I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 575: Succession? Succession?
"Brother, please take care of your health," Zhu Houxuan reminded.

Zhu Houzhao then slowly stopped laughing, looked at Zhu Houxun with a smile in his eyes, and asked, "Why?"

"She doesn't deserve it!" Zhu Houxuan said immediately.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha——" Zhu Houzhao laughed again, even louder than before.

He started coughing while laughing, and Zhu Houxun quickly gave him a gentle back massage to help him calm down.

"It's all my fault. I made my brother's mood so volatile." Zhu Houxuan said self-reproachfully.

"No, brother, you said what I have always wanted to say but didn't." Zhu Houzhao said with a smile, "It feels so good! It feels so good! Just for what you said, brother, I will let it all come to light!"

"Someone come! Bring some wine! Today I want to drink with the King of Wu." Zhu Houzhao shouted to the eunuch in the distance.

The eunuch ran over quickly, and after hearing what Zhu Houzhao said, he felt very embarrassed and looked at Zhu Houxuan quietly.

"Just drink one or two cups to warm your body and activate your blood circulation. Don't drink too much," Zhu Houxun said with a smile.

Zhu Houzhao's face immediately turned ugly. "If I can't drink and eat meat every day, what's the point of living?"

Hearing Zhu Houzhao's words, the eunuch turned pale with fear.
"Brother, please don't say such angry words. You are a mighty general, the Heavenly Khan, and the Great Zhengde Emperor. How could you be greedy for these food desires?" Zhu Houxun coaxed Zhu Houzhao patiently.

He knew that Zhu Houzhao was in great pain now. After all, no one could accept that he had gone from a strong and healthy person to a disabled person. Zhu Houzhao even had some self-destructive tendencies.
Zhu Houzhao sighed deeply and said helplessly: "There is nothing I can do about you, so I'll just listen to you." Then he waved his hand and let the eunuch leave.
"Do you take what you just said seriously?" Zhu Houzhao said seriously.

"Seriously!" Zhu Houxuan said firmly.

This is Zhu Houxuan's true inner thought. He now extremely hates Empress Dowager Zhang. It's not that he can't control Empress Dowager Zhang, but he just doesn't want to have anything to do with her.
In fact, succession and succession is a very good choice, because it is the most legitimate way. Zhu Houxuan has been in power for more than ten years. When faced with such a situation, he should put interests first and choose the one with the greatest benefits. However, Zhu Houxuan is not prepared to do so this time.
In addition to his dislike for Empress Dowager Zhang, he was also thinking about the North-South War that would break out later.
Succession and succession is the most legitimate way, but Zhu Houxuan will definitely be criticized personally. After all, this way is not very glorious for Zhu Houxuan personally.
After all, this meant that he would abandon his biological parents, recognize the late Emperor Zhu Youtang as his father, and Empress Dowager Zhang as his mother. From then on, according to the clan law, his biological parents were Zhu Youtang and Empress Dowager Zhang. In the future, when he saw Concubine Liu, he had to call her aunt, and when he went to worship his biological father, he had to call him uncle.
The ancient patriarchal system was very harsh in this regard.
In history, Jiajing could not stand this, so he started a dispute over the succession as soon as he arrived in the capital. After he succeeded to the throne, he launched the famous Great Ceremony Debate.
It was also because of this that when Zhu Houzhao mentioned the issue of succession, Zhu Houxuan took the initiative to raise the issue of succession and heir, in order to solve this problem from the root.

Succession means inheriting the legitimate status and power of ruling, that is, inheriting the throne of emperor.

To be the successor means to inherit the throne of the late emperor Zhu Youtang as Zhu Houzhao's younger brother.

In fact, Zhu Houxuan could accept succession under normal circumstances, because he wanted to firmly grasp the imperial power, so that everything he built and cherished could be protected, even if he was criticized for it. As a person who has been involved in politics for a long time, he has this awareness and courage.
But the current situation is not normal. The rebellion in the south is imminent, and they will definitely seize this opportunity to attack Zhu Houxuan.
This is not a problem in terms of etiquette and law, but in the most simple emotional cognition of the people of the Ming Dynasty, it is an extremely unpopular behavior. It can easily be understood as an act of abandoning parents in pursuit of wealth and glory (in fact, this understanding is not wrong). It does not conform to the most simple cognition of the people and will definitely lose the support of the people.
This loss of popular support might make the southern rebels more appealing, causing the Civil War to continue for a longer period of time. During this longer period of time, it is unknown how many lives would be lost, so Zhu Houxuan decided not to do this.
"Since you don't want to be the heir, brother, then don't be the heir. Just inherit the throne," Zhu Houzhao said very open-mindedly.

Zhu Houxuan was very moved by these words, but he was still prepared to refuse, because the legitimacy of doing so was relatively low. The imperial Ming ancestral precepts did not state that the throne could be passed on in this way, and this way of passing on the throne would be more likely to be exploited by the southern rebels.
In fact, this behavior was Zhu Houzhao forcibly passing the throne to Zhu Houxun, and the legitimacy of Zhu Houxun's succession came entirely from Zhu Houzhao himself.
"Your Majesty, you can't do this. If you do this, your offspring will be cut off. Where will this put your brother? Where will this put the late emperor? Moreover, the succession to the throne will also be transferred through the lineage, which will cause dissatisfaction among the court and the royal family," Zhu Houxuan said immediately.

"Let them be dissatisfied if they are dissatisfied, and ignore them!" Zhu Houzhao said domineeringly.

"As for the question of the succession of my descendants," Zhu Houzhao pondered. For him, not having a succession of descendants was not a difficult thing to accept, but then he thought of his father, Emperor Xiaozong Zhu Youtang, and it was difficult to make a decision for a moment.
Xiaozong Zhu Youtang has passed away for 26 years, but he still occupies an extremely important position in Zhu Houzhao's heart. Perhaps it is because there has always been a very pretentious Empress Dowager Zhang as a comparison, Zhu Houzhao's admiration for his father has become even deeper.
Zhu Houzhao will never forget the middle-aged man who looked at him with gentle, loving and tired eyes. That was the softest place in his heart.
He didn't care much about the inheritance of his own offspring, but he couldn't let his father's offspring be cut off.
After all, he is the only son of Emperor Xiaozong Zhu Youtang, and he has no offspring now.
"How about this, you have twelve sons. After you succeed to the throne, you can adopt one of your sons under my name, so that my lineage will have an heir." Zhu Houzhao said seriously.

Zhu Houzhao's words were very particular, emphasizing that Zhu Houxun should do this after he succeeded to the throne. Why not do this before he succeeded to the throne? Because if Zhu Houzhao had adopted a son before he succeeded to the throne, then this son would be the first heir to the throne, and the legitimacy of Zhu Houxun's succession would be even weaker.
(End of this chapter)