Chapter 234: The King of Jin plotted against Xu Da's three-year-old son and granted him a marriage to disrupt Zhu Gang's plan to attack the Northern Yuan Dynasty

Zhu Gang's mind moved. He had originally planned to put this case aside for the time being and bring it up again after the New Year.

However, since his elder brother Zhu Biao had asked, Zhu Gang felt that it was inconvenient for him to hide anything any longer.

So he lowered his voice and said: "We are still investigating in depth, but we have obtained some clues.

I suspect that there may be a more powerful force hidden behind Hang Siding, Gu Mingjie and others."

Zhu Biao responded solemnly: "This matter is of great importance and must be investigated to the end.

But at the same time, we must also grasp the scale and not alarm the other party. "

Zhu Gang nodded to show his understanding, "I understand."

The two continued to communicate for a while, and the topic gradually shifted to other areas.

Zhu Gang asked Zhu Biao for some experience and views on governing the country, and Zhu Biao, as the crown prince, also shared his own insights without reservation.

Time passed quietly, and before we knew it, the carriage had arrived at the gate of Prince Jin's Mansion.

"Your Highness is finally back. I have been waiting for a long time."

Seeing Duke of Wei Xu Da standing outside the door, Zhu Gang hurriedly walked up to him.

"Uncle Xu, on this day of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, it is only right that I come to visit you and wish you a happy new year.

It is a sin to let the elders wait for a long time in the cold wind! "

Facing his father-in-law soon, Zhu Gang couldn't act as arrogantly as he did with other people.

Besides, Xu Da had four sons. Except for the eldest son Xu Huizu and the third son Xu Tianfu, the second son Xu Yingxu and the fourth son Xu Zengshou were not simple people.

Although there is little historical data about Xu Da's second son Xu Yingxu, he once served as the Minister of Shangbao Si.

The Shangbaosi was the institution in charge of the emperor's seal in the Ming Dynasty. Although the Shangbaosi Qing was only a fifth-rank official position, it was enough to represent Zhu Yuanzhang's trust.

Later, Xu Yingxu was successively promoted to the positions of Assistant Governor-General of the Central Army and hereditary commander-in-chief. The "Assistant Governor-General" in the Ming Dynasty meant the assistant to the central military commander, usually assisting the Governor-General of the Central Army in taking charge of military discipline, training and other matters.

After safely surviving the "Battle of Jingnan", Xu Yingxu died in the 14th year of Yongle.

Xu Da's youngest son, Xu Zengshou, had a handsome appearance and clear eyebrows.

When he was young, he followed his father Xu Da into the palace to meet the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

Old Zhu was amazed by his alertness and gave him the name "Zengshou".

When he grew up, Xu Zengshou was not only brave, but also good at riding and shooting. He was selected by Zhu Yuanzhang as a sword-bearing attendant of the honor guard.

During this period, he was cautious and honest and rarely made mistakes.

In the first month of the 23rd year of Hongwu, Xu Zengshou was ordered to follow Zhu Di to fight against the Hu bandit Nairbuhua, and made great contributions.

In March of the 24th year of Hongwu, Xu Zengshou was ordered to go to Shaanxi as a meritorious guard to train troops and defend the border.

In June of the 26th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Xu Zengshou as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Left Army Commandery.

In July, he was appointed as the assistant governor of the Right Army Governor's Office.

In March of the 29th year of Hongwu, Xu Zengshou was promoted to the position of Left Commander of the Right Military Commandery, which was already a first-rank official position.

Usually appointed directly by Zhu Yuanzhang, he was responsible for the administrative and military affairs of the Right Army Governor's Office.

In the early days, the Left Commander-in-Chief of the Right Army Commandery could be divided into five very important garrisons: the Right Guard of the Capital Huben, the Right Guard of the Garrison, the Right Guard of the Navy, the Wude Guard, and the Guangwu Guard.

After Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, he suspected that Prince of Yan Zhu Di was rebelling and asked Xu Zengshou about it.

Unexpectedly, Xu Zengshou said: "The Prince of Yan and Prince Yiwen are of the same blood. They have already reached the peak of wealth and status. How could they rebel?" In fact, Xu Zengshou admired his brother-in-law Zhu Di very much. He worked for him very actively and secretly reported the news.

Because Xu Zengshou repeatedly reported Zhu Yunwen's deployment in the capital to Zhu Di, he gradually became an "undercover" planted by Zhu Di next to Zhu Yunwen.

Soon Xu Zengshou's abnormal behavior was discovered by Zhu Yunwen.

After Zhu Di led his army across the Yangtze River, Zhu Yunwen questioned Xu Zengshou about his betrayal in person, but he could not answer.

Zhu Yunwen was furious and picked up the sword himself and killed Xu Zengshou on the spot.

Of course, Xu Zengshou is just a boy who is about to turn three years old, but this does not prevent Zhu Gang from making plans in advance.

Xu Da naturally didn't know that the Prince of Jin in front of him had already begun to plot against his three-year-old son.

He took out an imperial edict from his sleeve and said, "Your Highness Prince Jin, I am here to convey His Majesty's will."

Zhu Gang knew that it must be an imperial decree granting marriage between himself and Xu Miaoyun. In order to show sufficient importance, he made corresponding preparations according to the normal process of receiving the decree.

Seeing this, Xu Da nodded with satisfaction and then began to formally read the imperial edict.

"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims: We have heard that Xu Miaoyun, the daughter of Xu Da, Duke of Wei, is skilled, generous, kind, honest, and of outstanding character and appearance. The Empress and I are very pleased to hear of this.

Now, Prince Zhu Gang of Jin is of marriageable age, and we should choose a virtuous woman to marry him.

At that time, Xu Miaoyun was still unmarried, and she and Jin Wang Zhu Gang were a match made in heaven.

Xu Miaoyun was specially betrothed to Jin Wang Zhu Gang as his princess, and all the ceremonies were handled jointly by the Ministry of Rites and the Director of the Imperial Observatory, and an auspicious date was chosen for the wedding.

Announce it to the four seas and let everyone know.

Admire this! "

After receiving the imperial edict, Zhu Gang finally understood why his elder brother Zhu Biao was so anxious to determine the candidate for the Minister of Rites. To put it bluntly, it was to prepare for the wedding of him, the concubine of the Prince of Jin.

After all, people in ancient times attached great importance to marriage and went through the entire process step by step.

It is absolutely impossible without three to five months.

If the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory jointly organize the wedding, not only can it ensure that there are no mistakes in the etiquette, but it can also greatly shorten the preparation time for the wedding.

But in this way, Zhu Gang would not be able to participate in the military campaign against the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

"Uncle Xu, I will definitely handle all my official duties in advance during this period of time, and will not affect my wedding with Miaoyun."

Xu Da, who was very happy, said with an apologetic look in his eyes: "I know you have a lot of things to do recently, but the rumors outside are really annoying.

Besides, if you want to go to war when you are young, you will still have many opportunities.

Besides, the preparations for the Hongwu Military Academy still require your guidance."

Since the courses taught at the soon-to-be-established Hongwu Military Academy were closely related to the use of thermal weapons, Zhu Gang chose Qi Jiguang's "Jixiao Xinshu" as the textbook.

Many people thought that Qi Jiguang relied mainly on the wolf-whip and the mandarin duck formation to fight against the Japanese pirates. However, in fact, he defeated the Japanese pirates by relying on the coordinated combat of artillery, infantry and tanks similar to that of later generations.

First they bombarded with cannons, then they were crushed by a chariot army with one or two Portuguese cannons on each vehicle, and finally it was the turn of the muskets with a triggering device similar to a bird's beak to fire a volley.

It is no exaggeration to say that Qi Jiguang's skills in using muskets and cannons were at the pinnacle even during the Longqing period.

After all, Jixiao Xinshu, a famous military book from the Ming Dynasty written by Qi Jiguang, a famous general who fought against Japanese pirates, contains very specific and practical content.

It is not only a summary of the experience of training troops and actual combat during the anti-Japanese war, but also reflects the characteristics of training and combat in the Ming Dynasty.

In particular, the book reflects the changes in combat forms at a certain stage in the development of firearms, which has become evidence of the Ming Dynasty's army's use of hot weapons and has relatively high military academic value.

(End of this chapter)