Zhu Yunying has always attached great importance to the education of his son, Xiao Xiaozhu, and there is no room for carelessness in such matters.

While we don't expect little Zhu to fully understand and digest all of this yet, it's good to instill more concepts in him now. Zhu Yunying understands very well that education needs to start from a young age.

This is something that Zhu Yunying has always strived to do well. As for 'professional courses,' Zhu Yunying may not have attached great importance to them. Especially some traditional culture, particularly the Four Books and Five Classics, it was enough for young Zhu to have some knowledge of them, but he didn't need to be an expert.

Zhu Yunying had relatively low requirements in this regard; he only needed little Zhu to be literate and not to be easily fooled.

However, Zhu Yunying always attached great importance to Xiao Xiao Zhu's knowledge, experience, and character.

Little Zhu is gaining a deeper and deeper understanding of the historical trajectory of China, something that Old Zhu and Little Zhu have always insisted on.

Looking at the vast territory of the Mongol Empire, Zhu Yunying suddenly asked, "Yin'er, do you think these Mongols were powerful?"

The Yuan Dynasty had a vast territory. Since Genghis Khan unified the various Mongol tribes and established the Great Mongol Empire, they successively conquered the Western Liao, Western Xia, Khwarazmian, and Jin dynasties, and completely destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty in exile, ending the long period of division since the end of the Tang Dynasty. They continued to expand outwards.

However, the seemingly invincible Mongols suffered defeats in their attacks on Japan, Burma, Vietnam, Java, and other countries.

Little Zhu thought about it carefully and said, "It seems pretty impressive. Although there have been some foreign-ruled empires in Chinese history, none of them seem to have achieved the same level of unification as the former Yuan Dynasty."

Zhu Yunying smiled and nodded, then said, "Don't just look at the Yuan Dynasty. The Mongols also had four major khanates. The Golden Horde, the Chagatai Khanate, the Ilkhanate, and the Ögedei Khanate are all not to be underestimated."

In reality, the Ilkhanate had already collapsed. This regime, established in West Asia by Hulagu Khan, son of Tolui, the fourth son of Genghis Khan, suffered a similar fate to the Yuan Dynasty. They may appear to be still standing, but that is only in name.

However, there was also fratricide among the Mongols. The Ilkhanate, or rather the Kipchak Khanate, was destroyed by Janibek Khan, leading to the fragmentation of this once powerful khanate. Now, it is barely surviving and has no real power.

The Ögedei Khanate, which was established by Haidu, a descendant of Ögedei, the third son of Genghis Khan, was the one that truly perished. However, amidst the so-called internal strife within the Golden Family, the Ögedei Khanate lasted for less than sixty years before its demise, even shorter than the Yuan Dynasty.

In reality, the Chagatai Khanate was also a major power. Although they were a khanate established by the descendants of Genghis Khan, they frequently fought against each other and were often hostile to the Yuan Dynasty, their suzerain state. The Chagatai Khanate split into two parts about fifty years ago, which later formed the Eastern Chagatai Khanate and the Timurid Empire, respectively.

The Eastern Chagatai Khanate, also known as the Ilibali, was located near the Western Regions. Meanwhile, the Timurid Empire, established around the same time as the Ming Dynasty, was no longer content with the territory previously held by the Chagatai Khanate; they sought to continue their westward expansion.

As for the Golden Horde, also known as the Kipchak Khanate, it was a vast and powerful khanate established by Batu, the second son of Genghis Khan's eldest son. It stretched from the Irtysh River in the east to Rus' in the west, from Lake Balkhash, the Caspian Sea, and the Black Sea in the south to the vicinity of the Arctic Circle in the north.

After thinking for a moment, Little Zhu said, "Father, our Ming Dynasty imperial family established a foundation outside of China, which is somewhat similar to the Golden Family of the Mongols. Our descendants will definitely be even more successful and will have many vassal states."

This would naturally be the ideal situation, but the Mongols were fundamentally driven by the law of the jungle, and infighting was common among them. In fact, Zhu Yunying was well aware that perhaps the states established by the descendants of the Zhu family at this stage would not be in conflict with each other.

After only one or two generations, kinship ties begin to fade, and then national interests take precedence.

To be honest, even now, once the country is founded, Zhu De's sons might turn against each other for their own interests.

There's no need to tell Xiao Zhu these things now. Although the boy is at an age where he's starting to think things through, and is indeed more knowledgeable and shrewd than ordinary children, he's still just a child, not even ten years old.

Even if he knows some seemingly cruel things, he's still a child. Preserving some of his innocence won't do him any harm; that's probably the only thing Zhu Yunying can do right now. Ultimately, little Zhu's childhood will certainly be less than that of ordinary children, and he'll have to experience more.

Looking at the young Zhu, Zhu Yunying said with a smile, "There are many Mongol Khanates, and even now, there are still many of their tribes around our Great Ming. These nomadic peoples have always been a threat to our Central Plains court. Only when we have a strong fist and a powerful army will they not dare to cause trouble. Once our Central Plains dynasty declines, they will inevitably come south to plunder."

These principles don't actually require much from Zhu Yunying; even little Zhu could understand them.

Let alone the young Crown Prince Zhu, many ordinary people also understood these principles. Closer to home were the Mongols and Jurchens, and further back were the Turks and Qiang peoples. The most well-known, of course, were the Xiongnu.

Governing the world is a matter that cannot be taught too much at this stage; Zhu Yunying naturally understands the principle of not trying to learn too much at once. Ultimately, young Zhu is still young, and it is more important to lay a solid foundation for him now.

Patting little Zhu's head, Zhu Yunying suddenly asked, "Yin'er, you also know that the former Yuan Dynasty was the first unified foreign dynasty in our Chinese history. In the early years, many people were unwilling for your great-grandfather to acknowledge the former Yuan Dynasty as the legitimate dynasty. Tell me, why was that?"

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