Zhu Di: My fourth son is a great emperor of all time?

Chapter 25 History Regresses, Military Generals Take Power!
"With an army of 500,000 pressing in, most of the tribes on the grasslands retreated, having no ability to resist. The Ming army won one victory after another, and after a year, Zhu Gaochi finally reached Langjuxu Mountain."

"Fenglangjuxu! The greatest honor for a military general, and Zhu Gaochi became the second emperor in history to achieve this."

"Zhu Gaochi, imitating his father, the Yongle Emperor, rode his warhorse alone to the summit of a high mountain and shouted at the top of his lungs: 'Father, do you see? I, as emperor, will only do better than you!'"

I.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Di was speechless.

Unable to contain himself any longer, he immediately sent someone to fetch the second son, eager to vent his anger.

Fenglangjuxu.

Four weighty words.

But wars are never fought for the sake of conquering the enemy.

Instead, the goal was to quell the unrest in northern China.

He has already reached the Onon River, which proves that the Mongols on the steppe have retreated.

Even if they come back.

They still harbored fear of the Ming Dynasty and dared not invade the border.

Under such circumstances, mobilizing an army of 500,000 and taking a full year to reach the Onon River would be unsustainable for the Ming Dynasty's finances.

Zhu Di wanted to go out and find a weaker tribe to have some fun with, but the leaders all made excuses, saying they had no money.

How dare the second brother!

The most outrageous thing is that the second child didn't realize the seriousness of the problem at all.

They were still smug and self-satisfied.

Instead, he believed that his achievement of sealing the wolf's lair and residing in the Xu state would be remembered for eternity.

"You bastard, there's no one left on the grasslands, what's the use of sealing off the wolf's lair!"

"The Onon River was clearly not enough for Zhu Gaochi. He wanted to go to a more distant place, but food was obviously the biggest problem. At first, the third son, who was in charge of the country, could provide food continuously, but recently it has become less and less, and the soldiers have begun to complain."

"In fact, Zhu Zhantan, the regent at the time, had no choice. The national treasury was really empty, and he had already imposed mandatory tax increases on various regions, causing great suffering to the people."

"Zhu Gaoxu just didn't understand one thing: no matter how much he conquered the Xiongnu, how much he expanded his territory, or how much he squandered his wealth, it was always the common people who ultimately paid the price for him."

"This principle is not something that Zhu Gaochi understood, not even his father Zhu Di quite grasped."

"."

Zhu Di immediately swallowed back the curse that was about to come out of his mouth.

Unexpectedly, Po Tianmu also cursed him.

Zhu Di was naturally unconvinced.
"What will future generations know? I want to ensure that the northern border of the Ming Dynasty will be peaceful forever. This is an unparalleled achievement!"

"The regent Zhu Zhantan said that there was really no food left, and ordered Zhu Gaoxu to withdraw his troops back to the capital!"

"The triumphant return to the capital enraged Zhu Gaochi, who immediately wanted to use his second son, Zhu Zhanqi, to depose his third son, Zhu Gaochi, from his position as regent."

"But when Zhu Zhanqi returned to the capital, he was immediately beheaded by Zhu Zhantan. It was at that moment that Zhu Gaoxu realized that his third son had rebelled."

"How could Zhu Zhantan possibly give up his position as regent? At that time, some ministers advised that Emperor Zhu Gaoxu had lost the support of the people and that if he rebelled, the people of the world would surely respond. In the end, Zhu Zhantan still decided to rebel."

"Upon learning the news, Zhu Gaochi was furious and led an army of 500,000 to attack the capital. However, unexpectedly, Zhu Zhantan struck first, and at the same time, various tribes of the grasslands united to attack Zhu Gaochi's army from both sides. Mutiny began to break out in the army, and the situation became extremely dire."

Zhu Di deeply regretted his actions, realizing how foolish he had been.

How could anyone possibly have the idea of ​​passing the throne to the second son?

Fortunately, they weren't in the imperial court, and Zhu Di only had the old killer Yang Shiqi by his side; otherwise, he would have been too ashamed to face anyone.

The eldest grandson is stupid, but I never expected the second grandson to be even stupider.

The fact that the second son could get the Mongols to send troops clearly means he had to pay a price.

Zhu Di immediately thought of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun that he had finally managed to reclaim during the Hongwu era.

Zhu Di felt there was no need to hear what happened next; given the situation, his second son was doomed.

But the outcome was beyond Zhu Di's expectations. ["Just when everyone thought Zhu Gaochi was doomed, he led his army south, winning every battle, and finally captured the capital."]

???

"I really underestimated this brat."

Zhu Di was very surprised. If his second son could turn the tide in this situation, there was only one possibility: these hundreds of thousands of soldiers were completely under his command and were united in their hatred of the enemy.

Even Zhu Di had to praise the military leadership of Prince Han, Zhu Gaoxu.

I don't understand how he did it.

"After the fall of the capital, Zhu Zhantan chose to flee to the south and establish the Southern Ming regime. He only wanted to retreat to the south and be emperor in peace, hoping that the grassland coalition and Zhu Gaochi would fight to the death."

However, Zhu Zhantan's own father, Zhu Gaoxu, was the first to attack the Southern Ming dynasty that Zhu Zhantan had established.

"In three years, Zhu Gaochi not only stopped the northern grassland tribes from rushing into the Great Wall, but also recovered the south and personally killed his third son, Zhu Zhantan, who had betrayed him!"

"No matter how strong the second son's leadership is, he can't manage without food. How did he manage to do it?"

Zhu Di looked at Yang Shiqi and asked in confusion.

Yang Shiqi obviously didn't know either.

It's really weird.

Zhu Di clearly remembered that Tianmu had just said that the people of the Ming Dynasty were suffering unbearably and had no surplus food.

That's why the people rebelled.

But how did the second son suddenly have surplus grain to fight, and he seemed to be very wealthy?

Could it be that they've discovered some new crop?
It can lead to high grain yields.

He had heard that such crops did exist on the other side of the world.

Zhu Di couldn't think of any other possibility.

But he also knew very well that the second son obviously did not have that ability.

He's just a crude and uncouth brute.

Zhu Di suddenly stood up excitedly.

"Could it be that the fourth brother is back?"

Zhu Di could not think of any other possibilities.

That's the only way.

The fourth brother brought back high-yield grains from the other side of the sea, and then helped the second brother turn the tide of the battle.

Zhu Di's joy was short-lived; the subsequent words from the heavens enraged him completely.

Even Yang Shiqi, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but blurt it out.

"The reason why Zhu Gaoxu's army was so fierce was mainly because he demoted all civil officials to staff and advocated establishing the country through military force."

"As long as you can fight and win battles, you can be ennobled and appointed as a prime minister!"

"As a result, the morale of the military officers soared, and they all wanted to go into battle and win victories, leading to the forced conscription of civilians into soldiers and the abandonment of land in various places."

"The military generals all felt the benefits of military power, and some even bluntly said: 'Is the emperor born with a special destiny? It is whoever has the strongest army and the most powerful horses who will become emperor!'"

"Anyone can be emperor as long as there is an army."

"Zhu Gaoxu gradually realized that something was wrong, but he was no longer able to change it."

"What is needed most in war is food, but the Ming Dynasty was already short of food. Military generals never carried military rations when they went to war, and the imperial court did not have military rations either, but the soldiers ate meat every night."

"When future generations open the history books, they will find only two words written on them: cannibalism!"

(End of this chapter)