Father can be an enemy to the country

In the following days, Boss Zhu inevitably fell into anxiety, ten times more anxious than when he went south.

The fourth brother naturally became his emotional outlet. Boss Zhu would issue an edict to Zhu Zhen every now and then, first asking a few questions about their movements, then scolding the fourth brother for being lawless, disloyal and unfilial, and finally vowing to give the fourth brother all kinds of outrageous punishments!

Including but not limited to being torn apart by five horses, skinning and stuffing with straw, and being executed by slow slicing... So the sixth brother had no way to show the imperial edict to his brothers. Otherwise, their father-son relationship would be almost over.

Zhu Yuanzhang also suffered from insomnia for nights. When he finally fell asleep, he either dreamed that his sons were ambushed and captured by the Mongols; or dreamed that a sudden snowstorm in the northern desert froze them all to death... As a result, he became more worried.

The more worried he was, the worse he slept, the worse he slept, the more nightmares he had, the more nightmares he had, the more worried he was... It was a vicious cycle.

If you don't sleep well at night, you will be tired during the day. Not only will your speed of reading and replying to posts plummet, but you will even be dazed when you attend court.

Seeing the emperor sitting on the dragon throne with a donkey face and dark circles under his eyes, the ministers who had just relaxed for a few days were worried again. The first thing they did when they returned home from court every day was to burn incense and pray to the princes to return safely. If anything happened to those princes, they would all die...

Zhu Yuanzhang was in such a bad mood that even Li Shanchang was affected. At the morning court that day, Lao Li saw that the emperor looked haggard, so he advised: "Your Majesty, don't worry too much. The princes will be blessed by heaven and will definitely return safely."

Zhu Yuanzhang got angry when he heard it: "You said I was worrying too much? Send an order to send the youngest son of the Duke of Korea to Mobei, so that he can also experience our feelings!"

"Your Majesty, calm down. My youngest son is only eight years old..." Li Shanchang knelt down immediately.

"Look, you're so scared before it's even delivered!" Zhu Yuanzhang spat and said, "Don't talk without standing up in the future."

"Yes..." Li Shanchang was sweating profusely and didn't dare to talk nonsense anymore.

~~

The only thing that made Boss Zhu feel at ease was that Zhu Zhen could still send back messages regularly to report their movements.

On October 5, Zhu Zhen's report from September 15 was received, saying that they had joined Zhu Gang and his party in the Bayan Aobao area.

And from Zhu Gang, it was learned that Geng Zhong, who had searched the area around the Tula River before the departure, had found the battlefield where the Mongols killed each other, and the marks left by the Prince of Yan and his party.

Five days later, Zhu Yuanzhang received another report from Zhu Zhen saying that they had arrived in the area around the Tula River, and it was confirmed that the Northern Yuan Emperor was intercepted and killed by the Wala tribe on his way to the west. The Qiexue Army that guarded the Northern Yuan Emperor was almost completely destroyed in this battle. But the Northern Yuan emperor should have fled north, so the Wala people and the fourth son and his party all went north to pursue him.

This made Zhu Yuanzhang's heart rise to his throat. What he feared was what he feared. It seemed that a fierce battle was inevitable. Fortunately, the sixth son brought many people, otherwise these rebellious sons would really have to be explained in Mobei.

This was also the most anxious period for Zhu Yuanzhang. He didn't want to eat or drink, and he looked forward to it every day, waiting for the sixth son to update.

In order to get the news as soon as possible, he ordered that the report from Mobei be sent to him as soon as possible, without having to go through the prince.

This hurt the prince badly, and he also joined the team waiting for the update, staying in Wenhua Hall every day, just to know the news earlier.

As a result, it took ten days for Zhu Zhen to send the next report, which made the father and son exhausted.

Zhu Biao could not wait to grab the letter from the eunuch, and just as he was about to read it, Zhu Yuanzhang said anxiously: "Bring it here and read it together."

He put the letter on the imperial desk and read it with Boss Zhu. Zhu Zhen reported that the scouts found that the Yan Wang's troops were fighting fiercely with the Wala people. But the fourth brother and his party came and went like the wind, and their whereabouts were erratic, so the scouts couldn't find them either.

The situation was urgent, so he decided to release a large number of Kongming lanterns every night to see if he could contact the fourth brother. At the same time, the army was stationed nearby at Langjuxu Mountain, waiting for the fourth brother to come and join...

"Is that all?" Zhu Yuanzhang turned to the back of the letter with an unsatisfied look, and there was not a single word. He immediately slammed the table in anger and said, "I waited for ten days, and you only showed me this?"

"Yes, it's too short." The prince was also dissatisfied and frowned, saying, "And I'm more worried about them after seeing it."

"That's right." Zhu Yuanzhang shouted angrily, "What happened later?!"

"We have to wait for Lao Liu to report again." The prince smiled bitterly and said, "I guess we can get in touch with him in the next report..."

"Oh, I hope so." Zhu Yuanzhang fell into a state of worry again, and said with a bitter face, "Actually, we are fine, the key is your mother. She just recovered, but she can't stand such a big stimulation."

"Yes, although the queen mother didn't ask, she burned incense and chanted Buddha in the Buddhist temple every day, and she was worried." The prince also said sadly, "Next time, there must be good news..."

~~

Next, Boss Zhu and his family spent the longest five days of their lives...

In the morning of October 25, the sound of urgent horse bells rang outside the Jiangdong Gate. The common people and merchants waiting in line to enter the city, as well as the defenders on and off the city, all looked in the direction of the sound, and saw a team of messengers with red flags on their backs and gongs hanging from their waists rushing in.

When people saw the bright red flags on the messengers' backs, they immediately shouted with joy: "Red flags announce victory! Red flags announce victory!"

The common people of the Ming Dynasty all knew that messengers would only carry red flags when they announced victory!

The people quickly moved their horses and carriages, and the guards removed the barricades in the city gates, allowing the messenger team to enter the city quickly.

The messenger ran all the way in the capital, and wherever he went, officials and civilians were all cheering. When the messenger arrived at the palace in the southeast corner of the capital, the whole capital had become a sea of ​​celebration.

The messenger galloped all the way to the Xihua Gate before reining in the reins and jumping off the horse.

At the Xihua Gate, eunuchs from the Wuying Palace were stationed there every day, waiting for news from the front line.

Seeing the messenger with a red flag announcing victory, the eunuch asked loudly: "Is it sent by the Sixth Prince?!"

"That's right!" The messenger responded and took off the copper cylinder sealed with wax from his back.

"Come with us." The eunuch led the messenger into the palace and came to the front of the Wuying Palace.

Then he took the copper tube from the messenger and walked into the palace to report: "Your Majesty, there is new news."

"Oh..." The prince walked up to him in two steps, took the letter tube, unscrewed the seal, took out the letter inside, unfolded it and read it once, and then read it again...

"What's the content?" Zhu Yuanzhang leaned over behind the imperial desk and asked urgently: "Can you stop keeping us in suspense?"

"Sixth brother, fourth brother and others have met up at Langjuxu Mountain." The prince couldn't help but burst into tears and choked up: "They also wiped out more than 70,000 Wala soldiers, captured the Northern Yuan Emperor Toghon Temur, the prince Tianbaonu, the leader of the Wala tribe Yesudiel and others, and got the imperial seal of the Yuan Dynasty!"