Chapter 45: Old Zhu: Was My Future Self Blind?
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Upon seeing this, Zhu Biao, Zhu Shuang, and Zhu Gang were all struck with panic and hurriedly stepped forward to help old Zhu to his feet.
With red-rimmed eyes and a trembling voice, Zhu Biao pleaded, "Father, please do not grieve so deeply... it will ruin your health!"
"Quickly, summon the imperial physicians... summon the imperial physicians..." Zhu Shuang and Zhu and shouted anxiously.
Old Zhu grabbed Zhu Biao's hand with bloodshot eyes and choked out, "Biao'er... Biao'er, it says your mother is dead... and now you too have left me, I..."
Zhu Di knelt on the ground, watching old Zhu vomit blood. Gritting his teeth to endure the excruciating pain in his rear, he said in a trembling voice, "Father, none of these things have happened yet... We still have a chance!"
As if grasping at the final straw, old Zhu stood up from the ground, "Right... right, there is still a chance, we still have a chance!"
As long as I make the rankings and receive a reward, there is still a chance!
Old Zhu fixed his bloodshot eyes intently on the heavenly canopy, growing desperately impatient—when would it finally be his turn?
...
On the other side, all the officials were equally anxious.
Hearing what the heavenly canopy foretold, everyone's heart leaped into their throats.
"It's over! It's completely over! We are utterly doomed!"
If the Empress and the Crown Prince were both to pass away in the future, who could possibly keep the Butcher Zhu in check?
Who would be left to plead for mercy on their behalf...
Unless His Majesty could secure the reward from the heavenly canopy, saving the Empress and the Crown Prince would be utterly impossible!
Your Majesty, you must pull through and give it your all! Please ensure you make the rankings... Otherwise, we subjects are terrified.
At this moment, the heavenly canopy continued its broadcast.
[In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, Crown Prince Zhu Biao died in his prime. Zhu Yuanzhang established Zhu Yunwen as the Grand Imperial Grandson. Not long after ascending the throne, and acting upon the advice of Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng, Zhu Yunwen initiated the reduction of the feudal domains (the policy of stripping the princes of their military power)—just three months after Zhu Yuanzhang's passing.]
[Furthermore, Zhu Yunwen's policy of reducing the princes' power had practically no preparation, no prelude, and certainly no strategy whatsoever.]
[The new emperor initiated the purge the moment he took office, striking with overwhelming force straight to the bottom. The targeted princes were stripped of their royal status overnight and reduced to commoners, and some were even exiled to remote frontiers to do manual labor.]
Upon seeing this, Prince of Yan Zhu Di could no longer contain himself. Covering his face, he burst into bitter tears.
"Father... Elder Brother... Look, look! I never rebelled against Elder Brother! I never rebelled against Elder Brother!"
With that final cry, Zhu Di fainted on the spot!
Zhu Biao rushed forward to lift Zhu Di, cradling him in his arms with tears streaming down his face as he choked out, "Fourth Brother, Fourth Brother! Elder Brother knows, Elder Brother knows! Where are the physicians? Hurry and summon the physicians!"
Old Zhu's gloomy expression grew even more terrifying. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected that little rascal Zhu Yunwen to dare such a thing as stripping the princes of their power.
Setting everything else aside, how could you initiate a purge of the princes the moment you ascended the throne, when your imperial court was still unstable?
Was this not blatantly bullying others and forcing them into rebellion?
Had he waited even a few more years, old Zhu would have held him in higher regard!
The reactions across various dynasties were largely similar to old Zhu's perspective.
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Great Han.
Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, furrowed his brow slightly as he watched the content on the heavenly canopy.
Was this person an utter fool?
"Acting with such reckless haste! The reduction of feudal domains is a matter that must be carried out gradually. Such blind impatience is truly unwise."
When it came to subduing the princes, Liu Che knew the art inside and out: one could be neither too hasty nor too slow.
Take his own "Policy of Extending Grace," for instance—he was immensely satisfied with it!
It was neither too fast nor too slow, hitting the absolute sweet spot. It successfully fractured the power of the feudal princes while keeping them firmly under control!
The influence of the feudal lords ran deep; if not handled with utmost care, it would easily trigger chaos and rebellion.
For Zhu Yunwen to rush into stripping the princes of their power right upon ascending the throne, before his foundation was secure, was practically courting death!
Waiting a few years until his foundation was solid would not have been too late.
...
Three Kingdoms.
At this moment, Liu Bei couldn't help but recall the days when he first started out selling straw sandals.
Damn it all, a mere policy of extending grace had reduced him—a proud descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan—to a peddler of straw sandals!
Had the Yellow Turban Rebellion not fractured the Great Han and plunged the realm into chaos, Liu Bei was certain he would have spent his entire life remaining no better than an ordinary commoner.
And looking downward, perhaps even worse off than a commoner!
Great Tang.
Li Er took a sip of tea and watched the heavenly canopy with the detached amusement of a spectator.
This Zhu Yuanzhang actually bypassed his sons and directly appointed his grandson as heir—this maneuver truly baffled Li Er completely!
Were all his sons dead and gone? What was the rush in appointing a grandson? If he were in their shoes, he would rebel too.
"A grandson becomes emperor while his uncles are still powerful feudal lords. Reducing their domains is fine in principle, but this is simply too rushed!"
Li Er curled his lip in mild disdain.
The risks involved were monumental. The ink was barely dry on your grandfather's funeral, and you turn right around to purge your uncles? Were you afraid your grandfather would be lonely down there and decided to send his own sons to keep him company?
...
[Among the princes of the early Ming dynasty, the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, possessed the strongest military might, making him the primary target of Jianwen Emperor's purge. However, out of apprehension toward Zhu Di's martial prowess, Jianwen Emperor directed his spearhead first toward the other, weaker princes.]
[The first prince targeted for the reduction of his domain was the Prince of Zhou, Zhu Su, who was the fifth son of the Taizu Emperor. He was enfeoffed as the Prince of Zhou in the eleventh year of Hongwu and took up residence in Kaifeng in the fourteenth year of Hongwu.]
[Zhu Su was Zhu Di's full brother by the same mother. Fearing that he would support Zhu Di, Jianwen Emperor maintained special precautions against him. In the seventh month of the thirty-first year of Hongwu, Jianwen Emperor dispatched the Duke of Cao, Li Jinglong, under the pretext of border defense, to lead troops in a surprise attack on Kaifeng and surround the Prince of Zhou's estate. Soon after, Zhu Su was demoted to a commoner!]
[The purge proceeded rapidly. In the fourth year of Jianwen, within the fourth month, the Prince of Qi, Zhu Fu, the Prince of Xiang, Zhu Bai, and the Prince of Dai, Zhu Gui, were successively stripped of their domains.]
[Among them, the Prince of Qi, Zhu Fu, was accused of plotting rebellion, demoted to a commoner, and placed under house arrest in Yingtian. The Prince of Dai, Zhu Gui, was similarly stripped of his title and reduced to a commoner!]
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[The Prince of Xiang, Zhu Bai, was likewise accused of plotting rebellion. Jianwen Emperor issued an imperial decree of rebuke and secretly dispatched troops to surround the Prince of Xiang's estate. Unable to bear the humiliation, Zhu Bai mounted his horse and leaped into the flames.]
At this moment, the scene on the heavenly canopy shifted dramatically!
With tears streaming down his face, Zhu Bai looked up to the heavens and laughed wildly, "When one is determined to condemn someone, pretexts are never lacking! Pretexts are never lacking..."
At that instant, the Prince of Xiang was consumed by a mixture of deep grief and righteous fury, a storm of thoughts raging within him!
Remembering how he had been barred from attending his father's funeral and prevented from laying eyes upon him one last time—the grief and regret of which had never faded—he was now struck by this unmitigated catastrophe.
"I am the son of the Taizu Emperor, yet I am subjected to such humiliating abuse by my own nephew. Father, do you see this? Your son is innocent!" Zhu Bai cried out in agonizing grief, his roar echoing through the empty palace grounds, filled with utter despair and unrelenting defiance.
With tears in his eyes, he bid farewell to his wives and concubines one by one, his voice trembling, "It is I who have implicated you all. May we continue our bonds as husband and wife in the next life."
Weeping bitterly, his wives and concubines all declared their willingness to follow him in life and death.
Zhu Bai personally set fire to the palace estate. The flames spread rapidly, swallowing the magnificent halls amidst crackling sounds, and the heavenly canopy was engulfed in a sea of fire.
The blaze grew fiercer, thick rolling smoke blotting out the sun.
In the vision, Zhu Bai was dressed in full princely attire, mounted upon a white steed, holding a long bow as he resolutely charged straight into the sea of fire.
There was no fear in his eyes—only despair and utter desolation. The moment he stepped into the blazing inferno, a whirlwind of emotions churned within Zhu Bai's heart. He cursed the injustice of fate, he cursed his nephew's paranoia, and above all, he cursed this ruthless struggle for absolute power.
"I, Zhu Bai, born a descendant of the Taizu Emperor, shall die a heroic soul of the Great Ming! Zhu Yunwen, just you wait! Sooner or later, someone will come to settle accounts with you!"
The flames instantly consumed him, and Zhu Bai's figure gradually vanished into the blazing inferno, leaving behind only a scene of tragic and desolate heroism.
[Having driven the Prince of Xiang, Zhu Bai, to his death, Jianwen Emperor feared the condemnation of posterity and ordered a fabricated crime to be pinned upon him, along with the vicious posthumous title of "Xiang, the Cruel and Turbulent Prince!"]
Beneath the heavenly canopy, old Zhu flew into an absolute rage upon witnessing this. His harmless, gentle twelfth son was dead.
Driven to his death by his own flesh and blood, a nephew who had grown up alongside him!
Hearing the words "Born a descendant of the Taizu Emperor, I die a heroic soul of the Great Ming!" echoing from the canopy, old Zhu truly wanted nothing more than to flay Zhu Yunwen alive and stuff his skin with straw!
Trembling with rage, old Zhu clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned completely white.
He swore that this was the angriest day of his life, and the day he felt the strongest urge to kill!
Had his future self gone completely blind? How could he have chosen such a piece of trash?
Zhu Biao was likewise horrified by the ruthless actions of his own son. This twelfth brother had grown up side by side with him—how could anyone bring themselves to inflict such cruelty upon him?
With eyes burning red with fury, old Zhu turned his head to glare at Zhu Biao.
"Biao, regarding your son driving my son to his death... I demand an explanation."
...
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