Zhu Di had already understood Zhu Yunwen's meaning: no matter what Zhu Di said, no matter what the situation in the north was, he would not be given any troops or allowed to lead troops into battle.
This made Zhu Di unable to suppress his anger.
Zhu Yunwen began plotting against him from the very beginning. On the surface, he punished Fu Youde by sending him to the north to train new soldiers, but in reality, he seized Zhu Di's military power.
Later, he repeatedly rejected Zhu Di's idea of taking control of the military, even though it was Zhu Yuanzhang's original intention for the princes to have military power.
He had always implemented the policy of having vassal kings guard the borders, delegating power to them because he trusted them greatly.
After all, they were all his sons. But things were different now. Having read history books, Zhu Yuanzhang knew the dangers of the vassal kings.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang actually supported Zhu Yunwen's plan to seize Zhu Di's military power.
After all, historical records show that Zhu Di later succeeded in rebelling.
This proves that Zhu Yuanzhang's previous idea was wrong. He could enfeoff princes, but he could not allow them to control military power.
Zhu Di, of course, was unaware of Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts, so he said to Zhu Yunwen:
"Your Highness, what does this mean? Am I, as a prince, not even qualified to lead troops into battle? My father once said that the Ming Dynasty's territory should be protected by us, the descendants of the Ming Dynasty."
As a vassal king in the north, I should rightfully hold military power to defend against the northern threats. However, the Crown Prince has repeatedly prevented me from wielding military power; doesn't this also contradict my father's previous wishes?
This time, before Zhu Yunwen could speak, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke first:
"Zhu Di, some of the ideas and policies we had in the past were our own, but the future belongs to the Crown Prince, so the decision-making process will naturally be up to him."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Di's face instantly turned ugly. He knew that Zhu Yuanzhang was currently quite obedient to Zhu Yunwen.
I never expected it to have come to this.
For Zhu Yunwen's sake, he actually began to openly acknowledge that Zhu Yunwen could overturn his previous decisions.
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang even admired Zhu Yunwen to some extent.
He agreed with Zhu Yunwen because he had read historical records and knew that Zhu Di would rebel in the future, so he did not allow Zhu Di to control the military.
However, he felt that Zhu Yunwen was actually able to strip Zhu Di of his military power based on his own intuition.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, this showed that Zhu Yunwen was capable and had foresight.
Little did he know that although he had read history books, Zhu Yunwen was a time traveler and knew more than him.
Zhu Yunwen knew everything recorded in historical books, and he also knew everything not recorded in historical books.
It is even more comprehensive than what is recorded in historical books. After all, the historical books that Zhu Yunwen brought with him when he traveled through time only roughly recorded the direction of the Ming Dynasty court, and many details were not recorded.
But Zhu Yunwen read more than just this one book, so he knew much more.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang believed that all of this was due to Zhu Yunwen's foresight.
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang had said this, Zhu Di had no choice but to suppress his anger and reluctantly speak:
"But the north is my territory after all. Wouldn't it be more convenient to let me handle it? Besides, my military skills are not bad. If I were to handle it, it might not be so bad that we could get a good result."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen asked, "Between you and Fu Youde, who is more capable of leading troops into battle?"
Zhu Di was stunned for a moment. Although he considered himself to have military genius, he was far inferior to a veteran like Fu Youde.
So all I could do was take a deep breath and say:
“I admit that General Fu Youde is indeed more capable than me.”
Zhu Yunwen then asked, "Who is training the troops stationed in the north now?"
Zhu Di spoke up, "It is General Fu Youde!"
Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly and said, "Since you are not as good as Fu Youde in leading troops, and the soldiers in the north were trained by Fu Youde, not you, then what reason is there to give you this opportunity to lead troops?"
Zhu Di opened his mouth, but didn't know what to do.
He could only sigh. He knew that this time, he had gone to great lengths to get the Northern Yuan and Goryeo to unite and take some actions against the northern part of the Ming Dynasty.
However, he was unable to secure the opportunity to gain military power.
On the contrary, if war really breaks out in the north, then Prince Yan, Zhu Di, will have to provide food and supplies for his soldiers.
As things have unfolded, not only have we not gained any advantage, but we've also had to pay a heavy price. It's a classic case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead.
Even Zhu Di regretted his foolish move.
To ease the awkward atmosphere, he could only say one sentence:
"In that case, I will take this opportunity to spend more time with my father in Nanjing."
He thought these words were a way to save face, but to his surprise, Zhu Yuanzhang casually waved his hand and shook his head, saying:
"There's no need for that. After the New Year, you can go back to your northern home and be a carefree prince."
Zhu Di's fingers trembled slightly.
For some reason, he felt that when he returned to see Zhu Yuanzhang this time, Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude towards him had changed a lot, and he was not as kind to him as before.
It should be noted that Zhu Di was one of Zhu Yuanzhang's favorite sons, second only to Zhu Biao.
Every time Zhu Di came to the capital, Zhu Yuanzhang was always reluctant to let him leave. But this time, Zhu Yuanzhang urged him to leave after the New Year, as if he didn't like Zhu Di very much.
This made Zhu Di wonder if he had done something to offend Zhu Yuanzhang.
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