Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 160 The eternal sinner!

When Xie Qian saw that Zhu Youtang had decided to send troops to Annan, he was overjoyed.

It seems that what Zhang Sheng and Zhang Peng said was correct. What His Majesty hates most is foreign invasion of the Ming Dynasty.

As long as it involves the territory and people of the Ming Dynasty, Your Majesty will certainly strike hard and wipe out the foreign enemies with thundering force.

At that time, Ahama Khan conquered Hami Wei and massacred the Ming people in Hami Wei.

Zhu Youtang immediately sent troops to the northwest and destroyed the Turpan Khanate and the Eastern Chagatai Khanate in one fell swoop, destroying the entire Chagatai Khanate.

Now that Jianshui Prefecture and Pingxiang Prefecture were invaded by Annan, Zhu Youtang was indeed going to send troops to conquer Annan.

Xie Qian knew that it was time to strike while the iron was hot: "Your Majesty, sending troops to Annan involves food and soldiers."

"The logistics of food and fodder are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue, and the mobilization of troops is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. However, the Minister of Revenue Xu Pu and the Minister of War Liu Daxia are still in the East Factory prison."

"Changing commanders in the middle of a battle is a taboo in the military, and the same goes for logistics."

"Your Majesty, do you think..."

Zhu Youtang turned to look at Xie Qian, and Xie Qian quickly lowered his head to the ground to prevent Zhu Youtang from seeing his expression.

Xie Qian, a native of Yuyao, Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province, is a genuine Jiangnan person!

The Jiangnan area refers to Nanzhili, Zhejiangzhou and Ganzhou, which are now the five areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Anhui and Jiangxi.

Since Xu Pu took office as the chief minister of the cabinet, he has taken good care of Xie Qian. Xie Qian naturally reciprocated the favor and has long become a staunch supporter of Xu Pu.

Xie Qian was the top scholar in the 11th year of Chenghua, and was also Zhu Youtang's lecturer when he was the crown prince.

By the way, in history, Xie Qian once did something very incredible.

After Zhu Youtang ascended the throne, Zhang, the only woman of Emperor Xiaozong at the time, was named empress.

According to convention, when the queen is enthroned, other concubines should also be enthroned.

The eunuch Guo Yong once proposed selecting concubines to fill the six palaces.

But at that time, Empress Zhang had no children and her position was unstable. Once other concubines gave birth to princes first, her position would be threatened.

At this time, Xie Qian advised Zhu Youtang that the tomb of the late emperor had not yet been built, and the selection of concubines should be carried out slowly from the perspective of etiquette.

People in the cabinet and the six ministries all agreed with what Xie Qian said.

Xie Qian stepped forward to stop Zhu Youtang from conferring titles on other concubines, so Zhu Youtang was forced to become the emperor with only the empress in the harem.

This is very abnormal, as the number of the emperor's concubines is directly related to the abundance of his heirs.

It is outrageous that Xie Qian, the emperor's teacher, actually suggested that the emperor only marry one woman!

The strangest thing is that Zhu Youtang’s eldest son, Zhu Houzhao, was born in September of the fourth year of Hongzhi.

In other words, Zhu Youtang and Empress Zhang had been married for four years without giving birth to any children.

The prince is the foundation of the country, and the emperor's lack of an heir is a very serious matter.

So in August of the third year of the Hongzhi reign, Han Ding, a member of the Ministry of Rites, wrote to Zhu Youtang, requesting him to select beautiful women and take in concubines.

But he was rejected by Zhu Youtang, saying that he was very happy with Empress Zhang and did not want to choose a concubine.

But the problem is that Zhu Youtang had selected concubines around him, that is, palace maids who slept with him, equivalent to the lower-ranking concubines and maids-in-waiting.

In September, Han Ding wrote another letter to Zhu Youtang, asking him to fill the harem.

This time, Zhu Youtang's attitude is to take a long-term view and proceed step by step.

And the following year, a small fire broke out in the Ministry of Rites.

The cabinet impeached the Minister of Rites Geng Yu and two vice ministers of the Ministry of Rites. All three were thrown into prison that day, beaten with 20 sticks, and fined for six months before being released.

From then on, no one dared to mention the matter of taking a concubine to Zhu Youtang.

Zhu Youtang became the only emperor in history who had only one woman in his harem from birth to death.

In history books, Zhu Youtang is portrayed as a devoted and loyal emperor.

He said that he only doted on Empress Zhang, and for her sake he even gave up the three thousand beauties in the harem.

But if you think about it carefully, which powerful man would complain that he has too many women?
Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun, liked Xu Pingjun so much, and there was also the allusion of deep love between an old sword and a young sword, but did this affect his decision to take a concubine?

Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu, was extremely affectionate with Yin Lihua, and there was never any empty room in his harem.

Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen favored Concubine Wan alone, and there were many beauties in his harem.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and his empress Ma had a deep love for each other, and they had many concubines in their harem.

There are also Yang Jian and Dugu Qieluo, Li Shimin and Zhangsun Wugou, Li Longji and Yang Yuhuan...not to mention more.

From his birth to his ascension to the throne, and then to his death, Zhu Youtang was in power for only a few short periods of time in just over thirty years.

An emperor without power, forced to have only one woman in his harem, can this be called deep love?

This is enough to show that the civil servants and historians of the Ming Dynasty were very generous in praising and commending an obedient emperor.

Zhu Youtang is one, Zhu Qiyu is another, and there are also Zhu Zhanji and Zhu Gaochi, all of whom have good reviews.

Only Zhu Qizhen and Zhu Houzhao were demoted to worthless status by the civil officials.

Zhu Houzhao became the only emperor of the Ming Dynasty without an heir, and Zhu Youtang also had no direct descendants.

The throne of the Ming Dynasty was forced to transfer through lineage.

Closer to home.

Zhu Youtang stared at Xie Qian, who was kneeling on the ground, expressionlessly for a long time without saying a word.

Xie Qian held his breath, his heart pounding, and there seemed to be infinite pressure on his body, constantly squeezing him.

Xie Qian was feeling uneasy. This was a big gamble and no one was sure of winning.

But in the end, Zhu Youtang nodded: "Thank you for reminding me, so let them go and take charge of the logistics of the expedition to Annan." Xie Qian breathed a sigh of relief, feeling very fortunate, and kowtowed again: "Your Majesty is wise!"

"This time, we will definitely return with a great victory!"

"The reputation of the Ming Dynasty will surely resound throughout the world!"

"Okay, go down and prepare to send troops."

Zhu Youtang drafted an imperial edict and handed it to Xie Qian, and then dismissed the three people from the cabinet.

Xie Qian was filled with excitement. After taking the imperial edict from Zhu Youtang, he thanked him repeatedly and left Hongde Hall with Xu Pu and Li Dongyang.

But Xie Qian always felt that Zhu Youtang's eyes were cold and ruthless when he looked at him.

Facing Zhu Youtang's gaze, Xie Qian's excitement disappeared by more than half, and he became a little uneasy.

Walking out of the gate of Hongde Hall, Liu Jian looked at Xie Qian with a gloomy face: "I know you want to rescue Xu Pu and Liu Daxia, I want to too!"

"But you've gone too far this time!"

"Weapons are dangerous tools, so they must be used with caution!"

Xie Qian also had a helpless smile on his face: "Liu Ci Fu, I know this, but this is really not what I meant."

"This was led by those people in Nanjing, and I was just cooperating with them."

Liu Jian's face changed and he muttered to himself, "Crazy! All you Jiangnan people are crazy!"

Liu Jian quickened his pace and put some distance between himself and Xie Qian.

Liu Jian was from Luoyang, Yuzhou. He studied under the great Confucian scholar Xue Xuan and was a member of the Hedong School in the north. He disdained to associate with these people from the south of the Yangtze River.

This time these Jiangnan people went too far, even he couldn't stand it anymore.

Xie Qian sighed helplessly and looked at Li Dongyang beside him.

Li Dongyang said nothing, but just indicated that it was time to leave the palace.

After Liu Jian, Xie Qian and Li Dongyang left, Zhu Youtang looked at Wang Zhi.

"Wang Zhi, you just said that in the 17th year of Chenghua, you proposed to the late emperor to send troops to conquer Annan."

"What do you think about reorganizing Annan this time?"

Wang Zhi bowed and stepped forward: "Your Majesty, when Emperor Taizong was a prefecture in Annan, he once had a book of ancient Annan documents drawn."

"This ancient Annan document contains maps of various places in Annan, which is of great help to the county Annan."

"Liu Daxia was the director of the Military Affairs Department at the time, in charge of all kinds of documents of the Ministry of War. This ancient Annan document was in his hands."

"Unfortunately, when I asked Liu Daxia for it, he refused to hand it over, saying it had been stolen a long time ago, so the matter was dropped."

"If Your Majesty can get Liu Daxia to hand over the Annan documents, this can be accomplished!"

“That makes sense!”

"Liu Daxia is truly a sinner for the nation for all eternity. He deserves to be killed!"

Zhu Youtang slammed the table angrily, wishing he could grind Liu Daxia into dust!

Only he knew how much trouble the place of Annan had brought to China hundreds of years later.

Yang Shiqi played a vital role in Annan’s independence from the Ming Dynasty. He is the founder of Annan!

Since Annan cannot come back, Liu Daxia should be credited with the greatest credit, and he should be the Emperor Taizong of Annan!

The people of Annam should really build a temple for these two people and worship them every day.

Liu Daxia first hid the navigation chart of Zheng He's voyage to the West, and then hid the topographic map of Annan.

So hiding maps is his personal hobby, right?
Zhu Youtang had already made up his mind that after successfully conquering Annan, he would immediately force Liu Daxia to hand over the nautical chart and then execute Liu Daxia's ten clans!
At this moment, Zhu Youtang was already looking for the next candidate for the Minister of War.

Zhu Youtang continued to ask: "Then, commander-in-chief who is going to send troops to Annan, do you have the right personnel?"

Wang Zhi's eyes were burning with excitement: "I am willing to ask for permission to go to Annan in person. I will definitely destroy the Annan Li family and rebuild Annan as a county!"

In the 15th year of Chenghua, Wang Zhi served as a military supervisor and sent troops to Liaodong to attack the Haixi Jurchens!
The person Wang Zhi killed was the ancestor of Wild Boar Skin!
In the 16th year of Chenghua, Wang Zhi, together with the Minister of War Wang Yue, led troops out of the Great Wall, attacked the bandits in Weining, and defeated the enemy!

In the 17th year of Chenghua, Wang Zhi followed Weining Earl Wang Yue as a military supervisor and repelled Yismain.

However, in the 18th year of Chenghua, the late emperor closed down the Western Factory.

In the 19th year of Chenghua, Wang Zhi was demoted to Nanzhili.

It can be said that if it were not for the eunuchs they could not be granted titles.

With Wang Zhi's military achievements, it would not be a problem for him to be granted the title of Earl.

"no!"

Zhu Youtang rejected Wang Zhi's application to lead the army personally without even thinking about it.

"I am in need of people right now, you can't leave."

The fire in Wang Zhi's eyes went out, and he felt both surprised and regretful.

To his surprise, he was highly valued and favored by Zhu Youtang.

Unfortunately, I no longer have the opportunity to lead troops into battle.

To be honest, Wang Zhi really likes the feeling of leading troops into battle.

Wang Zhi thought about it again and finally said a name that he was very familiar with.

"Your Majesty, I believe that Wang Yue can handle this matter!"

(End of this chapter)