Chapter 233

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Jiajing was even more furious as he rebuked,

"This ungrateful brat! The moment I take my eyes off him for a single day, he goes and does something like this!"

"Poor little Sun Er of mine — so young, yet already bearing the weight of the realm upon his shoulders."

Little Zhu Yijun looked at Jiajing and said firmly,

"Don't worry, Grandfather Emperor. Your son will surely govern the Jiangshan of Great Ming well!"

"Grandfather Emperor, can you guess what color the clothes your son is wearing are?"

Having said that,

Jiajing turned his gaze toward Zhu Yijun's body.

He immediately laughed and said,

"Oh, is it blue-green?"

Hearing Jiajing say this,

Zhu Yijun could not help but burst out laughing at once.

"No, Grandfather Emperor, it's purple!"

"Your son has worn it for so long that the color faded, and only then did it turn blue-green."

Hearing this, even Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but break into the fond smile of an old father.

"Look here — these are the sons and grandsons of our Zhu family!"

"And look at the rest of you! Not even as good as a mere junior! A single patch costs you dozens of taels of silver — have you no brains at all!"

"Even this dragon robe of mine, I wore it until the color practically fell off before I could bear to change it!"

Jiajing, standing to the side, gave a slight nod and said,

"This child takes after me. I myself have no more than eight sets of seasonal clothes for the whole year…"

Before the various emperors could finish their praise,

Seeing how little Zhu Yijun had become the darling of the group the moment he joined, Zhu Qi Zhen could not help but whisper,

"Great-Great-Grandfather, I've already read ahead — this child, the Emperor he later became, doesn't seem to have done so well. He had those pillar-of-state ministers' entire families confiscated."

Zhu Yuanzhang's old face immediately fell.

He was just about to open his mouth and give a few stern words of reproach, but before the scolding could come out, Zhu Yuanzhang also came to his senses.

That's right.

Earlier Zhu Youjian had said that the Jurchens beyond the pass had grown powerful precisely during Zhu Yijun's reign!

Every gaze in the room could not help but converge upon Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian looked at the crowd with a face full of difficulty.

"No, Great-Great-Grandfather, this is also my grandfather Emperor. How could your son possibly say anything…"

Before Zhu Youjian could speak,

A middle-aged man with a beautiful, flowing beard walked in from little Zhu Yijun's side.

In the middle-aged man's arms was a stack of books, which he slowly set down on the desk in front of little Zhu Yijun.

And at this moment, little Zhu Yijun was just as he had been earlier when asking Jiajing in the chat group.

He ran over, unable to contain his joy.

Tugging at the hem of his clothes, he asked,

"Mr. Zhang, can you guess what color this robe of mine is?"

Zhang Juzheng cast a casual glance at little Zhu Yijun and said offhandedly,

"Blue-green, perhaps?"

Little Zhu Yijun said, full of self-satisfaction,

"It's purple! I've worn it so long that the color has faded."

Hearing this, even Jiajing could not help but fall silent.

Which elder does not wish to hear others praise his own sons and grandsons!

Just as all the emperors thought Zhang Juzheng was about to offer a word or two of praise for Zhu Yijun's thriftiness,

They heard Zhang Juzheng say offhandedly,

"Your Majesty, since purple robes fade so easily, in the future let the Manufacturing Bureau weave fewer purple robes."

"Just wear blue-green ones — sooner or later they'll fade to blue-green anyway."

In an instant, the chat group fell into a deathly hush.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhang Juzheng on the screen, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

"This fellow here, his little mouth is as if smeared with honey — almost catching up to Su Qiao!"

PS: This exchange between Zhang Juzheng and Zhu Yijun is a true historical record from the annals, three.

140, the tsundere Old Zhu!

The empty great hall instantly fell into a deathly hush.

A clear flicker of disappointment appeared on little Zhu Yijun's face.

Just as little Zhu Yijun, fuming, sat back down at his desk to begin the day's lessons,

A woman's voice came from afar,

"My son, Mr. Zhang speaks this way only for your own good!"

"The Wu region has suffered flood after flood this year. As Son of Heaven, you must not fail to heed the hardships of the common people."

Before the words had finished falling,

Outside the hall walked in a woman wearing a phoenix coronet.

The incoming person was naturally someone Jiajing recognized.

"Prince Yu's wife?"

Looking at this daughter-in-law separated from him by heaven knows how many generations, the corners of Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.

"Say what you will, our Zhu family's daughters-in-law are really well chosen."

"Just look at how properly she speaks — there's a touch of our little sister's style back in the day."

Jiajing let out a long sigh and said wistfully,

"Enough, enough. Zhu Yijun is still young, can't be praised too lightly. Praise him too much and the child won't know his limits."

The assembled Emperors immediately nodded one after another.

Only Zhu Qizhen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with a face full of confusion and asked,

"So, Grandpa Ancestor, this son of yours didn't do that badly either, did he?"

Inside the chat group, silence fell once more.

The corner of Zhu Di's mouth twitched slightly as he said,

"Well, not really — you got exactly what you deserved."

Just as Zhu Qizhen was still brooding in the chat group,

Empress Dowager Li also looked at Zhang Juzheng almost ingratiatingly and said wistfully,

"Recently there really have been too many clothes in the palace — I can't even wear them all."

"These maids truly have no manners. The clothes are woven worse and worse, not a single one fits properly. I was thinking once the Weaving Bureau finishes this batch of clothes, I'd just summon them back."

Having said that, Empress Dowager Li slowly sat down beside Zhu Yijun.

Mother and son immediately looked toward Zhang Juzheng beside them, waiting for his praise.

The assembled Emperors in the chat group couldn't help but prick up their ears.

Now you've got to praise her, right?!

The parent herself said so!

Unexpectedly, Zhang Juzheng acted as if he'd suffered some great grievance, and looking at Empress Dowager Li, he advised,

"Reporting to Your Highness, such matters that benefit the people, profit the people, and let the people rest — why wait until this batch of clothes is finished before summoning them back!"

"You yourself said the clothes woven recently don't fit, yet you still let them keep weaving — isn't that knowing it's wrong and doing it anyway?!"

Listening to Zhang Juzheng's words,

Empress Dowager Li was just short of writing a self-criticism report on the spot.

The assembled Emperors in the chat group immediately fell into a deathly silence.