Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 139: Grandfather and grandson talk! Old Zhu's decision! Shocking identification!

The carriage rumbled forward.

In the carriage, Zhu Yunhuan took out the file given by Yao Guangxiao.

"Nie Huan'er, after you enter the palace, you must do your job well and work hard."

"My king is fine, don't worry. You are the one I recommended to the palace. Doing your job well in the palace is the best reward for me."

"Xi'an is still the same as before, and your family is all well, so you don't have to worry about them."

"You must focus on serving His Majesty."

……

"I heard from your letter that the Emperor was not feeling well, and I was very worried."

"My father is old. I am a vassal king and I have to guard the border for the Ming Dynasty. I cannot be with him to show my filial piety."

"I recommended you to the palace so that you can serve him well."

"I hope you can take better care of our father. I will be very grateful."

……

He opened the letters that King Qin wrote to Nie Huan'er one by one and read them all carefully.

But he was surprised to find that there was not a single confidential matter in these letters.

They are all simple greetings, checking in to let people know they are safe and sound, etc.

Occasionally he would talk about Zhu Yuanzhang's health and the court's developments, and he spoke in a very simple manner.

Judging from the content of the letter, Nie Huan'er was not a spy planted in the palace by the King of Qin to gather intelligence for him, but a person who was loyal and filial to his father on behalf of the King of Qin.

Through these letters, we can only conclude that the King of Qin was a filial son.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't quite believe it.

As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, does Zhu Yuanzhang need people to serve him?

Is it necessary for the King of Qin to go to such great pains to specially arrange a eunuch to serve Zhu?
And they were secretly exchanging letters, just for this?
Absolutely impossible!

But Zhu Yunhuan turned over several letters, read them again and again, and carefully analyzed whether he had used any coded language, but in the end he still found nothing.

At this time, Yoshigaki's voice was heard outside.

"Your Highness, we have arrived at the Celestial Realm Temple."

Zhu Yunhuan had no choice but to put away all the letters, put them in his arms, and get off the carriage.

The large characters "Tianjie Shanshi Temple" come into view, exuding an atmosphere that transcends the mundane world.

On both sides are towering ancient trees, forming a natural canopy that completely isolates the noise from the outside world.

The sunlight shines through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows, adding a touch of mystery and peace to this quiet ancient temple.

Zhu Yunhuan followed Yoshigaki into the temple.

Then I felt a breeze mixed with a faint scent of sandalwood blowing on my face.

The scene before my eyes seemed like an ancient scroll slowly unfolding.

The palaces are well-arranged, with flying eaves and pointed corners, and an antique style.

The roof is covered with green glazed tiles, which gleam softly in the sun, contrasting beautifully with the blue sky and white clouds.

The sound of monks chanting in the temple can be heard faintly.

It adds a touch of Buddhist fragrance and fairy air to the originally quiet and dust-free ancient temple.

Following behind Yoshigaki, we walked along the bluestone path.

Suddenly, two bell sounds came from deep within the temple, melodious and profound.

Zhu Yunhuan felt as if the dust in his heart was being gently wiped away by an invisible soft hand.

The whole person seemed to become more ethereal in an instant.

A mind free of dust and a lighter body!
This temple truly deserves the name "Temple of Heaven".

Once you step into the temple, you feel as if you are far away from the human world.

Yoshigaki stopped in front of a large hall and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, please go in. His Majesty is waiting inside."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded slightly and immediately stepped into the hall.

The tall Buddha statue sits upright on a lotus seat with a kind face, looking down below, his eyes revealing endless wisdom and compassion.

It was as if she had seen through all the secrets in him.

Old Zhu was meditating on the cushion in front of the Buddha.

Against the backdrop of the tall Buddha statue, his body seemed somewhat small.

With gray hair hanging down, the old man's back looks aged and lonely.

Zhu Yunhuan stepped forward quickly and shouted in a slightly excited voice, "Grandpa Emperor!"

Old Zhu turned around, looked at him and said with a smile: "Hu'er, you're here!"

Zhu Yunhuan sat down next to Old Zhu, stared at him and said, "Grandpa Emperor, I heard that you fainted after hearing the news that I was assassinated. Are you okay?"

"You kid!" Old Zhu stroked his hair kindly and said with a smile, "What can happen to us?"

"With your intelligence, you should have guessed it long ago. I was just pretending."

Zhu Yunxun chuckled and said, "Although I guessed it, I was still not sure. It was only after I heard from Mr. Yang that you were fine that I felt relieved."

At this point, his expression changed slightly, and his smile faded. He said, "But when I saw Grandpa Huang again today, I felt that he seemed to have aged a lot."

Zhu Yunhuan's voice gradually became weaker and weaker, and he even became choked up.

"As we age, we will naturally grow old." Old Zhu laughed heartily, "If I stay young forever, I will become an immortal monster."

He looked at Zhu Yunhuan with a loving face and asked, "We heard that you hit the back of your head when you were assassinated and couldn't manage things. You rested for a long time. Are you okay today?"

"It's okay!" Zhu Yunhuan patted his chest and said, "I was knocked unconscious at the time, but it didn't cause any brain disease."

"Grandpa Emperor, I pretended to be sick to deceive them. Otherwise, how could I lure out those people who are determined to oppose me? So that I can use this opportunity to rectify the government?"

"My trick is called 'luring the snake out of its hole'."

Old Zhu was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"Luring the snake out of its hole, good!"

In fact, the fact that the grandfather and grandson were pretending to be sick was known to each other clearly.

However, Zhu Yunhuan spoke so frankly and without concealment, which still made Zhu feel particularly happy.

"Here is something, take a look at it first."

After the laughter stopped, Lao Zhu took out Lu's notes from his arms.

When Zhu Yunhuan opened it, his face suddenly changed.

I didn't expect that Lu actually wanted to frame me by committing suicide!
When he first heard Yao Guangxiao's report, he felt that the evil monk was somewhat alarmist.

However, Yao Guangxiao only used this opportunity to give advice to Zhu Yuanzhang in order to eliminate future troubles.

But I didn't expect that he actually guessed it right.

Lu actually used such a vicious and cruel strategy.

He would rather die than let Zhu Yunhuan be buried with him.

fortunately.

Yang Shiqi first took advantage of the opportunity to meet the emperor to plant the seeds of doubt in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart.

This forced Old Zhu to monitor Lu out of suspicion and find out her problem.

Yao Guangxiao went a step further and forced Zhu Yuanzhang to make up his mind to execute Lu.

If they had not acted one after another, they would have gotten ahead of Lu and put Lu to death.

If we really wait for Lu's notes to be discovered and the conspiracy succeeds, the consequences will be disastrous.

At that time, he would be condemned by all.

Even Lao Zhu found it difficult to trust him again.

The fight for the crown prince position was indeed extremely dangerous.

It was really a stroke of luck that I was able to pass this time safely.

On the other hand, Lu's death was caused by the joint conspiracy of Yang Shiqi and Yao Guangxiao, so it was not unfair for him to be defeated.

Old Zhu sighed and said, "She raised you, so you must have known that this woman is vicious and cruel."

"But you are too young, and you can only keep many things in your heart and have nowhere to tell them."

"I'm sorry for what you have done to me."

"It's all because Grandpa Huang and your father were too careless before and didn't notice your situation."

"Fortunately, she was still a little bit afraid, so she didn't harm you."

"Otherwise, our Ming Dynasty might be in the wrong hands."

At this point, Lao Zhu's tone changed, and he cursed angrily: "This vicious woman, I don't know how many evil things she has done that are against the will of heaven and earth."

"The entire Zhu family has been harmed by this vicious woman."

"It's really too easy for this vicious woman to die of illness like this."

Zhu Yunhuan hurriedly advised: "Grandpa Emperor, please don't be angry. It's not worth it to get yourself hurt by this."

Old Zhu closed his eyes in pain. When he thought of Lu, he would think of his dead wife, son, and grandson...

The more I think about it, the more uncomfortable I feel, and the more hatred I feel.

He never thought that, despite his wiseness, he would be deceived by a vicious woman.

Thinking of this, Lao Zhu couldn't help but clench his fists, and his body began to tremble slightly.

"And our grandson Zhu Yunwen was also led astray by this vicious woman."

"You actually wanted to take advantage of this vicious woman's birthday party to kill you. How vicious is your heart!"

"It's a pity that I was deceived by his false face of benevolence and righteousness."

"I almost handed over the Ming Dynasty to him."

“Thinking about it now, I’m really scared!”

Old Zhu had of course known for a long time that Zhu Yunwen had gone "mad".

At this moment, his chest was heaving and he was very emotional.

"It's because I don't know people well. How can a child born by such a vicious woman be a good thing?"

"It's a pity for Biao'er... Until his death, he still thought that the vicious woman was kind-hearted and was kept in the dark by her!"

When he mentioned his son, his eyes began to moisten again.

Old Zhu smashed the futon hard with his fist.

"We should chop this vicious woman into pieces and throw her flesh out to feed the dogs!"

"But we still gave that vicious woman a grand funeral and gave her a title. We are really being unfair to Biao'er!"

He burst into tears.

Zhu Yunhuan comforted him, "Grandpa Emperor, please don't cry. Now Lu's crime has been proven."

"We can slowly expose the evil things she did."

"I will take away her title and make her..."

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Lao Zhu.

"No!"

Old Zhu said in a serious tone: "Huer, you must remember that the matter of the vicious woman must never be made public."

"The evil woman's crimes must not be made known to the world."

Zhu Yunhuan was slightly stunned.

Old Zhu sighed: "I am the emperor, and my family is the royal family."

"Once this matter is made public, it will surely cause a huge uproar."

"What will people in the world think of such a daughter-in-law in the emperor's family?"

"Now that the world has just begun to settle, people's hearts are still uneasy."

"If such a scandal were to spread at this time, it would greatly damage the prestige of our Zhu family."

"For the sake of the world, for the Ming Dynasty, and for the Zhu family, we can't do that."

Zhu Yunhuan was stunned, then he understood in an instant.

Imperial power is sacred.

Mandated by Heaven!

This is the foundation for maintaining imperial power.

Therefore, when the founding emperor is born, there will be visions.

After all, he was the Son of Heaven who came to the world.

Scandals in the royal family damage the supreme dignity of imperial power and the image of the royal family as being sacred and different from that of ordinary people!

It is this image that maintains the dignity of the royal family and fundamentally safeguards the rule of the dynasty.

If the people think that the royal family is no different from ordinary people and has no halo, then the emperor's rule will lose its foundation.

Even if they can rely on the state apparatus and power to barely maintain their rule for a few decades, it will inevitably fall apart in the future.

Only by sanctifying the imperial power and making the people feel that the emperor is the "Son of Heaven" and "God", not a mortal, can the country be secured and passed on from generation to generation.

To put it bluntly, this is actually also an alternative form of religion.

Religion and brainwashing are precisely the foundation for maintaining the imperial system.

Once exposed and losing its sacredness, the imperial system lost the soil on which it depended for survival.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang could create the "Imperial Record of Wrongdoings" to warn future generations, but he would never allow the relevant information to be made public.

The same is true for Lu's case.

Zhu Yunhuan originally thought that since Zhu Yunwen had already taken the initiative to expose Lu's conspiracy, he could just slowly uncover it step by step.

In the future, the crimes of the Lu family will be announced to the world, making them infamous for eternity.

But Lao Zhu disagreed to do so.

Some emperors could ignore it.

But Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to these things, and he was unwilling to do anything that might damage the dignity of the royal family.

"We can't just let the evil woman go." Old Zhu said coldly: "The evil woman is dead, but there are still many people in the Lu family. If we don't kill her whole family, we can't vent our hatred."

"We have already asked Jiang Li to handle this matter."

"Right now, there are still Japanese pirates attacking the border continuously."

"Let's have him lead the Jinyiwei, disguise himself as Japanese pirates, and wipe out the entire Lu family."

"After this incident, our Ming Dynasty will use this as an excuse to declare all-out war on the Japanese pirates and completely wipe them out."

Zhu Yunhuan was stunned when he heard this.

Right.

With Zhu's vengeful character, he would kill an entire family for even the slightest thing.

After Lu did such a thing, Zhu might even blame Lu for the death of Empress Ma. How could he let her go so easily?

The Lu family’s reputation cannot be ruined, and what they have done cannot be made public, because family disgrace should not be made public, and the royal family must maintain their own face.

But it was impossible to spare the entire Lu family and kill only Lu alone.

Lu's notes were the butcher knife she used to chop down her entire family!

From the moment Old Zhu killed Lu and found this notebook, the fate of the entire Lu family was settled!
At this time, Lao Zhu spoke again:

"I called you here today just to let you come and interrogate someone."

After that, he raised his voice slightly and shouted outside: "Bring the person in."

tread!tread!tread!
The sound of footsteps could be heard outside the hall.

After a while, two imperial guards came in escorting a prisoner.

Zhu Yunhuan's eyes couldn't help but narrow slightly.

This prisoner was none other than the eunuch Nie Huan'er who came to convey his imperial edict on the night he arrested Lan Yu.

Old Zhu said in a deep voice: "According to the information obtained by the Jinyiwei spies and the inspectors, before the remnants of the Park family assassinated you, Nie Huan'er had appeared in the hiding place of the remnants of the Park family several times."

"We have ordered the arrest of the man, and we can have a thorough trial today."

"Let's see who is behind the scenes and instigated the remnants of the Park family to assassinate you."

As they were speaking, the imperial guards had already forced Nie Huan'er to kneel on the ground.

At this time, Nie Huan'er had obviously been tortured.

His body was covered with blood and wounds.

"Nie Huan'er, we are asking you a question now, and you must tell the truth."

Old Zhu's majestic voice sounded.

"Who instructed you to collude with the remnants of the Park family and assassinate King Wu?"

Nie Huan'er raised his head and first looked at the Emperor, but his gaze then stopped on Zhu Yunhuan.

Suddenly, as if frightened by something, she kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, I deserve death. Please, Your Majesty, sentence me to death."

"Die?" Old Zhu snorted coldly, "Do you think you can die if you want to?"

"Do you think you can escape punishment if you die?"

"Let me tell you, it's not that easy?"

"You dare to plot to assassinate my grandson, the King of Wu of the Ming Dynasty. I will make you wish you were dead, but you can't live."

"Not just you!" Old Zhu roared, "but all your family members and your nine clans will also be tortured and die because of what you have done."

"If you tell the truth now, you can die more comfortably and suffer less."

"Do you want to?"

Nie Huan'er raised his head again, looked at Old Zhu in a daze, then glanced at Zhu Yunhuan next to him, gritted his teeth, and kowtowed heavily.

"Your Majesty, the one who asked this servant to instruct the remnants of the Park family to assassinate King Wu was none other than King Wu himself!"

……

(End of this chapter)