Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 172 The collapsed Huang Zicheng and the crazy Lao Zhu!

But Zhu Yunhuan was obviously not such a person.

When he ascends the throne, he will certainly carry out drastic reforms, and the world will move in an unpredictable direction.

For traditional scholars, preventing such a person from succeeding to the throne and supporting another emperor who is more controllable and more traditional is undoubtedly a very tempting choice.

Huang Zicheng saw that he was a little shaken, so he quickly struck while the iron was hot and said, "Are you so concerned about your reputation that you would ignore the Ming Dynasty in order to avoid being branded as colluding with 'foreign invaders'?"

"But don't forget, as long as we can help King Xian ascend the throne and protect the Ming Dynasty for thousands of years, we may have a name that will last forever."

"If we leave it alone, the Ming Dynasty will fall in the future, and you and I will both be ministers of a fallen country. What reputation will we have?"

Qi Tai looked at him and let out a long sigh.

After a while, Fang said, "Forget it, you can go now."

"I will always cooperate with you fully while I am in the court."

"But the Japanese army must be truly useful and able to defeat our Ming navy."

"Otherwise, even if you persuade Japan to send troops, it will be of no avail."

Huang Zicheng was overjoyed when he heard that he had agreed, and said quickly, "Don't worry about that."

"He is truly self-taught in the struggle for power and has superb methods."

"He is also extremely talented in writing poetry and prose."

"But when it comes to deploying troops, he is just an armchair strategist and knows nothing about it."

"The Ming navy he built didn't even equip the soldiers with bows and arrows, let alone train them in archery."

"You must know that in water warfare, bows and arrows are the most important. This is an eternal principle."

"But the Ming navy only has firearms, not bows and arrows."

"When there are too many firearms, it is very easy for them to go off accidentally."

"In combat, not only can we not destroy the enemy, but we can easily injure ourselves."

"He has just set out to sea and he lied that he had wiped out all the Japanese pirates. He is so ambitious. If he really encounters the Japanese pirates, he will surely be defeated."

"If Japan sends a large army, he will be no match for it."

Huang Zicheng is very confident about this.

Although he had never led troops in battle, he still knew these basic common sense.

Qi Tai, as the head of the Ministry of War, also agreed with this.

"Brother Huang is right. No one in the world can use troops like him."

"Plus, he has a very high ego, and he didn't bring any veteran generals with him to give him advice."

"The report of this great victory was so outrageous."

"To say that we annihilated 3,000 enemies without losing a single person is simply ridiculous."

"Although I have never led troops to fight, I have read countless military books since I became the head of the Ministry of War. I know countless battle examples since ancient times, but I have never seen such a bizarre thing."

"He is treating us like three-year-old children."

"Now there are only reports of victory brought back by carrier pigeons. There is no news from the Zhejiang Provincial Administration Office, the Military Command Office, or the Hangzhou government office."

"The so-called great victory must be a lie!"

Huang Zicheng stroked his beard and said:

"After all, the Ming Dynasty Navy is a new army that the imperial court spent countless silver coins to build."

"Earlier, in the Ming Daily, they were even promoted as the Heavenly Army, which was extremely powerful."

"If we were to suffer a major defeat as soon as we went out to sea, people would be panicked and rumors would spread everywhere."

"So, he deliberately reported the great defeat as a great victory to cover it up."

"Although he doesn't know the art of war and military affairs, he still has some cleverness."

When Qi Tai heard what he said, his eyes suddenly lit up and he said:
"Brother Huang's words do make sense."

"I'm afraid that's the truth."

"I was wondering how he could fabricate such an outrageous victory."

"The Ming Daily was so eager to publish the news before even verifying its authenticity."

"If it's to cover up a great defeat, then it makes sense."

Huang Zicheng smiled and said, "There is no need to speculate on this matter. If it is really a great defeat, within a few days, the Zhejiang Provincial Administration Office, the Zhejiang Military Command Office, and Hangzhou Prefecture will all send urgent messages to the court."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw someone rushing in from outside the yard.

Qi Tai hurried forward and asked, "What's the matter?"

When the man saw that it was the head of the Ministry of War who asked him questions, he quickly took out an urgent letter from his pocket.

"The Zhejiang Command has sent an urgent message to the Ministry of War."

Huang Zicheng's face showed joy, it seemed that he had guessed it right.

Did the Ming navy led by Zhu Yunhuan suffer a major defeat?
"But is there any news about the Ming Navy?" Qi Tai asked hurriedly.

"That's right!" the man bowed.

"Did we really suffer a great defeat?" Qi Tai's expression changed slightly: "You are too ambitious and self-righteous, which is why you suffered such a defeat!"

The messenger was slightly stunned, his brain was a little slow to react.

Then Qi Tai murmured, "We must order the Zhejiang Command to strengthen the defense..."

The messenger hurriedly said, "Sir, this is not a defeat, this is a great victory."

Qi Tai was stunned and looked at the person who brought the news.

The messenger said in a serious tone: "Our Great Ming Navy has wiped out more than 3,000 Japanese pirates in Wengshan County."

"The Japanese pirate leader Kameda Inugami has been captured and is being taken to the capital."

"The Japanese invasion that had plagued Zhejiang's coastal areas for decades was put to rest overnight."

Qi Tai was stunned.

Did we really win?

Did we really achieve an unprecedented victory?
"This is impossible!" Huang Zicheng screamed, "It's fake, it must be fake!"

Before the voice fell, someone else rushed in from outside.

"The Zhejiang Provincial Administration Office has sent an urgent message: our Ming navy wiped out more than 3,000 Japanese pirates in one battle and won a great victory in Wengshan County!"

Did the Zhejiang Provincial Administration also send a message?

Huang Zicheng felt dizzy and dizzy.

Is it true?

Are the Japanese pirates, who have wreaked havoc along the coast for decades, really so vulnerable?

Even if Japan sends troops, can it threaten the Ming Dynasty?
Is it possible that the strategy that I have painstakingly devised will be destroyed before it can be implemented?
"boom!"

The blood rushed to Huang Zicheng's head, his eyes turned black, and he fell to the ground.

……

royal palace.

Since Zhu Yunhuan left, Old Zhu moved back to the palace.

Although he said that government affairs were still under Zhu Yunhuan's control, he did not attend court anymore. But in fact, Zhu Yunhuan was not the type to sit idle.

You know, before this, Old Zhu wanted to do everything for his descendants for more than a dozen generations.

The "Huang Ming Zu Xun" he compiled clearly stipulated how descendants should be named, how future emperors should address their elders, and how many guards they should bring when traveling...

It was not until Zhu Yunhuan was appointed as regent that Zhu Yuanzhang began to let go.

The reason for letting go was not because he really didn't want to care about it, but because he wanted to test his grandson's ability.

Zhu Yunhuan did everything better than he had imagined, so Zhu Yunhuan gave him more and more freedom and left everything to him to decide.

Now that Zhu Yunhuan is gone, Old Zhu starts to worry again.

After all, it was the first time for his grandson to lead an expedition. How could he feel at ease?
Especially since his grandson didn't even bring any veteran generals from the imperial court with him this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was even more worried.

However, he knew very well why his grandson did this, so he did not stop him.

But Zhu Yuanzhang, who still couldn't let it go, summoned Zhu Di, Lan Yu and a group of nobles and generals in the capital today to discuss the war on the front line and the strategy to pacify the Japanese pirates.

If you can think of any good ideas, you can send them over immediately.

At this moment, news of a great victory on the front line suddenly arrived.

The message that Zhu Yunhuan sent by pigeon was delivered to Yao Guangxiao.

After all, it was a carrier pigeon raised by the inquiry company.

After receiving the news, Yao Guangxiao immediately reported it to the court.

But the carrier pigeon brought back only a short note.

It does not describe in detail how the Ming army encountered the Japanese pirates, how they fought, and other specific events of the war.

It only wrote that the Ming Navy won the first battle, killed more than 3,000 enemies, without any casualties, and only two were slightly injured.

After watching it, no one in the hall showed any ecstasy. Instead, the hall fell into an eerie silence.

The nobles and generals looked at each other, and finally Lan Yu could no longer hold back and spoke first: "Your Highness the Crown Prince is too eager to gain credit. I'm afraid this battle report is a bit exaggerated, which is also human nature."

He was worried that His Majesty would be angry, so he said this on purpose.

On the surface, it seemed that he was blaming Zhu Yunhuan, but in fact he was protecting him.

In order to make big things small and small things disappear.

Zhu Di continued, "I think that the Ming Navy should have won the victory. It's just that the record is slightly exaggerated. This is the first battle of the Ming Navy, and the slight exaggeration is also to boost morale and inspire people."

Other noble warriors also nodded in approval.

"The flaws do not outweigh the merits. After all, this is the first time that His Royal Highness leads an army to fight, and it is good to be victorious." A nobleman smiled and said, "It is always a cause for celebration that our Great Ming won its first battle."

As for the content written above about annihilating 3,000 enemies and completely eliminating the Japanese pirates in one day...

Everyone present was a veteran of battles, having been through mountains of corpses and seas of blood for many years.

If such bizarre battle reports could deceive the ignorant people, how could they possibly deceive these veterans who have fought on the battlefield for many years?
You can tell at first glance that those contents are fake!

What if this battle report was not submitted by the Crown Prince, but by another general.

I'm afraid these people will have to ask the emperor to punish them immediately.

It's not a big deal to brag a little about your own military achievements.

They were all military commanders, and when they wrote battle reports to the court, they would more or less boast about their own achievements.

It was also to obtain more rewards from the court for the soldiers under his command.

Everyone can understand this.

But you can't go too far!

Regarding the battle report from the Crown Prince, they could only say that whoever believed it was a fool!

Old Zhu's expression changed from bright to dark, and suddenly he smiled and said, "It's good as long as we can win. It doesn't matter how many enemies we kill. Hu'er is still young, and he can hone his skills slowly."

"The Ming Navy is a new army, and this is their first time to go to sea for combat, so they also need to hone their skills."

"Only a hundred battles can produce elite troops."

When the generals and nobles saw that the emperor was not angry, they all agreed.

The originally weird atmosphere became much more relaxed.

Everyone was talking at once.

At this time.

Another eunuch came to report from outside.

"Tongzheng Shi Zeng Bingzheng wants to see you."

Old Zhu's heart sank.

The Tongzhengsi was responsible for receiving memorials submitted from all over the country. According to the rules he set, if there were urgent matters, they could go directly to the palace to see the emperor.

Lao Zhu hurriedly said, "Pass it quickly!"

For general matters, the Ministry of Public Security would compile the memorials received into a daily briefing and submit it the next day.

He suddenly came to ask for a meeting at this time, so something big must have happened.

Soon, Zeng Bingzheng walked in.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! The Zhejiang Military Command, the Zhejiang Provincial Administration, Hangzhou Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture and other offices have all sent victory reports. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince led the Ming Navy to annihilate the main force of the Japanese pirates on the islands of Wengshan County, killing 3,053 Japanese pirates."

"The Japanese pirates' base at sea has been completely destroyed, and the pirate leader Kameda Inugami has been captured alive and is being taken to the capital."

"After this battle, the Japanese invasion that had plagued the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang for decades was finally quelled."

Old Zhu suddenly stood up from the dragon throne.

All the nobles and generals were stunned.

Just now we unanimously concluded that it was false news and an exaggeration?

Now all the government offices in Zhejiang have reported victory?
"Are what you said true?" Old Zhu asked in a slightly trembling voice.

Zeng Bingzheng raised his head and looked up at the Emperor.

what happened?

Why did the emperor ask this?
How could I dare to fake something like this?
He bowed again hurriedly and said, "Your Majesty, here are more than ten memorials sent by government offices and garrisons from all over Zhejiang, all of which can serve as evidence."

"The Ming Navy defeated the Japanese pirates in one battle!"

Lao Zhu hurriedly said, "Present it quickly."

The eunuch hurried forward, took all the memorials and handed them to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Lao Zhu opened one and read it, then the second, then the third...

"Hahahaha!" Old Zhu suddenly laughed loudly towards the sky, and then his dragon eyes looked towards Zhu Di, Lan Yu, and a group of noble generals.

"Look, this is real!"

"Our grandson really achieved a record that even we dare not imagine."

"Our grandson did not exaggerate, nor did he spread false news. Everything he said was true!"

Old Zhu's voice was like thunder and he looked like a madman.

……

(End of this chapter)