Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 38: The Emperor's Son Rebelled
The three brothers became alert instantly.

They were already filled with frustration and mixed feelings, and now someone wanted to do something bad to them tonight?
However, he did not act rashly.

Firstly, they need to catch the thief and seize the stolen goods, so they need to get concrete evidence before they can take action against the person.

Secondly, I am afraid of misunderstandings and unnecessary troubles.

This half-day of life in Zhongdu City has brought about a great change in the mentality of the three brothers.

"Can't sleep? I can't sleep either."

Just when the three brothers couldn't help themselves and were about to take action, the person next to them spoke.

The voice is relatively low.

It seemed as if he was afraid of disturbing the others who were sleeping.

The three brothers' enthusiasm suddenly dissipated a lot, and then they sat up.

Because they already knew who this person was.

It was Lao Miao, the foreman of their team.

"Uncle Miao."

"Uncle Miao, you can't sleep either?"

"Uncle Miao."

This time, it was not just Zhu Di who greeted Lao Miao. The brothers Zhu Gang and Zhu Chong also spoke up and called Miao Uncle.

If I knew the identities of Zhu Di and the others in the future, I would definitely brag about it for the rest of my life.

Three princes surrounded him and called him uncle. This treatment is simply unparalleled!

"The world has become like this. The emperor built the capital and didn't even consider us as human beings.

Use it to death.

You never know when the person will die.

I have a wife and kids at home, how can I sleep?"

Lao Miao sighed.

Compared to daytime, he talked a lot more.

"You three brothers have been here for half a day, and you think this Zhongdu City is no longer viable, right?
This is just the beginning. If you stay a few more days, you will see more darkness!
I joined our team a year and a half ago. At that time, there were 30 people in the team.

By this time, there were only eight people left alive..."

The three brothers became even more silent as they listened, and for a moment they didn't know what to say.

I can only sigh.

They accepted the mission from their father and came to Zhongdu City for only two months, but now they feel overwhelmed.

Not to mention the numerous laborers who have absolutely no hope.

"Join our Ming Cult. Once you join the Ming Cult, there will be hope.

From the beginning, the world was divided into light and darkness.

I, the Ming Cult, stand on the side of freedom and light, with the purpose of dispelling all darkness in the world.

Save the people from fire and water.

Now, we are all deeply trapped in darkness. If we want to escape and defeat the darkness, there is no other way but to believe in the light and devote ourselves to it..."

Lao Miao changed the subject and shifted the topic to this.

A little moonlight fell through the cracks in the straw hut, making him look majestic and solemn.

Zhu Di and Zhu Gang were shocked. This was promoting the Ming Cult!
This old Miao is actually a Mingjiao member?

They are not unfamiliar with the Ming Cult.

After all, their father, Zhu Yuanzhang, once served in the Ming Cult.

This person is definitely a professional rebel, and his father has long listed him as someone who must be severely punished.

But now, there are people from the Ming Cult preaching to them!
The two brothers couldn't help but look at each other, then turned their heads away at the same time, full of disgust.

"That's absolutely right! Zhongdu City is all about darkness, and it will be defeated by light!"

While the two brothers were still shocked by this, Zhu Chong, who was standing next to them, couldn't help but praise them out loud, thinking that what Lao Miao said was right.

He wanted to join the light and defeat the darkness.

The third and fourth brothers were so confused that they didn't know what to say.

Second brother has no idea what’s going on!

"Uncle Miao, do you really believe that light can defeat darkness?
Do you really think that if we believe in the light and join the Ming Cult, we can eliminate the darkness and help us break out of our predicament?"

Zhu Di looked at Lao Miao and asked seriously.

"Of course it is!"

Lao Miao answered decisively, his expression becoming more solemn.

But this solemnity only lasted for a moment, and with a long sigh, it quickly turned into deep fatigue: "To be honest, I don't believe it either.

But now that Zhongdu City has become like this, no one cares about our life or death.

If you don’t believe this, what else can you believe?”

"Trust the government, trust the emperor. The emperor will definitely not turn a blind eye and will definitely give us justice!"

Zhu Gang couldn't help but speak.

"Ha ha……"

Lao Miao looked mocking.

"The sufferings we are going through now are brought upon us by the government and the emperor.

Zhongdu City was built for the emperor.

You think the emperor will care about our life or death?"

“The current emperor cares most about the people. I heard he also comes from a poor family and can’t bear to see us suffer.

The current state of Zhongdu City is because the emperor has been deceived and has no idea of ​​the real situation.

If I knew, I would definitely take care of it!

We will be given justice!"

Zhu Di also spoke up to defend his father.

"Yes, yes, that's it."

The King of Qin also realized that Zhongdu City was built for his father and he could not rebel against his father.

He had to protect his father.

"Haha, you guys are just too naive!

The emperor was the emperor of the Huaixi nobles, and he was in the same boat with Li Shanchang and others.

In his eyes, where are the ordinary people?

It is true that he came from a poor background, but does that mean he would be kind to the people?
There are many officials who come from poor backgrounds!

For example, in today’s Zhongdu City, many officials come from poor backgrounds.

But they are no different from other officials, and are even more cruel to the poor people than other officials!
As an emperor, I think he is just that good!"

A sarcastic voice sounded, but the speaker was not Lao Miao, but the man named Shen who was sleeping not far from them.

"It's still different. The current emperor is really good. He really wants the people to live a good life."

Zhu Chong, who realized belatedly that he had sat on the wrong side of the fence before, took the lead in defending his old father this time.

"Ha ha……"

Zhu Chong only received a sneer in response.

"Brother Shen, do you have any grievances? If possible, please share them."

Zhu Di quietly pulled Zhu Chong, who was about to argue again and try to prove that his father was different from the father they were talking about, and looked at the man and asked.

By now, he had completely understood it.

The emperor asked them to come to Zhongdu City to take a look for him, not just to see how Zhongdu was built.

We need to see more about the city of Zhongdu.

For example, the hardship experienced by those at the bottom and those who labored during construction is the most important thing.

Now is an opportunity to learn more about it.

"There are so many unfair things happening. How many people who come to Xiuzhongdu can feel at peace?"

The man surnamed Shen said this indifferently.

Perhaps it is the deep night that obscures many things and makes people's emotions more easily triggered.

Or perhaps it was what Zhu Di and his companions had just said that stirred up his worries.

He was silent for a while, and when Zhu Di thought that this guy would remain silent again like he did during the day, a voice finally rang out again.

"Brother Wu Xing, from now on, you must never talk about giving generous rewards to others, or even about giving them official positions.

Judging from the way the three brothers talk and behave, their family must have had an extraordinary past.

But people have to take one step at a time and speak one step at a time.

Now that things have come to this, what's the point of saying this?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, he said these words to Prince of Jin Zhu Gang, and Zhu Di felt secretly happy after hearing them.

I think Brother Shen speaks very nicely, he should say more.

Zhu Gang's face turned a little dark, and some words rolled in his throat, but he swallowed them back.

"Speaking of family background, who doesn't have some background?
To be honest, Brother Wu, you may not be able to compare with me."

He paused and said, "My surname is Shen, and my name is Shen Jing. My great-grandfather's name is Wansan, and my grandfather's name is Rong."

"Shen Wansan, the richest man in Jiangnan, is your great-grandfather?"

Zhu Chong and Zhu Di had not yet reacted, but the knowledgeable and well-informed Zhu Gang spoke first, with some surprise.

Shen Wansan was a very famous person. Even though he had been dead for more than 20 years, Zhu Gang had heard of his name from others.

Of course, this kind of reaction was not only because they were surprised that the man in front of them was the great-grandson of Shen Wansan, but more because they were shocked that Shen Wansan’s great-grandson would actually fall to this point!
"Then...how did you end up like this?"

Seeing Zhu Gang's reaction, Shen Jing was somewhat satisfied. The other party was shocked and directly called his great-grandfather's name, and chose to forgive him.

Their Shen family is quite famous. From Zhu Gang's reaction, he remembered some of the glory of his Shen family.

But after hearing the question raised by Zhu Gang, he suddenly fell silent again.

"It's all the Emperor's fault!
They said they were going to build Zhongdu City, so they wanted to move many wealthy families from Jiangnan to fill Zhongdu. My Shen family is well-known, so naturally we would not be spared.

I originally thought that the emperor was a good emperor and it would be nice to live in the future capital.

But who would have thought that after arriving here, we would fall into a wolf's den!

The nobles in Huaixi are all masters, they are everywhere and dare to order a servant around.

Forcing us to cut flesh from us.

We thought that since we had just arrived, people should not fight with officials, and we would just spend money to avoid disaster.

But after losing money again and again, I found that it was simply not working.

My appetite is too big!

They want to eat us until not even a bone is left!
By using the excuse of building Zhongdu, they took away 70% of my family’s money!
A few days ago, Li Shanchang’s nephew Li You came to us again and asked us to donate two million strings of cash to support the construction of Zhongdu.

Even if we sell our house and grind our bones into oil, we still can’t come up with this much money!
So, I and many people in my family were captured and brought to Xiuzhongdu.

It’s not just my family, many people from Jiangnan are like this…”

As Shen Jing said this, his eyes turned red unconsciously.

But it's night time now, so no one else can see it.

"You won't go to the capital and beat the drum to report the incident? As long as the drum sounds, the emperor will definitely deal with it impartially."

Zhu Di spoke, and it was unclear whether he really didn't know the reason or was asking on purpose.

"How do I knock? I was planning to knock two years ago.

As soon as we set out, my second uncle, fourth uncle, and everyone else from the family who was doing this together were all met by bandits and killed..."

His voice was hoarse and nasal.

“So, Uncle Miao was right when he said we should join the Ming Cult. There’s too much darkness here, and it’s impossible to survive!
The emperor is useless, you can only rely on yourself and the Ming Cult.

Defeat darkness with light!"

His expression couldn't be seen in the darkness, but one could hear his gnashing of teeth.

"You still have to believe in the emperor. He will definitely give your family justice!"

Zhu Di said in a deep voice.

"Haha, so naive!

How could the emperor know what happened to us?"

Shen Jing laughed so hard that tears came out, as if he had heard a funny joke.

"What if I say that the emperor will come to Zhongdu City in a while?

If that time comes, would Brother Shen dare to file a complaint with the Emperor?"

Under the little moonlight, Zhu Di looked at Shen Jing and asked.

"Haha, you brothers, your tone is louder than mine, you act like the emperor's sons.

He wanted to give people official titles and said that the emperor would come to Zhongdu soon.

This is even more ridiculous than the Ming Cult!"

After Shen Jing finished speaking, he lay down on his side and supported several people with his back.

After a moment, a muffled voice sounded: "If the emperor really comes, I will file a complaint with him even if I have to be cut into pieces!
But how could the emperor come?

By the time he arrived, Zhongdu City had already been built.

All he saw was a magnificent and majestic Zhongdu city!
They can’t see the suffering of us, the countless bones and bloodshed in Zhongdu…”

……

In Wenhua Hall, Crown Prince Zhu Biao received a secret letter sent by carrier pigeon. After unfolding it and reading it, his face changed drastically.

He immediately left the Wenhua Palace and headed towards the Wuying Palace...

"Father, look at this!"

Zhu Biao handed the secret letter to Zhu Yuanzhang, his voice sounding solemn and a little flustered...

(End of this chapter)