Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Following this court assembly, discussions about the abdication system spread to a wider audience.

Even the Empress in the inner palace was quite concerned about this:
"Your Majesty is so young, why are you talking about abdication now?"

"If you're tired of government affairs, just take a break."

Upon hearing these words, Zhu Youjian patted the Empress's hand and shook his head, saying:

"Everyone in the world can rest, but I alone cannot be idle."

"Power hates a vacuum; if I retire, someone else will take my place."

"During the Wanli era, my grandfather defied the court officials and refused to attend court."

"But instead of gaining power, they lost control of the world."

"I must learn from this lesson and cannot let my guard down for even a moment."

"We can only set holidays and take a break from our busy schedules."

He glanced at his sleeping son again and sighed:
“My son is sleeping comfortably now, but it will be difficult when he grows up.”

"I hope he can shoulder this responsibility and take over the reins of the nation."

Her eyes were full of hope, expecting her son to be able to help her when he grew up.

His life's achievements ultimately need someone to carry on the legacy, and the most suitable candidate is the Crown Prince.

If the crown prince performs well and upholds the rites and music he established, his historical reputation will rise, making him no less than that of the ancient sage rulers.

If one does not do well, or even makes reckless changes after one's death like Jianwen Jun, one's achievements will be greatly diminished, just as the achievements of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu were diminished because of their successors.

Therefore, he preferred to meditate while he was alive, to see the true nature of his successor.

If the heir is not qualified, then find another candidate.

This was also what Empress Zhou was worried about.

While abdication could allow the crown prince to ascend the throne earlier, it also brought the risk of being forced to abdicate.

She didn't want her son to suffer these things; she just wanted him to inherit the throne peacefully.

She said to the emperor:

"His Majesty has too high expectations for his son."

"Moreover, Your Majesty is so wise, I worry that my son will, as Your Majesty said, revert to the level of an average person in terms of intelligence."

"The people are used to a wise ruler like Your Majesty. How can they accept an emperor of mediocre appearance?"

This is indeed a problem, Zhu Youjian comforted her:

"rest assured!"

"I will leave a complete system of etiquette for my son; he only needs to follow it."

"What I'm really worried about is that he's too eager for quick results and will blindly trust civil officials like Emperor Jianwen."

"Those people are all talk and no action; they can't accomplish anything."

"Moreover, it will disappoint noble generals, who will not fight with all their might when things happen."

"We must learn from the lesson of Emperor Jianwen!"

"He is a counterexample to all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty!"

Empress Zhou had also read history books and knew that although the current emperor had restored the sacrificial rites for Jianwen and his ministers, he actually looked down on them.

Knowing that the current emperor was wholeheartedly studying the teachings of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu, she decided to read more books on these subjects. She hoped this would prevent her son from acting recklessly like Emperor Jianwen and being overthrown by the vassal kings.

If it really came to that, she would rather join forces with ministers to force her son to abdicate, so that the throne could be passed down to her descendants.

After figuring this out, Empress Zhou was no longer so opposed to the abdication system, and even thought it was a good system because it strengthened the power of the Empress Dowager.

But thinking that the Empress Dowager would have to unite with the ministers to force the Emperor to abdicate, she said worriedly:
"Our dynasty does not have a system of ruling from behind a screen, and I have always been unaware of outside affairs while in the inner palace."

"What if all the ministers say that the emperor should abdicate?"

Zhu Youjian discussed this issue with his ministers, and he said: "Forcing the emperor to abdicate by his subjects is akin to treason."

"Moreover, if the ruler makes a mistake, the ministers should also bear responsibility for failing to fulfill their duty of assisting and advising him."

"Therefore, the system that I and my ministers have initially discussed is that the Grand Secretary will also leave office when the Emperor abdicates, and he, as a semi-ruler, will share the responsibility with the monarch."

"The new emperor must be over fifteen years old and able to rule directly. The new emperor will select the new chief minister from among the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet."

"At the same time, at least half of the cabinet ministers who forced the emperor to abdicate must be replaced within three years, and they must bear the corresponding responsibility."

"The Nine Ministers and other ministers will also be reshuffled, and the Parliament and the Council of Nobles will also be replaced to ensure that the new emperor can quickly seize power."

These are all measures to prevent the emergence of powerful ministers. Although they are not very sophisticated, there is time to improve them.

Zhu Youjian hoped to perfect the abdication system through practice in vassal states, which is why he mentioned this system so early on.

You can't just cram at the last minute and suddenly start talking about inner Zen when you're old.

Empress Zhou felt much less worried after hearing that the Emperor had considered everything so thoroughly.

The thought that the emperor's implementation of the enfeoffment system might lead to future vassal kings who were more powerful than the former Prince of Yan made her worry:

"That being said, being forced into internal meditation is never a good thing."

"If any vassal states feel that the court is weak and develop unwarranted disloyal intentions, then there will be another great upheaval."

This was something Zhu Youjian hadn't anticipated; he didn't believe that the vassal states had any power to threaten the court.

However, given the precedent of Emperor Chengzu's success in pacifying the country with only 800 soldiers, he could not guarantee that no vassal kings would harbor ambitions.

Therefore, he could only say:
"I will thoroughly review the neighboring vassal states while I am still alive."

"Make sure that none of their directly controlled fiefdoms surpass the strength of Dongning Island."

"As long as the Crown Prince firmly controls Dongning Island before ascending the throne, he will be no weaker than anyone else."

They intend to further strengthen their control over Dongning Island, aiming to gain the strength to contain Southeast Asia.

However, Empress Zhou was worried about the north, especially about Prince Fu, who wanted to establish a domain in Japan, which was the first neighboring domain.

If her lineage and that of the emperor were to die out, the most likely successor would be a descendant of the Prince of Fu.

Therefore, she was determined to restrict Prince Fu, and said to the emperor:

"Your Majesty, Dongning Island can control the South Seas, but it also needs to control the territories of the North Seas."

"I believe that we should also choose an island in the north and give it to the future grandson of the emperor."

Zhu Youjian had the same idea.

However, unlike Dongning Island, which guards the shipping routes to the South Seas, there are no such islands in the north.

Therefore, the fiefdom of the Crown Prince has never been determined and is still vacant.

At this point, when asked by the Empress, he pointed to several islands to the east, still undecided.

The Empress then said:
"If one island isn't enough, just seal off a few more."

"Anyway, we haven't been granted fiefdoms yet, so it wasn't taken from the vassal kings."

This immediately inspired Zhu Youjian, who pointed to Jeju Island and Tsushima Island and said:

"The most important shipping route in the north should be the Korea Strait."

"If we control Jeju Island and Tsushima Island, we can control this place."

"I have made my decision. These islands will be given to the Crown Prince, and all the people on the islands will be relocated."

“In the future, soldiers will be transferred from the Imperial Guard to the islands to cultivate the land.”

"This matter will be handled by Chen Renxi. Let him also participate in the strategy against Japan."

Chen Renxi was given a task, and at the same time, his strength as the Eastern Palace Guard under his command was also assessed.

If he is not up to the task, then replace him as soon as possible and cultivate capable military officers for the Crown Prince. (End of Chapter)