The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 790 Come, my brother should be Yao and Shun
At the end of the Wanli reign, under the careful design of the programmers of Tengman Company, the soul of rock singer Liang Tianxing traveled through time and space to become Zhu Youjian, the grandson of Emperor Wanli, the son of Emperor Guangzong of the Ming Dynasty and the brother of Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty, thus starting a vigorous journey to save the Ming Dynasty.

In the more than ten years that followed, Zhu Youjian, like other time travelers, worked diligently to develop himself by pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger.

Established universities, popularized nine-year compulsory education, reformed the imperial examination system, improved firearms, invented soap and cement, trained a new army, invented black powder, distilled liquor, made sugar, poured steel, produced vegetable oils and various snacks, used traditional penicillin and vitamins, intercropped and rotated crops, used waterwheels, promoted the cultivation of potatoes, peppers, cabbage, green beans, tomatoes, lettuce, and strawberries, hand-painted a world map, accepted Chen Yuanyuan, and prepared to ascend the throne...
In a nutshell, for the past twelve years, the time traveler has been working tirelessly to achieve ten modernizations (crossed out) for the revival of the Ming Dynasty and to eliminate No. 0001 - this is also the purpose of Vine Company sending rock singers to the Ming Dynasty - but unfortunately, Qi Meng is blessed with the protagonist's halo and is not so easy to kill.

One day, Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch in charge of writing in the Imperial Household Department, delivered an imperial edict, ordering Zhu Youjian to enter the palace.

It was a day in late August of the seventh year of the Tianqi reign. At the end of August, the golden wind was blowing, the air was solemn and frost was falling, and the forests were dyed with colors... Rumor has it that the emperor was going to die.

There are still many different opinions among historians about the cause of Zhu Youxiao's death.

Some say that Zhu Youxiao was poisoned to death by Liaoyang Earl's Shangshu Huo Weihua, some say that Zhu Youjian bribed the eunuchs to tamper with the Xiyuan pleasure boat, and some say that Vine Company was extremely dissatisfied with this incompetent emperor (mainly because he had not yet killed No. 0001) and killed this NPC in advance...
However, what is certain is that the era belonging to Zhu Youjian is about to come.

On August 21st, in the Qianqing Palace, Prince Xin Zhu Youjian, the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, and a group of cabinet ministers knelt in front of the bed, crying bitterly.

Hanlin scholar Chen Shilong burst into tears:
"Prince Xin is exceptionally intelligent, possessing both civil and military prowess. Under his rule, Henan enjoys abundant weather and abundant harvests, with no one stealing on the road and leaving their doors unlocked at night. Last year, during the severe drought, not only did Henan not starve to death, but it also supplied Shaanxi with 20,000 shi of grain... Prince Xin is at the peak of his powers. With him as your successor, all the lands will submit to him. Your Majesty, with Prince Xin here, the Ming Dynasty has nothing to worry about."

Emperor Tianqi remained silent after hearing this.

Minister of Revenue Wen Tiren continued, "Since Prince Xin took charge of Henan, he has established schools and factories, and taught mathematics, metallurgy, mechanics, agricultural breeding, medicine, architecture, and machinery... He is determined to revive the Ming Dynasty and completely change the old ways. He has learned all the systems from the West, emulating and copying them, fearing that he may not have thoroughly mastered them. Within a few years, he has even been able to build his own ships and guns, train his own troops, and open mines... I believe that with Prince Xin as his ruler, the Ming Dynasty can stand among the great Western powers and compete with them!"

Zhu Youxiao was on his deathbed. Grand topics such as the world situation, the steam age, and the separation of powers were too far away from him and were not topics that this dying man should care about.

He asked Zhu Youjian to come closer, took his brother's hand, placed his hand in his palm, and said intermittently:
"The Jiannu rebels have not yet been pacified, bandits are rising in droves, pirates are rampant in the southeast, and the Liaoyang Lord is too powerful to be eliminated... My brother is a man of extraordinary talent, both civil and military, and is no less capable than the Emperor Gao. Come, you will be like Yao or Shun! The Ming Dynasty is in your hands."

Zhu Youjian burst into tears.

Suddenly, Zhu Youxiao grabbed Zhu Youjian's arm, his face flushed, which was a sign of a last burst of vitality.

The Emperor Tianqi cursed loudly in fluent Beijing dialect:

"In Liaodong, Huang Taiji and his father Nurhaci were once my royal henchmen, but later rebelled in Hetuala. What a jerk! Zheng Zhilong, the southern barbarian, surrendered and then rebelled again. And Qi Meng, who received great favors from Emperor Shenzong and me, is now rebelling against the heavens! Damn these three bastards, not a single one of them will be spared! I'll give you three arrows, and you must never forget my will!"

Emperor Tianqi struggled to take out the three arrows hidden under his pillow. Just as he turned over, he suddenly died and his soul returned to heaven.

"Big brother!"

Zhu Youjian burst into tears.

On August 1627, , the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, Zhu Youxiao passed away. On August , Prince Xin Zhu Youjian ascended the throne and issued an edict to change the next year to the first year of Chongzhen.

At that time, the Earl of Liaoyang had repeatedly defeated the Jiannu and exterminated bandits, achieving remarkable military success. During his twelve years in Liaodong, he achieved ten major victories. As his status grew, he became arrogant and extravagant, his achievements surpassing his master's. He often spoke disrespectfully and committed crimes, and the loyal officials of the Ming Dynasty hated him deeply.

Zhu Youjian treated him very kindly. Whenever the Earl of Liaoyang made military achievements, he would send eunuchs to Liaodong to reward him with gold, silver, delicacies and palace maids.

The Earl of Liaoyang used the Liao Dynasty's salary to support his family and his troops, and his daily life was in his military camp. All military and political affairs of Liaodong were handled in the military camp. Every time the eunuchs from the capital read the imperial edict, they had to go to the military camp. In the third year of Chongzhen, the Ministry of War ordered the Earl of Liaoyang to send troops to Shaanxi to pacify the bandit Zhang Xianzhong, the Eighth King. Qi Meng delayed the order with excuses such as "the recruits are all new and cannot fight" and "the soldiers and salaries are insufficient." The ministers were infuriated, and the imperial desk was filled with impeachment memorials against the Earl of Liaoyang. However, Emperor Chongzhen was kind and lenient, and promoted Qi Meng to the title of Prince Taibao, and allocated an additional 800,000 grain and salaries to Liaodong. The Earl of Liaoyang then sent Deng Changxiong to lead a small army into the pass. Within ten months, they killed Zhang Xianzhong and wiped out the bandits in Shaanxi.

After this incident, the relationship between the Earl of Liaoyang and the imperial court became more distant, and rumors that Qi Meng was about to rebel spread within the country.

Emperor Chongzhen sat at the east corner gate of the Qianqing Palace and summoned Li Guo, the Minister of Rites, to ask:

"The Marquis of Liaoyang has a large army, how can we control it?"

Li Guo used the story of the Han Dynasty pacifying the Seven Kingdoms as his response.

Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed: "If we can really eliminate this great evil, it will be a blessing for the Ming Dynasty and the country."

In the third year of Chongzhen, the five stars were in disorder, and the sun and the moon were in conflict.

Ke Zhen'e, the director of the Imperial Observatory, believed that there was an evil spirit in the country and that strange phenomena were coming from the sky, so he made a suggestion:

"The sun is the symbol of the monarch. The moon is the symbol of the ministers. The stars are the symbols of the nobles, officials, and common people. I am ignorant of astrology, so I will explain a few words based on what I have heard from the classics and historical records."

Zhu Youjian looked at Ke Zhenwu coldly.

"The Book of Songs says, 'When the moon is eclipsed, it is normal.' Now the moon is not like the moon, and the sun is not like the sun. There are strange phenomena in the sky, and I dare not say more. The Zuo Zhuan says, 'A capital city with more than a hundred walls is a disaster for the country.' Now the walls in Liaoyang are more than ten feet high...

Ke Zhenwu wanted to continue, and Emperor Chongzhen became furious:
"What nonsense! How dare you alienate the emperor from his subjects!"

He ordered the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, who was in charge of writing the imperial document, to arrest him, throw him into the imperial prison, and execute him for the crime of "sowing discord between the emperor and his ministers."

From then on, no one dared to mention abolishing the title of Earl of Liaoyang.

~~~~
Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and where there are rivers and lakes, there are conflicts. The Eastern World is not a paradise, and the struggle for power and profit is inevitable. Prime Minister Zhou Yanru is not good at military and national affairs, but when it comes to guessing the emperor's intentions and fighting for power and profit, Zhou Yanru dares to say that he is third to none.

Zhou Yanru knew that with Liaodong pacified, the Marquis of Liaoyang had reached the pinnacle of his official career, and no reward could satisfy this warrior's ambitions. The emperor summoned him now, of course, to discuss the reduction of the feudal system.

"Your Majesty, back then, Jia Yi wept and summoned the troops of Wu and Chu. Lord Father devised a plan and launched the Jinyang Armament Campaign, intending to divide the public office among the three families and annex the remaining land to Linyan. This is just as the saying goes, 'raising a tiger brings disaster, and the herd will inevitably be ruined.' When the late Emperor was alive, Qi Meng was appointed to guard Liaodong and allowed to act at his own discretion. The governors of Ji and Liao were under his control. He appointed civil and military officials, known as the 'Eastern Selections.' Officials of the 'Eastern Selections' were found in almost all regions. In the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, Liao's military pay was over nine million, of which the Earl of Liaoyang alone received six million. Qi Meng, relying on his power, seized the people's land, dredged the river, built the city, levied taxes on customs and markets, monopolized salt wells, opened mines, and minted coins, monopolizing the profits. The coins he minted were known as 'Eastern Coins.' He trained his troops and horses every day, sharpened his weapons, and sent envoys to Japan and Korea, trading tea, horses, and firearms. The capital and all the provinces were Qi's spies... If he was punished, he would rebel; if he was not punished, he would rebel."

Zhou Yanru paused for a moment and continued:
"Your Majesty, please kill the Qi bandits! To demonstrate the great power of the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Youjian said with a smile: "You are right. If you want to take something, you must first give it. If you do too much evil, you will eventually perish. Let the Qi thief run rampant for a while longer. His end is not far away."

After sending Zhou Yanru away and dismissing the palace maids and eunuchs, Emperor Chongzhen sat alone in the Huangji Hall, muttering to himself:
"He's a time traveler, and I'm a time traveler too. Time traveler versus time traveler, I want to see what this No. 0001 is capable of!"

(End of this chapter)