Chapter 12: The Emperor's Happy Life

  Having fun is the most important thing

  In fact, for Zhu Houzhao, whether Mr. Liu Jin is dead or alive doesn't matter much, it's just a change of playmates, whoever you play with is still playing, right?

  Soon after, he picked up a man named Qian Ning. Nothing more will be said about this person, his background is unknown, and he rose to prominence by flattering and bootlicking. Just remember that he's a bad guy.

  Liu Jin is an old man, apart from being obedient, he doesn't have any other strengths. Qian Ning, on the other hand, was different, at that time he was not yet old and could keep up with the trends of the times, whatever was new and exciting he would play along.

  With his help, Zhu Houzhao had a great time, and there are many records of this brother in the unofficial history books, as well as many frightening stories, but I won't say more here. After all, this article is mainly based on official history, and I dare not mislead people casually. As for Brother Zhu Houzhao, who has such a personality, it's still very necessary to spread his legendary story.

  The following events are mostly true stories of Mr. Zhu Huaizhong, please criticize and absorb them, do not imitate, if something happens, the person responsible will not be able to afford it.

  First of all, let's talk about the notorious "Leopard House", a name that usually evokes a sense of something not suitable for children. In fact, this Leopard House is indeed somewhat not suitable for children.

  First of all, the Leopard House is not a brothel, but a palace built by Zhu Houzhao near Xihua Gate. This old brother spent every day here and didn't even go to the harem with three thousand beauties. So what's in the Leopard House that can attract this old brother?

  Because this leopard house not only raised many beauties and musicians found by Zhu Houzhao from all over the country, but also his wildlife park, which raised various animals, most of which were leopards.

  Why raise leopards? You should know that this was decided by Zhu Houzhao after careful selection and repeated experimentation. He often raised wild beasts in the dungeon, hung meat on bamboo poles, and let the beasts bite them. Over time, many wild beasts were also played to death by him. Through careful observation and scientific practice, he found that only leopards had the highest enthusiasm and the most ferocious pouncing action, so he liked raising leopards the most.

  There was such a great place where one could play music, play with people and play with animals, so Zhu Houzhao naturally did not want to leave.

  Let's talk about the woman problem, he has a very bad reputation in this regard (or you could say it's good). After consulting various historical materials, Mr. Zhu Thickly Illustrated may indeed have visited brothels. Of course, he changed out of his yellow work uniform before going, and he was quite law-abiding, reportedly never defaulting on payments.

  As for the principle of "the flowers in the house are not as fragrant as those in the wild", Zhu Houzhao also had some insight into this. He had his empress, and countless concubines and palace maids, but strangely, Zhu Houzhao seemed dissatisfied with these. I am also puzzled by this, possibly because the quality of the concubines who entered the palace in those years was not good, or perhaps Zhu Houzhao was tired of this kind of routine life.

  He did something that made logicians stare, old men sigh, and even his ancestors dare not think about.

  He doesn't like 28-year-old girls who have just been selected into the palace, but likes married women. He is tired of Han people and chooses ethnic minorities. In short, it's just different from others.

  For example, at that time, Ma Ang, the general of Yanwei, was dismissed from his post due to some trouble during his tenure. This brother is a relatively shameless person. He had an idea and sent his own sister into the palace. Originally, there was nothing strange about this, but the problem was that his sister was married and her husband was still alive!

  Zhu Houzhao not only didn't feel there was any problem, but instead accepted everything as usual and was very happy.

  Not long after, he came to Ma Ang again:

  "I heard your little wife is very beautiful?"

  Ma Ang was overjoyed (indeed shameless)

  "As long as His Majesty likes it."

  Ma Ang's little wife entered the palace, and Yang Tinghe knew about it. He was said to be so angry that he almost hit his head against the wall.

  It seems that Mr. Yang's mental quality is still too poor, because the following events are truly unprecedented and will never be repeated in the future.

  Not long after, Yang Tinghe heard a rumor: a pregnant woman had been summoned into the palace by Zhu Houzhao.

  He calmed himself down and told himself it wasn't true, it must be a rumor, it must be a rumor!

  When he came before Zhu Houzhao and saw this young emperor nodding carelessly, he completely collapsed.

  What the hell is going on! A pregnant woman enters the palace, if she really gives birth to a child, what will happen? Whose will it be? Thinking about this master, he has always been unpredictable in doing things. He doesn't like those women with status in the harem, and now he doesn't have any children. What if he takes a liking to this child and claims it as his own? Who knows, maybe one day the Ming dynasty will be inherited by this mysterious child!

  How can this be?!

  Yang Tinghe became more and more afraid, so he ordered his subordinates to keep a close eye on this young ancestor day and night, fearing that he would do something even more outrageous.

  It's okay, in terms of women, this old man stopped here, but Yang Tinghe didn't get excited for long, because the energetic Zhu Houzhao really did something shocking and astonishing.

  According to the records of "Water Margin", in ancient times, if you want to make a name for yourself overnight, there is a shortcut - go up the mountain and fight the tiger. Successful people like Wu Song and Li Kui are glorious good examples, while Mr. Zhu Houzhao, although already very famous, also thought about trying his hand at fighting tigers.

  One day, he specially called for a tiger to be brought over, intending to subdue it himself, but after some thought, he didn't have the guts to do it, so he waved his hand at Qian Ning and had him take care of it instead.

  Qian Ning is going crazy.

  Although he had always been playing with Zhu Houzhao, he didn't expect him to play so excessively, even playing with tigers!

  You know, it's not easy for me to make a living, flattering and playing along is also for survival. Now I have to risk my life to tease the tiger? No way! I'd rather die than do that!

  He shook his head.

  Zhu Houzhao saw it and waved his hand at Qian Ning again, but Qian Ning shook his head.

  Money is not enough, but the tiger is very meaningful. It made a friendly response to Zhu Houzhao's waving - pouncing over.

  Zhu Houzhao immediately reacted - he ran away, but naturally he couldn't outrun the tiger. At this critical moment, a military officer stepped forward and blocked the tiger, and only then did everyone else come forward to subdue it.

  If this were put on ordinary people, I'm afraid they would be frightened to death. However, Zhu Houzhao, who was standing by, remained calm and smiled, saying:

  "I'm enough on my own, don't need you guys."

  This time Yang Tinghe did not react excessively because he could no longer bear more stimulation.

  This is the private life of Zhu Houzhao, and from all these manifestations, it seems that we can give him a hat of debauchery and shamelessness, but we have to say that this conclusion may not be correct.

  If one carefully analyzes this gentleman's actions, it can be discovered that behind his various abnormal behaviors seems to be hiding a unique motive.

  The name of this motive is called rebellion.

  Zhu Houzhao is not a suitable person to be an emperor, because being an emperor is a tough job that requires working day and night, learning how to deal with officials, eunuchs, and relatives, and following many rules and restrictions.

  Zhu Houzhao couldn't do it because he was just a spoiled child.

  He is like the so-called rebellious generation nowadays, the more you ask him to do something, the less he will do it. He is not cruel or murderous, but does all sorts of strange things, actually just wanting to express a wish - to do what he wants to do.

  But a qualified emperor cannot do what he wants to do.

  So Zhu Houzhao was not a qualified emperor and he could not become a good emperor either.

  This is the real truth behind those historical anomalies, Zhu Houzhao was just a poor guy who had been born into the wrong body and found himself in the wrong job.

  Zhu Houzhao exhausted his life in struggle, wanting nothing more than four words - freedom and ease.

  He has been working hard.

  Night Running

  12th year of Zhengde (1517), August, jiachou night.

  Zhu Houzhao struggled to control his trembling hands, he was rarely so nervous, because soon, he would be doing something extremely adventurous and exciting, people would all be kept in the dark by him, including those old men who didn't understand.

  An officer came to his side, reminding him to prepare for departure. The name of this attendant was Jiang Bin, who was the one who blocked the tiger for Zhu Houzhao that year. Tonight's affair was proposed by him.

  In the night, Zhu Houzhao rode his horse at full gallop and rushed out of Desheng Gate.

  A great adventure is about to begin, and no one can stop me!

  Zhu Houzhao's patience with the old men had reached its limit. These rigid people always obstructed his actions and did not allow him to act freely, but he also understood that governing the country could not be separated from these people, so he was always wavering between compromise and rebellion.

  But what made him determined to run out on his own was closely related to the departure of one person, Yang Tinghe.

  In 1514, Yang Tinghe's father died. He was a filial son and requested to return home for mourning. Unexpectedly, Zhu Houzhao refused to let him go.

  Zhu Houzhao and Yang Tinghe have always had a peculiar relationship. He was very resentful of Yang Tinghe, because he often controlled himself, but he respected Yang Tinghe even more. The two had deep feelings for each other, as Yang Tinghe was not only his teacher but also a capable assistant. Whenever he didn't know how to handle state affairs, he would lament:

  "If Mr. Yang is here, then there's no problem."

  But Yang Tinghe was a filial son and insisted on returning home for three years of mourning. Zhu Houzhao had no choice but to agree.

  Yang Tinghe's departure left Zhu Houzhao without his last restraint, and in the following days he often changed into ordinary people's clothes to stroll around the capital city. As his scope of activity expanded, so did his audacity.

  Finally, on this night, he decided to go to a place of utmost danger, in order to prove his bravery.

  His destination of choice was outside the passes.

  The next morning, the cabinet ministers Liang Shu and Jiang Mian prepared to enter the palace to see Zhu Houzhao, but were informed that the emperor was not working today. However, they soon received reliable news from within the palace: The emperor had run away last night!

  Run away?!!

  Liang Chu's mind was completely muddled, he stared blankly at Jiang Mian, unable to utter a single word.

  Will the emperor run? Where will he run to? What will he do?

  After a moment, he finally came to his senses and slapped Jiang Mian's equally stunned face with a loud shout:

  "What are you standing there for! Hurry up and prepare the horses, we're going after them right away!"

  Ancestor! You mustn't have any accidents, if anything unexpected happens, I won't be able to bear the consequences even if I'm beheaded!

  The two old men were so anxious that they almost shed tears, and ordered several attendants to chase after Zhu Houzhao on horseback.

  On one side, they were anxious to death, while on the other side, Zhu Houzhao was in a good mood, singing all the way. He finally felt the true freedom. Soon, they arrived at Changping, a suburb of Beijing, where Zhu Houzhao stopped and issued an order.

  His order was sent to Zhang Qin, the touring inspector of Youyongguan Pass, with only one meaning: open the pass and let me out.

  This Zhang Qin is really not an ordinary person. After receiving the order, he did not respond, but instead found the guardian general Sun Xi and asked him about his views on this order.

  Sun Xie was equally helpless.

  "Since His Majesty has spoken, then open the door and let him out."

  Zhang Qin remained silent after hearing this, and Sun Xi let out a sigh of relief, just as he was about to go and carry it out, but then heard a loud shout:

  "Absolutely not!"

  At this time, Zhang Qin suddenly changed his face and grabbed Sun Xi's collar:

  "Brother, don't you understand? Our lives are almost lost! If we don't open the gate, it's disobedience and we'll be beheaded. If we do open the gate, what if we run into Mongolian soldiers and another Tumu Crisis occurs? You and I will be cut into pieces!"

  Sun Xie's sweat came down immediately.

  "So what should we do?"

  Zhang Qin replied firmly:

  "I'd rather die than yield! To die and yet not die!"

  It's come to this, let's just do it your way then.

  In Changping, Zhu Houzhao waited until the flowers had withered and still did not receive a response from Kai Guan. He sent someone to look for Sun Xie, but Sun Xie pretended to be ignorant and replied that the imperial historian (Zhang Qin) was here, so he didn't dare leave.

  He had no choice but to go find Zhang Qin, and Zhang Qin pretended not to know anything and didn't give him any response.

  Zhu Houzhao was at his wit's end and could only call for the eunuch Liu Song, who happened to be very obedient. Taking advantage of the situation, he quietly slipped away to meet him. He arrived at the gate without being stopped and was secretly rejoicing when he saw a person sitting at the entrance with a shiny sword in hand.

  "Zhang Qin, you haven't rested yet?"

  Zhang Qin smiled and raised the sword in his hand, saying only one sentence:

  "Go back! Anyone who comes out will be killed without exception!"

  Zhu Houzhao was at his wit's end and sent another envoy in his name to convey the imperial decree to Zhang Qin: The Emperor decreed that the gate be opened immediately!

  Zhang Qin was also very direct, he drew his sword and pointed at the messenger, shouting loudly:

  "This is fake!"

  Upon hearing the messenger's lament, Zhu Houzhao could only sigh with a bitter smile. He just liked to have fun and didn't want to be managed, but this gatekeeper was truly courting death.

  At this moment, Liang Chu and Jiang Mian finally arrived, panting, and looked up and down at Zhu Houzhao to see if he was missing any parts. Only then did they feel relieved. Then they knelt down again and kowtowed, saying that the two old guys couldn't take it anymore, and asked Big Brother to go back with them.

  In front of him were troops blocking his way, and behind him were soldiers chasing after him. Zhu Houzhao felt that things were no longer fun, so he reluctantly agreed.

  Everyone was completely liberated, those who guarded the passes returned to guarding the passes, those who worked in offices returned to working in offices, and those who played went back to playing.

  Re-run

  Liang Chu and Jiang Mian were both recommended by Li Dongyang, and they can also be considered as having experienced the officialdom and having rich experiences. Generally, they could serve their masters well, but this time they had no choice but to admit that they were out of luck, because when it comes to stirring up trouble, Zhu Houzhao was indeed a rare evil king in 500 years.

  These two brothers were older and more experienced, so they figured that Zhu Houzhao wouldn't give up easily. They sent people to keep a close eye on him, but after several days passed, this naughty boy didn't make any moves. Only then did they slightly relax their guard.

  Actually, Zhu Houzhao has been quiet for a few days, only because he is waiting for some news.

  Soon, Jiang Bin brought back the news he wanted - Zhang Qin had gone out of the pass on an inspection tour.

  That night, he rode out of Desheng Gate on horseback once again.

  The next day, Jiang Ming entered the palace and was about to see the emperor when he saw a figure rushing towards him. He took a closer look and found it was Liang Chu.

  The old man didn't even bother about him, but ran while panting and shouting:

  "Run away again! Run away again!"

  What bad luck! How did I end up with such a boss? Never mind, let's go after him together, brothers.

  With the awareness of owing Zhu Houzhao money from their previous life, Liang Chu and Jiang Mian launched another pursuit. However, this time they failed to catch up.

  Zhu Houzhao learned from his past mistakes and when he arrived at Juyongguan, he didn't act rashly. Instead, he hid in a civilian's house to confirm that Zhang Qin was not at the checkpoint. Only then did he make a sudden dash out. To prevent anyone from chasing after him, he even arranged for his personal eunuch, Gu Dajiu, to guard the pass and not allow anyone to follow.

  Zhang Qin and the ministers arrived afterwards, but could only sigh with admiration at the closed pass.

  By then, Zhu Houzhao had fought with all his might and wits, gone through countless hardships and dangers, and finally succeeded in escaping from prison.

  This is a famous flight in history, whose fame can be compared with that of Wu Zixu's flight at the time. In many people's view, this fully reflects Zhu Houzhao's incompetence, dereliction of duty and idleness, all in all, he was an incorrigible ruler.

  However, many people overlooked a detail: he avoided Zhang Qin.

  How can I get out of here? The answer is simple, kill Zhang Qin and you'll be able to leave.

  In fact, with his power, it was very simple to kill an imperial censor, and he had already realized the power in his hands after driving away the prime minister and killing the eunuchs, but he did not do so, instead choosing to hide.

  Why?

  Because he understood reason, he knew that Zhang Qin was not wrong, and neither were Liang Chu and Jiang Mian who pursued him. The only one who was wrong was himself.

  He understands the rules of being an emperor and basically accepts them, but he really can't follow these rules, he just wants to play freely.

  So he chose to drill through the empty space and play hide-and-seek with the ministers.

  Outside the Pass

  The endless plain, the bleak and stern sky, the howling wind constantly echoing in his ears, the unfamiliar environment and scenery reminded him that this was already outside the Ju Yong Pass, a place where Mongolian soldiers often came and went, an extremely dangerous place.

  But Zhu Houzhao was excited, for this was exactly what he wanted, a wish that had been buried in his heart for many years would be realized here.

  In fact, Zhu Houzhao was so persistent in insisting on going out of the Yuanguan Pass, to a large extent, it was for one thing and to see one person.

  He was referred to as Little Prince in the History of Ming.