The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 48 Lantern Festival Night
Prince Zhou naturally did not escape being demoted to a commoner and exiled to Yunnan. Upon hearing this, Li Qi was quite pleased. People cannot become useful without experiencing setbacks. If Prince Zhou, that scoundrel, were to be spared exile because of him, not only would the sins committed in the past be unpayable, but the Ming Dynasty would also lose a good doctor in the future.

Li Qi was confined to his residence for six months. During this period, no outsiders were allowed to visit him without the emperor's permission. Therefore, Li Qi stayed in his residence and did not concern himself with worldly affairs.

The debate that took place in the court that day naturally spread throughout the capital, initially sparking a heated discussion. Many scholars believed that although King Zhou deserved his punishment, Li Qi's words were not without reason and were words of wisdom for the country.

Now that Li Qi is under house arrest, the students who spoke out for him naturally did not fare well and were punished for "slander," and the voices of opposition in the capital suddenly disappeared.

When the news of the Zhou King being demoted to a commoner reached the various vassal kings, it naturally caused panic among them, but the reaction was not particularly strong. This was because the Zhou King was located in the Central Plains and had indeed committed many illegal acts. Until this point, most of the kings still did not believe that Zhu Yunwen would depose all of them.

Because throughout history, only the Qin Dynasty did not use the imperial clan!
However, Emperor Jianwen did not stop his efforts to reduce the power of the princes. He successfully eliminated the powerful Prince Zhou, who was located in the Central Plains, which gave Zhu Yunwen great confidence. One of his main purposes in eliminating the Prince Zhou was to weaken the Prince Yan's support, so he naturally began to deal with the Prince Yan, Zhu Di.

……

After receiving a warning from Li Qi, Zhu Gaochi led his two younger brothers on a frantic escape back to Yan.

When Prince Zhu Di and Princess Xu Miaoyun saw their three sons return in such a disheveled state, they were immediately alarmed and asked, "Has something terrible happened in Yingtian that has left our sons in such a sorry state?"

The brothers Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui naturally had no idea what had happened.

Zhu Gaochi gestured for his parents to enter the inner room for a private talk. He then reported on everything that had happened since he entered the capital. Finally, he said with concern, "Although my uncle did not say it directly, his hints were clear. It must be that the court is going to reduce the power of the vassal states, and it is specifically targeting our Yan vassal state. Moreover, the outcome may be very bad. Father, you must prepare early."

Zhu Di and Xu Miaoyun's faces turned deathly pale instantly.

To say that Zhu Di had no interest in the throne would be utter nonsense, but he was an extremely intelligent man and never considered rebelling.

Because it's simply impossible for them to defeat the imperial court!

In Zhu Di's view, unless all the princes raised troops at the same time, the court had ten ways to quell the rebellion in the small territory of Yan.

prepare for?
What preparations can be made?
Zhu Di's first thought was to feign madness and see if he could get away with it. He also wanted to see how Emperor Jianwen would reduce the power of the princes.

Not long after, news of Prince Zhou's arrest and transport to the capital, his demotion to commoner status, and his exile to Yunnan reached Beiping. Prince Zhou was his last half-brother, and with Li Qi's reminder, he almost instantly understood that Zhu Yunwen, that bastard, was really going to make a move against him.

Zhu Di thought about it for a moment and then laughed in anger, "He is the head of the imperial clan and the leader of the royal family. No wonder he wanted to take action against me."

The Prince of Qin and the Prince of Jin both died before the late emperor, making the Prince of Yan the eldest member of the imperial clan. Moreover, he was the de facto eldest son of the late emperor, and he had a good reputation. Among Zhu Yuanzhang's sons, Zhu Di was a rare figure who was not like a human. If the Prince of Qin had had Zhu Di's reputation, the throne might not have fallen to Zhu Yunwen. In addition, the Prince of Yan was one of the nine great border princes, with great strength and the ability to fight.

After thinking it over, Zhu Di realized he had no reason to survive and gave up completely.

But he still didn't intend to rebel, and he still harbored some wishful thinking.

“King Zhou has always been arrogant, lawless, and cruel. The court punished him, which was welcomed by the people. So he was demoted to a commoner and exiled to Yunnan. But I have always been law-abiding and innocent. I have made great contributions to the court. In any case, the court cannot treat me the same way it treated King Zhou.”

Xu Miaoyun shared this view. After discussing it, the couple decided to remain inactive and not confront the court. They would only send out their close associates from the Prince's residence in private, and if things went wrong, they would have to fight to the death.

Neither of them wanted to come to that day; a desperate fight seemed like a sure way to die.

...The court made frequent moves in Beiping, unlike when it dealt with the Prince of Zhou, where it directly captured the leader of the rebels. Faced with the powerful Yan Prince, Zhu Yunwen chose to weaken the Yan Prince's rebellious forces first, which made Zhu Di increasingly uneasy. He could only pretend to be crazy in his palace in order to protect himself.

Meanwhile, Li Qi in the capital was enjoying himself at the princess's residence. This struggle between the court and the princes had little to do with them, who were not members of the royal family. On the contrary, Zhu Yunwen rewarded them many times to show his favor to his relatives.

Since Li Qi was placed under house arrest in the capital, Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, and Fang Xiaoru have essentially become prime ministers, and the southerners have enjoyed unparalleled power. This contrast has made the northerners resentful.

Fortunately, when Li Qi came to power, he did not completely suppress the Southerners. Whether it was Xie Jin, his disciple Wang Gen, or many Southern scholars from poor families, they still stood on Li Qi's side.

Furthermore, since Li Qi was only confined to his quarters and not punished, and because he frequently had Li Fang and Li Mao bring his handwritten commentaries on scriptures to the Imperial Academy, the rumors against him gradually subsided after a brief surge.

Six months after Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, the thirty-first year of the Hongwu reign came to a complete end, and the last trace of the Hongwu era was about to be erased from the world.

Li Qi remained under house arrest until the Lantern Festival.

From the Zhou Dynasty onwards, except for the Song Dynasty, every dynasty had a very strict curfew policy, but it was lifted during the Lantern Festival.

Every year during the Lantern Festival, the capital city transforms into a city that never sleeps, with lanterns and fireworks everywhere. All of modern people's imaginations of Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty's golden age come to life on this day.

This was the first Lantern Festival during the Jianwen era, and Zhu Yunwen had long ago ordered the government to make elaborate preparations and to write countless poems and essays to commemorate and praise it.

The princess's residence was also brightly decorated and bustling with activity.

As Li Qi gazed upon this magnificent scene, he took a sip of wine. Who would have known that this was the only Lantern Festival celebrated so grandly during the Jianwen era?

By the time Zhu Di launched his rebellion, the court no longer had the resources to do these things.

Laughter and cheers echoed outside the mansion.

Suddenly, a gentle breeze swept by, from Zijin Mountain to the banks of the Qinhuai River, followed by a melodious and moving tune.

When discussing the best poems for the Lantern Festival, none other than Xin Qiji (Jiaxuan) stands out. His poem "Qing Yu An" perfectly captures the splendor of the Song Dynasty night scene, even though beneath this splendor lay decay and complacency.

But who can say that the magnificent scenery isn't beautiful?

"The east wind blows thousands of flowers into bloom at night. It blows down stars like rain. The road is filled with the fragrance of fine horses and carved carriages. The sound of phoenix flutes resonates, the light of jade pots glitters, and fish and dragons dance all night long."

Li Qi drank the wine and then began to sing.

He recalled his past life, a truly prosperous era where the nights were always bright, unlike here, where it was pitch black and utterly silent all day long.

When will we see that glorious scene again?

(End of this chapter)