Ming Dynasty: Evolution from snake to national guardian beast

Chapter 107 Zhu Yunwen ascends the throne

After Zhu Yuanzhang's funeral was arranged, Zhu Yunwen formally inherited the throne in Fengtian Hall under the guidance of Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai and others, and was named Jianwen.

Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen officially made his debut, and he finally ushered in his own era.

The first thing Zhu Yunwen did when he took office was naturally to start cleaning up the uncles he disliked the most.

The curtain of the Battle of Jingnan slowly opens!
  In the thirty-first year of Hongwu's reign, Zhu Yuanzhang died of illness in Qianqing Palace at the age of seventy-one.

The emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen succeeded to the throne, changed his reign to Jianwen, and was known as Emperor Jianwen in history.

As soon as Emperor Jianwen came to power, he absolved Huang Zicheng of all culpability, and summoned Huang Zicheng, who was originally a Hanlin Academy editor, as Taichang Qing, and ordered him to participate in military and state affairs.

Later, Fang Xiaoru, who was regarded as the seed of reading in the world and had a high reputation among the scholars, was summoned to the capital and appointed as a scholar in the Hanlin Academy. He was always by his side and counselor in government affairs.

At this point, Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, and Fang Xiaoru formed the core ruling team of Emperor Jianwen, and were also Zhu Yunwen's future vassal reduction team.

After Zhu Yunwen blocked all the vassal kings who came to Beijing for mourning, he began to mourn for Zhu Yuanzhang.

In accordance with Zhu Yuanzhang's request, Zhu Yunwen stopped going to court for three days as a sign of condolence, and then resumed morning court.

Although Zhu Yunwen's ability is not as strong as Zhu Yuanzhang's, Zhu Yunwen's attitude in the early stage of governance is still very good.
  Ever since Zhu Yunwen became emperor, he had been very concerned about national government affairs, just like Zhu Yuanchang asked the three people for their opinions.

Although the people were saddened by Zhu Yuanzhang's death, their lives did not actually change much.

Zhu Yunwen's thoughts were not on the people.

Regarding the people, Zhu Yunwen adopted the same policy of suspending the people as Zhu Yuanzhang, so that the people could continue the prosperity of the Hongwu Dynasty.

But as the saying goes, one emperor and one courtier, Zhu Yunwen naturally had his own political ambitions.

One month after ascending the throne, the court gradually stabilized and Zhu Yunwen's throne was also stabilized. This made Zhu Yunwen's heart slowly become restless.

On this day, Zhu Yunwen summoned his most trusted confidants into the study room and began to prepare for the discussion.

"Although Emperor Taizu Gao was wise and powerful, it was impossible to cover everything."

Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen sat high on the dragon chair, growing increasingly powerful. He asked the people below: "Now that Emperor Taizu Gao has passed away for a month, I plan to implement a new policy. What do you think?"

Huang Zicheng and the three looked at each other, a little confused, what is the New Deal?
  As the person Zhu Yunwen relied on most, Huang Zicheng stood up without hesitation and asked:
  "May I ask Your Majesty, what is the New Deal?"

Zhu Yunwen's face remained calm, but his voice became a little heavier and he said in a deep voice:
  "Huang Shengsheng, have you forgotten the words of the former Dong character?"

Hearing this, Huang Zicheng suddenly realized that this was what happened

At first, Zhu Di and other vassal kings privately looked down upon Zhu Yunwen, and this incident made Zhu Yunwen deeply ashamed.

Therefore, when he was at Dongjiaomen, Zhu Yunwen once asked Huang Zicheng for advice:
  "Now that the emperor is still here, the kings are so contemptuous of me. If the emperor is not around, and the princes all have heavy troops, how can I control them?"

Huang Zicheng’s original words at that time were: Huang Zicheng’s original words at that time were:
  "Although the vassal king has military power, his troops are limited and cannot compete with the imperial court."

"Once there is a change and the imperial soldiers arrive, who dares to resist?"

"So what about the chaos in the Seven Kingdoms during the period of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty? As soon as the heavenly soldiers arrived, everything fell apart. This is the difference between big and small, strong and weak, and the difference between obedience and rebellion!"

Zhu Yunwen deeply agreed with this. At this time, Huang Zicheng was completely regarded as a confidant by Zhu Yunwen and treated as a gentleman.

Now that Zhu Yunwen has brought up the old story again, his intention is very obvious, that is, to reduce the vassal status.

Huang Zicheng immediately bowed down and said firmly:
  "I will not forget it even for a day."

Zhu Yunwen nodded, expressing great satisfaction, and then asked:
  "In this case, please teach me how to act?"

Huang Zicheng whispered to Zhu Yunwen that he wanted to cut down the feudal vassal, and expressed it to Qitai and Fang Xiaoru tactfully.

The threat from the imperial court is not great, and only one imperial edict can cancel the fiefdoms of the two vassal kings. "

"Only the King of Yan, Zhu Di, is a serious thorn in the side of the court.

"Zhu Di has been fighting in northern Xinjiang for many years. Most of the northern troops have served under Zhu Di. Therefore, Zhu Di's prestige in the north is extremely high."

"In addition, Zhu Di is ambitious and capable. If we want to cut down the vassal state, he should be the first to attack." "As long as we act fast enough, our troops are quick and our battles are quick, King Zhu Di of Yan will not be able to cause too much trouble."

"As the head of the clan, King Yan, as long as he is taken down, the vassal kings from all over the country will naturally surrender without a fight and will not dare to show any resistance to the imperial court."

“When the time comes to cut down the vassalage, we will get twice the result with half the effort.

Qitai, as the Minister of War and the assistant minister who Zhu Yuanzhang had personally tested, naturally had two skills.

This person is not only a good player in politics, but also has a very good strategic vision, otherwise he would not be able to climb to the position of Minister of the Ministry of War.

But after Zhu Yunwen heard this, his face was expressionless.

In fact, Zhu Yunwen was still a little afraid of Zhu Di. Although Zhu Yunwen had become the emperor now, Zhu Yunwen did not take advantage of him in several confrontations with Zhu Di.

Even though Zhu Yunwen hated Zhu Di to his core, he had to admit that his fourth uncle did have a lot of skills.

"Mr. Huang, what do you think?"

Huang Zicheng observed the words and expressions, but at the same time he did not want to confront Zhu Di so early, so he stepped forward and said:
  "Your Majesty, I think that King Zhu Di of Yan has been in Peiping for nearly twenty years and has a high prestige, and he may have been prepared for it."

"If we take action on him first, it will definitely cause chaos in the world."

"We might as well cut off their wings first and weaken the power of other weak feudal kings. Then we can make a fuss about the illegal activities of these feudal kings and weaken their feudal titles.

"Zhu Zhen, the king of Zhou, has a very good relationship with Zhu Di. If Zhu Di rebels, the king of Zhou will definitely respond."

"I suggest that the vassal title of King Zhou should be cut off first, and he should be captured and imprisoned in Huitian."

Zhu Yunwen was quite satisfied with this strategy. He felt that it was easy first and then difficult, so that the reduction of the vassal could be carried out smoothly.

After all, everything is difficult at the beginning. If Zhu Di encounters a setback in trying to reduce the vassal state, and other vassal kings see this, waver, or even take refuge in Zhu Di, then the world will really be in chaos.

However, Zhu Yunwen still did not express his position. Instead, he looked at Fang Xiaoru and asked softly:
  "Fang Hanlin, what do you think?"

Fang Xiaoru was good at reading and had great literary talent, but he was too bookish, upright, and did not know how to adapt.

In his world, everything is black and white. To put it bluntly, he is an idealist.

He has no objection to the reduction of vassalage, but he has his own opinions on other aspects:
  "Reporting to your Majesty, I think what Mr. Huang said is very reasonable."

"It's just that I hope that the emperor will not harm the lives of these vassal kings."

"No matter what, they are all the emperor's uncles. If the emperor kills all his uncles, it will leave a reputation for being cold and cold."

Zhu Yunwen deeply agreed and agreed:
  "What Fang Hanlin said makes sense."

"In this case, let's cut off the vassalage of King Zhou first, and then slowly plan for it."

"Immediately issue an order to capture the King of Zhou and imprison him in the capital."

. "

Zhu Yunwen was extremely excited. He had endured six years for today, and now he could finally show off his ambitions and realize his ambitions.

But at this moment, Huang Zicheng stood up again and admonished:
  "Your Majesty, I don't think you can order the arrest of King Zhou so directly."

"The so-called master has a reputation. If the king of Zhou is captured back to the capital for no reason, it will definitely cause panic among the vassal kings. If the vassal kings join forces to cause trouble, I am afraid there will be chaos because of Xia Qing."

After Zhu Yunwen became emperor, he really didn't regard the vassal king as a human being.

Even if a civilian is arrested, he must be charged with a crime. Now Zhu Yunwen is planning to directly arrest people without even a trumped-up charge.

However, Zhu Yunwen still had to listen to Huang Zicheng's suggestion. He immediately frowned and asked:
  "Then what do you think I should be charged with arresting King Zhou?"

Huang Zicheng remained silent. Fang Xiaoru was a bookworm, so naturally there was nothing he could do.

Qi Tai, on the other hand, handed over his hand and said:
  "Your Majesty, I have a solution.

(End of this chapter)