Chapter 156 The Reason Why Chang Yuchun Brings the Child
Zhu Yuanzhang asked Chang Yuchun to take care of the child not because he was suffering from a sudden brain disease, but because he had no choice.
When Zhang Shicheng decided to commit suicide, he entrusted his wife and children to his old general Li Bosheng.
Zhang Shicheng's four brothers led the uprising with eighteen carrying poles, and Li Bosheng was one of them. Although he was defeated and surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng trusted Li Bosheng more than his most doted brother Zhang Shixin when entrusting his wife and children.
When Liu was about to follow Zhang Shixin, Li Bosheng tried to dissuade her, but Liu insisted and Li Bosheng had no choice but to give up.
Little did people know that Liu went to Zhang Shixin's house not to "remarry", but to seek revenge.
Li Bosheng felt a headache when he saw his old master's two young sons crying non-stop at home.
As a surrendered general, Li Bosheng had to go to a labor reform camp after Zhu Yuanzhang clarified the treatment of Zhang Shicheng's former subordinates, generals and ministers who surrendered. He could only take up his new position after the reform was completed.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not confiscate much of Li Bosheng's property, so it was easy for Li Bosheng to raise two more children. After he left, the two children were raised by his wife herself.
But the two children kept crying and almost fell sick. Li Bosheng and his wife tried everything but to no avail.
Li Bosheng gritted his teeth and asked Zhu Yuanzhang to find one of Zhang Shicheng's concubines who had already undergone labor reform to take care of the child, and Zhu Yuanzhang agreed.
But when they saw acquaintances, the two children cried even louder until they saw Chang Yuchun, who had brought Zhang Shicheng's concubine.
The crying of the two children stopped abruptly, and they rushed towards Chang Yuchun like little animals that had found support after being frightened.
Chang Yuchun looked down at the trembling child hanging from his thighs and asked in confusion, "Li Bosheng, although Zhang Shicheng is dead, he never treated you badly. Why are you bullying his orphan?"
Li Bosheng was dumbfounded at this scene at first, and then he spent a long time explaining that he really did not abuse the orphan of his former master.
Chang Yuchun reluctantly believed it and prepared to leave after sending the person away.
Lan Yu smiled as she described the scene to Chen Biao and Chen Ying: "Li Bosheng took Zhang Yi and Zhang Er away, and they immediately started wailing. Li Bosheng stuffed Zhang Yi and Zhang Er back into my brother-in-law's arms, and the two children immediately quieted down. This happened several times, and then Li Bosheng knelt down and begged my brother-in-law to raise the children. Hahahahaha... Ouch!"
Chang Yuchun punched Lan Yu hard on the head.
Lan Yu covered his head with his hands and grinned.
Lan glared at Chang Yuchun and said, "Lan Yu, tell me the truth. Why did you beat him?"
Chang Yuchun snorted coldly and glared at Lan Yu who was hiding behind Lan.
Zhu Yuanzhang was determined to turn Beiping into Beijing. Since Beijing was a frontier town, Wang Xi came up with a bad idea: since the emperor and the crown prince were both stationed at the frontier, why not send the military commanders' families to the frontier as well? For the sake of their families, the military commanders would be less likely to withhold food and wages from the frontier.
This bad idea had not yet been discussed in the court, but Chang Yuchun's eldest daughter and eldest son were in Peking, and he and Lan Yu were about to go to the north to farm, and would need to take care of four additional children.
After obtaining Zhu Yuanzhang's consent, Chang Yuchun took Lan and his second and third sons with him and moved directly to Peking. Therefore, Lan was also on this ship.
Chen Biao urged, "Keep going. Did the Emperor really let Uncle Chang raise Zhang Yi and Zhang Er?"
Lan Yu stole a glance at Chang Yuchun and saw that Chang Yuchun just had a sour face and had no intention of beating him up again. He smiled and continued, "Yes. The emperor came to see it in person and found that there was no other way, so he let Zhang Yi and Zhang Er live in my house."
Chen Biao looked at the two large ornaments hanging on Chang Yuchun's thighs again and roughly understood the reason.
The two children were nearly dragged into suicide by their mother, but were saved by Chang Yuchun. This incident left a deep psychological trauma on the two children.
After Zhang Shicheng and Liu committed suicide one after another, although they may not have understood what death was, they certainly instinctively felt insecurity and fear of death.
At this time, whether staying with a stranger like Li Bosheng or seeing Zhang Shicheng's other concubines who were almost strangled to death, the two children would be terrified.
Only Chang Yuchun, who rescued them from death, can give them a sense of security.
Chen Biao looked at Mingsheng: "Are you the last emperor of Mingxia?"
Mingsheng immediately said, "What last emperor? I'm not! The last emperor is my father!"
Chen Li: "...That's not what you said to me. You said that even if you were only emperor for less than a month, you were still the emperor, and your status was higher than mine, even though I didn't have time to hold my coronation ceremony."
Mingsheng said arrogantly: "Of course I am of higher status than you!"
Chen Li: “…” He wanted to beat him up.
Chen Biao looked at Mingsheng, who was tightly holding Chang Yuchun's sleeve, and asked doubtfully, "Could it be that you were also saved by Uncle Chang, and you will cry and make a fuss if you don't follow Uncle Chang?"
Chen Li: “Puff…”
Mingsheng glared at Chen Li and said with a blushing face, "I was saved by Marshal Chang, but I didn't cry! It was my mother who begged His Majesty to let me follow Marshal Chang."
Mingsheng's mother, Mrs. Peng, was a woman of great foresight.
Ming Yuzhen occupied Bashu, proclaimed himself emperor, named his country Daxia, and established Chongqing as the capital. However, he soon encountered the "wilderness" training of troops by the military commander Chang Yuchun. Unable to bear the harassment, he moved the capital to Chengdu.
At that time, Peng persuaded Ming Yuzhen that he was unwilling to march south or north, and instead wanted to defend a corner of Sichuan. However, they wanted a secluded place, but someone with the ambition to unify the country would never allow them to do so. It would be better for them to join one of them, and in return, their descendants would enjoy prosperity and stability. Zhu Yuanzhang and Ming Yuzhen were both from the Red Turban Army, both of whom were powerful and popular, so joining Zhu Yuanzhang was the most suitable choice.
But Ming Yuzhen, a country bumpkin who had declared himself emperor, was already feeling proud, so how could he listen to a woman's words?
Later, when Chang Yuchun continued to cultivate land and train troops, and his territory was reduced by half, he finally came to his senses.
He wrote a letter to test Zhu Yuanzhang, trying to discuss with Zhu Yuanzhang whether he could become a "feudal king" who occupied Bashu, but Zhu Yuanzhang completely ignored him.
Ming Yuzhen understood that Zhu Yuanzhang would not show mercy to his men.
He tried to repel Chang Yuchun, but all the generals under his command were dragging their feet and had different opinions. He was unwilling to lead the troops into battle himself for fear of being backstabbed by his subordinates, and finally he got himself sick from anger.
Peng once again persuaded Ming Yuzhen to surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang, and Ming Yuzhen was finally moved, but he had a simple wish, which was not to become an emperor of a fallen country.
Ming Yuzhen left a will to Mingsheng and Peng, asking Mingsheng to surrender as soon as he ascended the throne.
But Ming Yuzhen had a good reputation and he could lead the people to surrender; Ming Sheng was only a ten-year-old child at the time, and who would listen to him if he said he wanted to surrender?
So Peng secretly sent a letter to Chang Yuchun, asking Chang Yuchun to come and pick them up.
Peng didn't care what happened to Daxia. As long as Chang Yuchun could get her and her son safely away, whether Bashu surrendered or rebelled afterwards was none of her business. Zhu Yuanzhang, with his magnanimity, wouldn't have taken his anger out on them, an orphan and a widow.
Afterwards, Mingsheng was indeed held hostage by his subordinate Wu Youren. Fortunately, Chang Yuchun led a thousand cavalrymen into Chengdu and rescued him.
After that, Mingsheng admired Chang Yuchun very much.
Because Mingsheng was young and surrendered right after ascending the throne, he also took out Ming Yuzhen's will when he surrendered, indicating that the Ming family had wanted to surrender for a long time, but Ming Yuzhen was a dying man and wanted to experience the thrill of being an emperor. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang was not very wary of the Ming family.
Mingsheng had more freedom in Yingtian and often visited Chang Yuchun's home. Lan also took good care of the orphan and his widowed mother.
When Mingsheng learned that there were two more "sons of the surrendered king" in Chang Yuchun's family, he went home and cried to Mrs. Peng.
Mrs. Peng was extremely excited. If this precedent was set, wouldn't my son be able to do the same...
So Peng, who had lived in seclusion, entered the palace for the first time to meet Zhu Yuanzhang and requested that Mingsheng also study with Chang Yuchun.
Zhu Yuanzhang agreed to Peng's request in consideration of the great contribution Peng made when Mingxia surrendered to the Ming Dynasty.
As for Chen Li... Although Chen Han was destroyed by Zhu Yuanzhang instead of surrendering, many of Chen Han's generals surrendered. Chen Li, as the only surviving youngest son of Chen Youliang, was also raised in Yingtian.
It doesn't matter whether you are driving three sheep or four sheep. Zhu Yuanzhang was worried that others would say that he was deliberately treating Chen Li badly, so he let Chen Li follow Chang Yuchun.
After learning the whole story, Chen Biao didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.
From the scattered information he learned about Zhu Yuanzhang in later generations, he knew that even after becoming emperor, he still had a low self-esteem. He was always worried that his position would be unstable, and he formulated many policies to consolidate his regime and fill his self-esteem.
But the Hongwu Emperor, whom Chen Biao worshipped as his lord, seemed to be overly confident.
Throwing the defeated king's son into the care of his most trusted general for training? The Hongwu Emperor wasn't going to stop the four from pursuing official careers.
After Chen Biao satisfied his curiosity, he also had a general idea of how to treat these people.
Zhang and Zhang Er were still young, so Chang Yuchun and Lan Shi would be enough to take care of them. Although he had agreed to Zhang Shicheng's request, he didn't need to worry too much about it. At most, he could give them a copy of the old picture book used by his younger brothers, as an early enlightenment.
The other two...
"You guys want to enroll?" Chen Biao said suspiciously, his hands behind his back. "Do you really want to be my student? I'm very strict."
Chen Li immediately bowed and said, "Please teach me, sir!"
Mingsheng hesitated for a moment, then, at Chang Yuchun's signal, he immediately bowed and said, "Please teach me, sir."
Chen Biao said, "While we're on the boat, I'll check your progress and assign you homework. When we get to Peking, your seniors will guide you in your studies."
Chen Biao no longer has the energy to teach people step by step. Isn't it natural for students who have learned earlier to guide those who have learned later?
As long as Chen Li can become Chen Biao's disciple, he has no objection to anything else.
In fact, Chen Biao was the murderer of Chen Li's father. If Chen Youliang had not fought to the death with Hongdu, he would not have been defeated and killed in Poyang Lake, and the Chen Han would not have perished so easily.
But Chen Li had already submitted to Zhu Yuanzhang, and his hatred for the generals under Zhu Yuanzhang had long faded.
Even when Chen Li still had hatred in his heart, he could not hate Chen Biao.
Chen Biao was much younger than him, and it was a completely unexpected disaster that he encountered his father's army of hundreds of thousands besieging the city in Hongdu.
Chen Biao was so powerful that even the surrendered generals of Chen Han who participated in the Battle of Hongdu praised him highly, saying that they hated no one as much as Chen Biao.
How should I put it? Chen Youliang's confrontation with Chen Biao in the Battle of Hongdu was really a bit of a self-destruction. No wonder others felt that way.
Chen Li had heard about Chen Biao's miraculous deeds for several years and had long admired him. He didn't care whether he could follow Chang Yuchun or not. If he could become Chen Biao's disciple, his father would know about it in his later years...well, he probably would.
Chen Biao quickly gave the two of them a test to assess their current level of knowledge.
Chen Li and Mingsheng were sweating profusely while doing the Four Books and Five Classics, poetry, songs, arithmetic and miscellaneous studies.
Chang Yuchun took a look at the test paper and felt a little dizzy.
His son was learning this in school? This was incredible... Chang Yuchun had thought he had studied very hard and could even write poetry. Now, after looking at the test paper that Chen Biao had casually prepared, he realized that Chen Biao's knowledge was indeed well-deserved.
Chang Yuchun is a very ambitious person.
He knew that Chen Biao was the crown prince and the future emperor. So the knowledge Chen Biao was teaching his students must be what Chen Biao believed officials should master.
So Chang Yuchun immediately asked Chen Biao for a set of test papers , intending to try it himself.
Chen Biao smiled and said, "Uncle Chang, why don't you use Mao'er and Sen'er's textbooks to study on your own? I'm sure they still have their old textbooks. If you don't understand something, just ask Sen'er. Sen'er's homework is pretty good. He can explain it to you, and you can also review what you have learned."
Chang Yuchun originally thought it was a bit embarrassing for a father to ask his son for advice, but then he suddenly remembered that Zhu Yuanzhang had always been studying with Chen Biao, so he immediately nodded and said, "Okay."
He summoned Chang Sen and asked, "Can you give a lecture?"
Chang Sen patted his chest and said, "As long as you don't treat me harshly, I can talk."
Lan immediately said, "You teach him, so you are his little teacher. If he dares not respect his teacher, I will go find Mr. Ye and let him scold him!"
Chang Yuchun: "..." Do you think I'm afraid of him?
Chang Yuchun was not afraid, he just respected him, so the Lan family kept him in check.
Chang Yuchun said, "Go ahead and teach me."
Chang Sen said happily: "Okay!"
Mingsheng pushed the paper aside and slumped down on the table. "Give up! I'm not going to write anymore! Sir, I'm going to learn from Brother Sen first!"
Chen Li wiped the sweat from his head and stammered, "I, I..."
Chang Sen said generously, "I'll teach you together!"
Chen Biao said to Chen Ying , "Brother Ying, how about you take on a few students? You have nothing to do anyway."
Chen Ying nodded: "Okay." He was happy to share the burden with Chen Biao.
Lan Yu smiled and said, "I can teach you, too. The teacher has given me the textbooks from Yingtian Primary School."
Chen Biao looked at the clean young man Lan Yu in front of him, whose smile was as bright as the sun, and suppressed the twitch of his mouth: "Okay."
Oh my goodness, is Mr. Ye too scary? Is this what he calls teaching students? Is this personality reshaping?!
This Lan Yu, not to mention compared with the skinned Lan Yu in history, is even compared with the Lan Yu he first met. They are completely two different people, right?
Wait, Lan Yu in history...
Chen Biao always felt that something he had ignored flashed through his mind, but he couldn't remember it for a while.
Until that evening, he suddenly opened his eyes and rolled out of bed.
Lan Yu was related to the Crown Princess and was executed by Zhu Yuanzhang because of the Crown Prince's death!
Chang Yuchun is the prince's father-in-law!
Chen Biao held his head, fell back onto the bed, and groaned.
He remembered this incident when he was young, but after so many years, Emperor Hongwu never mentioned the Crown Princess, so he forgot about it.
Chen Biao vaguely remembered that when he was very young, there seemed to be rumors that Chang Yuchun's daughter was betrothed to Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest son. But his father said it was nonsense and told him not to believe it.
After that, he never heard similar rumors again.
So was Chang Yuchun still the Crown Prince's father-in-law? Did the Hongwu Emperor choose Chang Yuchun as his in-law only after the Crown Prince came of age?
After careful consideration, Chen Biao thought it was very likely.
Given Chang Yuchun's status, the Hongwu Emperor...
etc!
Chen Biao thought of another thing.
Chang Yuchun now has only one daughter, Chang Wei.
Chen Biao once heard his mother mention that Chang Wei was starved by his family because he was very strong and had a big appetite. He could only eat half full at most every day to reduce his appetite and strength.
Chang Yuchun and his wife weren't pedantic, and certainly wouldn't have been unable to support Chang Wei. They mistreat their daughter so much because she was marrying into a family they couldn't protect. If Chang Wei didn't reduce her appetite and her strength, she would lose favor and even become disliked.
"So that's how it is." Chen Biao said to himself, "So arranged marriages really did happen, but now they're gone."
What a sin.
Chen Biao shook his head, sighed, then closed his eyes and went to sleep.
What does Zhu Yuanzhang's family affairs have to do with me, Chen Biao? Go to sleep.
After a few days, Chen Li and Mingsheng got used to Chang Sen's teaching and began to learn.
Because of their special status, these two people are mentally mature and patient, so Chang Sen's teaching goes smoothly.
However, Chang Yuchun became very irritable and quarreled with his son several times.
Chang Sen was very confident and shouted even louder than Chang Yuchun, with his hands on his hips.
Lan Yu and the Lan family also joined in, making Chang Yuchun feel quite embarrassed and he could only continue studying in silence.
Chen Biao found it funny, but as he laughed he felt a little depressed.
Seeing Chang Yuchun's family so happy together, he thought of his own parents.
He originally thought that with the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, his family would be reunited and no longer have to be separated from each other.
But after the Ming Dynasty was established, the distance between their family seemed to become even greater.
His parents always had many secrets they didn't want to tell him. Chen Biao knew this, and he also knew that if he tried a little harder, he could easily find out the secrets his parents were hiding. But Chen Biao chose not to pry.
His parents are very good to him. If they are hiding something from him, it is because they need to keep it from him.
Just as good parents give their children the right to maintain privacy, a good son will not pry into the secrets that his parents deliberately hide.
But when he thought about it occasionally, Chen Biao still felt a little lonely.
Chen Biao shook his head, rubbed his face vigorously, and regained his liveliness.
Hey, why are you suddenly being so pretentious?
Chen Biao: "Today is a day off, shall we go ashore for a stroll?"
Chen Li, Mingsheng and Chang Yuchun, who were having a headache learning, shouted: "Okay!" very loudly!
