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

Chapter 872 With sinister intentions
From all this, it can be seen that the advantage was on the side of the Qing Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was like an old man on his deathbed, already terminally ill and hopeless. There were countless bandits rebelling inside, and a powerful enemy like the Qing Dynasty outside. The Ming Dynasty was in chaos and was about to collapse. However, this situation changed completely after Zhu Shenzhui appeared.

Before Zhu Shenzhui appeared, the Ming Dynasty was on a downward slope while the Qing Dynasty was on an upward slope. However, things changed after Zhu Shenzhui took charge of the Ming Dynasty. In just a few years, the Ming Dynasty underwent tremendous changes. After stabilizing the political situation, Zhu Shenzhui took a tough stance externally, using defense instead of offense to protect the Liaodong territory and deal with the Qing Dynasty. At the same time, he concentrated his efforts internally to quell rebellions in various places, encircle and suppress bandits, and appease the local areas.

Over the years, Zhu Shenzhui not only stabilized the situation in the Ming Dynasty, but also gradually put down the years of bandit rebellion. As for the war with the Qing Dynasty, although the Ming Dynasty was still at a disadvantage, it also curbed the offensive momentum of the Qing Dynasty, contracted the defense line, and put on a turtle shell posture, which made Huang Taiji very uncomfortable.

That's not all. The Ming Dynasty also won over the Tenger tribe of Tumed. After taking control of the entire Tumed, the Tenger tribe colluded with the Ming Dynasty. With the assistance of the Tenger tribe, the Ming Dynasty had more room to maneuver on the northern battlefield. This also meant that when Huang Taiji was unable to defeat the Tumed, he had to rely on other Mongolian tribes to fight against the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, the Tenger tribe also brought Huang Taiji a lot of trouble, and made it impossible for Huang Taiji's Eight Banners Army to send troops from Mongolia to attack the Ming Dynasty as unscrupulously as before, and lost the possibility of directly attacking the Ming Dynasty.

The birth of Zhu Shenzhui became the dividing line between the power of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. Before Zhu Shenzhui was born, everything Huang Taiji did went smoothly, but after Zhu Shenzhui took control of the Ming Dynasty, nothing Huang Taiji did went smoothly. Not only did he not gain any advantage in several wars, he also suffered considerable losses.

First, the Battle of the Great Wall ended in failure, and then the siege of Jinzhou was destroyed by the Ming Dynasty's crossing the sea to the north to attack the rear of Liaodong. That was not enough, the rebellion of the Zhenglan Banner broke out, causing fire in Huang Taiji's backyard. He had no choice but to give up Jinzhou, which was already within his reach, and lead his troops back, thus allowing Zu Dashou, who was stationed in Jinzhou, to escape the disaster.

The current changes in the Solon tribe are also the work of the Ming Dynasty. If Huang Taiji's judgment is correct, the reason why the Ming Dynasty supported the Solon tribe in this way must be Zhu Shenzhui's decision. It is not simple for Zhu Shenzhui to think of winning over the Solon tribe under such circumstances. Such vision and means are not comparable to those of Emperor Chongzhen. This Emperor Yongming is not an ordinary person. He is really not simple.

"What does Mr. Fan want to do?" Huang Taiji asked.

Fan Wencheng smiled and said, "Although Zhu Shenzhui has ascended the throne as the emperor, there are many people in the Ming Dynasty who do not obey him. The Ming Dynasty is different from the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty is united and has a wise ruler like the emperor, so it is as solid as a rock. However, the Ming Dynasty has been established for more than 200 years and has long lost its glory as it did when it was founded. Although Zhu Shenzhui is much better than Emperor Chongzhen, it would be fine if he was not the emperor. Now that he is the emperor, he is not as good as before."

"Why?" Fan Wencheng's words made Huang Taiji confused. How could Fan Wencheng say that it was better for Zhu Shenzhui not to be an emperor? People all wanted to move up, just like him, Huang Taiji. When he was a Beile, he thought about becoming a Khan. After becoming a Khan, he thought about becoming an emperor. Now he is the emperor, but Huang Taiji is still not satisfied. He wants to be the emperor of the world, enter the Pass to replace the Ming Dynasty, and become the real master of the world.

Fan Wencheng did not keep the secret and explained it to Huang Taiji in detail. He told Huang Taiji that in his opinion, Zhu Shenzhui's ascension to the throne was a wrong step, or that Zhu Shenzhui was too hasty to become emperor.

From the time Zhu Shenzhui suddenly appeared to the time he ascended the throne, it was only three years in total. Before that, Zhu Shenzhui was just a member of the Ming royal family, and his royal family was not from Zhu Di's line, but a branch of the Jin Wang line.

According to his background, Zhu Shenzhui would never be able to make a name for himself in his life. Even if the main line of the Jin Wang family was cut off, it would not be Zhu Shenzhui's turn to sit on the throne of Jin Wang, let alone control the Ming Dynasty. But Zhu Shenzhui did it, and he ascended to the throne in this way. The only person in the Ming Dynasty who could be compared to him was Zhu Di.

By chance, he entered Beijing and took control of the government. Zhu Shenzhui rose to become the regent of the Ming Dynasty. This was a world-shaking event. But Zhu Shenzhui was not Zhu Di, and he did not have Zhu Di's strong foundation. If Zhu Shenzhui had taken steady steps and solved the problems of the Ming Dynasty step by step for more than ten years or even longer, and then sought the throne after everything was foolproof, then there might not be much problem. But in just three years, Zhu Shenzhui went from being the regent to the King of Wu, and then forced Emperor Chongzhen to issue an abdication edict and directly ascended the throne as emperor. This time was too short. Zhu Shenzhui rose to power in this way. The Ming Dynasty was not a monolithic entity at all. There were many people who opposed him, especially the civil service group and gentry group in the south of the Ming Dynasty. Although these people did not take the royal family seriously before, once they were involved in the change of imperial power, they might exert great energy.

This situation has happened before. The most famous example is the death of Emperor Zhengde without an heir, and the succession of Emperor Jiajing.

You should know that Emperor Jiajing and Emperor Zhengde were cousins. They were from the same lineage, but not from the branch of Emperor Xiaozong. They were very close in terms of blood relationship. But even so, Emperor Jiajing's accession to the throne was not smooth sailing. From the moment Jiajing entered the capital, there was a struggle between the imperial power and the civil officials. It started with which gate to enter the imperial city, which palace Jiajing's mother lived in, and later the dispute over the great ceremony. Emperor Jiajing and the civil officials fought each other and encountered assassinations several times. If it weren't for his good luck, Emperor Jiajing would have been burned to death or strangled to death by the palace maids. In the end, although it seemed that Emperor Jiajing won on the surface, he later hid in the harem on the grounds of practicing Taoism and no longer went to court. From this point of view, it can be said that both sides suffered losses.

The same situation is happening to Zhu Shenzhui now. If he were merely the regent and continued to use Emperor Chongzhen as a pawn, there wouldn't be any big problems. But when he replaced him as emperor, the original advantages became disadvantages, and all the contradictions in the problem inevitably fell directly on Zhu Shenzhui.

Fan Wencheng said that during the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao used the emperor to control the princes, and finally became the King of Wei, was awarded the nine gifts, and entered the palace with a sword and shoes, but he never took the last step. Could Cao Cao not do it? Of course not, because Cao Cao clearly realized the huge risks of his ascension to the throne, and the difference between him, the King of Wei, and the emperor was only a title. As long as he controlled the real power, what did the throne matter?

If Zhu Shenzhui was smart, he should have learned from Cao Cao instead of being so impatient to ascend the throne. Even if Cao Wei eventually replaced the Han Dynasty, it was Cao Pi's time after Cao Cao's death. At that time, after two generations of management by Cao Cao and Cao Pi, the Han Dynasty was already in name only. The Cao family not only completely controlled the government, but also the court and the local areas were also in the hands of the Cao family. This was also the reason why Cao Pi dared to change Cao Cao's original pattern, forced Emperor Xian of Han to abdicate, and took the throne himself.

Even so, the Wei dynasty replacing the Han dynasty was not without its twists and turns. Cao Pi's reign as emperor still attracted a lot of criticism and opposition. It was just that the opposition force was much smaller at that time, and Cao Pi had enough confidence and strength to suppress it.

But now Zhu Shenzhui has ascended the throne in such a short time, dethroned Emperor Chongzhen and became the emperor of Ming Dynasty. Could it be that the forces opposing him are weak? Although the capital and the north seem to be under Zhu Shenzhui's control, what about the entire south except the north?
Fan Wencheng was a scholar, and he was also a scholar who had studied, read books and had achieved fame. He knew too well the political situation of the Ming Dynasty. Fan Wencheng knew very well how powerful the civil service group and local gentry group of the Ming Dynasty were. Fan Wencheng felt that even if Zhu Shenzhui became the emperor, the throne would definitely not be stable. If the world was peaceful, maybe it would be fine. Zhu Shenzhui had enough time and means to slowly deal with these problems, but is the world peaceful now? This is definitely not the case! Although several major bandits in the Ming Dynasty have been eliminated, it is too early to say that the Ming Dynasty is completely peaceful.

Coupled with the natural disasters and man-made calamities over the years, the lives of the people in the Ming Dynasty were difficult. The entire Ming Dynasty was like a powder keg, with huge risks buried beneath the calm. Once a spark appeared, this powder keg would explode and blow everyone to pieces.

In addition, there is the Qing Dynasty watching covetously from the sidelines. The Qing Dynasty will never allow the Ming Dynasty to recover peacefully. If they want to rule the Central Plains, they must make the Ming Dynasty as chaotic as possible. Originally, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and other bandits were the best tools to disrupt the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, these bandits were so unbearable that they were killed one by one by Zhu Shenzhui. Except for Zhang Xianzhong who surrendered to the court, all the others were killed. Under the stability of internal troubles, if Zhu Shenzhui was given time to reorganize the Ming Dynasty, after he completely solved the internal problems, would the Qing Dynasty have any chance?
Fan Wencheng's suggestion was simple, which was to find a way to stir up internal strife in the Ming Dynasty, especially to make those who opposed Zhu Shenzhui mess up the Ming Dynasty. These people could be part of the civil service group or part of the local gentry. In any case, the Ming Dynasty must not be allowed to be stable. The more chaotic the Ming Dynasty is, the more opportunities the Qing Dynasty has. As long as the Ming Dynasty is in chaos, or even a civil war, then the Qing Dynasty will have an opportunity to take advantage of it.

In fact, Fan Wencheng's method is the same as Zhu Shenzhu's current support for the Solon tribe. The Ming Dynasty supported the Solon tribe and confronted the Qing Dynasty in order to make the Qing Dynasty fall into a war with the Solon tribe and have no time to worry about going to war with the Ming Dynasty. Since the Ming Dynasty can do this, why can't the Qing Dynasty do it? There has never been a shortage of profit-seeking people among the Ming people, and there have never been a shortage of ambitious people. Moreover, Fan Wencheng knows the civil servants and gentry of the Ming Dynasty too well. Although many officials appear to be upright and righteous on the surface, they are actually thieves and prostitutes. In addition, Fan Wencheng determined that Zhu Shenzhu would inevitably attack the south to control the Ming Dynasty after he ascended the throne. This is their opportunity. As long as Zhu Shenzhu does this, it will not be difficult to bribe some people to compete with Zhu Shenzhu, whether for their own interests or other reasons.

(End of this chapter)