The eighth day of the second month in the twenty-ninth year of Hongwu.

Zhu Yunwen and Lu left the capital with 50,000 soldiers, among whom were naturally a group of civil officials including Huang Zicheng.

Speaking of which, among the many overseas vassal kings, Zhu Yunwen was undoubtedly treated the best.

Emperors like Zhu Di, Zhu Gang, and Zhu Gui all had to conquer cities on their own before being enthroned.

The same was true for Zhu Chong, who had also gone to Japan not long ago.

As the leader of all the kings, Zhu Chong only had a guard force of 30,000 soldiers. However, these 30,000 soldiers were all veterans on the battlefield. They had followed Zhu Chong in battles for many years and were very experienced. They were much stronger than ordinary soldiers.

On the other hand, Zhu Yunwen had his fiefdom found by Zhu Ying, his elder brother. Zhu Ying not only arranged military generals and civil officials for him, but also paid for the military pay of 50,000 soldiers.

The most important thing is that Champa is a prosperous place for Chinese and foreign commerce. It is close to Annan, which is a little dangerous, and has now been completely pacified.

There is also the Ming navy stationed in Champa, and there are also a large number of Ming troops stationed in Annan. As a vassal king, Zhu Yunwen is also the younger brother of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. If any trouble arises, neither the Ming army in Annan nor the navy stationed in Champa will stand idly by.

With such safety and prosperity, Zhu Yunwen and Lu's past was almost like a life of luxury.

This made the other princes and grandchildren of the emperor very envious, including Zhu Ying's younger brother Zhu Yunhuan.

At this time, Zhu Yunwen's fleet had already gone far away.

Fifty thousand soldiers had already been waiting on the banks of the Yangtze River. The river here was too small, and although the Fujian ships could barely come in, it would have a great impact on water transportation.

When Zhu Yunwen and his men reached the Yangtze River, they would transfer to a Fujian ship and go out to sea, then sail all the way down to Champa.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood on the city wall and sighed softly.

To Zhu Yuanzhang, this grandson was everything before Zhu Ying appeared, and was also his hope for the future.

Of course, he had no way of knowing that after his death, this hope would ultimately be shattered, allowing the fourth son Zhu Di to take the lead.

Of course, no matter what, the meat eventually rotted in the pot.

But from the current emotional point of view, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little sorry for his grandson.

Fortunately, my eldest grandson made proper arrangements and gave us such a good place.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Zhu Ying was helping Zhu Yunwen to pay for military expenses, and he felt very gratified, which made him feel much better.

"My great grandson, do you think we will be able to see Yun Wen again in this life?"

There was a hint of sadness in Zhu Yuanzhang's tone.

In the 29th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang was already 69 years old.

In the blink of an eye, next year I will be seventy years old.

It is rare for a person to live to be seventy years old. Even though Zhu Yuanzhang's health is still relatively good, there is a clear decline in all aspects.

It’s no longer possible to refuse to accept old age.

At this age, half of his body was buried in the ground, which was far longer than the average lifespan of emperors in the Central Plains.

"Grandpa, you must be joking. With your physical condition, it won't be a problem for your grandson to live to be a hundred years old."

"There are still more than 30 years to go. Grandpa, look at Liu Sanwu. He entered the government at the age of 73 and is now 83 years old, and he is still alive and well. There are still many days to come."

Zhu Ying immediately smiled and said that Baisui was a little weak, so he took Liu Sanwu as an example.

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately felt much better.

A hundred years old is a bit far away, but Liu Sanwu is still lively and energetic at the age of eighty-three, so Zhu Yuanzhang feels that there is nothing wrong with him either.

"I don't have too many thoughts about political affairs now. With my grandson here, the Ming Dynasty will surely become more prosperous and powerful in the future."

"I just want to live longer, watch little Wencheng grow up, and see how my eldest grandson makes our Ming Dynasty even more vast."

There was a sense of serenity in Zhu Yuanzhang's tone, and his eyes were calm and peaceful. At this point, he already felt very satisfied.

The biggest concern before was the succession to the throne. The Zhu family's kingdom was now backed by the eldest grandson, so there was nothing to worry about.

In all aspects, Zhu Yuanzhang had to admit that his eldest grandson was much better than himself in governing the country in terms of development in all aspects.

When Zhu Ying heard this, his eyes moved slightly, and he hurriedly said, "Grandpa, what are you talking about? If it weren't for your help, how could I have achieved such results now?"

"Grandpa is a giant. I stand on the shoulders of giants to see the Ming Dynasty, which is why we are where we are today."

"Grandpa is the only one who can help control the affairs of the court. Grandpa is the only one who can suppress those civil officials. If it weren't for Grandpa to back me up, who knows how they would bully me."

"Grandpa, I am only 23 years old this year. How can I possibly be a match for those old foxes? Now they are keeping their tails between their legs because they are afraid of me, not me."

The thing people fear most is having no fighting spirit. Once the spirit collapses, the body will follow suit.

If someone tries to figure out the secret of longevity, in addition to the necessary living conditions, he will find that all people who live to a ripe old age must have enough hope in their hearts.

These hopes can be small or big, but they cannot be non-existent, especially for the elderly.

So Zhu Ying hurriedly said these words to stimulate the old man.

Sure enough, after hearing these words, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression immediately changed.

"Let's see who dares to bully our grandson. If anyone bullies our grandson, we will kill him."

The fierce momentum brought with it an uplifting spirit, which finally made Zhu Ying feel relieved.

Recently, Zhu Ying has been committed to the training of medicine and has invested a lot of money to support its development, with the focus on health care.

For example, the most authentic Five Animal Exercises has now arrived in the imperial palace. If Zhu Ying has nothing to do, he usually gets up early and goes to the Qianqing Palace to practice the Five Animal Exercises with Grandpa Yu.

March 1st.

Zhu Yuanzhang was taking little Wencheng to appreciate the flowers in the back garden.

It is spring and flowers are in full bloom.

Little Wencheng, who was born in October of the 28th year of Hongwu, is now half a year old.

Before he learned to crawl, he was already babbling and wanting to stand up and run.

"This little guy may not be very old, but he has great ambitions. Hahahaha."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed happily.

Beside Zhu Yuanzhang were Concubine Guo Ning and Ye Yueqing. The other concubines were not qualified to come at this time.

Concubine Guo Ning smiled and said, "Your Majesty, look at little Wencheng's features. He looks more and more like Yueqing. When he was just born, he was very similar to the Crown Prince."

Zhu Yuanzhang took a closer look and said in surprise, "Oh, it really is."

On the ground, little Wencheng was covered with a thick cotton quilt and silk satin, allowing him to play freely on it.

And little Wencheng seemed to be smelling a scent and crawled towards Ye Yueqing persistently.

Ye Yueqing smiled and changed direction to tease Xiao Wencheng. Xiao Wencheng stopped where he was, changed direction, and crawled towards Ye Yueqing again.

"This little guy looks just like our eldest grandson. He was the most attached to his mother when he was little."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at little Wencheng, and his eyes seemed to recall the time when he and Empress Ma brought Xiong Ying.

When he was less than one year old, little Xiongying was like this. He was very attached to Chang and insisted on being held by Chang.

However, when Xiao Xiongying was four years old, Chang died due to complications during childbirth of Zhu Yunhuan. Xiao Xiongying cried for his mother all day long.

During that period, Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma were so heartbroken that they cried.

With little Wencheng now, Zhu Yuanzhang felt as if he had returned to more than 20 years ago, when he and Empress Ma were raising little Xiongying.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but take two steps forward and gently picked up little Wencheng.

"I have taken care of children before. When Xiongying was a child, I was the one who brought him up."

There was a hint of pride in Zhu Yuanzhang's tone. As an emperor he had always worked hard, but he had never relaxed when it came to taking care of little Xiongying.

Ye Yueqing watched nervously, and only felt relieved when she saw that Zhu Yuanzhang was holding the child correctly.

The child's body is weak and needs to be supported by the back.

It was obvious that Zhu Yuanzhang's movements were extremely skillful.

Although little Wencheng had been trying to run towards Ye Yueqing, when Zhu Yuanzhang held him, except for crying a little at first, he turned around and started playing with Zhu Yuanzhang's beard.

There was obvious curiosity in her eyes. Her pink little hands were pulling at Zhu Yuanzhang's white hair and beard. Perhaps she was having a lot of fun and she laughed out loud.

Concubine Guo Ning said with a hint of envy, "Only Your Majesty and the Crown Prince's Concubine are allowed to be close to this little Wen Cheng. No one else can hold him. Even the wet nurse will not hold him after feeding."

"That's just what happened, Your Majesty. Last time, I saw the Crown Princess and wanted to hold her, but when I got her in my arms, little Wencheng started crying. I tried to coax him for a long time but it was useless. Little Wencheng has a very stubborn temper and he didn't calm down until he got into the Crown Princess's arms."

It’s no wonder that Concubine Guo Ning is not envious.

Little Wencheng is very shy about strangers and no one can get along with him. He also has an extremely stubborn temper. Once he starts crying, he won't stop no matter what he doesn't get what he wants.

Especially when it comes to hugging someone, no one can do it except Ye Yueqing.

Even if it was Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Ying, they couldn't hold him for too long. They had to keep little Wencheng's thoughts in mind. Once he felt sleepy or hungry, Ye Yueqing had to hold him.

Ye Yueqing was also very concerned about her own child. Although there was a wet nurse, most of the time, Bai Jian was the one who fed Xiao Wencheng by herself, and the wet nurse would serve her at night.

Xiao Wencheng is particularly fond of Ye Yueqing's scent, and no one else's will work.

Whenever he went out, Ye Yueqing had to follow him, otherwise he would start crying soon.

This crying never ends.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt that Xiao Wencheng was pulling at his white beard, and said with a smile: "Your great grandfather doesn't have much beard left. If you don't pull it, you will pull out all of my beard."

After saying that, he turned to Concubine Guo Ning and said, "Little Xiongying was like this at the beginning. At that time, my elder sister and I wanted to take Little Xiongying to sleep with him, but he refused."

"In the end, there was no other choice but to wait until Xiao Xiongying fell asleep, and then secretly bring Xiao Xiongying over."

"This night is the most exhausting. I always can't fall asleep until midnight."

Zhu Yuanzhang was talking about the past, but he didn't notice that he turned around and let Xiao Wencheng play with his beard.

He stretched out his hand but couldn't reach it, so he let out a loud cry.

Zhu Yuanzhang hurried over to coax him, lowered his head and handed the beard to Xiao Wencheng's hands. But once Xiao Wencheng started crying, he had no intention of stopping and refused to play with the beard.

Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to hand Xiao Wencheng over to Ye Yueqing.

Even Ye Yueqing had to coax him for a long time before he stopped, but when the sound stopped, Xiao Wencheng had fallen asleep.

When the crying stopped, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, "Little Wencheng is really not as easy to take care of as little Xiongying. When little Xiongying was in my arms, he could play for half a day. If he got sleepy, he would just fall asleep in my arms."

Compared to little Wencheng, the current Zhu Yuanzhang misses the former little Xiongying more.

After all, little Xiongying was taken care of for many years at that time, and was raised by Zhu Yuanzhang himself. Emotionally, the differences were of course completely different.

The most important thing is that when little Xiongying was there, there was also the older sister. These beautiful memories are what Zhu Yuanzhang misses the most now.

Zhu Yuanzhang is old now, and he doesn't have the energy to play with little Wencheng like he did 20 years ago. Even if he holds him, his arms will start to ache after a while.

Therefore, my love for Xiao Xiongying is truly unique.

It seemed that God didn't want to see Zhu Yuanzhang so happy. Just when little Wencheng had just fallen asleep, an official hurried over.

"Your Majesty, I received a letter from Duke Xin's residence, saying that Duke Xin's condition has worsened and he may not be able to survive."

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned, and immediately said: "Prepare the car, we must go to the Xin Guogong Mansion immediately."

After hearing the order, Jiang Li immediately arranged for the Jinyiwei to clear the road.

The capital is now overcrowded with people. Even on the road leading to the inner city, there are too many pedestrians.

The current situation is urgent and the road must be blocked in advance.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat in the carriage with obvious anxiety on his face.

He kept urging the driver to speed up, fearing that if he went too late, he would miss this last moment.

In fact, as early as last year, Tang He's condition had worsened once, and he only managed to survive thanks to the rescue of many imperial doctors.

In history, Tang He died of illness on August 7, the 28th year of Hongwu. It was only with Zhu Ying's support in medicine that he was able to survive the last time.

However, the imperial physician at the time also said that Tang He was already terminally ill and it would be a miracle if he could be saved. If his condition stabilized, it would be fine, but if it worsened again, there would be no way to save him.

So after hearing the news that Tang He was critically ill, Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Tang He was probably about to leave. He hurried over just to say a few more words to his old brother and see him off for the last time.

"Old brother, you have to wait for me. You are my only old brother."