Chapter 63

Unexpectedly, Zhu Youjian merely shook his head slightly.

He looked coldly at Lan Yu and said,

"I will give you only one month."

Hearing this, Lan Yu could not help but be startled.

"Your Majesty... one month? In one month, the soldiers will barely have formed their formations."

Lan Yu had spent half his life in military service, having crushed countless troops under his command.

Yet this was the first time in his life he had ever heard of such a thing.

There are soldiers in the world who are trained for only one month before being sent to the battlefield!

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly and said,

"If they can form their formations, that is enough!"

No sooner had the words left his lips.

A trace of ruthlessness suddenly appeared on Zhu Youjian's face.

"In this battle, you are only permitted to lose, not to win!"

Hearing this, Lan Yu was stunned.

"Your Majesty, but the Taizu Emperor said that all of these are the noble scions of the imperial clan..."

"I know."

Zhu Youjian stood aside on his own, quietly watching the Lan Yu before him.

No sooner had the words left his lips than Lan Yu guessed Zhu Youjian's thoughts.

Having understood the crux of the matter, Lan Yu immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Truly, he is a Zhu!

His methods are ruthless!

Zhu Youjian stared fiercely at Lan Yu and said,

"In this battle, I have only two requirements."

"First, you are only permitted to lose, not to win."

"Second, General, you must ensure your own safety. The Great Ming is in urgent need of talent; General, you must not risk your life!"

"As long as these two points are fulfilled."

"General, you will still be the Duke of Liang of our Great Ming."

Having said this,

Zhu Youjian's tone shifted, and he suddenly lowered his voice, saying,

"No, the Duke of Liang!"

Zhu Youjian had been raised in the deep palace since childhood and was naturally fully aware of Lan Yu's situation.

No sooner had the words left his lips.

Lan Yu could not help but stand frozen in place.

He then immediately prostrated himself before Zhu Youjian and said in a low voice,

"Your subordinate accepts the imperial decree!"

Having spoken, Zhu Youjian slowly set down the tea cup in his hand and ordered,

"Chengen, treat Grand General Lan on my behalf."

"Yes."

Being helped up from the ground by Wang Chengen, Lan Yu felt a moment of dizziness in his heart.

The exact same Qianqing Palace.

The exact same tone of voice.

At this moment, Zhu Youjian looked extremely like a certain person.

—That person was Zhu Biao!

Zhu Biao, in essence, was actually Zhu Yuanzhang who had studied The Four Books and Five Classics since childhood.

One might say he was Old Zhu's plus version.

And as a Prince of the Blood, Zhu Youjian had naturally studied history books extensively since childhood.

Furthermore, after being trained by Zhu Yuanzhang for a period of time, combined with the relentless pressure from powerful enemies both inside and outside the passes,

the temperament revealed in his every gesture and movement

had already come to resemble Zhu Biao in some spiritual aspects.

60, Zhu Yujian: This thing does not look like a temporary palace to this master; it looks like a military camp...

As Zhu Youjian issued decree after decree,

a vast stretch of land at the foot of Jingcheng's city walls began to undergo massive construction.

The various Princes of the Blood of the Great Ming finally relaxed their expressions as they gazed at the dust in the distance.

Prince Jin, Zhu Shenxuan, snorted and said,

"Now this is more like it. This Son of Heaven truly does not understand propriety."

"Shouldn't this temporary palace have been prepared long ago?"

"This Prince thought it had already been prepared, forcing our children to squeeze into the Jingcheng garrison with those soldiers for so many days!"

To the side, Tang Wang, Zhu Yujian, frowned as he gazed out of the city.

"Something is still not right; I feel that something is strange."

Zhu Shenxuan said disdainfully,

"There's no room left in the city."

"But our Zhu family are all blessed people; if the Great Ancestor saw so many Long Zilongsun, he'd be so happy his mouth wouldn't close."

"Ah, right, dig a big pool in the middle; we love listening to tunes by the pond, otherwise we can't eat."

Among the vassal princes.

Outside the city, construction was indeed in full swing.

These vassal princes rarely saw construction sites in their daily lives.

They only felt this scale was truly massive.

Only Tang Wang Zhu Yujian had not submitted.

These people outside the city did not look like they were building a palace.

The area dug out in the middle did not look like a pond was being built.

Instead, it looked like... the main army camp!

Just as the vassal princes were gazing at the "construction site" outside the city from Qihua Sect.

Two young Eunuchs ran over with hurried steps.

Looking at the assembled Princes of the Blood, they said:

"Your Highnesses, Your Majesty has an edict: tomorrow, a sacrifice to Heaven will be held in the suburbs of the capital, and the Liezulie Sect will be reported to; please, Your Highnesses, prepare your ceremonial robes in advance."

Zhu Zhu Shenxuan frowned and said in a low voice:

"This Eunuch, did Your Majesty mention whether the expenses for the journey and the names of the various vassals...?"

Zhu Yuanzhang had ancestral rules.

From the day a member of the imperial clan received a name,

he could receive a monthly stipend from the court.

However, this policy was destined to become distorted as the imperial clan population grew ever larger.

After all, one must have a name to receive a stipend.

The Great Ancestor never specified at what age a name must be given.

Starting from the Wanli reign, the Imperial Clan Court began to block the names of imperial clan members.

Many collateral branches of the imperial clan went from birth to death without even getting a name.

And the stipends of the various vassals were collected by the Prince of the Blood of their own house.

As for whether the Prince of the Blood distributed it to the younger generation below,

that depended on the Prince of the Blood's conscience.

If now the names of all the vassals' children could be given.