Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 10: Testing Jiajing
Seeing that her son Zhu Houcong and his husband Yuan Zonggao were so confident, Jiang felt relieved.

But she felt a little uneasy when she thought of the domineering attitude of the civil officials of the Hongzhi Dynasty in front of her fathers who were military officers in the capital, and the scene in which her father told her of Emperor Hongzhi apologizing and being cautious to the cabinet ministers.

She even wanted to persuade her son not to be the emperor.

Because she was worried that if the civil officials really forced her son Zhu Houcong to recognize Emperor Xiaozong as his father, and not only could he no longer recognize her as his mother, he would have to humble himself in front of these civil officials and feel extremely aggrieved.

What's more, his son is only fifteen years old and is still a teenager who hasn't even gotten married yet.

Jiang couldn't help but start to feel sorry for Zhu Houcong, and no longer thought that it was a good thing that Zhu Houcong was going to become emperor.

However, Zhu Houcong did not have as many worries as Jiang.

Because he knew who the real victors were during this period in history.

What's more, he came from the future, and the truly powerful people in the future had already explained to him the weaknesses of Yang Ting and these people.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong believed that as long as he followed the steps of Jiajing in history and integrated what he had learned and experienced in later life, his future life would not only get better and better, but would also be better than that of Jiajing in history.

At least Zhu Houcong understood that Yang Ting and these central civil servant leaders were not, strictly speaking, his political enemies at the moment, but his political allies.

Because it was these people who supported him to become the new emperor and prevented the Empress Dowager Zhang from choosing a young son of the royal family as the emperor on the grounds of making Zhengde the heir.

Although this was due to the fact that Empress Dowager Zhang came from a poor family and was weak, it was also inseparable from the efforts of Yang Tinghe and others.

of course.

Yang Tinghe and other civil servants did not support Zhu Houcong for no reason. The fundamental reason was that Zhu Houcong's performance was in line with Yang Tinghe's expectations of an emperor, which was why Yang Tinghe did not choose to cooperate with Empress Dowager Zhang and let Empress Dowager Zhang become a powerful empress dowager like Empress Dowager Sun in history.

However, Zhu Houcong has now been established as the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

That would mean that the political alliance formed between him and Yang Tinghe and others would split.

That's what power struggles are like.

Sometimes separated, sometimes together.

There are no permanent alliances, only permanent struggles.

Apart from the emotional aspect that Zhu Houcong did not want to make Jiang, who had grown up with him, sad, in terms of political ideas, Zhu Houcong also did not want to recognize Xiaomiao as his father and become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty by inheriting Xiaozong's throne.

Because once he took over the throne from Emperor Xiaozong, he had to strictly abide by the system of etiquette and law left by Emperor Xiaozong in the early stages.

After all, according to Confucian teachings, one should not change his father's will for three years.

However, Zhu Houcong was unwilling to govern the Ming Dynasty with the system of the Hongzhi Dynasty in the future.

Therefore, he was unwilling to succeed Emperor Xiaozong.

However, if this was the case, he would have to elevate his father to be emperor and interpret the "brother succeeds the younger brother" in "Huang Ming Zuxun" to mean that after Emperor Xiaozong's heir died out, his younger brother, King Xingxian, would take over the throne and inherit the great throne.

As the only legitimate son of King Xingxian, Zhu Houcong was supposed to succeed the throne of King Xingxian and inherit the throne of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty.

In this way, the only thing Zhu Houcong could not change in terms of etiquette and law within three years was the system left by Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Houcong was still willing to abide by the system left by Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty.

Because compared to Ming Xiaozong who lost the Hetao area and broke the law, stipulating that a strike by hired workers was considered as treason, which seriously reduced the power and status of ordinary people, Ming Xianzong did not use massacres in domestic affairs to pacify hundreds of thousands of rioters in Jingxiang, but registered them as civilians. In military affairs, he even achieved the "Chenghua Liting".

Therefore, for Zhu Houcong, if he really cared about etiquette and laws, and needed to let the people of the world know at the beginning of his administration which emperor's system and laws he would abide by first, and give the bureaucrats a general governing direction, then he would rather inherit the throne of Ming Xianzong Emperor Chenghua, his grandfather.

In history, even Jiajing had to fight for the throne in order to avoid inheriting the throne from Xiaozong.

Zhu Houcong will naturally fight for it in the future.

……

The civil officials in power naturally hoped that Zhu Houcong would inherit the throne of Emperor Xiaozong. It should be noted that for this reason, they did not allow Zhengde to be the heir.

After they arrived at the Anlu Posthouse, the Minister of Rites Mao Cheng, who was in charge of holding the will, thought that he would soon officially announce the will to the Crown Prince Zhu Houcong, so he asked Wang Yu, the Deputy Envoy of Huguang, who had been in charge of investigating the situation in Huguang for them, in front of the Grand Secretary Liang Chu:

"In your opinion, does the Crown Prince really want to follow the etiquette and acknowledge Emperor Xiaozong as his father?"

Wang Xi could not help but think of the fine wine Zhu Houcong had recently given him, so he bowed to Mao Cheng, Liang Chu and others and said, "The Crown Prince is diligent in his studies and treats scholars with great respect. I think he is willing to inherit the throne of the Emperor Xiao."

Mao Cheng nodded: "That's great!"

"But if we do this, we will force the prince to deny my origin. Wouldn't that be too hurtful to him?"

Liang Chu, who has always been soft-hearted, couldn't help but ask a question at this time.

Although Yang Tinghe and others advocated that Zhu Houcong should succeed Emperor Xiaozong, he still felt that this was somewhat inhumane.

After all, no one wants to be forced to disown their parents and be deficient in filial piety.

Mao Cheng stood up and said, "Your Highness, if you want to win the hearts of the people and become a ruler like Yao and Shun, what does it matter if you suffer some grievances?!"

"I think it is still a bit difficult to do so, after all, the crown prince is succeeded by his elder brother."

Liang Chu replied.

Mao Cheng glanced at Liang Chu and said, "No matter how difficult it is, we have to do it! Do you really want to make Emperor Xiaozong's heir extinct and ruin the great ceremony of the world?"

"Of course I don't mean that."

Liang Chu didn't dare to argue anymore and just sighed slightly.

Since he had already chosen to defect and join Yang Tinghe's faction, naturally he would no longer fight for anything for the new emperor.

Moreover, he was also a civil official, and was happy to see Zhu Houcong, the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty, being forced by Yang Tinghe, Mao Cheng and others to succeed Emperor Xiaozong.

In that way, these civil servants could have a respected status, and their life would be the same as or even more comfortable than that of the Northern Song Dynasty.

After all, the Ming Dynasty had a low tax rate system, so if he retired and returned to his hometown as a cabinet minister, then whether he bought land or did business, he could rely on his civil servant status to make his family richer without worrying about paying more taxes to the court after becoming extremely rich.

Wang Yu left the official post house, but as soon as he left, he met Gu Dayong, who was returning from the palace and was preparing to inform Duke Dingguo Xu Guangzuo, Grand Secretary Liang Chu, Minister of Rites Mao Cheng and others that the prince had allowed them to enter the palace for an audience.

Therefore, in order to show his loyalty to Zhu Houcong and test Zhu Houcong's attitude towards civil officials, Gu Dayong asked Wang Xi after seeing him:

"Why don't you kneel down when you see me? Are you so rude in front of the prince?"

Wang Yu was now confident that the new emperor Zhu Houcong, who was about to ascend the throne, was very respectful to civil officials, much like the legacy of Emperor Xiaozong, so he was no longer afraid of Gu Dayong, the eunuch who was one of the "Eight Tigers" in the inner court during the Zhengde period. He snorted, waved his sleeves and left, leaving behind a message:

"I am a disciple of the emperor. How can I kneel before a eunuch like you?"

"presumptuous!"

"How dare you disrespect this imperial envoy."

"I think you, a bastard, don't want your head anymore!"

Gu Dayong turned around and shouted, harshly rebuking Wang Xi.

Wang Xi simply took off his official hat and went straight to the palace: "If I am going to be beheaded for not kneeling to a eunuch like you, then there is no need for you to bark here. I will go and apologize to the prince myself!"

Wang Yu thought to himself that his mentor Yang Tinghe and other upright civil officials were now in power, and that Mao Cheng and other ministers who came to support the throne on behalf of his mentor Yang Tinghe's will must not yet fully believe that Crown Prince Zhu Houcong was really a benevolent and gullible monarch with the legacy of Emperor Xiaozong. So they seized the opportunity of Gu Dayong's attempt to use him to test Zhu Houcong, and put on a show in front of Mao Cheng and other ministers who came to support the throne. This let Mao Cheng and other ministers know that Crown Prince Zhu Houcong could really be manipulated at will, and also that he, Wang Yu, was not afraid of powerful eunuchs.

Therefore, Wang Yu continued to contradict the eunuch Gu Dayong at this time, and after contradicting him, he went directly to the palace. When he saw Zhu Houcong, he bowed his head and gritted his teeth and said:
"Today, the powerful eunuch Gu Dayong ordered my humble servant Wang Yu, the Deputy Envoy of Huguang, to kneel down. When I refused, he threatened to kill me. How could I tolerate his bullying? That is why I have come to ask for mercy from the prince. Please allow me to resign and return home to preserve my dignity!"

Zhu Houcong was delighted after hearing what Wang Yu said. He knew that Wang Yu's behavior now showed that he had really deceived Wang Yu.

(End of this chapter)