The Imperial Grandson of the Great Ming

In the seventh year of Hongwu, the legitimate eldest grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang, the great ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, was born.

He who resides as the legitimate heir will surely ascend to t...

Chapter 574 Excellent in Every Way

Zhu Yunying could only tell the truth, "If it's a trivial matter, we'll turn a blind eye. We know about the principle of protecting relatives, and as long as our imperial clan doesn't cause public outrage, we won't care. Not to mention the imperial clan, even nobles and some local gentry aren't necessarily virtuous, and we know that."

That's absolutely the truth. Absolute fairness is impossible, and Zhu Yunying understands this very well.

Hearing Zhu Yunying say this, Old Zhu naturally understood that there was no such thing as true fairness in this world.

In his youth, Zhu Yuanzhang was known for his strong sense of justice and hatred of evil, and he genuinely disliked corrupt officials. However, he certainly couldn't treat his descendants the same way, and his various double standards were nothing new.

Absolute fairness does not exist, neither in the past nor now. Even hundreds of years from now, so-called absolute fairness will still be nonexistent, a fact that many people are well aware of.

Watching the children happily watching the acrobatics, Zhu Yunying said with a smile, "These children are much better off than their grandfather was when he was young. They not only have no worries about food and clothing, but they have also seen the splendor of the world."

Old Zhu nodded with a smile and said with emotion, "That's true. Not to mention our descendants, even the people of Yingtian Prefecture are much better off. When we conquered this place in our early years, Yingtian Prefecture was not like it is now. There were famine-stricken people everywhere. Even for the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lantern Festival, we didn't dare to hold grand celebrations."

The government dared not hold large-scale celebrations, and ordinary people were struggling to fill their stomachs. They had no time to think about various festivals; surviving was the most important thing to them.

"Sugar figurines!" Little Zhu ran over and said, "Wang Daban, there are so many sugar figurines over there. Buy them all and have them sent back. Hurry up, our little brother is growing up soon, he'll definitely like these sugar figurines."

Wang Chengen naturally obeyed the order and bought some sugar figurines or children's toys, which was perfectly normal. In fact, over the years, the young Zhu had brought back quite a few toys and other items from the common people to the palace.

This can be considered a family tradition, as when Zhu was young, he would often bring some toys back to the palace for his younger siblings.

Old Zhu and Little Zhu naturally knew all this, but they just smiled and didn't take it seriously, letting Little Zhu decide these little things himself.

Wang Chengen didn't need to do anything personally; a simple wink would suffice. With plenty of guards, both overt and covert, these tasks would naturally be handled by others. The Crown Prince's instructions couldn't be taken lightly.

On this Lantern Festival, Yingtian Prefecture is naturally even more lively, with many vendors seizing the time to work hard and earn money. It's a good opportunity, and many people are naturally trying their best to earn money to support their families at this time.

To live a more prosperous life, one naturally needs to work harder. While others can enjoy the lanterns, some people have to struggle to make a living.

Little Zhu seemed very satisfied and excited about his plans. He happily ran ahead, leading his younger siblings to admire the lanterns and play. This year's Lantern Festival was truly lively and fun.

As long as it's lively, seeing such a peaceful and prosperous country makes Old Zhu and Little Zhu even more proud and pleased.

Little Zhu walked ahead happily, full of vigor, "We're going to see the lanterns, we're going to guess riddles. Ruyi, go and beg your father to write a poem today. He's the most talented poet, but he likes to hide his talent and doesn't want scholars to enter officialdom through poetry."

Old Zhu heard this and immediately said with a smile, "Yin'er is right. On this Lantern Festival, you, as the emperor, should also share the joy with the people. If you ask me, you should also write a poem. My poems are not bad, but they are too full of murderous intent and lack literary talent. Your father writes good articles, but he doesn't have much poetic talent."

Seeing the expectant look in Zhu Yunying's eyes, Zhu Yunying suddenly had a headache. He felt that he had been tricked badly. He didn't know when it started, but many people thought that Emperor Yingshi had poetic talent, and even great talent.

This was probably Zhu Yunying's own fault. He casually recited a famous poem that had been passed down through the ages, making people think that he was just unwilling to write poetry, rather than lacking poetic talent.

Tang and Song dynasty poems and lyrics, masterpieces by renowned authors, have already been passed down. While there are indeed fewer masterpieces from the Ming and Qing dynasties, there are still some. It seems that this Lantern Festival, Emperor Yingshi might once again become a plagiarist.

"If you have too many lice, they won't bite; if you have too much debt, you won't worry." Zhu Yunying seemed to have few psychological barriers anymore. "Grandfather, that's hard to say. Xin Qiji wrote 'Green Jade Table - Lantern Festival,' but how many people in later generations dare to write about the Lantern Festival? I don't have that ability, so I can only lament the passing of spring and the coming of autumn. Wait a minute, let Yin'er help us write the words."

Little Zhu's eyes darted around. He wasn't afraid of writing, but he would slack off whenever possible. "Dad, that won't do. We're grown men, how can we be sentimental? If we're going to be sentimental, let Ruyi write. Her handwriting is delicate, much better than ours."

Zhu Ruyi stared longingly at Zhu Yunying. Her handwriting was quite good; she could imitate her brother's handwriting so well that it was almost indistinguishable from the real thing. She could also imitate Zhu Yunying's handwriting, and it was somewhat similar to his.

"Fine," Zhu Yunying chuckled and said, "If you don't want to write, then write it for Ruyi. As the emperor, I'll just write another poem, and then I'll stop writing poetry here."

Old Zhu laughed, not taking his grandson's words to heart. As long as he looked expectant, as long as the children were begging him, he would still rewrite the poem; giving up was simply out of the question, and would never happen.

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