A century-old family that runs through the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 71 The death of the crown prince and the new battle for succession

Time flies.

Many years have passed since the last battle with the King of Liao.

In the 31st year of Hongwu, outside the Great Wall.

Over the years, various vassal kings have repeatedly sent troops to attack Mongolia, and even the nine great Sai kings once jointly cleaned up the grasslands.

In the Ming Dynasty, which was at its peak, the Mongolian tribes were no match at all.

Unsurprisingly, this battle was won again. This originally quite powerful tribe was beaten to pieces, with not much left.

The Ming army started celebrating outside the fortress with their cattle and sheep.

However, just as the tens of thousands of Ming troops were in a state of revelry, there was a horse riding hard under the moonlight until they reached the camp and rushed along the road to the commander's tent.

He was wearing leather armor, but he was covered with a white shirt and a white ribbon on his back.

Wherever they passed along the way, they saw the plain white messenger. The celebrating soldiers and generals stopped and stared at the messenger running wildly on horseback. Even King Yan and others in the center were attracted. Looking at each other, several people looked at each other with a bad premonition.

"Your Highness... Urgent report from the capital." When the messenger ran to Zhu Di and reined in the horse, the horse neighed and fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth. The messenger's face was also covered with dust, his expression was extremely tired, and his lips were chapped. Speaking intermittently:
"His Royal Highness... died a month ago... in Xi'an!"

The entire camp could hear a pin drop instantly.
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Compared with the original history, Zhu Biao lived a few more years because of a cabinet to help share government affairs.

Originally, although his body was weak, he should have no problem at least surviving Hongwu's few years.

But the bad luck lies in the relocation of the capital.

Because Zhu Biao did not die as he had in history, Zhu Yuanzhang called for the capital move to begin.

However, after all, Xi'an has been abandoned for a long time. It can be a big city, but as a capital, it is a bit inferior. This requires one person to be responsible for supervising the construction of the palace, repairing the city walls, sewer system, etc....

This is a big deal.

Therefore, the prince was solely responsible for building the capital.

Zhu Benn suffered from a cold when he was inspecting Shaanxi. He finally managed to survive the disaster. After more than a year of rest and a long journey, he rushed from the capital to Shaanxi and personally took charge of the construction of the capital.

Even though he was far away from the capital, he still had to deal with a lot of affairs. Finally, in the 31st year of Hongwu, he could no longer bear it.

Three months after the serious illness, all the imperial doctors from the capital were sent there by Zhu Yuanzhang. All kinds of precious medicinal materials were available, but it only lasted three months.

In April of the 31st year of Hongwu's reign, Prince Zhu Biao passed away in Xi'an.

Yan Ling also sighed when he got the news.

When he proposed the establishment of a cabinet, he originally intended to extend Zhu Biao's life.After all, Zhu Yuanzhang was in good health, but Zhu Biao did not have his strong physique, and Zhu Biao's body was so weak that a cold wind almost took away his life. This was not unrelated to the excessive government affairs and mental pressure Zhu Yuanzhang put on him.

Unfortunately, although his life was extended for six years, Zhu Biao eventually passed away.

The death of Zhu Biao made Zhu Yuanzhang extremely sad. He had all the imperial doctors imprisoned and executed, and then all the subordinate officials in the Prince's Mansion were demoted to common people.

Not killing them was the last mercy of Emperor Hongwu.

Yan Ji is also among them.

He sighed in despair, wasting decades, not wanting to achieve anything.

Riding a carriage, he headed for his hometown in Ningbo.

What Yan Ji didn't expect was that his name was already in the emperor's heart just like Huang Zicheng, who was also demoted.

But this is a story for later. Zhu Yuanzhang now has other things to worry about.

After all, he is the emperor, and he cannot be immersed in the sadness of losing his son like other fathers.

Zhu Biao is gone, and the top priority is to establish a new heir. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang himself knows that he will not live long.

And the eyes of the world could not help but focus on the imperial city of the capital.

Including all the major feudal lords.

Zhu Biao was a good brother. When he died, the brothers were very sad, but the deceased has passed away, and the people living now have more important things to consider.Facing the supreme position, no one can resist the coveting in their heart.

Among them, two people are the most confident, one is Zhu Yunwen and the other is Zhu Di.

Needless to say, Zhu Yunzhen was the eldest son of Prince Zhu Biao (Mr. Lu was promoted to the crown prince after Chang's death), and he was well-established and Miaohong.

As for Zhu Di, judging from Zhu Yuanzhang's side at this time, he has already become the direct eldest son (for Zhu Di's biological mother, see the end of the chapter).

In the 30th year of Hongwu's reign, although Zhu Xi did not return to Xi'an this time and was poisoned to death, his cruelty also made the maids in the capital's mansion unbearable.

In May, the maids stabbed Zhu Ping to death in his sleep with daggers.

In the 31st year of Hongwu, King Zhu Fan of Jin died of illness in Taiyuan.

Zhu Biao's death may have something to do with this. After all, this kind brother always loved and protected his younger brother. When they died, he was heartbroken.

But no matter what, Zhu Di is already the platoon leader.

In terms of merit, Zhu Di was completely adequate. At this time, everyone outside the Great Wall was frightened when they heard the name of King Yan. He was both wise and wise.

It can only be said that no matter which one is chosen, it all makes sense. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang is not dead yet, so Zhu Di can take over. Strictly speaking, Zhu Yunwen is more legitimate.

So a debate started.
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In Zhu Yuanzhang's study, the cabinet ministers gathered here.

They are Liu Sanwu, Yan Xincheng, Qi Tai and Wu Bozong.

It is actually quite unlucky for these people to join the cabinet, because they all have a common characteristic, that is, strong business ability.

When Zhu Yuanzhang selected secretaries to assist in government affairs, his first choice was competence, because after all, he had to assist in deciding national affairs.

A few of them fell into Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.

However, their official positions at this time were not low, especially Yan Xincheng and Qi Tai, who had already climbed to the rank of minister, one in the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the other in the Ministry of War.

However, according to the idea proposed by Yan Ling, cabinet ministers should not exceed the seventh rank.

So these people were in bad luck. They all came in with lowered official ranks, and their real power was suddenly gone.

But on this day, they will feel for the first time the huge influence of the cabinet on the emperor.

At this time, Emperor Hongwu was already very old. He had gray hair and a thin figure. His dragon robe hung loosely on his body. His face was full of wrinkles, and even his eyes were no longer as sharp as they once were.

"I want to make King Yan Prince Di the crown prince. What do you think?"

Yan Wang!

Zhu Yunwen is now 21 years old. Although he is an adult, in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, he is still a little younger. It is undoubtedly more reassuring to be succeeded by the older Zhu Di.

But the civil servants didn't think so in their hearts.

Liu Sanwu and Qi Tai looked at each other and saw the determination in each other's eyes.

During the Hongwu Dynasty, the literati and officials were suppressed by nobles. Finally, Zhu Biao came to give them hope. If the next emperor is as strong and warlike as King Yan, when will the civil servants be able to Get ahead?
We must not let King Yan become the crown prince!

　PS: Regarding the issue of Zhu Di’s biological mother, the current mainstream theory is Concubine Ji, and Wu Han, Fu Sinian and others also hold this view.

　　This statement comes from "Nanjing Taichang Temple Chronicles", "the concubine Ji on the right gave birth to Emperor Zuwen", but the problem is that this book also said that "the concubine Li on the left gave birth to Prince Yiwen, King Min of Qin, "Prince Gong of Jin" means that Queen Ma has nothing to do.

　　This book is very authoritative and is supported by the notes of many literati such as Qian Qianyi, but it conflicts with actual records and Ming history.

　　But if you say Zhu Biao was not born to Queen Ma, I won’t believe him.

　　And they were all concubines. There was no need for Zhu Di to change the records, and he changed them all from the prince to the king of Zhou to legitimate sons in one go.

　　So I thought about it and decided to go with the official version of "Records of the Ming Dynasty" and designated Zhu Di as his legitimate son.

　　Any corrections are welcome.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)