The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 335: The Flowers of War

Ping Liaohou led an expedition to the East to conquer Japan, expanded the territory, and established Andong Province. He formed an alliance with Mongolia, suppressed the She'an Rebellion, and was awarded the title of Jingnan.

Because of his outstanding military achievements, he was conferred the title of Duke of Protectorate.

All the generals under his command were also rewarded.

Sun Chuanting became the new governor of Liaodong, and Qiao Yiqi entered the cabinet, replacing Zhao Shizhen and becoming the new Minister of Revenue.

The officials who stayed in Kaiyuan entered the customs in batches and were added to the Dali Temple, the Pacification Office, the Ministry of Revenue and other government offices.

Wang Huazhen, Yuan Keli, Wang Zaijun and others were urgently transferred to the capital, and some were reinstated or promoted as exceptions. They all entered the cabinet and controlled the six ministries.

In this way, Ping Liaohou quickly controlled the power center of the Ming Dynasty in his own way.

The Kaiyuan Army also took over the internal and external defense of Beijing. The Bingmasi Jingying was replaced, and those officers who participated in Zhu Youjian's rebellion were exiled to distant frontier areas.

When things developed to this point, even the inexperienced Xu Xiake could see that the Duke of Protectorate's pace of usurping power and seizing the throne was getting faster and faster.

The emperor established five ranks of nobility and salary, namely duke, marquis, earl, viscount and baron.

A duke is a lord, second only to a king.

However, the title of Duke of Protector of the Country is not an ordinary title.

From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the end of the Qing Dynasty, in more than 2,000 years of Chinese history, no one has ever been named Duke of Protector of the Country.

What is the Duke of Protectorate? To put it simply, he acts on behalf of the emperor.

The only person in the world to be named Lord Protector was Oliver Cromwell, who sent King Charles I of England to the guillotine.

Cromwell was a man of distinguished military achievements. In the name of liberty, he led the new British aristocracy to overthrow the Stuart dynasty, ushering in the European bourgeois revolution. Of course, he eventually degenerated into a dictator, even more despicable than Charles I.

By the way, this great dictator who slayed the dragon and turned into a dragon, his other identity is the elder brother of Captain Oreo Cromwell.

Captain Oreo Cromwell ran out of ammunition and food in the Battle of Tsushima and was finally captured by the Kaihara army.

Under the threat of torture by burning with fire by Portuguese missionaries, the brave and fearless retired captain was forced to surrender. When Ping Liaohou returned to the Ming Dynasty, Oreo had been sent to Yuanshan Iron Mine for two months of labor reform.

If nothing unexpected happens, Captain Oreo will become part of the Kaiyuan system in two months.

In short, after being conferred the title of Duke of Protectorate, Liu Zhaosun had concentrated both military and political power in his hands.

He held the titles of Duke Protector of the Ming Dynasty, Governor-General of Korea, Governor-General of Japan, and Archbishop of the Asian Diocese. He controlled Liaodong, Shandong, Mongolia, and Northern Zhili, and was only one step away from ascending the throne to become emperor.

Before he knew it, he had become the most powerful man in the Ming Dynasty and even in the whole of Asia.

"I have never been interested in power or women."

This is a sentence that the National Protection Fair often said on weekdays.

Just like a certain richest man in later generations said that he was not interested in money.

They all feel so pretentious.

However, if you say some things every day and keep saying them, you will eventually believe them yourself.

~~~~~~~
Wang Chengen, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, was both the confidant of Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youjian and a spy planted in the palace by the Protector of the Country Liu Zhaosun. He was a typical double agent.

Wang Chengen is only sixteen years old this year and can't recognize many characters, but his ability to read the situation is better than that of many Beijing officials.

The emperor ordered Wang Chengen to arrest Yang Hao and his daughter, but Eunuch Wang simply placed them under house arrest in secret.

I guess even if they sent this father and daughter to the imperial prison, no one would dare to take them in.

It should be noted that Ping Liaohou destroyed his ancestral home in Liaoxi in a fit of rage for his Korean concubine, and almost wiped out the entire family of Wu Sangui, the original owner of the family.

If the wife and father-in-law of Ping Liaohou were touched, this warrior would become enraged and would certainly massacre the Imperial Household Department and the Pacification Department.

Besides, although outsiders didn't know how much Emperor Tianqi weighed, these eunuchs knew it very well.

Therefore, from the very beginning, these people pretended to obey the emperor's orders while at the same time pushing the dirty work to the officials and nobles in the capital.

Emperor Tianqi was raised by the women in the deep palace and was not even twenty years old. How could he be a match for these old foxes?

He was completely unaware of what his subordinates were doing until the Kaiyuan army arrived at the city gates, only then did he realize that the people around him had already been bribed and controlled by Ping Liaohou.

On the day the Kaiyuan army returned to the capital, Wang Chengen sent someone to send Yang Hao and his daughter back to their old residence in the Zhang Mansion.

The so-called Zhang Mansion refers to the mansion that Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the Wanli period, stayed in the capital.

Shortly after the Jingnan Campaign in the first year of the Tianqi reign, this most famous mansion in the capital was given to Marquis Ping Liao and his family by Zhu Youjian, who had just ascended the throne.

~~~~~
On April 12, the second year of the Tianqi reign, Liu Zhaosun strolled in Zhang Juzheng's former residence, which would soon be renamed the Duke of Huguo's Mansion.

Sun Chuanting, Qiao Yiqi, Wang Huazhen, Yuan Keli and others accompanied him.

Pei Dahu and Shen Lian brought guards to protect the surroundings. The corridors and rockery were filled with guards of the central army holding sharp blades.

Over the years, Liu Zhaosun destroyed the Later Jin, destroyed Liaoxi, pacified Bailian, conquered Japan, and fought against the Red-haired Barbarians, capturing cities and killing many people along the way.

According to incomplete statistics, the number of people who died at Liu Zhaosun's hands has exceeded 100,000.

It is said that those who want to assassinate the Protector of the Kingdom have lined up from Paris, France to New Netherland (New York) in the New World.

The architectural design of Zhang Mansion is a typical Jiangnan garden-style mansion from the late Ming Dynasty.

Magnificent and luxurious.

The woods used for the carved beams and pavilions are all precious red sandalwood, nanmu, rosewood, Araucaria and Chinese beech.

Walking in the corridor, the faint fragrance of rosewood fills the air around you.

After much difficulty, they reached the end of the corridor, turned left, and walked to a pavilion.

"Aiwanting."

Liu Zhaosun looked up and saw three large vermilion characters written in flowing style on the pavilion plaque, leaning against each other, opening and closing, with a unique style.

There is a clear water under the Aiwan Pavilion, and a Taihu stone stands in the pool.

The shapes are varied, the postures are countless, and the whole is crystal clear. The ingenuity of the stacking and the scale are so huge that it is rare even in Jiangnan.

"Lord Protector of the Country, do you know who wrote this plaque?"

Suddenly, Qiao Yiqi asked in a rhythmic voice.

Liu Zhaosun blurted out without thinking:
"Who else could it be besides Zhang Jiangling?"

Qiao Yiqi showed a proud look, shook his head and smiled:

"Emperor Shenzong wanted to grind Zhang Taiyue's bones to dust, so how could he have left his handwriting behind? After Zhang Taiyue's death, before his body was even cold, the emperor took over this house and renovated it inside and out. Only this pavilion remained untouched."

Liu Zhaosun was in a hurry to see his wife Yang Qing'er and had no time to chat with Qiao Dazui. He could only perfunctorily say:
"It wasn't written by Zhang Juzheng, so it was written by his son?"

Qiao Yiqi laughed, and without further ado, revealed the answer:

"It was Emperor Shenzong himself. In the tenth year of the Wanli reign, on his fifty-eighth birthday, Zhang Taiyue was already critically ill and exhausted. He petitioned the emperor to retire. Wanli thought Zhang Taiyue was testing him, so he refused and gifted him this plaque: 'Stop the car and sit to enjoy the maple forest in the evening, the frosted leaves are redder than the flowers in February.' He allowed the old master to continue serving... "

Ma Shiying interjected:

"Unfortunately, Zhang Taiyue died of illness more than a month later. The red lacquer on the plaque hadn't even dried when the emperor turned against him. He first eliminated Feng Bao and then liquidated the Zhang family. Dozens of Zhang family members were eventually trapped in the house and starved to death."

Sun Chuanting sighed deeply:
"I heard that Emperor Shenzong ascended the throne at a young age, and Zhang Taiyue was reforming state affairs. He also served as the imperial tutor, often assisting the young emperor with his studies. During a random check on the recitation of the Book of Documents, the young emperor mispronounced a word. Zhang Juzheng was furious, and no one in the palace dared to speak out."

Wang Huazhen shook his head:
"So, Zhang Jiangling was good at governing the country but poor at managing his own life. In the end, his family was destroyed and his life was ruined. It was all his own fault!"

Liu Zhaosun's heart skipped a beat.

It was not until now that he learned that Zhang Juzheng had died at the age of 58.

If he could live a few more years, the "Kaocheng Law" and "Yibian Law" would continue to be implemented, and Qi Jiguang would continue to stay in Jizhen to lead the troops...

What changes will occur in the history of the late Ming Dynasty?

Looking at the magnificent mansion in front of me, I felt overwhelmed with emotion as everything has changed and I feel sad.

In recent days, Liu Zhaosun has been pressing the emperor step by step, becoming more and more aggressive, and his tyranny is a hundred times greater than Zhang Juzheng.

Looking at history, only Huo Guang, Gao Cheng and Sima Shi can be compared with himself.

What will happen after I die?

Like Zhang Juzheng and Huo Guang, who were purged and no one was left alive, or like the Western Jin Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty, whose power was stolen and eventually the country was destroyed and the family was ruined.

He waved his hand and stopped thinking about these troubles.

The road must be walked step by step, and the meal must be eaten one bite at a time.

Most importantly, as the situation develops, he gradually accepts his new personality:

A power-hungry and lustful tyrant.

If you are going to do something, you must do it to the end, wipe out all enemies and don't give your opponents any chance to turn things around.

"I heard that Zhang Jiangling was greedy for women, and that Qi Shaobao even presented him with a beautiful concubine. I heard this from my adoptive father before, but I don't know if it's true or not."

It was just a casual question, but I didn't expect everyone to show such enthusiasm.

When men talk to each other, the topic of women is always included.

"Grand Tutor Zhang was a man who searched for beautiful women and took in eleven concubines, all of whom were as beautiful as fairies. Together with his goddaughter, there were twelve of them, known as the 'Twelve Beauties of the East Gate'."

Qiao Yiqi boasted that he had traveled all over the country and was knowledgeable, and he talked enthusiastically about the romantic affairs of Master Zhang.

Ma Shiying smiled coldly, his face showing disdain:

"This is hearsay, not to be trusted. There are no Twelve Beauties of Dongmen, but the Thirteen Beauties of Jinling! The wing to the east of Zhang's mansion was called Jinling Tower. Thirteen beauties were hidden in the tower. The thirteenth concubine was the most popular courtesan in Qinhuai. Qi Jiguang spent eight thousand taels of silver to redeem her..."

Liu Zhaosun didn't know these inside stories, and he was dumbfounded and said:
"Really? How can a man in his fifties have such energy?"

The crowd burst into laughter.

The sixty-one-year-old Wang Huazhen pulled out a colorful little bottle from his sleeve and smiled:
"Doesn't the Duke of the Protectorate know about the Diamond Powder? It's a shame Old Kang isn't here today. His father relied on this little bottle passed down from his ancestors to gain an audience with Grand Tutor Zhang and secure the position of Taizhou prefect."

Everyone laughed.

Ma Shiying, Wang Huazhen, and Wang Zaijin came from official families, and many of their clansmen had been former subordinates of Zhang Juzheng, so when they talked about this romantic scandal, it was more credible.

The gray-haired Wang Zaijin looked energetic. The old man spat and said vividly:

"My uncle was a duty censor in the Imperial City back then, and he'd been to the Zhang Mansion several times with the eunuchs who announced the emperor's decrees. The thirteen beauties were divided into different buildings in the long alley within the courtyard, each occupying a room in order. It's said that at night, a maid would bring a silver tray with ivory cards of each concubine. Grand Tutor Zhang would flip one over, and the maid would call that concubine to bed, just like the emperor flipping cards..."

Ma Shiying's eyes lit up and he asked quickly:

"Is this true? Did your uncle see it with his own eyes?"

A group of elite bureaucrats talked endlessly about Zhang Juzheng's romantic affairs.

Even Yuan Keli and Sun Chuanting, who were usually serious, stroked their beards, closed their eyes slightly, and recalled the romantic past.

When Shen Lian was in the East Factory, he often took his men out to search houses. He was tired of seeing mansions like the one before him.

After Zuo Miaoqing returned to the capital, her madness gradually improved under Shen Lian's care.

Every time Shen Lian sees this woman, he recalls many past events.

The civil servant leader was still chatting about the scenery of Qinhuai, but Shen Lian looked calm and said nothing.

When Liu Zhaosun heard Qiao Yiqi talking about his romantic experience of meeting a beautiful woman in Qinhuai Confucius Temple in the winter of the 29th year of Wanli for the 22nd time, he finally couldn't bear it anymore.

He said goodbye to several old subordinates, took Shen Lian and Pei Dahu with him, and walked towards the room of the imperial lady.

"Wu Xiaolinyu is back?"

Shen Lian said quickly:
"Yes, sir, they have just arrived in Tianjin and will be able to return to Beijing in the next two days. They also brought two mixed-blood children with them."

Liu Zhaosun nodded slightly, and the scene of the central army guards fighting against the unknown fire monk appeared in front of his eyes.

(End of this chapter)