Zhu Yuanzhang can see my dreams

Chapter 380 Zhu Qizhen's Expedition

"How come my eldest grandson is only this old? He's not diligent in government, is he?"

Zhu Di stood up again. After all, it was understandable that his son Gao Chi died young due to his unhealthy obesity.

But the eldest grandson Zhu Zhanji has been practicing martial arts since he was young, and he can ride a horse to kill the enemies, so he must be in good health.

Plus, he wasn't that diligent in his government affairs and had many hobbies, so he didn't look like he was working himself to death.

How could he die so young?

When an emperor ascends the throne at a young age, it is easy for many troubles to arise.

"Oh, that's not the way to say it." Wang Buli retorted:
"Just now you only saw him fighting crickets, but he also rode on horseback to fight wars and handle government affairs.

Didn't I see that while handling state affairs, he also wrote back to North Korea, saying that most of the women they paid tribute to had round faces and he didn't like them, and hoped that the next time they paid tribute, they would have a new batch of North Korean officials who participated in the beauty pageant."

Zhu Di curled his lips and did not reply to Wang Buli.

The event of Goryeo's transformation into Joseon had already occurred when he was in power, which can only mean that it was a coup d'état that took place during the Hongwu period.

But for him, it didn't have much impact.

After all, it is a vassal state, so there is no need to take it too seriously.

Zhu Di could hear the sarcasm in Wang Buli's words and sighed:

"I also think that our eldest grandson didn't have any major problems in handling government affairs. Why did he die so young? Could it be that he didn't practice any health preservation methods?"

"Health preservation methods are only auxiliary, the most important thing is to have a regular work and rest schedule." Wang Buli shook his head:
"There are too many things to consider when being an emperor. How can it be the same as for ordinary people? Even if you are a tyrant, indulging in alcohol and sex will soon drain your body."

Zhu Di shut up all of a sudden. He began to understand why his eldest son Zhu Gaochi died so early.

In addition to obesity, a large part of the reason was that dealing with state affairs drained his energy and spirit, and any minor illness could easily lead to the complications that Wang Buli mentioned.

With such a complicated disease, even a miracle doctor may not be able to cure it.

What’s more, where could there be so many miraculous doctors in the Ming Dynasty?

Zhu Di knew that the fifth brother had been studying medicine with Wang Buli's father, but there had not been much progress.

The main reason was that he had heard from the fifth brother that some operations required dissecting human corpses, so he asked his fourth brother to send a few prisoners for them to study when they fought against the Mongols.

Although Zhu Di kept it in mind, he never took any action.

It’s not that I think this kind of thing is shocking, it’s just that I’ve never had the opportunity.

In Zhu Di's view, those Mongols should have died at that time, but now it was too easy for them to die for their own brother's medical research.

Now Zhu Di saw that all his children and grandchildren died young due to illness. He secretly made up his mind to make progress in Lao Wu's medicine and to open the Langzhong Hospital in Nanjing in Beijing.

Especially in the bitterly cold north, it is easy to get sick if you stay here for a long time.

Wang Buli felt that it was normal for many people in the Ming Dynasty to die from a cold.

Even if the emperor eats well and dresses well, he may not necessarily sleep well, and it is very normal for him to die from minor illnesses.

Zhu Di could not accept the situation for a while. After getting to know each other, he found that Zhu Zhanji was really very similar to himself.

Whether it is from the perspective of war or the idea of ​​military management, it is worthy of being the one who has been with me since childhood.

Zhu Yuanzhang had known this result for a long time, so he didn't seem too surprised.

He knew that the succession of a young emperor to the throne would cause many troubles, and the eunuch named Wang Zhen rose to prominence in this situation.

Apart from being greedy for money, accepting bribes and suppressing other ministers, he also commanded the military at random and openly violated the policies formulated by him, the Emperor Taizu, and he probably didn't have any other bad habits.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Wang Buli and saw that he was sitting there so relaxedly and was not in a hurry.

"Buli, was the doctor's hospital you were thinking of also for this purpose?"

Wang Buli shook his head: "Today's medicine is still not advanced enough. I think many diseases are incurable."

"Even if we send people to spend a lot of money to let the doctors in those hospitals do research, is that not possible?"

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's solemn look, Wang Buli said affirmatively:

"If the emperor supports it, medicine can advance, but it is simply unrealistic to want to cure all diseases in the world."

"Even in fairyland, it's not possible?"

"Even immortals can die." Wang Buli leaned back in his chair and said, "What about us mortals?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a while, then he said:

"I have seen some of Zhu Qizhen's affairs. He behaved properly, but he was raised by women and was close to eunuchs. It was inevitable that he would do some foolish things when he was young."

Zhu Di listened to Zhu Yuanzhang giving him psychological counseling, mainly because he had not yet recovered from the untimely death of his grandson.

Xu, who was standing by, gently tugged at his sleeve, signaling him to calm down.

The fate of offspring cannot be changed, but the ascension of a young emperor to the throne is also a great test for a dynasty.

Some setbacks are inevitable.

After Zhu Qizhen inherited the throne, he did not do anything out of line. It was mainly because of the cooperation of the Three Yangs, who were like a cabinet, and the Empress Dowager as regent, that the government was handled.

The eunuch Wang Zhen gained power, but the Empress Dowager who restricted him died, and the Three Yangs also died. He was too old to control the situation at all.

Although the successors to the Three Yangs were carefully selected, they were unable to deal with the clever means of manipulating power by the eunuch in charge of ceremonies, who would soon become a powerful dictator.

When it comes to political struggles, the successors of these civil officials are still a little immature.

The main reason was because of Zhu Qizhen.

After a period of time, Wang Zhen apparently began to develop a certain arrogance (which was inevitable under the circumstances at the time).

He considered himself the second Duke of Zhou, and arbitrarily decided major state issues, suppressed criticism, and even killed his opponents indiscriminately.

As often happened in Ming court politics, a suddenly powerful eunuch would sooner or later use the emperor's power as his own.

This was true even when he was completely dependent on the emperor's will and moods.

Wang Zhen was the first example of this kind of person: he threatened and intimidated even the highest-ranking officials, imprisoned and sometimes executed those who stood in his way.

The alliance between the emperor himself, his eunuch assistants and "cabinet" advisers, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which was about to become the typical power combination in the Ming Dynasty, began to take shape at this time.

When Zhu Di saw this, he was actually a little annoyed.

After all, the three parties check and balance each other, especially the eunuchs are here to monitor the Jinyiwei to prevent them from colluding with court officials.

Unexpectedly, the eunuchs used the imperial power to bring these three forces together, and he became the emperor!
"In this case, wouldn't the world only know Wang Zhen but not the emperor?"

Zhu Di heavily put down the drink that Wang Buli had called iced drink.

“How ignorant.”

Zhu Yuanzhang had heard of the title of enthroning an emperor a long time ago, but this one was even more powerful than Wang Zhen's.

Now Wang Zhen still has to hold back, as there are no examples from the previous dynasties for him to refer to.

So Zhu Yuanzhang felt that Wang Zhen was causing chaos in the government, but how much more chaotic could he be?

"Fourth brother." Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at his eldest son and said, "Don't think that this was started by your eldest grandson. In fact, it was you who started it."

"what?"

Zhu Di looked incredulous. How could this shit pot fall on his head?

"In your struggle for power with Yun Weng, you benefited from the military intelligence he provided to the eunuchs in the Nangong Palace, so you "appointed many eunuchs" to take charge of "missionary duties, special expeditions, military supervision, division of garrisons, and spying on the secrets of subjects."

Zhu Di really didn't expect that his father knew more about the Jingnan Campaign than he did.

It seems that my father has studied the whole process of the Jingnan Campaign and kept it in mind.

What should I do if my father still doesn't change his mind and tells Zhu Yunwen all this?
wrong.

Did the elder brother also know about this?
Zhu Di looked a little dazed.

"When Zhu Zhanji came to power, his uncle Zhu Gaoxu attempted to seize the throne. He was afraid that the court officials would have secret dealings with Zhu Gaoxu, so he relied on eunuchs as his spies, and thus eunuchs became more important.

Not only that, Zhu Zhanji also ordered the establishment of an "Inner Study Hall" in the palace to specifically teach young eunuchs to read, and this became a "custom."

After that, eunuchs gradually interfered in political affairs. During the Zhengtong period, the eunuch Wang Zhen interfered in government affairs, which had a great impact on the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Buli also looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in shock.

This old guy knows more than me!

He's almost becoming a fucking expert on Ming history.

Wang Buli was also troubled. If Zhu Yuanzhang was determined to let Zhu Biao's offspring take the throne, what should he do?
Now he is not sure how much Zhu Yuanzhang knows.

Xu Miaoyun also felt that the current emperor knew too much, and once he made a decision, there were not many people who could persuade him except Empress Ma.

Her husband would be able to ascend the throne in the future, but this was not what Her Majesty really thought. For a moment, she was very conflicted.

"My son, I know my mistake."

Zhu Di admitted his mistake decisively, but the eunuchs helped him. As an emperor, it was normal for him to appoint eunuchs as his confidants.

They represent imperial power, and as long as the emperor no longer trusts them, they are finished.

Could it be possible that the Ming Dynasty really had eunuchs who deposed and killed emperors like in the Tang Dynasty?
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hands, indicating that he was too lazy to listen to such things.

What's more, he has never made such a mistake before.

If he really follows what he has seen in the future, Zhu Yuanzhang believes that the fourth brother will pay more attention on his own.

Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang also suspected that the eunuchs had tipped off Zhu Di, and Wang Buli might have been involved.

Zhu Yuanzhang had long suspected that the two of them were cooperating with each other, otherwise Zhu Yunwen would not have done so many stupid things.

Or maybe Zhu Yunwen really did it, but Wang Buli pushed it behind the scenes.

Zhu Yuanzhang absolutely did not believe that Wang Buli could stay out of such a major event.

He will stay out of it!

At the beginning, this guy suggested that he should strictly manage the eunuchs. Unexpectedly, after Zhu Di took over the world, Wang Buli did not continue to give advice.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang was not sure whether Wang Buli also died of illness not long after Zhu Di ascended the throne.

These things are unknown.

When he thought of this, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to know the whole story as quickly as possible.

Zhu Qizhen's presence was very weak, and almost everyone talked about how great Wang Zhen was, or that although Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne early, he did not have much power and had previously listened to the Empress Dowager and the Three Yangs.

When he finally grew up, he didn't know much about the Ming Dynasty, but Wang Zhen, who was around him, had a great influence on him and liked to talk about military matters.

The Southern Expedition and the like had the support of the military. In short, it was about fighting wars and making money at the same time.

Add to that the problem of refugees, constant uprisings and escapees.

Since Zhu Yuanzhang established the garrisons, life in the garrisons has been extremely difficult. Their monthly rations were too low and were often withheld by officers, making it difficult for them to support their families. As a result, soldiers in the garrisons kept deserting.

During the Zhengtong period, the escape situation became even more uncontrollable, and there were also many disasters.

Zhu Di looked at the situation of his great-grandson with worry on his face.

It can be said that there are internal and external troubles!

There were so many things to deal with, and many people in the Ming Dynasty's upper echelons were corrupt, and the lives of the lower-class people and military households were even more miserable.

The Oirat nobles had already dominated Mongolia and were very powerful, often launching provocations.

The Ming court did not take strong measures against him and certainly underestimated his authority among the Mongols and his military strength, and still regarded Toghtobukha Khan of Eastern Mongolia as the real ruler.

The Ming court accepted a tribute mission from the Oirat, but when it tried to demand an exorbitant sum of money as compensation for the horses it brought, it was rejected by Wang Zhen.

Yesen continued to marry with other Mongolian forces in order to strengthen himself. The Ming Dynasty's border generals knew that the rapid increase of Yesen's power would inevitably lead to disaster, so they repeatedly wrote to Zhu Qizhen.

Zhu Qizhen simply asked the border generals to defend carefully and did not take any other measures.

When the time came, Yesen divided his troops into three groups and launched an attack.

Toghtobuha led the Uriankhai banners into Liaodong to attack; his general Zhiyuan Ala besieged Xuanfu; and he himself marched towards Datong.

Yesen's army defeated the poorly-equipped and poorly-led Ming army at Yanghe, northeast of Datong, and marched straight to Datong.

At the instigation of Wang Zhen, the 22-year-old Emperor Zhu Qizhen wanted to lead his army personally to fight against Yesen's troops.

Perhaps it was the result of the victory in the southwest and the successful news of suppressing the rebels in Fujian that made Zhu Qizhen himself overestimate the strength of the Ming army.

Perhaps encouraged by the military exercises he played with his guards when he was young, as well as the genes of his ancestors who were emperors on horseback, Zhu Qizhen believed that he could command an army on the battlefield.

Or perhaps Wang Zhen, whose reputation had been enhanced by many battles in the south, believed that the Ming army was invincible.

In fact, when he saw this, Zhu Di's face turned pale.

Of course he knew that it was not easy to be the emperor.

Just the marching and mobilization, as well as the supply of food and fodder is a huge task.

But Zhu Qizhen and Wang Zhen decided to do it right away!
When Zhu Di looked at the smug smile on his great-grandson's face, he knew that the grandson did not know much about military affairs and thought that fighting was just a game.

The Mongols can be crushed simply by relying on their large numbers!

If it were so easy, how could Zhu Di leave this trouble to his successors?
But Zhu Di still had some hope at this time, at least there were still veteran generals in the army.

The emperor leading the army in person can boost morale, but as long as he does not give orders recklessly, there will be no danger.

Compared with Zhu Di's hopeless mentality, Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely anxious at this moment.

This was certainly not the first time he had seen the emperor lead an army in person. That kid Zhengde was able to go out and fight the Mongols with a knife.

Although he is a little ridiculous, he is also capable of fighting lions and tigers, and he has quite a lot of strength in his hands.

But in Zhu Qizhen's opinion, he had never practiced martial arts at all, and his teachers were almost all civil servants, who had never taught him any military tactics or military knowledge.

He is completely at the mercy of women, and he even wants to prove himself by his bravery on the battlefield. He is simply crazy!
Zhu Yuanzhang clenched his fists slightly and felt a little depressed for a moment.

The emperor of this generation must not make any mistakes.

Wang Buli glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang furtively, wondering what he would think if he saw Zhu Qizhen's cerebral hemorrhage.

So he thought about it, then took out a camera from the side and placed it in front of him, then controlled it and took some pictures.

At that time, let Old Zhu always look at the expression on his face.

After all, in the entire Ming Dynasty, only Zhu Qizhen was not a human being.

Xu Miaoyun grew up in a military family, and even she could see that something was wrong.

"If this matter is not handled properly, it is very likely that my Ming Dynasty will fall into an irreparable situation."

Xu Miaoyun sighed slowly, hoping not to become an emperor like Song Huizong.

Otherwise, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty would be nailed to the pillar of shame and be ridiculed for thousands of years.

The court was shocked by the decision and protested, urging the emperor not to take the risk himself.

But these protests were ignored by Zhu Qizhen in the face of Wang Zhen's instigation.

Emperor Zhu Qizhen designated his half-brother Zhu Qiyu as regent during his campaign, and an army of half a million men was hastily assembled.

The command center headed by Emperor Zhu Qizhen included twenty generals with combat experience and a large number of senior civil servants, with Wang Zhen as the battlefield commander.

Zhu Di could no longer sit still. He pointed at the huge screen in front of him and said, "No, even if the Ming Dynasty is really powerful, it doesn't have the ability to gather 500,000 people at once.
How could the national treasury be so well stocked with food for people and horses, as well as fodder and vehicles?
They couldn't even deal with the rebellions in the south and the uprisings of the people in a short period of time, and they still wanted to fight the more barbaric Mongols!"

Zhu Di looked up to the sky and sighed, "I am really so angry!"

Wang Buli glanced at him and thought that there would be more cerebral congestion to come, so you must not be unable to accept it.

“Alas, despite this massive army being ill-prepared, poorly supplied, and poorly led.

Since His Majesty said that the Ming Dynasty will still have an emperor in the future, even if the emperor's personal expedition this time seems very stupid, perhaps God blesses the Ming Dynasty and nothing too wrong happened."

"How is that possible!" Zhu Di was extremely excited, his face full of anger: "Didn't you see how the Oirat people entrenched in Mongolia were described just now?

They had a strong leader, but my Ming Dynasty did not have a strong leader. On the contrary, the emperor was confused and was bewitched by eunuchs.

The powerful leaders of the Mongols were tested on the battlefield, and those who were incompetent died early.

If nothing goes wrong, it will be fine. But if something goes wrong, it will be the biggest military defeat of our Ming Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)