Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1968 The Two-Year Dangerous Period

Liu Ping's worries were not groundless, and the Wanli Dynasty had fought several times before and after.In the past, he used various means to procrastinate, pretending to be dead without opening his eyes, and at the same time, it happened that there were always big things to do these years, so it was dragged until now that it has not been clarified.

Now, the empress finally gave birth to a dragon son. According to the tradition of the Ming Dynasty, this should be the decisive event when the crown prince can finally be settled. From then on, all kinds of disputes should naturally disappear invisible.

However, will things really go so smoothly?I'm afraid I haven't seen it.

There is a term in later generations called sunk costs, and politics also has sunk costs.When people decide whether to do something, they not only look at whether it is good for them, but also whether they have invested in it in the past.People call these unrecoverable expenditures, such as time, money, energy, etc., as "sunk costs".

In the interpretation of this word, there is a clear determination that "unrecoverable expenditures have occurred".However, in reality, people are often unwilling to believe that the cost of previous investment is irrecoverable, so they will try their best to continue investing in order to recover the tragic situation of "irrecoverable".

Gao Yushi regards this kind of mood as a gambler's mentality, that is, no matter how ugly the situation is, he always believes in the mentality of "I can make money" or "I can fight back".

So in the present, certain people and certain forces who have invested heavily in the previous intermittent national struggle, will they really give up because of the birth of the queen's son?Difficult, very difficult, very difficult.

But there is an unavoidable hurdle here, that is, the ancestral system and political inertia of the Ming Dynasty.

Everyone can understand the ancestral system, but political inertia needs a little explanation.Political inertia may or may not be directly related to ancestry.To give the simplest example, the governor system is political inertia rather than the ancestral system—of course, the thing to be emphasized here is that the ancestral system refers to the "Taizu system" established by Zhu Yuanzhang.

As we all know, the issue of succession in the Ming Dynasty was the most "standardized" compared with the previous dynasties in China. There were hardly any major disputes, and there were not many strange incidents involving "seizing the throne".

So what is the ancestral system and political inertia of the Ming Dynasty regarding the status of the crown prince?

The acquisition of human social status can basically be divided into two types: self-inflicted status and ascribed status.Among them, self-assigned status can be obtained through personal efforts; while ascribed status is based on birth and is a designated social status that usually cannot be changed.

The throne is obviously a pre-assigned position. Only when there is a change of dynasty or usurpation of the throne, can others ascend the throne of the emperor through their own business planning.

Under normal circumstances, the succession of the throne is limited to the supreme ruler of each dynasty, and is determined according to blood relationship, seniority, talent and virtue.

The congenital nature of the throne makes the prince's birth extremely important. The identity of the prince's biological mother and his own age are decisive in the qualifications of the heir to the throne. Consider it in a secondary position.

Therefore, generally speaking, as long as he has the status of the eldest son, even if his qualifications are low, mediocre and incompetent, as long as there are no special accidents, he can successfully inherit the throne.

In traditional Chinese society, the selection of the heir to the throne is a major event related to the stability of the country's political situation, which is the so-called "national foundation" issue.So, whether to adopt the "eldest son system" or "select the virtuous and capable" standard to establish the heir has always been the biggest problem that has plagued the supreme ruler.

In the Ming Dynasty, under Zhu Yuanzhang’s insistence and personal example, the succession of the throne in the Ming Dynasty strictly followed the eldest son’s succession system, which is the well-known sixteen-character principle: if there is a descendant, the descendant will be established, and if there is no descendant, the eldest son will be established. , the father dies and the son succeeds, the brother dies and the brother dies.

However, the imperial line of the Ming Dynasty also had some accidents.According to the history of Gao Yushi's previous life, among the sixteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial lineage had changed three times.

The first change was after the Battle of Jingnan, the lineage of the emperor was transferred from Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest son Zhu Biao and his eldest grandson Zhu Yunwen to the line of the emperor's fourth son Zhu Di, which opened the Yongle era after the Jingnan Battle;
The second change of the imperial line was due to the fact that Xiaozong's son Wuzong had no descendants to inherit the throne, so the imperial line was transferred from Xiaozong's line to his younger brother Xingxian Wang's line, and the son of Xingxian King took the throne, that is, Emperor Sejong Jiajing;

The third change was due to the premature death of the sons of Xi Zong and no heirs to succeed to the throne. The emperor's line was transferred from the line of Xi Zong to the line of his half-brother Xinwang, namely Emperor Chongzhen.

In addition, there were two twists and turns between Yingzong and Emperor Jing. In the "Civil Change", Yingzong was captured, and the Ming court had no leader. The situation was extremely critical.King Ye, who was ordered to supervise the country, was supported by the ministers as emperor, respected Yingzong as the Supreme Emperor, and changed his son to be the crown prince. The emperor's line was transferred from Yingzong's line to Jingdi's line.

However, God’s will tricks people, Emperor Jing’s son died early, and Yingzong returned to the country. Taking advantage of Emperor Jing’s illness, he succeeded in restoration and regained his position.

Despite these accidents, in the three changes of the imperial line, the succession of Sejong and Sizong followed the principle of "brother ends up with brother", and there was the emperor's will or the empress dowager's decree, so their succession had procedures or ceremonies The legitimacy of the emperor, its ruling power has sufficient legitimacy from the moment it ascends the throne.

Cheng Zu Zhu Di seized the throne by usurping power, but he finally won legitimacy through his extraordinary perseverance, iron-blooded means and real great achievements.

Emperor Jing came to the throne under a special background, but the legitimacy of his power was actually based on Yingzong's agreement to abdicate the throne. It is more understood by people as God's punishment for his arrogance.

Therefore, when Yingzong was restored later, the ministers showed a high degree of consistency on the restoration, that is, there were almost no objections.It can be seen from this that in the minds of the officials, even though Yingzong had made civil engineering changes, he still had real legitimacy, and his restoration was to bring the imperial line back to orthodoxy, which is a matter of course and unquestionable.

Although on the surface, the identity of the successor emperor of the Ming Dynasty is sometimes quite complicated, in fact, the succession of each emperor actually follows the regulations of Taizu.

Ming Huidi, Renzong, Xuanzong, Yingzong, and Wuzong succeeded to the throne as the eldest son; Xianzong, Guangzong, and Xizong succeeded to the throne as the eldest son without a direct descendant; Xiaozong, Muzong, and Shenzong succeeded to the throne as the de facto eldest son. , As for Daizong, Sejong, and Sizong, they followed the principle of "brother ends up with brother" to succeed to the throne.

It can be seen from this that the concept of succession to the throne by the eldest son was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in the Ming Dynasty, and everyone from the emperor officials to the common people agreed with it, and actively and resolutely maintained this concept.

Because of this, the successor to the throne in the Ming Dynasty is highly certain, and people know very well who the future successor to the throne should be.Even if the emperor did not formally issue an edict to confer the crown prince and give him the title of crown prince, people can still predict the candidate for the crown prince.

When the emperor who has the power of life and death has a more favorite and favorite heir to the throne among the princes, when he refuses to make the emperor's son or the eldest son as the prince, and wants to break the tradition and replace it with his beloved son, the ministers will often come forward. With the principle of eldest son succession at the core of the patriarchal system and traditional customization as two powerful supports, it competes with the emperor.

And even if the emperor "contains the constitution of heaven in his mouth and follows the law in his words", he still cannot resist the administrative execution power actually in the hands of civil and military officials, as well as the huge power of public opinion of the people all over the world, and finally has to act in accordance with the ancestral law.

Why did the Ming Dynasty form such a strong restrictive force on the issue of the country?This is probably a kind of "overturning the past, and learning from the past".In the Yuan Dynasty, because there was no fixed national law to clarify the successor to the throne, various forces supported different successors to the throne, resulting in fierce internal struggles, which greatly accelerated the decline of the Yuan Dynasty.

Under such lessons, the Ming Dynasty, both officials and common people, believed that there must be a standard system for succession to the throne, and this system must be clearly and firmly implemented.

The Mongol Yuan Dynasty, which had a vast territory and was brave and warlike, collapsed within less than a hundred years of ruling the Central Plains. The struggle for imperial power within the ruling class was undoubtedly an important reason.Therefore, the bloody lessons of the demise of the Yuan Dynasty came first, which naturally made Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang deeply aware of the importance of achieving a smooth transition of imperial power, avoiding fratricide, and maintaining basic political order.

Therefore, Emperor Taizu clearly stipulated at the beginning of the establishment of the country, "Where there is no prince in the court, brothers and sisters must live together, and if there are princes, the place of the aunt must be established, and the place of the concubine cannot be established even if it is long."

Although many of the ancestral precepts and regulations formulated by the Taizu were reduced to empty papers in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, and the ancestral system that was actually ignored in this time and space because of the high-practical relationship is even less common, but this rule of succession to the throne is a golden rule , is always strictly enforced.

Since this ancestral system cannot be avoided or circumvented at all, why is it that even people like Liu Ping are so cautious and cautious when mentioning this matter?Naturally, it is related to the special situation of the Wanli Dynasty today.

The empress' son was born too late!

It is now the end of the 26th year of Wanli, and the Chinese New Year is coming soon, and it is about to enter the 27th year of Wanli.Zhu Yijun, the emperor of Wanli, has been on the throne for nearly 22 years. His wedding was in the fifth year of Wanli, and it has been about [-] years since then.

22 years!Queen Wang was only 14 years old when she got married, and now she is 36 years old. In the Ming Dynasty, she was completely an elderly woman.As the foundation of the country, the issue of the crown prince has been dragged on until now, which is already bizarre enough in itself.

Of course, having said that, in the original history, when Zhu Changluo, the eldest son of the emperor, was officially registered as the crown prince, it was the 29th year of Wanli, which was two years later than now.

Although Zhu Yijun was able to procrastinate in this way in the original history, because the courtiers did not know the "original history", now most people think that the most important factor besides the emperor's own wishes is that the matter has been delayed for so long. Highly pragmatic attitude.

Yes, precisely because Gao Yushi insisted from the beginning to the end that he must wait for the empress to give birth to a son before he can establish an heir, how could things be delayed until now?

And Gao Yushi has always insisted on the saying: "If the prince is established first and then the queen has a son, how can the prince be abolished or not? If the prince is abolished, the prince has no fault at all. How can the emperor bear it? But all the officials are trapped in the relationship between the emperor and his son. Miserable, the crime should not be punished!

If it is not abolished, the Taizu's law of determining heirs will become empty words. From now on, the lineage of the emperor will no longer be determined, and everyone in the world will be able to compete for it. This is the way to bring chaos! "

Whether Gao Wushi’s remarks are reasonable or not, there must be some, but of course the opponents have to put forward their own points of view to refute, so they asked: “The country’s foundation is still uncertain, which makes the world turbulent. Who can predict when the child will be born?"

It is said that who knows when the queen will give birth, but the meaning inside and outside the truth is naturally "who knows whether the empress will give birth to a son in the end?" If after waiting and waiting, the queen did not give birth to a son in the end, then this Will the prince never stand up?

It is true that the "eldest son of the real emperor" can also inherit the throne, but there is another tradition in Ming Dynasty, that is, the education system of the prince "leaving the court to study" is not the same as that of other princes.

Uh, this can be understood as "the prince going out to study" is like the elite education of the elite children of the later Midi, while the education system of the princes is the "happy education" for the children of the ordinary families of the Midi.

The former really requires hard work. Not only is the book knowledge rich and deep, but also various skills need to be learned specially; the latter simply means that the teacher teaches casually and the students learn casually. The Chinese students on the other side think it is an insult to IQ, and summed it up in one sentence: just mess around.

The courtiers, of course, follow the Confucian tradition and believe that the future emperor should receive a good education so that he can govern the country well, while the other princes... anyway, they will "raise pigs" in the future. Simple and easy to manage.Therefore, the struggle for the foundation of the country is largely due to the fact that the eldest son of the emperor is getting older, and waiting for the empress to give birth to a son will delay the eldest son's study time.

There is another unspeakable problem here, that is, there is a problem with the longevity of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, and there are not many long-lived ones.God knows, your majesty, one day you will be the dragon controlling Bintian, and when the time comes, the eldest son of the emperor who can't read a few big characters will be left to succeed. Will the world not be in chaos?
Of course, in any case, this matter has dragged on until now.The problem is that the "delay faction" Gao Pragmatism has not invested any cost for such a long time, but other people from other factions... They have invested too much, and many people have even clearly stood in line several times.

This is very fatal, because on the issue of the prince's succession, since you stand in line today, it is impossible to say tomorrow that I drank too much yesterday, and it was not my intention to stand in line.

This kind of thing is often an arrow without turning back. If you become the eldest son of the emperor today, you can basically stand in this circle for the rest of your life, and it is almost impossible to go back and jump into another circle.

However, now that the queen's son-in-law is really born, the eldest son of the emperor sees no hope of succeeding to the throne. If the initial investment is not to be turned into a sunk cost, what is the feasible solution?It is obviously not to continue the debate, to forcibly argue that the eldest son of the emperor should succeed to the throne, because it is impossible to succeed.

There is only one situation that can change the current passive situation at this time: the queen's son dies early.As for how the child died early... the process is not important, but the result is.

This is a very extreme possibility, and according to the general situation, the civil servants of the outer court cannot extend their hands into the palace.Even if they are highly pragmatic, they can only be said to have a certain influence in the palace. This kind of influence usually seems to be not small, but it may not affect the security situation in the palace.

Since the relationship between Yi Gao and the inner court is so close, especially when Chen Ju and other senior officials are all his connections for many years, it is not enough to do "certain major events" in the palace.So in theory, how could the civil servants of the outer court, especially the civil servants of the Mind School who clearly stood in line with the eldest son of the emperor in the past, be able to do such a thing as "letting the empress's son die early"?
But things are indeed not that simple, because the people who also have to face the threat of "the empress's son" are not only the court officials of the Xin School, but at least... Imperial Concubine Zheng and her son Zhu Changxun.

In fact, Zhu Changxun originally had an older brother, Zhu Changxu, and a younger brother, Zhu Changzhi, but the former died shortly after birth, while the latter also died young, less than one year old, so Zhu Changxun, as Zhu Yijun's third son, Concubine Zheng's second biological son is actually Concubine Zheng's only son.

Zhu Changluo, the eldest son of the emperor, was born in the tenth year of Wanli, and Zhu Changxun was born in the 14th year of Wanli.The former is now eighteen years old, and the latter is fourteen years old.According to regulations, men in the Ming Dynasty came of age at the age of 16, so Zhu Changluo is actually considered an adult prince now, while Zhu Changxun is not so close.

In fact, in the original history, Zhu Yijun appointed Zhu Changluo as the prince in the 29th year of Wanli. One of the big reasons was that Zhu Changxun became an adult in this year. If he is an adult but does not become a king, the outer court refuses to agree to it.

Although Liu Ping's question was endless, how could Gao Wushi not know a few key points?The most important issue at the moment is to ensure the safe survival of the queen's son, and the second is to make the emperor's eldest son king and send him out of the capital as soon as possible, so that he can live in his country.

But even if these two things are done, it is not finished, because according to previous precedents, the crown prince's canonization is usually not too early-the main reason is that he is afraid of premature death.There have been thirteen emperors in the Ming Dynasty. Judging from the age of becoming a prince, the earliest one was Emperor Wuzong Zhengde, who was only two years old at the time.

However, the matter of Emperor Zhengde is actually a bit of a special case, because his father, Emperor Xiaozong, only loved Empress Zhang in his life, and he never even took in a concubine.Empress Zhang only gave birth to two sons, and the second son died young, so the emperor felt that there was no other candidate for the crown prince anyway, so it was better to stand early and feel at ease.

Zhu Yijun's situation is of course different from Emperor Xiaozong's. Although he loves Zheng Huanggui the most, he has never wavered in the status of the empress. This means that since the empress's son is born, the position of the crown prince is actually determined. .

The only, no, the only two problems are to ensure that the crown prince survives the dangerous period when he is most likely to die young, and to make the country of Zhu Changxun, the third son who was the most favored before.

Judging from the current situation, the timing of these two events can still be met: Zhu Yijun can use the time when Wu Zong was established as the crown prince as a precedent, and consider canonizing the crown prince after the emperor's son is two years old, and two years later, Zhu Changxun happens to be an adult and can be canonized Take the throne and make it a kingdom.

Therefore, Gao Wushi knew that the most critical period of time was the next two years, and what Liu Ping wanted to ask was probably: "What should I do in these two years?"

Let the emperor's son die early, people of the Heart School must be unable to do it, but Zheng Guifei may not be unable to do it.

"This is a big matter, you will find a way to get in touch with Chen Zhangyin later, and ask him to meet you at my residence sometime."

Gao Yushi's complexion was more serious than Liu Ping's, and he warned: "Don't forget, when you are not in the palace, you must arrange the empress and the people around the emperor's son in a safe manner, and you must ensure that everyone People are absolutely trustworthy people, and there can be no omissions."
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(End of this chapter)