The First Prince of the Ming Dynasty

"Brother Zhu, let's talk about Wang Yue. You said he led his troops to a great victory at Weininghai and was even granted a noble title for it?"

Gongsun Jin then changed the subject, trying to steer Zhu Yi's attention toward the northern border affairs.

Zhu Yi nodded and said, "Yes, because of the Tumu Crisis, the Ming Dynasty and the Mongols, also known as the Northern Yuan, became irreconcilable enemies. By the Chenghua era, as the Mongol tribes' power waned, the Ming Dynasty's border policy began to shift from defense to offense... Do I need to talk about the Tumu Crisis?"

"That's unnecessary," Gongsun Jin said. "Instead of dwelling on the past, let's focus on the future. Brother Zhu, please elaborate."

Zhu Yi nodded.

The man who claimed to be surnamed Wen then mentioned the reign title "Chenghua". So it seems that whether this is a real story set in the Ming Dynasty or a fictional story, the background is at least after the Chenghua era.

We must re-examine our situation.

"In the first month of the sixteenth year of the Chenghua reign, Wang Yue, the commander of the Northwest military affairs, together with the supervising eunuch Wang Zhi, set out from Datong beyond the Great Wall and launched a surprise attack on Weininghai via Mao'erzhuang, inflicting a major defeat on the Tatar rear. In this battle, more than four hundred heads were taken and more than one hundred people were captured. The Tatar prince Batu Mongke escaped alone. The results of this battle surpassed those of the Battle of Hongyanchi in the ninth year of the Chenghua reign. After this battle, Wang Yue was granted the title of Earl of Weining, bestowed with an imperial edict, and the title was hereditary."

When Wang Yue was mentioned, Zhu Yi was still quite moved. Such a remarkable figure was an anomaly in the Ming Dynasty court.

No wonder Wang Yue was considered an idol by Wang Shouren.

Gongsun Jin sighed, "Such extraordinary achievements are indeed rare. With this title, he will surely become a pillar of the Ming Dynasty in the future. What happened to him later?"

"And then?" Zhu Yi shook his head and said, "He was very unlucky. Because the eunuch Wang Zhi of the Western Depot fell from power, he was implicated, stripped of his title, and exiled."

Gongsun Jin feigned surprise and said, "Is this true? His title... stripped away? How... is that possible? Was he murdered by a treacherous minister? What is his life or fortune?"

Zhu Yi thought to himself, what treacherous minister plotting murder? In the eyes of those self-proclaimed upright officials of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Yue, who would turn weak in the face of the powerful and arrogant despite his outstanding military achievements, was the typical treacherous official in the court.

"He didn't die. In the tenth year of the Hongzhi reign, because the Tatar prince Batu Mongke repeatedly invaded the border, the court reinstated him to manage the northwest and fought a battle at Helan Mountain. However, the battle was not very successful and did not help him regain his title. In the following year, he suddenly fell ill and died." Zhu Yi's tone was also tinged with regret.

Gongsun Jin said, "A hero of our time has fallen; it can only be said that the world is unjust. Brother Zhu, tell me about that Tatar prince... Batu Mongke, and the Mongols behind him. What will the future hold for the border regions?"

Zhu Yi paused for a moment.

At this point, he had to examine Gongsun Jin's questioning skills.

Clearly, someone had been giving him pointers behind the scenes, with the aim of keeping him from knowing what these people were actually focused on.

Although it may seem like a rambling conversation, many key historical figures are connected through this seemingly casual talk.

That would allow him to continue recounting the historical materials.

Zhu Yidao: "The Tatar prince Batu Mongke, a descendant of the Borjigin clan of the Mongol Golden Family, succeeded to the throne in the thirteenth year of the Chenghua reign and was known as Dayan Khan. However, in the early years of his reign, due to tribal conflicts within the Mongol Empire and the Ming Dynasty's suppression of the grasslands, he was unable to exert his power. It was not until the mid-Hongzhi reign that his power gradually grew. In addition to constantly harassing the borders of the Ming Dynasty, which kept the court busy, he also attempted to unify the grasslands."

Gongsun Jin asked anxiously, "Did he succeed?"

"Yes." Zhu Yi did not conceal this fact. "In the fifth year of Zhengde, he successively eliminated the tribal leaders of Yisimain, Huosai, and Yibula, abolished the Taishi system, established the Jinong system, and enfeoffed his son as Jinong, thus unifying the grasslands."

Gongsun Jin said, "Wouldn't this cause tension on the Ming Dynasty's borders?"

"Hmm." Zhu Yi nodded calmly. "In the following years, he repeatedly invaded the borders of the Ming Dynasty, and in the spring of the twelfth year of Zhengde, he raided Xuanfu, killing and capturing nearly four thousand civilians. However, he was not very lucky. When he tried to further expand his gains, he encountered Emperor Wuzong's tour of the northwest."

Gongsun Jin had only intended to lead Zhu Yi towards the idea of ​​the Prince of Ning's rebellion, but he unexpectedly gained something extra. He seemed quite surprised and asked, "The Emperor is inspecting the border?"

Zhu Yidao said: "Yes, Emperor Wuzong, under the instigation of his favorite minister Jiang Bin, went to the northwest alone in August of the twelfth year of Zhengde. In October of the same year, the Battle of Yingzhou broke out, in which Batu Mongke personally led the Mongol cavalry. Emperor Wuzong personally led the expedition, and the two sides fought fiercely for several days, forcing the Tatars to withdraw their troops. This battle also laid the foundation for the situation on the border for more than ten years to come. It was also in the year after this battle that Batu Mongke died with regret."

Upon hearing this, Gongsun Jin was at a loss for words.

In this kid's words, Emperor Wuzong was an incompetent and good-for-nothing emperor, and Prince Ning and his advisors usually said the same thing, and they felt the same way.

How could this seemingly absurd emperor suddenly do this just two years later?

Are you kidding me?

"What, you don't believe me? Since Emperor Zhengde's temple name was Wuzong, he must have made some achievements in martial arts. Because he had no children to inherit the throne, the subsequent descriptions of the Yingzhou victory are mostly distorted, and it's hard to say what really happened. But at least it shows that although Emperor Zhengde was a bit of a madman, he still had some real skills and was not a completely incompetent ruler," Zhu Yi said frankly.

Gongsun Jin thought to himself, "You Zhu family members are really something else, daring to directly criticize the current emperor as a tyrant? Not pure? Who are you insulting? In your father's eyes, he's utterly incompetent; he doesn't need you to speak well of him!"

"Let's talk about the rebellion of Prince Ning."

Gongsun Jin was waiting for the Prince of Ning in the back hall to pass him a note, but after waiting for a long time without any response, he could only proceed according to the established procedure. "Since Brother Zhu believes that Emperor Wuzong has real abilities, why did even the imperial clan oppose him, and why did this upheaval break out?"

Zhu Yi said, "As I said yesterday, the Prince of Ning's rebellion is a long-standing feud between the dynasty's clans. It has been accumulated and prepared by several generations. It has nothing to do with whether Emperor Wuzong was wise or foolish. It's just that Zhu Chenhao was afraid that he was too old to outlive his nephew, Emperor Wuzong, so he wanted to fight to the death while he was still young."

Gongsun Jin was starting to feel restless.

If Zhu Yi had said that yesterday, he could have easily downplayed the issue in his report.

But now, the powerful ruler who holds the power of life and death is sitting in the back listening.

He seemed to want to show through his restlessness that these words were not from me, nor were they prompted by me; they were just the kid's own words and had nothing to do with me.

Just when Gongsun Jin was at a loss as to how to proceed, the old servant finally came out again and handed over a new slip of paper.

Gongsun Jin's expression was somewhat unpleasant. He recited in a script-like manner, "Brother Zhu, it's indeed hard to believe you that Prince Ning would plot a rebellion. You must know that the guards of the Ning family have all been stripped away, and several generations of Prince Ning have kept a low profile. If there were truly any intention to rebel, the local officials couldn't possibly be unaware, and the imperial court couldn't possibly sit idly by, could it?"

Zhu Yi scoffed at this statement, saying, "He is based in Jiangxi, far from the emperor's reach. No matter how flamboyant he is, he can't withstand the fact that there are too many people in the court who have been bribed by him. Besides Qian Ning and Zang Xian, there are also the two successive Ministers of War, Lu Wan and Wang Qiong, and many others are willing to lobby for him."

Even with a grand and widely known uprising, it couldn't withstand the emperor's repeated leniency until it could no longer be concealed... Originally, he had the advantage of terrain and popular support after raising the army, but fate was not on his side.