Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 995 Zhu Biao's Request
"This……"

Thinking of Zhu Su's difficulty, Zhu Biao also fell silent.

Outsiders may not know, but as Zhu Su's elder brother, Zhu Biao knows Zhu Su's lazy nature very well.

In the past, he could concentrate on his work even when he was forced to do something, but getting him to "start" doing something was the most difficult thing.

Especially since he had lived in the capital for the past few years, he had not worked for a long time and was even more lazy. He even ignored the many errands of the Imperial College, Baoyuan Bureau, Maritime Bureau, etc. Every day, he either spent his days leisurely at home, or went to the imperial manor under the Bifeng Mountain to escape the summer heat, or went to the brothel with one or two friends to listen to books and music. Even if it was Old Zhu or Zhu Biao, he could not easily find him.

Moreover, he just had a baby boy today, and asking him to travel all the way to Annan... is really a bit inhumane.

"Well, fifth brother, fifth brother has always been loyal and filial. If father has the order, fifth brother will definitely not refuse..." Zhu Biao blinked and looked tentatively at Old Zhu at the top.

Old Zhu's face froze when he heard that. He flicked his sleeves and said, "Let us go? We won't do it."

"The man's wife just gave birth to a son, and as a father, we are sending him thousands of miles away? That doesn't make sense."

"Boss, since you suggested this, then go and persuade your brother."

"If he can be persuaded, let him go. Don't count me in. We won't care."

Having said that, he called for all the ministers to leave and left the Jinshen Hall on his own, leaving Zhu Biao alone in the wind with his hair disheveled and a group of ministers staring at each other in the hall.

"Your Highness, this..." Daotong was a little confused about what Old Zhu meant.

Zhu Biao smiled bitterly and waved his hand. He actually understood his father's deep meaning. The reason why his fifth brother was now unemployed at home was actually related to the atmosphere of rejection of His Royal Highness the King of Zhou that was subtly revealed by the officials in the court.

The fifth brother is so capable that his influence on government affairs exceeds that of any other prince in history, and has penetrated into every aspect of the government and even the people:

In terms of government affairs, he used himself as bait to defeat Hu Weiyong and disintegrate the Huaixi officials; he secretly promoted the establishment of the Taxation Commissioner, which caused the clean officials composed of the remaining ministers of the late Yuan Dynasty to follow in the footsteps of the Huaixi officials and collapse; he founded a new school of thought and became the youngest Confucian master in history. He also served as the chief academic officer of the Imperial College. His students and former officials were all over the world. It can be said that in more than ten years, when his students have grown up and are experienced, eight out of ten senior officials in the court will come from the command of this fifth brother.

In terms of martial arts… that’s even more terrifying. At the age of fifteen, he was stationed in Suzhou and thwarted the conspiracy of Zhang Shicheng’s remnants; he went deep into Liaodong and shined in the battle of Jizhen, defeating the Nahachu tribe, the main threat to the Ming Dynasty in the north; he went to Japan and helped the Japanese king defeat the shogunate’s traitor Ashikaga clan, prompting Japan to "voluntarily" submit to the Ming Dynasty; he single-handedly organized a navy and successfully discovered Fengmingzhou, bringing an endless supply of gold and silver and new species to China, as well as a large new continent for the Chinese descendants to reproduce and thrive…

As for conquering Ryukyu and expanding the Ming Dynasty's maritime territory; showing off his power in India and expanding the Ming Dynasty's concession to the far west; assisting the King of Yan and defeating the arrogant Timurid Empire... there are too many to list, and each one of them is enough to scare people to death.

As for the rest, it was even more remarkable: his means of making money were so amazing that businessmen regarded him as the incarnation of the god of wealth, and their every word and action were followed;
The new crops he promoted, such as corn, had an astonishing yield, improving the lives of countless farmers. Farmers built shrines for him and worshipped him as the god of agriculture.

The first aid method he invented was very popular in the army, saving countless soldiers from death. Countless soldiers' families were grateful to him, which made his prestige in the army even higher.
The cement and textile machines he invented completely overturned the vision of Ming Dynasty craftsmen, who regarded him as a craftsman god.
The poem he recited...

All these incidents made the reputation and prestige of Prince Zhou Zhu Su far surpass that of the Crown Prince Zhu Biao, who worked diligently in Beijing to handle all state affairs. If it were not for the fact that the Crown Prince and Prince Zhou had always been friendly and respectful to each other, and that Prince Zhou would voluntarily give up all power every time he returned to Beijing, and publicly stated many times that he was only willing to be an idle prince... those court officials who cared about the Crown Prince would have disregarded everything to persuade him to take action against his fifth brother.

But even so, there are many officials in the court who feel that they will not be able to suppress the fifth brother if they succeed to the throne in the future. The fifth brother has too much prestige and has made too many contributions. Just like what happened just now, I think many people think that the fifth brother would be the best candidate besides Master Song, but no one took the initiative to recommend the fifth brother... It is because none of these cabinet ministers hope that the fifth brother will continue to make contributions.

And my father asked me to persuade my fifth brother because he wanted to show the court officials in this way that the Zhu brothers were still friendly and respectful to each other. Perhaps there was another meaning. After all, if I nominated my fifth brother, even if he succeeded, I would still have the credit of judging people.

But... Zhu Biao rubbed his brows with a headache. His fifth brother was so smart. He could see the fear of the court officials. How could he not see it? He had put his duties aside and wasted his time these days. He must have been determined to marginalize himself.

The Zhu brothers were similar to Old Zhu in that once they made up their minds, they would never turn back... and now that he had a new son, he had a legitimate excuse.

It's not that easy for me to convince him.
"Don't worry, Prince. I will go with you."

"Master Song..."

It was Song Lian who came to Zhu Biao's side. He stroked his long white beard and said, "I just heard that the Fifth Prince had a baby boy. I should have come to visit him. Besides, since the Fifth Prince asked me to go on his behalf, why shouldn't I come in person?"

The old man glanced at Dao Tong and the others, his eyes full of understanding, and said, "Partying up with others to attack those who are different is the way to bring disaster. There are wise men in the country, how can we avoid them and sit back and watch the pearls gather dust?"

"Is it what a gentleman does to be jealous of the virtuous and capable?"

Dao Tong and other cabinet ministers were immediately filled with shame.

"Master, what you said is absolutely right." Dao Tong and others could only bow and say.

Song Lian looked at them meaningfully, knowing that they were actually good officials who served the country and the people. In the end, he did not say much, but said to Zhu Biao: "Prince, I entered the palace in a hurry and need to go back to the prison to change clothes. You can go to the palace first, and I will follow."

The old man was an upright person. When he heard that the emperor had urgently summoned him, although it was a temporary summons, he still solemnly changed into court clothes since he was going to meet the emperor.

But on ordinary days, he would never wear this gorgeous court dress and flaunt it in the streets. Instead, he would rather wear a linen Confucian shirt and a square scarf on his head, just like an ordinary old Confucian scholar. Zhu Biao knew his habit, so he nodded and said, "Teacher Song, wait a minute, I respectfully send you off... Come, find a sedan chair for you..."

Song Lian smiled and rejected Zhu Biao's kindness, and left the Jinshen Palace with a little trembling. Dao Tong and others approached Zhu Biao and said, "Your Highness, why don't we find another wise man? His Highness the King of Zhou has actually retired to the city, so letting His Highness the King of Zhou go is really..."

"In this world, apart from my fifth brother, no one else can take on this important task... My fifth brother is more suitable than Master Song." Zhu Biao said firmly. "Since I am the crown prince, I should put state affairs first. You don't need to say more."

As he spoke, he also glanced at the cabinet ministers and said, "The cabinet ministers are the ministers of the Ming Dynasty, the country and the people. They are not the ministers of Zhu Biao alone, nor the ministers of a party, a faction, or a faction."

"Even if I, Zhu Biao, am no longer the most suitable candidate for the crown prince, you should still protect the rights and interests of the court, the country and the people based on the great Ming Dynasty... This is what you cabinet ministers should do, do you understand?"

These words frightened everyone to the point of kneeling on the ground. Daotong was the first to say, "Your Highness, we are rude and terrified, but Your Highness, the Crown Prince, please do not do this. The Crown Prince is the foundation of the country, how can you say such words..."

"I know." Zhu Biao smiled and said, "I am also confident that no one is more suitable to be the crown prince than me. I think so, and my fifth brother thinks so too."

"Wait a minute. If this matter is delayed, Li Jibai might become suspicious... I'd better go find my fifth brother as soon as possible."

"You can just go back to the cabinet." After saying that, he turned around and left Jinshen Hall.

Several people waited until Zhu Biao left before they dared to help him stand up. They looked at each other and smiled bitterly, saying in unison: "Your Highness's combination of kindness and power is indeed like that of His Majesty."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince and his brothers are so good to each other, but we are just petty people who judge others by our own standards."

"Alas, I have been a villain in vain... Never mind, state affairs are more important, state affairs are more important..."

A group of ministers shook their heads and smiled bitterly before leaving the Jinshen Hall.

……

To the west of the city is the Prince Zhou’s Palace.

The news that Prince Zhou had a son had already spread like wildfire. Even because Zhu Yuanzhang had not deliberately concealed his whereabouts, the news that the emperor came to visit him in person was known to those who were interested.

Just a few hours after Zhu Su's good son Zhu Youdun was born, there was already a constant stream of people and cars outside the Zhou Palace. Officials, nobles, royal relatives, peddlers, all gathered in front of the palace, wanting to share in the joy of the palace.

On such a good day, the palace naturally had no reason to turn people away. The wealthy Prince Zhou waved his hand and hired dozens of chefs and hundreds of tables from major restaurants in Beijing to set up a grand buffet inside and outside the palace. The Palace Street where the Prince Zhou Palace was located was packed with people.

Fortunately, most of the houses on this street are those of Zhu Su's brothers. The owners of these palaces are either away from home or belong to Zhu Su's younger brothers. When their elder brothers have a wedding, they, the brothers, would vacate their own land and lend a hand. They would never despise the Zhou Palace for occupying their street because of the wedding.

However, although there were many of these people, most of them were not qualified to be received by Zhu Su in person. Even most of them were close to Zhu Su, but of ordinary status. They came only to congratulate him, and did not even want to enter the mansion, but just gathered on the street: First, Zhu Su's status was very high. There were not many people in Beijing who could make him leave his newborn child and his wife who had just given birth to come out to do this courtesy.
Secondly, the guests of high status knew the importance of the event. If they insisted on going in to congratulate the guests at this time, they would not be good guests, but bad guests.

However, this made the chief historian of the Zhou Palace and the old eunuch Xiangdeng, who was in charge of internal affairs, very busy. So many guests came to the palace to show their support and bring good fortune to the young prince. They could not entertain them poorly and make them leave with resentment.

We must also pay attention to maintaining the situation and not let petty thieves take advantage of the situation. That would be a slap in the face of the palace and must not happen.

Therefore, although Zhu Su was in the backyard, accompanying Xu, who had just given birth, and his son Zhu Youdun, the servants and guards in Prince Zhou's mansion were so busy that they had no time to rest.

Xiang Deng was busy when he saw a man walking in from the street with his men. When the guards saw the man, they knelt down hurriedly and shouted, "Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zhu Biao did not expect that so many people would gather here. When they heard his voice, they all knelt down in front of him in a panic: some of them were holding an elbow in their hands, which flew out of their hands in a panic, and the elbow was covered with dust and their eyes were filled with regret; some of them were still holding a chicken leg in their mouths, and they said vaguely "Greetings to the Prince" and knelt down in a hurry and almost choked.

He raised his hands and said, "Stand up, stand up. You are all here to congratulate my fifth brother. As your elder brother, I should thank you all."

"No need to perform such a grand ceremony..."

On the other side, Xiang Deng was already sweating profusely as he squeezed over. He had not expected that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would suddenly come here in person from the street. There were so many people here, even if he wanted to come, shouldn't he have sent someone to inform him first and entered through the side door?
First it was His Majesty, then it was the Crown Prince, it was really...

"Your Highness, please come this way..."

"Yes, thank you." Zhu Biao naturally recognized Xiang Deng, and was led by Xiang Deng into the Prince Zhou's mansion. Along the way, he kept inviting the guests to eat and drink well. When he stepped into the mansion, some people began to whisper, "Is that the Crown Prince? He looks very friendly. Is he also here to congratulate Prince Zhou on the birth of his son?"

"Of course. Everyone in Yingtian knows that the Crown Prince and Prince Zhou are close brothers. They are close brothers..."

"That's nonsense. There are no brothers in the imperial family, not to mention the great talent and strategy of Prince Zhou. It would be strange if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had no fear in his heart. I'm afraid he came here to congratulate you just for the sake of face..."

"Hush, stop talking nonsense. How dare you talk nonsense about such a major national event? Aren't you afraid of being punished for alienating the royal family?"

"What do you know? Let me tell you, since the beginning of history..."

Zhu Biao naturally could not hear the whispers outside the mansion. He followed Xiang Deng all the way into the hall. Xiang Deng wanted to ask someone to report, but he smiled and walked in by himself, shouting: "Fifth brother, fifth brother!"

"Where are you? Where's my good nephew? Hurry up and bring him here for Big Brother to see!"

"Big brother?" Zhu Biao poked his head out from behind a window in the back house. Seeing that it was Zhu Biao, he walked out from behind the door with a happy face and said with a smile: "Big brother, why did you have time to come here today?"

"Your nephew just fell asleep, and you woke him up with your shout."

"Look, the nurse is coaxing her in the room."

Zhu Biao blushed and said shyly, "It's my eldest brother who is not."

"Since my nephew is resting, why don't we chat for a while? I will go visit him when he wakes up."

"Okay, just now, the steward of Duke Cao's mansion happened to bring a bag of good tea... Please come in, big brother!" Zhu Su led Zhu Biao affectionately and walked towards the study.

(End of this chapter)