Chapter 188 The Battle for the Establishment of a Crown

Author: West Lake encounters rain

Chapter 188 The Battle for the Establishment of a Crown

This winter, November.

A rare slight snow fell in Nanjing.

Although it only took a few hours, this ancient and prosperous city was covered with a plain color.

There are few people in the palace, so occasionally I see a few maids walking by in a hurry.

Empress Xu looked through the window and looked at the snowy scene outside the emperor's bedroom, with a calm expression.

Empress Xu, who came to the room, had been sitting in the room for almost half an hour, while Zhu Di was still correcting the high-stack memorials at the desk.

Even so, these memorials have been screened by the cabinet led by Zhu Gaochi.

The spices burning in the bronze stove were graceful, and the tea cooked by Empress Xu had already been placed on the set of tea sets on the table, but Zhu Di did not have the intention to taste it.

Since Zhu Di came back from the prison a few days ago, he has become worried.

This obvious change is obviously related to the two people in the imperial prison.

Jiang Xinghuo, Zhu Gaoxu.

According to the past habit, Empress Xu thought that Mr. Jiang said something like "The Ming Dynasty is about to perish!", which stimulated Zhu Di.

Generally, Zhu Di will recover from this kind of thing in a few days. Anyway, what Mr. Jiang said was the reason for the demise of the Ming Dynasty in the future. If the Ming Dynasty is destroyed, it will not be the present.

But Empress Xu just asked her third son and got an answer that was somewhat unexpected to her.

——Mr. Jiang didn’t say anything scary.

What I said this time is nothing more than the ocean, diplomacy, the pros and cons of moving the capital, and a few unverifiable weird things.

Some of the things here may be very important to Zhu Di and others.

But for Empress Xu, she didn't care at all.

The harem should not be involved in state affairs, so of course Queen Xu knew about it.

But Empress Xu is also very clear that if Zhu Di’s troubles did not come from Mr. Jiang, it could only be an answer.

——Zhu Gaoxu.

As the daughter of General Xu Da, Empress Xu witnessed the bloody storm of the late Hongwu Dynasty.

In order to pave the way for Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Yuanzhang killed almost all generals who could fight.

Only Geng Bingwen, Li Jinglong, Xu Huizu and others who are not of top-notch ability are left to defend the country.

This is still under the skills of a powerful emperor like Zhu Yuanzhang. No one competed for the throne with Zhu Yunwen, so many people would die. If it were other times, the dispute between the crown prince would be even more cruel and unimaginable.

Zhu Gaoxu is about to be released from prison, which means a new round of formal dispute over crown prince is about to begin.

Even Empress Xu, who lives in the deep palace, learned from various sources of information that the Jingnan Qunar Group was headed by two dukes, Qiu Fu and Zhu Neng, and almost collectively spoke out, urging the second prince Zhu Gaoxu as the crown prince.

Here we will say that the so-called "Four Dukes of Jingnan" in later generations were actually only two people at this time, Qiu Fu, Duke of Qi and Duke of Chengguo Zhu Neng.

Because Zhang Yu had already died in battle, Duke Rong was posthumously conferred; and the more famous British Duke Zhang Fu still believed in Anbo at this time.

Well, the reason why it is said to be "almost" is collective voice because Xin Anbo and Zhang Fu did not participate.

It is precisely because the Jingnan Xungui Group held military power and had strong power at this time, but it was rare to agree.

So between the government and the public, it was shocked in an instant.

Even Zhu Di had to pay attention to this.

But for Empress Xu, whether it is the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi or the second prince Zhu Gaoxu, the palms and backs of his hands are flesh.

Zhu Gaoxu, no matter how he makes trouble, he is still her son.

Empress Xu is even more worried about Zhu Gaoxu than anyone else.

In her heart, she was looking forward to him being released from prison quickly, but she also felt vaguely uneasy.

Because once there is a dispute over the stock market, there are too many things that are beyond her control!

"have a look."

Just as Empress Xu was worried, Zhu Di walked up to her with a piece of paper.

"If you don't look at it, the harem will not interfere in politics."

Queen Xu, who was sitting by the bed, simply turned her head.

Zhu Di turned to her instead, pinched the paper in front of her, showing it in front of her.

"The female students will see if there are any omissions in my writing."

Empress Xu didn't even hold back her fake seriousness, and she hummed, took the paper from Zhu Di neatly.

Zhu Di's handwriting is not good-looking, but it is neat after all, with a wide opening and closing between the pens, which makes it a bit sharp.

On this piece of paper is an imperial edict written by Zhu Di to all the nobles and military officials, which includes not only the founding honors of Hongwu, but also the nobles of Jingnan.

"In the past, the monarch who created the world with martial arts must rely on the assistance of generals and ministers, but later on, it is often difficult to protect generals and ministers. Perhaps because people in high positions are prone to be arrogant and inadvertent and refusal to repent, the monarch is responsible for nature and cannot tolerate personal gain, so his generals and ministers must be punished according to law."

"Our Emperor Hongwu Gao's legislative constitution is to allow future generations to abide by it. If all the meritorious officials violate the constitution and do not understand the punishment, they will be punished according to the law and will not be forgiven even if they are close relatives and old."

"Emperor Gao is wise and decisive. In the past, you were kindly favored by Emperor Gao, and now you support me. I wish you all a long life and wealth. If someone dares to be unwilling to commit evil and do evil, he will definitely be unforgivable. At that time, don't blame me for being poor and young. Now I will inform you of the precepts and orders of Emperor Gao, and I hope everyone will never violate them. Otherwise, I will regret it."

Empress Xu was so smart that she understood Zhu Di's meaning almost instantly.

This imperial edict was on the surface to warn Hongwu that since he supported Zhu Di as the emperor, he had to abide by the laws and regulations and follow the standards of Zhu Yuanzhang's era, otherwise he would be severely punished.

But in fact, after taking the opportunity to attack Nanjing, Jingnan Xinxun Group, which was visible to the naked eye, was visible to the naked eye in just a few months.

In Qiu Fu's words, "I followed King Yan Jingnan, raised my trousers and belts and fought bloodyly for four years. Now that I have won Nanjing, the King of Yan ascended the throne, can't I enjoy it?" In fact, Zhang Tianshi's magic medicine for Longhu Mountain is very effective. I heard that the old and strong Duke Qi made the newly-acquisitioned concubine in the mansion be pregnant with two more.

What Zhu Di really wanted to express in the imperial edict was the first paragraph, to preserve it.

In terms of emotion and reason, Zhu Di wanted to do his best to protect these Jingnan nobles who followed him through life and death, but the premise was that these people were sensible and knew what to touch and what not to touch.

Imperial power is something they shouldn't touch.

The unanimous statement of the Jingnan Honorary Group to support the second prince as the crown prince made Zhu Di feel alert, so he issued an imperial edict to attack the Jingnan Honorary Group, which is inevitable under the imperial system of supremacy.

Looking at Empress Xu with a worried look, Zhu Di patted her hand and comforted her: "Don't worry, just hit them."

Empress Xu was depressed for a moment, but still tried her best to say to the emperor: "Your Majesty, there are many discussions between the court and the opposition. I don't talk much about this matter, just say one thing, no matter whether Your Majesty wants to establish Chi'er or Xu'er, Your Majesty must also try his best to protect the other one."

“This is nature.”

Zhu Di vomited turbid breath and sat by the bed for a while.

If it is an ordinary era of peace, the emperor wants to establish a crown prince, he will naturally give priority to establishing a chief.

But what Zhu Di encountered was so troublesome.

On the one hand, Zhu Di felt very dissatisfied with Zhu Gaochi's rapid approaching with the civil servant group and getting along more and more often.

This dissatisfaction is very reasonable. Because of the special nature of the rebellion of the prince Zhu Di, the civil servant group was his mortal enemy for four years. The civil servant group started a propaganda machine, insulting Zhu Di day and night, and slandering Zhu Di, which made Zhu Di feel deeply resentful.

At the same time, Zhu Yunwen was induced by the civil servant group and abolished the system of Zhu Yuanzhang's era also made Zhu Di deeply uneasy. Zhu Di was very worried in his heart that Zhu Gaochi would become the next subtle inducement target of the civil servant group.

If Zhu Di made Zhu Gaochi the crown prince, how could Zhu Di be sure that the emperor in the future of the Ming Dynasty would not become a waste like Zhu Yunwen, be deceived by the civil servant group, and then the imperial power would be completely lost?

On the other hand, if Zhu Di made Zhu Gaoxu the crown prince, this situation would definitely not have happened.

Because Zhu Gaoxu's basic foundation is Jingnan Qualifier Group, Jingnan Qualifier Group is also "a little unpleasant" when they get along with the civil servant group, so Zhu Di can be convinced that if he passes the throne to Zhu Gaoxu, at least about three generations of kings behind him can still firmly grasp the imperial power and will not be induced and deceived by the civil servant group.

But this involves the other hand, Zhu Gaoxu is the well-deserved spokesperson of Jingnan Qunar Group to ensure that its own interests continue to the next generation.

It can be seen from the collective clamor for the Jingnan Honorary Group to support Zhu Gaoxu that to a certain extent, Zhu Gaoxu actually violated Zhu Di's current imperial power!

Because, if Zhu Gaoxu is appointed as the crown prince, once Zhu Di has a good and bad situation, Zhu Gaoxu will be able to seamlessly gain the support of the Jingnan Honorary Group and replace Zhu Di to become the new person.

This is a real threat to Zhu Di, the real person who is talking about it now!

That is, "three longs and two shorts", who can say it well?

If it is really time to be needed to lead the army to the battlefield again, how could he be sure that there is no real "three longs and two shorts"?

After all, the bloody history of struggles that countless days of families have shown that we should not use imperial power to test human nature.

If the test is done, then the operation of regicide is more normal.

Then the question arises.

From a legal perspective, Zhu Gaochi has advantages, but from a heart perspective, Zhu Gaoxu has advantages, which is considered to be even.

But for Zhu Di himself, establishing Zhu Gaoxu is now infringing on Zhu Di's imperial power, and establishing Zhu Gaochi's future civil servant group will infringe on the imperial power of the future emperor.

Who is Zhu Di more likely to establish? The answer seems obvious.

"His Majesty."

The sound of eunuchs coming in to report came around, breaking the silence.

Seeing Zhu Di still thinking, Empress Xu turned her eyes slightly and said calmly: "What's the matter?"
To be continued...