In the Prince's Mansion of Kaifeng Mansion, Zhu Hu, the reluctant King of Zhou, looked at the herb garden cultivated by himself, and there were countless precious herbs in the garden, which was very sad.

Zhu Hu has been focused and patient since he was a child, erudite and talented, and his low-key personality is completely opposite to the sharp-edged fourth brother, but the rumors about the two kings in the world are just reversed, saying that King Zhou is flamboyant and King Yan is calm.

The first emperor Zhu Yuanzhang admired the concentration of the fifth son of the emperor, Zhu Hu, but he did not like him to blindly bury himself in learning and ignore foreign affairs.

As an adult, Zhu Hu accidentally fell in love with medical skills, and once went to his hometown Fengyang to collect herbs without authorization, so he was convicted and was ordered by the imperial court to move to Yunnan.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who knew the temperament of the emperor's fifth son, was just a warning, and soon ordered Zhu Hu to live in the capital for two years, and ordered him to return to Kaifeng.

After two years of precipitation and hard study, Zhu Hu was eager to write a medical book that would benefit the public, and organized a large number of famous scholars and scholars near Kaifeng, and the famous doctor Langzhong established a botanical garden in the palace, personally presided over the observation and experiment of the growth of herbs, and carried out the study of prescription medicine and famine-saving plants.

Xu Hao once pleasantly praised King Zhou as a biomedical expert in the Ming Dynasty, because Zhu Hu was in the critical period of writing the book, so he did not rush to bother.

In July of the 31st year of Hongwu, the imperial court unexpectedly announced that Shi Wanghan, the governor of the Zhou Dynasty, had discovered that Zhu Hu had a conspiracy, and after several admonitions, he went crazy and resigned, and ran back to the capital to denounce it.

Zhu Yunwen, the second son of Zhu Hu, who was in the capital, also reported to the court that his father was plotting against him, and Zhu Yunwen then ordered Li Jinglong to raid the Zhou Wangfu by surprise in the name of patrolling the border in the north through Kaifeng, and Zhu Hu, his wife, son, and daughter were demoted to commoners, and the whole family was sent to Yunnan.

At this moment, Li Jinglong said with a smile: "Fifth uncle, it's time for us to set off, I promise you that this herb garden will be preserved intact." ”

"I'm afraid I won't be able to come back alive." Zhu Hu retracted his reluctant gaze. He frowned and said: "I have always been obsessed with writing books, and I don't listen to things outside the window, some people say that in recent years, it has been rumored that I am short-tempered and oppressive and good, but I live here all day, where can I pay attention to the affairs of the palace?" The first emperor and the fourth brother repeatedly wrote to remind me that I didn't have time to deal with it, and I didn't want all this to be a good thing done by the rebel. ”

Li Jinglong was startled, and hurriedly said: "Let's not say anything, you are now in prison and your life is difficult to protect, be careful of the trouble that comes out of your mouth." ”

Zhu Lu suddenly showed a look of remorse. Pointing to the middle-aged man standing in the distance, he said angrily: "Liu Yuan, did you give the prescription to Zhu Youjiao?" ”

Liu Yuan hurriedly shook his head and waved his hand: "It has nothing to do with me, it has nothing to do with me." ”

"What's going on?" Li Jinglong asked.

Zhu Hu suddenly looked like he was twenty years old, and said dejectedly: "It's nothing, let's go." ”

Li Jinglong glanced at Liu Yuan, whose face was as pale as paper, suspiciously, gave his confidant family a look, and turned around and left with Zhu Hu.

In Beiping Mansion, Xu Hao, who received the news two days later, was silent in thought. At this moment, the monk Daoyan accompanied Xu Da to Shanhaiguan, and the ecstatic Zhu Di sent his second son Zhu Gaoxu to accompany him throughout the whole process in order to protect the safety of his father-in-law.

Zhu Gaochi and his wife lived with Zhang Meiren's mother and daughter in Huangzhuang outside the city, and Zhang Fu led troops to protect them. The Yan Wangfu continued to claim that Zhu Gaochi's brothers were stranded in the capital, and continued to fight with the imperial court and accuse each other.

Xu Hao wondered why Zhu Yunwen had just buried the first emperor, so he immediately sent Li Jinglong to arrest King Zhou? It is rumored that King Zhou and King Yan are siblings of the same mother. The imperial court is to prevent brothers from joining forces, if it is true, it means that Zhu Di is not the biological son of Queen Ma. According to other gossip, even the crown prince Qin and King Jin were not born to Queen Ma, which means that Queen Ma did not give birth at all.

Xu Hao didn't track down or ignore this, Zhu Yuanzhang killed so many people, it's no wonder if he is not hated, what kind of slander will not appear? Besides, does it matter if it's true or not? Zhu Yunwen is not from a son-in-law, and he only came out of power with a gun.

In the past, when he was studying in the main hall, Zhu Yunwen's closest cousins were Zhu Shangbing, the son of King Qin, Zhu Jixi, the son of King Jin, and Zhu Youjiao, the second son of King Zhou, and the relationship between Zhu Gaochi and them was also very close at that time.

Zhu Youstew, the son of King Zhou, is the same as his father Zhu Hu, who has not liked military and politics since he was a child, and is most fond of listening to music and singing, and is very talented in this regard. Xu Hao still has a deep memory, remembering that Zhu Youzhuang once compiled two plays, "Guan Yunchang's Righteous and Brave Resignation" and "Black Whirlwind's Righteous and Wealthy", dedicated to Zhu Yuanzhang, and at this time, the four famous novels had not yet come out.

Xu Hao secretly raised his eyes to observe Zhu Di's expression sitting behind the bookcase, his brows were also in contemplation, Xu Hao shuddered for a while, from the first three princes to Li Jinglong's father, Ning Xue's father Mu Ying, could this series of untimely deaths be related to poison?

Otherwise, how can you explain that Zhu Yunwen has not waited to sit on the throne, and the first one can't wait to attack Zhu Hu, the king of Zhou? There was no warning before, and Zhu Hu happened to be proficient in medicine and good at cultivating all kinds of wild plants, is there some kind of conspiracy in this?

Xu Hao knew that this matter could never be investigated, hoping that he was just speculating on his own, in short, Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Di were both vested interests.

"Uncle." Xu Hao spoke softly, and immediately woke up Zhu Di slowly turned his head, Xu Hao continued: "The strategy of the imperial court seems to be to cut off the surrounding princes, and then force you to surrender voluntarily. ”

Zhu Di asked with interest: "Then how do you say to prepare?" ”

Xu Hao muttered: "Although we have not yet received the reaction of the princes on this matter, it can be that when Emperor Jianwen occupies the position of righteousness, he will dare to be angry but dare not speak, and the imperial court will continue to cut the feudal domain and press you step by step with this emboldening." In order to prevent accidents, in the name of the child's marriage, the two generals Zhu Neng and Zhang Yu were transferred to lead a small number of elites into my house, and asked my uncle and the kings of Ning and Liao to seize the time to contact, and in the face of the future imperial army, we must ensure the safety of the left and right wings and the smooth flow of grain and taxes, otherwise the belly and back will be attacked by the enemy, and Beiping will become a lonely city. In addition, Shanhaiguan must be firmly controlled. ”

Zhu Di nodded frequently and said, "You go on." ”

Xu Hao said with a smile: "The child doesn't understand the military, don't laugh at the donkey's lips that are not right." ”

Zhu Di smiled: "It's okay, what to say." ”

Xu Hao, who had been prepared, unhurriedly unfolded a scroll of maps, pointed to it and said: "Uncle Beiping Mansion has been in business for many years, and the military and civilians are united, and it is by no means something that can be controlled in a short time by sending some officials to the imperial court.

Send a detailed investigation to find out the details of the court officials. In view of its weaknesses, each of them will be broken, and when the time is right, the king will be led into the urn and wiped out, and there are tens of thousands of elites in the palace and three guards in the palace, so as to immediately formulate a detailed jihua, select a trustworthy general to command, and give the order to the first uncle, then quickly block the whole city, and recover the entire territory of Beiping Mansion in the fastest time.

Tongzhou is sixty miles away from Beiping is the gateway to Beiping, not to mention the military throat, the southern Caoyun and Tianjin Wei take the sea route goods have to pass through here. There must be someone who can be trusted by my uncle, and my nephew won't say much about this, I think my uncle has already considered it, just to remind me.

Suzhou is an important town in the northeast connecting the fiefdom of King Ning, and it is said that King Ning is good at planning, and he has 80,000 chariots under his command, and he belongs to Duoyan Sanwei who is brave and good at fighting, I am afraid that the guards will not obey his uncle's orders. Once the war starts, it is necessary to take Suzhou first to block the northern cavalry, and we should find a way to place people as soon as possible. At that time, the camera should be closed outside. In addition, there are natural dangers such as Juyong Pass, and you have to arrange trustworthy generals in advance, and you want my uncle to guard the north for many years, and there are many trusted generals. The nephew doesn't need to be wordy. ”

Zhu Di smiled and nodded unexpectedly, Xu Hao's opinion was not outstanding, and anyone who was proficient in military affairs understood that even an ordinary lieutenant could say the truth. However, Xu Hao is 19 years old this year, and this overall view is commendable.

Xu Hao was immersed in his thoughts and said, "King Ning is good at scheming and not being good at decisiveness. He will be hesitant at the beginning, he understands the truth of cold lips and teeth and will not obey the orders of the imperial court, but he will also understand the benefits of sitting on the fish. I'm afraid that I will secretly communicate with my uncle in the imperial court, and I will support the troops and wait for the changes. Uncle must not let him entrench in Daning out of brotherly love, and the day when he is at a disadvantage or has the upper hand is likely to be when King Ning leads a large army to kill, he must be guarded against. ”

Zhu Di's expression was slightly moved, this analysis was rare, and he suddenly sneered: "Zhu Quan has his name, and the subordinate officials praise him as a 'virtuous king and wizard', where does he know how to lead troops to fight?" The young man in his early twenties did not know the height of the sky, and the first emperor ordered him to divide my military power, and gave him all the three guards of Duoyan that the king valued, so he thought that there was no one in the north to match him, and he traveled all day long. Hum! In any case, this king must get elite iron horses, otherwise he will not be able to compete with the imperial court. ”

Xu Hao knew that he was playing a big knife in front of Guan Gongmen, Zhu Di and Yao Guangxiao didn't know how many times they had discussed, and they had already made up their minds. But in order to prove his importance, the knife must be played.

Therefore, Xu Hao continued: "There are tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Liaodong, and my nephew Guan Liao Wang is cowardly and has no responsibility. ”

Zhu Di glanced at Xu Hao in surprise, and sure enough, this son was deeply hidden, and sighed: "Liaodong has always come from the system, in order to resist the Tatars, recruit the Liao, the Goryeo, the Jurchens and the Han people to defend together, and appoint the heads of various ethnic groups to be hereditary thousands of households, and no one can command them except for the imperial court military orders." Over the years, the imperial court has successively migrated more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians, and it is difficult to unify the command of various ethnic groups. ”

Xu Hao knew about this and said with a smile: "Now that the Korean Kingdom is about to have civil strife, you can ask Master Daoyan to take a trip, with the talent of the master, it is not difficult to make Korea fall into disintegration, then instigate the Jurchens to take the opportunity to invade the territory of Korea and plunder the population, the Tatars will inevitably move to get a piece of the pie, then Liaodong is suffering from defense and border troubles, and it is difficult to send a large army to attack our Beiping." ”

Zhu Di was overjoyed and hurriedly asked, "Is this serious?" Isn't the ruler of North Korea, Ri Sung-gye, reigning? ”

Xu Hao lowered his head and said: "Li Chenggui is old, the princes are hostile to each other, in the early years, the fifth son Li Fangyuan was the most meritorious and powerful when he established the country, but Li Chenggui set up the most virtuous eighth son Li Fangshuo as the son, and the two princes and their factions are in flames. The second son, Li Fangguo, and the fourth son, Li Fanggan, are eyeing the throne, and the nephew believes that the civil strife in Korea is not far off. ”

Zhu Di suddenly fell silent, Xu Hao knew that it was because the situation in North Korea was similar to that of the Ming Dynasty, so it was difficult for Zhu Di, who was fighting for the throne, to say anything more.

No matter what, Zhu Di, who wants to defeat his nephew, has to live in the shadow of being in the wrong position for the rest of his life, and it is difficult to extricate himself. (To be continued......)