Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 142: Lao Zhu's plea! The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!

The sadness and sorrow on Lao Zhu's face reappeared.

Although he had guessed it before, hearing it from Nie Huan'er's mouth still made Old Zhu very sad.

To Mr. Zhu, whether it is his sons or grandsons, they are all his blood descendants and his closest relatives.

The eldest brother died, and the younger brother not only did not take care of the sons he left behind, but also tried every means to frame them. How could Lao Zhu not be angry and extremely sad?

Nie Huaner began to confess.

"I was originally from Taiyuan, but later my family moved to Xi'an."

"Because her family was too poor, she had no choice but to castrate herself and try to make a living by entering the palace."

"It's also good luck that the Prince Qin's palace just happened to need a group of eunuchs."

"This is how I entered the Prince Qin's Palace."

Nie Huan'er spoke slowly and softly.

"King Qin saw that I was smart, so he asked me to come to the Jinling Palace, saying that I could help him find out the news in the palace."

"So, I came to Jinling and entered the palace."

"The King of Qin promised me that as long as I work hard for him, he will keep me and my family safe and let us enjoy wealth and glory."

"If not, the whole family will die without a burial place."

A look of reminiscence came over his face.

"Since I entered the palace, I have been writing to the King of Qin, secretly passing on palace news to him."

"But the King of Qin is very cautious and careful. He never mentioned those things in his reply to me."

"Just ask this servant to do her job conscientiously and serve Your Majesty well."

"Last year, the King of Qin was summoned to Jinling City by His Majesty. Since then, everything has been discussed in person."

"Your Majesty knows everything that happened afterwards, so there is no need for me to say more."

Nie Huan'er coughed twice and felt extremely weak.

"I have explained everything that needs to be explained."

"Now that things have come to this, I only ask for a quick death."

He went through a brief panic after being exposed.

But when he explained the problem this time, he was very clear and organized.

Even though he was mentally and physically overwhelmed at this moment, he was still very clear when talking about these things.

"Die quickly?" Old Zhu's eyes were spitting fire: "How can I let you die quickly?"

"Someone is coming!"

Old Zhu said angrily: "Drag this dog slave out and chop him into pieces."

The guards dragged Nie Huan'er's body out.

Old Zhu said angrily, "Tell the executioner to use the punishment carefully. We said that he should be cut into pieces a thousand times, and not a single cut should be omitted."

"The execution cannot be too quick. We need to kill him for three days and three nights, letting him suffer thoroughly before dying."

Nie Huan'er's face revealed extreme fear, but it soon turned into a wry smile, as if he had calmly accepted the tragic end that he was bound to endure.

Zhu Yunhuan's heart moved, and he shouted, "Wait!"

The guards stopped.

Old Zhu turned and looked at him in surprise.

"Grandpa Emperor! The one who ordered Nie Huan'er..."

When Zhu Yunhuan said this, his heart suddenly skipped a beat and he swallowed back the rest of his words.

He suspected that the person who instructed Nie Huan'er was not King Qin!

There are two flaws in this.

The first was the letter written by the King of Qin to Nie Huan'er, which was too easy to obtain.

As an excellent spy, why did Nie Huan'er keep the letter written to him by the King of Qin?

What's more, the contents of these letters are mediocre and of no value, and will only bring unnecessary risks to Nie Huan'er and King Qin.

In any case, it is a taboo for eunuchs in the palace to communicate privately with people outside.

Even if the two of them had not done anything harmful to the world, and had not even tried to find out any news from the palace, but had simply communicated privately with the princes, once this was discovered, Nie Huan'er would be sentenced to death!
Eunuchs had connections with foreign officials, especially princes, which was not allowed in any dynasty.

Not to mention Lao Zhu.

Even if any palace maid or eunuch secretly passed a message to their family, they would be beaten to death if discovered.

For the sake of her own safety, Nie Huan'er had no reason to keep these letters.

But he managed to preserve it.

This is really unreasonable.

Unless Nie Huan'er hated the King of Qin in his heart and wanted to use these letters to frame him.

However, Nie Huan'er did not mention it at all when he gave his instructions just now.

He did not show any hatred towards the King of Qin.

On the contrary, when he talked about the King of Qin, it was as if he was talking about a stranger who had nothing to do with him.

The second is that Nie Huaner explained the problem too fluently.

So fluent that he doesn't look like a prisoner.

Normally, when a prisoner is being interrogated, his mentality is very complicated, he may feel angry, uneasy, nervous, fearful, anxious... his emotions will fluctuate wildly.

Therefore, the prisoners' confessions are often vague and illogical.

It takes repeated questioning by the interrogators to slowly sort out the truth.

This does not mean that the criminal intentionally lied, but it is the normal physiological and psychological reaction of normal human beings when facing major changes.

Not to mention being arrested and interrogated.

If a person who has never been on a podium suddenly goes up to the podium and speaks a few words, his heart rate will speed up and he will start to stutter.

The psychological and physical stress of being tortured and then interrogated is more than a hundred times that of speaking on a podium!
But Nie Huan'er said it too clearly and too plainly.

It was as if he had recited these words in his mind a thousand or ten thousand times.

At this moment, I am just reciting the scriptures.

Therefore, the logic is clear, the structure is clear, and the speech is extremely fluent.

This was what happened when they tried to harm Zhu Yunhuan before.

The same is true when talking about the King of Qin!

Zhu Yunhuan knew a little about criminal psychology in his previous life and realized that this was very abnormal.

When normal people speak, they need to organize their language in order to make their logic clearer.

How could the prisoner explain it so clearly at once?
Combining these two points, he had a bold guess in his mind.

The person who directed Nie Huan'er behind the scenes was not Prince of Qin Zhu Chong.

In other words, King Qin Zhu Chong thought it was himself, but in fact it was not.

King Qin Zhu Chong was also used as a gun by others!

The other party first arranged for Nie Huan'er to be by the side of Qin Wang Zhu Chong, and after gaining his trust, they asked the Qin Wang to send her to the palace.

The King of Qin thought that Nie Huan'er was a chess piece arranged by him, but he didn't know that it was the knife that would kill him!

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it!

The opponent's goal was to use Nie Huan'er first to cause both Zhu Yunhuan and Zhu Yunwen to suffer losses.

Then, find out the mastermind behind Nie Huan'er - the King of Qin!
Then, you can sit back and reap the benefits and reap the fruits of victory.

After figuring out all the links, the identity of the person behind Nie Huan'er became clear—Prince of Jin Zhu Gang!
What a clever trick!

This is trying to kill three birds with one stone!

If Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Yunhuan, and Zhu Chong were all overthrown, then the future crown prince of the Ming Dynasty would be none other than Prince of Jin Zhu Gang. No wonder Zhu Di was so wary of him.

Zhu Gang's methods are indeed extraordinary.

He did not leave a deep mark in history, perhaps just because he died too early.

Zhu Di was the final winner and seized the Ming Dynasty.

It is easy for people in later generations to form preconceived ideas and think that Zhu Di was the most capable among Zhu Yuanzhang's many sons.

But in fact, if Prince of Jin Zhu Gang had not died, could Zhu Di have seized the Ming Dynasty?

Unfortunately, there is no "if" in history, and we cannot make assumptions!

Zhu Yunhuan originally wanted to express his guess, but when he met Old Zhu's gaze, he suddenly stopped.

In Lao Zhu's eyes, he saw compassion and pleading, even panic, tension and fear.

At this moment, Zhu Yunhuan understood.

Not only did I see it, but Old Zhu also saw it a long time ago.

It's just that he doesn't want to expose it!

If we were to ask who Zhu Yuanzhang's favorite son was among all his sons, apart from Zhu Biao, it would undoubtedly be Prince of Jin, Zhu Gang.

After Zhu Di seized the throne, he glorified himself as Zhu Di's most beloved son, but that was nothing more than a wanton embellishment of history.

Prince of Jin, Zhu Gang, is the one that Zhu Yuanzhang loves most.

This can be seen from his fiefdom.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the country was in chaos and wars were frequent, which led to the displacement of people and countless deaths. Henan, Shandong and other places were uninhabited for thousands of miles.

Only Shanxi, because of its special geographical environment, avoided the war and instead became the richest and most prosperous place in the north in the early Ming Dynasty.

According to population statistics in the early Ming Dynasty, the population of Shanxi alone was several times that of Shandong, Henan and other places.

Zhu Di's fiefdom of Beiping was the former capital of the Yuan Dynasty, but it was also the center of war at that time.

In fact, it was already in ruins by the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

Taiyuan, Shanxi is different. It is the most prosperous, economically sound and most populous place in the entire north.

Old Zhu appointed Prince of Jin Zhu Gang as the Duke of Taiyuan, which shows how much he loved Zhu Gang.

With Nie Huan'er in hand, it is not difficult to find out Zhu Gang's crime.

Although Nie Huan'er would definitely not tell the truth.

However, if Zhu Gang wanted to control a loyal warrior like Nie Huan'er, he had to keep his family in his hands.

In other words, all of Nie Huaner’s family members in Xi’an are fake.

They were just "actors" used to deceive the King of Qin.

As long as you check Nie Huaner's family, you will definitely find out.

But, do you want to check?

Zhu Yunhuan looked into Old Zhu's eyes, which were a pair of eyes full of pleading.

First came the Lü family and Zhu Yunwen, then the Prince of Qin Zhu Chong, and then the Prince of Jin Zhu Gang...

This is too cruel for Lao Zhu.

He was an emperor, but he was also an old man in his sixties, which was already very old for that era.

He is also a father.

He was crying just now, not only for Prince of Qin Zhu Chong, but more for Prince of Jin Zhu Gang.

In order to fight for the throne, his own son seemed to have become a different person.

But Lao Zhu still hopes that the matter will end here and not be pursued further.

That’s why I didn’t mention it again.

Just pretend you know nothing and really be deceived by Nie Huaner.

Anyway, King Qin Zhu Chong was not innocent.

But he couldn't stop Zhu Yunhuan because he knew it was unfair to his grandson.

Only his eyes, full of emotion and complexity, betrayed his true thoughts.

Zhu Yunhuan sighed in his heart.

He thought of another person, Duke Ying Fu Youde!
This person, like Lan Yu, was a great general of the Ming Dynasty.

His prestige in the army was extremely high, even higher than that of Lan Yu.

Fu Youde's daughter married the son of Jin Wang Zhu Gang, and the two became in-laws.

In history, Fu Youde was sentenced to death for his involvement in the Lan Yu case.

But history can never be looked at in detail.

If you really look into it in detail, you might get a completely different conclusion.

Fu Youde’s relationship with King Jin should be the key reason why he was sentenced to death.

Or maybe Prince of Jin Zhu Gang had done something that forced him to make such a decision.

It’s just that Lao Zhu chose to do it in private and did not publicly pursue the crime.

The situation is still the same today.

There has been too much infighting among the royal descendants.

If we really want to deal with Prince of Jin Zhu Gang, Old Zhu cannot bear it, and now is not the right time.

As long as we understand that he was the one who did it, there are plenty of ways to punish Prince of Jin Zhu Xiaogang in the future.

But at this moment, why should he hurt an old man's heart?
This is really too cruel for Lao Zhu.

The reason why he was crying so hard just now was because Lao Zhu already knew all the causes and consequences.

Those who wanted to frame Zhu Yunhuan and even kill him included not only Prince of Qin Zhu Chong, but also Prince of Jin Zhu Gang!

This made Lao Zhu emotionally breakdown and he burst into tears.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yunhuan changed the subject and said, "It's nothing. I was wrong just now. Take him away."

The guard was a little confused.

The King of Wu's behavior was too abnormal.

But of course they didn't ask the reason and pushed Nie Huan'er away.

The expression on Lao Zhu's face finally relaxed and he revealed a relieved smile.

If Zhu Yunhuan brought up the matter of Prince of Jin Zhu Gang at this time, he would not know what to do.

Our grandson is so sensible and considerate of us.

Old Zhu couldn't help but feel a warm feeling in his heart, as well as a strong sense of guilt.

The fact that the matter was not pursued to the end made Zhu feel a little sorry for Zhu Yunhuan.

Why could Zhu Gang do such a thing, but Zhu Yunhuan chose to turn a deaf and dumb and let Zhu Gang go?

But what can be done?

Do you really want to let your sons and grandsons kill each other?
"Good boy!"

Old Zhu stroked his head and said, "Although our Zhu family has some unfilial descendants, we also have outstanding children like you. God has not let our Zhu family down!"

"I summoned you here today not just to hear the case."

"We have made up our minds. We cannot delay the appointment of a crown prince any longer."

"It's time to hand over the Ming Dynasty to you!"

"We will officially make you the crown prince and heir to the throne of Ming Dynasty."

……

(End of this chapter)