My aunt is Queen Ma

Chapter 1 Zhu Yuanzhang in Minghei's Eyes
"Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne this year, and many people still view him with the same perspective as before."

"Little do they know that Zhu Chongba is Zhu Chongba and Zhu Yuanzhang is Zhu Yuanzhang."

"Those who fail to recognize this reality may face the risk of losing their entire clan."

In the Yingtian Prefecture prison, Ma Yu took a bite of a chicken leg and spoke eloquently to the two young men in brocade clothes in front of him as they taught him the secret.

When he got excited, he waved the hand holding the chicken leg in the air, and the fat flew everywhere.

Hearing him criticizing the emperor, the two young men showed completely different attitudes.

The handsome young man's face was filled with excitement, and he wanted to cheer for him loudly.

The burly young man next to him had a look of horror and fear on his face.

Is this something I can really listen to? I don't want to die.

Ma Yu didn't care about their expressions at all, and finished the chicken leg in his hand in a few bites:
"Zhu Yuanzhang will most likely use the Red Book and Iron Certificate to buy people's hearts. You must tell your elders to firmly refuse it."

The handsome young man asked doubtfully, "How do you know that I...the emperor would use red seals and iron certificates to buy people's hearts?"

Ma Yu thought to himself, because I am a time traveler, I saw it in history books.

But this matter certainly cannot be told to anyone, and he was too lazy to find an excuse, so he just said:

"Guessing, it's an old trick since ancient times."

"When conquering the world, in order to win people's hearts, all kinds of benefits are promised."

"When the time comes to fulfill my promise, I wish I had been dumb and had never promised anything."

"Given Zhu Yuanzhang's stingy and ungrateful character, he was naturally unwilling to lavishly reward his meritorious officials, and the other benefits were not significant enough."

"Nothing is more useful than a red seal and iron certificate."

"To put it bluntly, it's just a piece of broken iron. It doesn't provide any practical benefits."

"Once the world is truly pacified and he has secured the throne, deposing him will be a piece of cake."

The handsome young man nodded thoughtfully, then asked:
"If that's the case, why do you want my father to refuse?"

Ma Yu chuckled and said, "This isn't a red-lettered certificate, it's a death warrant from the King of Hell."

"Without it, if your father had been willing to give up power honestly, he might have lived out his life as a wealthy man."

"With it, I'm afraid I won't even have the chance to retreat."
-
Qianqing Palace.

On the throne, Empress Ma finished reviewing the last memorial, rubbed her temples and sighed:
"I'm really getting old. I used to be fine even if I didn't sleep for a few nights, but now my head starts to hurt just by reading documents for a while."

Zhu Biao said with concern: "I will ask the imperial physician to come and take a look at you."

Empress Ma waved her hand and said, "It's just a little exhausting. I'll be fine after a while of rest. Why call for the imperial physician?"

"Besides, if the ministers outside the palace knew about this, they would think something had happened to me and would start to worry again."

Then she pointed to a pile of memorials and said, "Don't forget to send these important ones to your father overnight."

Zhu Biao had no choice but to say, "Yes."

Before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was fighting outside and Empress Ma was looking after the house in the rear.

Daily affairs were handled by her and Li Shanchang, while important matters were sent urgently over 800 miles to Zhu Yuanzhang at the front line for decision.

The situation changed this year when the Ming Dynasty was established.

After all, there is a crown prince.

So Zhu Yuanzhang went to Kaifeng for inspection and ordered Crown Prince Zhu Biao to be regent in accordance with etiquette, with Li Shanchang and others as his assistants.

But this was just on the surface. In fact, daily affairs were still handled by Empress Ma, and Zhu Biao followed her to learn.

Zhu Biao was also very intelligent. He quickly mastered the tricks and was able to handle daily affairs independently.

Only when there are some more troublesome things do she need to make decisions.

Empress Ma was sincerely satisfied with her son.

He is filial, polite, humble and intelligent. God has blessed her with such an outstanding son.

But she immediately thought of her other son, and a surge of uncontrollable anger rose from her heart.

How could I give birth to such a useless thing?

Thinking of this, she said angrily: "Have Lao Er and Chang Mao repented?"

Zhu Biao's face was a little unnatural, and he said: "I have changed it. Second brother regrets it very much now."

"That is... that is, I became friends with the criminal who pretended to be your nephew."

Madam Ma was surprised and asked, "How is that possible?"

"If I remember correctly, that convicted criminal was born a beggar, right?"

"The second brother has always been arrogant, how could we be friends with him?"

Zhu Biao said with a wandering look, "He became interested when he heard that the imperial criminal was pretending to be a royal relative."

"That prisoner was very eloquent, and he managed to make my second brother happy."

Queen Ma looked him up and down until he felt uncomfortable all over, then she said:
"They say a son grows up and becomes independent of his mother. It seems to be true. Even you have started to lie to me."

Zhu Biao said in panic: "No... no, how dare I lie to you."

Empress Ma smiled and said, "You look so guilty that you can't even lie."

Zhu Biao blushed, lowered his head, and was speechless.

Empress Ma shook her head and said, "No one knows a child better than his mother. I have watched you all grow up, and I know your tempers best."

"The second and third brothers are arrogant. The more you try to curry favor with them, the more they will look down on you."

"But they have one advantage: they are very polite to people who have real abilities."

"That beggar must be extraordinary to be able to attract the second brother's attention."

"Now you're hiding it from me and dare not tell me what happened. It could only be that he said something insulting to the royal family, and you're afraid that I'll get angry if I hear it."

"Am I right?"

Zhu Biao was ashamed but also admired and said: "No one is more wise than mother."

Empress Ma was very pleased with her son's flattery and said with a smile:

"If you can't even see this, how can your father and I sit in this position?"

"Alright, now tell me the truth. What was so special about that criminal that made the Second Brother look at him in such a different light?"

Zhu Biao took out the secret report from the Guards and said, "I don't know how to put it. You will know it once you see it."

The Gongwei Division was Zhu Yuanzhang's personal guard. It was established during the reign of King Wu and was renamed the Gongwei Commandery in the third year of Hongwu.

One of its subordinate institutions was called Yiluansi.

In the 15th year of Hongwu, Yiluansi was renamed Jinyiwei.

Therefore, there is no need to elaborate on the real responsibilities of the Guarding Department.

Dad is not at home and mom is angry with the second child.

As an elder brother, it was normal for Zhu Biao to arrange several spies from the Guard Bureau to go to the Yingtian Prefecture Prison to protect his second brother.

Therefore, the relevant secret reports sent back by the Guard Bureau were delivered directly to him instead of being handed over to Queen Ma who was the one who actually made the decision.

Empress Ma took the secret report and opened it. After reading only two lines, she flew into a rage:
"How dare you address His Majesty by his name? You are unworthy of your majesty and your father."

"Originally, I felt sorry for him being framed for no reason at such a young age, and I wanted to find a way to save his life."

"In that case, there's no need to bother. Just wait for your father to come back and deal with it according to the law."

However, what made her even more angry was Zhu Chong:
"My father was humiliated by others, not only did he not get angry, he even wanted to be friends with them. He is worse than an animal."

"I thought he was young and naive and would be fine when he got older, but it seems I was wrong."

"Bring him back immediately. I want to teach him how to behave myself."

Zhu Biao quickly tried to console her, "Mother, please calm down. My second brother was just confused for a moment..."

It would have been better if he didn't say anything, because speaking out of the blue would only bring him trouble.

Empress Ma glared at him and said, "How dare you talk about him? Your father was scolded, and you acted as if nothing had happened."

"Have you read all the sage books into a dog's stomach?"

Her eyes were filled with anger, and she exuded a terrifying murderous aura that made the eunuchs around her feel weak at the knees.

As everyone knows, the queen is kind and considerate of her servants. She doesn't get angry easily and never takes her anger out on her servants.

But once someone violates her principles, she will never let them off easily.

It was now obvious that someone had crossed her bottom line.

Zhu Biao said with shame: "My son is unfilial, please punish me, mother."

Empress Ma did not let him go easily and said:

"If it were anything else, it would be fine, but for this, you must give me a reason."

"Otherwise, go to the Taimiao and kneel down for me until your father comes back."

Zhu Biao lowered his head and said, "I am an unfilial son. Whether you punish me or not, I will punish myself and go to the Taimiao to apologize."

Empress Ma's expression eased slightly. "I know you've always been a sensible child. You must have a reason for doing this."

"Tell me, what's going on."

Zhu Biao's expression was a little unnatural: "There are some things I can't relay, you'll find out if you continue reading."

Queen Ma's curiosity was aroused, but she said nothing more and continued to look through the book with her head down.

The more she read, the more surprised she became. When discussing Zhu Yuanzhang's inspection tour of Kaifeng, Ma Yu asserted that his visit was in the name of an inspection but was actually to move the capital.

Even if others don’t know, how could Empress Ma not know?

Zhu Yuanzhang went to Kaifeng this time to investigate whether it was still suitable to be the capital.

The number of people who knew about this matter in the court, civil and military officials combined, did not exceed one handful.

How did Ma Yu, a beggar, know this?
Continuing to read on, Ma Yu also gave five reasons:
First, from a personal perspective, Zhu Yuanzhang definitely wanted to place the capital in a historical city in the north.

For example, Chang'an and Luoyang are both ancient capitals of 13 dynasties, and both have given birth to powerful dynasties.

If anyone were to unify the world, they would prioritize placing the capital in these two places, and Zhu Yuanzhang would be no exception.

Second, most of the Central Plains dynasty’s enemies came from the northern grasslands. Placing the capital in the north would be conducive to building a northern defense line.

Third, the dragon energy in Yingtian is thin.

Among the dynasties that established their capital in Yingtian, except for the Eastern Jin Dynasty, none lasted more than 60 years.

Although the theory of destiny is illusory, who dares to bet that it does not exist?
Fourthly, the natural barrier of the Yangtze River can block the enemy, but it can also imprison people's hearts.

If this continues for a long time, people will become short-sighted and narrow-minded.

Once there is a change in the north, the ministers in the south of the Yangtze River will most likely directly demand to give up the north.

Ma Yu also cited the example of the Southern Song Dynasty.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, many people wanted to launch a northern expedition, but doing so would require increasing taxes.

Once the north is retaken, a large amount of resources will have to be invested to restore production.

These resources have to be borne by the people in the south.

Therefore, the scholars and people in the south generally opposed the court's northern expedition.

If the capital is placed in Yingtian, the past events of the Southern Song Dynasty will most likely be repeated.

Fifth, the south is rich and the north is poor, the south is densely populated and the north is sparsely populated.

If the capital is placed in the south, the north will completely lose its voice.

This will intensify the conflict between the North and the South and even lead to the division of the country.

Therefore, no matter from which perspective, the capital must be placed in the north.

After reading these five reasons, Queen Ma showed disbelief on her face.

These five reasons take into account factors such as destiny, history, human nature, and reality.

The key point is that Zhu Yuanzhang only thought of the first two, and the last three were something they had never thought of.

In terms of vision, Ma Yu's vision is longer-term and more comprehensive than theirs.

Is this the kind of understanding a fourteen-year-old beggar can have?

She originally suspected that Ma Yu was someone's pawn, but now it seems that is not the case.

People with this kind of insight wouldn't need to go through all this trouble at all.

Come directly to Yingtian and you will immediately become Zhu Yuanzhang's guest of honor.

But if he is not someone else's pawn, where does he get this insight?

She couldn't help but recall the information about Ma Yu in her mind.

The refugee beggar who fled from the north is only fourteen years old this year.

Soon after arriving in Yingtian, he was used as a scapegoat and sentenced to death by officials of Jiangning County.

The (Ming Dynasty) Laws and Regulations stipulate that death sentences must be reported to higher authorities and must also be reviewed by the Ministry of Justice's Office of Officials.

After the Ministry of Justice completes its investigation, it is transferred to the Dali Temple for investigation. After the Dali Temple completes its investigation, the Censorate conducts a third investigation.

If the three courts all agreed that there was no problem, they would report it to the emperor for approval.

It was during the review by the Ministry of Personnel that Ma Yu publicly stated that he was a royal relative.

The officials of the Qinglisi did not dare to delay and immediately reported the matter to the court.

This was the first case of impersonating an imperial relative since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and it shocked the court and the country.

At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang had already gone to Kaifeng. Empress Ma immediately ordered the three courts to hold a joint trial and also sent spies from the Guard Bureau to find out the details.

The matter was not complicated and it was easy to figure out the whole story.

All the officials who wrongly accused Ma Yu were imprisoned and awaited punishment.

He himself was transferred to the Yingtian Prefecture Prison, waiting for Zhu Yuanzhang to return and personally interrogate him.

At that time, Queen Ma just thought that this young beggar was too brave and a little clever.

Looking back now, she realized that the problem was not that simple.

Ma Yu was much smarter than she thought.

She also understood why Zhu Biao could hold back. He must have become suspicious and sent someone to investigate.

Thinking of this, she looked up and asked:

"What a great move of the capital! What have you found out from your investigation?"

Zhu Biao nodded, then shook his head and said:

"The Guards questioned the refugees who fled with him and confirmed that he was a beggar who had been begging in the Xuzhou area."

"I don't know who my family members are, not even their names, and their ages are guessed."

"The name Ma Yu was chosen in order to pretend to be your relative."

"Last year, I followed the refugee group south and fell seriously ill on the way. I almost died."

"According to the refugees, he was like a completely different person after he recovered from his illness."

Queen Ma frowned. He was actually a beggar?

This was completely different from what she had guessed.

In her opinion, anyone with this kind of knowledge must be a child of a wealthy family or taught by a famous teacher.

It was only because of the war that it fell into such a state.

The investigation by the Guard Bureau overturned her speculation.

But if he is really a beggar, where does this knowledge come from?

Are you born with knowledge?

Zhu Biao continued, "The Guards also re-interrogated the officials in Jiangning County and learned more details."

"He had just been arrested and imprisoned, and he confessed before he was even tortured."

"The officials in Jiangning County just thought he was an ignorant young man and didn't take too much precautions."

Hearing this, Queen Ma noticed something unusual.

A normal person faced with this situation would definitely cry out for justice.

After all, this is a capital crime, and no one would take the blame unless they could not bear the torture.

He did this only because he was well aware of his situation from the beginning.

Since people are using him as a scapegoat, there is no way he can get out alive. Resistance will only cause him more physical pain.

So, he didn't make any unnecessary struggle.

But admitting guilt does not mean accepting fate, he chose to die with his enemy.

So he chose to pretend to be a royal relative.

"(Ming Dynasty) Laws and Regulations": Anyone who falsely claims to be a royal relative is guilty of conspiracy to rebel and his entire clan shall be executed.

Such a big case will definitely shock the court and the country, and the emperor will definitely send people to investigate in detail.

By then, all those who wrongly accused him will be dragged into this.

and also……

It is not easy to impersonate a royal relative, and it will not succeed if you choose the wrong timing.

If he did this right after being arrested, the officials in Jiangning County would definitely make him disappear without a trace.

This matter never reached the ears of the court.

That's why he waited until the Ministry of Justice's Office of Clearing Personnel conducted a review before impersonating him.

The officials of the Qinglisi were directly under the Ministry of Justice and had a bright future. They had no vested interests with the officials of Jiangning County.

They dared not and would not help the other party to conceal such a serious case of impersonating a royal relative.

Otherwise, once the matter is exposed, their property will be confiscated and their families will be exterminated.

Therefore, the case was able to be solved.

This precise grasp of the situation, the calmness in the face of danger, the determination shown in the face of life and death...

It is definitely not something that ordinary people can have.

It is even more impossible for a beggar to have it.

Queen Ma couldn't help but feel a strong curiosity in her heart. What secrets did this beggar hide?
Curiosity prompted her to flip through the secret report again.

Then she saw something that shocked her.

Red seal and iron certificate?

How is that possible? How did he know?
(End of this chapter)