Di Ming

Chapter 471 Four Hundred and Eighty Temples of the Southern Dynasty, the fate of King Wu hangs in the balance!

Corpse Nightmare!

It turns out that Empress Lü was buried in the underground palace of the Great Bao'en Temple. Her coffin was poured with molten iron and nails several feet long were driven into it, which was extremely malicious.

This is an ancient Chinese curse technique, the purpose of which is to fix the fate of an enemy, ensuring that their descendants can never rise again.

Zhu Yin himself was a descendant of Empress Lü, even though many generations had passed!
The cause of Empress Lü's death and the location of her tomb remain a mystery in Ming history. The fact that the cause of her death and the place of her burial, after she had served as Empress Dowager for four years, is enough to suggest that her death was not natural and that her afterlife was far from peaceful.

Otherwise, the location of the tomb of someone who has been an empress dowager cannot be determined.
There are many theories about the death of Empress Lü. Some say she committed suicide by burning herself with Emperor Jianwen, others say she starved herself to death after being imprisoned, still others say she was tortured and killed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and still others say she died while on the run, etc.

Later, what appears to be the remains of Empress Lü were discovered in Nanjing. The bones had multiple wounds, consistent with an attack by multiple people using various weapons. There were arrow wounds, knife wounds, and hammer wounds, but it remains uncertain whether these are indeed the remains of Empress Lü.

There is also a skeleton suspected to be that of Empress Lü, but it is headless. According to records, a skull was once discovered in Beijing, leading some to speculate that it was Empress Lü's head. According to this rumor, the body was separated from the body, with the head in Nanjing and brought to Beijing to be used for divination.

There are also many folk tales and stories.

It is said that someone discovered the ghost of Empress Lü, covered in blood, at night in a temple in Yuhuatai. This implies that Empress Lü was secretly buried in a temple in Yuhuatai.

It is also said that he was buried at Xuefeng Temple in Fujian.

Some say that after Empress Lü was buried, her body was left to rot in the wilderness, or her bones were crushed and scattered.

There is also a rumor that Empress Lü was secretly buried for ten years before being reburied. This rumor has a very specific timeframe: ten years.

With such a specific timeframe, the rumor doesn't seem like a pure rumor.

Among these rumors, two are related to temples: one is a temple in Yuhuatai, Nanjing, and the other is Xuefeng Temple in Fujian.

The official account states that Empress Lü and Crown Prince Yiwen were buried together in the Crown Prince's Tomb near the Xiaoling Mausoleum. However, this claim was contradicted by numerous counter-evidence at the time, and people did not believe it, let alone later generations. Later investigations of Crown Prince Yiwen's Eastern Mausoleum also yielded no evidence of Empress Lü's joint burial, proving that they were not buried together.

The official history books of the Yongle reign were indeed lying. No wonder people across the land didn't believe them and made all sorts of guesses.

Now that the secret of the Great Bao'en Temple has been exposed, it has actually verified a claim in unofficial history: the deceased was buried in a temple in Yuhuatai, Nanjing!
The Great Bao'en Temple is one of the three temples in Yuhuatai.

If we delve deeper, those who spread the rumor that Empress Lü was buried in "a certain temple in Yuhuatai" must have known which temple it was, because Yuhuatai is not a large area, with only three temples in total.

However, the man dared not explicitly say it was the Great Bao'en Temple, but only vaguely referred to it as "a certain temple in Yuhuatai".

This person was likely a monk from the Great Bao'en Temple, and probably knew the truth. Out of a guilty conscience, he deliberately spread this rumor, using the pretext of "encountering a ghost." He said the ghost was "covered in blood," implying that Empress Lü had been murdered.

Combining the information Fan Yi'an found out, it all makes sense.

This explains why some unofficial histories claim that Empress Lü was reburied ten years after her initial burial. This so-called reburial must have occurred; otherwise, where would the rumor of a reburial come from, and why would the timing be so specific?

Where should the reburial take place?

A temple in Yuhuatai, the Great Bao'en Temple!

When was the Great Bao'en Temple built? In the tenth year of the Yongle reign. Exactly ten years after Empress Lü's death and burial.

Everything matched up; the rumors corroborated each other, creating a closed loop.

This is the truth: Empress Lü was ordered to be killed by Zhu Di and was first secretly buried somewhere. Ten years later, when the Great Bao'en Temple was being built, her body was exhumed and "buried" there.

This so-called burial was nominally a funeral, but in reality, it was a pagoda used to suppress Empress Lü's spirit and curse the Jianwen lineage, ensuring that the fourth branch of the family would hold the throne for generations, while the eldest branch would never be able to rise again and would never have the chance to make a comeback.

Given Zhu Laosi's personality and behavior, it's normal and not surprising that he would do such a thing.

It's not just because he's vicious and ruthless, but also because... he believes in this.

Zhu Laosi firmly believed in such superstitious tricks as bewitching and curses. He kept a large group of sorcerers around him, many of whom had names, such as Yuan Gong, Hu Ying, Yuan Zhongche, Deng Sixian, and Halima. The black-robed prime minister Yao Guangxiao was the leader of this group of sorcerers.

Zhu Laosi not only used sorcery and witchcraft to deal with his political enemies, but he also habitually used these tricks against enemy troops, and he used them in battle as well.

A Korean envoy once recorded: "The Yan army burned paper figures in front of the battle lines, and at midnight, they heard ghosts crying."

He also used a small golden coffin containing Jianwen's birth date and time to cast a spell in the Western Xia script to curse Emperor Jianwen, "to be forever imprisoned in the underworld and never be able to be reborn."

He also cursed the Mongols, using the urns containing the ashes of the Mongol Khan and Emperor Zhaozong of Yuan to perform a curse and suppress the Mongol fortune.

He also secretly cursed the princes, cursed the vassal states, and vowed that the vassal states would never be able to threaten the throne of the fourth branch of the imperial family.

When attacking Annam, he ordered the burial of iron dolls at the southern gate of Mingzhen, with the birth date and time of the Annamite king inscribed on them. When the Annamite king and other prisoners of war were captured, their hair was buried under the stone steps of the Imperial Ancestral Temple to curse the fate of Annam.

When Timur launched his eastern expedition against the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Laosi also used witchcraft to curse Timur, ordering Zhang Tianshi, Tibetan lamas, and Mongolian shamans to perform a ritual to curse Timur to a violent death.

Regarding Zhu Biao, Zhu Di once personally wrote a eulogy: "My elder brother is like a father to me; his kindness and righteousness will be remembered forever."

Unfortunately, that wasn't what he truly felt.

According to unofficial historical records, Zhu Di secretly buried iron nails in the spirit path of the tomb of Crown Prince Yiwen to sever the dragon vein of his elder brother's lineage.

There are even unofficial historical records stating: "Black dog blood was poured on the tomb door, cursing it to be forever condemned to the underworld." A Korean record states: "The King of Yan sent a foreign monk to curse the tomb of Crown Prince Yiwen."

This is what is meant by "the eldest brother is like a father, and his kindness will be remembered forever."

If she treats her elder brother this way, will she show any mercy to her nephew Jianwen with his curse?
During the Yongle reign, the original archives of the Jianwen reign were extensively destroyed, the Veritable Records of the Jianwen reign were burned, the Veritable Records of the Taizu Emperor were altered, and the records of Empress Lü were deleted.

Dong Yong, a censor and father-in-law of Yu Qian, was executed simply for mentioning the three words "Empress Lü" in his memorial to the throne.

They refused to acknowledge Jianwen's mother as Empress Dowager, and according to etiquette, she could only be addressed as "the successor consort of Crown Prince Yiwen".

This person's insidious methods are no less than those of that self-proclaimed "perfect old man" of the Qing Dynasty.

The purpose, or at least one of the purposes, of Zhu Di's construction of the Great Bao'en Temple might have been to use a spell on Empress Lü. And at that time, the person in charge of the Great Bao'en Temple was the monk Daoyan, Yao Guangxiao!

To suppress the Jianwen Emperor's faction, Zhu Di ordered monks to perform rituals regularly, both for suppression and to pray for the deceased's soul. After Zhu Di's death, this ritual system at the Great Bao'en Temple was maintained for generations, but it remained a top secret, known only to a select few.

Upon hearing Zhu Yin say, "Zhu Di, I will exhume your body, whip your corpse, and scatter your ashes," Ning Caiwei quickly replied:
"Little tiger, don't be angry, don't act impulsively because of this."

Zhu Yin's tone was cold: "A gentleman's revenge can be taken ten generations later! He has already successfully usurped the throne, yet he doesn't even spare a woman—his sister-in-law! Not only did he not give her any dignity, but he also killed her and then used a Buddhist pagoda to suppress her! Can't we avenge Wu Zixu?"

Ning Caiwei frowned and said, "Although a gentleman's revenge can last for ten generations, the fourth branch of the family has, after all, sat on the throne for two hundred years. That's a historical fact. If you were to follow Wu Zixu's example and excavate Changling, open the coffin, and whip the corpse, would the laws of the Ming Dynasty still exist? What a huge political impact that would have!"

"From Yongle to Taichang, wasn't that part of the Ming Dynasty? Can you deny it? If it was the Ming Dynasty, can we completely deny Yongle's achievements? He only had sins, no merits?"

"If these two hundred years weren't the Ming Dynasty, then what period of history does this belong to? A puppet dynasty? A puppet Ming Dynasty?"

"You supported Changluo in Nanjing, and just because Changluo had a righteous cause, several southern provinces immediately submitted. If it weren't for Changluo's status, do you think it would have been so easy? That you could have pacified the region with a mere proclamation?" She knew, in truth, that the little tiger was just speaking in anger. This man was even more rational than she was; how could he truly defy the world?
Zhu Yin's gaze softened considerably, and he couldn't help but sigh softly.

How could he possibly do it?
Ning Caiwei held his hand, stroking his fingers, her voice as gentle as a spring breeze:
"Little Tiger, Zhu Di had so many descendants, and countless scholars benefited from the favors of the fourth branch of the family. Even many common people supported the Yongle Emperor. If you really do it, the entire ideology of the Ming Dynasty will be fractured, leading to endless troubles..."

“Little Tiger, I know you’re just saying this out of anger, and you wouldn’t be so extreme. Zhu Di has been dead for so many years, it’s not worth getting angry at a dead man and disregarding the laws of the Ming Dynasty.”

“Criticizing Zhu Di is necessary, of course it should be done, but not now. In addition, the criticism of Zhu Di should be done in moderation and not excessively. I think there is a premise for criticizing Zhu Di in the future: it cannot negate the history of the past two hundred years, it cannot overturn the legal principles of the Ming Dynasty over the past two hundred years, and it cannot negate the imperial throne of his lineage.”

"Of course, the throne of Zhu Di's lineage must be recognized. If you don't, where is your legal basis? You can't exactly tell the world that you inherited the throne from Emperor Jianwen across two hundred years, can you? How can that be convincing?"

Zhu Yin smiled bitterly, "I was just saying that in anger. I know I can't do it, and it's precisely because I know that I'm so angry. It's clearly a deep-seated hatred, yet I have to hold my nose and acknowledge his throne! Isn't that frustrating? It's so frustrating."

"Zhu Di, you've won, you've won! I can reclaim the throne, but I can't avenge the grudge of ten generations. Your imperial title is still indestructible."

"Even history acknowledges your achievements, so what can I do?"

"I admit, you did a good job, you brought honor to the Ming Dynasty, you're a real man, but your descendants... are no good!"

Zhu Yin's tone was somewhat bleak.

“Caiwei, you don’t know how much suffering our Zhu family ancestors endured in Southeast Asia. We were massacred many times, by Westerners, by Japanese, and by natives… Our history in Southeast Asia is a history of blood and tears. Only the secret family history passed down through generations stubbornly records where we came from, and we maintain the bloodline of the Han Chinese through the ancestral precept of never intermarrying with other races… But in later generations, there are very few of us descendants of Jianwen.”

"Hatred is truly more unforgettable than love. Even the deepest love will vanish after a few hundred years. But hatred can linger on endlessly for hundreds of years."

Ning Caiwei grasped Zhu Yin's hand. "I know this is a curse-like obsession, a memory of hatred that lingers even longer. But you must also know, what about the imperial family members who remained on the mainland? Even the fourth branch of Zhu Di's family—what became of them?"

"How did it go?" Zhu Yin's expression froze. "Their fate wasn't good either. They were raised like pigs, with no freedom. In the end, most of the lower-ranking members of the imperial family were impoverished and destitute. Towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, they were killed by Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and the Manchus. The descendants of Zhu Di suffered the most, almost facing extermination."

“Yes!” Ning Caiwei laughed. “Since the descendants of the fourth branch also met a tragic end, almost being wiped out, is it perhaps preordained? The greater the cause sown, the greater the consequence borne.”

"Little Tiger, the original history has already severely punished Zhu Di's lineage. In the current history, you abruptly interrupted Zhu Di's two-hundred-year imperial reign and succeeded in the Jingnan Rebellion again. That in itself is the greatest punishment. Do you need even harsher retribution?"

“I’m not being a saint. I just think that the eldest and fourth branches, no matter how you look at it, are family feuds, essentially a power struggle within the royal family. You’ve always put the public interest first, so there’s no need to let this centuries-old hatred affect the stability of the dynasty and the country. What do you say?”

"You're right!" Zhu Yin finally felt relieved. "Being able to reclaim the throne of the eldest branch is the greatest revenge in itself, the cruelest revenge!"

"Emperor Jianwen himself could not hold onto the throne, made one foolish move after another, and was defeated by Zhu Di. He himself was also responsible for this."

"We shouldn't delve too deeply into historical events; there has to be a limit."

Ning Caiwei smiled and said, "Then let's not worry about the Nightmare Suppression for now. It would be difficult to clean up the mess if word got out."

Zhu Yin nodded: "Alright. I will order the matter of the Nightmare Suppression to be sealed off and the news to be kept secret for now. We will find another opportunity later to bury Empress Lü and Crown Prince Yiwen together and let their souls return to the Eastern Mausoleum."

"Right now, with lightning speed, taking advantage of the exposure of the crimes of the Great Bao'en Temple, issue the 'Edict to Investigate Buddhist Temples'!"

Zhu Yin was ultimately a rational person who prioritized the bigger picture, and he stopped dwelling on the matter of the Nightmare Suppression.

"And the Jesuits too, this time we'll settle the score as well!" Zhu Yin said in a chilling tone. "Historically, the reason the Jesuits were able to successfully spread their religion was because of the scoundrels in Buddhism. They bribed monks and officials, and lobbied the court to peddle their religious ideas of spiritual colonization."

"Right now, foreigners are organizing an expeditionary force to invade the Ming Dynasty in Goa, and the Jesuits are their intelligence network. The Great Bao'en Temple's collusion with the Jesuits is tantamount to colluding with the Crusaders who are preparing to invade the Ming Dynasty. What is this? This is collusion with foreign powers and a conspiracy to rebel!"

"If the Great Bao'en Temple is doing this, what about other temples? Are they also involved? It's hard to say!"

Zhu Yin's words were obviously an attempt to label someone. At most, the Great Bao'en Temple had only taken money from the Jesuits and acted on their behalf; it had absolutely nothing to do with treason. Other temples were even more unjustly accused. But now, to eradicate Buddhism, a serious accusation was needed.

Colluding with foreign powers and plotting rebellion are very suitable accusations, perfect for suppressing Buddhism.

They also wiped out the Jesuits.

Kill two birds with one stone!
"Little Tiger, you still want to take back Haojing?" Ning Caiwei understood. "You want to wipe out the foreigners' strongholds in the Ming Dynasty?"

"It's time," Zhu Yin sneered. "Haojing is essentially a colony, and it won't be reclaimed until four hundred years later. If we don't take action now, are we going to let them live out their lives?"

Ning Caiwei smiled and said, "The colonists have occupied Haojing for decades and have accumulated a lot of industries on the island. It's just right to take it back as a commercial port for the Ming Dynasty."

Based on this report, the two decided on two major tasks: to suppress Buddhism and to reclaim Haojing.

Before long, Fan Yi'an's second report arrived.

This time, Fan Yi'an forcefully interrogated the monks and uncovered the collusion between the Great Bao'en Temple and other temples. However, Fan Yi'an made special notes about much of the content.

The marked areas indicate that this content is fabricated "evidence" by Fan Yi'an, and is baseless.

"Little Tiger, your disciple is truly clever!" Ning Caiwei couldn't help but praise. "He knows how to handle things! He's just throwing himself at us when we're sleepy. And look, the charge of implicating others has come to us!"

Zhu Yin smiled and said, "Fan Yi'an, Luo Yan, Li Xuancheng and others are indeed very outstanding, and are excellent intelligence talents."

He patted the two reports and said, "It seems that the Southern Dynasty will not be able to have a peaceful New Year. So be it."

Zhu Yin immediately issued a secret order to Fan Yi'an, instructing him to cover up the matter of Empress Lü's coffin and the sorcery. He then continued to investigate the "crimes" of collusion between the temple and other temples under the Great Bao'en Temple.

Then, Zhu Yin issued a series of secret orders, commanding the Tiger Fang, Nanjing Police Station, and Zhu Party officials in various places to immediately investigate the major temples in their respective areas!

Furthermore, the Jinghai Army and the Imperial Guards of Beijing were ordered to assist in imposing martial law!
Immediately afterwards, Zhu Yin went to the Wenyuan Pavilion without holding a court assembly or consulting with his ministers, and then suddenly issued two imperial edicts.

One of them was the "Imperial Edict to Investigate Buddhist Temples Throughout the Land".

One of them was the "Imperial Edict to Ban Foreign Religions and Reclaim Haojing".

Both edicts included the publication of evidence of the crimes committed by the Great Bao'en Temple, the most serious of which was that it was colluding with foreign powers and plotting a rebellion!

The confessions of the monks of the Great Bao'en Temple also implicated many other temples.

The king decreed: "Do not let a guilty monk go unpunished, nor wrong an innocent nun."

Before the court and the public could even examine the veracity of the crimes committed by temples such as the Great Bao'en Temple, a massive order to suppress Buddhism was issued like a storm.

Countless powerful and wealthy monks and nobles were caught off guard and met with utter destruction!
Following the reigns of Emperors Wu and Zongzhi, the fifth large-scale persecution of Buddhism in history began without any warning.

Four hundred and eighty temples in the Southern Dynasties, their survival or destruction hinged on the single thought of the King of Wu!

……

P.S.: That's all for now, thanks. Still out. Goodnight! Requesting some monthly votes, double before the 7th!
(End of this chapter)