My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 2 Zhu Yuanzhang's Blood Pressure

After shaking the letter paper, Zhu Yuanzhang continued reading.

The writer's writing style and tone were full of ridicule towards the royal family. He wanted to see to what extent this person could fabricate their "Old Zhu Family".

"Let's get back to the point. Although her birth was not as noble as that of Empress Changsun, Empress Ma was as good a model for the country as any in terms of character and virtue."

"Throughout Chinese history, there are only a few virtuous wives who can rival Empress Ma. Even the famous Empress Zhangsun can hardly compare to her."

"Hmm? I didn't expect that although this man is so bold and has no respect for the royal family, he thinks so highly of our sister?"

Zhu Yuanzhang felt a strange emotion in his heart, and he rarely thought that this person's words were quite pertinent.

Although the purpose of the writer of the letter is unknown, from the current perspective, the writer and the recipient seem to be arguing about the historical evaluation of Empress Ma.

The person who wrote the letter obviously identified more with Queen Ma.

"As for what you said, Zhu Yuanzhang did not achieve anything except establishing the Ming Dynasty, I absolutely cannot agree with that.

Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a humble family and experienced countless hardships. He started out as a toddler, then became a monk and joined the rebel army. In the end, he established an immortal cause. Throughout history, in terms of the difficulty and achievement of starting a business, he is the first person except for teachers.

It may not be so concrete just by looking at the words, so let me put it this way, now you have a broken bowl in your hand, and next you are asked to drive out the Tartars, restore China, and restore the glory of the empire, go!

How about it, do you have a sense of the picture? "

"Start with a bowl..."

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a long time, feeling angry and amused.

What makes me angry is which unfilial descendant dares to make fun of me like this?

What’s funny is that the saying of starting with a bowl is extremely interesting. When people couldn’t survive, didn’t they just rely on a broken bowl to beg for food?

Although the statement is a bit exaggerated, it does not seem to be wrong, as if he started out begging with a broken bowl.

Expel the Tartars and restore China. It seems that this person's evaluation of himself is fair and objective.

It's strange, although this person is quite disrespectful to the royal family, why does he praise himself so highly?

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't figure it out, and he had never heard of this teacher before.

The writer put the teacher above himself. I guess in his mind, the teacher is the best person in the world!
I really want to see it!
However, the next sentence almost made Zhu Yuanzhang furious again.

"But years of suffering have made him cold and suspicious..."

Zhu Yuanzhang's brows were twisted into a rope, and his anger, which had just subsided a little, was rising again.

"Your words are too harsh!"

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care about what others said about his experiences when he was young, and he would even brag about that period from time to time, boasting that those people of noble birth were no match for a poor commoner like himself.

After all, he often called himself Huaiyou commoner.

But to say he is cold and suspicious? Does that mean he thinks his life is too long?

If he knew the concept of blood pressure, he might shout at this time, "This thief successfully cured my low blood pressure!"
"Empress Ma was virtuous and kind, which just neutralized Zhu Yuanzhang's violent temper. As the saying goes, a virtuous wife helps her husband half the way, and Empress Ma was a model of a virtuous wife."

The letter said that he had a violent personality, which Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely dissatisfied with.

But after seeing that his sister was virtuous and had moderated his violent temper, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a rare sense of recognition in his heart.

"Why is Empress Ma considered a rare virtuous wife among all the empresses in Chinese history? There are several reasons for this."

Zhu Yuanzhang perked up and wanted to see what the thief had to say about him.

"First, Guo Zixing was instigated by someone to put Zhu Yuanzhang in solitary confinement and not allow him to eat. It was Empress Ma who stole the steamed buns, hid them in her arms, and secretly gave them to Zhu Yuanzhang. The hot buns burned her skin.

Empress Ma then gave her property to Guo Zixing's wife and concubines, begging them to intercede for Zhu Yuanzhang, which saved his life.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart was touched by something, and his thoughts drifted back to that glorious time.

At that time, he had made many military achievements under the command of Guo Zixing, but Guo Zixing was of hot temper, jealous of talented people and protected his shortcomings. He believed in slander and threw him into the dungeon. He was just looking for an excuse to kill him, but it was Empress Ma who rescued him after much effort.

When Zhu Yuanzhang thought of the burn scar on Empress Ma’s chest, his eyes became red again.

"Second, when Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang were in a decisive battle, Chen Youliang led his troops eastward and headed straight for Jiangning. Zhu Yuanzhang personally led his troops to resist. With the powerful enemy at the gates of the city, some officials and residents in the city planned to flee, while others were busy hiding gold and silver and hoarding food.

It was Empress Ma who used all her wealth to reward the soldiers, stabilizing the army's morale and playing an important role in Zhu Yuanzhang's victory."

"Throughout history, there have been only a handful of queens who have been able to achieve these two things."

Zhu Yuanzhang also nodded repeatedly. These words touched his heart.

"However, these two points alone cannot fully prove that Empress Ma was the mother of the country."

Zhu Yuanzhang's curiosity was piqued and he stared at the letter intently.

"Although Ma was the queen, she was hardworking and frugal, not arrogant or extravagant, and had good skills in managing the harem and raising her husband and children.

"Strictness as love" was the principle that Empress Ma used to treat her children. She required her children to be hardworking and frugal, and not to accept rewards without merit. She treated her adopted sons Mu Ying and Li Wenzhong with great kindness and took good care of them as if they were her own children."

"My sister, it is true!"

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed deeply and felt very uncomfortable when he thought of Empress Ma's lung disease.

"Of course, Empress Ma's greatest achievement was to stop Old Zhu from making mistakes."

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw the words "Old Zhu is being foolish", he suddenly felt his blood pressure soaring again.

"Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to issue banknotes in the early days of his reign, but encountered difficulties in the preparation process. One night, he dreamed that someone told him, 'If you want to succeed, you must take the heart of a scholar.'

After Zhu Yuanzhang woke up, he thought about what the man in his dream had said, and couldn't help wondering, did he want him to kill the scholar and take his heart and liver?

However, Empress Ma reminded him that the so-called heart and liver were the articles written by the scholars. Zhu Yuanzhang was very impressed and immediately ordered the relevant officials to present the scholars' research experience, which eventually enabled the Baochao to be issued smoothly.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked all over and was horrified!

Only he and his sister knew that he had dreamed about the scholar's heart. How did the thief know about it?
I became more and more curious about who wrote the letter and how he knew such a secret!

But that time, it was indeed the girl who reminded me, which made it possible for the Baochao to be issued smoothly.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang would never admit that he had made a mistake.

"Perhaps because of this, after Empress Ma's death, Zhu Yuanzhang became cruel and cruel, suspicious and jealous, and killed many founding heroes, leading to the great changes in the early Ming Dynasty after Hongwu."

"Because there is no more Queen Ma to persuade him to stay calm."

Cruel and cold, suspicious and jealous?
Kill the founding heroes!
Great changes in the early Ming Dynasty after Hongwu!

If the previous contents of the letter only made Zhu Yuanzhang's blood pressure rise and fall, then after reading this, Zhu Yuanzhang's mood was no longer enough to be described as shocked!

Although the world is vast, who dares to say that Zhu Yuanzhang is cruel, cold, suspicious and jealous?

Among the many founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty, Li Shanchang, Lan Yu, Xu Da, etc., which one was not a good brother of Zhu Yuanzhang who shared life and death with him?

How could Zhu Yuanzhang do such a cold-blooded thing?
What nonsense! What absolute nonsense!

Even Hu Weiyong was corrupt, lawless, and caused public outrage. He started killing people because the prime minister's power threatened the imperial power!

And what happened to the great changes in the early Ming Dynasty after Hongwu?

Could it be that someone dared to rebel?

It’s a rebellion, it’s really a rebellion!

But how did this person get this information?

Especially the great changes in the early Ming Dynasty after Hongwu, like a sharp thorn, pierced deeply into Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.

Once these words were spread, they would probably cause a huge shock to the entire government and the country!
Could this person be able to predict the future?
Or maybe the writer was just making it up?
But if it was just nonsense, how did this person know what happened in his dream?

If what this thief said is true, then wouldn't my Ming Dynasty be in danger?
No, I have to find this person and ask him clearly!

In any case, Zhu Yuanzhang had made up his mind to find the person who wrote the letter.

Damn it, why hasn’t that bastard Mao Xiang come yet? Does the Jinyiwei commander still want to do this?

(End of this chapter)