About three days later, Zhu Yuanzhang had received all the information about Xi'an Prefecture.
At that moment, he was extremely furious. The reason was nothing more than the absurd things his second son, Prince Qin, Zhu Shuang, and his concubine had done, which made Zhu Yuanzhang feel very helpless and angry.
What she found frustrating was that she actually had such a son, and what angered her was that her son and Consort Deng were so unscrupulous.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's memory, he had heard many rumors over the years about the Prince of Qin's misdeeds in his fiefdom, and he had often warned the Prince of Qin.
Unexpectedly, the King of Qin ignored his warnings and went even further, completely disregarding him.
This behavior greatly disappointed Zhu Yuanzhang. According to the information Zhu Yuanzhang had received, the crimes committed by Prince Qin, Zhu Shuang, were too numerous to count, and his concubine, Consort Deng, was even worse.
These two men caused immense suffering to the people of Xi'an Prefecture, leading to countless displacements, broken homes, and the loss of numerous lives.
This caused Zhu Yuanzhang great distress.
Inside the imperial study, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the memorial in his hand, slammed his hand on the table, and then angrily rebuked:
"King Zhu Shuang of Qin is ignorant of human affairs, indulges his wicked concubine, and is as stupid as a beast!"
The fact that Zhu Yuanzhang made such a comment about his son shows just how much he hated and disappointed Prince Qin, Zhu Shuang.
Below, Lan Yu, the Minister of Justice, sat in a chair.
After the previous Minister of Justice was investigated, Zhu Yunwen suggested to Zhu Yuanzhang that Lan Yu be appointed as the Minister of Justice.
Firstly, it also grants Lan Yu some rights to help Zhu Yunwen. Secondly, Zhu Yunwen's goal is also to preserve Lan Yu.
Since Lan Yu was a brave and skilled general, the threat he posed to Zhu Yuanzhang lay in his ability to lead troops into battle.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang always harbored resentment towards Lan Yu and was quite wary of him, but Zhu Yunwen wanted to protect Lan Yu.
Therefore, Lan Yu was stripped of his military power, forced to injure his own leg, and given a civil service position as Minister of Justice.
The goal was to weaken Lan Yu's military power in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, to make Lan Yu appear weak and take up a civil service job, thereby alleviating Zhu Yuanzhang's concerns about Lan Yu.
Therefore, at this moment, Lan Yu, in his capacity as Minister of Justice, sat in the Imperial Study. The reason he was qualified to sit there was not because of any special status, but simply because he had injured his leg earlier.
He hasn't fully recovered yet. Even if he does, he'll have to pretend to be seriously injured in front of Zhu Yuanzhang so that Zhu Yuanzhang knows that Lan Yu is currently unable to lead troops into battle.
This is the only way to put Zhu Yuanzhang's mind at ease.
After his anger subsided, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Lan Yu and said:
"Tell me, what should be done with Zhu Shuang?"
It was quite reasonable for Zhu Yuanzhang to summon Lan Yu, who was the Minister of Justice, to discuss this matter.
After all, Zhu Yunwen had already blown things out of proportion, and the truth could not be hidden forever. Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to deal with the matter publicly.
Lan Yu hesitated for a moment upon hearing this. He was indeed not very good at these things, but he knew better what Zhu Yunwen meant by arranging him to be the Minister of Justice.
Even though he wasn't very comfortable with this kind of work, Lan Yu had to grit his teeth and keep going. Only by becoming familiar with some clerical work and temporarily distancing himself from military duties could he truly save his life and dispel Zhu Yuanzhang's idea of killing him.
Then Lan Yu spoke up, saying, "In my opinion, King Zhu Shuang of Qin has indeed gone too far. Although his concubine has been executed, King Zhu Shuang's own crimes cannot be let off so easily and he should be severely punished."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly and said, "Of course, he should be severely punished, but how should the crime be defined? What is your opinion?"
Lan Yu hesitated for a moment, then spoke:
"In my opinion, Prince Zhu Shuang of Qin is, after all, a prince, and Your Majesty's second son. It would be inappropriate to punish him in any way. However, strict discipline is acceptable. For example, Your Majesty could bring Prince Zhu Shuang to your side and discipline him strictly."
Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes and looked at Lan Yu, saying:
"You mean, we should keep him imprisoned by our side?"
Lan Yu lowered his head. Although he didn't say it so harshly, that was indeed what he meant.
There were some things he couldn't say too directly, but he wouldn't deny them when Zhu Yuanzhang asked.
Zhu Yuanzhang understood Lan Yu's meaning, so he took a deep breath, rubbed his forehead, and said:
“We really should discipline him properly and stop indulging him like this. Otherwise, the people will laugh at us for not knowing how to discipline our son.”
At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned serious:
"Send Prince Zhu Shuang of Qin back to Nanjing immediately. Furthermore, revoke his title of Prince of Qin and reclaim his fiefdom of Xi'an Prefecture. From now on, the Anle Palace, located next to the Imperial Palace, shall never be allowed to step out of the palace gates again."
Zhu Yuanzhang spoke with great anger and a very firm attitude. Anle Palace itself was a dilapidated and very small palace, usually deserted, let alone inhabited.
Zhu Yuanzhang was clearly very desperate and angry with Zhu Shuang, otherwise he would never have imprisoned him in such a place.
And judging from this, it seems they intend to imprison him for life in the Anle Palace.
This was tantamount to banishing the prince to the cold palace, stripping him of all rights and even his freedom.
The misery and desolation of his later life were already foreseeable.
Lan Yu stood up and slowly cupped his hands, saying:
"Yes, sir..."
Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your legs aren't good, sit down. We have something else we'd like to discuss with you."
Lan Yu slowly sat down, looking at Zhu Yuanzhang with a puzzled expression.
Zhu Yuanzhang also looked at Lan Yu, and after a moment of silence, he slowly spoke:
"Tell me, what are the abilities of this Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen?"
Lan Yu hurriedly spoke up:
"His Highness the Crown Prince is unparalleled in wisdom and compassion. He treats the people well and has the world in his heart. In the court, he can suppress civil and military officials, and in the countryside, he can discover the suffering of people at any time and come up with solutions. In every aspect, he is absolutely a rare talent."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly and said, "You have a high opinion of him, and you admire him greatly?"
Lan Yu nodded and said, "I admire him very much!"
Zhu Yuanzhang paused for a moment, then suddenly said seriously:
"We've always been worried that you'll become a threat to Yun-hu..."
Upon hearing this, Lan Yu immediately tensed up.
He worried that Zhu Yuanzhang's question might mean he still intended to kill him.
Could it be that all this time of keeping a low profile, all this time of restraint, and all this time of Zhu Yunwen's protection has still not worked?
Just as Lan Yu was getting nervous, Zhu Yuanzhang said again:
"Don't be afraid. Now, we're not worried anymore. Yunheng can keep your bunch of arrogant and unruly soldiers in check. We trust you all, and we trust Yunheng even more!"
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