Zhu Zhanji could not disobey the imperial order and "send" eunuch Zheng He to Nanjing.
Zheng He returned in the 20th year of the Yongle reign. He had originally planned to make his seventh voyage to the West in the autumn and winter of this year. All preparations had been made, and he was just waiting for the monsoon and ocean currents to turn around. However, Emperor Taizong died in the summer, and after the funeral in August, eunuch Zheng He was about to go south to Liujiagang to assemble a fleet. Before he could receive the news of the voyage to the West, as soon as the 35 articles of the new emperor's enthronement edict came down, Zheng He knew that the Ming Dynasty's voyages were over.
No one understood better than Crown Prince Zhu Zhanji that Zheng He's voyages to the West were definitely not a ostentatious act to promote national prestige. Zheng He's fleet was actually a huge, monopolistic, state-owned enterprise specializing in overseas trade.
Under the guise of diplomacy, the whole country was mobilized to do business overseas. The money earned was used to fill the war deficits of Jiaozhi and the Northern Expedition of the empire. New firearms were also secretly purchased from overseas and sent to gunpowder factories for disassembly and imitation. This was also the peak moment of the promotion of firearms in the Ming army.
The voyages to the West were a window opened by the Ming Dynasty to the overseas world.
However, Emperor Gaozu ordered a maritime ban, so these transactions were conducted in secret. On the surface, they were diplomacy and tribute trade of barter, which was very expensive.
In fact, this was not the case. In a certain year, due to natural disasters and the Northern Expedition, the court was unable to pay wages and the warehouse was empty. The eunuch Zheng He had to use the pepper he brought from overseas to pay out wages.
Pepper is an expensive seasoning used to stew meat, but it cannot be eaten as a meal. Officials took it outside to sell for cash. However, since there were officials selling pepper everywhere, the price of pepper plummeted and it could not be sold for much money. Officials complained about the eunuch Zheng He.
In fact, if there were no eunuch Zheng He, even pepper would not be distributed. But when the government was in a tight spot, someone had to take the blame. You couldn't blame the emperor for spending money like water, so you blame the eunuch.
The civil service group and the gradually rising eunuchs were originally used by the imperial power to achieve political balance. Pepper was used to pay their wages. No matter what the truth was, it was right to just scold the eunuchs.
When Emperor Taizong was alive, no one dared to scold eunuch Zheng He to his face.
Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, he has directly banned navigation. The eunuch Zheng He was sent to garrison Nanjing. On the surface, it was a transfer at the same level, but in reality it was a demotion.
When eunuch Zheng He fell from power, the civil service group celebrated and said that the 35 articles were a good idea.
Before the prince could invite him, eunuch Zheng He was already preparing to leave the palace, and Princess A Lei went to see him off.
Eunuch Zheng He appeared calm and relaxed, "Defending Nanjing is what I want, and it's not bad to end it this way. I have no regrets towards the Ming Dynasty. But, Crown Princess, the boat ticket I gave you six years ago has expired, so I can't keep my promise."
A Lei tried hard to hold back tears. It was more than just a boat ticket. It was her dream. She thought there would be plenty of opportunities in the future. But it wasn't like that. Opportunities wouldn't always wait for her.
When you are young, come on, have fun, there is plenty of time anyway; come on, love, there are plenty of desires anyway.
Under the protection of her parents, she can have whatever she wants. If she wants to enjoy love first, she can put her dreams aside. Sit in a row and share the fruits. It will always be her turn. There is no need to rush.
Reality told her that she couldn't have her cake and eat it too. If she ate the fish, the bear's paw would not stay there waiting for her. It would be gone in a flash and she would not be able to get it even if she wanted it.
Arei knew that the frustration of eunuch Zheng He was now far greater than the collapse of her dream. At this time, eunuch Zheng He turned around and apologized to her. He really remembered her words in his heart and did not take it lightly.
A Lei forced a smile and said, "This is the direction of the court. Eunuch Zheng He should not be discouraged. There is still a long way to go in the future."
A Lei originally wanted to say that the prince supported the voyage to the West, but now that the palace has changed hands, the wind has changed. The prince's position must be consistent with that of Emperor Hongxi. He cannot allow others to catch him in a dispute between father and son. Walls have ears, so he cannot say such words.
Eunuch Zheng He has a clear mind. Both Zhu Zhanji and A Lei were grown up under his care. Zhu Zhanji was full of vigor and his philosophy of governing the country was in line with that of Emperor Taizong. Back then, Emperor Hongxi was exhausted as regent, but he never said no or complained. He was more patient than a turtle. Now the prince has a different opinion from Emperor Hongxi, and there is nothing he can do except to follow Emperor Hongxi's old path - patience.
He could also go to Nanjing to serve as a garrison eunuch. If a legitimate eldest son cannot secure the position of crown prince, he will have no way out.
"I know, I know everything." Eunuch Zheng He said, "I have handed over the navigation record to the Ministry of War for safekeeping. It has everything from sea charts, ship designs, water supplies, etc. If the court needs it in the future, my experience of six voyages can help. The Ming Dynasty is full of talents. If there is no Zheng He, there will be others."
The fire has been left behind.
At this point, Zhu Zhanji came. Seeing A Lei bidding farewell to eunuch Zheng He, he suddenly felt a sense of crisis. Six years ago, if it weren't for that kiss that sealed their love, A Lei would have gone to the West with eunuch Zheng He, and she would not have become the Crown Princess.
As soon as eunuch Zheng He saw Zhu Zhanji, he knew it was time to leave. Even though he was reluctant, it was useless to keep him, so it was better to say goodbye in a dignified manner.
When Zheng He left the palace, Emperor Hongxi had his own rewards. Zheng He kowtowed in the direction of the Qianqing Palace to express his gratitude and turned to leave. Before leaving, Zheng He told Zhu Zhanji and A Lei and his wife, "In the current situation, you two should work together and not be provoked by others. In this palace, only you can look after each other and be trusted."
Judging from the fact that Emperor Hongxi turned the tide and changed the strategy of governing the country as soon as he came to power, Zhu Zhanji, who was deeply influenced by Emperor Taizong, must have been feared by him. Could it be that Zhu Zhanji kept silent about it, and Emperor Hongxi didn't know what his eldest son was thinking
Emperor Hongxi had to give the crown prince a good try and get him to do things according to his own ideas.
The two watched Eunuch Zheng He leave. Zhu Zhanji felt bad when he saw A Lei's reluctant eyes. He took A Lei's hand and said a thousand words, which turned into one sentence: "You, have to believe me."
Are shook his hand back, "Of course I believe you. This is your most difficult time. I will always be with you."
Six years of wonderful time were as beautiful as a baby’s sleep, passing by in the blink of an eye, and always felt too short.
Zhu Zhanji was just about to hug A Lei when the eunuch of Emperor Hongxi came again, saying that he had something to discuss with the crown prince.
Zhu Zhanji left in a hurry.
Emperor Hongxi served as the crown prince for twenty-one years and as regent for more than ten years. He was extremely skilled in both political experience and methods and did not need any adaptation period at all. He served as a regent trainee for more than ten years, and after defeating his two younger brothers, he debuted as the center and directly reached the top.
As soon as he came to power, he seamlessly controlled the imperial power. His governing strategy changed from offense to defense, focusing on recuperation and development. Although it seemed gentle, his governing methods were actually tougher than those of his father, Emperor Taizong, and his grandmother, Emperor Gaozu. Everything was decided by Emperor Hongxi, and it was implemented from top to bottom without encountering any strong obstacles along the way.
He truly enforced orders and enforced discipline, which was something that previous emperors who had just ascended the throne could not do. During the years of regent, Emperor Hongxi cultivated and supported his own people in the court. When the officials of the Eastern Palace were almost all purged, he soon revived the court.
There are still officials who keep getting closer to the Crown Prince who serves as Regent, because the Crown Prince is the future.
Now that Emperor Hongxi has ascended the throne, looking at the energetic new crown prince, Emperor Hongxi deeply understands why Emperor Taizong always made things difficult for him and almost wiped out all the officials in the Eastern Palace.
In the past, he always felt sad about why his father treated him like this, it was unfair. Now it was his turn to be emperor, he suddenly understood his father's intentions, there was nothing unfair, he had to do this.
He was old and had always been in poor health, while the crown prince was in his youth. When he followed Emperor Taizong on military campaigns, the crown prince often stayed in Beijing to supervise the country. He started handling state affairs at the age of thirteen and came into contact with power earlier than Emperor Hongxi.
Emperor Hongxi was afraid that the Crown Prince would become too powerful, so powerful that the ministers would take sides in advance and secretly defect to the Crown Prince, gradually marginalizing himself. Once the Crown Prince became fully powerful, he would - Emperor Hongxi remembered his plan to punish Prince Zhao last year, and his father was convinced that Prince Zhao had poisoned him and was plotting a rebellion.
Power can really call a horse a zebra and blind one’s eyes and ears.
Emperor Hongxi deliberately asked the prince to see Zheng He off. He knew clearly that the prince supported navigation, but he still wanted the prince to do it. However, the prince's reaction was too calm, and he didn't say a word of objection, as if he was born to be in the position of recuperating.
The more docile and obedient the prince was, the more Emperor Hongxi was afraid of him. He was so young, but he was so cunning. What would he be like in the future
In fact, does the prince have any other choice but to nod? This is a one-way street.
The Crown Prince was so sensible that Emperor Hongxi became even more suspicious, so he began to test him for the second time. "Your brothers are gradually growing up. I have conferred titles on them as princes. In the future, they will get married and move out of the palace to live alone. I am an experienced person, so I don't want to keep them in the capital for too long. After two or three years of marriage and having children, I will let them go to the vassal states. I have asked the Ministry of Works to go to the vassal states to select sites and build princely mansions."
Emperor Hongxi was in poor health but was very fertile. He had ten sons and seven daughters, more offspring than the King of Han and the King of Zhao combined.
When Zhu Zhanji heard that his younger brothers would be sent to their fiefdoms after getting married, he thought it would be a great thing for the Eastern Palace!
Perhaps Emperor Hongxi remembered the pain he suffered at the hands of two stubborn residents in the capital, the Prince of Han and the Prince of Zhao. He refused to go to his fiefdom until he was over 40 years old and threatened the Eastern Palace all the time.
Emperor Hongxi was like being in a broken ship with two huge sharks circling around the ship, ready to bite him whenever they got a chance, and they kept biting him for twenty years. It was a very uncomfortable feeling.
Zhu Zhanji couldn't believe this pie in the sky. He felt that Emperor Hongxi was holding a big plan behind the scenes, so he said, "My brothers should stay in the capital so that they can be filial to their father and mother. When they have children in the future, their grandchildren will be around and the whole family will be happy and enjoy the happiness of family life."
Zhu Zhanji was flawless and resisted the temptation to give a standard answer.
Emperor Hongxi looked at his eldest son intently, and saw his own shadow in his slightly thin body.
No, he is better and more mature than I was back then.
Not only that, he is also good at both literature and martial arts. When I was riding a horse, I would often crush the horse to death.
Seeing the calm prince, Emperor Hongxi lost his composure and shamelessly used his ultimate move: "You have nine younger brothers, and you have to build nine princely palaces in various places. The princely palaces are important places, and you must form a palace soldier to guard them. I think that among all the guards in the capital, only the young army is the best. If there are young soldiers guarding the princely palaces, I will be relieved."
"However, these 28,000 young soldiers were recruited by Emperor Taizong for you, and they were trained by you personally. They only obey your orders, so I cannot interfere."
Zhu Zhanji had just taken the Young Army to Mobei to welcome the coffin of Emperor Taizong last month. After returning to the capital, the Young Army returned to the post of the vanguard of the palace army and stood guard in the Forbidden City. This made Emperor Hongxi very unhappy and always felt that it was a hidden danger.
Emperor Taizong was a man of many means. He took great pains for Zhu Zhanji's future and creatively created a small army that only obeyed Zhu Zhanji's command.
Emperor Hongxi had put it so bluntly, what was there for someone as smart as Zhu Zhanji not to understand
Zhu Zhanji personally selected, organized, trained, and even fought with the young army, sharing the joys and sorrows together. The young army only had the prince in their eyes, not the imperial power.
Of course Zhu Zhanji was reluctant, but he couldn't say no.
As king, as minister, as father, as son, no matter what the reason, he must obey Emperor Hongxi.
Zhu Zhanji suppressed his heart-wrenching pain and said, "The palace is well guarded by the Imperial Guards, which are impregnable. The young soldiers are dispensable. Now I will send the young soldiers to various princely palaces to protect my younger brothers' residences. This is my concern and love for my younger brothers. I will divide the troops right away. The 28,000 young soldiers will be divided into nine teams, each with more than 3,000 people. They will definitely be able to protect the nine princely palaces."
Emperor Hongxi nodded with satisfaction, "Well, I knew you were a good brother."
Zhu Zhanji cut off his own arm and disbanded the young army. Within three days, the 28,000 young soldiers rushed to the site of the prince's palace, which was still a barren land, and guarded the empty land without doing anything.
Young soldiers are not military personnel. Unlike military households who are professional soldiers for life and generations, young soldiers are civilians and can choose to retire and regain their civilian status.
Emperor Hongxi instructed the Ministry of War to go to each young army detachment to publicize the policy that they can withdraw at any time and return to their hometowns with retirement benefits.
Now the young army is completely finished.
But no matter how the people from the Ministry of War persuaded them, only a few of the young soldiers retired early. They were like a group of fools guarding a barren land, waiting to be recalled to the capital by the prince one day in the future.
This loyalty moved the prince and frightened Emperor Hongxi.
I thought that Youjun would complain about the prince being weak and allowing them to be expelled from the capital, but the result was just the opposite. Youjun had no complaints and repaid the prince's eight years of cultivation with silence.
Emperor Hongxi was even more afraid of the crown prince. This little guy was almost indestructible and no problem could stump him!
In that case, don't blame me for using my special trick.
Emperor Hongxi decided to defeat the prince from within, and he set his sights on the crown princess, A Lei. Where a person's weaknesses are depends on what he cares about.
If they were willing to expel the young soldiers from the capital, then what about the Crown Princess
During these six years, the Crown Princess had always been the only one favored by the emperor. The couple was so sweet that the condition of Emperor Hongxi, who already had diabetes, worsened.
Of course, Emperor Hongxi was too proud of his status as a father-in-law to talk to his daughter-in-law directly, so he called Empress Zhang. After all, it was natural for a mother-in-law to teach her daughter-in-law a lesson.
Emperor Hongxi said, "The Crown Prince is 22 years old this year. So far, only the Crown Princess has given birth to a daughter. Concubine Sun and three concubines in the East Palace have not been pregnant yet. Zi Tong should talk to the Crown Princess about the issue of offspring. Don't be greedy for the pleasure of men and women and ignore the important issue of offspring. There are three kinds of unfilial behavior, and the worst is to have no descendants. Our family has a throne to inherit, and we need to give birth to a son."
Zheng He was demoted to Nanjing, and his young army was blown away by the wind and rain, drifting everywhere. Empress Zhang certainly understood her husband's heart knot. He was just afraid of the Eastern Palace. Generation after generation, everyone was the same, there was nothing new.
Empress Zhang pretended to be confused even though she knew the truth. "Your Majesty is too impatient. When Your Majesty was 20 years old, I gave birth to the Crown Prince. It was a great blessing to have a son as the first child. When Your Majesty was 26 years old, Concubine Li gave birth to your second son. After that, you had eight sons in succession. It can be seen that you can't be impatient about the matter of heirs. When the time comes, they will come one after another."
"The Crown Princess has already given birth to Princess Shunde, which shows that she is fertile. She is also 22 years old this year, which is the most suitable age for childbearing. Moreover, the Crown Princess and the Crown Prince have been childhood sweethearts and have a very good relationship. It is only a matter of time before she becomes pregnant again. As for Concubine Sun and the three concubines..."
Empress Zhang smiled, "There is a world of difference between legitimate and illegitimate children. Your Highness ascended to the throne as the eldest legitimate son. For the sake of the future peace of the royal family, you should urge the Crown Prince to give birth to a legitimate son as soon as possible."
The author has something to say: As the crown prince for twenty-one years and the emperor for nine months, please stop scolding Emperor Hongxi. He didn’t have much time left, and he had been suppressed for too long.
This is why the book is about to end even though Hu Shanwei served as the palace lady for five dynasties. Well, because one dynasty was really too short.
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