Old Zhu was a person who valued family ties very much. Among his relatives, the only one he resented was when he was being chased by Yuan soldiers and his elder sister's husband, Wang Qiyi, and elder sister refused to accept him because they were afraid of being implicated.

As for the other relatives, Old Zhu takes care of them as best he can.

The second elder sister, Princess Zhu Funu of Caoguo, needs no introduction. She died young, but her husband, Li Zhen, was specially granted permission by Emperor Zhu to wear a five-clawed dragon robe. Li Wenzhong and his son Li Jinglong were also highly valued.

Zhu Chongsi's son, Zhu Wenzheng, made outstanding contributions in the defense of Hongdu. Although he was dissatisfied with his rewards and wanted to defect to Zhang Shicheng, Zhu Chongsi did not kill him. Zhu Wenzheng's son, Zhu Shouqian, became the first Prince of Jingjiang in the Ming Dynasty.

This is yet another member of the Ming imperial family who lacks any moral compass and is the type who repeatedly refuses to change his ways.

Looking at his grandson, whom he was incredibly proud of, Old Zhu feigned displeasure, "Wenying is, after all, our adopted son, and he's not even registered in our Imperial Clan Court. And yet, you made all our grandsons go to greet him. He's a marquis, and you greeted him with the honors due to a duke—that's going too far!"

“With Uncle Mu Ying guarding Yunnan, we have no worries about the border.” Zhu Xiong Ying naturally picked up the memorial and began to read it. Then he said, “Besides, Grandmother said that Uncle Mu grew up under the care of Grandfather and Grandmother, and Grandmother praised Uncle Mu’s talent many times. Moreover, Uncle Mu is loyal and is Father’s support.”

Old Zhu smiled and waved his hand, and Wang Chengen immediately left with the other eunuchs.

Now that there were no outsiders, Old Zhu said, "Among those adopted sons back then, your Uncle Mu was the most straightforward. We had no children back then, so others had designs on us. Like your Uncle Wenzheng, they had designs on us. But we can't do that. If we had no children, the family business would have been given to Wenzheng, but since your father was born, the family business should have been your father's."

Zhu Xiong Ying nodded with a smile, "That's easy to understand. Of course, that makes sense. No matter how close a nephew is, he's not as close as a son. My grandmother also said that of all the adopted sons my grandfather had back then, Uncle Mu Ying and the late Prince Qi Yang were the ones who liked Father the most."

At this moment, Zhu Da, who was reviewing the memorials, spoke up, "Brother Wenying and Brother Wenzhong have also taken the best care of me, showing great brotherly demeanor. As for Father's other adopted sons, they seem to be close to me, but I know what they are thinking."

"So we stopped taking adopted sons. When I was a general, I could take some adopted sons, but when I became the King of Wu, I couldn't." Old Zhu said with a hint of pride, "Later we made them all return to their original surnames, just to prevent them from having any ulterior motives! If they wanted to take the surname Zhu, we wouldn't allow it."

Da Zhu was also amused and then said, "This saves me a lot of trouble. I won't have to deal with my elder brothers anymore; they're all my younger brothers."

Old Zhu was even more smug and said to Da Zhu, "Now you know how hard I've worked, right? To get you to take over the business, I've done a lot of things like discarding a used tool after it's done its work. But luckily, our Biao'er is promising, so all that we did was worth it."

Seeing that Old Zhu was in a good mood, Great Zhu spoke up, "Father, now that Hu Weiyong has been executed, we have also revoked several titles and suppressed some lawless nobles. Shouldn't we stop implicating others...?"

Old Zhu slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Are we being bloodthirsty by doing this? If we don't take back the military power and suppress some powerful families, how will you secure your throne in the future?! I am the founding emperor, and I have a lot of infamy on my hands, but I don't care! Biao'er, you remember this well: those people who deserve to die still have to be killed!"

Zhu Xiong Ying quickly stood up and asked with some curiosity, "Father, why do you approve of this person's treacherous intentions?"

Da Zhu rolled his eyes at Zhu Xiong Ying and said irritably, "But I'm arguing with your imperial grandfather? Don't you understand why I would use that person?"

Of course, there are exceptions. Some corrupt officials, incompetent officials, or cruel bureaucrats can still be effective in certain situations. If used properly, these people can save a lot of trouble and achieve some positive results.

Zhu Xiong Ying was actually helpless. In the past, Empress Ma protected the eldest Zhu, but that was no longer the case.

While Zhu Yuanzhang (the elder Zhu) certainly wouldn't harm Zhu Yuanzhang (the younger Zhu), he was often too domineering. As for Zhu Yuanzhang, he was definitely not the benevolent Confucian prince some people believed him to be; however, his ability to withstand pressure wasn't particularly outstanding either.

The main reason was that Zhu Yuanzhang (the founding emperor) sometimes couldn't be too intimate with his sons, as he preferred to hold his grandsons rather than his own. Moreover, the aura of a founding emperor like Zhu Yuanzhang was overwhelming for most people. Even seasoned generals would tremble at the mere glare of Zhu Yuanzhang.

It was quite common for Old Zhu and Big Zhu to clash, and Zhu Xiong Ying had become somewhat accustomed to it.

Da Zhu continued reviewing the memorials, but the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He said, "Ying'er, come with me for a walk!"

"Grandpa, feel free to slack off if you want," Zhu Xiong Ying said confidently. "But Father has been in power for fifteen years, and these matters are no problem for him. Grandpa should rest more; Father can handle the affairs of state."

Old Zhu neither confirmed nor denied Zhu Xiong Ying's statement, but it was generally considered to have some merit.

The Crown Prince has been ruling as regent for over a decade, and he handles many matters with ease, posing little difficulty. With the Crown Prince able to govern at this time, Emperor Zhu can naturally take a short rest.

Even though Lao Zhu is a workaholic and an iron man, he is not young after all; he will be sixty-two after the New Year.

Old Zhu took his grandson for a walk, leaving the affairs of the court to be handled by Da Zhu. Especially in recent years, Da Zhu has accomplished quite a bit, and has indeed been able to put his governing philosophy into practice on a small scale.

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