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

Chapter 174: Do everything possible to stop the Ming Emperor from leading the army in person!

The imperial farm and the treasury were Zhu Youtang's own money and grain. Zhu Youtang took out both of them, so Qiu Jun naturally had no excuse to refuse.

Qiu Jun could only bow and accept the order: "Yes, Your Majesty."

After arranging all this, Zhu Youtang prepared to leave the court.

"Okay, all of you go back and prepare, and we're adjourned."

But at this time, Liu Jian, the cabinet's deputy assistant and minister of rites, spoke up and said, "Your Majesty will personally lead the army tomorrow, what should we do with the capital?"

"A country cannot be without a ruler for a day. How should state affairs be handled when Your Majesty is not in the capital?"

"Your Majesty, please appoint a regent or a resident governor."

What Liu Jian said made sense. When the emperor was leading his troops outside, he would usually send someone to supervise the country or stay in the capital.

The difference between being regent and being in charge of a country lies in whether or not one has certain real power.

The person who regents the country has real power, while the person in charge has no real power and is just a symbol.

Generally speaking, the crown prince usually governs the country, while the princes and ministers reside in the capital.

In the history of the Ming Dynasty, there were only three people who had the clear power to regent.

They are the Crown Prince of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Renzong Zhu Gaochi.

The crown prince of Emperor Sejong, the crown prince of Zhuangjing, Zhu Zaihe.

And there is Zhu Qiyu.

During Emperor Taizong's Northern Expedition, Zhu Gaochi served as regent for a total of seven years and held certain real power.

In the 18th year of the Jiajing reign, Emperor Shizong of the Han Dynasty went on a southern tour to Chengtian Prefecture and appointed Zhu Zaihe, who was only three years old at the time, as the crown prince and ordered him to govern the country.

However, the crown prince was too young to handle state affairs, so Emperor Shizong ordered Wei Chun, the Earl of Xuancheng, and Chen Yu, the Earl of Suian, to be garrison commanders, and Grand Secretary Gu Dingchen to be co-garrison commanders, and Minister of War Zhang Zan to assist in state affairs.

Zhu Zaihe's position as Crown Prince Regent was just a title, and in reality it was still held by ministers.

Zhu Qiyu's power as regent was forcibly seized by Yu Qian and others after they launched the "Change of the Gate" and seized the power of Empress Dowager Sun.

Before Emperor Yingzong personally led the army to fight, he ordered Prince of Qin Zhu Qiyu to stay at the garrison because Zhu Jianshen was only two years old at the time.

All matters in the capital, big or small, had to be written down in a memorial and sent to Emperor Yingzong, who would make the decision personally.

Because the capital is very close to Xuanfu and Datong, even if people are sent back and forth between the capital and Yingzong's residence every day, it will not cause any delays.

Therefore, Zhu Qiyu had no power when he was in power and was just a puppet.

Coincidentally, Zhu Qiyu has always been very good at being a puppet.

But after the Battle of Tumu, a group of civil officials killed Ma Shun, the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, in public at the Meridian Gate, and forced the Empress Dowager Sun to abdicate, ordering her to change Zhu Qiyu's position from guard to regent.

When Empress Dowager Sun learned about the Battle of Tumu, she immediately appointed her eldest son Zhu Jianshen as the Crown Prince.

Logically speaking, the power of regent should be held by Crown Prince Zhu Jianshen.

Zhu Jianshen was young, so the power of regency naturally fell into the hands of Empress Dowager Sun.

But Empress Dowager Sun did not expect that this group of civil servants would be so bold that they beat the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to death in court and forced her to let Zhu Qiyu regent.

Empress Dowager Sun had no choice but to change Zhu Qiyu's position from regent to state regent.

A few days later, Yu Qian forced Empress Dowager Sun to abdicate again.

Empress Dowager Sun had no choice but to obey the officials' wishes.

"Honor" Yingzong as "Grand Emperor" and make Prince Zhu Qiyu of Qin the new emperor.

At the same time, there is a special situation in history. When Wuzong went on his southern tour, he had neither brothers nor heirs.

And because of the fact that Zhu Qiyu, a puppet, rose from a governor to an emperor in one fell swoop, Zhu Houzhao was also worried about letting the princes and grandchildren of the Zhu family stay in the capital.

So Zhu Houzhao actually issued an imperial edict, ordering the eunuch Xiao Jing, who was then the Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, to stay in the Forbidden City.

When the civil servants of the Zhengde Dynasty learned the news that a eunuch was allowed to guard the capital, they were almost driven crazy.

Zhu Youtang would naturally not allow a eunuch to stay in the capital.

The eunuch he trusts most now is Wang Zhi, and he wants to take Wang Zhi with him.

Moreover, he has no prince yet. His only child is still in the belly of Concubine Zhang Wan'er and has not been born yet.

Moreover, it would be impossible for Zhu Youtang to let civil officials guard the place even if he was beaten to death.

Who knows whether he will be able to return to the capital after letting the civil officials stay there.

After much thought, the most suitable person to guard the city turned out to be Prince Xing Zhu Youlang.

Zhu Youqiu was young and was a lazy prince. He had no power and no ability to threaten the imperial authority.

Zhu Youtang immediately issued an order: "Summon Prince Xing to the palace for an audience. After I personally lead the army, Prince Xing will stay in the capital to guard it."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Retreat."

"Congratulations to Your Majesty, long live my emperor."

After Zhu Youtang left the court, he went straight back to the Qianqing Palace.

After the officials knelt down and bowed, they left one after another.

Some officials looked haggard, as if they had lost their parents. These were the civil servants who were specifically selected by Zhu Youtang to accompany him in the expedition.

Some officials were in high spirits, as if relieved from a heavy burden. These were the officials whose names were not mentioned by Zhu Youtang, and they were secretly glad that they had escaped disaster.

Yu Shen, the left vice minister of the Ministry of War, was one of them.

Yu Shen breathed a sigh of relief when he found out that his name was not on the team that was going to the expedition.

But Yu Shen was still worried. As long as the issue of the border town accounts was not resolved, he, as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, would not have a single day of peace.

He secretly looked at the faces of the officials around him, and saw that Xu Pu and Liu Daxia both had sad expressions on their faces.

Wang Shu, Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Li Dongyang and others all had more or less worried expressions on their faces.

Wang Shu and Liu Jian were from Shanzhou and Yuzhou respectively. They neither interfered in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, nor had they ever been governor of Jinzhou.

This matter had little to do with them, and their emotions were relatively stable. Li Dongyang was a pure master of smoothing things over, and when he first entered the cabinet, he was quite positive.

Now he seems to have accepted his fate, and his sense of existence has dropped sharply.

No matter what happens, he neither supports nor opposes it.

It has the style of the clay-sculptured ministers and paper-made cabinet ministers during the Chenghua period.

Yu Shen stood up and prepared to leave the palace with the main force.

At this moment, he was suddenly stopped by Xu Pu.

"Minister Yu, we will hold a meeting at the usual place tonight."

Yu Shen sighed in his heart: "Yes, Prime Minister Xu."

Just as all the officials were leaving the court, another group of people went to Prince Xing's mansion to invite Zhu Youju to the palace for an audience.

When Zhu Youqiu heard the news, he was shocked and completely stunned.

Originally, when they were both princes, they didn't meet each other very often.

Zhu Youtang has always been the crown prince, and his status is much nobler than that of the fourth prince.

Since Zhu Youtang ascended the throne, Zhu Youlang never saw Zhu Youtang again except at the New Year's banquet.

Now Zhu Youtang suddenly summoned him into the palace, what was the matter?

Zhu Youqiu did not dare to delay and hurried into the palace to meet the emperor.

……

Forbidden City.

Qianqing Palace.

After being informed by Fu Dahai, Zhu Youlang carefully walked into the gate of the Qianqing Palace and came before Zhu Youtang to pay his respects.

"My brother has met the emperor."

"My fourth brother is here, no need to be polite."

Zhu Youtang put down the memorial in his hand and pointed to the seat next to him: "Sit down."

"Thank you, Brother Huang."

Zhu Youqiu sat down cautiously, feeling uneasy.

Zhu Youtang looked at Zhu Youlu's young face and worried expression and smiled slightly.

"Fourth brother, I will lead the army in person tomorrow. You will take my place in the capital while I am away from the palace for a few days."

"what?!"

After hearing this, Zhu Youqiu was so shocked that his legs went limp and he sat down on the ground.

"Brother Emperor, I am terrified. I dare not..."

Zhu Youqiu was sitting on the ground, but immediately changed his sitting position to kneeling, trying to refuse such a heavy burden.

"What's there to be afraid of?"

Zhu Youtang glanced at Zhu Youlang who was kneeling on the ground and frowned: "Stand up and talk."

Zhu Youju stood up but never sat down again: "I am stupid and ignorant of government affairs. I am afraid I will fail your majesty's trust."

"What's the difficulty?" Zhu Youtang waved his hand nonchalantly, "For matters outside the court, you can ask the three elders Liu Jian, Xie Qian, and Li Dongyang."

"Fu Dahai can handle the affairs within the palace."

"As for important matters of state, you can send someone to deliver them to my residence, and I will make the decision myself."

"You are responsible for keeping an eye on the officials in the capital and preventing them from doing anything wrong."

"But……"

Zhu Youtang wanted to refuse, but Zhu Youtang waved his hand and said, "Go back. My trip this time will be at most a few days, at most half a month. There is nothing specific for you to be responsible for."

What Zhu Youtang meant was that Zhu Youlang only needed to be a mascot for a few days and there was no business for him to handle.

Although Zhu Youtang let Prince Xing Zhu Youju stay in the capital, he did not give Zhu Youju any power.

Zhu Youlang did not even have the right to live in the Forbidden City and still lived in Prince Xing's Palace.

Zhu Youtang had already issued an order to expel the guest, and Zhu Youqiu had no choice but to accept it.

On the other side, in Xu Pu's study, the leaders of the Jiangnan civil service group and several senior officials in the court had gathered to discuss matters.

In addition to Xu Pu, Liu Daxia, Xie Qian, and Yu Shen, the participants included Wang Shu, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and others.

Although Xie Qian was not in the expeditionary team, he was still so anxious that he slapped his thigh.

"You must not let your majesty lead the army in person tomorrow. Eighty percent of the civil servants your majesty selected are from Jiangnan. Your majesty must be doing this on purpose!"

Not only Xie Qian was anxious, Xu Pu and Liu Daxia, who were going to go to the expedition together tomorrow, were even more anxious than him.

"Your Majesty must not be allowed to leave the capital! Your Majesty must not be allowed to inspect the border towns!"

"Otherwise, we're all finished!"

Liu Daxia was extremely anxious. If something happened in the border town, he, as the Minister of War, would be the first person responsible. How could he not be anxious?

Xu Pu looked towards Yu Shen, his tone already somewhat gnashing his teeth.

"Yu Shen, notify Yang Tong tonight and ask him to do something!"

"No matter what method we use, at any cost, we must do our utmost to stop His Majesty from leading the army in person!"

These civil servants were the ones who least wanted to see the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty running around.

Only the Majesty who stays well in the palace is a good Majesty.

If His Majesty runs out of the palace and discovers all kinds of real situations in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, what should these civil servants in the capital do?
Aren't those memorials submitted to the emperor to whitewash the truth the evidence of their crimes of deceiving their superiors and subordinates and deceiving the emperor?
Especially this time, Zhu Youtang had the clear purpose of going to the border town to patrol the border.

If Zhu Youtang were to reach the border town, all the officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War would have no chance of survival!

(End of this chapter)