Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 75 Learn from history!

After receiving the order, Huai'en immediately went out and told other eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department to invite Gao Shun, Wang Zhi and Mou Bin.

Zhu Youtang looked at the other eunuchs and palace maids in Hongde Hall, his anger still unabated.

"Everyone, get out of here!"

"It's Your Majesty."

After paying their respects, the eunuchs and palace maids who were accompanying him hurriedly left Hongde Hall and waited outside the Hall.

Faced with the furious Zhu Youtang, no one dared to disobey him.

Zhu Youtang sat on the dragon throne, looking at the empty Hongde Hall, and suddenly felt extremely chilled.

The position of Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is too dangerous.

Looking back at the sixteen emperors and dozens of princes of the Ming Dynasty, not one of them died of natural causes.

Ming Renzong Zhu Gaochi reigned for ten months and died at the age of 48.

Ming Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji reigned for ten years and died at the age of thirty-six.

Zhu Qiyu, the Emperor Daizong of the Ming Dynasty, reigned for eight years and died at the age of thirty.

Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen reigned for twenty-two years and died at the age of thirty-eight.

Zhu Jianshen, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, reigned for twenty-three years and died at the age of forty.

Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youtang reigned for eighteen years and died at the age of thirty-six.

Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, reigned for sixteen years and died at the age of thirty-one.

Ming Muzong Zhu Zaigui reigned for six years and died at the age of 36.

Ming Guangzong Zhu Changluo reigned for only one month and died at the age of 38.

Ming Xizong Zhu Youjiao reigned for seven years and died at the age of 22.

Including the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor Zhu Di, and the Ming Dynasty's crown prince Zhu Biao, their deaths were all very strange and bizarre.

As for the grandfather and grandson who had the longest reign, Emperor Shenzong Zhu Houzhao and Emperor Shenzong Zhu Yijun, neither of them died of natural causes.

There were even more Ming Dynasty princes who did not live long enough to register for succession to the throne.

The reason why Zhu Houcong and Zhu Yijun were able to live so long was all thanks to the fact that they did not attend court, but hid in the harem and fought guerrilla warfare with the civil service groups.

The civil service group wanted to take action, but they couldn't find where the two of them were.

Zhu Jianshen was in power for a long time because he retired from court and rarely met with the civil service group.

He also opened a Western Factory and hired Wang Zhi to deal with civil servants. He also used his own officials to communicate with the emperor for everything and did not allow the cabinet and the six ministries to interfere.

Therefore, Zhu Youtang would not attend court too often in the future.

But at the same time, the Jiajing and Wanli periods were the peak periods of fires in the Forbidden City.

If you can't find anyone, just burn everything.

During the Jiajing reign, there were fourteen fires in the Forbidden City.

During the reign of Emperor Wanli, there were a total of twenty-three fires in the Forbidden City.

When Zhu Houcong returned to his old fiefdom, fire broke out in his palace for three consecutive nights.

Moreover, the fire did not burn other people, but only burned Zhu Houcong's bedroom.

The fact that the fire was chasing after the emperor was truly an anecdote that will be remembered forever.

If Lu Bing had not risked his life to save him, Zhu Houcong would have died unexpectedly.

This forced Zhu Houcong to hide in the Western Garden and no longer meet with civil officials.

Zhu Yijun had poor legs and feet to begin with, and the fires that occurred in the Forbidden City on average once every two years made him mentally exhausted. How could he dare to go to court and meet with civil officials?

Another point worth noting is that among these emperors who died young, only Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao was killed outside the palace.

In addition to the fact that Zhu Houzhao was the only one who left the palace, there is another very important point.

That was Zhu Houzhao, who did not live in the Forbidden City, but lived in the Leopard House.

He also kept trusted warriors in the Leopard House, trained his personal soldiers, and used them to protect himself, so that no one else could touch him.

It is hard to say that Zhu Houcong did not learn from his royal brother to move into the Western Garden to save his life.

In order to force Zhu Houzhao to come out, the civil service group described the Leopard House as a den of brothel for the emperor's enjoyment, where many beauties were imprisoned for Zhu Houzhao to enjoy.

How could Zhu Houzhao, an emperor who didn't even go to the harem, lock up all the beauties in the place where he lived and handled state affairs?

There were no women in this place, but there were a lot of well-armored men. Later, when the civil officials found out that there were indeed no women in the Leopard Room, they changed their story and said that the Leopard Room was full of male prostitutes for Zhu Houzhao to indulge in male sex.

This shows the shamelessness of civil servants.

Therefore, Zhu Youtang had thought of building the Hall of Mental Cultivation and rebuilding the Western Garden.

Moreover, Zhu Jianshen, Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Houcong, and Zhu Yijun all have one common characteristic.

That is not to touch the queen and stay away from the harem.

The imperial harem's interference in government affairs in the Ming Dynasty had reached an unprecedented level.

All the emperors who had close relations with the harem, including Zhu Zhanji, Zhu Qizhen, Zhu Youtang, Zhu Zaihui, Zhu Changluo and Zhu Youxiao, died before the age of 40.

The five emperors Zhu Zhanji, Zhu Youtang, Zhu Zaigui, Zhu Changluo and Zhu Youxiao reigned for a total of only 41 years.

This is also the reason why Zhu Youtang was determined not to appoint a queen before.

Moreover, when these emperors died, the crown princes were very young, which met the necessary conditions of the emperor being young and the mother being strong, the cabinet colluding with the harem, and undermining the imperial power.

When Zhu Zhanji passed away, his successor Zhu Qizhen was less than eight years old.

When Zhu Qizhen died, his successor Zhu Jianshen was seventeen years old.

When Zhu Jianshen died, his successor Zhu Youtang was seventeen years old.

When Zhu Youtang passed away, his successor Zhu Houzhao was less than fifteen years old.

When Zhu Houzhao passed away, his successor Zhu Houcong was less than fifteen years old.

When Zhu Zaigui passed away, his successor Zhu Yijun was less than ten years old.

When Zhu Changluo died, Zhu Youxiao, who succeeded him, was fifteen years old.

According to the customs of the Ming Dynasty, once the crown prince was appointed, the emperor could die normally.

The reason why Zhu Houcong and Zhu Yijun were able to reign for so long was because they did not appoint a crown prince in their early years.

The crown prince will not be appointed until he reaches adulthood.

Zhu Houcong appointed a crown prince in his early years. In the 12th year of Jiajing, his eldest son Zhu Zaiji was born, but died before he was 100 days old. He was posthumously named Crown Prince Aichong.

In the 14th year of the Jiajing reign, the second son Zhu Zaigang was born. In the 18th year of the Jiajing reign, he was made the Crown Prince. On March 16th of the 18th year of the Jiajing reign, he was crowned the Crown Prince and died on the 17th day.

After Zhu Houcong understood the situation, he no longer appointed a crown prince and declared that "two dragons shall never meet each other", and he never saw his son again.

Thus, Zhu Houcong's third son, Prince Yu Zhu Zaigui, successfully lived to adulthood and inherited the throne.

The so-called "two dragons never meeting each other" was just an excuse. Zhu Houcong did not appoint a crown prince and did not meet his sons just because he wanted to protect himself and them.

He didn't want to be like other emperors, or to have his children die in obscure circumstances like other crown princes.

Zhu Houcong never thought that he could live forever, otherwise he would not have appointed Zhu Zaigui as Prince Yu and Zhu Zaizhen as Prince Jing, and not allowed them to go to their fiefdoms, but instead lived in the capital.

In the 40th year of the Jiajing reign, Zhu Houcong felt that his health was not as good as before, so he sent Prince Jing to his fiefdom ahead of schedule, which was equivalent to establishing Prince Yu as the crown prince in disguise.

The smartest thing Zhu Houcong did was to never let the Imperial Physician treat him, but instead he hired a group of alchemists who, in the name of "making elixirs", were actually imperial physicians in the palace.

Zhu Yijun also did not appoint a crown prince, and showed great dislike for his eldest son Zhu Changluo.

Zhu Yijun, despite pressure from the cabinet and civil servants, dragged it out for fifteen years before finally appointing Zhu Changluo as the crown prince in the 29th year of Wanli.

At this time, Zhu Changluo was already nineteen years old.

Therefore, in addition to not appointing a queen, Zhu Youtang will not appoint a crown prince in the future.

The throne of the Ming Dynasty emperor seemed to be extremely glorious, but it was also extremely dangerous with undercurrents surging underneath.

In addition to using thunder-like means to quickly eliminate disloyal ministers.

You also need to proceed step by step and be cautious.

If Zhu Youtang did not have the help of the system, he would have no choice but to be obedient and become a puppet emperor.

If he still wants to regain the imperial power, then there will be only one outcome for him, which is to be sent away by the Imperial Hospital with a bowl of medicine.

If any other time traveler without a system sat in this position, unless he was the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang, he would have been killed by the civil service group long ago.

Not to mention the history books read by later generations, which were all revised once by the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty and then revised again by the Qing Dynasty. The history of the Ming Dynasty has long been changed beyond all recognition.

The truth has long been hidden in the history books.

Even if it is an ordinary time traveler who knows the secret and knows how the future will develop.

In front of these civil servants who have been specializing in helping emperors to die for more than two hundred years, they don't even know how they died.

(End of this chapter)