Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 42: Sacrifice, Party Struggle, and Stolen Silver
The Temple of Heaven is just inside Yongding Gate.

This is another work of Daojun.

During the Jiajing period, the temple ritual system was revised, and the Heaven and Earth Temples were divided into two parts. This place was renamed the Temple of Heaven, and a Circular Mound was built to dedicate the ceremony to heaven.

There is a special Zhai Palace inside the Temple of Heaven.

Zhu Changluo was "respectfully offering sacrifices to heaven on behalf of" the emperor, and as he was also the heir apparent, he was arranged to stay in the Zhai Palace, which was specially used for the emperor to fast.

For three days, one must not eat meat, drink alcohol, listen to music, enter the inner bedroom, handle criminal cases, or inquire about the illness or mourning. One must keep oneself clean and honest to show respect and sincerity.

Chen Ju respected the laws and regulations of his ancestors.

After that night, he just silently did his duty.

"Your Highness, Wang An sent it here."

Zhu Changluo nodded: "Put it down."

It's quiet here and he can read.

What Wang An sent over was the Veritable Records of Emperor Muzong that he had instructed Wang An to retrieve.

"Wanhua, you have lived through three dynasties. Living here in seclusion, it is quiet and peaceful. Tell me about the past."

"…What does your highness want to hear?"

Zhu Changluo sat behind the desk in the bedroom and pointed to a chair on the side: "Sit down and talk. What I want to hear is naturally the process of Zhang Jiangling's new policy."

If you want to make a change, you must first understand how people who have experienced it before view things.

Chen Ju looked at him, thanked him for the seat, but remained standing.

After that night, the eldest prince addressed the eunuchs by their courtesy names, as if treating them as his subjects, but Chen Ju always felt that this was not right.

"I was only working in the secretarial office at that time, so I don't know much. If Your Highness wants to listen, I will tell you what I know..."

After that, Zhu Changluo listened carefully and took notes from time to time.

Chen Ju recalled and spoke while looking at him.

Compared with Your Majesty, he is indeed emotionally stable.

He is cunning but humble.

Chen Ju also knew what Tian Yi had said in the secretarial room.

He sighed inwardly.

I just don’t know if he could do this at the beginning or if he could always do this.

Well, let’s take the secret of that night to the underworld.

He had a vague feeling that the emperor's sudden illness was related to the three people he was ordered to investigate.

After all, the emperor went to the Empress Dowager right after the results were presented, and asked Chen Ju to invite the eldest prince over.

Afterwards, the idlers in Ciqing Palace retreated outside the palace, and then the emperor suffered a stroke.

Now, the successor emperor asked Chen Ju to send three more East Factory guards to pay special attention to the experiences of those three people.

Once Chen Ju heard the order, he would do it.

Since the Empress Dowager has gone to such lengths to support him, as an old man like me, my loyalty will ultimately be to the royal family.

Chen Ju thought so, spoke more carefully, and remembered more.

Three days passed in silence, and then came the 18th of July, with its elaborate sacrificial ceremonies.

This was a scene that Zhu Changluo had to get used to; the ritual had its function.

He knew very well who his future enemies would be, but the more he behaved in accordance with their expectations in front of this group now, the more he could paralyze them.

There is no need to take any extraordinary initiative, nor is there any need to show any "heroic leader" attitude now.

But when he arrived at the Taimiao and saw the ancestral tablets and portraits of the Ming emperors, Zhu Changluo had something else to say.

After the regular sacrificial process was over, he asked the sacrificial deacon and others to leave the hall and stood there silently.

Hearing the door shut, knowing that Chen Ju was guarding outside, Zhu Changluo looked up at Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di...

"I am able to come here because I wonder if you are also in heaven." He murmured to himself, "If so, you should be able to see what is happening outside. I really hope to have some blessing for what I am about to do. Unfortunately, I know that only man can conquer nature. Wish me success, and then you can enjoy the offerings of several more generations."

I felt very relaxed after saying it.

These past few months have been really depressing and lonely. He will be lonely in the future, a loneliness that belongs only to him.

After pushing open the door of the Xian Hall, Zhu Changluo looked back at their dignified and majestic faces as depicted by the painter.

Then he left and returned to the palace.

……

Sacrifice comes first, execution comes later.

In the palace, Queen Mother Li sent Tian Yi to execute Zheng Mengjing.

Just like the sacrifices in today's sacrifice.

Queen Wang was in a state of constant fear and felt even more uneasy about this matter.

Although Zhu Yijun was still paralyzed in bed and unable to speak, who could conclude that he would not recover well?
No matter how cruel Empress Dowager Li was, she would not be so cruel to her own son as to not allow the imperial physician to give him acupuncture and medicine.

Queen Wang just didn't understand what it meant for Empress Dowager Li, Zhu Changluo, and Tian Yi to act together.

In the outer court, the case was handed over to the Three Judicial Departments.

The Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Dali Temple held a joint trial, with Shen Yikuan and Chen Ju, who had just returned from accompanying Zhu Changluo at a sacrifice ceremony, sitting in on the trial.

"On the day your majesty fell ill, I followed the order of the Holy Mother Queen Mother and had already investigated some evidence of his crimes."

Chen Ju waved his hand, and two eunuchs behind him brought two boxes and placed them on a table in the hall.

"The correspondence, account books, and confessions are all here." Chen Ju looked at Shen Yikuan, then at Xiao Daheng, "Your Majesty has already issued an edict: the successor should be chosen according to seniority! Over the years, many foreign officials have colluded with Zheng Guotai to confuse and confuse His Majesty. Your Majesty is furious, and the Holy Mother Empress Dowager is furious. I hope the three judicial officials will get to the bottom of the case as soon as possible."

After Chen Ju finished speaking, Shen Yiquan felt heavy-hearted, and so did Xiao Daheng.

Should the case be characterized as collusion between internal and external forces to confuse the emperor, which led to the escalating dispute over the country's foundation?
The emperor naturally could not be at fault; the ones who were at fault were Zheng Mengjing and some opportunistic civil officials from outside.

Both of them recalled the evil book case from the previous year.

At that time, Lu Kun, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, submitted a memorial entitled "Memorial on the Safety of the Country", asking the emperor to save money and stop extortion.

Dai Shiheng, a member of the Ministry of Personnel, made a big fuss about this incident and submitted a memorial to impeach Lü Kun, saying that Lü Kun first wrote a book called "Illustrated Book of Guifan" and then submitted the "Memorial on Safety and Danger". He said that Lü Kun was "scheming and treacherous, harboring evil intentions" and "sneaked into "Illustrated Book of Guifan" to curry favor with the imperial concubines" in order to please Concubine Zheng.

Later, a man who called himself "Zhu Dongji of Yanshan" wrote a postscript specifically for "Guifan Tushuo", titled "Yu Wei Jing Yi", which was widely circulated in the capital in the form of a poster.

The most fatal sentence in "On Worrying about Dangers and Crisis" is: Lü Kun wrote a memorial to the emperor expressing his worries and dangers for the whole country. He mentioned everything except the matter of appointing a crown prince. His intention is self-evident.

The three characters "Zhu Dongji" means the emperor of the Zhu family plus the crown prince of the Eastern Palace plus the word "Ji".

The article adopts a question-and-answer format, specifically discussing the events of deposing and enthroning legitimate and illegitimate children throughout the ages, and alluding to the issue of "the foundation of the country."

The general meaning is: Empress Ma of Han Mingde was first recorded in "Guifan Tushuo". Empress Ma entered the imperial palace from a palace maid. Lu Kun's intention was actually to please Concubine Zheng, and Concubine Zheng reprinted this book, which was actually a foreshadowing for her son to seize the throne of crown prince.

It is also said that Lu Kun formed a clique with nine people including his relative Zheng Chengen, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue Zhang Yangmeng, and the governor of Shanxi Wei Yunzhen, and attached themselves to Concubine Zheng.

Last time, apart from the two people being blamed, Lu Kun returned home to retire, and the emperor did not expand the matter.

No one has investigated who "Yanshan Zhu Dongji" is.

But now "His Majesty is furious, and the Holy Mother Empress Dowager is furious." Shen Yikuan and Xiao Daheng are presiding over the "settlement" of past issues. Although they are following the emperor's orders, what they are doing is "party exclusion of dissidents."

Regardless of whether there is solid evidence that those people are speculators, whenever a major case occurs, there will be a lot of controversy over the Zhejiang Party leader and generals using the excuse of suppressing dissidents.

It was also a period when the successor monarch was about to ascend the throne and a large number of vacancies were to be filled.

Shen Yi Guan looked at Chen Ju and asked tentatively: "Your Majesty is seriously ill now, and all the ceremonies are waiting to be carried out. Your Highness will ascend the throne soon. If a major case is brought up, I am afraid..."

Chen Ju's face was calm: "Rewards and punishments should be clearly defined, and the guilty should be punished."

Shen Yiguan thought for a moment and nodded heavily: "Eunuch Chen is right! Let's get started."

The future situation is still unclear, but since he has made great contributions to the country's foundation, stopped the dragon boat race in Xuandian, and removed the mining supervisor and tax collector, if he wants to stand more firmly in the court in the future, why not take this opportunity to "clean up" the various government offices?
The ministers and gentry should also know which way the wind is blowing!
In the Forbidden City, Tian Yi acted as if nothing had happened after returning from the Yikun Palace.

"Is Chen Ju watching over at the Sanfasi?"

"Yes." Tian Yi thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. Those who know about the witchcraft have been dealt with directly by the Jinyiwei. Chen Ju is there to prevent them from setting fire to the palace."

Zhu Changluo was not worried about this. Who among those who entered the palace that night was not an old fox?
"Zheng..."

"I have obeyed your order and have completed it." Tian Yi added, "Cheng Jing is conducting a search and seizure of the Zheng Mansion. According to a rough calculation, the Zheng family has accumulated more than 2.3 million taels of gold and silver over the years. The remaining treasures, land, houses and shops are still being counted."

Zhu Changluo couldn't help but look at him: "How much?"

(End of this chapter)