Zhu Xiong Ying realized that she had been somewhat careless, really quite careless.
Although some of his brothers and sisters have already gone to their fiefdoms with their father, there are still quite a few imperial grandsons in Yingtian Prefecture, and a large number of them are still in their ancestral home of Fengyang.
Zhu Xiong Ying's brothers of the same generation are almost thirty! If you include his sisters, the number has already exceeded fifty.
Fortunately, not all of her younger siblings came this time, so Zhu Xiong Ying felt it was alright. She thought it was about enough, even though there were quite a few of them. This made her feel much more at ease.
Zhu Xiong Ying didn't think there was anything wrong with this matter; she still needed to make preparations. This time, she had to be careful and hold a grand celebration.
The Mu family was a truly renowned family, not referring to the little princess of the Mu family in "The Deer and the Cauldron," but because the Mu family genuinely held sway over southern Yunnan, their presence bringing considerable stability to the southwestern border of the Ming Dynasty. After all, throughout the entire Ming Dynasty, the southwestern border had never been truly stable.
As Zhu's adopted son, Mu Ying was undoubtedly the most promising and loyal.
At the age of twelve, Mu Ying began his military career by following Zhu Yuanzhang in his campaigns.
At the age of eighteen, he was appointed as a military commander and participated in the defense of Zhenjiang, thus beginning his important military duties. In the ninth year of the Hongwu reign, he served as deputy commander-in-chief and followed Deng Yu in the campaign against the Tubo (Tibetan) Empire. For his military achievements, he was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Xiping and granted a certificate of merit. In the fourteenth year of the Hongwu reign, he, along with Fu Youde and Lan Yu, led an army of 300,000 to conquer Yunnan.
After Yunnan was pacified, Mu Ying stayed in Yunnan to guard the southern part of the province. He promoted land reclamation, encouraged agriculture and sericulture, respected scholars and promoted education, spread the culture of the Central Plains, and stabilized the border.
When Empress Ma passed away, Mu Ying was so grief-stricken that he coughed up blood.
This time, Mu Ying brought with him a considerable military record when he entered the capital. The ruler of Luchuan, Si Lunfa, had rebelled and invaded Dingbian again, with an army that boasted 300,000 men. However, under Mu Ying's command, over 40,000 were beheaded, and 37 elephants were captured alive.
Zhu Xiong Ying had no reason to be careless towards such meritorious officials and retainers; he had to value them and treat them well.
As the first among the third generation of the emperor, Zhu Xiong Ying, though dressed in ordinary clothes, possessed an extraordinary bearing. By this time, the other imperial grandsons also knew that they were different from Zhu Xiong Ying.
Theoretically, they were naturally Zhu Du's grandsons. However, everyone understood that their primary status was that of sons of princes, not grandsons of the emperor. Zhu Xiong Ying, their elder brother, was someone they had to curry favor with.
Zhu Xiong Ying, with a stern face, looked at her younger brothers shivering in the cold wind and said irritably, "I didn't mean to make things difficult for you. I just thought that the Ming Dynasty's royal family should set an example for the world, and that the Ming Dynasty should treat its meritorious officials well. Besides, the Marquis of Xiping is not only a meritorious official of our family, but also a relative!"
Looking at her younger brothers, Zhu Xiong Ying felt somewhat annoyed.
Some of the younger cousins seemed a little guilty, while others listened attentively. However, some were impatient, and there were also those who appeared humble on the surface but were actually disdainful at heart.
As the first among the third generation of emperors, Zhu Xiong Ying felt it was his responsibility and obligation to educate his younger brothers, just like his father had done.
However, to be fair, Da Zhu was very shrewd. Even if his younger brothers had some thoughts in their hearts, they didn't dare to show them at all. They were all obedient younger brothers in front of Da Zhu.
However, none of Zhu Du's younger brothers were actually easy to deal with; the vast majority of them were resourceful and belonged to the group with the lowest moral standards in the Ming Dynasty.
Looking at her younger brothers, Zhu Xiong Ying couldn't recognize them all at once, mainly because there were just too many of them.
Zhu Xiong Ying took a willow twig from Wang Cheng En and, looking at his brothers who each had their own thoughts, simply circled around expressionlessly. At this moment, Zhu Xiong Ying looked more like a hunter, which slowly made his brothers uneasy.
Suddenly, Zhu Xiong Ying spoke up, "Zhu Jixi, Zhu Jiye, Zhu Jihuang, step forward!"
Prince Zhu Gang's three sons quickly stepped forward, but at this moment they were also starting to feel uneasy. It was a small matter that the Crown Prince asked them to step forward; the main problem was that the Crown Prince's tone was not very friendly, which made them think more deeply.
Zhu Xiong Ying looked at Zhu Ji Xi and said, "You are the eldest son of the Prince of Jin, and have been granted the title of Prince of Jin's heir. You have also studied quite a bit over the years. Normally, it wouldn't be my place to say anything; it's your third uncle's responsibility to discipline you. However, now that you are in Yingtian Prefecture, I, your elder brother, am going to deal with you!"
Suddenly, Zhu Xiong Ying swung a willow branch and struck Zhu Ji Xi. Although Zhu Ji Xi was wearing a thick robe, the pain was probably not too great, but the sound of the willow branch hitting the robe was quite loud and rather frightening.
Zhu Xiong Ying glanced at Zhu Ji Xi, who was bowing his head and remaining silent, with a hint of disappointment, then roared at Zhu Ji Huang, "Give me your hand!"
Zhu Jihuang timidly extended his right hand, and Zhu Xiong Ying immediately lashed out with the willow branch. Zhu Jihuang was clever and dodged immediately.
At less than nine years old, Zhu Jihuang could be considered a problem child. He was Zhu Xi's third son born out of wedlock, but the boy was somewhat violent, paranoid, and gloomy. In fact, his third uncle really liked his eldest son, Zhu Jixi, but Zhu Jihuang was quite resentful and always seized every opportunity to sow discord.
He not only sowed discord in front of his father, but also in front of Zhu Di, the Right Minister of the Imperial Clan Court.
Zhu Xiong Ying glanced at Zhu Ji Huang and roared, "Hide?"
Zhu Jihuang immediately knelt down, looking pitiful, "Royal brother..."
Zhu Xiong Ying showed no mercy and roared, "Guards, drag him to the Meridian Gate and give him ten strokes of the cane!"
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