Sky Curtain: The Overlord Charges into Battle, Shocking Emperors of All Dynasties

On the celestial canopy, the figures of Zhu Youjian and Wang Chengen were still swaying, and the ancient people before them were somewhat dazed.

"Do not harm a single civilian!"

Zhu Youjian, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, died for his country.

Is this the final chapter of the Ming Dynasty, the end of the Zhu Ming imperial family?

No wonder they used to say that the emperor guards the nation's gates and the monarch dies for the state.

So he really did die for his country!

Hongwu,

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes followed Zhu Youjian's swaying body, and his eyes became slightly moist.

"Good child, why cover your face with your hair? Come out and see us openly and honestly, we won't blame you!!"

Zhu Yuanzhang never imagined that his dynasty could last for ten thousand generations. His previous difficulty in accepting this was simply because the Qing dynasty, a foreign dynasty, was succeeded by the Ming dynasty.

He even thanked Zhu Youjian for ensuring that the Ming Dynasty died with dignity, unlike some dynasties in history that were captured by foreign tribes and were even able to live peacefully.

Not everyone can disregard life and death; actively seeking death requires immense courage.

Not to mention he was an emperor.

Zhu Youjian's death shows that he was merely incompetent, not evil.

He could be called an incompetent ruler, but he was certainly not a foolish one.

His methods of governing the country may have been flawed, but his attitude was flawless.

Just like Lu Xiufu of the Southern Song Dynasty,

That jump covered up all the mistakes of his first half of life.

Zhu Youjian died a heroic and spirited death, which brought Zhu Yuanzhang only comfort and even a touch of heartache for the boy.

"Wang Chengen is at least a loyal servant!!"

Even though Zhu Yuanzhang always felt that eunuchs, being rootless creatures, were mostly bad people,

Now he had to admit that there were still loyal eunuchs, even more loyal than some civil officials.

"What exactly did the ministers do during the Chongzhen era that made our descendants say things like 'all the ministers misled me'?!"

After feeling sorry for Zhu Youjian, Zhu Yuanzhang began to criticize the court officials from the Chongzhen era.

According to the records, there were many capable ministers during the Chongzhen era, so why did they all end up like this?

Song Dynasty

Zhao Kuangyin stared blankly at Zhu Youjian's figure.

He had conquered many countries and captured many emperors, but without exception, all of these emperors surrendered, and none of them died as heroically as Zhu Youjian.

He thought of his Great Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty was ultimately destroyed by foreign invaders. One wonders if later Song emperors possessed the same backbone as Zhu Youjian (Emperor Taizong of Song) and preserved a final vestige of dignity for the dynasty.

Zhao Kuangyin slapped his forehead in frustration.

How could he have forgotten one thing?

None of his descendants became emperors!

After that, the Song Dynasty throne always went to the second brother's lineage, and had nothing to do with him anymore.

Although both dynasties were replaced by foreign powers, after Zhu Youjian (the Hongwu Emperor), no one can say that the Ming Dynasty lacked backbone; at least it died a heroic death.

Moreover, there were peasant uprisings internally, invasions from the Later Jin dynasty externally, constant natural disasters above, and earth-shattering events below.

All of this is too much for anyone to handle!

Blame the Great Shun Dynasty. They had already entered Beijing, yet they still couldn't defeat the Qing Dynasty. What were their troops doing?

What were these people doing after they entered Beijing?!

Should they emulate their idol Huang Chao and massacre Beijing?

To understand why Zhu Youjian would say that all his ministers were ministers who would bring about the downfall of the country, one must first understand the efforts he made during those seventeen years.

Zhu Youjian never imagined he could become emperor, and he never received any imperial education. He was taught how to behave entirely by his civil service tutors, and he actually did just that.

His elder brother, Zhu Youxiao, had no children, and his dying words, "My brother should be like Yao and Shun," haunted Zhu Youjian for the rest of his life.

However, Zhu Youjian was not a genius like Zhu Houcong. During his seventeen-year reign, he did not indulge in wine and women, nor did he indulge in pleasure. He worked through the night every day to govern the country and lived a frugal life. It can be said that Zhu Youjian was the most diligent and frugal emperor in the entire Ming Dynasty, except for Zhu Yuanzhang.

In his view, the court was rife with factional strife, civil and military officials were shirking their responsibilities, and no one offered a suitable national policy when the capital was in crisis.

When the capital was in crisis, Zhu Youjian called on all officials to donate silver to help with the military defense and to reward the troops. His words were earnest and almost pleading. As a result, most officials claimed to be poor and avoided the issue. Only a few hundred people took the initiative to donate silver, and most of them donated tens or hundreds of taels. However, some nobles and eunuchs donated tens of thousands of taels.

"Actually, that's a lot!"

Li Shimin stroked his chin, thinking about the silver in his national treasury. Most of the silver in his treasury was copper coins, and silver, a precious metal, was usually used for rewards.

"They actually managed to raise 200,000 taels in the end?"

"Did the Ming Dynasty really have so much silver? Was silver the currency used in daily life during the Ming Dynasty?"

Li Shimin had some doubts. These civil officials must be hiding their wealth. How could they possibly hand over all their assets? He estimated that they might keep a third or half of it.

It should be noted that the Ming Dynasty already knew about Huang Chao's situation. Did these civil officials really think that Li Zicheng would treat them well after he captured the capital?

They'll definitely settle scores later!

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang scolded him with exasperation:

"Still listening to these heartless pleas? Grab a knife and chop them down!!!"

"We don't believe the entire capital only has two hundred thousand taels!"

"Those nobles, who share the fate of the nation, what's the point of keeping all that money when the country is in trouble?"

"They all deserve to die!!!"

Zhu Yuanzhang vehemently criticized the court officials of the late Ming Dynasty, wishing he could personally go back to the late Ming Dynasty and behead all these treacherous traitors!

However, this is how Zhu Youjian saw himself. In the eyes of the ministers at the time and later generations, Zhu Youjian's abilities were indeed somewhat lacking. Diligence and frugality were his only two virtues, the other being his willingness to sacrifice himself for his country.

[Zhu Youjian was stubborn, suspicious, and impatient for quick success. In seventeen years, he replaced more than fifty Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet. His policies were inconsistent and his orders were changed frequently. He lacked any decisiveness, dared not take responsibility, and only knew how to pass the buck. Most importantly, he was bad at judging people. He only favored civil officials who were full of empty talk, while officials who did practical work were marginalized. He did not reward those who made contributions, but punished those who made mistakes.]

Zhu Youjian had many character flaws. On the eve of his suicide, he said, "I am not a ruler who will bring about the downfall of the country, but all my ministers are ministers who will bring about the downfall of the country." Admittedly, there were many hypocrites in the court, but the civil and military officials of the late Ming Dynasty were no less capable and principled than those of the Three Kingdoms period. However, Zhu Youjian never truly trusted or appointed them.

But can we really blame him? He was always educated like a prince, receiving orthodox Confucian teachings. He trusted his teachers, the Donglin Party members, completely after registering and followed their advice without question, but in the end, things only became more chaotic.

No one told Zhu Youjian how to be a good emperor. In the end, Zhu Youjian was forced into becoming the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but by then the Ming Dynasty was riddled with problems and beyond saving.

There's a saying about the late Ming Dynasty: even if Zhu Yuanzhang were to travel back in time to the late Ming Dynasty, he would be at a loss facing Zhu Youjian's situation and would have no choice but to overthrow the entire empire and start all over again himself.

Was the situation at the end of the Ming Dynasty really that difficult?

Many emperors who considered their own lives extremely difficult realized, upon putting themselves in Zhu Youjian's shoes, that the late Ming Dynasty under his rule was indeed quite challenging.

Moreover, Zhu Youjian could at best be considered an average person and could not be regarded as a wise ruler.

It's already incredibly difficult to have endured seventeen years of hardship!