Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 90: True Civil and Military Achievements: A Monk, a Taoist Priest, and a Eunuch [Seeking Follow-up Reading]

Behind the throne, Zhu Biao and Zhu Di looked at each other in surprise.

They never expected that the descendants of the Zhu family would be reduced to begging one or two hundred years later.

Zhu Di thought that the reduction of the power of the princes was mainly accomplished by his lineage. In history, the Ming Dynasty was unable to pay the royal family salaries under the rule of his descendants. He couldn't help feeling ashamed and lowered his head again.

He used to be so proud of having two good sons and a good grandson, and even thought that it was God's will.

Now that I think about it, what good sons they had, one died young, one rebelled, and one even wanted to poison him!
The good saintly grandson fought few battles and even lost large tracts of land in the north and south that he had conquered, but he was praised as a good saintly grandson by the civil officials. Why did he believe the lies of those civil officials in history?

He was neither good at military affairs nor good at civil affairs, which left a lot of problems for the Ming Dynasty.

Listen to what Liu Kuan said, it seems that the holy grandson has only been in power for ten years, and he is a short-lived ghost.

This is such a damn sin!

On the other side, Liu Kuan saw that Old Zhu had calmed down, so he continued: "In the late Ming Dynasty, many royal family members were impoverished. When the peasant army revolted, many impoverished royal family members even joined the peasant army and shed blood to overthrow the Ming Dynasty."

"Those high-ranking princes, living in luxury, know nothing. When the peasant army arrives, they can only wait for death."

"When they were enfeoffed, the imperial court would grant them many fields, estates, and properties. Furthermore, the officials and servants in charge of the palace often hid their power and oppressed the people without the knowledge of the vassal kings."

"So later on, almost all the princes of the Ming Dynasty became notorious, and few had good reputations."

"Most peasant armies were civilians who had been forced to live without power by the imperial court. Naturally, they harbored deep hatred for the vassal kings. Therefore, in the late Ming Dynasty, no matter which peasant army captured a city, they would ruthlessly slaughter the Ming vassal kings."

"For example, Prince Fu was born to Consort Zheng of Emperor Wanli and was granted a fiefdom in Luoyang. Because he was favored by Emperor Wanli, he was rewarded with tens of thousands of hectares of land when he was granted a fiefdom. If Henan was short of land, it was allocated from Huguang."

"Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver were spent on building Prince Fu's palace. Miscellaneous taxes from Yangzhou, Taiping, and other prefectures, as well as thousands of salt permits, were also allocated to Prince Fu's palace for expenses. As a result, Prince Fu's palace became extremely wealthy, surpassing the wealth of many veteran princes."

"Later, when the peasant army attacked Luoyang, the city was short of money and food. Officials asked Prince Fu to give some money and food to encourage the soldiers, but Prince Fu refused to give a cent."

"Not long after the siege of Luoyang, the defenders rebelled and joined the peasant army, who then broke through the city."

"The wealth of Prince Fu's mansion was seized by the peasant army, and Prince Fu was killed. There are even rumors that because Prince Fu had such a bad reputation and was fat, he was killed by the peasant army along with the mansion's sika deer, and the food was served at a Fu Lu Banquet..."

Having said that, Liu Kuan realized that he was talking nonsense again and couldn't help but stop.

Looking up, he saw Zhu Yuanzhang frowning and slapping the imperial desk again, saying, "Wanli is selfish and mediocre, and his son is also a selfish fool. Even if he is really boiled alive, he deserves it!"

Hearing this, Liu breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang was angry at Wanli and Prince Fu, and did not blame him.

Then Zhu Yuanzhang said, "I understand what you mean. There is no need to elaborate on the affairs of the imperial clan and vassal states in the late Ming Dynasty."

"We will consider the matter of establishing vassal states overseas. Later, you should also sort out the relevant ideas and write a memorial to submit."

Although Liu Kuan did not like writing memorials, he was very interested in the issue of establishing a vassal state overseas.

And his interests are also involved here - he also wants to close it overseas in the future.

Only if he can first make the vassal kings settle overseas will he have a chance, otherwise forget it.

"Yes." Liu Kuan agreed respectfully, and then glanced at Old Zhu's face and said, "Your Majesty, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, but suddenly remembered the reason why he called Liu Kuan here today, so he said: "You haven't talked about the fourth brother's civil and military achievements yet. Finish it before you leave."

After hearing this, Liu Kuan became even more certain that Zhu Di was in Fengxian Hall.

It was hard to predict the future, and Liu Kuan didn't want to offend Zhu Di, so he said, "Yongle's achievements in civil and military affairs are second only to your Majesty among all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. He is even called the second Emperor Taizong of Tang."

"As for military achievements, I've already mentioned them before. The main ones were the Five Expeditions to the Northern Desert. Not only did they deter the Mongols and the later rising Oirat from advancing south, but they also greatly expanded the northern border and subjugated many nomadic, fishing, and hunting tribes."

"In addition to conquering Annan and establishing the Jiaozhi Administration Commission in the south, he also made significant achievements in Yunnan, conquering countries such as Burma and establishing a vassal state covering hundreds of miles."

"In addition, we will continue your majesty's policies and make U-Tsang completely submit to the Ming Dynasty."

"In terms of civil administration, the Cabinet and the East Factory were established to continue to reduce the power of the feudal lords and strengthen central power."

"Dredging the Grand Canal; establishing a new capital in Beiping and moving the capital to Beijing; and having the Yongle Encyclopedia compiled."

"Yongle Encyclopedia?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked, finding the term quite novel. Liu Kuan paused, then replied, "It compiles and edits the classics, history, miscellaneous books, as well as astronomy, geography, yin and yang, medicine, divination, Buddhism, and various arts into one volume to facilitate cultural inheritance and highlight the achievements of civil governance."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up and he said, "That sounds good."

At the same time, I thought: Maybe we can organize a Hongwu Ceremony later.

Liu Kuan then continued, "Another event that became famous in later generations was sending the eunuch Zheng He to lead a fleet to the Western Ocean six times."

"Sixth voyage to the West?" Zhu Yuanzhang was curious. "Why did the Fourth Brother do this? Could it be that he already knew about Australia and America at that time and was interested in immigrating to the New World?"

Liu Kuan didn't expect Zhu Yuanzhang to have such wild ideas, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond.

After hesitating for a moment, he still spoke truthfully, "Your Majesty, there is controversy in later generations about why Yongle sent Zheng He to the Western Ocean. Some say it was to find the Jianwen Emperor who had fled overseas."

"Some say it was to wipe out the remaining Yuan forces in Southeast Asia; others say it was to plunder gold, silver and treasures for the imperial court to use as funds for the northern expedition."

"But regardless of his true purpose, Zheng He's voyages to the West greatly enhanced the prestige of the Ming Dynasty."

"In addition, the voyages to the West also made the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding industry more prosperous and its navigation technology improved."

"According to later historical records, Zheng He's fleet even reached the east coast of Africa. This undoubtedly proves that even without my help, the Ming Dynasty possessed the ability to open shipping routes to Africa and even Europe!"

After hearing Liu Kuan's retelling of later generations' praise for the voyages to the West, Zhu Yuanzhang felt inexplicably happy and couldn't help but smile.

But he said, "Based on our understanding of Lao Si, he probably has ulterior motives in sending people to the West. He either wants to extort money or to find Yun Wen, or even both."

"But as you said, this move did greatly enhance the prestige of the Ming Dynasty. The only drawback is that it only reached Africa, not Europe, where the Western Barbarians reside."

After ascending the throne, Zhu Di felt wronged when he heard what Old Zhu said.

He looked at Zhu Biao, wanting to explain something but not knowing how.

Fortunately, Zhu Biao was looking at him with a smile, and did not look angry...
Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Zheng He was able to lead six voyages to the Western Ocean, so he must be a capable man. Even though he's a eunuch, he could be used to help build the navy. Do you know where he is now?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, Zheng He's original surname was Ma. He was probably still a child at this time. It is said that he was captured by the army when the court was pacifying Yunnan, and then entered the palace to become a eunuch."

"As for when he was transferred to Prince Yan's palace, I don't know."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "We should ask Fu Youde, Mu Ying, Lan Yu and others to keep an eye on him and prevent him from being castrated and becoming a eunuch again."

Liu Kuan was moved upon hearing this and immediately praised, "Your Majesty is wise. If this man were not so disabled, he could have been trained to become a famous naval commander and achieved greater achievements than those in later history."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and asked, "Are there any other famous officials during the Yongle period?"

Hearing this, Liu Kuan thought of two people, so he said: "During the King of Yan's conquest of the world, there were two important counselors, a monk and a Taoist priest."

"A monk named Daoyan, well-versed in the classics of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, and skilled in strategy, was considered the chief counselor of the Prince of Yan's campaign against the Jinnian Rebellion. He was later given the secular name Yao Guangxiao, and the people also called him the Black-robed Prime Minister. He should be in Tianjie Temple at this moment."

"There is a Taoist named Yuan Gong, who is said to be skilled in judging people and reading faces. He was quite famous during the Yuan Dynasty. After the Jingnan Rebellion, he was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Rites. I do not know where he is now."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Now that we know their names and surnames, we will send someone to look for these two. Are there any others?"

Liu Kuan said in embarrassment: "The remaining humble ministers only remember the names of a few generals, such as: Zhang Yu, Zhang Fu, Zhu Neng, and Qiu Fu?"

"Gone?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I only remember these few names. Zhang Yu and Zhang Fu seem to be father and son. I am not sure if Qiu Fu is the right name."

Zhu Yuanzhang was somewhat disappointed - he didn't know any of the four people Liu Kuan mentioned, and he was afraid that they were all unknown people now, so it would not be easy to find them.

After coming to his senses, he said, "Alright, that's all for today. You can leave."

"Yes, Wei Chen is resigning."

After Liu Kuan left Fengxian Hall, Zhu Biao and Zhu Di came out from behind the imperial steps.

Zhu Di looked up towards the imperial throne and saw Zhu Yuanzhang looking at him expressionlessly.
"Established the Cabinet and the East Factory, reduced the number of feudal lords, moved the capital, launched five expeditions to the northern desert, conquered Annan, conquered Burma, and sailed to the West six times. Fourth Brother, you have done a lot."

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(End of this chapter)