Elsewhere, Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao were also rather surprised to see this familiar question, and a host of questions and guesses sprang to mind.
How many of these ten entries referred to emperors of Great Ming?
Just how many emperors did Great Ming have?
Could it be that, apart from Zhu Yuanzhang and his fourth son Zhu Di, Great Ming had no normal emperors at all?
The hourglass in the group did not stop for the three men's stunned bewilderment and speculation.
Zhu Yuanzhang came to his senses. Seeing that little time remained, he gritted his teeth and began choosing-even though he did not think he could get it right, he was even less willing to give up.
"The emperor on horseback sounds very much like my fourth son-personally leading vast armies on five campaigns into Mobei would more than earn him that title."
"As for the others, this cricket emperor and Gate-Knocking Emperor sound like bad sorts the moment you hear them. They'd better not be emperors of our Great Ming."
"Enthusiast of Fengshan Sacrifices... Fengshan sacrifices. Could that refer to Emperor Zhenzong of Song?"
"Savior Emperor and the mighty general—those two nicknames sound rather good, but who knows whether they belong to our Great Ming?"
"Emperor in an Older-Woman Romance? A one-month emperor? Those certainly aren't good sorts either!"
"The scapegoat... I have absolutely no idea what that means."
"There were several emperors in history who carried out reforms, but only Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei and Emperor Shenzong of Song seem to qualify as a Reform Maniac. Which one could it be?"
"No, neither of those two was an emperor of Great Ming, but I don't know whether Great Ming had any similar emperors later on..."
Before Zhu Yuanzhang could reach a conclusion, the time limit was nearly up. He could only grit his teeth and enter his choices.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: D, E, I!] [Correct answer: D, G, I.]
Zhu Yuanzhang stared for a moment, then frowned, feeling somewhat unconvinced.
This time, he had chosen three precisely because of the previous answer. Sure enough, the correct answer contained three entries, and only one differed from his selection.
He had chosen E because, in his view, Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun, and Emperor Suzong of Tang, Li Heng, had both stepped forward when their dynasties were in peril and propped up the realm as it tottered toward collapse. They ought to count as Savior Emperors.
That was why he had selected E.
"No, the question asked which entries were descriptions later generations gave to emperors of Great Ming. If Great Ming also had a Savior Emperor like Liu Xun or Li Heng, then I couldn't choose E."
Once he understood, Zhu Yuanzhang slapped his thigh, feeling a little regretful.
Just then, there was activity in the group.
[Liu Bang: Old Zhu, just how many emperors did your Great Ming have? How many years did the dynasty last?]
Seeing Liu Bang's message, Zhu Yuanzhang finally remembered that the other seven options all described emperors of Great Ming!
Even excluding the emperor on horseback, the Savior Emperor, and the mighty general, that still left four emperors whose nicknames alone told him they were unreliable!
Anger rose in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, and his reply was far from pleasant.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: How would I know?!] [Liu Bang: Old Zhu, don't be angry. Why not look at it this way? If Great Ming had a dozen or so abnormal emperors, it must also have had quite a few normal ones. Otherwise, it couldn't have continued. Doesn't that mean your Great Ming enjoyed a very long reign?]
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up at that, and he thought, Hey, you know, that really could be the case!
At the thought that Great Ming might have lasted longer than Tang, Song, or even the Han Dynasty-he considered the two Han dynasties a single whole-the clouds in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart instantly cleared, leaving brilliant sunshine.
Just then, new text appeared in the group.
[Administrator: Zhu Yuanzhang attempted three quick-answer questions, answering the first and second correctly and the third incorrectly. Following precedent, Zhu Yuanzhang will be given the following choices.] [A: Use the earned reward opportunity to cancel the punishment. B: Receive the reward and also accept the punishment.]
As before, Zhu Yuanzhang chose B without hesitation.
Although he worried about being afflicted with a negative status like "giving up," he was even more eager to receive a reward from the Rebel Army Group.
[Administrator: Rewards and punishments for all participants will now be settled.]
Since this was their second or even third experience with this, Liu Bang, Zhang Jiao, and Zhu Yuanzhang were not nervous this time. They waited quietly.
[Administrator: Liu Bang answered incorrectly in the Rebel Army Q&A round and did not attempt any quick-answer questions. He will receive one punishment.] [After this group chat ends, Liu Bang will receive the negative status "sharing a bed," lasting one month! (For the next month, you will particularly enjoy inviting trusted ministers to share your bed, as a show of trust and a way to win their loyalty.)]
Seeing this punishment, Liu Bang blinked, then began to laugh.
"They call this a negative status?"
"It's clearly an excellent way to win people's loyalty!"
"I was just wondering how to reminisce with Lu Wan once he arrived. Now it seems sharing a bed and chatting about our childhood would be just the thing! Hahaha..."
Elsewhere, Zhang Jiao and Zhu Yuanzhang had no idea that Liu Bang was laughing heartily over the negative status he was about to receive.
Yet both felt that if anyone else received this negative status, they would likely spend the next month embarrassed, even ashamed, of inviting ministers to sleep with them, and their imperial dignity would suffer greatly.
But on Liu Bang, this sort of "negative status" seemed entirely natural, and would not diminish his imperial dignity.
His ministers would not find it strange for Liu Bang to do such a thing, after all, and would readily accept it.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression turned odd when he recalled that the Records of the Three Kingdoms recorded how Liu Bei liked sharing a bed with trusted ministers such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, sleeping with their feet touching.
Then he thought of the negative status "giving up" he had received last time, and a suspicion arose in his heart.
Could it be that the negative statuses this Rebel Army Group inflicts on Liu Bang and me are all chosen from our descendants who became emperors?
At that thought, Zhu Yuanzhang grew nervous again, because judging by their nicknames, Great Ming seemed to have many later emperors with strange obsessions.
[Administrator: Zhang Jiao answered incorrectly in the Rebel Army Q&A round and did not participate in the quick-answer round. He will receive one punishment.] [Administrator: After this group chat ends, Zhang Jiao will receive the negative status "sleep bug," lasting one month. (For the next month, whenever you have time, you will want to sleep. You will even be able to fall asleep standing up!)]
A sleep bug?
He could fall asleep standing up?
Reading the description of this negative status, Zhang Jiao could not help giving a bitter smile.
Under the negative status "burnout," he already wanted only to lie down and do nothing. With his severe illness on top of that, he spent most of each day in a fog of sleep.
Now that a "sleep bug" status was being added, wouldn't he sleep all day without waking?
In that case, even if the treatment Zhu Yuanzhang had given him kept him alive, he would likely accomplish little over the next month.
[Administrator: In accordance with Zhu Yuanzhang's choice, he will receive one reward and one punishment.] [Administrator: After this group chat ends, Zhu Yuanzhang will receive the negative status "cricket fighting," lasting three months! (For the next three months, you will find cricket fighting more interesting than anything else. Governing the country? Better to fight crickets. Women? Better to fight crickets. Biao'er? Better to fight crickets.)]
Cricket fighting?
Reading the Rebel Army Group's description of the "cricket fighting" negative status, Zhu Yuanzhang felt too drained even to get angry.
A description was one thing, but did it have to say, "Biao'er? Better to fight crickets"? Wasn't that deliberately trying to infuriate him?
Then he began cursing Zhu Di in his heart.
It's all that fourth son's fault. Not a single one of the later emperors was normal... Obsessed with cricket fighting? Isn't that neglecting his proper duties?
Then Zhu Yuanzhang felt it was unfair.
Why did Liu Bang's and Zhang Jiao's negative statuses last only one month, while his lasted a full three?
Was that reasonable? Was that fair?
Elsewhere, Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao could not help laughing when they saw Zhu Yuanzhang's punishment.
For one thing, they considered the punishment harmless. For another, the description of this negative status really was funny-women were less interesting than cricket fighting, and so was his son. Had there really been an emperor like that?
Liu Bang could not resist speaking in the group.
[Liu Bang: Old Zhu, this negative status is actually quite good. I've never seen it myself, but I imagine it's much like dogfighting. Back in Pei County, I loved watching dogfights. I even learned a few things about military strategy from them.] [Zhu Yuanzhang: Then would Emperor Gao of Han please tell me what "governing the country is less interesting than cricket fighting" means, and what "women are less interesting than cricket fighting" means?] [Liu Bang: Hahaha, Old Zhu, just think of it as picking up another hobby and relaxing for three months.]
Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to say more, but then text appeared in the group announcing his reward.
[Administrator: Congratulations to Zhu Yuanzhang on receiving the reward "Future Technology Mini Pack"-this pack contains two minor technologies from future generations. Please claim it! (You may view it privately or share it with the group.)]