Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 206 The Fourth Prince is actually the Yongle Emperor?!

Inside the Kunning Palace, after a warm and friendly exchange and activities beneficial to physical and mental health, the couple's relationship quickly warmed up.

The Empress and Zhu Yuanzhang sat back down in their chairs.

While carefully plucking the chicken feathers stuck to Zhu Yuanzhang's hair, Empress Ma asked with some confusion.

Empress Ma was somewhat puzzled as to why her fourth son had been beaten.

Originally, it was thought that the fourth brother was beaten because he had rebelled.

But now we know that Chongba had no intention of blaming the fourth prince for his rebellion.

Even she felt that her fourth son should rebel after hearing what Zhu Yunwen had done.

Zhu Yunwen was such a despicable scoundrel that he was not fit to be emperor at all.

The fourth brother's rebellion was well-deserved.

Since I was beaten not because of rebellion, there must be other reasons.

After much deliberation, Empress Ma concluded that there was only one reason left: the fourth prince had not done a very good job after becoming emperor.

Or you could say he was exceptionally bad; otherwise, Chongba would never have beaten him, nor would he have had any reason to do so.

Emperor Chongzhen (Zhu Yunwen) was so angry with Zhu Yunwen because of the series of terrible things he did after becoming emperor. He only regretted that Zhu Yunwen was born too late so that he could beat him to a pulp.

Therefore, it would be reasonable for the emperor to punish the fourth prince because he did not perform well after becoming emperor. It can be said that this is very much in line with Chongba's temperament.

This is something only my own Chongba would do.

Thinking about it again, it's not surprising or unexpected that the fourth prince didn't do a very good job after becoming emperor.

After all, Chongba had always been grooming the fourth prince as a great general to guard the frontier.

I never intended for the fourth son to be my successor.

However, the fourth son ended up becoming the emperor.

Under such circumstances, it would be perfectly normal for the fourth prince to mishandle affairs after becoming emperor, thus provoking the wrath of the eighth prince.

Being an emperor is no easy task. Besides needing intelligence, shrewdness, and other skills, it also requires certain talents.

Otherwise, with such a large country and so many complex issues, it would be truly difficult to govern it well.

Just look at your own Prince Chongba; after becoming emperor, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to this cause and put in a lot of effort to achieve it.

The fourth prince was an excellent warrior. He was able to successfully rebel as a prince and did countless things that no one else could do, breaking the convention.

However, governing a country and leading troops into battle are two different things.

The saying goes, "A trade is like a mountain." While there are some similarities between the two professions, they are completely different in many other aspects.

When she asked Zhu Yuanzhang, Empress Ma was already convinced that her idea was correct.

Zhu Yuanzhang twisted his neck and felt that the feather duster his sister had just given him was actually quite nice; it felt good.

I quietly tossed the feather duster outside the room, feeling much more at ease now.

And in his heart, he secretly made a grudge against Li Jinglong, his grandnephew.

Today, because of the messes he'll make in the future, his sister gave him a good beating.

In the future, I will definitely have to find a way to train Jinglong more.

Of course, his desire to train Jinglong more was definitely not for personal revenge.

It's really because Jinglong, as his grand-nephew, is too spoiled and incompetent, ruining Bao'er's reputation as his father.

Did it take Bao'er easy to build such a large fortune? How could he possibly succeed with his incompetence and squandering?

How can I face my sister, brother-in-law, and Bao'er?

I need to give him more practice.

We're training him to make him better; a gem can't be perfect without being polished.

I did this so that he could take on important responsibilities; I had absolutely no intention of taking the opportunity to retaliate.

I've always been broad-minded, how could I do such a thing?

Besides, Jinglong is still just a child, so he'll definitely be trained to the point of exhaustion.

If you don't train them when they're young, it will be too late when they grow up, and many things will be irreversible.

Upon hearing his sister's question, Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "Sister, it's not because of that."

"Our fourth son did a pretty good job after he became emperor."

Empress Ma was somewhat stunned after hearing what Zhu Yuanzhang said. The fourth prince had actually done a pretty good job after becoming emperor.
This surprised her.

But then I thought about it again and it seemed to make sense. If the fourth prince had succeeded in his rebellion and become emperor, and then made a mess of things, he would probably have been beaten even more severely.

When Chongba mentioned the Fourth Prince's rebellion to himself, he wouldn't have been in such a calm state of mind.

Furthermore, not only did they not blame the fourth brother, they even supported his rebellion.

And now he has given his fourth son many opportunities to gain experience and take on responsibilities.

Moreover, the things Zhu Yunwen did were incredibly foolish.

It seems that if anyone were to become emperor, they would almost certainly be worse than him.

"Girl, our fourth son is doing a really good job."

Do you know what our fourth son was called in later generations? He was known as the Yongle Emperor! He ushered in the Yongle Era of Prosperity.

He is the only one among all the emperors of our Ming Dynasty who can be compared to us.

There's a saying that goes, "Zhu Di was no less capable than his father throughout his life."

When Zhu Yuanzhang said this, he had a smile on his face and his chest puffed out unconsciously.

I am happy and proud of what my fourth son has accomplished.

Although he has a particularly disappointing grandson, his own son is very promising!

what? !

Empress Ma was stunned upon hearing this!

What his son, Chongba, said was completely unexpected!
After the fourth prince became emperor, he actually did such a good job?
He was actually called the Yongle Emperor, who ushered in the Yongle Prosperity!
How can it be compared to my own Chongba?!

This is so unexpected, so unbelievable!

Seeing his sister's shocked expression, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but smile.

I think the girl looks really pretty at this time.

He realized that he had been hesitant to tell the girl about his rebirth and arrival in the modern world because of the many bad things that might happen in the future, and that he had been overthinking it.

I should have told the girl these things sooner.

The things that followed were truly upsetting and infuriating.

But there are also many things that are worth rejoicing in and being happy about.

For example, the fourth child was the biggest surprise.

"What did the Fourth Prince, Chongba, do to be called the Yongle Emperor and create the Yongle Prosperity?"

At this moment, Empress Ma no longer dwelled on why her fourth son had been beaten. Instead, she eagerly inquired about the things he had done after becoming emperor.

More than knowing why the fourth brother was beaten, she wanted to know how he had created a prosperous era.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled upon hearing this, knowing that his sister would inevitably ask him these questions when she heard such things.

He quickly gathered his thoughts and looked at Empress Ma before speaking:

"Girl, our fourth son is really like us in many ways. After he came to power, he quickly abolished all the policies that that bastard Zhu Yunwen had implemented."

In many matters, we have returned to the right track as we were when we were still alive, and in many policies, we have continued the decisions we made back then.

The rapidly expanding civil service group, which aspired to greatness, suffered a heavy blow, getting a satisfying beating from the fourth prince's iron fist.

Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru, and all those other nobody were all taken care of by the fourth brother.

Later, it was even rumored that Fang Xiaoru's entire clan of ten was executed.

Of course, in our opinion, this matter is not guaranteed to be true. Some people have added some embellishments to this story in order to further smear our fourth son.

But this also clearly shows the immense blow dealt to those intellectuals who aspired to greatness, slamming them directly to the ground.

As Zhu Yuanzhang said this, a smile unconsciously appeared on his face.

Those arrogant and domineering groups of intellectuals who immediately sprang to prominence after his own death, and the series of disgraceful deeds they committed, infuriated Zhu Yuanzhang to the point that he felt his teeth itching.

But there is nothing to be done about it.

It has to be my own fourth son. After becoming emperor, he slaughtered everyone in a row, which was really satisfying!

Putting everything else aside, this one point alone is enough to make Zhu Yuanzhang feel fond of his fourth son.

Empress Ma nodded in agreement, a smile also appearing on her face.

I think my fourth child did a good job.

Not to mention Chongba, even before that, when she learned from Chongba what these scholars had done after that fool Zhu Yunwen became emperor, she was equally frustrated.

The things the fourth brother did to them were truly satisfying!
The punishment that the fourth brother gave them was commensurate with the evil they had done!
That's right!

That was satisfying to kill!
Based on this alone, Empress Ma knew that as long as her fourth son did not perform too poorly, she would not really do anything to him.

"After the fourth prince became emperor, the vassal kings were not neglected either."

All those people who had been deposed by Zhu Yunwen were restored to their thrones.

Empress Ma nodded upon hearing this. The fourth prince had done a good job, greatly appeasing the hearts of the imperial relatives and winning the sincere admiration of many vassal kings.

They are far better than people like Zhu Yunwen, who completely disregard family ties.

But Empress Ma felt that these were only the first steps.

In the future, the fourth prince will definitely take steps to weaken the power of the princes and will not allow them to continue to become too powerful.

Empress Ma can say with almost certainty that this will definitely happen.

After all, the fourth prince himself succeeded in rebelling as a prince.

He was more aware than most of the dangers that the powerful regional princes posed to the imperial court.

Generally speaking, rulers of successive dynasties would learn from the experiences of their predecessors who had fallen from power.

For example, during the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, powerful clans and aristocratic families were numerous.

Therefore, after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, friction soon arose with the aristocratic families, and the Tang Dynasty constantly sought ways to weaken these powerful clans.

For example, during the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty, numerous regional military governors were established, and the An Lushan Rebellion shattered the prosperous Kaiyuan era, ending the Tang Dynasty's dream.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, emperors changed frequently, and the emperor was whoever had the strongest army and the most powerful troops.

Various rebellions and uprisings were rampant, and even many local military governors lived in constant fear.

If they weren't paid, they would rebel and kill the military governor; they would even kill the military governor if they lost money gambling...

So Zhao Kuangyin quickly devised a plan to "release military power over a cup of wine," stripping the senior generals of their military power and weakening his subordinates.

After Zhao Guangyi, such an incompetent person, came to power, he went even further in this regard.

They completely embarked on the path of using civil administration to control military affairs.

The Yuan Dynasty was incapable of governing the country; corruption was rampant, and the bureaucracy was chaotic.

It was practically a haven for high-ranking officials, nobles, and local gentry.

After becoming emperor, Chongba was always wary that the Ming Dynasty would become like the Yuan Dynasty.

Therefore, after becoming emperor, he showed no mercy to the chaotic officialdom and corrupt practices left over from the Yuan Dynasty.

They launched repeated attacks on it, changing it.

The fourth prince successfully rebelled and became emperor. How could he not guard against the rebellion of the vassal kings?

Therefore, reducing the power of the regional military governors was imperative.

"After the fourth prince restored all these vassal kings to their royal titles, he soon began to reduce their power."

However, unlike Zhu Yunwen's policy of reducing the power of the princes, our fourth son's policy was much more methodical.

Hearing what her son, Chongba, said, Empress Ma nodded inwardly. Sure enough, the fourth prince had indeed reduced the power of the princes.

"When the fourth prince carried out the policy of reducing the power of the princes, he did not mean to kill people like Zhu Yunwen did."

He was stripped of his title and reduced to a commoner, and his entire family was exiled.

The fourth prince primarily targeted the military power held by the vassal kings.

In addition to the three guards of the vassal kings, the fiefdoms of the vassal kings located in strategic border areas will also be replaced.

They were enfeoffed in the interior to make them easier to control.

In doing these things, the princes would also be compensated financially.

Improve the treatment of the feudal lords...

This does bear some resemblance to Zhao Kuangyin's "releasing military power over a cup of wine."

Empress Ma nodded secretly.

"At the same time, the fourth brother also set a good example for his younger brother, the fifth brother."

In doing these things, they started by targeting the fifth son.

Upon hearing this, Empress Ma was momentarily at a loss for words.

Logically speaking, she could understand the fourth brother's actions.

After all, the fourth and fifth brothers are biological brothers, born of the same mother.

By taking action against the fifth brother first, we can silence the remaining people and make them more likely to accept the outcome.

There won't be much resistance.

However, emotionally, she also felt saddened by the many misfortunes that befell her fifth son.

After all, the fifth child, who only wanted to study medicine, suffered one blow after another.

When Zhu Yunwen was reducing the power of the princes, he first targeted him. When the fourth prince wanted to reduce the power of the princes, he also targeted him first.

Tell me, all the fifth brother wanted to do was study medicine, so what did he do to deserve this?

"The fourth prince's reduction of the power of the princes was much milder than Zhu Yunwen's, and his treatment was also much better."

More importantly, the fourth prince already had prestige among the feudal lords.

Now, having conquered the country through the Jingnan Campaign, his army is even stronger, far surpassing that beast Zhu Yunwen.

With all these conditions combined, these vassal kings gradually followed the fourth prince's advice, either relocating their fiefdoms or handing over their three guards.

Of course, the fourth brother didn't directly attack everyone.

Instead, they will only deal with a small portion of it first.

The rest can be dealt with gradually later; a step-by-step approach is key.

After listening to what Zhu Yuanzhang said, Empress Ma nodded. Indeed, compared to the cruel methods used by Zhu Yunwen, that inhuman wretch, the fourth prince's reduction of the princes' power was quite reasonable.

In this kind of situation, it's impossible to be completely blameless.

"So, as you said before, Chongba, we plan to change our strategy and send our sons who are willing to go overseas to be made kings."

Let them venture overseas, emulating the enfeoffment system of the Zhou Dynasty.

"Is it because those who are unwilling to venture overseas only have the title of prince, but not the fiefdom?"

Regarding the handling of his sons, Zhu Yuanzhang had previously discussed it with Zhu Biao, and later also with Empress Ma.

The explanation given to Empress Ma at the time was that there was a vast world overseas where there was much to be done.

A good man should have ambitions beyond his hometown. When he goes out into the world, he can be unrestrained and free from the constraints of imperial power. He should be given as much freedom as possible to display his talents.

But the most fundamental reason was something he couldn't tell Empress Ma.

But at this point, there's no need to hold back.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Sister, you're right. There's an even more important consideration behind sending them overseas, which is that we initially considered the matter of enfeoffing princes too simply."

I never expected it would cause so many problems.

Now we understand. If we enfeoff these bastards as princes in various parts of our Great Ming, we can keep them in check while we're in power, and none of them will dare to rebel.

But if we were gone, things would be in trouble.

In the future, if the power of the princes is not reduced, those on the throne will not feel secure.

If the reduction of the power of the princes were carried out, even if it did not trigger a rebellion by the fourth prince, it would inevitably cause a lot of turmoil and unrest.

It will waste too much time and energy.

This problem shouldn't be left to future generations; it's better for me, as the father, to solve it.

Empress Ma was somewhat reluctant to send her sons overseas to be princes, feeling it was too far away.

Once they travel all the way to overseas, they may never see each other again in this life. As a mother, how could she bear to part with her?

But now, after hearing about the series of terrible things Zhu Yunwen did after taking power, she felt that Zhu Yunwen was right in this matter.

The best solution would be to enfeoff these sons overseas.

Otherwise, as the generations go by, the blood ties will gradually weaken, and I'm afraid that similar things will happen again in less than three generations.

Moreover, given the fourth prince's talent, it would be a huge loss to not enfeoff him overseas but keep him within the territory of the Ming Dynasty as a restricted vassal king.

"Not only that, my dear sister, you have no idea how much financial pressure the numerous members of the imperial clan would put on the Ming Dynasty in the future."

To put it bluntly, it became a malignant tumor on the Ming Dynasty, constantly sucking its blood.

As Zhu Yuanzhang spoke, he told Empress Ma about the drawbacks he had learned about the imperial clan.

Knowing the various outrageous things the imperial clansmen had done, and the great harm they had brought to the Ming Dynasty.

Because of the regulations imposed by Chongba, the lives of many ordinary Zhu family descendants at the bottom were extremely miserable, and many of them even went back to begging.

Some starved to death, and others were so poor that they couldn't survive, and even secretly weaving straw sandals to sell on the street was not an option.

Some might question whether he intended to emulate Emperor Zhaolie of Han, Liu Bei.

The lives of the direct imperial family members and those of the collateral imperial family members were like two completely different worlds.

Empress Ma became increasingly certain of her family's idea of ​​sending members of the imperial clan overseas.

As things stand, Chongba's method is still the best...

……

"Where are our second and third sons? Didn't you mention them during the suppression of the princes' power and the Jingnan Campaign?"

Empress Ma suddenly looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and asked this question...

(End of this chapter)