Chapter 88 Meeting Zhu Di

Luo Ming didn't suffer much along the way. He was picked up by a carriage and accompanied by four guards.

One month after arriving in the capital, Luo Ming went to Zhuque Street first.

"Have you found it?" Luo Ming asked the servant Zhao Dadan who had returned.

"Young Master, are you sure you didn't remember the wrong place?" Zhao Dabing looked at Luo Ming in embarrassment.

"Of course it can't be wrong. What's wrong? Is there something wrong with that place?"

"Master, the Prince's Mansion is a hundred steps into Suzaku Street."

"Huh?" Luo Ming was dumbfounded.

"Really? A hundred steps into Suzaku Street is the Prince's Palace."

Luo Ming thought for a moment, Zhu Wen... Zhu Yunwen?

Could it be that Zhu Wen is the emperor’s grandson Zhu Yunwen?

Luo Ming took out the jade pendant that Zhu Wen gave him and finally decided to go there in person.

When we arrived at the Prince's Mansion, we saw two armored guards standing in front of the door holding halberds.

Luo Ming took the jade pendant and stepped forward and asked, "Do you two recognize this jade pendant?"

A guard took the jade pendant and confirmed it belonged to the Eastern Palace at a glance.

"Where did you get this, sir?"

"A young man named Zhu Wen sent it to me and asked me to come here to find him after I come to Beijing." Luo Ming answered honestly.

"May I ask your name, sir?"

"My name is Luo Ming, and my courtesy name is Mingyan."

"Please wait a moment, sir."

The guards hurried into the Prince's Mansion, and less than a hundred breaths later, they saw Zhu Yunwen running out hurriedly.

"Good brother."

"I have met your Highness."

"Hey... my dear brother, don't be so polite, please come in." Zhu Yunwen was very happy at this moment.

After all, Luo Ming was a like-minded person whom he recognized, and his father had saved his life.

He liked the pocket watch that Luo Ming gave him very much and wore it every day.

Many ministers also asked about the origin of his pocket watch, and they were all extremely envious.

It would be a lie for Luo Ming to say that he was unhappy after he found out that Zhu Wen was Zhu Yunwen.

After all, this is a good opportunity to achieve success overnight.

Zhu Yunwen and Luo Ming had not seen each other for a long time. Luo Ming was a little restrained at first, but after they started chatting, Luo Ming began to ignore Zhu Yunwen's identity and started to chat freely.

Zhu Yunwen recommended Luo Ming to a group of ministers.

These Confucian scholars and celebrities were quite optimistic about Luo Ming. On the one hand, Luo Ming had profound knowledge and had won the first place in the provincial examination.

Secondly, Zhu Yunwen and Luo Ming had a very close personal relationship, and they privately called each other brothers.

So they naturally regarded Luo Ming as a member of Zhu Yunwen's faction.

Rosen has been keeping an eye on Luo Ming's situation, and the four servants would send him a letter every half a month.

However, Rosen felt somewhat worried about the closeness between Luo Ming and Zhu Yunwen.

After all, he knew very well what Zhu Yunwen's final outcome would be.

I’m just afraid that Luo Ming will act on his emotions in the future.

If there is really no other way, the worst that can happen is to use a kaleidoscope on Luo Ming.

At the end of the autumn examination, Luo Ming came back with the top scorer.

This result shocked Rosen.

To get this ranking, I'm afraid Zhu Yunwen and his supporters behind him also made a lot of efforts.

The top scholar cannot be admitted just by talent.

Of course, it is undeniable that Luo Ming has real talent and knowledge.

Luo Ming was conferred the sixth-rank editor of the Hanlin Academy. This position was almost tailor-made for the top scholar in the imperial examination, and almost all the top scholars had held this position.

Luo Ming stayed in the capital, but the small Kaiyuan County and even the Kaifeng Prefecture were alarmed. After all, a top scholar emerged under their jurisdiction, and this honor was a great achievement for them.

What's more, this number one scholar was from the north. Because there were many aristocratic families in the south, and the number of literati and scholars was several times more than that in the north, plus most of the celebrities came from the south, so it was even more rare for a number one scholar to come from the north.

All dynasties liked to balance officials from the north and the south, so if a top scholar appeared in the north, as long as there were no accidents in the middle, he would definitely be promoted to the third rank or above in the future.

As for going further back, they are basically the leaders of camps and factions.

Even Rosen didn't expect that Luo Ming could become the top scorer.

While sighing, I also felt worried about Luo Ming's future.

But my wife has been waking up laughing in her dreams recently.

Four years later, Zhu Yuanzhang passed away and Zhu Yunwen succeeded to the throne.

During these four years, Luo Ming had been promoted from the sixth-rank editor in the Hanlin Academy to the fifth-rank prefect in the Hanlin Academy.

After Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, Luo Ming was promoted to the third rank of Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Given his current official position, it is no exaggeration to say that he has brought honor to the family.

Although the Luo family is very low-key in Kaiyuan County, the Luo Mansion is still crowded with people, and the threshold is almost broken down.

Everyone can see that Luo Ming is deeply favored by Emperor Jianwen. The emperor and his subject complement each other, and their future is bound to be immeasurable.

Rosen and Chen Lian also received a letter from Luo Ming, asking them to go to Beijing to enjoy a good life.

Rosen and Chen Lian came up with this idea, so let’s go.

Rosen didn't want to go there at first. After all, Yingtian Prefecture was far less comfortable than Luojia Village.

But Chen Lian really missed her son, and Rosen also thought that if there were any changes in the political situation, it would be convenient for him to bring his son back.

Walking slowly all the way, Luo Sen, Chen Lian, and their daughter Chen Mingyue finally arrived at Luo Mansion in Yingtian Prefecture.

Luo Ming has only returned home to visit his family twice in the past few years. The mountains are high and the roads are long, and a round trip takes two or three months.

When I saw Luo Ming again, he had matured a lot.

Luo Ming invited the two elders this time for another reason, which was his lifelong event.

According to Zhu Yunwen, he wanted to marry Princess Hanshan to Luo Ming.

Princess Hanshan is now seventeen years old. She is beautiful and has a gentle and virtuous personality.

Luo Ming is in his early twenties, and the age difference is not much.

Moreover, Luo Ming was the top scholar in the imperial examination. He was handsome and held a high position. As a 20-year-old minister, he had an incredible future. He was worthy of Princess Hanshan. They were a perfect match.

Rosen would naturally not refuse this matter. Luo Ming was also at the age of getting married, and from his words, it could be felt that he was quite looking forward to this marriage.

Although it was a marriage arranged by the royal family, the Luo family still had to follow the proper etiquette.

Rosen gave 100,000 strings of cash as a betrothal gift, and three months later, at the wedding, Rosen and Chen Lian welcomed their daughter-in-law into the family.

Zhu Yunwen even came to the event in person to celebrate, but Rosen was actually quite uncomfortable with Zhu Yunwen.

Although in the eyes of others this is a manifestation of unparalleled honor and favor.

But in Rosen's view, it was just asking for trouble, and the key point was that he, an old man, had to kneel down to Zhu Yunwen.

Zhu Yunwen came and left in a hurry.

"A worship of heaven and earth..."

"Second worship high hall..."

"Husband and wife pay homage..."

"After the ceremony, send her to the bridal chamber."

After going through the whole process, even Rosen, the elder, felt a little tired.

However, when the young couple went to the bridal chamber, he, as the master, was still responsible for entertaining the guests.

I took a break from my busy schedule and went to the pavilion by the lake, only to find that there was already someone in the pavilion.

"I pay my respects to His Majesty the Prince of Yan."

That’s right, the middle-aged man with a sharp face in front of him is the famous Emperor Yongle in history.

Not long ago, Zhu Yunwen summoned Zhu Di to Beijing and detained him in Yingtian Prefecture.

Princess Hanshan was Zhu Di's sister and the fourteenth princess.

So as one of the few brothers in Beijing, he naturally came to attend the wedding banquet.

It's just that he, the King of Yan, is hated by everyone in the past. No one likes him and everyone avoids him like the plague. He doesn't want to make trouble for himself, so he comes to the pavilion in the backyard.

I didn't expect that the master of the Luo family would come here.

"No need for formalities." Zhu Di waved his hand.

"Your Highness, have I neglected you so much that you are here alone?"

"It's noisy in front, so I'm here to have some peace and quiet. But why doesn't Mr. Luo entertain the guests in the front hall?"

"Your Highness, if you want to take some time off, I will naturally take some time off as well. If I had known it would be so tedious, I would have just escaped and found a quiet place to live out my days." Rosen took out a pot of wine and two wine glasses, and handed one glass to Zhu Di.

Zhu Di took the wine glass and said with a smile: "Mr. Luo should be even younger than me, why are you so disgusted with the world?"

"It's not that I'm tired of the world, it's just that this chaos makes me irritated."

"I envy Mr. Luo. He has a happy family and a young and promising son."

"Back then, I let Luo Ming study just to make him sensible, but I never thought he could become the top scorer in the imperial examination. Now it's too late to regret it."

"Everyone in the world hopes that their son can become the top scholar, but why is it too late for Mr. Luo to regret it?" Zhu Di felt that Rosen was in Versailles.

"Although my son is good at studying, he is not suitable for being an official. It's okay for him to study in the Hanlin Academy, but if he is sent to the court, I'm afraid he will lose his head in a few days."

"Haha... If you can study, you can become an official. Mr. Luo is worrying too much."

"What Confucianism teaches are all empty universal principles. Even if these principles are not taught, everyone in the world understands them. Even ordinary people who have never been educated, don't they know that killing is against the law? Don't they know that stealing is against the law? What constrains people in the world is never those great principles, but the law, and what keeps them from breaking the law is whether they can eat enough."

"If those scholars heard Mr. Luo's remarks, I'm afraid he would be regarded as a thief."

"This conversation here is from my mouth and your ears, and no third person will know about it. Once we leave this courtyard, even if the King of Yan tells others, I will not admit it."

"Haha..." Zhu Di laughed: "Mr. Luo, do you think Confucianism should not exist?"

"It shouldn't exist in the imperial court. Unfortunately, the emperor, in order to uphold the theory of divine right of kings, forced Confucianism into the imperial court. Since then, Confucianism has taken root and has been unwilling to leave the imperial court."

"This king feels that Mr. Luo is quite disgusted with Confucianism."

"If you raise a person to a position that does not belong to him, he will do many things that go beyond the bottom line in order to protect his position. This is the case with Confucianism. They talk about benevolence, righteousness, and morality, but they are full of thieves and prostitutes. Today, Confucianism is nothing more than a tool for the aristocratic families to fight for interests, and the person sitting in that position is an obedient fool."

Zhu Di did not expect Rosen to say such treasonous words.

"That fool came to congratulate your son on his wedding today."

"Perhaps this is the sympathy between fools."

"Mr. Luo, do you think that if a tough emperor came to power, could he drive the Confucians out of the court?"

"No, no matter how tough you are, it's useless. Even if Butcher Zhu is still alive, it's useless. Unless you rebuild the world and start all over again, it's impossible."

"How dare you say our father is Zhu the Butcher!?"