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

Chapter 52 The Fourth Brother Has Gone Mad, Lifting the Sea Ban to Attack the Japanese Islands
Zhu Di sent someone to deliver a message to Zhu Gaoshuo.

They wanted to recall Prince Qi, but instead received news that the fourth prince had already gone deep into the grasslands.

Not only that, but Liu Jiang was also taken along.

This angered Zhu Di.

Although the operation to intercept the Oirat forces by disguising themselves as Tatar soldiers was canceled due to the obstruction of the sky.

However, as the leader of the Eastern Route Army, Liu Jiang dared to abandon his post and sneak into the grasslands with Zhu Gaoshuo.

The war is about to begin.

Zhu Di could not tolerate that his generals had disobeyed his orders as commander-in-chief.

But on second thought, Liu Jiang's actions might have been to protect Lao Si.

He also realized the importance of the fourth son.

"Fortunately, the fourth brother is probably just going to capture some prisoners on the outskirts of the grasslands!"

Zhu Di originally intended to blame Zhu Gaoshuo.

But if this can hone Zhu Gaoshuo's military skills, then it's not so bad.

"The fourth brother's fighting ability must have come from me, right?"

No one is born knowing how to fight; it's just something we learn from our parents.

Zhu Di suddenly remembered that Esen, that bastard, had breached his central army camp, and immediately became somewhat unhappy.

He was now eager to know how the fourth brother would deal with Yexian.

If it were him, he would definitely have torn Esen apart by five horses to quell his hatred.

"After Zhu Gaoshuo ascended the throne, before he even began to implement national policies, civil and military officials had already voiced their opinions, suggesting that Esen be killed to appease the spirit of the Yongle Emperor in heaven."

"Although Zhu Di seized the throne through rebellion, his achievements during his reign are still commendable. The people also resented his death, and everyone wanted to kill Esen to avenge Zhu Di!"

"But just when everyone thought Esen was doomed, Emperor Yongxi, Zhu Gaoshuo, made a surprising decision: he would let Esen return to Mongolia!"

"What? Fourth Brother has gone mad!"

Zhu Di was furious, his eyes filled with incomprehension.

He simply didn't understand why the fourth brother wanted to let Esen go.

Are you out of your mind?

Releasing Esen would bring absolutely no benefit to the Ming Dynasty.

Is there anything that the Ming Dynasty lacks in such an impoverished place as the Oirat Mongols?

Even if we return it, we won't get anything in return.

Zhu Di slammed his fist on the table in anger: "Could it be that the fourth prince is grateful to Esen for helping him ascend the throne?"

Although he knew Zhu Gaoshuo wouldn't do that, he was still very dissatisfied with the decision not to kill Esen.

Zhu Zhanji, who was eavesdropping on Zhu Di's angry shouts outside the tent, was overjoyed.

He had already heard the news that his grandfather was beginning to consider passing the throne to his fourth uncle.

This was unacceptable to Zhu Zhanji.

Hearing that Zhu Di was extremely dissatisfied with Zhu Gaoshuo made Zhu Zhanji very happy.

"It seems that everyone doesn't quite understand why Zhu Gaoshuo wanted to release Esen back. In fact, not only the audience, but even the Ming Dynasty at that time had the same idea."

"Many people in the court even thought that Zhu Gaoshuo was actually a foolish and incompetent person, but Emperor Yongxi's performance in other areas soon won everyone over again."

"From the current perspective, letting Esen go has no impact. However, from the perspective of future generations and history, releasing Esen, this beast who could unify the grasslands, would actually be a brilliant move."

"Only then did everyone realize how far-sighted Emperor Zhu Gaoshuo was; releasing Esen was actually a major reason for the collapse of the Mongol Empire!"

Was letting Esen go actually the right thing to do?
Zhu Di was greatly surprised and couldn't understand why. Tianmu had clearly stated that Esen would unify the grasslands.

The history books are written with the blood of the Han people to record just how powerful the Mongol cavalry was in the past.

They all witnessed the great achievements of King Ying Zheng of Qin in unifying the six kingdoms.

Although emperors throughout history did not venerate Qin Shi Huang in order to give the people a good impression due to his brutality, anyone with a modicum of insight could see the achievement of unification.

Although Esen could not compare to Qin Shi Huang, the grasslands would certainly become more prosperous under his leadership.

How come Tianmu is now saying that letting the fourth prince release Esen back was a grand strategy to completely dismantle the Mongols?

Zhu Di racked his brains but still couldn't figure out what was going on.

But at this point, he no longer felt anger towards Zhu Gaoshuo for letting Esen go; only curiosity remained.

It wasn't just Zhu Di.

Liu Jiang, the Datong garrison commander who accompanied Zhu Gaoshuo to the grasslands, also looked surprised.

He could give up his position as commander-in-chief to follow Zhu Gaoshuo into the grasslands, but he couldn't understand why Esen was allowed to go.

They've even started questioning him.

But I never expected the tables to turn so quickly.

The sky immediately revealed Zhu Gaoshuo's achievement in letting Esen go.

However, the people from Tianmu did not explain the specifics. Liu Jiang looked at Zhu Gaoshuo and asked curiously, "Why did Your Majesty let Esen go?"

Influenced by the sky, Liu Jiang was momentarily at a loss for what to call him.

"I don't know either!" Zhu Gaoshuo smiled. "That wasn't who I am now, so who knows what I was thinking back then?"

Zhu Gaoshuo's answer clearly did not satisfy Liu Jiang.

The main point is that the time difference between the two is not actually that long.

Moreover, judging from Zhu Gaoshuo's appearance, he obviously knew the answer, but since this great emperor of all time did not say, Liu Jiang did not ask further.

After all, there are some things that he simply cannot understand.

Liu Jiang was not wrong.

Zhu Gaoshuo did indeed know the answer.

Although Esen has now unified Mongolia, this unification may be the beginning of greater division.

It was only because of figures like Liu Bang that the unification was able to continue.

Esen's ability to unify the grasslands had little to do with him; it was simply a war between the old man and the Tatars that depleted the Tatars' strength.

The grasslands no longer have anything capable of resisting the Oirats.

Sending Esen back to the grasslands would only cause more internal strife among the Mongols.

Although Esen was released back to the grasslands, he had already begun to fear Zhu Gaoshuo and was even willing to submit to him. At that time, Emperor Yongxi, Zhu Gaoshuo, had long since lost interest in the grasslands.

"It seems that he didn't take the grasslands seriously at all. In the first year of Yongxi, Zhu Gaoshuo set his sights on the vast ocean."

"They directly lifted the sea ban despite everyone's advice. You should know that the original sea ban was issued by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Even his father, the Yongle Emperor, only dared to allow Zheng He to sail to the Western Ocean and open up tributary trade."

"But Zhu Gaoshuo directly ushered in the Age of Exploration. He wanted to conquer the ocean, and his first battle was to fight the Japanese pirates!"

"As everyone knows, the Ming Dynasty suffered greatly from the invasions of Japanese pirates, yet Zhu Gaoshuo proposed that the Ming army should take the initiative and launch an expedition to the pirates' homeland!"

"The fourth brother has really gone mad!"

Zhu Di was greatly alarmed. The ban on maritime trade was initiated by his father, who later declared in the "Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty" that fifteen overseas countries, including the Japanese islands, were not to be conquered, thus warning future generations not to arbitrarily conquer them.

The fourth prince dared to abolish the "Imperial Ancestral Instructions" immediately upon ascending the throne.

(End of this chapter)