Li Jinglong's mood at this moment was chaotic and complicated.

The news he got from Zhu Di made him feel suffocated.

The thirteen-year-old son of a traveling merchant built up a huge force that spanned the Western Regions, the desert, and the grasslands.

Zhu Ying only took five years to accomplish all this.

If it were at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, he would definitely be your Majesty's greatest enemy.

However, this person is still your Majesty's eldest grandson.

In your Majesty's eyes, is there any heir more suitable than this?

In Li Jinglong's mind, a scene came to mind.

Just a few months ago, he had just arrived in Xifan and was in charge of the tea-horse trade.

Not long after they arrived there, two tribes on the grassland had a dispute for some reason, and the Ming government was unable to stop them.

Just when a big fight was about to start, people from the Heroes Chamber of Commerce appeared.

Not many, just a few people.

However, just a few people calmed the matter down without even saying a few words.

Li Jinglong immediately became curious about the behind-the-scenes boss of the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce.

After understanding it, he discovered an even more horrifying fact.

Among all the people from the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce that he met in Xifan, no one had ever seen the legendary boss.

But their enthusiasm for their boss made Li Jinglong feel uneasy.

Dongjia is just a simple name for a merchant in the Ming Dynasty.

However, in Xifan, all merchants who opened shops were not allowed to call themselves the owner.

Just like avoiding the emperor's name.

Only those who have experienced it will understand the horror.

Because this behavior is completely spontaneous by the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce. There is nothing wrong with you calling yourself the boss, and no one says you broke any rules.

They are just people from the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce, so they may just ignore you.

"Don't think too much. Now that my father is still alive, no one can touch my nephew. Master Daoyan also told me that I only need to wait for the opportunity in secret."

"No matter what, I was the one who brought my nephew to the capital, and Chi'er and my nephew have a very good relationship."

"For now, you don't have to reject it. When you have time, you can let Chi'er take you to meet him."

Zhu Di saw that Li Jinglong had an ugly expression and a frown on his face, so he spoke out.

Unlike Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Di saw clearly that given the current trend, it was only a matter of time before Zhu Ying came to power.

Just as Yao Guangxiao said, if Zhu Ying could really take full control of the military power, no one in this world would be able to make even the slightest wave.

Upon hearing this, Li Jinglong came back to his senses from his thoughts and nodded slightly.

Zhu Di said again: "Some things still need to be considered in the future. Master Daoyan once told me that my nephew looks elegant, but in fact he likes to conquer and has the signs of being aggressive."

"I am going to pacify Japan this time. According to my father's wishes, the day of attacking Japan will not be too far away."

"You also know the situation in Japan. Marquis Chengyi also advised my father to stay. Over the years, my father has never thought of attacking Japan again."

"In my opinion, my father's attack on Japan was probably a helpless move."

Li Jinglong nodded and said, "When I heard that Your Majesty sent out an army to pacify the Japanese, I also felt a little strange. Could this be Zhu Ying's idea?"

"That's right."

Zhu Di said affirmatively: "The reason why my father conquered Japan is probably because of my nephew. My father is worried that after he leaves, my nephew will forcibly attack Japan and cause unrest in the Ming Dynasty."

"It's better to fight now and let my nephew see clearly whether we win or lose."

"If we win, there's nothing to say. If we lose, we can also extinguish the desire in my nephew's heart."

After listening to this, Li Jinglong did not expect that the army to pacify the Japanese had this meaning, and then he sighed and said:

"It seems that His Majesty dotes on His Royal Highness Chang Sun to the extreme."

Zhu Di also felt a little unwilling and bitter, and even vaguely jealous.

It was the eldest brother at first, but now he is gone, and first it was Yunwen, and then the eldest nephew came.

Could it be that father’s love is only for my eldest brother’s lineage?

I am also my father’s biological child.

…

In the yard.

Zhu Ying was still reviewing memorials.

Since the first batch of memorials were delivered, Zhu Ying had no other entertainment activities.

There are endless memorials to read every day.

The memorials submitted previously ranged from a collection of information on work-for-relief to some trivial matters later on.

By now, it has involved issues concerning local people's livelihood.

And some hydrological reports began to become scarce.

After all, during the Hongwu period, there are still many ministers who are willing to do practical work.

Those who don't have the ability basically can't do it.

Either bury or exile.

Then at this time, Zhu Ying once again discovered a problem of the times.

Punctuation.

It is not popular to use punctuation marks in the Ming Dynasty now.

All the classical Chinese texts were written one sentence at a time, which made Zhu Ying look very strenuous.

But he didn't think about inventing punctuation.

Because punctuation marks were invented as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, during the time of Confucius, and were then gradually abolished.

Both Lu Deming's "Explanation of Classics" in the Tang Dynasty and "Notes on the Book of Documents" in the Song Dynasty used punctuation marks.

After all, this is because Zhu Ying did not receive orthodox Confucian education in the Ming Dynasty.

The reason why punctuation marks are rarely used is mainly because classical Chinese only uses punctuation marks to start and end sentences, except for modal particles such as 'zhihuzheya'.

When writing, one also pays attention to parallelism, introduction, development, turn, and ending, as well as the rhythm of level and oblique tones.

In other words, as long as the scholars in the Ming Dynasty received a normal education, they did not need punctuation to break up sentences, nor did they need to add additional symbols to convey meaning.

It is recorded in the Book of Rites: Learning, "One year, I will review the classics and distinguish my intentions..."

This is a clear regulation that after one year of study, children will be tested on their ability to "deviate from the classics and discern intentions."

The so-called "departure from the classics" refers to the ability to read and comprehend classics, or simply put, to break up sentences.

In other words, the things that are currently bothering Zhu Ying in reading and punctuating classical Chinese are basic skills that must be mastered in the first grade of elementary school in today's Ming Dynasty.

After all, Zhu Ying had been in the Ming Dynasty for ten years and had some understanding of this.

If one really has the audacity to invent punctuation marks, it would be a disgrace to the intellectuals and would be laughed at by all scholars, becoming a real joke.

"What else can I do? I'll just learn slowly."

Zhu Ying muttered something, and then began to study hard.

In fact, if you read this stuff more, you will gradually accept it. It won't take long before you form a reading habit and there will be no other problems.

It is for this reason that classical Chinese is called elegant writing, which completely separates the educated people from the illiterate people and forms an unbridgeable gap.

The only thing to be thankful for is that, as of now in the Ming Dynasty, traditional Chinese characters and simplified Chinese characters are used in parallel.

There are many traditional Chinese characters, but it is not difficult to understand simplified Chinese characters.

Therefore, when Zhu Ying was reviewing memorials and writing down his opinions, if he could remember the traditional Chinese characters, he would write them. If he couldn't remember, he would simply use simplified Chinese characters instead. There would be no problem.

The opinions were of course written in plain language. Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang had always been using plain language, so it was not embarrassing for Zhu Ying to use it.

Just as Zhu Ying was reviewing a memorial from the Ministry of Revenue, Zhang Bo said at the door:

"Master, His Royal Highness Yunxun, Princess Mingyue, and His Royal Highness Prince Ning are here to visit."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ying looked up and asked, "Your Highness Prince Ning?"

Zhang Bo explained, "He is the seventeenth prince. He was named Prince of Ning last year and his fiefdom is called Daning."

After hearing Zhang Bo's explanation, Zhu Ying pondered for a moment and knew it was Zhu Quan.

He packed up the memorials and then stood up and walked into the courtyard.

In the yard, Zhu Yunhuan and Zhu Mingyue were already very familiar with the place and played on the swing without any scruples.

Zhu Quan stood there quietly waiting.

Hearing the footsteps, Zhu Quan subconsciously turned his head and saw Zhu Ying coming.

The next moment, Zhu Quan's eyes opened slightly, his pupils contracted, and he even held his breath.

"Zhu Ying, nice to meet Uncle Seventeen." Zhu Ying was not surprised when he saw Zhu Quan's dazed look, and said with a bow.

Zhu Yunhuan and Zhu Mingyue beside them stopped, waiting to see Zhu Quan make a fool of himself.

After all, it was daytime, and Zhu Quan was young, had good eyesight and quick reactions.

The difference between Zhu Ying and his elder brother Zhu Biao was soon apparent.

Zhu Quan was not arrogant and also bowed and said, "Your Highness, Changsun."

In terms of seniority, Zhu Quan is the elder, but in the royal family, especially for the eldest legitimate grandson like Zhu Ying, the seniority of a concubine's child is of little use.

"Uncle Seventeen, you've just arrived. Please go to the main hall for tea." Zhu Ying said with a smile.

"Brother, what about us?" Zhu Yunhuan, who was standing next to him and wanted to see Zhu Quan make a fool of himself, didn't see it and was a little dissatisfied. After hearing what his brother said, he asked casually.

"You guys play for a while, I'll chat with Uncle Seventeen first. By the way, I have some rare things, I'll ask Uncle Zhang to take them out and let you play with them."

Zhu Ying said with a smile, and then ordered Zhang Bo: "Take out my Gobang."

"Yes, Boss." Zhang Bo took the order and left.

"What is Gobang? It's similar to playing chess." Zhu Yunhuan asked curiously.

"Let Uncle Zhang teach you when the time comes." Zhu Ying replied.

"Okay." Zhu Yunxun said helplessly.

After Zhu Ying finished speaking, he took Zhu Quan into the main room.

Looking at her brother's back, Zhu Mingyue bit her lip, hesitated for a while, but finally didn't say anything.

"Sister, why didn't you tell big brother? This is such an important matter that affects your whole life."

"No one helped me before, but now my eldest brother is here. As the saying goes, an elder brother is like a father, so my eldest brother's words will definitely be useful. The emperor grandfather values ​​my eldest brother so much, so as long as my eldest brother asks, there will definitely be no problem."

Zhu Yunhuan looks a bit careless, but he is also sensitive. He noticed his sister Zhu Mingyue's expression and understood her thoughts.

"Wait a minute, Grandpa Huang asked us to bring Uncle Seventeen with us. There must be something going on. My matter is a small matter. If it delays Big Brother's matter, it will be a sin."

"It won't be too late for me to talk to you after you've finished talking."

After hearing what his brother said, Zhu Mingyue began to explain.

Zhu Yunhuan stopped paying attention and looked towards the backyard door. Soon, Zhang Bo took the chessboard and placed it on the pavilion.

He quickly pulled his sister over and asked Uncle Zhang how to play Gobang.

In the main room, Zhu Ying looked at Zhu Quan who was sitting opposite him and couldn't help feeling emotional.

The old man's arrangements are indeed in place.

As for this young man at present, he looks a little weak, with red lips and white teeth.

In fact, two years later, he became the strongest king on the frontier and suppressed the reputation of Prince of Yan Zhu Di.

Even when Zhu Yunwen later became Emperor Jianwen, he never took action against the most powerful vassal king in front of him.

The intelligent Zhu Quan, when he saw Zhu Ying's appearance, was overwhelmed with confusion, but he quickly understood his father's arrangement.

Therefore, in terms of posture, they maintained the respect between the monarch and his subjects.