I have to say that Lao Zhu's character is well-trained. After being angry, he soon realized that something was wrong.

He suppressed his inner restlessness and decided to wait and see what Zhu Chong was trying to do.

Does his son want to rebel or do something else? Even if he wants to rebel, what pretext will he use for his rebellion, and what kind of rebellion can he commit?

Zhu Yuanzhang had the confidence to rise from a peasant to the position of emperor. What kind of storms had he not experienced?

Although he was furious about his son's rebellion, he was actually secretly happy deep down in his heart.

After all, it's my own child, and I'm brave enough, but I don't know how far I can go in the end.

Because of this idea, Zhu Yuanzhang did not even give Fei Ju an imperial edict to prevent any disaster from happening.

But something unexpected happened again soon, and before Fei Ju's first letter was covered in dust on Zhu Yuanzhang's desk, Fei Ju's second imperial edict arrived.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw the contents of the imperial edict clearly, he was completely stunned.

What the hell is this? He said he couldn't understand what his second son was doing!

What was written in Fei Ju's handwritten note was that on the second day after Zhu Chong decided to build the city, he actually packed up tens of thousands of his young and strong men and threw them all to Fei Ju. At the same time, he married nearly 10,000 of his young women to the officers and soldiers in the army.

What was he trying to do? Was he trying to get Fei Ju to join his gang, or was he trying to take control of Fei Ju's army in this covert way?

But that's not right. Fei Ju's notes also contained the news that Zhu Chong was taking the remaining people to Songming to build a city.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew what Songming was. It did not belong to the Ming Dynasty, nor was it the territory of the former Yuan Dynasty King Liang. It was simply an ownerless land that neither side cared about.

The court and himself could find no fault with where Zhu Chong wanted to build the city, but the problem was that if his own second son did so, wasn't he afraid that the former Yuan Liang King would send troops to deal with him?

Old Zhu just received news that Wang Xi's attempts to persuade the former Yuan Liang Wang to surrender have not been going well. If the other party turns against him, he might even try to capture Zhu Chong alive and embarrass Zhu Yuanzhang.

Couldn't the second son of my family think of this? Why would he be so stupid as to choose such a place that has been through so many battles? It's simply foolish!

But on second thought, Zhu Yuanzhang felt something was wrong, so he turned his gaze to Mao Xiang, who had just been recalled from Yunnan and Yunnan by his secret order.

Zhu Yuanzhang had already investigated the suspicions about Mao Xu. Mao Xu was indeed telling the truth and had not betrayed him. However, Zhu Yuanzhang had a grudge against Mao Xu, but he still trusted his father's words and eyes.

"Mao Xiang, tell me, what's going on with Lao Er? And what's your progress on investigating the identities of those refugees around Lao Er?"

Mao Xiang knelt on the ground, his face filled with fear. "Your Majesty, I went to Yunnan and Yunnan and specifically recruited some of the people that His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin had sent to the Marquis of Pingliang. However, no matter how I interrogated them, I could not find any clues."

"No problems were found at all?" Zhu Yuanzhang's expression seemed a little strange.

"This old slave deserves death." Mao Xiang lowered his forehead to the ground, not daring to look up, and explained loudly, "This old slave has interrogated nearly a hundred people. They are all civilians that His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin sent to the Marquis of Pingliang at different times."

"I even tortured these people severely, but none of them revealed a single thing about their origins. Not one of them even said anything to slander His Majesty the Prince of Qin."

"For this reason, I once had a conflict with the Marquis of Pingliang, but it was quelled by the Marquis of Pingliang's troops at the time..."

"I don't want to hear you say that," Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted rudely. "I just want to hear you explain clearly where those refugees came from. Did they just fall from the sky or crawl out from the ground?"

After hearing what Zhu Yuanzhang said, Mao Xiang seemed a little hesitant. Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not see Mao Xiang's expression clearly, after so many years of tacit understanding, Zhu Yuanzhang knew very well that Mao Xiang must have some doubts in his heart.

"I forgive you, just say whatever comes to your mind, quickly!"

After hearing what Zhu Yuanzhang said, Mao Xiang mustered up the courage to say, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace. I just suspect that those refugees who have come to His Majesty the Prince of Qin might be people he has been keeping captive for a long time, and are taking this opportunity to expose them to the public."

"Because according to the latest information I've gathered, the number of people seeking refuge with His Majesty the Prince of Qin is increasing every day. From a few hundred at the beginning, it has increased to several thousand now. I think this is unlikely to be a coincidence!"

"How many thousands a day?" Old Zhu's voice suddenly rose. "The last time you checked, what was the exact number of refugees who sought refuge with Lao Er?"

Old Zhu was very familiar with Mao Xiang's methods and knew that as long as he was willing to investigate, he could find out anything, otherwise he would not have mentioned the specific numbers in front of him just now.

"At least six thousand people!" Mao Xiang thought for a moment and spit out a number. Lao Zhu's face changed immediately.

There were 6,000 people coming to seek refuge in one day, and 60,000 people in ten days. If Mao Xiang's guess was true, then his son really had a rebellious heart. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that so many people came to seek refuge as soon as he ran to Yunnan?

But Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't figure out how Zhu Chong could support so many people.

He has always kept his second son by his side, and there are relevant records in both the palace and the Jinyiwei.

As a prince, and one of Zhu Yuanzhang's legitimate sons, it was impossible for Zhu Chong to have any secrets that could be hidden from Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes from the moment he was born.

But the fact is that Zhu Chong actually recruited hundreds of thousands of young and strong people under circumstances that no one could have imagined.

Old Zhu was completely puzzled. With his second son's meager salary, he wanted to avoid the spies of the Jinyiwei and the palace guards and secretly support such a large number of people. What was hidden behind it was too terrifying.

Otherwise, how can we explain why no relevant situation was reported by local governments, and why those people refused to submit to the torture instruments of the Jinyiwei.

But what Old Zhu couldn't understand was why Zhu Chong was so generous as to give the person to Fei Ju.

Fei Ju must have been infiltrated by Zhu Chong in the army, but the Jinyiwei did not find any illegal activities.

It seems that my second brother is really smart and he even managed to hide it from me!

The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. Old Zhu simply stopped thinking about it and gave an order: "Draft an imperial decree to have that brat, the second son, return to the capital. We must personally find out what is going on."