I open a history tutorial class in Daming

Chapter 112 Zhu Di, are you even more confused than me? !

Even a ruthless man like Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but remain silent after hearing Song Shen's words.

He is cruel, but in the way Schrödinger is cruel.

Zhu Yuanzhang could be ruthless to his old brothers who had fought and shed blood and sweat together. But if he was not ruthless, the country he left to his son would be a mess with many founding heroes.

Precisely because he could devote himself wholeheartedly to Zhu Biao, he could bear the infamy of being cruel and ruthless. He would rather be criticized by future generations for being a ruthless person than not clear away obstacles in advance - even if the matter of settling accounts with his old brothers had not yet begun.

To put it simply, in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, his own family members are always more important than his old brothers.

This is understandable. Everyone has selfish desires. The most important thing is that Zhu Yuanzhang doesn't care who scolds him. In his heart, as long as Biaoer can have a good end in the future and become a good emperor, then everything will be fine.

But judging from Song Shen's description just now...

It seems that Zhu Yunwen did not inherit my character of "caring about family members" at all?

Even if Zhu Yuanzhang frankly admitted that he only treated Empress Ma as his wife and Zhu Biao as his son, and the other sons were all princes, he was biased, but Zhu Yunwen did not seem to be like that at all.

This guy wants it all. He wants to leave a good reputation, but he also wants to use thundering means to decisively eliminate all threats.

is it possible?
All the students here, no matter what their achievements are or what their intelligence is, they will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals, and they don’t care too much about what other people think of them in the future.

The tyranny of Qin by Qin Shi Huang, the witchcraft disaster in Liu Che's later years, the Xuanwu Gate Incident by Li Shimin, the second palace coup by Li Longji, Zhu Yuanzhang's own impending killing of meritorious officials, and Zhu Qizhen's coup d'état - forget it, it's better not to mention this guy.

In short, the previous emperors, including Zhu Yuanzhang himself, would not insist on erecting a memorial archway just because they became a nephew.

What on earth was Zhu Yunwen thinking...

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to ask himself, who was in his seventies, what he was thinking, why he could hand over the country to such a thing?
"Sir, I have something to ask you."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand and stood up, looking extremely unhappy:

"Did Zhu Di leave any descendants for Biao'er? Even though you said Ying'er died young, it's impossible that he only had Ying'er and Zhu Yunwen as his children. We won't allow that."

"Ying'er died young, Zhu Yunwen became a monk, what about the others?"

This is the point that matters to him most - whether Zhu Di ensures that Zhu Biao has no descendants means whether he has become a person like Li Shimin.

Song Shen touched his nose.

It's really hard for him to explain this matter.

After thinking about it for a while, Song Shenxian gave a positive answer:
"First of all, I can confirm that from historical records, the descendants of Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunhuan should have lived until the Hongzhi period."

"You don't need to worry too much about this reign title. Anyway, they lived for quite some time. Even if there is really no descendant after Hongzhi, the blame cannot be put on Zhu Di. You can rest assured."

After Zhu Yuanzhang breathed a sigh of relief, Song Shen looked at the God of War of Tumu Fort in the last row of the classroom.

"Come to think of it, this matter is somewhat related to Zhu Qizhen."

Zhu Qizhen seemed to be very aware of this. He scratched his eyebrows somewhat unnaturally, but did not say anything.

Song Shen ignored the reactions of the people from the Zhu family and continued:

"Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunhuan were both sons of Zhu Biao. Their descendants were demoted to commoners after Zhu Di ascended the throne. Everyone can understand this, right?"

"Since Zhu Yunwen's reign title was Jianwen and Zhu Yunhuan's title was King of Wu, their descendants were called Jian Shu and Wu Shu respectively."

"Zhu Yunwen was still young when he ascended the throne. He had only two sons. The crown prince died in the fire during the Jingnan Rebellion, and his second son, Zhu Wengui, who was only two years old, was placed under house arrest by Zhu Di and was never released. However, Zhu Di should have given him a wife and children."

"Jian Shuren was under house arrest for more than fifty years. It was Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen who released her. The reason seems to be that Zhu Qizhen's brother Zhu Qiyu kept Jian Shuren under house arrest for several years after he came to power. After the coup, Zhu Qiyu felt Jian Shuren's pain and could not bear to see Jian Shuren stay in such an environment for more than fifty years, so he released Jian Shuren."

"However, because the identity of Jian Shu Ren was not easy to show in public, or perhaps because they did not stir up any waves at all, there are very few historical records. I can be sure that the descendants of Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunhuan were still alive at least during the Yongle period. As for Zhu Di not giving them a proper education and keeping them imprisoned in the palace since childhood, which led to them not being able to tell the difference between cattle and horses after being released...this should not be a problem, right?"

"He usurped the throne from Zhu Yunwen. If he had taught Zhu Biao's descendants well, they would have had a legitimate reason to take back the throne from Zhu Di in the future."

Zhu Yuanzhang slowly, slowly, breathed a sigh of relief.

This is what it means to see the big picture from the small details.

From the way Zhu Di treated Zhu Biao's descendants, it can be seen that the fourth brother inherited his own methods, but was slightly gentler than Li Shimin.

As a father, he still has complicated feelings now.

No matter how much Zhu Di could achieve in the future, Zhu Yuanzhang always believed that Zhu Biao was a better and more capable successor.

If Zhu Biao inherited the throne, he only needed to be a kind and benevolent emperor and a normal person to secure his throne. Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang had already asked Zhu Biao to help with government affairs, so he did not have to worry about this kid making mistakes. In addition, Zhu Biao naturally suppressed his bloodline to all his brothers, and he was like half a father. No matter what Zhu Di did, he could not rebel against him.

In terms of ability, team, legitimacy of succession, family affection, and any other level, Zhu Biao absolutely surpasses everyone else.

Zhu Yuanzhang also probably guessed why he would rather let a so-called crown prince ascend the throne than give Zhu Di a chance.

I'm afraid that Zhu Yunwen has been hiding something and using his gentlemanly demeanor to deceive himself. Zhu Yuanzhang is very clear about Zhu Di's character and ambition. If Zhu Biao is gone and his sons take the throne, all the other sons will probably not escape.

But Zhu Yuanzhang didn't expect...

The Zhu family bloodline is so powerful. Not only Zhu Di, but even Zhu Yunwen is this kind of person.

"Brother, I don't want to..."

Downstairs, in the tiered classroom, Zhu Di and Zhu Biao were sitting at the same table. At this time, Zhu Di didn't care about his father's expression. He cared more about his elder brother's opinion of him.

Zhu Biao rubbed his forehead and smiled bitterly:
"Haven't I told you all this? It's the tenth year of Hongwu in my life. I only have Ying'er as my child now. Zhu Yunwen was killed in my father's womb and there's no way he'll be born. Since he's gone, there's no trace of Zhu Yunhuan that you're talking about. So, they're all my future children."

"For me now, as long as you don't do anything to Ying'er, it's fine."

"But Fourth Brother, you..."

"Looking at it this way, you look more like my father than I do."

Zhu Di didn't know what to say for a moment.

Like my father? Being as cruel and brutal as my father, killing all the meritorious officials and driving his other sons out of the capital, is that a good thing?
He couldn't tell whether it was a compliment or a scolding, he just rubbed his face silently, rubbing his face that was already weathered and aged faster than his father.

On the podium.

Seeing that the Zhu family members were all silent, even Zhu Yuanzhang, who was always sharp-tongued and fond of talking nonsense, Song Shen felt that this was not a big deal.

He decided to talk about something else.

"Oh, yes, speaking of Zhu Di, he had great military achievements both before and after he became emperor, and even personally led many expeditions to the grasslands to fight against the barbarians."

"Later, Zhu Qizhen insisted on leading an army of 300,000 to personally lead the army, hoping to emulate his great grandfather and prove himself."

"We have discussed Bao Zong's fault before, so I won't go into details now. But I personally think that if Zhu Di didn't have a good crown prince, he wouldn't be running around like this all day long."

"Student Zhu Di, you are just like student Zhu Yuanzhang, you both have a good son and a good prince!"

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao's ears pricked up at the same time, and they immediately forgot their previous sighs.

Son, prince?
They had just returned from the Imperial Hospital, and the young Prince of Yan Zhu Di had just learned the news that he was about to become a father. Regardless of whether this child was important or not, it at least eased a lot of the tense atmosphere.

But neither the father nor the son expected that Song Shen would mention Zhu Di's son in class so soon.

Could it be that the prince of Zhu Di he was talking about is the one that the Princess of Yan is currently carrying in her belly?

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao both looked at their fourth son, Zhu Di, trying to read something from his face.

But what shocked them was that Zhu Di was also at a loss.

"Sir, I haven't appointed a crown prince yet."

Song Shen was stunned and quickly buried his head in reading historical materials secretly.

Then he realized, wow, the Zhu Di in front of him from the second year of Yongle really did not lie.

Although Zhu Gaochi, as the eldest son, was appointed as the Prince of Yan at an early stage, it was not easy for him to become the crown prince, which was completely different from Zhu Biao.

"In the second year of Yongle...is there a dispute over the succession to the throne in your court?"

After hearing Song Shen's words, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao both fixed their eyes on Zhu Di's face.

Especially Zhu Yuanzhang!

As for Song Shen's evaluation of Crown Prince Zhu Di just now, this crown prince is definitely a good crown prince no matter what. Song Shen even compares him to Zhu Biao to some extent, which is enough to illustrate the ability of his crown prince.

Even with such a good son, Zhu Di was still hesitant. He had not appointed a crown prince even after two years on the throne?
What are you eating!
"You better not make mistakes on this kind of thing."

Zhu Biao lowered his voice and said to Zhu Di beside him:
"You know, Daddy hates it most when someone in his family tries to seize the throne. This is true for our generation and the next generation as well."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di's face turned a little paler.

He felt that his face might be more like a canvas now, and Song Shen could make it look better with just a nice word, or at worst, paint his face white.

At this point, Zhu Di could only hope that Mr. Song Shensong would say good things about him.

"Yes... there was a little dispute."

When Zhu Di was called, he could only stand up despite his father's glare:

"Although it is natural to establish the eldest son as the heir, the second and third princes also made many contributions in the Jingnan Campaign. They have many people supporting them. I am indeed a little hesitant."

"The eldest is pretty good, but he has always been quiet and not active. He is fat and often sick. As for the second and third children, especially the second one, he is more like me than the eldest. He also has prestige in the battlefield... So it's a bit difficult to make a decision at this time."

Song Shen nodded in understanding.

He thought for a while and said:

"Did you also say something like, 'Work hard, the prince is often sick' to your second son?"

Zhu Di was sweating profusely, but he had said these words himself and he had no way to refute it, so he could only nod his head.

Song Shen smiled.

"First of all, before your father passed away, your sons all went to study in Yingtian Prefecture, and Zhu Yuanzhang also saw them at that time."

"He likes Zhu Gaochi very much, but he doesn't like your second and third sons very much - maybe it's because Zhu Gaochi looks like Zhu Biao, and Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui really look more like you? I can't say for sure, but historical records have recorded it, and you should know very well that Zhu Gaoxu and his friends behaved recklessly when they were studying in Yingtian Prefecture. Even their uncle Xu Yungong, who later became Xu Huizu, personally warned them against it, but it was useless."

"Then, when Emperor Hongwu passed away, Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu returned to Beijing to attend the funeral. On the way back, Zhu Gaoxu killed innocent people and even killed a postmaster. All the officials in the court condemned you. Have you forgotten this?"

Song Shen continued to count with his fingers:

"You were fighting in the Jingnan Campaign, and the Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi was guarding Beiping and worrying about your food and fodder logistics. The army from Yingtian wanted to cut off the enemy's support and reached the gate of Beiping. You were fighting outside, and only Zhu Gaochi and Empress Xu were left in the city, oh, and a bunch of old, weak, and sick soldiers."

"Under these conditions, Zhu Gaochi worked closely with his mother and the soldiers to block Li Jinglong's 500,000-man army from attacking the city with an army of 10,000. Even though Li Jinglong was originally a useless person, no matter how useless he was, the 500,000 men under his command couldn't be fake, right?"

"Zhu Di, you like Zhu Gaoxu because he has been your vanguard many times and saved you from danger many times, but have you ever thought about how much effort and ability it takes to sit in the rear and let you have no worries when fighting in the front line? To be honest, this is no easier than charging into battle."

Zhu Di stammered a few times, but before he could express his thoughts, his father slapped him on the back of the head.

He covered the back of his head in pain, and the muscle reaction from years of fighting made him subconsciously want to fight back, but after seeing who was hitting him, he shrank his neck and dared not resist.

Zhu Yuanzhang almost grabbed his ears and yelled:

"You don't like the grandson I like, but you favor the one I hate. Why, you just like the son who is as rebellious as you, right?"

"Fourth brother, listen to me clearly. We made your eldest brother the heir apparent. No matter whether you came to the throne legitimately or not, since you are already the emperor, you should act like an emperor. Why don't you make the best heir a heir? Why do you compare him with two bastards?"

"You don't look older than me now, how could you become senile and confused so early?"

(End of this chapter)