Chapter 004 Zhu Yuanzhang's Relatives
After a period of chaos and war, Chen Chong finally recognized his father, but Chen Tan continued to deny his father.
Chen Jing couldn't even speak or walk. He refused to recognize his father, and Zhu Yuanzhang was helpless.
It can't be really lost, right?
In fact, children like Chen Chong and Chen Chong are normal. Their current IQ is not as good as that of a golden retriever. When Zhu Yuanzhang went out, he was dark, thin, and bearded. It would be a miracle if the children could recognize him.
When Zhu Yuanzhang faced his sons other than Chen Biao, he always liked to put on a stern face and act like a strict father. Didn't that scare the children into tears?
But Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to have a prodigy son like Chen Biao, so he disliked Chen Chong and Chen Tan.
Chen Biao knew that his father was prejudiced against his two younger brothers. Although his mother said that everything would be fine once his brothers grew up and became sensible, Chen Biao still persisted in wanting Zhu Yuanzhang to join the family.
His father has many concubines and maids. Although it is said that only his mother is giving birth to children now, when his mother gets older, sooner or later other women will give birth to children for his father.
If his father favored his illegitimate son and ignored his two younger brothers, Chen Biao would be so sick that he would die.
Having to think about these family feuds at such a young age makes Chen Biao very tired. However, thinking about the modern family of "Chen Biao", Chen Biao is very satisfied with his current family.
With the efforts of Chen Biao and Ma, Chen Chong recited the "Three Character Classic" to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang was finally somewhat satisfied with his second son.
He smiled and picked up Chen Chong, patting his big head: "The children of those scholars and Confucian scholars may not be able to recite the Three Character Classic at this age. My son is smart!"
It is natural that he cannot compare with Biao'er. As long as he can compare with other people's children, Zhu Yuanzhang will be very happy!
Chen Chong received the praise and started laughing too.
The father and son smiled at each other, and finally seemed to be close.
Seeing this, Chen Gang was no longer afraid of Zhu Yuanzhang, and he crawled towards Zhu Yuanzhang, trying to climb onto Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang put Chen Tan down, picked him up, and laughed out loud, "What? Tan'er finally agreed to acknowledge him as his father?"
Chen Gang indifferently spread his legs and shot Zhu Yuanzhang from the exposed part of his crotchless pants.
Zhu Yuanzhang's laughter stopped and his smiling face froze.
Chen Chong dodged and yelled, "Daddy, stinky!"
Chen Biao quickly pulled his younger brother, who was not much shorter than him, into his arms and covered his brother's mouth: "Shut up, do you want to be beaten? Hey, Dad, boy's urine is a good thing... Dad, what are you doing!"
Zhu Yuanzhang stuffed Chen Gang, who dared to urinate on him, back into Ma's arms, who couldn't help laughing, and pounced on Chen Biao.
"Ah? Boy's urine is a good thing? Try some too!"
"Dad! Just keep all the good stuff for yourself, I don't need it! Ouch, second brother, get out of my way!"
Zhu Yuanzhang successfully captured Chen Biao, whose escape route was blocked by his stupid second brother, and pressed Chen Biao on the boy's urine part of his body.
Chen Biao screamed repeatedly, and Zhu Yuanzhang laughed ferociously.
Chen Chong's mouth drooped and he started crying again: "Dad is bullying my brother, beat Dad!"
After saying that, he bravely rushed towards Zhu Yuanzhang, intending to give him a bull charge.
Zhu Yuanzhang dodged sideways while holding Chen Biao, and lightly hooked his foot, sending Chen Biao falling to the ground.
In order to make it easier for Chen Tan to crawl around, a thick carpet was laid on the ground, but Chen Tan still fell and got hurt, and burst into tears again.
When Chen Chong started crying, Chen Chong, who had just smacked his father all over, also opened his mouth and howled.
Chen Biao smelled the urine, his mouth pursed, and he wanted to cry.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw that his three sons were unhappy, he was very happy. His laughter was so loud that it almost shook the dust off the roof beams.
Ma placed Chen Ting on the crib, then patted Chen Ting's head, who was crying loudly, and her face darkened: "Guorui..."
Zhu Yuanzhang opened his mouth wide and his laughter stopped again.
Ma said with a stern face: "Don't bully the child."
Zhu Yuanzhang quickly shut up and said seriously: "I didn't bully you."
Chen Biao said weakly: "Brothers, forget it, you didn't bully me?"
Zhu Yuanzhang looked down at his eldest son, who was looking dissatisfied, and wiped Chen Biao's urine stain on his body again: "This is called father and son sharing joys and sorrows."
Ma wanted to scold him, but seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's rogue attitude, she couldn't suppress the corners of her mouth: "Alright, alright, take your son to take a bath. What a shame!"
"Okay." So Zhu Yuanzhang took a bath for the third time today.
When he goes to bed at night, he might have to take another shower.
Zhu Yuanzhang sighed: "I really took a month's worth of baths today."
Chen Biao rubbed his body vigorously with his short hands and said, "It's okay to fight, but when you go home, don't take a bath three times a month in such hot weather."
Zhu Yuanzhang said happily: "I didn't even take a bath three times a month before, what do you dislike?"
Chen Biao splashed water on his father: "I hate your stinky body, don't make your mother stink!"
Zhu Yuanzhang threw it back: "If I don't smoke your mother, I'll smoke you!"
Chen Biao took a gourd and said, "Go away, be careful or I'll pee on you at night."
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily: "Isn't Biao'er a fairy boy? How could he wet the bed?"
Chen Biao let the cat out of the bag and got angry: "I won't wet the bed!"
Zhu Yuanzhang: "Really? I don't believe it. I'm going to ask the people who serve you."
Chen Biao was so angry that he threw himself on his father and beat him: "This is a physical problem! I'm still young! Don't blame me if I can't control myself when I fall asleep at night."
Zhu Yuanzhang tickled his son and said, "You wet the bed anyway. You wet the bed."
Chen Biao struggled hard: "Didn't you pee when you were a kid?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said categorically: "No!"
Chen Biao: "I don't believe it!"
Zhu Yuanzhang said shamelessly: "You can go to the tablets of your grandfather and your grandmother and ask."
Chen Biao: “…” Fuck!
Little Chen Biao was defeated and looked listless when he went to dinner.
Chen Ying was picked up by Ma Shi at the age of eight and adopted as her son. He was always by Ma Shi's side. After Chen Biao was born, Chen Ying stayed by his side and developed a deep bond with him.
Seeing Chen Biao was sad, even though he was a little afraid of Zhu Yuanzhang, his adoptive father, he asked, "Biao'er, what's wrong?"
Chen Biao glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang.
Chen Ying sighed inwardly. As expected, the only person who could make Biaodi angry was his adoptive father.
Chen Ying pleaded bravely: "Foster father..."
"Okay, okay, what's with that expression on your face? It's like I bullied him." Zhu Yuanzhang said unhappily, "I exposed him for wetting the bed, and he got so angry that he blames me?"
Chen Ying: “…”
He suppressed his laughter and said, "Biao'er, there's no way Brother Ying can help you reason with this."
Chen Biao was so angry that he grabbed Chen Ying's hand and bit it.
Chen Biao, who was exposed for wetting the bed this year, has completely turned into an angry and humiliated childish boy.
Chen Ying held Chen Biao in his arms: "Don't bite my hand, it's dirty. How about biting my arm?"
Chen Biao spit out Chen Ying's hand and said in a muffled voice, "No!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy .
Zhu Yuanzhang had more than twenty adopted sons. Except for his nephew Zhu Wenzhen and nephew Li Baoer, most of them were orphans, and Chen Ying was one of them.
Zhu Yuanzhang gave these adopted sons the surname Zhu and listed them in the "Wen" generation. Li Baoer's public name was Zhu Wenzhong, and Chen Ying's public name was Zhu Wenying.
With so many adopted sons, there will definitely be differences in closeness and distance between them.
It goes without saying that Zhu Wenzheng and Zhu Wenzhong were blood relatives of Zhu Yuanzhang. Besides these two, Ma liked Zhu Wenying the most, so Zhu Yuanzhang naturally valued her more.
Although Zhu Wenying was adopted at the age of eight, he had been wandering around as a beggar for a long time before that. He did not know who his biological parents were, so he regarded Zhu Yuanzhang and Ma as his only parents.
The longer they were together, the closer they became. Unlike Zhu Yuanzhang's other adopted sons who were assigned to different military camps at the age of twelve or thirteen, Zhu Wenying was allowed by Zhu Yuanzhang to contact Chen Biao and became Chen Biao's first "confidant."
Zhu Wenying is now fifteen years old. Although he has not yet experienced a military career, the long sword in his hand has long been accustomed to blood - he is in charge of the guard team of the Chenji merchant caravan, escorting goods and food, and he probably encounters more attacks than the ordinary team under Zhu Yuanzhang.
In the afternoon, Zhu Wenying, Zhu Wenzhong, and Zhu Wenzheng had a sparring match, and Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied with their performance.
Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Ying'er, do you want to join the army?"
Before Zhu Wenying could say anything, Chen Biao said, "Brother Ying, go ahead and make some achievements to become an officer so that you can protect me in the future. Even if you can't be granted a title, an official position is better than being a businessman. Merchants can only prosper in troubled times."
Zhu Wenying looked at Chen Biao with an expression of reluctance.
Chen Biao looked up and said, "Brother Ying, you are just like my father. You will come home after the war. I have been waiting for you at home. What is there to be reluctant about?"
Zhu Wenying rubbed Chen Biao's head and said, "If I leave, what will happen to the caravan guards? I don't trust the others."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "That's easy. You, Wenzheng, and Bao'er can take turns coming back to serve as guards. You are young and can't always be fighting. You still need to study. Come home, Biao'er will be the perfect person to teach you."
Zhu Wenying was very happy, and Zhu Wenzhong also quickly said hello. Only Zhu Wenzhen showed an expression of despair.
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately kicked his nephew and said, "We didn't have the chance to study before! Now I ask you to study more, but you are not willing to do so!"
Zhu Wenzheng said miserably, "Whenever I hear those nonsense, I feel like dozing off. I can't help it."
Chen Biao said in a stern tone, "I'm not asking you to study to take the imperial examination. You don't like the sophistication of the subject. Ask someone to rewrite the articles in the classics into more popular stories. You...ah!"
Zhu Wenzheng immediately picked up Chen Biao and rubbed his rough cheeks, which were only left with stubble, against Chen Biao's soft-boiled face. "Biao'er, with your words, I don't have to worry about you anymore! Whether I can study well depends entirely on you!"
Chen Biao pushed Zhu Wenzhen's face hard, but couldn't move it away after a long time. He was so angry that he shouted "Help".
Zhu Yuanzhang watched his son get furious with a smile. Zhu Wenzhong covered his eyes and pretended not to see it. Only Zhu Wenying tried to snatch Chen Biao back from Zhu Wenzhen's arms.
How could Zhu Wenzheng let Zhu Wenying snatch it? He imitated Zhu Yuanzhang, put Chen Biao on his neck, and ran away.
Chen Biao leaned back and almost fell on Zhu Wenzheng's back. Fortunately, he was quick and grabbed Zhu Wenzheng's hair.
Zhu Wenzheng cried out, "Biao'er, stop scratching my hair. It hurts."
Chen Biao shouted angrily: "Then put me down!"
Zhu Wenzheng: "Then catch me, I won't let go, hey."
Chen Biao was so angry that he pulled Zhu Wenzhen's hair hard, making it into a tangled mess.
Zhu Wenying shouted, "Bao'er, help me stop him!"
Zhu Wenzhong covered his eyes, twisted his butt on the stool, and turned his back to Zhu Wenying.
Zhu Wenying: “…”
He had no choice but to look at Zhu Yuanzhang for help.
Zhu Yuanzhang slapped his thigh and shouted with a smile: "Nephew! Run faster! Don't let Ying'er catch you!"
Zhu Wenying: “…”
He stopped and turned to leave.
Zhu Wenzheng also stopped and asked curiously, "Aying, you're not chasing me anymore?"
Zhu Wenying smiled and said, "I'll go find my mother to save Biao'er."
Zhu Wenzheng was horrified: "Hey, hey, hey! Don't look for my aunt!"
Zhu Wenzhong immediately put down his hand and said with a bitter face: "Aying, it's not that serious."
Zhu Yuanzhang: "Stop!"
Zhu Wenying sneered and ran towards the backyard: "Mom! Wenzheng and Dad are bullying Biaoer."
Zhu Wenzhong patted his chest. "It's okay, it's okay. It has nothing to do with me."
Zhu Wenzhen put Chen Biao down and went with Zhu Yuanzhang to capture Zhu Wenying.
Now it was Chen Biao's turn, jumping on the ground and clapping his hands: "Brother Ying, run! Let mother teach them a lesson!"
Let’s give Mr. Zhu some face and not mention what happened next.
We had no idea about being scolded for half an hour or writing a multi-word guarantee.
Zhu Yuanzhang and his nephew Zhu Wenzhen made faces at Zhu Wenying and mouthed the name "tattling dog".
Zhu Wenying helped Chen Biao set the table, smiling without saying a word.
When Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Wenzhen were scolded by Ma, Xu Da and Tang He came to eat again, and Zhu Wenzhong's biological father, Zhu Yuanzhang's second brother-in-law Li Zhen, also came.
Li Zhen was Zhu Yuanzhang's only living relative of the same generation.
Zhu Yuanzhang's family was extremely poor since he was a child. His second sister and brother-in-law Li Zhen were the only relatives who had enough food to eat, and they helped Zhu Yuanzhang many times.
After the war broke out, Li Zhen was displaced and nearly died several times. In the 13th year of Zhizheng (1353), he went to Chuzhou to seek refuge with Zhu Yuanzhang.
Before Guo Zixing's death, Zhu Yuanzhang did not live a good life. Li Zhen, Zhu Yuanzhang's second brother-in-law who had a burden, had been following Ma to do logistics and was not known to many people.
It was not until the death of Guo Zixing in the 15th year of Zhizheng (1355) that Zhu Yuanzhang could be considered a leader (and still one of the weaker ones). The protagonist of this article, Chen Biao, was born at that time.
A year later, Chen Biao was frightened by his mother's words "a pool of meat in the pot" and took the initiative to expose himself as a "child prodigy". Li Zhen asked to hide his identity and become a relative of "Chen Guorui".
After some operations by Zhu Yuanzhang, Li Baoer had become Chen Guorui's nephew when he joined the army a few years later. He was adopted as Zhu Yuanzhang's son and changed his name to Zhu Wenzhong.
His own nephew Zhu Wenzhen also went through many twists and turns and became Chen Guorui's nephew, and was then adopted as an adopted son by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Wenying's operation was simpler. These days, it was common for orphans to have several godfathers.
Zhu Yuanzhang had many adopted sons, and there were about twenty who changed their names to "Zhu Wen X". There was no telling how many more who were verbally adopted but then ignored. These three were only teenagers, and were inconspicuous among Zhu Yuanzhang's adopted sons.
Their identities changed so easily.
When someone mentioned the relatives who had defected to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang spread the news, and his relatives took their legitimate sons and hid themselves in order to leave incense for the Zhu family after Zhu Yuanzhang's power collapsed.
This is very common in troubled times, and leaders of other forces also secretly hide their sons.
Li Zhen was a very wise man. He knew that the future of himself and Li Baoer depended on Zhu Yuanzhang, and he had been very careful to maintain his relationship with Zhu Yuanzhang. That was why he took the initiative to give up the identity of "Zhu Yuanzhang's relative" and become "Chen Guorui's relative".
In history, even though he had been granted a title of nobility, he did not remarry, take concubines, or have children. He lived a very frugal life with his son, and often used his experience as a farmer to warn his descendants to be frugal.
Li Zhen also died before Zhu Yuanzhang.
When he died, just like when Tang He died, Zhu Yuanzhang and Li Zhen, who was too ill to speak, cried together. After Li Zhen's death, Zhu Yuanzhang suspended court for three days.
Zhu Yuanzhang lived too long. His first wife, Empress Ma, his beloved son, Zhu Biao, his legitimate grandson, Zhu Xiongying, his only peer, Li Zhen, his best childhood friends, Tang He and Xu Da, his most loyal nephew, Li Wenzhong, and his most trusted adopted son, Mu Ying... all died before him.
His nephew Zhu Wenzhen betrayed him, but he still appointed Zhu Wenzhen's eight-year-old son as the Prince of Jingjiang, and the title was passed down for fourteen generations.
All those who could maintain his identity as "Zhu Chongba" or even "Zhu Yuanzhang" died early.
Zhu Chongba and Zhu Yuanzhang also died.
The one who survived was the suspicious, violent, old and crazy Emperor Hongwu.
This is all later.
It was not until Zhu Yuanzhang defeated Chen Youliang that he showed the courage of a powerful leader.
Now Chen Youliang has not yet attacked his master, and Zhu Yuanzhang is just an insignificant small prince in the cracks. Many forces, including the Yuan court, do not take Zhu Yuanzhang seriously and do not think that Zhu Yuanzhang has the possibility of competing for the Central Plains.
But his relatives and friends still surrounded him with smiles, and his only nephew Zhu Wenzhen did not betray him.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw Li Zhen coming, he put aside his worries about writing the letter of guarantee and waved his big hand to greet him: "Brother-in-law! Biao'er stewed mutton himself! We are in for a treat!"
Li Zhen joked, "I have plenty of time to enjoy my food."
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and scolded: "Then don't eat it."
Li Zhen smiled and said, "No. The treats I had in the past are in the past, but I can't miss out on today's treat. I brewed some fruit wine myself, and it doesn't violate the military's order against using grain to brew wine. Would you like some?"
Before Zhu Yuanzhang could say anything, Tang He had already rushed over and said, "Wine, wine, wine!"
Xu Da kicked Tang He's buttocks and said, "Can you please stop drinking? You're such a heavy drinker, it's only a matter of time before you end up causing trouble!"
Tang He said shamelessly: "Drinking has delayed things. You and Boss Guorui will keep me alive, and I can continue to make meritorious deeds and get up on my own. Hehe, it's no problem."
Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he clenched his fists and said, "Get out! I won't protect you!"
Tang He grabbed the jar of wine and said, "If you don't want to protect me, then don't protect me. Let's talk about quitting drinking tomorrow. Come and drink!"
Although Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Da cursed each other, they drank a lot of wine.
The group of people ate and drank .
Li Zhen was still conscious. Zhu Yuanzhang, Tang He and Xu Da were already singing and dancing, waving their shirts and howling like slaughtered pigs. Li Zhen beat the rhythm for them.
Zhu Wenzhen and Zhu Wenzhong soon joined in, dancing and singing like two slaughtered pigs.
Ma was used to seeing these unkempt men in the army and was not shy about it. But her second son, Chen Chong, was so annoyed that he kept shaking his head. After Ma had eaten her fill, she took Chen Chong away.
The only two brothers who didn't fit in at the scene were Zhu Wenying and Chen Biao.
Chen Biao: "Brother Ying, they are so noisy."
Zhu Wenying: "Yeah."
