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

Chapter 54 The fourth brother's governing policy is actually to raise taxes!

In this way, the Ming Dynasty would be the strongest dynasty.

Upon hearing such praise, Zhu Di could no longer remain seated.

This was something he had always dreamed of, but it was accomplished easily by his fourth son, who had only been on the throne for two years.

He never expected that the fourth prince would actually send the vassal kings to fight against those overseas countries.

Aren't you afraid of raising a tiger that will eventually cause you trouble?
He thought that the fourth brother must have some other strategies, but Tianmu didn't say them out loud.

Looking at what the fourth brother has achieved overseas.

Zhu Di was filled with regret. He had already sent Zheng He on his voyages to the Western Ocean, and the Ming Dynasty was capable of building ships 140 meters long. However, he focused all his attention on making up for the "Jingnan Campaign".

That's incredibly stupid.

They're leaving such a huge treasure trove at sea unexplored.

A look of regret flashed in Zhu Di's eyes, but he quickly calmed down. If he had won a great victory in this battle against the Oirat Mongols, could he have gone on to attack the Japanese islands?

Let's follow the fourth brother's plan.

But new problems arose one after another: after defeating the Oirat Mongols, where would the Ming Dynasty find the money?

Zhu Di still couldn't understand why his fourth son had so much money to wage war before even capturing the Japanese islands.

What on earth did he do?
No one knew the Ming Dynasty's finances better than him.

The leader constantly complained about being poor, even the war against the Oirat had emptied the national treasury.

Where exactly did the fourth brother come from?

Zhu Di didn't understand why he was so poor even though he was the emperor.

the other side.

Zhu Gaoxu, who led his army to Desheng Fort, had no intention of making any preparations for the battle; his attention was focused on the sky.

This displeased Zhu Gaosui: "What are you looking at? You're not the emperor!"

He felt utterly speechless.

The throne was right in front of them, so how did it get taken away by the fourth prince?

As Zhu Gaosui listened to his fourth brother's achievements in the heavens, he felt as if ants were crawling all over his body.

Seeing his expression, the second son, Zhu Gaoxu, patted him on the shoulder and forced a laugh, saying, "Third son, are you stupid? Fourth son isn't really the emperor."

"So what if it happened in later generations? Didn't he still steal my throne?"

Zhu Gaosui looked displeased.

"Your throne?" Zhu Gaoxu was extremely shocked, thinking how shameless his father had ever said he would pass the throne to him.

"That's right! If it weren't for Zhu Gaoshuo, then it would be my other nephew who would have succeeded to the throne. When I go back, the throne will be mine!"

Zhu Gaosui was just talking nonsense.

It turned out that this made a lot of sense.

If the fourth son hadn't been so capable, things would have been different.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaosui said angrily, "I even suspect that the fourth prince is behind this canopy. It seems like everything is going in his favor!"

Zhu Gaoxu nodded in agreement upon hearing these words.

For the first time, I felt that what the third brother said made a lot of sense.

But Zhu Gaoxu quickly had a flash of inspiration and said with a smile, "Third brother, if we look at it from another angle, this matter is actually beneficial to us."

"It's true that the fourth prince could become a great emperor, but we can all see his achievements now, can't we?"

These words immediately made Zhu Gaosui realize what was going on.

"It's not like only the fourth brother can go fight the Japanese islands, we can go too!"

The appearance of the canopy was definitely not a good thing for Lao Si.

Without the sky screen, the fourth prince could have become emperor without any problems.

But it's different now.

They can steal the credit from the fourth brother.

"But will Father let us fight?" Zhu Gaosui remained calm.

Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu laughed heartily: "Don't worry, conquering the Japanese islands is a great achievement! Don't you know what kind of person your father is? How could he possibly let go of such a great achievement!"

"We can choose not to fight on this Japanese island, but we absolutely cannot let the fourth brother fight it!" After saying this, Zhu Gaoxu excitedly put his arm around the third brother's shoulder.

Usually, it's the fourth brother who laughs at them; now it's their turn to laugh at the fourth brother.

In their view, Zhu Gaoshuo simply knew in advance that the Japanese islands had abundant resources.

"But the Ming Dynasty is truly broke right now!"

Before Zhu Gaoxu's smile could even take shape, Zhu Gaosui threw out another question.

The eldest son kept complaining about being poor, but the national treasury was clearly empty, making it impossible for the Ming Dynasty to support its campaign against the Japanese pirates.

After this conflict with the Oirat Mongols, it will be difficult for war to break out again for at least three years.

"Or, second brother, why don't you take out all your gold coins?"

"No!" Zhu Gaoxu refused without even thinking. He had been sulking the whole way after his fourth brother had snatched a handful of gold beans from him.

Good heavens, now the third brother is even eyeing his gold coins.

Both of them sighed at the same time.

They were now very eager to find out where Zhu Gaoshuo got the money to fight the Japanese islands.

"Zhu Gaoshuo's ability to become one of the greatest emperors in history was not just because he happened to choose to attack overseas. As everyone who has studied the history of the Ming Dynasty knows, although Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, revived the Han Dynasty, many of his policies for governing the country were wrong."

If it weren't for the appearance of our ancestor, the Ming Dynasty would surely have been dragged down, and a situation would have arisen where no one was willing to protect it from harm.

"Here we will mainly talk about the problem of the national treasury deficit; the empty treasury was a major problem for the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Di felt the same way.

The Ming Dynasty was really too poor.

On the surface, it boasts a vast territory and a prosperous economy, but in reality, it is mired in a quagmire of fiscal collapse.

He didn't even know what the problem was.

Now I know, it was all because of my dad.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that his father had also made a big mistake in governing the country.

Otherwise, how could the Ming Dynasty be so poor?

"The constant wars during Zhu Di's reign were also a major reason for the empty treasury. In particular, Zhu Di only knew how to expand territory but did not know how to make money. The rule of Jiaozhi is the best example. Every year, it would lose 300 million taels of silver on this, but for the sake of face, Zhu Di resolutely refused to abandon it!"

"Moreover, Zhu Di's policy of moving the capital also consumed a lot of resources."

"Furthermore, the Ming Dynasty's imperial family spent money excessively and supported too many 'idle people.' Therefore, after Zhu Gaoshuo ascended the throne, he immediately abolished the privileges of the princes and nobles, and even required members of the imperial clan to pay tribute to the emperor."

"madness!"

"My relocation of the capital was all for the purpose of strengthening national defense. How could you, the people of later generations, possibly know of my great talent and strategic vision!"

Zhu Di said with dissatisfaction.

In his view, moving the capital was a necessary move.

However, he had actually considered dealing with the problem of the royal family and nobility.

But it only reduced his power a little; the preferential treatment he was entitled to still remain.

Shouldn't they be treated well since they are all members of the Zhu family?
The Zhu family and the Ming Dynasty were different.

This is why Zhu Di wanted to kill Fang Xiaoru.

The world has clearly acknowledged that the Jingnan Rebellion was a private matter for the Zhu family.

But Fang Xiaoru simply refused to admit it.

But the fourth prince was different; he directly abolished the privileges of the royal princes.

That certainly shows courage.

"Doesn't the fourth prince worry about the instability of the court?"

Zhu Di believed that, given his fourth son's personality, he would definitely impose light taxes and never increase them.

Such an emperor truly has no need to worry about turmoil; the fourth prince possesses that ability.

But what Tianmu said next left Zhu Di dumbfounded.

"Does everyone want to know where Zhu Gaoshuo got the money to fight the Japanese islands? He set a national policy of increasing taxes on the people of the Ming Dynasty as soon as he ascended the throne!"

(End of this chapter)