Zhu Di: My fourth son is a great emperor of all time?

Chapter 16 The Gatekeeper Emperor, a student from the Oirat Mongols, and the great-grandson of Zhu Di!

Zhu Di's anger was actually predictable.

The main problem was that Zhu Qizhen was too incompetent.

This emperor was also Zhu Di's great-grandson.

If it were a hundred years from now, perhaps Zhu Di wouldn't be able to blame him.

But this is his great-grandson.

Even from a time perspective, Zhu Di had only just died and had no chance at that point.

Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji were utterly terrified, after all, they were primarily responsible for Zhu Qizhen's appearance.

Zhu Zhanji, in particular, was terrified that if he went to the palace now, his grandfather would chop off his head.

The King of Han was equally afraid.

After all, the exposé by Tianmu revealed that he had directly led troops in rebellion.

If it weren't for his rebellion.

The eldest nephew would have no reason to reduce the power of the princes and then target the fourth prince.

No one knew the old man's personality better than him.

He was often scolded growing up.

Knowing full well how terrifying Zhu Di could be when he was angry, she feared that only her mother's presence could possibly quell his anger.

This was a fear ingrained in the very bones of Zhu Gaochi, the Prince of Han.

The difference is that Zhu Gaoshuo is not worried at all.

Although Zhu Gaoshuo knew that Zhu Di was so angry that he wanted to kill someone.

But this has nothing to do with him.

Blame Zhu Qizhen.

Let alone Zhu Di, even an ordinary person would lose control of their emotions upon hearing about the Tumu Crisis.

The main reason is that Zhu Qizhen was too extraordinary.

In fact, Zhu Qizhen was also very unlucky.

Mongolia had been divided for so long, but Esen unified the grasslands after he came to power.

At the same time, Zhu Di thought the sky would stop abruptly like last time.

After all, the story of Zhu Qizhen has already been told.

But he suddenly realized that this was not the case.

This quickly calmed Zhu Di down.

"Could it be that there's something else going on?"

After Zhu Qizhen was captured and taken back to the Oirat Mongols, Esen's ambition was fully unleashed. He saw this as an opportunity to conquer the Ming Dynasty and rebuild the Yuan Dynasty!

Esen found Zhu Qizhen hoping for his cooperation. In order to save his life, Zhu Qizhen agreed. In his view, sacrificing a few cities to redeem his life as emperor was well worth it.

"Therefore, when the Oirat Mongols attacked and their army besieged the city, Zhu Qizhen, in his capacity as emperor, ordered the defending generals to open the city gates!"

"Because it was the emperor's order, and the news was delayed, no one expected that the emperor had been captured alive and was even helping the Mongols knock on the gates. The general guarding the city was completely unprepared and personally opened the city gates!"

"Because of Zhu Qizhen's knocking on the gates, countless Ming citizens were brutally murdered, several important cities were easily captured by the Oirat Mongols, and the Ming soldiers were unable to put up any resistance!"

Zhu Di remained silent.

At this point, he was utterly disappointed in Zhu Qizhen. Was this really his great-grandson?
To save their own lives, they actually traded the lives of ordinary people of the Ming Dynasty?

Such behavior is no different from that of an animal!

Moreover, the words spoken by the Heavenly Curtain were witnessed by all the people of the Ming Dynasty.

Although the mistake was made by the future Zhu Qizhen, this debt must be paid by their family.

Zhu Di was determined to give an explanation to the people of the world.

He also did not send anyone to stop the rumors from spreading.

Public opinion is obvious to everyone; trying to silence it will only backfire.

"Why hasn't Zhu Zhanji arrived yet? Tell him to get over here and see me right now!" Zhu Di roared towards the outside of the palace.

"After knocking on the door, Zhu Qizhen's life in the Oirat region gradually improved. He not only returned to a life of luxury, but Esen even wanted to marry his sister to him."

"Then Esen chose to attack the capital, but fortunately, the Ming Dynasty had already implemented effective defenses under the organization of the Minister of War, and ultimately resisted Esen's cavalry."

"Esen was furious, so he simply stripped Zhu Qizhen naked, made him roll around in the pigsty, and then dragged him to the gate of the capital to knock on the door."

Seeing the emperor so humiliated, the morale of the Ming soldiers defending the city plummeted, and many even felt the battle was pointless. In this critical moment, the Minister of War stepped forward again and ordered the emperor to be shot dead.

"Okay, okay!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di finally laughed.

Who is this person?

One of the Three Yangs?

These three individuals definitely do not possess such military capabilities.

Who exactly is he?

Zhu Di was extremely curious.

Even so, the capital could not be defended. The Oirat Mongols, inexplicably united, launched a desperate and united attack on the Ming Dynasty. At this critical moment when the Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, Prince Qi, Zhu Gaoshuo, managed to turn the tide.

Hearing of the Ming Dynasty's impending doom, he personally led three thousand cavalry back, routing Esen and forcing him to flee in disarray.

"Zhu Qizhen was also led by the Mongols across the Onon River, a place the Yongle Emperor had once conquered, but he went to even more distant places. In a sense, he was even more powerful than the Yongle Emperor."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di's face instantly darkened.

Indeed, his expectation for future rulers was that they would conquer even further than he had.

In a sense, Zhu Qizhen did indeed achieve this.

He was simply captured and taken there as a prisoner.

What happened next was pretty much exactly what Zhu Di had guessed.

The fourth prince, Zhu Gaoshuo, eventually took over the Ming Dynasty, which was on the verge of collapse, and ascended the throne.

"From this perspective, perhaps the fourth prince himself did not want to be emperor, but sometimes he had no choice but to become emperor."

At this moment, Zhu Di's previous resentment towards Zhu Gaoshuo for rebelling and declaring himself emperor had completely disappeared.

If it weren't for the fourth prince returning at the crucial moment, the Ming Dynasty would have truly perished.

At this time, Zhu Di harbored immense hatred for the Oirat Mongols.

If he were the fourth son, he would have sent troops to the Oirat Mongols this time next year to wash away the shame of the Ming Dynasty.

But what Tianmu said next made Zhu Di feel ashamed.

"After Emperor Zhongzu of Ming became emperor, many ministers in the court often suggested that we should fight against the Oirat Mongols and rescue Emperor Yingzong of Ming, Zhu Qizhen, but the emperor refused."

"Moreover, in the first ten years of his reign, Emperor Zhongzu did not expand the country's territory, but the people lived a life where every household had surplus grain for three years. That was a true golden age."

"Our historians believe that to be a good emperor, one does not necessarily have to expand the territory. Emperor Zhongzu of Ming left behind this famous saying, which we, his descendants, still dare not forget."

"It is better to uphold the will to rule the world than to conquer it!"

"Is that really what the fourth brother thinks?"

Zhu Di frowned.

This is completely different from his civil and military achievements.

He could not fully agree with this.

"I am not wrong. I will conquer vast territories for the Ming Dynasty!"

Although Zhu Di took Emperor Taizong as his role model, he was actually full of warlike desires.

Especially after hearing about the actions of the Oirat Mongols, he became even more determined to wipe them out completely.

"Since the fourth prince is unwilling to be a tyrant, then I will bear the infamy."

Zhu Di's mood had calmed down, but Tianmu's words angered him so much that he immediately started cursing.

"This concludes this video. Standing before you now is the emperor known as the 'Fortress Emperor,' the 'Gatekeeper Emperor,' a tyrannical emperor in Chinese history who embodies all the worst vices of past rulers. No one in China's five-thousand-year history can surpass him. He is Zhu Qizhen, the great-grandson of Zhu Di, the eldest son of Zhu Zhanji, the God of War of the Ming Dynasty, a student of the Oirat Mongols, and a brave and powerful emperor!"

(End of this chapter)