Old Zhu didn't actually know much about his descendants. The reason wasn't just favoritism; the main reason was that he had simply too many descendants. He couldn't even take care of his sons, let alone his grandsons.
As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang had never even met many of his great-grandchildren. Not to mention meeting them, he might not even know their names. At most, he could tell they were members of the imperial clan and which lineage they came from based on their generational names, and that was all.
However, even Zhu Yunwen, the eldest son of the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, was not very well known to the emperor himself. Even though he was Zhu Yunwen's son, and the legitimate heir, he still didn't know much about him.
Compared to his other grandsons, Zhu Yunwen was better off with his father. They had met many times, dined together, and he was occasionally criticized by Zhu. In the eyes of the other princes and grandsons, this was a blessing, a remarkable thing.
Looking at Zhu Yunwen, the old Zhu asked, "You? Our people of the Great Ming no longer have to worry about a lack of resources, do you think you can accomplish that?"
Zhu Yunwen didn't feel looked down upon; he was simply used to such things. He knew how others perceived him, but in reality, he didn't care about those things anymore.
Zhu Yunying remained calm and didn't care about these things. He smiled without saying a word, deciding to wait and see.
To be honest, I still don't have much confidence in Zhu Yunwen. That kid has indeed done a lot of reliable and unreliable things. The key is that what Zhu Yunwen just said was really too much, so exaggerated that even Zhu Yunying couldn't believe it.
But Little Zhu was unhappy, acting very protectively, "Great-grandfather, Second Uncle hasn't announced the good news yet, why is Great-grandfather talking about Second Uncle?!"
Old Zhu was both amused and annoyed. He gently tugged at Little Zhu's ear and said, "Have we spoiled you for nothing? You get angry with us just because we said a few words to your second uncle?"
"Go ahead and pull it off, even if you pull our ears off, it'll still be great-grandfather who cares." Little Zhu said fearlessly, "Great-grandfather, we should see what good things Uncle has to offer! Uncle is in a hurry to enter the palace to see us, so there must be something good going on. Uncle knows what he's doing."
Old Zhu smiled and gently put his arm around Little Zhu, who naturally sat on Old Zhu's lap.
Seeing the little boy leaning against Old Zhu's suspicious lap, Zhu Yunying couldn't stand it anymore. "You're almost ten years old, and you're still sitting on your great-grandfather's lap all day long. Tell me, what kind of behavior is this!"
"We haven't said a word, but you're the one who talks too much nonsense!" Old Zhu glared at him and said irritably, "If you ask me, you're just being troublesome."
Little Zhu replied matter-of-factly, "I'm eighteen, twenty-eight, and I'm also my great-grandfather's great-grandson!"
Zhu Yunwen felt superfluous. He had come to deliver good news, but now... Although he was still noticed by everyone, he seemed somewhat out of place. Of course, Zhu Yunwen was numb to it all; this wasn't the first or second time. His imperial grandfather was just that biased and never tried to hide it.
Zhu Yunying stopped caring about these things and looked at Zhu Yunhuo, asking, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Zhu Yunwen quickly replied, "Your Majesty, the fleet found some good oil in the South Seas, and the locals are eating it. I was thinking that our Ming Dynasty has more and more grain, but not enough oil, so I had the fleet transport more back."
Old Zhu became serious and said, "This is a big deal, don't talk nonsense."
Zhu Yunwen quickly assured him, saying, "Grandfather, even if I am incompetent, I know what is right and wrong. We dare not joke about these things. We have already sent someone to fetch it, and the oil should be delivered in the next few days."
Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunying and said, "Have someone from the Beijing Garrison go there and bring that oil back as soon as possible so we can take a look."
Zhu Yunying smiled and nodded, seemingly understanding something as well. "Grandfather, although Yunhu is a bit of a playboy, we feel that he is also sensible and wouldn't joke about these things. Grandfather should still make preparations. If Yunhu really finds grain and oil for our Great Ming, Grandfather should reward Yunhu handsomely."
Old Zhu beamed and said, "To be honest, you did this. Others may not know, but we do. Years ago, when you first took command of the navy, you assembled a fleet for Yun Tong and the others. They didn't contribute anything to those matters; they just reaped the benefits."
Zhu Yunwen thought about it and realized it made sense. Before he established his own residence, he seemed to have a share in the ships that went to Southeast Asia, just like his two older sisters. When he first established his own residence, his elder brother gave him a large amount of gold and silver jewelry, saying it was the money earned by the Southeast Asian merchants.
Over the years, Zhu Yunwen didn't actually get involved much in the fleet's affairs; he only knew that these fleets were very lucrative. Not only did his two older sisters have shares, but his uncle's family also had shares. Most importantly, the fleet needed to be linked to the navy.
Many times, it's even unclear whether it's a navy or a fleet.
“He has just established his own household, and the expenses are considerable. Xi’er and Yue’er also need dowries, so as their elder brother, I naturally have to worry about them,” Zhu Yunying said matter-of-factly. “But now, we basically don’t care about them anymore; they’ve taken good care of themselves.”
Looking at Zhu Yunying, Zhu Yunying asked, "Tell me, what exactly happened with that grain and oil?"
Zhu Yunwen didn't hide anything and said, "It seems that the people in the fleet noticed that the natives of Southeast Asia don't seem to lack food and oil. They said that their big trees bear fruit, which can be pressed for oil, and there's a lot of oil."
Old Zhu, who had initially been hopeful, suddenly became disbelieving and frowned, saying, "Can the fruit on the tree be pressed for oil? Could it be tung oil? Let me tell you, although tung oil is edible, it's not very good."
This isn't because Old Zhu lacks common sense; tung oil actually existed as early as the Sui and Tang dynasties, and was cultivated extensively during the Song dynasty. Although many people consider tung oil inedible, it was still usable in ancient times. However, tung oil shouldn't be consumed in large quantities and needs to be balanced, a fact many people are aware of.
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