My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 6 Zhu Yunwen, you are truly my good grandson
When Zhu Biao died, Zhu Yuanzhang began to guess who was Emperor Jianwen, but at that time he had never considered it was Zhu Yunwen.

But what was unexpected was that after Zhu Biao, he actually put Zhu Yunwen on the throne?
Logically speaking, I am not a despotic ruler and should not make such a fatal mistake.

Since ancient times, according to the principles of heaven and morality, the crown prince has always been chosen from among the sons and daughters. How could one directly choose a grandson?

Unless all the sons are dead.

From the perspective of imperial power, choosing a grandson as the crown prince would inevitably cause dissatisfaction among other heirs, thus shaking the foundation of the country.

Could it be that I was really senile and confused at that time?

Maybe it was really as Li Han said, the premature deaths of his sister and Zhu Biao caused his temperament to change drastically and he made a foolish decision.

Moreover, Li Han also said in the letter that Zhu Yunwen had become stupid from reading too much, and was indecisive and had no opinion of his own, which was a big taboo for an emperor!
But Zhu Yunwen looked like a smart and clever kid. Could it be that I had misjudged him?

But who is this Huang Zicheng?

Zhu Yuanzhang decided to continue reading to find the answer.

"Huang Zicheng is a top student in academics and exams. He is the top scholar in the 18th year of Hongwu and his reputation is not undeserved. It's just that his vision and pattern are only slightly better than those of the small town test-takers."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought to himself, this is the third place winner in the imperial examination three years later. No wonder I don’t recognize him now.

"To be fair, Zhu Yunwen was actually quite smart. After he was made the crown prince, he was worried that the princes would become independent and began to consider weakening the power of the princes.

Logically speaking, it is normal for a new emperor to reduce the number of vassal states in order to stabilize his throne, but the problem is that these two methods of reducing the number of vassal states are simply unbearable to watch. "

Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to family affection, and fratricide was a big taboo for him. When he saw that Zhu Yunwen was going to reduce the power of the princes, he could not help but frown.

But what Li Han said does make sense. After Zhu Yunwen succeeded to the throne, he was unable to control his uncles, and he had no choice but to reduce the power of the princes.

At this time, he had gradually understood what had happened to the great changes in the early Ming Dynasty. It must have been caused by Zhu Yunwen's reduction of the power of the princes.

But, what kind of foolish method did Zhu Yunwen use to reduce the power of the princes that led to his disastrous defeat?

"Just a few months after Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, he began to prepare to reduce the power of the feudal lords."

Good job, Zhu Yunwen, you are really my good grandson. Are you so impatient to take action against your uncle?

Zhu Yuanzhang's frown deepened and his anger grew.

"Qi Tai, then Minister of War, suggested that the most powerful prince among the vassal kings, Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, should be weakened first. If Zhu Di is dealt with with lightning speed, the other princes will be easily dealt with.

To be honest, Qi Tai's suggestion is actually the best solution. Everyone knows the principle of capturing the leader first, but Huang Zicheng doesn't understand it!
Why is Huang Zicheng called a nerd? He believed that the kings of Zhou, Qi, Xiang, Dai, and Min had committed illegal acts during the Hongwu period and should be punished.

Moreover, the King of Zhou should be deposed first. The King of Zhou and the King of Yan have the same mother. Deposing the King of Zhou is equivalent to cutting off the hands and feet of the King of Yan.

What kind of stupid logic is this? This is equivalent to telling Zhu Di loudly, hey, I am going to attack you, I know you are anxious, but don't be anxious, I will kill your brothers first and then I will attack you.

As long as Zhu Di is not a fool, he will be prepared when Emperor Jianwen takes action against King Zhou. "

Yes, if Huang Zicheng did this, wouldn’t he be alerting the enemy?
Zhu Yuanzhang also nodded repeatedly. Is this the level of the third place winner in the 18th year of Hongwu?

It seems that the third place winner will be replaced in three years!

"Then Zhu Yunwen actually adopted it. Fine, he adopted it, but you, Zhu Yunwen, can also carry out Huang Zicheng's plan to reduce the power of the feudal lords to the end!
After successively arresting the King of Zhou, the King of Xiang, and the King of Dai, he also demoted Zhu Su and the King of Min to commoners.

In order to escape Zhu Yunwen's butcher knife, Zhu Di began to act crazy and stupid, talking nonsense in the street in broad daylight, covering himself with a quilt in the hot summer, and even running into the pigpen to eat pig shit. "Zhu Di was actually forced to eat pig shit?
Zhu Yuanzhang was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. On one side was his son and on the other was his grandson. He really didn't know how to evaluate them.

But seeing his own son being pushed to this extent, he felt really sad.

"It is not impossible to take down Zhu Di in one fell swoop at this time, but at this critical moment, Zhu Yunwen actually softened his heart!
Zhu Yunwen issued another decree to ask the Prince of Yan to discuss the crime of the Prince of Zhou. Zhu Di wrote a letter to redress the injustice of the Prince of Zhou. After reading the letter, Zhu Yunwen was quite sad and thought that the matter should be stopped for the time being. This made Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng very anxious.

No wonder the letter said that Zhu Yunwen was indecisive, it was really true!

As a great ruler, Zhu Yuanzhang was well aware that he would suffer the consequences if he hesitated to make a decision. But he never expected that his good grandson would do such a thing.
How pedantic!

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to catch Zhu Yunwen and give him a good beating. This naughty kid, doesn’t he know that once the process of reducing the power of the princes begins, there will be no turning back?
"Zhu Yunwen pretended to be sad and sympathetic, but at the same time he summoned the guards, such as Guan Tong, to the capital to weaken the Prince of Yan. He also transferred the Yongqing Left Guard and Yongqing Right Guard troops from Beiping to Zhangde and Shunde respectively. The governor Xu Kai trained the troops in Linqing, and Geng Lin trained the troops in Shanhaiguan to control Beiping.

Killing someone with a blunt knife is the most fatal. This incident completely drove Zhu Di crazy.

Soon, Zhu Di led his troops south in the name of pacifying the rebellion, completely disrupting Zhu Yunwen's rhythm of reducing the power of the feudal lords.

Great, I didn’t expect it was you, Old Four!

Although he was mentally prepared, after confirming that it was Zhu Di who was rebelling, Zhu Yuanzhang still couldn't help but curse him inwardly.

On the one hand, he hated Zhu Yunwen for being too cruel to his uncle, and on the other hand, he hated Zhu Di for actually rebelling.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very conflicted and wanted to tie the two men up in front of him and beat them up to vent his anger.

"As for whether Zhu Di had rebellious intentions, he might have had some, but not much. Some of it might have been instigated by Monk Daoyan, and the other part was forced by Zhu Yunwen."

Who is this monk Daoyan?
A gleam of light flashed in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes. This boy must not be kept!

He was thinking about asking the Immortal Li Han who Daoyan was, and then he continued reading.

"Third, after Zhu Biao's death, in order to clear the way for Zhu Yunwen to succeed to the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang began to kill his meritorious officials because he no longer had Empress Ma to dissuade him.

Li Shanchang, Lan Yu and others were executed by Zhu Yuanzhang under various pretexts.

Fortunately, Xu Da died of a carbuncle on his back in the 18th year of Hongwu, otherwise, he would not have escaped this purge. "

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was already in a cold sweat. Although he had already thought of this when he saw Zhu Yunwen was made the crown prince, he did not expect that he would do it so thoroughly.

And wait, Xu Da will die of back carbuncle three years later?

Now, Xu Da has suffered from back carbuncle. He thought it was a minor illness, but he didn't expect it to be so serious?
Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and others were Zhu Yuanzhang's sworn brothers and his right-hand men. They had already formed a deep friendship during the years of war.

Chang Yuchun had already died of illness, and Zhu Yuanzhang did not want to see Xu Da die in front of him again.

However, since the Immortal Li Han has already figured this out, then he should have an elixir to cure Xu Da's back carbuncle, right?
Thinking of this, and looking at the vancomycin on the Buddhist table, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a glimmer of hope in his heart.

Looking back at the letter in his hand, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed deeply. The letter from Immortal Li Han was full of secrets.

But this secret is really annoying.

He thought that after knowing what happened in the early Ming Dynasty, his mentality would be a little better, but he did not expect that the following content of the letter would make his blood pressure soar again.

"Without a great general in Shu, Liao Hua served as the vanguard. Zhu Di went south, and the Nanjing court had no generals to use. So, the first war god of the Ming Dynasty, Li Jinglong, made a brilliant appearance!"

(End of this chapter)