Chapter 114 Send troops to the southwest to attack King Qi!
[However, you know, this is not something you, a prince, should think about. 】
[No matter how powerful Prince Qi’s Mansion is, and no matter how big of a threat it poses to the imperial court, what does it have to do with you building the Prince’s Mansion? 】
[Even if Prince Qi’s Mansion rebels and becomes emperor and changes dynasties, Prince Qi’s surname will still be Zhu. As long as your Prince Xing’s Mansion does not participate in it, you will not be implicated in any way and can still be your own prince comfortably. 】
[On June 17, the 14th year of Zhengde, your father Zhu Youqi died at the age of forty-four. He was given the posthumous title of "Xian" and was called King Xingxian. He was buried in Songlin Mountain in the northeast of Zhongxiang City in the royal ceremony. He was only ten years old.
At the age of two, you inherited the title of King Xing and took over the palace under the assistant of the chief historian Yuan Zonggao.】
【Do you think that life will continue like this?】
[Until March 14th, the 16th year of Zhengde, Emperor Zhengde Zhu Houzhao passed away. Since Emperor Zhengde had no heirs, when he was dying, his first assistant Yang Tinghe anticipated the problem of successors in the future. He quoted the "Huangming Ancestors"
In accordance with the principle of "brothers shall follow the younger brothers", an edict was issued in the name of the emperor five days before the death of Emperor Zhengde. On the day after the death of the emperor, Yang Tinghe asked the chief ceremonial officer to ask the Queen Mother for an edict to officially declare you as the emperor's heir.]
[Everything was so sudden. Before you could react, you became the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and ascended the throne in Fengtian Hall with the reign name "Jiajing". ]
Zhu Di clenched his fists. All this seemed sudden, but in fact he had been prepared for it.
Emperor Zhengde's death was not an accident in the first place!
Zhu Di sighed with emotion: Poor Emperor Jiajing, before he ascended the throne, was already doomed to be controlled by civil servants. Zhu Houzhao didn't even win against the civil servants. Can an emperor like Jiajing, who supported the throne, control the court?
What worries Zhu Di even more is that Jiajing's sense of Prince Qi's Mansion seems not to be very good. After such an emperor ascends the throne, will he still allow Prince Qi's Mansion to sit firmly in the southwest?
[In the first year of your accession to the throne, you started a fierce confrontation with the civil servants. 】
[You order the courtiers to discuss the title of King Xingxian of your biological father, and discuss with the civil servants headed by Yang Tinghe and Mao Cheng who should be the emperor, that is, the father in the patriarchal sense.]
[This struggle has lasted for three years. Do you think you can’t become the emperor yourself and your father can call you daddy? 】
[Jinshi Zhang Cong came forward and requested that you inherit the throne without heirs, that you should respect your biological father, and build a royal temple in the capital. You ordered the courtiers to gather for discussion. Yang Tinghe and others resisted and fought hard. However, you ignored the objections of the courtiers and honored your biological father in October.
King Xian is the Xingxian Emperor, his grandmother Xianzong's imperial concubine Shao is the empress dowager, and his mother's concubine Ci Xiaoxian, the empress Xingxian, is the Xingxian empress.]
[This three-year battle came to an end. You suppressed the momentum of the civil servants, dismissed Yang Tinghe and others, and allowed Zhang Cong, who was loyal to you, to sit in the position of chief minister of the cabinet. 】
[This is the first time in decades that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty has truly monopolized power. 】
[What Wu Zong Zhu Houzhao never accomplished in his whole life was solved by you in just a few years.]
Zhu Di was a little surprised. He had to admit that he had underestimated Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcon.
These words seem very simple, but it is difficult to implement them.
Zhu Di could imagine how tough Jiajing's methods must be and how smart his mind must be to monopolize power in a chaotic situation, suppress civil servants, and control all power.
As for the issue of the title of King Xingxian, it became a cover. Jiajing's real purpose was to compete for power with the civil servants. In this battle of scheming, he won.
But from this incident, Zhu Di smelled something unusual.
He could feel that Jiajing was a person with a strong desire for power and control. Would such a person pretend not to see Prince Qi's palace and continue to be his emperor safely?
Before he ascended the throne, Jiajing thought he could not see Prince Qi's Mansion, because no matter how good Prince Qi's Mansion was, it had nothing to do with him as a vassal king, and he had no reason to pay attention to Prince Qi's Mansion.
Jiajing, who had just ascended the throne, thought that he could not see Prince Qi's palace because he had no power, and even if he had ideas, there was no possibility of them being realized.
But Jiajing, who now holds the power alone, has the reason and the strength to eliminate such a serious problem in Prince Qi's Mansion!
[After succeeding to the throne, you have been diligent in government affairs, rectified the political agenda, and implemented the New Deal. You have reduced the power of the Secretary of Ceremonies, abolished the guarding eunuchs, strictly monitored the system, and strictly separated the powers of the factory guards and the judicial department. You have attached great importance to the appointment of Zhang Cong, Xia Yan and other talented people.
My Lord, you have learned the lessons of the previous dynasty when the eunuchs were in power and disrupted the government, and you have strictly controlled the eunuchs. The power of the emperor has been restored and strengthened, and the government has been transformed into a new one.]
[You also pay more attention to the selection of officials based on their character and talents. You have issued decrees many times, asking the ministers of the two capitals, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the foreign ministers to inquire about talented people. You said: "If there is someone with outstanding talents and intelligence who is worthy of important positions, he should be selected."
Recommendations are based on official recommendations regardless of qualifications. If the official department encounters a vacancy, it should be simplified according to the circumstances, and it is not allowed to avoid suspicion."]
[The originally decayed court has once again been rejuvenated, and your power has never been greater, becoming the most powerful emperor after Yongle.]
[If you die suddenly, or if you continue in your own state, future generations will probably praise you as the emperor of the ages.]
[You have done everything the emperor should do, but your inner uneasiness is getting more and more swollen, and you have turned your attention to Prince Qi’s Mansion! 】
[You have to take back the power of Prince Qi’s Mansion. Only in this way will you feel at ease! 】
Zhu Di was very tired. The situation he least wanted to see happened.
Does Prince Qi's Mansion pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty?
Yes, of course!
The 100,000 Southwest Army, an army completely different from the Ming Dynasty army, was built by successive kings of Qi and possessed elite equipment. The honor established by the first king of Qiwu gave them high morale.
More importantly, they were loyal to King Qi, not the Ming Dynasty.
Once Prince Qi rebels, the Ming Dynasty will suffer an unprecedented disaster, even worse than the invasion of Mobei!
Prince Qi's Mansion is also a descendant of the Zhu family. They have an army that sweeps the world and have reasonable excuses for rebellion. People in the streets and alleys of the Ming Dynasty regard Prince Qi's Mansion as a model of protecting the country and ensuring peace and stability, and are deeply supported by the people.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The reason why Prince Qi’s Palace is so powerful is because the emperors of all dynasties have acquiesced!
From Hongxi, to Xuande, and Jingtai, these three emperors all acquiesced in the expansion of Prince Qi's Palace. If not for their connivance, Prince Qi's Palace would not have developed to such a troublesome level.
Is it possible that these three emperors and their majesties were fools and left such a disaster to future generations?
Not really.
It is because they know that as long as Prince Qi's Mansion is in the southwest, there will be no chaos in the south of the Ming Dynasty, and the court only needs to focus on the defense of the north. There is no need to worry about dividing the troops for fighting, and it can bring unimaginable economic development to the court.
Convenience, this is the trump card they left to future emperors, which can bring a ray of hope to the Ming Dynasty when the Ming Dynasty is most dangerous.
The reality was just as the three emperors expected, and Prince Qi's Mansion did not betray their trust.
Not every emperor would be as enlightened as Hong Xi, Xuande, and Jingtai, but they all chose to acquiesce.
This is because they do not have the strength to change everything.
Ming Dynasty needs stability.
As for Jiajing, it was an accident.
[The reason why the emperors of the past dynasties were unable to attack Prince Qi's Mansion was mainly because it was difficult for the Ming Dynasty to divide its forces and fight against Prince Qi's Mansion on one side and Mobei on the other. Once the Ming Dynasty invested its main army in the south, Mobei invaded heavily, and the Ming Dynasty invaded Mobei.
It is possible to review the Tumubao Incident of that year.]
[But you don’t have this worry, because Wu Zong’s great victory in the Yingzhou victory solved the Ming Dynasty’s worries in the north. You can use troops against the south unscrupulously without worrying about the war in the north. 】
[You convened the cabinet and told the ministers very bluntly: "I am going to use troops in the southwest to take back King Qi's power. You can decide what to do."]
[However, what you didn’t expect was that these cabinet ministers who were promoted by themselves all united and rejected your proposal, and they all denied the use of troops against the southwest. ]
[They feel that the previous emperors of all dynasties have maintained friendly relations with Prince Qi’s Mansion, and Prince Qi’s Mansion has never meant to rebel. It has always been stationed safely in the southwest to protect the Ming Dynasty. Once troops are used against Prince Qi’s Mansion, it will waste people and money.
Forget it about Mobei. If you send troops to the southwest, aren't you fighting your own family? This is against the ancestral system.】
[To be honest, I have been using Yeguoyuedu to read and catch up on books recently. I can switch sources and read aloud with many sounds. Yeguoyuedu is available for Android and Apple.]
[Yes, you heard it right, it goes against the ancestral system! 】
[Could it be that the imperial court’s pretending not to see Prince Qi’s Mansion has become an ancestral system? What’s the point of this!]
[At least, that’s what the ministers think. The ancestors of all generations have done this. You, Emperor Jiajing, are acting recklessly, isn’t it against the ancestral system? 】
Zhu Di: "..."
This ancestral system seems to have been pioneered by him?
Ahem, is this important?
unimportant!
Zhu Di really wanted to swim down the long river of time to a hundred years later, grab Jiajing's collar and yell: "Listen to my ancestors, my child, the water here is too deep, you can't control it!"
If one's own family uses troops against one's own family, wouldn't it make people laugh if word spreads about it?
Prince Qi lives well in the southwest. Not only does he have no intention of rebelling, but he also protects the south for the court, stabilizes the situation, and is beneficial to the country. Why do you have to fight him when you say you have nothing to do?
However, Zhu Di knew very well that Jiajing was not crazy, on the contrary, he was very sober.
An emperor like Jiajing, who was very suspicious and obsessed with power, could not possibly allow anyone who threatened him to appear in his territory.
And Prince Qi's Mansion seriously made Jiajing feel uneasy.
[You are angry. This is the first time since you took the throne that you feel that power is out of your control. 】
[You laughed and said to everyone: "I don't know when the southwest was renamed 'Qi State', and the ministers of Qi State even sneaked into the Ming Dynasty's cabinet! All the important ministers in the cabinet were speaking for King Qi
!”]
[You insist on using troops against King Qi regardless of the opposition of everyone. Everyone who opposes will be killed!]
[Reluctantly, the civil and military officials could only agree and agreed to the proposal to conquer the southwest. 】