Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 171 Crazy idea! Let the wolf in!

After this battle, the Japanese pirates who had been wreaking havoc in the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang for many years were defeated overnight.

The news was quickly sent back to Jinling City via carrier pigeons.

In an instant, the government and the public were in an uproar!
……

"Great news! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince led the Ming navy to wipe out the Japanese pirates' lair. Thirty years of Japanese troubles were put to rest in one day."

"The Ming Navy achieved an astonishing record of killing 3,000 enemies without losing a single person."

"The leader of the Japanese pirates has also been captured alive and will be taken to the capital soon."

……

With the publicity and reporting of the Ming Navy's campaign against the Japanese in the Ming Daily, the people of the Ming Dynasty were excited.

"Aren't they said that the Japanese pirates are very powerful and each of them can fight ten people at once? How come they are so vulnerable?"

"Of course my Ming navy is more powerful, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is more powerful!"

"Yes! The people recruited by the Ming Navy are all the elite among the elite. Even though there are only 10,000 of them, their actual combat power is greater than that of an army of 100,000."

"If you ask me, His Royal Highness is the best. If it weren't for His Royal Highness's good command, the Japanese pirates wouldn't have been wiped out so quickly."

"Of course. His Royal Highness is a man of both letters and martial arts. He is unrivaled in the world in both civil and military matters!"

……

The people believed it without a doubt, and ran towards each other, excited.

But the reaction of the court was a bit strange.

"This is impossible!" Qi Tai, the head of the Ministry of War, looked at the battle report and shouted, "This is ridiculous, really ridiculous. This battle report is too ridiculous!"

"He killed more than 3,000 enemies, completely annihilating the Japanese pirates who had been wreaking havoc on the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang for many years, without losing a single one of his own."

"How dare you shamelessly report such a battle report?"

Qi Tai didn't believe it at all, and there was only anger on his face.

"Brother Qi, be careful with your words. This is the battle report submitted by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Don't question it casually. It will be a big taboo."

A colleague nearby carefully reminded.

Qi Tai sneered: "If he were not the crown prince, he would not dare to forge so brazenly and fool the court."

"If another general had submitted such a battle report to the court, he would have been charged with 'deceiving the emperor'."

A colleague sighed, "Perhaps His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has other intentions."

"The Ming Navy was created by him, and this is his first expedition, so he urgently needs to prove it with achievements."

"With this publicity, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's prestige will be further enhanced."

Qi Tai gnashed his teeth and said, "He only cares about his own power struggle. Has he ever thought about the negative consequences of doing so?"

"With him as an example, all future generals will follow suit. How can it be tolerated to falsely report military achievements like this?"

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He turned and walked out of the main room and into the yard outside, only to see Huang Zicheng standing there.

Logically speaking, Huang Zicheng should have set off for Japan after being appointed as an envoy of the Ming Dynasty.

But he did not want to go too quickly. Instead, he wanted to wait until the crown prince left and then contact the court officials privately.

If we really want to persuade Japan to send troops, we need court officials to put pressure on us from within.

He postponed the date on the pretext that he needed more time to prepare for the mission.

"Brother Qi, why are you so angry?" Huang Zicheng advised, "The Crown Prince is flamboyant and ambitious, and this has not happened overnight."

"In the final analysis, it's all because His Royal Highness Prince Xian was not appointed as the crown prince. Otherwise, why would this happen?"

Qi Tai pulled Huang Zicheng aside and said, "Brother Huang, aren't you going on a diplomatic mission to Japan? Why did you find time to come and see me?"

Not long after Qi Tai became Zhu Yunwen's disciple, Zhu Yunwen was imprisoned by Zhu Yunhuan on the grounds of "madness".

Qi Tai's surrender actually ended in nothing.

But in Huang Zicheng's opinion, Qi Tai is undoubtedly a person who is worthy of trust and support.

"I will leave in the next two days." Huang Zicheng said in a deep voice: "Before leaving, I came to see Brother Qi specifically for some important matters."

There was a gleam in Qi Tai's eyes, and his expression suddenly became serious.

Huang Zicheng said slowly: "I am here as an envoy to Japan. The purpose is to persuade Japan to come to the court, but in fact I want to ask Japan to send troops to our Ming Dynasty!"

Qi Tai blurted out, "What do you want to do? Are you going to betray the Ming Dynasty?"

Huang Zicheng said loudly: "I do this to save the Ming Dynasty."

"The Crown Prince has gone against the grain by imposing additional taxes on businesses, and has ordered the tax commissioner to track down tax debts everywhere. I wonder how many gentry have suffered as a result."

"Nowadays, there are rumors outside that the tax collectors of the Tax Commissioner are more terrifying than the Black and White Impermanence."

"The court did collect a sum of tax silver, but by doing so, it lost the support of the people."

“Compared to how much tax is collected, isn’t the human heart more important?”

"In particular, he used the Ming Daily to stir up public opinion, forcing the upright officials in the court to express their support for him."

Huang Zicheng felt so angry when he thought of this.

He also wrote a letter to support the Commissioner of Taxation and the Crown Prince's move to increase commercial taxes.

no way.

He had no choice but to do so due to the unstoppable trend and the heavy pressure of public opinion.

Huang Zicheng was not afraid of death, but he was afraid that he would be cursed for eternity.

Therefore, although he was very disgusted with the increase in commercial taxes and extremely disgusted with the Commissioner of Taxation, he had to write a letter to express his support.

Lest you be cursed by the people.

"Now he has lied again, saying that he has wiped out all the Japanese pirates along the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in one battle, deceiving Your Majesty and the people of the world."

"He did this because he wanted to lift the maritime ban as soon as possible and implement his so-called 'New Deal of the Crown Prince'."

"He has not even ascended the throne yet, and he is already so bold and reckless."

"If one day he ascends the throne to become emperor, who knows to what extent he will turn the world upside down."

Huang Zicheng's tone became excited.

"Although what Prince Xian said in Concubine Lu's mourning hall that day was unbearable, it is actually reasonable if you think about it carefully."

"Concubine Lu raised the crown prince single-handedly, but now she is being attacked by him. Who wouldn't be heartbroken?" "Concubine Lu is still the biological mother of the prince. It's only natural that she supports her own son in everything."

"Besides, the death of Concubine Lu was most likely caused by the Crown Prince."

"After that, the entire clan of Concubine Lu was exterminated."

"Use this as an excuse to launch an expedition to eliminate the Japanese."

"In fact, what he wants to do is to use this opportunity to lift the 'sea ban'."

"He is a man of talent and ability, but he is more ambitious. He does not care about the safety of the world and only wants to make achievements for himself and leave a name in history."

"The former Emperor Yang of Sui was such a person."

"Today's Crown Prince is just the second Emperor Yang of Sui."

"If our Ming Dynasty were handed over to him, it would surely perish."

Huang Zicheng spoke incessantly, and his words seemed to be quite righteous, full of concern for the country and the people.

"As scholars, we have read the books of sages since childhood, and we know that the country and the people should never be handed over to such people."

"Your Majesty is old and his eyesight is dim. He was deceived by such people and made him the crown prince."

"The only way now is to overthrow him as soon as possible before he officially ascends the throne."

"Let Your Majesty appoint Prince Xian as the crown prince instead."

"The reason why I volunteered to go to Japan this time is to persuade the King of Japan to send troops to Ming Dynasty."

"With the pressure from Japan, we can ask people with lofty ideals to exert their power from within the court to force Your Majesty to depose the current Crown Prince and replace him with King Xian."

"Only when my Ming Dynasty is strong can I rest assured."

After Qi Tai heard what he said, he looked at him coldly and said, "You are inviting a wolf into the house! Do you know how great a war this will cause and how many people will die as a result?"

"In order to support King Xian, for your own selfish gain, and to gain the credit of following the emperor, you did not hesitate to put the Ming Dynasty in danger and the people of the world in dire straits."

"With such sinister intentions, how can I, Qi Tai, collude with you to bring disaster to the Ming Dynasty!"

Huang Zicheng laughed up to the sky, tears rolling down his cheeks, his expression showing a look of grief and indignation: "If I was just for my own selfish gain and just wanted to follow the emperor, wouldn't it be better to just find a vassal king to cling to than to support the now imprisoned King Xian?"

"That's right. If this happens, countless people of the Ming Dynasty will die."

"But even if a million or several million people die, as long as we can prevent His Royal Highness the Crown Prince from ascending the throne, it will be worth it."

"If he ascends the throne and becomes emperor, our Ming Dynasty will be turned upside down."

"By then, it won't be as simple as just one million deaths!"

"Besides, even if I didn't go to Japan and persuade Japan to send troops, didn't he plan to launch an expedition to Japan?"

"The war between our Ming Dynasty and Japan is still inevitable."

"He is conceited about his talent and wisdom, and only wants to expand his territory and establish his career. I'm afraid he wants to conquer more than just Japan."

"Once he becomes emperor in the future, he will certainly continue to launch expeditions overseas and to the surrounding countries. For the sake of his imperial achievements, he will plunge our Ming Dynasty into an endless war."

"The lesson of Emperor Yang of Sui is not far away!"

"At that time, you will definitely regret your choice today."

Huang Zicheng stared at Qi Tai.

All this has driven him crazy, and he feels that everything he does is for the Ming Dynasty and the world.

I have no regrets.

In Huang Zicheng's opinion, Qi Tai should be a fellow traveler like him.

Qi Tai was stunned for a moment, looking at Huang Zicheng in silence.

Obviously, he had been tempted by Huang Zicheng's twisted logic.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is ambitious, and anyone can see that.

The Crown Prince made no secret of his desire to reform the system and change many of the past systems.

But for traditional scholars, maintaining the past system unchanged is what an emperor should do.

In the eyes of scholars, a king who is full of ambition and eager for change is never a good emperor!

The First Emperor was tyrannical and died when his son died.

Emperor Wu of Han was arrogant and extravagant, and the dynasty was almost destroyed.

As for Wang Mang, Emperor Yang of Sui and others, there is no need to mention them.

These people are all capable, ambitious and have aspirations.

They have indeed made a career.

But the final result, at least in the eyes of scholars, was that Qin Shihuang unified the world with the remaining strength of six generations, but also led to the demise of the Qin Dynasty.

From the perspective of scholars who want to preserve the country and pass it on, it would be better not to unify. That way, at least the Qin Dynasty's isolated territory could continue.

Although Emperor Wu of Han defeated the Huns and made them flee in panic, he also exhausted the national strength of the Han Dynasty.

From then on, the Han Dynasty began to decline step by step.

Not to mention Emperor Yang of Sui.

He built the Grand Canal and launched three expeditions to Goryeo, all with the sole intention of achieving great things, but ended up destroying the Sui Empire.

The emperor should rule by doing nothing.

No reform, no turmoil, and no pursuit of any achievements.

This is the safe way, and this is what a good emperor is in the eyes of scholars and wealthy people all over the world!

After all, the ruling class wants the world to remain unchanged forever.

The same is true of the country's system.

No matter who becomes emperor, no changes should be made.

They can stay high and mighty for generations without worrying about falling into lower social classes.

The Confucian philosophy of governing a country is also based on this point.

The laws of our ancestors will never change!
……

(End of this chapter)