The struggle for the throne during the Jiajing reign

"My dear young master." Huang Jin had no choice but to sigh, lean forward, and try to whisper a few intimate words to him.

Seeing this, Zhu Zaizhen leaned forward and turned his head slightly, making it clear that he was all ears.

This gesture warmed Huang Jin's heart. At his age and in his position, he lacked nothing but the attitude of Prince Jing.

They didn't mind his disability and treated him like a close relative or elder.

Huang Jin's expression softened, and her voice became extremely low, so low that only the two of them could hear her: "Please listen to my advice and go back first. No matter how much noise you make here, His Majesty will not see or hear it."

"After some time, I'll find an opportunity to sound out your intentions, and perhaps then I can get an audience with Your Majesty."

"No, either let me in today, or I'll come here every day to keep watch. Father might not see me, but surely he won't refuse to see the cabinet ministers and high-ranking officials, will he?"

That's impossible. The cabinet ministers and the nine high officials are still frequently summoned. They see that Prince Jing is blocking the gate of the West Garden Palace every day, and there will be controversy in the court and among the people.

Huang Jin's smile vanished, and she asked solemnly, "Your Highness, it's fine if you joke with me, but if you really do this, then I can only report back truthfully. His Majesty will surely be furious. How will we handle that then?"

"Thunder and rain all come from above, how could I know how my father would punish me? But as a subject and son, Zaizhen has no complaints."

These words startled Huang Jin; he was utterly confused: "What are you trying to achieve?"

Huang Jin really couldn't understand it. Judging from the current situation, the struggle for the crown prince position would take at least several years to reach a conclusion. Although Prince Yu was the eldest, Prince Jing's chances of winning were not small.

At the very least, if we can please His Majesty and elevate Consort Jing to Empress, then Prince Jing will become the legitimate heir. Most of the loyalists who currently support Prince Yu will switch sides and support Prince Jing. In that case, he will be rightfully the Crown Prince. How wonderful would that be?

Although Huang Jin did not say it outright, Zhu Zaizhen could roughly guess what he was thinking. Not to mention Huang Jin, even if you asked Yan Shifan, he would probably think the same way.

The world believed that the path to becoming the crown prince was one of flattery and waiting for the right time, but little did they know that this path was a dead end that the Jiajing Emperor had already dug for his two sons.

Let alone vying for the throne and becoming the crown prince, if they really continued down this path, they would live a life even worse than ordinary members of the imperial family.

What was done during the Jiajing era in history?

By keeping the two princes from seeing each other, they separated father and son; by not establishing a crown prince, they left the position of heir apparent vacant; by openly treating the two princes the same, they secretly favored one over the other, creating infighting among the brothers; by stationing Jinyiwei officers and soldiers in the prince's residence, ensuring their every move was known; and by cutting their annual salaries, they prevented the princes from bestowing favors upon them…

Being ignored, denied recognition, suppressed, isolated, and monitored made the two princes live in constant fear and trepidation, making them the most aggrieved princes in the Ming Dynasty.

In the end, King Jing died in depression, and King Yu ascended the throne by chance. He had been suppressed for too long, and his vengeful debauchery led to his death in his prime.

Zhu Zaizhen absolutely cannot take this path. If he endures this for more than ten years, can he still be considered a human being?

Besides, even if a person lives a long life, how much time can they actually do? Zhu Zaizhen had too many things to do, and he certainly didn't have more than ten years of his prime to waste on growing old.

To break the deadlock, he had to personally intervene and disrupt the game, directly confronting the wrath of Heaven.

It is completely unrealistic to expect the timid Prince Yu to step forward.

Moreover, he had already figured it out: apart from the two of them, anyone else who dared to offend the emperor would be doomed, and he didn't have any cards in his hand that would make people rush to their deaths.

It's different if he takes the throne himself. He is a prince, one of only two remaining members of the imperial lineage. The continuation of the imperial line depends on them.

If we set aside our instinctive fear, we can see that even the most supreme ruler or father has no good way to deal with him.

Thanks to the founding emperor, according to the system, even if a prince committed a serious crime, he would not be punished; the most he could do was be imprisoned in a high wall.

Confinement?

They were already trapped in this deep palace, unable to leave even for a moment.

Withholding annual salary and suspending rewards?

There wasn't originally a large palace to support them.

"Reduce the number of guards and officials, and punish the officials of the Prince's Palace?"

They weren't originally mine.

Should we ignore or scold them?

They're afraid they won't come.

Demoted Mother Consort?

Then let Consort Kang rule the harem with absolute power.

Ordered to leave the capital and take up a fiefdom?

It is my wish, but I dare not ask.

So what could be the worst possible outcome? The emperor, enraged, would disregard his own checks and balances, order his men to beat him up, and send him to some remote, impoverished place to serve as a fief.

Zhu Zaizhen didn't care, but it was the Prince Yu who suffered. Although he might become the crown prince, he would face the emperor's suspicion and suppression. He wouldn't be able to share the burden with the prince, and he would probably die in a few years.

He would have to reluctantly return to inherit the throne, and as the only surviving prince, his father would be even more helpless against him.

Although the emperor aspired to become an immortal and live forever, he still had to consider what to do if he couldn't achieve it; he couldn't possibly end up like Emperor Wuzong.

Emperor Wuzong died without an heir, which is why his father ascended the throne from the Xing residence. There was never any conflict between them, but how did his father treat Emperor Wuzong?

When he first ascended the throne, he repeatedly said, "My elder brother, Emperor Wuzong Yi, is naturally wise, resolute and decisive."

Once he was settled, he would say that during the Zhengde era, "the government was plagued by accumulated problems, the country was in turmoil, and the laws were lax," and that "at the beginning of his reign, he was determined to reform and cleanse the accumulated problems of the previous dynasty."

When Emperor Wuzong's spirit tablet was enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, according to custom, the new emperor had to preside over the ceremony himself. However, the emperor refused to go and had the Earl of Anchang do it in his place.

He also ordered that all 860 memorials that had been kept in the imperial court during the Zhengde era be sent to the Imperial Academy for compilation. These memorials were all accusing Emperor Wuzong of debauchery, traveling, favoring treacherous officials, and causing chaos in the Leopard Chamber.

The emperor deliberately handed it over to the history bureau for public release, allowing the court and the public to criticize it.

The Great Rites Controversy further positioned itself legally as a direct successor to the throne, rather than a successor to the line of Emperor Wuzong.

The praise and commendation are fake; the contempt and denial are real. Politically, they completely deny the bad policies; in terms of etiquette, they deliberately treat them with disrespect; in terms of patriarchal system, they sever their orthodoxy; and in historical records, they do not protect their shortcomings.

Why?

Since Emperor Xiaozong had no grandson and Emperor Wuzong had no son, how else could they prove that they were the chosen ones and that they had obtained the throne by chance?

Even if Emperor Wuzong had no flaws, they would still find fault with him to make him infamous for eternity.

Therefore, no matter how furious his father was, he couldn't directly take drastic measures against him. Even if he didn't care about the blood ties between them, he still had to think about his reputation for all eternity.

Especially now, although there is still Prince Yu above him, who can guarantee that Prince Yu will not suddenly die like the former crown prince, and who can guarantee that Prince Yu will give birth to a grandson?

Having two sons to rely on is much better than clinging to a single child and praying to God for protection.

His own sons and grandsons inherit his lineage and carry his bloodline, making them thousands of times better than outsiders.

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