Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

The three main halls in Nanjing are Jinshen Hall.

Like Jiang Xinghuo's previous life in the Forbidden City in Beijing, the three main halls in Nanjing have similar uses. The Fengtian Hall at the front is commonly known as the "Jinluan Hall" and is used for the emperor to accept worship from hundreds of officials; the Huagai Hall in the middle is smaller and is used for various ceremonies. The former emperor's "dressing room"; the Jinshen Hall at the back was used for banquets and entertainment.

At this time, Zhu Di was giving a banquet to the distinguished military ministers in the Jinshen Palace. The reason why he personally held a banquet to entertain these Jingnan Honorables and Hongwu Founding Honors this evening was to express his trust and love for everyone in this way. It is also conveying a signal of cooperation that carries forward the past and opens up the future.

Zhu Di was wearing a dragon robe, standing on the high steps, looking down at the dark crowd of ministers under the stage.

"I am the son of Emperor Taizu Gao." Zhu Di glanced at everyone and said calmly: "Among you, there are many of you or your fathers, who are the heroes who conquered the world with Emperor Taizu Gao. I am thinking of them all. Because of your contribution to the Ming Dynasty, today’s banquet is possible.”

Zhu Di said this to the founding nobles of Hongwu who opposed him during the Jingnan period.

The audience was silent. Apparently no one dared to question the monarch's words, let alone say anything at this time.

Zhu Di's eyes turned to Wei Guogong Xu Huizu, who was sitting in the row of Dukes.

The seats of Cao Guogong Li Jinglong and Cheng Guogong Zhu Neng, who were further ahead in the seating order, were vacant. Wei Guogong Xu Huizu suddenly became conspicuous.

Xu Huizu lowered his head in silence. Although Empress Xu had many good words for this eldest brother, and his only son Xu Zengshou, his brother-in-law who died for Zhu Di, also asked Zhu Di not to punish the uncle, but he was on the wrong team after all.

Whether it was the Xu family's double bet or the conflict between Xu Huizu and Zhu Di, Xu Huizu's situation was very difficult.

Zhu Di didn't say anything more. The beating was enough. He raised his wine cup, and many princes, marquises, and earls also raised their wine cups.

Zhu Di was very satisfied. The top nobles of the entire Ming Empire gathered here. No matter how powerful the general was, in front of him, they could only bow and swear allegiance.

Whether they like it or not, when Zhu Di raised his wine cup, these people were all loyal to him!

This can be regarded as a rare event in the first year of Yongle.

After four years of fighting, there is peace now.

Zhu Di is forty-two years old this year. Although he is physically strong and energetic, he also felt a slight discomfort in his liver last year. The imperial doctor advised him to drink as little as possible. Empress Xu strictly followed the doctor's advice.

After drinking less, Zhu Di's liver no longer felt uncomfortable, but his stomach was itched by the alcohol bug.

Now Empress Xu was hosting a banquet in the harem to entertain the clan daughters and concubines, and no one was watching around Zhu Di, so Zhu Di satisfactorily put the antique bronze wine cup, which was so big that it could only be held with both hands, to his mouth.

Just when I was about to "ton, ton, ton," I suddenly heard a rush of footsteps coming from outside.

Then several eunuchs rushed in in a panic and whispered something in the ears of the third prince Zhu Gaosui who came over.

Zhu Gaosui nodded slightly, then walked quickly towards Zhu Di and whispered.

"Report, report to my father! Thousands of Imperial College students have broken out!"

The military ministers in the front row all heard the news.

Zhu Gaosui said a few more words in a very low voice.

Zhu Di's expression suddenly changed, and he shouted angrily: "Presumptuous, simply presumptuous!"

At the same time, the military ministers in the audience all showed intriguing expressions. Although everyone had known for a long time that someone would block the reform sooner or later, this moment came too quickly.

The scholar-bureaucrats finally couldn't restrain themselves and chose to launch this move at this sensitive period. Do they really want to rebel?

Zhu Di's face showed a strong murderous intent: "The laws of the Ming Dynasty clearly stipulate that Imperial College students are not allowed to leave the prison area at night. Anyone who dares to offend my majesty will never be forgiven!"

Zhu Di paced a few times on the stage holding a bronze wine cup, and then angrily threw the wine cup to the ground.

"Send an order to the Jinwu Guards to guard the Imperial City (palace city), mobilize the Zhongyi Guards, and order them to quickly gather at Hongwumen and prepare for battle."

The third prince Zhu Gaosui clasped his fists and said: "I obey the order!"

He turned and left.

Zhu Di was silent for a while, and then suddenly said: "Dear dear friends, you have also heard that I originally planned to implement the reform slowly, but now, they have crossed the line!"

He sneered: "After these blind things are wiped out, let's talk slowly!"

All the military officials quickly bowed and said yes.

This is Zhu Di's consistent reaction. Zhu Di is never afraid of blood flowing into a river, nor is he afraid of other people's criticism.

What's more, when these weak-handed Imperial College students met the loyal and loyal guards who were dispatched in order, it was hard to say how many breaths they could survive.

Duke Xu Huizu of Wei hesitated to speak, and finally lowered his head helplessly.

Xu Huizu could tell that Zhu Di was in a high mood today, but it was precisely because he was in a good mood that he became even more irritable when he was destroyed.

In fact, in the eyes of Zhu Di, who lacks some sensitivity, this matter is really not important.

If you dare to come and cause trouble, just kill them and go back.

The main reason why Zhu Di was so angry was because the dinner he had carefully prepared, a ceremony to win over the noble military ministers, was ruined by this sudden incident.

At this moment, another eunuch came to report.

"Your Majesty, Duke Rongguo and the second prince would like to see you."

Hearing that Yao Guangxiao was coming, Xu Huizu just breathed a sigh of relief. If Yao Guangxiao had stopped him, the tragedy would not have occurred.

Xu Huizu looked at the Jingnan nobles around him and realized that many people had the same thinking as Zhu Di. They had been wallowing in the battlefield of swords and shadows for too long. They regarded death and killing as simple as drinking water and eating, and ignored their own lives. He also has no regard for the lives of others.

Not to mention thousands of Imperial College students, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers fought. I don’t know how many battles were fought during the four years of Jingnan.

This is also the root cause of all the unimaginable cruelty Zhu Di has committed before. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a sequelae of the war.

But they didn't realize that now was not the time of war for Jingnan.

Using the knife against literati will cause a large-scale backlash in public opinion.

"Rong Guo Gong, how do you think this matter should be resolved?"

Looking at Yao Guangxiao, Zhu Di asked with a frown. He didn't want the other party to refute his opinion in public.

"There is no problem in sending troops. I am also here to request the deployment of troops."

Yao Guangxiao bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that loyal and righteous guards should be dispatched, but the main purpose should be to contain oars and shields, and it is not easy to use actual weapons. After all, the incident happened suddenly, and many supervisors must have been deceived and incited."

"Well, what Duke Rong Guo said is not unreasonable."

Zhu Di nodded slightly, knowing that he had been too murderous just now. He looked at the others and asked, "What do you think?"

Qiu Fu and others all raised their hands and said, "I second my opinion."

The dinner party has reached this point and cannot be held anymore. It is not easy for the military ministers and nobles to return to their homes at this time. Each of their homes supports a family of generals consisting of their own children. These people have reported to the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion. In wartime, they have to serve as personal soldiers of nobles and nobles, and are legally allowed to own war horses, armor, and long weapons. In case of chaos at night, there is no problem in protecting their own safety.

Naturally, the emperor would not let them go back, lest someone really take advantage of them and cause more trouble at night.

"Second brother, go and inform your mother so that she can continue the feast with peace of mind."

Zhu Di thought for a moment and gave instructions to Zhu Gaoxu, who had been silent. Then he asked, "Where is the Imperial Master? Why didn't he come with you?"

Yao Guangxiao replied unconsciously: "I am talking to Mr. Song Li, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites."

Zhu Di was stunned when he heard this.

However, Zhu Di didn't think this matter had anything to do with Jiang Xinghuo. After all, it was an issue involving military operations.

Military power was Zhu Di's biggest concern, and he would never allow Jiang Xinghuo to intervene directly.

Naturally, armor and swords are not allowed in Jinshen Palace. The nobles have nothing to do in this matter, so they don't panic. They can just send anyone to suppress this little disturbance.

However, at this moment, Jiang Xinghuo and Song Li hurried over.

After a little understanding of the emperor's decision, Jiang Xinghuo said firmly.

"Your Majesty, no troops are allowed to be deployed!"

Later, Jiang Xinghuo stated his deductions to Zhu Di.

"There are already many resistances to the reform, and if these Imperial College students want to suppress it, it is just a matter of His Majesty's hand. They can do it at any time. The important thing now is not to intensify the contradictions."

Zhu Di frowned and said: "The imperial master is somewhat benevolent as a woman. If we don't use weapons at this time, what if these supervisors run around the city and cause greater turmoil?"

"Your Majesty, please trust me for once. When you attack with troops and plan, attack the heart first. I am sure that I can calm down the trouble without using weapons."

Seeing that Zhu Di was not worried, Jiang Xinghuo naturally knew that such an iron-blooded emperor would not be afraid of anyone going against him, but Jiang Xinghuo was unwilling to add greater difficulties to the reform.

So Jiang Xinghuo said: "If it fails, it will not be too late for Your Majesty to mobilize troops again!"

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Di nodded and said, "Okay, I believe what the Imperial Preceptor says, but what should the Imperial Preceptor do?"

Jiang Xinghuo asked a seemingly irrelevant question: "The Gunpowder Department of the Military War Bureau prepares festive fireworks for the palace on weekdays. I just passed by the square in front of Fengtian Palace and saw many palace people preparing fireworks. There are fireworks, I guess His Majesty plans to watch them with his honorable ministers later?"

Zhu Di nodded, this was the program he prepared for the dinner.

"Your Majesty, please lend me these fireworks and set them off on Taiping Street."

"I agree."

Although Zhu Di didn't know what Jiang Xinghuo planned to do, he still agreed.

Jiang Xinghuo continued: "Let Zheng He bring some powerful eunuchs in the palace, some brooms and the like, and follow me to Taiping Street."

"good."

Zhu Di agreed without hesitation. There were many armed eunuchs in the palace who were trained by him during his time in Prince Yan's palace.

"Your Majesty, just wait for the news in the palace."

As all the distinguished ministers looked at each other, Jiang Xinghuo strode away.

Zhu Di thought for a while and gave instructions to his third son, Zhu Gaosui.

"You go and follow the Imperial Guard. If there is an accident, the Imperial Guard's safety will come first."