[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-overthrowing-the-ming":3,"chapter-overthrowing-the-ming-overthrowing-the-ming-chapter-10":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Overthrowing the Ming",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2289237,4476,"Chapter 10: The Eighteen Sons (Part 1)","overthrowing-the-ming-chapter-10",10,"\u003Cp>While Li You was complaining in the Mount Daba, ten thousand miles away from him, on the northwestern edge of the North China Plain, backed by the foothills of the Taihang Mountains and the Yanshan Mountains, stood a golden city, like an old man in his twilight years, swaying in the autumn wind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To the south of the massive city stood a three-story wooden archway with yellow tiles and flying eaves, a five-bay structure open to the wind on all sides, with a plaque hanging high in the center inscribed with \"Gate of Accepting Heaven.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On both sides of the gate were couplets written by Scholar Xie: \"The sun and moon illuminate the virtue of heaven; the mountains and rivers strengthen the imperial residence.\" This signaled that inside the Meridian Gate lay the nine-fold imperial residence of the Great Ming!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the morning, a large group of eunuchs and palace maids escorted the imperial carriage, exiting from the Xuanwu Gate and following the imperial road along the northern bank of the moat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Passing the Golden Turtle Jade Bridge, they were flanked by the Taiye Pool, its water a vast expanse of blue, flowing lightly and smoothly, a scene of clear autumn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A cool breeze blew, brushing against the dragon-and-phoenix carriage and gently caressing the face of a middle-aged man...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The middle-aged man was named Zhu Youjian, grandson of the Wanli Emperor and younger brother of the Tianqi Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he was still a young man under thirty, long-term overwork had already made him look aged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His once handsome, oval-shaped face now had extremely prominent cheekbones; his fair cheeks appeared pale and haggard in the cool autumn wind, and crow's feet had already appeared at the corners of his small eyes, deeply and messily connecting to his dark eye sockets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the autumn wind brushed his face, the Chongzhen Emperor felt a sudden freshness and opened his eyes wide to look toward Qionghua Island, but he suddenly remembered a pile of annoying memorials and could only sigh in his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"After I finish offering incense at the Great Brightness Hall, I might as well come to the Tuan City to rest for a while, take in the full view of the West Garden, and then go to Yingtai for a meal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor thought to himself, and soon he thought of the matter of offering incense and drawing lots, and he could not help but sigh: \"Alas, when will the weather be favorable and the harvest plentiful? If I could just recuperate for two years, what would those mere Eastern Slaves and bandit leaders be worth?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the second year of the Chongzhen era, state affairs had long left him exhausted; the ambition he held when he first ascended the throne to become a sage ruler like Yao or Shun was also gradually fading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, since the eleventh year of the Chongzhen era, when Li Chuang was defeated in the Mount Shangluo and Zhang Xianzhong surrendered in Gucheng, he had finally gained a moment of respite, and that ambition of being a sage ruler hidden deep in his heart began to quietly grow again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, at the beginning of his reign, although the country had internal rebellions and external threats, the overall situation had not yet rotted, and at that time, his confidence in becoming a \"restoration monarch\" was quite strong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially after ascending the throne as a seventeen-year-old youth, he quickly dismissed villains like Wei Zhongxian and supported a group of upright gentlemen from the Fushe, filling the court with righteous men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the Confucian theories of the time, wasn't this the most brilliant opening stroke of a \"wise emperor\"?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This made him, despite the awe shared by his contemporaries, not particularly afraid of abnormal natural phenomena such as earthquakes, droughts, floods, solar eclipses, star changes, strange winds, and incessant rain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the Jisi Incident, his methods gradually became more severe, and the court officials unanimously believed that any abnormal natural disaster was a manifestation of the Five Elements, a warning from Heaven to the Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who would have thought that this would be so accurate; for the past ten years, there had indeed been constant disasters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially recently, an earthquake occurred in Yanjing. Everyone believed that Yanjing was the capital of the Great Ming, right under the feet of the current Emperor, but since he ascended the throne, Yanjing had experienced two earthquakes; wasn't this a sign that the empire under his feet was unstable?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This immediately left him terrified and unable to sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he was not previously obsessed with Buddhism or Daoism, he had been influenced by the then Minister of Rites, Xu Guangqi, and was somewhat close to Catholicism, but in recent days, he had become increasingly superstitious about Buddhas, Daoists, ghosts, and gods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It reached the point where, as long as it was a god, whether Eastern or Western, he believed in it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While the Chongzhen Emperor was distracted, the imperial carriage had already passed the jade archway and was not far from the Great Brightness Hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today he was going to the Great Brightness Hall to burn incense and draw lots. A few days ago, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, he had excused the officials and noblewomen from paying their respects, and fearing the inner palace would be dull, he brought Empress Zhou along with Consorts Tian and Yuan, and specifically approved the inclusion of the fifth Imperial Prince and Princess Zhaoren.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor had five sons and two daughters at this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the five sons, the Crown Prince and the third Imperial Prince were born to Empress Zhou, while the second, fourth, and fifth Imperial Princes were all born to Consort Tian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second Imperial Prince was nine years old this year, and the fourth was seven. They already understood etiquette and had been made very rigid by palace education; most importantly, from their interactions with palace maids and eunuchs, they knew the wrath of the Son of Heaven and were very afraid of the Chongzhen Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the contrary, the fifth Imperial Prince, who was not yet five years old, was boisterous, fearless, and very lively, and the Chongzhen Emperor liked him very much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides them, there was Princess Zhaoren, who was six years old by traditional reckoning; she looked exactly like Empress Zhou, was naturally beautiful, and had a very innocent personality. Every time the Chongzhen Emperor saw her, he would personally hold her and play with her on his lap for a while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, only these two were not afraid of the Emperor, allowing the Chongzhen Emperor to truly experience family joy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The imperial road had already been swept extremely clean; although it was not covered with a luxurious red carpet, all the potholes along the way had been filled with yellow sand and repaired to be very level. Three or four hundred eunuchs, palace maids, attendants, and performers had already begun to receive the imperial party.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Empress Zhou paid no attention to the people receiving them; her gaze fell on the Chongzhen Emperor from time to time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her name was Zhou Yufeng, a native of Suzhou, possessing the soft and beautiful physique of a southern woman, with dignified features. Seeing that the Chongzhen Emperor was in a good mood, she looked up at the magnificent Great Brightness Hall before her and could not help but be mesmerized...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the vast palace complex, the main Great Brightness Hall was circular, several zhang high, with a yellow glazed tile roof and a double-layered top (the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests at the Temple of Heaven has a triple-layered top). Between the upper and lower eaves hung a plaque inscribed with \"Great Brightness Hall.\" Inside the hall were seven-jeweled cloud-dragon tablets, worshipping the Jade Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This hall was built during the Jiajing reign; the Jiajing Emperor practiced alchemy and sought immortality here with the Daoist Master Tao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the Jiajing reign, successive emperors had come here every year to burn incense or set up altars for rituals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amidst the shouts of \"Long live\" from the crowd, the Chongzhen Emperor and his consorts disembarked from the carriage, and after the business was done, they went to Tuan City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On top of Tuan City was a hall called the Jinyuan Hall, from which one could overlook the entire West Garden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps because the Chongzhen Emperor had drawn a good lot while offering incense, he was in a great mood, holding Princess Zhaoren in one arm and chatting and laughing with his consorts about the autumn scenery, with bursts of joy and laughter coming from time to time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fifth Imperial Prince was only five years old, and the mountain and water scenery did not interest him much. Suddenly, seeing a eunuch leading an imperial horse at the foot of the mountain, he tugged at the Chongzhen Emperor's sleeve and said boisterously, \"Father Emperor, look... a horse!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor pinched his little face and laughed, \"Ha, worthy of being my son, why do you want to ride a horse at such a young age?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fifth Imperial Prince rarely saw the Chongzhen Emperor in such high spirits. Although Consort Tian had warned him about many palace rules, he could not help but clap his hands and jump for joy, saying, \"I want to, Father Emperor, I want to ride a horse!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Consort Tian chimed in from the side, \"Is it because you want to sweep away the northern barbarians and pacify the borders for your Father Emperor when you grow up?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fifth Imperial Prince clenched his fists, puffed out his chest, and said, \"Of course!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor did not mind the impropriety of an Imperial Prince leading an army in Consort Tian's words and said, \"Haha, if you want to ride, then ride, let's go!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then led the consorts down from Tuan City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Consort Tian, who was beside him, was secretly overjoyed. Her name was Tian Xiuying; her beauty was the best in the six palaces, and her talents surpassed all others. She frequently displayed talents different from others, and of course, she was most skilled at horse riding. She was originally from Shaanxi, and her father, Tian Hongyu, had been a horse merchant before the whole family moved to Yangzhou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Empress Zhou passed by her, she gave her a faint, imperceptible glance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Consort Tian was suddenly startled in her heart and immediately pursed her lips, looking extremely respectful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the foot of the mountain, the person preparing the horses was the eunuch on duty today, Wang Dehua. He was the most powerful of the twelve eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial. He had followed the Chongzhen Emperor since the Prince of Xin's mansion, so he naturally knew the Chongzhen Emperor's temper and had everything prepared perfectly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had long since saddled several of the Chongzhen Emperor's favorite imperial horses and had been waiting under a willow tree not far from the foot of the mountain when a small eunuch suddenly whispered in his ear...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instantly, his face turned gray, as if he had learned some earth-shattering news, and he could not help but mutter, \"Heaven, oh Heaven, Li Chuang is really not dead? And he has broken out of the Mount Shangluo? Such a world-shaking event, and this report only arrived now? Damn it, damn it, they all deserve to die!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, he knew in his heart that the court officials were sluggish and shifted responsibility to each other, so it was likely that this had happened even earlier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since Zheng Chongjian dared to seal the report, it must be the bandit leader Li Chuang without a doubt. But the problem was, at this critical juncture, with Zhang Xianzhong's rebellion not yet quelled, here came another great bandit leader; could the Emperor bear it? Even if he could, he himself could not bear the wrath of the Son of Heaven!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Master, please calm your anger... The urgent report just arrived at the duty room of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Wang Zuzong, who was on duty, told me to pass it on.\" The small eunuch was so frightened that he crawled on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dehua sneered in his heart, \"Wang Cheng'en? What great audacity, asking me to pass on the report? Hmph, such an unlucky thing, why didn't he come himself?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the Chongzhen Emperor leading the fifth Imperial Prince down the mountain, he hurriedly dismissed the small eunuch beside him, his expression changing rapidly...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Note]: A Daoist temple south of Xi'anmen Street in the Xicheng District of Yanjing, west of Guangming Alley (formerly Guangmingdian Alley). It had a history of nearly 500 years and was later destroyed during the Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China.\u003C\u002Fp>",2124,"2026-06-20T03:32:06.992Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","ad170fd1c19d693e538c1582d505827aebafc3581764d21b85a5019700fffc0a","overthrowing-the-ming-chapter-11","overthrowing-the-ming-chapter-9",71,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Foverthrowing-the-ming-cover.jpg"]