Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 211 Killing your own brother, aren't you afraid the maid will strangle you in the middle of the night?!

Zhu Youjian found his power growing, but he remained relatively restrained. This was partly due to self-discipline, and partly to save face for his subjects and prevent them from panicking, rebelling, or uniting against the emperor.

He couldn't just order someone to die, but it wasn't far off; he could always find a suitable reason to kill someone. For example, Qian Qianyi was framed by him, though he himself was also largely responsible, as Zhu Youjian didn't force him to accept bribes.

Four corruption cases were handled in just over two years, with only the ringleaders being punished and no one else implicated.

The first to be dealt with was Li Chunye, the assistant commander of the Beijing Garrison. After he was taken down, the emperor ordered the Duke of Yingguo to begin reorganizing the Beijing Garrison.
The second unfortunate victim was Xu Xianchun, the Vice Commander of the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. As a result, the emperor replaced the commander of the Northern Garrison with his own men, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard went from being their pet dogs to becoming the emperor's sword once again. Although this sword was still rusty and not very sharp, at least the emperor was now holding the hilt.

The third unfortunate man was Cui Wensheng, the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner. He was killed because he was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, daring to block even the emperor's grain route. He deserved to die.

But the execution of Qian Qianyi was completely baffling to everyone. What could possibly be so important about a mere Junior Chamberlain of the Crown Prince's Palace that warranted the Emperor going to such lengths to kill him?! Could it be... the Crown Prince?!

So the Minister of Rites brought up the old matter again, asking the emperor to name the eldest prince in order to test the emperor's opinion. In the Ming Dynasty, princes were usually named after 100 days, and now the prince was already a year old and still had no name. Coupled with the empress's lack of children, it was inevitable that people would have all sorts of speculations, and it was possible that another struggle for the succession would occur.

Emperors either died young or had no heirs. Each change of dynasty was a major purge. No one knew if they could survive the purge. Everyone lived in fear, and it was difficult to even protect themselves. How could they have the mind to do anything?
In contrast, the current emperor neither purged the old guard nor excluded newcomers. Although he did dismiss several veteran officials, he still managed to save them some dignity. The saying goes, comparisons are inevitable; they felt the current emperor had been quite lenient, even though he occasionally acted erratically, it was still better than a stroke.

Zhu Youjian knew they'd fallen back into their bad habit of betting, but as long as his health remained stable, he wouldn't allow the princes to have too much contact with ministers before they turned sixteen. Trying to brainwash the crown prince?! He wouldn't give them the chance!
“According to the rules of generational names and radicals, let’s name the eldest son Zhu Ciyan,” Zhu Youjian replied.

"焱?!" The Shuowen Jiezi (a Chinese dictionary) defines "焱" as "fire sparks." "Fire sparks" refers to sparks. It is composed of three fire radicals, and all characters related to "焱" follow this principle. Lai Zongdao racked his brains but couldn't figure out anything special about the character; his attempt had failed!
It seems that the emperor is unwilling to decide on the heir apparent too early, which is understandable. Generally, when the emperor has no worries about having an heir and is in good health, he will not rush to establish a crown prince.

Moreover, the empress only did not give birth to a son, not that she was childless, which is a very big difference. After all, there were too many monsters and demons in the Ming Dynasty, and it was not uncommon for the empress not to have children. At this time, the ministers would usually advise the emperor to give the empress an adopted son.

The conflict over the crown prince hadn't yet materialized, so the emperor and his ministers only had a brief discussion. Zhu Youjian's ascension to the throne was hasty, and many loose ends remained unresolved, such as the construction of the imperial mausoleum; the Ministry of Works was again requesting funds from the emperor!
Minister of Works Xue Fengxiang is currently building a city in Liaonan, but the two vice ministers are no pushovers either. With the minister away, they can take advantage of the situation to do some underhanded things, including winning over subordinates, making money, and setting traps for their superiors.

Zhu Youjian stated that he was currently in the prime of his life and had no rush to dig his own tomb. However, most of the ministers sided with the Ministry of Works, arguing that it was an ancient custom for a new emperor to ascend the throne and choose a site for his imperial mausoleum. They warned him not to be arrogant, as life is unpredictable and one never knows when one might die. Zhu Youjian felt this was inauspicious, so he decided to play it cool. "In recent years, natural disasters and man-made calamities have occurred one after another, causing immense suffering to the people. I am deeply grieved by this, and tears often soak my clothes. Currently, the national treasury is already strained just to support the army and provide disaster relief; how can I possibly build my own mausoleum with peace of mind?"

I have heard that the sage advocated simple burials. I am of shallow virtue and meager achievements, and dare not go against the sage's way. For my mausoleum, I will first survey a site with good feng shui, and there is no need to start construction on the burial chamber.

"After I pass away, all that is needed is a simple coffin and a shallow pit for burial. As for funerary objects, use earthenware if possible, rather than porcelain; as for gold, silver, jewels, and silks, leave them to the living," Zhu Youjian said earnestly.

This time, Zhu Youjian didn't act. He genuinely didn't think there was any point in building such a luxurious tomb after his death. He might even be dug up and humiliated because it "looks like a dog from afar."

This was a violent clash of ideas from different eras. The ministers were stunned by the emperor's words. After confirming that the emperor was not joking, many ministers burst into tears on the spot. It turned out that they had all misunderstood the emperor. They were extremely fortunate to have such a wise ruler!

Only the two vice ministers of the Ministry of Works were as upset as if they had eaten a rat dropping. A huge budget, the income for more than ten or even several decades, was cut by the emperor. Moreover, they had kindly suggested that the emperor build a mausoleum, but they were made the bad guys. The other ministers glared at them angrily!

Sigh, day after day, Zhu Youjian was also exhausted. As the saying goes, "If the ruler is upright, the ministers will be upright." Zhu Youjian didn't know how much effect his example would have, and he might even be mercilessly ridiculed. He could only hope that the Ming Dynasty would gradually improve under his influence, but would the world really improve?!
Qian Qianyi became a pitiful figure, but Zheng Zhilong was the real victim, having been betrayed after giving money. Although everyone consciously ignored Zheng Zhilong's problems, from beginning to end, from the emperor to the ministers, no one truly considered Zheng Zhilong one of their own.

Under pressure from the court, Zheng Zhilong eventually wrote a letter of apology, and the two sides maintained a semblance of peace for the time being. Zhu Youjian did consider truly incorporating Zheng Zhilong into his ranks, but in the end, he felt that Zheng Zhilong was shameless and completely unreliable, and he would not agree to it until he had brought him down.

Zhu Youjian also heard that Zheng Zhilong's prestige had been greatly damaged after he surrendered, and dozens of large ships defected that very night. However, the defector's leader leaked the news and was ambushed by Zheng Zhilong in advance. The two sides fought each other and ended in a complete victory for Zheng Zhilong. The defector's leader was punished with the most cruel punishment among pirates, "drowning through tendons."

The two leaders were actually Yang Liu and Yang Qi, two of the "Eighteen Zhi", who were Zheng Zhilong's two sworn brothers. They were truly brothers in harmony!

Zhu Youjian knew it was the two of them because Zheng Zhilong had tortured someone to death and then cut off their head to claim a reward! Zhu Youjian admitted that this guy was ruthless; wasn't he afraid of being strangled by a maid in his sleep?!
(End of this chapter)