Zhu Zhanji fell into memories.
He was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. He was born rich and noble, and was deeply loved by his grandfather, King Zhu Di of Yan. There are even folk rumors that King Yan chose to rebel because of his birth.
When he grew up, Zhu Zhanji became even more intelligent and high-spirited. He was given the title of "Good Saint Grandson" and his grandfather had to take him with him whenever he went on an expedition or on a northern tour. The entire empire felt that Zhu Zhanji was the future heir to the Ming Dynasty.
He felt that the reason why his fat and lame father was able to secure the position of prince was because he gave birth to a good son. Only by virtue of his noble son could he win the favor of the emperor.
In his world, the entire dynasty revolves around him, and he is the son of destiny, the bright moon who guards the galaxy.
However, what really frustrated Zhu Zhanji was the assassination of the emperor on the way to the Northern Expedition.
It was raining heavily and swordsmen were everywhere. When Zhu Zhanji almost thought he was about to be chopped into pieces, it was his fourth uncle Zhu Gaojie who came to the rescue and allowed him to hide under the horse's back and escape the disaster. On that rainy night, Zhu Zhanji shivered under the corpse of his war horse. The cold rain mixed with blood was dirty and smelly. The great saintly grandson was humiliated like a maggot.
Later, during the battle of Hu Lan and Su Wen Wen, Zhu Zhanji was originally just a bystander, learning combat from His Majesty the Emperor. But when he saw his fourth uncle Zhu Gaojiao galloping on the battlefield, he was able to stand in front of thousands of people. In fact, this fourth uncle was only a few years older than him. His heart suddenly became unbalanced, and a thought came to his mind:
——I can do it too.
Zhu Zhanji got on board, and he led his Qingqi to chase Mahamu, the overlord of the Oara grassland. This was his proudest moment, and his heart was as high as the sky. However, Mahamu's counterattack soon left him almost dead.
At the critical moment, it was his fourth uncle Zhu Gaojie who came to the rescue again and saved Zhu Zhanji's life. Zhu Zhanji was disgraced, all his dignity was shattered at this moment, and he lost his conspicuous aura of being a good saint.
In the eyes of others, he is now just a young boy who does not know how to appreciate others and cannot see his own strength.
Of course, Zhu Zhanji was not willing to give in. Not only did he have no intention of repaying his gratitude to his savior, Zhu Gaojie, but he also developed resentment and jealousy.
It was this person who took away all the aura, all the achievements, and all the dignity from him!
Zhu Gaojie is like a sun, shining brightly in the sky, so dazzling that everyone pays attention, but Zhu Zhanji is ignored. This good saint grandson lives in the shadow of Zhu Gaojie.
Damn fourth uncle, why don’t you die!
After that, Zhu Zhanji desperately became the enemy of Zhu Gaojie, and he used all means to fight with his fourth uncle. Even if he loses his grandson's position and his own father loses his crown prince's position, he is not willing to accept it. He has been pursuing the revenge he thinks he has.
It wasn't until his father died that he realized that his journey of revenge had left him with nothing.
He regretted it.
On this road of pursuing power, greed will make people lose their minds and indulge in darkness. When Zhu Zhanji woke up from the darkness, there was only a pot of poisonous wine in front of him.
He drank the poisonous wine in one gulp and used death to atone for his sins.
In his final trance, Zhu Zhanji seemed to see himself riding on a high horse, bathing in the golden wind, wearing a black crown, and ascending the throne as emperor.
Thousands of people shouted long live Emperor Xuande.
He smiled slightly, there is no such thing as Emperor Xuande, if there is an afterlife, he just wants to be Zhu Zhanji, a commoner.
…
Yongle fifteenth year, winter.
The king of Gan, Zhu Gaochi, died, and his posthumous title was "An".
Zhu Zhanji, the eldest son of the King of Gan, was found guilty and taken to the capital to die.
The emperor ordered Zhu Zhanyang, the fifth son of King Gan'an, to attack and grant the title of King Gan.
Rumor has it that on the second day after Zhu Zhanji, the eldest son of the King of Gan, was sentenced to death, someone in the capital saw a monk walking into the imperial city under the guard of sentry horses. He looked exactly like Emperor Jianwen. I don't know whether it was true or not.
…
"Prince, we have arrived."
"Please come in."
In the East Palace, Zhu Gaojiu brewed a pot of hot tea and filled two Yuanqinghua teacups.
After Zhu Zhanji was given death, the imperial army that was called to guard the East Palace but was actually under house arrest was withdrawn. Zhu Gaojie regained his freedom, but he was not in a hurry to continue to be in power, but was waiting for the arrival of a distinguished guest.
Not long after, the shadow attendant came in with a monk with fine features and fair face.
Aqi bowed and said, "Your Highness."
"Thank you for taking a trip to Fujian."
Zhu Gaojie asked, "How is Hu Hu?"
"Master Hu has worked hard for many years, and now he has finally lived up to expectations. He has been invited back to the capital to find a courtyard for him to cultivate."
"Well, okay, you did a good job. Take the people down first. I have something to talk to this master privately. No one is allowed within a hundred steps."
"Here."
A Qi left with the shadow attendants and dispersed the maids, eunuchs and others who were here.
Under the eaves and in the pavilions, the snow is gradually melting, the tea is boiling, and white steam is billowing.
Zhu Gaojie raised his hand and said, "Please sit down. I've brewed a pot of good tea for you and me to taste."
Zhu Yunwen slowly fell down and sat across from the tea table. Looking at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who had a jade-like face and a restrained aura, he couldn't help but sigh: "I haven't seen you for many years. You are no longer the same as before. The last time I saw you, you were still the same." You are still a young and immature child, but now that I see you again, you are already a powerful yet unrestrained, resourceful and restrained Crown Prince. What a great change."
"My cousin was joking. Compared to my changes, my cousin's changes should be bigger."
Zhu Gaojie held the Yuan Qinghua tea cup and said with a smile, "The young Emperor Jianwen who succeeded to the throne has now become an ordinary monk among the crowd. It really surprises me."
Zhu Yunwen shook his head: "I am not Emperor Jianwen. Since I escaped from Nanjing, I have no longer been worthy of the title of emperor. I am a coward who ran away. In the past sixteen years, I have traveled all over the world. Seeing the prosperous Ming Dynasty, I have already put away all the thoughts in my heart, and only want to seek the true scriptures."
Zhu Gaojie asked: "There are many ways, including Confucianism, Humanity, Dharma, and Military... I wonder which one my cousin is looking for?"
"Of course it's Shi Dao."
"I think what my cousin is asking for is the imperial way, right?"
Facing the aggressive Zhu Gaojie, Zhu Yunwen was silent for a long time, and then slowly said: "If what I asked for was the imperial way, then I would not have been defeated back then."
Zhu Gaojie thought strangely: "Perhaps my cousin felt that he did not learn the essence of the imperial way back then, and then after traveling for more than ten years, he suddenly had an epiphany and wanted to rebel against my father?"
Every word he said was sharp, but Zhu Yunwen could only bite the bullet and answer the questions.
The skill of conversation lies in the fact that under the same conditions and status, both parties can use words to put the other party at a disadvantage and put themselves on the commanding heights. But this prerequisite must be that both parties are in a situation of equality or the gap is not too great.
Today, Zhu Gaojie is the Daozu, and Zhu Yunzhen is the fish meat.
Even your life depends on my thoughts, what qualifications do you have to talk to me?
…
"They are all eldest grandsons, so why bother eldest grandsons?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said earnestly, "No matter how tough this kid Yunwen is, we are all a family. He is your uncle's son. Let's teach him a lesson. Lock him up in a remote place and send a few Jinyi guards there. Monitoring will never eliminate the root cause, my dear grandson."
Zhu Gaojie also said earnestly: "Grandpa, you have to be considerate of your grandson. If Emperor Jianwen is still alive, my father will not be able to sleep."
"Even if Yun Wen is killed, your father won't be able to sleep much..."
Zhu Yuanzhang advised, "My good grandson, listen to your grandfather. We, the Zhu family, cannot have their blood on our hands."
Zhu Gaojie said confidently: "The Zhu family was killed in rivers of blood, but our world is prospering!"
"Furthermore……"
"Putting aside the facts, my father rebelled. Grandpa, don't you have any responsibility?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was confused: "Do you want to listen to what you are saying?"
Your father rebelled, does he have anything to do with us?
When he rebelled, we were all buried in the ground!
Zhu Gaojie said seductively: "Grandpa, look, why did my father rebel back then? It wasn't because Jianwen cut off the vassal clan so hard that no one could stand it. It was also about cutting down the vassalage, and Yongle cut off the vassalage this time. Even more ruthless than Jianwen, why can't the clan make any noise?"
"Without him, Emperor Jianwen is incompetent. Since Emperor Jianwen is incompetent, why didn't you pass the throne to my father back then? If you had passed the throne to my father, nothing would have happened. Although Brother Yunwen couldn't be the emperor, , but he can also become a vassal king. The other vassal kings are also convinced by my brother, and Uncle Zhu Bai, the King of Xiang, cannot be forced to burn himself to death. Isn't it beautiful that everyone is enjoying themselves? "
"So, the reason why my uncle, King Xiang, died, and the reason why brother Yunwen ended up like this, has nothing to do with our family. It's all because grandpa, you saw the wrong person back then!"
"You have to take full responsibility for the battle of Jingnan."
Zhu Yuanzhang fell into deep thought: "Although it feels like something is not right, I can't explain it. It's so strange."
What's wrong?
How come we have become the biggest sinners of the Zhu family?
Zhu Gaojie comforted him: "Grandpa, don't take it too seriously. Although you made a big mistake, fortunately, my father and I atoned for your sin. This is what we, our children and grandchildren, should do."
Zhu Yuanzhang asked tentatively: "So we should also thank your family for rebelling?"
"You're welcome, you're too kind."
"No, no, no, we should thank you... Well, my head feels so itchy, why do we always feel that something is not right?"
"Don't worry, just listen to me and it'll be over."
…
Zhu Gaojie sighed: "Cousin, to be honest, my father's health has not been very good recently."
Zhu Yunwen's heart skipped a beat: "My fourth uncle has always been physically strong, so why is it not so good?"
Zhu Laosi's health is not very good, which is not good news for him.
If he had heard that Zhu Di was going to die before, he would have clapped his hands and cheered. But now he is a piece of meat on someone else's chopping board. It would be great fun if Zhu Laosi wanted to take him away before he died.
Zhu Gaojie said quietly: "It's precisely because I haven't seen you, cousin, that my father's health cannot get better."
Zhu Yunwen smiled dryly and said: "Cousin, please don't say it's a joke. I am no longer the same person I used to be, and my fourth uncle is no longer the fourth uncle I used to be. I have no more thoughts in my heart. I just want to spend my remaining years in the fields as a monk." Ask for the true scripture.”
He was praying humbly, indicating that he had no other thoughts and just hoped to survive. He is willing to live in seclusion as a monk for the rest of his life, will not marry and have children, and will not pose any threat to Zhu Di.
"Cousin, this is wrong."
Zhu Gaojie stood up slowly, walked casually behind Zhu Yunwen, and said, "My father taught me a lesson since I was a child. Even if the Zhu family dies, they must die with blood."
"The great emperor Taizu spent his whole life in the army, expelling the barbarians and restoring the Central Plains. If our children and grandchildren are to live in an ignoble existence, how can we be worthy of the heroes of the great ancestor?"
"Yes, cousin."
He took out a white belt from his cuffs and put it on the other person's neck, "Cousin, let me give you a ride so that you can meet your uncle underground."
"No no no!"
Zhu Yunwen felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. He quickly waved his hands and prayed, "Gao Yan, we are all a family. If the Zhu family does not kill the Zhu family, if you kill me, how will you explain to grandpa underground in the future?"
"It's okay. I just explained it to grandpa. Grandpa said it was all his fault and had nothing to do with us."
Zhu Gaojie paused for a moment, "However, you are right, the Zhu family cannot kill the Zhu family."
Zhu Yunwen was overjoyed: "Yes, yes, our Zhu family is the most harmonious!"
No, the stupid Zhu Xiaosi waved to the door: "Aqi, I know you are eavesdropping, come in!"
Sure enough, the shadow attendant A Qi was really eavesdropping outside the door, walked straight in and bowed: "Your Highness."
Zhu Gaojie put the leucorrhea on the case: "We, the Zhu family, will not kill the Zhu family."
"Your surname is not Zhu, but Lan. I give you a task: strangle my cousin to death."
…
For a long time, Zhu Yunwen lay in the courtyard, breathless.
Emperor Jianwen, who had been homeless for more than ten years, finally stopped running around and ended his life with peace of mind.
Zhu Gaojie glanced at his cousin's body and ordered A Qi: "Find a piece of grass to sweep up and hide it in the charcoal cart that goes in and out of the imperial city every day. Send the body out of the city first and give it a good burial."
"Here."
After Aqi bowed his hands and saluted, he turned around to collect Emperor Jianwen's body.
Zhu Gaojie looked behind him: "Dad, are you relieved this time?"
Just separated by a door, His Majesty the Emperor's reply came from behind the door: "I can rest assured that you are doing the work."
Zhu Gaojie couldn't bring himself to kill Zhu Zhanji. His compatriot Zhu Gaochi had just died and his body was still cold. He really couldn't do it, but Zhu Di could kill him for him.
But Zhu Di couldn't bring himself to kill Zhu Yunwen, because this was his eldest brother Zhu Biao's only bloodline left in the world. He really couldn't do it, but Zhu Gaojie could help him kill him.
The father and son work together in a tacit understanding. You kill one for me, and I kill one for you. Everyone is happy in the end.
Zhu Gaojie solved the problem of Zhu Zhanji, and Zhu Di got rid of the problem of Emperor Jianwen.
After a door, His Majesty the Emperor breathed a sigh of relief.
At that time, he originally wanted to capture Jianwen alive, but he let him go because of this. He regretted this for sixteen years, and he regretted it every moment.
Now, Zhu Gaojie has finally eliminated this trouble for him.
(End of chapter)
