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

Chapter 67: Deep-seated hostility towards Japanese pirates

"The tide has turned!"

Zhu Gaochi sighed helplessly. From an outsider's perspective, he could see very clearly that there was no chance he could win against Zhu Gaoshuo anymore.

The other side has already taken control of the entire court.

Zhu Di was eagerly anticipating the campaign against the Japanese islands and wanted to go there personally.

Suppressing his inner joy, Zhu Di looked at the honest-looking Zhu Gaochi.

The power that the fourth prince had amassed in the Heavenly Curtain was so great that even Zhu Di felt despair; he, as the eldest prince, had no other options.

Zhu Di felt sorry for Zhu Gaochi.

The eldest brother's health was already very poor.

As a result, they had to go to great lengths to help Zhu Zhanji fight for the throne, and the opponent was almost an invincible force.

For the first time, Zhu Di felt such a strong dislike for his eldest grandson.

In other words, the person who promised the three generations of the Holy Sun family has now been killed by him.

Otherwise, Zhu Di would definitely have executed his entire family.

It was supposed to bring prosperity to three generations, but in reality, it only brought prosperity to three generations.

[In fact, Zhu Gaochi had considered giving up, but Zhu Zhanji's pleas gave him renewed courage.]

In reality, Zhu Zhanji's ambition for the throne was no less than Zhu Gaochi's.

Zhu Zhanji was a wise and virtuous grandson. As Zhu Di's eldest grandson, he inherited a more special status.

It is said that Zhu Di dreamt of his father, Zhu Yuanzhang, giving him a jade tablet symbolizing power, accompanied by an omen foretelling "a grandson whose lineage will prosper forever." He firmly believed that Zhu Zhanji was a lucky star.

Even before Zhu Di seized the throne, he had already considered Zhu Zhanji as his future successor.

As Zhu Zhanji grew older, his insecurity regarding his succession intensified. Although his grandfather, Zhu Di, loved him, Zhu Zhanji knew that his position would be unstable if he relied on his father due to the power struggles between his father and uncles, especially with his second and third uncles eyeing the throne, and later, a fourth uncle appearing!

In truth, Zhu Zhanji harbored deep resentment, especially towards his uncles, whom he greatly disliked. Therefore, Zhu Zhanji also deeply desired the throne!

Zhu Di turned away, unwilling to look at Zhu Gaochi and his son, even though the future events had not yet occurred, but were only appearing through the sky.

But he had already seen the suffering his eldest son's family was going through.

Perhaps at this moment, what they really hoped for was that the emperor would change his mind.

But clearly, Zhu Di had realized that only Zhu Gaoshuo was capable of leading the Ming Dynasty into a true golden age.

Moreover, he was not worried that Zhu Gaoshuo would be as disregardful of family ties as the second and third sons. He could tell from the fact that the eldest son had lived so long that even if Zhu Gaochi lost his position as crown prince and emperor, they would not die.

Zhu Di believed that Zhu Gaoshuo would make proper arrangements.

Left with no other choice, Zhu Gaochi had to seek help from Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui. After all, the three brothers shared the same mother and were direct descendants. Did they really want to see the illegitimate Zhu Gaoshuo ascend the throne?

At first, Zhu Gaoxu was absolutely unwilling, but in the end, he confessed that Zhu Gaoshuo had promised to make him emperor.

The Prince of Han also wanted to take the Crown Prince with him overseas, but was refused.

Finally, at Zhu Gaochi's pleading, the three brothers reached an agreement to remove Zhu Gaoshuo from his position as regent.

[The three have been fighting since childhood, and now they're supposed to be cooperating!] "The three have actually reconciled because of the fourth prince?"

Zhu Di smiled with satisfaction.

If the family had been harmonious from the beginning, so many problems wouldn't have arisen.

Previously, the three brothers in the Sky Curtain basically ended up killing each other.

It's good that we can cooperate well now.

Zhu Di was somewhat expectant, wondering how the fourth son would handle things after the three brothers cooperated!
"Why are you two brothers going back on your word? Is our alliance so fragile?" Zhu Gaoshuo chuckled.

Zhu Gaosui didn't know how to answer, so he quickly looked at the second son.

Zhu Gaoxu's eyes darted around, and he immediately came up with an excuse: "Fourth brother, look at how pitiful the eldest brother looks. How can I, as his younger brother, not feel sorry for him!"

Zhu Di was not surprised at all.

Given their tendency to stir up trouble, how could they possibly back down quietly? They definitely still want to vie for the throne.

After all, the eldest brother and the fourth brother were fighting each other at the time, so this was the best opportunity.

The advent of the new firearms greatly enhanced Zhu Gaoshuo's prestige within the army, signifying the imminent departure of the Ming army to attack the Japanese islands. Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui both planned to accompany him to the islands to earn merit. However, at this time, news arrived from Zhu Gaochi's spies in the palace that the emperor intended to appoint Zhu Gaoshuo as crown prince after the conquest of the islands.

At that moment, Zhu Gaochi became extremely anxious. If Zhu Di had said he wanted to depose him as crown prince, this crown prince would not have cared, after all, his opponents at the time were the extremely unreliable Princes of Han and Zhao.

Now, however, it is the very powerful Prince Qi, and Zhu Gaochi is anxious.

"Has this day finally come?"

Zhu Di was also conflicted. He dared not think about how he would explain to his deceased wife when he said he really wanted to depose his eldest son from the position of crown prince.

Zhu Gaochi knew very well that Zhu Gaoshuo absolutely could not be allowed to attack the Japanese islands; the power of those weapons was too astonishing, and the Ming army would surely win if it went to war!

[Actually, it wasn't just because of Zhu Gaoshuo. Crown Prince Zhu Gaoshuo was a benevolent ruler highly praised by scholars, and he didn't want to see war. Therefore, he summoned many people in the court to stop this!]

Since the Japanese islands are at sea, it is impossible to take them down easily. Therefore, when the military was planning its strategy, it was prepared to fight a difficult and protracted war.

This means that sufficient supplies must be prepared. If this battle is to be won, the cost of warships alone will likely be tens of millions. Although the Ming Dynasty's treasury is relatively wealthy, such a expenditure of funds is clearly unsustainable.

At first, Zhu Gaochi wasn't very confident in opposing the war, but surprisingly, he received a lot of support from his ministers, who all believed that the Japanese islands didn't necessarily need to be attacked, since they posed no threat whatsoever.

[Not only that, even Xia Yuanji, a neutral minister who greatly admired Prince Qi, Zhu Gaoshuo, sided with Zhu Gaochi, advising him to reconsider. Even if there were gold mines on the Japanese islands, blindly plunging the country into war would drag down even the most powerful dynasty.]

However, just as Zhu Gaochi was overjoyed, thinking he had succeeded...

[Zhu Gaoshuo suddenly produced a large sum of money, declaring that the Japanese islands must be attacked no matter what!]

Everyone is probably curious about where this money came from. It's actually quite simple: it's the silver that Zhu Gaoshuo earned during his time as regent.

This was originally a huge sum of money that no one knew about, but Zhu Gaoshuo took it out to fight the Japanese islands.

To this day, no one understands why our ancestors were so determined to wipe out these Japanese pirates who were living a miserable life!

[It seemed that the hostility towards the Japanese pirates was innate, flowing in their blood.]

(End of this chapter)