Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 21 I am ill and lustful

Ever since the Liuli Palace burned down due to an inexplicable fire, the Daming Palace was moved elsewhere.

Emperor Yongli and several concubines found a residence for the Marquis of Hongsha to stay.

The prince set up his chariot in the military camp outside the city of Ava.

The burned-down Glass Palace was naturally the palace of Pagan Hou, who had just become the King of Toungoo.

Since Hongsha had a new king, the Ming court, which did not have enough manpower to transform the local people into Han people, naturally helped to rebuild the central government of Ludao.

The Ludao government office was divided into two: the Hongsha Central Office led by Adayun on the right, and the Daming Court Hall where Deng Shilian was in charge of the national seal on the left.

In the corridor of the Zuofu Yamen, Li Weizha, covered in dust, looked at the burnt golden roof of the Glazed Palace with a slightly stunned expression.

Deng Shilian stretched out his hand and waved it before his eyes. "What is Mingyuan (Li Weizha's pen name) thinking about?"

Li Weizhuo came back to his senses and said with emotion:

"Lord Deng, do you know how King Pingdali of Hongsha apologized last year when the Gongchang King's troops were at the gates of Ava and were about to take him?"

Without waiting for Deng Shilian's reply, Li Weizha chuckled.

"Ping Dali panicked and sent envoys to the King of Gongchang, asking him to allow the Gong vassal army to enter the city and station there, but not to sit in the Golden Palace."

"Although Prince Gongchang retreated due to lack of food, Pingdali never expected that he would be killed by the Ming army within a year. The magnificent golden palace was burned to the ground and was about to be destroyed. Even the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty disdained to stay in the palace."

Deng Shilian thought about how he had been living under someone else's rule for a year, abandoned his family and lost his country, but in just ten days the situation suddenly turned around and became very good. He felt quite emotional.

"It is all thanks to the wisdom and bravery of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Li Weizhao turned to look at his fellow villager and said, "Lord Deng, when I came here, I heard from the people of Hongsha that the prince was possessed by a god or Buddha, and that the red moonlight had become his armor, making him invulnerable to swords and spears."

"When he arrived in Ava, many of his former colleagues and officials said that the prince had lost his soul and was possessed by wandering ghosts in the flood sand, or that some unknown demon had replaced him with another."

Deng Shilian subconsciously looked around and felt relieved when he saw that the officials in the corridor were all in a hurry and didn't pay much attention to the conversation between the two.

Looking at the tired and haggard Li Weizha, his official robes were torn by the thorns in the mountains and forests, with holes and broken threads everywhere.

As ministers of a fallen country and fellow Shu natives, they were naturally close.

No one in the court or the country was worried about Li Weizhu's loyalty.

If he had not traveled through the mountains and forests over the past year to contact the armies of the chieftains scattered across Yunnan Province, the two kings of Jin and Gong might not have known about the emperor's whereabouts.

This time, he even borrowed troops from the Mengmian chieftain of Mengding and brought more than a thousand Han and barbarian troops to rescue the emperor.

Deng Shilian pondered for a moment and said, "It is true that the prince has lost his mind and all his memories, and doesn't recognize his surroundings."

"It is also quite strange that he has a martial power comparable to that of the King of Jin. He is a skilled archer, can kill generals, and even slay white elephants."

"But, Mingyuan, now that the empire is in turmoil and we are exiled to foreign lands, a prince who can eliminate treacherous officials, subdue arrogant generals, and win the hearts of the army, whether he is a human or a ghost, a god or a Buddha, is needed to govern the country and save it from extinction."

Li Weizhao nodded first, then slowly shook his head.

"Lord Deng, I understand that those lies are nothing more than the Emperor's former ministers, angry about being removed from power, slandering His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Although the Crown Prince is not as indecisive and weak as the Emperor, he was decisive in eliminating the traitors this time. He led 300 soldiers to Ava. He did not have the style of Chengzu's suppression of the rebellion, but he also used Western Confucianism to win over the Red Barbarian mercenaries, which also had the style of Taizu."

Deng Shilian nodded repeatedly.

If he was not born in Shu and was not from the same hometown as the empress dowager, how could he have simply changed the position of Minister of Personnel to Minister of Works and become the Prime Minister?

The other old ministers who were lavishly granted official titles and honors by Yongli were not as lucky as him.

Even though the court is short of people at the moment, they will still be retained in their old positions and will not be assigned.

If the prince were not a ruthless killer and held military power, how could he have made such a few absurd complaints? This has long been a tradition of the Ming Dynasty.

"Mingyuan talks about Western Confucianism, but he doesn't know that Chen Ande, that kid Pan Huang, and those European mercenaries said that the prince was blessed by their god and was possessed by the gods."

Li Weizha said, "Ever since the Crown Prince told the Prince of Jin about Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao's ridiculous remarks, the Emperor has stopped fighting with the Crown Prince for power. Those people are still restless."

Deng Shilian laughed again: "If they behave themselves, I'd start to suspect they're possessed by the Hongsha demon."

If there is no internal strife, they are still officials of the Ming Dynasty.

Li Weizha also laughed, and then spoke after a moment of silence.

"In fact, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is heartless and righteous, and acts arbitrarily and recklessly, just like the Emperor. In the past, in western Guangxi and eastern Guangdong, Your Majesty's absurd and paradoxical statements were even worse."

Deng Shilian remained silent for a moment.

He followed Emperor Yongli from the very beginning.

In western Guangxi and eastern Guangdong, Duke of Yue Qu Shisi repeatedly tried to keep the emperor and maintain the loyalty to Yongli in the two provinces of Guangxi and Guangdong.

The vassal states in Chu are powerful, and the people of Guangxi and Guangdong are all with them.

When Yongli proclaimed himself emperor, he moved his imperial court four times, which lost the support of the people. If he stayed in Guangdong, Guangdong would survive; if he left Guangdong, Guangdong would be lost.

However, Emperor Yongli blocked Qu Shisi's letter of advice to stay by claiming that he wanted me to die for the sake of the country, and moved his headquarters to Chu to be controlled by the vassal state.

I have let down the Duke of Yue and the ministers of Guangxi Province, and I have also let down Chen Zizhuang, Chen Bangyan and Zhang Jiayu who raised troops to protect the emperor's journey.

After a while, Deng Shilian changed the subject to something lighter: "Don't say you look like the emperor."

"Your Highness has only been regent for ten days, and he has already gone out to look for good women to bring into the Eastern Palace."

"Isn't it quite similar to his uncle, Emperor Jian, who, when he first ascended the throne in Southern Capital, used the pretext of a grand wedding to search for beautiful women from the common people, searching all over Southern Capital, Suzhou and Hangzhou?"

After listening to Deng Shilian's story, Li Weizhu also found it unbelievable.

Except for Emperor Longwu, who had some potential as a wise ruler, it was normal for the emperors of the remnant Ming Dynasty to be so absurd as to govern the country.

Emperor Hongguang was saying directly that I was ill and lustful.

Have people catch toads to make aphrodisiacs.

Others thought he was unhappy because Chongzhen died for his country, but it turned out to be a pity that there were no beautiful women in his harem.

Deng Shilian's cousin, a Jinshi (Jinshi) during the Wanli reign, was also aware of the imperial gossip from decades ago, and he shared it with Li Weizhao. It was said that Zhu Cixuan's great-grandfather, Emperor Longqing, had begun indulging in sexual activities less than two years after ascending the throne, and each time he recruited more than three hundred concubines for the imperial court.

This prompted parents in the Jiangnan area to hastily arrange marriages for their daughters.

Soon, his name as a sex maniac spread widely, and then he died from excessive indulgence.

My great-grandfather, Emperor Wanli, did not attend court for 28 years, and many people said that he was obsessed with the harem.

My great-grandfather, Emperor Taichang, died from taking aphrodisiac red pills.

During the fourteen years that Emperor Yongli was in exile, he only took in four or five concubines, and they could all be said to be unsavory towards women.

It was rumored in the court and the public that Shenzong's seventh son, Prince Guiduan, was the most like Emperor Wanli, and that Prince Gui's fourth son, Emperor Yongli, was the most like Shenzong among all his grandsons.

As the third son of Emperor Yongli, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince looks 70% like Emperor Shenzong, and his way of taking concubines into his harem is very much like his ancestor's.

Li Weizha was speechless for a moment, and spoke for Zhu Cixuan's unyielding spirit.

"The Crown Prince has only married four women, why are you slandering him so much?"

"Prince Jin's daughter, Li Haiyue, was there to appease the generals. Princess Hongsha of Siam was also there to form an alliance through marriage. Even the youngest daughter of the Duke of Qian was there to win over the nobles."

Deng Shilian looked around and came closer and spoke softly.

"Originally, there were no such criticisms, but the day before yesterday, when the Siamese envoy returned home, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sent a hasty message from his attendants."

"What's with the big carriage? Tell the princess of Siam not to marry someone short."

Uh.

Li Weizhao could only reluctantly speak: "A southern barbarian woman is dark, thin and short. In the past, there was no way she could enter the Eastern Palace of the Ming Dynasty. It is normal for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to have such a request."

As the two were discussing the new king, they were spreading gossip to each other.

The corridor suddenly became noisy.

Many officials walked out of the inner room and ran to the gate of the government office.

Deng Shilian stopped Ren Guoxi, who replaced him as the Minister of Personnel, out of some curiosity.

"Mr. Ren, what happened?"

"The prince's uncle was captured by the Imperial Guards."

Ren Guoxi's words were shocking, and Deng Li and Li looked at each other in fear. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was going to take action against Yongli's old ministers.

Marquis Huating Wang Weigong relied on the fact that his sister was the empress and his nephew was the crown prince, and he was always powerful during the reign of Emperor Yongli.

He had participated in the Chu-Wu factional struggle earlier. When important cabinet officials such as Duke of Yue and Wen Tie'an were either dead or in exile, he became extremely powerful.

Ma Jixiang was able to control the government and deceive the emperor with the help of the empress and the empress dowager in the harem, and Wang Weigong also gave him a lot of help.

Ren Guoxi also noticed the difference between the two and said:

"Your Highness has ordered Deng Kai, commander of the Imperial Guard, to establish a new troop of 1,000 to conduct investigations and apprehend all criminals who persist in their evil deeds, disrupt society, and obstruct public order."

"To reduce the interference and obstruction of the new king of Toungoo's succession to the throne."

Li Weizha stroked his beard and said, "I'm afraid it's to eliminate spies and guard against internal thieves."

Ren Guoxi nodded: "Of course, it is to prevent spies from the Eastern Tartars and Mangbai from gathering information and even causing unrest among the people."

"In addition, we also captured able-bodied men to serve as laborers and collected food and fodder. The Hongsha people have always been hostile to us, so it's difficult to supply the army with supplies."

"Prince Jin previously slaughtered the chieftains for supplies, but the Ava counties are the foundation for our long-term peace and stability, and it's not appropriate to do that."

Deng Shilian smiled and said, "This will actually lighten our burden."

There are very few officials in the Ming Dynasty who can get practical work done. In addition, there is a language barrier. Even with the assistance of Chinese interpreters, many things are difficult to handle.

As they were talking, they had already arrived at the gate of the government office.

The onlookers hurriedly made way for the Prime Minister.

Ren Guoxi pointed at the escort team that stretched for hundreds of meters and Wang Weigong was yelling.

"Marquis Huating set up a gambling house in a restaurant, defrauding newly wealthy Europeans, but was arrested by the Investigation Bureau."

Wang Weigong raised his nose to the sky and shouted arrogantly:

"Do you know who I am!"

"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is my brother-in-law, and the Crown Prince Regent is my nephew."

Wang Weigong's arrogance did not last long.

Six sticks hit him in one second.

The strongmen of the Qianhu Office were all from Tianzhu Village who had just been recruited by Zhu Cixuan and they could not understand Chinese.

They dragged Wang Weigong, who was bent like a shrimp and unable to open his mouth, behind the horse and pulled him with a rope to continue walking.

Ren Guoxi and others wanted to step forward to persuade them, but when they saw Deng Kai reining in his horse, they had to stop.

The queen and the prince have already set out for Menggen.

Even the emperor would not offend the prince for the sake of his brother-in-law.

It would be better for these foreign officials not to move.

Deng Shilian looked at the long queue and said to Li Weizha beside him.

"Mingyuan, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has established such a large-scale prison, severely punished officials, established patrols, apprehended thieves, and questioned traitors and fraudsters. Isn't this the direct legacy of Taizu?"

Sanqing Education (Han Renzong): Arrest them all one by one and send them to the Sanqing Education Team; you can use violence to purify society and politics.

(End of this chapter)