"Your Highness, Prince Qin, this matter is actually very simple. Resettling refugees has always been the responsibility of the local city guards."
"Although many people have come to Your Highness for refuge, as far as Yundian is concerned, the local city guards will definitely make proper arrangements as soon as they hear Your Highness's order, and will not neglect them in the slightest."
Zhu Chong shook his head. "Marquis Pingliang has misunderstood. Those people have come all the way from Yunnan to seek refuge with me. No matter what, I cannot simply abandon them to the local city guards and let them down."
"Uh..." Fei Ju's eyes froze, and he looked at Zhu Chong in disbelief.
As far as he knew, there were at least 60,000 refugees who had come to Zhu Chong's side, or even more.
Zhu Chong actually wanted to resettle such a large group of people, even if they were refugees, on his own. What was his intention?
Not to mention anything else, just based on Zhu Chong's identity, it is hard not to let people imagine.
When the censors knew that Zhu Chong had said this to them, they would definitely return to Zhu Yuanzhang and give him a good report.
By then, the accusation of having ulterior motives and intending to rebel will definitely be pinned on Zhu Chong's head. Even if Zhu Chong wants to explain, he probably won't be able to do so even if he has a lot of mouths.
After hesitating for a moment, Fei Ju asked tentatively, "Your Highness, I'm afraid this is inappropriate, isn't it?"
As soon as Zhu Chong saw Fei Ju's double-entendre expression, he knew what he was thinking, so he just spoke out.
"Please don't misunderstand, Lord Pingliang. I'm actually not interested in anything related to Tianfu. I came to you for advice today simply because I want to properly settle these homeless people and free them from the suffering of wandering in this life."
Hearing what Zhu Chong said, Fei Ju's eyes widened. Damn, whoever believes this is an idiot!
He would never believe that Zhu Chong would be so kind-hearted as to have such a large number of refugees in his hands. He would only help those people settle down in Yunnan and Dian out of kindness, so that they would no longer suffer from the pain of displacement.
The imperial court couldn't do such a thing, Fei Ju couldn't do it, and he also believed that Zhu Chong couldn't do it.
Of course, there are ways to achieve what Zhu Chong said, but the only way is to rebel.
If he leads this group of people to rebel against his father, as long as he has the hope of ascending to the highest position in Yingtian Prefecture, then everything will not be a problem. By then, forget about these vagrants, no matter how many there are, he will be able to settle them comfortably.
It seems that Zhu Chong has big plans. It seems that after being exiled to Yunnan and Yunnan by his father, he finally has an idea.
Of course, it is not wrong to think so. Fei Ju knew very well that Zhu had several legitimate sons, including Crown Prince Zhu Biao, Prince of Qin Zhu Gang, Prince of Jin Zhu Gang, Prince of Yan Zhu Di, and Prince of Zhou Zhu Su. These five were all legitimate sons and had the opportunity to ascend to some position.
However, the crown prince is now highly respected, and Zhu Yuanzhang's trust and favor for crown prince Zhu Biao is unique among his five sons.
But the advantage is that they are all from the royal family and are Zhu Yuanzhang's sons. Who can be sure that except for the crown prince Zhu Biao, Zhu Yuanzhang's other four sons would not covet that position?
Before coming to Yunnan, Fei Ju had stayed with Zhu Yuanzhang for quite a long time and knew very well about some things in the court. He knew at a glance that Zhu Yuanzhang's sons were not people who would be willing to be inferior to others.
The Prince of Qin in front of him clearly showed that this was the case. Fei Ju would never believe that he was doing this now if it was not to prepare for his own future position.
But seeing through things but not speaking out is the most important rule for an official. Fei Ju calmly asked, "Then, Your Highness, how do you plan to resettle these refugees?"
Zhu Chong said with an indifferent expression: "I plan to build a city specifically to resettle these people."
"Ah?" Even though Fei Ju was mentally prepared, he was still shocked by Zhu Chong's idea.
"Your Highness, Prince Qin, do you know what you just said? You must have made a mistake!"
Zhu Chong waved his hand, "You heard me right, and I heard me right. What I just said is that we should build a city to settle these refugees once and for all."
"Uh..." Fei Ju's eyes narrowed slightly. As an old fox, he quickly calmed down and said with a sigh and a smile: "Your Highness is noble and righteous. I admire you very much. But has Your Highness ever considered that this matter is of no small importance? Building a city will require the reward of the Heavenly Palace."
"Without the consent of the Prime Minister and the six ministries, and without the approval of His Majesty, I'm afraid..."
"If I want to submit a memorial to the emperor and seek his approval, do I need to ask you, Marquis of Pingliang?" Zhu Chong said directly.
After hearing Zhu Chongbiao's words, Fei Ju was really confused. He really couldn't understand what the Prince of Qin in front of him was up to.
Was he really testing me? Or did he really value and trust me because of their previous interactions?
Neither of these two situations was what Fei Ju wanted. He could only suppress his inner restlessness and continue to test.
"Your Highness, Prince Qin, please don't joke about this. According to Ming Dynasty law, anyone other than Your Majesty who privately builds a city is guilty of an unforgivable crime. Even if you are Your Majesty's son and a prince of the Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid there is no exception."
"That's why I came to Pingliang to ask for your help. Please help me think of how to circumvent the Ming Dynasty law and solve this problem." Zhu Chong said it easily, but Fei Ju broke out in a cold sweat after hearing it.
Fei Ju looked at Zhu Chong in front of him and felt unprecedentedly unfamiliar. He really became nervous.
Is this a test, or does he treat me as his own and want to drag me into this?
But that doesn't make sense. I've only had a few contacts with Zhu Chong. How could he possibly be on guard against me and be testing me?
As for dragging me down, that was unlikely. Although I was in command of the army, without an imperial edict or tiger talisman, it would be impossible for me to mobilize troops without authorization, unless...hiss...
Fei Ju suddenly thought of a possibility, his eyes widened, but he didn't dare look at Zhu Chong. His heart was shocked and confused, and he didn't know what to do for a moment.
At this moment, Fei Ju felt like a beast caught in a trap. Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Chong, and the master behind him, these people were like a revolving lantern, standing on the edge of the trap and looking coldly at him in the trap.
Zhu Yuanzhang inexplicably asked him to lead his troops to Yunnan and Dian, and Fei Ju felt something was wrong, so he was always cautious in his words and actions on the way to Yunnan and Dian, and did nothing else except testing Zhu Chong.
He completed everything his master told him to do before leaving, but he always felt that his master seemed ready to give up his plans at any time.
As for Zhu Chong, the Prince of Qin who was banished from the capital by Zhu Yuanzhang, was definitely not as simple as he seemed.
After all, they are all top students, and any little thing can make them rack their brains. Fei Ju is already sweating all over at this moment.
Looking at Zhu Chong's serious expression, Fei Ju really felt tired and simply spoke out.
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