Zhu Yuanzhang can see my dreams

Chapter 379: Stewed Goose in an Iron Pot

Wang Buli glanced at Zhu Di, snorted and ignored him.

Fourth brother, you must remember what expression you have on your face right now, so that you won't wear the mask of pain later.

Just when Zhu Di was feeling proud, the words "Quarantine of Prince of Han" appeared on the screen.

Zhu Di opened his mouth and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Zhu Yuanzhang also did not expect that Zhu Di's son would also try to seize the throne.

Wang Buli clicked his tongue twice: "Old Four, this is also a father-like behavior, you should feel relieved."

Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu was the second son of Zhu Di and the younger brother of Zhu Gaochi from the same mother. He was fierce, cunning and intelligent, proud of his talents and martial arts, and good at riding and shooting.

When Zhu Di started the "Jingnan" campaign, he often accompanied his father on the expedition and saved his father from danger on the battlefield many times. After that, he became proud of his achievements and often committed illegal acts.

After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he sought the opinions of some ministers. Military forces such as Duke Qi Qiu Fu and son-in-law Wang Ning believed that Zhu Gaoxu had made great contributions and could be made crown prince, but Zhu Gaochi had been made the Prince of Yan during the Hongwu period and this status could not be changed.

Later, Zhu Gaoxu was named King of Han and his fiefdom was named Yunnan. Zhu Gaoxu was unwilling to be a vassal and asked to stay in Nanjing.

Zhu Di had no choice but to do so, and from then on Zhu Gaoxu often compared himself to Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin.

"Okay, okay." Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his beard and chuckled:
"It seems that our son loves his son very much, or maybe you are not satisfied with the crown prince you appointed, and deliberately put him here to cause trouble."

At this time, Zhu Di could not explain why he would do this in the future.

He already knew that Zhu Gaoxu's son was extremely brave and similar to him.

In the winter of the 3000th year of Yongle, Zhu Di did not register Zhu Gaoxu with the Ministry of War because he had more than private soldiers in his palace.

He allowed his guards to plunder inside and outside the capital, dismembered innocent people and threw them into the river; he killed the military commander Xu Yelu and secretly used the imperial carriage and other belongings, and then imprisoned him in Xihua Gate and demoted him to a commoner.

After the crown prince pleaded again and again, Zhu Di decided to remove his two guards and move him to Le'an Prefecture, Shandong (now Guangrao, Shandong).

The intention was that Le'an was relatively close to Beijing, and even if something happened in the future, they could arrive there the same day and capture the perpetrators.

Zhu Gaochi died, and Crown Prince Zhu Zhanji went to Beijing to mourn.

Zhu Gaoxu was eager to usurp the throne and thought the time had come, so he attempted to ambush and kill Zhu Zhanji on the way. However, due to the haste and lack of preparation, he failed to achieve his goal.

After Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, although he had long been aware of Zhu Gaoxu's ambitions, he remained silent and responded calmly.

He held power firmly, chose the right time, and waited patiently, so as to both eliminate Zhu Gaoxu's rebellious forces and keep the domestic situation stable.

Zhu Zhanji was aware of his uncle Zhu Gaoxu's ambition to covet the crown prince and seize imperial power.

However, in order to handle the matter properly, he was on high alert and took preventive measures, while waiting for the opportunity to fully expose Zhu Gaoxu's ambition for rebellion and win the support of public opinion from the court to the top so that he could have a legitimate reason to eliminate him in one fell swoop.

"Just now I saw that I value Zhanji, the eldest grandson, very much."

Zhu Di pointed at the operations of his Zhu Zhanji, which were very safe and there didn't seem to be any major unrest.

Especially since he had just demoted his second son to a commoner and stripped him of his military power, even if he wanted to rebel, it would be very difficult.

Zhu Yuanzhang, however, felt that his great-grandson was also a potential emperor. First of all, he was skilled in martial arts and was qualified to lead troops in battle. He was also a man of deep thoughts and knew how to lure the enemy before taking action and then eliminate the threat in one fell swoop, allowing him to seize the upper hand.

"Now it seems that he is a qualified emperor."

Zhu Zhanji did not disappoint Zhu Di. In order to facilitate Zhu Gaoxu's rebellion as soon as possible, he responded to all the advice given to Zhu Di. Even when his ministers pointed out the intentions of Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu, he pretended not to know.

Being so spoiled, Zhu Gaoxu became more and more crazy and finally started to rebel.

After Emperor Xuande personally led the army, Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu was forced to surrender, and both father and son were captured and taken to the capital.

"That's it?"

Zhu Di felt that he was too foresighted to depose his son and leave him in the small area of ​​Le'an.

"Zhanji's suppression of the rebellion was so rapid and smooth, mainly because he had a clear plan in mind and handled it properly." Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head:
"He first exposed the Han Wang's rebellion conspiracy politically, so that the suppression of the rebellion could gain public support, and kept track of Zhu Gaoxu's movements at all times, and also made careful military deployments over a long period of time.

Before the battle, a detailed analysis was made of Zhu Gaoxu's psychology, military strength, rebel deployment and other important military information, and effective countermeasures were taken.

When fighting, speed is of the essence. The army set out in the morning and arrived the same night, quickly surrounding Le'an and trapping Zhu Gaoxu in the city, like a turtle in a jar and a tiger in a well. Therefore, they were able to use their strength to defeat the weak.

Under the situation of great disparity in numbers, Zhu Gaoxu had no choice but to surrender and apologize, which successfully quelled the rebellion. "

Zhu Yuanzhang could understand Zhu Zhanji's actions very well, and he was also pleased with his great-grandson's approach.

At least Zhu Gaoxu was not killed after the rebellion was quelled, which made Zhu Yuanzhang very satisfied.

All in all, we are all closely related by blood.

"Of course, the successful suppression of this rebellion was also related to the fourth brother's prevention and punishment of Zhu Gaoxu's political ambitions during his lifetime.

On this issue, it can be said that the Fourth Brother was a far-sighted politician and military strategist, while Zhu Gaoxu was just an ambitious man who was politically ambitious, proud of his own achievements, deliberately created chaos, and went against the will of the army and the people.

In terms of military affairs, Zhu Gaoxu was a man without strategy, decisiveness, or long-term planning.

He launched a rebellion against all odds, which earned him the reputation of a rebel in politics and a rash and blind military move that left him trapped in Le'an and brought about his own destruction."

Wang Buli also praised Zhu Di.

The main reason was that he felt that Zhu Gaoxu had really brought about his own destruction and perhaps didn't want to live anymore.

Zhu Di showed a smug smile on his face again, nodding his head repeatedly: "I think I am impressed by this grandson's ability, which is quite similar to mine."

Although Xu Miaoyun had not given birth to Zhu Gaoxu yet, she knew clearly that her second son had helped his father a lot during the Jingnan Campaign.

But he was not cut out to be an emperor, and he had realised that a long time ago.

"If you had been so cruel as to let him go to Yunnan to be a vassal, this wouldn't have happened."

Xu Miaoyun wiped away her tears.

"Now that I know, I will be ruthless in the future, just like my father."

Zhu Di held Xu Miaoyun's shoulders and tried to persuade her.

Then Wang Buli and others saw that the imprisoned Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu tripped over Emperor Xuande who was visiting him.

Zhu Zhanji was furious and ordered his men to hold Zhu Gaoxu down with a copper vat weighing three hundred kilograms.

Who would have thought that although Zhu Gaoxu was old, he was still brave and strong, and he was able to lift the large vat.

Zhu Zhanji then ordered people to light charcoal around the copper vat and burned Zhu Gaoxu to death in the copper vat.

Zhu Gaoxu's nine sons were all killed, and the Han lineage came to an end.

Zhu Di stood up suddenly.

He did not kill his nephew Zhu Yunwen, but instead disappeared in a fire.

But his own grandson actually killed his own uncle and spared all his cousins?

Wang Buli looked at Zhu Di who suddenly stood up, not knowing how to comfort him.

It has to be said that Zhu Gaoxu's brain was filled with bubbles, and he probably just didn't want to live anymore.

He felt his father had deceived him.

Xu Miaoyun covered her mouth, too shocked to say anything.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was gloomy. He had just praised his great-grandson for being a good emperor, but he never expected that such a thing would happen.

Not only did he kill his uncle, he also roasted him.

This kind of death was something that neither Zhu father nor his son had expected, as it would happen in the royal family of the Ming Dynasty.

The Prince of Xiang was committing self-immolation, but because the vassal kings were abolished, it was at least nominally justifiable.

More than 600 civil and military officials who followed the rebel king were executed, and another 2200 officials were exiled to the border.

"How could this be?"

"How did it come to this?!"

Zhu Di's face was full of pain.

He really didn't expect that his son would die so tragically that he couldn't even be recognized as a human being.

The most important thing is that Zhu Zhanji directly cut the roots and left no trace.

"Abandoning family ties aside, your grandson did the right thing as an emperor."

Wang Buli sighed and said, “I heard that if you are born in an imperial family, everyone wants to fight for that position.

Fourth brother, you will also understand this in the future.

If you don't believe me, ask your father what he thinks. "

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little unhappy when he saw Wang Buli was bringing the fire upon himself, and said forcefully:

"You should ask the fourth brother if he has this idea, or ask us?

I conquered the world by myself, I didn’t inherit it from my father, he didn’t even leave me an acre of land!”

Zhu Di suppressed his inner grief. He really did not expect that because of his own reasons, he did not handle the situation properly, which led to his descendants killing each other.

If Gao Xu had really gone to Yunnan, he might have survived and not died out. Being an emperor requires ruthless tactics, and his grandson Zhu Zhanji did it, but Zhu Di was both pleased and very uncomfortable when he saw it.

"That's all."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hands and didn't want to talk about it anymore.

Perhaps he still cares about old feelings in this life, but the affection between his descendants is much less.

In addition, the second and third brothers had teamed up to bully the eldest brother before, so it makes sense that the eldest brother's son is now avenging his father.

If Zhu Gaochi had not died, Zhu Gaoxu would not have had the courage to rebel.

Or even if he rebelled, Zhu Gaochi would not kill him directly.

But his nephew was really willing to kill.

Stewing the goose in an iron pot, just don’t add water.

Wang Buli looked at Zhu Di, who was extremely disappointed and couldn't believe what was happening. You chose it yourself, my idol!

Subsequent investigations by the court showed that Zhu Gaoxu's brother, Prince of Zhao Zhu Gaosui, was implicated in the conspiracy.

However, Emperor Xuande, concerned about the stability of the dynasty, ordered that no action be taken.

The tragic failure of this rebellion showed that the power of the Ming princes had declined to a very low level.

Emperor Xuande also faced another serious problem: the Annamites continued to resist Ming attempts to annex them.

At first Emperor Xuande hesitated between withdrawing his troops and continuing the pacification efforts, but finally, after careful consideration, he ordered the withdrawal of all occupying forces in China.

This ended China's occupation of Annam.

Compared with his grandfather Zhu Di's wars in the south and the north, although Zhu Zhanji also wanted to inherit his grandfather's policies, he was generally extremely conservative.

Emperor Xuande attempted to eliminate military corruption and vigorously establish civilian rule.

In every war, corrupt military officers only mobilized the poor and sold exemption coupons to the rich. When requisitioning supplies, they extorted excessive amounts from the common people.

They illegally used the soldiers as their personal servants, embezzled their pay and rations, and withheld their winter clothing.

Such illegal extortion and harsh treatment undermined the morale of the soldiers, encouraged desertion, and in turn destroyed the entire military organization of the Ming Dynasty and seriously reduced the combat effectiveness of the troops.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but sigh: "As expected, within three generations, the military system of the Ming Dynasty has become like this."

Zhu Di had also heard Wang Buli talk about the army's shortcomings, and now that he had seen it with his own eyes, he was still not at peace.

Mainly because of the fact that his nephew killed his uncle, Zhu Di was very sad.

His own grandson actually followed the same path as Zhu Yunwen, the person he overthrew!
Now Zhu Zhanji's abandonment of Annan is just a trivial matter in Zhu Di's eyes.

At this point, the Ming army is no longer able to fight.

Could it be that these problems did not occur when I was in power?
No matter what happens, nothing happens suddenly.

Zhu Yuanzhang ignored Zhu Di's depressed mood and looked at Wang Buli: "What do you think?"

"I have heard a saying." Wang Buli recalled for a moment, "The most unpredictable thing in the world is to be in a peaceful and tranquil state, but in reality there are unexpected worries. If you sit back and watch the situation change without doing anything, you may end up in a situation that is beyond salvation!"

Zhu Yuanzhang widened his eyes, and for a moment he didn't know how to evaluate Wang Buli's words on governing the country.

The semi-illiterate Zhu Di did not quite understand what Wang Buli meant.

It was the first time he heard Wang Buli say such difficult words.

Xu Miaoyun slowly digested the meaning of Wang Buli's words.

Despite Emperor Xuande's attention, military organization continued to suffer from problems such as mismanagement, declining morale, and lack of combat effectiveness.

The fundamental reason was that military settlements failed to provide food to the troops and that there were various abnormal phenomena in the hereditary military system.

The Ming army no longer fought as frequently as it had during the Yongle Emperor's reign and had little combat experience.

The emperor often treated criminal officers leniently, which was one of the factors contributing to the above common problems.

Zhu Zhanji asserted that they lacked education and therefore could not be measured by normal standards.

"No, could it be that our military academy was not opened as it should be?" Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Zhanji's actions and felt that the Ming army still had no room for recovery.

"Perhaps only a minority of people can attend military academies."

Wang Buli shook his head. "It's just like those who can afford to read. It will take many years for an ordinary soldier to rise from a small pawn to the position of a duke. Not to mention that Emperor Xuande rarely went on foreign expeditions. He even had to stand there to suppress rebellions. There was no chance of fighting at all."

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was full of uncertainty. He always felt that his descendants did not handle state affairs completely in accordance with his policies.

He could not educate the emperors who came after him, and the same was true for the emperors who came before him who he could educate.

"Damn it."

Zhu Yuanzhang cursed, which was rare: "How could this be?"

"Your Majesty, we still need to ensure that most people have enough food to eat so that they can continue to climb up."

Wang Buli pointed to Emperor Xuande's behavior: "Although he was wise, his mind was not fully focused on governing state affairs."

Xuande indeed had a wide range of hobbies, including calligraphy and painting, hunting, food, listening to operas, and his best skill, cricket fighting.

Zhu Di sat back in his chair, not knowing how to complain about his grandson's love of playing.

Zhu Yuanzhang actually became even angrier when he saw this scene.

In his opinion, how could the emperor have such a hobby?

This is simply the act of a tyrant. Haven't you heard of the example of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty?
However, many emperors in later generations were as capable as Emperor Xuande.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very confused. Why didn't his descendants like to be diligent in government affairs like he was?

"But then again, Xuande is not confused." Wang Buli saw that the Zhu father and son were silent again, so he took the initiative to start a conversation:

"Whether in handling military affairs or finance, he was a smart emperor who was not easily fooled by those below him.

Not only did they send a large number of censors to investigate, they also asked the Imperial Guard to investigate secretly. Not only that, but a group of eunuchs were also investigating secretly.

These three groups will not easily mix together and fool the emperor!"

After hearing Wang Buli's praise, Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head:
"Although the fourth prince began to use some eunuchs, the eunuchs became more powerful in later generations. For example, when Zhu Zhanji's son succeeded to the throne at a young age, he was fooled by the eunuch named Wang Zhen."

Wang Buli glanced at Lao Zhu. He even knew this.

Did Zhu Yuanzhang know about the Ming Dynasty’s overseas students?
Otherwise, how could he not be broken in the face of such strong winds and waves?

Could it be that the threshold was forced to be raised?

Wang Buli shut his mouth and said nothing more.

Zhu Di has not yet recovered from his grief.

However, Xu Miaoyun heard two meanings in Zhu Yuanzhang's words.

One was that his grandson Zhu Zhanji died young, and the other was that the eunuchs later took over the country!

Otherwise, my father wouldn't be so angry!
The giant screen still shows what Zhu Zhanji had done.

The northern border was relatively peaceful during Xuande's reign.

This temporary calm came about because Arutai's undisputed leadership of the Eastern Mongols had been destroyed by the Yongle Emperor's ruthless campaigns.

As a result, there was a serious conflict among the tribal leaders.

By the time Emperor Yongle died, Aluta's power had declined drastically.

Because the revitalized Oirat people, under their leadership, repeatedly invaded his territory, forcing him to move eastward.

The Mongol Alliance was split into two: Arutai led the Eastern Mongols, and Toghan led the Oirat tribes in the west.

The war between the two sides continued.

Tuohuan was the son of Mahamu and inherited the title of the Ming Dynasty.

Later, Emperor Xuande made some changes to the border defense.

To the south of the strategic location of Kaiping Wei, the Ming army, led by Xue Lu, built fortifications in some cities.

After the fortifications were completed, Xue Lu suggested concentrating border defense there and abandoning the frontier garrison area in Kaiping in order to shorten the supply line.

This decision was later considered a serious strategic mistake, as it exposed hundreds of miles of territory to the Mongols while restricting the Ming army and putting it increasingly on the defensive.

Meanwhile, in the west, the Oirat had grown powerful and defeated Arutai and killed him.

At this time, the Oirat became the indisputable dominant force in Mongolia.

Zhu Zhanji died young at the age of 37, and was succeeded by the 8-year-old Emperor Zhu Qizhen.

Wang Buli couldn't help but lean forward and said, "International student, you finally showed up."

(End of this chapter)