Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 236 The Art of Domination! Thank you for your help!

From ancient times to the present, the relationship between Confucianism and monarchy has been very complicated.

Confucianism values "propriety".

It is very beneficial to maintaining the monarchy.

But there is no lack of the intention of restricting the monarch.

It was not until Dong Zhongshu proposed the theories of "harmony between heaven and man" and "great unification".

In fact, it was a great improvement on Confucianism, which brought its maintenance of the monarchy to an unprecedented peak.

Such changes made the rulers very satisfied, and then, there came the policy of "abolishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone."

But the previous eight schools of Confucianism did not disappear.

The debate over different ideologies within Confucianism continues.

The saints said a lot of things, but how to interpret them is a very debatable matter.

"Speaking on behalf of the sage" has always been the highest pursuit of scholars all over the world.

How to control Confucianism and use it for one's own benefit has always been a compulsory course for monarchs of all dynasties.

Zhu Yunhuan hadn't thought too much about it before.

He persuaded Fang Xiaoru to give lectures and to start a new Confucian school, only to prepare the ideological foundation for his future reforms and pave the way.

But this time, the story of Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng gave him inspiration.

Huang Zicheng was imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice prison, which was heavily guarded with layers of protection.

Logically speaking, it is impossible to contact irrelevant outsiders.

However, Qi Tai was able to come and go freely, conspire with Huang Zicheng, and write so many confessions to frame others.

The people who provided convenience for Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai were by no means just one or two officials, but many people working together.

For those in power, it is a very dangerous sign when those below them collude to deceive them.

At this time, Zhu Yunhuan suddenly realized something.

Since the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, Confucianism's control over people's thoughts has reached an unprecedented level.

Logically speaking, the court should be the most stable at this time.

Because the ministers' thoughts and cognition were unprecedentedly unified.

But the reality is just the opposite.

Historically, during the Ming Dynasty, the Donglin Party was constantly at odds with each other, and the conflict between Confucian scholars and imperial power continued to intensify and was difficult to resolve.

The emperors of later generations had to release the Imperial Household Department and use the Imperial Censorate to check and balance the scholars.

Eventually, the court became chaotic and the Ming Dynasty went into decline.

The Ming Dynasty actually fell due to party struggles!

These few simple words convey a very painful historical lesson.

Why did factional struggles become more intense during the Ming Dynasty, which had unified its thoughts and cognition?
Because without external conflicts, internal conflicts cannot be diverted.

If all the scholars formed the same faction, then they would be fighting collectively against the emperor... If this continues, it would be strange if the country does not perish.

Therefore, allowing different schools of thought to be divided may seem to cause confusion...

But in fact, from a long-term perspective, it is beneficial to the stability of rule.

Just as there were conflicts between the left and the right in later societies.

If there is no internal struggle, everyone will direct their spearheads at the supreme ruler.

If the monarch wants Confucianism to rule the world, he needs to maintain internal divisions within Confucianism.

Eunuchs are the embodiment of imperial power. Supporting eunuchs to fight against scholars is equivalent to the emperor himself taking action.

This is actually very unwise for governance.

The supreme ruler should not take part in such a fight, but should be a bystander, watching the people below fight and guiding them at any time.

This is the art of ruling.

As Yang Shiqi said, as an emperor, he had no political enemies.

Because anyone who stands up and openly confronts the emperor will be ruthlessly crushed by power.

But can an emperor who holds great power really do whatever he wants and govern according to his own ideas?
Does not!
Throughout history, there have been countless emperors who have held great power.

However, there are very few people who can govern completely according to their own will.

Emperors are always subject to various constraints and restrictions.

Even a great ruler is no exception.

Because the emperor has to control the entire state apparatus and the entire ruling class with his own strength.

Ordinary people are as small as dust when facing the state apparatus and the ruling class. They do not fantasize about controlling them and can only go with the flow.

Emperors are certainly different.

But the mission and responsibilities that the emperor has to undertake are also different.

To be able to drive the state machinery into operation and change the trajectory of historical development with one's own strength is something that ordinary people dare not imagine.

In the face of the general trend, everyone is just a tiny speck of dust.

But the emperor happens to be the controller of this power.

The force is mutual.

The greater the power the emperor controls, the greater the reaction he will receive.

An emperor must have extremely superb art of ruling in order to master the state apparatus, control the huge ruling class, and rule the country well.

Otherwise, he will be bitten by power.

In fact, although the emperor is the supreme ruler, there are actually very few things he can change.

He must act in accordance with the collective will of the ruling class.

Rather than the thoughts in your own mind.

Only a very small number of powerful leaders can make some changes.

It was destined to be no easy task for Zhu Yunhuan to fundamentally transform the Ming Dynasty.

What is this, that everyone in the world dares not disobey the order and can do whatever they want? This is obviously a childish fantasy.

In fact, the reality is that there are policies from the top and countermeasures from the bottom.

If an order does not conform to the interests of the ruling class, even if it is forced through under heavy pressure, it will most likely change beyond recognition in the process of implementation, turning a good thing into a bad thing, and completely deviate from the original idea, and finally have to be terminated or come to nothing.

Similar examples abound from ancient times to the present.

Another role of Fang Xiaoru was revealed: He made scholars all over the world quarrel!
Because of their different ideas and political views, they could not come together to fight against the imperial power.

Let them quarrel so that the imperial power can coordinate in the middle, use their strength to better control them and realize his own ideas.

Being an emperor can be an easy thing.

If you just follow the rules.

But if you want to change the world, it is very difficult.

Every step must be taken with caution.

……

Looking at Qi Tai who was laughing wildly in front of him, Zhu Yunhuan also laughed.

"Impotent rage can't change anything. Speaking of which, I have to thank you for your help."

Qi Tai's laughter stopped abruptly, and he stared blankly at the person in front of him.

Zhu Yunhuan raised the confession in his hand and said, "If you and Huang Zicheng hadn't spent so much effort writing so many things, how would I know that there was such a big loophole in the court?"

"And how can you use it to win people's hearts?"

"From now on, all the civil servants in the court will surrender to me and be loyal to me. I have to thank you and Huang Zicheng for all this."

Qi Tai suddenly remembered something and his face changed drastically.

When his attempt to frame Zhu Yunhuan failed, these confessions became a knife stabbing himself.

It does not matter.

He doesn't care either.

But I'm afraid it's much more than that.

As his mind raced, he heard Zhu Yunhuan shout, "Qi Tai has confessed his crimes, please invite the three judges back in."

After saying this, he asked someone to bring a piece of cloth and tie Qi Tai's mouth so that he could no longer make any sound.

After a while, Yang Jing, Yuan Tai and Zhou Zhiqing arrived.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

The three of them saluted while observing Qi Tai beside them.

I don’t know what this person said to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and I don’t understand why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince tied his mouth.

In front of them, Zhu Yunhuan took the confession submitted by Qi Tai, flipped through it, and then put it aside, saying:
"The Huang Zicheng case involves a lot of people. During this period of time, the three adults have been investigating this case and have performed their duties diligently. I have seen it all. Thank you for your hard work."

"Now, Qi Tai has surrendered himself and confessed his guilt, and has also confessed all the gang members who colluded with the two of them."

"He said he was willing to persuade Huang Zicheng to confess his crimes."

"I will now send someone to the Ministry of Justice to bring Huang Zicheng out."

"The case has now been solved and can be closed."

Qi Tai's pupils suddenly shrank slightly.

Logically speaking, after Zhu Yunhuan discovered his conspiracy with Huang Zicheng, he should have destroyed all the fabricated false confessions.

Arrest the three judges and bring them to justice.

Because it is obvious that he and Huang Zicheng were able to collude with each other, and he could enter and leave the heavily guarded Ministry of Justice prison at will, which must have been inseparable from the help of the three judicial officials and other relevant officials who were trying the case.

Even if the three judges were not directly involved, as their superiors, they cannot escape the crime of dereliction of duty.

However, Zhu Yunhuan pretended as if nothing had happened. Not only did he not punish the three judges, but he also praised them with words. This made Qi Tai completely confused.

There is a conspiracy, there must be a conspiracy.

But what exactly is the conspiracy?

He wanted to say something, but his mouth was stuffed with cloth and he couldn't say anything.

Yang Jing, Yuan Tai, Zhou Zhiqing and the other three were obviously deeply surprised.

Just now, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince told them that they must conduct an in-depth investigation into the Huang Zicheng case.

Why did he suddenly want to close the case after meeting Qi Tai?
The three of them didn't know what was going on and could only obey the orders.

Zhu Yunhuan added: "Qi Tai has confessed to many traitors and rebels. It is not easy to catch them all. In order to prevent these people from taking desperate actions, I have decided that from now on, all officials of Nanjing, big and small, are not allowed to leave the city without my permission."

"Dispatch three new brigades of troops into the city to guard against any unexpected events."

Now, in addition to the 6,000 new troops brought by Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu, the Ming Military Academy trained and equipped ten brigades of new troops.

Each brigade has 3,000 men, for a total of 30,000 men.

Twelve thousand of them were in the navy.

The remaining 18,000 were the army.

These 30,000 people are Zhu Yunhuan's absolute direct descendants and are extremely loyal to him.

The fact that new troops were dispatched into the city at this time shows the seriousness of the situation.

Qi Tai's face was full of disbelief.

Is Zhu Yunhuan crazy, and is he going to take this opportunity to kill all the officials framed by himself and Huang Zicheng?

No.

This is impossible.

Although Zhu had launched several major crimes before and killed countless officials.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang still paid great attention to maintaining the stability of the court.

For example, the officials executed in the Empty Seal Case were officials below the rank of Vice Minister in the six ministries.

Since the main officials were not killed, the yamen could be rebuilt quickly.

Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang had only killed civil servants before.

However, the confession submitted by Qi Tai involved almost all civil and military officials in the court.

Zhu Yunhuan was not crazy, so how could he kill all these people?

However, he clearly saw through his own plan, but still held on to the confessions, which should have been a hot potato, and did not destroy them. Instead, he acted as if he was going to arrest someone based on them. What exactly was his intention?
Qi Tai couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried.

Soon, Huang Zicheng was also taken out of the Ministry of Justice prison and imprisoned in the Eastern Palace together with Qi Tai.

At this time, the city of Jinling was in a state of panic as the new army entered the city and imposed martial law.

The news of Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng's confessions spread throughout the streets and alleys.

……

(End of this chapter)