Chapter 43 plays the entire process of Zhu Di's rebellion... What should his father do...?
What a fine example of "Suppressing the Rebellion in Accordance with Heaven"! Zhu Yuanzhang stared wide-eyed at Zhu Di, thinking, "This is my good son!"
To put it simply, it's treason and rebellion!
The eunuchs standing in the hall had already knelt on the ground, holding their breath.
Zhu Yuanzhang, who was already in his twilight years, had not had such a strong emotional outburst in a long time. He grabbed Zhu Di by the collar and said, "You dare to rebel against your nephew? Do you dare to rebel against us?!"
The two sentences struck like a thunderbolt, and the hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
They all knew what the old man was angry about: he was angry about the orthodox traditions and customs. Like the Tang Dynasty, the Xuanwu Gate Incident set a precedent, making seizure by force an option for imperial succession. Afterwards, the Tang Dynasty experienced many similar coups, with the change of emperors often accompanied by bloody struggles.
If this rebellion by a vassal king succeeds, there will inevitably be no one to follow suit in the future. In the long run, will the Ming Dynasty still be able to maintain its stability?
Zhu Yuanzhang gripped Zhu Di's collar tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand. The elderly emperor's eyes blazed with fury, yet also held a barely perceptible hint of pain.
Conquering the world is difficult; maintaining it is even more difficult.
It's hard to bear a bad reputation; the name of a traitor, once written by a writer, can last a lifetime.
The fratricide between uncle and nephew ultimately wounded the heart of the patriarch.
Zhu Di did not struggle in response to Zhu Yuanzhang's actions; he simply raised his eyes and looked directly at his father. His eyes showed no fear, but rather an almost stubborn determination.
"Father, even if I had the greatest courage in the world, I would never dare to rebel against you!" Zhu Di suddenly laughed, his voice low and hoarse.
"If it weren't for my nephew's insistence on reducing the power of the princes, the Prince of Xiang would have committed suicide by burning himself and the Prince of Zhou would have been deposed. If I hadn't raised an army, I fear I would have followed in their footsteps! Rebellion is merely a means to save myself!"
In Zhu Di's memory, his nephew Zhu Yunwen was gentle and similar to his elder brother. He never expected that his seemingly gentle nephew would be so ruthless. He felt guilty because he was concerned about his relationship with his elder brother and the infamy in history.
Now that Zhu Di knew what Zhu Yunwen had done, he felt no remorse whatsoever.
He was forced into it.
Zhu Yuanzhang's pupils contracted, and his fingers tightened sharply, almost digging into Zhu Di's flesh.
The hall was deathly silent; even breathing seemed to freeze.
Zhu Yuanzhang's chest heaved violently. He stared at Zhu Di's face and, in a daze, seemed to see his younger self—the same unwillingness, the same ruthlessness, the same... refusal to accept fate.
After a long silence, he slowly released his grip, his voice hoarse: "Go back to your Beiping."
Abnormal.
This is very unusual.
Zhu Shuang looked up at his father, wondering why he was poisoned after killing a few palace servants, while his father let Zhu Di's rebellion go so easily.
This is treason!
The most heinous crime in the Ming Dynasty law was execution of the criminal's relatives, regardless of whether they knew about it or not; they would be subjected to slow slicing, skinning, and stuffing with straw.
For such a serious crime, the Emperor only ordered the fourth prince to return to Beiping. Even after returning to Beiping, the fourth prince would still be the Prince of Yan. What kind of punishment is this?
It has absolutely no power.
Even penalties that lack any real force.
Zhu Di did not obey the imperial decree. He remained kneeling upright and said, "Father, I do not want to seize the throne. I want to live."
He could tell that Zhu Yuanzhang's anger had gradually subsided. No emperor would let go of an outstanding successor, and Zhu Yuanzhang was no exception.
This son carries the blood of both him and his first wife, and his personality is most like his.
With such an outstanding successor, even Zhu Yuanzhang's firm resolve would waver.
The melodious female voice continued: "After raising the banner of 'Fengtian Jingnan' (a military campaign to quell the rebellion), a great battle was imminent. Zhu Di gave a passionate pre-battle mobilization speech to his soldiers."
"I am the eldest son of Emperor Taizu Gao and Empress Xiaoci Gao, a close relative of the nation. Since receiving my title, I have only known to abide by the law and fulfill my duties. Now, a young emperor has ascended the throne, trusting treacherous officials, and has unleashed a great calamity, slaughtering my family. My father and mother endured great hardship in establishing their dynasty, enfeoffing their sons to protect the empire and ensure its unbroken lineage. Yet now they have been wiped out. Heaven and Earth bear witness to this. The Ancestral Instructions state: 'If there are no righteous ministers in the court and wicked people within, troops must be mobilized to punish them and cleanse the evil from the emperor's side.' Now, calamity has befallen me, and I truly wish to survive, but I have no other choice. Righteousness and wickedness cannot coexist under Heaven. I will surely carry out Heaven's punishment to secure the nation. Heaven and Earth, and the gods, bear witness to my heart."
The soldiers were deeply moved by these words.
In the deathly silence inside the hall, only Zhu Yuanzhang's heavy breathing could be heard.
"Very well...very well!" Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly let out a cold laugh. "You've really mastered the 'Ancestral Instructions'!"
The people in the mourning hall weren't fools; everyone could see through Zhu Di's ulterior motives. Wasn't he just looking for a fig leaf to cover up his rebellion? With this fig leaf, Zhu Di, the traitor, instantly became noble and righteous.
They didn't rebel! They were just listening to their dad.
Zhu Shuang was disgusted to the point of getting goosebumps; "So you're the only legitimate son and filial son?" He was the second son, and after his elder brother died, he should have been the legitimate son and eldest son.
How come Zhu Di stole all the limelight?
What about him?
The fates of most people in the mourning hall have already been told, but Zhu Shuang has not yet heard his name. He was a very important person in the Ming Dynasty!
What you say comes true; all you hear is:
At this point, some might ask, why didn't any of Zhu Di's other sons respond or oppose his rebellion, given that he was the eldest son of the emperor? According to the *History of Ming*, Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma had five sons born of the emperor's principal wife. Crown Prince Zhu Biao predeceased Zhu Yuanzhang; Prince Qin, Zhu Shuang, was poisoned by palace maids in 1395 for his tyranny, predating the Jingnan Campaign; Prince Jin, Zhu Gang, died in 1398, the same year as Zhu Yuanzhang; and Prince Zhou, Zhu Su, was the first to be deposed and reduced to commoner status during the Jianwen Emperor's policy of reducing the power of the princes, but his title was restored after Zhu Di became emperor. Only Zhu Di had the power to rebel.
Poisoning?
Poisoned by palace servants? Poisoned by those lowly people?
Aaaaaah! He's going to kill these lowly beasts!
Zhu Shuang now only wanted to know who those palace servants were; he wanted to tear them to pieces, exterminate their entire family, and skin them alive.
"Guards, search me thoroughly!"
He hadn't finished speaking.
Zhu Yuanzhang slapped Zhu Shuang in the face, angry at his lack of ambition and saddened by his misfortune. He had reprimanded Zhu Shuang many times for abusing palace servants and common people, abusing private punishment, overstepping the bounds of propriety, and colluding with officials.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Shuang didn't take it to heart.
Enraged, Zhu Yuanzhang retorted, "Those who reap what they sow will not live!"
A red handprint appeared after the slap. Zhu Shuang covered his face, his eyes still filled with resentment. He was to be poisoned in three years, and the first thing his father did after finding out was to slap him!
Zhu Di rebelled! Zhu Di rebelled! Why didn't the Emperor punish him?
Zhu Di, the emperor who ushered in the Yongle era of prosperity, had a distinguished life, but one historical mystery surrounds him—was his birth mother truly Empress Xiaocigao, née Ma?
Zhu Shuang released his hand from his face, pointed at Zhu Di, and shouted, "Fourth Prince, you're really something! You've rebelled so much that you don't even recognize your own mother!"
This statement not only agitated Zhu Shuang, but also stunned Zhu Di. He could think of a thousand reasons in historical records to attack him, but he never expected it to be about his biological mother not being Empress Ma...
Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, his eyes flashing with a chilling light.
Zhu Su, standing at the back of the crowd, couldn't help but worry for his fourth brother, saying that his fourth brother wasn't his biological son, which was ridiculous. There was really nothing more to say.
Just as I was about to start criticizing.
The History of Ming records: "Some say that Zhu Di and Zhu Su's mother, Consort Gong, was raised as their own son by Empress Gao." This claim is not entirely unfounded. As early as the Ming Dynasty, unofficial histories such as the Records of the Nanjing Taichang Temple mentioned that Consort Gong's position in the Fengxian Hall of the Xiaoling Mausoleum in Nanjing was exceptionally prestigious, even higher than some of the principal consorts.
"So, she's the daughter of Consort Gong? We haven't even closed our eyes yet, and someone dares to dig up soil from the Zhu family's ancestral graves?"
Consort Gong?
Zhu Yuanzhang even had to rack his brains to figure out who this person was. He thought for a long time but still couldn't remember who she was. For an emperor who held the power of the world, he couldn't remember the name and appearance of every concubine.
Naturally, he had no impression of this concubine.
While Zhu Yuanzhang was lost in thought, Zhu Di stepped forward and hugged Zhu Yuanzhang's leg, crying without saying a word. His tears smeared on Zhu Yuanzhang's robes. He had been looking for an opportunity to play the victim, and this was the perfect chance.
You should know that when Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, was summoned by Emperor Gaozu, he knelt down and suckled at his father's breast, wailing for a long time. So what if Zhu Di wept and hugged his father's leg?
Seeing his fourth brother's behavior, Zhu Su, standing in the crowd, quickly chimed in, "Father, you are wise!" He even sobbed as he spoke, looking like a child.
Judy, who was clinging to Zhu Yuanzhang's leg, twitched her lips a few times. "Little brother, aren't you overdoing it?"
Unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang fell for this trick.
"Even if the fourth brother has a thousand faults—he's still the son of us and Ma Xiuying, born from the same gut!"
These later scholars were really bored. Zhu Yuanzhang was itching to kill a few people, but he couldn't find any targets. No, wait, all the civil and military officials were kneeling and crying outside.
If the emperor doesn't leave, who dares to leave first?
Zhu Yuanzhang instructed the eunuchs:
"The names of Zhan Hui, Ru Chang, and Liu Sanwu are mentioned."
Zhan Hui served as Minister of Personnel and concurrently as Left Censor-in-Chief, and was also the minister that Zhu Yuanzhang originally planned to leave to assist Zhu Yunwen.
Ru Chang served as Minister of War. After Zhu Biao's death, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed him to assist Zhu Yunwen in handling military affairs.
Liu Sanwu was the teacher of Crown Prince Zhu Biao, a leader of civil officials, and presided over the imperial examinations. Zhu Yuanzhang entrusted him with the education of Zhu Yunwen.
In other words, these three were originally part of Zhu Yuanzhang's team for Zhu Yunwen. He brought them in to record the background of the fourth prince and let them see it.
Let's see if Zhu Di was truly destined by Heaven...
Zhan Hui, Ru Chang, and Liu Sanwu, who were mourning outside the hall, stepped into the hall amidst the envious gazes of the crowd.
Despite them being outside, news had already spread that Prince Yan, Zhu Di, and his eunuchs had arrived in a beam of white light.
They had no idea what good things were waiting for the three of them inside the hall.
The three of them had just stepped into the main hall when they were startled by Zhu Yuanzhang's loud voice.
"Remember this clearly, the fourth prince is my and Empress Ma's biological son!"
Remember this clearly?
What's so hard to remember? Who doesn't know that Zhu Di was his biological son?
"Father, and me too! Don't forget Fifth Prince!" Zhu Su hurriedly said.
I knew he'd gone to curry favor with powerful figures; it's true that currying favor works.
Zhan Hui, Ru Chang, and Liu Sanwu observed the scene in the mourning hall: the volatile emperor, the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, clinging to his powerful back, the Crown Princess Lü, her face contorted in a grotesque expression in the corner, and the grandson of the emperor kneeling before the coffin, his eyes practically blazing with fury...
What a sight this is!
Ru Chang felt like she knew a bit too much, but she still agreed to the emperor's order.
The female voice from the television set rang out again at this moment: "When Zhu Di launched his rebellion in 1399, he swore an oath in Beiping, but he could only muster eight hundred guards."
Eight hundred people...
To put that into perspective, it's like using the entire student body of a school to attack a country.
"What a bunch of 800 guards!" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed in anger. "This son of mine is really something. He dares to rebel with only 800 men."
He wanted to see how eight hundred men would take over his empire.
Ru Chang stood obediently, and when he heard the sound from the television, he kept looking up and down, wondering where the sound was coming from. Finally, he looked up and saw the television—a black box—and the sound was coming from that black box.
Is the Prince of Yan plotting a rebellion?
Is it okay to say that?
Ru Chang hunched over, sandwiched between his two colleagues, unable to hear anything. Zhan Hui and Liu Sanwu weren't much better off; the three of them stood together, hunched over, like three little ducks.
Did they know these emperors wouldn't destroy the evidence?
[How many steps does it take for an 800-strong rebellion to succeed? For ordinary people, there are only two steps: the first is to raise an army, and the second is to declare defeat. But for Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di), it only took five steps. Five steps were enough to conquer the world. The first step was to feign surrender and lure and kill court officials. Zhu Di pretended to surrender and invited Zhang Bing and Xie Gui to his residence to "hand over military power." He then ambushed axemen at Duanli Gate, using a melon as a signal, and killed the two men on the spot. Taking advantage of the chaos, the guards of the Prince of Yan's residence controlled the nine gates of Beiping, capturing the city in just one night.]
Everyone was stunned, even the resentful Lady Lü was stunned. Was the world so easy to conquer? The Ming Dynasty had a million soldiers! How could Yunwen lose?
Zhu Yunwen suddenly stood up before the coffin, his hands trembling violently beneath his mourning clothes: "Impossible... Where are the garrison troops at the nine gates of Beiping? Where are the soldiers of the various garrisons?!"
"Nephew, the person you sent to spy on the fourth son, could it be a relative of your wet nurse?" Zhu Shuang covered his face, almost bursting into laughter.
If he hadn't known that his nephew wasn't an idiot, he would have suspected that Zhu Yunwen was an idiot, incredibly stupid, given so many soldiers and still losing.
With so many soldiers, it's practically impossible to lose.
The second step was to incorporate the Doyan Three Guards under Prince Ning. Zhu Di, under the pretext of reminiscing with his brothers, rode alone into Prince Ning's fiefdom, Zhu Quan, to secretly instigate a rebellion among Prince Ning's elite forces—the Doyan Three Guards. Zhu Di even promised Prince Ning, "If this succeeds, I will share the empire with you."
Prince Ning, Zhu Quan: Is there anything I can do about this?
He quietly walked behind Zhu Di and poked him: "Fourth Brother, what happened to the promise of dividing the world in half? Where are my Three Guards of Doyan?"
Zhu Di didn't even need to say a word; a single glance was enough to freeze the rebellious Prince Ning in place. His father was still right there.
Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes and silently calculated the numbers. The eight hundred guards plus the three guards of Doyan numbered nearly ten thousand, and there were also tens of thousands of troops stationed in Beiping. But they were no match for the million-strong army of the Ming Dynasty.
How do we fight this battle?
Zhu Yuanzhang opened his eyes; he wanted to see carefully how this battle was to be fought!
[The third step is to establish legitimacy: quoting Zhu Yuanzhang's "Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty": "If there are no upright ministers in the court and treacherous officials within, troops must be mobilized to punish them." This implies that Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng are treacherous ministers, and that the emperor is purging corrupt officials from within.]
They're using someone else's name to make a big deal out of nothing!
Zhu Shuang was seething with anger, but when he glanced at his nephew, he was even angrier. He thought, "He's such a fool to lose the throne."
In a corner noticed only by Zhu Shuang, Zhu Yunwen stared intently at the television. He wanted to smash this monster—yes, a monster!
They were all saying bad news that was unfavorable to him.
What will his grandfather think of him? Will he still pass the throne to him?
Zhu Yunwen was in a state of confusion, barely able to concentrate on the sound of the television, and could only force himself to look up.
The fourth step is turning the tide in key battles, such as the Battle of Zhengcunba, where a smaller force defeated a larger one. The Yan army, numbering 40,000, faced the Jianwen army, numbering 500,000. Commanded by Li Jinglong, Zhu Di personally led cavalry in a flanking maneuver, burning the Southern army's supplies and routing them in the chaos.
"Forty thousand against five hundred thousand?!"
"You lost this?!" Zhu Yuanzhang's voice had changed, and a terrifying glint flashed in his cloudy eyes. "Five hundred thousand troops! How much food and supplies will that consume?!"
Ru Chang, the Minister of War kneeling in the corner, suddenly trembled violently, large beads of sweat falling onto the floor tiles. As the minister in charge of military supplies, he knew better than anyone what 500,000 troops meant.
"Your Majesty..." Ru Chang's voice was barely audible, "According to the military system of the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu, an army of 500,000 consumes a daily amount of grain and fodder..."
"Shut up!" Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly. "Li Jinglong! You little rascal! I'll remember you!"
This statement almost completely eliminated any possibility of Li Jinglong being given an important position in the future.
Li Jinglong was born into a noble family. His father was Li Wenzhong, the son of Princess Cao, the elder sister of Zhu Yuanzhang. Li Wenzhong was adopted by Zhu Yuanzhang in his childhood and later became one of the six founding dukes of the Ming Dynasty.
Because of this blood relationship, Li Jinglong was Zhu Yuanzhang's grand-nephew. Zhu Yuanzhang trusted his father, believing that like father, like son, and that Li Jinglong must be no less capable.
He trusted Li Jinglong a lot.
Inside the mourning hall, Zhu Yunwen, nestled in Lady Lü's arms, suddenly began to tremble violently. The young imperial grandson was deathly pale, his lips trembling uncontrollably—how could he have lost like this?
He's finished...
How can we even argue like this...?
Taking the opportunity, Zhu Shuang interjected sarcastically, "Nephew, the one you sent to command the army isn't just a good-for-nothing playboy who only knows how to talk about war on paper, is he? You can't do without the ability to judge people."
"Impossible..." Zhu Yunwen suddenly broke free from his mother's hand and staggered to the television. "Even if... even if Fourth Uncle is a skilled warrior, how could an army of 500,000..."
So many people can't even defeat 40,000? Isn't it better to have more people in a war?
As if in response to Zhu Yunwen's doubts, a scene from the Battle of Zhengcunba flashed by: the Yan army's iron cavalry surged through the Ming army's camp like a tidal wave, and the black smoke from burning grain and fodder blotted out the sky. Zhu Yunwen's legs went weak, and he knelt directly on the ground.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly sneered: "Fourth brother, tell me, how did you defeat 500,000 with only 40,000 men?"
Although he didn't know the specifics, it didn't affect Zhu Di's insight. He calmly cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have only learned your tactics—" A glint flashed in his eyes, "Attack them by surprise and cut off their supply lines."
Cut off their supply lines.
Zhu Yuanzhang was taken aback. He had also won a similar victory against overwhelming odds during the Battle of Poyang Lake. A complex emotion flashed across his wrinkled face, a mixture of anger and, perhaps, a hint of...admiration?
[The fifth step was to directly attack Nanjing, bypassing the defended Jinan, and advance straight into the Yangtze River from Anhui. Within the Jianwen court, the eunuch Zhu Hui, known as the "Ghost Valley Prince," opened the Jin Chuan Gate, and the eunuch Ma Jing guided the Yan army into the palace. Emperor Jianwen then burned the palace and disappeared.]
The television screen froze on the flames engulfing the Nanjing Imperial Palace.
Lady Lü finally broke down and lunged at the television: "Yunwen!" The eunuch quickly stopped her.
In 1402 AD, a four-year civil war finally came to an end. Prince Yan, Zhu Di, led his cavalry into Nanjing, and the Jianwen Emperor disappeared without a trace. This war, later known as the 'Jingnan Campaign,' completely changed the fate of the Ming Dynasty... Zhu Di's ascension to the throne was accompanied by much controversy. Fang Xiaoru was executed along with his entire clan, and former officials of the Jianwen Emperor were subjected to widespread persecution... These bloody suppressions became an indelible shadow over the Yongle reign.
"Exterminate ten generations of their families?!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's roar caused the white banners inside the mourning hall to shake violently.
Throughout history, there has never been a monarch who executed ten generations of his family.
Zhu Shuang was the first to jump up, pointing at Zhu Di's nose and shrilly, "Fourth brother, you're ruthless! At most, your father would execute nine generations of his family, but you went and executed ten!" He turned to look at Zhu Yuanzhang, "Father, you see, Zhu Di is so cruel, he's definitely a tyrant!"
Regardless, we'll risk everything to bring Zhu Di down from the throne.
"Shut up!" Zhu Yuanzhang kicked over the incense table, the heavy table crashing to the ground with a loud thud. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on Zhu Di: "Speak! Why did you exterminate Fang Xiaoru's ten clans?!"
Although Fang Xiaoru was somewhat pedantic, it wasn't a major problem. He appeared to be loyal to Zhu Yunwen, but in reality, he was loyal to the rules of propriety and to his own Zhu family. Why did such a person end up in such a state?
They shouldn't have been so ruthless.
Chaos erupted inside the mourning hall. Empress Lü, embracing Zhu Yunwen with hopeful eyes, urged him to kill Zhu Di, to order Zhu Di's execution, for killing Zhu Di would be best. Zhu Su frantically tried to signal to Zhu Di with his eyes, urging him to quickly admit his mistake. Meanwhile, ministers such as Zhan Hui were already kneeling on the ground, their foreheads pressed to the earth, too afraid to raise their heads.
It's too chaotic, too chaotic. Nobody dares to make a move.
Zhu Di remained unusually calm. He straightened his collar, which had been disheveled by Zhu Yuanzhang, and said in a low voice, "The immortal said that Fang Xiaoru refused to write the edict and said in front of the entire court, 'What if ten generations of his family are executed?'" He paused, "Your subject... is simply fulfilling his loyalty and righteousness."
If Fang Xiaoru is looking for death, then so be it; it will serve as a deterrent to scholars.
To stop killing with killing.
"Bullshit!" Zhu Yuanzhang grabbed something and hurled it at the person. "Do you think we don't know? This document says 873 people have been implicated! They didn't even spare the ten-year-old students in his private school!"
Ten clans.
The tenth group refers to students, friends, and other social relationships.
"Fourth brother, fourth brother..." Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly laughed, a laugh more awful than a cry, "Even when we killed Hu Weiyong, we weren't as ruthless as you..." He staggered, "This will leave you with a lasting infamy!"
I thought I was ruthless enough, but I never expected that the fourth brother would surpass me.
In the corner, Liu Sanwu suddenly kowtowed heavily: "Your Majesty! Fang Xiaoru is a former official of Jianwen, and the Prince of Yan's actions are truly..." Before he could finish speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang kicked him to the ground.
"Listen up, all of you!" Zhu Yuanzhang's voice echoed throughout the mourning hall. "From this day forward, the punishment of execution by association is abolished! The maximum penalty is three generations of the family!" He glared fiercely at Zhu Di, "lest some people be corrupted!"
This was one of the few acts of kindness Zhu Yuanzhang displayed.
As the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he was known for his harsh methods of governance. Later generations often described his style of governance as brutal. He reinstated the torture of skinning people alive and stuffing them with straw, and he pioneered the "Shovel Head Society" – a group execution where prisoners were buried alive up to their necks before their heads were chopped off.
Zhu Di knelt silently, his gaze sweeping over the trembling Ru Chang and the others. At this moment, he finally understood why later historical records said that his ascension to the throne was illegitimate—some bloodstains can indeed never be completely washed away.
Some fears run deep in your bones.
Zhu Yuanzhang slowly opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the hall. His eyes lingered on Zhu Di for a moment before shifting to Zhu Yunwen, who was huddled in the corner. This usually docile grandson of the emperor now had an inappropriate malice flashing in his eyes.
"All of you, step back." The old emperor's voice suddenly became eerily calm. "Fourth Prince, stay."
After everyone left the main hall, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly grabbed an oil lamp from the table and smashed it at Zhu Di.
Do you know why we kept you here?
Zhu Di neither dodged nor flinched, saying, "Your subject does not know," and allowed the lamp to fall upon him.
"Bullshit!" Zhu Yuanzhang grabbed Zhu Di by the collar. "You think we can't see through you? You've been planning this all along! From the moment you came back, you've been plotting this day!"
There is no better son than a father.
Zhu Di's pupils contracted slightly. He hadn't expected his father to see through him so clearly—indeed, ever since he learned of the future, he had been secretly plotting. Saving his elder brother was his true intention, but gaining his father's trust was also a real motivation.
"Your son..."
"Shut up!" Zhu Yuanzhang released his grip, staggered to the chair, and sat down. "I'm asking you, if you were really put in this position, how would you treat Yunwen?"
Outside the palace, Zhu Yunwen pressed himself tightly against the door, his fingernails digging into the cracks. He needed to know the answer.
The eunuch hesitated, unsure whether to stop him or not. The emperor's voice was very loud inside the hall; even without peeking through the crack in the door, one could hear it. Oh well, let the grandson hear it.
Zhu Di remained silent for a moment, then suddenly knelt down, lifting his robe: "Father, I swear that if I succeed to the throne, I will treat Yunwen's lineage well. I will grant them the title of prince and their fiefdoms, with hereditary succession."
These words were sincere. Zhu Di himself seized the throne as a prince, so he was far more sensitive to the threat posed by princes than previous emperors. The "Five Policies to Reduce the Power of Princes" in the first year of Yongle's reign formed the prototype of the Ming Dynasty's system of keeping princes under control.
For example, Prince Ning, Zhu Quan, went from being a military prince to a playwright, and in his later years he even jokingly called himself the number one idle person in the Ming Dynasty.
Not killing him would just mean raising another nephew, it's not a big deal.
Zhu Yuanzhang sneered: "Anyone can't say nice things?"
Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, who was involved in the Xuanwu Gate Incident, said something about "the crime being limited to himself," but in reality, he executed the sons of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, and executed more than two hundred officials from the Prince of Qi's residence in the Eastern Palace.
As Machiavelli said in "The Prince," "Success is the best defense, failure is the greatest crime."
The reason why everyone wants the highest position is because only the victor can have everything, while the loser can only become a fish on the chopping block and be slaughtered at will.
"Your subject can swear an oath before the Imperial Ancestral Temple!" Zhu Di looked up, tears glistening in his eyes. "My elder brother treated me like a brother, how could I possibly sever his bloodline?"
These words struck a nerve with Zhu Yuanzhang. The old emperor recalled Zhu Biao's brotherly love during his lifetime, and his expression softened.
"Furthermore," Zhu Di added, seizing the opportunity, "if I succeed to the throne, I will certainly follow my father's 'Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty,' reduce taxes, and allow the people to rest and recuperate."
Without the Jingnan Campaign, the Ming Dynasty suffered no economic or military losses, so it was certainly able to allow the people to rest.
Outside the hall, the three exchanged a glance, all seeing the shock in each other's eyes. If these words were sincere, he would indeed possess the qualities of a wise ruler.
Zhu Yuanzhang sighed deeply and waved his hand wearily: "Get out of here. We will hold a meeting at the Imperial Ancestral Temple in three days."
The Imperial Ancestral Temple (Taimiao) was the royal ancestral temple, and its core function was to worship ancestors. According to the "Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty," the Imperial Ancestral Temple was a space for auspicious rites, used for ancestral worship, such as when the emperor ascended the throne and reported to the temple, when the crown prince was appointed, when prisoners of war were presented after major military victories, and when the emperor informed the ancestors of national crises. Otherwise, it could not be used arbitrarily.
Zhu Di left the hall with his head down, and no one could see his expression.
After Zhu Di left, Zhu Yuanzhang sat alone in the mourning hall, staring blankly at Zhu Biao's coffin. In the flickering candlelight, he seemed to see Zhu Biao shaking his head at him.
"Biao'er..." Zhu Yuanzhang murmured to himself, "What should your father do?"
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Author's Note: This book is expected to be over a million words long. The early chapters will feature recruiting famous figures from various dynasties, interspersed with infrastructure development. The later chapters will focus on the female protagonist becoming empress, so her screen time will be relatively limited in the early stages. I will try my best to balance this. This is my first time writing, and I want the side plots to be as clear as possible so that their encounters while working in Songyang County will create wonderful chemistry. For example, Qin Shi Huang meeting Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, Yue Fei meeting Xin Qiji, the elderly Du Fu meeting the young Li Bai, Zheng He clashing with Wei Zhongxian... These are all things I want to write. Actually, besides writing, I don't know what else to say to everyone. I work in real life and am busy after work, so I have very little time to write, and updates will be inconsistent. I'm very sorry to everyone who follows me. I will manage my time better in the future. [Cat paw] Thank you so much for your support! [Cat paw] I will try my best to update!
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