The 30th year of Shenwu is the 30th year of Zhu Hong’s Three-Direction World, and it is also the 360th birthday of Zhu Hong.

Zhu Hongsan was born in the 48th year of Wanli, that is, 1620, and now it is 1680, exactly 60 years.

Sixty is in his sixties. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty did not live long, and only a few lived past sixty years old, so Zhu Hongsan was planning to celebrate his birthday on the third day of the first lunar month.

Early in the morning of the third day of the first lunar month, civil and military officials gathered in Fengtian Hall to celebrate their birthdays for the rulers of the empire.

Zhu Hongsan was very interested and came to the ceremony with the eunuch to accept the worship of the ministers. However, when Zhu Hongsan sat on the dragon throne and saw the dense heads below, he suddenly felt very sad.

Zhu Hongsan is already sixty years old, and in his previous life he has lived for nearly a hundred years. As he grows older and his memory loses in recent years, the memories of the two lives have begun to overlap, making Zhu Hongsan sometimes have no idea of ​​the era he is in.

Today, when he saw the ministers and the princes congratulations, Zhu Hongsan was in a daze and returned to the time when he was the emperor in Guangzhou.

At that time, the civil servants and military generals were full of talents, and the new army had a strong combat power. Zhu Hongsan was just thirty years old at that time, and it was the time to be full of energy. But now? Zhu Hongsan is already old and has to get up to go to the bathroom two or three times at night.

It is undeniable that Zhu Hong was the third elder. He looked at the ministers below and sighed and said, "Get up!"

The ministers stood up after carrying out a three-kow-nine bow and bowing ceremony under the leadership of Chief Military Affairs Minister Zhang Jiayu. After Tong Yangjia, Zhu Hongsan abolished the cabinet prime minister system and straightened the General Military Affairs Department to replace the cabinet system. Because Zhang Jiayu did not belong to the Huguang Group and the Donglin Party, and was an old man around Zhu Hongsan, he became the military affairs minister and has been serving as the military affairs minister for eight years.

After several purges, Zhang Jiayu had extremely profound political experience. After hearing Zhu Hongsan's tone, he knew why the emperor sighed. It was very simple. He was old and he felt that he had no successor.

In fact, Zhu Hongsan was also upset about this matter. Zhu Hongsan, the queen of Li Zhu Hai, began to train other princes, but the other princes who disappointed Zhu Hongsan were not the same. The third prince Zhu Huai was obese and narrow-minded, so he was not a benevolent king. The fourth brother Zhu Yuan, like his grandfather, was sarcastic and mean, and he did not understand the way of being a king, nor was he a good successor. As for other princes, they were similar, either because they were not capable or had various shortcomings in their personality, so the position of the prince was still empty.

Although Zhu Hongsan has been ruthless in the past decade, 30,000 to 40,000 officials across the country were in trouble, either exiled or lost their heads, it was precisely because Zhu Hongsan suppressed the civil servants' power and minimized the political cost, so that the emperor's will was perfectly implemented.

Now the cabinet system has been abolished, and the military office that can only be knelt down and the military office of Jun En replaced the cabinet. Therefore, the whole country had to follow Zhu Hongsan's will. The party struggles that had plagued the Ming Dynasty from the Wanli period were completely resolved. Because the entire country had no restraining power, the whole country showed a prosperous scene.

Data obtained from the second clearance of land in Shenwu for the second time in the 26th year of Shenwu, the population of the country has recovered to 100 million people before the war in the late Ming Dynasty. At the same time, due to the emergence of the post-war baby boom, the entire country has shown a vigorous weather.

In the military, the Imperial army had defeated the Junggar tribe. The empire territory had expanded to the Palacio Mountains in the northwest, and to the west it had bordered the white heads of Kazakhstan. The north had completely resolved the Russians' infiltration into the Heilongjiang River Basin and signed a treaty with the Russians. Russia officially recognized the Ming Dynasty's sovereignty over the various Mongolian tribes in Siberia.

In the south, the Imperial army had defeated the coalition forces between the Dutch and the British, and the Manraga Strait became a major transportation route for the Ming Dynasty to control foreign ships to enter the South China Ocean. In the south, the Imperial army had annexed the Indochina Peninsula, the Bingfeng had entered India, and several small countries in the south of India also separated from the British and Dutch colonization and joined the Greater Chinese civilization circle.

Due to the booming economic development, the national fiscal revenue in Shenwu reached 70 million silver dollars in the 29th year. Although it is not as high as 160 million RMB in absolute value, it has surpassed the Northern Song Dynasty according to the degree of silver depreciation and has become the richest dynasty in Chinese history.

This development speed of the country is based on absolute authority. Without the collective checks and balances of civil servants, Zhu Hongsan can govern the country according to his own wishes. However, as a modern person, Zhu Hongsan knows that authoritative rule is very useful during the recovery period, but it is very unfavorable for the long-term stability of the country. Because authoritative rule can easily make officials bureaucratize. Anyway, if you take care of everything, you can control it. We officials can just be monks and beep for one day.

Therefore, if the empire continues to develop like this forever, we must return to the real system of the false kings during the Longqing and Wanli periods. Although this system has various disadvantages, such as fierce party struggles, internal struggles consume national strength, etc., the benefits are also obvious, that is, there will be no major changes in the national government. Even if there are aliens like Liu Jin and Wei Zhongxian, because of the extremely large power of civil servants, they will automatically repair them to the correct route.

Because of this, Zhu Hongsan knew that he had entered old age. At the same time, because he was not in good health, he probably couldn't live for a few years, so he was very anxious about choosing a qualified successor in recent years.

Zhu Hongsan sat on the dragon throne and listened to the chief military minister Zhang Jiayu reciting the official documents of the congratulations. He looked at these ministers without a familiar face. Most of the civil and military ministers who followed him to conquer the world died at the hands of Zhu Hongsan. At that time, Zhu Hongsan did not feel inappropriate in his heart to kill them in order to maintain the rule, but today he saw this scene, Zhu Hongsan missed the previous scene very much. It turned out that I was old!

Listening to Zhang Jiayu's formula-like congratulations, Zhu Hongsan waved his hand and said, "Okay, don't read Zhang Aiqing. I am very happy that you can celebrate my birthday. Each person will receive a one-year salary reward. You have nothing to do to leave the court!"

Zhu Hongsan's official salary is not low. As a first-rank official, Zhang Jiayu was 15,600 silver dollars a year, so all the civil and military officials in the court were very happy and kowtowed to thank the emperor for his grace.

Zhu Hongsan nodded and stood up and returned to the palace. Now Zhu Hongsan's women in the harem have basically died almost. Ma Xiaofang died in Guangzhou, Ma Ruyan was sentenced to death by Zhu Hongsan, the imperial concubine Qian Yuting died of illness last year, the eldest princess Zhu Meiyu died two years ago, and the princess Zhu Youjia died of illness in the same year. Bian Yujing died of death in the 21st year of Shenwu. All other women have died of illness in these years, either died of illness or offended the emperor. Therefore, the entire harem is now deserted, except for some newly selected palace maids, there are no women outside.

The current harem leader is the imperial concubine Xu, who was newly elected into the palace in the 22nd year of Shenwu. Because she looked like Ma Xiaofang, she was favored by Zhu Hongsan to become an imperial concubine. However, Concubine Xu knew that this emperor was very easy to kill. The imperial concubine in the past died at the hands of the emperor, so every time Concubine Xu saw Zhu Hongsan, she was trembling, afraid that something would be wrong with her doing that angered the murderous demon king.

Zhu Hongsan was very annoyed when he saw Concubine Xu's appearance. This woman looked like Ma Xiaofang but was not as lively as Ma Xiaofang. When she got into bed, she was like a dead fish. After losing her freshness towards Concubine Xu, Zhu Hongsan also began to get tired of her.

Seeing Concubine Xu like this, Zhu Hongsan frowned and said, "Okay, you don't need to serve him anymore, you can go down!" Hearing the emperor say this, Concubine Xu was like a general amnesty, and quickly stood up and retired.

After Concubine Xu left, a little eunuch came in to inform Zhang Jiayu that Zhu Hongsan is now becoming more and more authoritarian. Perhaps the only thing he dares to say in front of him is Zhang Jiayu. It just so happened that Zhu Hongsan was in a bad mood today and needed someone to explain it, so after hearing Zhang Jiayu’s visit, he quickly let him in.

Zhang Jiayu had just seen Emperor Zhu Hongsan in the hall. Zhang Jiayu was an old official and immediately knew why the emperor was in a bad mood. So he met the emperor later in the scattered court, just to make the issue of successor.

Zhang Jiayu is the teacher of Prince Li Zhu Hai, so Zhang Jiayu has always supported Zhu Hai on the issue of successor. However, Zhu Hai made such a big mistake back then, and it was very difficult to convince the emperor to re-establish Zhu Hai as the crown prince. However, Zhang Jiayu knew that the emperor would not live forever and the emperor would die. In order to be the chief military minister after the emperor's death, Zhang Jiayu had to take Zhu Hai to the throne.

Zhu Hongsan looked at Zhang Jiayu coming in and saluted and asked, "Aiqing Zhang, what's the matter with you coming to see me?"

"Your Majesty, I seemed unhappy when I saw Your Majesty at the meeting just now. Can I tell you something and let me enlighten you for your Majesty!"

Zhang Jiayu and Zhu Hongsan are about the same age. When they were in Guangdong, Zhang Jiayu was half a friend, so today Zhang Jiayu dared to ask this question. If he changed into other ministers and saw Zhu Hongsan so scared that he would pee his pants, how could he dare to help the emperor?

Zhu Hongsan sighed when he heard Zhang Jiayu say this and said, "Hey, I just saw that the court was full of young ministers, and I only have you left with my old people. You are old, and I am old too!"

Zhang Jiayu bowed and said, "Your Majesty raised his troops from the last moment and drove out the Tartars to restore the Ming Dynasty. Such achievements are comparable to those of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Taizu of Song, and Emperor Gaozu of our dynasty!"

Who is Zhu Hongsan? He knew what Zhang Jiayu wanted to say when he heard what Zhang Jiayu said. In his later years, his sons fought for the throne, and finally caused the prince and King Li Tai of Wei to be deposed, and Li Zhi, a middle-aged man, became the emperor. The same was true for Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, and the sound of candle shadows and axes in his later years was unclear. As for Zhu Yuanzhang, it was almost the same. As for Zhu Yuanzhang, his son started the Jingnan Campaign as soon as he died. In a few years, he knocked down the legal successor selected by Zhu Yuanzhang to the ground and became the emperor himself.

These emperors were all very skilled in martial arts when they were alive, but they did not choose the successor after their death, which caused the government to turmoil. So today Zhang Jiayu came to see Zhu Hongsan not to explain his Majesty, but directly suggested that you should choose the successor when the emperor was the one who should choose the successor.

When Prince Li Zhu Hai was just deposed, some ministers also proposed that they wanted to establish a crown prince for the sake of the country. However, Zhu Hongsan was still young and strong at that time, and never thought that he would choose a successor so early. In addition, the other princes were still young at that time, so Zhu Hongsan was going to wait.

But this has been waiting for more than ten years. Zhu Hongsan is already sixty this year. Who knows how many days you can live? If the emperor suddenly dies, what should I do in this country? What should I do in the government? Could there be another Eight Kings Rebellion?

Zhu Hongsan is not a foolish emperor. He knew that Zhang Jiayu was also considering the country, but now Zhu Hongsan has not decided on the successor yet, so there is no way for Zhu Hongsan to ask: "Yuanzi, who do you think is suitable for this prince?"

Zhang Jiayu was overjoyed when he heard the emperor's words called him, and knew that there was a chance today. However, Zhang Jiayu could not directly propose that Zhu Hai be the crown prince again, as the traces were too obvious.

"Your Majesty, the prince is the foundation of a country. How dare I guess it? Please make your majesty arbitrary decision!"

In fact, Zhu Hongsan also had a candidate in his heart, that is, the eldest grandson of the emperor, Zhu Shengduo, but Zhu Shengduo's uncles are all here, and they are still in their prime. If Zhu Shengduo directly ascends the throne, then it would be better to wait until Zhu Hongsan dies! Zhu Di launched the Jingzhan that year because Zhu Yunwen disrespects the emperor's uncle.

Zhu Hongsan pondered for a moment and said, "Yuanzi, the eldest grandson Zhu Shengduo, I bowed deeply, how do you think of him?"

When Zhang Jiayu heard that there was a family: "Your Majesty, the eldest grandson of the emperor is missing a generation after all. What if he is allowed to be the crown prince then what should other princes do? What should I do if the ethical principles are? Also, Prince Li is still there now, so it is impossible to bypass his father and directly enthrone the crown prince!"

Zhu Hongsanyi thought that the same was true, but what should I do?

"What should I do if Yuanzi thinks? Don't worry, today there are you and my king and minister in this room. Just tell me what happens!"

After receiving the emperor's instructions, Zhang Jiayu began to make a long speech: "Your Majesty has been in power for 30 years, his martial arts are extremely powerful, and the people of the people have also been recuperated. The most important thing is to choose that prince to allow Your Majesty's concept of governing the country to continue!"

Zhang Jiayu followed Zhu Hongsan for the longest time. He knew what the emperor liked to listen to, and of course he liked to flatter him the most. In fact, Zhang Jiayu had been the imperial steward for eight years, and I don’t know what the people are like now. Because the war has never stopped in the past 30 years of founding, the imperial finances have almost been dragged down by the military. It is true that the annual fiscal revenue is 70 million silver dollars, but it is spent half of the border war every year. If this country continues, it will repeat the mistakes of Emperor Yang of Sui.

There are 200,000 soldiers fighting on the border of the empire all year round, and India is quite good. After all, India now has a population of 40 to 50 million, and the Ganges Plain is still a grain-producing area, so the Indian war is still a balanced income and expenditure. However, Zhang Jiayu didn't know why the emperor wanted to use troops in the northwest. After leaving Yumen Pass, it was a desert, where the population was sparse and the people were brave. At the same time, because there was no infrastructure at all, the supply of the imperial army was completely transported from the Central Plains, and the country could not support it.

If Ma Mingyuan and other powerful ministers were still alive, they would not agree to the emperor doing this. However, the emperor killed all his opponents and used his strong will to persevere in the Northwest War for so many years. However, as the steward, Zhang Jiayu knew that the Northwest War would not be over. Now the country is prosperous on the surface, but 80% of the people's financial resources have been drained. If this continues, the country will cause chaos.

As the country became like this, Zhang Jiayu was naturally anxious as the butler. But this is why Zhang Jiayu was smarter than Ma Mingyuan. He would not directly raise objections in the face of the emperor, but instead tactfully wake the emperor from the side. Even if the emperor did not listen to Zhang Jiayu, he would not refuse to let go. Anyway, the country belongs to the emperor, so you can do whatever you say. This is one of the reasons why Zhang Jiayu was able to escape the previous purges since the fifteenth year of Shenwu.

Zhang Jiayu first said a piece of nonsense to praise the emperor, and then said that this successor should choose someone who continues your philosophy of governing the country. Zhang Jiayu knew that the emperor would never know nothing about the situation among the people. This emperor had the Jinyiwei in his hand and must have mastered various trends among the people. Therefore, Zhang Jiayu bet that the emperor also had the intention to repent.

Zhang Jiayu really bet right. Zhu Hongsan came from later generations and was not a high-level person in this life. He understood the sufferings of the people too much. However, the northwest border is too important to the future. You must know that half of China's own oil produced in later generations comes from Xinjiang, and it must be taken down for future generations to the northwest and Siberia.

However, according to the productivity of the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible to supply the wars of the army in the northwest, so Zhu Hongsan faced the same problem as Yongzheng a few years ago, that is, the northwest became a useless rib, and he could not fight and retreat. However, good news came from the 28th year of Shenwu. Russia, which was also expeditioning thousands of miles, could not hold on anymore. Finally, he had a peace talk with the Ming Dynasty to give up Siberia. Without Russia's support, the Mongols who could not even eat food in the northwest should also surrender.

Therefore, Zhu Hongsan's policy after his death should not be expansion, but to maintain success. Choosing a king who maintains success is what he should do at present.

Zhu Hongsan is very optimistic about Zhu Shengduo. After all, Zhu Shengduo is old and has been to Liaodong with Zhu Hongsan. He is quite familiar with military affairs. At the same time, Zhu Shengduo's performance in recent years is very consistent with Zhu Hongsan's wishes, so Zhu Shengduo is currently the best candidate for successors.

But Zhu Shengduo's other sons must be dissatisfied. Zhu Hongsan doesn't want the whole country to be in chaos after his death. This is the most troublesome thing for Zhu Hongsan at the moment.

Zhu Hongsan thought for a while and said, "I am interested in Zhu Shengduo, Yuanzi, what do you think should be like?"

Zhang Jiayu was waiting for the emperor's words. Zhang Jiayu said carefully: "Your Majesty, Prince Li is the best choice in terms of being a king and governing. In addition, the eldest grandson of the emperor is the eldest son of Prince Li, so he will be the eldest son of the eldest son! If Your Majesty re-establishes Zhu Hai as the crown prince, wouldn't Zhu Shengduo become the legal successor of the empire? I hope Your Majesty thinks twice!"

Zhang Jiayu was extremely careful when he said this. Although he was the emperor's confidant, the emperor probably had Alzheimer's disease in recent years and had a capricious temper. However, after Zhang Jiayu said this today, the emperor was not angry, but touched his beard and pondered.

Zhu Hongsan put too much effort into Zhu Hai. Back then, Zhu Hongsan was by his side to teach him how to govern the country. Zhu Hai did not disappoint Zhu Hongsan's high expectations and was a good master in governing the country. At the same time, Zhu Hai also trained his efforts in politics. It was a typical example that he wanted to control Zhu Hongsan with the help of the Qin King Zhu Jiang. However, Zhu Hai's methods were not as good as Zhu Hongsan's.

When he thought of his son plotting against him, Zhu Hongsan, he got angry: "Yuanzi, but the facts that the rebellious son did back then cannot be forgotten!"

"Your Majesty, I also have a son. My son will punish him and teach him the principles of being a human being. If he does not repent, I will use family law! Prince Li did something wrong back then, but Prince Li kowtowed to the north in Fengyang every day for more than ten years, and insisted that he had not interrupted for fifteen years. I think the closest relationship in the world is the father-son relationship. Now my son knows that the wrong father cannot forgive him?"

What Zhang Jiayu said was very well-established and deeply touched Zhu Hongsan. Yes! Zhu Hai is his son. His son just makes a mistake and becomes a father's discipline. How can he never meet in his life?

Zhu Hongsan pondered for a moment and asked, "But the prince was made a big mistake back then. If the prince was re-established, I would be afraid of criticism from the court!"

Zhang Jiayu was overjoyed when he heard the emperor say this. It seemed that his efforts today had resulted.

"Your Majesty, when the prince was young, he didn't understand the world. He was encouraged by Ma Mingyuan to do something wrong. After fifteen years of reflection, he must have known that he was wrong!"

Zhang Jiayu was right. Ma Mingyuan is the prince’s teacher and father-in-law. He just needs to put all kinds of shit on his head. Anyway, Ma Mingyuan is dead, so he can deduct whatever he wants.

Zhu Hongsan thought for a moment and said, "I am tired today, Yuanzi will go back!"

Zhang Jiayu heard the emperor say this and knew that the emperor had agreed. The next step depends on how he operated.

After returning home, Zhang Jiayu immediately prepared and submitted a memorial to exonerate Prince Li on the first day of work on the 16th day of the first lunar month. The content was very simple. Zhu Weiguan had already known that he was wrong for fifteen years. When he was angry, he believed in the instigation of the treacherous minister Ma Mingyuan. Please forgive Prince Li.

Zhang Jiayu is the prince's teacher, and it is nothing to defend the prince, but this memorial is too scary. When all the officials in the court thought that Zhang Jiayu was going to be unlucky, they knew that the imperial edict was sent from the palace the next day, and the emperor agreed and ordered Prince Li Zhu Hai to move out of Fengyang Royal Prison and return to Beijing to monitor his residence.

Everyone knows what happened when the emperor's imperial edict was released. The emperor was preparing to reinstate the crown prince, so soon some Qingliu Censors in the court began to write a letter to exonerate Zhu Hai, saying that Zhu Hai was a good son blinded by Ma Mingyuan, and now he asked the emperor to reinstate the crown prince. These ministers all said justice, as if the emperor would hang himself collectively if he did not make Zhu Hai the crown prince.

Zhu Hai left Fengyang, who had been detained for fifteen years, returned to Beijing on the tenth day of the fifth day. He immediately went to the palace to pay homage to his father, Zhu Hongsan. The father and son cried bitterly and let go of their past grudges.

On the first day of the sixth month of the thirty year of Shenwu, Zhu Hong conferred the title of Prince Li Zhu Hai* as the King of Qi three times. Then on the second day of the sixth month, Zhu Hai was renamed the crown prince.

At this time, Zhu Hongsan was already sixty years old. His years of fighting had greatly consumed his body and he did not have the energy to govern such a large country. Therefore, on the first day of the first lunar month of the 31st year of Shenwu, Zhu Hongsan issued an order saying that all matters in the country would be eliminated from the prince in the future, which marked that Zhu Hongsan began to delegate power.

On the fifth day of the sixth month of the 32nd year of Shenwu, Zhu Hongsan finally ushered in his term. In the Qianqing Palace of the Forbidden City in Beijing, all of Zhu Hongsan's sons knelt all over the ground, and even the deposed Qin King Zhu Jiang who was locked in Fengyang was released. Zhu Hongsan looked at his sons and said with satisfaction: "I have lived for a hundred years in two lives, and I am content! The prince has done a good job in the past few years. I am very relieved that you can be a good emperor in the future!"

Zhu Hai is now forty-five years old. Seeing that he is finally going to achieve success, thinking about the hardship he has suffered for more than 40 years and seeing his father die, he couldn't help crying loudly: "Father, you will be fine!"

Zhu Hongsan held Zhu Hai's hand and smiled, "Silly child, how can a person not die? After I die, you must treat your brothers well and be a good emperor. I and your mother will be satisfied in heaven!"

When Zhu Hongsan mentioned his mother Ma Xiaofang, Zhu Hai was even less controlled and he knelt down and cried.

Zhu Hongsan was already confused and looked at Fang Liang and said, "Xiaofang, you are here, are you here to pick me up? OK! I will take you to take a car, take a plane, and eat KFC!"

Zhu Hongsan's voice slowly became lower and finally became silent. The heroic Emperor Shenwu finally ended his legendary life.
Chapter completed!