That evening at the Prince of Yan's residence, Prince Zhu Di treated Zhu Yunwen to a feast of fine wine and food.
On the surface, everyone was always friendly and amicable, as if the two uncles and nephews had a very good relationship.
But in reality, they each had their own hidden thoughts.
After a hearty meal, Zhu Yunwen began to devise a plan to get Ma Sanbao back from Zhu Di.
Ma Sanbao was Zheng He's original name, and Ma Sanbao's life was quite unfortunate.
He encountered war when he was young, at which time Zhu Yuanzhang was sending troops to quell the war in Yunnan.
Ma Sanbao was born into a family in Yunnan. Affected by the war, he was captured by the Ming army.
The Ming Dynasty army generally castrated young prisoners.
As a result, Ma Sanbao, who was still a child, was drowned and became a eunuch.
Later, these prisoners were also sent to the battlefield to fight for the Ming army.
Ma Sanbao was one of the better performers. He fought fearlessly and, despite his young age (only a teenager), he had already shown remarkable leadership talent.
At that time, he caught the eye of Zhu Di, who had good judgment, but unfortunately his methods were too ruthless. He forced Ma Sanbao into his army and constantly exploited him.
As long as Ma Sanbao is still alive, he will always help Zhu Di charge into battle.
Afterwards, Zhu Di praised him, which can be seen as winning people's hearts.
But Ma Sanbao wasn't stupid; he knew he had this lucky opportunity because he was useful to him.
If he were to die on the battlefield due to bad luck, he believed that Zhu Di would have no regrets and would not lament for him.
As a military genius, Ma Sanbao certainly had this understanding.
Zhu Yunwen, who was familiar with history, planned to use this as a starting point to take Ma Sanbao from Zhu Di.
Of course, how to obtain it also depends on Zhu Yunwen's methods.
Then Zhu Yunwen said:
"Fourth Uncle, I've heard that you're always good at making use of talent. You always manage to discover and utilize talent to the fullest extent. I wonder if that's true or not?"
What does this mean?
Zhu Di, clearly not having figured it out yet, smiled and said:
"It's not that I'm particularly good at utilizing talent, but I do value those who are talented."
Zhu Yunwen smiled and said:
"Fourth Uncle is too modest. It is said that even if a eunuch comes into your hands, you can still find his merits. I wonder if it is true or not."
Zhu Di couldn't figure out Zhu Yunwen's purpose in bringing up this topic, and instead relaxed a bit, saying to Zhu Yunwen:
"Indeed, my Prince Yan's mansion has some talented people who were originally eunuchs, and they have all performed quite well in their work for me."
Zhu Yunwen seemed to have become interested and said:
"In that case, I am quite curious. I wonder if I could meet these eunuchs under Fourth Uncle's command. I'd like to see what's so special about eunuchs."
Zhu Di, unable to figure out Zhu Yunwen's tactics, nodded and said:
"That's no problem at all!"
With a wave of his hand, a servant left. A short while later, he returned with five or six eunuchs.
These eunuchs, although they were born into eunuch families, were not wearing the usual clothes that eunuchs wear at this moment.
Some were even wearing official robes, clearly indicating that they still held positions within the Prince of Yan's residence.
So Zhu Yunwen casually asked one of the eunuchs:
"May I have your name?"
The eunuch bowed and said:
"My name is Li Zhou..."
Zhu Yunwen nodded and asked, "What kind of talent are you?"
Li Zhou lowered his head: "I have no great talent, but His Highness the Prince of Yan thinks highly of me and has arranged some tasks for me in his residence."
Prince Yan, Zhu Di, laughed and said, "This lad is too modest. Don't let his thin appearance fool you; he's a formidable warrior on the battlefield, with considerable martial arts skills. He's been on the battlefield more than a dozen times, and he's always managed to escape unscathed!"
"That's not simple."
Zhu Yunwen immediately pretended his eyes lit up, but in reality, he had no shortage of people like that.
He was just pretending to be interested, and then he said:
"So, what are the names of the next few? What makes them stand out?"
Then the next few eunuchs introduced themselves, and Zhu Di would explain the differences between them one by one.
Some were brave and skilled in battle, some had some military talent, some had good academic abilities, and some had good work skills.
When the fourth person introduced himself, he said his name was Ma Sanbao.
Zhu Di's description of him also stated that he possessed considerable military talent.
Zhu Yunwen smiled and said to Ma Sanbao:
"Having military talent is a very good thing. Judging from how strong you are, you must be a fierce killer on the battlefield. Usually, someone as good at killing as you might have some kind of religious belief."
Speaking of which, I'm also very interested in religious beliefs, such as Islam. I admire some of the believers in Islam.
Upon hearing this, Ma Sanbao immediately showed an excited expression and said:
"Your Highness the Crown Prince is also interested in Islam? To be honest, Your Highness the Crown Prince, I am a follower of Islam."
Ma Sanbao's excited reaction caused Zhu Di to frown slightly.
Before this, he had never heard Ma Sanbao say that he was a follower of Islam.
However, the moment Zhu Yunwen mentioned Islam and said he was interested in it, Ma Sanbao immediately said he was also interested in Islam.
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