Speaking of artistic talent, it seems that the four generations of the Zhu family have quite a few people with a passion for reading, or at least some who have a deep interest in antiques and calligraphy.

It's quite clear, however, that what seems to have been passed down in Zhu's eldest son's lineage is a thirst for power. As for artistic talent, they truly seem to care absolutely nothing about it, not even a shred of appreciation.

Needless to say, Zhu Yuanzhang (the eldest son of Zhu Yuanzhang) received much attention and careful nurturing from birth. However, Zhu Yuanzhang's childhood was a time of chaos, and Zhu Yuanzhang was still conquering the world. Even at that time, Zhu Yuanzhang was not the strongest force among the many separatist regimes.

The concept of a wealthy young master doesn't exist. What Emperor Zhu and Empress Ma taught Emperor Da Zhu was how to employ people and govern the world. Art and such were simply too extravagant.

However, by the time Zhu Yuanzhang was born, the Ming Dynasty had already been established. Although the country was relatively weak at that time, it was certainly possible for Zhu Yuanzhang to have the means to indulge his interest in art and other such things.

However, this young prince had no interest in fine clothes and delicacies, and even seemed somewhat indifferent to eating, drinking, and enjoying pleasures. How could he be the eldest grandson of the Ming Dynasty? Ordinary princes and grandsons were probably much more picky than Xiao Zhu.

Even though Old Zhu and his men showered Young Zhu with gold, silver, jewelry, jade, and antiques, he didn't care at all. What he cared about was how much money was in the national treasury and the imperial treasury, and whether there was enough grain in the granaries. Gold, silver, and jade were of no value to him.

As for Little Zhu, although the Ming Dynasty was already showing signs of a golden age, he was too fond of playing and didn't care about antiques or anything like that. Even though the palace had many collections, he wasn't interested in them at all.

"I have to go back and have a serious talk with him. Even if he doesn't like it or appreciate it, he can't destroy it." Zhu Yunying was very troubled and even felt like crying. "I guess this is what my grandfather tacitly approved. He definitely doesn't care about these paintings and calligraphy."

Old Zhu really didn't care about calligraphy and paintings. Even if his precious great-grandson inscribed or stamped them, Old Zhu wouldn't feel any heartache.

Even in Old Zhu's simple values, some ancient calligraphy and paintings become valuable once they have Little Zhu's seal and inscription. His great-grandson is the most outstanding, and others are not worth mentioning.

Zhu Yunying returned to the East Palace in a daze, and as expected, he did not see his youngest son. The boy was still sleeping, always falling asleep just as Zhu Yunying came over.

“You’ll have to talk to Yin’er about this later. We don’t care about some of the palace’s collections, but he shouldn’t write or embellish anything. After all, they were left by our predecessors.” Zhu Yunying rubbed his temples and said to Xu Miaoqing, “Also, that little rascal likes to take shortcuts, which is not good.”

Xu Miaoqing was well aware of what her son had done. Sometimes, she even felt a sense of shame; she couldn't believe her precious son could do such ridiculous things.

As Xu Miaoqing nodded, Zhu Yunying continued, "If you ask me, even if those things aren't kept away, Yin'er shouldn't have seen them. He just keeps doing nonsense."

"How could you just do something so reckless?" Old Zhu's voice came, sounding very displeased. "Those calligraphy and paintings were meant for our Yin'er. You say we should keep the things from our ancestors, but even if we look at them, it's not like Yin'er wrote them. Tell me yourself, which of those with seals and inscriptions can compare to Yin'er's noble status!"

As expected, just as Zhu Yunying predicted, Old Zhu was clearly biased towards his precious great-grandson, so naturally, everything Little Zhu did was the most correct, and there was no possibility of criticizing Little Zhu at all.

“Father, we’ve also read the calligraphy. It was just my opinion.” Little Zhu said confidently, “We also read Zhao Ji’s calligraphy a while ago. He had a lot of historical materials and unofficial histories collected, such as ‘Records of Song Captives’ and ‘Collection of Records of the Southern Expedition’. If you ask me, Zhao Ji’s calligraphy should be burned.”

Old Zhu seemed to agree, saying, "We share the same thoughts as Yin'er. Zhao Ji ruined his beautiful empire, which fell under the iron hooves of barbarians."

"Exactly!" Little Zhu said indignantly, "He can't even protect his own wife and daughters, and a dignified imperial princess has fallen into a brothel. That man is spineless. When the Jurchens besieged the city, he actually thought of sending women of the imperial family and children of officials to the Jurchen camp to sue for peace!"

Old Zhu, looking like a seasoned cynic, mocked, "His sons are all good-for-nothings. They fled to Jiangnan and only cared about enjoying themselves, without a shred of ambition. Now, the Jurchens are gone, but the Yuan have come. They turned the Southern Song imperial tombs upside down. If it weren't for our help in repairing the Southern Song imperial tombs, the bones of those emperors and empresses would still be exposed to the sun."

Little Zhu was even more indignant, saying, "That's right, our great-grandfather was so generous that he even redeemed Emperor Lizong's skull. The emperor's head became a drinking vessel for those barbarians!"

Faced with the barrage of questions from the old man and the young man, Zhu Yunying seemed to have nothing to say. Before he could even utter a word, the two had already shut him down, and most importantly, some of their views were indeed correct.

Old Zhu chuckled and said, "As for us, we don't know about our future generations. But the descendants we see now are all people with backbone. Our Great Ming should never have made peace with those barbarians through marriage. The Treaty of Shanyuan was nothing but paying tribute and begging for peace."

Little Zhu nodded repeatedly and said, "Our father is the best. In the past, our great-grandfather was a foreign country that came to pay tribute, and he was rewarded a hundredfold in return. Our Great Ming Dynasty is a superior country, and we only accept their tributes. We don't need to give them anything in return."

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