Chapter 125 Concubine Yuan's only request
As soon as Chen Biao left, Ye Chen and Wang Xi arrived in Dadu, which had been renamed Beiping.
When they learned that Chen Biao had left, the two masters were so angry that they wanted to fight with their lord.
Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed playing a little joke on them, deliberately letting Chen Biao go first. So facing the two furious masters, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily and ran away, leaving the two masters roaring in anger behind him.
Deng Yu and Zhao Desheng, who had hurriedly returned from wiping out the defeated Yuan army and bandits near Peking, stood stupidly by, watching their lord and the two great masters running back and forth, and they both doubted their eyes.
Zhao Desheng: "I might be hallucinating."
Deng Yu: "Yeah."
In the end, Zhu Yuanzhang stood there and let the two masters punch him twice with their old fists, which did not hurt at all, and calmed the anger of the two masters.
But the two still couldn't understand why their lord did this.
Zhu Yuanzhang spoke frankly: "I just wanted to see you get furious. It was just a joke."
Ye Chen and Wang Wei: "..."
With such a lord, it’s no wonder that Lord Li’s temper becomes more and more violent. He is forced into it.
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "When you see Biao'er, you just ask him if he really cursed someone to death. Biao'er has been troubled by this matter He has been dragged to ask about it over and over again. It's better to let him have some peace and quiet. If you want to know the details of this matter, you can ask the clerks here."
Ye Chen and Wang Xi were stunned, and then showed embarrassed expressions at the same time.
Wang Xi, Zhu Yuanzhang's ghostwriter and a more familiar figure to him, could not help but complain, "My Lord, you could have just stated your reason. Why did you tease us?"
Ye Chen also nodded.
Zhu Yuanzhang said seriously, "This sentence is not the reason. What I just said is the reason. This sentence is what I just thought of."
Wang Wei and Ye Chen: "..."
Destroy it! We can’t keep this lord anymore. Let him abdicate and help Biaoer ascend the throne!
The three of them joked for a while and then let the matter go.
Wang Xi and Ye Chen were actually very happy that Zhu Yuanzhang could joke with them, but on the surface, they still had to be reserved (arrogant) and coquettish.
Great men of letters are all very reserved and proud. The ruler and his subjects are already accustomed to this way of getting along.
Deng Yu and Zhao Desheng were not used to it and felt like they were hallucinating.
The two people who were punished to stand did not hear the subsequent conversation between Zhu Yuanzhang, Wang Xi and Ye Chen. They just stood there and dared not move.
After Zhu Yuanzhang and his ministers finished playing, he called them over and scolded them.
The two men hung their heads, not even daring to apologize, and were completely afraid to interrupt.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the two of them and felt very disappointed with them.
He was planning to train these two people to become Biao'er's direct subordinates, so why couldn't they get the credit even though it was right in front of them!
Arrogant soldiers will be defeated, arrogant soldiers will be defeated! Biao'er's suggestion to educate the soldiers is very correct. Look at these two military leaders, they haven't even ascended the throne yet, but they are already proud and complacent!
"If Biao'er hadn't punished you in advance, I would have made you take off your armor and go back to school! Come back after you've cleared your minds!" Zhu Yuanzhang scolded. "Luckily Biao'er had a backup plan, otherwise you two wouldn't have studied anymore and would have just gone to Chang Boren's labor camp to farm!"
Zhu Yuanzhang finally finished scolding, and Deng Yu and Zhao Desheng kowtowed repeatedly, finally finding an opportunity to apologize.
Zhu Yuanzhang told them to get out before asking them about the situation in Peking.
Although he had learned about the situation from Chen Biao and his adopted sons, he wanted to see whether these two people were truly repentant and how much they knew about the area around Peking.
After Deng Yu and Zhao Desheng read their self-criticisms in public with hesitation, they really tried hard to reflect on themselves and made every effort to make amends.
Zhu Yuanzhang's anger finally subsided a little, and he said, "You continue to stay in Beiping. Biao'er will come to Beiping to serve as the prefect, and my three adopted sons will also stay here. I have given Biao'er the power to act independently. You can attack wherever he tells you to, and don't worry about the affairs in the south."
Deng Yu and Zhao Desheng were dumbfounded.
Even if they trusted the military advisor, the lord had given him too much power. Did the lord really intend to train Biao'er to be like Zhuge Liang?
The two excitedly said, "Yes!"
Zhu Yuanzhang originally wanted to tell them Biao'er's true identity, but seeing that they didn't know Chen Biao's identity and trusted Chen Biao so much, he thought about it and continued to keep the matter secret.
Compared to those who show kindness to Biaoer after knowing his identity, there should be more people around Biaoer who gather around him simply because of the person "Chen Biao".
People like this, even if they have mental problems in the future and want to depose Biao'er as the crown prince, they will definitely gather around Biao'er to protect him.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not distrust Deng Yu and Zhao Desheng because they made a mistake this time. Instead, he trusted them very much and decided to continue hiding the secret from them.
Seeing that he was about to become emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang read history books every day to see how other emperors and princes got along with each other in history.
In fact, in most dynasties where the throne was changed peacefully, the crown prince would succeed to the throne safely. However, every dynasty had a few fathers and sons who caused particularly great trouble. These few people made a huge voice in history books, as if the emperor would definitely be suspicious of the crown prince in his later years, which made Zhu Yuanzhang extremely anxious.
He wished he could go back several decades to see if he was old and incompetent. If he was, he would immediately help Biaoer lock up his old self and help Biaoer succeed him.
Zhu Yuanzhang is now counting the days, and when Chen Biao reaches the age of twenty, he will transfer power to the crown prince.
Deng Yu and Zhao Desheng were both Zhu Yuanzhang's old subordinates. They immediately felt Zhu Yuanzhang's expectations and trust, and quickly promised that they would listen carefully to Biao'er and would definitely not fall behind this time.
Although they had absolutely no idea what Zhu Yuanzhang was expecting, this attitude was acceptable.
Zhu Yuanzhang summoned other officials from Peking and asked if anyone was causing trouble there.
When Zhu Yuanzhang learned that several large families had attempted to use their people and reputations to hold Chen Biao hostage to gain additional benefits, but Chen Biao had simply brushed them off, he sighed, "Biao'er's status is still not suitable. If he were the crown prince, he could have just killed all these people."
Wang Xi said indifferently, "Biao'er is still young, he can handle it for a while, and I will do the rest."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "Then I'll leave it to you. Take it easy, you need your reputation too."
The coldness on Wang Xi's face melted away, and his previous cheerful and somewhat nonchalant smile returned: "Don't worry, my lord, I have no shortage of reputation."
Ye Chen also bowed: "My lord, please rest assured."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Of course I am relieved, I just want to do it myself."
Wang Xi and Ye Chen immediately frowned: "No!"
Zhu Yuanzhang showed a regretful expression and muttered, "I knew it."
He was in so much pain that he couldn't take action against those who bullied Biao'er. He hoped that these two people would suffer a little, so that he could take action naturally.
Zhu Yuanzhang was generally able to maintain his composure, as was required of an emperor, except when it came to Ma Xiuying and Chen Biao.
So Wang Xi and Ye Chen immediately saw what Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking and couldn't help but clench their fists.
This time they must work hard and cannot let the lord take action.
My lord, if you want to be emperor, you should let your subjects do the hard work. From now on, my lord, your hands must be as clean as possible.
Zhu Yuanzhang was stationed in Beiping to suppress bandits and distribute land; Ma Xiuying took over the affairs of the palace women.
When Ma Xiuying learned that the concubines who were imprisoned alone by Chen Biao had harmed palace maids and eunuchs while in captivity, she informed Zhu Yuanzhang and had these women exiled to the border to farm.
As for whether their delicate bodies could support them to walk to the place where the farms were established, just like they took out their anger on the slaves after being captured and did not care about the slaves' lives, Ma Xiuying did not care about their lives at all.
After several concubines were exiled, the rest of the people immediately became obedient.
Ma Xiuying knew that she needed knowledge of palace etiquette, and she also learned that the old concubine who had been reluctantly managing these concubines was the daughter of a Han Chinese criminal official. After obtaining the old concubine's consent, she let the old concubine serve as a managing aunt by her side.
The old concubine's family was involved in court struggles. When Prime Minister Tuotuo was persecuted by the tyrant emperor and treacherous ministers, they supported Prime Minister Tuotuo and were executed. Only the old concubine was spared because she was a concubine of the previous emperor.
The old concubine was not actually old, only in her forties, but with her gray hair and deep wrinkles on her face, she looked like a woman in her sixties or seventies.
The old concubine was willing to assist Ma Xiuying and give her all the secrets of the Yuan Dynasty, with only one request, which was to write in the newspaper that the old emperor had killed Tuotuo.
The old concubine kowtowed and said angrily, "Without a tyrant emperor, how could there be treacherous ministers?! Can he wash away his stupidity by killing Hama?! Since he doesn't care about his reputation, then let everyone know how stupid he is as an emperor!"
Ma Xiuying sighed deeply, helped the old concubine up, held her in her arms, gently patted her trembling back, and said, "Okay, I agree."
The old concubine burst into tears in Ma Xiuying's arms.
With Ma Xiuying's help, the old concubine handed over the manuscript she had compiled during her confinement to Ma Xiuying. When she learned about the existence of newspapers, she wanted to avenge her family and Prime Minister Tuotuo.
Ma Xiuying gave the manuscript to Zhu Yuanzhang first.
Prime Minister Tuotuo was once a great enemy of the Red Turban Army and nearly destroyed them. However, neither Zhu Yuanzhang nor Ma Xiuying knew much about this enemy.
Both of them came from humble backgrounds, so of course they had no idea about the political struggles within the Yuan Dynasty's capital, Dadu.
After reading the stories about Tuotuo compiled by the old concubine and combining them with some of the stories he had heard about Tuotuo, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed deeply: "Even if he was an enemy of the Red Turban Army, his achievements would be included in the Taimiao."
Ma Xiuying also sighed: "If he could have met a wise ruler, perhaps you would not have become emperor."
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "Even if I inherit the temple and become the abbot, I won't be able to marry you, and I won't be able to give birth to a child as good as Biao'er."
The couple was half joking, but half sincere.
When Tuotuo entered the court as an official, the chaos in the world had already begun to show signs.
He advocated restarting the imperial examination system, focusing on Chinese studies, managing the Yellow River, reforming the currency system, and suppressing the Red Turban Army. He had some successes and some failures, but he barely pulled the Yuan Dynasty back from the brink of chaos, and signs of the "Zhi Zheng Restoration" appeared.
Whether in terms of morality, military administration, or state governance, Tuotuo is not inferior to the wise ministers who have left their names in history.
But when Tuotuo was trying hard to improve the situation of the Yuan Dynasty, the emperor and his ministers felt that the crisis of national destruction had been resolved and this wise minister could die.
So Tuotuo died.
