Emperor Ming's grandson

Chapter 317 The Arrival of a New Era
In the twelve years that followed, the Ming Dynasty entered an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity.

Zhu Biao inherited Zhu Yuanzhang's principle of resting with the people. The new emperor was not keen on starting wars. Except for the actions of the overseas fleet, there had been no large-scale wars in the Ming Dynasty. Although there were occasional frictions on the border, it was generally peaceful under the powerful military deterrence of the Ming army.

Because he did not inherit the "Iron Man" talent, Zhu Biao was forced to expand the size and role of the Grand Council, gradually turning it from a secretariat that assisted the emperor in consulting, into a powerful department that assisted in reviewing official documents. However, the rank of the Grand Councilor was still low, and it was jokingly called "the Threshold Province" in the court, which was a mockery of being not as good as the ancient Menxia Province. Of course, there must be some sour grapes in this.

In addition, Zhu Biao was quite lenient towards civil officials and did not launch any more large-scale purges. As the system established in the North and South List case was gradually implemented, he began to frequently hold imperial examinations to recruit talents and to renew the ranks of officials. A large number of scholars who came from the imperial examinations replaced the students of the Imperial Academy in the middle and late period of the Hongwu Dynasty and became the mainstream of the official corps.

Of course, these scholars who came from the imperial examination system are still in the middle and lower levels of the civil service system. It will take some years for fresh blood to flow before they can truly and thoroughly become the masters of the imperial civil service group.

This also means that the emergence of relationships such as fellow villagers, peers, and teachers, which naturally formed groups based on "native place" and "age", and the formation of powerful civil service interest groups, is also a sign that the empire has entered its middle period.

Of course, the rapid expansion of the ranks of officials will certainly bring about negative drawbacks such as corruption and factionalism. However, as the scale and difficulty of imperial governance increase, more officials do have some positive effects in the short term.

In addition to expanding the secretariat, opening up imperial examinations, and not launching large-scale purges, Zhu Biao was also very willing to be an emperor who was open to communication and good at accepting advice. Because as a monarch who only wanted to maintain the status quo, Zhu Biao knew very well that no matter what he did, it would not be possible to surpass the Hongwu era. Therefore, he was more willing to work hard on civil governance and leave his name in future history books.

Zhu Biao felt that "of the Han and Tang dynasties, Emperor Wen and Emperor Taizong were able to accept advice. Emperor Wen almost imposed punishment, while Emperor Taizong achieved the Zhenguan era, all of which were the result of good advice." Therefore, he widely accepted the criticisms of the censors, even though sometimes these censors, who were seeking fame, were too harsh or even a little mean in their criticisms.

In short, Zhu Biao became a benevolent but principled monarch.

He personally revised the "Great Ming Code" and, adhering to the principle of "the guilty should not be spared, and the innocent should not be abused", relaxed the many harsh laws and punishments set by the Hongwu Dynasty. He no longer allowed the implementation of cruel punishments such as castration that aimed to cause disability rather than death. However, he retained lingchi because it was used to deter treason, which was the bottom line of imperial power. Of course, it can also be said conversely that the purpose of lingchi was also to kill people, not to keep them alive with a disability as a punishment.

Zhu Biao also abolished the system of extralegal executions and collective responsibility for crimes other than treason. There was no legal basis for private use of force by the people to punish slaves or thieves. Except for crimes other than treason, the "Nine Clans Elimination Game" of the Hongwu Dynasty would no longer be carried out.

As for those who had been implicated in the Hu Weiyong case, the Kongyin case, and the Guo Huan case during the Hongwu period, those who had already been executed were pardoned, and those officials who were not executed and their families who were exiled were also pardoned, allowing them to return to their ancestral hometowns to live, so as not to affect their descendants from continuing to take the imperial examinations.

In addition, the files of three major cases, namely the Hu Weiyong case, the Kong Yin case, and the Guo Huan case, were re-examined. This was a task with an extremely heavy workload, and the people from the three judicial departments were almost exhausted.

A few people who were indeed wrongly accused due to groundless accusations were rehabilitated, their cases were cleared, the dead were posthumously awarded, and the living enjoyed retirement treatment with their previous official ranks increased by one to one and a half levels. However, for the vast majority of officials involved in the Hu Weiyong case, the Empty Seal case, and the Guo Huan case, there was still solid evidence.

Because it is different from the history of the modern world. In the history of the modern world, in the 23rd year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang promulgated the "Record of Exposing Traitors", and executed the founding heroes such as Li Shanchang, Duke of Korea, Lu Zhongheng, Marquis, and the descendants of the late Gu Shi, Duke of Teng, for the crime of colluding with Hu Weiyong to commit crimes. Later, Hu Weiyong was investigated for collusion with the Japanese and the Yuan Dynasty, and his followers were investigated. A total of more than 30,000 people were killed. It was called the "Hu Prison" at the time. This was an expanded version of the Hu Weiyong case.

What happened so far is that in the 13th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang executed the nine clans of Prime Minister Hu Weiyong for the crime of "plotting against the law", and at the same time killed the Imperial Censor Chen Ning, the Zhongcheng Tu Jie and others. The Hu Weiyong case was not expanded later, and meritorious officials such as Li Shanchang were not killed in the name of "Hu Weiyong case". Therefore, the people really involved in the case were Hu Weiyong's followers. Some of them may have been punished severely, but it is impossible to say that he had no collusion or interest exchanges with Hu Weiyong in normal times. Therefore, since it involves treason, there is nothing to say about the loss of his head.

At the same time, although the Empty Seal Case was of a serious nature, due to Zhu Xiongying, no one was killed by accident. Most of the people were exiled, and those who survived the past ten years or so and are still alive today have been pardoned.

To be honest, the people involved in the empty seal case are indeed wronged. The unspoken rules have been like this for so many years. They were just unlucky to be caught. But it is not wrong to say that they are not wronged. After all, this is an illegal operation, and they deserve to be punished if it is brought to the table.

As for the Guo Huan case, there were basically not many innocent people involved, they were all parasites.

In addition to these political matters, Zhu Biao was very concerned about the development of agriculture, industry, and commerce, and advocated the idea of ​​"four classes are the foundation" during the Song Dynasty, that is, scholars, farmers, merchants, and artisans are all the foundation of the country.

Many new water conservancy projects were built during the Xingwen Dynasty. Although no action was taken rashly to address the century-old problem of flooding in the Yellow River, the court paid for the repair of the Hongqu Weir and Dujiang Weir, the construction of the Jinan Canal and the Meizhou Xinjin Tongji Weir, and the dredging of the waterway where Taihu Lake emptied into the sea, thus relieving the flood in the Suzhou and Songjiang areas. The rivers in the entire Yellow River and Huaihe River basins were also reorganized and dredged.

Industries such as steel, shipbuilding, steam engines, porcelain, and cotton textiles flourished, the speed of commodity circulation far exceeded that of any previous dynasty, and the economic growth rate reached new highs year after year.

Because of the mountains of gold and silver mined from Japan, as well as the huge benefits from overseas trade and domestic commercial taxes, and the lack of large-scale wars or natural disasters, during the Xingwen period, the national treasury and the private treasury were extremely abundant. Relief for small-scale natural disasters in local areas was very timely, and the affected areas often received free relief food and tax reductions for several years, which was highly praised by the people.

Zhu Biao often said, "The prosperity of a country is based on recuperation and rest, and its decline must be caused by civil engineering and war. Emperor Wu of Han succeeded Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, and Emperor Yang succeeded Emperor Wen of Sui. The prosperity of Kaiyuan led to the An-Shi Rebellion. Wasn't it because they relied on their wealth and did not know how to be vigilant? At the end of Emperor Wu of Han, he regretted the conquest of Luntai, Emperor Yang lost his country, and Emperor Xuanzong was forced to flee. These are all great warnings for the world."

Therefore, in the folk literati circle, Zhu Biao is often compared to Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty. In this era, it is believed that "officials are competent for their duties, politics is fair, discipline is well-established, granaries are well-stocked, the people are happy at work, there are no disasters in the years, and the people's morale is gradually relaxed, and there is a sign of peace and order."

Of course, in this prosperous era, there are also constant breeding of termites that threaten the continued vigorous growth of the empire.

Civil servants who came from the imperial examination system began to gain mainstream discourse power, the enforcement of the performance evaluation system began to decline, and civil servants protected and evaded each other, formed cliques for personal gain, and unscrupulously attacked each other in the relatively enlightened atmosphere of the court. They even dared to raise their fists in the court, which would have resulted in them being dragged out and beheaded in the Hongwu dynasty. This shows how presumptuous the civil servants were.

The petty officials tacitly began to enjoy the dividends of the prosperous times and constantly extorted various demands from the people, and everyone from top to bottom became accustomed to it.

In just ten years, merchants broke through the social class barriers artificially created by the Hongwu Dynasty at an astonishing speed. The accelerated speed of commodity circulation provided the people with a channel for social advancement besides the imperial examination. But at the same time, the trend of luxury and enjoyment began to spread in the markets of the Ming Dynasty. Everyone was competing with each other, envying the wealthy merchants and looking down on those who worked honestly in the fields.

The various foreign commodities brought by overseas trade not only facilitated people's lives and enriched their material enjoyment, but also caused missionaries and believers of various sects to come to the Ming Dynasty along with the merchants. Various diverse and even contradictory religious beliefs began to spread, including some more extreme ideas, which led to the further tearing of the large rural society of the Hongwu Dynasty. The publication volume of operas and vernacular novels was breaking records every month, which played a role in fueling the situation. There were even people running around without clothes on the streets of the capital, which was said to be "unruly by nature", and it was difficult for the constables to control them.

The group of meritorious military officials and the garrison system, one of the foundations of the Ming Dynasty, also began to show signs of decline.

Because Zhu Biao did not like to launch wars against other countries, the Five Military Commandery was idle for many years. War plans with various forces as imaginary enemies gradually filled up the document library, but they were always gathering dust.

Apart from participating in overseas development, the generals no longer had the opportunity to gain military merit on land. The Tatar, Oirat, Uriankhai and other tribes in the north knew that they were no match for the Ming army, so they avoided them. Even when they encountered a snowstorm, the Oirat people would rather go west to find trouble with the Eastern Chagatai Khanate than go south to touch the Ming border. The Ming army in the south, especially in Yunnan, became the one with the most opportunities to fight, but they only dealt with minor frictions on the border, while Guangxi and Jiaozhi were peaceful.

There was a domestic rebellion in Goryeo in the east, but it was quickly put down without the intervention of the Ming Dynasty. Japan, on the other hand, continued to be in civil strife amid the confrontation between the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

The Timurid Khanate in the west has always been the biggest imaginary enemy in the rehearsal of the Five Military Governorates War. After the old cripple defeated the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh in the battles of the Kundurcha Valley and the Terek River, he went north to sweep the Golden Horde and launched an eastward expedition simultaneously with the Ming Dynasty. Timur conquered the Delhi Sultanate in India, destroyed Delhi, Punjab, and Kashmir, and after a short rest, he went to Syria and defeated the camel cavalry of the Mamluk dynasty.

In the fifth year of the Xingwen reign of the Ming Dynasty, Timur defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Angora and captured the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I, thus establishing a vast empire stretching from northern India in the east to Asia Minor in the west, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf in the south, and reaching the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea in the north.

The Ming army's ocean-going fleet and its subordinate Aq Qoyunlu fought in the southern coastal area of ​​Arabia. The Aq Qoyunlu's camel cavalry was defeated by the Ming army's firearms, but the Ming army lacked sufficient desert vehicles and could not advance further, so it hastily withdrew its troops and continued its voyage.

This exchange of fire attracted Timur's attention. He was quite afraid of the powerful firearms of the Ming army. So, the elderly Timur could not decide whether to continue the westward expedition while the iron was hot or to march eastward to the Ming Dynasty.

However, although Timur had not made up his mind yet, the Europeans who heard the news panicked. You know, Bayezid I defeated 100,000 Crusaders, but still could not defeat Timur. If Timur continued to move westward, wouldn't he face the threat of the Mongol invasion again after a hundred years?

At this time, the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going fleet arrived in Western Europe.

Compared with the towering warships of the Ming fleet, the European ships at that time were just small sampans. The magical technology of sailing against the current without spreading sails made the Europeans dumbfounded.

In addition, there are all kinds of strange stories about the East described in "The Travels of Marco Polo", such as that a piece of Chinese paper money can be exchanged for a large amount of silver, and that the black stone (coal) of China releases much more heat when burned than wood, and that there is gold everywhere under the houses. People pave the ground with gold and build houses with gems. There are so many gold and silver treasures, and spices grow everywhere. Spices are readily available. These inherent exaggerated impressions were not only not broken when the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going fleet arrived, but became even more stereotyped.

Because the King of Spain, who had the honor of boarding the Ming warship, discovered that the Ming warship was really driven by burning black stones, and the gold and silver owned by the Ming Dynasty filled one cabin after another, so much that it was dazzling. At the same time, the spices (from Southeast Asia) were also scattered randomly in the warehouse, as if the Ming people did not know how precious these things were.

As for "building houses with gems", it seemed to be confirmed after the King of Spain was rewarded with some glazed tiles that only foreign kings could get.

Of course, there were also Europeans who were willing to sacrifice their lives for money. These barbarians, armed with cold weapons, wanted to rob Ming merchants, but as soon as they took out their knives, they were sent flying before they took a few steps.

This bizarre method of killing terrified the Europeans. They understood it as a "witch's curse" or something else. In short, the long pole was the launcher of Eastern witchcraft and should be something like a magic wand.

The barbaric and arrogant coastal European nobles and some pirates from the North Sea also wanted to get a piece of the pie when the Ming ocean-going fleet set sail from Spain to France.

But after a naval battle, oh no, it can’t be called a naval battle, it can only be called "target shooting", after a large-scale target shooting, the "legendary pirates" who roamed the North Sea all sank to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish, and the only loss of the Ming army was that a warship accidentally hit a reef because it chased too fiercely. Although there were watertight compartments, the speed inevitably decreased, and it needed to be towed to a dry dock for temporary repairs.

The first trip to Europe allowed the barbaric Europeans to witness the power and prosperity of the Ming Empire in the far east. From then on, the aristocrats in Europe's upper class were proud to learn Eastern etiquette and culture and use Eastern objects.

When the ocean-going fleet led by Ma Sanbao returned, it carried out a simple replenishment in southern and eastern Africa, and then did some business with the Mamluk Dynasty, allowing some oriental-style cold weapons and armor to grow in the desert.

In South India, the Ming fleet was widely welcomed by the locals, but the Kingdom of Ceylon was short-sighted and wanted to rob Ming ships, so the Kingdom of Ceylon was destroyed and their king was brought back by Ma Sanbao to study abroad.

The Ming Dynasty became the new overlord of Southeast Asia. The former overlord, the Majapahit Empire, could be said to have "risen rapidly and fallen suddenly". After the civil strife, Emperor Wikaramavahana and Queen Veerahummi were killed in the civil war. Their daughter Suhida inherited the throne and became the fifth emperor of the empire. However, at this time, the area actually controlled by the Majapahit Empire had shrunk greatly, leaving only the area near Java Island, which could not pose any threat to the Ming Dynasty's maritime power.

As for the remaining pirate group of Chen Zuyi, I heard that they fled to a large island further south. It is a very large island, and it would be more appropriate to call it land, but it is full of deserts and all kinds of strange creatures. Only along the coast are there a few places where humans can live. It has no occupation value at all. Even pirates would not go in that direction if they were not desperate. In the past, the Majapahit Empire regarded it as a place of exile for serious criminals, and exiled them there to fend for themselves.

But what is strange is that after the Ming fleet rested in the old port, it sent a squadron to the big island in the name of "hunting down pirates", and there were also a large number of craftsmen in this fleet.

A lot of things happened during these twelve years. Although there were various problems and hidden dangers, in general, the era of Zhu Biao's rule was an absolute heyday, a golden age. Zhu Biao was a very good monarch who maintained the status quo. He abolished many of the harsh laws and decrees of the Hongwu era, worked hard to develop agriculture, industry and commerce, and the economy grew rapidly. The living standards of the people improved greatly with the increase of trade and income. In addition, Zhu Biao's efforts in organizing book writing, collecting books, opening up imperial examinations, and humbly accepting advice are bound to be countless in praise of this era in later history books.

The Ming Dynasty was unprecedentedly powerful, and everything seemed to be moving in a good direction.

Of course, this is just an appearance.

As time went by and the handover between the old and new in the Ming army was completed, the second generation of the group of noble military officials who were the foundation of the country began to have a lot of complaints and grumbles.

Duke of Liang Lan Yu became the helmsman of the Five Military Commandery, while Li Jinglong who inherited the title of Duke of Cao, Xu Huizu who inherited the title of Duke of Wei, Mei Yin who was promoted to Duke of Fuguo, and Duke of Zheng Chang Mao were all extremely dissatisfied with the fact that there had been no war for more than a decade.

Without war, even though the Ming army had extremely advanced firearms, its fighting will, organizational ability, and war experience would inevitably begin to decline.

The prevailing business culture in society has led to a shortage of soldiers in the garrisons and officers eating empty salaries. The training intensity of the garrison soldiers, especially the local garrison garrisons, has been declining year by year. In some places, it has reached a shocking level. The local garrisons are also reasonable. What is the point of training when the world is peaceful? Since it is useless, there is no investigation. Why bother? It is normal that some of these weapons are "damaged" and some of the military rations are "damp". As for doing some small business, it is even more normal. Many garrisons in the southeast are secretly engaged in smuggling trade.

Even the border garrisons experienced similar situations, but they were not as serious as those in inland areas.

After all, there are still some minor frictions between the border troops and the enemies on the border, and those foreign races do not have much trade demand and corresponding wealth to trade.

However, due to the advanced weapons and equipment, as well as the unparalleled victories, the Ming army generally developed an arrogant mentality of "I am the best in the world". They believed that as long as they went out with muskets, not to mention "one Han against five Barbarians", even "fighting fifty Barbarians" or "fighting five hundred Barbarians" would be a piece of cake. At present, it seems that this may be true, but this mentality still greatly affected the combat effectiveness of the Ming army.

Compared with the war against Japan more than ten years ago, the Ming army, which had completed the transition from old to new, generally lacked practical experience from officers to soldiers, and had serious problems such as slickness, laziness and speculation. It was difficult for the new recruits to fight tenaciously like the veterans who participated in the Battle of Buir Lake, climbing on ice and lying in the snow.

Fortunately, the situation has not rotted to the core, as there are still veteran generals who participated in the expeditions to Liaodong and Mobei. However, these people were generally in their twenties or thirties at the time, and now they are in their forties or fifties in the blink of an eye.

As for the officers and soldiers who participated in the conquests of Annan, Goryeo, and Japan, their number was much larger, and they were also more familiar with the combat formations and concepts of the firearms era.

The unanimous view of the military, or the dukes, is that as long as the current Ming army goes to war against foreign enemies, it can still be saved, and through a few major battles, it can recover to the state of its former ferocious army.

Generals can also gain military merit, and middle and lower-level military officers can get opportunities for promotion, rather than just waiting based on seniority.

However, if they continue to indulge in both civil and military activities in this way, in ten years, the Ming army's combat effectiveness will seriously decline. In another twenty years, when this group of people grow old, it will be too late to save them.

Unless there is a large-scale civil war, the army can be retrained.

And there seemed to be a slight sign of civil war.

The kings of the frontier had been commanding troops at the border for more than 30 years, and boasted of being the "princes" of the Han and Jin dynasties. Many of them were arrogant and domineering, but Zhu Biao was always kind and lenient towards his brothers and nephews and could not bear to punish them severely. Even if they did something out of line, he would only fine them their salaries, send envoys to reprimand them on the spot, or at most send them to Fengyang, Zhongjing, to reflect on their mistakes for a period of time.

Therefore, the vassal kings, especially the eight great frontier kings, were even more fearless.

On many things, Zhu Xiongying, as the crown prince, and Zhu Biao, as the emperor, had different views, which was inevitable.

Both sides have always tacitly avoided conflicts, but as time goes by, various contradictions are indeed increasing.

The prince has military power, enjoys prestige in the army, and also has some administrative power.

If Zhu Biao had not been kind and gentle, and if Zhu Yuanzhang had not asked him to abide by the oath before his death, if another emperor had come, the story of Li Chengqian might have happened. This is also a curse between father and son, monarch and minister. Of course, the still-living Empress Dowager Ma also played an important role in this.

But no matter what, Zhu Yuanzhang's worries at that time seemed to be gradually coming true.

The increasingly powerful civil service group did not like the prince who was collectively recognized by the nobles and military officials. Civil servants from different factions had a tacit understanding on this point.

Because the policies advocated by Zhu Xiongying, including increasing taxes on gentry, strictly enforcing the imperial examination system, and reducing the number of Jinshi admitted, all seriously violated the interests of the civil service group.

However, these policies are beneficial to the long-term development of the Ming Dynasty.

But it didn't work.

For the civil service group, this made them more angry than killing their parents.

Therefore, in an environment where Zhu Biao was humble and willing to accept advice, the censors began to launch "ants collapsing a dam"-like attacks.

He wrote endless memorials to the emperor regarding the omissions, mistakes and personnel issues that occurred in the Eastern Palace during its handling of government affairs.

As we all know, if you don't do anything, you won't make any mistakes. The more you do, the more mistakes you will make.

However, the Eastern Palace in the early Ming Dynasty had the responsibility of assisting the emperor in handling government affairs, and it also had a complete system of civil servants.

The Ming Dynasty was such a vast empire with countless things happening every moment. There were at least three or four hundred official documents sent to Zhu Xiongying every day. Even the most wise man, how could he not make mistakes?

What's more, even if the decision is correct, for many reasons, all kinds of problems can still arise during the actual implementation.

So, doing the wrong thing and using the wrong person are all within the normal range of redundancy.

However, the civil servants have been criticizing this for many years, and the target of their criticism is not the Crown Prince Zhu Xiongying himself, but the assistant officials of the Eastern Palace around him.

For this reason, Jian Yi, Lian Zining, Tie Xuan, Xie Jin, Xia Yuanji, and Hu Yan began to take the blame for Zhu Xiongying one by one, and were demoted and transferred for the crime of "inappropriately assisting the prince".

Zhu Biao's attitude towards Zhu Xiongying was also undergoing subtle changes.

At the same time, Queen Lu, who came from a civil servant family, also began to operate intentionally or unintentionally.

Zhu Yunwen's reputation as a "virtuous, benevolent and filial" person was widely known in the court and the country.

There was nothing wrong with Lu. As the empress, it was impossible to depose her. Moreover, Zhu Biao and Lu had always had a good relationship.

So, things remain at a stalemate.

Until the autumn of the twelfth year of Xingwen.

Zhu Biao was already 55 years old this year. He had been dealing with government affairs for many years, so his health was neither good nor bad. At least he had always been in a sub-healthy state.

Fishing was his way of relieving his worries, and it was also a hobby that he would not change no matter how much his ministers advised him. As Zhu Biao said, "After I finish my government affairs, I go fishing. I do not appoint officials based on who is good at fishing. So what does it matter even if I like it?" It really didn't affect anything, so no one had the nerve to disturb him when he was fishing.

But one day when I was fishing in Xuanwu Lake, I caught a cold because I fished for too long.

From then on, Zhu Biao's health began to deteriorate. He got better for a while, but then soon became bedridden again, and no medicine worked.

By winter, Zhu Biao had fallen into a coma and was only conscious for a short while every day.

And Lu, who was always by his side, also heard the oath made twelve years ago when Zhu Biao was unconscious.

When hearing the words "Don't bring disaster to the Lu family again", Lu's face turned pale with fright.

She began to make secret arrangements, placing people in an attempt to stage a palace coup.

Lu knew very well that Zhu Biao was her greatest backer. If her own son could not become emperor, then when Zhu Xiongying ascended the throne, she would definitely be in trouble because of the troubles that the civil officials had caused to Zhu Xiongying over the years. It was very likely that Empress Dowager Ma, who was to be buried with Zhu Biao, did not have to be buried with him because of Zhu Yuanzhang's will, and Zhu Biao would not have buried his own mother. But Lu was not Zhu Xiongying's biological mother.

Moreover, only in the palace does she have a chance of winning.

Because outside the palace, from the Five Military Governors' Office to the Twelve Guards in the capital, and to the more than two million Ming troops, basically all of them supported Zhu Xiongying.

It is precisely because of the support of the army that Zhu Xiongying has been able to endure and persevere over the years, because as long as he has military power, there is nothing to fear.

Zhu Xiongying would never commit patricide. He wanted to inherit the throne in a reasonable and legal way, so he never did anything out of line.

However, a considerable number of the guards in the palace are Zhu Xiongying’s confidants.

Therefore, to be precise, the opportunity existed only when they were in the emperor's bedroom, using a method similar to the killing of Han Xin by Empress Lü in Changle Palace, by selecting some strong women and putting sacks over their heads.

Or, just use muskets to ambush.

But no matter what, this was based on the fact that after the emperor passed away, Lu had first-hand information and was able to make arrangements in the bedroom, notify Zhu Xiongying to come, and lure the emperor into a trap.

None of these can be missing.

Lu didn't know if it was feasible, but this was obviously her only chance.

As for the rest, to be honest, Lu had not considered it. If Zhu Xiongying really died suddenly in the palace for no apparent reason, would Zhu Yunwen, who was brought back under the name of "visiting", be able to succeed to the throne? No matter how loudly the civil officials called for the eldest son to be made the heir, what if the nobles welcomed Zhu Yunhuan to be made the heir?

But in short, just do it!
If they don't do it, it would be like waiting for death for the Lu family.

Soon, Zhu Biao's time awake became less and less every day. Later on, he would only wake up for a short while every two or three days.

Zhu Biao also knew that he was on his deathbed.

Zhu Biao did not have many regrets in his life. He should have been an ordinary farmer's son, but his father, an old farmer, completed the most incredible identity transformation in Chinese history, making him the first prince of the Ming Empire.

Zhu Biao was the crown prince loved by his father and mother, the elder brother respected by his younger brothers, and the benevolent monarch in the eyes of his ministers. He had no extravagant hobbies, liked reading, was diligent, tolerant, frugal, and kind to everyone. The twelve years of his rule were destined to leave a mark in history books, and future generations would compare him with Emperor Wen of Han.

——He was a good monarch who maintained the status quo. He did not destroy the Ming Dynasty left by Zhu Yuanzhang.

A life span of fifty-five was actually considered long among the aristocracy of that era. Although he did not live to be seventy or eighty, it could not be said that Zhu Biao was short-lived.

When Zhu Biao was dying, he didn't have many things to worry about. First, he was afraid that Empress Dowager Ma would be too sad. Empress Dowager Ma was already 78 years old this year. Next year, she would be 80 years old. It would be a sad thing for an old person to bury a young one. Second, he was worried about Lu and her sons. After all, she was his wife who had been with him for decades, and these sons were all his own sons. Zhu Biao was afraid that Zhu Xiongying would treat them badly after his death.

As the crown prince at this time, Zhu Xiongying had actually assumed the responsibilities of the emperor and was responsible for maintaining the operation of the entire empire, so he could not stay in the Qianqing Palace all the time.

So Zhu Biao dictated the contents of his will in bits and pieces. According to the conventions left in Chinese history, this does not count.

Many times, whether the imperial edict is a will or a forged imperial edict depends only on whether the person holding it is a successful king or a defeated bandit.

On the afternoon of November 2nd, Zhu Biao passed away.

With a gambling-like mentality of hoping for the best, Lu set up an ambush and sent someone to ask Zhu Xiongying to come to the Qianqing Palace as soon as possible.

But soon, she felt fear.

Zhu Xiongying did not rush to the Qianqing Palace, but went to the West Palace to invite Empress Dowager Ma.

Afterwards, the Five Military Commandery, which received Zhu Xiongying's order, began to ignore the court regulations. Under Lan Yu's order, it mobilized the troops of the twelve guards around the capital, and the Five Cities Army began to impose martial law in the entire city.

The army was used to control the capital city inside and outside. Zhu Xiongying and other meritorious military officials, accompanied by a group of soldiers, escorted Empress Dowager Ma to the Qianqing Palace.

Mrs. Lu realized that she had failed completely.

As long as Empress Dowager Ma was there, Zhu Xiongying could inherit the throne regardless of whether he came to the Qianqing Palace or not.

And after taking control of the entire situation, he came in a grand manner, which was a reflection of Zhu Xiongying's strategic planning.

Fortunately, Zhu Xiongying did not make things difficult for her.

Because Zhu Xiongying did not want to be charged with "matricide", although Lu was not his biological mother, in name, the queen was his mother, and he could not escape this charge.

Zhu Xiongying ascended the throne in front of the late emperor's coffin.

The reason for this is that the order of succession to the throne is not that the previous emperor dies and then the prince ascends the throne, but that the prince first observes mourning and then ascends the throne.

According to Confucian etiquette, the period of mourning for the crown prince is three years, or twenty-seven months. However, it is impossible to have no emperor for three years, so the practice of "replacing months with days" was invented. The crown prince has to mourn for the late emperor for twenty-seven days. Otherwise, it is against etiquette to fail to fulfill his filial duty. Even if he is the eldest son, he will lack the legitimacy of succession.

But as the saying goes, "A country cannot be without a ruler for a day," and it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to be without an emperor for twenty-seven days.

Therefore, during these twenty-seven years, Zhu Xiongying was strictly defined as the "acting emperor".

Ascending the throne before the coffin is the procedure of acting as the emperor. According to the edict issued in the name of the previous emperor, ascending the throne before the coffin of the late emperor is considered to have completed the transfer of imperial power.

From this moment on, everyone present, except the empress dowager who was holding the imperial edict, had to perform the great ceremony of monarch and subject to the new emperor.

After completing the coronation ceremony, he became the official emperor from an "acting emperor".

The next step is to change the reign title after the new year. If the previous emperor passed away in spring, it would take another year for the new emperor to change the previous emperor's reign title.

Winter passed quickly and it was a new year again.

After the mourning period ended, the white silk covering the entire capital city was gradually removed, and the joy of the New Year dispelled people's sadness for missing the benevolent emperor Zhu Biao.

A new era has arrived.

(End of this chapter)