Rule over Ming Dynasty

The Forbidden City appears majestic and solemn.

On the palace road, a young man wearing a Yishan crown, brocade clothes, a jade belt around his waist appeared. He walked on the jade palace tiles in a pair of clean black leather boots.

Zhu Houxuan walked with steady steps, his movements were calm and composed, his eyes looking straight ahead revealed determination and confidence, he was the image of an elegant prince.

He had been in the capital for a while, and during this time he had been hanging around at the bottom of society. The more he understood this country, the more he saw the real living conditions of the bottom, and the more he admired his own wise and capable emperor.

Even the peddlers and common people in the market all praised their father, and one could even see many elderly people spontaneously praying for their father in the snow.

Zhu Houxuan always thought that as long as he led his tribe to expand its territory and let his people own large tracts of grassland, he would be a king truly respected by all the people.

Just looking at the smiling faces of the common people, the lively figures of well-fed and warmly clothed children, and the expectant eyes of the younger generation for the future, while everyone unconditionally supports their "king", he knows that his father is ahead of all emperors or khans.

Even Genghis Khan, the strongest overlord of the grassland, was hated by foreign tribesmen, and many people in the lower class of the tribe cursed him. But now, even the ruffians in the lower class of the Ming Dynasty claim that this is a good era and are proud of having Emperor Hongzhi.

Zhu Houxuan followed the eunuch into the warm East Warm Pavilion. Seeing his father lying on the warm pit with a bad complexion, his heart tightened: "Your son, Prince Xuan, greets you, father!"

"I am very pleased that you have been able to flexibly use flintlock rifles and tiger squat cannons in your western expeditions over the years!" Zhu Youtang looked at his second son, who was like a sharp sword hidden in his sheath, and praised him.

Throughout the ages, true overlords do not rely on passion, but on making good use of the various resources at hand. This was true of Huo Qubing in the Han Dynasty, Genghis Khan, and even the devil Hitler, and his son also took this path.

Although the victory of this Western Expedition was to a certain extent facilitated by advanced weapons, if any other son were to take charge of this matter, none of them would be able to achieve the same accomplishment as Zhu Houxuan, let alone dominate Europe in the future.

Zhu Houxuan's military talent was not only the highest among all the princes, but even the Minister of War Wang Shouren also admired Zhu Houxuan's military ability. He had the idea of ​​bringing Zhu Houxuan back to serve the Ming Dynasty as early as before the Western Expedition.

With his military talent and amazing courage, as long as he continues to support him with resources, he may be able to conquer Europe next.

It was just that their philosophies were different. He was more inclined to a pragmatic and creative way of governing the country, but his son was obviously more inclined to achieve national expansion through killing and plundering, and the latter's way of governing the country would cause decades or even hundreds of years of unrest if he was not careful.

Zhu Houxuan's mentality had changed on the way to Beijing. He immediately took the initiative to admit his mistake and said, "Father, I am an unfilial son. I was only thinking about the Northern Yuan Dynasty before and failed to take the interests of the Ming Dynasty into consideration. Please punish me, Father!"

"I have always been very tolerant towards you brothers. You can do whatever you want, and you are no exception! If you want to restore the hegemony of the Mongol Khanate, I actually support you, but you have to remember one thing!" Zhu Youtang could understand his son who grew up on the grassland, so he warned him seriously.

Zhu Houxuan was deeply touched that he had met such an open-minded father, and immediately expressed his attitude seriously: "Father, I am all ears!"

"You must remember that half of your blood is not only my blood, but also the blood of the Chinese nation! No matter what you do in the future, you are not allowed to invade an inch of Chinese land, and you are not allowed to stain my Chinese sea!" Zhu Youtang already felt unwell, but he still spoke in a very serious tone.

He knew his son's military talent, saw his son's ambition, and could even see his son's heroic figure galloping on the European battlefield.

However, no matter how powerful one is, one cannot devour his ancestors. Moreover, it is destined that no world emperor will appear in this period.

He once wanted to unify the world for China, but the conditions were not met. The current situation is somewhat similar to that of the Qin State. Although the Qin State was the hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Period, it would take "the remaining strength of six generations" to unify the world.

Not only would it be impossible for him to see the Ming Empire unify the world, even his sons and grandsons might not be able to do so. Only the technology during World War II could initially achieve the conditions.

Zhu Youtang did not oppose Zhu Houxuan becoming the overlord of Central Asia and Europe, and even supported it, but the territory of the Ming Dynasty and the four oceans were the bottom line, and these territories could not be violated.

Even if it was his own son, if he dared to invade China or compete with the Ming Dynasty for sea power, then for the sake of the nation's interests, he would not mind killing his own son.

Zhu Houxuan felt his father's determination to defend China, and immediately raised three fingers: "Father, I swear here! If I touch an inch of Ming territory or invade China, I will be struck by lightning and die!"

Although he grew up in the Northern Yuan Dynasty and is the new Great Khan of Mongolia, his trip to Beijing at the end of last year has helped him find his lost self.

His name was Zhu Houxuan. He was the second prince of the Hongzhi Dynasty and a member of the Chinese nation. The Great Khan of Mongolia was merely his position. How could he become an enemy of the Ming Dynasty because of this?

"I know that you have been warlike since childhood and have great military talent. You set the goal of conquering Europe when you were young! However, your mother and I are parents after all. You will face many dangers in the wars. I hope you can protect yourself. This is what your parents wish." Zhu Youtang felt that he owed his second son something, and he spoke sincerely.

If possible, he naturally hoped that all his sons would stay safe and sound, not risking even the slightest danger, and just be an idle prince.

It's just that he didn't want to restrict his sons' lives, nor did he want them to become parasites of the Ming Dynasty, so he always adopted a free-range approach to raising his sons.

The situation of the second son is the most special. He not only inherited the position of the Great Khan of Mongolia, but also inherited the will of Genghis Khan and has an ambition to conquer Europe.

Zhu Houxuan knelt on his knees and kowtowed three times: "Thank you, father and mother, for your consideration! When I conquer Europe, I will return to the capital to serve you two. Please take care of your health and live a long life!"

When Zhu Youtang heard the last four words, a bitter look appeared on his face. After giving Zhu Houxuan a few instructions, he sent him away.

Cough cough cough...

When Zhu Houxuan was leaving, he heard another burst of strong coughing from inside, and a hint of worry welled up in his eyes.

Originally, he had only one wish, which was to emulate Genghis Khan and conquer the world, but at this moment, he was shaken in his heart and really hoped that his father could live a long life.

The last person to be summoned was the crown prince. Zhu Houxuan and Zhu Houye nodded proactively.

Huh?
Zhu Houye looked at his brother who nodded to him, and felt a very strange feeling. However, he had no time to think about it and walked towards the East Warm Pavilion with a worried look on his face.

Since Zhu Youtang had been leaning in the same position on the warm pit for too long, Liu Jin arranged to help him change to a more comfortable position.

"Your son, Prince Ye, pays homage to His Majesty, father. May your Majesty be in good health!" Zhu Houye had filial piety in his blood, and at this moment he knelt down respectfully and said.

Zhu Youtang looked at his eldest son who was becoming more and more steady, and was actually very satisfied with this heir: "You are my good eldest son, and the one who looks most like me!" In terms of appearance, Zhu Houxuan and Zhu Youtang were actually more similar, but what Zhu Youtang meant by "like me" was in terms of temperament and personality, while Zhu Houye was more suitable to be the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

If the goal is to expand territory, Zhu Houxuan would naturally be more suitable, but now the Ming Dynasty needs a king who can maintain the status quo, so Zhu Houye, who has been steady and wise since childhood, is the most suitable.

What's more, Zhu Houye has followed Zhu Youtang for many years and is a staunch supporter of Zhu Youtang's philosophy of governing the country. He can maintain the current laws well and allow the Ming Dynasty to go further and further on the road of development, which is the hard truth.

"It is my honor!" Zhu Houye felt touched. Nothing could make him happier than to get the recognition from his father.

Zhu Youtang asked his son to get up from the ground and warned him seriously: "You are the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Remember to maintain the bottom line of the Ming Dynasty's dominance over the four oceans, but you must also care about the people of the world!"

Dominating the four oceans is equivalent to guarding the world's largest piece of cake, thereby ensuring the financial health of the Ming Dynasty and allowing a steady stream of overseas resources to flow into China.

Caring about the people of the world ensures that the Zhu family has a strong group foundation.

The Chinese people are actually the kindest nation. If the royal family and the gentry class in every dynasty had not joined forces to oppress the hard-working people, the people would not have rebelled so repeatedly.

As long as his descendants do these two things well, the Ming Dynasty can completely break the three-hundred-year curse, and it may be possible for them to "exert the remaining strength of six generations" and unify the world.

"Your son will follow the teachings of my father!" Zhu Houye always regarded Zhu Youtang as his role model, and immediately bowed his head to express his opinion.

Zhu Youtang looked at the prince he had trained and was willing to learn, so he said frankly, "Do you know why I buried the Eastern noble scholar with the ceremony of a national teacher?"

"The Eastern noble man resolved the crisis of the emperor's succession and made great contributions to the country. He deserves this funeral!" Zhu Houye was stunned at first, and then guessed seriously.

As early as the beginning of the Hongzhi reign, Zhu Youtang was troubled by the problem of having children, and once wanted to solve the problem of the incense of the main lineage by adopting a son. However, the court officials opposed it in the name of unfilial piety and pushed Prince Xing as the first successor.

However, Zhu Houxuan did not know the truth: the person who actually saved the situation was not Dongfang Dao, but the cunning and scheming Zhu Youtang.

Although Jiang had the appearance of a golden phoenix, the Jiang family was unwilling to offend Zhu Youtang and was determined to place their bets on Zhu Youlu, the Prince of Xing. As a result, Jiang was convicted of treason and his entire clan was implicated.

Dongfang Dao died last year, but the imperial court buried him with great ceremony as an imperial teacher. This sparked various speculations from both the court and the public. However, Dongfang Dao's resolution of the emperor's succession crisis was recognized as his greatest political achievement.

Zhu Youtang sighed secretly, and then told the real reason: "The oriental noble man did not hesitate to spend the last of his life to predict the future for me, but he was killed by the backlash when he tried to understand the secrets of heaven."

"I wonder what this hexagram means?" Zhu Houye did not expect that this was the reason why Dongfang Dao was buried with such great ceremony as the Imperial Master, and immediately asked curiously.

Zhu Youtang looked at the medicine bowl that Liu Jin had brought over and said bitterly, "The divination is: I will die in my fifties, so you have to be the crown prince for another six years!"

"Your son... Your son is happy that your father is safe and sound this time, but when I think about the fact that only six years have passed in the blink of an eye, I feel sad again!" Zhu Houye was ecstatic at first, but then he said sadly.

Zhu Youtang knew that his son was not eager to take over, so he earnestly admonished him: "You have seen enough in these years. Don't run around for the next six years. Stay by my side. I will guide you well! Six years is not a short time, but it is also not a long time. In the future, this burden will be on your shoulders!"

"I have promised Zheng Hua that if he dies in a foreign land, I will bring him back to his hometown personally. Today, I want to go to South America in person and see the silver mines of the Inca Empire with my own eyes. I hope my father will grant my wish!" Zhu Houye hesitated for a moment and suddenly made a request.

Although the Inca Empire had always been in a closed-door state, it actually served the Ming imperial family and sent tens of millions of taels of silver every year through mining silver mines.

The Inca Dynasty's emperor Suren has changed his name to Zheng Hua. When he went to America, he castrated himself and was loyal to the Ming royal family from beginning to end.

The emperor of the Inca Dynasty was Su Can's son Su Ren, who was also a eunuch under the jurisdiction of the Daming Palace, Zheng Hua. However, he was ultimately unable to defeat the laws of birth, aging, sickness and death, and died in the Inca Palace last year.

Although the Inca Emperor Zheng Hua died, the Ming court and the Night Tribe had already arranged for another eunuch loyal to the royal family to take his place. He controlled the Inca Empire for the Ming and supplied a steady stream of silver to support the absolute stability of the Ming currency system.

Zhu Houye knew very well that Zheng Hua had made great contributions to the rise of the Ming Dynasty. In addition, he had already made it clear in advance, so he decided to go in person to bring Su Can back.

Zhu Youtang knew that Zheng Hua had contributed a lot to the Ming Dynasty over the years, so he did not stop him: "There is still plenty of time, you can go to America to take a look! If you become the emperor, you will have no choice in the future, and at most you can only go to Jiangnan!"

"Thank you very much, father, for your support!" Zhu Houye felt the deep fatherly love and bowed to express his gratitude solemnly.

Six years passed in the blink of an eye, and time soon came to the 33rd year of the Hongzhi reign.

After another six years of development, all industries in the Ming Dynasty flourished, the overall national strength reached a new level, and science and technology ushered in another great leap forward.

With the widespread use of electricity and the popularization of electric lights in thousands of households, the Ming Dynasty entered the electrical age. At this time, airplanes had been developed and humans had realized their dream of flying.

In terms of military, China's weapons were more than a hundred years ahead of other countries, and its ironclad ships had been updated to the sixth generation, while Europe's sailing technology had regressed.

Zhu Youtang's life came to an end after he returned from his southern tour.

He had begun to age, his face was thin, his skin was becoming loose, his eyes were sunken, the white hair on his head had turned to snow, and his eyes were no longer clear. He lay on the dragon couch, his eyes slightly closed, recalling the past years.

Throughout his life, he lived up to China, to the people, and to himself, dedicating his life to the great cause of revitalizing the Ming Dynasty.

Looking back on my life, the only pity is the one super big fish that escaped from Taiye Pond.

"The Emperor has passed away—"

On the sixth day of the second month of the thirty-fourth year of the Hongzhi reign, Emperor Hongzhi died in the Qianqing Palace at the age of fifty-one. (End of this chapter)