Father can be an enemy to the country

After leaving Hongze Lake, Zhu Yuanzhang visited Huai'an again.

The emperor's trip to Huai'an was nominally to inspect the Grand Canal, but in fact anyone with a discerning eye knew that he was here for the Chaohu Gang...

Yu Tongyuan, Liao Dingguo and Yu Tongjiang mustered up their courage to appear in the pick-up team.

If their whole family hadn't been in Boss Zhu's hands, no one would have given them the courage.

What the three of them didn't expect was that Zhu Yuanzhang rejected the arrangement of the Huai'an prefect and set up his palace in Yu Tongyuan's Cao Yun Si Yamen.

After inspecting the water transport wharf, water passes, embankments and other places, Zhu Yuanzhang came to stay at the Yamen of the Capital Water Transport Department.

Seeing no one else around, Yu Tongyuan and the other three quickly knelt down and kowtowed to apologize.

"You are indeed guilty!" Zhu Yuanzhang finally stopped smiling at them and reprimanded with a donkey face: "Whatever you do will be copied by the Nine Tribes no matter what dynasty or generation you do!"

"Yes, I have nothing to say." The three of them looked regretful.

"But who let you have such bad luck? You happened to save our four sons." Zhu Yuanzhang changed the topic again: "Even if the lives of the four princes are exchanged for the lives of the nine clans of your family.

"In addition, you acted in time and succeeded in suppressing the bandits. Once we open our mouths, it will be difficult for us to pursue you. If we say that we will not pursue you, we will not pursue you!"

"Yes, thank you Your Majesty for your kindness." The three of them knocked their heads green.

"Alas, in fact, heroes from your two families have emerged in large numbers and shed their blood for our country." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said:

"It's not just your two families. The first batch of Chaohu brothers basically died for us. The batch that succeeded later also died, and we really can't bear to use the knife on them unless it is a last resort!"

"Your Majesty, I deserve to die for my crime, but a single thought made my whole family and brothers suffer a terrible fate..." The three of them burst into tears again.

"Okay, let's all get up." Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand magnanimously and ordered the meal to be passed around. He also personally poured wine for the three of them and said:

"When we say bygones are bygones, we are letting bygones be bygones. After drinking this glass of wine, the story will be completely over! Including me, whoever keeps holding on to me will die a good death!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The three excitedly picked up the wine cups and drank them all in one gulp.

Zhu Yuanzhang reassured the three of them: "The investigation of illegal salt trafficking is basically over. Let your people put their hearts back in their stomachs."

"That's great..." Yu Tongyuan and the other three looked at each other, and now they had an explanation with the people below.

"But there is one thing, we still say the same thing, merit is merit, fault is fault! The merits are not equal to the faults, and the faults are not covered up!" Zhu Yuanzhang said with a solemn expression: "We just said that bygones are bygones, but we did not say that we will do the same thing again in the future. We won’t pursue it yet!”

"understand."

"In short, remember this sentence, you must always obey the law and obey the law!" After Zhu Yuanzhang finished teaching him, he put on a smile again and said: "Come, drink and drink..."

"Your Majesty, please." The three of them quickly prepared to accompany them. The monarch and his ministers exchanged cups, and the atmosphere gradually became warm.

The bad blood between the monarch and his ministers seemed to disappear after three rounds of wine...

~~

In the end, Yu Tongyuan and the other three were carried back drunk.

Anyone who runs a boat can drink it. Zhu Yuanzhang could drink three people like this, so naturally he himself was not a good drinker.

He was completely confused. He couldn't sit there or lie down. No matter how he positioned himself, he felt uncomfortable.

"Dad hasn't drank like this for many years." Zhu Biao brought him sobering soup and waited for Zhu Yuanzhang to drink it.

After a bowl of sour bamboo shoot soup, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little better. He breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "It's okay if I don't drink like this. If I don't drink this, how will they know that we are serious?"

"I thought my father's forgiveness of them was just a temporary measure, but I didn't expect it would be serious this time." Zhu Biao said softly.

"The situation is just better than the people. They are indeed lucky. They caught up with me and canceled the capital move. The old brothers in Huaixi must have a lot of opinions, and maybe they will give us some color." Zhu Yuanzhang asked his son to rub it for him Temple said:

"And Mr. South Korea, if we give him a hard time this time, he will definitely not be able to swallow his temper."

"Didn't my father always educate his sons to either do nothing or do nothing?" Zhu Biao asked, "Why not..."

"Why not capture him directly?" Zhu Yuanzhang said with a faint smile:

"Because he is finished. Everyone in the world knows that Mr. Han is the person in charge of the construction of the Central Capital. Now that the construction of the Central Capital has been stopped and the national policy of relocating the capital has been cancelled, he will naturally bear the greatest responsibility.

"Korean Lord will soon lose his prestige and become a complete loser. How can he command our group of arrogant and victorious generals?"

"Yes." Zhu Biao nodded, somewhat understanding. The Ming army has been moving from one victory to another, so it is impossible for the generals to be convinced by a loser...

"For the old brothers in Huaixi, it is best for him to disappear as soon as possible and replace him with a young and promising leader to regroup. But we must keep him. Not only keep him, but also continue to pamper him when he comes back, so that The old brothers can't say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, so they can only hold their noses and continue to recognize him as their big brother."

"How can the Huaixi Gang have any cohesion like this? If we are not united, we will not achieve anything. We, too, can sleep more peacefully."

"I understand." Zhu Biao nodded gently, admiring his father for this from the bottom of his heart. He has such a violent temper and is so angry, but he can still maintain his rationality and know what is most beneficial. You really need to learn this by yourself.

"Remember, the secret to being an emperor lies in the word 'checks and balances'. If Huaixi becomes too swollen, you have to find ways to weaken them. At the same time, strengthening their opponents can also achieve a balance."

"Opponent?" the prince asked in a low voice.

"Yes." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slowly and said with a big tongue: "Chaohu Navy and Huaixi are fighting openly and secretly. Because the matter of Kaizhong and Liao Yongzhong has become a fire and water, we will keep them. As long as they are here Huai'an, we don't have to worry, someone will take the Grand Canal to go south."

"The Guangchao Lake Navy is probably far from being able to check and balance Huaixi, right?"

"Of course, the Fujian and Guangdong Navy, as well as the troops that later joined us, are actually Huaixi's opponents." Zhu Yuanzhang added: "The Huaixi family is the dominant family, controlling the entire Dudu Mansion, and only promotes those who are from Huaixi. Generals. Those foreign generals have been ostracized and have had enough of them for a long time.

"This time we come to Huai'an and have a drink with Yu Tongyuan, this is a clear signal. As long as those foreign generals are not stupid, they will actively move closer to us." Zhu Yuanzhang said solemnly:

"This way we can promote them and gradually form a certain balance against Huaixi. We don't need them to do anything, just let those old brothers know that they can't cover up the Ming Dynasty's army with one hand. We really want to take the initiative, You still have to wait until your brothers leave town..."

"I didn't realize it at first, but now I realize that it's really imminent that the second brother and the others will join the feudal clan." Zhu Biao sighed lightly.

"It won't go that smoothly." Zhu Yuanzhang snorted and said, "Let's leave it here, they will do their best to delay it for as many years as they can, so that your brothers can become feudal as late as possible."

"Alas..." Zhu Biao sighed again, feeling that the road ahead was full of thorns.

ps. The second update of three consecutive posts.