Chapter 79 Emperor Chengzu of Ming Dynasty (End)
[But then again, are there any things about Zhu Di that make future generations regret?
Of course there is. Apart from the issue of his conquest, there are two other parts:
The first is his attitude towards Taizu's policies, and the second is the issue of his successor. 】

The sixteenth year of Yongle.

"Hmm? Is there anything wrong with my attitude towards Dad's policies? I respect Dad's policies very much." Zhu Di, who was immersed in joy, was suddenly brought back to reality and felt a little unhappy. He looked at the two heirs in his mind and was very confused. "The crown prince and the grandson are both good. How could there be any problem with the heir I chose!"

Zhu Zhanji and Zhu Gaochi looked at Zhu Di with admiration, fully demonstrating their filial piety and approval.

[In terms of his attitude towards Taizu's policies, whether it was because he ascended the throne through the Jingnan Campaign or because he truly felt that his father had done everything right, Zhu Di basically implemented all the policies left by Zhu Yuanzhang. It can be said that the son inherits the father's way and Taizu's law cannot be changed, but in fact it is not very appropriate.

Some of Zhu Yuanzhang's policies were not suitable for long-term implementation and needed to be changed in time, but Zhu Di did not do so. Not only did he not do so, he also acted as if it was "the law of our ancestors", which made it impossible for those who wanted to change it in later generations to do so due to various pressures.

After all, the second-generation emperor, who had military power and prestige, did not change, and the emperors who later lost power were even less able to do so.

These inappropriate policies that needed to be changed also contributed to the decline of the Ming Dynasty, and even to the decline of the entire Chinese nation, such as the harsh and rigid household registration system, the permanent enfeoffment of descendants, the self-righteous chastity arches, the excessive reverence for Neo-Confucianism, etc.

Ming Dynasty, the 13th year of Hongwu.

Zhu Yuanzhang could no longer sit still and was very dissatisfied with the contents of the sky curtain: "What's wrong with our policy? Our household registration system is also for the good of the world! Otherwise, there will always be people who can't be content with their jobs. If there are too many such people, what will happen to society? What about other people? Moreover, we have counted the land and population of the world in just a few years. Isn't it because the household registration system is well established?"

He had a lot of complaints that he wanted to vent, and his heart was filled with grief and dissatisfaction: "As for this chastity arch, isn't it for the purpose of correcting social customs and setting a moral example? Isn't that good?"

He turned to his son and ministers and asked, "We advocate Cheng-Zhu learning. Isn't this learning good? Cheng-Zhu learning tells everyone what is right. Isn't it in line with our Ming Dynasty and what the world needs?"

"And the enfeoffment of our descendants," he became even angrier when he heard about this, totally unable to understand. "Is it wrong for us to enfeoff our descendants? Didn't we conquer the world so that our descendants wouldn't have to suffer from hunger and cold and have to look at other people's faces? Besides, isn't the Ming Dynasty owned by the Zhu family?"

Not to mention, how can the affairs of the Ming Dynasty be related to the decline of the entire nation? Even if it is related to the entire nation, it should be the Ming Dynasty that has made contributions to all Han people! How can it be wrong?

Han Dynasty, the first year of Yuanshuo.

Apart from anything else, Liu Che felt a deep empathy for the phrase "the laws of our ancestors" and agreed with it very much.

Once a "law of ancestors" is established, wouldn't it be extremely difficult for later generations to change it? When he wanted to abandon the Huang-Lao school, how great was the resistance? There was no shortage of opposition from the court, the harem, and the people. Later, when he wanted to raise an army to attack the Xiongnu, the ancestral law of "resting and recuperating" caused him a lot of obstacles.

He believed that he had already grasped the power in his hands, and his character was firm and unshakable, but facing the various laws of his ancestors, it still took him a lot of effort. But how many successors in later generations could be like him? He was not praising himself, he sincerely believed that he was the greatest emperor in history, not inferior to Yao and Shun, how rare is that?

[As for the issue of heirs.]

During his lifetime, Zhu Di appointed a crown prince and a grandson. These two were not stupid people. After they succeeded to the throne, they worked diligently and did not engage in dissolute behavior. Together, they created the "Renzong and Xuanzong Reign."

Sounds good, right? 】

Yongle Zhu Di, his crown prince and grandson, Hongwu Zhu Di, Zhu Yuanzhang, and emperors from other time and space all nodded. This is great!
[While governance and personal morality are not affected, they cannot avoid the problems of their vision and political standpoint.

After Zhu Di's death, Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne. Within two days, he wanted to move the capital back to Nanjing, and even publicly called Beijing the "capital for the time being." However, he failed because he died early. He was completely southern-centric and lacked the vision and perspective for greater unification, which almost destroyed the national integration left by Zhu Di.

Within two years after the crown prince Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, he abolished all ocean explorations and strongholds since Zhu Di ascended the throne, and even the navy was gradually abandoned, on the grounds of "the country is in turmoil" and "the people are working hard".

On land, Zhu Zhanji gradually stopped the management of Nurgandusi, gave up Annan conquered by Zhu Di, withdrew to Kaiping, and the entire Ming Dynasty shrank in all directions.

The consequences of this were disastrous. On the one hand, there was instability in the border areas. The consequences of nomadic peoples' repeated attacks on Hetao were imaginable. At the same time, the independence of Annan in the south and the lack of power in other places made the Ming Dynasty's border defense more difficult. On the other hand, this turned the outward-looking trend during Zhu Di's reign into a conservative inward-looking one. He no longer had the ambition to expand outward, but instead lived a life of drunkenness and fighting each other, which was simply setting foot on the old path of the Song Dynasty again.

Of course, Zhu Zhanji may not have thought about expanding his territory, and it is also possible that his shrinking policy was a temporary policy, and he would launch an attack in one fell swoop when the domestic power was strengthened. However, it is meaningless to say anything, because he died too early, and the only policy he left during his lifetime was shrinking the border. 】

The sixteenth year of Yongle.

Zhu Di listened to the words coming from the sky and looked at his beloved eldest son and his great grandson.

His face was calm, his eyes were cold, his voice was steady, but his words were sharp: "Prince, do you think the south is right? You prefer Nanjing? Don't you understand why I moved the capital?"

Zhu Gaochi was speechless, sweat dripping down his forehead, and he didn't know what to say for a moment. He really felt that the empire should be closer to the south. The north should not be the center of the empire at all. The south should be the center, where it is rich and full of culture. But what Tianmu meant was that he was wrong? Although he had previously praised his father's move of the capital, which had shaken his mind, his southern-centric mentality was still difficult to change.

Zhu Di ignored him and turned to his beloved grandson: "Grandson, you don't want to move the capital, but do you think the places I conquered have no practical value? They are all insignificant? Do you also think that my going out to sea is a waste of money and manpower?"

Zhu Zhanji was also stuck for a moment. He did not expect that he would give up so many places casually in the future. He was not unaware of the significance of these places, especially the northern region. As for going to sea, after Tianmu's previous explanation, he already understood the importance of this matter, and he would not give up easily in the future. Zhu Di withdrew his gaze from the two people, sneered and stood up, and finally showed anger on his face: "I really didn't expect that the prince and grandson are all like this." He kicked Zhu Gaochi, "Prince, you are kind, and I agree, but you are full of thoughts about the south. Did we teach you in vain? Do you want to learn from Zhu Yunwen? Oh, by the way, Tianmu said that you died early. Fortunately, you died early, otherwise you really moved back to Nanjing for me?"

Then, another book was thrown at Zhu Zhanji. "The prince is like that, but you are even better. I won't talk about what happened on the sea. You think you don't understand. You actually threw it away on land. Did I bring you to lead the army in person just for fun? You threw it away like that, just like the emperors of the Song Dynasty. No wonder Tianmu said that the Ming Dynasty has taken the old path of the Song Dynasty again!"

He roared: "Did I hand over my legacy to you two? Did I do that to let you play around? You have no vision, no pattern. I've taught you for so many years, but in the end you got a result of having no pattern or vision!"

Everyone in the hall knelt on the ground. Zhu Di looked at the two people kneeling uneasily and said coldly: "After the curtain is over, you two will stay behind closed doors and think about the past. Think carefully about what you have learned and how you think over the years. Are these ideas right? Write a few summaries for me."

"Also, you two should exercise more. Prince - eat less and move more in the future. The same goes for the prince. No matter how good the idea is, it will be meaningless without the person."

Seeing that the two men accepted the order, he closed his eyes.

The people around the crown prince should be replaced. They are southern-oriented. How many southerners are there around him? The same goes for the crown prince. He should also screen his people carefully.

The thirteenth year of Hongwu.

Zhu Di suffered a critical blow from Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Turtle!" Zhu Yuanzhang was furious. Although he did not pay much attention to the issues at sea, he cared a lot about the issues on land. "How did you choose your successor? How did you teach these two princes and grandsons? Does the lost land belong only to you, the Emperor Taizong? No! There is also the foundation that we have worked so hard to build!!!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

When he thought about how his unworthy descendants would destroy his foundation after working so hard and fighting so hard, his blood pressure would burst through his head and soar to the sky. It's really like a son selling his father's land without feeling any pain! He was heartbroken, so heartbroken.

Zhu Di was beaten, but he was not dissatisfied at all, because he was also angry! What was destroyed was not only his father's foundation, but also his future hard-earned things! He was even more heartbroken!
He gnashed his teeth in his heart. It was too early for Zhu Zhanji to show his shadow. Now there was only one Zhu Gaochi. Although he could not settle accounts because of his young age, his education could be arranged. He could even think about moving south in the future. It seemed that the education he received in the fiefdom during these years was not enough! As for the grandson's casual throwing of the ground, maybe it was also influenced by his son. After all, he was the father. Who knew what ideas he conveyed in private?

Zhu Biao was also holding back his anger, but he didn't want his father to keep focusing on his unworthy descendants and not being able to find a partner, which would damage his health. So he said, "Dad, we have to train some talents for a unified pattern. We can't let the southern-centric ideology permeate the entire court."

Zhu Yuanzhang's attention was diverted, and he agreed with Zhu Biao's words: "Yes, that's right. Our Ming Dynasty is an orthodox and unified country, and we can't limit ourselves to the south. As for why the crown prince and the grandson still have the south as their priority, that was created by these insects! We are still too kind, always thinking about stability, and we can't let people feel uneasy."

The meaning of his words was very clear, he was going to take action against those southern scholars who refused to change their minds.

Military commanders, hold your heads high, long live us! We have always been by your side! We have always supported all your decisions! Those who are South-centered, abandon their land, and migrate south have nothing on us!
Song.

Zhao Kuangyin was once again hit hard from a distance.

He spoke in a trance, as if in a dream: "We have taken the old path of the Song Dynasty?" What old path did the Song Dynasty take? In connection with the previous text, isn't it - "conservative and inward-looking, no longer having the ambition to expand outward, living a life of drunkenness and dreaming, fighting each other"? He murmured this sentence, his voice weak and full of confusion.

Zhao Guangyi and others were also stunned.

They naturally saw what Zhao Kuangyin saw, and they also understood what Zhao Kuangyin did not say out loud - even more terrifying is that the old way of the Song Dynasty also included throwing away land...

Zhao Kuangyin only felt that his hands were shaking.

What happened? Why did the Song Dynasty become like this? Although we already knew about the various shortcomings and problems of the Song Dynasty, such as border defense issues, failure to unify, repeated migrations to the south, and the Jingkang Shame whose meaning is still unclear... How could there be more problems of conservatism, drunkenness, and fighting?

Wait, I was clearly looking outward and wanting to unify the world, how come I became conservative and inward-looking and refuse to expand outward?
And if we combine these questions with the previous ones, a complete logical chain is formed!
Being conservative and inward-looking, not expanding outward, living a life of drunkenness and despair, and constantly fighting among the people - naturally, they will fail to unify, and there will be problems with border defense. Then they will move south. As for the Jingkang Shame, it was probably in the middle of this - and then they will be more conservative, not expanding outward, living a life of drunkenness and despair, and fighting among the people...

If there was a capable ruler, things might be different, but judging from what the miracles revealed, it was clear that there was no ruler who could turn the tide in the Song Dynasty. Naturally, no one could break this cycle, and it continued like this...

What a shame it would be for his Song Dynasty to be destroyed!

Zhao Kuangyin's face was ferocious, as if he was about to choose someone to eat. He looked at his two sons with a stern gaze - the problem now was to find out who had started this mess!

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang was also very annoyed about his successor.

He never thought that Liu Ying was a qualified candidate. Even though Liu Ruyi might not be that good, he was better than Liu Ying! However, Liu Ying was the eldest son after all, and Empress Lü Zhi had done nothing wrong and had a lot of supporters, which made him feel torn.

Empress Lü was also very upset. She knew that Liu Bang, a selfish bastard, had always wanted to depose her Ying'er, and she was not surprised by this. No, it should be said that she would not be surprised by anything Liu Bang did. Moreover, she was not unprepared for this. As long as she did not make any mistakes, Ying'er did not make any mistakes, and she had good relations with the meritorious officials, she could always keep Ying'er's position as the crown prince.

What annoyed her was Liu Ying's own problem - Ying'er was too weak. When would she be able to stand on her own? When would she be able to clearly judge right from wrong? She couldn't always rely on her! If she didn't stand up for herself, what would be the point of her doing more as a mother? After all, she, as a mother, couldn't replace the person herself!
(End of this chapter)