Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 246 The Emperor's Death

As everyone knows, the current emperor ascended the throne after the retired emperor suddenly suffered a series of strokes.

Among those who had seen the emperor that night, Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi had already passed away, Duke Yingguo Zhang Weixian had left Beijing to reward the troops, Zhao Zhigao and Shen Yikuan had both left the court, and Xiao Daheng had been appointed to Nanjing.

But many people were called again.

Everyone understood the meaning of Tian Yi and Chen Ju's words.

This probably means that one really needs to entrust one's child to someone else's care.

But can the Supreme Emperor speak now?
Most of the people were experienced, and if they thought about it for a moment, they knew that nothing unexpected would happen. Otherwise, why didn't the emperor stop it?
It has been almost four years, and he has been lying in bed all the time, so it is reasonable that he is gradually running out of energy. Since the two emperors came to the court on the New Year's Day of the second year of Taichang, and all the officials have seen the emperor sitting in peace and without any abnormality, there is actually no need to speculate about the emperor's accession to the throne.

After all, he is the eldest son of the emperor.

It’s just that Zhang Juzheng’s reputation has just been restored…

Entering the specially cleaned up hall, one saw the emperor kneeling on the footstool in front of the bed, holding the hand of the emperor emeritus.

The emperor was thin, but at this moment he was leaning against the head of the bed with a rosy cheek.

After hearing their greetings, a hoarse, awkward and staccato voice came out from Zhu Yijun's mouth: "Stand... flat..."

When Shen Shixing heard his voice, tears immediately fell from his eyes: "Your Majesty..."

"Everyone, get up. Father is worried about you and has something to tell you."

Zhu Changluo said these words with his back to them, and everyone stood up, wiping their tears.

Zhu Dingchen also looked very ill. Seeing the retired emperor speaking again, he couldn't help but feel horrified - he happened to be the least capable among the ministers who were summoned.

The situation was similar for Marquis Wuding, although he was not included in the last entrustment of the orphan.

When Zhang Sixiu and Zhang Maoxiu saw that they were also summoned, they vaguely thought that it might be related to their father, and they felt very complicated.

"These past few years... you've worked hard..."

Zhu Yijun looked at Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue and other familiar faces, his eyes filled with nostalgia, emotion and self-pity.

At this moment, his vulnerable side reached its peak. Knowing that he was only in his last moments and that his time was running out, he suddenly had this thought.

Then he looked at his son, his eyes red.

"The emperor... did... better than I did..." Zhu Yijun paused, "You... have made great contributions..."

After hearing these words, everyone felt relieved.

Things have come to this, there can be no better ending than a loving father and a filial son.

There was a sudden cry in the hall, and all the ministers said they dared not.

Zhu Changluo's mood was also complicated.

So much time has passed.

Until today, he still doesn't know what Empress Dowager Li said to Zhu Yijun that night that caused Zhu Yijun to have another stroke.

Over such a long period of time, Zhu Yijun's condition had been up and down, and he had other minor illnesses along the way.

Zhu Changluo had always been mentally prepared for the possibility that he might die at any time. After all, this was still the Ming Dynasty, and for someone who had suffered a second stroke, there was really no chance of recovery. It was only a matter of time.

After all, he couldn't survive the third winter, even though he had already survived most of it.

But who could have imagined that in such a mysterious state of "last breath", he would suddenly be able to speak?
Although I could only speak, it was very difficult.

But he assured Zhu Changluo and told him a decision that shocked Zhu Changluo.

Now is the time for Zhu Yijun to tell these ministers about this decision. He really wants these ministers to know that this decision was made by him, Zhu Yijun himself, on his deathbed.

"...You...brothers...come forward..."

Who else was in the hall? Zhang Sixiu and Zhang Maoxiu stepped forward and knelt down.

Zhu Yijun looked at their faces slowly. When Shen Shixing and others looked at him, they saw exploration, nostalgia, regret, and some self-blame in his eyes.

Or that was what they guessed in their hearts, but at least the look was gentle.

"... all... turned to dust..." Zhu Yijun closed his eyes, and there was a sigh in his hoarse voice as if squeezed out of a dead tree. When he opened his eyes again, there were tears in his eyes, "Grand Empress... Master Zhang... was enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple..."

Shen Shixing and others were shocked and looked at Zhu Yijun in disbelief.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, only eighteen people have been worthy of being enshrined in the Taimiao, all of whom were meritorious officials of Taizu and Chengzu.

Among these eighteen people, only Yao Guangxiao and Liu Ji could be considered civil officials, and the spirit tablet of Yao Guangxiao had been moved out of the Taimiao by the Shimiao.

Even Liu Ji was not a pure civil official. After all, he was granted the title of Earl of Chengyi during his lifetime, but the title of Earl was only passed down to the third generation and was stripped of it due to crimes. It was not until the tenth year of Jiajing that he was added to the list of meritorious officials who were entitled to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

With the addition of Guo Ying in the 16th year of Jiajing, there are now 17 people enshrined in the Ming Taimiao, accompanying Taizu and Chengzu in the temples.

Not one of them is a pure civil official.

Now, Zhu Yijun proposed that after his death, Zhang Juzheng should be worshipped alongside him in the Taimiao.

All the ministers couldn't help but look at the emperor's back, while the Zhang brothers were already frozen in place.

One of them is the top scholar and the other is the second. How could they not know what an honor it is to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple?
Are all the right and wrong turned to dust? On his deathbed, was this last wish of Emperor Wanli his own wish or a request from the emperor?
"... Rumo... Yuanyu..." Zhu Yijun called out the names of the two again. "The old minister is here, the old minister is here..." Shen Shixing choked up and nodded repeatedly, moving forward a little.

"...My... merits and demerits..." He choked up, with a pleading look in his eyes, "The country leader...should have listened to you earlier... "

Thinking about the ups and downs and tribulations that the long dispute over the country's foundation had brought them, Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue could not help but feel mixed emotions and shed tears together.

"When Your Majesty first ascended the throne, he trusted Taiyuegong's new policies and achieved revival in ten years. Unfortunately, he fell seriously ill in his prime, so he immediately abdicated the throne to his benevolent and diligent successor! For many years, it was the ministers who made trouble, but Your Majesty knew that Your Majesty was both virtuous and filial. A hundred years later, the history books will record: Your Majesty was determined to revive the Ming Dynasty, and we ministers successively assisted the wise monarch to calm the waves in the world! The throne is forever secure, and the country will be prosperous forever!"

Back then, Emperor Wanli was not that negative. Compared with Wang Xijue, Shen Shixing understood him better.

What were his merits and demerits? By this time, the Ming Dynasty had taken on a new look under his son’s leadership.

He could only rely on the money extorted by the eunuchs, and his son had already developed different methods. Although there were many hidden dangers in the world, preferential treatment must be strictly enforced, Confucianism must be updated, and the Ming Dynasty must be revived.

His son had a stronger will and more mature skills than he did. The most different thing was that his son had more patience to deal with problems than he did.

When a man is about to die, his words are good. The country should have been settled earlier. This is both an "admission of fault" to Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue, and also a way for people not to bury him in the mud after his death.

Allowing Zhang Juzheng to be enshrined in the Taimiao was not only a question of whether Zhang Juzheng was worthy, but also a question of whether he himself was worthy of having someone to accompany him in the worship.

Otherwise, why are Taizu and Chengzu the only ones not lonely in the Zhu family’s ancestral temple?

But this also implies that he now fully supports his son to do what he wants to do, and is not hesitant to shamelessly ask for a posthumous reputation with someone to be worshipped with him, and also uses this to motivate the ministers who assist his son.

After all, if there is one, there will be another. Can Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, the father and son, meet each other in the afterlife? But after all, they jointly created the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Shen Shixing said that this was a "serial drama" in which the father and son worked together to revive the Ming Dynasty. It started when he ascended the throne in the sixth year of Longqing and appointed Zhang Juzheng, but there were some twists and turns in the middle, and finally he made an extremely correct decision when he was seriously ill.

No one would focus on describing the story of the ten years in between, which was just the sudden fall of the pillar of the country and the temporary chaos in the court.

Zhu Changluo turned around to face his ministers for the first time and looked at Shen Shixing in surprise.

"…What Master Shen said is correct. Father and Master Zhang are working together as a ruler and a minister, and only then can the emperor have the foundation to continue his efforts."

He addressed Shen Shixing as the Shao Shi that he had been conferred. After a pause, he turned around and said to Zhu Yijun with a sob, "Since your father has this wish, the Jinxian Academy and the Ministry of Rites should do a good job. Your Majesty, I am an unfilial son. I beg you to keep Shen Shao Shi. The Collection of Taiyue Gongwen and your father's records cannot be edited without the leadership of Shao Shi Shen."

Shen Shixing looked at Zhu Changluo's back and knelt down and kowtowed: "Although I am old, I dare not refuse!"

Zhu Yijun said with confidence: "...Very good."

Shen Shixing knew the most about that embarrassing story.

If he were to host the incident, he would be able to smooth things over so that the two of them would not have such a bad reputation in history.

"Tian... Privy Councilor... Ningyuan Marquis... and..." He looked at them one by one, and then said the last words to his ministers, "Have a good job... assist... the emperor..."

There was a beginning and an end, but there is nothing unclear about it: Zhu Yijun, who had been emperor for 28 years but relied almost entirely on Zhang Juzheng to support his achievements in this dynasty, formally and personally entrusted the country to his son, who had been emperor for more than three years, in front of his ministers.

After saying this, his condition was obviously much worse than before, and he was dying.

There are so many ministers present today, and everyone is greatly shocked.

After they take their leave and leave, they will actually begin preparing for the national mourning.

In the end, only the father and son looked at each other with mixed emotions. Empress Dowager Li finally walked over in sorrow and looked at her son who had suffered from illness and paralysis for more than three years.

He spoke today, but didn't complain.

Now he looked at Zhu Changluo, and then at Empress Dowager Li.

"I hope I can... redeem myself... hope my kingdom... will be forever secure..."

He never said a gentle word to Zhu Changluo, and Zhu Changluo didn't need it.

The secret that only three people knew will now be known by one less person.

Empress Dowager Li cried bitterly: "It's hard for you...it's hard for you..."

Zhu Changluo looked at him as if relieved, and knew in his heart that it might be the fact that he took Zhang Shuangmei as his concubine and restored Zhang Juzheng's reputation that stimulated him.

It’s not the kind of excitement that comes from being angry, but the kind of excitement that comes from finally facing one’s own heart.

His health was getting worse and worse, and he was getting closer and closer to the end. Zhang Juzheng was rehabilitated. How do later generations talk about him?

The son is struggling to solve the financial problem bit by bit, and the reluctant grievances of officials and gentry burst out from time to time. Will the "Buddha's warning" that the Ming Dynasty will perish in three generations come true?
These days are probably the days in his life when he is most worried about state affairs, and he misses the overall positive development of the Ming Dynasty when Zhang Juzheng was in power.

In the last moments of his life, he finally retreated under the "wings" of Zhang Juzheng, hoping to use his influence to leave behind a good reputation, and also to help his son paint a pie for the ministers of the world.

Less than two quarters of an hour later, the capital was filled with the sound of continuous bells. In all the temples and monasteries in the capital, each bell was struck 30,000 times.

The entire Forbidden City was in mourning as the Emperor Retired had passed away.

No matter whether they were officials or civilians, they all had to wear mourning clothes and mourn for the Supreme Lord and Father for twenty-seven days, replacing days with months.

The kings who had been ordered to go to the capital happened to encounter a major event this time and happened to attend Zhu Yijun's funeral.

But the officials and scholars in the capital had already learned the news that shocked them.

The last will of the Supreme Emperor stated that Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Wenzhong, who were granted the titles of Supreme Pillar of the State, Grand Tutor, and Grand Master during their lifetime, should be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and the emperor and his ministers should offer blood sacrifices to them.

The first honor given to Ming Dynasty civil officials after their death!

(End of this chapter)