Video Editor

In June of the fourth year of the Jianwen reign (1402), Nanjing experienced its hottest summer day.

The atmosphere inside the Forbidden City was even more frigid than the dead of winter, and even the cicadas' chirping sounded particularly oppressive.

Outside the city, the faint sound of the Yan army's war drums could be heard, like a death knell.

Inside the Jinshen Hall late at night, the candlelight flickered.

Emperor Jianwen, Zhu Yunwen, sat alone on the dragon throne, with a blank edict spread out in front of him.

The young emperor, who had reigned for four years, looked haggard, his eyes were bloodshot, and the collar of his dragon robe was soaked with sweat.

“Your Majesty,” the personal eunuch Wang Yue walked in shakily, his voice low, “Princess Qingcheng is ready and can leave the city at any time to negotiate with the Prince of Yan.”

Emperor Jianwen raised his head, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes: "Tell my aunt that as long as my fourth uncle is willing to withdraw his troops, I am willing to divide the country along the Yangtze River, appoint him as Prince Regent, and share the Ming Dynasty's territory!"

“This old servant understands.” Wang Yue hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn’t help but say, “But Your Majesty, the Prince of Yan… I’m afraid he won’t be satisfied with this! This old servant has heard that the Yan army is already preparing siege equipment.”

Emperor Jianwen waved his hand with a wry smile, his voice hoarse: "Do your best! Tell your aunt to make sure she tells the Prince of Yan that as long as he is willing to withdraw his troops, any conditions are negotiable."

After Wang Yue withdrew, Emperor Jianwen picked up a vermilion brush and slowly wrote on the blank edict.

Each stroke was extremely heavy, as if writing one's own destiny.

"I, with my virtuous character, have inherited this great legacy. Four years have passed, yet my governance and teachings have failed to gain widespread acceptance. Now, the Prince of Yan has raised an army, and the state is on the verge of collapse. The Prince of Wu, Yun Teng, is intelligent and wise, and his benevolence and filial piety are naturally endowed; he is fit to inherit the throne..."

As he wrote this, his hand suddenly trembled violently, and a drop of ink fell onto the imperial edict, spreading out in black, just like his state of mind at that moment.

"Your Majesty." A voice came from outside the palace.

Empress Lü stood at the palace gate at some unknown time, her face eerily calm, only her tightly clenched hands betraying the turmoil within her heart.

"Mother..." Emperor Jianwen hurriedly tried to put away the edict, but was stopped by Empress Dowager Lü.

"There's no need to hide it anymore, I know everything." Empress Lü slowly walked into the hall, looking at the edict of succession, a complex look flashed in her eyes, "You've finally figured it out."

Emperor Jianwen said dejectedly, "Your Majesty, I am incompetent and cannot protect this empire. But I must not let it fall into the hands of my fourth uncle. Yunwen... he is at least of Father's blood, and over the years, his insight and strategy have surpassed mine."

Empress Lü gently stroked the words on the edict, then suddenly sneered: "You're planting a thorn in the side of the Prince of Yan! With this edict, even if the Prince of Yan gains the throne, it won't be legitimate."

"Your son... also wants to find a way to survive for Mother and my younger siblings." Emperor Jianwen knelt before his mother, his voice choked with sobs. "If anything happens to me, with this edict, the Prince of Yan will not dare to harm Mother. Moreover... this also gives Yun Tong a legitimate reason to raise an army."

Empress Dowager Lü sighed deeply, carefully rolled up the edict, and hid it in her sleeve: "I will keep it safe. But Yunwen, do you know that this edict might cost you your life? If the Prince of Yan finds out about this, he will never let him off the hook."

"Your Majesty knows." Emperor Jianwen raised his head, tears welling in his eyes. "But Yuntong is smarter and more decisive than I am. If it were him... perhaps he could really stop Fourth Uncle, which would be better than letting this empire fall into the hands of a usurper."

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out outside.

Princess Qingcheng rushed into the palace, her hair disheveled and her face filled with panic:
"Your Majesty! The Prince of Yan... the Prince of Yan has refused peace talks! He said... he wants to purge the court of corrupt officials and demands that Your Majesty personally come out of the city to apologize! He also said... he also said that if Your Majesty does not abdicate, tomorrow, when the city falls, will be... will be the day the palace is massacred!"

Emperor Jianwen trembled and barely managed to steady himself by holding onto the imperial desk: "Fourth Uncle... is he unwilling to even accept ruling from the south? Does he really have to be so ruthless as to exterminate them all?"

Princess Qingcheng sobbed, "The Prince of Yan said that unless His Majesty abdicates, he will attack the city tomorrow! He also asked me to tell His Majesty... that His Majesty is unworthy to be a ruler..."

A deathly silence fell over the hall.

Empress Lü suddenly sneered: "That Zhu Di! He's determined to wipe you out! He won't even leave you a way out!"

Emperor Jianwen took a deep breath and said to Princess Qingcheng, "Thank you for your trouble, Aunt. Please go back and rest!"

After Princess Qingcheng left, Emperor Jianwen bowed deeply to his mother and said, "Mother, your son... your son is afraid that I will fail to live up to your expectations."

Empress Lü helped her son up, her eyes revealing genuine maternal love for the first time: "Yunwen, you are a good child, but you were born into the wrong family."

She carefully straightened her son's clothes and said softly, "Go! Go do what you should do. I will keep this edict safe for you."

Emperor Jianwen took one last look at his mother, then turned and walked out of the Jinshen Hall.

Outside the palace gate, he met Su Ning, who had rushed over.

"Your Majesty!" Su Ning stepped forward quickly. "I heard the peace talks failed? What conditions did the Prince of Yan propose?"

Emperor Jianwen looked deeply at his younger brother, whom he had once feared but later relied on, and suddenly smiled with relief: "Yunwen, this empire... is now in your hands."

Su Ning was taken aback: "Why do you say that, Your Majesty? Now is not the time to give up, we can..."

"No need to say any more," Emperor Jianwen interrupted him, patting his younger brother on the shoulder. "Remember, if... if you have the opportunity in the future, you must be a wise ruler. I entrust this Ming Dynasty to you."

Su Ning wanted to say something more, but Emperor Jianwen had already turned and walked towards the palace wall.

His silhouette appeared exceptionally lonely in the night, yet it carried a strange tranquility.

After Emperor Jianwen had gone far away, Empress Dowager Lü came out of the palace and handed the edict to Su Ning: "Yun Tong, this is what the Emperor left for you."

Su Ning unfolded the edict, and after reading it, her expression became complicated: "This is... an edict of succession? My brother..."

"Keep it safe." Empress Lü's gaze was sharp. "This is an opportunity your brother risked his life to secure for you. However..."

She paused, then said meaningfully, "I hope you will always remember how good your second brother was to you. He could have just left, but he chose to leave the imperial edict to you."

Su Ning carefully put away the imperial edict and said in a deep voice, "Don't worry! I understand everything! I will definitely treat you and your younger siblings well."

"Yun-yi, I hope you can keep your promise."

……

Just then, deafening shouts of battle suddenly erupted outside the palace.

The Yan army began their attack on the city, and the firelight illuminated half the sky.

Su Ning said to Empress Lü, "Take care!"

Empress Lü gave Su Ning a deep look, then turned and left.

In the instant she turned around, Su Ning saw a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

That night, Nanjing was ablaze with flames.

Emperor Jianwen disappeared amidst the chaos, leaving behind only the edict of succession, which became the biggest variable in the future political situation.

Meanwhile, in the Yan army camp, Zhu Di listened to the battle report, feeling smug and self-satisfied.

He was unaware that his nephew had planted a seed of destruction in his final moments, a seed that could overturn everything.

“Your Highness,” Yao Guangxiao said with a smile, “at this time tomorrow, you will be the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.”

Zhu Di said proudly, "This empire should have been mine. That child Yunwen is too indecisive and unfit to be a ruler."

Unbeknownst to them, in some corner of Nanjing, a prince holding a decree of succession was laying the groundwork for the next era.

The Jingnan Campaign was drawing to a close, but the power game in the Ming Dynasty was about to change.

……

On June 13th of the fourth year of the Jianwen reign (1402), the Yan army camp outside Nanjing was brightly lit, and Zhu Di was drinking merrily with his generals.

His recent unstoppable advances filled him with pride, as if the throne was already within his grasp.

"Gentlemen," Zhu Di raised his cup and laughed, his eyes gleaming with victory, "at this time tomorrow, we will be able to drink to our hearts' content in the Forbidden City! That brat Jianwen will have fled at the mere sight of us, and this empire should rightfully belong to me!"

Yao Guangxiao stroked his beard and smiled: "Your Highness is truly awe-inspiring; this is the will of Heaven. However... this humble monk feels that Nanjing is unusually quiet today."

Zhu Neng laughed loudly and slammed his hand on the table, "Haha, Great Monk, you're overthinking it! The Nanjing garrison has already collapsed, and even Emperor Jianwen has disappeared. What other changes could possibly occur?"

Just as they were exchanging toasts, a sudden earthquake shook the ground, and the tents trembled violently!

"What's going on? Has the earth turned upside down?" Zhu Di's wine cup wobbled, spilling wine all over himself. Before he could finish speaking, a scout stumbled into the tent, his face deathly pale: "Your Highness! Something terrible has happened! Hundreds of thousands of troops have suddenly appeared in Nanjing! Their banners blot out the sky, they are well-equipped, and the Jingnan army in the city has completely collapsed. They are now marching towards our camp!"

"Nonsense!" Zhu Neng roared, grabbing the scout by the collar. "The Nanjing garrison has long since collapsed. Where did these hundreds of thousands of troops come from?"

However, the next moment, a deafening battle cry came from afar, accompanied by an unprecedented, dense barrage of explosions, as if a million thunderbolts were exploding at the same time.

Zhu Di rushed out of the tent, and the scene before him left him speechless...

A massive, dark army surged out of Nanjing, dressed in uniform, armorless black uniforms that gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen in the moonlight.

These soldiers moved in perfect unison, their thunderous steps echoing as if they were a single, unified entity.

Even more terrifying were the strangely shaped muskets they carried, which had an extremely long range and an incredibly fast reloading speed.

Before the Yan army archers even entered firing range, they had already fallen in droves under the dense rain of bullets.

"Where...where did this army come from?" Zhu Di muttered to himself in disbelief.

At this moment, on the city wall of Nanjing, Wu Wang Su Ning of the Ming Dynasty stood with his hands behind his back, overlooking the battle situation.

The night wind howled, stirring his bright yellow royal robes.

Zhao Ling'er stood beside him, gazing at the one-sided battle outside the city, her face filled with shock: "Your Highness, these troops..."

“The planning began in the fifteenth year of the Hongwu reign,” Su Ning said calmly, his eyes gleaming with wisdom. “These ‘immigrants’ are all trusted elites I secretly recruited from various places. They disguise themselves as craftsmen, merchants, and ordinary people, secretly practicing new combat tactics, all in preparation for this day.”

Afu's voice rang in Su Ning's ears through a miniature communicator: "Master, 400,000 troops have been deployed to the battlefield. The power of the new rifles has exceeded expectations, and the Yan army is in disarray. Special forces have cut off the enemy's retreat. Please give instructions."

Su Ning's gaze turned cold, and his voice was resolute: "Kill! Leave no one alive! Hounds that have tasted the bitterness of rebellion have no reason to remain."

……

On the battlefield, the Yan army was indeed suffering repeated defeats.

They had never seen such tactics before...

The enemy could fire accurately from 200 paces away, and their firepower was continuous, giving them no chance to catch their breath.

Even more terrifying, the enemy also had a special repeating crossbow that could fire ten bolts in succession, specifically designed to deal with heavily armored cavalry.

The Yan army's proud iron cavalry was as fragile as paper in the face of such firepower.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Zhu Di personally supervised the battle, but he was powerless to reverse the situation.

He watched helplessly as the elite troops he had personally trained crumbled under the crushing force of the mysterious army.

Zhang Yu's son, Zhang Fu, said urgently, "Your Highness, the enemy's firepower is too fierce. We should temporarily avoid their attack!"

"Escape? Where to escape to?" Zhu Di gritted his teeth, pointing behind him. "Our army's retreat has been cut off!"

It turned out that while the main forces were engaged in battle, another mysterious force had already circled around to the rear of the Yan army like a ghost, completely cutting off their retreat.

Watching the battle unfold from the city walls of Nanjing, Su Ning gave a deep order: "Send word! Capture Zhu Di alive. I want him to witness firsthand how his ambitions will be shattered."

On the battlefield, a special forces unit of a thousand men pierced straight into the heart of the Yan army like a sharp sword.

Armed with revolutionary submachine guns, crossbows, and sabers, they moved with lightning speed, and wherever they went, Yan army generals fell from their horses.

These special forces soldiers are all agile and work in perfect harmony, as if they were fighting as a single unit.

"Protect the Prince!" Zhu Neng led his personal guards in a desperate resistance, only to find that they were no match for him.

These mysterious soldiers possess individual combat capabilities far exceeding expectations; each one is a fierce warrior capable of taking on a hundred men.

Soon, the special forces had broken through to within a hundred paces of Zhu Di.

Arrows rained down, muskets roared, and the Yan army's defenses crumbled at a visible speed.

"Your Highness, hurry!" Yao Guangxiao grabbed Zhu Di, his voice urgent, "As long as the green hills remain..."

Before he could finish speaking, a crossbow bolt grazed his cheek, drawing a trickle of blood.

Zhu Di finally realized that the situation was hopeless and hastily retreated under the protection of his personal guards.

But it was too late...

"Uncle Prince Yan, please wait."

A clear voice sounded.

Su Ning had arrived on the battlefield at some point, walking slowly under the protection of a team of elite guards.

His royal robes stood out against the flames of war, and he appeared calm and composed.

"Yunyi?" Zhu Di's eyes widened in disbelief. "These troops... are your men?"

Su Ning smiled slightly, her eyes sharp: "Fourth Uncle didn't expect this, did you? Over the years, you and my royal brother have been fighting to the death, but I, the 'patient,' have benefited from it all."

Zhu Di flew into a rage, his hair standing on end: "Zhu Yuntong, you despicable villain! You feigned illness to deceive the people of the world!"

“Same to you,” Su Ning said calmly. “Fourth Uncle, didn’t you also pretend to be crazy and eat pig feed to avoid danger, and then use the banner of ‘purging the court of corrupt officials’ to usurp the throne? If we’re talking about despicable things, I still have a lot to learn from you.”

Zhu Di was so angry that he trembled all over, but he couldn't utter a rebuttal.

At this time, the Yan army on the battlefield had suffered a complete defeat.

Generals such as Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu were captured one after another, and those who stubbornly resisted were all killed by those magical firearms.

The entire battlefield was littered with corpses and filled with the smoke of gunpowder. The banners of the Yan army fell one after another in the flames.

Zhu Di looked around and realized that he was surrounded.

He gave a bitter laugh: "Good! Good for you, Zhu Yunwen! I never thought that I, Zhu Di, who had dominated half my life, would end up falling at the hands of my nephew!"

He laughed loudly, his voice shrill: "But I, Zhu Di, would rather die standing than live kneeling!"

Having said that, he drew his sword and prepared to commit suicide.

Suddenly, a crossbow bolt struck his wrist with pinpoint accuracy, and his sword fell to the ground.

"Why is Fourth Uncle in such a hurry!" Su Ning sighed and stepped forward slowly. "I have prepared a special gift for you, which will surely let you experience what it means to wish you were dead."

"You hate me that much?" Zhu Di asked through gritted teeth, clutching his bleeding wrist.

"Of course!" Su Ning's gaze suddenly turned cold, his voice like ice. "Traitors and rebels deserve to be killed by everyone. Future generations of history will infamous you, leaving a lasting stain on your reputation!"

With Zhu Di's capture, the four-year-long Jingnan Campaign came to an end in a way that no one expected.

When the news reached Nanjing, the entire court was shocked, never expecting that Suning would be the ultimate winner.

What shocked them even more was that the next morning at court, Su Ning, holding the edict of succession handwritten by Emperor Jianwen, officially ascended the throne as emperor with the support of Empress Dowager Lü.

"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: I, with my meager virtue, have succeeded to the throne. For four years now, my governance and teachings have failed to gain the trust of the people. Now, the Prince of Yan has raised an army, and the state is on the verge of collapse. The Prince of Wu, Yun Teng, is intelligent and wise, and his benevolence and filial piety are deeply rooted in Heaven; he is fit to inherit the throne..."

After the imperial edict was read aloud, Su Ning, dressed in a dragon robe, sat on the dragon throne and received the homage of the officials.

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

...(End of chapter)