Jiajing Chengming

When Wang Ao saw Zhu Houcong appear, he was so moved that he wanted to stand up with tears in his eyes.

Zhu Houcong held down the skinny man and said, "Just lie down. No formalities are required."

Wang Ao had no choice but to lie down and said weakly, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

then.

Zhu Houcong said to Wang Ao, "I heard that your illness has worsened. I have nothing to do this afternoon, so I came to see you. How do you feel now?"

"Your Majesty, please have mercy on me. I will be deeply grateful to you. Even if I devote my whole life to you, I will never be able to repay you even a fraction of your kindness!"

Wang Ao replied with emotion.

Zhu Houcong sat on a chair nearby, with his hands on his thighs, and said with a smile:
"You have done your best for the country and for me. There is no question of repaying me."

"I came to see you only to reassure you that I will not let your affairs be sloppy after you die. Just because you presented me with "Lectures on Learning" and "Governance" when I first took office, I will correct my position!"

"You are the first person in my dynasty to be posthumously named Duke Wenzheng!"

Zhu Houcong knew that what Wang Ao cared about most was his reputation after his death.

And considering that Wang Ao had actively cooperated with him before and offended the bureaucracy, so that he, the emperor, did not have to overturn the table himself, Zhu Houcong felt that it was necessary for him to make such a promise to Wang Ao.

Because, by doing this, he could let the ministers behind him know that as long as they were willing to offend the bureaucrats for him as the emperor, then he, the emperor, would not treat them unfairly.

of course……

Zhu Houcong promised to give Wang Ao the posthumous title of "Wenzheng", which also meant to deliberately elevate Wang Ao's status, and then use Wang Ao's two memorials as a pretext for continuing reforms in the future.

After Wang Ao heard what Zhu Houcong said, he immediately became more energetic and said with greater emotion: "Your Majesty is so kind to me. I only regret that I didn't meet you earlier! I also envy Yuan Shishou to the extreme!"

Xu Jin, who was standing by, was also greatly shocked after hearing what Zhu Houcong said, and was very excited.

Because Wang Ao's children don't like to study and prefer to do business.

Therefore, he, the son-in-law, was undoubtedly the only one who could obtain corresponding political preferential treatment by virtue of Wang Ao's political treatment of Wen Zheng.

Wang Ao's statement that he wished he had met Zhu Houcong earlier and even envied Yuan Zonggao were indeed from the bottom of his heart.

He really did not like his own emperor student.

After all, Zhengde's personality is indeed difficult for a Confucian official to like.

After Wang Ao said this, Zhu Houcong just smiled and said, "Since I am here today, Lord Zhenze, do you have anything to say to me that cannot be announced to me?"

Wang Ao stammered his pale lips.

Then, Wang Ao said, "Your Majesty is an ambitious sage. The Confucian officials of the world cannot restrain you. Instead, they will be manipulated by you. I have given up on asking Your Majesty to act according to your will. I am only willing to obey Your Majesty and fulfill your ambition to revive China!"

"But only..."

"Your Majesty, the road you've taken is really not easy!"

"The Ming Dynasty is already in a state of decline, and it is difficult to revive it, let alone our Chinese culture?"

"Since the Tang Dynasty, defending the interior and weakening the exterior has gradually become the mainstream of state governance, in order to avoid endless internal strife;"

"Of course, although this greatly reduced the internal strife in the court, it inevitably led to the intensification of external threats, making it inevitable that the dynasty would continue to rise and fall."

"That's why Your Majesty is doing the opposite and trying to find another way!"

"I don't know whether your Majesty's doing this is a blessing or a curse."

"I just ask Your Majesty not to give up because of the increasing obstructions and criticisms, and gradually become discouraged. A scholar must be broad-minded and resolute. If Your Majesty really wants to rebuild China and build an extraordinary cause, you must be tenacious!"

"Otherwise, they are waiting for you to compromise a little, and then they will criticize and obstruct you even more! Water dripping wears away stone, and gossip can melt gold. Although the mediocre and mean people in the world cannot do anything to your majesty, whose prestige is growing day by day, they still insist on criticizing and slandering you, and expressing their protest, with the purpose of making your majesty gradually relax and get tired in the future."

Zhu Houcong nodded.

Wang Ao continued, "The northern border generals defected and led the invaders into the pass; the southern traitors rose up and destroyed the emperor and killed the people; these are all inevitable things after your majesty's reforms. Even if there is a price to pay, please don't feel guilty about it. Although there are many ignorant people, they know that it is better to be a dog in peacetime than a man in troubled times, so they will not do anything if they are implicated by your majesty's reforms."

"Besides, if Your Majesty continues to do this now, the people's wisdom will gradually be enlightened. By then, it will not be Your Majesty who will be increasingly troubled, but the bureaucrats and wealthy people in the world."

Zhu Houcong nodded: "I understand."

"I hope Your Majesty can truly revive the Ming Dynasty and revive China."

Wang Ao said this with a smile, then closed his eyes. His breath became weaker and weaker, and his face gradually turned green.

"Lord Zhenze?"

Zhu Houcong called out.

Wang Ao opened his mouth slightly but suddenly stopped and just dropped his hands.

Zhu Houcong couldn't help but stretch out his hand to feel his breath.

Afterwards, Zhu Houcong was slightly startled, and then looked at Xu Jin:

"The old man has passed away!"

Xu Jin was stunned, then knelt down.

Then, the whole house was filled with crying.

Zhu Houcong also left Wang's house and said to Huang Jin: "Pass the order to suspend court for three days! All court officials must come to pay their respects, and let the Censorate send an imperial censor to record his name! Let the Ministry of Rites submit a petition to posthumously honor him as Wen Zheng."

"Yes!" Zhu Houcong knew that many bureaucrats had long been disappointed with Wang Ao.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong directly issued an order requiring the bureaucrats to come to pay their respects, forcing the bureaucratic group to be subject to his personal will.

The bureaucrats who had begun to dislike Wang Ao because he had previously exposed official malpractices such as bribery to curry favor with the emperor, had no choice but to come and offer their condolences after receiving this decree.

Although Zhu Houcong stopped attending court for three days because of Wang Ao, it did not mean that he really did not deal with military and political affairs.

He will continue to discuss state affairs in the Imperial Study with several ministers in the Imperial Study.

Zhu Houcong was listening to Yang Yiqing, who was familiar with border affairs, telling him about the topography and landforms of Datong.

"Your Majesty, this is Datong Town Fortress."

"According to the Datong governor, the border wall in this area has collapsed and fallen into disrepair, and there is only one road to Datong, so if Altan invades Datong now, it will only come from here."

this day.

In the imperial study, Yang Yiqing was pointing out the locations of some checkpoints in Datong to Zhu Houcong, and was also talking about the terrain in the Datong area.

After listening to this, Zhu Houcong gradually gained a clearer understanding of the geographical conditions near Datong Town.

Yang Yiqing also told Zhu Houcong about some of the collapsed areas in Datong Town, and first mentioned the Zhenshanbao area.

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong nodded, and he understood why the Royal Guards were transferred here by the Ministry of War first.

Although Wang Ao told Zhu Houcong not to worry too much about the pain that the reform would bring to the lower-class soldiers and civilians, Zhu Houcong still hoped that his personal guards could successfully repel Altan Khan's tribe and avoid the tragedy of soldiers and civilians being killed in Datong.

After all, people only have one life.

It is said that more than half a month after Jinang sang and danced for Zhu Houcong, the emperor's personal army, the Jinwu Guard, also arrived in the area of ​​Datong Town Mountain Fort.

The patrolling scouts also encountered the Tatar scouts sent by Li Jin several times.

Later, Li Jin also learned that there were reinforcements from government troops in Zhenshan Fort, and informed Altan of the news.

After hearing this, Altan told Li Jin not to act rashly, and he himself led the main cavalry to the area where the wall of Zhenshan Fort had collapsed.

When Altan saw the wall that was already less than a man's waist, he still did not retreat because of the Ming army behind the wall. He just smiled and said to Li Jin: "I didn't expect the collapsed area you mentioned would collapse so seriously. It seems that when you were in charge of the defense of this area before, you embezzled a lot of project funds."

Li Jin smiled awkwardly: "The Khan is right, but if it weren't so, wouldn't it be even more difficult for heroes like the Khan to make a fortune by plundering?"

"Your level of despicableness has shocked even me."

Altan laughed and said to Wan Hu Puer Nu beside him: "Even though there are Ming troops arrayed behind the wall, since the wall has collapsed so badly, you should lead 10,000 cavalrymen to charge over first to test the strength of the wall."

Purnu bowed and said yes.

Then, he led his 10,000 cavalrymen and began to slowly accelerate towards the collapsed border wall.

Among the Ming troops behind the collapsed border wall, the one at the front was the Shenjiying led by Yu Dayou.

At this time, Yu Dayou tightened the sword at his waist and pursed his lips.

This was the first time he led troops to fight against the Tatars in the north.

Naturally, I was feeling very nervous.

However, Yu Dayou was not nervous because he was afraid of the Tartars, but he was worried that the new recruits of his Shenji Camp would be so nervous that their self-generated muskets would not be effective.

At this moment, he did notice out of the corner of his eye that some recruits' arms were shaking when they were holding the muskets.

Yu Dayou therefore walked behind the soldier and patted the recruit on the shoulder: "Don't be afraid! The more afraid you are, the easier it is to die!"

The new recruit didn't say anything, but just clenched his cheeks and held the musket in his hand even tighter.

"Raise the gun!"

Yu Dayou shouted when he saw that the Tartar cavalry had accelerated and were rushing over the collapsed side wall like a tidal wave, speeding towards the musketeers on his side down the slope.

Then, at the command of the general flag officer, the musketeers of the Shenji Camp all raised their muskets in unison.

Yu Dayou squinted his eyes and watched the Tartar cavalry approaching, and shouted again: "Fire!"

The messenger then lowered the flag.

Then, in an instant, the sound of a large amount of frying beans was heard.

The Tatar cavalry on the slope flew off their horses in groups and fell heavily to the ground.

"Second row, follow up."

Yu Dayou's mouth curled up slightly, he felt much more relieved, and shouted again.

The row of musketeers at the back also stepped forward, replacing the first row of musketeers, and opened fire on the Tatar cavalry that continued to charge.

These Tatar cavalrymen fell again in large numbers, and soon the entire hillside was turned into a river of blood.

Altan was shocked when he saw this and looked at Li Jin: "Why is it that the time between the musketeers of this Ming army firing their guns is so short?"

Li Jin also looked ahead in confusion, then said:

"Their muskets don't seem to have fuses, so they must be new muskets." (End of this chapter)