The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

The rebellion ended.

The Ming Dynasty also returned to its former decadence.

But the situation in the court has undergone earth-shaking changes.

Because Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao and Xing Wang Zhu Youqi entered the court as officials, and the two kings openly supported Zhongshan Marquis Tang Hao's Yi Qie proposal, the court was no longer a hall of civil servants and gentry, but a brand new force emerged.

And the key issue is that in this new system of sects and vassals formulated by His Majesty the Emperor, the royal education system has also been included in the assessment. As long as the children of the clan pass the assessment specially formulated for the clan, they can even directly enter the court as officials!

This is the most timid place for civil servants and gentry!

Why were civil servants and gentry able to control the government for more than fifty years?

Could it be that the Ming Emperor was not trying to take back his power and change this situation?

Of course, Emperor Chenghua Zhu Jianshen is the best example. However, Emperor Chenghua succeeded but also failed in the end.

When Emperor Chenghua was in power, he was indeed an emperor who obeyed his words, and it was difficult for civil servant Jin to compete with him.

However, once he died, the Hongzhi Dynasty that followed became a golden age of civil servants and gentry!

To put it bluntly, civil servants and gentry are not afraid of tyrants and monopolies, because tyrants such as Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chenghua who deliberately criticize civil servants and gentry, how long can they survive? They are only forty or fifty. It’s only a year, civil servants and gentry can afford to wait!

Because of the continuous supply of imperial examinations, civil servants and gentry could continuously support and guide their descendants to enter the court and inherit the mantle, thus ensuring the continuous inheritance of power.

So even if they are suppressed by the emperor for a while, they only need to tolerate it temporarily, and they will eventually rise again!

The so-called "one emperor and one courtier" means that as long as there is an emperor, there will be courtiers.

During the Hongwu Dynasty, it could be said that it was the most harsh time for civil servants. They were stripped of their skins and made of grass, and they were imprisoned with imperial staffs. None of this made the civil servants tremble with fear, as if they were walking on thin ice!

Emperor Taizu Gao, a tyrant and a single man, wanted to use the most vicious methods in the world to punish the civil servants and gentry!

But what about today?

But what about since Tianshun?

It’s not that Wen Sheng and Wu Wen are weak!

Even if a little independent man like Emperor Chenghua appears again, will there be any change in the result?

All it took was the replacement of an emperor, and the civil servants and gentry successfully made a comeback and took charge of the government again!

No matter how powerful the emperor is, the civil servants and gentry can afford to wait for only a few decades!

To put it bluntly, the emperor and the emperor were not that important to the civil servants and gentry.

What the civil servants and gentry need is a stable court situation and a mature government affairs processing system. As long as the powerful machine of the Ming Dynasty is still operating normally, then no matter who is sitting on the throne, the civil servants and gentry will be indispensable.

Of course, compared to the tyrant and one-man husband like Emperor Taizu Gao, they naturally hope that every Ming emperor should be a sage king like Emperor Hongzhi.

However, things are completely different now.

Because Emperor Zhengde is lifting the vassal ban and introducing members of the clan to the court!

It is said that Naning King Zhu Chenhao has begun preparations for the clan examination. Once these clan children pass the examination, whether it is studying literature or martial arts, they can naturally enter the official career and become officials and generals. This also means that the clan kings There is inheritance when entering the dynasty!

Why can civil servants and gentry control the government?

Because they are indispensable, because they have inheritance, because the generals and nobles have no inheritance!

Due to the sensitive nature of military power, the promotion conditions for generals and nobles are extremely stringent. Naturally, it is impossible for the emperor to leave a path for their inheritance, so that a certain military force becomes the private army of a certain martial arts family.

The only inheritance of the honor of military generals may be the military examinations in the imperial examinations.

However, compared to the liberal arts examinations, the martial arts examinations were relatively less taken seriously. The martial arts examinations were established very early in the Ming Dynasty, but the system was never finalized and was sometimes abolished and sometimes restored.

It was not until the 14th year of Chenghua that Emperor Chenghua, based on the eunuch Wang Zhi's suggestion, set up martial arts townships and joint examinations, taking liberal arts as an example. To put it bluntly, this was also a method adopted by Emperor Chenghua to check and balance the civil servants and gentry.

But in the sixth year of Hongzhi, the imperial court decided that the martial arts test should be held every six years, with strategy first, then bow and horse. Those who failed in the strategy were not allowed to try the bow and horse.

To put it bluntly, in the Ming Dynasty, to participate in the martial arts examination, these warriors not only had to read poetry and books, but also had to have the literary talent to make strategies. "Strategy first, martial arts second", putting military strategy before military technology above.

If you fail the written test, if you cannot write a good article, you will not be able to take the martial arts test, let alone be a high school martial arts examiner.

This written examination in the early stage of the martial arts examination tests three questions, two questions on strategy, and another question on four books.

To put it bluntly, Emperor Chenghua wanted to support military generals and nobles, so he attached great importance to martial arts and completely customized them, hoping to use this to select military generals to fight against civil servants and gentry.

However, you have Zhang Liangji and I have the wall ladder. If you want to take the martial arts exam, that's fine. Let's read poetry and books first. If you can't write a good article, you don't even have the qualifications to show martial arts. Go back and dance by yourself. Let’s go get the knife and stick!

Most of these folk warriors are ignorant, vulgar and reckless men. They can't write any beautiful articles even if they risk their lives, and they may not even be able to write a complete sentence, so naturally it is impossible to humiliate themselves.

Besides, if people really read poetry and books, if they really have such strategies, then why not take the martial arts examination, or take the civil examination examination for the top scholar in high school?

You must know that most of the military positions in the Ming Dynasty were inherited by Shiyin. For example, official positions such as generals of the guard station were passed down from generation to generation. In addition, generals who were gradually promoted from the ranks were added. This is the mainstream appointment mode of military lieutenant generals. And this military Elections will be just a supplementary form and not taken seriously at all!

Because of this, without the existence of inheritance channels, the honor of military generals will gradually decline. On the contrary, it is because the Jiubian Army Town resisted the barbarians and turned into a talent base for selecting generals and generals. Generals such as Qiu Yue and An Guo all came from Nine sides rise.

In this comparison, the civil servants and gentry relied on the imperial examinations to continuously provide fresh blood to enter the court, and accumulated political knowledge from generation to generation, while the military generals and nobles did not even inherit it. How could they be the opponents of the civil servants and gentry, and they would gradually decline and decline. normal.

However, these clan kings are different at this moment!

His Majesty the Emperor has vigorously rectified the royal education system and given the clan children the motivation to study and cultivate virtue. These clan children have no shortage of resources, let alone famous teachers. As long as they are willing to study hard, study and cultivate virtue, passing the clan examination will be a piece of cake. When the time comes, Then you can continuously enter the court and compete with the civil servants and gentry!

Not only did the clan and vassal kings have inheritance, but their background far surpassed that of any gentry or gentry!

This is what the gentry and gentry are really worried about!

When a large number of members of the clan entered official careers, and when the civil servants and gentry were constantly seized of power, what else could they do to control the court?

Emperor Zhengde's bold and risky move undoubtedly hit the critical point of the civil servants and gentry, forcing them to find ways to prevent members of the clan from entering the court, or to slow down the progress of these clan members from entering the court!

Yang Tinghe has asked Zhang Fuhua to send a censor to Nanchang, Jiangxi, to secretly investigate the evidence of Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao's crimes. As long as he gets conclusive evidence, Yang Tinghe will be confident to completely overthrow him, and then expel these clans from the court. Tang!

But before he could make any move, a piece of news suddenly came back, which caused shock in the capital.

The mission that went to the Japanese country three years ago finally returned to the Ming Dynasty, and they brought good news that was enough to make all the gentry go crazy - the Iwami Silver Mine did exist, and the amount of silver hidden there was immeasurable, at least far away. All the silver mines being mined in the Ming Dynasty!

In order to push the Ming Dynasty towards the sea, Tang Hao planned to reveal the Ishimi Silver Mine in Japan and forced the imperial court to send a mission to Japan to investigate. In name, he was to mediate the internal fighting among the daimyo in various places in Japan.

Normally, a Ming envoy sent to another country would have one envoy and one deputy envoy, plus some accompanying officials but no more than ten people at most. Then there would be more than twenty officials from the Travel Department, and the total number of people would be guaranteed to be less than fifty.

However, due to an Iwami silver mine with hundreds of millions of silver deposits, the size of the Da Ming Tomorrow group directly expanded to nearly 200 people!

The main purpose of these two hundred people going to Japan was to verify whether the news about the Iwami Silver Mine was true.

And this team of nearly two hundred people almost includes all the forces of the Ming gentry and the Jin gentry. After all, for such an important matter, you must send your own people there, so that you can feel at ease.

This mission was led by Xie Duo, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites. Tang Hao sent Ma Yong and Deng Boyan to lead two thousand soldiers to escort them. They left for three years without any news. Just when the government and the public were about to forget about them, These guys are finally back, and they’re bringing back this shocking news!

Not only the gentry and gentry were excited, the emperor Zhu Houzhao was also very excited!

After all, the savages have said that this Shijian Silver Mine contains over 100 million silver!

What is this concept?

The Ming Dynasty's annual tax income was only about three million taels!

In other words, the amount of silver stored in this Iwami silver mine in the Japanese country is comparable to the tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty in the 30s and 40s!

If he could keep it in his pocket, why would Zhu Houzhao be worried about not having enough money to train soldiers?

So Zhu Houzhao immediately summoned Tang Hao, who was a little happy to hear that Xie Duo and others finally came back.

After all, the fleet of Shandong Qinghe Shipyard is almost ready, and if it cooperates with this wind direction, it will be able to go to sea.

"Savage, what you said is actually true!"

Zhu Houzhao was so excited that he punched Tang Hao in the chest.

"Well, don't be too happy yet!"

Tang Hao reminded angrily: "That silver mine is not yours now, but belongs to Ouchi Yixing!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao's eyes turned red instantly.

"What bullshit Ouchi Yoshiki?"

"The one I like is mine. He has a bullshit name and a clown, but he dares to steal my money?"

Tang Hao was stunned when he heard this, and then he felt dumbfounded.

The Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty in front of him is like a vicious dog guarding his food, with red eyes and bared teeth. The most funny thing is that this is clearly not his food, but someone else's!

"Your Majesty, this matter is not that easy."

Tang Hao touched his chin and reminded: "If we want to get this Iwami Silver Mine, we must go to Bingwa Kingdom, but will the civil servants and gentry agree to this?"

Send troops to Japan?

There is indeed a lot of resistance.

Zhu Houzhao calmed down after Tang Hao poured cold water on him.

Not to mention that the Japanese country was a country designated by Emperor Taizu Gao not to be conquered. This Chinese dynasty has been a state of etiquette since ancient times, adhering to the Confucian philosophy of being gentle and benevolent. However, it rarely sends troops to attack vassal countries. It has no righteousness in any case. ah!

These civil servants and gentry have always been resolutely anti-war, and I think this time will be no exception.

So Zhu Houzhao directly threw this problem to Tang Hao and said in a deep voice: "Savage, please think of a way quickly. No matter what, we must get this Shijian Silver Mine!"

"You also know how important this Iwami Silver Mine is to us. As long as we get it, we can afford to support not only 50,000 soldiers, but also 100,000 or even 200,000 soldiers. Then you can also command troops. The Northern Expedition is chasing people northward on the vast grassland!"

Tang Hao glanced at Zhu Houzhao lightly, and then proposed a good plan.

Zhu Houzhao's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he immediately ordered people to go and arrange it.

At the same time, Yang Tinghe's mansion.

Wang Hao, the Minister of Personnel, Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Rites, Wang Jianzhi, the Minister of Punishments, and Li Shan, the Minister of Works, all four ministers in Beijing gathered here.

There is no big personal relationship among them, they all have to gather here because of the current situation.

There is no way, the clan's entry into the dynasty poses a fatal threat to the civil servants and gentry. If they do not report to the outside world as a united front, and start some internal fighting, the civil servants and gentry will be suppressed to the point where they completely lose their power and become the lackeys of the Ming Dynasty clan. This will This is a result that no one wants to see.

Yang Tinghe supported Zhang Fuhua and walked in slowly. Upon seeing this, the four ministers immediately stood up and saluted.

The power of the cabinet has not yet expanded to the point of overriding the six ministries. In addition, Yang Tinghe, the chief minister of the cabinet, has been in power for a short period of time, so his status is naturally equivalent to that of the four ministers. In fact, in terms of actual power in his hands, he is far inferior to the officials. Shangshu Wang Hao.

Therefore, the person who really saluted the four ministers was Zhang Fuhua, the General Secretary of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

This veteran of the Five Dynasties, who had been honest and upright throughout his life, originally assisted the government together with Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, and Ma Wensheng, the Tianguan, to maintain the balance of power among all parties in the court.

However, with the chaos in Liu Jin's reign, Liu Jian and Ma Wensheng were forced to retire and sadly left the court. Now the only person left in the court is the General Constitution, who is still trying to support them.

Because today's Metropolitan Procuratorate is a behemoth, with independent powers of investigation and arrest, and it has become a sharp knife hanging over the heads of civil servants and gentry!

Zhang Fuhua glanced at the people present, then slowly sat on the chair.

He was already old and had a clear view of the situation in the court. Because Liu Jian and Ma Wensheng were forced to retire one after another, Zhang Fuhua was also a little discouraged and submitted several petitions to resign. Unfortunately, His Majesty the Emperor did not agree.

The reason is very simple. The Metropolitan Procuratorate is a sharp knife. Zhu Houzhao has not yet found an obedient and suitable candidate to take charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate for him, so he has delayed Zhang Fuhua's appointment.

Now that His Majesty the Emperor has lifted the vassal ban and brought the power of the clan into the DPRK, he intends to fight against the civil servants and gentry. Zhang Fuhua was unwilling to pay attention to it, but Yang Tinghe repeatedly pleaded. After all, he was a disciple of a famous religion, and he did not support His Majesty the Emperor. This risky approach made it a rare exception to come to Yang Tinghe's residence to discuss matters.

"Sir, what should we do now?"

Yang Tinghe took the initiative to speak and explained the current situation.

The predicament that civil servants and gentry are facing now is mainly due to the excessive hostility of His Majesty the Emperor.

In order to suppress the civil servants and gentry, they even took the risk to lift the vassal ban, bring the clan princes into the court as officials, and give them the opportunity to regain power. How much hostility is there to make such a risky move?

Anyone who thinks about this will feel uneasy in their heart.

Zhang Fuhua sighed after hearing this.

"Civil officials and gentry control the government and are unwilling to return power to Your Majesty. This is a recipe for death."

"This is the Ming Dynasty, not the former Song Dynasty. Are you still dreaming about the emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats co-ruling the world?"

Faced with Zhang Fuhua's rhetorical question, everyone present chose to remain silent.

The emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats rule the world together!

Is this some sweet dream?

Actually it’s not!

Because Hongzhi Chaotang, isn’t that the case?

Why can't it work in this Zhengde court?

"The present Majesty is different from the former Emperor after all!"

Zhang Fuhua said in a deep voice: "The courage, courage, and foresight... Your Majesty is far superior to the late Emperor!"

"The Ming Dynasty has reached its limit now and is barely able to maintain operations."

"If we don't think of ways to innovate, the people will be destitute and their wealth will be exhausted, the army and the people will be in poverty, and chaos will happen sooner or later!"

"So, Your Majesty did this as a last resort!"

Unexpectedly, Zhang Fuhua actually spoke for His Majesty the Emperor.

Everyone present still did not say anything, but fell into thinking.

Why don't they understand these truths and why His Majesty the Emperor does this?

But who is willing to hand over their power willingly?

Power is a kind of poison. Once you get a taste of it, no one will be able to let it go!

What's more, the civil servants and gentry have controlled the government for fifty or sixty years, and they are so easily wanted to hand over their power to His Majesty the Emperor. How is this possible?

Taking a step back, even if they hand over the power, can His Majesty the Emperor really revive the Ming Dynasty?

If he can't do it, wouldn't it accelerate the collapse of Ming Dynasty?

Therefore, the right and wrong here cannot be explained clearly in just one or two sentences.

"Since your majesty dares to do this when the clan enters the court, you must be well prepared."

"King Xing Zhu Youji, don't worry, this is a virtuous king, and His Majesty has specially set up a golden sign!"

"He is a man of noble moral character and noble aspirations. He has no political stains and no excuses or reasons for criticizing impeachment, so don't waste your time and energy on him."

Zhang Fuhua still gave his opinion.

"As for Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao, he is on the other extreme."

"Your Majesty deliberately promoted him to a high position, and with deliberate indulgence, Zhu Chenhao will definitely cultivate party members, and then he will destroy himself!"

"On that day, it will be your chance to drive the clan power out of the court in one fell swoop!"

Hearing this, Yang Tinghe's eyes suddenly lit up.

Only then did he finally understand what Tang Hao and Zhu Houzhao wanted to do!

This pair of ambitious monarchs and ministers really played a big game of chess!

I'm afraid that at that time, the clan will also be kicked out of the court!

Just like garbage that has been used and discarded like worn-out shoes!