Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 686 Argument
"A poem full of red on the river, a heroic dream for half a lifetime, a poem that will be passed down through the ages, praised by the world. What's more, it was written by Your Majesty yourself, so I naturally have to take a look." Zhu Shenzhui walked forward and picked up the poem that Emperor Chongzhen had just written and read it carefully, nodding slightly as he read it.

It has to be said that Emperor Chongzhen's calligraphy is still very good, at least better than Zhu Shenzhu's. After all, although Emperor Chongzhen was not the crown prince, he was also the grandson of the emperor. He was born in the palace, grew up in the imperial city, and had special teachers to teach him. After Emperor Tianqi ascended the throne, he soon named him Prince Xin. Although the two were not brothers from the same mother, Emperor Tianqi took good care of his half-brother. He built the Prince Xin Mansion in Beijing for Emperor Chongzhen to live in and took more care of him on weekdays.

When Wei Zhongxian was at the peak of his power, he was polite to Zhu Youjian. Zhu Youjian was also very tactful in the palace. He seldom went out on weekdays and stayed in the palace all year round reading and writing, or enjoying the romantic life with his wives and concubines.

It can be said that that period was the happiest and most relaxed time for Zhu Youjian. If everything remained unchanged, perhaps in a few years Zhu Youjian would leave Beijing and become a local prince like those princes, and live an ordinary life.

But all this began to change when Emperor Tianqi was seriously ill. As Emperor Tianqi's illness lasted for a long time, several of his sons died young. Once Emperor Tianqi passed away, the Ming Dynasty would be without an emperor. After the death of the emperor, the throne could only be passed on to the younger brother. As the only younger brother of Emperor Tianqi, Zhu Youjian became the absolute candidate for the next emperor of the Ming Dynasty. When Emperor Tianqi was dying, he specially summoned Zhu Youjian into the palace to entrust him with the important task to ensure that he would be the legitimate successor to the next emperor.

After the death of Emperor Tianqi, Zhu Youjian ascended the throne and became the current Emperor Chongzhen. Although he had never been a crown prince, and unlike Emperor Tianqi, he did not receive an orthodox imperial education, but Emperor Chongzhen's cultural level was not low, especially his handwriting was really good.

Emperor Chongzhen's calligraphy is just like his personality. His calligraphy carries a sense of dominance and his brushstrokes are quite powerful. The brushwork is vigorous and impressive, but it lacks agility and richness, which is a pity.

This is very similar to the character and temperament of Emperor Chongzhen, who was arrogant, resolute, stubborn, and lacked flexibility, and had nothing to do with being elegant and unrestrained.

In this calligraphy, Emperor Chongzhen used cursive script. Zhu Shenzhui could see at a glance the grief, depression, frustration, and anxiety hidden in the words...

"Your Majesty, this calligraphy is really good. Can you give it to me?"

"If the Regent wants it, how can I refuse? Let alone a mere piece of calligraphy, with the Regent's ability, what in this world can't be owned by the Regent?" Emperor Chongzhen replied indifferently.

There was something ambiguous in Emperor Chongzhen's words, which was clearly a satire on Zhu Shenzhui, but Zhu Shenzhui seemed not to hear it at all. He bowed to Emperor Chongzhen with a smile, then personally rolled up the calligraphy and accepted it.

Zhu Shenzui's action made Emperor Chongzhen feel very uncomfortable. He originally wanted to provoke the other party, but the other party's attitude made him feel that the heavy punch he had accumulated hit cotton directly and had no effect at all.

Seeing that Zhu Shenzhu accepted the red painting he had just written, Emperor Chongzhen was furious. He looked at him coldly and asked, "What does the Regent think of Yue Wumu?"

"Taizu once called Yue Wumu 'pure and unyielding'. These four words have already described Yue Wumu's life. The previous emperors of our dynasty praised Yue Wumu a lot. The title of King Wumu of E State, the Junior Guardian of the Song Dynasty, was also bestowed by Taizu. During the reign of Emperor Yingzong, a special decree was issued to rebuild the ancestral temple and tomb, and to change the Baozhong Yanfu Zen Temple into the Yuewang Temple, and bestow the title of 'loyal and heroic' on him."

Emperor Chongzhen sat upright and looked up at Zhu Shenzhui. "Yes, such a loyal minister is rare in the world. He will be remembered for thousands of years and praised by the people. Unfortunately, God did not help him. Yue Wumu was ultimately unable to defeat Huanglong and recover his homeland, and died with regret."

"My Great Ming has hundreds of millions of people and is a great country, but we cannot produce a Yue Fei. There are many high-ranking officials in the court, but there is not a single loyal minister or good general. What do you think about this, the regent?" Emperor Chongzhen asked again.

Zhu Shenzhu shook his head slightly. It was obvious that Emperor Chongzhen was using the incident of Yue Fei to mock him, not just himself, but the entire Ming Dynasty. However, Emperor Chongzhen's thoughts were not surprising. He had a character problem, was not very capable but had a high vision, and was too rigid and easily broken, without considering the consequences.

Since ascending the throne, Emperor Chongzhen has made many mistakes. The entire Ming Dynasty was in ruins under his hands, the situation became increasingly difficult, and he himself was exhausted. As a monarch, he did not reflect on his own gains and losses, but pushed all the responsibilities onto his ministers and even the people of the world. How can such a monarch govern the country well?
Originally, Zhu Shenzui had no intention of talking about this with Emperor Chongzhen, but now that he had mentioned this matter, Zhu Shenzui had to chat with him for a few words.

Zhu Shenzhu immediately asked Na Hai to move a chair over, placed it next to Emperor Chongzhen, and sat down steadily.

Seeing Zhu Shencui's actions, a flash of anger appeared on Emperor Chongzhen's face, but he quickly concealed it. The house arrest these days also made the emperor realize the fact that he was no longer a powerful emperor, but a prisoner of Zhu Shencui.

"Your Majesty, are you dissatisfied? In your Majesty's opinion, all the officials in the world are incompetent, and all the generals are cowards? Your Majesty's current predicament is not your fault, right?"

"Is it not?" Emperor Chongzhen asked back: "Since I ascended the throne, I have thought that I have worked hard and diligently. I only sleep two or three hours a day for state affairs and work day and night. Apart from Emperor Taizu, who else in the Ming Dynasty is as diligent as me?" "I have worked so hard for the Ming Dynasty, but the officials in the court are hypocritical, sitting in office without doing anything, and are not worthy of being used. The people of the world cannot understand my pain, so bandits are everywhere, the local area is in turmoil, and the foreign enemies in Liaodong are eyeing me covetously, invading the Ming Dynasty, violating my territory, and plundering my people..."

Before Emperor Chongzhen could finish his words, Zhu Shenzhui could not help but laugh and cry. He looked at Emperor Chongzhen with an expression of undisguised contempt and disappointment.

Zhu Shenzhui never expected that until now, Emperor Chongzhen still pushed all the responsibilities away, and still believed that everything was not his own problem, but the problem of all the officials in the court and the people of the world. In the eyes of Emperor Chongzhen, if the officials were not incompetent, if the people did not understand him, how could the Ming Dynasty have reached the predicament it is today?

Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui's rebellion, his easy entry into the capital, and his imprisonment were all related to these people. All of them betrayed him and the Ming Dynasty, leading to the current consequence.

"Your Majesty!" Zhu Shenzhui interrupted Emperor Chongzhen and asked directly, "What does Your Majesty think of the late emperor?"

Emperor Chongzhen was stunned and did not understand what Zhu Shenzhu meant for a moment.

Zhu Shenzhui said: "After Your Majesty ascended the throne, he eliminated the eunuch party, stabilized the court, reformed the current politics, promoted the virtuous, and made use of the upright, working diligently day and night..."

Listening to what Zhu Shenzui said, Emperor Chongzhen straightened his back slightly. These were indeed what he had done after becoming emperor, and they were also what Emperor Chongzhen considered to be his achievements. But before Emperor Chongzhen could think that Zhu Shenzui, this traitor, actually had some vision and knew that he was a wise ruler, he heard the other party change the subject.

"But I want to ask Your Majesty, since Your Majesty has done so much, why has the Ming Dynasty become what it is today in just over ten years?"

"What exactly does being the regent mean?" Emperor Chongzhen came to his senses and asked back with glaring eyes.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled faintly and said, "Your Majesty has done these things, and you are also called a wise ruler, and a wise ruler of our Ming Dynasty. But I want to ask your Majesty, when the previous emperor was in power, he appointed eunuchs, the eunuch party was rampant, the clean stream was attacked, and the factory guards were brutal... If so, compared to your Majesty, the previous emperor should be an absolute tyrant. But why is Liaodong as stable as Mount Tai when the tyrant is in power, and the people can live and work in peace? The court's orders are unimpeded, and the national finances are running well?"

"I am ignorant and have not read much, so I don't know why it is so. Could it be that the world is better with this tyrant and treacherous minister in power? And when a wise ruler is in power, the world is getting worse? Your Majesty, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, can you explain this to me?"

"This... I... I..." Emperor Chongzhen was stunned and didn't know how to answer. His mind was in a mess for a while. Yes! Why had he never thought about this question?

Emperor Chongzhen has always been known as the ruler who revived the Ming Dynasty. He was an extremely diligent emperor and worked extremely hard since he ascended the throne. It is no exaggeration to say that he worked hard for the Ming Dynasty.

Compared with his brother who was a carpenter, Emperor Chongzhen always felt that he was stronger than Emperor Tianqi, but the fact was not so. Looking at the situation of the entire Ming Dynasty, when Tianqi was in power, whether it was the court or the local areas, or foreign wars or finances, or the stability of the people of the world, etc., he was much stronger than the Chongzhen Dynasty.

At least in the Tianqi period, the common people could still have enough to eat, and there were no major disturbances except small-scale rebellions. Even on the battlefield in Liaodong, the Ming army had the upper hand and had been suppressing Nurhaci, making him miserable. There were also very few wranglings over the court's decrees. You must know that Wei Zhongxian was in power at the time, and most of the court members were followers of the eunuch party. The Donglin Party, which was against the eunuch party, had been killed, imprisoned, or demoted by Wei Zhongxian, and could not make any progress at all. As for other parties, they did not dare to oppose the eunuch party in order to protect themselves. Everyone from top to bottom was the same person, so how could the decrees not be passed?

As for financial issues, Wei Zhongxian was a master at making money, and he never started with the common people. Instead, he targeted the gentry and aristocratic families in the south of the Yangtze River for money. In this way, although these groups suffered heavy losses and were resentful of Wei Zhongxian, the lives of the common people became much better. This was also the reason why the first ancestral temple for Wei Zhongxian was established in Jiangnan.

Putting these aside for now, even his brother the emperor was far from being as diligent as Emperor Chongzhen. He usually left all the important matters to Wei Zhongxian. Apart from court meetings, Emperor Tianqi seldom summoned his ministers to discuss matters. Every day he was either busy doing carpentry work or traveling in the harem, and was very happy.

In contrast, Emperor Chongzhen was as tired as a dead dog every day and could only barely squeeze out time for sleep. In just a few years, he had white hair in his early twenties because he was too diligent in government. The situations faced by the two were completely opposite, which was really incomprehensible to Emperor Chongzhen.

(End of this chapter)