Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 165 Zhu Qiyu

In the first month of the eighth year of the Jingtai reign of the Ming Dynasty, the farce of the coup d'état came to an end.

When the retired Emperor Zhu Qizhen was full of ambition and restored the throne.

His Majesty Taizu, His Majesty Taizong, His Majesty Renzong and His Majesty Xuanzong descended from the sky and stopped this farce from happening.

The main reason why Zhu Qizhen was able to successfully restore the throne, besides the fact that Zhu Qiyu was seriously ill and had no children, was the legal principle!

He was the eldest son and had legitimacy, so his restoration would be recognized by everyone.

But no matter how great your legitimacy is, is it greater than that of Zhu Yuanzhang?
In the Ming Dynasty, his words were legitimate, and whoever he wanted to inherit the throne could inherit the throne.

At most, others will give you some advice.

If Zhu Yuanzhang in history knew what Zhu Yunwen did later, Liu Sanwu would probably not be able to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang no matter how hard he tried, and might even bring him death.

Not to mention Zhu Yuanzhang.

Even if it was Zhu Di, Zhu Gaochi, or even Zhu Zhanji, whose legal principles and orthodoxy were not ten thousand times stronger than yours, Zhu Qizhen?
How did you, Zhu Qizhen, get the throne? Don’t you have any idea?
So in terms of orthodoxy and legal principles, when Zhu Yuanzhang and his men came, they just deposed Zhu Qizhen, and then he lost all his support.

None of the officials dared to stand up to defend Zhu Qizhen, even his supporters remained silent.

Ok.

There is no sound physically.

Old Zhu killed them all.

Regarding the treatment of Zhu Qizhen, Zhu ordered the chief minister of the cabinet, Chen Xun, to draft an imperial edict.

He was accused of "corrupting social order, changing the old system, and trusting treacherous people. He was unfilial, unfraternal, unkind, and unjust. His evil deeds were known to the world and angered both gods and men!"

Depose the emperor!

Confine Fengyang!

No killing.

Old Zhu did not kill the descendants of the Zhu family.

Qi returns to Qi.

But that's his character.

He was cold and ruthless towards outsiders, but indulgent and partial to the Zhu royal family.

Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang banished Empress Dowager Sun to the cold palace.

He also asked young Zhu Di to go to the Hongxi Dynasty and bring over Zhu Zhanji and his wife, who had just turned 27.

In the afternoon, Zhu Qiyu woke up.

He heard about Zhu Qizhen's restoration in the morning. Historical records say that he only responded with a few "OK, OK, OK" and then fell down and fainted.

But in fact, historical records certainly cannot record his words.

Because Zhu Qiyu was in a state of chaos at that time, he scolded everyone including Zhu Qizhen, Shi Heng and others.

But he also knew that the situation was hopeless, and soon fainted from anger.

As a result, when Zhu Qiyu woke up, he felt that his life was hopeless and he would soon face death in prison or be killed by his brother.

Zhu Qiyu's trusted eunuch, the Imperial Household Supervisor Wang Cheng, came in hastily and shouted in ecstasy: "Your Majesty, happy news, happy news."

"What other happy event could there be?"

Emperor Jingtai lay on the bed, his face pale, staring at the bed curtains with lifeless eyes. He felt that he didn't have much time left, and said weakly.

Wang Cheng came to his bedside, knelt on the ground, put his hands on the bedside and said to Zhu Qiyu: "The emperor has been deposed again."

"Who is it? The Queen Mother or Yu Qian?"

Zhu Qiyu sat up in shock from his dying illness and looked at Wang Cheng in surprise, as if all his previous illness had disappeared.

"Forehead"

Wang Cheng hesitated for a moment.

Zhu Qiyu frowned and asked, "Could it be that they supported my nephew?"

It's not impossible.

He actually understood that he didn't have much time left.

Since his only son Zhu Jianji died young and there was no successor, it might have been much better to pass the throne to his nephew Zhu Jianshen.

It’s better than his brother coming back.

But Wang Cheng smiled bitterly and said, "It is His Majesty Taizu, His Majesty Taizong, His Majesty Renzong, and His Majesty Xuanzong who have returned."

'Um? '

Zhu Qiyu showed a puzzled expression on his face, and then said: "I am not dead yet, why are you talking nonsense first?"

Wang Cheng knew that he didn't believe it, so he leaned over the bed and pointed outside, saying, "It's true, Your Majesty. Your Majesty Taizu and his men are in the Fengtian Palace right now. Even the Queen Mother has been deposed by Your Majesty Taizu."

"Cough cough cough."

Zhu Qiyu started coughing violently, and his pale face seemed to have a hint of blood.

Wang Cheng hurried forward to help him hold up his upper body, patted his back to calm down, and said, "Your Majesty, you didn't see how majestic His Majesty Taizu is. A single word can attract thousands of troops. When I came out, the emperor was being beaten by Taizu and his men."

"Ha ha ha ha."

Zhu Qiyu laughed and said, "It's retribution, it's retribution. If you are not deceiving me, then help me up. I want to see His Majesty Taizu."

"I really didn't lie to your Majesty, it's just your health."

Wang Cheng was a little worried.

At the beginning of the first lunar month, Zhu Qiyu suddenly became seriously ill. The imperial physician was helpless and almost announced that he did not have much time left.

Shi Heng and others also felt that Zhu Qiyu was doomed to die, so they launched the coup d'état.

However, historical records show that Zhu Qiyu's condition was slightly better in the past few days, and he even recovered for some time afterwards.

Zhu Qizhen then sent people to strangle him to death, creating the illusion that he had died suddenly.

Although Zhu Qiyu is not completely recovered yet, his condition is actually slightly better than before when he was almost dying of illness.

He waved his hands and said, "It's okay, I'm not going to die yet, take me there."

"Then the servant will ask the royal horse guard to prepare the carriage."

Wang Cheng walked out backwards.

Zhu Qiyu looked at his departing figure, with excitement, fear and hesitation in his eyes.

The exciting thing is that if that were true, maybe he could even become emperor.

What he was afraid of was that if Wang Cheng's words were just lies to comfort him, then he would be afraid.
After a while, Wang Cheng called in a few young eunuchs and helped Zhu Qiyu out of the bedroom.

The carriage slowly passed through the palace square and arrived at the rear hall of the Fengtian Hall.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was dealing with follow-up matters.

He appeased all officials, investigated and punished the group that seized the palace, and ordered the guards outside to perform their duties and guard the palace well.

At this moment, a young eunuch came hurriedly and reported to him: "Your Majesty Taizu, His Majesty Jingtai has arrived."

"Zhu Qiyu? Let him come over."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly.

To be honest, Zhu Qiyu is good enough.

At that critical moment, he was able to turn the tide and prevent the Ming Dynasty from being lost.

Otherwise, if the Oirat Mongols had marched straight to Beijing and the Ming capital had been breached, his Ming Dynasty would have been destroyed in less than a hundred years.

So from Zhu Yuanzhang's point of view, there was nothing wrong with Zhu Qiyu.

"Cough cough cough."

Zhu Qiyu was supported and came in from the halls on both sides.

He looked up and saw a few faces on the steps of the hall that looked familiar yet strange to him.

When Zhu Zhanji died, Zhu Qiyu was only seven years old. He had never seen his grandfather, let alone Taizu and Taizong. But there were actually portraits of Zhu Yuanzhang and others in the Ming Dynasty court.

The portrait has only been slightly modified to make it more beautiful.

So the expression is definitely similar to the portrait, but there are some differences in appearance.

However, it doesn’t matter if he can’t recognize it, he always recognizes the dragon robe.

Seeing everyone kneeling on the ground, his good brother Zhu Qizhen had been beaten all over his face, tied up and thrown aside, and even the Empress Dowager Sun was kneeling obediently at the door, he immediately understood the current situation.

"Grandson greets Grandpa, Great Grandfather, Grandpa Emperor, and Father!"

Zhu Qiyu knelt down and kowtowed with difficulty.

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said, "Get up and come to the stage."

"Thank you, Grandpa Taizu."

Zhu Qiyu, looking slightly pale, was helped onto the stage by the eunuchs.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked him up and down, nodded and said, "Okay, you didn't bring shame to me. You saved the Ming Dynasty, but your foundation is shallow and your heart is not as cruel as your brother. If it were me, your shameless brother would have died a hundred times already."

Zhu Qiyu smiled awkwardly and didn't dare to reply.

Zhu Yuanzhang could say such things, but he couldn't say them casually.

Zhu Qizhen arranged him to stay in the Nan Palace, and occasionally sent a eunuch to bully him, but the court officials always wrote letters to accuse and scold him.

What's more, Empress Dowager Sun had great power in the palace, and he was constrained in every way.

Yu Qian is another weirdo.

Only loyal to the Ming Dynasty, not to Zhu Qiyu.

Zhu Qiyu gave him great trust, but he did not repay it with absolute loyalty.

Apart from gaining a useless reputation after his death, he felt sorry for himself who trusted him, sorry for his subordinates who followed him, and even more sorry for his family!
The ministers clung to the orthodox etiquette of the eldest son, and many even wrote to him asking him to return the throne to Yingzong's lineage.

He finally begged his father and grandmother to depose his nephew and make his own son the crown prince, but his son died young.

In this situation, he can be said to have no reinforcements outside and no helpers inside.

He was lucky enough to have been able to safely hold the throne over the years, so how could he dare to execute his brother?

"But you can't sit on this throne."

Zhu Yuanzhang's next words destroyed Zhu Qiyu's original joy, and his face became even paler.

Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "You are not in good health and have no heirs. You cannot continue to hold the throne. It is better for you to follow me and see if your illness can be cured."

"Follow Taizu?"

Zhu Qiyu's brain suddenly shut down, and he smiled a smile that was uglier than crying, saying, "Of course my grandson is willing to follow Taizu, but..."

If you follow Taizu, you will die, right?

His mind raced, trying to find a reason not to die, but he was seriously ill and his brain was a mess, so he couldn't come up with any reason at all.

Zhu Yuanzhang naturally saw through his thoughts and said unhappily, "I'm not asking you to die. I'll take you to the upper realm, where there are magical arts. We can see if your disease can be cured. If it can be cured, I'll let you come back."

"I see. Then I thank Grandpa Taizu very much. But if I am gone, should I pass the throne to Jianshen?"

Zhu Qiyu asked tentatively.

"You don't have to worry about the throne. I will go to the first year of Hongxi to bring your father here and let him take charge of the government affairs here first."

Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly, "I have left the imperial Ming ancestral precepts, and it is inevitable to establish the heir. Your ascension to the throne is a special period, and I don't blame you, it is also the legitimate right. But the emperor's biggest fault is to have no son. Jianshen is the legitimate son, so he will be established as the crown prince. Zhanji will raise him and teach him. You will follow me to the upper world to recuperate. When you recover from your illness, come back and be an idle emperor."

Fearing that he might have hurt him, Zhu Yuanzhang added: "The Ming Dynasty will never forget your contributions. Even if you die in the future, you will be buried with the rites of an emperor and be ranked among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty."

"Yes, Grandpa Taizu."

Zhu Qiyu wanted to cry but had no tears.

How come Emperor Taizu came to power but he lost his throne?

But Zhu Yuanzhang actually had no choice.

Zhu Qiyu’s biggest problem was that he had no descendants.

This is a flaw.

What's more, Emperor Chenghua was also a wise ruler.

To some extent, Zhu Qizhen did not do a good job after his restoration.

However, he adopted a softer attitude towards the increasingly serious refugee situation, focusing mainly on appeasement.

Unlike Emperor Chenghua, who took tough measures such as expulsion, escort, and ordering people to return home, social contradictions were not intensified.

Therefore, from the perspective of people's history, Zhu Qizhen is slightly better.

But that's it.

He did not ease the increasingly acute land conflicts, nor did he change the people's livelihood. The government was in chaos, national strength declined, and rebellions broke out everywhere.

Therefore, whether from the perspective of heroic history or people's history, it is still a pile of shit.

It's just the difference between a big lump and an even bigger lump.

After Emperor Chenghua came to power, he cleaned up a lot of messes for him, suppressed rebellions at home, launched expeditions abroad, rectified the administration of officials, streamlined the military, strengthened the Beijing garrison, strictly enforced the judiciary, and was cautious in criminal justice. The Chenghua Liberation Campaign further demonstrated his military prowess.

Therefore, since Zhu Qiyu had no children, it was most appropriate to make Zhu Jianshen the heir.

Zhu Qiyu's poor health, shallow foundation in the court, and lack of offspring undoubtedly showed that this emperor could not continue to serve.

We can't let him continue to be the emperor and make Zhu Jianshen the crown prince.

Doing so will cause endless trouble.

Therefore, calling Zhu Zhanji from the Hongxi period to act as emperor for a few years was the best option.

Firstly, Zhu Zhanji should get used to being the emperor and teach Zhu Jianshen at the same time, so that he can smoothly take over Zhu Gaochi's position when he returns to the Hongxi Dynasty.

Secondly, it is also to take good care of the Ming Dynasty.

After the Battle of Tumu, the elite troops of the Ming Dynasty were badly defeated by Zhu Qizhen.

But after eight years of recuperation under Zhu Qiyu, the national strength had recovered and the border problems had eased.

Let Zhu Zhanji come over, and give him a large amount of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, so that he can cultivate the land for a year or two and tidy up the border garrisons.

Once they have money and food and train enough elite soldiers, the Ming Dynasty will be the Ming Dynasty again, and they will be able to march out of the Great Wall, trample the grasslands, and avenge the defeat at Tumubao.

After all, compared to Zhu Qizhen, who led all-star generals such as Duke Yingguo Zhang Fu, Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong, Marquis Taining Chen Ying, and the son-in-law Duwei Jing Yuan, they were all beaten up by a group of unknown people from the Oirat.

Zhu Qiyu led Yu Qian to defeat the Oirat Mongols alone.

With Zhu Zhanji's ability, he can't be worse than Zhu Qiyu, right?
The only problem may be the lack of famous generals.

During the reign of Zhu Zhanji, he was assisted by a group of great generals who had fought in the Jingnan Campaign left behind by Zhu Di, and they beat the Mongols on the border.

However, during the Jingtai period, after the Battle of Tumu, the sons of nobles suffered heavy casualties and the situation did not recover until the Chenghua period. There was an extreme shortage of noble generals who were capable of fighting.

But there is still Wang Yue who can be used.

What's more, Zhu Zhanji himself was good at training famous generals.

After he ascended the throne, he examined the gains and losses of previous emperors and used them as a mirror. He advocated the training of generals, the fostering of scholars and the expansion of savings in the military.

Therefore, as long as Zhu Zhanji is allowed to work for a few years, he should be able to restore the Ming Dynasty's national strength.

Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang comforted Zhu Qiyu with a few words and asked him to take care of his health.

In the afternoon, young Zhu Di went to Hongxi Dynasty to bring young Zhu Zhanji over and told him about the situation on the way.

When young Zhu Zhanji learned about the decline of the Ming Dynasty after the Battle of Tumu, he did not feel depressed. Instead, he was eager to try and believed that the current Ming Dynasty was full of challenges.

When the man arrived, all the officials were dumbfounded.

Another Zhu Zhanji came out, but he was ten years younger.

Now they finally believed that Emperor Taizu could travel through the long river of time and bring the same person from different time periods to their eyes anytime and anywhere, from the previous year to the next second.

Such magical ability not only made all the officials marvel, but also filled them with awe of Zhu Yuanzhang and the Ming Dynasty, and they no longer had any second thoughts.

(End of this chapter)