Chapter 120 The emperor’s heart is unpredictable
Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little suffocated after hearing this.

"Secret news?"

The guy squinted his eyes. At that moment, he seemed to have evolved from a simple guy into a hermit who was good at strategizing and lived in seclusion.

The guy said, "I won't tell ordinary people."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded like a chicken pecking at rice: "Listen, listen, tell me, tell me."

Deng Qianqiu and Xu Da couldn't help but look at each other. Although they were not familiar with each other, it seemed that at this moment, they had the same thoughts.

At this time, the waiter asked, "Do you know His Majesty?"

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard about himself, his expression was unnatural for a moment, and then he said calmly: "I've heard of it."

The waiter continued, "Do you know that His Majesty has kept many women from the Tartar royal family... Every night, he takes elixirs and has sex with them until dawn..."

"Ah..." Zhu Yuanzhang stared in shock.

"Hush." ​​The waiter said very seriously, "Be quiet, don't make a fuss, and be careful with your words."

Zhu Yuanzhang was relatively calm and soon regained his composure.

Xu Da turned his head away, looking calm.

Deng Qianqiu was obviously not so calm anymore. He lowered his head to hide the complicated expression on his face.

It has to be said that he admired Xu Da very much. He was indeed the Grand Marshal and the Right Prime Minister, and had the demeanor of a great general, yet he could still be so calm and composed. When he could learn half of Xu Da's skills, he would be considered a successful apprentice.

"Be careful with your words?" Zhu Yuanzhang tried to stay calm and asked the waiter.

The waiter nodded and said, "Of course you have to be careful with what you say. Where do you think we are? This is the capital, under the feet of the emperor! There are some things that you just need to know, and you can't spread them to others."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Oh. What else?"

The waiter said, "When your Majesty was on the expedition, he loved to kill the surrendered. Over time, he developed a habit of killing people at night. I heard that..."

Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth twitched and his eyebrows trembled.

Deng Qianqiu could not wait to interrupt the waiter and said, "Okay, okay, what nonsense are you talking about? Go and pour tea and stop talking nonsense here."

It would have been fine if we didn't talk about small talk. When the waiter heard Deng Qianqiu insulting him like this, he immediately became angry and said confidently: "What is there in the palace that I don't know? You weren't in the palace, so what do you know?"

Zhu Yuanzhang still looked calm and continued to ask: "Well. Besides his love of killing people and beautiful women, what else does he like?"

The waiter said, "He loves money. He loves money to death. He spends every penny in two halves. Tsk tsk tsk ..."

Deng Qianqiu breathed in and out desperately, making his face red.

Xu Da picked up the teacup and drank tea slowly, as if he was a tea drinker sharing the table with Zhu Yuanzhang and Deng Qianqiu.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widened and he said, "That's impossible. The emperor is rich, how can he be so stingy?"

"You don't understand. Take my boss for example. He is also very rich, but he usually doesn't even dip his bread in sauce. He scolds his wife if she dips too much sauce in the bread."

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "This cannot be generalized."

The guy said, "It's almost the same idea anyway."

"If you say so, then this emperor is actually a tyrant?"

The waiter thought about it and seemed to be in high spirits, so he lowered his voice again: "Who said he was a tyrant? What nonsense are you talking about?"

Zhu Yuanzhang: "..."

The waiter said solemnly, "The current emperor drove the Tartar away. When his army passed by my house, they did not attack me at all. How can this emperor be corrupted?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was confused by what he said and couldn't help but asked, "But didn't you just say..."

The waiter said seriously, "Everyone has their faults. But speaking of it, the most virtuous person in the world is the prince. It would be great if the prince could become the emperor."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang looked strange: "Why?"

"His Royal Highness loves the people like his own children. I heard that in Chunhe Palace, he couldn't help tossing and turning and couldn't sleep because of the hardships of the people."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "You also know this?"

"How can you not know? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince doesn't love money or women. What he cares about most is us common people. If you don't believe me, go ask around."

Zhu Yuanzhang had a blank expression on his face: "There must be a reason for everything. Why are you so sure of it?"

The waiter scratched his head and continued, "People who come and go all say this. Everyone gets excited when they mention the prince. Sometimes, many merchants come and praise His Royal Highness. And these people, think about it, if His Royal Highness did not love the people, why would he set up the Chunhe Palace Hundred Households Office in our Jiangning County? Hundred Household Deng Qianqiu, do you know that this is the prince's confidant..."

Deng Qianqiu felt a headache and said hurriedly, "No, Deng Qianqiu is also the emperor's confidant."

The guy was talking, so he said unhappily, "Don't interrupt me."

Deng Qianqiu shook his head and drank tea by himself: "Oh."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Are you saying that Deng Qianqiu was sent by the prince?"

"Of course, this is about building bridges and paving roads, so many good policies, and they are all real. Normally, they would not even conscript corvée to do these things, but would hire workers. Tell me, in this world, since the Ming Dynasty, has there ever been such a good time?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known."

The waiter smiled and said, "It's good that you know, but don't say anything. You have to be careful when you speak in this capital." He looked around and said mysteriously, "Don't talk about state affairs, otherwise you will be in big trouble."

Deng Qianqiu couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Aren't you just talking?"

Let’s talk about it in front of the emperor!

The waiter said: "My dear guest, you are..."

At this time, the boss saw that the waiter had been there all along and was standing behind the counter, yelling and cursing. The waiter had no choice but to shout, "Here I come."

Having said that, he hurried away.

Deng Qianqiu looked at Zhu Yuanzhang angrily and said, "Your Majesty, don't take this man's words to heart."

"Of course he's talking nonsense," Zhu Yuanzhang muttered, "He's full of bullshit."

Deng Qianqiu sighed, "Yes, yes, yes."

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly said: "But..."

When Deng Qianqiu heard these two words, his heart ached.

Zhu Yuanzhang said slowly: "But from what this person said, I can also understand a little truth."

Deng Qianqiu was uneasy, so he asked, "I wonder what the reason is?"

"Although it is nonsense, his opinion of people is mixed with personal feelings. He dares to slander me, but he is unwilling to slander the prince... He dares to gossip about me, but he does not say anything bad about the prince. It can be seen that this is the credit of the centurion's office. This must be that the soldiers and civilians have truly benefited from the centurion's office, so they praise the prince so sincerely."

Deng Qianqiu said: "The Crown Prince is far inferior to Your Majesty..."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said in a softer voice: "I hope he is stronger than me. As the great ancestor, I hope he can become the Emperor Wen. Even if I am criticized by thousands of people, what's wrong with that?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was actually very happy and smiled happily: "I was just worried that no one would support the prince, but I didn't expect this kid to be so successful."

As he spoke, he looked at Deng Qianqiu with his eyes and said, "Deng Qianqiu, you have made great contributions to the Hundred Households Office... It's not interesting to drink tea here. I'm happy today. Xu Da, go and get some wine."

When the wine came, Zhu Yuanzhang took the bowl, filled it up, and drank it all in one gulp with great enthusiasm.

It was already time to go to work, so there were fewer customers. After Zhu Yuanzhang drank to his heart's content, he could not help but put his feet on the bench and shouted: "It's so enjoyable, so enjoyable. Our son has finally made it."

Deng Qianqiu drank some wine with him, but didn't dare to drink too much for fear of saying something inappropriate. Xu Da was actually in a good mood and drank with Zhu Yuanzhang.

After a few bowls of wine, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly regained his composure and said, "It's getting late. I should also go back to the palace. You should accompany me and take me back to the palace first."

The two men did not dare to delay and followed Zhu Yuanzhang back to the Forbidden City when they reached the Daming Gate.

Zhu Yuanzhang got off the car.

On both sides of the Daming Gate, many ministers were already kneeling and worshipping. It was a huge crowd, and both civil officials and military generals had come.

Deng Qianqiu was shocked. Why were they coming here instead of just going to work?
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed loudly, and walked on the imperial road, looking around and saying: "My dear ministers, I summoned you here today. Do you know why?"

Right Prime Minister Wang Guangyang stepped forward and said, "I don't know."

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little drunk and laughed loudly, saying, "Come on, bring those rebellious sons to me."

Among the princes, since Prince of Qin was still in Fengyang, Prince of Jin Zhu Gang was the leader, and the other two, Zhu Di and Zhu Su, followed behind.

They didn't know what was going on, and they were so frightened by the scene that they dared not even breathe. Zhu Gang, in particular, was thinking about what mistake he had made. If he had made a mistake, why would he summon the fourth and fifth brothers as well?

But recently, he hasn't done anything with them.

The more he couldn't figure it out, the more frightened he became. So he trembled, wept bitterly, and knelt down at Zhu Yuanzhang's feet: "Father, I am an unworthy son..."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him with disdain and said, "The ministers are all here, why don't you pay attention to the prince's behavior."

Zhu Gang wiped his tears and immediately returned to normal: "Oh."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "I want to ask you, I have given you so many great scholars as teachers, and I have stored countless books in the main hall, and I have taught you to study carefully, but now... have you made any progress?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gang shrank his neck.

Zhu Di and Zhu Su were not much better. Zhu Di was very fond of military tactics and had no interest in reading.

Zhu Su was interested in medicine and had no interest in reading.

Zhu Yuanzhang cursed, "When I was your age, if I had a good teacher to teach me, I would have been so happy. But now that you are rich and noble, you are so perfunctory, wasting my efforts."

The three of them had no choice but to kowtow and said, "Your sons and subjects will die for you."

Zhu Yuanzhang shouted, "Where is the great doctor Liu Zhi?"

A minister walked out, bowed and said, "I am here."

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him and said, "I ordered you to supervise the studies of the princes. I came to ask you how their studies are going."

When Liu Zhi heard this, he seemed to have a lot to say, and said, "If Your Majesty wants me to speak, I will speak."

"But you can say whatever you want!"

(End of this chapter)