After lunch, the Zhu Houzhao brothers took more than 50 Beijing camp guards and galloped to Yanzhou, while Ma Sanniang stayed in Jining and joined the people sent by Baidong Mountain to listen to the news and exchange information.

At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the group finally came to Yanzhou City. The first generation of King Lu was the tenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Tan. At that time, for the sake of this son, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the expansion of Yanzhou City, and with the central funding, the scale of Yanzhou suddenly rose a notch.

The original Yanzhou was just a county seat. The city is located at the bend of the Si River, Yanzhou City at that time, long from east to west and short from north to south, and the distance from the Si River in the east and the Si River in the south is basically equal. After expanding about two miles to the south, the city wall of the entire Yanzhou City is 14 miles and 200 steps long, becoming one of the largest cities in Shandong. After the Sui and Tang dynasties, the south moat of Yanzhou City has become the royal river that passes through the city from this time, also known as the Fu River, the peach willow is planted all over the two banks, in the twilight of spring, the peach red willow is green, the smoke wave paints the boat, it is the place where the prince of the royal family travels and the grandson. There are bridges such as Shenqiao, Jiuxian Bridge, East Royal Bridge, Middle Royal Bridge, West Royal Bridge, Dragon Bridge and other bridges built on the Royal River, and the beautiful scenery attracts countless tourists, and it can be said that the most lively place in Yanzhou Mansion is near these bridges.

The expansion of Yanzhou Mansion is also reflected in the renovation and thickening of the city wall. Originally, the walls were about four meters high, but now they are nine meters high, and the walls have been greatly thickened and made of green bricks. On the ramparts it was possible to accommodate five horses walking side by side, and the width was already more than seven meters. Zhu Houzhao and others saw the towering city wall from afar, although they lived in the first city in the world - the capital, but when they saw Yanzhou, they still had to sigh "What a strong city." ”

The eastern, western, and southern gates of the city were all built with urn castles, which greatly improved the city's defense. The gathering of refugees in Jining did not disturb the prosperity of Yanzhou, and there was an endless stream of pedestrians and merchants entering and leaving the city gates. Seeing that Zhu Houzhao and his party were all strong, riding horses and carrying knives, the crowd unconsciously moved out of the way and let them go first. A Beijing camp guard stepped forward to talk with the soldiers at the city gate, and soon, Zhu Houzhao and the others entered this important city in Lunan under the respectful eyes of the soldiers.

When I entered the city gate, I found that there were more people here, because when I entered the south city gate, it was a bazaar, and there were many shops on both sides of the road, and there were many small vendors shouting in front of the store. People came and went on the street, rubbing shoulders one after another, and Zhu Houzhao and others also got off their horses and walked slowly. Looking at the smiling faces of the people around them, Zhu Houzhao and others were also infected.

The Lu Palace, in the central area of the north of Yanzhou City, is the imperial city built by Zhu Yuanzhang's order. King Lu is high in the eyes of the people, and the imperial city is even more mysterious, and the people are not allowed to go here, so the further north you go, the fewer people there are.

The reason why the imperial city is called the imperial city is because there are tall city walls built around the Lu Wangfu, which can be regarded as the inner city of Yanzhou. The city is two feet high and nine feet high, about 700 meters long from east to west, about 600 meters wide from north to south, with an area of about 0.42 square kilometers, equivalent to more than 600 acres. The main gate, the front and rear halls, the four gates of the city tower are decorated with green point gold, the corridor room is decorated with green daisy, the main gate of the four cities is painted with red lacquer, the gold is coated with copper nails, the palace arches the top, the pan cockroach is painted in the middle, the account is used with the red pin gold cockroach, and the back wall of the seat is painted with the pan cocktail color cloud. The four city gates are called Duanli in the south, Guangzhi in the north, Tiren in the east, and Zunyi in the west, and Zhu Houzhao They arrived in front of the Duanli Gate, and just 100 meters away, there were palace guards who came to speak, "The palace is heavy, and the idlers are scattered." Zhu Houzhao took out his token and handed it to the Beijing camp guards, and he stepped forward to negotiate. After they said a few words, the palace guard nodded, and then ran towards the imperial city.

After a while, the city gate was opened, and Zhu Houzhao and others also came to the city gate. As far as the eye could see, I saw a boy of about 15 years old, dressed in an ordinary white Confucian robe and with a scarf wrapped around his head, walking briskly. I have to say that the people who come are dignified and good-looking, at least better than the two Zhu Houzhao brothers. Although he is young and has not yet grown, he has sword eyebrows and starry eyes, his face is like a crown of jade, his nose bridge is high, and he is a dragon and phoenix among people. Although he walks briskly, he does not lose his demeanor, and the elegant smile on his face makes people feel good.

When he arrived, the boy bowed down and arched his hand, "Foolish uncle Zhu Jianzhu, I have seen two virtuous nephews." "Brother Zhu Houzhao came to visit this time as a junior, so it is about seniority, regardless of status. But what is more embarrassing is that King Lu is now the fourth generation, according to the generation, Hongzhi has to shout uncle and grandfather when he sees King Lu, and Zhu Houzhao and the two have to call grandpa. And the young boy in front of him is the grandson of King Lu, the current son of King Lu, Zhu Jianxi. His father, the original son Zhu Dangyi, was only 33 years old on the third day of October in the 18th year of Hongzhi (1505).

The elders had already saluted first, and the juniors couldn't stand still, so the two bowed down with a little embarrassment, "The little nephew Zhu Houzhao (Zhu Houwei) has seen my uncle." ”

A smile flashed in Zhu Jianshu's eyes, but he immediately stopped it, and said with a peaceful smile, "Come with me, two of you, grandpa is already waiting." The two of them nodded, and then followed him into the door. On the way to walk, Zhu Jianshu and the two did not talk according to their generations, but introduced the two to various buildings, scenery and interesting facts about the palace in the tone of their peers. Zhu Houzhao and the two also came to talk about sex, and the three gradually let go of the distance and began to make friends, Zhu Jianxi's upbringing, knowledge and language skills made the two brothers feel good.

Among the three, Zhu Houzhao is the oldest, 91 years old, Zhu Jianshu is 94 years old, Zhu Houwei is 95 years old, but Zhu Jianshu and Zhu Houwei are the same age, the former is October of Hongzhi 7, and Zhu Houwei is December of Hongzhi 7, the age is about the same, and the three get along very well.

The Lu Palace is located in the middle of the Lu Wangcheng and is mainly composed of two parts: the official area and the living area. From south to north, the buildings in the official area are divided into the "Carrier Hall" (11 rooms wide), the "Garden Hall" (9 rooms wide) and the "Cunxin Hall" (9 rooms wide). There are two halls on the left and right sides of the "Carrier Palace", and one hundred and thirty-eight houses are built on both sides of the five halls. There is a wall built around it, with a carrier gate in front and a "heart gate" in the back, becoming a closed courtyard. The buildings in the living area are respectively "front palace", "middle palace" and "back palace" from south to north, each side is nine rooms wide, ninety-nine rooms are built on each side of the three palaces, and the outer wall and the front and rear palace gates are built to form another courtyard. The flowers and trees in the garden are very good in the world.

After walking for about 10 minutes, the place where King Lu entertained them today was in the Middle Palace, and most of the guests of the royal banquet were here. When I entered the palace gate, I saw that a round table had been set up in the main hall, and an old man was sitting due north. In the Ming Dynasty, the general family banquet was a round table, but if it was a serious and formal occasion, it was still the ancient etiquette of one person and one case.

The old man is Zhu Yangzhu, the king of Lu, who is 62 years old this year, and in this era, it can be regarded as a long life. King Lu is well maintained, although it is a rare year, but half of his beard is not black, his appearance is kind, his eyes are a little vicissitudes, and he looks at Zhu Houzhao with a smile in his eyes.

Zhu Jianzhu smiled and arched his hand, "Grandpa, the guest grandson has brought it." Brother Zhu Houzhao walked quickly to King Lu and knelt down, "The junior Zhu Houzhao (Zhu Houwei) has seen his grandfather." King Lu had already stood up, laughed, and his voice was full of anger, "Okay, hurry up." You're tired of traveling so far, aren't you? Sit down and rest, and the feast begins. ”

Zhu Houzhao arched his hand and said, "The younger generation came to the door for the first time, and they came in a hurry, and they still wanted to smile at some gifts." The 3 Beijing guards who came with him came in small steps and opened 3 boxes, one of which was a glass study of the four treasures, a total of two sets, and a box with a box of about the same size, 10 cm long and short 12 zodiac glass handicrafts, and the last box put a set of Yixing purple clay pots and teacups.

King Lu just glanced at the gift, but looked at Zhu Houzhao and the two of them with a little more cordiality in their eyes, and said in his mouth, "I have also heard of the crystal Zhai in the capital for a long time, and the house has also exchanged a few, I really don't know when this Shandong territory can also open a house, but I have heard about it, and now Yingtianfu has also opened one." Zhu Houzhao said respectfully, "In another 1 or 2 years, now there is a shortage of manpower, and this thing is very cumbersome to make." Yanzhou will definitely be opened in the future. ”

King Lu nodded and sat down first. The elders sat down, and Zhu Houzhao and the three juniors also sat down. The round table was not very large, and the four of them were only half a table. On the left hand side of King Lu is Zhu Houzhao, then Zhu Houwei, and finally Zhu Jianxi. King Lu's wife died 10 years ago, and there was no more princess after that. On today's occasion, several side concubines are also not suitable to be present.

King Lu has a total of 10 sons and 6 daughters, which can be regarded as a prosperous person, and now there are 7 sons and 5 daughters who are still alive, but they have already become adults and went to their fiefdoms. Brother Zhu Houzhao came very suddenly, so it was impossible to inform the others.

Under the order of the eunuch of the palace, all kinds of dishes were served in an endless stream, and soon, the table was filled. King Lu is very persistent in fine wine, although the amount is not large, but he still has to drink a few sips per meal. Zhu Jianshu didn't drink, so only Zhu Houzhao accompanied King Lu to drink a few glasses, after all, he was married and considered an adult.

Zhu Houzhao picked up the wine cup and said respectfully towards King Lu: "Now that a large number of poor people have gathered in Jining, if it weren't for Grandpa Tai's opening of the warehouse to help grain, the consequences would be unimaginable. The younger generation is full of admiration, and the first thing to do is respect. As he spoke, he raised the cup to his lips, tilted his head slightly, and drank it. King Lu nodded, sighed and said, "I have also heard about Caogong, and it is a good thing that the capital can be self-sufficient." Now a large number of people are recruited to build roads, which is also very good, as long as it takes a while, the problem can be solved, but it's a pity. Zhu Jianshu said solemnly, "Not only that, many places in Shandong have high land taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and many people have abandoned farming or surrendered, and even many people have come to the palace to ask for land. But they were all rejected by Grandpa. ”

Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhu Jianxi, and then at King Lu, King Lu's face was calm, but a little worry flashed in his eyes. Although Zhu Jianshu is a good learner, but in the end, he has little experience, and saying such things will actually make Zhu Houzhao and the others a little embarrassed. The royal family had fiefs, and these fiefs were not taxed to the imperial court. During the Chenghua period, some people began to donate their fields to the royal family in order to avoid taxes. Of course, it was not only these royal families who did not pay taxes in the Ming Dynasty, but also people with meritorious reputation. This situation became more and more intense, and at the end of the Ming Dynasty, King Fu and King Zhou were hundreds of thousands of hectares of fertile land, equivalent to tens of millions of cultivated land, and the famous scholars, especially the families of many scholars in the south of the Yangtze River, which one did not have thousands of hectares of fertile land. And the biggest source of these fields is the contribution of peasants and small landlords.

King Lu didn't stop his grandson, it seemed that he wanted to be honest with Zhu Houzhao, but Zhu Jianxi's sudden opening made the atmosphere a little embarrassing.

Suddenly, a eunuch walked into the hall quickly, came to King Lu's side, and whispered, "Lord Wang, the county lord is back." As soon as the words fell, I only heard a crisp and cheerful voice, which came over, "Grandpa, what kind of guest is here, I want you to entertain you with your eldest brother." When she stepped into the main hall, she was in a good mood to find that everyone was looking at her. But suddenly seeing Zhu Houwei's impressive face, his face changed, and his voice was angry with incredulity, and even a little broken, "Why are you?" ”