The Sky Has Fallen

"Chongba, don't forget that we are now in the future. Since the girl said there is a problem, she must be right," Empress Ma realized.

Obviously, the historical records must have documented and explained something.

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang fell silent.

It wasn't that he hadn't realized this, but deep down, he was unwilling to accept it.

The root cause of the Great Ming's downfall actually started with him!

"According to historical records, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang had a total of twenty-six sons and sixteen daughters," Jiang Yanran said.

Zhu Yuanzhang was slightly taken aback. "That's... not that many."

Beside him, Li Shimin couldn't help but spit out his mouthful of food. "Twenty-six sons and sixteen daughters make forty-two children in total. Aren't you a bit too capable of having kids?"

"But even so, according to the imperial clan support system I established, we should be completely able to afford them," Zhu Yuanzhang said stubbornly.

"Then have you ever thought that your sons and daughters would also have children? Forty-two children, even if each of them only had two, that would be eighty-four people."

"If these eighty-four people each had two more, how many would that be?"

"Generation after generation, dare you imagine what a massive number that would become?"

Pausing slightly to ponder, Jiang Yanran then continued, "According to historical records, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were nearly three hundred thousand members of the imperial clan."

"Even if each person only received one hundred shi of grain a year, three hundred thousand people would require thirty million shi. May I ask, during the Hongwu era, what was the annual grain tax of the Great Ming?"

Faced with Jiang Yanran's question, Zhu Yuanzhang fell silent, his scalp tingling.

The grain tax during the Hongwu era was roughly around thirty million shi.

To think that the imperial clan members alone would devour the entire annual tax revenue!

No wonder she said the root cause of the nation's downfall lay with him.

Thinking about it now, she wasn't wrong at all.

"Chongba, now that we know all this, we can definitely avoid it once we go back," Empress Ma said.

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath and nodded earnestly. Then, he respectfully bowed to Jiang Yanran. "Thank you for informing me, young lady!"

"No need to thank me. I just know a bit of history, but the one who can truly change history is Qin Ning. He is the only one who can take you time traveling back and forth. If you want to thank someone, thank him," Jiang Yanran smiled.

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma quickly turned to face Qin Ning and bowed, "Thank you, sir!"

Qin Ning waved his hand. "Let's eat first. The food is getting cold."

"Alright."

Soon, everyone resumed eating.

But Zhu Yuanzhang really couldn't hold back the doubts in his heart and asked Jiang Yanran again, "Young lady, now that I know there is a problem with this imperial clan support system, I will definitely make changes after going back. However, since I have the opportunity to visit the future, naturally I still want to ask a few other questions..."

"It's fine, ask away. I'm quite familiar with Ming history and will tell you everything I know," Jiang Yanran smiled.

"My Great Ming... how long did its reign last?"

"The Great Ming's reign lasted a total of 276 years, passing through sixteen emperors. It began with Hongwu and ended with Chongzhen."

"Speaking of Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian, although he was the ruler of a fallen nation, the later generations' evaluation of him is actually mostly quite good."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was puzzled. "A ruler of a fallen nation can actually receive a good evaluation?"

Jiang Yanran didn't speak but took out her smartphone, found a short video clip about Emperor Chongzhen, and handed it to Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma.

"I have reigned for seventeen years, and now the rebels are pressing upon the capital. Although my virtue is thin and my conduct lacking, incurring the wrath of heaven and leading the rebels to the capital, it is all the ministers who have misled me. Upon my death, I have no face to see my ancestors in the netherworld. I strip off my crown and cover my face with my hair. Let the rebels dismember my corpse, but do not harm a single commoner!"

"Respectfully sending off the Emperor of the Great Ming!"

Watching the short video where Emperor Chongzhen ultimately hanged himself on Coal Hill, accompanied by only a single eunuch, Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma couldn't help but feel a surge of mixed emotions, their hearts aching with sorrow.

"This looks like Beiping?" Empress Ma noticed a blind spot.

"It is Beiping."

Jiang Yanran nodded. "During the reign of Ming Cheng... uh, no, Ming Taizong, also known as Emperor Yongle, the capital was moved north, thereby inaugurating the most unyielding dynasty in history."

"Throughout the Great Ming Dynasty, there was no bowing as vassals, no paying of tributes, and no peace marriages. The Son of Heaven guarded the nation's gates, and the monarch died for the state."

"This is the high summary and evaluation of the Ming Dynasty's foreign policy and imperial integrity by later generations."

"Good, good, good!"

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but laugh heartily. "What a 'Son of Heaven guards the nation's gates, and the monarch dies for the state'!"

Empress Zhangsun spoke up, "Ming Taizong, Emperor Yongle? To have founded such an iron-blooded Great Ming, it seems that later generations' evaluation of Biao'er is not low either. Since ancient times, how many have dared to be called 'Great Emperor'?"

"In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, Crown Prince Zhu Biao was ordered to inspect Shaanxi. On his way back, he caught a severe cold and ultimately passed away because it was incurable," Jiang Yanran poured a bucket of cold water directly over them.

"Buzz!"

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma only felt their heads buzzing, almost fainting on the spot.

After recovering, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Biao... Biao'er he... he actually passed away in the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu? He left before me? How is this possible? Just a mere cold..."

"What do you mean 'a mere cold'? In ancient times, the mortality rate of a severe cold was not low at all. However, you actually bear a lot of responsibility for the Crown Prince passing away from it," Jiang Yanran stated.

"I have responsibility too?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned somewhat pale.

"After the Hu Weiyong case, the prime ministerial power that had lasted for a millennium collapsed overnight, and the affairs the emperor had to handle increased as a result. Who was doing all this work?"

"It was Crown Prince Zhu Biao."

Jiang Yanran continued, "To put it bluntly, he was literally worked to death by you. Long-term, high-intensity work caused his health to deteriorate, and ultimately, a small cold took his life."

"Zhu Chongba!"

Empress Ma shouted angrily, slamming the table and standing up. "You, you... you actually worked our Biao'er to death! You, you..."

As she spoke, she almost couldn't catch her breath.

Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly supported her. "My dear, don't be angry. Don't... don't we know these things now? Once we go back, I will definitely reduce Biao'er's workload and have the imperial physicians on standby by his side at all times!"

Saying this, he quickly changed the subject and asked Jiang Yanran, "Young lady, in that case, the Emperor Yongle you just mentioned must be my good eldest grandson, Xiongying, right?"

His eyes were filled with affection as he looked toward the sofa not far away. Zhu Xiongying and Little Sizi had already finished eating, and at this moment, the two little ones were sitting harmoniously on the sofa, watching a cartoon playing on the TV.

However, Jiang Yanran shook her head and sighed, "In the fifteenth year of Hongwu, the eldest imperial grandson Zhu Xiongying died of illness."

"Xiong... Xiongying he..." Empress Ma only felt a wave of dizziness.

Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly supported her, but before he had time to ask anything else...

Jiang Yanran's voice rang out once again, "In August of that same year, Empress Ma passed away from illness."

Boom!

A thunderbolt seemed to explode completely within Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, as if the very sky had collapsed.

"My dear wife, my eldest grandson, my Biao'er..."