The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 162 Whoever proposes to establish a crown prince will be punished
The battle for the national foundation is coming.

Historically, the dispute over the national foundation began in February of the 14th year of the Wanli reign.

It seems like it's several months early now.

As for the reason, it is very simple, because the current Wanli is too rebellious, much more rebellious than the Wanli in history.

In history, after Zhang Juzheng's death, Emperor Wanli was manipulated by civil officials for a few years before he realized the need to regain imperial power.

The current Wanli did not listen to the civil officials at all, or in other words, he was going against the civil officials.

The civil servant told him to go east, but he insisted on going west. The civil servant told him to sweep the floor, but he insisted on taking care of the chickens.

Moreover, he valued military power over civil officials and wanted military generals to trample on civil officials.

What made the civil officials even more fearful was that he was also aggressive in military expansion and tried his best to expand the Beijing camp and border troops.

At this moment, the Beijing army has 240,000 troops, and the border troops have reached a terrifying 450,000.

He is about to restore the military power of the Yongle Dynasty and even the Hongwu Dynasty!
What kind of life did civil servants in the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties live?
Those were the days when if you were greedy for sixty taels, you would be skinned and stuffed with straw!
For civil servants nowadays, if they embezzle 60 or even 600 taels, they are not considered corrupt. If they embezzle 6,000 taels or more, they are barely considered minor corrupt officials. There are many who embezzle 60,000 or even 600,000 taels.

Most civil officials did not want to return to the days of the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties. They did not want to be skinned and stuffed with straw for just sixty taels of silver.

They all wanted to covet 600,000 or even 6 million taels of silver. They all wanted to unscrupulously seize the interests of the Ming Dynasty, so that they and their descendants could live a life of luxury and extravagance.

If the little emperor were to restore the terrifying military power of Emperor Hongwu and Emperor Yongle, they would have no chance.

Therefore, the civil servants who wanted to live a good life united together and spread rumors secretly, which meant they were preparing to fight against the little emperor.

They were planning to kill the little emperor and replace him with an even younger one who was so ignorant that he didn't know anything!
As for why they didn't just rebel, it was because of the ancestral teachings of the Ming Dynasty.

The Hongwu Emperor did a very good job in this regard. He made it very clear in the "Huang Ming Zu Xun" that "If there are no loyal ministers in the court and there are traitors within the court, we must raise troops to punish them and purge the emperor's side."

This means that no matter whether it is a civil official or a military general, if anyone dares to rebel, the vassal king of the Zhu family can raise an army to quell the rebellion and kill these rebels.

This is why civil officials dare not rebel.

In their rebellion, they not only wanted to kill the current emperor, but also all the princes in the world, and even all the princes' descendants. If there was even one left, they would have the potential to rise up and retake the Ming Dynasty.

How many vassal kings and their descendants are there in the Zhu family now?

According to incomplete statistics, there are at least more than 100,000!
They were not sure they could kill them all, so they did not dare to rebel.

This has been the case throughout history. Civil officials took control of the court by killing the current emperor and replacing him with a puppet emperor.

Wanli was certainly aware that this group of civil servants dared to kill the emperor. Even if they could not kill him, they would force the emperor to hang himself!

Taichang, Tianqi and Chongzhen in history are clear evidence of this.

Anyone who wants to take back the imperial power will be killed by the civil officials!
Now these civil servants have begun to spread rumors, which is a precursor to the struggle for the national foundation.

The dispute over the national foundation lasted for more than ten years in history, and countless civil servants came forward one after another.

They keep saying that they are trying to stabilize the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, but that's just bullshit!
In history, Emperor Taichang Zhu Changluo was the crown prince whom they had fought for for more than ten years.

As a result, the prince did not listen to them after he became emperor, and they killed Emperor Taichang in just one month!

Therefore, the claim that the dispute over the national foundation was for the stability of the Ming Dynasty is a joke, and only a fool would believe it.

What these civil servants are fighting for is the imperial power. If the emperor disobeys them, they will kill him!

You think I don't know what you are fighting for, right?
Okay, I'll pretend I don't know.

A dispute over the national capital, right?

come.

Whoever suggests establishing a crown prince will be dealt with by me!

As Wanli thought about it, he couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth and smile evilly to himself.

It seems these civil servants don't understand the situation and still dare to argue.

You want to fight for the imperial power, right? You want to kill me, right?

Okay, let’s see who kills whom!
However, if you want to be invincible, you have to invite an important person to Beijing.

He thought about it carefully, then said decisively, "Uncle, pass on my oral order. Command the Navy Commander Deng Zilong to quickly send ten centipede boats to Huguang to bring the former Imperial Physician Li Shizhen and his family to Beijing."

If the civil officials wanted to kill him as the emperor, it would be impossible to do so by force, as he had already taken control of the Imperial Guards, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Beijing Camp, and was also protected by experts.

These guys actually only used one trick in history, and that was drugging.

Taichang died suddenly after taking the red pill, and Tianqi died suddenly after drinking the Lingyinlu.

He must guard against this move. As long as he can guard against it, the civil servants will be unable to do anything to him!
He had no idea which imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Service had been bribed and which ones were trustworthy. He only knew that Li Shizhen, who was later revered as the Saint of Medicine or the Saint of Pharmacy, was absolutely trustworthy.

Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan was puzzled.

Why would someone spread rumors that His Majesty wanted her to give birth to a prince to inherit the throne?

She thought carefully for a long time before she said carefully, "Your Majesty, what should we do now?"

Wanli couldn't help but asked in surprise: "What should we do?" What are you thinking about?

Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan warned: "Someone is spreading rumors."

This problem is actually easy to solve.

Wanli said solemnly: "I will let Xier give birth to one child as well."

This makes sense.

The son born by Queen Wang is the legitimate son. According to the ancestral precepts of the Ming Dynasty, the legitimate son is to be appointed as the heir, not the eldest son. As long as Queen Wang gives birth to a legitimate son, the rumor will be self-defeating.

Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan nodded repeatedly and said, "Well, then Your Highness, please go and accompany the Empress."

This is the difference.

In history, Concubine Zheng was really hoping that the rumors would come true.

At this moment, Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan asked him to quickly have a baby with Queen Wang.

It seems that I didn't choose the wrong person.

This imperial concubine doesn't have that kind of ambition and won't cause him any trouble.

Upon hearing this, Wanli's mood brightened. He couldn't help but jokingly asked, "Why are you going to look for Xier in broad daylight?"

Uh, this.

Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan was stunned for a moment, then said shyly, "Then you can go tonight."

What should I do if I go to your place at night?
My uncle and General Shan both follow me.

Wanli thought about it carefully, and then said decisively: "Why don't you move to Kunning Palace as well? That way you can let Xier and Concubine Gong take care of you."

They were discussing when Yu Youcai came in with several memorials and a serious look on his face.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli couldn't help but ask curiously, "Bingzhong, what's wrong? What happened?"

Yu Youcai secretly glanced at Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan, then picked up the top memorial and said carefully, "Your Majesty, please take a look at this memorial."

Wanli took the memorial and read it, and couldn't help but snort inwardly.

Jiang Yinglin, the Imperial Censor of the Ministry of Revenue, reported to the emperor that there were rumors that he wanted the imperial concubine to give birth to a prince to inherit the throne, which was not conducive to the stability of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, this guy asked him to quickly appoint the emperor's eldest son Zhu Changluo as the crown prince to stabilize the country.

These guys were a little impatient and started right after they spread the rumor.

The struggle for the national capital began.

You are tired of living, right?
Come on then!

After reading the memorial, Wanli pondered, "The Revenue Department's Jieshizhong is only a seventh-rank official. Is this guy a newly minted Jinshi?"

Yu Youcai nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Jiang Yinglin was a Jinshi in the 11th year of the Wanli reign."

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Didn't he become your disciple?"

Yu Youcai shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, he is only ranked over 200th in the third class. He has no real ability. If he doesn't take the initiative to find me, I won't take the initiative to recruit him."

Bottom of the top three?

Wanli couldn't help but wonder, "Shouldn't the bottom three be sent out as county magistrates? How did this guy become a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue?"

The Censor of the Household Department and the magistrate are both of the seventh rank, and seem to be similar, but in fact there is a world of difference between them.

A county magistrate is a local official who is sent to a remote place. Unless there are special reasons, he will basically be a local official for his entire life and it is impossible for him to become a high-ranking official in the court.

The position of the Secretary of the Household Department is quite promising. As long as you gain more experience, your rank will rise rapidly.

Moreover, the position of Jieshizhong is also a very popular one, and the censors can impeach any official across the chain of command.

This was the inspection system of the Ming Dynasty. The seventh-rank censors of the Inspection Office and the six-department secretaries could impeach even the second-rank ministers of the six ministries and even the first-rank court officials.

Moreover, court officials who were impeached many times by the censors had to resign to the emperor as usual, to see if the emperor was willing to stay and serve them.

It can be said that the censors are a powerful weapon in the court struggle. If used well, they can get rid of the six ministers, the cabinet ministers, and even the cabinet chief minister.

Therefore, the censors were the objects of pursuit by important officials in the court, and it was not easy to become one.

This guy was one of the more than 200 people in the top three and was able to become a censor, and he was the first one to jump out and request the establishment of a crown prince. There must be a big problem and he must be dealt with.

The problem is that this guy is just a newly-minted Jinshi, and he's also a censor. It's unlikely that he would have committed any crime. Even if he did, it would be a minor matter.

According to the imperial precepts of the Ming Dynasty, it is not a crime for censors to speak out on rumors.

This guy is just talking nonsense at best. How can he deal with others?
Wanli frowned and pondered for a while, then said to Luo Sigong, who was waiting beside him, "Sigong, go and investigate this Jiang Yinglin and find out what connections he had to become a Jieshizhong."

Upon hearing this, Luo Sigong hurriedly bowed and said, "I obey your command."

(End of this chapter)