Zhu Di: My fourth son is a great emperor of all time?

Chapter 90 Zhu Di bestows a marriage upon his fourth son
Zhu Gaoshuo was very embarrassed.

Because now he and his own father are staring at each other.

The last time the two of them were this close was when Zhu Gaoshuo was just born.

"What are you looking at! Get up now!"

For a fleeting moment, Zhu Di recalled the time when he was still in the Prince's Palace. At that time, Zhu Gaoshuo had just been born and was held in Zhu Di's arms, his body covered in blood.

At that time, Zhu Di, a valiant and iron-willed man with numerous military achievements, happily held his son and laughed to the sky.

He favored Zhu Gaoshuo because this son was born when his career was going well and grew up after he became king and emperor.

More importantly, Zhu Gaoshuo had fair skin and beautiful features from a young age, and possessed an otherworldly and refined air.

Zhu Di believed that his fourth son would grow up to be a bookish prince who loved poetry and literature and aspired to a literary life.

Until the curtain of heaven mercilessly unfolds, telling him that the world will become like this! Peace and prosperity! Harmony and stability!
All the plans have fallen apart.

"Father."

Zhu Gaoshuo got up.

As for himself, Prince Qi, he has never been serious.

It seems unlikely that Zhu Di would punish himself for treason just because he tripped and fell.

"Don't call me! Go back! From today onwards, Prince Qi will be confined to his quarters to study national policies, and no outsiders are allowed to see him!"

This is a form of disguised confinement!

What happened to the agreement we made to have him take up his fiefdom?

Is Dad really that narrow-minded?

Zhu Gaoshuo knew that Zhu Di's temperament was most unpredictable at times like this, so he could only obey the order and return to his residence.

But Zhu Di didn't see that Zhu Gaoshuo, who had left the imperial study, had a smile on his lips.

The next day at court, members of the Crown Prince's faction immediately submitted a memorial, claiming that sorcery was bewitching people's hearts and that people should be sent to conduct a full-scale inspection to let Zhu Di's dragon aura spread throughout the Ming Dynasty and let the people know that the current emperor is the wise and virtuous ruler.

The second son, of course, had to jump out and disagree.

One minute they say the current emperor is a wise and sagacious ruler, so why does it need to be proven? The next minute they say the dragon's aura is everywhere in the Ming Dynasty, and the whole country is the king's land! The Crown Prince's faction is terrified and wants to take this opportunity to deplete the national treasury.

The eldest son, an extremely stingy person, was so angry that he was panting and almost started cursing when someone pointed a finger at him and accused him of wasting national treasury funds.

Zhu Zhanji naturally knew that his father couldn't be involved at this time. He stepped forward slowly and first bowed to his arrogant second uncle: "Second Uncle, I know your concerns."

"Know nothing!" Zhu Gaoxu didn't take his good nephew seriously at all. "Your father, whenever we ask him, he always says he has no money, no money. He says the national treasury is tight. Now he actually wants to go on a publicly funded tour?! Tell me! How much money is actually in the national treasury?!"

What "fourth brother" and what "inspection"? It's all a lie. What he really wants to know is how much money the boss has.

Zhu Gaochi naturally knew what his second son was plotting after fighting with him for so long.

“We are using sorcery to deceive the people, and we should naturally share His Majesty’s burdens.”

Yesterday, the news that Zhu Gaoshuo was imprisoned in the Prince Qi's mansion spread quickly. Now, who in the capital doesn't know that the great emperor of all time has been imprisoned by the current emperor?

Some say this is sorcery to mislead the public, so naturally Prince Qi must be dealt with.

Some say that Zhu Di was feeling guilty and wanted to strike first.

But Zhu Gaochi didn't think so.

He knows his father all too well.

"Your Majesty, you have your own decision. Whether our fourth brother has the talent or not is not the point; the point is whether his talent can be used for our Great Ming." Zhu Gaochi's body could not support him any longer, so Zhu Zhanji stepped forward for him and spoke at length.

The core message is that the Heavenly Curtain is spreading heresy and misleading the public, and that the current emperor is the most sagacious ruler.

To prove that the "sky curtain" is a rumor, Zhu Gaoshuo should be sent to Xunzhou. Let him roll up his sleeves and get to work. If he does well, it will benefit the people; if he does poorly, it will just prove that he is incompetent.

In the Heavenly Realm, where did Zhu Gaoshuo's throne come from?

It was snatched from Zhu Zhanji!
Now that Zhu Zhanji has come forward and said all this, he doesn't seem to care at all whether he can inherit the throne.

Several princelings praised him repeatedly, saying that the prince was wise, magnanimous, and had the world in his heart.

Although it was the grandson of the emperor who spoke.

But who doesn't know that the position of Crown Prince was only secured because of the Emperor's grandson?

Zhu Zhanji wasn't indifferent; rather, his father had dragged him out of bed in the middle of the night the previous night and lectured him at length.

Tell him the reasons behind it, the human relationships involved.

We are fully prepared!

He wanted to establish a more virtuous image of the imperial grandson!

“I agree with that. Anyway, Xunzhou is often harassed by the Southern Barbarians, so why not let Prince Qi go there to gain some experience? It would be a fitting way to honor him as a prince of our Great Ming.”

Zhu Gaoxu rarely agreed with his elder brother's opinion.

Because he also wanted to get rid of Zhu Gaoshuo.

What kind of emperor is he? He thinks he can be a local tyrant just because he's in Xunzhou?
Hmph, once we leave the capital, life and death can be decided in an instant.

As for the third son, he received the news in the morning and didn't have time to discuss it with the servants in the mansion, so he decided to keep quiet for now.

Looking at the noisy court, Zhu Di's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed.

He had already decided on Zhu Gaoqi's fate, but he wanted to see the hearts and minds of his three sons, his trusted ministers, and the entire court.

"Alright, stop arguing. Fourth Prince, cough, Prince Qi is in seclusion at his palace, studying national policies, which is very arduous. I hereby bestow upon Prince Qi a marriage with Zhang Xiuping, the youngest daughter of Duke Rongguo, Zhang Yu. Choose an auspicious day for the wedding!"

"After the marriage, you shall serve the Ming Dynasty wholeheartedly. Therefore, I hereby order you to form a border detachment and go to Xunzhou with Prince Qi to take up your fiefdom and guard the territory of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Your Majesty!"

Once Zhu Di spoke, who could possibly object?

When the news reached Prince Qi's residence, Zhu Gaoshuo was researching how to write with paste.

He showed no surprise, as if everything was expected.

The messenger was Wang Ao, one of Zhu Gaoshuo's trusted confidants. At this time, Wang Ao was merely a civil official who had passed the imperial examination. He had been tricked by Zhu Gaoshuo into coming to his Prince Qi's residence.

When Wang Ao first arrived at Prince Qi's residence, he was filled with resentment. He had studied and written essays to pass the imperial examinations, not to clean up the messes of this lazy and good-for-nothing fourth prince.

But as they spent more time together, Wang Ao, being a smart man, quickly realized that Prince Qi was no ordinary person.

He began to carefully observe Prince Qi's daily routine and gradually discovered that although Prince Qi seemed to act on a whim, often spending lavishly on literary pursuits, he was actually adept at maneuvering among various factions and creating public opinion favorable to himself.

Just like this time, when he returned to his residence from the palace, everyone thought he was about to die, but Zhu Gaoshuo laughed and said that his plan had succeeded.

He had never been so excited.

This is the mentality of a gambler. It's also the excitement of a chess player. Zhu Gaoshuo immediately issued one instruction after another to those around him.

(End of this chapter)