eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 179 Gather talents and gather talents, wait for the opportunity

Neither criticize nor stay.

The crown prince's approach was to reject the suggestions of his courtiers, and he said directly in the court that he would use severe punishments and strict laws to govern the officials.If things go on like this, Zhu Houzhao's reputation is not much better than that of Emperor Yongzheng.

Power can go back to the memorial, but power can't stop the minister's mouth, even if it is not allowed to speak openly, it still can't stop it in private.

This was inevitable in the political development of the Ming Dynasty.

Liu Jian is sometimes worried about this. If his head is followed by a tyrannical king, it will still affect his reputation behind him... He may not care about it, but he still has the point of cherishing feathers.

But Donggong did foresee things ahead.

Li Dongyang bought the latest issue of "Ming Pao" and showed it to Mr. Liu Ge. Today's topic is very big and scary: the story of corrupt officials in Zhejiang.

While he was watching, Jiang Tongzu, the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, who had taken off his official uniform, was also watching. When he found that his name was listed in it, he was so angry that he tore up the paper!

"The emperor should share the world with the scholar-bureaucrats, not with the people!"

With the cold November wind, the confetti fluttered all over the sky, falling on the legs of the chairs, on the threshold, and on the body of the person who lifted his foot in.This person is Jiang Tongzu's good friend of the same discipline, Ma Yiqian, at this time he is serving as the doctor of the Ministry of War, and he is the fifth rank.

The two of them are similar in age and have similar interests, and they have been getting along well since they entered the court and became officials.

Everyone knew what happened in the palace yesterday. Jiang Tongzu was going to become a commoner. The punishment was not severe, but it was insulting.How can this reputation spread out?

"Huide, be careful!" Ma Yiqian was scared when he heard his friend yelling so loudly.

The power of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has already intervened in the Jinyiwei, and the Crown Prince is obviously more capable of using the power of the Jinyiwei than the current emperor.Don't think that the prince won't know if Jiang Tongzu yells like this at home.At the beginning Cheng Minzheng said in Beijing, 'The prince is only an eight-year-old child', didn't he become known later?
"I don't know how to be cautious, but the state affairs are like this, you and my generation blindly speak cautiously, cautiously, cautiously... What's the benefit?"

Of course Ma Yiqian understood what he meant, and could better understand Jiang Tongzu's mood.

Now they have understood the style of the crown prince's handling of affairs. If it sounds good, it is assertive. If it is not good, it is wise enough to refuse advice, and the court can see it yesterday.

As for Jiang Tongzu, the throwing of the memorial to the ground basically announced the end of his official career.Jiang Tongzu has not yet stood up, so early and so suddenly, how can he balance his mind?
There are quite a few people like this in the capital. As long as their philosophy is far from that of the prince, most of the time they are called rotten scholars. Will not be convinced.

"Huide, I reminded you at the beginning. The current crown prince is a very smart person, and it is useless to try to persuade him with a memorial." Ma Yiqian looked at the torn piece of paper in his hand, "Whether it is In the 12th year of Hongzhi’s Zuo Shun Gate, the memorial was returned, and the prince’s door was closed to us. He only needs ministers who can cater to him.”

boom!
Jiang Tongzu was so angry that he slapped the table hard.

"To flatter the monarch with a flattering attitude, people of my generation are not ashamed to do it!"

I don't know if his words are really out of righteousness in his heart, or because he has no hope of official career.What makes them most desperate is that the prince has just turned 14 years old, and when he ascends the throne and takes charge of the government in the future, their life is over.

"I've already made up my mind." Ma Yiqian sighed, "When I found the right time, I went to the court to ask for my resignation. There is no place for me to stand in the court, so why force it? In the future, I will focus on mountains and rivers, recite poems and recite Fu. It’s one of the joys in life.”

Jiang Tongzu seemed to be unable to swallow this breath, and he was unwilling to agree, his tone was full of sourness: "That's right...the world has Tao, you can see it, and if you don't have Tao, you can hide. If a country has no Tao, rich and expensive, it's a shame."

Ma Yiqian was a little surprised, he knew his friend well, "When did Huide change his mind?"

"It's not that I've changed my mind. It's just that the world is like this. There is nothing I can do. I have a good friend named Lu Meng who also suffered the same situation as me. We entered the court together as officials in order to help the world and benefit the people, but the crown prince doesn't need us. It is better to go back to the countryside than to live in a daze."

"Okay!" Ma Yiqian congratulated, "Huide doesn't know something, not only you and I have this idea, when the time comes, we will find some like-minded people, and return to our hometown, whether it is to give lectures in the Liyuan Academy, or to entertain grandchildren After all, it’s better than being cowardly now. At that time, if we chase after the demeanor of the Eight Sages of the Bamboo Grove, people in future generations will be a little envious when they know us!”

In this way, it seems that the unhappy things in the court are nothing.

But vaguely, Jiang Tongzu was still a little worried.

"I'm afraid... Hongzhi Zhongxing collapsed halfway, and the world will be in chaos. You and I, duckweed in the world, will not be able to stop the tide."

"Will it be?"

Jiang Tongzu seemed to be convinced, "The current prince was born in the palace and grew up in the palace. The teacher of Zhan Shifu taught him the phrase 'the people are the foundation of the country, and the foundation of the country is peaceful', so he believed it. As everyone knows, the gentry in the world is The foundation of the imperial court. Besides, how could I not know that the gentry oppressed the people? But if you move the gentry, it is like destroying your own foundation. If things go on like this, how can the country not be in chaos?"

"This is why Huide said that the emperor shares the world with the scholar-bureaucrats, not with the common people."

"That's right. To speak from the heart, the talent, courage, and courage of today's princes are indeed extraordinary, but this idea is wrong. To cut at one's own foundation with one knife is to fight against the world with one person. Let's say that this time Zhejiang In the future, which gentry will have a heart for the court? Unfortunately, the East Palace still thinks that I am a corrupt Confucian who doesn't understand the principles of governing the country."

After hearing this, Ma Yiqian was speechless for a while.

But Jiang Tongzu made a certain determination at this moment, "Even if you and I stay away from the court, we must also have the idea of ​​​​saving the country. Since the crown prince does not listen to you and me, then we can only take it slowly. The East Palace is not built. Academy, do you want to create Ming Pao to influence people’s hearts? We also want to spread our ideas to other places and others, gather talents and wait for the opportunity. One day His Highness hit a wall and looked back and found that we are the ones with the heart Good and bitter."

……

……

At this time, in Qianqing Palace, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian were meeting with him.There were only the three of them, and Prince Zhu Houzhao was not there.

"...Yesterday morning, what do you three think of the prince's performance?" Emperor Hongzhi walked around the hall with his hands behind his back. He is now in better condition and likes to exercise like this every day.

"Full of courage and coercion." Liu Jian responded in this way.

The emperor glanced at Li and Xie.So Li Dongyang replied, "His Royal Highness is resolute and decisive. He dares to make decisions and face disputes on what he believes."

"Where is Mr. Xie Ge?"

Xie Qian couldn't escape either, but he said it more briefly, "Your Highness has the image of a hero."

"How is it compared to me?"

If it is an ordinary minister, or not so smart, he will flatter the emperor.But the three of them have been in the court for so many years, apart from knowing the prince, they also know the emperor better.

Our Holy Majesty inherits from our ancestors. Back then, the Emperor Taizu was deeply worried that his descendants would be weak and bullied by others, and he was ecstatic that his descendants were smart enough to take care of the world. At that time, Emperor Taizu had so many sons, so there is no need to worry about it now, that’s all. one.The foundation of the ancestors and the land of all ages must be handed over to him no matter what.

Liu Jian replied with the ceremony: "When the Holy Majesty was at His Highness's age, he was indeed not as good as he was."

This is the art of expression of the great scholar, which not only brings meaning to the audience, but also does not degrade the emperor too much.

In fact, in the past few years, Emperor Hongzhi has seen clearly, what age is not old, "You dare not say it, I dare to say it. My prince is more suitable to be emperor than me. Hey, I really don't know whether to be happy or sad... ...I have governed the world for seventeen years, and in the end, my greatest contribution to my ancestors and to the world is not in governing the Yellow River and appointing people on merit, but in giving our Zhu family a heir who is as smart and as capable as his ancestors."

"Your Majesty doesn't have to be so self-effacing." Li Dongyang replied, "For three generations, your majesty can be called the emperor of benevolence and morality, wise and virtuous among the rulers who have preserved success for three generations."

"This is the problem." The emperor waved his hand, "I am a benevolent king, and the crown prince is a harsh punishment. Some ministers in the court always think that I am just such a son, so I love him too much. Elder Liu Ge, Li Ge Old man, Mr. Xie Ge, do you also think that I dote on the crown prince just out of love? You can also be regarded as my teacher, and I...is this such a ignorant father?"

After hearing this, the three knelt down in unison, "I dare not wait."

"If I just pampered him, I wouldn't let the prince interfere in the government affairs so deeply. If he didn't have the will, he wouldn't be able to force it. How dare I take things lightly in the land of our ancestors?"

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

"After you go down, you convey my meaning, the sky will always be a sun, there is no big sun or small sun."

All three of them are extremely intelligent people.

The meaning of the emperor is clear, that is, the courtiers should not ponder whether there is any disagreement between the emperor and the prince, the prince's meaning may not be the emperor's meaning, and so on.Does not exist, the imperial court is always a political center, there is no second.

"Sir, you understand."

Now some courtiers will make up their own brains, and then give very inappropriate examples, such as Li Shimin making his father the emperor.

"It's good to understand..."

The emperor had finished speaking here, and the three old men did not stay any longer.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao was reading the secret report given by Jin Yiwei. Is it true that the gentry should not be offended?

If he hadn't known about the 'Zou Qing's dismissal of the case', he would have almost believed it.

In the early Qing Dynasty, these gentry groups in the south of the Yangtze River were used to defaulting on money and food to the court during the Ming Dynasty, so they did not change their ways when they changed emperors.As a result, it was unreasonable for the Manchu court to fight with them, and strictly ordered officials at all levels to pursue the gentry's owed grain.Of course, things were the same as in the Ming Dynasty at the beginning, because the local gentry and landlord forces in the south of the Yangtze River were intertwined and deeply rooted, and it was obviously unrealistic to completely cut off these forces based on the emperor's mere decree.

But the later part of the story is different.

In the 18th year of Shunzhi, after some recovery, the Qing court deposed all the officials and gentlemen in Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Zhenjiang and one county in Liyang who were still in debt, totaling more than 3000 people, and the purpose was very Strictly, no matter how much money and food is owed, they will be severely punished, that is to say, not a grain of food is allowed to be owed.

So much so that Ye Fangai, a Jinshi at that time, was dismissed by the court because he owed one cent. The so-called rumor that "exploring flowers is not worth a penny" came from this.

Zhu Houzhao told Jin Yiwei who was kneeling in front of him: "Don't disturb them, let them gather together."

It is much more convenient to take it away in one pot than to search all over the street.

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(End of this chapter)