Chapter 619: Crown Prince Yi Wang of Joseon

It seemed this Princess Hyomyeong was also a rather resourceful figure.

The title was somewhat interesting, but Zhu Youxiao didn't care much—no one could stir up waves in the Great Ming.

What Zhu Youxiao cared about was Joseon's Yi Wang, a man who had suffered greatly.

Compared to the King of Joseon, Yi Wang was still relatively dependable.

In the original course of history, the wars between the Great Ming and the Later Jin always swept Joseon into their path.

The Later Jin needed Joseon as a base, so they kept attacking them. Throughout the wars, Joseon naturally had no power to resist.

After the first invasion ended in disastrous defeat, the King of Joseon implemented the system of divided courts.

The so-called divided courts sounded nice to outsiders, but in truth it meant the King of Joseon went into hiding while his sons were sent to various regions to pacify the people and organize resistance.

When the Later Jin invaded again later, they put forward a condition—the King of Joseon himself had to leave the city.

In the end, the King of Joseon didn't dare go out. At that time, his son wanted to go in his place and spoke these words: "When Mount Tai already hangs above a bird's egg, where can the state find footing as firm as a boulder? Matters have become urgent! I have two younger brothers and a son of my own, all capable of serving the ancestral shrines. Even if I die at the hands of the enemy, what regret would I have?"

Mount Tai placed upon a bird's egg—state affairs had already reached such a pass. I have two younger brothers and one son, all able to serve the ancestral temples. If I die, I'll have no regrets. So let me go."

Two years later, the King of Joseon's son ultimately went as a hostage after all, bringing his wife along with him. He was imprisoned for eight years before being released.

After returning, he was poisoned by his father, and his wife was ordered to die as well.

The reason Zhu Youxiao believed the King of Joseon's son had been poisoned was precisely because his wife had been ordered to die. If his death had no irregularities, his wife wouldn't have died, and his son should have inherited the throne.

But that wasn't what happened—his wife was killed, his son failed to inherit the throne, and it was his second younger brother who succeeded instead. Moreover, his father was still alive at the time.

Many speculated it was his father's doing. The specific reasons were unknown, and there were many theories.

Compared to the current King of Joseon, this Yi Wang before him had more courage and more talent.

Speaking of it, the Great Ming seemed to need such a King of Joseon as well. Compared to his father and his younger brother, Yi Wang was a man of talent and decisiveness.

Although Joseon was a vassal of the Great Ming, having such a king might mean he'd jump around recklessly. But Zhu Youxiao knew they simply didn't have the ability to jump—they couldn't jump even if they wanted to.

With such a king, he would govern Joseon's domestic affairs extremely well, strengthen bilateral trade, deepen cooperation between both sides, and jointly dispatch troops in military operations.

This would benefit the Great Ming's affairs across the entire northern front, especially in controlling the Wa nation.

Zhu Youxiao was willing to take a good look at this Yi Wang. If possible, the position of King of Joseon would be his.

For the Great Ming, whoever became King of Joseon depended on who was most beneficial to the Great Ming. Unless the Great Ming truly lacked the strength to intervene, as in the late Chongzhen period, this matter was genuinely something the Great Ming could decide.

The reason the current King of Joseon had been able to carry out the Restoration was largely because the previous King of Joseon hadn't obtained the Great Ming's consent and support. In official status, the Great Ming had always regarded him as a treasonous minister—in this era, that was called lacking legitimacy and justification.

The man was quickly brought in. Zhu Youxiao looked at Yi Wang and found him to be a very young man, just past twenty by the look of it, with a face that seemed quite youthful.

But his gaze was sharp, his demeanor steady. Showing such composure before himself—that was quite good.

"Your subject, Crown Prince Yi Wang of Joseon, pays respects to Your Majesty the Emperor. Long live Your Majesty, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!" Yi Wang performed the grand ceremonial bow toward Zhu Youxiao, omitting not a single detail of propriety.

Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction and said, "Rise."

After Yi Wang stood up, Zhu Youxiao continued, "Be seated."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Yi Wang acknowledged, then sat down.

Once he was seated, Zhu Youxiao finally continued, "Since we parted in Liaodong, I have missed your father greatly. Thinking back now, we truly took to each other at first sight. I wonder, when you set out this time, how was your father's health?"

In truth, Zhu Youxiao knew very well that the current King of Joseon was truly long-lived—later he even received the posthumous honorific title of Injo from his son.

But in reality, this fellow's deeds were hardly impressive at all—one could say he accomplished nothing of note. Becoming king was basically as someone else's puppet.

Yet for such a king, the honorific title he ended up with was actually "Benevolent"?

After arriving in the Great Ming, Zhu Youxiao had reviewed the entirety of history and discovered that the literati of that era evaluated emperors differently from later generations' values—indeed, differently even from the prevailing values of their own time.

Perhaps in the literati's view, only an emperor who could practice what Confucius called benevolence, or who practiced the standard of "benevolence" they had defined, could be called a Benevolent Emperor; emperors with their own ideas or an imposing manner simply wouldn't qualify.

For example, on the matter of killing—one should stop killing, meaning avoid killing as much as possible, and ideally not kill any literati at all. They were leaving themselves an escape route—who knew if the emperor's next target for execution might be themselves?

For instance, in later ages, Zhu Youxiao had seen many people clamoring for the abolition of the death penalty.

Some were sheepdogs, believing they should learn from the developed Western nations—those were the advanced ones, so whatever they did, we should learn from them, catching up to the civilized level of developed countries as quickly as possible.

Seeing such arguments, Zhu Youxiao didn't know what to say. What had the West turned into? Still learning from them? Had they forgotten about crossing the river by feeling the stones?

As for the rest, they were either stupid or malicious. Abolishing the death penalty—they were thinking of leaving themselves an escape route.

The Confucian school of this era had actually already developed something of this tendency. Monopolizing the discourse—any emperor who followed me is a good emperor; if you didn't follow me, then you're not a good emperor.

As for what kind of good life you gave the people, how prosperous the nation was, how many times the GDP multiplied, how much farmers' incomes increased, how much land you expanded externally—did any of that matter?

None of it mattered!

To this, Zhu Youxiao didn't know what to say either. As for his own future temple name, he didn't want to comment.

Since Zhu Youxiao had asked, Yi Wang naturally dared not be negligent and quickly replied, "To answer Your Majesty, my father the King is in good health. After returning from Liaodong this time, my father has also missed Your Majesty greatly. When I set out this time, my father specifically instructed me to bring gifts for Your Majesty."

Those words were just for show—everyone heard them as pleasantries and let them pass.

Back when the King of Joseon had come, Zhu Youxiao had forced him to, and after arriving he'd been thoroughly intimidated. Whether it was the Great Ming's army or its cannons—though they weren't aimed at Joseon, merely seeing them was frightening enough.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Youxiao had still asked the King of Joseon to accompany him to the capital, but the King of Joseon was so frightened he didn't dare come, terrified that the Great Ming might do something to him.

The King of Joseon had barely managed to come to the Great Ming to discuss matters with the Great Ming's emperor, hoping the Great Ming's emperor might lighten their burdens. Ideally, they'd receive some benefits and support—but instead he got rebuked, frightened again, and finally told they'd jointly attack the Wa, leaving everyone anxious and unsettled.

Under such circumstances, one could imagine the King of Joseon's state of mind—he didn't dare come to the capital at all and fled straight back to Joseon.

In that place called Joseon, he'd still be missing the Great Ming's emperor—he'd probably never come to the Great Ming again in this lifetime.

Zhu Youxiao smiled and nodded as well—at times like this, one naturally played the fool.

"I see your attitude is sincere and your speech shows considerable propriety—very good. Your father's decision to make you Crown Prince was extremely well done. It's getting late today, so rest early. We'll continue discussing matters tomorrow, and then I'll take you somewhere."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Yi Wang quickly acknowledged.

After Yi Wang left, Zhu Youxiao stood up, glanced at Wei Chao beside him, and said, "Send the gifts they brought, along with that Princess they brought along, to the capital together. Hand everything to the Empress and let her handle it as she sees fit."

"Yes, Your Highness." Wei Chao quickly acknowledged.

The reason Zhu Youxiao handed both the gifts and the people to Empress Zhang was simple—it was a show of respect for Empress Zhang.

If he kept this Joseon Princess by his side, it would be emotionally difficult for Empress Zhang to accept. After all, this time when he'd left, Empress Zhang had already given him two women.

As emperor, one sometimes had to learn contentment, and at the same time, he had to respect Empress Zhang.

This Princess was first sent to Empress Zhang's side to be disciplined and properly managed, while also having Empress Zhang arrange certain matters within the palace — no trouble afterward.

Wei Chao went out to arrange these matters.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Qi Yuangong standing beside him and asked: "What does your younger brother say? How is the matter progressing?"

"Everything is nearly prepared. There are still a few points of confusion that need to be asked of these Joseon people. But I believe results will come soon." Qi Yuangong quickly replied: "It's just a minor adjustment — a matter of a day or two."

"That's perfect." Zhu Youxiao nodded and said: "When the time comes, I'll bring them along to watch."

The next two days passed peacefully. Zhu Youxiao did nothing in particular; when idle, he would summon the Crown Prince of Joseon to chat with him, discussing Joseon's customs and traditions, inquiring about matters between Joseon and Japan, and briefly discussing what stance Joseon and the Great Ming should take toward Japan.

On this matter, the Crown Prince of Joseon's attitude left Zhu Youxiao quite satisfied. Compared to the King of Joseon, this Crown Prince had many ideas of his own.

Though Yi Wang tried his best to suppress it, his words still inevitably revealed his feelings. Clearly he was dissatisfied with many of his father's policies — could this be the path to his own demise?