Chapter 132

Emperor Yingzong Rui:

"Stop talking! Shut up!"

Zhu Di kicked Zhu Qizhen on the buttocks.

Staring fixedly at Zhu Youjian in the chat group, he asked

"What does the history book on your side say?"

After Zhu Youjian remained silent for a long time.

He then whispered a reminder

"Great-Grandfather, this campaign of yours left Prince Cheng to act as regent; you forgot?"

Emperor Yingzong Rui:

"Right? What, I've won now! In two years my younger brother will go to his fief."

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"Um, Great-Grandfather, you must remember; in the original history, you went to Northern Captivity..."

The chat group instantly fell into a silence as dead as death.

After a long while, it was still Zhu Di who broke the silence.

Looking at the chat group, he asked

"And then?"

Zhu Youjian said in a low voice

"At first, Esen intended to use you as leverage to force Great Ming to cede lands north of the Yangtze in exchange for your life."

"Those scholars and officials naturally did not agree to such a demand."

"Afterwards, Empress Dowager Sun issued an edict, establishing Prince Cheng Zhu Qiyu as Emperor, and respectfully addressing you as Retired Emperor from afar."

"One year later, seeing you were of little use, Esen then wanted to release you back to Great Ming, letting my Great Ming brothers fight each other, so that the various tribes of the steppe could reap the benefits."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di instantly became nervous.

Zhu Di grabbed Zhu Qizhen's back collar and suddenly drew the sword at his waist.

"Speak, keep speaking."

"These two foolish brothers fought among themselves, and then the Oirat took advantage of the void and invaded?"

"If that is the case, I will kill this fellow right now to remove this great harm from my Zhu family!"

Zhu Youjian hurriedly said

"That did not happen."

"Great Ming at that time also detected this intention of the Oirat."

"After Great-Grandfather returned to the palace, the two brothers were even humble for a bit; finally the Retired Emperor moved to the Southern Palace, the four seas enjoyed peace, and after only a few days the Oirat tribe fell into internal chaos, Esen was assassinated, and the steppe became a mess."

Hearing this, Zhu Di finally reluctantly let go of Zhu Qizhen's collar and threw the Ma Dao onto the imperial desk.

"You kid still have some backbone."

"And then?"

Zhu Youjian continued

"The Retired Emperor moved to the Southern Palace for seven years, launched the Duo Sect coup in the eighth year of Jingtai, and then changed the eighth year of Jingtai to the first year of Tianshun."

"Two months later, the Jing Emperor passed away in the Western Inner Palace's Yongan Palace."

The entire main military tent fell into a dead silence.

Zhu Di stared fixedly at Zhu Qizhen.

He suddenly burst into laughter out of thin air.

"Hehe, hahaha, hahahaha."

Zhu Di's laughter added a touch of misery, making Zhu Qizhen's heart tremble with fear.

Zhu Qizhen instantly looked at Zhu Di excitedly and defended himself

"Great-Grandfather, don't be like this, your son... no."

"Even if all this is true, your son was forced by circumstances."

"If it really was this situation, it would be nine deaths and one life; confined in the Southern Palace for seven years, I am also a normal person."

Emperor Yingzong Rui:

"Why are you so unable to let me rest easy, child? If there was a better way, could I not use it?"

"Wasn't I forced by circumstances?"

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"Great-Grandfather, speaking with a clear conscience, looking back as a later monarch, you were truly not forced by circumstances at that time."

Emperor Yingzong Rui:

"Nonsense! How am I not forced by circumstances? That is imperial power; you were also born in an imperial family; do you not know how dangerous this is?"

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"Um, Great-Grandfather, the Jing Emperor had no son... at that time, in the Xuanzong line, only you had a son."

Emperor Yingzong Rui:

"Rubbish! Do you think I'm stupid? Look at what my Ma Jia is!"

"Rui Emperor, do you know what Rui Emperor means?!"

"Just look at my Ma Jia; do I look like someone who would do such a thing?"

Zhu Di and Zhu Yuanzhang, father and son, said almost simultaneously

"Yes."

The chat group fell silent.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat aside, looking helplessly at Zhu Di.

"Fourth son, is this your descendant?"

"Father, I spent my life crawling on ice and lying in snow, campaigned five times into Mobei, and never in my wildest dreams imagined my descendants would end up like this..."

"Perhaps I was never destined to be Emperor."

Zhu Di, in his twilight years.

He had boasted that he had pushed everything he could do to the extreme.

The Yongle Encyclopedia was already compiled.

The grasslands were swept clean.

Annan was annexed, seven voyages to the Western Oceans were made, and ten thousand nations came to pay homage.

The Great Ming's national power reached its peak.

Zhu Di firmly believed that even if his elder brother had lived to ascend the throne, his achievements would not surpass his own.

But he never in a million years expected this.

Less than two years after his death, his son and grandson were fighting each other.

And then this unlucky great-grandson staged yet another case of brothers quarreling within the family walls.

This was not mere disappointment.

It was despair.

It was the despair of an old man in his dying days, powerless to help the plight of his children and grandchildren.

Perhaps, if only he had not become Emperor, these children and grandchildren could have happily served as vassal kings for their entire lives?

Zhu Di, somewhat moved, looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in the chat group and said,

"Father, if you cannot go on, just pass the throne to Zhu Yunwen..."

"No? Then another day, send me that version of you from your side, so we two brothers can have a drink and discuss it."

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression inevitably grew slightly Solemn.

Actually, in Old Zhu's heart, he had originally leaned toward establishing Zhu Di as the Crown Prince.

After all, they were both his sons.

And although Zhu Yunwen ultimately lost the empire,

at least he did not lose his life.

In the end, he lived a carefree and happy life.

But look at Zhu Di's descendants.

Old Zhu's resolve wavered once again.