Age of Lazurite, Tower of Glass

Chapter 26: A few glasses of wine and chat

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Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, but it started to rain lightly early in the morning. The raindrops drifted in the autumn wind, which was quite cool. As the saying goes, "The autumn wind is bleak and the weather is cool, and the fallen grass and trees turn to frost." The northern part of the Great Wall is bitterly cold, and summer is shorter than that in the south of the Yangtze River. Autumn only lasts a few days, and the long winter will follow.

Prince Ning’s Mansion had been decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations to celebrate the festival a few days ago, and there were flowers and flowers everywhere. There was a steady stream of people coming to visit and give gifts, and many local people brought chickens, wild ducks, seasonal vegetables and fruits. The porch of Prince Ning's Mansion was full of fruits and vegetables, making it as lively as a market.

You must know that during the Hongwu period, people's status levels were regulated. People are roughly divided into civilian households, military households, craftsman households, kitchen households, etc. according to their occupations, and they are not allowed to move around at will. Civilian households include Confucians, doctors, and others; military households include school captains, warriors, archers, shop soldiers, etc.; craftsman households include cooks, tailors, craftsmen, etc. The division of households is extremely strict, passed down from generation to generation in the family, and cannot be changed. Even if you are not interested in the family business, or even if you hate it and don't want to do it, it is impossible to change your household. For example, you were born into a medical household and don’t want to study medicine, but in the official register, in everyone’s eyes, you are just a doctor. You have to go when the government calls you. It doesn't matter your level of medical treatment. If you don't want to study medicine, you can just prescribe random prescriptions. Of course, the premise is that you are not afraid of the dead and causing trouble. Do you want to start over somewhere else? No, each household has a prescribed living area, which is limited to a hundred miles. There are checkpoints everywhere on the main transportation roads. If you want to go out, even to visit relatives, you must have a "road guide" issued by the local government. Just in case, just in case, the road guide is lost, the soldiers at the checkpoint can directly arrest you as a fugitive and send you to the army.

And the punishment was extremely severe. In the early years of Hongwu, there was a complete law: "Da Ming Code" included five major punishments: whipping, rod, migration, exile, and death, and there were countless smaller punishments. "Da Gao" has compiled more than 10,000 warning cases. Throughout the book, there are various torture methods such as cutting off the nose and gouging out the eyes. The most cruel one, Ling Chi, was a common method used in Ming Lv at that time.

Therefore, in such a hierarchical, strict and even rigid society, people live a cautious and cautious life. It was rare that King Ning was generous and easy-going. Although he could not be said to be honest and upright since he arrived in Daning, he never used his power to bully others and harass the place. In Taiqing Temple, he always treated everyone equally regardless of his status, regardless of his status, and responded to all requests. Over the past few years, King Ning Zhu Quan has become quite popular. Chicken, duck, fish and moon cakes with fruits and vegetables all just express the people's sincere love for "Zhenxian".

Not to mention the local officials, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and King Ning is the largest within a thousand miles, not to mention King Yan is here. There was an endless stream of guests coming to visit from the command yamen, the staff of the magistrate and county magistrate of Daning Prefecture, and the Taiqingguan Chamber of Commerce of Duoyan Sanwei of the Mongolian tribe. King Ning had been waiting in the hall to receive him early in the morning, but it was not over until noon.

Prince Ning still had a slight smile on his face, but he was already very impatient in his heart. Gu Qikong asked Hou Xian, who was standing next to him: "Where is your prince?"

"Go back to your highness, the prince is at the mansion."

"Always in your room?"

"Yes, I haven't eaten breakfast or lunch since the whole morning."

"What did he say about the banquet tonight?"

"Back to Your Highness, the prince said that he is not feeling well and will not attend. Please take care of the guests."

Zhu Quan was a little surprised: "Not feeling well? Have you asked a doctor to see you?"

"Go back to your highness. The prince won't let you see the doctor. I went there several times but was kicked out and the door wouldn't open."

Zhu Quan became a little worried and told Hou Xian, "You deal with it first." He hurried to the backyard.

"Autumn rain is rare in life, please let me sleep comfortably in the empty hall." As soon as he entered the inner courtyard, he heard Zhu Di muttering.

Zhu Quan was secretly amused, knowing that this brother usually didn't know how to recite poems and compose poems, so he was probably drunk when he was so literary. I was a little worried at first, but I couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Quan deliberately stepped harder and entered the house in a few steps. Sure enough, Zhu Di was sitting alone on the Kang, pouring himself a drink from a wine pot and a wine glass on the Kang table. The food next to him was untouched and had already cooled down.

When Zhu Di saw Zhu Quan entering the door, his eyes were empty, as if he had disappeared. He poured another glass of wine and took a sip, but stopped reciting poems.

Zhu Quan sat down across from the Kang, picked up the wine jug and found it was empty. He called out: "Come here! Bring the wine!"

Then he poured a glass himself, raised his glass and said to Zhu Di: "Fourth brother, I will drink with you."

Zhu Di smiled bitterly: "There are so many guests in the hall, you go meet the guests, I'm fine."

Zhu Quan smiled and said: "Whatever, no one will die." As he said this, he drank a drink with Zhu Di, put some dishes on the plate in front of Zhu Di, and advised: "Eat some food, don't drink on an empty stomach." .”

Zhu Di shook his head and said nothing, just drinking one cup after another.

Zhu Quan saw that he was listless and wilting, and couldn't help but said: "That North Korean prince will leave tomorrow. I don't think they have anything to do. It is true that the brother and sister have a good relationship."

Zhu Di still didn't speak.

Zhu Quan sighed: "On the other hand, in the capital, I asked Commander Yuan Du to give a memorial like that last time. I'm afraid it won't fool her. Although it was a clever trick to pretend to suspect her, my father should care about her in turn, but," Zhu Quan asked: " Fourth brother, don’t you try to keep her? Missing her will last a lifetime.”

Zhu Di smiled bitterly: "What can I do? She was canonized by Father's imperial decree, and she must go."

Zhu Quan drank a glass of wine: "Lady from the East Palace, Grandson of the Emperor! My father is so confused that I give him everything. What does he know? We don't have any objections to the eldest brother being the prince. Who makes him the eldest son? But this boy, why? Let's forget it. Fourth brother, you have worked hard to fight the Mongols for more than ten years. How many great contributions have you made? How many times better in literary and military skills than that boy? If the eldest brother is gone, it is time to choose the best to establish the prince. Why is it that boy's turn? ?”

Zhu Di didn't speak, but continued to drink one cup after another, but there were waves rolling in his eyes. Was he drunk

"The thought of having to kneel down and worship that kid makes me angry." Zhu Quan said and drank another drink.

Zhu Di was silent.

In the past few days, I saw Lian Hua going out early every day, smiling, often carrying various ingredients, and smelling the aroma from afar; but she always came back after dinner, with a charming and shy look on her face. Although Arima Sanbao followed them all the time, knowing that they had nothing, they still couldn't help but feel unhappy. Thinking of what she said, "We grew up together since childhood," I felt even more depressed.

After drinking a few glasses of wine, all the disappointments in my life came to my mind: because he was his father's fourth son, he was ignored as a child, ignored as a teenager, and didn't even have a name until he was seven years old. All this only inspired me to work harder. I always worked harder than others in studying literature and martial arts, and I was always extra respectful when going to court and entering the palace. Then for more than ten years, he was stationed in the border desert to fight, and how many times did he almost lose his life

Five years ago, the eldest brother Prince Zhu Biao suddenly passed away due to illness. Although he was sad, he had some vague expectations that his efforts over the years might bear fruit.

Who knew that my father would have a grandson? The nephew who knows nothing and has never been to the capital will become the ruler of the empire. He is still just the King of Yan. He is stationed in Peiping and cannot return to the capital unless he is ordered to do so. As soon as the official document arrives, he has to rush into the desert.

To say you don't care is definitely a lie.

However, since he is the King of Yan of the Ming Dynasty, his father still has high hopes for him, right? Leave such an important place like Peiping to yourself. He is the son of his eldest brother and his eldest nephew. Since his father established him, as his uncle, he must try his best to assist. It was not easy for my father to drive away the Mongolian Tatars and conquer the world. The people of the Ming Dynasty had only had a few good days, so I only had to guard the northern border and keep the Ming Dynasty safe.

Zhu Di drank another drink and asked Zhu Quan: "Did you study in Taixue with him when you were a child?"

The Zhu family was large, with more than 20 brothers, more than a dozen sisters, and more than 20 godsons of Zhu Yuanzhang. They all had many children, so it was common for uncommon children and nephews to have mismatched names. Zhu Di was older. When he left home to join the feudal clan at the age of twenty-two, Zhu Yunwen was still a five-year-old boy. When I tried to think back, I could only vaguely see the shadow of a child. Later, when I occasionally returned to Beijing and saw him again, he was already a handsome young man.

Zhu Quan also took a sip, thought about it and said: "He is two years older than me, and we were together in the Imperial Academy. But there are dozens of people in the academy, and I can't play with him, and we are not very close."

Zhu Di asked casually: "Why can't you play?"

Zhu Quan said: "What we play are all boys' things, catching birds and fish with swords, guns and sticks. He is different. He is thin and always stays quietly in the corner. He has more to say to us than Mr. He. Like, Like a girl".

Zhu Di was a little funny: "You are a bad person, but you say that others are quiet."

Zhu Quan smiled and said: "That's right. His knowledge is the best. No matter whether the teacher asks questions or wrong questions, he always answers them fluently."

Zhu Di sighed: "Brother Xiang, brother is like this too."

Speaking of Zhu Biao, both brothers fell silent.

Zhu Quan said after a while: "It's such a pity, eldest brother. He was only thirty-eight years old when he left."

Zhu Di raised his eyes and looked out the window and said slowly: "That's the age I am now. I remember that I happened to be in the capital, and he didn't die no matter what. He kept looking at his father, with tears falling from the corners of his eyes. Yun Wen was helping him on the side. I wiped my tears, but I couldn’t wipe them away.” Zhu Di said, with tears in his usually casual eyes: "Brother is worried. Yun Wen was only seventeen years old at that time, and there are three younger ones below."

Zhu Quan was also a little sad: "I'm afraid that's when my father decided to appoint Yunwen. Once my eldest brother leaves, my father will have aged ten years."

Zhu Di turned around and stared at Zhu Quan: "He is the eldest brother's son and our nephew. The father has made him his grandson, and the family must try their best to help him. Otherwise, how can we be worthy of the eldest brother and the father?"

Zhu Quan was a little stunned, and then looked at Zhu Di: "Yes, I know. I also drank too much and talked drunkenly."

After a long pause, Zhu Quan said again: "What about Yining? Such a lovely girl, why are you willing to let her go to the East Palace? She goes out early and comes back late these days. I haven't seen her much. I have no energy. I keep thinking about this." The founding disciple'."

Zhu Di finally had a smile on his lips: "What did she learn from you? Can you teach her well?"

Zhu Quan was a little proud: "Medicine, Qin, Tea. I dare not say that Ming Dynasty is the best in this, but it is also among the best. It must be much better than her Korean teachers."

Zhu Quan said and sighed: "It's a pity that if I make wedding clothes for her, it won't be you and me who will listen to the piano and drink tea from now on." There was a hint of melancholy on his usually lively face. He paused and then said: "Lady from the East Palace, grandson of the Emperor... What do you think our nephew will do to her? And my father, will he like this foreign granddaughter-in-law?" There was a lot of worry and concern in his words.

Zhu Di glared at Zhu Quan: "You really drank too much, what does this have to do with you?"

Zhu Quan smiled and said: "Don't you care? If she has a bad life in the future, will you feel at ease?"

Zhu Di seemed to be touched by the pain. He suddenly raised his glass and took a sip, choking and coughing several times.

Yes, if she has a bad life in the future, what will happen to her? Just drink wine

Huiguang said that he is like a dragon, a tiger, a sun, and a horn in the sky, and he has a great responsibility, but why can't he even protect the woman he loves

The harem is more dangerous than the rivers and lakes. How can she, a lonely and weak woman from a foreign country, count on Liuli Pagoda to "turn danger into good fortune" again and again

Zhu Di picked up the wine glass and drank another drink.

The autumn rain outside the window has stopped at some point, but the dark clouds in the sky have not dissipated. Darkness hangs heavily on the top of the head. The sky is low and there is no sunshine at all. Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival in Japan. Will there be a moon at night