Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 243: The capital city is really big
Enough groundwork has been done to rehabilitate Zhang Juzheng.

When the new emperor ascended the throne, the emperor's abdication edict contained a hint of regret. Although only a few people saw the edict of the emperor's abdication, it was eventually circulated.

As soon as the new monarch ascended the throne, he conferred many titles on others. Among the three marquises and five earls, Qi Jiguang was one of them, which was another clear signal.

Then he implemented strict preferential treatment and took advantage of the opportunity of surrendering himself and being exempted from punishment in the second year of Taichang to prefecture-level cities to initiate the survey of the remaining land in various prefectures that had not been completed during Zhang Juzheng's New Deal. This was obvious.

However, the officials and scholars in Beijing still did not expect that the emperor would be so kind to the Zhang family.

The first day of the first lunar month is the time to pay New Year's greetings and visit relatives and friends.

This officially published issue of "Learning and Using" is much more refined than the previous two issues, and it can be seen that it has been prepared for a long time.

After the reform, the Zhanshi Mansion became a real government office. Except for Yang Shiqiao who was in charge of the affairs of the Zhanshi Mansion, the young Zhanshi Fan Chunjing and the editor-in-chief Huang Hui who were actually in charge of this matter in the Sibao Bureau were both in their prime.

The emperor attached so much importance to it, so this newspaper bureau was obviously a necessary step for them to take steadily in their bid to move from a clean group to a formal and prominent position.

Therefore, they were indeed working overtime this year, at least to ensure that officials in Beijing could read it first, and then use the Spring Festival time to spread the content that the emperor wanted to announce to the local areas.

By the afternoon, a handwritten version of the morning newspaper had already circulated.

The efficiency of typesetting and printing at the Silijian Sutra Factory is currently limited. The only thing they can guarantee is that everyone above the sixth rank will have a copy, each government office will have several copies, and each land and water post will have at least one copy.

But hand copying was not a difficult task for Beijing, which was crowded with scholars at that time.

In the afternoon, many teahouses in the capital also opened.

The most important guests were the scholars who came to Beijing to take the imperial examinations. After all, they were all guests living here.

"Brother, please enlighten me. I heard that the questions in the imperial examination asked about the various schools of thought. In my opinion, the February imperial examination will not ask questions about the various schools of thought, right? Will it ask about the new policies?"

The one called "my dear brother" was actually an old scholar who had already participated in the imperial examination once, but his name was not on the list.

The one who asked anxiously, although older, was a latecomer. He had just passed the provincial examination in the third year of Taichang, and now hoped to be admitted to the imperial examination.

But the "good brothers" did not dare to talk much now. They just gathered together and read the "Xueyong" morning newspaper copied on the table with great concentration.

Before and after the Imperial Examination, the scholars in the capital discussed the matter of Emperor Chu Zong. What happened later made those who escaped the disaster no longer dare to be negligent.

Nowadays, we listen more, watch more, and speak less.

There are storytellers in almost every teahouse now, and they never stop talking.

Large teahouses have high platforms, and small teahouses will do if they can spare an inch of space - if they just tell stories, it won't take up much space anyway.

"...It's human nature. The old man, Prince Gong of Chu, firstly hopes that someone will offer blood sacrifices to him, secondly, he also cares about his wives and concubines in their old age, and thirdly, he has such a huge family business... But who would have thought that the Wang family had other plans..."

The newly-appointed scholars who arrived in the capital were stunned, listening to these storytellers "going against the wind" and still talking loudly about Chu Fan's affairs. For a moment they wondered if the capital was so bold.
The predecessors always hesitate to speak, isn’t it because many scholars in the past have caused trouble because of their words?

Finally, someone raised a question. A "senior" hesitated for a moment, then said meaningfully: "The Storytellers Guild is not a simple one... The head of the guild, Shen Qinghong, is a guest of honor of His Majesty and a frequent visitor to the Forbidden City. He usually sits in the Kuai Tan Xuan, which was opened by three generations of uncles of the emperor..."

All he did was to write on his face that the storytellers in the capital were "telling stories under the emperor's order". Comparing the silence of their predecessors with the eloquent storytellers, the new candidates gradually gained more understanding.

"The three generations of uncles, Zhang Yunxiu, the fifth son of Zhang Jiangling..."

Someone pointed to a line in the copied court newspaper, which clearly stated that Zhang Yunxiu's second daughter was canonized as Rong Fei.

The emperor has only one wife, but the concubine's family is not simple either, and can barely be considered half the emperor's uncle's family.

"...Taiyue Gong's life..." A candidate sighed softly, "Now that all official titles and posthumous titles have been restored, it would not be surprising if storytellers tell stories about famous officials in the future."

They all knew that just as they had told the stories of the newly-appointed generals, they would also publicize Zhang Juzheng’s achievements later.

So they return to what they care about most: predicting the topic.

Will the questions about the Hundred Schools of Thought that have been asked in the Enke examination be reflected in the previous questions about the meaning of the classics? What will be asked in the Ministry of Rites examination in February?
There is also the debate between strict enforcement and exemption and righteousness and profit in the imperial examination...

They were wondering if they could find out the trend of the imperial examination from the court newspaper, while the storyteller had already talked about the strange case of Chu Fan.

"...Ordinarily, this was just a family affair of the Chu clan. But when the storm started, wow! Guess what, it actually involved the descendants of the founding hero, Marquis Dingyuan! That day, a petition was brought into the palace, and the emperor was furious! It said that the first generation of the Chu princess came from the family of Marquis Dingyuan. Marquis Dingyuan committed a serious crime back then..."

The candidates who participated in the special examination were shocked and their pupils shrank.

At that time, weren't everyone discussing how much money Chu Fan had, how rich he was, and why he was so rich, which led to so many people being arrested in the end?
The storyteller can say it, but we can’t?
But they don't know that the storytellers in the guild now tell the stories given to them by the Publishing Bureau of the Zhanshi Mansion. They all have a unified direction!
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, storytellers in the capital began to tell the whole story of the Chu Fan case in unison, and their whole story was very clear.

How did the old grudges come about, why did the winds rise and the clouds surge, who was caught by the thunderous tactics, and what inside stories have been uncovered now, all in great detail.

"… Mr. Luo and Zhucheng Ding Weining are now being held in the Ministry of Justice for trial. The prisoner's car of the Wuchang prefect should have also crossed the Yellow River. This shocking case, who is the one who wants to cause chaos in the world, will eventually be revealed. If you want to know what happens next?" The storyteller tapped his head, "Please listen to the next chapter for details!"

The candidates stared blankly at the storyteller, bowing their hands to ask for rewards and express their gratitude, and then they realized that it was almost dark.

Before I knew it, I had been listening for nearly two hours.

They were greatly shocked by the storyteller's ability to turn current affairs into a vernacular novel, or even a TV series.

Someone came back to his senses, looked down at the newspaper, and murmured, "The storytellers in the capital are really unfathomable... Maybe they know more about many things than the government..."

"It's a special case..." Someone was more sober, "After all, it's a major case of treason, and people all over the world are uneasy..."

"The Holy Spirit is preached by the mouth of a storyteller..." Someone looked deeper and said faintly, "We should come to this teahouse more often..."

Who knows, maybe the storyteller will guess the topic right?
As night fell, Zhu Changluo in the Forbidden City listened to Chen Ju speak.

"So, more people are discussing Zhang Jiangling and the Chu Fan case, but fewer people are talking about the princes' entry into the capital and Ye Xianggao's promotion to Grand Secretary of the Ministry of Rites?"

"Yes." Chen Ju nodded, "The construction of the official road from Weihui to Guangzhou is even more inconspicuous."

Zhu Changluo sighed: "I really don't know whether these people think that the princes can stir up trouble or not."

Chen Ju said as a matter of course: "Since the three armies of the Beijing camp have been sent out, it is only natural. Moreover, just fanning the flames has already been convicted of treason, and the government and the public are still afraid."

Zhu Changluo looked at him and said, "You have always been a stickler for rules. Do you think that the crime of treason is too much?"

Chen Ju hesitated for a moment, then replied: "Although we should judge by deeds rather than by heart, since Your Majesty wants to punish the person for his heart, I think it is not excessive."

"Wanhua, you are already sixty-five." Zhu Changluo sighed softly, "Share some of the burden so that Wang An and the others can take on more. I also hope that you can spend less energy and stay with me for a few more years. It's not an exaggeration to say that. In the past six months, you have been the one who has worked the hardest, and you look much older."

It sounded like he was being asked to give up his power, but Chen Ju could also tell that the emperor really cared about his health.

His voice was hoarse. “With so many people missing from the Beijing Camp, I have to manage the Yongwei Camp well. As for the East Factory, I will ask Wang An to pay more attention to it after the New Year.”

Zhu Changluo stood up and said, "I really don't want to meddle in other people's affairs these years. I hope that no one will cause trouble in the fourth year of Taichang. Let's go to Rong Fei's place. You can accompany me. I trust your judgment on the behavior of Ma Tang and Sun Long in recent years."

As Tian Yi and Chen Ju are getting older, the eunuchs need a backbone generation.

Over the past three years, Zhu Changluo has done a lot of things to reduce the power of the inner court officials. If it weren't for the efforts of Tian Yi, Chen Ju, and Cheng Jing, it wouldn't have been that easy.

Now, Cheng Jing, who is a little younger, cannot be transferred back.

Without him, Zhu Changluo was worried about Xu Hongji, Duke of Wei, training the Xiaoling Guards, and had no idea about the developments in Jiangnan.

What about after Tian Yi and Chen Ju? Wang An was the one who accompanied Zhu Changluo the longest, but he only had the opportunity to exercise his abilities and accumulate prestige in the past three years. His prestige and connections in the palace were not even comparable to those of Ma Tang and other eunuchs who were previously sent out.

Not to mention Liu Ruoyu, he was too young and had only been in the palace for more than three years.

As the two men walked, Chen Ju talked about the performance of the group of mine inspectors and tax collectors who were recalled in the past two years.

They were "plundering on orders from the emperor", but most of the plunder went into their own pockets, which was of course a serious crime, but it also contributed a large amount of "start-up capital" to Zhu Changluo.

Spending money to avoid disasters, opportunities still need to be given. So during the three years, they were assigned to various places, and Chen Ju, who attached great importance to rules, was watching them.

Not long after, Zhu Changluo arrived at the gate of a palace.

He looked up at the words on the plaque, and then asked, "Rong Fei is placed in Yikun Palace, is there any movement in Shu Fei and Li Fei's palaces?"

"Shufei is about to give birth, and she has always been very strict with her. Lifei did have some comments, but I heard that she just sighed and said, 'That's Mr. Zhang's granddaughter.'"

A smile appeared on Zhu Changluo's lips.

Yes, the granddaughter of Mr. Zhang.

Even though he is gone, his name is still well-known.

Who didn't know this in the Ming Dynasty, and even hundreds of years later?
(End of this chapter)