Within the Guangzheng Hall, Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Pu had long since set aside their past grievances, so they were not particularly concerned about what the screen said regarding Sima Yi.
But as the Son of Heaven of the Song dynasty, what Zhao Kuangyin saw was a ruler who could overturn clouds with a single hand and cover rain with the other. A monarch who ruled with absolute authority.
The word "universe" was not new. Although later generations had added the word "great" before it, through the shared thread of Chinese characters its meaning could still be vaguely grasped.
A great case handled with iron determination by a strong-willed emperor. The rapid rise of a newly founded empire. Arrogant meritorious nobles and restless external threats entangled together like roots and vines, only to be cut away one by one without mercy by that same ruler.
And throughout this process, the name Hu Weiyong instead became the sharpest blade of all.
Only at this moment did Zhao Kuangyin truly feel the chilling authority that permeated the Ming dynasty. It sent a coldness through the body.
Zhao Pu had reached the same conclusion, and he shook his head.
"I only hope that this Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty did not invite his old brothers to sit together and watch this light screen."
If he had invited them to watch together, and they were then forced to watch as the screen slowly narrated how the Hongwu Emperor shifted blame onto meritorious nobles and punished them one after another…
Zhao Pu unconsciously let his gaze wander between the monk Master Kongjiong and the imperial ruler before him. In the end he lowered his head, a faint and unspeakable regret stirring in his heart.
Yet whether for Zhao Kuangyin or Zhao Pu, the scenes displayed upon the light screen were things they had long been accustomed to.
For Zhao Dezhao, however, even though he had already seen similar things before, hearing later generations casually speak of the many states surrounding China still filled him with yearning.
Indeed, as Father had said.
How many things there were that the Song dynasty could accomplish.
---
[Lightscreen]
[To say that Li Shanchang's death was entirely Sima Yi's responsibility ultimately comes down to what many scholars jokingly call a problem of "genes."
If one takes a brief look at Zhu Yuanzhang's family genealogy, the logic becomes somewhat clearer.
The Hongwu Emperor's father, Zhu Shizhen, died at the age of sixty-three. Li Shanchang died in the twenty-third year of Hongwu, when Zhu Yuanzhang himself was sixty-two.
If one looks further down the family line, among Zhu Yuanzhang's twenty-six sons only three lived beyond seventy: the Prince of Dai lived to seventy-two, the Prince of Min to seventy-one, and the Prince of Ning to seventy. Judging from this, the Zhu family indeed did not seem particularly blessed with longevity.
Now consider age. Li Shanchang was fourteen years older than Zhu Yuanzhang. In the early years Zhu Yuanzhang probably had no such concerns at all. He may even have hoped to emulate the story of Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling, personally seeing his old minister to the end and leaving behind a tale of ruler and minister.
But as time passed, Zhu Yuanzhang found himself approaching the age at which his father had died. The Li Shanchang who ought by rights to be lying in a coffin and completing that tale of ruler and minister instead remained lively and vigorous.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes Li Shanchang gradually ceased to resemble "Li Xiaohe" or "Li Xuanling." Instead he began to look more and more like "Sima Shanchang."
Before Li Shanchang metaphorically "changed his surname" to Sima, Zhu Yuanzhang had in fact treated this old minister with considerable generosity.
In the Hu Weiyong case, the greatest case of the early Hongwu reign, Li Shanchang's younger brother Li Cunyi was extremely close to Hu Weiyong. This fact can be corroborated by multiple sources.
Because of Li Cunyi, it was difficult for Li Shanchang to completely distance himself from the matter. Yet Zhu Yuanzhang dealt harshly with others involved in the Hu Weiyong case. Even Tu Jie, an imperial censor who confessed with a cooperative attitude, ended with his head separated from his body.
But the Li brothers, who were closely connected to Hu Weiyong, received neither punishment nor even harsh criticism.
Yet Li Shanchang, though he had stepped down from the position of chancellor, remained vigorous despite his age. He did not cut away his own power like Xiao He, nor did he exhaust himself in service like Fang Xuanling, nor did he close his doors like Li Jing and devote himself to writing.
Instead he strengthened his position as the leader of the Huai-Xi faction more and more.
The direct cause of Li Shanchang's downfall came in his seventy-seventh year. Far from appearing near death, he went to Tang He and borrowed three hundred guards to help repair his residence. Tang He agreed, but secretly reported the matter to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Among the founding nobles Tang He was not the most outstanding in civil or military ability, but he was certainly the most unique. As Zhu Yuanzhang's childhood friend, sworn brother, entrepreneurial companion, and later duke of the realm, he was one of the emperor's most trusted confidants.
Li Shanchang's action somewhat suggested that he no longer regarded himself as an outsider to the state.
And if one examines the phrase "He secretly reported it," the meaning becomes rather intriguing. If Tang He had not informed him, would Zhu Yuanzhang ever have learned of it?
The possibilities hidden within are worth pondering.
A month later the capital began sending convicted criminals to frontier garrisons. Li Shanchang pleaded on behalf of his relative Ding Bin, hoping to spare him punishment. Zhu Yuanzhang became furious and prosecuted Li Shanchang.
Ding Bin then confessed that Li Cunyi had been Hu Weiyong's close ally, which ultimately implicated Li Shanchang and led to his death.
As the one who introduced Hu Weiyong and the leader of the Huai-Xi faction, Li Shanchang surely had "secret discussions" with him. But these probably had little to do with rebellion.
However, factional struggle, exclusion of rivals, and manipulation of court politics certainly occurred. To Zhu Yuanzhang, such actions were essentially equivalent to rebellion.
Most important of all was age.
Zhu Yuanzhang believed that even if he lived longer than his father, it would not be by many years. The Hongwu reign had already entered its twilight. Matters of succession had to be considered.
Yet Li Shanchang, at seventy-seven, remained vigorous. Zhu Yuanzhang did not dare gamble that Li Shanchang would die before reaching eighty-seven or even ninety-seven.
Thus, amid this shift of mentality, he ultimately struck.
It should be clarified that the claim that seventy-seven members of Li Shanchang's family were executed cannot be verified in the Ming Veritable Records. The number itself also appears suspiciously neat, likely a satirical invention of late Ming storytellers that was later copied into the History of Ming.
The real source may have been the execution of Li Shanchang's younger brother Li Cunyi's entire household, which did not extend to other branches of the family.
Li Shanchang himself died in his residence while dressed in full court attire. Whether by hanging or poison is unknown. What is certain is that his descendants continued to live.
During the Yongle, Jiajing, and Chongzhen reigns there were even memorials proposing the restoration of the Li family's hereditary title, though none were ultimately approved.
Returning to Li Shanchang's death, one may say that being implicated by Sima Yi is not entirely unreasonable. Without historical precedent, who could imagine that a frail old man in his seventies who had served the state faithfully all his life would suddenly rise and become the founding emperor of Jin?
But to place the entire blame on Sima Yi is also not quite accurate.
It is simply that from the rise of the Sima clan onward, more and more negative precedents appeared in the thousand years that followed.
Sima Zhao killed a puppet emperor. Liu Yu went further and slaughtered the close branches of that imperial clan. Xiao Daocheng exterminated Liu Yu's lineage, only for his own descendants to be slaughtered by his nephew Xiao Luan. Later Xiao Yan wiped out Xiao Luan's family entirely. Yang Jian went further still and exterminated the collateral descendants of the Yuwen brothers.
All of these examples demonstrate one truth.
Power cannot endure a vacuum.
And the result was that later emperors found themselves trapped in a prisoner's dilemma from which they could not escape. The greater their power became, the more they turned into what could truly be called solitary sovereigns.]