This is a slightly more in-depth question, and not only is Joo Yoon-young looking forward to Little Joo's answer, but Old Joo is also getting serious.

Little Zhu didn't speak, but just kept his head down, deep in thought. Slowly, Little Zhu sat down in the chair, remaining silent and continuing to ponder; it seemed this problem was very difficult for him.

Old Zhu and Little Zhu were neither impatient nor urging; they both sat quietly, waiting for Little Zhu's reply.

In fact, both Emperor Zhu and Emperor Gaozu were quite pleased that young Zhu hadn't spoken rashly. Thinking things through before acting was extremely important; an emperor couldn't speak lightly. Once he spoke, his words carried imperial authority, practically an imperial edict.

If one regrets their decision, not only is there sometimes too late, but changing orders frequently will also damage the emperor's authority.

Therefore, Xiao Zhu doesn't speak up easily until she has thought things through, which doesn't do any harm.

Shuangquan tiptoed over and served each of Old Zhu and Zhu Yunying a cup of tea. Zhu Yunying had just talked quite a bit and was indeed a little thirsty, so some tea would be nice.

Zhu Yunying sipped his Wuyi tea, in a good mood. This tea, it turns out, came from an imperial tea garden dating back to the Yuan Dynasty.

Zhu Yunying had actually seen the exquisitely crafted Longfeng compressed tea cakes, but he didn't like them. He disliked them both domestically and internationally because he came from a poor background and understood the hardships of tea farmers. Therefore, he essentially reformed the Tang Dynasty's method of roasting and boiling compressed tea cakes into directly brewing loose-leaf tea, thus pioneering a thousand-year-old tradition of tea drinking in China.

After all, tea farmers suffered greatly at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Even if it had the title of tribute tea, there were no real benefits.

As for the imperial tea gardens alone, the tribute quota increased year by year, reaching 990 catties per tea plantation by the end of the Yuan Dynasty. In order to meet the quota, the tea garden officials cruelly extorted money from the tea farmers. Unable to bear the suffering, the tea farmers were forced to flee, resulting in the abandonment of the tea gardens and the withering of the tea trees.

The Ming Dynasty now produces a lot of tribute tea. Every year, Wuyi Mountain sends 200 catties of tea buds as tribute, Jiujiang Prefecture in Jiangxi sends 100 catties of tea as tribute, and Cixi sends 50 catties of tea as tribute. Some small counties send 5 catties or 1 catty of tea as tribute, which is also a sign of Emperor Zhu's love for the people.

Zhu Yunying was indeed like that; he knew quite a bit about teas like Mao Feng, Longjing, and Guapi. However, just because he became emperor, he didn't want to try them all, much less indulge in the extravagance of using Wuyi tea to make tea eggs.

He only needed enough tea to drink, and occasionally he would reward some of his officials, so Zhu Yunying didn't actually have that much tea.

While Old Zhu and Little Zhu were having tea, Little Zhu suddenly said, "Get us some candied fruit!"

Old Zhu immediately glared at Shuangquan and scolded him, "You worthless scoundrel!"

Shuangquan and Wang Chengen quickly got to work; in fact, the drinks prepared for Little Zhu had already been made. However, the Crown Prince was deep in thought, and who dared to disturb him? If they disrupted the Crown Prince's train of thought, they would suffer more than just a scolding.

“Great-grandfather, father, we think that if we acknowledge the legitimacy of the former Yuan dynasty, then our Ming dynasty will also be legitimate.” Little Zhu spoke up, saying, “Even if we don’t like the former Yuan, they still ruled here for a hundred years. We can’t just accept the legacy of the two Song dynasties, otherwise there will be a lot of trouble.”

Old Zhu smiled and nodded, saying, "Yin'er is right, but that's not enough. Everyone knows these principles."

Recognizing the legitimacy of the Yuan Dynasty is also an influence of traditional institutions and systems, and is part of Chinese civilization.

For example, compiling history is something only done by a newly unified dynasty that replaces the previous one. In any case, the Yuan Dynasty was a unified dynasty and must be acknowledged; otherwise, there would be some legal issues for the Ming Dynasty, and in that case, the history of the Song Dynasty would have to be rewritten, and the Ming Dynasty would have to acknowledge its succession to the Song Dynasty.

Little Zhu then said, “We inherited the legitimacy of the former Yuan dynasty, so we are the legitimate rulers. Therefore, it is only right for us to go and conquer Dali, Tubo, and Liaodong. Those vassal states also belong to our Great Ming.”

Hearing what Little Zhu said, Old Zhu and Little Zhu both laughed, because that's actually the truth.

The Ming Dynasty replaced the Yuan Dynasty, intending to rightfully inherit everything in all aspects.

If the name is not correct, the words will not be proper; this is a principle that everyone understands. Furthermore, sometimes one cannot act solely based on personal likes and dislikes. This is especially true for emperors, who need to consider more comprehensive matters, even if it may seem somewhat unfair.

There was no other way; for the sake of the country, many things had to be accepted reluctantly at this point. Moreover, for the ambitious and talented Zhu Yuanzhang, he needed to see tangible benefits, not just empty fame.

Encouraged, Xiao Zhu continued, "Although the people are now loyal, we have heard that in earlier years there were still many Mongols, Han Chinese, and other tribes loyal to the Yuan Dynasty within our territory. By acknowledging the legitimacy of the former Yuan Dynasty, we can at least win over these people and prevent them from causing too much trouble."

Old Zhu and Little Zhu were very satisfied with the answer. It was really good that Little Zhu could think of these key points.

As a successor personally trained by Zhu De and Zhu Rongji, and having been exposed to politics, Zhu Rongji's insight is quite satisfactory. Even many learned and talented individuals may not possess such insight.

Young Zhu doesn't need to become a literary genius; he needs to become a politician. That's his true identity, and that's the direction he should take in his development. Therefore, Old Zhu and Young Zhu genuinely didn't care about many things, such as Young Zhu's truancy, which Zhu Yunying actually turned a blind eye to.

Old Zhu was in a good mood. He put down his teacup and said, "We can't just eat candied fruit. How about a cup of honey too?"

Candied fruit is a type of fruit preserved in honey. It is a snack or treat that was formerly known as dried fruit.

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!