Ming Dynasty Simulator: I will be the greatest emperor of all time!

[You have selected [Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, who fought against the enemy], simulation begins]

"Alright, let's see how the fourth prince becomes the only prince to successfully rebel."

"What we're more curious about is the other princes. Why didn't they stand up to help Yunwen? It's impossible for all the princes to side with the fourth prince, right? Whether the fourth prince becomes emperor or Yunwen becomes emperor, it doesn't really affect them."

【You are Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, the most powerful vassal king in the Ming Dynasty, and arguably the most honorable person in the entire Ming Dynasty besides Emperor Zhu Yunwen. Yet now you have to lie in the roadside ditch and mud for half a day, covered in filth, like a beggar on the street.】

In the simulator, the screen shows Zhu Yuanzhang seeing Zhu Di, who is dirty and appears to be mentally challenged, and he is greatly surprised:

"What's wrong with the fourth brother?"

[Besides this, during the sweltering summer, you would wear a cotton-padded coat, huddle by the stove, shivering, and constantly shout, "Cold! So cold! Make the fire bigger! Make the fire bigger!"]

"Has the fourth brother gone mad?"

[Everyone except yourself, no, everyone except yourself, your sons, and those absolutely trusted confidants, believes you've gone mad with fear.]

Even Emperor Jianwen believed it. Of course, perhaps the incident of Prince Xiang's self-immolation had greatly damaged Emperor Jianwen's reputation, so he cherished his reputation and was afraid of really driving you insane. He also felt that he had the upper hand, so he chose to believe that you were crazy.

Your feigned weakness was indeed very effective, lulling the court officials into a false sense of security.

"The Prince of Xiang set himself on fire? What does that mean?" Zhu Yuanzhang's expression changed drastically. He realized that something else might have happened between the princes and his beloved grandson.

At this moment, you only have eight hundred men at your disposal. For eight hundred men to successfully rebel is nothing short of a pipe dream. Outside, there is an army of hundreds of thousands of men from the entire Ming Dynasty! They could drown your eight hundred men with just a spit, without even lifting a finger.

But you also know that you have no choice. Even if you don't rebel, your good nephew, the Jianwen Emperor, will make you wish you were dead. Your lineage of the Prince of Yan will all die. Who told you to try to participate in the struggle for the throne in Yingtian Prefecture?

At this point, in the eyes of outsiders, you have completely gone mad. In the Prince of Yan's mansion, the one in charge is your eldest son, the Prince of Yan's heir, Zhu Gaochi.

As Zhu Gaochi's plump figure appeared, Zhu Yuanzhang saw his grandson, whom he remembered as having exceptional political acumen. Seeing Zhu Gaochi remain calm and composed in the face of the crisis, handling the affairs of the Prince of Yan's residence with remarkable order, Zhu Yuanzhang sincerely praised him.

"It has a spirit of maintaining the status quo while also striving for progress."

At this moment, you hear news that an imperial edict has arrived from Yingtian Prefecture. The emperor says that he and you are uncle and nephew. When his father, Emperor Zhu Biao, was still alive, you had the best relationship. But now, the relationship between you, his nephew and his uncle, has become so strained because there are treacherous people causing trouble.

[And this treacherous person was your fourth son, Zhu Gaoxi, the grandson whom Zhu Yuanzhang loved most in his later years.]

At this time, Zhu Gaoxi was 6 years old. In the scene, the Prince of Yan's mansion suffered this calamity. The 6-year-old Zhu Gaoxi sat in the Prince of Yan's mansion discussing matters with his older brothers. His face no longer had the innocence of a child, but only vigilance.

This was completely different from the carefree Gao Xi who had been playing happily beside Zhu Yuanzhang just a few days ago, which stung Zhu Yuanzhang's heart.

The Emperor told your eldest son, Zhu Gaochi, who is now in charge of the Prince of Yan's residence, that as long as Zhu Gaoxi is killed, he can relocate your family to the south and let you choose your own fiefdom, and we will still be [one family under the Zhu family]

[Upon hearing this imperial edict, your second son, Zhu Gaoxu, was instantly enraged. Your four sons are currently on very good terms, yet your fourth son, Zhu Gaoxi, is being used as a condition for reconciliation between you and the emperor. This infuriates Zhu Gaoxu.]

Simulated screen —

Zhu Gaochi took the imperial edict delivered by the eunuch, glanced at it, confirmed that the contents were exactly as described, and tore it apart forcefully.

"Bah! Grandpa said you were kind and would treat the Zhu family well, but he was so wrong!"

"Back then, you bastard Jianwen, you sent someone to poison the fourth son. He almost died. You even kept it from Grandpa and said that it was my father who deliberately framed you in order to win the throne."

"I can't believe that after all these years, you still harbor such murderous intent towards the fourth son! All he does is receive a little more favor from Grandpa, Jianwen, that bastard, is it really necessary to be so jealous!"

The eunuch delivering the imperial edict was terrified and tore it apart, a capital offense.

The eldest son, Zhu Gaochi, stood up, calculated the time, and felt that his Prince Yan's mansion was well-prepared, so he refused Emperor Jianwen's request.

After the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict returned to Yingtian Prefecture and reported the situation truthfully to Emperor Jianwen, the emperor was furious and prepared to eliminate you. He no longer cared about family ties and secretly sent people to arrest you. However, what Emperor Jianwen did not know was that Zhang Xin, the deputy commander of Beiping, had already defected to you and told you about Emperor Jianwen's plan.

Now that Emperor Jianwen has begun to take action against you, you feel the time is ripe and begin to fight back, preparing to rebel.

[You stopped feigning madness, first washing yourself thoroughly clean in the palace, then donning the royal robes and revealing an air of disdain.]

[You led six-year-old Zhu Gaoxi to the Prince of Yan's residence, where you gathered all your trusted confidants. Among them were some civil and military officials sent from as far away as Yingtian Prefecture. These people wanted to play both sides, and you accepted them all.]

In front of these people, you pointed at Zhu Gaoxi and first offered some advice to your confidants:

"Gentlemen! Today we gather to discuss a momentous matter! In the past, in his later years, my father became close to Gao Xi, a fact known throughout the world. This was because he intended to pass the throne to Gao Xi and even left a will. However, this was obstructed by the false emperor, who burned the will after ascending the throne. A month ago, the false emperor issued an edict ordering me to kill Gao Xi. Isn't this enough to reveal that he feels his position is illegitimate?"

"I have no intention of the throne. This grand scheme is merely a means of self-preservation. Since the false emperor ascended the throne, the Prince of Zhou and the Prince of Qi have been deposed and imprisoned in the capital; the Prince of Dai has been demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in Datong; the Prince of Min has been demoted to a commoner and exiled to Fujian; the Prince of Xiang, unable to bear the humiliation, burned down his palace and committed suicide; the remaining princes are all under close surveillance and live in constant fear."

"I was forced to feign madness and live a life of ignominy."

"My actions are of great importance, but I have no real intention of taking the throne. If this succeeds, the throne will belong to me, Gao Xi!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's lips turned pale as he stared at the simulator's screen and text. He hadn't expected that Yunwen, whom he had always considered kind and benevolent, would treat his uncles this way.

"Yunwen, how could you do this? How could you do this?!"

[You know, Zhu Gaoxi held a very high position in your father's heart in his later years. As a result, in the eyes of civil and military officials and the people of the world, he was indeed a real possibility for Zhu Yuanzhang to make him the crown prince. Therefore, you used Zhu Gaoxi's name to win people's hearts, and that's why those ministers in Yingtian Prefecture chose to bet with you on both sides.]

After mobilizing your subordinates, you began your operation. You first lured and killed Zhang Bing, the Provincial Governor of Beiping, and Xie Gui, the Military Commander of Beiping, and then took control of the nine gates of Beiping.

[Then, under the pretext of "purging the court of corrupt officials and pacifying the country," they cited the clause in the "Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty" that "if there are no upright ministers in the court and traitors within the court, troops must be raised to punish them." They also compiled stories about Zhu Gaoxi's interactions with your father in his later years, stories that your father particularly liked, into tales and spread them among the people in order to dilute your rebellious intentions and gain popular support.]

You never imagined that the people of the Ming Dynasty would actually fall for your tricks.

But what you didn't expect was how powerful the imperial army was. Your 800 men were really struggling to hold on, especially since you were fighting on multiple fronts.

【But you don't have many truly capable generals under your command. What are you going to do?】

[Think of your second son, Zhu Gaoxu. He is brave and strong, and is known as "Little Xiang Yu." If you can fully unleash his potential, you might be able to make Zhu Gaoxu do the work of several people.]

After thinking for a moment, you said to Zhu Gaoxu:

"Second Prince, the Crown Prince is often ill; you must encourage him."

You thought about it again and added:

"Your fourth brother is still young, and your father is old; you are young."

[Your two sentences are a blatant hint to Zhu Gaochi that if you really become emperor, you will definitely make him the crown prince. Zhu Gaochi was overjoyed to hear this and fought even harder for you. Your pressure from fighting on multiple fronts has finally been relieved.]