The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 292 A warrior rules the country
Kang Yingqian asked Qiao Yiqi to deliver a letter. In the letter, Kang Jianjun said:

"I am old and sickly. It's been three months now, and my vitality is getting weaker and weaker. I need help to lie down and get up."

At the end of the letter, he begged that he could "early return to his hometown alive."

Yang Hao advised to take the opportunity to expel Kang Yingqian and make an example of him.

The father-in-law's suggestion was decisively rejected by the son-in-law.

Ping Liaohou asked Kang Yingqian to return to Shenyang temporarily to take charge of Liaodong on his behalf and reflect on his mistakes.

Kang Yingqian left the capital in shame and returned to Liaodong.

However, the chain reaction triggered by this has just begun.

After that, the number of memorials submitted to the emperor for the position of regent not only did not decrease, but increased instead.

All the officials were frightened into becoming spineless.

Either for self-protection or for the so-called merit of following the emperor, they all advocated the story of letting Ping Liaohou execute the Three Yangs.

Among the two capitals and thirteen provinces, except for Nanzhili, Huguang and Fujian, which explicitly opposed Liu Zhaosun's autocracy, the governors and prefects of other provinces adopted a neutral attitude towards this matter.

Only officials in Shandong, Tianjin and the northern canal node prefectures and counties firmly supported the regent, especially the two prefects of Deng and Lai, who compared Liu Zhaosun to one of the Three Yangs and Kongming, and regarded him as the savior of the Ming Dynasty.

This is no wonder, as Yuan Chonghuan led the 4th and 5th Guards Armies to occupy Shandong and control the canal.

The truth is only within the range of the red cannon.

The memorials and reports sent to the capital from all over the country were first compiled by the six ministries, then sent to the Cabinet, and then sent to the Imperial Household Department by the Cabinet, and finally concentrated on the desk of Liu Zhaosun in the Zuoanmen Wengcheng.

Liu Zhaosun read as many as a thousand memorials every day.

He got up at noon, washed up and started to work, often working until midnight.

Jin Yuji complained that her husband did not take care of his health and was so busy that he even forgot to eat.

If we have to blame someone, we have to blame Zhu Yuanzhang.

After Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister system, power in the hands of the emperor was unprecedentedly concentrated.

It is rare to see an emperor who can face the vast amount of memorials tirelessly and endlessly all year round.

Therefore, there were indeed quite a few emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties who were worked to death.

At least Zhu Di and Yongzheng died from overwork.

Liu Zhaosun was not yet the emperor, and he did not even admit that he was a powerful official.

However, no one in the country dared to approve memorials sent to the capital.

Ever since the abdication drama took place in front of the Daming Gate, the Imperial Household Department and the Cabinet have become more restrained and have completely lost their presence.

The six ministers no longer handled all memorials, but only asked Ping Liaohou to review them under the pretext of "continuing the old practice."

The so-called old rules only existed for a few days.

In short, the highest power of the Ming Dynasty went around in circles and finally fell into the hands of Ping Liaohou.

Among these memorials, one-third requested Prince Xin to delay ruling the country and entrust military and national affairs to Marquis Ping Liao.

One-third of the people attacked Empress Feng by name for abusing her power and impeached the Empress for leading nobles and others to unreasonably obstruct the Marquis of Ping Liao from governing the country. Some censors even pointed out that the Empress's actions were an act of usurpation and that she wanted to rule the country from behind the scenes.

The remaining one-third of the memorials were about civil unrest, military rebellions, and disasters in various places, and they all requested the court to allocate money and grain immediately.

In the face of political struggles, the lives of tens of thousands of disaster victims seem so insignificant.

Liu Zhaosun submitted memorials every day to defend himself and expressed his unwillingness to serve as regent.

However, the more he refused, the more officials came to persuade him to take the throne.

Zhu Youjian watched the whole process coldly. The funeral of the late emperor had not yet been completed, and he had not yet officially succeeded to the throne. Strictly speaking, he was not yet the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

More importantly, no official really regarded him as the emperor.

However, several nobles of the Feng family kept jumping up and down, arguing with the officials, opposing Liu Zhaosun and demanding that Prince Xin succeed to the throne immediately.

The two sides fought back and forth for five or six days until an assassination broke out in the capital.

Feng Weizhong, the Earl of Dingxi, who had always firmly opposed Ping Liaohou, was assassinated at home.

Also killed were his two wives and concubines. According to on-site investigation, there was more than one murderer.

The capital was in uproar and all officials were terrified.

The already tense and dangerous political atmosphere became even more serious.

Ping Liaohou sent out the Intelligence Bureau to join forces with the Three Law Departments and the Military Department to conduct a city-wide search.

Finally, the two murderers surrendered themselves to the Ministry of Justice.

Without waiting for interrogation, they confessed everything to the officials of the Ministry of Justice, claiming that they were followers of Ping Liao Hou. They could not bear to see him being humiliated, so they decided to die in service...

After these words were spoken, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Ministry of Justice dared not take the case anymore.

Everyone believed that the assassin was sent by Liu Zhaosun to deal with the nobles in order to make an example of them.

Liu Zhaosun was speechless.

He really didn't send anyone to assassinate his opponent.

So Pei Dahu and Shen Lian were sent to the Ministry of Justice for interrogation.

The officials from the Ministry of Justice readily passed this hot potato to Shen Lian.

After interrogation, it was confirmed that the two were not instructed by anyone.

As they say, spontaneous action.

After hearing this, Ping Liao Hou looked up to the sky and sighed:

"I'm really going to become like Dong Zhuo. Even jumping into the Yellow River won't clear me of my sins."

The day after the two assassins were captured, another assassination occurred in the capital. The target was still a nobleman with exactly the same motive. Fortunately, the assassination failed.

Liu Zhaosun finally realized the horror of the game of power.

He ordered the three men to be beheaded according to Ming law.

Suddenly I thought of the period after the Meiji Restoration, when the island nation’s military went out of control, leading to the country’s complete loss of control and the abyss of failure in World War II.

In any case, this kind of assassination should not be encouraged. Fortunately, no one in the Kaiyuan army was planning to carry out "Heavenly Punishment".

Liu Zhaosun asked Sen Ti and Ma Shiying to strengthen propaganda and not let the soldiers be affected by the people's fanatical sentiment.

After the three fanatics were beheaded, the terrorist assassinations gradually subsided.

The image of Liu Zhaosun as a treacherous minister and villain can never be washed away.

He finally comforted himself:
Now that things have come to this, we can only go with the flow and take one step at a time.

The result of going with the flow was that the power of the Ming Dynasty was increasingly concentrated in its own hands.

Under the strong advice of the ministers, the tent of Ping Liaohou was moved from Zuoanmen Wengcheng to the magnificent Taishi Mansion.

The so-called Grand Tutor was Zhang Juzheng.

In the 12th year of the Wanli reign, after Zhang Juzheng's property was ransacked and his body was whipped, the house he had spent a lot of money to buy in the capital was also confiscated by Emperor Wanli.

Today, this mansion has become the residence of Marquis Ping Liao.

This incident became a signal:
Ping Liaohou will become the second Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Jiangling controlled the empire and held the government, and he had to rely on his two political allies, Empress Dowager Li and Feng Bao.

After all, he is just a civil servant.

Ping Liaohou not only had the support of civil officials (at least on the surface), controlled the powerful army of Kaiyuan, but also owned the lands of Liaodong and Liaoxi.

Therefore, anyone with a discerning eye could clearly see that Lord Liu's power was already greater than Zhang Juzheng's.

The problem is that when the ten-year-old Wanli saw Zhang Juzheng, he would respectfully call him Mr. Zhang every time.

When the twelve-year-old Prince Xin Zhu Youjian met the Marquis of Ping Liao, how should he address him as Lord Liu?

~~~~~~
Ping Liaohou submitted a memorial to Empress Feng, pointing out that the 30th day of June was an auspicious day suitable for Prince Xin to ascend the throne.

Empress Feng said that the matter of ascending the throne was of great importance, and asked the cabinet, five ministries, and six departments to discuss it together.

The imperial edict was issued in the morning, and in the afternoon of the same day, all the ministers reached a consensus:
The new emperor's coronation ceremony is scheduled for June 30th.

Empress Feng was furious when she heard this, and from then on she feared and hated Liu Zhaosun.

After the date of Prince Xin's accession to the throne was determined, the calls for him to be appointed as regent grew louder and louder. Even the nobles who had previously opposed him began to submit memorials, urging Marquis Ping Liao to take charge of state affairs as soon as possible.

Liu Zhaosun refused on the pretext that the funeral of the late emperor had not been completed.

Therefore, on May 28th of the first year of Chongzhen, the court broke the ancestral custom - the emperor's body would be kept for one month after his death - and the late emperor's funeral was immediately held.

It should be noted that the mausoleum of Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youxiao has not been completed yet...
On May 28th, the Marquis of Ping Liao led all the officials in their turbans to Juyong Pass to bid farewell.

The ministers cried all the way from Kunning Palace to the imperial mausoleum, kneeling and worshipping all the way, and changing different clothes in different places.

Every time he knelt down to worship the coffin, Liu Zhaosun would curse Zhu Yuanzhang in a low voice.

In the end, he cursed Zhu Yuanzhang's parents and all the way to Zhu Chongba's 399th generation ancestor.

Zhu Yuanzhang was involved in all the red tape of the Ming Dynasty, from people's clothing to foreign strategy, no matter how big or small.

In Liu Zhaosun's opinion, only a madman would have such a perverted desire for control.

After bowing and paying respect once more, Ping Liao Hou cursed:

"When Prince Xin ascends the throne, the first thing he will do is declare an attack on Japan, damn that unconquerable country (see note 1)."

One hundred and twenty-eight Han generals carried the huge golden nanmu coffin containing the eunuch's charred body across Chang'an Avenue. Almost all the people in the capital went to the streets to watch.

The late emperor's coffin was carried out from the Daming Gate. Zhu Youjian and officials above the fourth rank followed the coffin out of the Daming Gate, while officials below the fourth rank left the city from the left gate of the Daming Gate.

The crowd walked all the way to the outside of Deshengmen, then changed to horses and rode to the imperial tomb.

Of course, they couldn't be idle during the whole journey on horseback, as they had to mourn day and night along the way.

Moreover, in all the places they passed along the way, women of the fourth rank and below, as well as military and civilian elders (such as military households and artisan households that had been passed down from generation to generation) had to offer sacrifices along the way.

The group walked and stopped crying, and finally arrived at the imperial tomb.

The offering hall (see note 2) was covered with soul-calling banners and wreaths and paper figures. When Liu Zhaosun heard that the ceremony had to continue, he collapsed on the spot.

According to his rough estimate, he had kowtowed more than 200 times along the way from the Forbidden City to the imperial mausoleum.

The number of times the twelve-year-old Zhu Youjian kowtowed was about three times that of Ping Liaohou.

It's absolutely crazy.

Yang Hao pulled his son-in-law's sleeve and advised:

"My dear son-in-law, please be patient. After the funeral, you will be Zhang Juzheng of the Tianqi Emperor."

In order to carry out drastic reforms like Zhang Juzheng and save the people of the world, Liu Zhaosun continued to kneel with a smile.

Next is Yuli (an ancient ritual, a ceremony to comfort the soul), which is what Liu Zhaosun is best at.

It's a pity that he can't go on stage in person today and dance to summon souls with those Taoist priests and monks who are just eating and drinking for free.

He thought that from now on he would completely transform from a fierce and iron-blooded general into a military man who controlled the government, a despicable political animal.

An inexplicable sadness suddenly surged into Liu Zhaosun's heart.

"Perhaps, this will also be my funeral! Cherish it."

After the Yu ceremony, Zhu Youjian continued to kowtow four times, offered silk and wine, and finally read the prayer. After reading it, he continued to pay his respects, followed by the second offering (the second offering of wine) and the final offering (the third offering of wine), and finally kowtowed four more times.

In the end, Marquis Ping Liao escorted Prince Xin back to the capital.

On his way back to the capital, all the officials wore gauze clothes to greet him outside the city, and the accompanying officials set up a tent (a resting place) for Prince Xin outside the capital.

Finally, Marquis Ping Liao led all the officials to line up and perform the ceremony of five bows and three kowtows. The spirit tablet (the spirit tablet of the deceased emperor) went first, and all the officials followed behind.

When the spirit tablet arrived near the Meridian Gate, the extremely exhausted Zhu Youjian had to go to greet it in person, invite the spirit tablet into the Jiyan Hall, and perform the "soul-calming ceremony."

Supported by his guards, he kowtowed four times with all his might, then offered wine, read a prayer, and kowtowed four more times.

After kneeling four times, Zhu Youjian was about to stand up, but suddenly his legs went weak, his eyes went dark, and he fainted from exhaustion.

Note:
1. Countries not to be conquered: In the Imperial Ming Ancestor Instructions published in the 15th year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang announced that overseas countries including Korea and Japan would be listed as "countries not to be conquered", warning future generations not to conquer them at will.

2. Offering Hall: A high-standard altar where offerings are placed during sacrifices. It can also be used as a venue for the main priest and distinguished participants in the sacrifice.

(End of this chapter)