The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Years ago, a "big purge" in the imperial court began.

Taking the officials who participated in the impeachment of Zhang Zhou as an introduction, before the first day of the Lunar New Year, eighteen people were imprisoned on New Year's Eve alone, and five more people were subsequently arrested and imprisoned.

The reason is also very simple

Not true.

From the emperor's point of view, the civil servants of the DPRK and the Central Government were united to target Zhang Zhou. Since they were determined to fight Zhang Zhou to the end, the emperor also wanted to help them. Even being imprisoned was a light matter. The next step was a test for them.

First, he must endure the torture in prison.

On New Year's Eve, the government and the public have basically stopped working. On the first day of the new year, the ministers will go to the palace to celebrate the Zhengdan Festival. The emperor will also give gifts. At the same time, he will send honorary ministers to worship the heaven and earth and the imperial mausoleum. At the same time, he will also give the ministers the Zhengdan Festival. Holidays usually start at ten days.

But the Spring Festival that year came in a strange atmosphere.

New Year's Eve.

The sound of firecrackers continued in the capital, and the Fire Dragon Team was on strict guard everywhere. After all, if a fire broke out these days, it could easily cause a fire that could spread for several miles in the city. Liu Jian was riding in a sedan, surrounded by his retinue, and walked across the street. In the alley, we arrived at Ma Wensheng's house.

By the end of the year, Marvin was already in semi-retirement.

It was originally thought that after Ma Wensheng retired, Zhang Zhou would be the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but there seems to be another theory, or Lin Han took over, or someone else, but Ma Wensheng resigned and returned to his hometown at the beginning of the year. The matter is a certainty.

When Liu Jian arrived, someone was already waiting at the door of Ma Wensheng's house to greet him in advance. Then Liu Jian was led to Ma Wensheng's study by someone from Ma Wensheng's house holding a lantern.

At this time, Ma Wensheng was drafting a memorial.

"how?"

Liu Jian untied his cloak, and someone behind him took it and hung it aside. Then everyone in the room exited and even the door was closed.

Ma Wensheng said: "It's basically written, and you can take it to the palace early tomorrow morning. But there are a lot of missing signatures. I'm afraid I have to wait until the next morning to bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone, or have someone sign it. That’s it. Is this really going to happen?”

Liu Jian had a gloomy look on his face.

When Ma Wensheng saw Liu Jian's look, he felt that Liu Jian was going to fight Zhang Zhou to the end.

"Bingkuan has been in the DPRK for a few years." Ma Wensheng commented, "Speaking of it, he has indeed done a lot of things. Whether you say he is militaristic or nepotistic, the current DPRK is different from the DPRK three years ago. It is indeed very different. His Majesty accepts our opinions less and less, and even sets up yamen like the Shangting Office. "

Liu Jiandao: "This is not what I care about."

Ma Wensheng said: "Based on what happened this time, in fact, these people should have expected this result before they came forward to report. His Majesty has repeatedly made repeated orders regarding Bingkuan's matter, and later formed a tacit understanding. Unless he really has If we only accuse sycophants based on unprovoked things, how can we have the same results as those who have accused sycophants in the past? From the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to now, are there still less treacherous people?"

It was probably to remind Liu Jian that there were traitors such as Wang Zhen in the Ming Dynasty, which caused a lot of damage to the Ming Dynasty. It was not that the minister did not want to correct the chaos, but there was really no good way at the time.

The emperor's absolute trust is the greatest political resource.

Liu Jiandao: "If the court is ill and ignores it, it is not the behavior of a benevolent minister."

"Yeah." Ma Wensheng said, "But have you thought about what to do if things don't work out tomorrow?"

"I resign!" Liu Jian said.

Ma Wensheng was also confused. Is it really effective to threaten the emperor by resigning?

Is it because the Ming Dynasty is missing you?

What he didn't know was that there were not many methods that civil servants could use to coerce the emperor. They could either kneel for a long time, such as the Zuo Shunmen case in the later Dali Conference, or resign like the later fight against the Eight Tigers... This is the most common method used by civil servants.

Occasionally, a little blood would be shed, and the emperor would relent, and it might really work. He was as crazy as Zhu Houzhao. He also wanted to go on tour many times during the Zhengde period, but he was blocked by ministers kneeling down and admonishing him. Each time, he had to pay the price in blood.

Civil servants use this to demonstrate their integrity, which is also the "ritual" that Confucianism emphasizes.

Liu Jiandao: "Even if His Majesty refuses to listen, we will still do it. This is our duty. If we really can't stop it, we might as well leave the government and the public with it."

Ma Wensheng said: "Isn't this an angry talk? There are many people around Bingkuan, including Keqin, who is the chief and assistant... Forget it, I listed them according to your wishes, and I will go with him tomorrow morning , but whether I can hold on until noon...it’s hard to say, my body is no better than before.”

Because Ma Wensheng knew that Liu Jian wanted the ministers to kneel down and remonstrate until the emperor changed his mind, so Ma Wensheng had to get vaccinated first.

I have already used the method of writing "admonitions" for you to show my attitude of working with you, but if you insist on letting me kneel to remonstrate and kneel for such a long time, I can't stand it. You'd better not try to deal with me. Advance and retreat together with you.

Liu Jiandao: "With people's support, there will be results tomorrow."

Ma Wensheng said: "Are you saying that regarding Yu Qiao's matter, both the government and the public are on the side of the cabinet?"

Liu Jian didn't answer, but he actually acquiesced.

In Liu Jian's view, since there are only two yamen in the government and the public, Shangtingchu and Yanwutang, who want to convict Xie Qian of death, the other yamen will naturally stand on the side of "justice", and he is synonymous with "justice" , this time you need to show your status and appeal, and use your own strength to change your destiny.

Ma Wensheng nodded and said, "Then I can only wish that everything goes well tomorrow."

After saying that, Ma Wensheng stood up and handed what he had written to Liu Jian.

Liu Jian took it in his hand and looked at it, nodded and said: "Tonight, we will divide people into two groups to find people to sign. If we can't make it in time, we will wait until we meet tomorrow. Tomorrow is a great dynasty, whether it is civil servants or military officials, As long as they are on our side, we can accept them all. I don’t believe that your Majesty can ignore the voices of the government and the public!”

……

……

The actions of Liu Jian and Ma Wensheng seemed to be confidential, but in fact there was no secret at all.

As the admiral of the Dongchang eunuch, Li Zhang soon learned from Mou Bin what little tricks Liu Jian and Ma Wensheng were doing behind the scenes. Even the fact that Li Dongyang asked someone to impeach Zhang Zhou was just a lie among the factory guards. on the surface.

"Who do you think Mr. Liu Ge thinks you are? Are you going to have trouble with His Majesty? Or are you going to have trouble with himself?" After hearing this, Li Zhang stamped his feet anxiously. This kind of thing happened, and it originally had little to do with him, but when he was the admiral of the Dongchang eunuchs and there were so many troubles in the court, the emperor would definitely think that he had not done enough to supervise, control public opinion, or even suppress these people. good.

Li Zhang was afraid of taking responsibility.

Especially when he was about to leave Dongchang, he also knew that he would soon be transferred to the northwest to become a military eunuch.

Mou Bin said: "I heard that they are still looking for people to sign the name. According to preliminary estimates, more than 200 officials in Beijing can sign the name. There are no Guanzheng Jinshi in Beijing now. If we wait until the Spring Festival is over, there will be more than 200 people who can sign the name. Maybe more people.”

Li Zhang shook his head and said: "I think too much. There are still very few people who are willing to join the family named Liu."

"Eunuch, the people who spoke for Mr. Xie Ge before covered all the yamen in the court and no one seemed to have a different voice. If it weren't for the Shangting Office and the Admiral Liu Eunuch who was supervising the Yanwu Hall, I'm afraid this matter would have happened. ...It’s still undecided,” Mou Bin reminded hurriedly.

Li Zhang said: "Can it be the same? There are many people in various yamen who think that Xie Yuqiao has committed a heinous crime. They just want to show favor and cannot go against the mainstream of the yamen. But now, they are coming forward for this matter. Your Majesty, do you think those ministers with ideas will be influenced by the cabinet? "

"You mean... there aren't that many people signing up? Tomorrow..." Mou Bin was also a little skeptical.

In addition to Li Zhang who will take responsibility, Mou Bin will also take responsibility.

Mou Bin was also worried about losing his position. After all, Dongchang and Jinyiwei were about to be shuffled.

Li Zhang sneered and said: "As far as our family knows, just in the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Husbandry, and the Ministry of Punishment, there are a large number of people who will not be attached to the cabinet. As for participating in the impeachment of Cai Guogong, it is even more out of thin air. There is no such thing as forming a party for personal gain, even if Cai Guogong is mentioned." If it's nepotism, then we need to show evidence that he is close to these people and alienated from others. Many people had no contact with Cai Guogong before. After he became successful, who did you see running to see him when nothing happened? "

"That's not true." Mou Bin thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

"Isn't that it?" Li Zhang said, "From Xin Bo, to later Wang Qiong, Lu Wan, and even to Tang Yin, the so-called disciple of Cai Guogong, how many opportunities do they have to meet? On the contrary, there are frequent interactions between Anbian Hou and Cai Guogong. We met, but have you seen how Duke Cai entrusted Anbianhou with important tasks? Is this because he was promoted to Anbianhou? "

Mou Bin said: "Marquis Anbian is indeed very talented. As the deputy commander in Jizhou, he was able to assist Marquis Jingshan. Moreover, Marquis Jingshan and others are not direct descendants of Cai Guogong. They are more selected by His Majesty. ”

Li Zhang said disdainfully: "Isn't that right? The people in the government and the public are only responsible to His Majesty now. When will they say anything to Cai Guogong? Dongchang and Jinyiwei are also conducting strict investigations, and they have never seen any private letters. From the past, apart from the Marquis of Anbian and the reluctant Tang Yin, there are really no other people who can be classified as Cai Guogong's party. However, there are several people in the Jinyi Guard who were sent by His Majesty to Cai Guogong. Those who work can be considered close, but these people are only responsible to Cai Guogong? "

"Absolutely not." Mou Bin hurriedly explained, "Jin Yiwei only obeys the emperor's orders."

"Mo Bin, you are very calm-minded and you should understand. In fact, it's not that these civil servants didn't think of this, it's just that their eyes were blinded by the hatred in their hearts. Their skills are inferior to others and they have made too little contribution to the government and the public. , so that they cannot gain His Majesty's trust, they will naturally be angry with Cai Guogong, thinking that everything Cai Guogong does is opportunistic. But as soon as we have a discerning eye, we will know that those people have sour grapes. It’s just jealousy.”

Li Zhang criticized civil servants.

Mou Bin hurriedly reminded: "Eunuch, if there is really a commotion tomorrow, it will not be good. In addition to the princes from various places who come to pay tribute, there are also some special envoys from foreign countries and small countries. If they see them..."

Li Zhang said: "Our family will immediately go to see your majesty and let him know. If it doesn't work, we will cancel tomorrow's court meeting. Your majesty has been recovering from illness for months, why should you listen to their congratulations at this time? What is there to congratulate?" Are you taking advantage of the gathering to cause trouble?"

Mou Bin quickly said: "Then you have to go earlier, I'm afraid it won't be easy to enter the palace now."

"We know what we are doing," Li Zhang said, "Immediately take our message to some people's houses and tell them that if they dare to cause trouble tomorrow, don't blame us for being ruthless."

"Who are you going to?" Mou Bin was startled.

The scope Li Zhang mentioned was a bit broad, and he didn't even know who to go to.

Li Zhang sneered and said: "Just look at who they want to contact, and you go to them! Tomorrow you can send people to block the road. If anyone wants to go to the palace gate, you can stop them! As long as there is peace at the palace gate tomorrow, then Isn’t everything going to be calm?”

"Yes, yes." Mou Bin also became nervous and said hurriedly, "Then I'll go ahead now."

……

……

Li Zhang hurriedly entered the palace.

When he entered the palace, he learned that the emperor was still asleep, which exempted him from the crime of disturbing the emperor's rest. Then Chen Kuan called him to the gate of Xinuang Pavilion and reminded him softly: "Maybe you want to report something. Your Majesty is aware of it and has already taken some measures.”

Li Zhang said: "Your Majesty already knows that there will be trouble among the officials tomorrow?"

Chen Kuandao: "Do you think that only Dongchang can bring news to the palace? Some people are too flamboyant. Previously, His Majesty turned a blind eye when he asked someone to impeach Duke Cai Guo. But now it seems that he must make trouble. It’s too bad.”

"That……"

"You go in with our family." Chen Kuan said, "Remember, you will listen to what our family says. Your Majesty will ask you and then answer."

"Yes."

Li Zhang carefully followed Chen Kuan to Xinuan Pavilion.

Zhu Youtang was sitting on the floor, but he was not reviewing memorials, but reading a book. It seemed very interesting, because the emperor would also have a smile on his face, which was something that the eunuch felt he had not seen for a long time... The emperor's smile.

"Your Majesty, Li Zhang is here." Chen Kuan walked over to remind him.

Zhu Youtang didn't even raise his head, he just waved his hand: "Wait a moment."

Obviously the emperor had not yet come out of the fun of the book. After waiting for a long time, Zhu Youtang finally put the book down and looked up at Li Zhang.

"How is Dongchang going to respond?" Zhu Youtang asked.

Li Zhang hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Liu Ge first met with Mr. Li Ge, and then met with Ma Shangshu of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Then he prepared to ask people to mobilize the officials in the court and ask them to celebrate the Zhengdan tomorrow at the palace gate. There have been excessive acts before. As far as the slaves can see, they will not be allowed to come to the palace to congratulate them tomorrow."

"Should the rules of the past be broken at once?" Zhu Youtang asked.

Li Zhang said: "This..."

Zhu Youtang said: "In this way, things will not change tomorrow, and everything that should come will come. But let me go with it. If you insist on taking this matter with me tomorrow, don't blame me for making them unhappy next year. . Just say this... everyone brings it. If they change their mind, they can go back and wait for the ten days to pass. Everything will be said to the court. If anyone can't bear it, they can come to the gate of Tomorrow Palace... Leave it to them! I don’t believe it, this is still unreasonable!” (End of Chapter)