Chapter 356 355 Prince Yu

Although he didn't know what Prince Yu was thinking when he went to pay his respects to Lu Bing, Yan Shifan knew that some of the original plans had to be changed.

In the afternoon, Yan Shifan got the news from the Lu family in the other courtyard. Although Prince Yu was very low-key, the news of Prince Yu's condolences to Lu Bing spread quickly throughout the capital.

"Is the prince not here yet?"

Yan Shifan looked at the food and wine in front of him, and they were no longer fragrant. The beautiful beauties beside him were no longer attractive at this time. His eyes were fixed on the paper in his hand that recorded Prince Yu's words and deeds when he was paying his respects to Lu's family.

Was Lu Bing so good to Prince Yu when he was a child? Why haven't I heard of it?

He also took Prince Yu, who was still in his cradle, to the Qianqing Palace to meet the emperor. Can he, Lu Bing, enter and leave the harem?

The more Yan Shifan read, the more angry he became. If these news were spread, it would clearly tell others that Lu Bing had liked Prince Yu a long time ago and had some feelings for him.

The most important thing is that in Lu Mansion, Prince Yu's words implied that Lu Bing helped him a lot, and he almost said that Lu Bing secretly tipped him off.

Originally, Yan Shifan only made up a lie that Lu Bing surrendered to Prince Yu in order to fool Prince Jing into taking action. Well, he didn't expect that it would be a lucky coincidence.

In the past, Yan Shifan thought that Lu Bing was neutral and didn't say a word on the issue of establishing a crown prince. Unexpectedly, he had already colluded with Prince Yu in secret.

As for Wei Guangde, Yan Shifan only thought that he was sent by Prince Yu's Mansion to Lu Mansion to see the wind direction. After all, Prince Yu was there in person, and the fewer people on the scene, the better, and the fewer people who knew, the better.

The whereabouts of Li San, the servant of the Wei family, after leaving Lu Mansion were also found out. He really went to Prince Yu's Mansion. Soon after Li San left, Prince Yu left the mansion and went straight to the Lu family to pay his respects.

But thinking about these is useless. Now Yan Shifan urgently needs to come up with a countermeasure to deal with it. The previous plan must not continue.

What happened during the day, at night, Emperor Jiajing also knew about it in Yongshou Palace.

In the past, these notes were sent by Lu Bing, but now it was changed to be handed over to the East Factory by Zhu Xizhong, the commander of the Jinyiwei, and then passed to Emperor Jiajing by Huang Jin.

"Prince Yu? Full month?"

Like Yan Shifan, at this time, Emperor Jiajing also placed notes recording Prince Yu's words when he was mourning in Lu's house on his imperial desk.

After reading the notes, Emperor Jiajing tilted his head and thought about it. It had been too long, and he could no longer remember it.

It was all more than 20 years ago, and he didn't take it seriously at the time.

"Huang Jin, when Prince Yu was full month, was it Lu Bing who took the child to the Qianqing Palace?"

After speaking, Emperor Jiajing looked at Huang Jin.

"It seems to be the case."

Huang Jin, who was standing aside, had seen these notes a long time ago, and of course he noticed these things. After careful recollection, Huang Jin vaguely remembered that it seemed to be true, so he answered immediately after Emperor Jiajing asked.

When Prince Yu was born, Emperor Jiajing went to Kangpin's palace to sit and look at the newly born Prince Yu, and then he never set foot there again.

Afterwards, Kangpin was named Concubine Kang, and Concubine Jing, the mother of Prince Jing, was promoted with her.

However, Prince Yu and Prince Jing were treated differently. Because Concubine Jing was favored, Prince Jing could still see Emperor Jiajing from time to time at that time.

As for the so-called motto "two dragons do not meet each other", it is actually aimed at the emperor and the prince.

The eldest son of Emperor Jiajing died more than two months after birth, and was posthumously named Prince Aichong.

The second son Zhu Zaizhen was two years older than Prince Yu and Prince Jing. He was made the prince at the age of three. He died in the 28th year of Jiajing at the age of fourteen, and was posthumously named Prince Zhuangjing.

Although Emperor Jiajing liked and paid the most attention to his second son, he was indeed influenced by Tao Zhongwen and never saw him again after his second son was made the prince.

Because of the relationship with the prince, Emperor Jiajing could naturally see the other two sons.

It was just that Prince Yu's mother was not favored, so she had only a few opportunities to see the emperor, which was one of the reasons why it was rumored that Prince Jing was more favored.

When the prince left the palace to study, Emperor Jiajing was forced to meet the prince on the same day due to the ancestral system. However, he did not expect that the prince would fall ill and die soon. Emperor Jiajing himself was also shocked, so he simply never summoned the remaining two sons again, let alone confer the title of prince.

Father and son do not meet, naturally will not violate the motto.

Although he did not summon them publicly, Emperor Jiajing did not ignore his two sons. In fact, he had been secretly watching his two sons for these years.

He had seen the performance of Prince Yu and Prince Jing in the past. Emperor Jiajing naturally knew about Prince Jing's little actions, but he did nothing.

The emperor did not like his son to think about inheriting the throne when he was still healthy. Wouldn't that be a curse for his early death?

However, Emperor Jiajing did not dare to punish his son easily. There were only two left out of the four sons. If there was another accident, he really couldn't imagine it.

Emperor Jiajing knew best how he sat on the throne.

Hearing Huang Jin's answer, Emperor Jiajing was just slightly stunned, and then said with some disinterest: "I didn't expect Lu Bing and Prince Yu, hehe"

"Your Majesty, Wenfu is loyal to you. As for Prince Yu, I'm afraid it's because of you that he's worried that he'll be bullied too much."

Huang Jin said cautiously.

"It's only a little bit of tempering. When I first ascended the throne, it was much harder than him."

Emperor Jiajing suddenly said in a grim tone, and in the change of attitude, the topic also turned to other things.

"Have you found out who is behind it?"

Hearing the question from Emperor Jiajing, Huang Jin knelt down hurriedly to explain.

Emperor Jiajing knew from his actions that there was still no progress.

"Your Majesty, forgive me."

"Forget it. Since they dared to do this, they must have thought of the follow-up measures. Try to investigate. I won't force you."

Huang Jin kowtowed to thank him and was about to stand up when he heard Emperor Jiajing's question again.

"I discussed the rumor of the vassal with Wenfu. Have you found the source?"

Huang Jin knelt down again immediately, wanting to report a good news to Emperor Jiajing, but he really didn't.

"Your Majesty, I haven't found out yet. The news seems to have spread in a short time. According to my judgment, it should be a rumor spread by many people at the same time."

"The inner court should be rectified, and you, the eunuch admiral, should also pay more attention."

The fierceness in the eyes of Emperor Jiajing flashed, and he said in a bad tone: "They all call you the ancestor, but if you can't even control people, what's the use."

"I know my crime, I will vigorously rectify it and prevent such things from happening again."

Huang Jin kowtowed and admitted his mistake.

"Prevent it, can you prevent it? I want you to open your eyes and don't go wrong without knowing who to find to take responsibility."

Emperor Jiajing shook his head slightly and said dissatisfiedly.

He stood up and walked into the inner room, muttering softly as he walked, "It's time to go to the vassal state. The child has grown up and will leave sooner or later."

After Emperor Jiajing went in, Huang Jin, who was kneeling on the ground, slowly stood up, stretched out his hand to wipe the cold sweat on his head, and looked in the direction where Emperor Jiajing disappeared with lingering fear.

At this time, Prince Yu was sitting alone in the study room in the inner courtyard of the palace, in a daze.

In the morning, he followed Gao Gong's advice and went to Lu Mansion to pay his respects in person. At that time, he didn't think too much, and what Master Gao said should be correct.

It was rare for Prince Yu to leave the palace, and Prince Yu was still very excited.

It was not that the emperor confined him, but he really didn't know what to do outside the palace.

This may also be his sadness. The officials of the palace around him have places to go to have fun after their shifts, but he can't.

In fact, he can, but if he goes, the news will soon spread all over the city, and there will even be censors to impeach him, because in their view, Prince Yu is the crown prince, and his words and deeds should be a model for the world, and they can't tolerate any flaws in him.

These are what Gao Gong, Yin Shizhan and others said, and Prince Yu also thought it made sense.

Prince Yu knew very well that his younger brother had been coveting that position for a long time, and he kept a close eye on any movement here.

The two brothers did the same thing, and most of the censors would turn a blind eye, because in their opinion, King Jing would be a vassal in the future and leave the capital, so there was no need to complain to his father and make a fuss.

Well, after leaving Lu Mansion, Prince Yu's sedan chair circled around the capital again. Through the curtain of the sedan chair, he saw the prosperity of the streets in the capital, the crowds of people, the hustle and bustle of traffic, and the towering palace walls in the center of the city, where he was born.

Prince Yu rarely left the mansion, and called Gao Gong to ask if he could visit someone's house and buy some gifts on the street.

Gao Gong rubbed his bearded chin, thought about it, and said: "Why not go to Guangde's place? His house has a big yard. We, the officials of the royal palace, all rent houses outside. It's a bit of a stretch for His Highness to go there..."

"Oh, is Guangde's house big?"

Prince Yu was immediately interested when he heard Gao Gong say this.

He didn't think about Wei Guangde's corruption. He knew Wei Guangde's every move after he became an official. It was not yet time for him to embezzle and share the benefits. He could only say that his father created too good conditions.

Thinking about himself, it seems that he is the same as him.

The so-called Prince Yu's Mansion is not the property of his ancestors. It is the palace built by Emperor Chengzu, which is specially for the residence of future princes.

The princes who live here are either very lucky to move into the Forbidden City, but most of them leave the capital and go to their fiefdoms, and it will be difficult for them to return to the capital in the future.

"Guangde's house has two front and back courtyards, which is definitely not as good as those three-courtyard courtyards, but his land is not small, and the location is very good, in Nanxunfang, not far from the palace."

Gao Gong saw that Prince Yu seemed to be moved, and sighed in his heart. Prince Yu had been a prince for so many years, but he had never been to the ministers' mansions a few times. The previous few times were all ordered to go, and he went on behalf of the emperor, which was not comfortable at all.

In fact, King Jing was similar. He usually did not visit officials' residences, but built a separate courtyard outside to interact with others.

"Then go there. By the way, where did Guangde go?"

Prince Yu said happily.

"Guangde went back to the Hanlin Academy. I will send him a message. Let's go around the streets and buy some gifts."

Seeing that Prince Yu was in high spirits, Gao Gong spoke.

Tell Wei Guangde a message so that he can be prepared, and let Prince Yu walk around the streets of the capital.

For future monarchs, it is also very important to understand the people's sentiments.

Beijing in this era is undoubtedly the largest city in the world during this period, without a doubt.

The three largest cities in Europe during this period were Paris, Naples and Venice, with a population of about 150,000. Other cities with a population of more than 100,000 were located by the sea, by the river or in trade centers, namely Seville, Genoa and Milan.

Other European cities that are well known to Chinese people in later generations, such as Cologne, Pisa, Montpellier, Florence, Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Augsburg, Nuremberg, Antwerp and Brussels, have much smaller populations, most of which are only 30,000 or 50,000 people.

Even London, the largest city in England at that time, had a population of less than 50,000, and very few other cities on the three islands had a population of more than 10,000.

The total population of Europe as a whole is estimated to be around 70 million.

What did the big cities in Europe look like at that time?

Walking out of the forest along the muddy path, the first thing that comes into view is the gloomy city walls and turrets.

Looking out from the turret, you can see the triangular roofs of the rich people's houses and the spires of the small churches, but they are much more eclipsed by the many cathedrals.

In the city walls, there may be one or two fairly wide roads, and then there are only winding alleys, most of which are low-rise houses on both sides of the alleys, where residents live.

During this period, Europe was gradually moving from ignorance to a civilized society. The discovery of new routes and new continents brought about the "Age of Exploration", which promoted unprecedented development of European economy and trade.

The exploration of the unknown world, the search for new territories and wealth, the search for spices and the improvement of navigation techniques promoted the development of Europe.

Huge wealth also promoted the development of culture. The culture that was highly prosperous in the classical era of Greece and Rome declined and disappeared after experiencing the "Dark Ages" of the Middle Ages, and it was not until this period that it was "reborn" and "revived".

What did the Beijing city of the Ming Dynasty look like at this time?

The Beijing city built in the early Ming Dynasty was 6,670 meters wide from east to west, 5,310 meters deep from north to south, and covered an area of ​​35.4 million square meters.

The main and secondary roads in the city formed a long and rectangular street network, and the grid was a block, and the block was a horizontal alley.

A few years ago, the imperial court finally decided to build the outer city of Beijing. The original plan was to build outer cities on all four sides, with a total length of more than 70 miles. However, due to limited manpower and financial resources, the construction was stopped after only about 13 miles of the southern part was completed. Beijing has developed from a rectangular shape when it was first built to a convex plane with an outer city built on the south.

How many people are there in Beijing?

Beijing's bookshops and baojia, "regardless of relatives, nobles, Beijing officials, internal and external gentry, students, and natives and exiles", totaled 525 shops, 15,119 jia, and 134,000 households. Based on 5 people per household, there are about 670,000 people. Counting the palace maids and eunuchs in the imperial city, as well as those who were missed, there should be no difference of more than 700,000.

Such a big city naturally dazzled Prince Yu, and he was overwhelmed. He soon forgot about going to Wei Guangde's house and kept urging the sedan chair bearers to rush to the lively market.