Chapter 1: Commanded in Danger

The beauty is difficult to take care of, the country is still the same, and it is difficult to return to the weak; Indulge in life, carpentry portrayal, the emperor's hegemony is unwilling!

In 1627 AD, that is, the seventh year of the Apocalypse, in August of this year, Ming Xizong died, and the Ming Dynasty came to a crossroads in history. www.biquge.info When Ming Xizong passed away unwillingly, there were countless incomprehensible looks in his eyes. When life is terminated, all hope turns to despair.

The supreme ruler of the Ming Empire, Ming Xizong Zhu Youxiao, completed his short and slightly bleak imperial life, but left behind a huge and dilapidated Ming Empire, which was riddled with holes from the inside out. This ancient dynasty, after the vicissitudes of the years, once again came to the brink of life and death.

The northern Houjin regime of the empire rose rapidly, always eyeing the tiger, always coveting the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains of the Ming Dynasty; Within the empire, the wealthy and big families wantonly annexed land, which directly led to civil unrest, coupled with the deficit of the national treasury, serious corruption of officials, exploiting the people everywhere, exacting taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and oppressing the people's lives more and more difficult; The ruling class of the empire, the eunuch party led by the great eunuch Wei Zhongxian and the Donglin party represented by Jiangnan Shi Dafu, were similar to each other, misleading the country and the people, and further consuming some of the vitality of the Ming Dynasty; Officials of the feudal territory, deducting military salaries, forming a private army, incomplete military equipment, greedy for life and afraid of death, abound in the army, and the combat effectiveness of the army is extremely low; Under the high-pressure rule of the entire Ming Empire, the undercurrent of reactionary forces is surging, and all forces are accumulating strength, waiting for an opportunity to bite the already fragile body of the Ming Dynasty, making the chaos in this already unpeaceful world even more advanced. As the saying goes: the times make heroes, but heroes can also make the times. In troubled times, traitors may be drowned in the crowd of living beings like ordinary ordinary people in the peaceful and prosperous times, but in this eventful autumn that is about to ****, the more turbid the water, the greater their chances of getting ahead. For a time, the empire was turbulent, as the supreme ruler of the Ming Dynasty, the untimely death of Ming Xizong made the entire empire in turmoil, and if you are not careful, the empire will fall back into war. And the reason is very simple, Ming Xizong has no heirs. No heirs meant no legitimate heir to the throne, and the Ming could not afford a war caused by the struggle for imperial power.

The supreme ruler of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youxiao of the Ming Xi Sect, is lying quietly in the center of the mourning hall of the Qianqing Palace at this moment, and the coffin made of golden silk nanmu sets off the last glory of the emperor. He just lay quietly, his face was serene, and he no longer had to pay attention to all the undercurrents in the Forbidden City, and he no longer had to pay attention to all the gloom, and for him, such an ending was not a relief. Clans, ministers, generals, rebels, aliens, factory guards...... There are too many entanglements, and they all come to an end at this moment. The feasts in front of Ming Xizong's coffin were neatly placed with his favorite wines, delicacies, incense tables and other items during his lifetime. On both sides of the coffin stood a white soothing silk woven with fine silk, a little breeze blew into the house, and the soothing silk fluttered gently with the wind, making a gentle swaying sound, as if telling the world the endless heart of the supreme ruler of the Ming Empire, helpless and desolate. Even if you are an emperor, there will be a day when you die, and the struggle for power has become so ridiculous, but there are few people in the world who can understand. The hustle and bustle of the world is all for profit, power, wealth, and sex, and there is only one word "greed" left and right, but in the world, there are a few people who can avoid vulgarity, and a few people who can not be moved by these.

And Ming Xizong is not an exception, all he misses is this supreme imperial power. On the feast in front of the coffin, the most attractive thing is a warship carefully carved from nanmu of fine material, this warship is the size of a palm, with a broad bottom and a wide tip, a sharp head and a wide tail. Two masts stand tall in the middle, and there are three levels of cabins to distinguish carefully. The deck of the ship is carved like a castle tower, and there are guards on both sides. The design is so subtle that Zhu Youzhen, the king of letters, seems to have seen the battlefield filled with gunpowder. Soldiers taking cover behind them and shoot arrows at enemy ships, throwing fireballs, fire bricks, and fire barrels. Why don't you love the country, but you prefer carpentry, but Zhu Youxiao, the Ming Xizong, is left with such a warship in the end. Maybe the entire Ming Palace and the entire Ming Dynasty can't make a reasonable explanation, or maybe this emperor still has some expectations and ideals in his heart.

Looking at Zhu Youxiao of Mingxi Sect who was lying quietly in the mourning hall, his face was peaceful, as if he was asleep. The young Zhu Youzhen had mixed feelings in his heart, and no one would have thought that Zhu Youzhen at this moment was no longer the original prince of the Zhu family, but Chen Yu, a modern person who had crossed over. Chen Yu was originally a graduate of the chemistry department in China, but he liked history, especially the history of the Ming Dynasty, which was also a strange thing in the chemistry department.

However, as a graduate of the Department of Chemistry, systematic chemistry education is indispensable, coupled with the practical needs of interest can not be eaten, in this era when everything is judged by the amount of money, Chen Yu had to follow the crowd after graduation, found a good job in a chemical factory, and began a dull life from 9 to 5.

After settling down, the peaceful life can not make a trace of waves, Chen Yu feels like a walking corpse every day, muddy and nightmare, endless emptiness will come every night, every moment, the only thing that can make Chen Yu resolve the loneliness in his heart is the biography of the Ming Dynasty emperor Chongzhen at the bedside. Finally one day, Chen Yu didn't want to continue to do such a monotonous and boring work, so Chen Yu handed in his resignation, took all his savings, packed his bags, and took the train to Beijing.

Chen Yu's first stop was the coal mountain where Chongzhen committed suicide. Hundreds of years have passed, and the locust tree, which was once famous for Emperor Chongzhen, is still lush and green, but it is a pity that it has long been different. A stone tablet carved in the Republic of China is erected next to a locust tree. Looking at the vigorous font of "Ming Sizong's martyrdom" on the inscription, like a long history, it is telling the world about the sorrow of Emperor Chongzhen and the vicissitudes of ancient Chinese civilization. Chen Yu seemed to have traveled through time and space, looking at this war-torn time of the Ming Dynasty with endless sadness, and for a while he couldn't tell whether it was reality or fantasy.

Just when Chen Yu was immersed in infinite emotion, he didn't feel the changes around him at all. The original bustling crowd has long been gone, and the sky on the coal mountain is suddenly covered with dark clouds, and thick pitch-black clouds are rapidly pressed layer by layer, rolling in the sky, and the slightest lightning flashes and jumps in the clouds, which can cut through the entire sky in an instant, illuminating the already dark sky. The energy in the sky is rapidly accumulating, as if it wants to devour everything in this world, wash away all the filth, and restore the world to a bright future.

Suddenly, in an instant, countless lightning bolts rushed out of the clouds and rushed straight to the ground, enveloping the entire locust tree around fifty meters in it, like a cage formed by lightning, firmly trapping Chen Yu in it. It was only at this time that Chen Yu woke up, and the lightning around him kept shuttling like a silver snake, and gradually approached Chen Yu. At this moment, a bolt of lightning poured directly into Chen Yu's body, which was like a fuse, and in an instant, the surrounding lightning seemed to have found an outlet for catharsis, and all of them poured into Chen Yu's body.

Chen Yu fell into it, didn't even have time to think, and soon lost consciousness. When he woke up again, he had already become the king of faith in the Ming Dynasty. That is, on one day, Chen Yu became Zhu Youzhen, and on the same day, he received a holy decree from the palace, Ming Xizong was critically ill, and urgently recruited Zhu Youzhen into the palace to face the saint.

At this critical moment, Chen Yu was kidnapped by history and witnessed the death of Zhu Youxiao of Mingxi Sect, and it was not until this moment that Chen Yu accepted his identity as Zhu Youzhen. I have lamented the fate of Zhu Youzhen countless times, and I have also tried to imagine whether if I was Emperor Chongzhen at that time, would I lead the Ming Empire out of the haze of history and bring dawn to Chinese civilization. Unexpectedly, because of a sudden thunder and lightning, he really became the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youzhen.

Facing the peaceful Ming Xi Sect, Chen Yu secretly swore that since God gave him such a chance, he would definitely lead the Ming Dynasty out of the haze, Emperor, rest in peace. Zhu Youzhen (as he will be called Chen Yu in the future) is full of passion in his heart at the moment, and there is a trace of worry, in just one day, too many things have happened, and ordinary people can't accept it at all. But Zhu Youzhen belongs to the type where the greater the pressure, the greater the potential, but there is still a lot to be done to adapt to the identity of the emperor from ordinary people, and it is useless to just have a good mental quality. This lying emperor brother left himself a ruined empire, in ruins, how should he get out of this predicament.

Zhu Youzhen knew very well in his heart how capable he was. In the past, it was okay to express my feelings and talk with my classmates. Now from an ordinary person, he is about to become the emperor of the Ming Empire. If in the era of peace, if you are familiar with history and do not have much merit, it is still easy to be a qualified emperor of peace. However, the current Ming Empire, has been stormy, the building will fall, has long been like a dilapidated ship, has reached the end of the line, whether they can in such a troubled era, turn the tide, or let the tragedy of history be staged again, such as the history of Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide again in the coal mountain, and finally even the body does not know whether it can be complete. Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen found that his back was cold, and cold sweat broke out, almost soaking through his clothes.

At this moment, he really wanted to find someone to talk to, even if it was just to talk, it would be much better. However, the cruel reality was in front of him, and he was so lonely in this huge palace.

The Ming Empire was born, and he was born; If the Ming Empire forgets, it will perish. At this moment, his fate has been closely linked to the Ming Empire, with both glory and loss. Zhu Youzhen understands that history has pushed itself to the sea of swords and fires, and he has no way out, no matter what the road ahead, even if there are many dangers, he must go out, even if the road ahead is full of thorns, even if the whole world is bloody, he must lead the Ming Empire to glory.

At this moment, Zhu Youzhen's heart no longer seemed to be confused, and he had unconsciously completed the transformation from an ordinary person to an emperor. In the face of life and death choices, some people can endure humiliation and steal their lives, while some people can sacrifice everything for their ideals and beliefs, and there are also some people who will burst out with incomparable potential, break the crisis, and seek survival in desperate situations.

Zhu Youzhen understood that he didn't have more time to sigh, and now his main task was to ascend the throne smoothly. So the first enemy he faces now is Wei Zhongxian, who is powerful all over the world, a nine-thousand-year-old in the eyes of the world, and a domestic slave of Zhu Youxiao of Ming Xizong.

Wei Zhongxian caused chaos in the dynasty, weaving eunuchs in the government and the opposition, and his minions were all over the place, which had posed a great threat to the imperial power. Zhu Youzhen understood that eradicating Wei Zhongxian's forces was what he had to do to reach the pinnacle of power. The two supervisory forces of the Ming Dynasty, Dongchang and Jinyiwei, must be firmly in their own hands in order to become a sharp blade, otherwise they will be tumors that endanger the society of the Ming Dynasty.

The Northwest Rebellion, the main members are peasants, and these people at the bottom of the society, the fate will never be determined by themselves, survival is their only demand, as long as they can survive, they will not take risks, but it is extremely ridiculous that history always plays a huge joke with them, teasing them again and again, and putting these foundationless people on the verge of life and death. Emperor Chongzhen in history adopted a high-pressure policy towards the peasant uprising, appointed Hong Chengchou and other military generals to vigorously suppress it, trying to suppress the rebellion through bloody suppression. However, the momentum of the rebels is getting stronger and stronger, Li Zicheng's rebellion, Zhang Xianzhong's rebellion and so on have broken out successively, seventeen years, the war is endless, the soldiers are not stopped, the peasant army is small to large, from scattered to centralized, from guerrilla flow to movement mobile combat, and finally hollowed out the basis of the Ming Dynasty, and finally broke through the Beijing division, even Chongzhen was forced to commit suicide in the coal mountain, all of which was unexpected by Emperor Chongzhen. If we want to reverse this situation, if we do not make changes, it will be difficult to bring the situation of Daming back to the normal track. Today's Zhu Youzhen knows very well that repression can only be used as an auxiliary means, and the cause of peasant uprisings is usually due to the lack of hope in life, but as long as there is even a glimmer of hope in life, he will not take this last step. So

The fundamental problem is to solve the life of the people of the Ming Dynasty, the life is rich, the politics is clear, the people's hearts are naturally settled, and the rebel army in the northwest will naturally collapse, so there is nothing to fear.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen has a simple line in his heart, ascending to the throne, eliminating the eunuchs, clearing the party disputes, closing the factory guards, and initially controlling the Ming regime; Prospering agriculture, heavy commerce, expanding shipping, building industry, and prospering the Ming economy; Divide official power, run official schools, abolish eight shares, prosper hundreds of schools, and reform Longxing Daming culture; Train the new army, strengthen technology, appoint meritocracy, govern the locality, and consolidate the foundation of unity and Ming; Forming a clan, dispersing authority, Xiaowang clan, financial management rights, and eliminating the hidden dangers of the Ming Dynasty.