gradually see the complete world.

Otherwise, you won’t be able to shoulder this burden, and you will definitely suffer in the future.”

He looked at Wu Zhong, his eyes filled with relief and a sense of time passing quickly.

"father."

Wu Zhong raised his head, looked at Wu Zhen and shouted, not knowing what to say for a moment.

“This is not what you heard.

I did sell the big ship to the pirates.

But not for the money.

To be honest, our family is no longer short of this money.

Life will be the same without this money, and life will not improve with this money.

I do this for the sake of the Ming Dynasty and to balance the forces at sea.

Chen's pirates acquired twelve large ships of 2,000 tons each, greatly increasing their strength.

The Fang tribe pirates were simply no match for them.

If I don't interfere, Chen's pirates will definitely be able to swallow up Fang's pirates.

By then, Chen's pirates will be the only ones in power on the sea, and no one will be able to control them. They will definitely cause trouble to the people and will be difficult to check and balance.

Just like after the emperor had the Chaohu navy, he would set up another navy and let your uncle and I lead it.

I sold the ship to the Fangbu pirates to check and balance each other.

Prevent the emergence of a single dominant player on the sea."

Wu Zhen's words were sincere and heartfelt, showing his painstaking efforts.

Wu Zhong's expression changed:

"Dad, in this kind of checks and balances, shouldn't we unite with the weaker side to fight the stronger one?

Beat whoever is stronger.

If you help the weak now and become as strong as the strong, then...what if they unite and attack us in the future?"

Wu Zhen was quite surprised when he heard this.

Obviously, he hadn't expected his son to come up with this idea so quickly. "You're right, but...it's not easy for us to do this here."

Chen's pirate army, which owns twelve large ships of 2,000 tons each, is really too powerful.

As for the navy preparing for war with Japan, technically speaking, they are all under the jurisdiction of your father and me, but it is not a monolithic entity.

This is especially true when taking action against pirates.

Many people in the navy preparing to fight against the Japanese pirates came from the same origin as Chen Fang and his two pirate groups.

Have a deep affection for incense.

Especially those who became pirates, who were very wealthy and would specifically use money to negotiate things secretly.

If I really wanted to kill those pirates, the news would definitely leak out first.

Even at a critical moment, it is not impossible that some people will turn against you.

This is where the difficulty lies: you are in me and I am in you."

After Wu Zhen said these words, his back, which had been straight all of a sudden became three inches shorter.

This is very different from his usual upright and decisive behavior.

It was as if in this short period of time, the hard outer shell on the body was stripped off.

As the commander-in-chief of the navy preparing to fight against the Japanese invaders, he did not have that strong control over the navy.

This is something he would never tell anyone on a normal day.

But now he told it to his son.

This was a very difficult decision for him, who always acted omnipotent in front of his son.

Wu Zhong looked at his father in disbelief.

He knew a little about the navy's preparations for the Japanese invasion and was aware that some problems existed.

But I didn't expect the problem to be so serious!

His father, who had fought his way through battle and had made great achievements, actually had far less control over the navy than he had imagined.

My own father also has difficulties that I am not aware of!
Thinking of this, some ideas arose in his mind.

I really want to ask my father, since the court already has 2,000 large ocean-going ships, why can't they report to the emperor and equip these large ocean-going ships to the navy preparing to attack Japan?

With these dozen 2,000-ton sea ships in hand, and in alliance with the Fang pirates who are at a disadvantage, is it really impossible to effectively strike against the Chen pirates?

Given the emperor's dislike for pirates, after his father reported this to the emperor, the emperor would definitely give these ships to his father.

There are problems in the navy. My father has been in charge of the navy for such a long time. Can't he identify them, gradually find out these people, and replace them?

Wu Zhong feels that if one really wants to do it, these can be done.

But the fact is, none of these exist.

It’s not that I can’t, it’s just that I don’t want to.

My father was right, I am part of you and you are part of me.

My own father is no longer the same as when he conquered the world...

These words lingered in Wu Zhong's mind for several times, but he didn't say them out loud in the end.

The person opposite is, after all, his biological father.

A father who has always been very good to me.

"Dad, what if the emperor finds out about this, what should we do?"

When Wu Zhong asked this question, he subconsciously swallowed.

Appear nervous.

This is what he is most worried about.

Liao Yongzhong was killed, and Li Shanchang's face was torn off by the emperor.

The Empty Seal Case involved many local officials, and the emperor had them all executed at his command.

Facing such a ruthless and ruthless emperor, his father actually dared to do this.

This... really made Wu Zhong not know what to say.

It is obvious that according to his father's status and the achievements he has made, if he lives his life according to the rules, his life will not be too bad.

Get whatever you want.

But why do we have to touch these?
"It's okay, there's no need to worry about that.

The higher-ups won’t find out.

The emperor will not attack Japan again, and he has forgotten about these ships.

If we don't get them out here, it would be a waste to keep them in the treasure ship yard.

It has been damaged due to years of disrepair.

There's a lot of timber stored in the Treasure Ship Yard, and there are so many shipbuilders there, so it wouldn't be surprising if something flooded one day."

When Wu Zhong heard this, his eyes narrowed.

Will the fire dragon burn the warehouse?
How dare my father do this?
“When you live in this world, especially when you are in a higher position, it becomes increasingly impossible to always act in an upright manner.

We still need to have some necessary means.

As long as things get done, that's enough.

Many times, you can't do what you want.

There are a large group of people behind you who want to follow you for food. If you don’t provide them with food, they won’t follow you to do things.

Things in this world are not that easy, and how can they be distinguished so clearly?

As you experience more things and see more things in the future, you will gradually understand. "

Wu Zhen looked at his son and spoke slowly, with some emotion and earnestness in his words.

He would never say these words to anyone else unless they were his biological father.

Originally, he planned to wait until his son was twenty before telling him these things.

Since things have changed now, it’s not a bad idea to tell my son in advance.

Wu Zhong nodded and said, "Dad, I'll remember this."

"Just remember it, you may not understand it for a while.

But it doesn’t matter. You can just take your time to look at it and think about it in the future.

What you learned in the university before were the principles in books, the principles of the old masters.

What your father is teaching you now is the principles of life.

You need to understand all of these.

Otherwise, you’ll easily suffer losses.”

Wu Zhong nodded, stayed here for a while and then left.

Wu Zhen watched his son leave, slowly turning the iron walnut in his hand, making a slight crackling sound.

He knew that what happened today and what he said had a great impact on his son.

But he believed that in time, his son would understand him.

Things in this world are really not that simple, so black and white...

……

"Lian'er, you have to learn this arithmetic well.

Since you are interested in it and have talent in it, don't let this talent go to waste.

If you learn deeply, it will be of great benefit to you."

At the Marquis Chengyi's residence, Liu Bowen looked at his son and gave him serious instructions.

He was not saying these words to his son just to please the emperor.

Compared with Li Shanchang, Hu Weiyong and others, there is a world of difference.

He really wanted his son to study arithmetic well.

He had such thoughts not because he had seen how important arithmetic was, but because he did not want his son to enter the officialdom.

The officialdom is a huge quagmire that tests people the most.

Those with ideals and abilities can devote themselves to it and naturally contribute their efforts to realize some of their ambitions.

But it is also very likely that they will be swallowed up instantly, leaving no trace of their body.

Although my son is quite smart, he still can't compete with me.

Neither his personality nor his ability are sufficient to cope with the complex situations in officialdom.

If he didn't have me as his father, he could be an ordinary official in the officialdom as an ordinary person.

But now, with a father like this and having entered officialdom, it is inevitable that he will be involved in many troubles.

There are constant attacks, both open and covert.

If you are not careful, you will fall into the pit and be killed.

Therefore, Liu Bowen felt that if his son continued to study arithmetic, it would be a good opportunity for him to enter the Imperial Observatory or teach in a school in the future.

There wouldn’t be so much right and wrong.

He doesn't ask his son to achieve great things.

It’s enough to live a peaceful life.

Moreover, arithmetic is something that is very simple when it is simple, but also very complicated when it is complicated.

After reading the elementary arithmetic skills developed by his superiors, Liu Bowen felt that there would be a lot of arithmetic knowledge in the future.

Arithmetic is far more vast than you think.

This would be the best, as it would allow my son to study it for his entire life and never be able to finish it.

You won't be bored.

It depends on how much importance the superiors attach to arithmetic. If you are good at arithmetic, you may be able to achieve something.

"Dad, I remember this."

Liu Lian responded.

Liu Bowen nodded and left.

After Liu Bowen left, Liu Lian immediately couldn't wait to read the arithmetic book.

From time to time, I would write and draw on the straw paper...

……

Yingtian Prefecture was plunged into darkness under the night.

Like a sleeping dragon.

At this time in the past, the Longjiang Treasure Shipyard, located outside Yingtian Prefecture City, also fell into slumber.

Now is no longer the time when we need to work day and night to build large ocean ships and prepare to attack Japan.

But today was a surprise.

In the seemingly dormant Longjiang Shipyard, many people, with the help of moonlight and tools, are moving the huge ship into the dock bit by bit.

With the sound of splashing water, a huge sea ship as big as a mountain entered the pool filled with water.

Then, under the control of relevant personnel, it slowly moved.

Not long after, they left the shipyard and entered the dock.

And from the pier, it sailed onto the river.

Seeing that the third ship also entered the river smoothly, Chang Jinshu, the director of the Treasure Ship Administration, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

A smile appeared on his face.

Become!

Things were completed smoothly and I completed the task perfectly.

This is the last time. From now on, we don’t have to secretly ship goods out to sea!

I can get a lot of benefits again!

She also did not let down the Marquis's kindness to her.

"It's still the same old rules. Immediately forget what happened. No one is allowed to leak any information!
If anyone can't control his words, I will make him shut up forever!
Including his entire family!"

Turning around and facing everyone present, the smile on his face disappeared instantly. He looked at everyone and threatened them, arrogantly and viciously.

Everyone agreed.

He uttered some more threatening words, distributed some money to everyone, and then let them go.

And he returned to his house in a happy mood.

When he opened the box and looked at the gold and silver inside, his eyes lit up.

Pick up a gold ingot and look at it carefully under the light.

The golden light reflected in his eyes, making his eyes look bright yellow.

Working with the Marquis is still promising!

If it weren’t for the Marquis, where could I get these?

This is much more profitable than fighting on the battlefield!
……

Outside the Longjiang Treasure Shipyard, amidst the grass, several pairs of eyes stared silently at the large ship sailing into the river in the darkness...

(End of this chapter)