Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 93: Heresy! Cut the Gordian knot!
The Ming Dynasty court during the Hongwu period was constantly in turmoil.

The Guo Hengan case, the Kongyin case, and the Hu Weiyong case, each case resulted in rivers of blood.

However, things have gradually calmed down in recent years.

Now, the wind is about to blow again.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at the ripples in the pool and said with a smile, "Then according to Master's opinion, how should I deal with this storm in the court?"

Yao Guangxiao smiled and looked up at the sky.

Today is a clear and cool autumn day with a clear blue sky. Occasionally white clouds float by, leaving traces of white in the blue sky.

A little embellishment will make it more beautiful like a painting.

"Your Highness the King of Wu has been planning for so long and hiding in bed for so many days, isn't it just to wait for them to take the initiative to stir up a storm in the court?"

"I guess you should have been prepared a long time ago, right?"

"His Majesty made Your Highness the regent, but did not make him the crown prince, for exactly this reason!"

"Your Majesty wants to see how Your Highness will deal with the overwhelming opposition from the court officials and whether he can calm the court."

"Does Your Majesty still need to personally help clean up?"

"After this incident, Your Highness should be officially appointed as the Crown Prince!"

Zhu Yunhuan laughed out loud.

Not bad.

This is Lao Zhu’s purpose.

Those ministers deliberately did not submit memorials to the emperor, Zhu Yunhuan turned a deaf ear to them, and Zhu Yuanzhang also turned a deaf ear to them.

This is the tacit understanding between grandfather and grandson.

In Lao Zhu's opinion, he would feel at ease if he could let those people jump out and clean up the situation again while he is still alive.

Zhu Yunhuan knew very well what Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking, so he naturally wanted to satisfy him.

The bigger the storm in the court, the clearer the true face of each minister can be seen.

The more you can distinguish between loyalty and treachery, and between good and falsehood.

Who supports whom, who opposes whom, and who has ulterior motives will all be exposed in this storm.

If not, how can we see the tails of these old foxes?
Those officials thought they could create a storm in the court to force the emperor to abdicate.

This will make the King of Wu, who is serving as regent, unable to handle state affairs and govern the country, thus forcing Your Majesty to consider other candidates for the crown prince.

Little did they know that Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunhuan also wanted to use this opportunity to reorganize the court and clear out the evil spirits.

This allowed Zhu Yunhuan to take over power smoothly without any obstacles.

On this point, both parties actually thought of the same thing by coincidence.

"I naturally have a plan in mind, but I also want to hear the master's opinion." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile.

Yao Guangxiao pondered in silence.

The two continued walking slowly.

After a while, Yao Guangxiao said, "It is indeed a good move for you to let the second son of Prince Yan go with Yang Shiqi to investigate the case."

"However, before that, I had already written a letter to King Yan, explaining the pros and cons."

"Let the Prince of Yan settle down from now on and only guard the northern border for the Ming Dynasty, and never have the intention to compete for the throne."

"King Yan will still listen to what I say."

"His Royal Highness the King of Wu is going to set up a military academy. I suggest that the King of Yan also enroll in the academy and take His Royal Highness the King of Wu as his teacher."

"In this case, although His Royal Highness the King of Wu is the nephew of the King of Yan, he is also his teacher."

"From now on, the King of Yan will obey the orders of His Royal Highness the King of Wu."

Zhu Yunhuan stared at Monk Daoyan with his eyes wide open, finding it hard to believe his ears.

Let Prince of Yan Zhu Di become his disciple?

He’s my own uncle?
Is this appropriate?

"Why not?" Monk Daoyan disagreed: "There is no order of learning, the one who is more accomplished is the teacher."

"Although His Royal Highness Prince Wu is young, he is still a junior."

"But he is knowledgeable, has broad experience, and is quick-witted. He is superior to the King of Yan and is worthy of being the King of Yan's teacher."

"Besides, Your Highness is the grandson of the Emperor, and of a lower generation. The current Duke of Liang, Lan Yu, Duke of the Founding Kingdom, Chang Sheng, and many other military generals and nobles are all Your Highness's elders."

"If you cannot enter the Military Academy to study under your Highness just because the other party is a royal relative and has a higher generation than your Highness, then your Highness's original goal of attending the Military Academy will never be achieved!"

"I asked the King of Yan to take the lead in worshipping Your Highness as his master, and Your Highness's other relatives and elders would no longer have any reason to object."

“This matter can proceed smoothly.”

It seems that this is indeed the case.

Many of Zhu Yuanzhang's children married military generals and nobles.

The sons married the daughters of military generals and nobles, and the daughters married military generals and nobles or their sons.

When you think about it, more than half of those high-ranking military generals and nobles are royal relatives.

And they are all his elders.

Who made Zhu Yunhuan young and of low seniority?
If he refused to be admitted to the military academy on the grounds of seniority, his plan to attend the military academy would have died before it even started.

Zhu Yunhuan had thought about this before, but felt somewhat helpless.

No matter how smart he is, his seniority is there and cannot be changed.

With King Yan taking the lead, breaking the conventional etiquette might not be a bad idea.

However, even Zhu Yunhuan was well aware of how severe the constraints of etiquette were in this era when etiquette was cannibalistic.

Even he didn't think deeply about it.

In this regard, Zhu Yunhuan admired Yao Guangxiao very much.

But not everyone dares to break the framework and escape the constraints of etiquette.

He is indeed a heretic monk!

No wonder he was able to write "Dao Yu Lu" when Confucianism was at its most popular.

In fact, Yao Guangxiao was scolded by later generations as an evil monk who brought disaster to the world. Assisting Prince Yan in rebelling and seizing the world was only a small reason, accounting for less than even 10%!

On the contrary, many people still believe that his move has the merit of rebuilding the country and restoring the destiny of the world.

What really made him bear eternal infamy was precisely the "Dao Yu Lu" he wrote later.

In the book, Yao Guangxiao made a lot of ruthless criticisms of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.

He even believed that all the theories of Zhu Xi, the great Neo-Confucianist, were totally wrong!
That would really stir up a hornet's nest.

He was opposed by scholars all over the world and has been criticized ever since!

If there was no Dao Yu Lu, Yao Guangxiao's reputation in history would not be that of a demon monk who brought disaster to the world, but that of a prime minister who restored order. After all, history books are written by scholars!
Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "Master, what you said is not wrong, but this is a heresy and violates etiquette. Isn't the King of Yan afraid of being laughed at? Master, don't you care about this?"

"If you are afraid of rumors, you won't be able to accomplish anything in this world." Yao Guangxiao said, "I only know the will of heaven, not what people say, and even less the rules of etiquette."

"Heaven's will is in front of us, and all human words and rituals are insignificant."

"Your Highness the King of Wu is to rule the Ming Dynasty. This is destiny."

"For the sake of the Ming Dynasty and the peace of the world, the rules of etiquette are nothing."

"And can you be afraid to move forward because of this?"

"Your Highness the King of Wu dared to openly ask Your Majesty for the position of crown prince in the palace that day. This was truly earth-shattering and unprecedented."

"It shows that His Majesty the King of Wu does not care about etiquette and what people say. It is no different from what I think."

Zhu Yunhuan laughed again.

However, in his opinion, Zhu Di might not necessarily listen to Yao Guangxiao on this matter.

Although Monk Daoyan was extremely intelligent and had every plan in mind, he had a very special feeling for Zhu Di.

People always have certain prejudices towards the people around them and those with whom they have deep feelings, and they cannot have a completely correct understanding of them.

And this bias will mislead his judgment.

Zhu Di would listen to Yao Guangxiao's advice on other matters, except for this matter.

The old monk was smart all his life, but he was still a mortal, not a god.

As mortals, we have mortal desires and there are times when we are influenced by our emotions and make mistakes in judgement.

Of course, Zhu Yunhuan did not say it at this time. It was unnecessary and would only make the old monk sad.

Yao Guangxiao added: "It is just that I still do not understand why, among your majesty's sons, the two kings of Qin and Jin are the most ambitious, the most prestigious, and the most influential."

"The King of Qin is the second prince, so after the Crown Prince passed away, he was ranked first."

"The King of Jin has been stationed at the border for a long time, and he has countless elite soldiers and generals under his command. Even Duke of Song Feng Sheng and Duke of Ying Fu Youde are under his control."

"In terms of strength, King Yan is far inferior to him."

"As a general rule, these two are the strongest contenders for the position of crown prince, besides your second brother, Prince Xian."

"Why is Your Highness keeping his eyes fixed on the King of Yan, but ignoring the Kings of Qin and Jin?"

"Your Highness was assassinated some time ago. In my opinion, the two kings Qin and Jin are the most likely suspects."

Because the two of them will die before Lao Zhu!

So what are you worried about?

No matter how smart the old monk was, he couldn't have expected this.

That's why I'm confused.

However, the account of assassination against me must be settled.

Yang Shiqi advised him to put the overall situation first and use the assassination to overthrow Zhu Yunwen first.

But now Yang Shiqi's plan has been successful, and we just need to wait for some time to see the results.

He can also investigate some of the assassination.

But this matter cannot be rushed.

and many more!

Suddenly, a flash of shock passed through Zhu Yunhuan's mind.

wrong!

If I travel through time myself, there will definitely be a butterfly effect.

Would the King of Qin and the King of Jin die before Zhu Yuanzhang?

The answer is not necessarily!
Maybe the world line has changed a long time ago.

Everything is different!

If that's the case, I'd be making a big mistake by ignoring them all the time.

I had some preconceived ideas before and took things for granted.

I always believe that the trajectory of history will not change.

But now that I think about it, hasn’t history changed since the moment I traveled through time?
How can we still think that it remains unchanged?

Thinking of this, Zhu Yunhuan broke out in a cold sweat and said, "Master, you are absolutely right. I have indeed ignored the two kings of Qin and Jin before."

Yao Guangxiao had been looking at him the whole time. When he saw the change in his expression, he couldn't help but look at him with deep suspicion, but he didn't ask the reason again. He said, "If the officials in the court are just making trouble, it's easy to deal with. Just kill them all."

"But what I am really worried about is the government affairs."

"Your Highness is new to government affairs after all, and you are not very clear about many matters."

“It will take some time to understand the various intricacies involved.”

"But once Your Highness makes a move, they will not give Your Highness any more time."

"Memorials will surely come flooding in like a tide."

"It's fine for ordinary matters. I can also help Your Highness deal with them."

"The real problem is money."

"The key to governing a country lies in financial management!"

Fiscal and tax issues are always the most core issues of a country.

Without money, nothing can be done.

The army needs pay, officials need salaries, there are also road construction, river works...all of these things are inseparable from the word "money".

He had been thinking about this before.

Other matters in the court are easy to deal with.

If officials are disobedient and secretly disobey orders, just kill them and replace them with another one.

The only thing is fiscal and taxation, which is extremely professional and there are many ways to manipulate it, so it will be very troublesome to deal with.

Zhu Yunhuan asked in a deep voice: "Master, what do you think about this?"

Yao Guangxiao's eyes flickered slightly, and he said calmly: "The financial and taxation issues are extremely complicated. I originally thought that this matter should be dealt with slowly."

"However, since His Royal Highness the King of Wu has even invented the double-entry bookkeeping method."

"Then in my humble opinion, it would be better to cut the Gordian knot and remove the firewood from under the cauldron!"

"We must act quickly on this matter, with lightning speed, and catch them off guard!"

The old monk uttered two words softly: "Close the account!"

……

(End of this chapter)