Chapter 206

Of course.

The price was that no emperor was as useless as Zhu Qizhen.

Zhu Qizhen was a good man.

But merely a good man.

That was all.

"Ancestral rules!"

"Ancestral rules!"

Zhu Yuanzhang murmured these two words over and over.

"We established so many ancestral rules! How can we not open this sea!"

"Could it be that the ministers of our Great Ming's later generations remembered only this sea ban?!"

Zhu Yuanzhang, who had originally been sitting on the dragon throne, suddenly rose.

He stared fixedly at Jiang Huan in the distance and growled,

"Someone come!"

Hearing this, Jiang Huan could not help but be stunned.

"Your subordinate is here."

Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath, stared fixedly at the Jiang Huan before him, and said,

"Prepare the carriage for the Fengtian Hall and strike the Jingyang Bell!"

"Yes!"

In an instant, the Jingyang Bell rang loudly, and within the Fengtian Hall, bells and drums sounded together.

The Jingyang Bell rang.

All officials present for court!

Immediately, the civil and military officials throughout Jin Ling put down all the documents in their hands.

They hurried from the various Viceroy Yamen across Jin Ling City to the Fengtian Hall.

On the dragon throne.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was iron-green.

In some vague way, Zhu Yuanzhang felt.

Standing before Zhu Houcong.

Was perhaps the most terrifying generation of ministers since Qin Shi Huang swept away the six states.

They were not like Wang Mang or Dong Zhuo, monopolizing power and usurping governance.

Nor were they like the Five Surnames and Seven Clans, monopolizing the court.

But they used a method never recorded in history books.

To indirectly control the later monarchs of Great Ming! Three.

130, Zhu Yuanzhang: We say, the thirty-ninth year of Jiajing.

When they heard the Jingyang Bell again.

Almost all the officials in the city panicked.

It was not the time for court; the Jingyang Bell suddenly ringing in the palace surely meant a great disaster had occurred within the palace.

What great disaster could Great Ming have at this moment?

Either the deposition or establishment of the crown prince.

Or Old Zhu's passing...

Thinking this, the hundred officials dared not delay even the slightest bit.

Immediately, they rushed to the palace at the fastest speed.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding monarch of Great Ming, sat upright on the dragon throne, staring at the distant Fengtian Gate with a murderous expression.

Old Zhu did not expect.

The Great Ming ancestral rules he had personally established.

Would become a sharp blade held by powerful ministers across the chests of Great Ming's later monarchs.

Beneath the Fengtian Gate.

All officials in the capital of rank four and above entered court in single file.

They prostrated themselves before Zhu Yuanzhang and shouted "Your Majesty" in unison.

Prince Yan Zhu Di looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in confusion and asked,

"Father, what is the matter today that you even struck the Jingyang Bell?"

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the hundred officials before him and asked in a low voice,

"Today, we summoned the hundred officials for only one question."

"If the Great Ming ancestral precepts we personally established are used by treacherous people to hinder the Son of Heaven's governance, what is the solution?"

Almost all the hundred officials in the entire court were stunned where they stood.

Even Zhu Di's back was soaked with cold sweat.

It was different from what Zhu Yuanzhang had thought.

Originally, Old Zhu had expected the hundred officials to repeatedly say "They will not be used by treacherous people" several times.

But as soon as Zhu Yuanzhang asked the question.

The hundred officials in the court fell into silence.

Huang Zicheng was so moved his tears were about to flow.

Your Majesty!

You have finally come to your senses!

Now you are about to be used by treacherous men!

Raising an army to quell the rebellion—does this not count as the ancestral system being abused by treacherous men?

Do not ask.

Just strip the feudal lords of their power directly, Your Majesty!

Zhu Yuanzhang slowly rose from the dragon throne and repeated to the hundred officials the problem Jiajing now faced.

When they heard clearly the situation Zhu Yuanzhang described,

the entire court of civil and military officials, who had already been silent, fell even more silent.

The young Zhu Di could grasp a rough idea, but martial men like Fu Youde were left standing there with eyes wide open.

Whether a wise monarch is on the throne,

Zhu Di did not know.

But Zhu Di was certain.

That the court affairs had been reduced to this state

was surely due to fierce ministers filling the court!

Not just any fierce ministers.

They were surely men who could ascend the stage and be appointed as chancellors in any dynasty.

If the Hongwu reign was the peak era of Great Ming's famous generals,

then the Jiajing reign was the true Jianwen.

What Three Yangs, Qi Tai, Three Parties, Eunuch Faction, Donglin Party—in the Jiajing reign, they could only be scraps.

Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze slowly swept over the crowd of ministers before him.

"Huang Zicheng, do you have a plan to allow future monarchs of our Great Ming to lift this sea ban?"

Hearing this, Huang Zicheng could not help but have a bead of cold sweat seep onto his forehead.

With a "plop," he knelt to the ground.

"Your subject... your subject is incompetent."

Seeing Huang Zicheng's appearance, Zhu Di in the chat group could not help but laugh out loud.

"Father, do not make things difficult for this Huang Zicheng. This boy did not even understand how to strip the feudal lords of their power, let alone open the seas..."

Zhu Yuanzhang was too lazy to bother with Zhu Di and continued to ask the next question.

"Qi Tai."