[Lightscreen]
[Because of the guiding principles of Zhu Yuanzhang, the later ruling class of the Ming dynasty once again took up the idea that:
"Although a ruler may secure the realm through military achievement, in the end governance must be brought about through civil virtue."
Of course, it must also be acknowledged that the influence of the Jingnan Campaign played a considerable role as well.
With these factors combined, the rulers of Ming gradually began to focus more on stabilizing the interior. As a result, Ming people did not possess the same expansionist ambitions as those of the Tang.
Under such circumstances, once foreign threats receded and the realm became stable, the Ming court inevitably grew lax in military training, and the fighting spirit of the soldiers likewise declined.
Without the need to expand the frontiers, the emperors of Ming naturally would not, like the emperors of Tang, devote themselves eagerly to martial affairs. Polo therefore had little chance to flourish, much less produce anecdotes such as Emperor Xuanzong of Tang personally entering the field to win glory for the empire.
Yet the negative consequences did not end there.
During the reign of the Xuande Emperor, the very subject of The Pleasure Painting of Xuanzong, the horse administration of Ming began to deteriorate.
The History of Ming, in its chapter on horse administration, records:
"After Xuande, the ancestral regulations gradually fell into disuse, especially in military affairs, of which horse administration was one."
The Jinshi scholar Yang Shiqiao of the Jiajing era wrote in Record of Horse Administration:
"Horse administration was never more thoroughly organized than in Ming, yet never more corrupted than in Ming."
From this alone one may see that by the Jiajing period horse administration existed largely in name only.
In little more than a century, the flourishing horse administration of the Yongle era, when "the total number of horses reached 891,280," had essentially become history.
The Ming dynasty thus fell into the predicament of having too few good horses available.
It is therefore unsurprising that throughout the Ming dynasty neither emperors nor common people played polo. Polo gradually degenerated from a form of military training into a ceremonial performance seen only during festivals such as the Dragon Boat Festival and the Double Ninth Festival.
Accordingly, in The Pleasure Painting of Xuanzong, polo had already become more a performance than a competitive contest.
From this alone one may glimpse the decline of Ming martial spirit.
Another example that reveals the state of Ming horse administration can be found in the novel Journey to the West.
Its author Wu Cheng'en lived during the Jiajing period, when horse administration had already completely decayed.
In the novel, when the Monkey King is recruited into Heaven, he is given the post of Bimawen, an official responsible for managing horses.
We all know this office holds extremely low status, and the Monkey King regards it as a lifelong humiliation.
But in reality, ancient times were not like the modern age with its many mechanical vehicles.
Horses were among the most important strategic resources and means of transportation. The prosperity or decline of horse administration concerned the strength of the state.
The rank of the officials responsible for raising horses also reflected the importance the government attached to the matter.
Thus, the disdain shown by the various heavenly immortals toward the office of Bimawen in the novel precisely reflects the social reality of horse administration's decay during the Jiajing era.]
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Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not play polo, that did not mean his horsemanship was poor.
How could he fail to understand that the descendant discussing polo through the example of a Ming painting was in fact using the topic as a pretext to talk about horse administration?
In the Tang era horse administration flourished, which was why polo prospered.
And the very Emperor Xuanzong of Tang praised for bringing glory to Tang through polo was himself one of the rulers who revitalized horse administration.
Yet still…
"I have said it many times," Zhu Yuanzhang declared.
"Horse administration is a matter of the utmost importance to the state!"
"And how could officials responsible for horse administration possibly regard their office with shame?"
His tone was heavy with emphasis. As he spoke he turned around, confusion evident in his voice.
"If my descendants could follow the words of the Ancestral Instructions, how could they allow horse administration, which I repeatedly emphasized as vital, to fall into neglect?"
The Ming princes behind him, swept by their father's imposing glare, immediately shrank back a little.
The brothers exchanged glances with their heads lowered. In the end it was the Prince of Qin, Zhu Shuang, who stepped forward reluctantly.
"Father… we brothers are not the Crown Prince. Even if we said something about horse administration, it wouldn't matter."
He did not finish the sentence, but the meaning was obvious.
The later emperors of Ming had nothing to do with these feudal princes. If their father wished to vent his anger, he should direct it at the eldest brother instead.
Although it was his first time witnessing the light screen, Zhu Gang had already sorted out the relationships within a short time. He even tried to persuade their father.
"Father should not blame eldest brother too much. The affairs of later generations cannot be controlled by him. The fault lies with those descendants who only partially followed Father's sacred words, without understanding their meaning or reasoning."
Hearing the third brother say this, Zhu Di and Zhu Zhen lowered their heads even further.
Meanwhile, Zhu Biao could not help but reveal a wry smile.
As expected, the Ming emperor grew even angrier after hearing his son's words. He nearly slammed the table as he shouted:
"I enfeoffed you as princes so that you might serve as the ramparts of the Ming empire and guard the Zhu family's realm!"
"I did not raise you like pigs!"
"If the state faces danger, you should be the first to risk your lives. If your descendants see that Ming governance has become misguided, they should submit memorials to correct it. How could they sit by and watch the dynasty decline?"
Sprayed with his father's scolding, Zhu Gang felt somewhat wronged.
After all, instinctively speaking, if he had suggested such behavior before today, his father would most likely have scolded him just the same.
The criticism might even have been predictable: how could descendants who held the sacred instructions in their hands possibly misgovern?
But a son cannot contend with his father. Zhu Gang could only endure it silently.
Zhu Biao, however, understood his father's anger somewhat better.
The later narrator was using a painting as a pretext to make a broader argument. And was not his father likewise using the opportunity to vent the resentment within his heart?
Zhu Biao was still young and could treat his own life lightly, but that did not mean he failed to understand how much his father valued and cherished him.
Thus he also understood why the two characters "Yongle" felt like knives in his father's heart.
More than anything, his father likely wished that he himself had become the Yongle Emperor.
But that was not the case.
In the historical records of later generations, he would ultimately be nothing more than a crown prince who died young.
Since his father had already vented his frustration, Zhu Biao attempted to persuade him.
"Father, since the commentary says that the words about the former Sui led Ming to become invincible abroad and peaceful within, and thus to neglect military matters, then why not…"
The meaning was obvious.
His son was aiming directly at the Ancestral Instructions.
"Let me think about it again."
Zhu Biao immediately felt somewhat discouraged.
"Father, last time you also said we would discuss and consider it again. But three months have passed and we still haven't discussed it."
Zhu Yuanzhang glared at his eldest son.
"What's the hurry? I can live another twenty years. There is plenty of time to deliberate and revise things slowly. Why rush to amend problems that may only arise a hundred years from now?"
But his reasoning was not entirely convincing, and he quickly changed the topic.
"That Jingnan affair. Biao'er, do you have any thoughts about it?"
Zhu Biao fell silent.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang snorted.
"I know you always care for your brothers and are unwilling to speak. But I can see it clearly now."
"The forces shaping the situation a hundred years later are nothing more than three: the words of the Ancestral Instructions, the arguments of the officials, and the matter of Jingnan."
"Since the policy is to pacify the interior, this calamity must arise from within."
"Most likely it will be trouble within the walls."
During the past three months Zhu Yuanzhang had pondered this matter repeatedly. By now he had roughly deduced the outline.
"This disaster must begin with misfortune befalling Biao'er. And among my sons someone will develop the heart of a beast."
"He will try to take advantage of my old age."
"He will try to make me become Emperor Gaozu of Tang."
At those words, all the brothers in Huagai Hall felt a chill run through their hearts.