Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 90 Twelve Essays on the Fall of the Ming Dynasty 2
Zhu Zhanhe's words just now gave everyone present a clear understanding that two hundred years later, the Ming Dynasty would be destroyed!
"Zhanhe, how did you calculate this? This is unreasonable! We cannot use a country that has already perished to measure the current Ming Dynasty! We have avoided their risks, and we will definitely surpass them!" Suddenly, Zhu Zhanji, who had been in a daze, spoke up. His words immediately ignited the fire of hope in the hearts of everyone present.

Everyone's eyes turned to Zhu Zhanhe again, waiting for his explanation.

"Brother, what you said makes sense, so let's look at the second part - The Theory of the Fall of the Ming Dynasty Part Two. The Ming Dynasty's National Fortune is Exhausted - Five Dragons in the Same Dynasty." When Zhu Zhanhe said this, his eyes were fixed on Emperor Yongle, and this look made Emperor Yongle have an ominous premonition.

"Five dragons coming together?!" These words shocked Monk Daoyan. For a moment, his eyes were dazed, filled with endless melancholy.

So Zhu Zhanhe wrote this eye-catching title on the white cloth again.

"The so-called Five Dragons in the Same Dynasty, in our Ming Dynasty, refers to those who have held the title of emperor since the founding of the Taizu Emperor. This includes the Taizu Emperor himself! Great-grandfather (Zhu Biao), Jianwen, and grandfather! And my uncle also met my great-grandfather. In this way, our Ming Dynasty has formed the first Five Dragons in the Same Dynasty!"

Then, Zhu Zhanhe turned his head and saw a sword hanging in his grandfather's bedroom. Amidst the panicked gazes of everyone, Zhu Zhanhe waved the sword and divided a steamed bun into dozens of small pieces of different sizes, and put them on a plate. After putting down the sword in his hand, he came to everyone with the plate.

“If the fortunes of a dynasty are predetermined, let’s take this steamed bun as an example.

If the Ming Dynasty had so many emperors, each of them would have a share of luck. Zhu Zhanheshui casually picked up a small piece of steamed bun and told everyone that this piece of steamed bun represented the luck of an emperor, and began to explain in detail...

"For example: During the Shenlong period of the Tang Dynasty, five years after Wu Zetian replaced the Tang Dynasty with Li Chongmao, Wu Zetian, Li Xian, Li Dan, Li Chongmao, and Li Longji formed the first Five Dragons to rule the country together!
The second time was during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji, when Emperor Suzong Li Heng, Emperor Daizong Li Yu, Emperor Dezong Li Shi and Emperor Shunzong Li Song once again formed the Five Dragons in the same dynasty!

The Tang Dynasty saw two consecutive reigns of five emperors, with Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji being the key turning point. However, it was also after Emperor Xuanzong that the Tang Dynasty's national strength began to decline, never to recover. Zhu Zhanhe ultimately used the Tang Dynasty as an example, clearly demonstrating that everything that reaches its peak must decline! Everything reaches its extreme, and then reverses!
Then, Zhu Zhanhe picked up the imperial pen again, and amidst the stunned, panicked, horrified, and insane looks of disbelief from the crowd, he continued to write down all the remaining conclusions about the country's demise on the white cloth, explaining them in detail while he wrote!
"Three Essays on the Fall of the Ming Dynasty: Land Loss—Land Annexation and the Demise of the People! Before the Ming Dynasty, one of the reasons for the fall of any dynasty was inevitably the annexation of land by the powerful and wealthy! From the Qin Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty..."

"Four Essays on the Fall of the Ming Dynasty: Insufficient grain production—lack of food leads to unrest! The people rebelled because they couldn't get enough to eat! As long as the people had enough to eat, they would never rebel. The Yellow Turban Rebellion at the end of the Han Dynasty..."

"Five Essays on the Fall of the Ming Dynasty: Money cannot be spent - currency devaluation harms people's livelihood! Historical records record: "Except for taxes and levies, all other levies have increased day by day and month by month. As of the Tianli period, the amount increased twenty-fold compared to the Zhiyuan and Dade periods, and the court never had a single day's supply! Our Ming Dynasty also had treasure notes, but to this day the purchasing power of treasure notes is far less than before..." "Six Essays on the Fall of the Ming Dynasty - The Prince System - The Prince System disrupts the country! The Imperial Ming Ancestor's Instructions: Princes receive 1 dan of rice, and County Princes 2 dan. The hereditary County Prince receives half the annual salary of the first-time County Prince. Yet the actual expenditure is even greater! And that's not counting the cases of conferring titles! Just take the twenty-seven emperors who personally conferred titles on princes as an example! If each of them had two sons, then the second generation alone would have ! The third generation would have , and by the twelfth generation, there would be over ! With dan of grain each, that's million dan of grain, more than the court's annual tax revenue..."

"Seven Essays on the Fall of the Ming Dynasty - Civil Service Factions - Civil Service Factions Disrupt the Government! Imperial authority is supreme and cannot be questioned! Our Ming Dynasty must always hold imperial examinations every three years, which has led to an increasing number of officials. To gain the emperor's favor, these people will naturally do anything to gain his favor. This is the root cause of civil service factions..."

"Eight Essays on the Ming Dynasty's Fall - The Army Out of Control - Corruption and Lack of Pay Lead to Unrest! The Ming Dynasty used garrisons to garrison local areas, cultivate the land, and train soldiers! A million soldiers! With such a long period of peace, local forces naturally colluded! And ambitious generals who wanted to achieve something either had to collude with them or form their own private armies...! Furthermore, the military was without successors, and the civilians were in charge..."

"Nine Essays on the Fall of the Ming Dynasty - Harem Interference in Politics - Harem Interference in Politics Shakes the Foundation! Civil servants are powerful, suppressing all other officials! The entire court is essentially ruled by civil servants! The princes and grandchildren of the emperor were basically raised in the deep palace! The only people who can be trusted are naturally the eunuchs! And if the emperor is young, who knows if a regent queen mother will appear, or even if the queen mother will follow the example of Wu Zhou..."

"Ten Essays on the Fall of the Ming Dynasty - The Emperor's Incompetence - The Emperor's Laziness Leads to the Fall of the Nation! The fall of every dynasty is directly related to the last monarch of each dynasty! Whether it was incompetence and ruthlessness, or cruelty and inhumanity, or extravagance, or laziness in government affairs, or being bullied at a young age, or powerful ministers in power..."

"Eleven Essays on the Fall of the Ming Dynasty - Foreign Invasion - Foreign Invasion Destroys Ancestral Temples! In any unified dynasty, the unification of foreign races has always been an inevitable trend! It's unstoppable! For example, during the Qin Dynasty, the First Emperor sent Meng Tian to lead the nation's elite troops to garrison on the border to defend against the grassland tribes. He also built the Great Qin Road and the Qin Great Wall to defend against foreign invaders..."

"Twelve Essays on the Fall of the Ming Dynasty - Who can stop the fate of a nation? In the last years of the Shang Dynasty, the climate was cold and dry, rivers and lakes shrank, and water resources were scarce! Disasters such as floods, droughts, and locusts occurred, leaving the people in dire straits and the royal family in decline. The Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty and replaced it with another dynasty!

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, many places experienced cold and rainy weather, frequent disasters, and poor harvests! The Han Dynasty fell, and unrest ensued!
In the final years of the Tang Dynasty, the climate was cold, rainy, and snowy, with frequent famines and plagues. Besides the weather, corruption, separatist regimes, and foreign invasions contributed to the Tang Dynasty's decline. The Huang Chao Uprising! The Tang Dynasty fell! Then, facing invasions from foreign tribes like the Liao and Jin, the Northern Song Dynasty shifted south, and from then on, the south became the economic and cultural center...

After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Zhanhe finally finished explaining these twelve theories of national destruction in great detail.

Staring at the filled white cloth, everyone was stunned and remained silent for a long time.

(End of this chapter)