Ming Dynasty: What's wrong with being a leisurely crown prince?

Chapter 52: The court is full of military merits, yet not a single one is truly capable.

To the astonishment of Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu, the Embroidered Uniform Guard produced two imperial edicts.

"Duke of Cheng, Marquis of Xincheng, please receive the secret edict."

Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu hurriedly stood up and respectfully accepted the imperial edict from the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

After the two men received it, the voice of the Imperial Guard came again.

"I wonder if the Duke of Qi is here?"

"The Duke of Qi has already returned."

Having received Zhu Neng's reply, the Imperial Guards didn't linger, gave a slight bow, and then left.

After the Imperial Guards left, Zhu Neng looked at Zhang Fu with a solemn expression.

"Go back. This matter must not be made public, and under no circumstances should you contact the King of Han!"

"I know!"

Suddenly, Zhu Neng coughed violently, his breathing became rapid, and he was clutching his chest tightly, clearly in great pain.

Zhang Fu was shocked and quickly helped Zhu Neng sit down.

"Has the old injury flared up again? Should we have a doctor take a look?"

"It's nothing serious. It's just an old ailment. His Majesty had the imperial physicians examine it, but they probably couldn't do anything about it."

Zhu Neng shook his head and declined Zhang Fu's offer.

Zhu Neng was well aware of his own physical condition.

After saying that, Zhu Neng continued, "Wenbi, you are younger than all of us. The future of the Ming Dynasty will need you. After you go down there, you must study military books more."

Of those of us who followed the Emperor in raising an army to quell the rebellion, only the Duke of Rong (Zhang Fu's father, Zhang Yu) served as a deputy commander, the Duke of Qi was a chiliarch, and I was a deputy chiliarch.

You should know very well what this means: our abilities are far inferior to those of those people.

The Emperor clearly values ​​us more, but our abilities are a major problem.

Since the Jingnan Rebellion began, I have spent every spare moment reading military strategies, just to acquire the skills required for my current position.

We lack so much, and we need to learn and practice at the same time to go further and better help the emperor and the court.

If we don't keep improving, we will surely be eliminated one day.

The Duke of Rongguo participated in numerous battles, including the Northern Expedition during the Hongwu era. You must diligently learn from the experience he left behind and never become complacent.

My health is poor, and I fear I will be unable to fight for the court in the future. But you still have plenty of time, so you must work hard and not let anyone look down on us peasants who followed the emperor in the Jingnan Campaign.

Furthermore, we must not allow the jokes of those former Southern Army soldiers to become reality, giving the impression that the Yongle reign lacked great generals.

Despite the pain, Zhu Neng kept giving Zhang Fu instructions.

There were many things that Zhang Fu didn't know, but Zhu Neng knew them very well.

Qiu Fu was the most outstanding military hero during the Jingnan Campaign, yet at that age, he only managed to reach the rank of a thousand-household commander during the Hongwu reign, which speaks volumes about his abilities.

It should be noted that during the Hongwu reign, as long as one had the ability, there was no shortage of military merits, because there were numerous northern and southern expeditions.

At Qiu Fu's age, he had experienced most of the wars that should have been fought, yet he remained in the same position, which speaks volumes.

Compared to those who surrendered during the Jingnan Rebellion, Zhu Neng knew very well that they were indeed a step behind.

If it weren't for Zhu Di constantly leading them in battle, they really wouldn't have been able to defeat the imperial army at the time.

No one paid attention to these problems; everyone was complacent after the Jingnan Rebellion succeeded.

But Zhu Neng is well aware of these things, and he has been working hard to learn them.

After Sheng Yong surrendered, he often consulted Sheng Yong, but unfortunately, in the first year of the Yongle reign, Sheng Yong was forced to commit suicide, and he was powerless to help.

When Sheng Yong was still a commander during the Hongwu era, not one of those higher-ranking officials, he already admired his abilities and learned a lot from him. This shows that their abilities were far inferior to those of those higher-ranking officials.

Others might not see these potential crises, but he knew very well that in the current Yongle Dynasty, there was simply no suitable person to command troops for large-scale military operations.

Zhu Di, who had surrendered, was unwilling to employ them, and in the past few years, many of those old guys had died, leaving very few men.

Of all the people who came out of the Jingnan Rebellion together, he was the most suitable.

But Zhu Neng knew very well about his body; he had old injuries that couldn't be cured, and he himself didn't know how long he could live.

During the Yongle reign, most of the military officers were older than Zhang Fu. Only Zhang Fu was young, talented, and had a close relationship with Zhu Nengcai, so Zhu Nengcai placed his hopes on Zhang Fu.

He had actually discussed these matters with Zhu Di, but it was a helpless situation and of little use.

In the present Ming Dynasty, the best commander is Zhu Di, and the most capable fighter is Zhu Gaoxu. These other people can't even get close to him.

He was able to see these things because he kept studying hard and was able to discover them.

In fact, Zhu Neng's worries were a recurring theme throughout the Yongle reign.

Did Zhu Di really want to personally lead five expeditions to the northern deserts?

The Ming Dynasty was originally burdened with numerous national affairs and the development of people's livelihoods, but Zhu Di still had to do it personally because there was no one else available, so Zhu Di had to take charge himself.

Among all the military officers in the Yongle court, there was not one stronger than Zhu Di, or even someone who could barely match him.

There was only one, and that was Zhu Gaoxu.

However, Zhu Gaoxu was stuck in an awkward position regarding his identity.

It was Zhu Di's five personal expeditions to the northern deserts that nurtured Zhu Zhanji and many other young generals. Zhang Fu was no exception. Otherwise, during the reigns of Emperor Renzong and Emperor Xuanzong, there would have been no outstanding generals.

To be able to only rise to the rank of centurion or chiliarch during the Hongwu era, a period marked by numerous battles, speaks volumes about one's abilities.

At the same time, the main reason why Zhu Gaochi received Wu Xun's support is also here.

Zhu Gaoxu was such a skilled fighter that these people saw the gap between them and admired him.

If it were Lan Yu and his men, would Zhu Gaochi's bravery earn their respect? Which of those men couldn't fight?

In fact, there were some capable fighters among those who surrendered during the Jingnan Rebellion, such as Sheng Yong and Ping An, but Zhu Di was unwilling to use them.

Sheng Yong has already been forced to his death. In two or three years, Ping An will follow in Sheng Yong's footsteps.

No, Zhu Di did not completely abandon his use of military force. For example, he employed the surrendered general He Fu.

He Fu was promoted to Vice Commander of the Vanguard Army and General Pingqiang during the Hongwu period. However, Zhu Di used He Fu because Zhu Gaosui's principal wife, now Princess Zhao, was He Fu's niece. It was a marriage alliance that led to his appointment.

Zhang Fu felt extremely heavy-hearted as he listened to Zhu Neng's words.

He didn't actually think as much as Zhu Neng did, but when Zhu Neng brought it up, he understood these realities.

"Don't worry, I've been studying hard, and I will succeed!"

Zhang Fu did not hesitate at all; he was confident that he could do it.

Especially now that Zhu Neng is acting like he's making his final arrangements, he's extremely worried and can't bring himself to refuse.

Zhu Neng gave Zhang Fu instructions for a long time, but neither of them mentioned the matter of Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu.

Shortly after Zhang Fu left, Zhu Neng, enduring the pain, ordered his men to put on armor and led his personal guards to the capital garrison.

Zhu Di's secret edict was to instruct them to maintain the stability of the army, implying that Zhu Gaochi might take that step due to possible unrest.

This also shows that even though Zhu Di distrusted Zhu Gaochi, he was also wary of Zhu Gaoxu.