King Xiang of the Red Chamber

My name is Zhu Muji. I am the seventeenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and I am the heir apparent.

My grandfather and my father were both emperors, and they were both very capable emperors.

My grandfather had passed away many years ago when I was born, but I have heard about their generation and know about the grudges of my father's generation.

Speaking of my father, even though I have established my own business in the future, I still have great respect for him.

When I was born, I already had three older brothers. At that time, they were not on good terms with each other. I call it that the men of a royal family should take charge of the family early.

As for the other half brothers, they are at the other extreme. They are so honest that they don't look like descendants of the royal family.

I have no interest in fighting for power, but I can’t be called a decent person either.

There are two things I like most. One is to hang out at Tiangong Institute with my fifth brother, but he likes to study various machines, while I like things to be simpler.

I like warships, cannons and muskets, and developing larger tonnage and larger pipes are what I am most interested in.

And I don't just study theory. I will also go to every test launch and sea trial, and even participate in the mission personally.

Every time I went out with my fifth brother, my reckless behavior without avoiding danger caused him to be scolded by our mother many times.

Fortunately, my mother and Empress Lin were as close as one family, and he also cared for me very much, so there was no rift between us because of this.

It was easier to get through this hurdle for my mother, but it was harder to get through that hurdle for my father.

The old man was a reasonable man, so whenever he "took care" of me, my fifth brother was just reprimanded, while I was confined to my home, beaten with a stick in the court, or punished by family rules.

Compared to the beating in court, the old man’s family rules are really scary.

It is said that the old vine in the Qianqing Palace was passed down from my grandfather's generation. I guess my father must have suffered a lot from it, and now he is taking revenge on me.

My second favorite thing is looking at maps. I have studied the mountains, rivers and lakes inside and outside the Ming Dynasty and I am yearning for them.

My father seems to be a know-it-all. Although he has not been to many places, he knows a lot about their customs and geography. I always gain something when I ask him for advice.

I often sighed: it is said that the emperor has the world in his heart, and my father seems to really have the world in his heart, so he can command the army to travel all over the world.

When I was ten years old, the imperial navy had spread across the South China Sea, and the Ming army was also able to sail freely in the East and West Oceans, setting up many strongholds along the way. These were all marked on the map of the Qianqing Palace.

But my focus is on those unmarked places. What I yearn for is not their scenery, but whether they have important garrisons.

In the 20th year of Qiansheng, I turned twelve years old. After persuading the old man for nearly a month, I was able to leave the palace with my fifth brother to inspect the Ningbo Shipyard and Taizhou Firearms Bureau.

At that time, Yingtian, as the Eastern Capital, had grown to a grand scale after years of expansion, and one of our tasks was to inspect and accept the project.

If there are no problems, my father will officially implement the two capitals system next year, and Luoyang will be renamed Xidu and given equal importance to Yingtian.

But I know that in the future, Dongdu will be the most important. After all, this world is too big, and Luoyang is no longer practical.

Of course, it was many years later before I could truly make Dongdu the most respected city, and that was something I had to accomplish personally.

My fifth brother and I went to the southeast, but he was completely unable to control me.

By virtue of my status as the legitimate heir of the royal family, I can go anywhere in the southeast, including the fleets' warships, camp garrisons, and local military camps.

But every time I went to the military camp, it was for "technical" reasons, and I always used Fifth Brother as a cover. His reputation as a "technical geek" was really useful.

It was also through these methods that I established connections with some grassroots generals in the military and learned a lot of real skills from them, things that could not be learned from books.

It was also in Southeast that I met the most important person in my life.

Her surname is Jia, her given name is Xuan, and her nickname is Qiaojie. She is the youngest daughter of the master of the Jia family, two months younger than me.

This was a very unusual girl. She didn't like poetry or makeup and embroidery, but she was very interested in the sea, merchant ships and distant places.

I have been to many places and experienced many people and things, so she was very interested in what I talked about, and after that she often pestered me.

At that time, I only regarded her as a younger sister, but her extraordinary actions still left a deep impression on me.

My fifth brother and I stayed in Yingtian for half a year. During that time, I went to the Jia family several times, and people from the Jia family also came to visit me several times.

Of course, there is also my uncle who comes to visit me every now and then, and brings his daughter every time, but I am not very interested in these cousins.

Perhaps because of the contrast, I think the sister of the Jia family is more interesting, and sometimes I even hope she will come.

She did come often, but one day she told me frankly that she came because someone in her family wanted to get close to me, and she didn't like that feeling.

I was stunned for a moment, and then I laughed.

Because of this incident, I have a deeper impression of the sister of the Jia family.

A few months later, my fifth brother and I returned to the capital. It was the 21st year of Qiansheng when we arrived.

After that, I was still restless and spent every day in Tiangongyuan, witnessing the improvement of each technology and watching these technologies change the world.

In the twenty-third year of Qiansheng, I was already fifteen years old and had reached the age to be crowned king.

I was conferred the title of Prince of Ying, which is the title of a prince, and there are three others in the world today, and they are all my biological brothers.

At the same time, I had reached the age to choose a concubine, and the court inside and outside was already busy with this.

In April of the twenty-third year of Qiansheng's reign, the first round of re-election had passed, and finally ten people were selected to advance to the final second round of re-election.

Among them, there are two people with special identities. One is my cousin, who is also my mother’s niece. Her name is Xue Jinyi.

The other one was the girl who left a deep impression on me. Her name was Jia Xuan.

In fact, my mother didn't pay attention to Jia Xuan until the first round of re-election, simply because she was too busy on weekdays.

After reading the resume of the re-selected concubines, my mother directly ordered the Shangyi Bureau to cancel Jia Xuan's qualification for the re-selection.

When I learned about this, I immediately went to Kunning Palace and lost my temper in front of my mother.

I am the youngest son, so of course she dotes on me the most, so I have the courage to do this.

I asked my mother why this was so, and she said that the Jia family was unvirtuous and unworthy of being in the royal family.

I didn't know much about the feud between my mother and the Jia family, and because of this, my mother kicked me out of Kunning Palace.

So I found Empress Lin, who was much kinder than my mother and loved me very much.

From Empress Lin, I learned about the grudge between my mother and the Jia family, which is indeed a very difficult thing to resolve.

So I asked Madam Lin to help me, but Madam Lin smiled.

I asked Madam Lin why she was laughing, but she told me that she was remembering some old things.

Then Madam Lin asked me whether I had really chosen the girl from the Jia family.

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

She asked me the reason, and actually I couldn't explain it clearly, but I just felt that the girl from the Jia family was different from others, and the key was that she was the one I liked.

Then Empress Lin said that she would ask her mother for mercy so that the girl from the Jia family could continue to run for election.

I have no doubt about her words. Empress Lin is indeed very close to my mother, and my mother generally would not refuse her words.

This time too, the girl from the Jia family was able to continue to run for election, but her three aunts did not say a word about the matter.

Speaking of her three aunts, they formed a very strange combination in her father's harem, so I won't go into details about this.

Of course, she also has an older aunt who practices at the Shanglinyuan Dojo, but I don’t know much about her at this time.

Anyway, in the end, with the help of Lady Lin, Qiaoer was able to enter the second round of selection and was personally received and interviewed by her mother. It was also after the meeting that her mother realized that this girl was very special, which made her look much better and her previous prejudices also dissipated a lot.

In the end, she and my cousin reached the final selection, and one of them would definitely be my princess and the other would be my concubine.

I thought my mother would interfere in the final selection and tell me to choose the Xue sister.

But until the end, she never talked to me about it.

But at that time everyone thought that it would be my cousin who would become the princess, as she was indeed a very virtuous woman.

But on the day of the final selection, I handed Ruyi to Jia Xuan with a nervous heart.

I thought my father and mother would be angry, but when I looked at them, I saw that they were not looking at me at all, but were smiling at each other with deep affection.

In the end, Jia Xuan became my princess consort, and many years later she became the queen who ruled the country.

My life after that was very stable. I was still immersed in technology every day, and I would go to the Qianqing Palace from time to time to express my wonderful ideas to the old man.

It was also during this process that I became involved in the court's military affairs.

Of course, the so-called participation is actually just listening and giving suggestions to the boss in private.

I am not stupid. I will not show off in front of my brothers, nor will I openly get involved in any affairs unless the boss insists on sending me a task.

This opportunity arrived in the 25th year of Qiansheng's reign, because of unrest in the Indian region, the imperial court wanted to appease the local people.

My father meant for the royal family to send someone, and the most suitable candidates are the four of us brothers.

The conditions in India were harsh, and the three brothers were unwilling to go.

For them, there are not many benefits in going there, but the disadvantages are huge.

Leaving the imperial court would be like cutting off one's own arm, but I don't have these concerns.

When I took the initiative to volunteer to help my father solve his problems, my princess was willing to share the joys and sorrows with me and go thousands of miles away with me.

My father was very happy about this and even praised Jia Xuan in public at the family dinner, which seemed to make my sisters-in-law unhappy.

But my mother was not very happy, she really loved me very much.

My trip to India lasted for three years.

In the process, I greatly broadened my horizons and learned how to deal with people from all countries and ethnic groups.

The most important thing is that I can directly participate in military and political affairs. The Nanyang Xingdusi and the Nanyang fleets have basically been under my command directly or indirectly.

In the 28th year of Qiansheng, I returned to Yingtian from India and attended my eldest brother's funeral.

My eldest brother, my father's eldest son, died of illness this year.

My mother was heartbroken, and I was equally sad. My eldest brother really loved me.

At the same time, the fight between the fourth brother and the sixth brother became more and more intense.

As for me, I would stay at home and study, and only discuss military and political affairs with the old man when he needed me.

Perhaps it is because I have been through a lot, seen a lot, and experienced a lot, and my knowledge exceeds that of my two brothers, so my father relies on me more and more.

Two years passed quickly, and it was the 30th year of Qiansheng. In this year, my two brothers had a conflict, and before the 30th anniversary of my father's reign, they were each reprimanded by my father for their scandals.

Three years passed in a blink of an eye, and Empress Yang fell ill and passed away.

Empress Yang was originally a noble concubine, but due to some incidents in the harem, she was demoted to a concubine and remained so until her death.

Although Empress Yang was not favored, her death still made her father depressed, even though he was revered as a god by the world.

I guess he was deeply concerned about matters of life and death.

Afterwards, my father restored Empress Yang's honorable title of Imperial Concubine and rewarded my second brother generously.

Later, his father released Lady Jia San from the cold palace. Qiao'er told him that this was his third aunt, whose maiden name was Tanchun.

I have some understanding of this Empress Jia San, until she made a mistake and was deposed by her mother and sent to the cold palace.

Now that my father has released her, I thought my mother would be angry, but the fact is that she accepted everything calmly and personally issued an imperial decree to renovate the bedroom for Empress Jia San.

Speaking of which, my mother and Lady Jia San are cousins ​​and were close friends when they were young.

I want to clarify here that I have the Second Empress Jia, the Third Empress Jia, and the Fourth Empress Jia, but I don’t have the First Empress Jia.

If I have to explain it clearly, there actually was an Empress Jia, but she was my fourth aunt, although her relationship with my father was also unclear.

Madam Jia did not live with her son. As far as I can remember, she had been practicing Taoism in Shanglinyuan, and living with her was the Buddhist Master Miaoyu.

But I have heard some rumors that my fifteenth brother is not the son of Empress Zhang, and his biological mother may be this Master Miaoyu.

In the thirty-fifth year of Qiansheng's reign, Empress Lin's health began to deteriorate, and I saw fear on my father's face.

From then on, my father's enthusiasm for state affairs and military affairs faded a lot, and he began to assign some tasks to me. I became the de facto crown prince of the empire.

In the first month of the 40th year of Qiansheng's reign, the fourth and sixth brothers were again reprimanded by their father for not being respectful enough when paying homage to grandfather.

In May of the same year, I was named Crown Prince. At that time, I was 32 years old and had seven or eight children.

My eldest brother died early, and the fourth and sixth brothers have a bad reputation. I am actually the only candidate for the crown prince.

After that, my father basically handed over all the government affairs to me. In his words, I became the executive vice emperor.

However, after only five years of waiting, my father completely withdrew from the power game he had participated in for more than 50 years on the grounds of being too old.

On the first day of September in the forty-fifth year of Qiansheng's reign, my father officially abdicated and handed the country over to me.

On the same day forty-five years ago, that is, the first day of September in the twentieth year of Zhengtong, he also ascended the throne as emperor in the Fengtian Hall.

After more than forty years of hard work, he has accomplished great achievements that far exceed those of previous emperors. He is an old man whom I have admired all my life.

The father abdicated and became the emperor, and the mother was honored as the empress dowager.
The two elders did not live in the imperial city, but moved to the Yangzhou Palace, taking all the concubines with them.

According to my mother, my father was tired of the Imperial City, this magnificent and majestic place that had trapped him for more than 40 years.

But I know that my father is old and he always thinks of some things from the past in the palace. Those are very unpleasant memories for him, so he wants to escape from here.

There is no definite answer as to who is right or wrong between my mother and I, and of course he himself is not important.

When his father and others moved to the temporary palace, he, like an ordinary old man, lived a leisurely life in the palace with his mother and the ladies.

As for me, I became the seventeenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty and became the master of the Eastern world in place of my father.

At that time, steam engines, trains, cement, looms...all kinds of new things flourished.

The Ming army has already defeated Russia in the north, ruled the Southeast Asian countries and islands in the south, crossed Persia and Egypt in the west, and is exploring islands and advancing towards the New World in the east...

Even though I have become an emperor, I still remember the oath I made in my childhood.

Wield your sword in India, drink from the Atlantic Ocean, and revive the Han Dynasty!

【Everyone, I recommend the author's new book: "The Dream of Red Mansions Starts from Jinyiwei" to read a different legendary experience. 】

(End of this chapter)