As Zhu Yuanzhang pondered the various problems of Great Ming's later years revealed by the group's explanation, Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao were simply astonished by the background and course of the incident, even finding it hard to believe.
Changle Palace, front hall.
Liu Bang rested his chin on his hand in thought.
From what I've learned about Old Zhu in our previous group chats, and from Zhu Di's achievements, Great Ming must have had an enormous territory, at least considerably larger than Great Qin or Great Han. During Zhu Di's reign, the Ming army must have been very powerful too.
Who would have thought that by this Jiajing Emperor's time, it would have declined so far-a few dozen Wokou could ravage so many places and even frighten over ten thousand Ming soldiers out of leaving the city to fight. If this hadn't come from the Rebel Army Group, I wouldn't believe it even if you beat me to death.
I really want to ask Old Zhu how he's feeling right now... Forget it. Better not ask, lest he vent his anger on me.
Imagining Old Zhu in a towering rage, Liu Bang laughed rather unkindly.
Elsewhere, Zhang Jiao was worried about Zhu Yuanzhang instead.
Who knows how long after Brother Zhu's reign this Jiajing Emperor ruled, for the Ming Dynasty to have weakened like this... I hope Brother Zhu doesn't make himself ill with anger.
Still, for such a vast Great Ming to let a few dozen Wokou run so rampant is truly unimaginable.
Look at Great Han now. Its officials are just as corrupt, its people can barely survive, and the state is on the brink of ruin, yet it can still beat the Qiang into submission and keep the Xianbei and other northern tribes from marching south... Surely the dynasties of our land won't grow weaker and weaker from here on?
The three men's thoughts after watching the explanatory video took a long time to describe, but had all passed within a few short breaths.
Just as Zhang Jiao was making wild guesses, the group stirred again.
[Administrator: Since no one answered this question correctly, we will now move on to the quick-response round. The rules remain unchanged. Here is the question.]
Taking advantage of the pause, Liu Bang typed a message.
[Liu Bang: Old Zhu, we'll leave all the quick-response questions to you again. Zhang Jiao and I won't participate.] [Zhang Jiao: I share Emperor Gao of Han's view.] [Zhu Yuanzhang: Then thank you both.] [Liu Bang: This was one of the conditions of our alliance to begin with, and you've helped us plenty. No need to stand on ceremony.]
No sooner had Liu Bang's message appeared than the quick-response round began.
[Question one: Among the following dynasties, which had the highest average quality of emperors? Please enter your answer within ten breaths.] [A: Western Han.] [B: Eastern Han.] [C: Tang Dynasty.] [D: Song Dynasty.] [E: Yuan Dynasty.] [F: Ming Dynasty.]
Changle Palace, front hall.
Liu Bang's eyes immediately lit up at the question.
Are these all later dynasties?
The Ming Dynasty is listed last. Could they be arranged in the order the dynasties succeeded one another?
If so, why isn't the Jin Dynasty, which came after Eastern Han and the Three Kingdoms, included?
Average quality... That probably means the emperors' average ability to govern, right? Old Zhu's Great Ming is out of the question, given all those bizarre emperors.
But which dynasty listed here could it be-Western Han? That should mean the Great Han I founded, right? Could it be Western Han?
Liu Bang dearly hoped it would be his "Western Han," but he had little confidence.
For one thing, Crown Prince Liu Ying was far too weak and gentle, nothing like him. He had even begun harboring thoughts of appointing a different crown prince.
For another, according to the original history Zhu Yuanzhang had revealed, he would die in five years. At that point, Wu Rui would still remain among the kings of other surnames, the Xiongnu would be like a blade hanging over the north, ready to fall at any moment, and the Lü clan of imperial in-laws would hold rather too much power... In short, Great Han had far too many problems.
He did not think Great Han could produce particularly outstanding emperors under such circumstances.
As Liu Bang experienced this rare lack of confidence, he had no idea that elsewhere, Zhu Yuanzhang had already narrowed the answer down to two choices.
Western Han is Former Han. Besides Liu Bang, it had Emperor Wen, Emperor Jing, Emperor Wu, Emperor Zhao, and Emperor Xuan. If quality means the ability to govern, then Emperor Wen, Emperor Wu, Emperor Zhao, and Emperor Xuan would all rank among the finest emperors of any dynasty.
Emperor Jing was decent too, but the later Emperor Yuan and Emperor Cheng were not. Former Han's strength declined rapidly. As for Emperor Ai and Emperor Xiaoping after them, they never even had a chance to accomplish anything.
In the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, was unquestionably capable of governing. Emperor Gaozong could govern too, but he favored Wu Zhao far too much, allowing Empress Wu to usurp the realm, so that Li Tang was replaced by Wu Zhou for a time.
Although Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ushered in the flourishing Kaiyuan era, by the Tianbao years he had grown muddleheaded and neglectful of government, leading to the An Lushan Rebellion and the sudden collapse of the High Tang.
Among the Tang emperors after him, two or three wanted to revive the dynasty, but were constrained by the Fanzhen and powerful eunuchs and achieved little. The other Tang emperors were either puppets or had completely given up.
The Tang Dynasty had many emperors, too. In terms of average governing ability, it was clearly inferior to Former Han.
At this thought, Zhu Yuanzhang settled on his answer.
As for Later Han, Song, Yuan, and his own Great Ming, he had already ruled them out.
[Administrator: Ten breaths have passed. Each participant's choice and the answer will now be revealed.] [Zhu Yuanzhang: A.] [Correct answer: A!] [Administrator: Congratulations to Zhu Yuanzhang for answering correctly! Your penalty for the previous incorrect answer will be waived!]
Seeing the answer announced by the Administrator, Zhu Yuanzhang merely smiled faintly, thinking, Just as I expected.
Zhang Jiao, meanwhile, was slightly surprised.
He had not expected Former Han's emperors to have the highest average ability among all these dynasties.
Liu Bang's face, however, was filled with delighted surprise.
"My Western Han emperors had the highest average quality? Splendid! Splendid!"
He sprang to his feet, unable to keep his hands and feet still, once again seized by the urge to sing and dance.
Once his initial delight had passed, Liu Bang badly wanted to know how his Western Han emperors' average quality had been so high.
Just as he was about to ask Zhu Yuanzhang, he saw the second quick-response question appear.
[Question two: At the end of which of the following dynasties did the rebel armies have the highest average quality? Please enter your answer within ten breaths.] [A: Late Qin rebel armies.] [B: Rebel armies of the late Eastern Han.] [C: Late Sui rebel armies.] [D: Rebel armies of the late Tang.] [E: Rebel armies of the late Northern Song.] [F: Late Yuan rebel armies.] [G: Late Ming rebel armies.]
At the sight of this question, Zhu Yuanzhang could not keep the corners of his mouth from rising.
Without the word "average," I might have hesitated between Late Qin and Late Yuan. But since it says average, there's no question. It has to be the Late Yuan rebel armies.
As a founding emperor who had risen from the Late Yuan rebel armies, Zhu Yuanzhang knew their caliber all too well.
It could be said that in the dozen or so years from joining the Red Turban Army to founding Great Ming, not only had he spent most of his time fighting other rebel armies, but even his most dangerous battles and most difficult predicaments had been caused by them.
By contrast, he had fought the Yuan army fewer times, and those encounters had all been easy.
As for the Late Qin rebel armies, aside from the two forces led by Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, none had established a solid power base. They could not compare at all with the likes of Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng, and Ming Yuzhen in the Late Yuan.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: F.] [Correct answer: F!] [Administrator: Congratulations to Zhu Yuanzhang for answering correctly! You will receive one reward!]
Changle Palace, front hall.
Liu Bang was somewhat surprised by this answer.
The Late Yuan rebel armies had the highest quality? Could Old Zhu have faced opponents even harder to defeat than Xiang Yu?
Or was it because there were too many Late Qin rebel armies, and the others weren't as formidable as Xiang Yu, so their average quality worked out lower than that of the Late Yuan rebel armies?
Liu Bang pondered the possibilities, very much wanting to learn how Zhu Yuanzhang had won the realm and founded Great Ming.
But he knew that discussing such matters would take a great deal of time, so he would probably have little chance to find out.
Elsewhere, Zhang Jiao was filled with emotion.
The Late Yuan rebel armies had the highest average quality, but the Late Qin rebel armies weren't poor either. That was why they could nurture true dragon emperors like Brother Zhu and Emperor Gao of Han.
As for Eastern Han, apart from my Yellow Turban Army, where are there any other rebel armies now? A lone tree cannot make a forest. No wonder the Yellow Turban Rebellion I led in the original history failed so quickly.
Soon, the Rebel Army Group presented the third quick-response question.
[Question three: Which of the following terms were not used by later generations to describe emperors of Great Ming? (Please enter your choices within thirty breaths.)]
Merely reading the question left Zhu Yuanzhang stunned.
Haven't I already answered this question? he thought.
Again?
When the options below appeared, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a profound malice emanating from the Rebel Army Group.
[A: Emperor on Horseback.] [B: Cricket Emperor.] [C: Gate-Knocking Emperor.] [D: Enthusiast of Fengshan Sacrifices.] [E: Savior Emperor.] [F: Emperor in an Older-Woman Romance.] [G: Scapegoat.] [H: Mighty General.] [I: Reform Maniac.] [J: One-Month Emperor.]
Zhu Yuanzhang dropped into his chair, his expression vacant for a moment.
Two questions were circling in his head.
The first was: just how many abnormal emperors did his Great Ming have?
The second was: which dynasty did these later generations mentioned by the Rebel Army Group belong to, anyway? Why did they love giving emperors nicknames so much? Didn't the reigning emperor and his ministers know to rein them in?