Wielding the Great Equalizer of all mortals, even the Prince of Han has to swallow his pride!

"Great-grandson, the way we're dressed right now, we don't look like good people at all." Zhu Yuanzhang touched the bright red mask on his face and muttered with considerable excitement.

In his lifetime, whenever the old man Zhu killed someone, he did it upright and openly, utterly annihilating them. He had never engaged in such sneaky, illicit misdeeds, and a novel sense of thrill inevitably lingered in his heart.

"Yanzu... Ahem!"

"Grand-progenitor, this is a covert operation of ours. Although those gentry might guess it, they will never publicize it. After all, they certainly don't want the news of the Great Ming enjoying divine favor to become common knowledge."

Zhu Youjian smiled and said, "That's why we still have to keep ourselves covered up. If the common people found out that the Emperor of the Great Ming had changed careers to become a bandit, imagine how bad the impact would be."

"Of course, the main point is to get the atmosphere going."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, though he didn't take it to heart.

"You have to admit, wearing this outfit is a lot roomier." Old Zhu the Fourth said with beaming eyes, dressed in camouflage gear, with two bandoliers of ammunition slung across his chest and a rifled firearm in his hand, looking very much like a patrolled militia member from the eighties.

Holding his gun with both hands, Old Zhu Di was in the midst of educating the two chubby fellows, frowning as he said, "Everyone is working hard, wouldn't it be unreasonable for the two of you to sit this out?!"

"Dad, aren't I just waiting here to count the money for you?" The chubby Hongxi Emperor shrank his neck and muttered.

"Eldest son, oh eldest son, can't you cultivate some martial spirit and grit from fighting wars?!"

Old Zhu Di was so exasperated he laughed, pointing at him and demanding, "Setting money aside for a moment, do you know what you need the most right now..."

It was exercise, it was grit, it was a blood-soaked battle!

Before Old Zhu Di could finish his sentence.

"I can't set it aside." The chubby Hongxi Emperor tucked his hands into his sleeves, his face bitter, shaking his head like a rattle-drum.

For a moment, Old Zhu Di was actually left dumbfounded.

The chubby Yongle Emperor dragged the restless Zhu Xiongying with his left hand, while subduing little Zhu Jianshen with his right, and chimed in:

"Your son has to keep an eye on our little eldest grandson here; he keeps wanting to touch the guns. Look here, if he were to hurt my little big brother, Imperial Grandfather wouldn't skin me alive?!"

"Besides, someone has to count the money later on. Someone's gotta do this job, and your son happens to be quite an expert at it!"

Old Zhu Di raised an eyebrow, faintly persuaded to some degree.

Seizing the momentum while it was hot, the chubby Yongle Emperor whispered in a low voice, "Aren't those two brothers of mine still over in the Jianwen Wokun islands? Why don't you have Youjian haul them back so they can take over our chores right here."

"That makes sense."

Old Zhu Di finally nodded. These two sons of his had builds that were far too conspicuous—who on earth was so well-fed and plump yet still went out to be a bandit? He cast his gaze toward Zhu Youjian.

Understanding the intent, Zhu Youjian reached out and grabbed.

"Ouch!"

"My backside!"

Two cries of pain rang out.

Zhu Gaosui rubbed his rear end, wearing a completely bewildered expression. It took him a moment to snap back to reality, tears welling in the corners of his eyes, his lips trembling uncontrollably: "O-Old Second, we're back!"

"Damn it! You little punk, don't you run!"

Zhu Gaoxu didn't have the time to spare a glance at him. Right now, he was furiously chasing Zhu Youjian all over the place.

"Hey, hey, hey..."

Zhu Youjian looked back and caught a glimpse of bulging muscles, stubble, and an aura so fiercely murderous he looked like a black bear spirit turned human. If someone told me he went around stealing monastic robes, I'd totally believe it!

Goodness gracious, who wouldn't run from that?

After running just a few steps, Zhu Youjian also snapped to his senses. He suddenly turned back toward him and earnestly advised, "Calm down, calm down, what's all the fuss about?"

"Fine, fine, fine, I'm calm, I'm calm!"

Zhu Gaoxu halted his steps, pondered for a moment, and said, "Fair enough, even a trivial little matter like this isn't worth getting angry over. Say, Youjian, don't point that contraption at me; it's easy for it to go off by accident."

Zhu Youjian grinned broadly. "There are no bullets in it."

"You're playing me for a fool!"

Zhu Gaoxu flew into a rage.

*Click!*

"Now there are." Zhu Youjian chambered a round, looking completely harmless to humans and animals alike.

"What kind of talk is that?"

Zhu Gaoxu said with complete equanimity, "Whether there are bullets or not, your uncle-grandfather isn't going to hit you."

"Prince of Han, you certainly have quite the leisurely and elegant state of mind."

Old Zhu Di's calm voice drifted over, and with a cold huff, he commanded, "Get over here!"

"Heh, coming, Dad."

Zhu Gaoxu obediently trotted over.

"Third Son, I wasn't talking to you?" Old Zhu Di cast a faint glance at Zhu Gaosui.

"Oh my, I'm right here, Dad!"

Zhu Gaosui put on a flattering smile and hurried over.

Camouflage uniforms, rifled firearms—the two of them were quickly decked out in a proper manner, wearing black balaclavas. Anyone who saw them would have to say they looked just like Middle Eastern hardcore bandits.

Zhu Yuanzhang, Old Zhu Di, Zhu Lao Si, Emperor Xuande Zhu Zhanji, Little Yongle Zhu, Zhu Qiyu, Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Gaosui, and Zhu Youjian—making a total of nine people.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked them over, nodded in satisfaction, and asked, "Great-grandson, where shall we start? Should we directly attack Nanjing?"

Attack Nanjing...

An inexplicable sense of weirdness enveloped the group, causing the mouths of all the emperors and imperial heirs to twitch wildly.

Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and said, "Grand-progenitor, imperial power does not reach the counties; the gentry and squires in these Jiangnan towns act as regional tyrants over the common people. Every single household hoards at least several thousand to tens of thousands of taels of silver, mostly supplemented by aged rice and grain. After we take their silver, we can also open up their storehouses and distribute the grain to benefit the common people. What do you think?"

From beneath Zhu Yuanzhang's red mask came a peal of booming laughter: "Then let's go down to the countryside and beat up some landlords! Not a single one of these bastards is any good; I figured that out thoroughly a long time ago. Anyone with a kind heart could never become a landlord in the first place—if we kill a hundred of them, we won't execute a single wrong one!"

Zhu Lao Si sidled up closer and offered a suggestion: "Dad, how about we split our forces into three routes? This battle ought to be fought with swift resolution. If they get wind of it and hide away, it will be much harder to strike later."

On one hand, this was to maximize their gains; on the other hand, with his strict father present, it wouldn't be easy for him to stuff a bit of hardship pay into his own pockets. During the Chengfa punitive expeditions earlier, he had already suffered a loss of over seven hundred thousand taels of silver.

Leading a route of his own meant, at the very least, a guaranteed harvest regardless of drought or flood!

He couldn't afford to make a trip to the Chengfa era and end up empty-handed while remaining in the red by hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him and pondered, "We'll split into three routes: I'll take a route with the Great-grandson and kid Qiyu, and the two of you will each lead a route. Strive to wrap things up before dark, and don't make things difficult for kid Jianshen."

"You got it, Dad!"

"Just you watch and see!"

Old Zhu Di had the Prince of Han and the Prince of Zhao following closely behind him, while Zhu Lao Si had two Zhu Zhanjis bringing up the rear. Everyone was brimming with vigor and enthusiasm.

"Set off!"

Zhu Youjian detached a force of a thousand men for each of these two routes, deployed them to the southeastern sectors of Jiangnan Province, and then returned to the small world.

Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled and said, "Let's go, Great-grandson. You and I, grandfather and grandson, are going to attack Nanjing! Your Grand-progenitor happens to know precisely where the richest place in this region is."

What's this about imperial power not reaching the counties? How much money could those local landlords and wealthy squires possibly have? Nanjing City was overflowing with capitalists engaging in the international trade of the maritime voyages of the Zheng He era.

Ever since the ninth year of Xuande, when the Xuande Emperor wanted to launch another maritime voyage, preparations had gone on for a year and he was just about to set sail when he was knocked off in the tenth year of Xuande. Ever since then, all the documentation regarding the maritime expeditions had been hidden away.

These Jiangnan gentry used it for themselves, secretly operating maritime trade ventures, and the Ming court never tasted the dividends of the maritime voyages ever again.

*Click!*

"You got it!"

Zhu Youjian smilingly finished chambering bullets into both of his rifled firearms.

Taking Zhu Qiyu along, the three emperors and the remaining thousand-man vanguard vanished into the small world.