The video takes us to ancient times; Li Er transforms into the Tongtian Emperor of Shu Han.

Emperor Taizong Wen!

The temple name of Emperor Taizong may be inaccurate.

After all, most of the second emperors of a dynasty would have the temple name Taizong.

However, the posthumous title of Emperor Wen is absolutely genuine.

The thing that spans heaven and earth is called literature.

From King Wen onwards, Emperor Wen was the highest posthumous title.

If his achievements were not truly unparalleled throughout history, even if his son wanted to bestow upon him the posthumous title of Emperor Wen, none of the civil and military officials would agree!

"Emperor Taizong Wen."

Old Zhu was somewhat emotional.

Throughout history, all the emperors who unified China, regardless of their reign, have achieved unparalleled accomplishments.

There's no need to elaborate on the achievements of the Han and Tang dynasties, but even the accomplishments of Ögedei Khan, the Yuan emperor who wasn't included in the immortals' inventory, are equally astonishing.

The reason why the fourth prince is so highly regarded by later generations is probably because Zhu Yuanzhang chose the wrong person.

"It's ironic, really. I spent my whole life fighting in the north, and the burden of domestic affairs mostly fell on the Crown Prince's shoulders. In the end, I even got the posthumous title of Emperor Wen."

Zhu Di couldn't help but sigh, even he hadn't expected this.

After his death, Zhu Gaochi was able to persuade the officials to give him the posthumous title of Emperor Wen.

Did they have some kind of shady deal?

"Fourth brother, you're not copying this style here, are you?"

Upon seeing Zhu Di's words from the Yongle era, the old Zhu looked at the young version of Zhu Di beside him with some doubt.

He now suspects that he may have set a bad precedent.

"Let me make this clear to you first: we're letting your elder brother oversee the country, but that doesn't mean we're dumping everything on him!"

"After all, we are still the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Letting Biao'er oversee the country is just to cultivate him."

To prevent Zhu Di from pinning the blame on him, Zhu Di preemptively defended himself.

He wasn't being lazy!

If someone as diligent as him is considered lazy, then there are probably no diligent emperors in the world.

“Father, I didn’t intend to leave everything to the Crown Prince, but the northern Tartars are rampant and I have to suppress them. It’s inevitable that I will be overwhelmed. During the northern expedition, I can only leave all matters to the Crown Prince to decide.”

Zhu Di quickly tried to justify himself.

"You're leading the army yourself, leaving the Crown Prince to oversee domestic affairs?"

This explanation is acceptable.

But the more Lao Zhu thought about it, the less satisfied he felt.

"Fourth brother, wait a minute!"

"You led five expeditions to the northern deserts, each time personally under your command. How much time do you have left to handle state affairs in the court?"

When the emperor personally led the expedition to conquer the northern deserts, leaving the affairs of the court to the crown prince, there was no problem with that.

But the problem is that Zhu Di's frequency of conquering the northern deserts was just too high!

Five expeditions to the northern deserts—that number sounds like a sign of excessive militarism.

"Grandpa, you've spotted a blind spot."

"Let me tell you, Father really spends very little time on official business."

"He's either on a distant expedition to the northern deserts, or he'll return to compile the Yongle Encyclopedia and embark on a voyage to the Western Ocean. Grandfather, my life is tough! There's not a single penny left in the accounts!"

Zhu Gaochi complained repeatedly.

You little rascal, here you are, tattlering on me!

Zhu Di's gaze narrowed slightly, and the moment he turned to look at Zhu Gaochi, the man from the Hongwu era had already obediently stuck out his buttocks.

"Tell me, fourth brother, why did you do this?"

Old Zhu didn't rush to make a move.

He knew that Zhu Di was a smart man.

He had said more than once before that, apart from Zhu Biao, his fourth son Zhu Di was the person most like him.

This is not referring to appearance, but rather ability.

He didn't believe that someone like Zhu Di would inexplicably engage in militarism.

There must be at least a reasonable reason.

"Dad, keep reading. I'll explain it to you slowly after you've finished reading."

After a moment of silence, Zhu Di still didn't rush to explain.

The key is to see how much the immortal will say and how much room for excuses he can leave for himself.

After ascending the throne, Zhu Di felt as if he were in a dream.

As mentioned at the beginning, Zhu Biao never had any ambition for the throne during his lifetime.

Even after Zhu Biao died young and Zhu Yuanzhang made up his mind to pass the throne to Zhu Yunwen, he probably never had much of a thought about it.

He was gradually forced onto the path of "Fengtian Jingnan" (a campaign to suppress rebellions in Fengtian), and eventually ascended the throne.

At this moment, he might have felt joy, but more than anything, he was filled with fear.

Zhu Di's expression was complicated.

Indeed, he was apprehensive when he first ascended the throne.

As Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest son, it would be a joke to say that he never had any intention of ascending the throne.

But with his elder brother Zhu Biao keeping him in check at first, he didn't dare to even entertain the idea.

Even after his elder brother died young, he still insisted on staying in his fiefdom.

It is said that many ministers in the court have suggested that Zhu Di be placed in the position of crown prince.

Unfortunately, for some reason, Old Zhu chose that kid Zhu Yunwen.

Up to this point, Zhu Di still didn't have much interest in the throne.

With the eldest brother dead, it is only natural that his eldest son inherits the throne.

Later, after Zhu Yunwen relinquished power to the civil service, he began to forcefully weaken the power of the princes.

Zhu Di watched helplessly as his brothers, who used to laugh and joke with him, were demoted to commoners one by one.

At this moment, he began to feel a sense of crisis.

Yao Guangxiao had repeatedly tried to persuade him, explaining that if he did not rebel now, Zhu Yunwen would certainly not let him go.

Even knowing that his fate would be to be demoted to a commoner, or even worse, Zhu Di still couldn't make up his mind.

What truly motivated him to launch the Jingnan Rebellion was Zhu Bai!

If Zhu Yunwen hadn't relentlessly pressured him, and Prince Xiang, Zhu Bai, had chosen to commit suicide by self-immolation to prove his innocence, perhaps Zhu Di wouldn't have gone this far.

Only he himself knew whether the banner of "following the emperor to quell the rebellion" was true or not.

Sitting on the throne, Zhu Di seemed to see that familiar figure not far away still gazing at him.

He dared not indulge himself even in the slightest.

Upon ascending the throne, he immediately abolished all of Zhu Yunwen's Jianwen New Policies and granted a general amnesty.

He also compensated the people for the livelihood problems caused by the Jingnan Campaign by exempting them from a large amount of taxes.

From this point on, he began to see himself as Zhu Yuanzhang, and after resolving each problem, he would carefully consider whether Zhu Yuanzhang, if still alive, would be satisfied with his approach.

Old Zhu: “…”

At this point, he could no longer utter words of blame.

The policy of reducing the power of the princes led to the suicide of Zhu Bai, the Prince of Xiang, by burning himself alive!

For this reason alone, let alone if Zhu Di wanted to rebel, even if Zhu Di himself were still alive, he would not let Zhu Yunwen go!

Apart from Zhu Biao, Zhu Bai and Zhu Di should be Zhu Yuanzhang's favorite sons.

He ended up being forced to commit suicide by self-immolation.

Just from this line of text, Lao Zhu could imagine how desperate Lao Twelf must have been at that time!

“Biao’er, although Yunwen hasn’t done these things yet, so there’s no need to punish him for now, you still need to discipline him properly.”

"Now we understand, a son born out of wedlock will always just be a son born out of wedlock!"