In the fifteenth year of Hongwu's reign, Jinling City was decorated with plain flags like snow.
When Zhu Xiongying knocked open the heavy cedar boards in the coffin, he was greeted by Zhu Yuanzhang's icy eyes that looked at auspiciousness and evil. The eldest grandson of the emperor who "resurrected from the dead" has since stepped into the Hongwu abyss that is more dangerous than recorded in history books.
During the three years of lying dormant while pretending to be ill, he quietly forged the weapon that would change the Ming Dynasty:
- The gauze curtain in the East Palace blocks not only mosquitoes and flies, but also the shadow of malaria sweeping across Jianghuai.
- The slurry taken from the cow was turned into a salvation charm, writing a miracle of livelihood in the plague-ravaged city
- When the black smoke of burning coke rose from the iron factory, the nobles of Yingtianfu smelled the rust of power for the first time.
In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, when the prince who was destined to die in the history books was critically ill:
Yanbei's cavalry sharpened their swords by the Yellow River,
The noble's party members tore up the list of craftsmen's households,
Remonstrations from civil servants were piled up in the General Secretary's copper cabinet.
The overseas tree bark held out by the emperor's eldest grandson is putting the fate of the Ming Dynasty on the gambling table.
When Zhu Yuanzhang held the boy tightly in his hands stained with soot and walked through the smoke-shrouded Longjiang Pass, the old emperor's hoarse questioning penetrated the roar of the machine:
"The sun and moon will last forever, can the Ming Dynasty flourish?"
The black smoke from Yingtian Mansion floats to the north wrapped in unfinished answers——
Under the oil lamp of Qingshou Temple in Peking, a page of Buddhist scriptures with strange and intricate paintings is being bound.
Reader comments
In the eighth year of Hongwu, not long after Zhu Xingying was born. Next time I'll make sure the time is correct before writing.
In the eighth year of Hongwu, not long after Zhu Xingying was born. Next time I'll make sure the time is correct before writing.