Crown Prince, the most dangerous job in the court.
The East Palace, a high-risk group among the nobles.
At this point, there is no other way to go except to stick together for warmth.
The Crown Prince suffered a mental breakdown due to his foot disease. The Crown Princess and Guo Liangdi gave him warm advice, and every word they said was sincere, not all motivated by vested interests.
The prince was mild-tempered and not arrogant. He would not deliberately suppress or belittle his wife in order to strengthen his position as a husband. When encountering problems, he was willing to sit down and discuss with his wives and concubines on an equal footing. Rather than wives and concubines, he was more like a partner.
When the Crown Prince was a hostage in the capital, as the Crown Prince of Yan, he had to strike a good balance. He had to face the questioning eyes of the court and the public with patience and humility, such as "Your father has a strong army, is he going to rebel?" and show that the Yan Palace is submissive to the central government. At the same time, he had to show appropriate strength to protect the dignity of the Yan Palace.
In order to train his grandchildren, Emperor Gaozu ordered the princes of the four princely states of Qin, Jin, and Yan to review the troops. The other three princes went early, but the prince of Yan went only at noon. Emperor Gaozu asked him why he went so late. The prince said, "It's cold. Let the soldiers have breakfast. It won't be too late to review the troops when the weather is warmer."
Emperor Gaozu praised Zhu Gaochi for his concern for the people's strength and his kindness, and rewarded him generously.
In fact, Zhu Gaochi did it on purpose. He already had a brave and warlike father, and he also knew that his grandfather was afraid of his father's strength. If he also acted warlike and showed great interest in military activities such as military parades, it would only make Emperor Gaozu more suspicious of the Prince of Yan's Mansion.
Emperor Gaozu cultivated his grandchildren's ability in governing the country by asking them to go to the duty room to handle the mountains of memorials.
This is a life-threatening question.
At that time, the Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen was already leading the Chancellery of the Crown Prince's Mansion to handle memorials. Being a trainee "emperor" should have been the job of the Crown Prince. Why should the princes and sons of the vassal states do this
For Zhu Gaochi, whether the handling opinion was consistent with that of the Crown Prince, or inconsistent, good or bad, it was wrong and would be wrong no matter what he did.
The test is more severe.
Other princes were trembling with fear and read every memorial carefully, for fear of missing something and being blamed by the emperor. Only Zhu Gaochi read through the memorials as quickly as a tornado, only reading memorials related to the grassroots military and civilians, "selecting those that were generally feasible and reporting them", and he did not point out the mistakes or omissions in the memorials.
Emperor Gaozu asked him why he was so careless, and Zhu Gaochi said, "Small mistakes do not offend the emperor, as long as they are beneficial to the army and the people, it's fine."
Zhu Gaochi knew that as the prince of a vassal state whom the emperor feared the most, he did not need to be perfect. Some minor flaws would be better, but he could not let people think that he was an idiot. He had to show that he cared about the common people.
Sure enough, Emperor Gaozu was very satisfied with his answer and praised him for his benevolence.
Zhu Gaochi carefully considered the emperor's intentions and carefully maintained the reputation of the Prince of Yan's Mansion to reassure the emperor. But the second brother Zhu Gaoxu did not have to consider too much like the eldest brother, he was only responsible for having fun.
When he met people who mocked him or spread rumors about him, he would just turn against them and beat them up. He often got into trouble but never suffered any loss. Every time he fought, he would beat the person until he could not move. Emperor Gaozu warned and reprimanded this troublesome grandson many times, but it was always the Prince of Yan who cleaned up the mess for his brother and pleaded for him.
The two brothers had a good relationship, but they quarreled many times because of fighting, which was the source of the split. Zhu Gaochi thought that his elder brother was weak, especially the fact that his elder brother Zhu Gaochi had breakfast before going to the military review:
"Brother, during the war, you don't even have time to eat or sleep, but you waited until the soldiers were full, the sun came out, and the weather was warm before conducting the military parade. The emperor praised you, but many people secretly laughed at you for not knowing military affairs. The military parade was like a child playing house. What does it mean that military orders are as heavy as mountains? As soon as you give an order, they will get up even if they are sleeping in a warm bed in the middle of the night to be inspected."
Facing the accusations from the middle school boy Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Gaochi, the eldest brother, couldn't tell his impulsive younger brother too much, lest it get out and his painstakingly cultivated benevolent and gentle personality would collapse, and he would become a scheming man, so he could only hold back his true feelings and said:
"I am thinking about the overall interests of Prince Yan's Mansion. You don't understand now, I don't blame you, you will understand when you grow up."
Zhu Gaoxu was unaware of his elder brother's good intentions. Whenever he heard someone making fun of Zhu Gaochi's chubby figure or laughing at jokes about the military parade, he would pounce on them like a mad dog and never give in. He almost beat people to death several times. When Emperor Gaozu scolded him, Zhu Gaochi knelt down and begged for mercy, and then went back to scold his brother again - it was true that Zhu Gaoxu was a middle school boy, but Zhu Gaochi was also a teenager and he also needed to vent his stress.
Zhu Gaoxu felt that he was fighting for his elder brother's honor, but his elder brother scolded him and didn't appreciate it at all. Zhu Gaochi felt that he was worried about the Prince of Yan's Mansion, but his younger brother kept getting into trouble and showing off his strength, and he was tired of cleaning up his younger brother's mess.
This is where the rift between the brothers began.
Later, Hu Shanwei was responsible for the first "selection of landowners and marriage between commoners" in history, and both brothers got married.
As the most beloved prince of Emperor Gaozu, Zhu Gaochi specially selected two outstanding beauties, Zhang and Guo, as his wives and concubines.
Zhang and Guo were carried into Prince Yan's mansion. Zhang was straightforward and virtuous, Guo was of noble status but not arrogant, and the prince was easy-going. The three of them soon became inseparable and shared the joys and sorrows.
Zhu Gaoxu also married a wife and concubines. The groom had a new channel to vent his anger. Zhu Gaoxu was no longer so competitive and his attention shifted to having children. The Prince of Yan's Mansion became a little calmer.
Later, Prince Yan's explosive acting skills made Emperor Jianwen believe that he was really about to die of illness, so he released all the people in Prince Yan's Mansion and sent them back to Beiping. It was like throwing a meat bun at a dog and never coming back.
Then the Jingnan Campaign began, and Zhu Gaochi and even his only son Zhu Zhanji were sent to Yunnan as a fire source.
After four years of Jingnan, Prince of Yan ascended the throne. Zhu Gaochi thought that he had finally gotten what he wanted and could take a break. After all, if one person succeeds, the whole family will benefit. However, Emperor Yongle was reluctant to appoint his son Zhu Gaochi as the crown prince. He kept delaying it. Every day Zhu Gaochi spent waiting to be named the crown prince seemed easy, but in fact, he felt like he was living a year in a day.
Zhu Gaochi was in poor health, but he was a man of integrity. When the people in the eldest branch of the family were in panic and Zhang and Guo were uneasy, he stepped forward and formulated a policy: no matter how rampant the rumors about deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest son were, we just had to be filial to our mother, seek medical treatment and cure her illness. As for the rest, we would leave it to fate. We had done our best.
Zhu Gaochi, the chubby backbone, was very strong and supported the eldest son's family through two difficult years of waiting. Finally, fate favored him, Empress Renxiao recovered from her illness, and Zhu Gaochi was named the crown prince.
Everyone, including Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu, felt that it was too easy for the eldest brother to get the position of crown prince. It was simply a win without any effort. The eldest brother did not have to do anything, and the emperor gave him the throne of crown prince.
Only Zhu Gaochi himself knew that he had given everything, shown a determination to fight to the death, and exhausted all his wisdom and abilities to achieve today's seemingly "easy" victory.
From the time he was named the Prince of Yan and became a hostage in the capital, no one knew about his efforts behind the scenes. He tried his best, but because of his obesity, he was misunderstood and ridiculed as "fat and happy".
Only he himself knows that he is not broad-minded, he is just fat.
He was worried sick, and his parents were far away in Peking, so they were unable to care for him. Sometimes when the pressure was too great, he would use eating to divert his attention. After all, the stomach and the heart are so close, so soothing the stomach is soothing the heart.
He became fatter and fatter, and the fatter he became, the more he ate, and the more he ate, the fatter he became. At first he was just plump, but later he became a famous fat man.
No one can succeed easily. If you want to be respected in front of others, you have to suffer behind the scenes. This is the truth that you only see the thief eating meat but not the thief being beaten.
With the Empress as a strong backer and the eldest grandson Zhu Zhanji striving for excellence, the Eastern Palace was relatively stable during the past five years, even if Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu was not convinced. The mental stress of Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi was reduced, and his tadpole became active. His fertility almost exploded, and he gave birth to five sons in five years.
However, good times are always short-lived. With the death of Queen Renxiao, the prince's greatest supporter is gone. His left foot is deformed and he has difficulty walking. How long can a fat and lame prince, whose feet are likely to be chopped off, hold on to the throne
The Eastern Palace once again returned to the fear of being dominated by "abolishing the eldest and enthroning the youngest" in the past.
The prince would collapse after losing his mother and having a lame leg. He is a human being, not made of iron.
Even though his wives and concubines tried to comfort him gently, it was difficult for the prince to change his mind. He held his wives and concubines in each hand and cried bitterly, all his grievances and resentment surging out like a surging river:
"I have never harmed anyone. I have always been kind to others, filial to my parents, friendly to my brothers and sisters, and listened to the advice of the scholars in the Right Spring Office of the Eastern Palace. I have always held myself to the standards of virtue. Why has it come to this?"
Zhang and Guo looked at each other across the mountain of flesh and reached a tacit understanding: let him cry, cry enough, and talk after he's finished crying.
The prince broke down emotionally and kept crying until he fainted.
Outside the door, the eldest grandson Zhu Zhanji waited for a long time. When he heard no movement inside, he went in to visit his father. As a son, he had to give his father some dignity. Presumably, his father did not want his son to see his vulnerable side.
Zhang and Guo's eyes were red. Zhu Zhanji said, "Mother, Guo Liangdi, you have worked hard. Go back and rest first. I will stay by father's side tonight."
The eldest brother is a man of his own ideas. It's a bit sad to say, but most of the favor that the Eastern Palace received was obtained by Zhu Zhanji by gaining favor with Emperor Yongle.
Therefore, Zhang never treated Zhu Zhanji as a child. She sighed, "Your father's illness... is not optimistic. The imperial physician should have reported it to the emperor by now. It is related to the health of the crown prince. Hu Shanggong ordered to keep it secret, and no one in the court or the country knows about it. But your father can't walk all his life. As long as he walks, people will find out that your father is unable to walk. The truth will come out sooner or later."
If there are other hidden diseases, they cannot be seen anyway, but the legs and feet cannot be hidden.
Zhu Zhanji said, "Father is ill, but it's not his fault. Besides, his inconvenient legs and feet won't affect his speech and work. At worst, there are still me and five younger brothers. Mother, don't worry, there will always be a way. My younger brothers are still young and are looking for mother everywhere. Mother, stay with them more, and leave this to me."
There are six imperial grandchildren in the Eastern Palace. Princess Zhang gave birth to three, and concubine Li also gave birth to three. The family is large and there is always someone to carry on the throne.
Zhang and Guo went back to comfort the children. Guo had been unable to conceive, and Zhang had given birth to two sons in succession. She was too busy to take care of them, so she simply gave the second son to Guo to raise. This shows how close the relationship between Zhang and Guo was.
On the other hand, when Emperor Yongle heard the report from the imperial doctors, he could no longer sit still and rushed to the East Palace to see the prince. After all, he was his first son. Emperor Yongle could not be indifferent to his eldest son's illness. He had just lost his wife and could not afford to lose another loved one.
When Emperor Yongle came in, he happened to see Zhu Zhanji looking at a piece of paper marking the acupuncture points on the feet beside the sickbed, and massaging the sick feet of Zhu Gaochi, who had lost all desire for life and was staring at the bed curtains in a daze.
The feet of patients with diabetes are gray, swollen and deformed, and the toenails seem to be rotting. Most people would feel nauseous and want to vomit when they see them, let alone rubbing them with their hands.
Zhu Zhanji was a filial child.
Hearing some noise at the door, he turned around and saw Zhu Zhanji letting go of his father's hand and bowing, then covering his father's sick foot with a piece of cloth.
The noise woke up the prince who was in a trance. When he saw his father coming, he immediately stood up and saluted.
"No need to bow, just lie down first." Emperor Yongle picked up the paper with the acupuncture points marked on the foot, took a look at it, and then removed the "fig leaf" covering his son's diseased foot.
Zhu Gaochi was a fat and flexible man. He felt empty above his sick foot, so he quickly curled up his knees and hid his foot in the quilt. "It's really unsightly. I am ashamed to face you."
Emperor Yongle said: "You are willing to let my precious grandson massage his feet, but you won't let me, as a father, take a look?"
Zhu Gaochi could only slowly stretch out his big fat legs from the quilt, revealing his sick feet. "My body and hair are from my parents. I have not taken good care of my body, and I am ashamed of the good body given by my father and mother."
In fact, diabetes is directly related to genes and is a disease caused by mutations in the genes inherited from parents. However, in this era, medical science was backward and most people with diabetes were obese. Doctors also mistakenly believed that it was caused by not paying attention to diet and eating too much. Zhu Gaochi had to admit his mistake.
Emperor Yongle felt distressed when he saw his eldest son like this. He threw all the reproaches behind his mind. He reached out and pressed his son's foot. "Does it hurt?"
Zhu Gaochi was disheartened and no longer pretended to be strong as before. "It doesn't hurt, but I feel uncomfortable."
Emperor Yongle was also heartbroken. When Crown Prince Yiwen passed away, he brought his entire family to the capital to attend the funeral. He had originally had some hope of becoming the crown prince, but his father instead made his grandson Zhu Yunwen the crown prince and left his two sons and two daughters in the capital as hostages in the name of filial piety.
The eldest son Zhu Gaochi was strong and good at riding and shooting. But after being a hostage for ten years and returning to Peking, he could hardly recognize the fat white man in front of him as his beloved eldest son.
I left home as a teenager and returned as a fat man. What happened in these ten years
Emperor Yongle missed the ten years when his son was growing the fastest. If he had been by his side all the time, he would never have allowed his son to become so fat.
Strangely enough, the prince always tried hard to behave, but Emperor Yongle often found fault with him and was not happy with him. But now the prince is like a deflated ball, exposing his vulnerable side and not wanting to hide it anymore. Emperor Yongle began to feel sorry for his son and deeply blamed himself for the crucial ten years when he lacked fatherly love.
The prince looked pitiful, weak and helpless, with traces of tears on his face. Who is not a baby? This reminded Emperor Yongle of when his eldest son was just born. How could he not love his first son? He had kissed his fat white feet countless times.
Now these feet are so ugly that they may even need to be amputated. Emperor Yongle feels so sad.
The prince is not in good health, but so what? Even if he becomes a cripple, he is still my son, the first son of Miaoyi and me.
Besides... Emperor Yongle looked at Zhu Zhanji, who was standing aside with his eyes lowered and his hands folded, waiting silently.
Zhu Zhanji did not cry. He was as strong as a stone, and remained calm and composed as always. Even though the prince was about to become lame and the East Palace was facing the possibility of a change of owner, he was not in a hurry and came to the prince first to show his filial piety.
Zhu Gaochi's fatness made his thinness more prominent. He was thin but not weak, and was both talented in literature and martial arts. Even a picky emperor like Emperor Yongle was not dissatisfied with every detail of his talent.
Emperor Yongle remembered the words of his first secretary Xie Jin - "Good holy grandson."
Looking at the deflated prince, Emperor Yongle rarely showed his fatherly side, "Alright, you've cried enough, accept the reality. It doesn't matter if you are disabled. I never expected you to go to the battlefield. A real man should stand up again after falling down. If you have inconvenient legs and feet, there must be people laughing at you and pointing fingers at you behind your back. As the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, you should focus on the country and the people. You don't have to care about these trivial matters. As long as you do the big things right, you are a good prince."
The author has something to say: Prince: Who is not a baby
I wish all the little angels a happy Children's Day~ I will send 250 red envelopes tonight to celebrate. Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution~
Thanks to the little angels who cast [mines]: Mum, Miss Tang. Tang. Miss Tang 1;
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:
30 bottles of Zuo San You Wu; 25 bottles of Wei Wan°; 20 bottles of Lian Peng Diandian, Doradoro, Alle, Give You a Candy; 12 bottles of Beng Da Beng Da; 10 bottles of Anuo, Brenda, Jesling, Mu Xia Liang Feng, Lost Luna; 5 bottles of Littlesnow, Qia Fan Le; 3 bottles of Big Fish Eats Little Fish, Ming Xiao Qi; 2 bottles of Eros, Xuan Wu; 1 bottle of Biubiubiu, Lin Yue Ru;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!