September 12, the 25th year of Hongwu.

In the original history, this day belonged to Zhu Yunwen.

Because it was on this day, based on the auspicious day provided by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, Zhu Yunwen was officially canonized as the Crown Prince.

This was also decided by Zhu Yuanzhang himself during the morning court two months ago when many princes were present.

"Mom, I feel a little uncomfortable."

In Chunhe Palace, Zhu Yunwen got up early before dawn and sat alone in the backyard of Chunhe Palace.

The flickering candlelight beside him brought light. He dismissed the palace maids and eunuchs and just sat there quietly.

Zhu Yunwen is now filled with mixed emotions. No matter how he tries to avoid it, time will always move forward.

He had always been looking forward to this day.

Later, he kept trying to avoid this day.

Last night, Zhu Yunwen tossed and turned and could not sleep all night. No matter what, this day finally came.

This also means that starting from today's morning court session, the position of Crown Prince will be completely away from him.

Unwilling,

But so what? In the past two months, whether it was Huang Zicheng who had always been his military advisor, Li Jinglong whom he admired, or his mother.

They kept telling him that with the appearance of elder brother Zhu Xiongying, he had no room to resist.

Everyone who knew about this advised him not to confront his eldest brother, because he was the emperor's most beloved grandson.

It's only been two months.

After the death of my father, such an elder brother suddenly appeared.

Everyone began to trust this unidentified elder brother, thinking that he was the elder brother who had passed away ten years ago.

It's absolutely ridiculous.

Just because they are about the same age and look a bit similar, can we make such a direct judgment?

But when I think of my eldest brother's face, his temperament is similar to that of my father.

Zhu Yunwen lowered his head and muttered, "It seems to be really similar."

"But, so what? The civil and military officials, the emperor, and the kings all watched the burial with their own eyes."

"Climbing out of the grave, is it possible? Is it possible!"

"Those ministers knew about it. Under the intimidation of Grandpa Emperor, they dared not even question it. Duke Liang directly identified it as my eldest brother. Why?"

"But why is it that after ten years of wandering, Big Brother still has such temperament and wisdom?"

"It took an eight-year-old child ten years to build such a large chamber of commerce in such a cold and bitter land outside the border of the Ming Dynasty."

"Could it be that Big Brother really inherited all the good qualities of Grandpa Emperor and Father?"

"Brother, were you sent by God to stop me?"

Zhu Yunwen talked to himself like this for more than half an hour, asking and answering himself questions.

Until, footsteps were heard behind me.

Just by hearing the voice, he knew it was his mother.

"Silly child, it's already come to this day, but you still can't let go." Lu came over and gently stroked Zhu Yunwen's forehead, which still had some light water stains, which were the morning dew.

Zhu Yunwen heard this and looked at the light gradually rising in the sky. After a long while, he slowly said, "I can't let it go, so what? Mother, do I have any other choice now?"

Lu's lips moved for a while, but finally she said nothing more. She sighed softly and held Zhu Yunwen in her arms.

…

The five princes also got up early along the left and right sides of the Shunmen Gate.

"Today is a big day, and all the brothers got up very early." The eighteenth prince Zhu Yu said with a smile.

The sixteenth prince Zhu Zhan said, "Nonsense, don't you see what's going on today? Today's morning court session is expected to be very lively."

"It's our nephew Yunwen. I'm afraid he's not feeling very comfortable. He's been looking forward to this day, and now that it's finally here, he must be feeling very uncomfortable."

"To be honest, if it were me, I would feel very uncomfortable. The position of the crown prince had already been decided at the court meeting, but who would have thought that Cheng Yaojin would appear halfway. The position of the crown prince was snatched away inexplicably."

"There really is nothing we can do. Look, after His Royal Highness Changsun entered the palace, has nephew Yunwen made any moves?"

"But it's normal if there's no movement. It would be strange if there's movement. With the emperor watching from above, who would dare to have any objection these days?"

"By the way, everyone, have you seen that His Royal Highness Chang Sun is in the court now? Many ministers know about this, so it's obvious that someone will raise any objections."

"After all, many people watched His Royal Highness Zhang Sun being buried. Now that he suddenly appears, anyone would be suspicious."

"Those imperial censors are usually full of integrity, but at this critical moment, they are silent. Each of them is as shrewd as an old fox."

"So, my brothers, don't underestimate those civil officials. They are very smart."

When everyone heard this, they thought about it and nodded in agreement.

Although the princes are not very old, probably only in their teens, but since they were born into the royal family, they are naturally different in all aspects.

According to the usual practice, at around the age of fifteen or sixteen, they would leave the capital and become vassal kings.

In terms of growth and wisdom, ordinary people are simply incomparable.

The teacher who taught them was the most outstanding scholar in the entire Ming Dynasty.

You know, even those who can leave a simple mark in history are all great figures.

Among the four princes who were listening to the Sixteenth Prince's words, only Zhu Quan frowned and said, "Sixteenth Brother, it's best not to say these things in front of others. It doesn't matter to us brothers."

"If someone with ulterior motives heard this and passed it on to His Royal Highness Chang Sun, I'm afraid it wouldn't leave a good impression."

"Perhaps Father will punish me personally."

After a slight hesitation, he decided to persuade his sixteenth brother Zhu Zhan, who spoke without restraint and without any scruples or fears.

After all, among the princes of similar age, Zhu Zan's character was more generous and magnanimous, which also made him feel good in Zhu Quan's heart.

Perhaps Zhu Zan thought that he was the oldest among the five princes, so he would help his younger brothers whenever they had problems.

It's just that when it comes to speaking, he's a little too direct.

Hearing Zhu Quan's words, Zhu Zan waved his hands and said, "Don't worry, Seventeenth Brother, I'd better not mention these. Besides, I only said these words in front of all the brothers. We are all brothers, there is nothing to worry about."

Zhu Zan obviously didn't care about this, and Zhu Quan didn't continue seeing this.

Perhaps some things will only attract attention after you suffer losses.

"Okay, brothers, let's not talk too much. The morning court will be very lively. I can't wait to see His Royal Highness Chang Sun's majesty."

"Let's go."

Zhu Chan said with a smile.

Although he said this, he was still a little worried in his heart. At this last moment, he quickly said a few good words about His Royal Highness Chang Sun to make up for it.

…

The capital city is particularly lively today.

This bustle takes place in the most prosperous area in the entire capital, the streets near the Qinhuai River.

Because since three days ago, many high-end places, whether it is a restaurant, teahouse, silk shop, jewelry shop, or rice shop and many other large places.

We have started promoting it throughout the capital early on, and will be holding a promotion with great discounts and rewards.

The term "big discount" is somewhat new to the people of Ming Dynasty today.

However, as the name suggests, we can still guess some of its meaning.

Then someone came to explain that on September 12, anyone who bought anything in the store could enjoy a 20% discount.

This kind of activity is the first of its kind in Lungu.

To use the simplest analogy, a product that originally required one hundred strings of cash to purchase only requires eighty strings of cash today.

A full 20% reduction.

This phenomenon is enough to drive the people of the entire capital crazy.

Who knows, if you miss this opportunity, you will find another store like this one?

This activity covers all the daily necessities of life, including firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea.

This led to a situation where all the people started to move out.

The so-called empty streets are nothing more than this.

People started queuing in front of stores in the early morning, because the merchants had already announced that the event would be limited in quantity.

It's not just a personal limit, it's also a stock limit. If you queue up too late, you won't be able to buy it.

In front of Ping An Teahouse, Uncle Zhang stood at the door, looking at the empty teahouse, and sighed: "This is the first time that our teahouse business is so quiet."

The clever servant next to him replied, "Sir, if it weren't for the fact that there were so many people in the teahouse, I would have wanted to queue up and buy some. I have never heard of such a thing in my life."

"In the past, it was good enough that the store owners didn't raise the prices. This 80% discount is too shocking."

As the boy spoke, his eyes could not stop looking towards the street.

It can be seen that all the stores with red cloth hanging on them are the ones offering discounts this time.

In front of these shops, there were really long queues, and you couldn't see the end of them at a glance.

On the streets, all the patrolmen from the Wucheng Bingmasi were out in force, as if they had received instructions in advance, and there were patrolmen guarding every intersection.

There were also patrolmen watching the shops hanging red cloths. Any unruly people who tried to cut in line would be beaten with two sticks and kicked out of the line without any mercy.

Even some wealthy families, or even the stewards and compradors of noble families, did not give him face.

The patrolmen of the Wucheng Bingmasi are very shrewd. The real wealthy families would not care about such a small profit.

However, faced with such fair queuing, ordinary people living in the capital were really not used to it.

In the team, it was rare to see scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans all standing together.

How could these scholars and masters usually rank behind the common people? This is nonsense.

But for those shops that don’t hang red cloth.

This is really a torture.

For example, the two neighboring wine shops usually have similar wine business, but today.

The shop with red cloth hanging on it has not yet opened, but there are already hundreds or even thousands of people lining up.

And those without red cloths, even if the doors are open, there is no one inside.

Who can stand this kind of difference?

But when you think about the 80% discount, who would be willing to give it up? It would be a waste of money.

You have no choice but to endure it.

These shops hanging red cloths have previously stated that they will open for business at the end of the Chen period and the beginning of the Si period, which is nine o'clock.

So even though it is already slightly light outside, we still have to wait for an hour.

Even so, no one in the queue complained.

If you are not happy, just leave. There are many people behind who want to buy.

…

Outside the Fengtian Gate, civil and military officials were already waiting.

"Today's grand spectacle in the capital is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. With an 80% discount, I want to get in line for it."

"You are joking, sir. Is it possible that no one in your family went there and lined up early?"

"Haha, the wife, the housekeeper, the servants, basically everyone went, except for one or two people who stayed at home. How could they miss such a good thing? Don't blame me, is it possible that your family didn't go?"

"Hehe, of course we have to go. We must go. We can't miss such a good thing. My wife has been clamoring for a gold bracelet. This time, the Jinyulou in the capital has an 80% discount."

"Don't tell me, the woman at home has been nagging about it every day since the day before yesterday. My ears are almost callused from all the nagging. I can't even read a book. At least I've made it to today."

"My Lords, I almost missed the time when I came here from home today. The streets are really too crowded."

"I've been in the capital for so many years, but this is the first time I've seen such a crowd. I didn't know there were so many people in our capital. I was scared when I went out."

Even though there were disciplines, the civil servants could not help but whisper to each other, mostly outside the Fengtian Gate, and the guards did not keep a very strict watch.

Apparently, many officials were affected by the crowds on the streets of the capital when they went out before dawn.

However, it is a big deal for officials to go to court, so the Wucheng Bingmasi patrolmen on duty on the streets will open a special road for them.

Otherwise, by the time the deadline comes, I'm afraid more than half of the officials won't be able to arrive.

This is the case for civil officials, and it is basically the same for military officials.

The export of goods at an 80% discount involved the entire capital.

Only some top-level noble ministers will not be affected.

Lan Yu and other military generals and nobles gathered together.

Compared with the team of civil officials, they were much more casual, gathering together with Lan Yu as the center to chat.

The guards on the city wall also turned a blind eye to this.

After all, those who are the most unruly among the subordinates are the superiors of their superiors. If they really have to act according to the law, they will probably feel uncomfortable afterwards.

"Duke Liang, His Royal Highness Changsun should be attending the court meeting today. We have been looking forward to this day for a long time."

Lan Yu laughed and said, "Don't worry, you will understand it later. There is no need to say more now. There is no need to say more."

Many Huaixi nobles understood what he meant and were all smiling.

At this moment, in front of the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang took Zhu Ying's hand and asked, "Grandson, are you ready?"