Under the city of Wuli.

After more than half a month's journey, the southern tour army finally arrived.

"I don't know if Yunwen is doing well here."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the welcoming team at the city gate and sighed softly.

This grandson had grown up by his side. Now, far away from the prosperity of the capital, he had come to this desolate place. Zhu Yuanzhang always felt a bit of pity for him.

Especially seeing this Wuli City.

The city wall is not made of bricks and stones like the one in the Ming Dynasty, but of mud.

Although it is called a city, it doesn't seem to be much different from a village.

However, the situation in places like Southeast Asia is roughly the same. Even in Annan, only the East and West Capitals and Duobang City are slightly better.

From a distance, Zhu Yunwen's expression became excited when he saw the southern tour army coming.

No matter what you think in your heart, family ties are always involved.

Zhu Yunwen left the welcoming team and trotted towards Zhu Yuanzhang.

Even if one of my shoes falls off while I'm running, I don't care.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw his grandson, his eyes seemed quite excited. He waved his hand to stop the dragon chariot. When he saw Zhu Yunwen approaching, he walked down from the chariot directly.

"Grandpa Emperor!"

When Zhu Yunwen approached, he immediately knelt down and shouted.

"Hurry up, hurry up. We grandparents don't need these empty formalities. Let us have a good look."

"I've become thinner and darker."

Seeing Zhu Yunwen now, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but feel a little distressed.

When Zhu Yunwen left the palace, he was still fat and white.

Now he is not only much darker, but also much thinner.

"Grandpa Emperor, your grandson is doing well here. It's not hard at all."

Zhu Yunwen said with red eyes.

At this time, Zhu Ying also came over from the side.

Zhu Yunwen bowed quickly and said, "Big brother."

Zhu Ying smiled and nodded: "Not bad, less bookish, more manly, more like a man."

Zhu Ying didn't care about Zhu Yunwen's little thoughts.

Whether it was intentional or not, it has no impact.

"Don't stay here. Come up and tell me what happened after you arrived in Champa."

Zhu Yuanzhang took Zhu Yunwen's hand and stepped onto the dragon chariot.

The sun is too strong here, and it's hard to stand it.

Zhu Ying also went up, and the dragon chariot was still very spacious.

Wuli City was not big, so it naturally could not accommodate tens of thousands of elite soldiers, so they set up camp outside. Including the Jinyiwei, there were only 5,000 guards accompanying them.

For such a small town, it is more than enough to ensure safety.

Zhu Yunwen told some stories about his arrival in Uli on the dragon chariot.

When the dragon chariot arrived at the city gate, Lu was waiting there. It was naturally impossible for her to run over like Zhu Yunwen.

"Greetings to your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Lu bowed.

Zhu Yuanzhang was quite satisfied with his daughter-in-law. He smiled and said, "It's too sunny outside. Let's go up together."

Naturally, Lu did not refuse.

After getting on the dragon chariot, he smiled and said, "I heard that His Majesty and the Crown Prince are coming. Yun Wen has not slept well these past few days. He asks every morning how many days it will take for His Majesty and the Crown Prince to arrive."

"I've been looking forward to this day and night, and it's finally here."

Lu's words obviously made Zhu Yuanzhang even happier.

All in all, they were a proper family, and Zhu Yuanzhang liked this happy scene the most.

"It's hard for Yunwen to live in this remote area." Zhu Yuanzhang said subconsciously.

These words immediately made Lu's eyes tremble.

Perhaps your majesty was sincere and didn't think too much about it, but the Crown Prince did not feel that way.

If this offends the Crown Prince, it will not be a good thing.

Lu secretly glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and saw that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's expression was calm and unchanged, which made her feel relieved.

However, her son didn't seem to notice it, so it was Lu who had to speak.

"Yun Wen and I are very fortunate to have chosen this overseas fiefdom. Although Wuli looks a bit desolate, it is very rich in resources."

"Since we are near the sea, there are many merchant ships coming and going. We don't need to pay taxes to Champa. The trade along the sea alone brings in an annual income of one million strings of treasure money."

"Thanks to the Crown Prince, we don't have to bear the military pay for 50,000 elite soldiers, and there are naval forces stationed along the coast. I feel very relieved."

Mrs. Lu had no intention of complaining at all. Instead, she kept talking about the advantages of Wuli.

Listening to it feels like a paradise.

The smile on Zhu Yuanzhang's face was about to overflow. He used to think that Yunwen was living a hard life here, but now he felt much more at ease.

Hearing his mother say this, Zhu Yunwen seemed to react and quickly agreed, "Yes, Grandpa Emperor, you don't know that this place is definitely not as prosperous as the capital, but this small place also has its advantages."

"There is no shortage of food and clothing. There are many merchant ships coming from the Ming Dynasty, many of which come from the capital, selling everything."

"Here, my grandson feels as if he is in the capital. If he wants something, he just says hello to the passing merchant ships and it will be delivered to him in no time."

Zhu Yunwen was right.

Champa was originally the first stop of the Ming Dynasty, and most of the maritime trade from Southeast Asia had to stop here.

Since the opening of the sea, more and more Ming Dynasty families have been involved in maritime trade, and merchant ships have been coming and going in the port without stopping.

Including Zhu Yunwen, they were all ready to buy ships and participate in maritime trade.

The most important thing is that Uli, now Wucheng, as a vassal state of Zhu Yunwen, was directly under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty and had no direct relationship with Champa.

The most obvious benefit here is tariffs.

There is a small area along the coast, which belongs to Wucheng. Lu and Zhu Yunwen are already planning to build a small port. The customs duties will generate a considerable income.

With 50,000 elite soldiers at hand, there is no need to worry about Champa.

Champa was so scared that they didn't even have time to provoke us.

Zhu Ying frowned and asked, "Why didn't Zhan Wang come to the welcoming team this time?"

To put it bluntly, this is extremely disrespectful.

Zhu Yunwen quickly replied, "It was my selfishness that prevented me from sending him the news. I deliberately asked him to come later because I wanted Grandpa Huang and my elder brother to stay here for a few more days."

Zhu Ying then nodded.

As the dragon chariot entered, the appearance of Wucheng was also revealed.

A large number of people lined the streets to welcome him, shouting "Long live the emperor", and the scene was quite lively.

But the accent in this speech was very heavy, and it was obvious that it was spoken on the spur of the moment.

Zhu Ying's gaze also moved around the city.

For a city, the main road is naturally the most prosperous place in the city.

Both sides of Wucheng's main road have obviously been renovated, and the construction method roughly reflects some of the Zhengyang Avenue in the capital.

When Zhu Yunwen came here, he also brought a lot of craftsmen with him.

Among them, cement technology is naturally included.

Just from the visual point of view, apart from the main road, the houses behind are still scattered, and there are even many thatched houses, which look rather dilapidated.

Looking closely at the people lining the streets to welcome them, most of them were pale and thin, dressed in tattered clothes, and had a somewhat numb look in their eyes.

From these situations, Zhu Ying could guess that Zhu Yunwen's focus was not on the people.

Perhaps more was focused on coastal trade.

This is actually understandable.

Nowadays, Wucheng does not need too much arable land for planting. Whether it is economic income or other aspects, it can all be obtained from maritime trade.

For the people of Wucheng, there is obviously no need to recruit soldiers or anything like that, as there is no population dependence.

There were hardly any Zham people among the soldiers guarding the city, all of them were Han people.

When the soldiers saw His Majesty and the Crown Prince, they were very excited, but they could not shout due to their duties.

Zhu Ying was actually somewhat dissatisfied with this situation.

Because the current development of Wucheng has obviously deviated from the foundation of local people and is completely dependent on maritime trade and the care of the Ming Dynasty.

This is somewhat different from the overseas vassal state that Zhu Ying wanted to develop.

As for schools, I didn't see any of them, let alone any education.

Entering from the main road, we soon arrived at the Prince of Wu's Palace in the center of the city.

The Prince of Wu's Palace is very grand and was built entirely according to the standards of a royal palace.

There is a strong flavor of the imperial palace in Beijing here.

"Yunwen, this is built according to the standards of our capital, right?" Zhu Ying asked with a smile.

Lu's heart skipped a beat. Her focus had always been on the Crown Prince, because Lu knew very well who would be in charge of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Zhu Yunwen did not think much about it, but replied with a bit of pride: "Yes, the City Lord's Mansion was really dilapidated at the beginning. After thinking about it, there was nothing to renovate, so we simply demolished it all and rebuilt it."

"It took me a lot of effort to build this mansion, but the people here are too stupid and I couldn't even find good craftsmen. It took a lot of effort to recruit craftsmen from the Ming Dynasty to complete it."

The smile on Zhu Yuanzhang's face gradually faded as he listened to Zhu Yunwen's words.

Obviously, after arriving here, Zhu Yunwen began to focus on enjoying life.

Mrs. Lu was a little anxious, but she couldn't say anything at this time.

Zhu Yunwen obviously didn't realize the change in atmosphere, and still said with a smile: "It's still more than half a month before the New Year, Grandpa Huang and Big Brother should spend the New Year with your grandson this time."

This was what Zhu Yuanzhang thought, so naturally he had no intention of objecting.

He just turned around and glanced at Zhu Ying.

Having been with the old man for so long, Zhu Ying knew what the old man meant with just a glance.

This was to give Zhu Yunwen a warning.

Zhu Yunwen naturally attached great importance to the visit of his grandfather and elder brother.

A lot of thought went into every aspect, be it the welcoming team or the banquet.

"Yun Wen, you disappoint me."

After the dinner, Zhu Ying naturally called Zhu Yunwen over without showing any mercy.

Zhu Yunwen was stunned.

"Brother, I..."

Zhu Ying raised his hand to interrupt: "Let me ask you, before you came to Champa, what did your brother tell you in the capital?"

"Do you want me to fulfill my duty of educating you?"

"But tell me, what are you doing now?"

"Let's not talk about anything else. There are several Chinese schools in Wucheng alone, and how many of these people can speak Chinese?"

Zhu Yunwen panicked and said quickly: "Brother, I was wrong."

Zhu Ying looked at Zhu Yunwen and said directly: "If you just want to be rich and have fun, why did you come to this distant Champa? Wouldn't it be much more comfortable to be a rich prince in the capital, without having to worry about anything?"

"In terms of military strength, you are completely dependent on the 50,000 elite soldiers I gave you. I have sent people to the military camp to inquire. Since arriving in Wucheng, you have not even summoned a single soldier, and you have ignored the local people."

"The city walls are in such a state, and there is no intention to repair them. Instead, they are building mansions on a large scale."

"That's all. I also heard that the last time you went to the military camp was three months ago. Now your mother is still helping to manage the affairs of the army."

Zhu Ying really didn't expect that Zhu Yunwen would be so bad.

You should know that in history, Emperor Jianwen was also very dedicated to state affairs.

He originally thought that Zhu Yunwen would govern Champa well when he came to Champa, but he did not expect this result.

In fact, most of these changes were influenced by Zhu Ying.

But then again, this was basically the situation for most of the princes who were sent to remote areas in history.

After hearing such a scolding, Zhu Yunwen was at a loss and didn't know how to respond.

I felt even more aggrieved.

I have already been exiled to Champa, what else do you want from me?

Can't I just enjoy myself a little?

The position of Crown Prince has already been handed over.

These foreigners are not the people of the Ming Dynasty, so why should I care about their lives?

You have given me elite soldiers and a navy garrison, so why should I develop my own military force?

Because I have developed my own private army, you think I have bad intentions towards the Ming Dynasty.

In the end, neither left nor right is right.

Zhu Yunwen only dared to think about these words in his heart and did not dare to say them in front of his elder brother.

At this point, Zhu Ying actually gave up.

In fact, through intelligence, it was discovered that the person in charge in Wucheng now is no longer Zhu Yunwen, but the Lu family.

Zhu Yunwen's situation had a lot to do with the Lu family.

A large portion of the officers of the 50,000 elite soldiers were graduates of the Ming Military Academy, and some were even former members of the Xuanjia Guard.

The person to whom they are most loyal is, of course, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

From there I learned that the one who gave the orders most frequently in the military camp was Lu.

To put it simply, the military power had been transferred from Zhu Yunwen to the Lu family a long time ago.

In fact, these soldiers were quite supportive at the beginning, but the King of Wu didn't care, and gradually it became like this.

Including the construction of coastal ports, everything is controlled by the Lu family.

It can be said that the Lu family is the current lord of Wucheng, and Zhu Yunwen is just a puppet in name only.

Champa actually serves as a bridgehead for Zhu Ying's South Seas plan, so naturally it must be fully controlled.

Especially in the area of ​​education, we must speed up its implementation.

Because Champa did not previously belong to the Han cultural circle, it was more difficult to educate it than Annan.

Under the current circumstances, Zhu Ying also realized that there was not much point in looking for Zhu Yunwen.

The final implementation can only be done by the Lu family.