Follow Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the country

Chapter 287 Finale
Zhang Cheng was quite moved by Zhou Zong's behavior.

He had to admit that his efforts over the years were not in vain. Not only Zhu Yuanzhang, but also other people in the world were influenced by him to care more about the people.

Zhang Cheng couldn't help but smile knowingly and entered the courtyard where Zhu Biao lived.

Zhu Biao also came out to greet Zhang Cheng.

Zhu Yuanzhang, on the other hand, had already begun preparations for his ascension to the throne, and had even decided to name the country Ming.

It is worth mentioning that Kong Kejian also received the imperial edict from Zhu Yuanzhang to arrest him.

When Kong Kejian heard Zhu Yuanzhang's imperial decree to execute him, he turned pale with fear and could not help muttering:

"How could Zhu Yuanzhang really kill me?!"

Kong Kejian did not expect that Zhu Yuanzhang would directly order his execution without threatening him first.

Although Kong Kejian chose not to come to Jiqing, he also intended to test Zhu Yuanzhang.

He wanted to see whether Zhu Yuanzhang would really be angry or would invite him again and show the world that he still valued Confucianism.

But he really didn't expect that Zhu Yuanzhang would execute him directly. He thought that even if Zhu Yuanzhang was angry, he would at most just threaten him first.

When Kong Kejian was informed by the visitor that it was his son Kong Xixue who betrayed him and requested Zhu Yuanzhang to execute him, dig up the tombs of successive Yansheng dukes and destroy the genealogy of the Northern Kong family, he vomited blood on the spot.

"Evil son!"

"I've been a descendant of the Kong family for nothing!"

After Kong Kejian vomited blood, he couldn't help but curse loudly.

You know, it has always been his Kong family that sells out others, but Kong Kejian never thought that now his Kong family would be sold out by his own family.

When Kong Kejian was brought to see Zhu Yuanzhang, he chose to kneel on the ground in front of Zhu Yuanzhang and said with regret: "Please forgive me! I was confused for a moment and should not have looked down on your majesty."

no way.

Kong Kejian is still afraid of death.

"You don't look down on us, you look down on the common people of the world!"

"Therefore, the sins you have committed cannot be forgiven!"

This is what Zhu Yuanzhang replied to Sun Kejian.

Kong Kejian was stunned on the spot.

Afterwards, Kong Kejian burst into tears and sobbed to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Please spare my life for the sake of my fifty years old!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said nothing more and just left the hall.

Kong Kejian was also dragged away afterwards.

"Ascend!"

"Ascend!"

As Kong Kejian was dragged away, he continued to shout loudly, looked at the civil officials in the hall, and begged:

"Gentlemen, please say something for me!"

"Don't you all recognize the Great Saint and Master?!"

"Have you really joined the Datong Society and no longer recognize the Zhou Li Cheng Fa?!"

"Confucius is also a Chinese sage, and I am a descendant of a sage."

"Since you want to restore China, you should treat me with kindness and justice for the sake of the saint. Why don't you speak for me, the descendant of the Chinese saint?"

The civil servants did not respond and ignored Kong Kejian.

Kong Kejian was eventually beheaded in the city.

Until the next year, which was the 21st year of Zhizheng in the Yuan Dynasty.

The first day of the first lunar month.

Zhu Yuanzhang officially ascended the throne in Jiqing.

Participating in the enthronement ceremony were representatives from all walks of life and all classes, as well as statues of the two Chinese emperors, Yan and Huang, as well as loyal, brave and sage people throughout the dynasties who had made important contributions to China, that is, people who had been worshipped as gods by the people.

Notice.

The Han people are different from other ethnic groups. They have always admired those who speak up for the people or make great contributions to the people, and worship them as gods.

Therefore, there are many temples among the people, all of which are used to worship various real historical figures, the most prominent of which are the Guandi Temple and Yuewang Temple.

After all, strictly speaking, the Han people do not have true religious beliefs, and their greatest belief is to respect and emulate the sages. Therefore, since Zhu Yuanzhang has ascended the throne and is now emperor, and he emphasizes that power is granted by the people, he does not need to offer sacrifices to heaven anymore, but what is needed is to offer sacrifices to the sages, especially those who have made great contributions to the survival of the Chinese nation.

As a result, many people who followed Zhu Yuanzhang to build the country now began to have higher aspirations, hoping that they could become people like Guan Yu and Yue Fei.

Because from then on, every emperor of China had to offer sacrifices to them when he ascended the throne, and had to hold a national sacrifice for them. This was undoubtedly a great honor!

What they lack now and what they need most is honor, that is, status behind them.

However, it was Zhang Cheng who was first designated as the new national sage by Zhu Yuanzhang.

to this end.

Zhu Yuanzhang also issued an edict to confer the title of Prince Li on Zhang Cheng, granting him the Nine Gifts, allowing him to enter the court without bowing, praise or prostrating without naming his name, and to wear a sword and shoes when entering the palace. He also issued an edict to build a palace for Prince Li, and stated that Zhang Cheng did not have to attend court regularly.

Zhu Yuanzhang did this because he wanted Zhang Cheng to stay in this world longer to provide him with more valuable information, but he also did this to show his determination to uphold the concept of Datong.

After all, Zhang Cheng got his start by promoting the idea of ​​Datong, and he also trained a large number of talents who believe in Datong.

Zhu Yuanzhang's respect for Zhang Cheng was his respect for the concept of Great Harmony.

Of course, Zhang Cheng no longer holds real power, so any higher salary he gives him is just a gimmick.

In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang no longer worried about giving people too high titles and affecting internal stability. After all, his overall strategy now focused on external expansion rather than maintaining internal stability.

Therefore, not only Zhang Cheng became king.

Even Guo Tianxu, Zhang Tianyou and others were granted the title of prince because of their significant contributions to the uprising, but the title was not hereditary.

However, before Zhu Yuanzhang conferred the title of king on them, he held a court meeting to discuss matters with them. He first asked them to resign from their official positions in the court council, and asked them to only work with the country and not participate in major state affairs. He also held a court meeting to establish rules that stipulated that those who were conferred the title of king could no longer serve as court officials.

Guo Tianxu, Zhang Tianyou and others were naturally willing as well.

Because they have no conditions to refuse.

After all, Zhu Yuanzhang now enjoys great prestige, and is willing to allow them to live a decent life. Losing power in a way that is promoted in name only and demoted in reality is the best choice for them because the New Ming Dynasty will focus on outward expansion after steam industrialization.

So, they had no reason to refuse.

After becoming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally worked hard to govern the country, still governing the country with the concept of Great Harmony. First, he recruited and strengthened talent training on a large scale in the name of opening special examinations and various special subjects. Then he conducted a nationwide land inventory and population census. Then he built a lot of railways and actively expanded outward. He even ushered in the electrical age in the tenth year of Hongwu.

It is worth mentioning that.

Shortly after Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, Zhang Desheng's fleet, which was ordered by Zhang Cheng to explore Huangjinzhou, finally returned and brought back a large amount of gold and rubber, as well as the cinchona seedlings that Zhang Cheng requested, which significantly reduced the incidence of malaria.

The news that Huangjinzhou was discovered and confirmed to contain a lot of gold undoubtedly made the whole country of Ming Dynasty rejoice and set off enthusiasm for exploring Huangjinzhou.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang ruled the country with the concept of Great Harmony, most of the domestic wealth was still controlled by the court and bureaucrats. Therefore, the gap between the rich and the poor still existed. However, the sense of poverty often comes from comparison, especially after life has become affluent. Therefore, many common people who want to be richer are naturally willing to go to Huangjinzhou to pan for gold, especially the people in the coastal Fujian and Zhejiang areas with high per capita arable land, and they go there with their families.

Not to mention the court level, the army was still fighting foreign wars, Zhu Yuanzhang also repeatedly launched major cases and issued edicts to encourage young officials to go to sea to serve as officials, so the country was also expanding outward, and at the same time, it also invested in sending ships to sea.

Not to mention the powerful bureaucrats, many of the common people who left had shares in the company.

By the way, Zhang Cheng still often comes to the world of the New Ming Empire to see how people of all classes live here.

Because the new Ming Empire is always changing with each passing day, it is difficult for him to feel bored.

Wait until one day twenty years later.

When Zhang Cheng was riding on the special train from Jianye to Beiping, he was very happy to see a prosperous town every few minutes along the way, and people were all dressed in luxurious clothes, either riding motorcycles or sitting on ships. Zhu Biao, who was riding the train with him, said: "The years since you came to power have indeed made China more and more prosperous!"

"But father often said that Mr. Zhang also contributed to this."

Zhu Biao replied with a smile.

Zhang Cheng waved his hand and said, "I can't say that I have made any contribution!"

Then, Zhang Cheng asked Zhu Biao: "By the way, how are your eldest brother and your uncles?"

"They are still expanding territory for the Ming Dynasty!"

"My eldest brother is now leading an army of 200,000 men to drink from the Rhine River, and there, according to your instructions, he has dug up a large coal mine!"

"Uncle Xu (Xu Da) is now staying in the capital. Uncle Chang has led 5,000 elite troops to conquer the mountains of U-Tsang. He recently sent back a message asking the emperor to send more civil officials to reform the people there. Otherwise, he can only use guns and cannons to reform them."

"My cousin (Li Wenzhong) led his army to Liaodong and then destroyed Goryeo, and is now in charge of the capital of Japan."

"My brother (Mu Ying) is gathering the chieftains in the southwest to carry out military migration to places like Burma."

Zhu Biao spoke seriously for Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng nodded after hearing this and couldn't help laughing: "That's great!"

(End of this chapter)