Volume 1, Chapter 35: Could the Yongle Emperor Have Died So Suddenly?
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The moment Prince Zhu Di asked his question, even the old Emperor Zhu, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Yourong grew tense.
“There was no defeat!” Jiang Lin shook his head in denial.
Seeing him shake his head, everyone present let out a sigh of relief.
“If I didn’t lose, then why were you stammering?” Zhu Di asked.
Jiang Lin gave Zhu Di a complicated look before slowly saying, “Your Highness, you may not have lost this, your fifth campaign, but you did not win either.”
“Arutai fled to the Dalan Namu’er River. Although the Ming army pursued him at full speed, they still found no trace of him when they reached the river.”
Bang!
Upon hearing this, Zhu Di slammed his fist against the table in fury.
“Damn it!”
“How did that fellow escape again? This is infuriating!”
His voice was filled with anger. He had completely immersed himself in the story.
Zhu Biao was swept up in the mood as well and hurried to comfort him.
“It’s all right, Fourth Brother. You’ll surely catch him next time. He may evade us today, but he cannot escape forever. Sooner or later, we’ll capture him and wipe out Arutai’s forces!”
Zhu Yourong chimed in, “That’s right! Fourth Brother is so formidable. You’ll definitely succeed next time!”
Yet at that moment, Jiang Lin suddenly said, “There won’t be a next time…”
The room fell silent.
It was a silence unlike any they had ever experienced.
The old Emperor Zhu, Zhu Biao, Zhu Di, and Zhu Yourong all turned toward Jiang Lin, their eyes filled with confusion.
There won’t be a next time?
What did he mean by that?
Could it be…
A terrible thought arose in Zhu Di’s mind.
That was right!
He had launched five campaigns against the Mongols during his lifetime. If there were a sixth, or even a seventh, why had Jiang Lin not said anything about another campaign?
With Zhu Di’s temperament, how could he possibly give up so easily?
There could only be one answer…
At that thought, the light faded from Zhu Di’s eyes.
He placed the last sliver of hope in Jiang Lin, desperately wishing to hear some good news from him.
“On the eighteenth day of the seventh month in the twenty-second year of the Yongle era, Zhu Di died of illness at Elm River while returning from the campaign. He was sixty-five years old.”
As Jiang Lin’s words fell, the already quiet room instantly sank into absolute silence.
Thud, thud, thud!
Zhu Di failed to keep his balance and staggered backward several steps.
There was nothing to be done about it.
Anyone in the prime of life who suddenly learned the date of his own death would have found it difficult to accept.
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Zhu Yourong nudged Jiang Lin in the arm and reproached him, “Why would you bring that up out of nowhere? How depressing!”
“Ahem!” Jiang Lin cleared his throat and continued, “According to the historical records, the death of the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, is generally believed to have been caused by…”
“Because he fervently believed in Taoism and took so-called elixirs of immortality for many years, severely damaging his health. He eventually fell ill while returning from his northern campaign and died despite treatment.”
“These so-called elixirs contained excessive amounts of heavy metals, and taking them caused chronic heavy-metal poisoning.”
“The First Emperor, who was obsessed with immortality, as well as Emperor Taizong of Tang and many other emperors of the Tang dynasty, suffered similar fates.”
The instant he finished speaking, Emperor Zhu struck Zhu Di hard across the back without the slightest warning.
“Outrageous! How did you end up believing in such nonsense? How could anyone possibly live forever?”
“Over the years, countless people have offered me all kinds of immortal pills. I rejected every single one because I understood this principle.”
“Remember this well. From now on, you are absolutely forbidden to touch any of those fraudulent, nonsensical substances. If I ever find out that you have, I will deal with you severely.”
“Do you understand?”
The old Emperor Zhu stared intently at Zhu Di and suddenly raised his voice.
The unexpected blow startled Zhu Di badly, and it had hurt him quite a bit as well. He was terrified.
He nodded. “Father, I under—understand!”
“Good. As long as you understand!”
Only after seeing Zhu Di nod did the old emperor let the matter go.
Now that Jiang Lin was here, his Biao’er would not die young, and Fourth Brother would never seize the throne.
Naturally, he did not want his son to meet the tragic end of dying from taking immortal elixirs.
At that moment, a thought occurred to him.
Perhaps he should…
Add a prohibition against taking immortal elixirs to the ancestral instructions for all his descendants.
That way, he would at least eliminate one possible cause of death for them.
Jiang Lin’s words had also been etched firmly into Zhu Di’s heart.
After witnessing all the miraculous things in that household, Zhu Di now had absolute faith in everything Jiang Lin said.
If he wanted to stay alive, he must never touch any immortal elixirs.
Immortality, indeed…
Taking that stuff would only make him die sooner!
The old Emperor Zhu turned to Jiang Lin and said, “Enough. Continue telling us about Fourth Brother’s other achievements.”
“All right. The Yongle Emperor accomplished far too much in other areas.”
Zhu Di immediately perked up at this. “Oh? Is that so? Such as?”
“For example…” Jiang Lin folded his arms across his chest and fell into thought.
“Hmm… The Yongle Emperor’s son, Zhu Gaochi, was truly remarkable!”
“Huh?” Zhu Di stared at him in bewilderment. Wasn’t Jiang Lin supposed to be praising him? How had the conversation suddenly turned to his son?
“There is a saying among later generations: Zhu Di was Emperor Hongxi’s great general in charge of the northern campaigns.”
“Without Zhu Gaochi holding down the rear, Zhu Di would never have been able to run wild in the north!”
“Oh, go to hell! If you know how to tell a story, then tell it. If you don’t, shut up!”
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Those two remarks from Jiang Lin completely struck a nerve with Zhu Di.
Umm…
He gave Jiang Lin a strange look.
What was he supposed to make of that?
Was it praise or an insult?
Fine, fine. Was Jiang Lin just taking a roundabout way of saying that, apart from fighting wars, he was useless at everything else?
What did this mean? Was his entire reign as the Yongle Emperor dependent on his son?
Nearby, Zhu Biao revealed a trace of envy.
Hearing about Zhu Gaochi’s performance had inevitably reminded him of his own son, Zhu Yunwen…
They were both sons. So how could the difference between them be so enormous?
Seeing the resentful look on Zhu Di’s face, Jiang Lin burst out laughing.
“I was only joking!”
“As emperor, how could you have no exceptional qualities or achievements?”
“First of all, you launched five campaigns against the Mongols and earned the honor of being associated with Mount Langju Xu, placing you alongside the great general Huo Qubing. That alone proves how valiant you were.”
“Second, you conquered Annam, established the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration Commission, and founded the Nurgan Regional Military Commission in the northeast.”
“To put it simply, during the Yongle era, the territory of the Great Ming reached its greatest extent.”
“Most importantly, the Yongle Emperor organized the compilation of the Yongle Encyclopedia.”
“That book was extraordinary. Later generations called it the greatest encyclopedia in world history, and one of the symbols of Chinese civilization.”
“But the achievement that impressed me most, the one I admire above all others, was moving the capital to Yanjing and building the Forbidden City.”
“There is a saying among later generations: The Son of Heaven guards the nation’s gates!”
“Well said! The Son of Heaven guards the nation’s gates. Fourth Brother, you have made me proud.”
Emperor Zhu looked at Zhu Di with admiration in his eyes.
“Fourth Brother, very good. You made an excellent emperor!”
Although Fourth Brother had taken his grandson’s throne, he had not disappointed him.
The old Emperor Zhu had long since lost most of his anger toward Zhu Di. In its place remained nothing but immense pride.
The scene of Zhu Di being chased and beaten by him the day before was still fresh in his mind.
Yet now, seeing the admiration in Emperor Zhu’s eyes, the fear in Zhu Di’s heart weakened somewhat. He even cast a slightly smug glance at his elder brother, Zhu Biao.
“I told the Crown Prince earlier that the Yongle Emperor’s voyages to the Western Oceans, led by Zheng He, allowed the Great Ming to recover rapidly and laid the foundation for the prosperity that followed.”
“The military expenses for his five campaigns against the Mongols, as well as the money needed to compile the Yongle Encyclopedia, were all funded by overseas trade!”
The old Emperor Zhu instinctively cried out, “What? Overseas trade can make that much money?”
…
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