roccoschili Chapter 15: Amidst the ridicule of countless dynasties, Emperor Qinzong of Song: Compared to him, I
Chapter 15: Amidst the ridicule of countless dynasties, Emperor Qinzong of Song: Compared to him, I
During the Hongwu reign, Zhu Yuanzhang, who had not yet recovered from the shock of being roasted chicken in a clay pot, suffered another heavy blow!
"In the Tumu Crisis, 500,000 elite troops were wiped out, and the emperor was forced to surrender..."
Every word Liu Yan uttered was like a knife stabbing at Zhu Yuanzhang.
"The emperor has been captured! And they're helping the enemy open the city gates for their own people! Is this something a human being would do?"
The courtiers in the hall dared not speak.
They were more frightened today than in the past ten years combined.
At this moment, they admired Zhu Yuanzhang greatly, after all, it was truly remarkable that he could still be sober at this point.
Xu Da's facial muscles twitched as he muttered to himself.
"Five hundred thousand elite troops, three major battalions, a century of accumulation, all wiped out in one war?"
As a founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Da knew better than anyone what these 500,000 elite troops meant!
That was the wealth that Zhu Yuanzhang built step by step from being a beggar; it was the capital for driving out the barbarians and restoring China; it was the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.
That's it? Gone just like that?
Liu Bowen stopped stroking his beard completely. He stared blankly at the sky, remaining silent for a long time without uttering a single word.
"With lofty vision and benevolent blessings, with abundant support and constant assistance..."
Zhu Yuanzhang began reciting the naming terms for the sons of the Prince of Yan again. At this moment, his voice was like a tight headband, and Zhu Di felt a headache just listening to it.
Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, who had been hanging to the side, was filled with despair. Why? Why? Why am I always the one who gets hurt?
Zhu Yuanzhang held the jade belt in his hand and looked at the terrified Prince Yan, Zhu Di.
"Good! Fourth son! Look at the fine son and grandson you've raised!"
"A clay pot braised chicken, and a doorman!"
"Your lineage has completely disgraced the Zhu family!"
"Today I'll show you what a fucking surprise really is!"
In the fifth year of the Yongle reign, in the Fengtian Hall of Shuntian Prefecture.
Zhu Di's expression was beyond just "ugly".
It was a near-collapsed, iron-blue color.
He had just been establishing his authority as crown prince when, in the blink of an eye, the heavens revealed to him that his great-grandson, his direct descendant Zhu Di, was actually a prince who had been forced to become emperor.
"Zhu Qizhen!"
Zhu Di murmured the name, his voice hoarse.
"Is he Zhanji's son?"
Zhu Zhanji, who had been mocking his second uncle, immediately stood at attention.
Good heavens! Am I really going to die today?
"Zhanji, come to Grandpa."
Seeing the chilling smile on Zhu Di's face, Zhu Zhanji was about to cry!
In other people's cases, the son pays for the father's debts, but in his case, it's the father who pays for the son's debts.
Zhu Gaoxu, who had been kneeling on the ground in despair, suddenly seemed to see a glimmer of hope again!
Suddenly, the headache and backache disappeared, and a bright smile appeared on my face.
In the eighth year of the Xuande reign, inside the main hall, Zhu Zhanji could no longer sit still.
He stood up, then sat down, then stood up again, pacing back and forth in the hall like a trapped wild beast.
"Knock on the door, Your Majesty! Strip naked and parade through the streets!"
Zhu Zhanji gritted his teeth, his voice filled with anger and shame!
"My son has become a mere doorman for the emperor? A disgrace! A complete disgrace!"
Upon hearing this, the eunuch serving nearby quickly spoke up.
"Your Majesty, His Highness is still very young. If Your Majesty teaches him well, perhaps in the future..."
"Maybe what!"
Zhu Zhanji interrupted the eunuch directly.
"What is said on the celestial screen are all events that have already occurred in later generations!"
"My son! He will one day lead the army into battle! He will be captured! He will be forced to knock on the door! This is an unchangeable fact!"
At this moment, Zhu Zhanji was completely on the defensive!
With the sky visible to all dynasties, Zhu Zhanji could almost certainly conclude that there must have been one in the Yongle reign as well!
And now, he could almost see his second uncle's gloating expression!
The Qin Dynasty, Xianyang Palace.
The First Emperor, Ying Zheng, remained seated before his desk. The roasted mutton in front of him had cooled completely, and the fat had solidified into a thick, white layer.
He didn't touch his chopsticks, his gaze fixed intently on the sky.
"Knocking on the door, Your Majesty! A prisoner of a foreign race!"
Ying Zheng murmured softly, his tone filled with undisguised disgust.
"Such a humiliating disgrace, does he even deserve to be called the Son of Heaven?"
The first year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, Taiji Palace.
Li Shimin's brows were furrowed at this moment!
"How utterly incompetent these later rulers were!"
"He has absolutely no integrity! To be considered a ruler of our Chinese nation alongside him is an immense disgrace!"
Changsun Wuji, who was standing to the side, spoke up.
"Your Majesty is a man of extraordinary talent, far surpassing that of Zhu Qizhen!"
Li Shimin waved his hand, interrupting Changsun Wuji.
"I'm not boasting, I'm just wondering, how could an emperor be so incompetent?"
"Believing the eunuchs too easily, the emperor personally led the expedition, resulting in the annihilation of an army of 500,000."
"Fuji, tell me, will my Tang Dynasty produce an emperor like this someday?"
Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji's expression immediately turned serious.
"Absolutely impossible! His Majesty is skilled in managing his household, and his princes are all intelligent and virtuous. In the future, our Great Tang will surely be a harmonious place for brothers and for the emperor and his subjects to be of one mind."
Li Shimin nodded upon hearing this.
"That's right, our Great Tang should be like this."
In 1100 AD, during the third year of the Yuanfu era of the Northern Song Dynasty, in Bianliang, the capital of the Eastern Capital.
Inside the Prince Duan's residence, the future Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, is currently painting in the courtyard.
The story of the "Knocking Emperor" on the screen left him speechless. He forgot to put down his pen, and ink dripped onto the rice paper, leaving a black stain, but he didn't even notice.
"The emperor was captured, yet he still helped the enemy knock on the door!"
Emperor Huizong muttered to himself, his face full of disdain.
"For a king to suffer such humiliation, I would rather die than endure such disgrace!"
The personal eunuch standing nearby smiled and said something upon hearing this.
"What is said on the sky is all about things hundreds of years in the future, Your Highness need not take it to heart."
"You mind?"
Emperor Huizong put down his pen, stood up, took a few steps, and suddenly smiled.
"I don't mind it, I just find it funny."
"The phrase 'Emperor of the Gate' is simply a legend!"
After a moment, Zhao Ji finished laughing, suddenly stopped smiling, and stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"However, if I were the emperor, I certainly wouldn't be that stupid."
"The emperor leading an expedition in person? That's too dangerous. It's safer to stay in the palace painting and writing calligraphy."
After saying this, Zhao Ji sat back down at his desk, picked up his brush, and continued painting under the light of the sky.
The painting depicts plum blossoms, defying snow and frost.
At this moment, Emperor Huizong was completely unaware that later, when Liu Yan took Xu Miaoyun to tour Kaifeng, he would mention a term called "the humiliation of Jingkang".
In the tenth year of the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song Dynasty, the cold wind of the grasslands stung the face of Emperor Qinzong of Song, Zhao Huan. More than ten years of captivity had long since worn down the emperor's sharp edges and blown away all the glory and power he had once longed for.
But looking at the voice coming from the sky, the emperor who had single-handedly destroyed the century-old foundation of the Song Dynasty slapped his thigh and excitedly spoke.
"Damn! Compared to Zhu Qizhen, I am a wise ruler!"
Shifting the focus back, Liu Yan continued speaking.
"Looking back over two thousand years of Chinese history, from the unification under the First Emperor to the Xinhai Revolution and Sun Yat-sen's overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, there have been a total of 422 emperors."
"If we were to rank the ten most incompetent emperors in history, Zhu Qizhen would easily be in the top three!"
"Eunuchs interfering in politics, the emperor being summoned to the capital, the restoration of the Southern Palace, the wrongful killing of meritorious officials—these are all acts that have left an infamy for eternity, too numerous to recount!"
In the sixth year of the Tianshun reign, Zhu Qizhen, whose head was covered in silver needles, had just been awakened by the imperial physician. Before he could even recall what had happened, Liu Yan's sharp criticism of him came flooding in.
Zhu Qizhen felt his defenses crumble! He couldn't catch his breath and fainted again.
Upon seeing this, the eunuch beside him immediately shouted again.
"Oh no! His Majesty has fainted again from anger! Help!"