Chapter 5 Section 5 Chinese-style political laws

In the thirty-first year of Hongwu (AD 1398), at three o'clock in the morning on May 10th, the moment that the people of the empire had been waiting for for many years finally arrived: Zhu Yuanzhang died.Zhu Yun ascended the throne. No matter how you look at it, Zhu Yun is the most ideal successor to the empire: From appearance, he is personable and talented; from talent, he is smart and intelligent; from knowledge, he is diligent and studious, familiar with classics; The most important quality - character, Zhu Yun is outstanding.Zhu Yuanzhang called Zhu Yun "a benevolent and filial friend" in his posthumous edict, which is hardly an exaggeration.

In the twenty-three years of Hongwu (1390 A.D.), the prince had a boil on his body, and the pain was so painful that he couldn't sleep. The grandson waited beside him, touching her with tears in his eyes, and never left day and night.Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was moved and said: "If there are descendants like this, why should I worry about my return?" After the death of the prince, the grandson was extremely sad.Zhu Yuanzhang was very distressed, and persuaded him: "You can't lose your character, and you are also polite. You are sincere and pure, and you don't miss me?" The grandson just ate a little porridge.Before that, he had not eaten or drank for five days.

Before Zhu Yuanzhang's death, his grandson waited by his side day and night, his clothes were not untied, and the spit pot and drowning utensils were presented by himself.When these things spread, all the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty sighed. As for ability, there is nothing to criticize.After being established as the emperor's grandson, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered his grandson to follow him to practice government affairs, and he handled the daily memorials. The grandson was young and mature, and the results were generally more thoughtful.In particular, Zhu Yuanzhang was harsh in dealing with things, but the grandson Changji was lenient, and all the officials were secretly happy, hoping that the grandson would take over as soon as possible.

Now, that day has finally arrived.Although it was a great funeral, on the surface there was grief, but in fact, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty breathed a sigh of relief.The cruelty of the old emperor has finally become history, and the new emperor is holy, benevolent and filial, which is really a blessing in the world. However, not everyone is so optimistic.There are so few people who smell the crisis in the peaceful weather.In an autocratic system, when the new emperor ascends the throne, the top priority is to consolidate his authority and eliminate all actual and potential challenges.Now, the founding military officials have been killed by the emperor, and those who can pose a threat to the throne are those uncles and fathers who hold heavy troops.

The background color of Chinese political history is mutual suspicion.The kings and emperors are suspicious of each other, and can only judge each other with the greatest malice.This is an inevitability determined by Chinese-style political laws.The emperor suspected that the kings coveted the throne, and the kings worried that the emperor would destroy themselves.Hemp stalks beat wolves, both ends are afraid.It was originally out of the intention of self-protection, however, it formed a situation of facing each other with knives. Xinjun is a scholar. After familiarizing himself with the Twenty-Two Histories, he has a good understanding of the power and wisdom in history.

After ascending the throne, all thoughts were focused on how to eliminate the threat of the kings.Coincidentally, the Xinjun's confidants also thought of this.At the beginning of Emperor Jianwen's accession to the throne, two civil servants Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng secretly wrote a letter, suggesting that the emperor cut down the vassal.Among the vassals, the most dangerous one is obviously Yan Wang Zhu Di.