Little Zhu argued, "What's wrong with that? If we were precocious, we wouldn't always be called blockheads. There are many times when we can't figure out the relationships between noble families, but our father knows how to deal with them. Last time, our second uncle came to ask for a Silla maid, and he also said that most of the people who went to Goryeo were our father's confidants."

Zhu Yunying panicked and hurriedly asked, "Your second uncle came to ask you for a Silla maid? Where do you have a Silla maid?"

“Imperial merchants, the court has quite a few caravans. Second Uncle knows that Great-Grandfather gave us a warrant,” Little Zhu said immediately, betraying Zhu Yunwen without hesitation. “He also said that we should write a letter to my eldest uncle. Zhang Yu’s son is also here with us.”

Old Zhu laughed heartily and said, "Look at all our descendants, none of them can stand to suffer a loss, and none of them know how to get something out of it. If you ask me, Yun Tong likes Silla maids, so let him do as he pleases. At most, she'll be a concubine, but she's not even a concubine. The old kings of Goryeo are almost all dead, and they're not good enough for our grandson."

Among Zhu Yunying's daughters-in-law were actually some from "minority ethnic groups." The famous Zhao Min was once the Princess Consort of Jin, and she was the principal wife. However, Zhu Yunying's third uncle clearly had no affection for Zhao Min and often mistreated her.

Little Zhu thought the same thing and said to Old Zhu, "Let's have Zhang Fu write a letter to Zhang Yu. If we catch the eldest daughter of a powerful family in Goryeo, we can let our second uncle see it. We're also thinking that if it's for the sake of Kaesong, there might be royalty there."

Zhu Yunying said dryly, "Right now, we're thinking of surrounding the Goryeo capital before winter, because it will be harder to attack once winter arrives. Also, we need to select members of the royal family for winter, and it's time for one of our royal uncles to go to Goryeo. Grandfather, we've conquered quite a bit of land in Goryeo. It's fine for our royal uncle to go there and govern, but we'll have to take a huge cut from their coffers."

Before Old Zhu could speak, Little Zhu exclaimed anxiously, "That won't do! Our Third Prince conquered all the territories himself. Now, many places in Goryeo have been conquered, and the court can simply send people to govern them. Those are the borders of our Great Ming. If other princes want to establish their own kingdoms, they should go and conquer them themselves!"

Old Zhu hugged Little Zhu tightly and gently patted his bottom twice. "Your second uncle is fine, but other princes won't do? We're all connected by blood, so don't be petty. Conquering a kingdom is one thing, but governing it is another. Your father also said that if we want to be granted a fiefdom, the royal family's wealth will probably be emptied."

Zhu Yunying laughed and said, "Grandpa, it's not that we're stingy, otherwise we wouldn't be able to explain it to Third Uncle. The other uncles went there and just picked up the spoils. I reckon our arrogant and fierce generals have done quite a few good deeds over there."

Old Zhu laughed too; some things were simply understood without being spoken aloud. As for Little Zhu, he didn't quite grasp it yet.

It's clear that the Ming army wasn't necessarily particularly disciplined, especially in a foreign land. Moreover, the goal now was to completely annihilate Goryeo, so the old guard needed to be purged, which would also facilitate the Ming Dynasty's future plans.

A veteran like Fu Youde naturally understood that even without an explicit imperial decree, it was possible to let some information slip by.

Xu Huizu, the emperor's brother-in-law, was a prudent military strategist and reliable in his work. The emperor only needed to give a brief mention; although Xu Huizu wouldn't personally oversee things, he had no shortage of rather ruthless generals and soldiers under his command.

"If Lao Chang were here, you'd be relieved of your worries," Lao Zhu joked. "But this time, when your uncle is establishing a new dynasty, it's not right for our Great Ming to provide everything for them. So what if we empty our coffers? At least we have our own foundation. Just don't go too far, they'll need some capital to go there too."

Zhu Yunying was about to cry and said to his grandfather, "Grandfather, my uncles are really not poor. Although they have large families and businesses, some of them like to live a life of luxury. They can't even spend all of their salaries from the court. In recent years, they have received a lot from the profits of the Maritime Trade Office and the bank. Not to mention the land they have been granted or their own businesses. Even that scoundrel Yuntong has his own shops."

Little Zhu immediately said, "We know that Second Uncle's family owns a restaurant, a cloth shop, and a silver shop. Some time ago, Second Uncle also opened a pawnshop, and he also dragged Third Uncle, Fourth Uncle, and Fifth Uncle into it. Fifth Prince's family also has a share."

Zhu Yunying looked at Old Zhu and said, "Many members of our family know these things. There are many things that are done by members of the imperial clan at the bank."

Old Zhu paused for a moment, then seemed to understand. "So, they're richer than us?"

“Wengeng said that there are huge pieces of gold in the vault. Second Uncle melted down a lot of gold and cast them into huge gold ingots that even Wengeng couldn’t lift,” Little Zhu, the chatterbox, immediately said. “There’s also silver. He said that Second Uncle’s salary was all melted down into silver ingots. We said that Wengeng is so rich, yet he still wants our writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.”

Old Zhu was also amused and exasperated, saying, "That's your second uncle's son, isn't he just like that? The other day he came to pay his respects, and when we weren't looking, he pulled out a jade bowl for us. That kid even knew to hide it in his crotch, did he really think we couldn't see it?"

"He's well-behaved with other people, but once he gets to the palace, he's always thinking about taking things out with him." Zhu Yunying chimed in with his own complaints, "It's the same when he goes to pay his respects to us. The Empress was missing a hairpin, and that kid took it out himself. He's even more capable than his father. He knows there are no dragon and phoenix patterns, but he still takes it out, and then he pretends to ask us and the Empress about it."

Little Zhu continued, "The other day when we went to the main hall, we saw Wengeng and Wenjin making a scene, so we beat them up. Wengeng didn't even cry, and we made him stand for half an hour, which he did. Wenjin did cry, and we didn't dare go back to Chunhe Palace afterwards, afraid that Mother would nag us. Wenjin and his mother went to Mother to complain."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!