Chapter 141: The Great Ming’s First Enlightened Ruler Has Emerged!

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand. "Alright, all of you go back and change your clothes. Since you're already here, you might as well take a stroll around the family grounds."

"You got it, Dad."

Fourth Zhu watched his father vanish on the spot, then communicated with the Jianwen Dragon Throne to enter the small world.

Immediately following him, Old Zhu Di and the High-Bellied Hongxi Emperor vanished one after another.

Xuande Emperor Zhu Zhanji was quietly connecting with the Xuande Dragon Throne when a large hand suddenly stopped him.

Zhu Gaoxu grinned broadly, slung an arm around his nephew's shoulder, and lowered his voice. "Great nephew, surely you haven't forgotten that your Second Uncle owns half of the Xuande Dragon Throne as well."

Ever since he learned just now that emperors could freely enter and exit the small world at will, he had been consumed with envy. Heaven only knew what kind of bitter days he had endured in Jianwen Japan.

The Japanese samurai had long since been wiped out, leaving him with nothing to do every day except bully the island villagers and pass the time by hunting.

As for the women of Japan...

Forget about it.

Even if he were starving to death, he had no such vulgar desires; all the Japanese women combined were not worth a single leg hair of the Prince of Han's consort, leaving him utterly憋屈 (frustrated and stifled).

If only he could enter and exit the small world at will—how majestic that would be! Never again would he have to suffer this kind of misery!

"Is that a fact?"

Xuande Emperor Zhu Zhanji looked surprised, then nodded and said, "Don't rush, Second Uncle, I'll go ask Grandpa right now."

Zhu Gaoxu panicked. "Hey, why are you such a damn spoil-sport, kid!"

"Second Brother, I told you so! With this kid as emperor, neither of you two is going to have a good end!" Zhu Gaozhu pointed and gestured in extreme dissatisfaction.

"Second Uncle, Third Uncle, the Old Patriarch can see and hear everything we say right here." Xuande Emperor Zhu Zhanji wore a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Oh, please. If the Old Patriarch had that kind of ability, sows could climb trees." Zhu Gaozhu scoffed derisively.

"It's the truth. How could I not know about the immortal arts I just acquired? Grandpa can see the entire surrounding scenery of the place where he vanishes. Just think about it—if he couldn't see, wouldn't it spell disaster if he were ambushed?" Xuande Emperor Zhu Zhanji reeled off his analysis, draining the color from his two uncles' faces.

Zhu Gaozhu hurriedly stepped forward, slung an arm around his nephew's shoulder, and said through gritted teeth in a low voice, "You little bastard, you're trying to get your Third Uncle killed!"

Zhu Gaoxu squeezed him tightly in a headlock and fake-smiled. "Great nephew, taking such long pauses when you talk—you're trying to prevent your Second and Third Uncles from living to see another day, aren't you?"

Xuande Emperor Zhu Zhanji was also a man of abundant martial virtue, but he still couldn't compare with his Second Uncle, whose four limbs were exceptionally well-developed. He grinned at his two uncles and said,

"Hehe."

Then his figure vanished on the spot.

Leaving Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaozhu staggering off balance, cursing bitterly, "You little—"

Old Zhu Di suddenly appeared, casting a cold, indifferent glance at them.

***

Zhu Gaoxu immediately stepped forward to snitch. "Dad, your grandson is making a fool of me! Are you going to manage this or not!"

"Cut the crap, follow me." With a wave of Old Zhu Di's hand, all three vanished.

***

At this moment.

Led respectfully at the front by Wang Min, the eunuch of the Nanjing Imperial Stables, with the imperial guards clearing the way on both sides,

The various emperors of the Great Ming, who had already changed into their dragon robes, chatted and laughed freely all the way.

"Fourth, you're simply cowardly!"

"When We watched you move the capital back then, We thought you were scared away by these wealthy local squires!"

Zhu Yuanzhang walked with his hands behind his back, glared at him, and snapped, "Why didn't you dare pick a fight with these gentry of Jiangnan! You should have wiped them all out, what were you afraid of!"

"Father's teaching is correct. This bunch of corrupt and lawless aristocrats and squires are every single one the descendants of officials. For generations, they have leeched off the bones and sucked the marrow of Our Great Ming. A hundred rounds of death by a thousand cuts wouldn't be too good for them!" Old Zhu Di's gaze was ice-cold.

Fourth Zhu took these words to heart and nodded repeatedly.

In the thirty-first year of the Hongwu reign—the very year Zhu Yuanzhang passed away—the aristocratic and noble clans across the Jianwen empire went mad, forcing the common people everywhere to hide the *Great Ming Grand Pronouncements* and forbidding them from reading them!

It was simply because they refused to let the people know the rights they possessed; they were terrified of standing on equal footing with the commoners. At the same time, many of the systems established by Zhu Yuanzhang to monitor officials and aristocrats were abolished during the Jianwen era.

They called it fostering greater trust between the sovereign and his ministers, but were these bastards truly trustworthy? After the Yongle reign, the Brocade Guard, the Eastern Depot, and the Western Depot were all institutions established to monitor the officials, yet what was their reputation among the common people?

Secret police, fabricators of false accusations, brutal and devoid of humanity...

Leaving aside the fact that the Brocade Guard required the Ministry of War's official seal as a travel warrant—something permitted by the entire imperial court—looking solely at this monitoring system targeted exclusively at officials and aristocrats, no matter how ferocious it was, what did it have to do with the common people?

Zhu Yuanzhang had once been a commoner; he deeply understood the sufferings of the people. He placed the Drum of Grievances outside the Forbidden City, permitting commoners to travel to the capital to appeal directly to the throne, and decreeing the extermination of the entire clan of anyone who dared block them along the way!

The four great purges of the Hongwu era ran with rivers of blood, but the blood spilled belonged entirely to unlawful nobility and corrupt officials—it had not the slightest thing to do with the common folk!

Therefore, the aristocracy and officials hated Zhu Yuanzhang to their very bones. They always felt: What of it if we take a few bribes? What of it if we don't pay taxes? What of it if we oppress the common people?

Isn't this only natural!

How dare you treat us like mud-legged peasants!

By what right does a tyrant like you treat us this way?

Old Zhu's heart ached for the common people oppressed by the officials. How could the common people ever feel sympathy for these officials and instead curse and demonize the Hongwu Emperor?

Pity that they bullied the common folk who had neither paper nor brush, wantonly rewriting history to mold themselves into saints who bowed to no tyranny!

They demonized the institutions that kept them in check and the emperors who suppressed them, saddling them with a reputation of utter incompetence, while exalting the emperors who condoned their lawless behavior, praising them as enlightened and sagacious rulers!

They did this so that future emperors would know: Look, if you want to become a sagacious ruler, this is how you do it, understand?

***

"You brat."

Zhu Youjian pulled young Zhu Youtang over and vigorously rubbed his bewildered little face.

The Great Ming's number-one enlightened ruler had just stepped forward!

Young Zhu Youtang was one, and the Hongzhi Emperor was another!

As for the treasury of the Chenghua era being stuffed to that degree, it was entirely because this kid had used it to buy off the mouths of the civil officials. Generally speaking, he belonged to the spineless variety of Chongzhen.

Zhu Youjian picked up young Zhu Youtang and earnestly lectured him. "When you become emperor in the future, show a bit more spine. You need to make them fear you. Do you know how to get angry?"

"I do!"

Young Zhu Youtang nodded, then suddenly cried out in protest, "Stop rubbing my face!"

That left Zhu Youjian instantly speechless.

With a temperament like yours...

You're bound to be bullied to death by the civil officials.

"Great Grandson, what's this child's name?" Zhu Yuanzhang called out from ahead.

Zhu Youjian hastily replied, "It's nothing, he's just a little upset. I'll comfort him."

"If you get angry again, your Great-Great-Grandfather is going to get angry!" Zhu Yuanzhang strode over, wearing a fierce and menacing expression.

Tears instantly welled up in the corners of young Zhu Youtang's eyes. Trembling with fright, he felt as though his life expectancy had just been cut short to seven years old.

He looked to Zhu Youjian for help.

Zhu Youjian was baffled: Why are you looking at me? Pick your battles.

The Grand Patriarch is about to deal with you, what on earth can I say?

Right at that moment.

An eight-bearer sedan chair emerged from around the corner, colliding head-on with the imperial entourage of Great Ming emperors and crown princes.

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression instantly darkened. "Using this specification of sedan chair inside Our household—which bastard is inside this thing?"

Eunuch Wang Min blinked his eyes and respectfully replied, "Reporting to the Grand Patriarch, it should be the sedan chair of Niu Yu, the Grand Eunuch holding the Seal of the Directorate of Ceremonies in Nanjing."