Wanli Ming Emperor

Chapter 218: The beginning is the end, the horse falls

The sound of firecrackers marks the end of the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu. Thousands of households always replace old talismans with new peaches.

The New Year is a time of farewell to the old and welcome to the new, so it is naturally very lively.

This is especially true during the first month of the year in the capital.

The auspicious lanterns that burned out at the Aoshan Lantern Festival were all distributed to ordinary people and hung in front of the gates along the streets; the street artists and actors were surrounded by leisurely pedestrians; and the scholars who went to Beijing to take the imperial examinations put aside their airs and set up calligraphy stalls to customize Spring Festival couplets in order to supplement their travel expenses.

Just talking about the festive atmosphere, it can be said that the whole country is celebrating in full swing.

However, the New Year festival of reform and innovation often gives the New Year a different meaning, and the current situation is as tense and intense as a raging fire.

Even so, the sparks did not decrease at all.

For example, the well-known treacherous prime minister Wang Anshi was finally remembered for his literary status among the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties, and his poems became inexplicably popular inside and outside the capital overnight.

Putting aside the "New Year's Day" which is appropriate for the New Year, one of his poems, "Climbing Feilai Peak", has also been put on the table again for people to appreciate his noble feelings for family and country, as well as his lofty political ambitions.

By vaguely using the incident of Wang Anshi, the general idea of ​​"reform is not a crime, innovation is reasonable" was put forward.

For another example, in order to wipe out the atmosphere of "seizing land to make money, building large-scale projects, enriching the interior at the expense of foreign countries, and living in extravagance and debauchery" that was created in the inner court by the eunuch party in order to flatter the previous emperors of this dynasty, the emperor took the initiative to publicize the source and destination of the imperial property and invited people all over the world to supervise.

At the same time, the Minister of Personnel Wang Xijue was inspired by the emperor's virtue and chose to follow the good.

Just because of this matter, Wang Xijue could not have a peaceful New Year. He was repeatedly impeached for his incompetent behavior towards the country, his ugly behavior was exposed, his false claim of integrity to cover up his incompetence, and his fawning and selling fame.

The quarrel was so intense that it was unbearable.

For example, the criminal Liang Ruyuan, in order to seek a reduction in his sentence, accused the innocent in prison and reported the case to the Confucius Mansion. He said that Kong Chengde conspired with the Five Classics Doctors Yan Sishen and Meng Yanpu to hunt down the father-in-law of the emperor and falsely deposit his land.

Although Shen Li was reluctant, he still personally took people to invite Kong Chengde to the Dutian Governor's Office and questioned him patiently.

All he said was that he would confront He Xinyin face to face after she was released from prison, but he didn't know how the matter would end.

In addition, General Zhu Jungu and others in the Raoyang Palace obstructed the land measurement, left the town without permission, put a yellow flag on their necks with the words "Anyone who stands in the way will be beheaded" written on it, and beat to death four clerks. They were arrested by the Inspector Ru Zongshun and brought to the capital.

For this reason, Shen Shixing of the Cabinet came forward to report that the purchase of military and civilian land by royal family members was not unique to the government, and requested that it be circulated throughout the kingdom to all royal palaces to strictly instruct royal family members that any purchase of military land must be investigated by the governor-general and the tax must be paid according to the rules. Zhu Jungu and others should be dealt with strictly according to the law to set an example.

The emperor had been lazy in his duties for many days and had not yet had time to approve the reply.

Another major case has occurred in the Household Department.

Li Deyou, the Imperial Censor, impeached Guo Siwei, the prefect of Chizhou, Yan Bangning, the co-magistrate of Huizhou, and others for colluding with the powerful, obstructing land surveying, defying the government, deceiving the emperor, and listing twelve major crimes, as if he wanted to put them to death.

Each and every one of these is a sensitive matter with far-reaching consequences.

The court officials were inevitably made restless and irritable, and they did not feel very at ease during the New Year.

It happened to be the end of the year and the emperor was either hiding in the deep palace to enjoy family happiness, or going to places like the Five Military Governor's Office and the Beijing Barracks to hang out with officers and soldiers.

If you want to talk to the emperor and test him, you will get nothing.

Especially looking at the emperor's attitude, you can forget about entering the palace to make a performance before you finish your New Year holiday.

As a result, the court officials could only watch helplessly as the eunuch party in the inner court and the lackeys in the ministries and agencies did whatever they wanted and fabricated major cases, while they beat their chests and stamped their feet.

After such an agonizing wait, the emperor finally ended his long rest - today, the emperor reviewed the military gate and inspected the Beijing camp.

……

According to the customs of the dynasty, there are many places where grand review ceremonies can be held. The suburbs outside Yongdingmen and Deshengmen are all options.

However, since the 14th year of Chenghua, when Emperor Xianzong selected dozens of people to symbolically review the military parade in the Forbidden City, the grand review ceremony became a mere formality, and the several parade grounds in the capital used for the emperor to review military parades gradually became deserted.

It was not until the third year of the Longqing reign, more than ninety years later, that Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng carried the late emperor and once again held a military parade in the suburbs. The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War then rebuilt the training ground outside the North Suburbs Parade Gate.

In order to save money, the military parade in the eighth year of Wanli's reign was also scheduled to be held outside the Yuewu Gate.

What was different from the third year of Longqing's reign was that, in addition to renovating the emperor's imperial road, the welcoming gate, the generals' platform and other facilities, several stands were added for military and civilian representatives to sit.

This move was naturally intended to attract more scholars and common people.

The people of the capital city are the most honest people. They rarely have free time during the first month of the lunar year, so they all accepted the invitation and came.

Early in the morning, scholars and common people who left the city from Anding Gate and headed for the northern suburbs filled the official road. The crowd was surging, shoulder to shoulder, and gathered at the parade ground outside the Yuewu Gate.

The military and civilian representatives, with their thumbs clasped around their belts, were invited to the stands on both sides of the parade ground in high spirits.

Although the represented scholars, merchants, and common people were blocked outside by the imperial guards, they were allowed to climb the city walls and look out into the distance.

At this time, all the civil and military officials, under the leadership of Shen Shixing, stood solemnly and respectfully in the center of the training ground to offer sacrifices to the flag.

The governor of the Beijing camp, Qi Jiguang, personally held the signal flag and was on high alert.

Looking around, one can see military formations lined up in rows all over the suburbs, weapons glowing coldly, horses' hooves digging restlessly in the damp and cold rammed earth, and flags rustling all around.

The atmosphere was solemn and the place was bustling with people, but it was not time to start yet.

After all, the emperor had just finished the sacrifice in the palace before the review, and was being escorted out of the palace in his imperial sedan chair by a procession of officials.

The officers and soldiers escorting the emperor were originally some leading the way in front, while others followed behind, with cymbals, drums and other musical instruments sounding at the same time.

However, the emperor disliked the noise, so he sent everyone to the front of the procession to play gongs and drums, while he took every opportunity to talk about recent political affairs with his attendants.

After resting for many days, there are naturally many things to take care of.

Zhu Yijun sat upright on the imperial chariot and responded to the previous topic in a condescending manner: "... Logically speaking, a person of Yu Qing's rank has no right to inquire about the resolution of the annual meeting before the emperor."

Yu Youding was accompanying the emperor, and after being scolded by the emperor, he fell into a brief silence.

Zhu Yijun smiled when he saw this, but then changed the subject: "But you are the governor of Shandong after all, and you are also my teacher, so I will make an exception and satisfy your curiosity."

"Kong Chengde's hunting of the emperor's father-in-law is not limited to him alone. It also involves the Kong family. We must investigate it thoroughly!"

Yu Youding was stunned when he heard this.

They are still hunting, so who is the master and who is the subordinate between bribery and bribery? It's really the opposite of Tiangang.

However, as the Governor of Shandong, he was naturally very clear about the reason.

Although the emperor's words sounded high-sounding, in the final analysis, he was still looking for an excuse to run the Confucius Mansion.

The descendant of a saint, a thousand-year-old family, just happened to run into the muzzle of Toda Daisho's gun, and was picked up by the emperor and killed in front of the world.

The emperor's voice sounded again: "This is the manuscript that He Xinyin entrusted to be printed while in prison. It is waiting for Yu Qing to take it back to Shandong for publication."

As he was speaking, the accompanying Tongzheng Shi Ni Guangjian immediately took out a manuscript from his sleeve and handed it to Yu Youding.

Yu Youding was stunned and took it subconsciously.

In a flash, I saw the title of the book on the cover - "The Confucius Mansion Full of Sins"

The title of each volume is bloody.

The vanguard of foreign invasion, the black model of shaving head and changing clothes;
The ways of annexing land include enclosure, forced purchase and occupation;

The means of abusing the people, such as physical control, economic exploitation and murder, are not against the law;

Collusion and struggle with local government offices to seize judicial, administrative and taxation powers...

Yu Youding watched intently and only came back to his senses after a while.

He slowly closed the manuscript and muttered to himself: "Your Majesty is not only a Confucian scholar, but also a true scholar."

The emperor's style of fighting is really like an antelope hanging by a horn.

It has always been said that Confucian scholars manipulated public opinion and made up stories about the emperor and the prime minister of the time.

This was the first time that the rulers of the current dynasty wrote short essays to slander the golden statue of Confucianism.

This is the essence of literati!
Zhu Yijun waved his hand casually: "Although I allowed He Xinyin to borrow some county records, memorials, and case files, it was ultimately He Xinyin's personal behavior."

It's just a personal behavior, I'm just a temporary worker, don't say anything.

Even though he was an old minister of the Eastern Palace, he was speechless for a moment because of the emperor's shameless words.

Yu Youding suppressed his complaints, thought quietly for a moment, and checked for omissions.

After a long silence, Yu Youding tentatively spoke: "Your Majesty, I have heard of He Xinyin's reputation among the people."

"But...measuring a field is like attacking a tree. You should attack the easy part first and then the hard part."

"The Confucius Mansion is a thousand-year-old sage family that has been entrenched in the Central Plains, with deep roots and great expectations from scholars all over the world. It is a well-deserved 'program'."

"I think that if things are slow, they will be smooth. We may as well keep the program and wrap it up in the end."

This is the methodology of "Book of Rites". The intersection of branches and trunks is called node, and the tangled texture is called mesh. When felling trees, they are often left for the last, starting with the easy ones and then moving on to the difficult ones, from shallow to deep.

The matter of measuring the land is basically the same.

If we attack the thousand-year-old family right from the start, there would be a risk of them colluding to cause trouble.

In his opinion, the Confucius Mansion should be treated as a "reserved program" and dealt with calmly at the end.

Zhu Yijun suddenly laughed when he heard this. Yu Youding was confused.

He met the emperor's gaze, only to see the emperor smile and shake his head, sneering, "Program?"

"As for the pen, I am a saint of our time, a master of Confucianism, and I hold the press office, but my voice has not become any quieter."

"As for the purpose of the gun, isn't today's grand review for the purpose of showing off one's military might and suppressing disobedience?"

“How many camps does the Kong family have that dare to call it a program?”

When Yu Youding heard this, he was shocked and speechless.

It took him a long while to come back to his senses.

Zhu Yijun glanced at Yu Youding and said nothing more.

To deal with the easy first and then the difficult also requires specific analysis of specific issues. For things like mergers, the "easy" is often just a shadow of the "difficult". If the "difficult" is not dealt with properly, countless "easy" things will arise. I'm afraid that we can only keep circling around "easy first" and finally say "the water is too deep" and perfunctorily deal with the matter.

Top-down reform is the last chance for innovation. If that doesn't work, we can only wait for bottom-up reform.

At this time, no matter whether they are relatives of the royal family, high-ranking officials, or wealthy families, anyone who dares to stand out will be killed.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yijun turned his head and looked at Zhang Hong: "The time is almost right. Daban will approve all the memorials in recent days later."

"Dai Fan obstructed the land measurement, the culprit Zhu Junjian was sentenced to death, and Zhu Chongkun and others were demoted to commoners."

"Lucheng Prince Zhu Chongyu sat back and watched the clansmen leave the city, as if he knew nothing; Taiping Prince Zhu Naixuan did not go to report; Wang Mingfu, the chief secretary of the palace, and the official Hu, the acting professor, failed to provide guidance, and the judicial department shall punish them severely according to the law."

"Chizhou prefect Guo Siwei, Huizhou seal-holding co-prefect Yan Bangning and others copied and used old books to evade important government affairs, pretended to obey but secretly disobeyed, and obstructed the land survey. They are sentenced to death."

Zhang Hong bowed and responded.

After waiting for a while and seeing that the emperor did not move, he reminded in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Sun Guanghu, the right assistant minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, impeached the Anqing prefect Ye Mengxiong for being slow in land management."

Ye Mengxiong was one of the officials who were impeached for the land measurement issue along with Guo Siwei and Yan Bangning, so naturally he was no exception.

Zhu Yijun obviously did not forget.

He pondered for a moment, then waved his hand: "Sun Piyang ordered Anqing Prefecture to survey the land and clear the households within one month. This is beyond human power, so Ye Mengxiong naturally turned a deaf ear to it."

"Sun Guanghu, the former governor, was being sarcastic, saying that Sun Piyang was eager for quick success."

"Send an oral order for me to appease Sun Guanghu and make Ye Mengxiong remain as he was before."

"As for Sun Piyang... bring this matter up to the court for discussion, and then issue an imperial decree to inform the governors of all provinces so that they can take it as a warning."

The problem of adding layers of burdens is an unavoidable problem under the performance appraisal system.

It is the ability of local officials to increase efforts to get a head start and achieve results.

But at the same time, if something goes wrong, you can't just throw your hands up and deny your responsibility; you have to hold people accountable.

Isn't this also part of the assessment of the case officers?
Zhang Hong didn't know how the emperor knew the whole story, so he didn't ask any more questions and just agreed silently.

Just at this moment, the cymbals and drums suddenly stopped.

Zhu Yijun looked up and saw that while he was speaking, the ceremonial procession had already passed through the Imperial Road of the capital and arrived in front of Anding Gate.

After exiting this door, outside was the Chief Military and Political Officer leading the generals and officers, all kneeling in military uniforms to greet them. The central army fired three cannon shots, and there was all sorts of chaos going on.

Officials from the Ministry of War and Honglu Temple had already been waiting in front of Anding Gate to serve as guides.

Zhu Yijun naturally had no interest in looking at these familiar faces.

He turned his gaze and looked at Wang Chonggu, who stood out from the crowd in front of the city gate with a dignified demeanor.

And the Mongolian woman behind him.

The imperial carriage landed gently on the ground, and Zhu Yijun stood up and walked down from it, waiting for the military officer to bring the imperial horse - this was the emperor's little willfulness, and for such a formality, riding a horse still seemed more martial than riding the imperial carriage.

Zhang Hong, who was standing by, stepped forward to support him, followed the emperor's line of sight, and pointed out in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the person behind Wang Chonggu is Madam Zhongshun, the Mongols call her Sanniangzi."

Zhu Yijun nodded to Wang Chonggu with a gentle expression, but he was actually observing Sanniang out of the corner of his eye without making any expression.

The third lady should be exactly 30 years old this year. She is a head shorter than Wang Chonggu, but she has an upright figure, sharp eyes, clear and bright gaze, and her demeanor is no less than Wang Chonggu.

But perhaps due to the wind and sun in the frontier, she looked almost the same as Empress Dowager Chen, about thirty-five or thirty-six years old.

Putting aside her skin age, her bone structure is indeed extremely beautiful, worthy of Zhao Shizhe's evaluation of "beautiful bones and unique temperament".

In addition, with its exotic attire and the aura of having commanded troops for many years, it looks like a place where no strangers are allowed to enter, which is very beautiful.

No wonder she was married to four great khans in succession and regarded as a family heirloom.

Zhu Yijun secretly observed her, but kept asking, "What has been Madam Zhongshun's reaction in the past two days?"

Although Sanniangzi came to the capital by imperial decree, Zhu Yijun instructed the Ministry of Rites to deliberately leave Sanniangzi alone on the pretext of the New Year holiday, and placed her in the Siyi Pavilion, not allowing her to enter or leave at will.

At the same time, he sent eunuchs to question Sanniangzi again and again with questions like "Why did Altan Khan disobey the order?" and "The emperor is extremely dissatisfied."

It was not until today that Sanniangzi was invited to review the ceremony together with foreign officials from Korea, Wala and Tusi.

With such pressure, Zhu Yijun is now very curious about this person's reaction.

Zhang Hong lowered his voice and replied, "Your Majesty, Miss San has been doing the same thing these past two days. She does morning exercises every day, and then asks the Siyi Pavilion to pay her respects to Your Majesty. She goes shopping during the day, and borrows books from the Ministry of Rites at night. She has not even visited Governor Wang's residence."

"I just occasionally express my homesickness to my subordinates, saying that I am worried that my family will be worried and that my subordinates will cause trouble for no reason."

The Governor Wang he mentioned was naturally Wang Chonggu.

As old acquaintances of Xuan Da, the two sides had close contacts. Despite such pressure, Sanniangzi did not contact Wang Chonggu, which showed that she was very patient.

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but look at Sanniang again and sighed, "As expected of the uncrowned king of the right wing, he is indeed a powerful and smart man."

At this time, Sanniang was looking at the emperor openly.

Everyone on the grassland knows that the Ming Dynasty was a vast empire.

In order to control tens of millions of young and strong people, the emperor had to live in the palace and deal with government affairs that were as complicated as a mountain.

Not to mention galloping on the battlefield and leading the troops, he even had very little time to leave the palace to bask in the sun.

This also caused the biggest difference between the emperors of the Ming Dynasty and the Khans of the grasslands: they were wise, feminine and thin.

Now that Sanniang had seen it with her own eyes, she realized that what was said to be known to everyone could only be half believed.

Compared with the tribal leaders, the emperor was not very tall.

However, she can't really be described as feminine and thin, she is probably just healthy and strong.

If the latter is discounted by half, then should things like profound wisdom also be discounted...

Did the emperor summon her to the capital simply to vent his anger over Shi Maohua's transit, or was it because of the preparations she had made in recent days that he had other plans for the Ming-Mongol situation?
Should she believe Wang Chonggu's evaluation of the emperor's "bearing the world in his heart, embracing the Ming and Mongolians", or should she believe the emperor's attitude of "Han and thieves cannot coexist, and the kingdom cannot be half-hearted" that she got from bribing the eunuchs these days?
The last military parade during the Ming Dynasty laid the foundation for the Khan to offer tribute. What is the purpose of the military parade ten years later?

The third lady stared at the emperor with her eyes fixed, her mind full of thoughts.

Seeing the attendants bringing horses for the emperor, Sanniang chatted with Wang Chonggu, "Why doesn't your majesty ride the imperial sedan? I heard that the last time Emperor Mu reviewed the troops, he rode all the way to the palace at the Yuewu Gate."

She was well versed in Han affairs. The name of the Han city Guihua was given by her herself as a gift to the Ming Dynasty.

As long as the stories about the Ming Dynasty are not obscure, people generally know a little about them.

Wang Chonggu explained with a blank expression: "Your Majesty is a great gentleman, with both literary and martial virtues, and the six arts. On this occasion of the military review, it is natural for you to ride on horseback."

No matter what happens in private, Wang Chonggu will never be nice to the Third Lady in public.

The third lady gave Wang Chonggu a look of seriousness.

She was about to ask again, but saw the emperor had already mounted his horse and was heading out of Anding Gate, passing in front of her.

"Your Majesty, please review the soldiers of the three armies!"

The third lady followed suit and performed the etiquette of a foreign minister with the official from the Ministry of Rites.

She had been left out for a long time and thought that the emperor would wait until he had shown off his power before receiving her.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty suddenly stopped his horse and turned his head to look at her: "Madam Zhongshun."

The third lady subconsciously took a deep breath.

She quickly reacted and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to the Emperor."

Zhu Yijun nodded in return, and after a moment's silence, he suddenly smiled amiably, "Madam Zhongshun, the fine horse under my crotch was a gift from Tuman Khan to congratulate me on my ascension to the throne in the first year of the Wanli reign."

"This is a fierce horse. I dare not control it normally. But today, for the sake of the face of the Celestial Empire and to show off my martial arts, I have to force myself to control it. My close ministers are afraid that I will make a mistake."

"I just saw Madam Zhongshun, and suddenly I was inspired..."

Zhu Yijun paused, narrowed his eyes amiably and said, "Madam Zhongshun, can you hold my horse for me?"

(End of this chapter)