On the Jiashen day of the leap month of the 31st year of Hongwu, Qianqing Palace.
Seventy-one-year-old Zhu Yuanzhang, supported by a thin and haggard young man, slowly walked to the gilt case with heavy steps.
After he had regained his breath, he pointed at Kun and the pictures on the table and told the young man: "Yunwen, my dear grandson, although the Yuan people have been driven to Mobei by us, the north is the place where the Yuan people are prosperous. Even if you have My uncles are on guard, so don’t be careless..."
Zhu Yunwen heard the words, nodded obediently, and responded respectfully.
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that although Zhu Yunwen looked respectful, there was a look of worry hidden in his brows.
It reminded him of the previous conversation between his grandparents and grandchildren about how to deal with the invasion of foreign enemies and how to deal with the uncles guarding them if they made trouble.
For a moment, the lingering gloom came to mind again.
Originally, the best heir in his mind was not Zhu Yunwen, but the premature death of Prince Zhu Biao disrupted his plan.
In order to prevent his disciples from quarreling and causing trouble to Xiao Qiang and affecting the stability of his family and country, he made an exception and appointed this emperor's grandson after some thought.
In order for this matter to go smoothly, he did not hesitate to send away a few of his old friends.
Originally, he had always comforted himself that all this was worth it for the great cause of Ming Dynasty.
But at this moment, he hesitated.
"Is it really appropriate to entrust our country to him?"
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but frowned when he looked at Zhu Yunwen's young and frail face.
In a daze, he seemed to see his parents who worked hard in farming but were starved to death.
The days when I saw myself wearing a monk's robes full of patches and holding a broken bowl begging.
Seeing those big white feet and hot pancakes.
Seeing the fire in Poyang Lake, the cheers of Beiping Mansion...
Seeing Xu Da who is commanding with determination, Chang Yuchun who is quick with his sword, Li Shan is better than Xiao He, Liu Bowen who is wisely called Zhang Liang...
When those familiar and unfamiliar faces appeared in his mind, waves surged in his heart.
Since he sat on this supreme position, he has done many things that he wanted to do but could not do before, and also did many things that he would not do before but had to do now.
And all this is just to protect the country forever, so that the people in the world who were born like him will no longer suffer.
For this purpose, he worked hard and created various systems to serve as a law for future generations.
They also promulgated various strict laws and implemented various tortures to punish corrupt officials and prevent them from going too far.
But he still underestimated people's hearts. Even under such strict control, there were still people who didn't abide by the law and what's more, they actually wanted to get his rights.
In a rage, he went on a killing spree.
In the eighth year of Hongwu's reign, more than 30,000 illegal officials were killed in the Kongyin case.
In the thirteenth year of Hongwu's reign, the Hu Weiyong case resulted in the murder of more than 30,000 rebel officials.
In the eighteenth year of Hongwu's reign, more than 30,000 corrupt officials were killed in the Guo Huan case.
In the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu's reign, more than 10,000 rebel officials were killed in the Lan Yu case.
kill!
kill!
kill!
Regardless of whether they are relatives of the emperor or heroes and generals, as long as they are involved in the case, they will be killed.
Regardless of whether they are well-educated officials or rogues, as long as they break the rules, they will be killed.
He is not afraid of heads rolling down and rivers of blood flowing, nor is he afraid of being criticized by thousands of people and being infamous for thousands of years.
He just wants to use the knife in his hand to create a peaceful world for future generations and the people of the world.
But what disappoints him is that after decades of hard work, the ideal peaceful age still has not appeared.
He originally placed his hope in the next generation, but when he saw such a weak grandson, he couldn't help but cough violently.
"Grandpa Huang, are you okay?"
Seeing this, Zhu Yunwen caressed Zhu Yuanzhang's chest considerately to help him calm down, and asked with concern.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the worried and panicked Zhu Yunwen, feeling guilty and uneasy.
After he calmed down, he said earnestly: "Grandpa Huang knows what you are worried about, but looking at ancient and modern times, only blood relatives are the most reliable to entrust. This is also the reason why the Zhou and Han Dynasties lasted the longest."
"Besides, the emperor once again restricted the rights of the kings on the basis of the feudal system established by Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. And you also have twelve personal guards in your hands. As long as you take advantage of the situation and prevent your uncles from forming an alliance, they will not be able to shake you. status."
Zhu Yunwen nodded and said respectfully: "Grandpa Huang, don't worry, my grandson will definitely coexist peacefully with his uncles and protect the country that Grandpa Huang has built."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his heart trembled again.
With his wisdom, how could he not hear the weakness and hesitation in Zhu Yunwen's words.
It's just that he is exhausted at this moment, and no matter how resourceful he is, he has no time to use it.
So he could only look at Zhu Yunwen kindly, nodded against his will, and said in as gentle a tone as possible: "Okay, okay, this is Grandpa Huang's good grandson."
After that, he slowly walked towards the dragon couch with Zhu Yunwen's support.
The moment he lay down, he suddenly grabbed Zhu Yunwen's hand and wanted to tell him not to do anything to the prime minister.
But in the end he didn't speak, he just lay down helplessly and closed his eyes...
"Boom!"
Suddenly, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was sleeping, was awakened by a burst of gunfire.
He sat up suddenly and looked out in surprise.
"Your Majesty, are you awake?"
At this time, a voice with a male duck's voice sounded in Zhu Yuanzhang's ears.
Zhu Yuanzhang was overcoming the discomfort of palpitations. At this moment, he suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice. He was startled and immediately followed the sound.
I saw a eunuch about fifty years old, with a white face and no beard, wearing a four-beam crown and a crimson python robe, standing bowed.
"Who are you and why are you in our bedroom?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked when he saw a strange eunuch wearing a python robe appearing in the Qianqing Palace. He subconsciously touched the dagger under his pillow with his right hand, but unexpectedly he found nothing.
When the eunuch saw this, he looked puzzled and said: "Your Majesty, this old slave is Wang Chengen. Why don't you even recognize me?"
As Wang Chengen spoke, he reached out and touched Zhu Yuanzhang's forehead.
"presumptuous!"
Zhu Yuanzhang shouted loudly, opened Wang Chengen's hand, and said angrily: "You are just a eunuch, how dare you touch me, but are you tired of living?"
Wang Chengen was stunned when he heard this, and then saw Zhu Yuanzhang's angry face, which was very different from the previous situation.
So he hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, saying: "I am reckless, please forgive me!"
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw that he was kowtowing endlessly, his anger subsided slightly and he said: "You and other eunuchs must abide by your duties. If you don't, we will definitely skin you and cramp you."
Although Wang Chengen had doubts, he still kowtowed repeatedly and said: "I understand, your majesty, please calm down!"
Zhu Yuanzhang felt confused as he looked at Wang Chengen who was bowing his head on the ground.
"We have never rewarded eunuchs with python robes. Why did this person appear in the Qianqing Palace wearing a python robe?"
Zhu Yuanzhang thought and looked at everything in the room.
I found that except for the location of some objects in the house, which was slightly different from before, there was nothing unusual about it, and I felt doubtful again.
Although he feels that the situation is different, he is also a man with a strong mind and will not reveal his doubts.
So he pretended to be calm and said: "Just now we heard the sound of cannons vaguely in our sleep, did you hear it?"
When Wang Chengen heard this, he raised his head in surprise and glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Zhu Yuanzhang reprimand him: "How dare you defy the palace rules and raise your head without permission!"
"Where are the personal guards? Pull this slave who doesn't know the rules out for us and beat him with fifty royal sticks!"
Following Zhu Yuanzhang's roar, four personal guards wearing flying fish uniforms and embroidered spring knives came in from outside the palace.
Originally they were very aggressive when they came in, but when they saw that the person they wanted to capture was Wang Chengen, they were all stunned.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this, he was furious.
Throughout the past and present, he knew that once the eunuch party gained power, it would cause great harm.
Therefore, he has always refused to give high-ranking officials to eunuchs, let alone allow them to interfere in government affairs.
Unexpectedly, when I woke up, I not only saw a eunuch wearing a python robe, but even the personal guards did not dare to arrest him. This shows how powerful this eunuch is.
Although he was full of doubts, he was determined and resolute by nature. Even though he knew that his time was limited, he would never allow such a thing to happen.
So he slowly stood up and prepared to do it himself, but suddenly there was a sharp pain in his head.
Immediately afterwards, strange memories poured into his mind. The huge amount of information gave him a splitting headache and his body shook.
"Your Majesty, are you okay?"
When Wang Chengen saw this, he exclaimed and was about to get up to help Zhu Yuanzhang, but stopped again, glanced worriedly, and quickly lowered his head.
"My companion, I'm fine. You and your bodyguards should retreat first!"
After Zhu Yuanzhang stabilized his figure, he said to Wang Chengen calmly.
Although Wang Chengen felt that His Majesty's tone was the same as usual, he still felt that something was wrong.
Especially the way His Majesty glanced at his python robe unintentionally, made him vaguely feel that His Majesty was trying to control the anger in his heart.
In the past, he would have asked questions to eliminate the barriers between monarch and ministers, but now he did not dare.
Because he felt that although the person in front of him was the same as before, still looking haggard and wearing patched dragon robes, there was a sense of power in his movements that made people shudder.
So he had no choice but to bow respectfully with full of doubts, and slowly retreated with his guards.
"You traitor, you have ruined our country like this!"
After Zhu Yuanzhang waited for Wang Chengen and others to retreat, he immediately punched the dragon bed with an angry look on his face.
It turned out that after sorting out the memories in his mind just now, he discovered that it was actually March 17, the seventeenth year of Chongzhen. He was no longer Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but Zhu Youjian, the emperor of Chongzhen.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know why he was able to sleep for three hundred years and become Chongzhen, he knew that it was now the time of life and death for the Ming Dynasty, because the capital city was surrounded by Li Zicheng's army at this moment, and the city could only be destroyed in a matter of days. .
