pappabearbooks Chapter 11: The reign title of Hongwu, the Prince of Chu, Zhu Mu!
Chapter 11: The reign title of Hongwu, the Prince of Chu, Zhu Mu!
"mother……"
Zhu Mu felt the most primal filial piety in this body and smelled the familiar and warm scent of his mother.
He thought that as a time traveler, he would be able to control his emotions.
But when he saw the new gray hairs at his mother's temples and felt her trembling in his arms, the deep bond of blood instantly broke down all his psychological defenses, and his eyes involuntarily reddened.
"Big brother."
Zhu Mu looked at Zhu Biao, whose eyes were also red.
Zhu Biao didn't say anything, but stepped forward and hugged his mother and younger brother, patting Zhu Mu's back hard.
A thousand words are contained within.
They were really worried.
That's an army of 600,000!
It was Chen Youliang's all-out effort!
They left their thirteen-year-old brother (son) in this desperate situation, and every day was torture for them.
The surrounding generals, whether it was Deng Yu, Zhu Wenzheng, or Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and others who had come with Zhu Yuanzhang, all silently left upon seeing this scene, leaving the family alone.
After an unknown amount of time, a tall figure walked up behind them.
It was Zhu Yuanzhang.
He didn't speak, but just quietly watched his wife and children embrace and weep.
This ruthless and invincible tyrant, who had swept across the world, now had tears welling up in his eyes.
He saw Zhu Mu's gaunt face and the undisguised weariness in his eyes, and felt both pride and endless heartache.
He stretched out his broad, calloused arms and embraced the mother and her two children in a silent yet incredibly heavy hug.
When his father's strong and warm chest pressed against his back, Zhu Mu could no longer hold back.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
A family of four embraced tightly in front of the gates of Hongdu, a city that had witnessed war and life-or-death struggles.
……
In the Battle of Hongdu, Zhu Mu, at the age of thirteen, single-handedly resisted Chen Youliang's army of 600,000 for 85 days. This miraculous victory has already spread throughout the world.
However, the following year, when Zhu Yuanzhang was preparing for the final strategic battle with Chen Youliang at Poyang Lake, he and Ma Xiuying surprisingly reached an agreement:
"Mu'er, you must not go to the battlefield again in this battle."
Faced with Zhu Mu's request to lead the troops, Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned ashen, and his tone left no room for argument:
"In the Battle of Hongdu, you've already sacrificed too much for our Zhu family and for the people of this world. You're only fourteen years old; that was a pile of corpses! We'll go and achieve glory on horseback with your brothers; you stay safely in the rear!"
Ma Xiuying held Zhu Mu's hand tightly, her eyes filled with lingering fear:
"Second son, listen to your mother. If anything happens to you again, my heart will truly break."
Thus, in the decisive Battle of Poyang Lake, which would determine the fate of the world, Zhu Mu, the former sharpshooter and guardian of Hongdu, was placed under house arrest in the rear.
He was quietly organizing the hybrid rice technology in the system space, waiting for the dawn of this era.
Soon, good news arrived like snowflakes:
In the Battle of Poyang Lake, Chen Youliang was killed by an arrow, and the 600,000-strong Han army collapsed!
Immediately afterward, Zhang Shicheng was defeated, and Han Lin'er, the Little Ming King, "accidentally" drowned in the Guazhou River on his way back to Beijing.
……
In the 28th year of the Zhizheng era, Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor in Yingtian Prefecture, establishing the Ming Dynasty.
Following his coronation ceremony, in order to proclaim to the world the legitimacy of the Ming Dynasty's ascension to the throne, and also to commemorate the countless lives lost along the way, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to hold an unprecedented grand ceremony—
The Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai.
That scene was unforgettable for Zhu Mu.
At the summit of Mount Tai, a sea of clouds surges and rolls.
Zhu Yuanzhang, clad in a dragon robe and wearing a twelve-tassel crown, strode onto the altar with the imposing presence of a dragon and the powerful stride of a tiger.
Behind him, on his left, was his eldest son, Zhu Biao, who was gentle and refined with a resolute gaze.
On the right is Zhu Mu, the second son of the emperor, who exudes a heroic spirit and whose soaring ambition is hard to conceal even in front of the emperor.
"Your subject, Yuanzhang, has received the mandate of Heaven; may your reign be long and prosperous!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's voice echoed atop Mount Tai.
At this moment, Zhu Mu listened to the system notification and looked at the vast land beneath his feet, feeling an overwhelming sense of pride.
After the Fengshan ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang turned around amidst the radiant glow of the sunset and looked at his two sons, his eyes filled with expectation.
He knew that with one person in charge of maintaining the status quo and practicing benevolence, and the other in charge of expanding the territory, the Ming Dynasty's eternal foundation was secure!
Back in Yingtian Prefecture, inside the Fengtian Hall.
Zhu Yuanzhang sat upright on the dragon throne, while civil and military officials held their breath in anticipation.
This day marked the day the Ming Dynasty established its rules.
"deliver an imperial order!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's authoritative voice rang out.
"The eldest son, Zhu Biao, shall be established as the Crown Prince. From this day forward, the succession to the throne of the Ming Dynasty shall strictly adhere to the principle of primogeniture, and this shall be an ancestral precept that shall not be altered by future generations!"
Zhu Biao stepped forward, knelt down, and received the imperial decree.
Zhu Mu stood aside, genuinely happy for his elder brother.
He knew that only by establishing the primogeniture system could the dynasty avoid internal strife as much as possible.
Immediately afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze fell on Zhu Mu, his expression becoming complex yet filled with pride.
"Zhu Mu, the second son of the legitimate wife, fought against a hundred men in the Battle of Hongdu, turning the tide and saving the collapsing empire. His bravery is unparalleled throughout history. In my opinion, even the ancient overlord Xiang Yu was no match for him!"
Zhu Yuanzhang paused, then announced loudly:
"I hereby confer upon Zhu Mu the title of King of Chu! He is granted the fief of Hubei, with his capital at Wuhan (on the flank of Hongdu). Chu is the spirit of invincible warriors. By bestowing upon you the title of King of Chu, I intend to make you, like Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, the sharpest and most invincible war god of my Great Ming!"
"But my son Zhu Mu, you surpass Xiang Yu in that you not only possess the courage of a hegemon, but also the heart to protect your country!"
The moment the words "King of Chu" were uttered, the courtiers were shaken.
In the Chinese system of titles, "Chu" is an extremely prestigious single-character title for a king. Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang personally compared Zhu Mu to Xiang Yu, which shows his status as "the bravest warrior in the world" in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind.
Zhu Mu stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and spoke in a clear and resonant voice:
"Your subject, Prince Zhu Mu of Chu, receives the imperial decree and expresses his gratitude! He is willing to serve the Great Ming, guarding the southern border and sweeping away foreign enemies!"
After the grand ceremony, Zhu Mu did not bask in the glory of becoming the King of Chu.
He knew that a transformation more important than any war, more capable of changing the fate of the nation, was about to be initiated by him.
That evening, at the family banquet, Zhu Mu solemnly took out a thick stack of drawings and manuscripts from his bosom and presented them to Zhu Yuanzhang with both hands.
"Father, I have a plan that can double the grain production of our Great Ming Dynasty, so that the people of the world will no longer have to worry about famine!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang took the manuscript, and Empress Ma and Zhu Biao also curiously gathered around.
However, when they unfolded the paper, they were all puzzled.
It is decorated with various strange diagrams of plant flower stamen structures, with unheard-of terms such as father parent, mother parent, emasculation, and pollination next to them. The text is filled with incomprehensible terms such as heredity, dominance, and segregation of traits.
Zhu Mu took a deep breath and began to explain in the simplest and most understandable language:
"Father, Mother, Elder Brother, this method is called hybridization. Simply put, it involves selecting two different types of rice, one as the father and the other as the mother."
"We artificially transfer the father's pollen to the mother, who has removed her own pollen, allowing them to combine. The resulting child may inherit the best qualities of both parents, growing strong and producing many ears of fruit!"
He pointed to the blueprints and explained:
"Why hybridize? Because the offspring produced this way will have an advantage, their yield far exceeding that of their parents. How to hybridize? The key lies in male sterilization and pollination..."