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

Chapter 35 The Demon Queen Launches the Coup of the Gate
Zhu Di had been curious about what had happened in the Ming Dynasty.

Now, as Tianmu recounts the details, he is filled with immense anger.

Zhu Di understood perfectly that, for both Zhu Qiyu and the Ming Dynasty, the best outcome for Zhu Qizhen was to die at the hands of the Oirat Mongols.

"Of course, Zhu Qiyu dreamed of killing Emperor Yingzong of Ming. He even tried five times, including the famous 'Golden Knife Case,' but all five attempts ended in failure!"

"Zhu Qiyu immediately understood. Although Emperor Yingzong was under house arrest and had no power, his mother, Empress Sun, still controlled the entire Ming Dynasty. It was unrealistic to kill Zhu Qizhen under the nose of that wicked empress."

"Therefore, Zhu Qiyu changed his mind. He not only wanted to become emperor himself, but also wanted to cut off the possibility of Zhu Qizhen becoming emperor. Zhu Qiyu wanted to make his own son the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Here's something I need to tell you all: although Zhu Qiyu was the emperor at the time, the crown prince was Zhu Jianshen, who was appointed by Empress Dowager Sun!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di admired Zhu Qiyu even more.

This great-grandson, who came from a poor background and was neither the eldest son nor the legitimate heir, was indeed intelligent.

Clearly, Zhu Qiyu also realized that his throne was relatively secure, and he treated his ministers well.

If anyone still wants Emperor Yingzong to be restored to the throne, there can only be one reason: Emperor Yingzong's son, Zhu Jianshen, is the crown prince.

"Although he wanted to change the crown prince, Zhu Qiyu had no reason to do so, because Zhu Jianshen, like Zhu Qiyu, was installed by Empress Dowager Sun. As an emperor installed by Empress Dowager Sun, it was really not easy for him to directly depose the crown prince installed by Empress Dowager Sun."

"In order to win over the court officials, Zhu Qiyu subtly expressed his thoughts and even went so far as to give gifts to the officials in order to bribe them."

"It's only natural for the emperor to want to make his own son the crown prince. After all, whoever becomes the crown prince will still be a member of the Zhu family, right? In the end, the court officials tacitly approved of this!"

"But just as Zhu Qiyu deposed Zhu Jianshen as crown prince and made his own son Zhu Jianji the crown prince, an unexpected event occurred: Zhu Jianji died the following year!"

"Historical records state that Zhu Jianji died of a cold, but in reality, it was Empress Dowager Sun's doing!"

"This Empress Dowager Sun is no ordinary person; she stirred up a storm in the Ming Dynasty and can be called a demon empress!"

"A demon queen, truly a demon queen!"

"Who exactly is this wicked empress? How dare she plot against the crown prince?"

"We still have no way of verifying who the empress is, but it is clear that this is the result of the Crown Prince's favoritism!"

Hearing about what Empress Sun had done, the ministers present felt angry.

This made Zhu Zhanji's face turn ugly.

I will not allow my beloved to be insulted.

But he dared not say much now, because Zhu Di's expression was also very unpleasant.

Zhu Di never expected things to turn out this way.

Zhu Qiyu originally did not want to be emperor, but he had the chance to experience the emperor's reign over the world. Who would want to step down from the throne?

But this Empress Dowager Sun, driven by selfish motives, insisted on bringing Zhu Qizhen back regardless of the consequences.

Moreover, it seems that Empress Dowager Sun has already taken control of the government.

His surname is Sun!

Zhu Qiyu's mother was not favored, and he couldn't guess who it was.

But Zhu Di immediately knew who this Empress Dowager Sun was.

The eldest son's family only had one daughter surnamed Sun as their support.

Moreover, she and her eldest grandson were childhood sweethearts.

Zhu Di quickly identified his target.

It's a disaster for the country and its people!

Not only did he control the government, but he also fathered such an incompetent son who became emperor.

Zhu Di never imagined that the mighty Ming Dynasty would be defeated by a woman.

He never wanted to keep this woman in the first place, and now that's made him even more determined.

"The Ming Dynasty was indeed the most outrageous dynasty in China's five thousand years of history. Not only were there many strange things that could not be explained, but many emperors also died inexplicably."

"After Zhu Jianji's death, Zhu Qiyu had no more children. In the eighth year of the Jingtai reign, he suddenly fell ill, and even the imperial physicians were helpless!" "The emperor's serious illness and lack of children cast a dark cloud over the Ming Dynasty, which had just begun to recover. Calls within the court to reinstate Zhu Jianshen as crown prince began to grow louder!"

"For the sake of the Ming Dynasty, Yu Qian agreed to reinstate Zhu Jianshen as crown prince, but before Zhu Jianshen could become crown prince, Zhu Qizhen instead became emperor!"

"Just as I thought, alas!" Zhu Di sighed helplessly.

He had actually already guessed it.

Zhu Qizhen's restoration was inevitable.

But when all of this happened, he felt somewhat sad.

If only the fourth prince hadn't brought Zhu Qizhen back. No matter how cunning the empress was, without her son, she would have had little chance of causing any trouble.

"In the eighth year of the Jingtai reign, Marquis Shi Heng of Wuqing, Vice Censor-in-Chief Xu Youzhen, Commander Zhang Yi, and eunuch Cao Jixiang began to plot to reinstate Emperor Yingzong of Ming, who was locked up in the Southern Palace."

"At 3:45 AM on the seventeenth day of the first month, Shi Heng led more than a thousand elite troops of the Beijing Garrison to assemble at Chang'an Gate, then seized control of Donghua Gate, and then stormed into the Southern Palace, prostrating himself before Zhu Qizhen and shouting: 'Your Majesty, please ascend the throne again!'"

"The legendary Coup of the Gate has taken place. With Xu Youzhen's loud shout, he announced that Zhu Qizhen, after eight years of forbearance, had finally re-ascended the throne as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, changing the era name to Tianshun, meaning to follow the will of Heaven!"

"Zhu Qiyu, who was already seriously ill, had no ability to resist and could only watch as Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne again. Within half a month, Zhu Qiyu was secretly given a death sentence, and the eighth year of the Jingtai reign ended!"

"The wind swept up snowflakes and extinguished the lanterns outside the palace, just like the last embers of the Jingtai reign."

When Zhu Zhanji first met Zhu Qiyu, he said: "This boy is weak and lacks backbone, and is not fit for important tasks."

"After his death, only eight words remained in history: 'In the eighth year of the Jingtai reign, the country was peaceful and the people were prosperous.'"

These eight weighty characters encapsulate Zhu Qiyu's life.

Although he only served for eight years, these eight words also acknowledge his achievements.

He turned the tide when the Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse.

The court officials were outraged; such a good emperor had ended up like this.

It's such a pity.

In fact, they could all see that Zhu Qiyu had an inherent weakness.

This weakness lies in the legitimacy of the throne, or in other words, the legality of the throne.

Especially in the ancestral precepts of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty, the eldest son of the legitimate wife was chosen, not the virtuous and capable.

At this moment, many people turned their attention to Zhu Gaoshuo.

In terms of background, Prince Qi and Zhu Qiyu were remarkably similar.

The difference is that Prince Qi had the ability to eventually ascend the throne.

The three Yangs looked at each other in bewilderment.

They all understood that if the Ming Dynasty wanted to get out of its predicament, it should appoint virtuous officials rather than legitimate sons.

They directly appointed Prince Qi, Zhu Gaoshuo, to the throne.

Yet none of the civil and military officials dared to mention it.

After a long silence, Zhu Di finally calmed down and asked, "Fourth Prince, why do you think Zhu Qizhen, with only a little over a thousand men, was able to re-ascend the throne?"

"Where was Yu Qian? Why didn't he stop it? Didn't he know that Zhu Qizhen was utterly incompetent to be emperor?"

In Zhu Di's heart, Yu Qian should have been thinking about the future of the Ming Dynasty.

How could they allow Zhu Qizhen to be restored to the throne?

Zhu Gaoshuo did not answer immediately.

In his view, there were many reasons for this coup.

With the support of Empress Dowager Sun and the continued control of the government by those powerful ministers loyal to the old dynasty, the government remained firmly in control.

After a moment's thought, Zhu Gaoshuo slowly said, "Father, Yu Qian commands a large army. Since he didn't stop us, it means he's prepared to die!"

(End of this chapter)