Zhu Biao, dressed in court attire, led Zhu Xiong Ying at the head of the procession. Fu Youde had pacified Yunnan and Guizhou, so he naturally deserved the honor he was given.

Zhu rewarded Fu Youde for his merits, promoting him to Duke of Ying, granting him a stipend of 3,000 shi (a unit of grain), and once again granting him immunity from death and a hereditary iron certificate!

Immunity from death and iron certificates—perhaps some people have already realized by this time that these are just ways to comfort others. In reality, whether these things are actually useful depends entirely on the emperor's will.

Liao Yongzhong, once praised by Zhu Yuanzhang as a general with "outstanding achievements and wisdom surpassing even the mighty army," was sentenced to death at the age of fifty-three for illegal acts such as misusing dragon and phoenix symbols. He was also the person in charge of causing Han Lin'er, the Little Ming King, to drown in a boat accident at Guabu.

Zhu Liangzu, the Marquis of Yongjia who pacified Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, was also whipped to death along with his son Zhu Xian a few years ago.

In truth, some of these nobles did deserve to die. Their lawlessness, tyranny, and abuse of power were, in their eyes, justifiable. Whether it was Liao Yongzhong or Zhu Liangzu, their fates were well-deserved.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang is not yet indulging in a bloodbath, although the Empty Seal Case and the Guo Huan Case did result in the deaths of many officials. Relatively speaking, the number of executions targeting nobles is still relatively limited at this stage.

Hu Weiyong hasn't been implicated extensively yet, and Lan Yu is still a confidant of the Crown Prince, so there's not much reason for the executioner's blade to fall. As for killing meritorious officials, Zhu Yuanzhang hasn't started on a large scale yet. Perhaps in his heart, he doesn't want to exterminate all the brothers who helped him conquer the country.

Zhu Xiong Ying hadn't thought that far ahead yet. Of course, he'd heard stories of Zhu Yuanzhang killing his meritorious officials. But to be honest, not all meritorious officials were killed, and not all nobles were innocent.

Although it is only a small part of the army, it is a battle-hardened force, an ever-victorious army!

Zhu Xiong Ying was somewhat excited. These people had survived countless near-death experiences during the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. They had overthrown the Yuan Dynasty, eliminated separatist forces such as Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng, and subjugated Ming Sheng and the Dali Duan family.

This is the most powerful military force in the world today. This is not the weak Ming Dynasty after the Tumu Crisis. The Ming Dynasty is now at its strongest in terms of military strength.

Zhu Xiong Ying was attracting considerable attention. Seeing the Crown Prince looking at the troops with such optimism and longing, some civil officials couldn't help but worry. However, some military officers seemed excited and expectant at this moment.

The civil officials no longer expected the current emperor to treat the scholar-officials as leniently as he had during the Song Dynasty. However, they hoped that the crown prince, known for his benevolence, would also treat them leniently, and that the imperial grandson would also become a 'benevolent ruler'.

But now it seems that this imperial grandson may not quite fit their image of a 'crown prince'.

As for the military officers, they naturally hoped for an opportunity to make contributions and establish their careers, and they expected the emperor to value soldiers. The extremely low status of military men during the Song Dynasty was something they found hard to accept, and that was what truly bothered them.

Fu Youde rose to prominence, becoming the Duke of Ying. His eldest son, Fu Zhong, married the Emperor's ninth daughter, Princess Shouchun. His fourth son, Fu Tianxi, died in battle during the campaign against Yunnan and Guizhou, but his third son, Fu Rang, was transferred from the Emperor's personal guard to serve under the Crown Prince, where he practiced martial arts alongside him.

Zhu Xiong Ying felt that he was slowly gaining some strength around him, which was a conscious effort by the old Zhu and the eldest Zhu to cultivate some wings for the crown prince. Even though their current strength was terribly weak and almost childish, this kind of treatment was still the envy of many princes.

Among the current emperor's sons, the crown prince is a different story. And of the princes who, apart from those already enfeoffed, are still residing in Yingtian Prefecture, which one dares to associate with civil and military officials or nobles?

It's questionable whether Zhu Yuanzhang could even remember his other grandsons. Living in luxury was fine, but any desire to access power was something Zhu Yuanzhang would absolutely not tolerate, not even for the Crown Prince Zhu Biao.

Fu Youde's glory was naturally earned through his military achievements, but this also left Zhu De somewhat helpless.

Because Li Wenzhong passed away unexpectedly at the beginning of the year at the age of forty-six. This man, who was supposed to be the military commander after Zhu Biao ascended the throne, left this world so suddenly, which naturally disrupted many of Zhu's plans.

Li Wenzhong was posthumously granted the title of Prince of Qiyang and his tablet was placed in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Meanwhile, Li Jinglong, the Great War God of the Ming Dynasty, inherited the title of Duke of Cao.

This is probably a case of man proposes, God disposes; many things happen so suddenly, so unexpectedly. Not only was Zhu Biao's team affected, but the Northern Expedition plan was also significantly impacted.

The major conflict turned into a minor skirmish. Taking advantage of Esen Temur, a commander of the Northern Yuan coastal defense forces, rebelling against the Ming in the Western Regions, Song Sheng, the commander of the Liangzhou Guard, was ordered to attack. The Ming border army won a great victory, incorporating the old city of Yijinai, which slightly alleviated the Ming's border troubles in the northwest.

Zhu Xiong Ying remained as inconspicuous as ever. He was still just a model imperial grandson, only taking care of Zhu's daily life and occasionally being instructed and tested by Zhu.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it was the eighteenth year of the Hongwu reign.

Two major events occurred that year. One was that censors Yu Min and Ding Tingju accused Guo Huan, the vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and others of committing embezzlement.

This enraged Zhu Yuanzhang, because the bureaucracy at the end of the Yuan Dynasty was extremely corrupt, and officials were greedy to the point that Zhu Yuanzhang paid great attention to the political climate after the founding of the country, even to the point of overcorrection.

This time, Guo Huan and his associates colluded with officials in various provinces to cheat and embezzle government grain. Because the amount of money involved was enormous, Emperor Zhu ordered the execution of all officials below the rank of Vice Minister of the Six Ministries.

In addition, the recovery of stolen goods implicated landlords all over the country, and countless landlords were forced to close their homes and go bankrupt. The landlords harbored deep resentment about this, and in order to quell their anger, Zhu ordered the execution of Wu Yong and other judges.

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