Ming Dynasty: Is a mere unruly commoner rebelling against heaven?

Chapter 75: Learning from History!

After Huai En received the order, he immediately went out to instruct the other eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs to invite Gao Shun, Wang Zhi, and Mou Bin.

Emperor Zhu Youcheng looked at the other eunuchs and palace maids in the Hongde Hall, his anger undiminished.

“All of you, get out of here for me!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The eunuchs and palace maids who were attending him left the Hongde Hall in a hurry after bowing, and waited outside.

Faced with Zhu Youcheng, who was in a fit of rage, no one dared to disobey him even slightly.

Zhu Youcheng sat on the dragon throne, looking at the empty Hongde Hall, and suddenly felt extremely cold.

The position of the Emperor of the Great Ming was truly too dangerous.

Looking back at the sixteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty, and the dozens of crown princes, not one of them died a natural death.

Emperor Renzong of Ming, Zhu Gaochi, reigned for ten months and died at the age of forty-eight.

Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, Zhu Zhanji, reigned for ten years and died at the young age of thirty-six.

Emperor Daizong of Ming, Zhu Qiyu, reigned for eight years and died at the young age of thirty.

Emperor Yingzong of Ming, Zhu Qizhen, reigned for twenty-two years and died at the age of thirty-eight.

Emperor Xianzong of Ming, Zhu Jianshen, reigned for twenty-three years and died at the age of forty.

Emperor Xiaozong of Ming, Zhu Youcheng, reigned for eighteen years and died at the age of thirty-six.

Emperor Wuzong of Ming, Zhu Houzhao, reigned for sixteen years and died at the age of thirty-one.

Emperor Muzong of Ming, Zhu Zaihou, reigned for six years and died at the age of thirty-six.

Emperor Guangzong of Ming, Zhu Changluo, reigned for one month and died at the age of thirty-eight.

Emperor Xizong of Ming, Zhu Youxiao, reigned for seven years and died at the age of twenty-two.

Including Emperor Gao of Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang, Emperor Taizong Wen of Ming, Zhu Di, and Crown Prince Yiwen, Zhu Biao, their deaths were all very strange and bizarre.

As for the grandson and grandfather with the longest reigns, Emperor Shizong of Ming, Zhu Houcong, and Emperor Shenzong of Ming, Zhu Yijun, neither of them died a natural death.

The Ming Dynasty crown princes who did not live to inherit the throne were even more numerous.

The reason why Zhu Houcong and Zhu Yijun were able to live so long was all thanks to their absence from court and hiding in the harem to fight guerrilla warfare with the civil official groups.

The civil official groups wanted to attack, but they couldn't find where the two of them were.

Zhu Jianshen reigned for a long time because he retreated from court and didn't meet with the civil official groups much.

He also reopened the West Depot and used Wang Zhi to deal with the civil officials, and used his own appointed officials for everything, not allowing the Grand Secretariat and the Six Ministries to interfere.

Therefore, Zhu Youcheng would not attend court too often in the future.

But at the same time, the Jiajing and Wanli years were the peak period of fires in the Forbidden City.

If they couldn't find the person, they would simply burn everything down.

During the Jiajing reign, the Forbidden City had a total of fourteen fires.

During the Wanli reign, the Forbidden City had a total of twenty-three fires.

And when Zhu Houcong returned to his old fief, his palace had a big fire for three consecutive nights.

Moreover, this fire did not burn anyone else, it only burned Zhu Houcong's bedroom.

The fact that the fire chased after the emperor's ass to burn him was truly a strange and ancient tale.

If not for Lu Bing's desperate rescue, Zhu Houcong would have died unexpectedly long ago.

This forced Zhu Houcong to hide in the West Garden and never meet with the civil officials again.

Zhu Yijun's legs were not good to begin with, and the average of one fire every two years in the Forbidden City made him mentally and physically exhausted, so how dare he go to court and meet with the civil officials?

One more thing to note is that among these emperors who died young, only Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao was killed outside the palace.

Besides the fact that only Zhu Houzhao had left the palace, there was another very important point.

That is, Zhu Houzhao did not live in the Forbidden City, but went to live in the Leopard Chamber.

And he kept trusted warriors in the Leopard Chamber, trained his personal soldiers, and used his personal soldiers to protect himself, so that no one else could get close to him.

It is hard to say that Zhu Houcong's living in the West Garden to save his life was not learned from his imperial brother.

In order to force Zhu Houzhao out, the civil official groups described the Leopard Chamber as a den of debauchery for the emperor's enjoyment, filled with many beautiful women for Zhu Houzhao to enjoy.

Would Zhu Houzhao, an emperor who didn't even go to the harem, keep his living and governing place full of beautiful women?

There were no women in this place, but there was a pile of heavily armed men.

Later, when the civil officials discovered that there were indeed no women in the Leopard Chamber, they changed their tune again, saying that the Leopard Chamber was full of catamites for Zhu Houzhao to indulge in male色.

The shamelessness of the civil officials is evident.

Therefore, Zhu Youcheng had previously thought about building the Hall of Mental Cultivation and rebuilding the West Garden.

Moreover, Zhu Jianshen, Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Houcong, and Zhu Yijun all had one thing in common.

That is, they did not touch the empress and stayed away from the harem.

The interference of the harem in the Ming Dynasty had reached an unprecedented level.

All the emperors who had close relations with the harem, Zhu Zhanji, Zhu Qizhen, Zhu Youcheng, Zhu Zaihou, Zhu Changluo, and Zhu Youxiao, died before the age of forty.

The five emperors Zhu Zhanji, Zhu Youcheng, Zhu Zaihou, Zhu Changluo, and Zhu Youxiao, together reigned for only forty-one years.

This is also why Zhu Youcheng had previously resolutely refused to establish an empress.

Moreover, when these emperors died, the crown princes were very young, which met the necessary conditions for a young master and a strong mother, and the cabinet colluding with the harem to架空皇权.

When Zhu Zhanji died, the succeeding Zhu Qizhen was less than eight years old.

When Zhu Qizhen died, the succeeding Zhu Jianshen was seventeen years old.

When Zhu Jianshen died, the succeeding Zhu Youcheng was seventeen years old.

When Zhu Youcheng died, the succeeding Zhu Houzhao was less than fifteen years old.

When Zhu Houzhao died, the succeeding Zhu Houcong was less than fifteen years old.

When Zhu Zaihou died, the succeeding Zhu Yijun was less than ten years old.

When Zhu Changluo died, the succeeding Zhu Youxiao was fifteen years old.

According to the customs of the Ming Dynasty, once the crown prince was established, the emperor could die normally.

The reason why Zhu Houcong and Zhu Yijun were able to reign for so long was also because they did not establish a crown prince early on.

They only established a crown prince after the crown prince came of age.

Zhu Houcong had established a crown prince early on. In the twelfth year of Jiajing, the eldest son Zhu Zaiji was born, but died before he was a hundred days old, and was given the posthumous title of Crown Prince Aichong.

In the fourteenth year of Jiajing, the second son Zhu Zairui was born, and was made crown prince in the eighteenth year of Jiajing. On the sixteenth day of the third month of the eighteenth year of Jiajing, the crown prince was crowned, and he died on the seventeenth day.

After Zhu Houcong understood, he never established a crown prince again, and called himself "two dragons do not meet", and never saw his son again from then on.

As a result, Zhu Zaihou, the third son of Zhu Houcong, successfully lived to adulthood and inherited the throne.

The so-called "two dragons do not meet" was just an excuse. Zhu Houcong did not establish a crown prince and did not meet with his son, just to protect himself and protect them.

He didn't want himself to be like other emperors, and let his children die inexplicably like other crown princes.

Zhu Houcong never felt that he could live forever, otherwise he would not have allowed the two to reside in the capital after he enfeoffed Zhu Zaihou as Prince Yu and Zhu Zaishen as Prince Jing.

In the fortieth year of Jiajing, Zhu Houcong felt that his body was not as good as before, so he let Prince Jing go to his fiefdom in advance, which was equivalent to establishing Prince Yu as the crown prince in disguise.

And the smartest thing Zhu Houcong did was to never let the Imperial Hospital treat him, but instead he raised a group of alchemists, under the guise of "refining immortal pills", but in reality they were court physicians.

Zhu Yijun also did not establish a crown prince, and showed that he hated his eldest son Zhu Changluo very much.

Zhu Yijun withstood the pressure from the cabinet and the civil official groups, and stubbornly dragged on for fifteen years before finally establishing Zhu Changluo as the crown prince in the twenty-ninth year of Wanli.

At this time, Zhu Changluo was already nineteen years old.

Therefore, Zhu Youcheng will not only not establish an empress, but also will not establish a crown prince in the future.

The position of the Ming Dynasty emperor seems infinitely glorious, but the undercurrents beneath it are treacherous and infinitely dangerous.

In addition to using thunderous means to quickly purge disloyal officials.

He also needs to proceed step by step and be careful above all else.

If Zhu Youcheng did not have the help of the system, he would only be able to obediently listen and be a puppet emperor.

If he still wanted to regain imperial power, then there would only be one outcome for him, which is to be sent away by a bowl of soup from the Imperial Hospital.

Other transmigrators without a system who sit in this position, unless they are Zhuge Liang reborn, would have been played to death by the civil official groups long ago.

Not to mention the history books that later generations read, which were revised once by the Ming Dynasty civil officials and then revised again by the Qing Dynasty, and have long been changed beyond recognition.

The truth of the matter has long been hidden in the history books of time.

Even ordinary transmigrators who know the secrets and know how the future will develop.

In front of these civil official groups who have been professionally killing emperors for more than two hundred years, they would not even know how they died.