On December 22 of the second year of Jianwen, outside the Jinchuan Gate.

Ning Wang Zhu Quan looked at the majestic Jinchuan Gate with complicated eyes, with his eyesight, he could see that the city was full of elite soldiers, and there were dozens of artillery pieces facing the road outside the door. Looking back behind him, there was his prince's chariot and the tall royal flag, and in the distance, in the smoke and dust, it was the three thousand elite horsemen led by Muchun, Marquis of Xiping. Since he received the edict and set off, Xiping Hou Muchun has been following him, and his intentions are self-evident. Thinking of this, Zhu Quan smiled bitterly, is he, the emperor's nephew, still worried about himself? Since I arrived in Yunnan, I have lived a semi-secluded life, isn't this okay?

It's been two years, Zhu Quan has silently thought in his heart, yes, since the defeat of Mobei and his assignment to Yunnan, he has never returned to Beijing. Originally, he thought that he would soon be recalled to the Jingshi and return to the fiefdom, but the previous kings of Qin, Jin, and Zhou made more serious mistakes, and didn't they return to the fiefdom in the end? But what he didn't expect was that his father, who was wise and martial, and had no boundaries of longevity, died, so quickly, so suddenly. When he got the news of his father's death, Zhu Quan cried loudly, unable to help himself, and the officials in Yunnan, including Mu Chun, were very moved, thinking that Zhu Quan was a person of pure filial piety, but no one thought that Zhu Quan was lamenting his future. His nephew Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, so he had no hope of returning to Jingshi or Daning in this life.

When the news of the fourth brother Zhu Di and the fifth brother Zhu Hu joining forces to rebel reached Zhu Quan's ears, he almost jumped up with joy, but he didn't dare to drink happily just because he took care of the ears and eyes of the surrounding investigation divisions. After the fourth brother raised his army, he was like a bamboo, swallowed Feng Sheng and the fifth brother's army, forced Geng Bingwen to death, and the situation was very good. But what he didn't expect was that the emperor's nephew used the little-known Ping'an, Sheng Yong, and Geng Xuan, and it was these three people who forced the fourth brother into a desperate situation.

And then the emperor's disposition of the fourth brother and the fifth brother made Zhu Quan shudder, the fourth brother was basically extinct, and the fifth brother was abolished as a concubine except for the unfilial son Runan Junwang who told the whistleblower, all of which had nothing to do with the so-called benevolence, filial piety and generosity. These all made Zhu Quan very frightened, strictly speaking, he was not so clean, many of the rebels of the fourth brother were the Daning army that had listened to orders under his command, if these people couldn't control their mouths and said something, it would be troublesome.

So when he received the emperor's edict ordering him to enter Beijing to participate in the New Year's family banquet, Zhu Quan even flashed the idea of suicide in his mind, and Mu Chun's personal protection made him feel a chill.

However, when he saw the city gate of Nanjing, Zhu Quan felt a kind of relief, he was really fed up with the fear all the way, he died and died, this is the place where he was born and raised, and it is not in vain to die in this place.

Just as he was sighing, a few surprised shouts came from the side: "Brother Seventeen, you are here." ”

Oh? Zhu Quan turned around and found that there were several young people standing on the side of the road, it was the younger brothers such as King Gu, King Han, and King An, followed by a group of guards, and he was caught by the city gate, and he didn't even see them. Zhu Quan hurriedly turned over and dismounted, greeted him, held the hands of several younger brothers, and said in surprise: "Why are you here?" ”

Before King Gu and the others could answer, an official next to him came over and said, "His Royal Highness King Ning, Zheng Yi, the secretary of the Weichen Rite Department, is here to greet His Highness by holy order." His Royal Highness has been tired of saddle horses all the way, and please hurry up and go into the city to rest. ”

"Oh, thank you so much Lord Zheng." Zhu Quan hurriedly replied.

Under the leadership of Zheng Yi, Zhu Quan and several younger brothers walked side by side, and he continued to ask: "Nineteenth brother, why are you here?" Didn't you return to Xuanhua? ”

"We are here to greet your brothers on the orders of the emperor, and now most of the brothers have arrived, and the seventeenth brother is already relatively slow." Gu Wang Zhu Lu lowered his voice and said: "Seventeenth brother, although King Yan's rebellion has been quelled, the emperor has not issued an order for his younger brother to return to the fiefdom, and his younger brother has no choice but to stay in the capital. But it doesn't matter, at this family banquet, the emperor summoned all the vassal kings, even the king of Jingjiang came. ”

"Oh? Is that so? After Zhu Quan heard the news, he let go of most of his heart, as long as the emperor was not specifically targeting himself.

After walking for a while, Zhu Quan asked again: "Nineteenth brother, why did the emperor summon us vassal kings to Beijing?" Didn't the first emperor stipulate that the vassal kings would flow into Beijing in turn, and they would be held every three years? ”

"This, my brother doesn't know, but there are too many things happening this year, maybe the emperor wants to calm people's hearts."

"Well, yes."

After Zhu Quan asked roughly, he let go of his heart, played with his younger brothers, communicated his feelings, and distributed the gifts he brought from Yunnan, and the younger brothers also cheered, making Zhu Quan smile.

Zheng Yi in front of him heard these young princes making trouble, and smiled in his heart, it would be great if the vassal kings could recognize the reality and stop making trouble.

Most of the vassal kings who were ordered to go to Beijing were in a similar mood to Zhu Quan, and the doubts when they set off, the apprehension on the way and the relaxation after arriving in Beijing, King Ning was just one of the more special ones.

The reason why the family banquet was held for two consecutive years was that Zhu Yunwen had his considerations, which were essentially to appease people's hearts, but last year's intimidation was heavier, and this year it was basically simply appeased. Zhu Yunwen hopes that these vassal kings will not think too much and not make any moths, although Zhu Yunwen now has self-confidence, he believes that if there is a rebellion and a large number of uncles are executed, it is good to say, I hope they will still keep to themselves.

Many vassal kings entered Beijing, and the capital was also heavily guarded inside and outside, and Zhu Yunwen ordered the Jinyi Guard, the Investigation Department, the Intelligence Department, the pro-army and the Guards to be on strict alert to prevent chaos.

Chinese New Year's Eve, Qianqing Palace.

As a royal banquet, its ceremony, seating can not be sloppy at all, the participants are Zhu Yuanzhang's son and his son-in-law, the rest are the queen mother, the emperor, the empress and the emperor's brothers, such as Wu Wang Zhu Yunxi, Wei Wang Zhu Yunxi, Xu Wang Zhu Yunxi, etc., each person's seat, clothing, order has strict regulations. Although the host of the banquet was Zhu Yunwen, the actual person who arranged it was the queen Ma Hui, and the assistants were Zhu Zhen, the king of Zhengchu of Zongren Mansion, and the officials of Taichang Temple.

With Zhu Yunwen's order, the banquet began.

First of all, the kings, under the leadership of Zhu Yunwen, congratulated the Empress Dowager Lu. Seeing his son leading the queen and the kings to kneel on the ground and kowtow to him, the Lu family couldn't help but have mixed feelings, his son finally sat on the throne, and these princes should not be able to make any tricks. After everyone congratulated, the Lu family immediately gave a reward, and everyone had a share.

Then the kings congratulated the emperor and empress, but this time Zhu Yunwen walked down, helped them up one by one, and comforted them repeatedly, this is to show his image of being close to the people, so that the vassal kings can rest assured and not disturb their own changes, although Zhu Yunwen knows that this is just wishful thinking, but he tries to minimize this possibility.

After that, the program was more ordinary, with the Imperial Dining Room serving food, and at the same time, the Maiko and Rakuka of the Tairaku Department began to perform songs and dances, and there were small things such as food and thanksgiving, and so on.

When the banquet is over, Zhu Yunwen ordered everyone to go to the open space in the palace, and the eunuchs presented a firecracker display for everyone, under Zhu Yunwen's suggestion, the craftsmen have made fireworks of various colors, the colors are blue, red and yellow, this kind of scene immediately attracted the younger princes and princes. For a while, the palace was filled with childish laughter, and the princes seemed to let go of their doubts and gathered around their children to talk and laugh.

Zhu Yunwen stood next to him, looking at the happy kings, and then turned back to look at the queen Ma Hui, Ma Hui smiled, Zhu Yunwen gently hugged Ma Hui, looked at her slightly bulging belly, and felt infinite joy in her heart, this is really a beautiful and harmonious New Year, I hope it can be like this every year in the future.