Suppressing the Feudal Lords

Li Shimin, standing to the side, couldn't help but pat Zhu Yuanzhang on the shoulder to offer some comfort.

Jiang Yanran glanced at him and said, "You aren't much better off, so stop trying to comfort others. In the tenth year of Zhenguan, Empress Zhangsun passed away. Then came Sizi, who only lived to be twelve. Changle also died in the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, and in November of the same year, Crown Prince Li Chengqian passed away."

"No, this is different!"

Li Shimin retorted, "The Great Tang of today has already changed. These historical events will not happen, and I will never allow them to happen!"

At this moment, Empress Ma also recovered her composure and asked Jiang Yanran, "Lass, Xiongying... why did Xiongying..."

"Regarding the cause of the eldest imperial grandson's death, there are no clear records in the official history. Later generations speculated that it was very likely smallpox."

Smallpox!

As soon as these words were spoken, not only Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, but even Li Shimin and the others drastically changed their expressions.

In ancient times, this was an absolute terminal illness with no cure. Once infected, one could only wait for death.

"Xiongying... my eldest grandson!" Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to cry but had no tears.

"Actually, the smallpox theory may not be accurate. According to historical records, during the Hongwu era, there were no large-scale smallpox outbreaks within the imperial palace. It is impossible for the eldest imperial grandson to be the only one infected."

"In addition, there are other deductions from later generations suggesting that the eldest imperial grandson was poisoned. Trace amounts of poison were added to his food over a long period, accumulating little by little until it finally broke out."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang instantly flew into a rage, killing intent revealing itself in his eyes. "Who? Who was it?!"

"The Crown Prince's secondary consort, Lady Lü, who is also the biological mother of Zhu Yunwen."

Jiang Yanran said, and then continued, "Of course, this is only a guess. As for the actual truth, you will have to send someone back to investigate it yourself. I believe with the Embroidered Uniform Guard... oh, it seems there wasn't the term Embroidered Uniform Guard in the eleventh year of Hongwu, but Mao Xiang by your side still has some methods. Just have him investigate."

"Why do later generations guess it was Lady Lü?" Empress Ma frowned.

"Because as the biggest beneficiary, she would naturally be suspected."

"Beneficiary?" Both Empress Ma and Zhu Yuanzhang were taken aback.

"In the winter of the eleventh year of Hongwu, after Crown Princess Chang gave birth to her second son Zhu Yuntong, she passed away from severe postpartum hemorrhage. Later, Lady Lü was elevated to primary consort. Coupled with Zhu Xiongying's passing, the second son Zhu Yuntong was also raised by Lady Lü into a useless dandy. Eventually, Lady Lü's son, Zhu Yunwen, was appointed as the imperial grandson and inherited the throne, taking the reign title Jianwen."

"What? In the end, it was Yunwen who became the emperor?" Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma were both shocked. This was clearly a result they had never anticipated.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned. After a moment of silence, he said, "It is indeed very possible. If Xiongying and Biao'er are both gone, I would definitely choose someone from Biao'er's descendants to inherit the throne. If Yuntong is a dandy, then naturally it could only be Yunwen. No, wait..."

Saying this, he frowned again and looked at Jiang Yanran. "That's not right. You just said that the reign title of Emperor Taizong of the Great Ming was Yongle, but why is Yunwen's reign title Jianwen?"

"Because Jianwen only served as emperor for four years before losing the empire."

At these words, Zhu Yuanzhang was alarmed. "You mean... someone rebelled?! No... you also just said that my Great Ming empire lasted for 276 years, which means... a vassal prince rebelled?!"

"That's right, it was a vassal prince, so the empire ultimately still belonged to your Zhu family." Jiang Yanran nodded.

Zhu Yuanzhang slammed the table and stood up. "Who was it? Such audacity! Since I designated Yunwen as the imperial grandson, then he is the legitimate heir. To actually dare to rebel, just who has such massive gall?"

"Was it the second son?" Empress Ma couldn't help but ask.

Jiang Yanran shook her head. "In the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu, Zhu Shuang, the Prince of Qin, passed away."

"What?"

Zhu Yuanzhang instantly couldn't sit still anymore. "My Shuang'er actually... actually also went ahead of me..."

"In the thirty-first year of Hongwu, Zhu Gang, the Prince of Jin, passed away." Jiang Yanran added another blow.

Boom!

Not just Zhu Yuanzhang, but Empress Ma as well felt their heads grow heavy at this moment, nearly fainting dead away.

Zhu Yuanzhang completely broke down and couldn't help but cry out, "My wife, my eldest grandson, my Biao'er, my Shuang'er, my Gang'er, woo woo woo..."

Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun comforted him from the side, "Don't fret. These are all things that would only happen in history. Now that you have come here, everything can still be changed."

"Right, right, right!"

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's face looked slightly better. After taking a deep breath, he said, "Then who exactly is Emperor Yongle? The second and third sons both went ahead of me. Which other vassal prince could have such great ability? Furthermore, why did you call him Taizong?"

"Because Jianwen's reign title was directly erased by Yongle."

Jiang Yanran said, "Moreover, don't get worked up just yet. Yongle's rebellion was also forced by desperation."

"What forced by desperation."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly. "Rebellion is rebellion!"

"In May of the thirty-first year of Hongwu, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang passed away in the Western Palace of Nanjing at the age of seventy-one, and was buried in the Xiaoling Mausoleum."

"Imperial Grandson Zhu Yunwen ascended the emperor's throne and issued an edict ordering all princes not to return to the capital for the funeral. The princes could only pay their respects from afar in their mansions, facing the direction of the capital."

"After Zhu Yunwen came to power, under the orchestration of the Three Fools of Jianwen, the very first thing he did was set about reducing the power of the vassal princes."

As soon as these words came out, Zhu Yuanzhang's face instantly darkened. "What? Reducing the vassal princes?"

"Actually, Emperor Jianwen was right to reduce the vassal princes. I also told you earlier that by the late Ming Dynasty, the imperial clan members alone numbered nearly three hundred thousand."

Jiang Yanran continued, "But his mistake lay in the fact that the methods he adopted were too cruel. That kind of reduction policy completely left no way out for the vassal princes to survive!"

"In the first year of Jianwen, Zhu Su, the Prince of Zhou, was accused of treason, stripped of his title, reduced to a commoner, and exiled to Yunnan."

"In the same year, Zhu Fu, the Prince of Qi, was demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in Nanjing."

"Then came the Prince of Dai, the Prince of Min..."

"If we are talking about the most tragic, it has to be Zhu Bo, the Prince of Xiang."

Empress Ma asked, "Little Twelve? What happened to him?"

Zhu Bo was only born in the fourth year of Hongwu, so he was only seven years old now.

"In the first year of Jianwen, the imperial court accused Zhu Bo of treason and sent an army disguised as a merchant caravan to Jingzhou. Under the cover of night, they surrounded the Prince of Xiang's mansion. The envoy read the imperial edict, demoting Zhu Bo to a commoner."

"Zhu Bo refused to be humiliated and shouted, 'To live on in disgrace, I cannot do it!' Subsequently, he dressed himself neatly, set fire to the royal mansion, and rode a white horse with a bow and arrow in hand, leaping into the sea of flames. His entire family burned to death. He was twenty-eight years old at the time."

"When Zhu Yunwen learned of this, he flew into a raging fury and bestowed upon him the vicious posthumous title 'Li' to show his condemnation."

"Little Twelve! My Little Twelve..."

Zhu Yuanzhang almost couldn't catch his breath. "That detestable Zhu Yunwen! Not only did he force Little Twelve to his death, but he actually dared to give him the vicious posthumous title of 'Li'! How dare he? How could he dare? That was his own blood uncle!"

"Chongba, none of these things have happened yet." Empress Ma, standing to the side with teary eyes, comforted him like this.