Great Ming: Reborn, I Won’t Be a Benevolent Ruler Anymore!

I am Zhu Biao, Crown Prince of the Great Ming. In my previous life, I died in the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu. I thought my virtuous secondary consort, Lady Lu, would take good care of my legitimate son, Zhu Yuntong. I thought my illegitimate son, Zhu Yunwen, would treat his younger brother well. But from inside my coffin, I watched Lady Lu support her own son’s ascension to the throne, strip my legitimate son of his status, and drive him to his death in a foreign land! I watched my “benevolent and enlightened” son Yunwen turn a blind eye! What a fine example of a loving mother and filial son! What a fine example of brotherly love and respect! Is this how they repay me?! In the end, the empire changed hands and my son vanished. What a bitterly ironic punishment! Reborn into a new life, I tear the mask of the “benevolent ruler” from my own face. Father, you say Lan Yu is arrogant? Then I’ll make him even more so! I’ll forge him into my blade, one sharp enough to cow every heart that harbors disloyal thoughts! Father, you say the Confucians would govern through benevolence and filial piety? But this is the kind of beast they raise, one that betrays every human bond! In this life, I will strengthen the nation through commerce and industry and launch the great voyages. I will plant the Great Ming’s dragon banners across the world and tell everyone with overwhelming strength: I, Zhu Biao, make the rules! As for my dear son Yunwen… and that Lady Lu? Heh. In this life, I decide who is legitimate and who is eldest. My empire will pass only to my legitimate son! And my dear Fourth Brother, Zhu Di? You’d better behave yourself in Beiping. Make a single move, and I’ll show you that my methods as your elder brother are harsher than Father’s, though not as cruel. I am Zhu Biao, the sole heir to the Great Ming. This time, I will not be a benevolent ruler. For my family alone, I will build an iron-blooded empire!