In the Forbidden City dormitory, Zhu Yuanzhang has been sick in bed for more than ten days. Although he is strong and has a lot of opportunities, after all, he is also an old man in his sixties, and Zhu Biao's early death is undoubtedly a heavy blow to him.

Seeing that Zhu Yunwen was standing on one side, he was quite conspicuous, thinking that he was still serving his decoction when he suffered the pain of his deceased father, Rao is Zhu Yuanzhang's iron heart, and his heart couldn't help but warm, and he turned his head to him and said in a deep voice: "You go back to the palace to rest." ”

Zhu Yunwen's fear of this imperial grandfather in his heart was far better than that of his father, and seeing the inviolable meaning in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, he hurriedly kowtowed and thanked him and withdrew from the bedroom.

Hearing the sound of his grandson's footsteps gradually moving away, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help sighing, and gradually relieved from the pain of losing his son, his mind had gradually sobered up, turned his head and saw the candles in the hall bright, thinking back to Zhu Yunwen's slightly thin young figure, and secretly thought: This child is filial and gentle, but it is quite like his father. Thinking about this, he couldn't help but secretly sigh and said: It's a pity that a good boy may not be a good emperor, who should the future prince of the Ming Dynasty choose? Zhu Biao's early death made him sick in bed, and he deeply felt his aging in his heart, and the decision to become the prince was undoubtedly the most decisive thing for him at the moment.

Zhu Quan in Yingtian? As soon as the figure of this bastard boy flashed in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly, recalling his bold and reckless behavior in the past, and Xu Ying's prelude to the church, which was absurd and inexplicable. Although he experienced the pain of losing his son, he still stubbornly believes that Gu Nianqingyi is a strong point for a person who is a minister, but it is undoubtedly an Achilles heel for a person who is in charge of the country.

Zhu Di? This son is the most like himself among all the sons. Kill decisively, and never drag mud and water. Recalling that his former commander of the army surrendered to the Northern Yuan Yu Ner's Buhua Department and captured more than 30,000 people. It can be seen that he has already understood a truth, killing the enemy on the battlefield is not difficult for a winning commander, but if you don't kill them all, you can get more. This truth was often met in spring in the past, but today's blue jade may not understand it throughout his life. More importantly, although the Northern Yuan Dynasty collapsed, there were still Tatars and Warats under the banner of the Northern Yuan Golden Family on the grassland, these foreign barbarians would not raise troops to attack in the future, and the Ming Dynasty needed a good emperor rather than a young monarch who was longer than the deep palace.

After the palace maid finished waiting for her to change clothes, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help frowning, waved her hand to drive the palace maid out of the room, and sat alone to think.

Although Zhu Biao died early, the power of his influence as a crown prince was not so easy to eliminate, recalling that in the past, when he was called King of Wu, he made him a son early in order to determine the army's heart, and after many years of deliberate support, most of the Chinese military officials of the dynasty were loyal to him. I have dealt with too many scholars in my life, and I already know that this dry and sour Confucian has been influenced by loyal ministers and two masters since he was a child, which can be said to be deep in the bone marrow, and it can be easily changed if it is not a holy decree, and if he wants to make Zhu Di the prince, he does not know how much resistance he will encounter in the court.

Rao is Zhu Yuanzhang is accustomed to the style, and he can't help but be a little hesitant in the choice of the prince involving the Ming Dynasty and the country, and he stepped out of the dormitory and headed towards the Wuying Palace.

After about half a pillar of incense, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, dressed in a flying fish suit, stepped into the imperial study and bowed to see His Majesty the Emperor. As the leader of the Son of Heaven's army, he naturally knew how much turmoil the death of the crown prince would cause in the government and the opposition, and in the past ten days, he not only secretly ordered all the subordinates of the Jinyi Guards in Tiancheng to closely monitor the hundred officials, but also waited outside the Wuying Hall every night, so that he could be on call at any time.

"I haven't been in court for more than ten days, how can I talk about it among the officials?" Zhu Yuanzhang saw Jiang Xian's arrival, and immediately restored his former aura of dominating the world.

Jiang Xian saw Zhu Yuanzhang's expression and bearing as before, he couldn't help but settle down, bowed down and played: "According to the report of Weichen's subordinates, the civil and military officials saw that His Majesty had not been in the court for many days, and they were inevitably shocked, and there were many things to ......say" Speaking of this, he couldn't help but raise his head slightly, looked at Zhu Yuanzhang's unfazed look on his face, and finally said boldly: "There is a lot to say about the crown prince." ”

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly when he heard this, and sighed secretly in his heart, thinking that Zhu Di was in Beiping, which was extremely far away from Yingtian, and he was afraid that he would delay the rest of the month, no matter what attitude the courtiers had towards the matter of the prince, he had to plan ahead of the day, and after a moment of silence, he turned around and whispered to Jiang Xian: "Let your Jinyi guard go to Beiping and take Zhu Di back to Yingtian." ”

Jiang Xian understood when he heard this, and hurriedly responded: "Weichen has the order." With that, he bowed and withdrew from the study.

Walking on the wide imperial road, Jiang Xian looked at the Forbidden City in the night, and his heart couldn't help but feel relaxed.

Since learning the news of the death of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the question of who the future prince of the Ming Dynasty will be, has been spinning in his mind from time to time. With his deep knowledge of Zhu Yuanzhang, he only felt that whether it was the King of Qin, the King of Jin, or even Zhu Quan, the King of Ning, who had a heavy army in his hands, it would not be the choice of His Majesty Emperor Hongwu, and the battle for the prince would inevitably start between Zhu Yunwen, the grandson of the emperor, and Zhu Di, the king of Yan. The former crown prince Zhu Biao's father and son were deeply taught by Song Lian and other corrupt Confucians, and the Chinese officials of the dynasty have always treated themselves and Jinyi Satellite TV like snakes and scorpions, and if Zhu Yunjiao ascended the throne, he was afraid that Jinyi Wei would disappear, and Zhu Di, the king of Yan, who commanded the army to conquer the remnants of the Northern Yuan, no matter how much he made contributions to the Daming Dynasty, would not be liked by these courtiers in the court who were loyal to the prince's father and son. Imagine if he returned to heaven after the dragon funeral of Emperor Hongwu, and King Yan ascended the throne, with his decisive temperament, he would inevitably be bitter to a group of ministers who were unwilling to obey him.

In the middle of the night, after Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the desk, his bright eyes swept over Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru, and Zhuo Jing, who were summoned into the palace overnight, and said in a deep voice: "I am old, the prince is unlucky, so he died. Gu Yun: The state has a long monarch, and the blessing of the society. My fourth son is virtuous and benevolent, heroic and martial, and I want to be the crown prince, what is it? He knew very well that among the civil officials in the court, the few people in front of him should be the most loyal to Zhu Biao, the prince of Yiwen, so he summoned him first and probed the tone.

"In all dynasties, the unification of the throne has been based on the establishment of the heir and the establishment of the long. If His Majesty appoints King Yan as the crown prince, he will place the King of Qin, where is the King of Jin? Although Huang Zicheng was immersed in the grief of Zhu Biao's untimely death in the past few days, he had already considered the matter of establishing a prince, and at this time he heard that His Majesty the Hongwu Emperor intended to set up Zhu Di as the prince, so he was not in a hurry, and put Zhu Zhang, the king of Qin, and Zhu Zhang, the king of Jin. pulled it out as a shield, and said confidently.

Zhu Yuanzhang's heart couldn't help but sink when he heard this. It turned out that although he had many sons, he only had three born to Ma Xiuying, the queen of filial piety, the eldest son Zhu Biao, the second son Zhu Zhang, and the third son Zhu ??。 Zhu Di, the king of Yan, and Zhu Hu, the king of Zhou, and other kings below were born to other concubines, not their own queen Ma. As the son of a concubine, it will undoubtedly be a major obstacle for Zhu Di to inherit the unification, and there are only a few people in the court who think like Huang Zicheng.

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was silent, Fang Xiaoru hurriedly fell to the ground and kowtowed: "The common people are still orderly, thinking that I am a state of etiquette, how can I make a prince who is not a prince like this?" Before Zhu Biao's death, there was already a royal history to impeach Zhu Zhang, the king of Qin, for building the palace extravagantly, and was summoned by Zhu Yuanzhang to be under house arrest in the palace. Fang Xiaoru has no good impression of this King of Qin, and when he talks about the elder like this, he thinks that after the death of Empress Ma of Cixiao, Zhu Yuanzhang did not appoint other concubines as queens, which shows that as Empress Ma has a weight in the emperor's heart, the identity of not the emperor's wife is Zhu Di's biggest weakness.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help frowning when he heard this, turned his head to look at Qi Tai and asked, "What do you say?" He knew that Huang Zicheng and Fang Xiaoru were extremely knowledgeable, but they were inevitably a little pedantic, in contrast, among the four people in front of him, he valued the views of this military squire more.

Qi Tai bowed down and said: "At present, the Northern Yuan Dynasty has been wiped out, although there are still Tatars and Warats on the grassland, but its momentum is difficult to compare with the barbarians of the golden family in the past, and they contain each other, and there is no power to invade the south for the time being." Although the emperor's grandson is still young, he is the descendant of Prince Yiwen, virtuous and benevolent, and it is justifiable to inherit the position of the prince, which can convince the civil and military officials and the subjects of the world. As a squire of the military department, he knows that the barbarian border trouble is not light in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, so he tells the situation that there is no external trouble under the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, but the words refer to the fact that although the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen is long in the deep palace, he does not know about military affairs, and in the face of the current situation of the Ming Dynasty and the people, he does not need to face the situation of the barbarians eyeing him for the time being.

Zhuo Jing saw Zhu Yuanzhang looking at him, and hurriedly bowed down and said: "Weichen thinks that Your Majesty is the founding king of my Ming Dynasty, and if the prince is not a grandson or a long-term, wouldn't it be a mess of the rules, so that future generations will be at a loss, and it is inevitable that there will be people who covet the imperial power to take advantage of the situation to make trouble." Thinking about the Xiongnu, although Mongolia was fierce for a while, but after the death of a generation of male lords, they immediately fought internal wars, and the root of it was that the barbarians and other barbarians were only stronger and weaker than each other. Therefore, Weichen thought that His Majesty must not mess with the rules. Although he is the youngest among the four, he is not Huang Zicheng in terms of wisdom, Fang Xiaoru is comparable, and he knows that Zhu Yuanzhang is a man of great talent and deep vision.

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard Zhuo Jing's words, his heart couldn't help but feel extremely heavy, frowning and silent. You must know that the reason why he insisted on going his own way, regardless of the opposition of a group of courtiers, let the kings in various places, command different numbers of soldiers and horses, its intention is the same as the abolition of the prime minister, that is, to take precautions, in case there is a powerful minister in the later generations of ministers to control the court, the kings can lead the army to clear the monarch's side, today listening to Zhuo Jing say this, he can't help but make him secretly frightened, if he Zhu Di ascends the throne, then as the queen of Qin, the descendants of the King of Jin will not rebel and rebel with Zhu Di's descendants? Thinking about this, I couldn't help but feel quite conflicted in my heart, and I was in a dilemma, so I had to say in a deep voice: "The matter is big, and I can make a decision in a hurry, you can retreat for the time being, and let me think carefully before making plans." ”

The distant sky gradually revealed the white of the fish's belly, and Zhu Yuanzhang, the Hongwu Emperor, stopped by the window to look at the sky and couldn't help sighing slightly. For the first time, the commander of the former army and the founding monarch of the Ming Dynasty lost his decision to kill in the past, and fell into a dilemma, and secretly thought to himself: Well, wait until I have seen the six Shangshu, Shilang, Yushitai and other officials before making plans.

More than ten days later, in the palace of King Yan in Beiping City, Zhu Di sat in the study, recalling that when he was beaten by his father when he was a child, he relied on his eldest brother Zhu Biao to intercede, and couldn't help but sigh to the ugly Dao Yan in front of him wearing a black robe: "I don't want my eldest brother to die young, this is painful, and it is difficult to express the king." "Thinking back to the fact that the courtiers have always been hostile to him, in the past, he relied on this eldest brother who was the crown prince to turn between his father and the emperor, and in the future, without this lenient brother to mediate, I am afraid that I need to be more careful everywhere.

Dao Yan is Zhu Di's confidant, he knows a lot about him, at this time, seeing that Zhu Di's expression and words do not seem to be fake at all, he can't help but be secretly moved, and when he was about to speak, there was a sound of footsteps in his ears, and when he turned his head to look, he saw a man with a fierce expression and wearing armor came to the door and bowed and said: "Your Royal Highness, there should be a brocade guard who came to the palace to pass on His Majesty's message." ”

Zhu Di couldn't help but sigh when he heard this, and in an instant, he couldn't help but show joy on his face, and after agreeing, he stood up and walked out slowly. Since learning that the eldest brother Zhu Biao who is the crown prince passed away, when he dreamed back at midnight, Zhu Di couldn't help but quietly imagine the matter of the prince, at this time, he heard that Jinyiwei came to pass on his father's message, and his heart was also an irrepressible wave, even if he was the commander of the army on weekdays, he had developed a very calm temperament, but at this time, he could be said to be concerned and chaotic, and his hands couldn't help but tremble slightly in his sleeves.

Dao Yan, who was sitting alone in the study, heard the sound of Zhu Di's footsteps far away, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: It should have come, but it still came after all. He knows very well that Zhu Di, the king of Yan, is known to have a strategy, and although there are many sons of His Majesty the emperor today, Zhu Zhang, the king of Qin, and Zhu Zhang, the king of Jin, Zhu Zhang? It is unbearable to build, even if it is Zhu Quan, who has the heaviest military power among the kings, although the talent of the general is not inferior to Zhu Di, he has no choice but to be a young man, and he can't escape the entanglement of love and righteousness. Since Daoyan learned the news of the death of Zhu Biao, the prince of Yiwen, he had already guessed that Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of Hongwu was bound to make a decision on the position of prince as soon as possible in order to stabilize the situation, so among the kings, His Royal Highness King Yan, who assisted him, should be the best choice.