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

Chapter 915: Wedding and the Prince

Zhu Minlan suddenly realized, he didn't expect there would be such an effect. No wonder his father, the emperor, did this on purpose, it turned out that the real intention was here!
Thinking about what Zhu Shenzhui had just said to him, that the world was a chessboard and all officials including the common people were chess pieces, Zhu Minlan's mind suddenly became clear and he understood many key points at once.

"In the future, not only should we not allow the Donglin Party to collapse completely, but we should also provide appropriate support, right? In this way, a new balance can be maintained in the court and the local areas. Whenever one side is powerful, we should support the weaker side to fight against it? I wonder if my child understands it correctly?" Zhu Minlan asked with a little excitement.

"Haha, that's true, but you can't be so deliberate in doing things. This kind of balance is not easy to achieve. Officials in the world are all smart people. Who can pass the imperial examination is not an outstanding person? What you can think of, is it possible that they can't think of it?"

Seeing Zhu Minlan frowning slightly, Zhu Shenzhui reminded him: "Although the means are good, the balance is not bad, but just playing with power is not the right way. Emperor Jiajing was a master in this field, playing with the whole world in his palm, but what was the final result?"

"What an emperor really relies on is not only means, nor political schemes, but vision and courage! Only the latter is the most important, the former is just a technique. You must never lose the fundamentals because of the technique. You need to keep this in mind."

Zhu Minlan thought for a while and nodded, indicating that he understood. Although he could not fully understand Zhu Shenzui's teachings now, he also knew some of them. As he grew older and his understanding of things deepened, and as he gradually came into contact with government affairs, he would slowly understand.

Zhu Shenzhui did not explain further. Even if he explained more now, Zhu Minlan would not be able to understand it completely. It would be better to just say a few words and let him figure it out on his own later.

In addition, Zhu Shenzhui told Zhu Minlan that even though the Donglin Party case seemed to have been settled, the follow-up was the most important.

Regardless of the cause of this case or the changes in it, the emperor's fundamental goal was to use this case to achieve his goal, which was to complete the adjustment of the court's political structure, thereby regaining control of Jiangnan, suppressing the local gentry groups in Jiangnan, dividing and disintegrating them internally, and allowing the court to completely extend its tentacles to the south, thereby completing the change in the political situation.

This is the ultimate goal, and everything else is secondary. Moreover, the court is now in an uproar because of the Donglin Party case, and other parties are ready to make a move, so it is necessary to retain the Donglin Party. The next step is to properly win over the various factions within the Donglin Party after the split, and use them to attack their shields, and then use the pressure exerted by other parties to make the final step. This is Zhu Shenzhu's plan.

After talking about the Donglin Party for a while, Zhu Shenzhui changed the subject and asked about Zhu Minlan's academic performance and tested him on the content of his homework. Zhu Minlan answered fluently, which made Zhu Shenzhui very happy.

"Oh, by the way, there is one thing I don't know what you think."

"What is Dad talking about?" Zhu Minlan asked puzzled.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and said, "Of course it's about your wedding. When I made you the crown prince last year, many people in the court mentioned this. Because you were not old enough at the time, I postponed it for this reason. Now that a year has passed, it's time for you to consider this matter. Your mother also talked to me about this a few days ago. What do you think about this matter?"

Zhu Minlan's face turned slightly red. Although he was the prince, he was also a teenager. A teenager who was not even eighteen years old was only the age of a high school student in later generations. Now that his father actually mentioned his marriage in front of him, he naturally felt a little embarrassed.

Although the young man was a little embarrassed, he also had some yearning in his heart. After all, which young man didn't have some thoughts about this kind of thing? Moreover, as the crown prince, he knew very well that he was the crown prince of the country. Since he was the crown prince, he had to take the step of getting married. This was his responsibility and obligation.

"This...I will follow dad's arrangements on this matter." Zhu Minlan lowered his head slightly and answered softly.

Seeing his appearance, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but burst into laughter. The more he laughed, the redder the boy's face became. It was really funny to watch.

"Since you have no objection, your mother and I will help you arrange this matter. Just wait for the wedding with peace of mind. After the wedding, you will be an adult, and you can help me handle some government affairs and exercise. By the way, there is one more thing you need to prepare for. The martial arts school will be officially established soon. From you on, all the princes and emperors of the Ming Dynasty must attend the martial arts school, and after graduation, they will serve in the army. As a prince, you cannot go to the border army, but you need to take up a real position in the new army of the capital. As for how far you can achieve in the army, it depends on your own ability. The military regulations are not based on human feelings. You, the prince, will not receive any preferential treatment. Don't lose face for your father when the time comes!"

"Yes! I will obey your order. I will not let you down!" Zhu Minlan stood up and answered solemnly. He did not look nervous at all but eager to try. He also deliberately used the titles of son and father to show his firm attitude.

After the chat, Zhu Minlan stood up and said goodbye. After Zhu Minlan left, Zhu Shenzhui did not continue to read the unfinished memorials, but concentrated on thinking carefully.

The words that Zhu Shenzhu said to the prince today were of course what he really thought, and they were also teaching the prince by example. However, Zhu Shenzhu did not tell the prince the whole plan. After all, the prince was still too young. If it was too early to tell him some things now, he would not understand them, and it would even affect his judgment. So Zhu Shenzhu only told him part of it. The other part was that Zhu Shenzhu had another plan besides targeting the Donglin Party. This plan was for the Zhejiang Party, the Chu Party, and the Qi Party. Moreover, this plan was already in the process of being implemented. Now that the Donglin Party had an incident, the other parties were inexplicably excited, and were eager to make a name for themselves in solving the Donglin Party problem, so as to gain more political capital and benefits.

But Zhu Shenzhui would never let them have their way. Now he turned a blind eye on the surface and even secretly fueled the situation because the Donglin Party issue had not been resolved and the internal division and disintegration of the Donglin Party was also in progress. When the Donglin Party had not been completely recovered or used for his own purposes, Zhu Shenzhui allowed other parties to secretly act, and their actions could better promote his adjustment of the southern pattern and control the implementation of policies in the south, which was very beneficial.

For example, the problems of mining and taxation can be largely solved this time. After the Donglin Party got into trouble, many things hidden under the iceberg will gradually surface, and this will become an excuse for other parties to attack the Donglin Party.

If they follow the trend and deal with these problems, the resistance will be transferred from themselves to other parties. In fact, these people are not good people. They are the same as the bastards of the Donglin Party. It's just that they were suppressed by the Donglin Party before and couldn't get any benefits. Now that they have the opportunity, how can they miss it?

After these people charged forward as the vanguard and resolved most of the conflicts, it was Zhu Shenzhui's turn to take action. Zhu Shenzhui's subsequent trump card had been prepared long ago. The pile of shit under these people's buttocks was no less than that of the Donglin Party, and many evidences of crimes were already in Zhu Shenzhui's hands.

At that time, Zhu Shenzui would not have to show up himself, but could directly instigate the people within the Donglin Party. They would be eager to take this opportunity to take revenge. After the dogs had bitten each other, Zhu Shenzui would come out to clean up the mess, and it would be clear who the final winner would be.

When everything was finally over, none of the factions in the court got any benefits, and Zhu Shenzhu was able to achieve a cleansing of the political situation and control over the local areas. Another important issue was the issue of the princes of the Ming Dynasty. Due to the particularity of Zhu Shenzhu's rise to power, there were many princes of the Ming Dynasty who criticized Zhu Shenzhu. Although Zhu Shenzhu won over most of the middle and lower-level clans and recovered old princes such as the King of Jin and the King of Qin, other princes, especially the King of Fu, the King of Lu, and the King of Tang, who were close to Wanli, had always had objections to the legitimacy of Zhu Shenzhu's becoming emperor. Although they did not formally oppose it, they were very dissatisfied in their hearts.

None of these princes were easy to deal with. Among them, Prince Fu Zhu Yousong was actually the Hongguang Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty in history. Prince Lu Zhu Changxun proclaimed himself regent after Zhu Yousong was captured, and later surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.

Zhu Youjian, the Prince of Tang, was the so-called Longwu Emperor. He was captured and killed after the failure of the anti-Qing campaign. In addition to them, there were also the Princes of Lu and Gui. The Prince of Lu, Zhu Yihai, was ambitious but incompetent, and he fought for power with Zhu Changxun and Zhu Youjian, which led to civil strife. Zhu Youlang, the Prince of Gui, was a tragic figure. After the failure of the Princes of Fu, Lu, and Tang, he ascended the throne as the Yongli Emperor. He was eventually strangled to death with a bowstring by the betrayed Wu Sangui. After his death, the Southern Ming Dynasty was completely destroyed.

Among these princes, Zhu Shenzhu only had some good feelings for Prince Tang Zhu Youjian. After all, Prince Tang was a rare wise man among the royal princes. He not only cared about the world, but was also quite capable. If he could replace Prince Fu as emperor earlier, perhaps the Southern Ming could still resist the Qing Dynasty and hold on to half of the country. Unfortunately, when he came to power, the Southern Ming was no longer viable. Zhu Youjian, who had lost the natural barrier of the Yangtze River and many troops, could only struggle to support it. In addition, with the betrayal of Zheng Zhilong, Zhu Youjian had the will to turn the tide, but he did not have the power to do so. In the end, he was defeated and died.

As for Zhu Youlang, although his death was a pity, his ability was far inferior to Zhu Youjian, so he was just a tragic figure. But no matter what, these princes were potential threats to Zhu Shenzhui. Their existence was not conducive to Zhu Shenzhui's rule over the Ming Dynasty, especially the greater their ability, the more he had to guard against them. In addition, these princes had huge power in the local areas. Although they did not pose a military threat like the princes who controlled the military power during the Zhu Yuanzhang period, their identities themselves were a threat. In addition, years of land annexation and wealth accumulation were also factors that led to national instability.

Although Zhu Shenzhu tried to win over the royal family, he never thought of continuing to treat them well as the previous Ming Dynasty policy. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty were very wary of the royal family, and Zhu Shenzhu, who was born in the royal family, had a deep understanding of this. When he took the throne, his attitude towards the royal family would naturally change with the change of his status. He could naturally treat ordinary royal family members well, but he was very wary of these princes and royal family members. Zhu Shenzhu had always intended to completely solve the problem of the royal family in order to change the current support policy for the royal family of the Ming Dynasty. In fact, this was what the emperors of the Ming Dynasty had been doing, but because the problem of the royal family was not so easy to solve, they could only make some superficial changes.

According to Zhu Shenzhui's plan, restrictions on ordinary clan members, especially those of middle and lower levels, were gradually relaxed. In addition, his changes to the system of inheritance of titles allowed many clan members to leave their clan status and complete this change as ordinary people.

From the perspective of ordinary royal family, this change is not a bad thing for them, but a good thing. The lives of middle and lower-level royal family have always been difficult, and coupled with the fact that the restrictions of the royal family are too strict, it is difficult for them to survive. If this restriction is relaxed, it will be a blessing for them. Of course, there are also some people who covet the status of royal family and would not accept it even if they don't have enough to eat. It doesn't matter. Anyway, this kind of thing has to be done step by step, and there is no rush in a short period of time. Just set the rules first.

But it was different for high-ranking royal family members, especially princes and dukes, who would never give up their status. Although the system of enfeoffment of princes in the Ming Dynasty was changed during the reign of Zhu Di, it was not changed thoroughly. The power of princes and dukes in the local areas was still strong. Except that they could not leave their fiefdoms without the army, their rights in the city were almost the same as those of the emperor. Moreover, years of wealth and glory and royal family restrictions made them develop a life of extravagance and debauchery. These people were of no benefit to the country, but a burden and trouble.

However, it was not easy for Zhu Shenzhu to solve these problems. If one problem was linked to another, it would be a big deal. Moreover, although the princes and dukes had no real power, they were of high status. If the emperor wanted to deal with them, their resistance would lead to bad consequences.

Because of these concerns, Zhu Shenzhu had been considering taking it slow and thinking about a comprehensive plan. But this time, the Donglin Party incident gave him a great opportunity. When he interrogated Yuan Chongyu, he got a shocking news that in addition to Yuan Chongyu, there was another person who sneaked into the Ming Dynasty. This person turned out to be Fan Yuwei, the grandson of Fan Yongdou of the Jiexiu Fan family.

According to Yuan Chongyu's account, Fan Yuwei entered the Ming Dynasty at almost the same time as himself. However, Fan Yuwei did not enter the Ming Dynasty from Korea by sea. Instead, he took a detour from Mongolia and entered the Ming Dynasty disguised as a merchant.

What Fan Yuwei did in the Ming Dynasty was also different from what Yuan Chongyu did. Yuan Chongyu won over officials from Jiangnan to engage in smuggling to obtain resources for the Qing Dynasty. At the same time, he united officials from Jiangnan, including local gentry, to oppose the central government of the Ming Dynasty.

However, Fan Yuwei had set his sights on the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, especially those that were close to Emperor Wanli, such as Prince Fu and Prince Lu. Although Yuan Chongyu was not clear about what Fan Yuwei had done in the Ming Dynasty, he was very familiar with Fan Yuwei. He knew that this young man was more cunning and more bold and vicious than his grandfather Fan Yongdou. Since he came to the Ming Dynasty, he might have secretly contacted these princes and started planning.

(End of this chapter)