The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

The next morning, the court meeting.

Different from the previous court meeting in Wenhua Hall.

Now Zhu Houzhao has already started to rule the country, so the court meeting is held in the main hall of Qianqing Palace, and all officials of the fifth rank and above in Beijing must attend.

Whether to rule the country or not is related to the emperor's normal use of his decision-making power, so it is crucial for Zhu Houzhao to regain power.

When he took this step thoroughly, he was no longer a little emperor, but the Zhengde Emperor Zhu Houzhao!

All the officials in Beijing chose to attend this court meeting today.

Not for anything else, just for the resources of Japan.

Whether it is various minerals, or the local money and grain of Japan, or even those Japanese slaves who were designated as slaves, they are a huge fortune for the powerful and noble.

No one will miss this moment of "dividing the cake". Even if some officials cannot get the cake, they are happy to see which force gets the great benefit and which force gets nothing in this division meeting.

After all, the person who presided over this "dividing the cake meeting" was His Majesty the Emperor.

From the final result, it is not difficult to see the attitude of His Majesty the Emperor towards these court forces.

Therefore, with all kinds of thoughts in mind, the ministers got up before dawn to prepare, and then took a carriage to the palace gate.

Yang Tinghe was considered to be one of the earliest, but there were others who came earlier than him.

For example, Wang Ao, the Minister of Personnel, Yang Yiqing, the Minister of War, Wang Jianzhi, the Minister of Punishment, Li Shan, the Minister of Works, and other important court officials.

As soon as they saw Yang Tinghe coming, they immediately greeted him.

"Prime Minister, I heard that you went to visit Zhongshan Hou yesterday."

"How is the situation? What is the attitude of Zhongshan Hou?"

"Did he... agree?"

The ministers surrounded Yang Tinghe and kept asking questions.

Of course, for Wang Ao and others, it was not that they valued the interests in it, but that they were forced by the situation.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that His Majesty the Emperor was determined to suppress the increasingly domineering civil officials and gentry, and for this reason he did not hesitate to bring the power of the royal family into the court, forming a court pattern of fighting between the two sides.

And for the Ming Dynasty, Japan is now like a girl with legs spread open, who can take whatever she wants and dare not resist.

Then, whoever gets the most benefits from it will naturally develop faster.

What Wang Ao, Yang Yiqing and others are worried about is that His Majesty will try his best to prevent the gentry from participating in it and completely exclude them!

In this way, when other forces have digested the resources of Japan, what can the civil officials and gentry use to compete with them?

Even if His Majesty wants to take back the power, he can't really suppress the civil officials and gentry completely and let the royal princes take charge of the government, right?

Yang Tinghe smiled confidently and nodded slightly.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty knows it!"

After getting this answer, the ministers roughly understood what was going on, so they all felt a lot more relaxed.

Yang Tinghe looked at another circle, which was Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao and Xing Wang Zhu Youluo.

Feeling Yang Tinghe's gaze, Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao's cold gaze followed.

"Prince Ning, why do you have to fight with Yang Tinghe?"

Zhu Youju couldn't help but smile bitterly when he saw this.

He, Prince Xing, was a quiet and unknown person.

He became the biggest winner in the fight between the two forces and sat on the position of Minister of Rites.

But the higher his position, the more uneasy Zhu Youju felt.

He didn't want to get involved in these court fights, but he was always put on high ground by His Majesty the Emperor and had to participate in them.

Nowadays, the civil officials and the princes of the royal family are like fire and water, and Zhu Youju was inevitably affected.

For example, when he was in the Ministry of Rites, his colleagues and subordinates saw him, they all looked cold and indifferent, not to mention winning people's hearts and cultivating party members.

Zhu Youju didn't have these thoughts. He would rather keep the status quo and wait until His Majesty the Emperor closed the net, so that he could take the opportunity to get out of these vortexes of fighting.

However, Zhu Chenhao was completely different. According to the rumors that Zhu Youqi heard, this Prince Ning made a big move. All the gold, silver and jewelry he brought were used to bribe court officials. At least those officials in the Guanglu Temple have now become Zhu Chenhao's confidants.

Some people who were unwilling to obey were excluded and suppressed by Zhu Chenhao and driven out of the Guanglu Temple.

In other words, the Guanglu Temple is now Zhu Chenhao's one-man show.

In addition, the number of court officials secretly wooed and befriended by this Prince Ning is countless. There are even rumors that even the absolute confidant of His Majesty the Emperor, Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao, secretly communicated with Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao and even accepted Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao's adopted daughter as a concubine.

Zhu Youqi didn't know whether the rumors were true or false.

He just knew that the more Zhu Chenhao did this, the closer he, the Prince Ning, was to death.

Even if the rumors are true, it is just that the Marquis of Zhongshan is just playing along with him. It is ridiculous that this guy has been kept in the dark and is still thinking about rebellion.

Are all these people in the Ning clan brains wrong?

Zhu Chenhao sneered at Zhu Youlu's statement.

"Your Majesty is determined to revive the royal family and bring the power of the royal family into the court to fight against the civil officials and gentry!"

"You and I have been chosen by your majesty as representatives of the royal family. Do we still want to fail the emperor's grace?"

Zhu Chenhao sneered: "This king fights with the civil officials and gentry, which is to obey the emperor's will!"

"On the other hand, you, Prince Xing, have been disobeying the holy will and acting like a good old man without fighting or grabbing. I'm afraid that disaster will come soon!"

Zhu Youqiao sighed secretly when he heard this.

Good words can't persuade you to die!

Since Zhu Chenhao took the initiative to seek death, he didn't want to give any more advice.

At this time, Tang Hao, the Marquis of Zhongshan, helped the British Duke Zhang Mao out of the carriage.

As soon as the Marquis of Zhongshan arrived, there was a sudden silence outside the palace gate.

Immediately afterwards, all these officials stepped forward in unison and congratulated Tang Hao with their hands.

"Congratulations to the Marquis of Zhongshan on the birth of your son!"

"Yes, yes, he is still the eldest son!"

"It happens that the Marquis of Zhongshan destroyed the country and returned it to the court. It can be said to be a double happiness!"

"The Marquis of Zhongshan was really a tiger general at that time!"

All kinds of flattering words came one after another, but they still came to congratulate him, so Tang Hao could only force a smile and deal with these guys with a smile.

Of course he understands that this is not because of how popular he is, but because of the interests of the Japanese country.

Seeing that Tang Hao was a little impatient, Zhang Mao stood up to smooth things over.

"What's the fuss about?"

"It's too noisy for an old man like me!"

The British Duke Zhang Mao was the first person in the martial arts in the past, and the British Duke was married to the imperial family, so now he had to rely on his old age and no one dared to say anything.

But there are also some old people among the ministers, such as Huang Xizhai, a Hanlin scholar.

He was also a veteran of three dynasties, a well-known scholar and a great figure in the literary world.

"I wonder if the Marquis of Zhongshan has chosen a name for your son? As a Hanlin scholar, I have a lot of experience in naming..."

Hearing this, Tang Hao couldn't laugh or cry for a moment.

"Thank you, Mr. Huang, for having already named the dog, "Tuo"!"

Huang Xizhai was startled when he heard this, then stroked his beard and nodded repeatedly.

"The pioneer, the pioneer!"

"Open up the land on all sides and expand the land thousands of miles!"

"We admire Tang Hou's ambition!"

Hearing the praise from this well-known scholar, Tang Hao couldn't help but smile on his face, and Zhang Mao's old face was filled with pride.

"It's almost time, stop making any noise!"

Yang Tinghe came over and acted as the villain, reminding the ministers that the palace gate would be opened soon.

The ministers then returned to their seats honestly, but they were still whispering to each other.

Tang Hao and Yang Tinghe looked at each other, said nothing, and then helped Zhang Mao to the designated position.

Today's court forces can be roughly divided into three categories.

One of them is naturally the civil servants and gentry. They have controlled the government for more than fifty years, and their influence spread throughout the Ming Dynasty. Even the local officialdom was monopolized by these gentry. You can imagine what a behemoth they were.

In addition, because of the existence of the imperial examination system, the gentry and gentry could continuously deliver fresh blood to the central court, thereby ensuring their continuous inheritance and ensuring that their interests were always represented in the court to safeguard their own interests.

The second is that the military generals have become distinguished, including British Duke Zhang Mao, Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao, Baoguo Duke Zhu Hui, Dingguo Duke Xu Guangzuo and others, as well as emerging military generals Xianning Boqiu Yue, all of whom chose to attend the court today. Court meeting.

Compared with the orderly inheritance of civil servants and gentry, the reason why military generals and nobles declined is because they did not inherit it. Whether it was the military examinations in the imperial examination or strict military merit restrictions, this made it even more difficult to inherit the Ming Dynasty's nobles. In other words, its essence is a restriction on the emperor's military power.

Fortunately, because the Jiubian Army Town had to defend itself against grassland barbarians at all times, it became a place to select outstanding generals, such as Qiu Yue, Anguo and other Jiubian generals.

Today they went to court together, naturally to support the Marquis of Zhongshan.

And Tang Hao has decided to use the Japanese country to help Wu Xun rise completely today!

The third one is the power of the clan and vassal kings represented by Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao and Xing Wang Zhu Youqi.

It seems that their power is the weakest in the court, but don't forget the clan kings behind these two kings. They are all big landowners and rich people who want money and people!

So, what exactly will happen in today’s court meeting?

Hundreds of officials from the three major forces didn't know this, so they could only wait patiently.

Soon after the hour arrived, the palace doors opened wide, and all the officials filed in and stood in the main hall.

Zhu Houzhao walked in from the back hall and sat on the dragon throne under the worship of the whole court.

With Zhang Yong's sharp singing, today's proceedings began immediately.

First of all, Jiao Fang, the Minister of Household Affairs, took the lead and mentioned Liu Jin's investigation of Wangzhuang. The Qingfan family alone had investigated thousands of hectares of farmland. It was simply crazy and unscrupulous!

Everyone in the civil and military circles of the dynasty knew that Jiao Fang was a member of His Majesty the Emperor and an out-and-out imperialist.

So now that he raised this matter, it was clear that His Majesty the Emperor was targeting the clan king.

In this case, the civil servants and gentry would naturally not watch helplessly.

Yang Tinghe gave Fei Hong a look, and the latter immediately came out to report.

"Your Majesty, the clan kings are annexing fields wantonly, and the Sanfa Division has secretly investigated this. Not only the Qing Fan lineage, but also the Shu Fan lineage, and the Qin Fan lineage...especially the Ningfan lineage!"

As expected, Fei Hong's main target was naturally Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao, whom everyone wanted to beat.

I saw the newly promoted General Secretary of the Metropolitan Procuratorate taking out a memorial from his arms.

"According to investigation, the Ning Fan lineage began to annex fields wantonly after they took over Nanchang!"

"There are three ways to seize the land by cleverly setting up a name. The first is to petition, the second is to accept the donation, and the third is to seize the land."

"First, the so-called petition means that in addition to the land that was enfeoffed by the imperial court when it was born, the Ning Fan family has continuously petitioned the imperial court for additional petitions over the years."

"At first, there were a large number of deserted fields in Nanchang Mansion, so the Ning Fan family took the opportunity to request the court to add some of the wastelands without owners to themselves to increase their farm property. However, most of the fields were not ownerless fields. , originally had an owner, but was persecuted and assassinated by people sent by Prince Ning’s Palace, and it became the so-called ownerless land! "

Fei Hong stirred up waves with one stone!

The civil and military officials in the court were all talking about it, and they all looked at Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao with evil eyes.

This is such a fucking beast!

After taking a fancy to someone else's land, he killed them, and then petitioned the court to protest, and it became his own palace's land.

"Secondly, the so-called Naxian, which means dedication, refers to the common people, gentry, and squires dedicating their land to Prince Ning's Mansion as gifts. Although the Ning Fan family has no real power, they are the descendants of the royal family after all, especially those who are entrusted with the throne. For these local princes, if the local forces can act under the banner of the princes, it will be very convenient. Faced with these people accepting donations with ill intentions, Ning Fan's lineage will not refuse anyone who comes, so they give Ning Fan a Giving money, fields, and women, befriending members of the Ning Fan clan, and winning their favor has become the default behavior of officials and gentry from all over Jiangxi. This has led to a bad atmosphere in Jiangxi, and the root of the problem lies with the Ning Fan clan! "

This second item is relatively normal.

Everyone understands how to contribute.

In fact, this is not just the case with Prince Ning’s Mansion, but also with the princes’ mansions everywhere.

And this is not just true for the clans and vassals, but also for the gentry and squires from all over the country.

Because these damn local officials will continue to increase the labor taxes of the peasants through "apportionment". In order to survive, the peasants have to choose to donate their fields to the local gentry and squires.

In the same way, going to another level, the gentry and country gentry rushed to donate their fields to the local princes, thereby making use of the power of these princes to make profits under the banner of the princes.

After all, local officials would never dare to offend a prince, and the banner of Lao Zhu's family was still very effective, especially during the Hongzhi period.

"Third, the so-called seizing and buying means that the Ning Fan family bought the land from ordinary people. They say it is buying, but it is seizing!"

"Because the common people regard their fields as more important than their lives, and no one will sell their property unless they are forced to the point of depletion. However, the unowned fertile fields and wastelands have long been divided up by the Ning Fan lineage. These The insatiable and greedy clans set their sights on the fields of the common people."

"And once they were targeted, all kinds of methods were used in an endless stream. The common people had no ability to resist, so they had no choice but to admit defeat and honestly sold their fields to the prince at a low price. The fields were then forcibly bought and became their Prince Ning's Mansion. Reasonable and legal land is for "buying".

There are some things that cannot be discussed on the table, because once you do so, it will completely break your relationship.

But the young Lord General Xian didn't seem to care about this.

Fei Hong, courtesy name Zichong, was born in Qianshan County, Guangxin Prefecture, Jiangxi Province. He was the successor of Fei Yi, the famous prime minister of the Shu Han Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period.

The Fei family of Qianshan can be regarded as an aristocratic family. In the past dynasties, outstanding children have entered the court and become officials, or they have studied knowledge and become scholars. For example, Fei Hong's fifth uncle Fei Rui is a well-known scholar, named Mr. Xuefeng. Fei Hong follows He studied and cultivated his virtues, made great progress in his studies, and could connect sentences to form articles.

In the 23rd year of Chenghua's reign, Fei Hong ranked first among the Jinshi scholars and was awarded the title of Zhuangyuan. He was awarded the title of editor of the Hanlin Academy. Later, Zuo Zanshan of Zuo Chunfang, Zuo Yude and minister of the Hanlin Academy, and Shaoqing of Taichang Temple also served as the Hanlin Academy. Among them, the positions such as Zuo Chunfang and Zuo Zanshan are more important, because this is an official position in the East Palace, tutoring the crown prince Zhu Houzhao in his studies.

Now that Zhu Houzhao has ascended the throne and proclaimed himself Emperor Zhengde, Fei Hong, who had a "half-master" friendship with him, rose to great heights. It happened that the predecessor of the General Constitution, Zhang Fuhua, resigned in anger, and Fei Hong succeeded the Metropolitan Procuratorate at the age of forty. The General Constitution, once in control of power, is very proud of itself.

What's even more rare is that this Lord General Xian is quite similar to Xie Qian. He hates evil as much as he hates it, and he is honest and upright.

When he learned that Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao had been secretly plotting a rebellion, he unswervingly joined Yang Tinghe's camp and took a clear stand against Zhu Chenhao. On the one hand, he frantically impeached this man for his illegal activities. On the other hand, Fei Hong also Secretly investigate and collect evidence of Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao's crimes.

This time, Jiao Fang's proposal to annex the land was actually the result of Yang Tinghe's exchange of interests with him.

After all, Jiao Fang is also a civil servant and a gentry. No matter how much he is squeezed out and suppressed, in the end he still cannot break away from the position of a civil servant and a gentry.

So Jiao Fang spoke up and gave Fei Hong a chance to attack!

Fei Hong lived up to expectations and stabbed Zhu Chenhao hard in the heart!

Annexing fields and persecuting the people is simply an act of an animal!

Fei Hong even investigated clearly the three ways Prince Ning's Mansion annexed fields!

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but glance at the new president, and then looked at Zhu Chenhao.

"Prince Ning, do you have anything to say?"

Zhu Chenhao came out with an expressionless face.

"Your Majesty, I don't know anything about this."

"Even if there is, it doesn't prove that it must have been done by Prince Ning's Mansion!"

"After all, there are many people in the Ning Wang Mansion. Maybe some evil slaves are doing evil in the name of the Ning Wang Mansion. Since Fei Zongxian has brought it up, I will definitely keep this in mind and order the palace to investigate thoroughly after the court..."

This is a common excuse and a common method used by Zhu Chenhao.

For example, when he eliminated dissidents in Nanchang, he secretly raised a group of dead soldiers, let them disguise as bandits, kill officials who disobeyed him, and then put all the blame on these bandits!

This time, it is still the same method. At most, he can catch an insignificant servant and kill him.

But how can the civil officials and gentry agree to his tricks!

"Haha, what a big joke!"

Yang Tinghe stepped out and sneered: "The Ning Wang is really a good method to investigate his own people!"

"Does the Ning Wang think that all the civil and military officials in the court are fools, or do you think that Your Majesty can't see the slightest detail?"

Zhu Chenhao glared at Yang Tinghe with a gloomy face.

"What does the Prime Minister want to do?"

"Simple, send officials from the three judicial departments to Nanchang and station in Ning Wang Mansion to investigate the case of annexing the land!"

Yang Tinghe's true intentions were exposed, and his target was Ning Wang Mansion!