Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 72 Easily soluble in water
"The Prime Minister ran away?!"

The red-haired monster on the dragon bed stares at the eunuch who sent the message with a bewildered expression, its brain completely unable to keep up with your actions.

It had imagined you would rebel after listening to Zhu Zhongcheng's words, and it had also imagined you would remain loyal and come to the banquet at Changchun Garden. However, it had never imagined you would actually be able to start a business...

[No... Don't you love the people of the world the most? Aren't you a saint with the people in your heart? What does this mean by "run"?! You don't care about the people anymore?]

[It is really confused...]

However, it quickly regained its composure and sneered, "Run? Do you think you can escape?"

"If you had remained loyal to me, I might have spared your life. Or if you had fought me to the death, I would have recognized you, Zhou Liang, as a man of character... But now you're running away out of fear, so I can't blame you!"

[“Propagate my will…”]

[“Your Majesty… Before leaving, the Prime Minister gave Your Majesty a letter…”]

Just as the Divine Emperor was about to order a hunt, the eunuch who was delivering the message finally mustered up the courage and handed it another letter.

【"Um?"】

[The Divine Emperor was even more confused: "Just run, why leave a message?"]

[But no matter what, it still patiently opened the letter and decided to take a good look at what you wrote...]

"I know that Your Majesty resents me, and I also know that Your Majesty relies on those who rebel against you as a means of nourishing your longevity. Therefore, I have no intention of advising Your Majesty to prioritize the country and sit back and wait for death..."

"I only wish to advise Your Majesty that the people of this world are ultimately the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. Without them, there would be no Ming Dynasty... Taizu passed the country and its people to his descendants, but when it came to Your Majesty, it was in danger of being overthrown. Fortunately, Your Majesty has received divine help to preserve this ancestral legacy."

"Since Your Majesty still wishes to be the Emperor, it seems that he truly cares about the people and his legacy. How can we bear to destroy him?"

"I have served as Prime Minister for thirty years and have finally brought prosperity to your Majesty. I dare not take credit for it. I only ask your Majesty to have mercy on the people of our country, refrain from committing murder, and avoid repeating the devastation of the past..."

"The people suffer from the rise and fall of their country. Now that good governance has been established, Your Majesty must uphold and protect it. Even if it means sacrificing all living beings to seek eternal life, you must not destroy the governance."

“But I am despised by Your Majesty. I know I cannot survive, and I do not wish to live…”

"When Your Majesty wrote his last words on Coal Hill, you were willing to let Li Zicheng dismember Your Majesty's body, but not harm a single civilian. Today, I dare not compare myself to Your Majesty, but I am willing to sacrifice my life in exchange for the lives of the people of the world!"

"Since I have died in the East Sea, the people will not blame Your Majesty for my death. Even if there is a popular uprising, it will be minimal. If Your Majesty does not destroy the policies of the world, then all the people in the world will be citizens of the Great Ming... I hope Your Majesty will have mercy on them!"

[“Your Highness kowtows!”]

[After reading this article, the Divine Emperor, who had long been driven mad by long-term hunger and argumentative behavior, gradually calmed down and then fell silent for a long time...]

[Obviously, this is a letter begging for mercy, but it is not your own letter begging for mercy. Instead, it is a letter begging for mercy written on behalf of the people of the world.]

The words in the letter were sincere and genuine, expressing the desire to exchange one person's death for world peace.

[However, if it was only this level, it would definitely not listen: After massacring so many cities, is it still afraid of killing people?]

[What's more, it wields the world's most powerful military force. The people of this world are nothing but fish on the chopping board. It can do whatever it wants to them. Why should it listen to you?]

[So, it wasn't these words of pleas for mercy that silenced it, but its past deeds...]

[During the years when it was still a mortal, what was its biggest daily struggle? Of course, it was the Ming Dynasty, the land passed down from its ancestors!]

Natural disasters were constant, uprisings were endless, corruption was rampant, the military system was in chaos, and taxation was tight...with Li Zicheng and Xian rebels at home, and the Later Jin in the northeast abroad, each of these was a life-threatening problem. His political skills were extremely poor, and even though he was determined to achieve great order, not only did it not work, but the chaos worsened. As a result, Li Zicheng's troops entered the capital, forcing him to hang himself on Coal Hill...

[So, he was ultimately the Chongzhen Emperor who was concerned about the world, and his greatest obsession in life was to bring peace and prosperity to the world!]

[It is precisely because of this, coupled with its need for divine power and longevity, that it went on a killing spree after becoming a god...]

[And now, your thirty years of great governance have truly turned the Meiji era into a peaceful and prosperous era. Although this makes it jealous of you and resents you for depriving it of the path to divine power, it is actually happy in its heart...]

[The long-cherished prosperity has finally arrived. How could it not be satisfied? ]

Its previous mad intention to start another massacre was merely the result of a quarrel between it and you. Now that you've dispelled its resentment, it naturally has no reason to rebel against the entire world, nor does it want to destroy this rare era of peace and prosperity... [Of course, what struck it even more was the words you quoted from it: "Let the thieves dismember my body, but do not harm a single civilian!"]

[It begged Li Chuang so much back then, and now you beg it so much again...]

[It admitted that its humanity had been touched...]

[After a long silence, it couldn't help but sigh and said nothing more.]

[He only ordered the eunuch to deliver a letter detailing the Prime Minister's voluntary retreat to the East China Sea. However, the letter only stated that the Prime Minister was living in seclusion, without mentioning that he was seeking death, in order to avoid provoking a large-scale uprising...]

【…】

[By the time the Divine Emperor's decree spread throughout the world, you had already fled to the East China Sea with a group of your former subordinates and trusted followers.]

[A large ship was obtained from the ferry. You, the six ministers, Zhu Zhongcheng, and others were all seated in the hold...]

"Where is the Prime Minister going?"

The elderly Gao Yiming asked in confusion, "Although everyone knows you're leaving the Ming Dynasty, no one knows exactly where you want to go."

[Wakoku? Korea? Jiaozhi? Or Southeast Asia or the West?]

You smiled casually, "I want to go to the bottom of the sea and be with the fish and turtles!"

【As soon as the words were spoken, everyone fell silent.】

Gao Yiming was furious: "This tyrant! We should rebel against him!"

You said nothing, but asked Zhu Zhongcheng to take out the imperial edict for the banquet at Changchun Garden and pass it around...

[After everyone has finished watching, you calmly say under their angry and unwilling gazes, "Now that I cannot escape death, I could join you in rebelling against His Majesty, but that would be futile and would only anger the tyrant and the people..."]

[As you spoke, you told everyone that the Divine Emperor only prolongs his life by vengeance and slaughtering all living things. Everyone was surprised at first, and then sighed helplessly: This contradiction is truly irreconcilable.]

"But Prime Minister, if you died in the East Sea, would that mean the tyrant emperor wouldn't slaughter all living beings?"

Someone raised a question.

You shook your head. "The temptation of immortality is naturally beyond Your Majesty's control, but Your Majesty is still the same Your Majesty from the past. As long as you reason with Him, He will not vent His anger on others..."

[In other words, it means tacitly approving its moderate slaughter... Of course, it's useless if you don't tacitly approve. This is already the best possible outcome...]

“After I die, you will throw me into the sea to be with the fish and turtles, and you can travel to other countries to avoid disaster…”

[At the last moment of your life, you calmly began to make arrangements for your final arrangements... After all, you weren't afraid of death, you were only afraid of dying in vain. Now that your death could save countless lives, you naturally wouldn't hesitate. You were only worried that your former subordinates would be implicated by you, so you wanted to find a good resting place for them before you died...]

【But you still ignore your importance in their hearts! 】

When you offered to send them to sea to escape the disaster, they all bowed to you and said solemnly, "Now that the Prime Minister is dead, what's the point of us living?"

"I wish to follow it under the sea!"

You were silent for a long time... but finally nodded.

【…】

In the 104th year of Chongzhen's reign, the Ming Dynasty's Prime Minister Zhou Liang and the heads of the six ministries all capsized in the East China Sea!

[The Little Ming King is easily soluble in water, the Great Ming Emperor is also easily soluble in water, and now the Great Ming Prime Minister and high-ranking officials are also easily soluble in water...]

【It is a wonderful thing to have a beginning and an end! 】

……

(End of this chapter)