Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 614: The Underworld: Immoral Zhu Houzhao

"what!"

"Hit! Hit me hard!"

In the Fengtian Temple Square, Li Chengliang and Li Rusong's descendants were being beaten in turns by the angry old Zhu family.

From Zhu Yuanzhang to Zhu Heben, except for Zhu Gaoxu who acted without restraint and did not participate, the fourteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty at this moment each showed their own methods.

Four generations including Li Chengliang, Li Rusong, Li Shizhong, Li Zhen, as well as more than 80 people including Li Rubai, Wang De, and Zheng Zaidao were all dealt with.

This is because killing is not allowed in this world, and Li Zheng and others have not yet gone to the underworld, otherwise Lao Zhu would have packed them up and sent them to reincarnation.

"Li Chengliang, how dare you come down to see me!"

Zhu Houzhao beat Li Chengliang with a steel whip until his nose and face were swollen, but Li Chengliang looked innocent: "Your Majesty, I didn't know that my descendants would be so unfilial!"

"I don't know?" Zhu Houzhao gnashed his teeth and said, "Your son has bullied my Zhu family!"

"Li Chengliang, I give you two choices. Either wait for your descendants to be reincarnated, or stay here and be tortured every day!" Zhu Jianshen's face was gloomy.

"Why are you talking so much? Beat him!" Zhu Qiyue picked up the steel whip and started beating him.

Li Chengliang, Li Rusong, Li Rubai and others were beaten beyond recognition, but Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di in the distance were gritting their teeth.

"My Zhu family was actually bullied by these guys!"

"Dad, please calm down."

"Calm down? I'll cut you first!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he pulled out his leather belt and chased after Zhu Di.

Zhu Di ran away, and Zhu Gaoxu, who was not far away, looked at the farce and tutted a few times. Yishiha, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but said, "Your Majesty, are you not angry?"

"There's no point getting angry. Besides, there are so many people to deal with them, which is almost enough."

Zhu Gaoxu exhaled a breath of turbid air: "Now that this situation has come, I don't know if it can continue."

"I'm afraid it will be difficult..."

Zhu Zhanhe, who was standing next to him, had an unpleasant expression on his face. Zhu Gaoxu nodded when he heard this, and then he said, "Forget it, just focus on this world. This world is our foundation at the moment."

"Yes……"

The father, his sons, the master and his servant shook their heads and left, and in the third year after Zhu Heben's death, Huaguang arrived.

Zhu Yizhen's figure was clear in front of the Fengtian Hall. As his figure became clear, he immediately saw ministers such as Li Zhen during the Hongguang period who were pressed on a wooden bench and seemed to have suffered many tortures.

"it is good!"

Regardless of whether it was a dream or not, Zhu Yizhen was the first to shout "good", and a figure slowly emerged in the bright light next to him.

"Dad!" Zhu Boqian's voice rang out, causing Zhu Yizheng to look at him excitedly.

"Boss, you..."

"Dad, this is the dynasty realm in the underworld. All dynasties are in this realm. I guess..."

Zhu Boqian, who had come down early, was explaining to Zhu Yizhen, but a group of people were walking quickly towards him not far away.

“Zhen’er, why did you come down after more than two years? What happened?!”

Zhu Heben's surprised voice came, and when he got closer and saw Zhu Boqian, he almost staggered.

"Qian'er, why did you come down too?!"

Zhu Heben was struck by lightning, while Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di and others around him had ashen faces. Even Zhu Gaoxu, who was usually calm, couldn't help frowning.

"My Ming Dynasty has fallen?"

Zhu Qiyue came forward to ask, and Zhu Heben quickly explained: "This is His Majesty Xianzong, you two quickly tell me how you got down!"

"We..." Zhu Yizhen's mouth was bitter, and he could only bow his head and say: "Ancestors, our descendants are incompetent..."

He began to explain why he stepped down. It turned out that his determination for reform had touched the interests of too many people.

Hearing him say that he wanted to implement the new policy but was blocked by the powerful and the capital, Zhu Qiyue couldn't help but say:

"There are 78 vassal kings and 276 county kings in the Ming Dynasty. Although it may not seem like a lot, the number of their guards is still several hundred, and the total number can reach 70,000 to 80,000."

"If we add the four kings of the west, the number of soldiers from the royal family would be around 130,000. Have you ever thought of using their strength?"

"Return to Emperor Xianzong, of course I have thought about it!"

Speaking of the princes, Zhu Yizhen was even more furious:

"I have lifted the ban on the royal family that was imposed during the reigns of Emperor Xianzong and Emperor Wuzong, and restored the royal family guards to the four kings in the west, with 3,000 guards in each prince's mansion and 1,000 guards in each county prince's mansion."

"In addition, I appointed seven of my sons to be kings in the west."

"The palace rejected my order, but I did not give in. I simply issued an imperial decree and made it clear to the world."

"I thought this would help support the royal family in their fight for power, but these princes felt that the royal family was declining, and each of them had their own ideas."

"I sent Bo Qian to Qibei, Xihai, Dashi, Persia and other regions to meet with the four kings in the west, and at the same time to investigate whether the Yili region is suitable for setting up the western capital of the court, so as to deal with possible wars in the future. As a result, the plane that Bo Qian was riding broke down when it was flying over the Persian city, deviated from the route and crashed into the Caspian Sea. My son Bo Qian died as a result."

At this point, Zhu Yizhen burst into tears, grabbed Zhu Boqian's sleeve and said, "For the next three months, I felt unwell. At first it was just a cold, but then it got worse and worse, and finally I collapsed."

"Before I passed away, I summoned Hu Xiang, the descendant of Hu Lun, Li Huaiyu, the descendant of Li Shi, and Meng Jinming, the descendant of Meng Zhang, to assist in governing the country. I also secretly ordered Yang Fang, the Duke of Yue, and Zhang Huaizhen, the Duke of Ying, to lead the Yanshan Guard and the Jilin Guard to protect the palace."

"In the current world, my twelve-year-old grandson Zhu Zhongjian should be the emperor, but he is cowardly and may be held hostage by Li Zheng, Zheng Lingyao, Jiang Qiu and others."

After Zhu Yizhen finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang quickly supported Zhu Gaoxu: "I feel dizzy..."

You know, Zhu Yuanzhang often mocked the Eastern Han Dynasty kindergartens, and now he is getting his comeuppance.

The twelve-year-old emperor, with powerful ministers and capital, and the release of the royal family...

This day made Zhu Yuanzhang unable to help but ask: "Don't you read? Don't you know how the disaster of the Eastern Han Dynasty happened?"

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Ling of Han also delegated power to the royal family. However, after the royal family gained power, most of them would not be able to support the dynasty that was about to collapse, and instead thought about finding other ways out.

Rather than releasing the royal family's military power, it would be better to transfer them to the capital and let them fight in the capital.

"I have thought about it, but the kings have the right not to accept..."

Zhu Yizhen's eyes were red, and Zhu Di said with a few clicks of his tongue: "The Tang Emperor really got it right. The royal family is waiting to pick up the last drop."

"Second brother, what do you think we would do?" Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu.

His question made everyone look at Zhu Gaoxu.

However, before Zhu Gaoxu spoke, he asked Zhu Yizhen: "What is the direction of the popular thought trend?"

"They all want to overthrow the monarchy..." Zhu Yizhen was sad, but Zhu Gaoxu said impatiently: "Do you really want to imagine it?"

"What do you mean?" Zhu Yizhen asked in confusion. Zhu Gaoxu rolled his eyes at him and said, "So you don't even know what the common people think?"

"Only when love is deep, can one be harsh in criticism. They keep saying they want to overthrow the monarchy, but have they ever put it into action?"

"That's not the case." Zhu Yizhen shook his head. Zhu Gaoxu asked and slapped his forehead: "I give in!"

He never expected that Zhu Yizhen, who had no ability at all, was still thinking about innovation.

If he could succeed in his reform, it would be the biggest irony to the history of the Ming Dynasty more than 300 years ago.

"You don't even know what the people think, and you still want to reform?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was also furious, but Zhu Yizhen said: "The court has a gun ban, and the people don't have guns. Does their attitude still matter?"

"I..." Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he almost pulled out his leather belt, but fortunately Zhu Di held it down in time.

"That's enough. The Ming Dynasty cannot be destroyed. At most, it will be a figurehead."

Zhu Gaoxu gave a conclusion. Even though he did not fully understand the situation in the world at that time, he still gave a conclusion.

It is not easy for the Han people to overthrow the Han monarchy. In history, the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty was full of negativity.

Even so, there is still a group of people who want to protect it.

If we were to take the present Ming Dynasty, there would definitely be a lot of forces supporting the monarchy.

Because of national unity, the national power that fights against the Qing Dynasty cannot appear to fight against the Ming Dynasty.

The Qing Dynasty had class contradictions and ethnic contradictions, but the Ming Dynasty only had one class contradiction.

Without this contradiction, it would be less likely to completely overthrow the Ming Dynasty and establish a new system when the thinking is immature.

Only when the ideas and new systems are fully mature will the Ming Dynasty collapse completely.

However, as long as the virtual monarch is thorough enough, the new system will hardly affect the royal family.

Judging from what Zhu Yizhen and Zhu Heben said, although the people of the Ming Dynasty hated despotism, they still had a love-hate relationship with the royal family.

Given this kind of sentiment, it would probably not be easy to completely overthrow the monarchy, and the contradiction could not be reconciled.

In this way, Xu Jun became something that everyone could accept at the moment.

If possible, Zhu Gaoxu hoped to be a completely figurehead emperor and not leave any power to his children and grandchildren.

Only in this way can they think about problems from a relative perspective with the people. As long as they have power, even a little bit, they cannot empathize with the people.

If you can't empathize with the people, you won't be able to integrate into them. The Tian family will always be excluded and will eventually suffer a disaster.

"According to what you said, Li Zheng is not a fool. He and the people behind him are all trying to maintain their own autocracy so as to continue to exploit the Ming Dynasty."

"The Ming Dynasty will not perish in their hands. They need the help of the Ming Dynasty and the Heavenly Family to exploit the people."

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang also had a headache and said, "That's exactly why I have a headache..."

"Don't think too much. Their ancestors are there anyway, so just beat them up first!" Zhu Houzhao pulled out his leather belt and walked towards Li Chengliang and the others.

"Yes, wait for that Li Zheng to come down and deal with him together!" Zhu Qiyue also pulled out his leather belt.

Soon, screams were heard in the Fengtian Palace Square. Even Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu, who had all been on the battlefield, were shocked by the sound.

Half a month later, as the news of Zhu Yizhen and Zhu Boqian's arrival spread, many neutral officials who arrived with them also confessed their affairs during their reign.

Since the people's livelihood, entertainment and other technologies in this world have roughly caught up with the 1990s in Zhu Gaoxu's previous life, the news quickly spread throughout this world.

The dynasties and empires of Ying Qin, Liu Han, Li Tang, Zhao Song, Mongolia and others arrived at Nanjing Airport one after another.

"Chongba, why do you catch a cold?"

"It's okay. Hasn't your Ming Dynasty been passed down for 381 years?"

"Yes, yes, yes, you yourself said it far surpasses the Han and Tang dynasties!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

In the Fengtian Hall, Ying Zheng, Liu Bang and others kept teasing him, which made Zhu Yuanzhang very angry.

"My Dong Han is a kindergarten, and your Daming is an elementary school student?"

Due to the spread of new education, words such as kindergarten, primary school, and middle school are not unfamiliar to Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu teased Lao Zhu, and Liu Yu joined in:

"Emperor Guangwu is exaggerating. At the age of twelve, he is at least a middle school student."

"Oh~ yes, yes, yes! A middle school student!" Liu Xiu nodded while holding back his smile.

"No matter what you say, our Ming Dynasty has existed for 381 years and has not been interrupted!"

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke forcefully, but Liu Che said, "That's not right, didn't Zhu Di interrupt it?"

"No!" In order to avoid being ridiculed, Old Zhu said firmly: "In fact, it was all my move. No matter whether it was Yun Wen or Old Four, I didn't lose."

"Dad! I've finally waited for you to say this!" Zhu Di stood up happily, while Zhu Yunwen picked his ears and didn't care about it at all.

Anyway, the current Ming Dynasty is not his. His children and grandchildren are free and easy princes in Yingzhou. The life or death of the Ming Dynasty has nothing to do with him.

Seeing Ying Zheng and his men being so aggressive, Zhuge Liang continued to use his best skills:

"The territory of our Ming Dynasty is so vast that it is enough for everyone in this world to live. Unlike some dynasties, where land annexation is serious during life and remains so after death, with millions of people crowded into half a state."

Zhao Kuangyin: “…”

"By the way, my Ming Dynasty has been passed down for fifteen generations, and the average life expectancy is over seventy. This can be considered stable, right?"

Liu Xiu: “…”

"In my Ming Dynasty, there were no eunuchs who deposed and enthroned emperors, nor were there turmoil that ended the dynasty. There were no women who usurped the throne, nor were there chaotic harems. The emperor and the queen were in love. Isn't this considered outstanding?"

Liu Bang: “…”

"My Ming Dynasty..."

"I have something to do. I'll leave first!" Ying Zheng turned around and left, and Liu Bang, Liu Che, Liu Xiu and Zhao Kuangyin followed closely.

Watching them leave, Zhu Yuanzhang spat: "Still competing with me!"

"Dad, is what you just said true?" Zhu Di asked nervously. Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him and said, "Do you really believe it?"

"Dad, I at least let the Ming Dynasty last for more than 380 years. If it were Yun Wen, my Ming Dynasty might have only lasted for a few decades!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Zhu Yunwen slammed the table and stood up: "I'm just unlucky to have met Zhu Gaoxu!"

"Don't involve me. You were the one who owed me first." Zhu Gaoxu next to him looked at Zhu Yunwen with disdain.

"I..." Zhu Yunwen felt a little aggrieved, but what Zhu Gaoxu said was impeccable.

Zhu Gaoxu even slammed the theory of reducing the power of the princes in Zhu Yunwen's face, but he himself did not copy his homework and insisted on confronting him. Who can he blame?

"Okay, we're a family, why do we have to be so divided?"

Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his beard and said, "Let's all go!"

He turned and walked towards the Qianqing Palace. Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Di, Zhu Yunwen and others also turned and left.

Dozens of days after beating up Li Chengliang and other meritorious officials, people like Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Jianshen, and Zhu Zhanhe also drove out to play busily.

Ever since Zhu Yunhuan and his companions came down, Zhu Biao basically took Zhu Xiongying and Zhu Yunhuan and their companions out for fun.

Zhu Wenkui would rather play chess with Zhu Gaoxu than with his father. Zhu Yunwen was like an orphan and had to guard against Zhu Bo's sneak attacks every day.

Zhu Bo's resentment towards Zhu Yunwen was even greater than Temujin's resentment towards Zhu Gaoxu.

The difference is that Temujin's gang could not defeat Zhu Gaoxu either in a one-on-one fight or in a group fight, while Zhu Bo could easily hold down Zhu Yunwen's hammer.

After returning to Shouning Hall in Daming Palace, Zhu Gaoxu had just sat down when he saw Guo Yan walk in, chuckled and sat down next to Zhu Gaoxu.

"I'm actually happy that you've been idle for more than 200 years, but if the Ming Dynasty really perished, wouldn't you be sad?"

Guo Yan understood Zhu Gaoxu's intentions towards the Ming Dynasty. The reason why Zhu Gaoxu died of illness at the age of 65 was because he spent too much energy on it.

"All dynasties will fall, just like people grow old, get sick and die."

"For the Ming Dynasty, such a death is already a dignified ending."

Zhu Gaoxu stretched himself, but Guo Yan said, "It would have been nice if you could have been so open-minded when you were alive."

"What?" Zhu Gaoxu chuckled, "Are you still complaining that I left too early?"

He reached out and held Guo Yan's hand: "When I was alive, I didn't know there was such a thing as after death."

Zhu Gaoxu did not lie. Although he was a time traveler, he did not believe in the existence of the underworld.

When he first arrived in the underworld, he was a little dazed, but he was able to adapt well.

"You..." Guo Yan chuckled, "Your children and grandchildren have all gone out to play, but you have stayed in Nanjing for more than 200 years."

"I find it strange too." Zhu Gaoxu touched his chin:
"When I was alive, I wanted to run away. But after I died and had more time, I didn't have that desire anymore."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and said, "Forget it. If you want to go out, I will go out with you in a few days."

"By the way, where are Yue'er and Zhao'er? Don't you watch their shows every day?"

"They..." Guo Yan's face showed a bit of embarrassment. Zhu Gaoxu asked in surprise: "What's wrong?"

"I was hit by a wild boar while trying to catch it..."

Guo Yan spoke awkwardly. Zhu Gaoxu was stunned when he heard it, and then laughed: "These two guys... are really crazy and stupid because they think they can't die!"

"Seeking death?" Guo Yan said with a smile: "This word is quite appropriate."

While the two were chatting and laughing, on the vast grassland more than 1,400 miles away from Nanjing City, a dull "bison" was hiding in the grass.

"Everyone, please look, this is the Northern Continent Bison, our target for this photo shoot."

Zhu Qiyue introduced in a low voice, while Zhu Youtang was lying in the grass not far away, holding the camera tremblingly.

Zhu Houzhao, who was hiding in a leather case and following behind Zhu Qiyue, suddenly said, "Xianzong, why do I feel like there is something pressing against my buttocks?"

"Huh?" Zhu Qiyue looked at Zhu Youtang not far away, only to see Zhu Youtang gesticulating and looking very anxious.

"Run! Run! There's a bull buffalo!"

Zhu Youtang danced with his hands and feet, but the sound was so low that only he could hear it.

"What is your father dancing about?"

Zhu Qiyue said, and couldn't help but look back.

"Stop her! Run!"

Upon seeing this, Zhu Qiyue immediately threw off the holster and ran away with the camera.

Zhu Houzhao hadn't reacted yet. When he did, he felt a huge pressure from behind.

"Moo..."

"I'm almost being crushed to death. What is this dead cow doing? Dad! Kill it!"

Zhu Houzhao asked Zhu Youtang for help, but Zhu Youtang covered his eyes:

"It's immoral! It's immoral!"

(End of this chapter)