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

Chapter 62 The second brother didn't rebel, but the eldest brother did!

The second son, Zhu Gaoxu, commanded the foreign army, while the third son, Zhu Gaosui, led the Embroidered Uniform Guard to uncover all the secrets that these ministers had concealed, causing widespread panic among the civil and military officials.

There was no way around it; everyone in the Ming Dynasty at that time knew that Prince Han and Prince Zhao were hotheads, or in short, brainless. When they got angry, they were capable of not only killing people, but also killing themselves.

Who wouldn't be afraid?

Many people are even afraid to go out, and some are even considering resigning from their posts to take responsibility!
Finally, Zhu Gaoshuo stepped forward and promised that everyone would not hold it against him. There were no more voices in the court opposing the relocation of the capital, and they expressed their support for Zhu Gaoshuo's regency.

"happy!!!"

Zhu Di couldn't help but suddenly exclaim in praise.

This was exactly what he wanted.

Unexpectedly, those two good-for-nothings, the second and third brothers, actually turned out to be quite useful when it mattered.

Since they already have a good reputation, they're not afraid of being criticized anymore.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di felt somewhat ashamed.

He used to say the same thing, killing anyone he didn't like. Now that he's been emperor for so long, he's become timid and hesitant.

Zhu Di could only think about it now; it would be inappropriate to actually threaten the ministers in the court in this way.

The second brother killed them, so he killed them too.

But if the emperor were to take action, not only would he be branded a tyrant by historians, but it would also have no effect whatsoever.

"However, the fourth brother's trick of using the second and third brothers to get things done actually works!"

Zhu Di thought to himself, "If I ever encounter anything unpleasant in the future, I'll just send my second and third sons to handle it."
"Wait a minute. Why would these two little brats help the fourth brother?!"

Zhu Di was somewhat puzzled.

what happened.

The second and third brothers were actually willing to help the fourth brother?

Zhu Di knew his own sons well. He knew very well that his second and third sons were not like that. Would they be so kind as to help his fourth son?
It's good enough that they don't rebel.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di became somewhat worried.

If we're talking about the most unlucky person in the Yongle era, it's not Zhu Yunwen, who was deposed, nor Fang Xiaoru, whose entire clan was exterminated, but rather Zhu Gaoxu, the Prince of Han.

The other two were courting death, but Zhu Gaochi was different. From a young age, he was tricked by Zhu Di into serving him, and as a result, Zhu Di never intended for him to become emperor!

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu no longer felt the impulsiveness and anger he had shown before.

There was an eldest brother before, and now there's a fourth brother.

Becoming emperor was basically impossible for him.

Zhu Gaoxu had actually lost his previous obsession.

On the contrary, Zhu Di felt very embarrassed.

It makes it seem like he's the one who wronged the second brother.

Although Zhu Gaoxu was deceived by Zhu Di his whole life, another Zhu Laosi promised to fulfill his wish to become emperor. He promised to give Zhu Gaoxu a fiefdom so that he could become emperor. Of course, the fiefdom would not be in the Ming Dynasty, but overseas. Zhu Gaoshuo promised to let Zhu Gaoxu enter the ancestral temple as emperor.

Zhu Gaoxu was very happy, as it fulfilled his lifelong wish. He agreed and promised never to rebel again, and to help Zhu Gaoshuo govern the Ming Dynasty well.

Not only Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Gaosui also agreed!

Become an emperor overseas?
Zhu Di never expected that his fourth son would use such a method to win over his second and third sons.

He had already guessed that Zhu Gaoshuo must have promised him benefits.

Otherwise, how could the second and third sons have been so obedient? He just didn't expect that the fourth son would actually make them emperors.

Where are the eldest son and his eldest grandson?
Why not mention these two people?

Zhu Di was somewhat curious, wondering if his eldest son didn't want to be emperor and instead wanted to stay in the Ming Dynasty?
In the seventeenth year of the Yongle reign, after three years of regency, Zhu Gaoshuo had gradually established a firm foothold in the court, and many officials who were originally under the Crown Prince's command were willing to switch their allegiance to Prince Qi.

In addition, Zhu Gaoshuo handled the affairs of the new capital very well, building the massive Forbidden City in just three years, and the troops in various places had also been rotated, which meant that the relocation of the capital could be completed at any time.

Everyone thought that moving the capital would definitely lead to the collapse of the Ming Dynasty's economy and make the people suffer. However, in just three years, Prince Qi invested a total of 50 million taels of silver to build the Forbidden City. The national treasury not only did not run out of money, but it also became richer. After deducting the annual expenses, it even had an extra 10 million taels of silver.

People have to admit that Prince Qi, Zhu Gaoshuo's, ability to amass wealth is terrifying!

"This is our fourth brother, let's see who dares to disagree!"

"Hahahaha!"

Zhu Di couldn't help but laugh as he looked at his ministers who were exchanging bewildered glances.

The fourth brother actually did it.

Think back to when the eldest son was regent, he was stingy with even a few hundred thousand taels of silver, and he was reluctant to spend money on war.

Now the fourth prince is regent, and he has more silver than he can spend.

Hahaha.

Zhu Di was already fantasizing about what place he would attack after conquering the Japanese islands.

He was also curious about how the fourth brother managed to earn so much money.

When did money become so easy to earn?

Xia Yuanji was a little embarrassed, his face turned red, and he wished he could find a place to crawl into.

He hadn't expected that Prince Qi would be so powerful.

Thinking back to how he desperately tried to stop Prince Qi from overseeing the country, it seemed like he was doing it for the sake of the people and the Ming Dynasty, but in the end, he almost delayed the development of the Ming Dynasty.

Don't be fooled by the fact that our ancestors seemed to make money easily back then; in reality, they were taking enormous risks because their tax policies extended far beyond just the common people.

Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui protected their ancestor Zhu Gaoshuo very well, thwarting countless assassination attempts.

Our ancestors proposed a system where officials and gentry had to pay taxes together, requiring officials and landlords to also pay taxes. This abolished the tax exemption privileges of officials and landlords, abolished the poll tax, and began to implement a land tax.

In addition to the original taxes, an additional 3.5 li of land tax will be levied per mu!
"Not only that, Zhu Gaoshuo also vigorously promoted commercial taxes, requiring merchants to pay taxes, severely punishing gentry for tax evasion, and dispatching the Embroidered Uniform Guard to monitor them! At this point, the function of the Embroidered Uniform Guard underwent a major change."

Clearly, such a policy immediately sparked widespread discontent among both the government and the public.

These words caused everyone present to fall silent.

Zhu Di never expected that his fourth son would go to such lengths to solve the financial problems.

How dare you?

The courtiers were clearly extremely dissatisfied.

Zhu Di never imagined implementing such a tax policy.

Even the Yongle Emperor, who dared to rebel, did not dare to commit the great disrespect of the world and offend all the gentry and powerful families.

The only distinctive feature of the Ming Dynasty was the supremacy of military power. From Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang to Emperor Yongle Zhu Di, they firmly held military power in their hands. This is also why the ancestor Zhu Gaoshuo was able to complete the reforms.

In just two years, the reform had silenced both the government and the public, foreshadowing its success.

The reason is simple: although they seemed to have paid taxes, they actually had more and more silver in their hands. Zhu Gaoshuo won people's hearts because of this, and most of the officials even recognized only Prince Qi and did not know the emperor!
Under these circumstances, many people have come forward to propose deposing the crown prince, which foreshadowed Zhu Gaochi's later rebellion!

(End of this chapter)