Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 323 Everyone has their own agenda! Zhu Su's plan!

Zhu Gaoxu was slightly stunned at first.

Immediately, he slammed the table and said, "What a good idea!"

"As long as you distribute the muskets, cannons and ammunition in the military factory to your kings' personal guards, your strength will increase immediately."

"We can then force him to abdicate."

As Zhu Gaoxu spoke, thoughts were racing in his mind.

Although he had the Ministry of Justice but did not truly hold power, he was, after all, the chief official appointed by the court.

Although he has not been officially appointed as the Minister of Justice, the position is currently vacant and he is temporarily in charge of the seal of the Minister of Justice.

No matter how many constraints there are within the Ministry of Justice, as long as he sends out an official document with the seal of the Minister of Justice, people outside will have to recognize that it is an official document of the Ministry of Justice.

The Ministry of Justice is extremely powerful right now.

Official documents from the Ministry of Justice can be used to do a lot of things.

For example, in the name of the Ministry of Justice, they bypassed the checkpoints set up by the Taxation Bureau and other government offices.

As for his elder brother Zhu Gaochi, his Ming Dynasty Court Assets Department was the immediate superior of the military factory. As long as he issued an official document... the military factory would not dare to disobey.

As for the punishment afterwards...by that time, the Ming Dynasty court had already changed, so what was there to worry about?

"Okay, I will go and convince my brother, get the documents, and go to the military factory to get the weapons." Zhu Gaoxu stood up.

Zhu Su was overjoyed.

He originally had the attitude of giving it a try.

It would be better if Zhu Gaoxu could be persuaded to give him weapons.

If not, it would be a good excuse to shirk responsibility and wait and see what happens.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Gaoxu had such an impulsive character. He was led by the nose after just a few words.

"Okay, then I, your fifth uncle, will wait for good news from your nephew." Zhu Su bowed.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Zhu Gaoxu patted his chest to assure, and then said: "Please trouble Uncle Wu to inform the other uncles."

"Let them leave Jinling City temporarily and meet up with the three guards I brought with me outside the city. Just wait for me to deliver the weapons to them."

Zhu Su nodded gently and said, "No need to explain, Uncle Wu will know it naturally."

"However, you have to give Uncle Wu more muskets, artillery and ammunition."

"In this way, Fifth Uncle can take the lead, control the situation, and help your father, my fourth brother, ascend the throne smoothly."

Zhu Gaoxu thought, if that were true, then the person who would ascend the throne would probably be you, not my father.

He waved his hands repeatedly and said in a perfunctory manner: "Uncle Wu, you are joking. We did this mainly to rescue Grandpa who was imprisoned in the harem by Zhu Yunhuan, not to usurp the throne and become emperor."

"After Grandpa Huang is rescued, he will have the final say on who will be appointed as the crown prince and who will be made the emperor."

Zhu Su was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "My nephew is right."

But he was thinking in his heart that the old man would definitely enthrone Zhu Di.

After all, Zhu Yuanzhang had always been very fond of Zhu Di and had commended him many times.

In contrast, I was disliked by Lao Zhu, often scolded and reprimanded for the slightest thing.

Zhu Yuanzhang even publicly said that he was "as stupid as a pig", so how could he possibly make himself the crown prince and pass the throne to himself?

Not to mention, Zhu Di was his elder brother and ranked ahead of him.

This guy is a little smart guy, and he is really good at calculating.

On the surface, he said that he was saving the old emperor and letting the old emperor decide who would be the crown prince. In fact, he had already regarded the throne as something in his father's pocket.

However, Zhu Su certainly could not expose the other party at this time, so he said: "My father is imprisoned in the harem, and as a son, I am also very worried. Now I am fortunate to have the help of my nephew, and I hope to save my father from the dire situation. My nephew is here to turn the tide and save the collapsing building."

"Future history books will definitely remember my nephew's achievements."

"Father will be grateful to you too."

"Now that the eldest and second brothers are gone, and the third brother has gone overseas, it is a foregone conclusion that your father will be the crown prince."

"After all, your father and I are from the same mother, so we are different from other brothers."

"Giving me guns and ammunition means giving guns and ammunition to your father. I will definitely do my best to ensure that your father's position is stable. Nephew, please remember this."

Zhu Yunhuan was very proud of his praise.

I already felt a little elated.

It was as if he had already seen the scene of rescuing Zhu from the harem, and himself being credited with great merit and becoming famous all over the world, with his father naturally being made the crown prince and even ascending the throne to become the emperor.

At that moment, Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly bid farewell to Zhu Su and went to the Assets Department of the Ming Dynasty court to persuade his brother Zhu Gaochi.

The most important thing to accomplish this is to get the support of his brother Zhu Gaochi.

……

On the other hand, after Zhu Su sent Zhu Gaoxu away, he immediately sent someone to secretly summon Feng Sheng to discuss the matter.

"Your Highness, what's the urgent matter? Why did you summon me so late at night?" Feng Sheng also came in disguise, dressed in black.

He is now the Minister of Military Affairs. If he enters the prince's palace without permission, it will easily attract the attention of those interested, so he has to be on guard against this.

Zhu Su asked Feng Sheng to sit down and dismissed his attendants. Then he told him in detail about Zhu Gaoxu's visit.

After Feng Sheng heard what he said, his expression became uncertain and he fell into deep thought.

After a while, Fang said, "Your Highness, what are you going to do next?"

Zhu Su smiled and said, "At least, one thing is certain now, that is, my father is indeed still alive and in the harem."

"I have carefully considered the possibilities you mentioned."

"If Zhu Yunhuan imprisoned my father, and all of us princes worked together to rescue him, the credit would naturally go to my fourth brother and his two sons."

"The contributions of Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaochi will also be attributed to my fourth brother."

"He is also the elder brother, and has always been loved by the emperor."

"If the emperor is saved, he will be made the crown prince."

"But this king gets nothing."

"Then why did I take such a risk?"

"On the other hand, if the emperor deliberately lives in seclusion in the deep palace to lure out those who oppose Zhu Yunhuan and help him to secure the throne, we will anger the emperor by doing this, and the gains will be even more than the losses."

"My intention is to first use Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaochi to obtain a large number of muskets, artillery and ammunition."

“But we remained on hold.”

"Then leak the news to Zhu Yunhuan and use him to get rid of the fourth brother and his two sons."

"At that time, our three guards had already had muskets and cannons, and the guards of the princes also had a large number of firearms. Even if Zhu Yunhuan was dissatisfied, he could only accept it."

"It is impossible to take back the firearms."

Zhu Su showed a proud look on his face and whispered, "I have also brought Shang Xingyu to Jinling."

"Right now, she is being taught ventriloquism by a hired ventriloquist. We are trying to make her voice exactly like her mother's, with no difference at all."

"I have been studying medicine recently and have gained a new understanding of the art of disguise mentioned in medical books. I will be able to prepare a better medicine to help her disguise herself."

"She looks very similar to my mother, and with her careful dressing and disguise, it's not difficult to make her look real."

"As long as my father is still alive, whether she is imprisoned or deliberately secluded in the harem, sending her to my father will surely shake his mind, which is ten thousand times better than any stunning beauty..."

He paused, then laughed softly, "With her help, and my fourth brother no longer around, when my father comes out of the harem, he will definitely make me the crown prince."

"Father-in-law, what do you think?"

Feng Sheng's body suddenly trembled slightly.

He was actually distracted.

Before this, he had held secret meetings with King Zhu Su of Zhou many times, hoping to promote his son-in-law Zhu Su to the throne.

why?

One of the most important reasons was that Feng Sheng felt extremely insecure.

The reason for pushing Zhu Su to the throne was not for glory and wealth, but for self-protection.

As time went by, Feng Sheng felt more and more that Zhu Yuanzhang did not trust these old and meritorious generals who had followed him in his battles.

The reason for this is that they have deep roots and strong influence in the military.

There is no way to get rid of the emperor's suspicion.

A strong sense of uneasiness always lingered in Feng Sheng's heart.

What's more, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Zhu Yunhuan as the crown prince.

Zhu Yunhuan's uncle who is still alive is Chang Mao's younger brother Chang Sheng.

It is said that Zhu Yunhuan and Chang Sheng had a very close relationship.

This made Feng Sheng even more uneasy.

Previously, Chang Mao was his son-in-law and married his daughter, but this was only because Chang Yuchun had a good relationship with Feng Sheng. Unlike Zhu Su, Chang Mao hated his father-in-law.

The conflict between the two people intensified at one point.

Feng Sheng once reported to Zhu Yuanzhang, directly pointing out Chang Mao's crimes.

Chang Mao also wrote a letter to attack his father-in-law.

Ultimately, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an imperial decree to take away his seal of general and also demoted Chang Mao to a remote frontier.

It can be said that both sides suffer losses.

Chang Mao died on the frontier shortly afterwards, and Chang Sheng inherited his brother's title.

The feud between Feng Sheng and the Chang family began from then on.

Chang Sheng hated Feng Sheng so much that he threatened many times to avenge his brother Chang Mao.

If Zhu Yunhuan succeeded to the throne and became emperor, Chang Sheng would become the emperor's uncle.

Now that the Chang family is in power, I’m afraid they won’t let me go.

He was not willing to sit there and wait for death.

Feng Sheng's way of saving himself was to help his son-in-law, Prince of Zhou Zhu Su, ascend to the throne.

However, what Feng Sheng did not expect was that after Zhu Yunhuan ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor and reformed the government, he promoted himself to the Military Affairs Department and became the Minister of Military Affairs.

He entered the court with Zhu Su, and Zhu Yunhuan summoned him alone, encouraging him to work diligently and be loyal to the country, and said that the court would not forget his achievements.

Afterwards, he was rewarded with a lot of gold, silver and treasures.

It seemed that Zhu Yunhuan had no intention of killing him.

Not only that, on the whole, Zhu Yunhuan's methods of treating court officials were relatively gentle.

Apart from severely punishing those who acted as behind-the-scenes protectors of gangs and hooligans, and repeatedly warning officials not to engage in corruption and nobles not to abuse their power to oppress the people, Zhu Yuanzhang would not be as harsh as he was in the past when it came to dealing with general mistakes made by ministers.

He is very skilled and relatively gentle.

He prefers to talk about "stability", "unity" and "steadiness" rather than raising the butcher knife at every turn.

All the reforms seem to be carried out in a vigorous and swift manner, but in reality, they are always implemented in a gentle and silent manner.

The ministers' salaries and soldiers' wages were all paid in full.

This is completely different from the style of the usually harsh Lao Zhu.

Even when the construction of palaces, factories, and roads in Yingtian Prefecture and Jinling City required the expropriation of people's land and houses, Zhu Yunhuan ordered the court to give the people extremely generous compensation.

The only thing that made him take action was to crack down on the so-called "evil" forces such as gangs, hooligans, etc.

As for corruption, Zhu Yunhuan used the postal system and the Censorate to exercise very strict supervision over it.

However, unlike Zhu Yuanzhang who would fly into a rage and kill people at will, Zhu Yunhuan paid more attention to preventing problems from happening and, through strict management, made it difficult for officials to engage in corruption and bribery.

Besides, he didn't like to implicate a large number of people.

The saying "If one person breaks the law, five neighbors will be punished together" changed under Zhu Yunhuan's rule to mean that unless there is evidence to prove that they are shielding someone or colluding with each other, then no one will be punished together and the innocent will not be wrongly accused.

……

Because of this series of reforms, although Zhu Yunhu did not grant amnesty to the entire country like other emperors did when they ascended the throne, but instead strictly limited the scope of amnesty, the people still called him "the benevolent monarch of all ages."

What was more important to Feng Sheng was that Zhu Yunhuan was very friendly towards the meritorious old ministers who had made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. He did not have any intention of getting rid of them out of fear that they would become too powerful and difficult to get rid of.

Now it seems that under the rule of Zhu Yunhuan, Feng Sheng’s life is not in danger at all.

As long as he doesn't commit suicide, the worst that can happen to him is that he will be stripped of his power and retire.

Moreover, the court will give him good treatment and allow him to enjoy his old age.

There will be no danger to the descendants of the family.

If that’s the case, then what is he rebelling against?

Are you really just bored because you have eaten too much?

Why would you rather live a good life and take the risk of losing your head?
He is old and is not so eager to have real power.

"Father-in-law, father-in-law!" Zhu Su shouted repeatedly.

Feng Shengfang came back to his senses and looked deeply at his son-in-law in front of him.

Open the bow without turning back the arrow.

Zhu Su had spent so much time and effort and made so many arrangements under his persuasion, so how could he be willing to withdraw at this time?

I want to persuade him, but I don't know where to start.

On the contrary, if he expressed his disagreement at this time, the two of them would probably become enemies immediately.

"It's a good idea." Feng Sheng said after careful consideration, "But now the harem is sealed off and no one can enter. It would be very difficult to send someone in."

"It's okay. I have my own way to deal with this matter." Zhu Su said with a smile: "When my father was alive, he was very strict with nobles, officials, civil and military officials, and palace maids and eunuchs."

"But the imperial kitchen is an exception."

"Xu Xingzu was the head of the imperial kitchen for 23 years and was never punished."

"Because Father believes that if the cooks feel resentful, they will easily poison the dishes."

"So, if the cooks make mistakes, either kill them directly or replace them with new ones."

"Or treat them well and turn a blind eye to the mistakes made by the cooks without punishing them."

"Because of this, over the years, relying on the favor of the emperor, the people in the imperial kitchen have gained a lot of benefits."

"Especially when it comes to purchasing raw materials such as chicken, mutton, fish, meat, fruits and vegetables, the profits are extremely lucrative."

"Although the emperor knew about this, he did not punish them, but allowed them to make money."

"But after Zhu Yunhuan came to power, he established the Ministry of Posts and Communications, reformed the Censorate, and promoted the trend of reporting and supervision."

"Although the people in the imperial kitchen were not punished for this."

"But as the regulatory system becomes stricter, 90% of the ways to make a lot of money from dishes have been blocked."

"The price of an egg in the imperial kitchen is now less than one-tenth of the original price."

"As the saying goes, to cut off a person's financial resources is like killing his parents."

"Whether Zhu Yunhuan did it intentionally or unintentionally, that's fine."

"In short, his current tightening of supervision has blocked the way for the imperial kitchen staff to make money."

"It's impossible to say that they don't have any resentment."

Feng Sheng frowned slightly and said, "But your majesty didn't punish them. As far as I know, your majesty even doubled the salary of the people in the imperial kitchen. They wouldn't poison your majesty, would they?"

When Zhu Su heard that he did not call Zhu Yunhuan by name but addressed him as "Your Majesty", he could not help but feel a little dissatisfied, but he did not show it. Instead, he smiled and said, "What's the use of that little salary?"

"The people in the imperial kitchen never live on salaries."

"However, it is unlikely that they would poison Zhu Yunhuan because of this."

"Besides, Zhu Yunhuan is more afraid of death than my father."

"The supervision of the imperial kitchen is also stricter."

"In the past, the chefs in the imperial kitchen cooked their own dishes. After cooking, the dishes were tasted by eunuchs who were responsible for testing for poison. After they were confirmed to be non-toxic, they could be presented to the emperor."

"But Zhu Yunhuan felt that even if he asked someone to taste the food, he might not be able to detect all the poisons. Besides, there are still many chronic poisons in the world."

"Therefore, he ordered all the stoves in the imperial kitchen to be relocated and separated."

"When each imperial chef cooks a dish, there are four people watching the whole process."

"From buying groceries to cooking, the whole process is strictly supervised. Even if the chefs want to poison, they won't have the chance!"

"Not to mention, they don't have the courage to do so."

Feng Sheng was puzzled and asked, "What does Your Highness mean?"

He was a little confused.

"The harem!" Zhu Su said with a smile, "Although the harem is sealed, there are still many people living in it."

"There are no pedestrians, but we can't stop eating and drinking."

"There is also a special dining room in the harem."

"The chicken, duck, fish and meat needed by the harem's kitchen are all provided by the imperial kitchen."

"The people in the imperial kitchen used to have very high incomes and were used to a good life."

"Now I can only rely on my salary to make a living, how can I bear it?"

"I can bribe the manager inside with just some silver."

"Let them use the opportunity of delivering food to the harem to send Shang Xingyu to the harem!"

……

(End of this chapter)