History Recap: Jiajing Is MVP, Zhu Di Gets a Free Ride!

In the eighth year of Yongle, Zhu Di returned to court after personally leading a campaign against the Tatars, and a sky screen from a parallel world appeared. [The Jiajing Emperor of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Houcong, gets the MVP. The Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, gets a free ride!] Watching the sky screen show the Jiajing Emperor elevate his temple name from Taizong to Chengzu through the Great Rites Controversy, Zhu Di leapt to his feet in fury and slammed the table! “Outrageous! I led the Jingnan Campaign to purge the court of traitors and inherited the legitimate line of the Taizu. How dare a collateral branch, descended from a concubine, usurp the throne and corrupt the rites of our ancestral temple!” “Investigate! Check his paternal line back three generations!” “I want to see which sour scholar at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices dares to be another Fang Xiaoru and change my temple name!” “Draft an edict! From now on, anyone who discusses making me Chengzu will be treated as a rebel, and their entire clan will be exterminated!” Using information from the sky screen, Zhu Di strengthened central authority and suppressed the civil officials, finally changing the sky screen's verdict. Then a new sky screen appeared. [The Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Di, gets the MVP. The Hongwu Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, gets a free ride!] In the thirteenth year of Hongwu, as the young Zhu Di was about to leave for his fief, the Hongwu Emperor narrowed his eyes at the Ming Taizong shown on the sky screen. “Fourth Son, how exactly did that throne end up under your backside?”