novelAbuy Chapter 18: What exactly are the regrets of history?
Chapter 18: What exactly are the regrets of history?
During the Jingtai reign, all the officials' eyes were on Yu Qian, hoping that this capable minister could persuade the Jingtai Emperor, who had gone mad.
Yu Qian took a deep breath and said.
"Your Majesty, what is said on the celestial screen concerns matters of the future. Why punish a loyal subject with something that has not yet happened?"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jingtai laughed heartily. With his hair disheveled, he looked at Yu Qian and asked.
"Does this mean I no longer even have the right to dispose of my household slaves?"
"Or should I wait until I'm terminally ill and have been dragged out of my bedchamber before I take action?"
Yu Qian was speechless for a moment upon hearing this.
Zhu Qiyu pointed at the court officials in front of him and sneered.
"Don't you all still yearn for the late Emperor? Fine! Today I will abdicate and pass the throne to a worthy successor! That will fulfill your wishes!"
"One day, history will surely record your forced abdication!"
"Guards! Go to the Southern Palace and invite the Emperor Emeritus to ascend the throne!"
Upon hearing this, the court officials of the Jingtai reign panicked and hurriedly tried to dissuade him.
Just as the Jingtai reign was in complete chaos, within the Hongwu reign, the screams of the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, echoed everywhere.
Zhu Yuanzhang lashed Zhu Di's body with his horsewhip again and again, panting heavily from exhaustion.
"I'll teach you to suppress the rebellion! I'll teach you to be cooked like a chicken in a clay pot! I'll teach you to be the Great Ming War God!"
Zhu Yuanzhang beat the man while simultaneously berating him.
Zhu Di was also wronged.
"Dad! What does this have to do with me?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang punished them even more severely!
"Wasn't this all thanks to you, Emperor Yongle?!"
Zhu Shuang, who was standing nearby, quickly stepped forward and spoke up.
"Father, please take care of your health!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Di burst into tears. However, before he could feel the brotherly affection for more than three seconds, Zhu Shuang continued.
"Your subject is young and strong; let me take the place of Father Emperor in urging my fourth brother on!"
Zhu Di: I *******
The fifth year of the Yongle reign, Shuntian Prefecture.
Zhu Di's expression froze completely, and he stood there like a block of wood.
"The Emperor's Gate Call, the Coup at the Gate, the Restoration of the Southern Palace, the Unjust Murder of Meritorious Officials..."
Zhu Di murmured these words repeatedly, as if to make sure he hadn't misheard.
As Zhu Zhanji knelt on the ground, he involuntarily moved his body behind his own father, Zhu Gaochi, in an attempt to use his father's large body to cover his own figure.
Unfortunately, this little scheme did not escape Zhu Di's notice. Zhu Di took a deep breath and gave a stern order.
"Guards! Hang up this good grandson of yours!"
Zhu Zhanji's face was filled with despair: Son! You've really screwed me over!
In the eighth year of the Xuande reign, Zhu Zhanji was so angry that his hair was about to stand on end.
"Zhu! Qi! Zhen!"
He pronounced the name word by word, his voice filled with boundless rage!
"Good! Ah! What a good son!"
"I gave him the vast land of the Ming Dynasty! I gave him 500,000 elite troops of the Ming Dynasty! I gave him the best civil and military officials! Is this how he repays me?"
"Knocking on the gate, Emperor! A meritorious official unjustly murdered! Good! Good! Good!"
Zhu Zhanji kicked over the incense burner on the ground, scattering incense ash all over the ground.
The chief eunuch knelt on the ground, trembling.
"Yu Qian! My grandfather, Emperor Taizong! My father! I haven't been willing to kill him for three generations! And you, brat, have made him a firecracker!"
"Someone come here!"
"Your servant is here!"
"Immediately have that eunuch named Wang Zhen sliced into a thousand pieces!"
"Have the Ministry of War prepare! I will personally lead an expedition against the Oirat! I will emulate Prince Qiyang (Li Wenzhong) and annihilate their clan!"
Beneath the heavens, China has endured for millennia.
At this moment, all of Zhu Qizhen's actions are despicable!
Qin Shi Huang, Ying Zheng.
"Such scoundrels! How dare they call themselves rulers!"
Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin.
"If this Zhu Qizhen is my son, I will surely kill him! To prevent him from bringing disaster to the country and its people!"
Emperor Qinzong of Song, Zhao Huan, stood up passionately, pointing at the sky with a trembling voice!
"I am truly a wise ruler!"
In the sixth year of the Tianshun reign, Zhu Qizhen's face was ashen.
Every word on the sky felt like a knife piercing his heart.
He heard every word Liu Yan said, and it seemed he also heard the opinions of the world and the angry rebukes of the emperors.
Zhu Qizhen's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was completely dead.
He slowly closed his eyes, a smile that looked even more unsightly than crying tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"So, in the eyes of later generations, I am actually a tyrannical ruler comparable to Jie and Zhou?"
Zhu Qizhen suddenly burst into laughter, laughing until tears streamed down his face.
"The Tumu Crisis was my fault, and the Emperor's infamous betrayal is a stain I can never wash away. But! I now wish to be a good emperor!"
Zhu Qizhen did not continue speaking, but the expression on his face visibly faded.
Liu Yan's evaluation was like the final nail driven into Zhu Qizhen's coffin, forever nailing him to the pillar of shame that has etched a thousand years into Chinese history.
In the sky above, Xu Miaoyun sighed with a touch of melancholy.
"Good people never get rewarded."
Upon hearing this, Liu Yan sighed softly.
"This was Yu Qian's own choice, and it was also Yu Qian's inevitable fate."
"Emperor Jingtai is seriously ill and has no son. If he were to send troops to suppress the coup on the night of the coup, it would be a subject overthrowing the emperor and defying the legitimate dynasty. He would not only be branded as a 'rebel,' but it would also trigger an internal war within the imperial family, resulting in bloodshed in the capital."
"For the Ming Dynasty, which had just suffered a severe blow from the Tumu Crisis, this was a second upheaval that it absolutely could not afford."
Faced with this situation, Yu Qian knew that no matter who won, the emperor would still be from the Zhu family, and the world would still belong to the Ming Dynasty.
"So he chose to die in exchange for peace in the world."
"Yu Qian's loyalty was never to any one person on the dragon throne, but to the entire world and the millions of ordinary people."
As Liu Yan finished speaking, Xu Miaoyun's mood became somewhat downcast.
In her simple understanding, a hero who saved a country should not have met such an end.
Such a tragic end, where good people don't get rewarded, is hardly worthy of Yu Qian's life.
Liu Yan seemed to sense Xu Miaoyun's emotions and said with a smile.
"History is a magnificent epic, every page of which is filled with the glory, vicissitudes and regrets of the Chinese nation."
"At the moment when Yue Fei reined in his horse and looked back at Zhuxian Town, and at the moment when Xin Qi shouted 'Kill the traitors' before his sickbed, tragic emotions surged like waves crashing against the dam of history."
"The fall of Zhuge Liang, a star of generalship, at Wuzhang Plains illuminated the starry sky of the Chinese spirit of selfless dedication until death."
"Yu Qian's green tomb outside Chongwen Gate buries the civilized genes of leaving behind a pure reputation in the world."
"Therefore, the ups and downs and grandeur of history often lie in these regrets one after another."
"And within this crack of regret, they have transformed into starlight that will forever illuminate the future."
"Therefore there is no need to mourn them, for they have already fulfilled their historical mission."
Upon hearing this, Xu Miaoyun looked up and nodded, seemingly regaining her spirits.
From day to evening, Liu Yan talked a lot, recounting the features of Nanjing and the stories that had happened in this city.
Xu Miaoyun listened attentively until the moonlight climbed up the city wall.
Liu Yan led Xu Miaoyun to a luxuriously decorated hotel.
Leaving behind the hustle and bustle of the city, I pushed open the door and was greeted by a dim, warm light.
Hot water sprayed mist from the showerhead, and the soft bed seemed to wash away the day's fatigue.
Liu Yan looked up at the sky and spoke.
"Thank you all for joining us in the live stream today!"
That's all for today's live stream. See you again tomorrow at the same time!
As Liu Yan's voice faded, the sky instantly darkened.
During the Hongwu reign, the officials who had followed Zhu Yuanzhang to watch the sky for days finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Today felt like riding a roller coaster, it was so thrilling, their hearts couldn't take it.
Zhu Di, who was hanging there, was in tears! Finally! It was finally over!
Inside the Yongle court, Zhu Di trembled as he looked at the suddenly closed canopy!
"You! You! You brat, what are you trying to do to my Miaoyun?!"