Chapter 37: A Four-Year-Old Child Shakes the Imperial Court 3

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang had his own reasons for doing this.

In fact, he had wanted to do this for a long time; from the previous Simulation, he already knew that Zhu Gaoxu possessed methods for training troops, and yesterday, Zhu Gaoxu had even said so himself.

Now, by taking advantage of this opportunity to let Zhu Gaoxu personally train one thousand elite soldiers and subsequently apply those methods to the entire army, wouldn't he be making a massive profit?

Watching Zhu Yuanzhang argue his case with the others, Zhu Gaoxu almost believed him.

But the way the corners of Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth curled up slightly, followed by a secret glance in his direction, was caught exactly by Zhu Gaoxu.

In an instant, he understood everything.

Sure enough, the longest road he had ever walked was Lao Zhu's schemes; compared to Lao Zhu, he was still too young.

Sitting on the Dragon Throne, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care whether Zhu Gaoxu understood or not; seeing that the others had no reaction, he immediately came down to make the final decision and settled the matter.

Afterward, he simply stopped discussing other things, announced the end of the morning court, and dragged Zhu Gaoxu out of the Great Hall.

Inside the Study, Crown Prince and Zhu Di followed along.

After sitting down, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Gaoxu, who had a constipated expression, and said with a smile, "How about it? I didn't break my promise regarding the general title I granted you, did I?"

Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu curled his lips and turned his head away without saying a word.

Zhu Yuanzhang also knew he was in the wrong; Zhu Gaoxu had just proposed a policy to resolve the disaster in the North, and in the very next breath, he had set his sights on the boy's troop-training methods.

The key was that he hadn't discussed it with the other party beforehand; Zhu Yuanzhang could only express understanding that Zhu Gaoxu was ignoring him.

With a light cough, Zhu Yuanzhang turned his gaze toward his two sons.

"What is the reason you two have come to see me?"

"Father Emperor, Gaoxu is still young; how can he lead troops into battle? This son implores Father Emperor to rescind the order!"

Before Crown Prince could speak, Zhu Di spoke up first.

Facing his eldest brother, Crown Prince, Zhu Di truly did not have the guts to harbor any ulterior motives, fearing that his eldest brother might be even slightly dissatisfied.

He was even willing to sacrifice his own son's future for this.

Everyone present saw it clearly, even Zhu Gaoxu understood it, and this was one of the reasons why he was somewhat dissatisfied.

To those present, one thousand elite soldiers meant nothing; even if it were ten thousand, so what?

What mattered was Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude.

First, he had Zhu Di remain in Kyoto, then he showered Zhu Gaoxu with favor, first granting him a title and then rewarding him with troops; to the ministers, this was a signal.

Was the Emperor dissatisfied with the current Crown Prince?

Consequently, it would follow naturally that Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu would become the focus of the imperial court, and even all of Kyoto.

No matter what you do, there will always be people looking for trouble, and countless eyes will be watching you.

This was what Zhu Gaoxu was worried about.

But Zhu Yuanzhang ignored the concerns of Zhu Gaoxu and everyone else.

Where you stand determines how you think; compared to Lao Zhu, the others seemed a bit young.

Right now, what Lao Zhu needed was chaos.

Let the imperial court become chaotic; if it weren't chaotic, it would be like a stagnant pool of water. In such a situation, how could he move against Hu Weiyong?

Only when things became chaotic would certain people reveal their true colors, and only when they revealed their true colors would he have an opportunity.

As for those who wanted to use this opportunity to harbor ulterior motives, he would just kill them all together!

Therefore, facing Zhu Di's rhetoric, Zhu Yuanzhang directly raged: "Nonsense! I just finished speaking in front of all the civil and military officials, and you come here to slap my face? Is it that I have been too indulgent with you all?"

Looking at the furious Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di opened his mouth, took a step back, and stopped speaking.

In the end, Zhu Gaoxu holding military power was still beneficial to him; his purpose in saying this was mainly to make it clear to Crown Prince that he had no ulterior motives at all, and that this was all the old man's idea.

With things having reached this point, based on Crown Prince's understanding of Zhu Yuanzhang, this matter was already set in stone.

He simply stopped talking, lest he end up annoying Zhu Yuanzhang.

But he truly did not understand what kind of charm his nephew possessed; despite being only four years old, he was actually so favored by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Although Crown Prince had always known his position was unshakable, he had to admit that for a moment, even his own heart had wavered.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Crown Prince, who was standing with his hands bound below, sighed slightly in his heart, and then waved his hand, saying with a hint of exhaustion: "You two may both withdraw; I have a few words to say to this little monkey."

Crown Prince and Zhu Di exchanged a look, knowing that Zhu Yuanzhang was feeling somewhat annoyed; not daring to delay, they bowed and withdrew immediately.

Watching the two walk out of the Study, Zhu Yuanzhang then said to Zhu Gaoxu: "Little monkey, I won't beat around the bush with you."

"Regarding the matter of the northern grain and fodder you mentioned this morning, you should have a solution for that too, right? This time, I want you to resolve that as well. In addition to being the General Who Suppresses Rebels, I am also appointing you as an Imperial Envoy, with the authority to execute first and report later!"

Hearing this from Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Gaoxu frowned slightly and was about to speak.

But Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to know what Zhu Gaoxu was worried about and interrupted him directly: "I understand what you are worried about. Rest assured, I have my own intentions in doing this. I guarantee that in this Jingcheng, no one will be able to touch you!"

"Also, you cannot neglect your studies. Tell me which minister you have your eye on, and I will personally issue an imperial decree for him to be your teacher."