My father, Zhu Di, was granted a second life by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Chapter 65 The Old Emperor Was Furious

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youdun angrily exclaimed, "The ancestral precepts are still in effect; how can he arbitrarily convict someone?!"

The old emperor remained silent for a long time, then asked solemnly, "How can you prove you're not just spouting nonsense?"

Zhu Gaoxi pondered for a moment and replied, "Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng strongly advocate for reducing the power of the princes. You can find out by asking them."

"The Crown Prince once asked Huang Zicheng how to control the various vassal states."

Huang Zicheng believed that although the princes had three guards, it was only enough for them to defend themselves and they were not to be feared. The imperial army was intertwined and supported each other. If the princes started a rebellion, the imperial court would use all the troops in the country to suppress them, and the princes would definitely not be able to stop them.

Huang Zicheng used the Rebellion of the Seven States during the Han Dynasty as an example to illustrate his point. He argued that although the seven states were quite powerful, they were still unable to withstand the imperial court's offensive and were ultimately defeated.

"Huang Zicheng was confident and had a well-thought-out plan. In his view, the imperial court could mobilize troops from all over the country to crush the vassal kings."

"After listening to Huang Zicheng's analysis, the Crown Prince felt confident of victory and therefore decided to use force to weaken the power of the princes."

Zhu Gaoxi embellished the story, vividly portraying Zhu Yunwen's malice towards his uncles.

"Besides your fifth uncle, who else has had their title stripped?" the old emperor asked, barely suppressing his anger.

He couldn't believe that the grandson of the emperor was so foolish as to fail to realize that the support of the princes and members of the imperial clan was the foundation of the emperor's power.

The Ming Dynasty had only been established for a short time, and the country was just beginning to be settled. How could the foundation be consolidated if princes were not enfeoffed?

The Qin Dynasty's failure to implement a feudal system and its subsequent demise after only two generations serves as a cautionary tale.

"The reign title chosen by the Crown Prince is Jianwen."

"In April of the first year of Jianwen's reign, Yunwen sent troops to Jingzhou. To avoid leaks, the troops were disguised as a merchant caravan. Upon arriving in Jingzhou, they unexpectedly surrounded the Xiang Prince's residence."

"Uncle Twelfth was always loyal and proud, but he hadn't even had a son by the age of twenty-eight. His two daughters had died young, but some people with ulterior motives slandered him and accused him of plotting a rebellion. Brother Yunwen didn't conduct any investigation at all and directly issued an order to arrest him."

"Uncle Twelfth was obsessed with learning, reading day and night without eating or sleeping, and he posed no threat to Brother Yunwen's throne, but disaster struck out of nowhere."

"Having suffered such a great humiliation for no reason, Uncle Twelve was filled with shock and anger. He looked up to the sky and sighed: 'Alas! I have seen ministers of the past who, when faced with a tyrannical and corrupt dynasty, would commit suicide when they were imprisoned by imperial decree.'"

"I am the son of the founding emperor, reigning as king in the south. When the founding emperor passed away, I was too ill to attend his funeral, nor could I be there to celebrate. Bearing this profound grief, what joy is there in this world? And now I am to be humiliated by servants? I cannot even bear the thought of merely surviving!"

Zhu Gaoxi really showed off his memory, and continued: "Uncle Twelfth, unable to bear the humiliation, wept bitterly, bid farewell to his family, and then set himself on fire. Everyone in the Prince of Xiang's mansion committed suicide."

Zhu Gaoxi sobbed uncontrollably, "My twelfth uncle is so pitiful!"

The old emperor clenched his fist and slammed it heavily on the table. "This is outrageous! A prince of the Ming Dynasty has been framed for no reason! Those villains deserve to die!"

Zhu Youdun seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire, saying, "I remember that my grandfather once bestowed a jade belt upon each of the princes."

Once, Grandpa wanted to see the ornaments on the jade belt, so he asked everyone to turn around.

But Uncle Twelve turned the jade belt to the front so that Grandpa could see it.

Grandpa asked: Why did you do that?

Uncle Twelf replied: One must not betray one's sovereign and father!

How could such an innocent person possibly harbor any ill intentions?

Zhu Gaoxi wiped away his tears and continued to add firewood to the fire. "What's even more infuriating is that a man of such high moral character as Uncle Twelve was given a vile posthumous title, 'Li' (戾), meaning wickedness or cruelty."

"A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime. Uncle Twelfth's greatest mistake lies in his outstanding talent, being proficient in both literature and martial arts. If one wants to find fault, one can always find a pretext..."

Zhu Gaoxi wept bitterly once again.

"Brother Yunwen did not understand the profound meaning behind Grandpa's enfeoffment. He blindly trusted Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, and others, and resolutely rejected Grandpa's actions, leading to fratricide and bloodshed..."

Zhu Gaoxi spared no effort to intensify the old emperor's anger.

"Go down, let us have some peace and quiet," the old emperor said, his anger reaching its peak, but suddenly overcome with sorrow, and waved his hand dejectedly.

He never imagined that his grandson Yunwen would be so violent and intolerant.

Is he out of his mind to fabricate charges against his twelfth son, who loves reading and traveling?!

If he can't even tolerate the twelfth prince, who else can he tolerate?

It's unlikely that these things were fabricated; if they were, they would certainly be full of loopholes.

After Gao Xi was born, the twelfth prince only returned once.

If Gao Xi hadn't known what would happen later, what gave him the confidence to speak so carelessly in front of us?

Zhu Gaoxi and Zhu Youdun retreated to a side hall.

Seeing the change in You Dun's expression as he looked at him, Zhu Gaoxi couldn't help but worry inwardly whether he had overacted just now.

In the story of Prince Xiang, Zhu Bai, he deliberately omitted the part about Zhu Di sending envoys to contact him and agree to raise an army; the rest was just emotional embellishment.

However, Zhu Bai was truly innocent, because he refused Zhu Di's invitation without hesitation.

Zhu Gaoxi's accusations were so vivid and thorough that they really impressed Zhu Youdun. He never expected that Zhu Gaoxi was so skilled at accusations. From beginning to end, he kept calling out "Brother Grandson" and "Brother Yunwen," but he revealed all of Zhu Yunwen's malice.

This is probably what it means to be sweet-talking but treacherous.

He certainly has the potential to be a ruler.

However, Zhu Youdun could not be happy no matter what.

He vaguely felt that one day, Zhu Gaoxi would call him brother while stabbing him in the back.

Zhu Youdun's change in expression made Zhu Gaoxi extremely uneasy.

In any case, he absolutely cannot lose Zhu Youdun, his staunch ally.

"My brother and my fifth uncle's family suffered greatly on their way to Yunnan. They were constantly scolded by the guards, endured cold and hunger, and suffered all kinds of scorn and harassment. They went through all sorts of hardships," Zhu Gaoxi said, tears welling up in his eyes. "Brother, I am willing to do everything in my power to prevent such a thing from happening again."

Perhaps he was overthinking things. Zhu Youdun smiled wistfully, took Zhu Gaoxi's hand, and said, word by word, "Let's work hard together."

Zhu Gaoxi's heart finally settled back into his stomach.

Zhu Youdun suddenly remembered something, "Zhu Jixi has written several letters to Grandfather, saying he wants to return to the capital to visit him. What do you think about this?"

Zhu Jixi was the heir apparent of the Prince of Jin. After Zhu Biao's death, he ambitiously plotted to seize the position of crown prince. He stayed in the capital for a long time under some pretext, which led to his being disliked by the old emperor.

It is estimated that even now, Zhu Jixi still harbors treacherous intentions and has a strong desire for the position of crown prince.

Zhu Jixi's heir apparent's wife was the daughter of Duke Ying, Fu Youde, whose death was closely related to Zhu Yunwen.

Therefore, the conflict between Zhu Jixi and Zhu Yunwen was difficult to reconcile.

It's good to bring him to the capital. He might be able to draw some of Zhu Yunwen's attention away from us, at least preventing him from focusing on dealing with us.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxi smiled innocently and harmlessly, "Then come back. Maybe Grandpa has been missing him for a long time."