Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 234: Concealing the truth...and destroying one's own Great Wall!
Wow!

Wow!

The surrounding trees swayed gently.

Make a very light sound.

Jinling is located in the south. Unlike the north, many trees do not lose their leaves in winter, but the color of the leaves is not as green as in spring and summer.

The wind is very gentle, and the sound of the trees swaying is not loud. If you don't pay attention, it is easy for your brain to automatically ignore it, as if it never existed.

Only at this moment, when the atmosphere suddenly froze, did the originally faint voice seem so harsh.

Since coming to this world, Zhu Yunhuan has gradually completed transformations again and again.

Yang Shiqi said that he liked the court because it was home to the world's top figures, whose plans were thorough and far-reaching, and whose layouts were ingenious and meticulous.

Their thoughts go far beyond those of ordinary people.

Standing above the world, looking down on all living beings in the world.

Whether you are friends with such people or enemies with them, it is better than spending all day with mediocre and stupid people.

Zhu Yunhuan also had a deeper and deeper understanding of this.

Man is an environmental animal.

People become completely different in different living environments.

For example, if it were in the past, when facing Qi Tai's "true feelings", Zhu Yunhuan would only be moved by him and his mood would be very complicated.

I will think that even hateful people have their pitiful side.

Even though Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai betrayed the Ming Dynasty and the Chinese nation, their starting point was a self-righteous desire to save the people of the world.

People are meant to change.

Just like the traitor who was despised by everyone in later generations, he also wrote some passionate poems when he was young.

"I sing in the streets of Yan with great enthusiasm, and I am calm as a prisoner of Chu. I draw my sword from the beginning, and I will not let down my youth."

If he had died at that time, this poem would have been recited by millions of people, and this person would have been praised by people all over the world.

Apart from these, Zhu Yunhuan would not think too much.

There will be no doubt.

However, after dealing with Zhu Yuanzhang, Yang Shiqi, Yao Guangxiao and others more frequently, he began to be influenced and started to think more and more deeply.

Think about the deeper meaning behind a person's actions.

The second and third layers of things...

Therefore, when Qi Tai was "frank" with Zhu Yunhuan, he felt complicated and immediately thought, could this be a trap?

So Zhu Yunhuan began to test the waters.

Yes.

Zhu Yunhuan was not sure whether Qi Tai was really using the "death spy strategy" or whether it was an elaborate strategy... He was just testing him!

If Qi Tai was wrongly accused, and if the other party truly repented and admitted his mistake before his death, then that one tentative word would be irrelevant.

On the contrary, if the other party really has a problem, perhaps you can see some clues.

The result was obvious, Qi Tai's expression proved everything.

Zhu Yunhuan sighed in his heart.

Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng, one ranked first in the provincial examination of Yingtian Prefecture, and the other ranked first in the national examination and third in the palace examination. Such "academic masters" who are so good at studying certainly cannot be stupid people.

The strategy they came up with after much painstaking effort was naturally very brilliant.

However, when it comes to actual implementation, it is another matter.

Zhu Yuanzhang had used the same test when facing Yang Shiqi and Yao Guangxiao.

The reactions of both of them were extremely calm and indifferent.

But Qi Tai can't do that.

Zhu Yunhuan exposed his true colors with just a simple test.

A difference of a millimeter can make a world of difference.

"How did you know that?" Qi Tai asked in horror.

He thought that there was no flaw in his strategy and there was nothing wrong with his performance just now.

"I didn't see it." Zhu Yunhuan shook his head: "I believed you just now, I just wanted to test you a little bit one last time, but you exposed yourself."

Qi Tai was stunned.

I never thought it would be like this.

At the last moment, all efforts failed.

He closed his eyes in some pain.

Qi Tai has been preparing for this day for a very long time.

Just writing these confessions takes a lot of time and energy.

Think you are infallible.

However, he did not expect that he could not bear a simple test from Zhu Yunhuan and collapsed.

"If my guess is correct, you and Huang Zicheng may have written more than one confession."

"Give this confession to me, and let me secretly use it to blackmail the ministers in the court. It will seem like it is helping me control the power in the court, so that no one will dare to oppose me from now on, and I can eliminate any opposition without any effort."

"Just when I thought I had everything under control, I didn't know that those officials knew about it and they had the same confession in their hands."

"Even Cao Mengde knew to burn the evidence of his subordinates' secret dealings with Yuan Shao instead of just following the clues to arrest them."

"Because of the situation at the time, stabilizing people's hearts was far more important than seeking revenge or catching the traitor."

"But even if there are many people who are collaborators, it is impossible for everyone to be one."

"You and Huang Zicheng's confessions have implicated all the civil and military officials in the court, leaving no one alive."

"If I really believed the confession you submitted and used it to blackmail the officials, I would definitely be deserted by everyone."

"Everyone in the court is worried about their own safety. Everyone wants to kill me to ensure safety."

"By then, even if I have the power to reach the sky, I will not be able to resist." "Maybe one day when I summon an official, they will rush over and beat me to death on the spot! It will be a joke for ages."

"This is a brilliant strategy of 'hiding the truth from the heavens'!"

Zhu Yunxun sighed: "You have read so many books of saints, why don't you repent until your death?"

Although he had found out whether Qi Tai was genuine or not, he was not happy in his heart, but rather a little sad.

"You are really smart. You figured it all out so quickly." Qi Tai gritted his teeth and said, "Since you already believe it, why do you still want to test it?"

"You are so young, but you are more suspicious than a traitor like Cao Mengde. How can I believe that you can be a wise ruler?"

He looked up to the sky and laughed.

"Yes, I admit that you are indeed very capable."

"You are so young and yet you have such ability. Not to mention looking at the world today, even in the past thousand years, it would be hard to find a genius who can match you."

"But when a monarch governs the country, he never judges people by their talents."

"On the contrary, if you were just a mediocre talent, Huang Zicheng and I would not be willing to sacrifice our entire family and risk being reviled for a thousand years by future generations just to bring you down."

"But you are not."

"You are very talented, but also too arrogant. You always think you are in control of everything."

"Didn't you set up the Ming Academy of Sciences and let people do experiments to find a solution?"

"I've been to the Daming Academy of Sciences and seen their experiments."

"The vast majority of those experiments failed."

"But look at what you are doing?"

"Your so-called 'New Deal of the Crown Prince' is a policy that you believe will bring peace to the world, but in reality, the national policies you are implementing are unprecedented from ancient times to the present."

"You are using the Ming Dynasty as an experiment, and the people of the world as an experiment..."

"If you succeed, you will be remembered for eternity and be praised by generations to come... But what if you fail? Who will bear the consequences? Have you ever thought about this?"

"Yes, as of today, you have been very successful. The country is peaceful and the people are safe. The Ming Dynasty is thriving, and the people are grateful for your kindness."

"But have you ever thought that your strategy for governing the country cannot withstand any failure?"

"If we fail, not only will all our previous efforts be wasted, but the entire world will be ruined."

"You are ambitious and have started large-scale projects everywhere, building roads, dams, and reservoirs... Do you know how many people are doing corvée labor and working outside the country right now?"

"Let me tell you, even a tyrannical emperor like Qin Shi Huang and a foolish emperor like Sui Yangdi never conscripted so many people!"

Qi Tai shouted at the top of his lungs: "A loyal minister should not serve two masters. Since I chose to be King Xian's disciple, I will never betray him again."

"You drove King Xian crazy? How can I not take revenge?"

"And Concubine Lu, no matter how bad she was to you, she was still your adoptive mother who raised you, and she was also your father's favorite concubine."

"But you actually managed to kill her, and sent people to pretend to be 'Japanese pirates' to exterminate the Lu family."

"And the King of Qin, he is your second uncle."

"You actually sent someone to poison him to death!"

"Do you think that no one knows what you did?"

"As everyone knows, if you don't want others to know, then don't do it yourself!"

"Why were all the people around Concubine Lu executed for no apparent reason?"

"Even if they were responsible for Concubine Lu's death, they should have been interrogated. Why not?"

"How could the Japanese pirates penetrate deep into the interior and kill so many people? Why did the so-called Japanese pirates leave without a trace when they came?"

"How could a few maids in the Qin Palace get such a terrible poison?"

"Although I don't have any evidence for these things, any smart person can see the problems."

"For your own power, you murdered your mother, drove your brother crazy, and killed your uncle."

"How vicious is your heart?"

Qi Tai seemed to have gone crazy.

"Why are there so many ministers in the court willing to let me meet with Huang Zicheng secretly in prison?"

"Why was I able to freely enter and leave the heavily guarded prison of the Ministry of Justice under your nose, collude with Huang Zicheng, and write these confessions?"

"Because beneath the surface where you seem to be in control of all the power, there are actually turbulent waves."

"There are countless people in the court who don't want you to ascend the throne."

"Since ancient times, the emperor and the scholars have jointly ruled the country."

"But King Xian is willing to share power with the scholars, but you are not."

"The national policies of the Ming Dynasty were all made by you alone. Even Yang Shiqi, Yao Guangxiao, Xia Yuanji and others were only faithfully carrying out your orders."

"Then how can we, the scholars and officials, tolerate you?"

"You still want Fang Xiaoru, that corrupt scholar, to spread the saintly teachings of 'the great public good of the world'?"

"You want to seize the wealth of the rich and powerful so that your Zhu family can please the common people!"

"You're not the one who can come up with such a crazy idea of asking the wealthy and the literati to pay more taxes."

"What will happen to us scholars and officials if we act this way?"

"Are we, who have worked so hard to study, become officials, make contributions to the country, and serve the people, going to end up with a status lower than that of ordinary people?"

"If you do this, you will only destroy your own Great Wall!"

"Don't think that you can do whatever you want just because your reforms are going smoothly now."

"Without the scholars and officials to govern the country for you, and without the support of the gentry of the world, I want to see how you plan to govern the country!"

"Today you killed me and Huang Zicheng, and our entire family. One day, you will end up like this yourself."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

……

(End of this chapter)