Among three brothers, one must be frustrated.

The frustrated one is usually the second son, because the eldest is the first child, enjoying natural advantages and resources in inheritance. The youngest is the baby, naturally loved by parents. The middle child is stuck between, with fewer resources than the eldest and less affection than the youngest, which is why second sons are generally the most hardworking.

The Prince of Han was exactly like this. During the Jingnan Campaign, among the three brothers, the eldest and youngest both stayed in Beijing while only he followed Father King everywhere to fight, displaying exceptional military talent and saving Father King from danger several times. That was when their father-son relationship was at its best.

The Yongle Emperor even said to him: “Work hard – the heir apparent’s health isn’t good.”

It was from that moment the Prince of Han developed ambitions to replace his elder brother, believing Father wanted him to be the successor.

Yongle Emperor: Second son, you’re really overthinking this…

Now, the Prince of Han had finally defeated the Crown Prince in their struggle, forcing the Crown Prince to hide like a turtle in the Eastern Palace. Even when his most trusted teacher Xie Jin froze to death in the snow, the Crown Prince remained silent, continuing his daily routine with lips sealed tight as a clam, unable to utter a single word of pleading.

However, Ji Gang’s warning gave the Prince of Han a new enemy – the Imperial Grandson.

The Imperial Grandson had just turned fifteen this year and had no power base. The Prince of Han looked down on him somewhat, feeling that as an elder with strong military forces, he would give his all competing with his elder and younger brothers, but bullying a child held no interest.

The Prince of Han thought that as long as the Imperial Grandson recognized the situation and wisely withdrew, he wouldn’t hold it against him.

The Prince of Han invited his grand-nephew to review troops together, watching the Heavenly Strategy Guard’s latest formation drills – the Heavenly Strategy Guard was originally part of the imperial forces but had been requested by the Prince of Han and became guards for his mansion.

The Prince of Han wanted to display his strength before his grand-nephew, making him back down wisely. This was courtesy before force – after all, they were family, and it would be unseemly to have an open confrontation, especially with a junior.

Eunuch Wang Zhen delivered the invitation to the Imperial Grandson’s desk. Zhu Zhanji read it, closed the invitation, and said: “Go to Prince Han’s mansion and reply that I’ll arrive punctually.”

Wang Zhen couldn’t help worrying for the Imperial Grandson: “This… the Heavenly Strategy Guard has changed from imperial forces to Prince Han’s private army. Their exercises include not just weapons but also cannons and firearms. Blades and arrows have no eyes – it’s like the Hongmen Banquet, where Xiang Zhuang danced his sword with intent toward the Duke of Pei. Your Highness should think thrice.”

Zhu Zhanji had seen through everything and smiled faintly: “I’m not afraid of his having intentions, only of his having none. Just go deliver the message.”

Wang Zhen was puzzled but had to obey orders.

Three days later, the Heavenly Strategy Guard began exercises in an open area. The exercise content was siege warfare.

They used materials at hand from an abandoned city wall. This wall section was mainly rammed earth covered with brick and stone, over a thousand years old, reportedly built during the Eastern Jin period.

At that time, the north was in great turmoil and the Jin Dynasty fell. Branches of the Sima family fled to the southern lands called barbarian territories to establish a capital, building a new city called Jiankang – the predecessor of Nanjing.

After a thousand years of wind and rain, the former Jiankang city left no trace except a few old wall sections. Ancient times had no concept of cultural relic protection, and city walls weren’t valuable antiques that could be bought and sold, so they were simply used for siege and defense exercises.

Straw figures representing enemy troops stood atop the wall. Below, the Heavenly Strategy Guard arranged their battle formation: ten brand-new Folangji cannons in front, behind them nine rows of gunners, behind the gunners were crossbow troops, and behind them infantry surrounding scaling ladders as tall as the city wall.

Beside the battlefield was an earthen slope with tents erected. Prince Han arrived first. At seven in the morning sharp, the Imperial Grandson’s carriage appeared punctually with full ceremonial escort, bright banners, and impressive bearing.

Prince Han rode out to welcome him. Prince Han bowed first, performing the full court ceremony of minister to ruler. Zhu Zhanji descended from his carriage to help Prince Han up, returning a bow and treating him with family courtesy.

Prince Han gestured for him to proceed, walking ahead of the Imperial Grandson while guiding the way and explaining the exercise formations.

Prince Han ranked higher in generation than the Imperial Grandson, but the Imperial Grandson was sovereign while Prince Han was subject. Strictly speaking, it was inappropriate for Prince Han to walk before the Imperial Grandson or even alongside him.

Prince Han did this deliberately. In major ceremonies he strictly observed etiquette, like performing the minister’s courtesy when ruler and subject met, to avoid giving people grounds to accuse him of disregarding ruler-subject relationships.

But in minor matters he deliberately pretended to inadvertently overlook protocol. This way, even if people complained, Father Emperor wouldn’t bother with such small details and would think these people were making trouble, deliberately creating discord among the imperial family.

Prince Han had done this before. The crippled Crown Prince had difficulty walking and needed two strong eunuchs to support him. When the two brothers walked together, Prince Han often walked ahead of the Crown Prince.

This time inviting the Imperial Grandson to review troops, Prince Han used his old trick again. But the Imperial Grandson wouldn’t indulge this habit. With his pair of mantis-like long thin legs, he strode forward, quickening his pace without fear of straining himself, catching up in two steps and maintaining a half-shoulder lead ahead of Prince Han.

Prince Han keenly sensed that Zhu Zhanji was different from the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was generous and modest, while this grand-nephew was full of fighting spirit and sharp edges, unwilling to fall behind anyone.

However, Prince Han had more tricks.

Prince Han invited Zhu Zhanji to take the seat of honor while he sat below. After seating, armored Prince Han’s heir Zhu Zhanhe came to ask his elder cousin: “The troops are ready. Please give your command, Imperial Grandson.”

Zhu Zhanji was like a thin mantis while Zhu Zhanhe was half a head taller than his cousin, with a solid build like an iron tower. Prince Han deliberately cultivated this successor – even this exercise was entirely Zhu Zhanhe’s responsibility while he just acted as hands-off boss.

Zhu Zhanji looked at this cousin who had grown up with him, his gaze softening somewhat as he raised his hand: “Begin.”

“Yes.” Zhu Zhanhe withdrew, leaping onto his horse. With a wave of his large hand, his voice hoarse from adolescent voice changes shouted: “Attack the city!”

War drums thundered.

Ten cannons in front fired simultaneously at the city wall. The explosive sounds shook the earth like being on a real battlefield.

Prince Han observed from the corner of his eye whether his grand-nephew showed any signs of fear.

Cannon fire was blinding and could hurt eyes. Attendant eunuch Wang Zhen quickly handed over dark crystal glasses used by astronomers for stargazing.

Zhu Zhanji put on the dark crystal glasses. Eyes are windows to the soul, but now the windows had screen protectors, making it impossible for Prince Han to fathom his grand-nephew’s thoughts.

The siege began with bombardment, riddling the thousand-year-old rammed earth wall with holes like a honeycomb. However, this Eastern Jin rammed earth wall was too solid. After ten cannons each used up a cart of ammunition, besides growing a face full of pockmarks like a teenager’s acne, the wall didn’t immediately collapse and looked like it could hold up for some time.

This was beyond chief commander Zhu Zhanhe’s expectations. He thought such intense artillery fire would be unstoppable. He expected the wall to collapse, then nine rows of gunners would conduct three-stage shooting with continuous gunfire to suppress the enemy offensive, followed by crossbow troops and infantry using scaling ladders to storm the city and take it in one move.

However, Zhu Zhanhe had prepared a second plan. He raised a yellow flag: “Bring up the siege engines!”

The cannon carts exited while three vehicles like three-story buildings slowly approached the tall city wall. These siege engines stood a zhang taller than the wall. Gunners and crossbow troops climbed ladders to the siege engine tops, shooting down at the straw enemy figures on the wall from their elevated protected positions.

With gunners and crossbow troops suppressing the enemy from above, infantry below seized the opportunity to climb scaling ladders to the battlements, fighting life-and-death battles with the straw enemies. Finally, they cut down the enemy banners and raised their own red triangular flags.

The entire exercise was exhilarating – war drums, battle cries, gunfire, the cold whirring of arrows spinning and flying through the air made it feel like experiencing a real battlefield.

Prince Han observed his grand-nephew’s expression. From beginning to end, his complexion remained normal without being frightened. He was calm and composed, and with the dark sunglasses, gained an air of unfathomable depth.

Prince Han thought: This show of force seems to have missed its mark. Is grand-nephew pretending to be calm, or did I underestimate him?

Then Zhu Zhanhe came to report success: “Exercise complete. Please give your command, Imperial Grandson.”

Zhu Zhanji nodded: “Very good. This shows the attacking spirit of our Great Ming forces sweeping like wind. Reward them.”

Zhu Zhanji had come prepared with gifts.

Wang Zhen went to arrange the rewards – all practical prizes of gold, silver and silk. The Imperial Grandson was generous and lavish in his gifts. The rewarded Heavenly Strategy Guard reformed ranks and three times called out “Long live the Imperial Grandson!” collectively thanking him for the gifts.

The thousand-year cries echoed through the valley. Prince Han was somewhat displeased, thinking: I invited you to review troops, why did you bring so many gifts? To buy people’s hearts?

Prince Han’s careful arrangements for the military review ended up like making wedding clothes for others, allowing Zhu Zhanji to bestow favors on the Heavenly Strategy Guard and win hearts. The Heavenly Strategy Guard originally belonged to the imperial forces – Prince Han had wheedled the Yongle Emperor to forcibly borrow them for his mansion as palace guards. The Heavenly Strategy Guard’s salaries were still paid by the imperial forces, supported by the court, not by Prince Han.

Moreover, the Heavenly Strategy Guard had nearly four thousand men. Each received rewards, with the centurion who first captured the enemy banner getting ten taels of gold. Roughly calculated, the Imperial Grandson’s generosity this time required about ten thousand taels of silver.

Unexpected! Who would have thought grand-nephew was quite wealthy. Where did his money come from? Spending lavishly without knowing limits – clearly not his own earnings, so it must be from Father Emperor… This partial Father Emperor, why give a child so much money? When I was his age, my monthly allowance was usually spent by the fifteenth, and I had to shamelessly ask elder brother for pocket money every time.

Prince Han was jealous of the Crown Prince and now began envying the Imperial Grandson too.

Who knew the Imperial Grandson would be so shameless. After hearing the Heavenly Strategy Guard’s three cheers, he looked quite pleased, actually standing up and removing his sunglasses: “The Heavenly Strategy Guard’s siege exercise was too spectacular. Sitting up here, I’m too far from them to see these heroes’ faces clearly. I want to personally inspect them up close.”

Having spoken, before Prince Han could react, Zhu Zhanji strode on his long legs away from the throne to the parade ground for close contact with the Heavenly Strategy Guard.

Zhu Zhanji was sovereign, and when the sovereign was determined to inspect personally, Prince Han dared not forcibly stop him. He could only flank Zhu Zhanji left and right with his son Zhu Zhanhe.

The inspection began with the infantry formations. Having just received Zhu Zhanji’s generous rewards, morale was high. As Zhu Zhanji passed each unit, cries of “Long live the Imperial Grandson!” were deafening, making Prince Han’s eardrums ache with ringing.

When passing the archer and gunner units, Zhu Zhanji took interest in picking up a new-style crossbow that could shoot five arrows in succession, skillfully mounting it on his arm for test shots. Every arrow hit the bullseye, prompting even louder cheers from the troops.

Prince Han’s guts turned green with regret: I lost big this time! The show of force didn’t work, but instead let grand-nephew steal the spotlight and win hearts. This military review became his performance stage instead.

Zhu Zhanji seemed to be having fun. Having just put down the crossbow, he picked up a firearm – a new-style flintlock that needed no flint to ignite the fuse, firing by pulling the trigger.

Zhu Zhanji test-fired three shots, hitting the target each time. Clearly a gun expert who practiced regularly.

“Long live the Imperial Grandson!”

Zhu Zhanji was young, accomplished, and had long legs. Though he looked thin in clothes, he actually had muscle and substance when undressed. He handled all weapons skillfully – swords, spears, clubs, and staves. His specialties were archery and flintlock guns. He looked like he’d trained at both Shaolin and Wudang.

Witnessing the Imperial Grandson’s performance firsthand, the Heavenly Strategy Guard was filled with admiration and instantly became Zhu Zhanji’s fans.

Finally came inspection of the artillery formation.

Zhu Zhanji’s hands caressed the polished Folangji cannon, clearly enchanted: “Firearms are the Great Ming’s future. These cannons were modified from samples Admiral Zheng He brought back on his last voyage to the Western Seas, with improved range and accuracy over previous versions. Let me test-fire one shot.”

Zhu Zhanji was in high spirits. Zhu Zhanhe ordered the gunners to aim the cannon at the rammed earth wall and had the cannon’s fuse lengthened about four times, explaining to Zhu Zhanji: “These cannons have greater range and power, but the recoil after firing is tremendous and the gun carriage easily loses control. That’s why the gunners all look disheveled and sometimes get knocked down by runaway carriages. This subject worried the cannon fire would dirty the Imperial Grandson’s robes, so lengthened the ignition fuse to keep distance from the gun carriage.”

Zhu Zhanji showed pride like ‘my family has a younger brother just grown up’: “Cousin is increasingly thoughtful. When I finish this inspection and return to the palace, I’ll surely praise you well before Imperial Grandfather.”

Zhu Zhanji opened the flint and lit the fuse.

Hiss!

The fuse flame was like a venomous snake’s tongue. Only an explosive sound was heard. The city wall remained undamaged, still wearing its acne-scarred teenage face, but the gun carriage was blown to pieces with debris everywhere!

The Folangji cannon had exploded from bore failure.

At the moment of explosion, armored Zhu Zhanhe threw his arms around Zhu Zhanji, using his body as a shield and pressing his elder cousin beneath him for protection…