His legs were tightly hugged by two sweet and soft little babies. Listening to the sweet cries of the two babies in baby voices, Zhu Huaining's tough heart became soft as water in an instant.
He thought that since he had been away for such a long time and had not been able to accompany the two little kids in the capital, the two kids would not recognize him and would be afraid to hide behind their parents when they saw him, not daring to come forward.
I didn't expect them to be so well behaved and enthusiastic.
It makes this grandfather so sweet.
"Xiao'er, Aqiong, my good grandson!"
He bent down happily and gently rubbed the two babies' heads. "You have grown so big. When grandpa passed away, you were only as long as my arms. You were just one month old..."
Xiao'er and Aqiong looked at their grandfather and giggled.
They opened their arms at the same time, "Grandpa, give me a hug! Hug me!"
Two cute babies are asking for hugs, who can resist not hugging them?
Zhu Huaining smiled from ear to ear, holding the little guy in one arm and picking him up easily, "Okay, Grandpa, hug our good Xiao'er, good Aqiong!"
The two dolls were held in their grandfather's arms. Xiao'er was particularly curious and touched his armor and cloak, while Aqiong used his chubby little hands to gently touch the scar on his grandfather's cheek.
"Grandpa, does it hurt?"
Arqiong didn't know that his grandfather's scar was left on the battlefield decades ago. He thought that his grandfather had been injured recently and felt very distressed. He even held his grandfather's cheek and wanted to blow on it.
She said, "Aqiong, give grandpa a hug, and the pain will go away!"
Zhu Huaining was so moved by the little thing's cuteness and love that he could hardly hold back his tears. How could he have such a well-behaved granddaughter?
Just like Wuhuan when he was a child!
Sensible and considerate!
He kissed the little guy's face and said lovingly, "Grandpa, it doesn't hurt. Aqiong is breathing on Grandpa like this, and Grandpa won't feel any pain."
Ah Qiong squinted his eyes because of his kiss. After he finished kissing, the little guy rubbed his face and muttered softly, "It's so prickly! Grandpa's beard is going to prick Ah Qiong's little face!"
As she spoke, she looked at her grandfather's mouth curiously.
Her father didn't have such a prickly beard. He would shave it clean every day because he was afraid it would hurt her and her brother's faces.
Grandpa is too careless. She will shave him from now on!
"Hahaha……"
Zhu Huaining laughed out loud at his granddaughter's mumbling.
He was about to speak to his granddaughter to coax her, but his careless fourth son came forward to compete for her favor.
"Arjun, I'm your fourth uncle! He doesn't have a beard, he doesn't wear hair! Come and let me hug you!"
Zhu Chunjun, who is almost eighteen years old, has shed his youthful appearance and become more handsome and steady, looking more masculine like a member of the Zhu family.
Judging from his current aura and standing behind his father, anyone can see that they are father and son who follow in their father's footsteps.
Like father, like son.
At this moment, he happily stretched out his hands to Arjun, wanting to hug his niece!
Arjun turned his head to look at the handsome young man, blinked his big eyes, and then buried his little head in his grandfather's neck, "No, Arjun wants Grandpa to hold me."
Her mother only taught her to rush up and give her grandfather a hug when she saw him, but she didn't teach her to hug her fourth uncle.
She refused to let her fourth uncle hold her. She only let her grandfather hold her. "Hahaha..."
Zhu Huaining hugged his little granddaughter tightly, turned his head and looked at his son proudly, "You little bastard, you actually want to compete with him? Dream on!"
Zhu Chunjun touched his nose. He didn't give up and looked at Feng Yuxiao expectantly. "Xiao'er, how about you let your fourth uncle hold you?"
Feng Yuxiao tilted his head to look at his fourth uncle, then decisively opened his arms.
He threw himself into his fourth uncle's arms and said crisply, "Although my sister is the first child my fourth uncle wants to hold, and I'm not his favorite, but you're my uncle after all. Since we're both men, I'm willing to give him some face!"
"Hahaha, thank you Xiao'er for giving Fourth Uncle a favor. Otherwise, Fourth Uncle would be so embarrassed today, right?"
Zhu Chunjun was so amused by this kid that he almost died of laughter. How could this little mouth be so talkative?
He lowered his head and kissed the little guy's cheek hard, "Good Xiao'er, who taught you to speak so nicely?"
Feng Yuxiao also kissed his fourth uncle on the cheek, then shook his head and said, "It's innate. If I were a fool, who could teach me this? My father said that I was born smart and capable!"
Zhu Chunjun laughed so hard, this kid is so funny!
Just like Chengying when he was a child, very clever and mischievous.
He and his father were each holding a baby and coaxing him, and they had completely forgotten about the noble emperor and empress.
It was only when the emperor and empress came up to them with a smile that they remembered, "Oh no! They forgot to salute them."
They quickly put the two dolls down, and then led a large group of people behind them to kowtow to the emperor and empress.
"Old minister Zhu Huaining leads the generals to pay their respects to the Emperor and the Empress!"
Behind Zhu Huaining, the soldiers and generals cheered along with him.
Then, Zhu Huaining looked up at Feng Changye excitedly.
"Your Majesty, I have lived up to your and Her Majesty's expectations by leading the navy overseas. We have visited many small countries overseas and used the tea and porcelain we brought from Daning to exchange for many valuable items with them!"
He pointed to the endless line of horses carrying wooden boxes behind him.
He excitedly shouted, "Those gold, silver, antiques, and other rare items are all in that box. I'll just wait for Your Majesty to have time to inspect and appreciate them one by one! But there's one treasure I must report to Your Majesty immediately!"
Listening to the old man's passionate voice and looking at the excitement and pride that could not be concealed on the faces of the many generals behind him, Feng Changye and Zhu Wuhuan could not help but look at each other.
He must be reporting on the high-yield grain varieties, right?
They glanced around the city gate.
At the city gate, in addition to the civil and military officials who came with him to welcome the old general, as well as the imperial guards and guards who maintained order and protected them, there were also many onlookers who were stopped outside.
Among these people, there were ordinary civilians, wealthy businessmen who were watching the fun, and many scholars and students...
If we talk about the grain seeds in front of these people at this moment, it won’t be long before the news of the magical seeds in Daning that can produce 1,000 kilograms per mu spreads across the country.
The reason why he did not clear the area today and allowed the people to watch outside the city was to let the news of grain planting spread throughout the world as soon as possible so that everyone could celebrate.
only……
He did not intend to expose the matter of three high-yield grain varieties at once.
This has to be done step by step.
He stepped forward, smiled, and personally helped his old father-in-law up.
"Father-in-law, please stand up and speak. Just bow and show respect. This is the proper etiquette between a ruler and his subjects. You don't have to kneel all the time. You are my father-in-law!"
He helped the old man up and spoke loudly.
Then he lowered his voice and spoke into the old man's ear.
"Father-in-law, I've discussed this with the Empress. We shouldn't publicize all this information about high-yield grain varieties all at once. The people's acceptance is limited. If we discover one high-yield variety, they might be willing to believe it, but if we find three at once, they'll surely find it absurd and sneer at us, thinking you're being overly ambitious and that I'm helping the Zhu family deceive the world. If that happens, the Zhu family will be in a state of turmoil, trapped by those with ill intentions..."
When Zhu Huaining heard what the emperor said to him in a low voice, his expression changed slightly.
Feng Changye continued talking to him.
"Furthermore, my father-in-law, your fleet is limited, and the grain you brought back isn't much. Even if you brought back a ton of each of these bulky crops, like potatoes and sweet potatoes, there wouldn't be enough for the people to share as seed plants. Therefore, it's simply impossible to spread potatoes and sweet potatoes all over the world in such a short period of time."
"Why not plant these two varieties in my royal estate for a few years? Once we've grown the seeds from one ton to ten, then a hundred, it will be much easier to spread them around the world. The people won't have to worry about the scarce seeds anymore. What do you think?"
"And the most important point is, you offered three kinds of grain at once, but in the eyes of the people, your contribution is only this one. But if you unveil a new high-yield grain every two years to bombard the people of Daning, then, in the eyes of the people of Daning, you will be a great hero with three great achievements..."
Feng Changye said as he stared at the old man.
"I know you are a man of high moral character and don't care about such empty fame and merit. But now that Daning is peaceful and prosperous, it will be difficult for Chunjun and Chengying to gain merit on the battlefield. You must consider them, right? Only if you give them this opportunity to gain merit can I legitimately confer them a title. Then no one will dare to say that they received their titles due to the favor of the Queen and the Crown Prince. They can stand up straight and live their lives with dignity, don't you agree?"
Zhu Huaining didn't expect that the emperor had considered so much for their Zhu family.
If it were him, he would definitely not care about these false reputations, but the emperor was right, he had to consider Chunjun and Chengying.
Chengying is only ten years old now, and in a few years he'll be able to make great achievements. But now that Xiyuan has been pacified, and the eastern tribes have been peaceful for the past two years, not daring to invade Daning territory, where can this little thing earn any merit?
It would be better to listen to the emperor and place the grain seeds in the royal estate to multiply year after year. After a few years, tell everyone in the world that these grain seeds were brought back from overseas by the Zhu family again, and then promote them to the whole world...
Zhu Huaining looked at the emperor's son-in-law who was so close to her with red eyes and nodded slightly.
"The Emperor and the Empress are considering the future of Chunjun and Chengying. As a father, I naturally cannot hold them back..."
He nodded and said, "Then let's do as your Majesty says."
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