When Zhu Biao Became Li Shimin's Crown Prince, Li Chengqian

After dying, Ming dynasty Crown Prince Zhu Biao was reborn as Li Chengqian, the lame crown prince of the Tang dynasty.

Li Shimin realized his crown prince had changed. He’d become as terrifying as Wei Zheng, bluntly pointing out Li Shimin’s mistakes again and again. He wailed inwardly, “I must have been out of my mind to make Wei Zheng the Crown Prince’s tutor. The student has truly surpassed the master!”

Even the Eastern Palace’s advisers, who prided themselves on speaking frankly even at the cost of their lives, felt outdone and turned around to ask the crown prince to teach them.

With his pride wounded, Li Shimin began favoring Li Tai even more. Seeing the admiration and affection in his son’s eyes brought him some comfort. At least Qingque wouldn’t criticize him. What he hadn’t expected was that while he doted on Qingque, the crown prince doted on him even more.

He watched as Qingque’s admiration shifted to the crown prince, as Qingque joined the crown prince’s side and learned to speak frankly in remonstrance.

Li Shimin: “...”

In a fit of anger, he resumed his post as Supreme General of the Heavenly Strategy and personally led his troops to expand the empire’s borders. When he returned victorious and saw the crown prince’s accomplishments as regent, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but lift. He praised him to everyone he met: “My son Gaoming could be an emperor for the ages.”

Zhu Biao, with fifteen years’ experience as regent: “You flatter me, you flatter me.”

After Zhu Biao ascended the throne, he took the character “Ming” from his courtesy name and changed the dynasty’s name to Ming. With peace reigning across the land, he performed the Fengshan Sacrifice at Mount Tai: “May the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers endure forever, and may the Great Ming endure forever.”

Theme: Better to love a pinch of soil in your hometown than ten thousand taels of gold in a foreign land