"Your Highness, the troops have retreated."
"Li Jinglong has indeed retreated!"
A general rushed into the mansion with a face full of joy.
The moment he entered, he shouted loudly.
The people in the Imperial Residence heard this shout.
At first, he felt incredulous.
After they reacted, the worry on their faces disappeared.
Everyone began to be ecstatic.
The Imperial Court had really retreated!
He no longer had to worry.
Very quickly, this general arrived in front of Zhu Zhe.
With a face full of joy, he said to Zhu Zhe,
"Your Highness, you were right. Li Jinglong has indeed retreated.”
When Zhu Zhe heard this person's words, there were no waves in his heart.
"This king has already told you not to worry for nothing.”
The general who came to report the good news revealed an awkward smile.
He scratched his head and said,
"Hehe, your highness is right, we're worrying too much.”
That day, Zhu Zhe had said that Li Jinglong would immediately withdraw his troops, so they didn't have to worry about them at all.
Everyone was skeptical.
After all, these hundreds of thousands of soldiers were right in front of him.
How could they retreat just like that?
Zhu Zhe saw that everyone did not believe him and did not persuade them anymore. Instead, he said to them,
"If you want to stay here, then stay. This king will go back first.”
After saying that, he packed his things and left without looking back.
After Zhu Zhe left, after some discussion, one person was left behind to keep an eye on Li Jinglong's army.
The rest followed Zhu Zhe back.
Soon, the person who stayed behind ordered Li Jinglong's army to start moving.
This caused the man to panic.
I knew Li Jinglong wouldn't retreat so easily.
Hence, he quickly sent someone to report to Zhu Zhe.
However, Li Jinglong's next move shocked him.
Li Jinglong's army had indeed moved.
However, the direction was not the direction of the Prince Yue's estate.
Instead, he turned around and ran toward Jinling.
He even threw away some especially heavy equipment.
He was going to pack light and fast forward.
The person in charge of monitoring was dumbfounded.
Only after Li Jinglong's army had disappeared from his sight did he completely believe it.
Li Jinglong really withdrew his troops.
Hence, he hurriedly reported this good news to Zhu Zhe.
"Your Highness, you really have divine foresight."
"From today onwards, we no longer have to be on tenterhooks.”
On the way back, the rest of the people gathered at the Prince's mansion to share the good news.
However, after hearing this sentence.
Zhu Zhe shook his head and said,"
"Things are not that easy to resolve.”
"You still have to keep an eye on the capital.”
"If there's any movement, report it to this king immediately.”
Hearing Zhu Zhe's words, everyone felt very puzzled.
Li Jinglong's army had already retreated, and they were retreating in such a sorry state.
Would the Imperial Court send troops again?
One had to know that gathering 600,000 troops was not child's play.
Just this incident alone was enough to cause the Imperial Court to suffer a huge blow.
However, Zhu Zhe did not intend to explain to these people.
Was he going to tell them that Li Jinglong had withdrawn his troops because his fourth brother had successfully conquered Jinling?
Was he going to tell them that the reason why he let them continue to keep an eye on Jinling was because his fourth brother was going to weaken the strength of the vassals?
It would only add to their worries, so Zhu Zhe did not plan to tell them at all.
He just had to let them do it according to their own methods.
On the other side, in Jin Ling City, Zhu Di had cleared all the obstacles.
All traces of Zhu Yunwen were removed.
Including those ministers who were once loyal to Zhu Yunwen.
The emperor was wiped out.
This was naturally a piece of extremely sad news.
Therefore, Zhu Di was very sad for his nephew for a few days.
However, a country cannot live without a king for a day.
Soon, some ministers advised Zhu Di to ascend the throne and be promoted to the 95th position.
Although Zhu Di had been temporarily in charge of the country's affairs these days, he did not have a proper title and many things could not be carried out smoothly.
For example, Tie Xuan, who had caused him trouble in the past, still refused to obey his orders. He only listened to the imperial edict.
Therefore, after a few words of resignation, Zhu Di ascended the throne and began to declare himself a widow.
Then, he brought his son, Xu Miaoyun, and the others to Jinling.
Xu Miaoyun was conferred the title of Empress and Zhu Gaochi the title of Prince.
At this moment, Zhu Di finally understood why there were so many people who wanted to ascend to the throne since ancient times.
The feeling of having the world in his hands was simply too fascinating.
After ascending to the throne, it was time for Jingnan to repay his contributions.
Those who followed him in rebellion would definitely not be willing to risk their lives to follow him for no reason.
Therefore, Zhu Di was not stingy with rewarding these people.
For a time, they had a situation where the monarch and his subjects were compatible.
After everything was settled, Zhu Di discovered something that gave him a headache.
That was because the power of the Ming Dynasty's vassal king was too great.
At this moment, Zhu Di finally realized what it meant to not be in his position.
He also understood why his nephew wanted to cut off his vassal state.
Under his father's plan, these vassal kings were like small kingdoms.
There was money, food, and soldiers.
No matter who the emperor was, he would not be at ease with these vassal kings.
Now, this problem was in his hands.
He also felt that Zhu Yunwen did the right thing.
However, Zhu Di could not cut his vassal state.
Because he rebelled because Zhu Yunwen cut off his vassal state.
His foundation was not strong enough yet.
If he rashly cut off his vassal state, it was very likely that those vassal kings would follow suit.
At that time, Da Ming would once again fall into chaos.
That was not the result he wanted.
Therefore, Zhu Di issued an edict to take back the military power and currency casting rights in the hands of these vassal kings.
He was preparing to boil the frog in warm water.
He held the two items in his hands.
Even if those vassal kings wanted to rebel, they did not have enough power.
As for the other things, he would slowly figure them out.
Zhu Di's plan made Zhu Yuanzhang very satisfied.
Although his sons had less power.
However, it could guarantee their lives.
He was already very satisfied with the current Zhu Yuanzhang.
People would always compromise, and Zhu Yuanzhang was no exception.
After seeing Zhu Yunwen's methods, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly felt that it was not bad for his sons to be idle princes.
When Zhu Di's imperial edict reached the territories of the various vassal kings.
All the vassals obediently handed over their military and coin-making rights.
Especially Prince Ning, Zhu Quan, he didn't even mention his own contribution.
This made Zhu Di feel a little embarrassed.
He could only bestow a large amount of gold and silver to Zhu Quan to make up for his contributions.
However, just as the imperial court was successfully regaining the rights of the vassals.
Zhu Di met another nail in the coffin.
This spy was none other than the one who was helping him stall Li Jinglong's 600,000 strong army.
The Yue King Zhu Zhe who allowed him to enter Jin Ling City smoothly.
When Zhu Di sent out the imperial envoy to take back the military power in Zhu Zhe's hands.
Zhu Di encountered resistance.
Zhu Zhe did not see the imperial envoy he sent at all.
He did not have any intention of handing over his military power.
After the imperial envoy who had gone to seize the military power returned to the capital and told Zhu Di about the results.
Zhu Di felt a burst of anger.
Could it be that his eighteenth brother really had the intention to rebel?
Did he want to raise his army to resist the imperial court?
Just as Zhu Di was angry.
A secret letter from the Prince Yue's residence was delivered to Zhu Di.
He looked at the secret letter sent by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.
Zhu Di fell silent.
Zhu Di had an indescribable feeling towards his eighteenth brother.
He was able to successfully enter Jinling.
It was inseparable from Zhu Zhe.
If Zhu Zhe hadn't attracted Zhu Yunwen's attention.
Let Zhu Yunwen empty out the entire Ming Dynasty to go to war.
At this moment, he could either continue to act crazy in Beiping.
Or they had already followed in Zhu Bai's footsteps.
From this perspective, Zhu Di should thank his eighteenth brother.
However, the situation was different now. He was the emperor now.
Zhu Zhe disobeying the imperial court's orders was opposing him.
For a moment, Zhu Di's mind was filled with a myriad of thoughts.
However, Zhu Di was not an indecisive person.
Otherwise, they would not have sent troops to the capital so decisively.
Then, Zhu Di opened the secret letter sent by Zhu Zhe.
However, what Zhu Di did not expect was that at the beginning of the letter.
Zhu Zhe did not address him as emperor like his other brothers.
Instead, he still called him Imperial Brother.
This reminded Zhu Di of when he was still the King of Yan.
At that time, the brothers were respectful, and the Ming Dynasty's vassals were so harmonious.
Naturally, all of this could not be hidden from Zhu Yuanzhang, who was standing at the side.
Zhu Yuanzhang also saw Zhu Zhe's secret letter.
However, after reading Zhu Zhe's letter, no matter Zhu Yuanzhang or Zhu Di.
They were extremely touched and shocked.
In the first half of the letter, Zhu Zhe used many of the battles that Zhu Yuanzhang had fought as examples.
Other than Zhu Wen who was guarding Hong Capital.
He also explained why the Mongolians were able to escape back to the grasslands when they conquered the capital.
The reason was that Zhu Yuanzhang himself was too fond of these Mongolians.
As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.
At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Meng Yuan could not make it.
The soldiers had long since fallen to the point where they had lost their fighting strength.
However, an empire that swept across the entire continent was a huge pressure.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Chang Yuchun, who was the most stable, to attack Dadu.
Chang Yuchun didn't lead most of his troops to attack the enemy directly to play safe.
Instead, they split up to form a pincer attack on the capital.
This gave the Mongolians a chance to retreat.
In the end, the Mongolians brought a large amount of wealth and various craftsmen back to the grasslands safely.
He quickly regained his vitality.
If he hadn't sent out Blue Jade, who had an even fiercer fighting style, perhaps a huge empire would have been established on the plains by now.
All of this was written very clearly in the first half of Zhu Zhe's secret letter. It even made Zhu Yuanzhang suspect that Zhu Zhe had personally experienced that war.
Zhu Zhe then pointed out the various shortcomings of Zhu Di's army in the secret letter.
This also made Zhu Di feel a lingering fear.
Fortunately, he met Zhu Yunwen, this trash.
It was also fortunate that Zhu Zhe had attracted all the firepower of the Imperial Court.
Otherwise, Zhu Yunwen would only need to delay him for ten days to half a month along the way until Li Jinglong's army returned.
What awaited him was a disaster.
Even if he relied on the defense of the Imperial City's inner city, it was not something that his 80,000 soldiers could take down in a short time.
Only then did Zhu Di realize how lucky he was to be able to enter Jinling by chance.
And ascend to the throne.
Zhu Di and Zhu Yuanzhang were shocked after reading this.
Especially Zhu Yuanzhang. In this timeline, he could clearly see everything that would happen in the future.
Even though Zhu Yuanzhang had already realized that Zhu Zhe's military talent was very outstanding.
Otherwise, they would not have been able to stop Li Jinglong's 600,000 strong army from advancing.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang still felt that he had underestimated his son.
From the contents of the letter.
Zhu Zhe completely had the ability to fight for the world.
Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but let out a long sigh.
Sometimes, it would be a headache for her to have sons who were too outstanding.
Zhu Di was shocked because he had never truly understood his eighteenth brother.
As a vassal king who was about the same age as Zhu Yunwen.
Zhu Di had always treated Zhu Zhe as a child.
No matter how capable a child was, in the eyes of an adult, it was just child's play.
Zhu Di had such thoughts.
However, the letter in front of him was a slap to his face.
He didn't expect Old Eighteen to be so good at leading troops into battle.
It had even far surpassed him.
To be honest, when Zhu Di had just received the news that Zhu Zhe did not intend to hand over his military power.
Zhu Di was furious. He felt that his authority had been challenged.
He did not intend to let Zhu Zhe off because he needed someone to establish his might.
He told the world that his will could not be violated.
This person was naturally Zhu Zhe, who dared to defy the decree.
At that moment, Zhu Di even had the thought of personally leading the army.
Now, he had strong troops and strong horses, and fierce generals like clouds.
These people were not trash like Li Jinglong.
Zhu Di felt that it was more than enough to deal with Zhu Zhe.
However, from the looks of it, things were not as simple as he thought.
If he really wanted to personally conquer South Vietnam.
In a complex environment like South Vietnam.
In addition to Zhu Zhe's own military talent.
He was afraid that he would be stuck in the mud of South Vietnam.
At that time, what if a certain vassal king rebelled?
His throne, his family.
Thinking of this, Zhu Di couldn't help but shiver.
Eighteenth Brother's letter came at the right time.
It prevented him from making a big mistake because of his rashness.
In the second half of the letter, Zhu Zhe also stated with certainty that he did not have the ambition to rebel immediately.
Otherwise, with his own ability, he could easily defeat Li Jinglong.
They also took in the hundreds of thousands of troops that Li Jinglong had brought.
These hundreds of thousands of imperial court troops could instantly become Zhu Zhe's assistance.
One had to know that these soldiers were the most elite soldiers of Great Ming.
On top of that, Li Jinglong had brought countless rations.
It would be a piece of cake to counterattack the capital.
Zhu Di agreed with these words.
This was because from the information he received later.
Zhu Zhe only used five thousand light cavalry and almost made Li Jinglong's army collapse without fighting.
If Zhu Zhe really had the intention to rebel, the one standing here right now would probably not be him, but Zhu Zhe.
Zhu Zhe also said in the letter,
The reason why he didn't kill these hundreds of thousands of soldiers was because he was afraid of them.
Firstly, it was because these soldiers were all soldiers of Great Ming, and he was the vassal king of Great Ming.
He couldn't bear to do it.
Secondly, there were still Mongolians in the northern grasslands.
He could defeat or even kill these people.
However, at the same time, the Mongolians who received the news would definitely organize another army to head south.
At that time, the people of the Central Plains would still suffer.
This was not what he wanted to see.
It was also not what his father wanted to see.
Zhu Di understood everything.
Previously, Zhu Di was still curious as to why Zhu Zhe didn't destroy Li Jinglong's army in one go and eliminate future troubles for him.
Looking at it now, it was not that Zhu Zhe could not, but he did not want to.
Zhu Zhe wanted to keep these hundreds of thousands of people for himself to prevent the Mongolians from invading the Central Plains again.
What Zhu Zhe placed in his heart was not himself, but the entire Great Ming Empire.
Zhu Yuanzhang was also sighing as he watched from the side.
At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang finally understood what his son was thinking.
Everything was for Da Ming, everything was for the Zhu family's empire.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]