Having resolved Fu Youde's matter, Zhu Yunwen then thought of Feng Sheng. Feng Sheng's situation was different from Fu Youde's. Fu Youde was greedy and had many flaws.
However, Feng Sheng is different. He is relatively low-key and reserved.
Even if Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to find fault with him, it wouldn't be so easy for him to jump out so quickly.
So it should be safe for the time being.
At least Zhu Yuanzhang had not yet found a reason to deal with him.
Historically, Feng Sheng was killed by Zhu Yuanzhang, ultimately due to unfounded suspicion.
If Fu Youde's death was his own doing, then Feng Sheng's death was indeed due to his own strength, which led to him being unjustly suspected and killed.
However, since Fu Youde can be spared for the time being, Zhu Yuanzhang probably won't do anything to Feng Sheng in the short term.
Zhu Yunwen did not go to Feng Sheng to say anything.
After all, Feng Sheng hadn't done anything outrageous, so Zhu Yunwen couldn't use him for the time being.
Zhu Yunwen then returned to the palace.
He continued reading, and through this period of dedicated reading, he found himself becoming much calmer and more composed. He also learned a great deal from the books, becoming better at thinking and dealing with situations.
Time flew by, and the next morning, to the officials' surprise, Zhu Yunwen was also present at the morning court session.
He hadn't come for a long time. Zhu Yunwen appeared unusually calm during court today, with a faint smile on his face.
It was as if he had returned to the time when he was an incredibly confident grandson of the emperor, receiving boundless love and affection.
Zhu Yunwen didn't pay much attention to this; he just glanced at Zhu Yunwen and then looked away.
In his view, as long as Zhu Yunwen doesn't keep going against him, he doesn't necessarily have to go against him.
Because what he wanted to do was rebel, not compete with Zhu Yunwen to become the crown prince.
Even if Zhu Yuanzhang made Zhu Yunwen the crown prince and made him emperor, it would not have affected Zhu Yunwen's later rebellion.
Soon, Zhu Yuanzhang arrived at the imperial court.
He had a smile on his face, but to Fu Youde, that smile was terrifying.
He knew that if it weren't for Zhu Yunwen, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he would probably have already sentenced him, a meritorious official of the Ming Dynasty, to death.
It should be understood that once an emperor has sufficient reason to doubt a meritorious official, that official is not far from death.
Thinking of this, Fu Youde looked at Zhu Yunwen with immense gratitude once again.
The content of today's morning court session was very simple. It mainly consisted of Feng Sheng and Fu Youde reporting on the situation of the campaign against the remnants of the Northern Yuan forces in the north.
After the report, the officials began whispering among themselves, clearly very happy about the victory.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Yes, good. Feng Sheng and Fu Youde have made great contributions this time. They shall be rewarded according to their respective merits. We have nothing else to give you besides these rewards. You are already at the pinnacle of your positions, with very high official ranks and titles."
Feng Sheng immediately replied, "Serving His Majesty and serving the world is what I should do. I don't seek any rewards, so why would I care about any extra rewards?"
He had always taken these things lightly, so Zhu Yuanzhang and his ministers were not surprised when he said such a thing.
Instead, everyone was wondering if Fu Youde would once again ask Zhu Yuanzhang to bestow honors upon him.
Rumors have already spread that Fu Youde has been extremely arrogant and domineering along the way, extorting money from the people in some places as if he were a meritorious official.
It is said that he even wanted to ask the emperor for a thousand acres of fertile land.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Fu Youde also spoke:
"I also feel that Your Majesty does not need to bestow any rewards upon us. Now that the world is at peace, we generals are already fortunate enough. As the saying goes, if you are in a position, you should fulfill your duties."
As generals of the Ming Dynasty, our duty is to fight on all fronts, protect the people, and serve His Majesty wholeheartedly. Such a reward seems somewhat extra and superfluous.
These words shocked all the civil and military officials in the court.
Even Feng Sheng glanced at Fu Youde in surprise. He never expected that this extremely greedy guy would refuse Zhu Yuanzhang's reward after winning such a battle. This was not in line with his character.
Logically speaking, shouldn't this guy take this opportunity to ask Zhu Yuanzhang for more rewards?
Today, they actually refused to accept it, and even the reward they were entitled to was rejected.
Zhu Yuanzhang was also somewhat surprised, and he said:
“Fu Youde, this isn’t like you at all. Normally, you’d seize any opportunity to reward someone, or even create one if there isn’t one. How come you’re refusing even the most basic reward now that you’ve done something right?”
After his conversation with Zhu Yunwen yesterday, Fu Youde already knew what kind of attitude and behavior he should have.
He then sighed and said, "In the past, I was indeed somewhat self-deprecating and went too far."
Although they won the battle this time, on their way back, they also exposed the bad side of human nature by doing some bad things in some villages and places.
Including in the past, they have also done things like seizing farmland from ordinary people.
Now I have realized my mistake. Yesterday, I returned all the fertile land that I had seized and gave the people double the compensation.
Now I deeply understand a principle: I already have enough, and I really shouldn't want to gain anything more.
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