Chapter 5

In such a time of crisis.

What reason is there for the Zhu family not to step forward?

Before Su Qiao's voice had even faded, he immediately continued,

"Your Majesty just stated that with powerful enemies surrounding us from without, if an imperial edict is issued to the realm summoning all Princes Who Stabilize the State, Princes Who Aid the State, Princes Who Serve the State, Generals, and Captains to march out and resist the foreign foe, then this predicament can be broken!"

Speaking thus, Su Qiao's eyes instantly ignited with excitement.

However, before Su Qiao could continue further,

Huang Huang Zicheng jumped out again.

"Your Majesty, if this were a matter for a future monarch, after hundreds of years of peace under heaven, how could the imperial clan practice martial arts generation after generation? To send such soldiers to the battlefield would be no different from sending them to their deaths!"

Su Qiao snorted coldly and declared loudly,

"Taking two hundred years as an example, our Great Ming imperial clan, free from worry over food and clothing, must now number no less than several hundred thousand souls."

"What can those powerful enemies beyond the passes do? The Jurchen and Mongol tribes amount to merely ten thousand men per alliance."

"If the realm is lost under such circumstances, would it not become a laughingstock to the world?!"

Huang Huang Zicheng, yielding not an inch, immediately shouted back,

"Audacious! Where do you place the precious lives of the imperial nobility?!"

Su Qiao stared fixedly at Huang Huang Zicheng and proclaimed loudly,

"If we win this battle, we win; but if we lose, the Son of Heaven of Great Ming will have ample cause to confiscate their estates!"

"At that time, whoever has embezzled will not merely be disregarding imperial grace, but will be a deadly enemy of the Zhu family."

"What is confiscating an estate? Exterminating the entire clan would still be insufficient to appease the fury of the people under heaven!"

"The imperial clan and royal relatives have long lived off the people's fat and blood; even dying in battle would set an example for the world, so what is wrong with that?"

Having spoken, Su Qiao took a deep breath.

Staring fixedly at Huang Huang Zicheng, he asked,

"If some lord who is a starving refugee seizes the realm, what chance of survival would the imperial clan and royal relatives have?"

"If those powerful enemies beyond the passes enter the passes, what chance of survival would the imperial clan and royal relatives have?"

"Anyone under heaven may surrender, anyone may rebel!"

"Only the imperial clan may neither surrender nor rebel!"

"Thus, with the blood of the Zhu family, the realm of Great Ming is bought back, and future generations will still not lose their titles of kings and dukes!"

"The realm of the Zhu family is dyed with the blood of the Zhu family; what is improper about that?!"

Damn, Old Zhu, do you actually believe this?!

For a moment,

Huang Huang Zicheng stood frozen on the spot, utterly speechless.

Every word Su Qiao spoke was treasonous and rebellious.

But was a single word wrong?

No!

Anyone under heaven may surrender to bandits, may surrender to captors!

Only the Zhu family cannot!

The male descendants of the Zhu family, even more so, cannot!

Because every male descendant of the Zhu family theoretically holds the right of succession to the throne!

Su Qiao looked coldly at Huang Huang Zicheng and continued,

"If rebels within the passes seize the realm,"

"the Zhu family might perhaps still hope for the story of 'joy so great one forgets one's homeland'."

"But if the barbarians from beyond the passes enter the passes, how could the Great Ming imperial clan have any chance of survival?"

"This lord must not forget: from whose hands was the realm of Great Ming obtained!"

In the Jinshen Hall,

everyone stood stunned in place.

From whose hands was the realm of Great Ming obtained?

The Northern Northern Yuan people! Barbarians!

If the Han Chinese lose the realm once again,

every member of the Zhu family becomes a natural banner; raise an arm and call, and there will surely be responders!

How could those barbarians beyond the passes allow the male descendants of the Zhu family to live?!

Finally, Su Qiao paused in his tone.

Looking calmly at Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang, he said,

"If the male descendants of the imperial clan march out beyond the passes to fight to the death, even if the entire army is annihilated, Your Majesty can imagine what immense prestige the Son of Heaven of Great Ming would then possess."

"Even if there are rebellious people causing havoc under heaven, what harm is there?"

"Are they not Han Chinese? Can they sit idly by and watch the Han Chinese lose the realm?"

"At that time, if they continue their evil deeds, they will be Han traitors, forever despised by the world!"

"Your Majesty must understand: some people are more useful dead than alive!"

"Since death is inevitable, rather than waiting for the nation to fall and then surrendering with hands tied, why not march out beyond the passes to fight in blood, thereby revealing the true color of heroes?!"

"Waiting for death—is it not better to die for the state?"

Die for the state?!

Su Qiao's words were like a knife, viciously plunged into Old Zhu's chest.

Even though Old Zhu was filled with rage by Su Qiao's words.

Yet Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang could not find a single flaw to refute Su Qiao.

Death was inevitable either way.

Why not march beyond the pass and fight for the Zhu family's realm?

Moreover, some people are indeed far more useful dead than alive!

Once tens of thousands of the Zhu clan die in battle beyond the pass.

The Son of Heaven's affairs will proceed with perfect justification.

If civil officials embezzle even slightly, they become enemies of the Zhu family.

The Son of Heaven would not even need to lift a finger.

Imperial clansmen across the realm would rise up together to impeach them.

The same logic applies even more strongly here.

With so many of the Zhu clan dead in battle.

If a dignified feudal prince still hoards such vast grain reserves, confiscating his estate would be an act of the Son of Heaven's benevolence.

Truly, if judged by public opinion, such a person would be barred from the clan genealogy and ancestral graves alike!

As for the meritorious nobles, is it not the same?

The iron certificates promising eternal glory alongside the state were not written for their benefit!

Blood is what most easily drives men to kill in a frenzy.

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang sat upright on the dragon throne, took a deep breath, and gnashed his teeth while pondering for a long time.

Yet Su Qiao's voice continued to pluck at Old Zhu's heartstrings.

"Once the imperial clan is annihilated beyond the pass, Your Majesty need only imagine how the people of the realm will then regard the Zhu family."

"Your Majesty may also consider how future historians will record the history of our Great Ming dynasty!"

"Looking across twenty-three dynasties! Only in the Zhu Ming dynasty did the imperial clan fight to the death to protect the nation!"

"Even if we ultimately lose the realm, our Great Ming will surely leave a fragrant legacy for ten thousand generations!"

"From this day forward, wherever Han people dwell under heaven, not one person will fail to take pride in the Zhu family."

"What constitutes a foundation lasting ten thousand years?!"

"This is the foundation lasting ten thousand years!"

"Your Majesty's Great Ming shall surely rival the fame of Yao and Shun! Henceforth, whenever the nation faces peril, people will forever remember the descendants of the Zhu family!"

Su Qiao's words were like large flatbreads.

Forcibly stuffed into Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth.