The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 549: Teaching the Prince to Fight the Civil Officials
The capital city is already experiencing a heat wave in June.

Just after the hour of Chen, the sun was shining brightly in the sky and the air was steaming. It was as hot outside as a steamer.

However, such hot weather could not stop the people from watching the house searches and executions, especially when the people being executed were corrupt officials.

These days, the people in Beijing are as happy as if it were New Year's Day, gathering around and running around.

Of course, they were not going to visit other people's homes, they were going to see corrupt officials having their homes raided.

Wherever corrupt officials were raided, crowds of people would gather, applauding and cheering, creating a lively atmosphere.

At this time, the streets and alleys of the capital were extremely bustling, but the imperial study in the palace was surprisingly quiet.

Wanli actually stared at little Zhu Changxun in his arms for a long time without saying anything.

What is going on here?
Little Zhu Changxun was stunned for a moment, but couldn't help asking, "Father, what's wrong?"

The emperor is considering how to teach you how to fight against civil officials.

This is quite important.

If you cannot defeat those civil servants with ulterior motives, the Ming Dynasty will be destroyed sooner or later.

Wanli thought about it carefully again, and then said solemnly: "Xun'er, my father once told you that after the prosperous and peaceful times, there will be no more wars to fight, and then it will turn into internal struggles within the Ming court.

If you cannot defeat those civil servants with ulterior motives, then all the interests of the Ming Dynasty will gradually be seized by those civil servants. When they have seized all the interests of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty will be finished.

This is the lesson learned from the demise of dynasties throughout history. No matter how powerful a dynasty is, no matter how prosperous an era is, it cannot last long.

The reason why dynasties declined from prosperity was mostly due to internal struggles in the court.

For example, corrupt officials are greedy for money, which is also part of the internal struggle within the court. They are just competing with the court for money.

To put it bluntly, the internal struggle in the court is a struggle for interests. Money, power, land, and even beauties are all part of the interests.

Some officials with ulterior motives want to grab everything. If you don't give them what they want, they will find ways to kill you, replace the emperor, or even treason and overthrow the country, and directly change the dynasty.

You must remember to be wary of officials with ulterior motives and never allow them to gain power. If you are deceived and allow them to gain power, you must quickly find a way to get rid of them."

This doesn't seem that serious, does it?

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun thought about it carefully, then said cautiously: "Father, didn't you say that force determines the ownership of power?

As long as I maintain control of the military, how can those civil servants with ulterior motives possibly cause unrest? If anyone tries to cause unrest, I can just chop them down, right? "

You're thinking too simply.

Wanli shook his head slightly, then patiently taught: "Father did say that force determines the ownership of power.

However, don't think that force is so easy to control. The control of force is also one of the focuses of internal struggles.

Don't think you can rest easy just because you control an invincible military force. Even if you do, those civil servants with ulterior motives will have ways to deal with you."

How is this possible?
Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun was stunned for a moment, but couldn't help asking, "Father, we control the military force. What else can they do? Can they still defeat us?"

They have many ways.

Even if you control invincible military force, they can still destroy your military force.

If they can't beat you, they can find a way to get someone else to beat you.

Wanli thought for a moment, then patiently taught: "Father, let me give you an example. This example happened in the Ming Dynasty.

You should know that during the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties, the Ming army was invincible, and during the Hongxi and Xuande dynasties, the Ming Dynasty had already entered a period of peace and prosperity.

This is almost exactly the same as the Ming Dynasty that you are about to inherit. Your father will definitely create an extremely powerful and peaceful era for you.

You should also know how long that prosperous era lasted under the reign of Emperor Yingzong who succeeded him.

Fourteen years later, the once powerful Ming Dynasty suffered a tragic defeat in the Battle of Tumu, and its heyday was gone!

In the Battle of Tumu, why did nearly 500,000 soldiers of the Beijing garrison be defeated by only 30,000 Wala cavalry?
This is the lesson. The main reason is that the civil officials deceived Renzong and Xuanzong into stopping the war and caring for the people in order to fight for power.

Since you have the extremely powerful Beijing Army, they will say that there is no war to fight anyway, and it will cost a huge amount of food and wages to assemble the soldiers of the Beijing Army, so it is better to use this food and wages to support the people.

The solution they came up with was to let all the soldiers in the Beijing camp farm and support themselves!
This is what they often talk about: serving the country and the people. Are they really serving the country and the people?
If you believe it, that's it.

You should also pay attention to this point in the future. Officials who truly serve the country and the people will not always shout about serving the country and the people in front of you. Officials who truly serve the country and the people will just work hard.

Any official who claims to be working for the country and the people most likely has ulterior motives.

Let’s not talk about this for now, and go back to the Battle of Tumu. The most direct result of the civil officials’ policy of stopping the war and supporting the people was that the nearly 500,000 soldiers in the Beijing camp were like they didn’t know how to fight, and they couldn’t even defeat the 30,000 Wala cavalry.

Even if they gathered together for a month of training every year, this would not be the result.

The soldiers of the Beijing garrison had never assembled for training, which was the main reason for the disastrous defeat at Tumu Fortress. Therefore, even if you have an unrivaled military force, they can use various excuses to destroy your military force.

Also, don't think that the Wala attacked you for no reason.

If they can't beat you, they will try to lure the enemy to beat you.

There was the Tatar tribe and the vast ocean between the Oirat tribe and the Ming Dynasty. Why did the Oirat tribe inexplicably gather a large army and travel thousands of miles to attack the Ming Dynasty?
Those civil servants with ulterior motives did a lot of things in secret.
For example, the tribute envoys sent by the Oirat were inexplicably detained, which was not the intention of the late Emperor Yingzong.

After meeting the tribute envoys from the Oirat Mongols, the late emperor gave them money and goods and let them go. However, those civil servants with ulterior motives colluded with the generals in the border towns to detain the Oirat Mongols' envoys. Even when Yesen demanded the envoys back, they refused to release them.

For example, the Oirat and the Ming Dynasty originally had a tributary relationship. The Oirat obtained tribute trade and rewards from the Ming Dynasty by paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty.

Not only did those civil officials detain the tribute envoys of the Oirat Mongols and embezzle all the rewards from the late Emperor Yingzong, they also secretly interrupted the tribute trade. The Oirat Mongols could not even buy the pots and bowls they needed for their daily life.

They destroyed the invincible Beijing Camp internally and continued to provoke the Oirat tribe that had already surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. This was the fundamental reason why the Oirat tribe came from thousands of miles away to attack.

Another point is that Yingzong was too fond of the eunuch Wang Zhen. The dignified Emperor of the Ming Dynasty actually respectfully called a eunuch "father Weng" and obeyed his every word. It was a disgrace to the ancestors!
You must also remember this: if anyone dares to regard a eunuch as his father, even if he is your eldest son, you should not allow him to inherit the throne.

Wang Zhen’s blind command can be said to be one of the reasons for the Ming Dynasty’s disastrous defeat in the Battle of Tumu.

Wang Zhen himself had big problems, but there was a reason why he was able to hold power in the court and manipulate Emperor Yingzong at his will.

As for the reason, it has a lot to do with Wang Zhen’s background. The historical materials recorded by scholars deliberately did not record Wang Zhen’s original identity.

Wang Zhen was actually also a scholar, and he had achieved honors. As to whether it was the honor of a scholar or a juren, it is unclear now because the scholars deliberately did not record it.

Another point is that Wang Zhen not only had honors and achievements, but also had a wife and children. Why did he give up everything and castrate himself to enter the palace?

To put it bluntly, he is just like those civil servants with ulterior motives, who are just fighting for power and profit.

So, don't think you can rest easy just because you have military force. Those civil servants with ulterior motives have plenty of ways to deal with you."

The Ming Dynasty during the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties was indeed invincible. The northern barbarians were beaten and fled in fear, surrendering at the sight of the enemy.

Such a powerful army of the Celestial Empire was made unable to fight by the civil officials!

These civil servants are so scary!
Upon hearing this, little Zhu Changxun was quite horrified and asked, "Father, how should we deal with these civil servants?"

This issue is quite complicated.

Wanli thought for a moment, then explained in detail: "We must first distinguish between civil servants who serve the country and the people and those who have ulterior motives.

This is very important because civil servants with ulterior motives will generally not be exposed at the beginning. On the contrary, they will appear loyal to you and serve the country and the people in order to gain your favor.

Therefore, whenever you want to use an official, you must get to know him in detail beforehand. You can use the censors of the Censorate to investigate openly, or you can use the secret guards to investigate secretly, or you can personally ask other officials for their opinions on him.

In short, it is best to get to know an official thoroughly before you reuse him.

If you don't understand it clearly or it hides well and gradually gains control of the power, then you have no choice but to find a way to get rid of it quickly.

What the emperor meant by getting rid of it was not as simple as ordering people to drag him out and chop him into pieces, because the civil servants with ulterior motives are usually not just one person, but a group of people.

These civil servants with ulterior motives like to form cliques for personal gain. If you accidentally appoint one of them to a high position, his followers will spread throughout the court without you noticing.

Therefore, you cannot simply drag the person out and chop him up, as this will not solve the problem at all.

Even if you punish without teaching, if you find any problematic officials, you can just execute them. After you execute one or two, they will incite officials like the clean and honest young people to cause trouble for you.

If you ignore them and continue to do as you please, beheading every single one you find, they will take this opportunity to mobilize all the officials in the court to become your enemies."

This is not a joke.

Chongzhen would kill anyone he found who was guilty. As a result, almost all officials in the court became his enemies or pretended to obey him but actually disobeyed him.

In history, the Ming Dynasty perished just like that, and Chongzhen was hanged on Coal Hill like a lonely man, with no officials around him, only a eunuch.

Young Zhu Changxun naturally didn't know anything about Chongzhen. He was even a little confused about what kind of civil servant had ulterior motives.

He thought about it carefully, then asked, "Father, are the civil servants with ulterior motives you mentioned the same as the disobedient civil servants?"

You can't generalize.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "Father has told you that disobedient civil servants can be divided into many categories, including those with ulterior motives, corrupt officials, and upright young men.

The so-called civil servants with ulterior motives can be said to be the kind who can do anything to fight for power and profit, such as collaborating with the enemy, framing loyal officials, even killing the emperor, changing dynasties, etc. There is nothing they cannot do.

Their goal is to seize all the benefits. They want to undermine the imperial power and control the entire Ming Dynasty. If that doesn't work, they will kill the emperor. If that doesn't work, they will change the dynasty!
These civil servants can be said to be the internal enemies of the Ming Dynasty. They are not only the enemies of us as the emperor, but also the enemies of the entire Ming Dynasty."

Enemies within the Ming Dynasty?
This kind of civil servant is terrible.

Upon hearing this, little Zhu Changxun couldn't help but ask with horror, "Father, who is the enemy within the Ming Dynasty?"

(End of this chapter)