OBS Chapter 1086: This official suffered 8 casualties himself, and killed 0 enemies?
Chapter 1086: This official suffered 8 casualties himself, and killed 0 enemies?
After Zhu Biao left with Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San, Yang Shaofeng was still a little dazed.
On the table are several teacups filled with small dragon-shaped tea balls.
The five brothers came to my house to freeload off my little dragon soup.
Outside the door, a faint aroma of cake still lingered.
The five brothers ate and took things, and Ms. Chang even took a copy of the cake recipe.
If Jin'er hadn't been clever enough to say in advance, "The people of Ningyang have another way to make a living," there would probably have been a bunch of cake shops popping up in the capital very soon.
It might even be a cake branded as "the cake that the emperor and the crown prince both love to eat".
The key point is that before the five brothers started fighting amongst themselves, I made a promise to provide money, manpower, and effort. However, Black Sesame Dumplings kept avoiding the main issues and, apart from arguing with Zhu Xiaowu, didn't offer any decent terms at all.
Therefore, I am certain that I have suffered eight hundred casualties myself, but I have not even managed to kill a thousand enemies.
Yang Shaofeng began to doubt his life. After a long while, he sighed and said, "I thought only the Crown Prince was a black sesame dumpling, but I didn't expect that all five of them are exactly the same, black inside and white outside."
Jin'er covered her mouth and smiled, saying, "My husband is always thinking of making trouble for my adoptive father, the crown prince, Prime Minister Li, and Marquis Chengyi."
"After being tormented so much, they will naturally want to retaliate."
"Besides, this is the capital, the Crown Prince's territory. My husband will always be at a disadvantage here."
“When we return to Ningyang County next time, or go to Dengzhou Prefecture, my husband can make it back again.”
Yang Shaofeng simply curled his lip, "Where in Ningyang County are there any good people?"
"You don't know, but now many places in Jiangnan have started performing plays about how in Ningyang County, the sky is three feet high and bandits rob people on the way."
"Either they'll fabricate stories about how her husband plundered so much that three feet of land in Ningyang County was looted, or they'll say that bandits from Ningyang County robbed people on the way."
Confucius once said, "Will the one who first made funerary figurines have no descendants?"
Yang Shaofeng and Zhu Biao pioneered the use of opera to attack local gentry and worthies, and the local gentry and worthies in Jiangnan naturally learned to use opera to discredit Yang Shaofeng as well.
The difference lies in the fact that one takes a real-life prototype and then exaggerates it artistically, while the other directly creates something out of nothing, fabricates it out of thin air, imagines it out of thin air, and reverses right and wrong.
Unfortunately, Yang Shaofeng and Zhu Biao dared to use opera to attack local gentry because they were confident they could control them.
Those local gentry and gentry used opera to smear Yang Shaofeng, but they forgot that Yang Shaofeng was not a local gentry with only a few servants.
Yang Shaofeng still holds the most unreasonable and unsolvable Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) in his hands during the Hongwu era.
The Imperial Guards' approach to arranging Yang Shaofeng's plays was extremely simple and brutal—first arresting the performers, then following the trail to arrest the local gentry who hired the troupe, and then what the gentry considered "torture to extract confessions" and "framing."
Then, the actors would mysteriously disappear, only to reappear on stage soon after to sing "The White-Haired Girl."
This also led to the Embroidered Uniform Guard becoming even more infamous, and in the Jiangnan region, it was even said to have a miraculous effect of stopping children from crying at night.
"If you cry again, the Imperial Guards will arrest you!"
"The Embroidered Uniform Guards specialize in catching crying children!"
"..."
Yang Shaofeng shook his head, trying to clear his mind of these chaotic thoughts. Jin'er suddenly looked up at Yang Shaofeng with a face full of surprise and exclaimed, "Husband! I can feel our child kicking me!"
Yu'er quickly moved closer and exclaimed, "Where? Where? Let me touch it!"
……
Just as Yang Shaofeng and Yu'er were snuggling close to Jin'er, carefully feeling the baby's movements, Zhu Biao, who had already walked quite a distance away from the Prince Consort's residence, burst into laughter, "Little Five acted quite well today; he really looked like a tough nut to crack back then."
Zhu Xiaowu chuckled twice after receiving the praise, but Zhu Biao looked at Zhu Laosi and said, "You overdid it a bit today. You're just a reckless brute who knows nothing but fighting and killing. What are you pretending to be for the country and the people? Your brother-in-law almost saw through your act!"
Zhu Laosi glanced at Zhu Biao cautiously and whispered, "If my brother-in-law hadn't agreed to provide the money and manpower, I wouldn't have wanted to take up the post."
Zhu Biao glared at Zhu Laosi and snorted coldly, "Understood, General Zhu Di, the Northern Expeditionary Army!"
At this point, Zhu Biao slowly added, "However, you probably won't be able to become the General Who Conquers the North. You might as well become the General Who Conquers the East instead."
“My brother-in-law said that the north is such a cold place, so cold that there are only two or three months of warm weather all year round, and the rest of the time it is the coldest time of winter.”
"Moreover, the north is also your second brother's territory. If you become the General Who Conquers the North, your second brother will have to move to another place."
Zhu Lao Er glanced at Zhu Lao Si with an unfriendly expression, and Zhu Biao continued, "I just thought about it, and I'll send someone to sail to Yin Di'an later. Once we've found the route, our Great Ming will be stable. Then you can lead the troops to Yin Di'an."
"When Xiao Liu and Xiao Qi are a little older and reach the age for enfeoffment, I will arrange for them to go there."
“In the early stages, you, as the fourth brother, will have to put in a lot of effort.”
Zhu Laosi immediately nodded and replied in a deep voice, "Don't worry, elder brother, I will definitely do a good job as the general who conquers the east!"
Zhu Biao was furious again—I've said so much, and all you, Zhu Laosi, heard were those five words, "General Who Conquers the East," right?
After taking a few steps forward in a huff, Zhu Biao stopped again and said to Zhu Lao Er, Zhu Lao San, Zhu Lao Si, and Zhu Xiao Wu, "Our father will announce the matter of succession of titles in a while, which will have some impact on your titles."
Zhu Lao Er said nonchalantly, "Let Dad do whatever he wants if he wants to. Anyway, Mom won't let Dad do whatever he wants, and my brother-in-law will probably try to persuade him."
Zhu Laosan said without any attempt to hide his feelings, "Does our father still think this worthless title is something special? If it were possible, we brothers would prefer to stay in the capital. Whoever wants this worthless title can have it."
Zhu Laosi chuckled twice and said, "Brother, you should try to have more sons. I'll take them to conquer new territories later."
Zhu Laowu rolled his eyes, then moved closer to Chang Mou Nu and said with renewed courage, "I wasn't just acting today!"
Zhu Biao was furious once again.
Is that what I meant?
I don't want these stupid little brothers of mine for even a day longer!
Looking at those few, I don't find them annoying at all!
Zhu Biao glared fiercely at Zhu Lao Er, Zhu Lao San, and the others, and snorted coldly, saying, "What I mean is, let our father do whatever he wants now. As for the inheritance of your titles, I will make other arrangements for you in the future."