Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 130 I will destroy him
The next day.

The snow is getting lighter, the sky is not yet bright, and it is just dawn.

Shi Jinqing was shivering and, accompanied by Cao Hu, stood outside the Meridian Gate among the ranks of officials waiting to enter the court.

"Guard Cao, do so many officials attend the morning court every day?"

Looking at the dense crowd of no less than hundreds of officials around him, Shi Jinqing asked in great surprise.

Cao Hu replied: "There are three types of court meetings in the imperial court, namely, the great court meeting, the lunar day meeting and the ordinary court meeting."

"The Dachaohui is a ceremonial court meeting, which is only held on the Zhengdan, Winter Solstice, and Wanshou Festivals. Hundreds of officials congratulate the emperor. It is a large-scale meeting and is held in Fengtian Hall."

"The Shuowang Richao Meeting is held on the first and fifteenth day of each month. Its nature is like the Great Chao Meeting, which is also held in Fengtian Hall. It is just for greetings and does not care about political affairs."

"The usual court meeting, that is, the court meeting you and I attend today, commonly known as the morning court, is held at Fengtianmen. In addition to the morning court, the court also occasionally holds noon court and evening court."

"During the early court, all officials in Beijing, regardless of their official position, including local officials who come to Beijing to report on their duties, must go to court."

"That's it." Shi Jinqing said with emotion: "No wonder there are so many officials waiting to join the court!"

Cao Hu looked at the Meridian Gate, motioned Shi Jinqing to look over, and then said: "Did you see it? There are five gates over there. From the front, you can only see three gates, but in fact there are two left and right gates that are not easy to be found. Door."

"The door in the middle is the royal road, and only the emperor can enter and exit from it. The left and right gates on both sides of the royal road are for the generals on duty, captains and other guards of honor to enter and exit. Later, you can follow me and follow the civil and military officials from the left and right respectively. Close the door to the right and enter."

"Thank you, Guard Cao, for the tip!" Shi Jinqing said gratefully.

Cao Hu said: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ordered me to personally take you to attend today's morning court. I will naturally remind you of the etiquette and related matters of entering the court."

"I have already remembered what Guard Cao taught me yesterday."

Shi Jinqing answered: "According to the imperial regulations, all officials must kneel down when performing any duties, and they will stand up immediately when there is an order. When Your Majesty gives instructions to the officials, they must kneel down to listen. When Your Majesty rewards the officials, all officials must kneel in front of the emperor. Receive the gift and then bow five times and kowtow.”

"You don't need to be too nervous. When the next court meeting begins, there will be ceremony officials singing and drinking in the court hall to remind the officials in the prelude to when to kneel and when to stand."

When Cao Hu saw Shi Jinqing reciting the "rules for entering the court" he taught him yesterday, Cao Hu could not help but feel relieved: "Except for the officials who read the memorial and performed the memorial, under normal circumstances, other officials did not kneel, and there were even ministers who They were whispering and chatting in the court hall."

Shi Jinqing suddenly thought of a question and asked casually: "In the dead of winter, are there people who are lazy and don't come to attend the morning court?"

Cao Hu smiled and said: "Normally, this situation does not happen. The imperial court will manage the officials of the previous dynasty through dental cards and registration."

"Among them, tooth cards are only issued to officials in the capital, which are used to enter and exit the imperial city. No unauthorized entry is allowed without the card. The palace is very strict, and the palace guards recognize the cards but not the people."

"The token given to you by His Highness the Crown Prince yesterday is a token symbolizing the identity of the guard of Chunhe Palace. Unless your Majesty summons you, without this token, I cannot bring you into the palace today."

"The token given to you by His Majesty the Crown Prince is just a temporary measure. After His Majesty makes other arrangements for you, I still need to send the token to Yousi."

The Ming Dynasty had very strict management of dental plaques, and those who lost or damaged dental plaques would be punished.

The word "Xun" is used for Gong, Hou and Bo, "Qin" is used for Prince-in-law and Duwei, "Wen" is used for civil servants, "Wu" is used for military officers, "Le" is used for teaching officers, and "Le" is used for entering the inner palace. The word "palace".

The registration form (an ancient sign-in form) should be kept in each of the Beijing Yamen, with the official title and name written on it, and sent to the east and west Chang'an Gate. Every morning, an official will collect the registration form from Chang'an Gate, and fill it in according to the official's entry and exit status. The six subjects can use this to check Officials will be impeached if they miss their duties in the morning.

At this moment, in the Five Phoenix Tower above the Meridian Gate, the eunuch on duty rang the bells and drums.

Therefore, the general on duty, the captain and other honor guards entered the Meridian Gate first.

After that, the civil and military officials who lined up the team entered through the left and right gates.

"Follow me closely and don't get lost."

Cao Hu reminded Shi Jinqing behind him.

Shi Jinqing's heartbeat quickened. After following Cao Hu, he was afraid of being squeezed out by the surging crowd next to him.

After the two entered the Meridian Gate, they began to line up according to rank in the south of Jinshui Bridge.

At this time, the civil servants were on the left and the military attachés were on the right. The two teams stood opposite each other, standing on both sides of the royal road, waiting for the arrival of the Emperor of Heaven.

The emperor's throne is located in the middle of the corridor of Fengtian Hall, which is called the Golden Platform.

After a while, the sound of ritual music sounded, and the figure of Yongle Emperor Zhu Di appeared in the imperial gate, and slowly climbed up to the golden platform to sit down.

At the same time, the Jinyi guards blew their whips and Honglu Temple sang "Enter the class". Officials from the left and right groups of civil and military officials crossed the bridge in order and entered Fengtian Gate, bowing once and kowtowing three times.

Shi Jinqing followed Cao Hu and bowed down in a dignified manner.

Due to the large number of officials attending the morning court, Shi Jinqing and Cao Hu's token status was too low, so they were queued outside.

"Everyone is safe," Zhu Di said loudly.

From the imperial court to the outside of Fengtian Gate, at every interval, there would be a ceremony officer repeating Zhu Di's words.

When Shi Jinqing heard the ceremony officer shouting "Ping Shen", he straightened up following Cao Hu.

"At this time, there should be officials in the hall starting to do something."

Cao Hu whispered to Shi Jinqing beside him: "Don't be nervous, the etiquette officer will call you to come to the Hajj."

above the hall.

"Your Majesty, I have something to announce."

Jin Zhong, Minister of the Ministry of War, came out of the procession, holding the wat board in both hands, and worshiped.

"It's accurate." Zhu Di raised his hand and said, "Get up and talk."

Jin Zhong bowed to the emperor on the stage first, and then said loudly: "Your Majesty, according to the inspection by the Ministry of War, the etiquette of the Timurid Kingdom who was ordered to go to Timurid in the 28th year of Hongwu was given to Fu An. The reason why he has not returned yet. , but was detained by the Lord Timur."

As early as the early years of Hongwu, the Timur Empire established by the northern Mongolian nobles gradually became stronger.

At the beginning, his country "proclaimed itself a vassal and paid tribute" to the Ming Dynasty. However, as its power gradually grew and its external expansion was successful, Chief Timur became ambitious and gradually became arrogant.

On the surface, he continued to send envoys to pay tribute to paralyze Zhu Yuanzhang. In fact, he went to the interior to spy on military conditions and prepare for military expansion.

At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang did not see through it, and in the 28th year of Hongwu, he sent Fu An to lead a diplomatic mission to Samarkand, the capital of Timurid, to discuss diplomatic relations.

After Fu An finished his official business, he was unaccustomed to the climate there and wanted to return home in a hurry, but was detained by Timur. Therefore, no news was sent back to the country.

After Zhu Di succeeded to the throne, he ordered the Ministry of War to send people to inquire about Fu An. In order to obtain accurate information, he also successively sent dozens of Jinyi guardsmen to cooperate with the Ministry of War in secret operations.

"After Timur detained Fu An, he sent people to take Fu An across tens of thousands of miles across the countries in the Western Regions, praising the vastness of his territory, hoping to frighten Fu An and force him to surrender."

"Fu An saw through Timur's ambition and was unyielding, and is now being tortured. In the 19th year of Su Wu's envoy to the Xiongnu in the Han Dynasty, he returned to Guji, and the Zhizhi Chanyu actually saw harm. Looking at Fu Xue's affairs now, we also How similar."

Speaking of this, Jin Zhong hurriedly glanced at Zhu Di, who was sitting on the golden platform.

Seeing the latter's solemn expression, he knelt down with a bang, kowtowed and said loudly: "Your Majesty, how can the national majesty of our country be blasphemed by foreign chiefs tomorrow? I kneel down and ask your Majesty to send troops to welcome Fu An back!"

As soon as these words came out, the hall suddenly became quiet, and the air seemed to solidify for a moment.

Today's court meeting, the first thing happened was so exciting that it directly shocked Shi Jinqing, who was unaware outside the palace gate.

Although he and Cao Hu were standing outside the door, they heard the excited voice of Jin Zhong, the Minister of War.

"Boom!"

Above the silent court, a muffled sound suddenly came from the golden platform.

All the officials looked sideways, looking for fame, and found Zhu Di on the emperor's throne with a pale face. He drew a sharp sword from nowhere and struck the imperial table with the sword.

That muffled sound was exactly the sound produced after the sword struck the royal table.

"Li Xing, replace this imperial table for me!"

Zhu Di took a deep breath, temporarily suppressed the anger in his heart, and put the sword into its scabbard.

Under the arrangement of Li Xing, the Young Superintendent of the Neiguan Prison, two well-built Neiguan, more than six feet tall, came in from the side door carrying a new imperial table.

Zhu Di looked at the new imperial table in front of him and said slowly: "Since Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty emptied out the Western Regions, the Western Regions have become a dependency of our central Hua Xia Dynasty. The prosperous Tang Dynasty expanded its territory to the west of the Western Regions, but the weak Song Dynasty was unable to do so. The Western Regions and China have been at odds with each other for hundreds of years.”

He changed the subject, raised his voice, and asked: "Nowadays, even the barbarian chieftains dare to claim lordship. Is it because they are bullying me, the Ming Dynasty's military front?"

Among the military generals and nobles in the court, except for the second-generation nobles such as Cao Guogong Li Jinglong and Wei Guogong Xu Huizu, the other founding veterans such as Wuding Marquis Guo Ying and Changxing Marquis Geng Bingwen all blushed.

When Zhu Di said this, he was not angry at all.

From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, without the continuous investment of the Central Plains Dynasty, how could the Western Regions have developed?

Therefore, he believed that if the Ming Dynasty wanted to reach far beyond the Han and Tang Dynasties, it must take back the Western Regions! "Your Majesty, I agree to send troops to the Timurid Kingdom to bring back Fu An, but I am opposed to sending troops to the Western Regions now."

Qitai, the minister of the Ministry of War, went out to make a speech.

Zhu Di was puzzled, "Why?"

"Back to Your Majesty, Turpan now occupies the old land of Gaochang, Beishi Bali Kingdom controls most of the Western Region, and the Oara, Kyrgyz and other tribes are entrenched in the north of the Tianshan Mountains."

Qi Tai said respectfully: "All forces are fighting against each other. The Bali Kingdom alone has had many wars with Wala. And there are many foreign forces from the west of the Western Regions who are also plundering everywhere in the Western Regions. Therefore, I think It would be unwise for the imperial court to send troops at this moment."

"You're right."

Zhu Di is not a person who ignores practical problems when his mind is hot. He has his own calculations, so he said loudly: "I believe that matters in the Western Regions need to be discussed separately. An effective strategy must be formulated to prevent chaos in the Western Regions. !”

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

Qitai bowed, then bowed and returned to the class.

"Your Majesty, I have a memorial from Zheng Yi, Minister of Rites."

Zheng Yi, the Minister of Rites, held the wat in both hands, walked out of the class of civil servants, and bent down to kneel down to deliver a speech.

"Zheng Shangshu is already old, so you can just stand and perform." Zhu Di raised his hand and said.

Zheng Yi said respectfully: "Your Majesty, after the Prime Minister of Annan, Li Jiyou (máo), killed his king, he changed his name to Hu Yiyuan and made his son the puppet king of Annan. After the pseudo-king succeeded to the throne, he eliminated dissidents and persecuted the old Annan royal family. , and sent troops to attack the Kingdom of Chengdu. Therefore, Chen Tianping, the grandson of King Annan, came here, hoping that the imperial court could send troops to destroy the false king and return peace to Annan."

At the end of the Hongwu period, Annan's foreign minister Hu Jiyou came to power. In April this year, he deposed the young master and established himself. He declared that he was a descendant of Hu Gongman, a descendant of Emperor Yushun, and changed his name to Hu Yiyuan. He appointed his son Hu Hancang to be the king, and he became the supreme king. Established the Kingdom of Dayu.

In September of this year, Hu Hancang sent an envoy to the Ming Dynasty court, claiming that the original royal family of Chen in Anguo was extinct. As a nephew of the royal family, he was elected king by the ministers and requested to be canonized.

However, a member of the Chen family of the Annan royal family slipped through the net. The late Chen Tianping, the grandson of King Annan, after many twists and turns, fled to the capital of the Ming Dynasty half a month ago, sought help from the imperial court, and was arranged to live in the Huitong Pavilion in the west of the imperial city, waiting. Zhu Di summoned.

Coincidentally, at this time, the envoys sent by the puppet king of Annan also arrived in the capital and stayed at the Huitong Hall.

These envoys were all former ministers of the Chen Dynasty. After seeing Chen Tianping, they were surprised and bowed down. This confirmed Chen Tianping's identity as the grandson of the late King Annan.

After Zhu Di learned the whole story, he was furious. He thought that the puppet king of Annan had deceived him in this way and obviously did not take him, the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty, into consideration.

Today, what Zheng Yi, the Minister of Rites, reported was something that Zhu Di knew. It was just a procedure in the court to make the matter public and discuss countermeasures.

"Zheng Yi listened to the order and sent an envoy from the Ministry of Rites to Annan to question the puppet king Hu and ask him to give me an explanation for this matter!"

Zhu Di ordered loudly.

Zheng Yi bowed and said, "Old minister, I have received the order."

Seeing that the matter had been decided, he bowed and retreated.

After Zheng Yi returned to the class, Yu Xin, the Minister of Household Affairs, came out.

"Your Majesty, Yu Xin, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, has a copy of this memorial."

Zhu Di still raised his hand and said: "Yu Shangshu is already old, so there is no need to kneel down to do something."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Yu Xin bowed and said: "The Ministry of Household Affairs has completed the calculation of the imperial court's tax revenue this year yesterday. The total revenue is equivalent to 3208 million taels of silver yuan. Among them, the agricultural tax levied a total of more than 600 million stone rice and wheat, and the military settlement grains totaled More than 100 million stones of rice and wheat."

The taxes paid by the guards' sergeants on their fields were called "Zi Li", which also means "Military Tun Zi Li".

Nongfu and military settlements are currently the two largest sources of tax for the imperial court.

After Yu Xin finished his report, other ministers from other halls spoke in turn, reporting on the work and achievements of the year.

Of course, this year is the year of the founding of the Yongle Dynasty, and most of the things reported by the ministers are good results.

"Which of you gentlemen still has the original memorial?"

Seeing that the court became quiet again, Zhu Di couldn't help but ask.

"Your Majesty, my father, I have something to report."

Zhu Gaoxu came out of the queue, knelt down and said.

Zhu Di quickly raised his hand and said: "Pingshen."

"My son thanked my father."

After Zhu Gaoxu stood up, he continued: "To inform my father, there is an overseas Chinese named Shi Jinqing who has traveled thousands of miles to come from the Three Buddhas Qi Kingdom in Nanyang by boat and wishes to see His Majesty the Father."

"Inform him to come in." Zhu Di said loudly.

He had received a private report from Zhu Gaoxu yesterday and knew the reason for Shi Jinqing's visit to Beijing.

Zhu Di deliberately summoned Shi Jinqing this morning because he wanted to use Shi Jinqing's experience to tell the civil and military officials of the court that the Ming Dynasty's national policy of patrolling the sea was very necessary.

The ceremony officer sang and spread the message: "Xuan Shi enters the palace!"

"Lord Shi Jinqing, please bow to your majesty. Long live my emperor! Long live my emperor!"

Shi Jinqing walked into the palace door trembling all over, knelt down, kowtowed and shouted.

"Get back on your feet." Zhu Di waved his hand.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Shi Jinqing said respectfully.

"Qing Shi Jin, although you are overseas, you are also a descendant of China. I want you to tell my ministers and workers how the Chinese people and merchants live in Southeast Asian countries and overseas islands. Do they have enough food and clothing?"

Zhu Di continued.

"Your Majesty, I, the overseas Chinese businessmen and Chinese people, have lived in a foreign country for a long time and are far away from their homeland. I am like a lonely boat drifting on the sea. Not only do I have to endure the exploitation of foreigners, but I also have to avoid the pursuit of pirates. If my life is not guaranteed, how can I talk about making a living? "

Shi Jinqing was also a smart man, and what he answered was exactly what Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu wanted to hear.

"How do you say this?" Zhu Di pretended to be surprised.

Shi Jinqing then told the court about the tragedy of his ancestors' immigration overseas, and how Liang Daoming led the Chinese people who settled in Old Port to resist the Majapahit invasion.

All the courtiers had a different feeling after hearing his ordeal.

"Your Majesty, although our overseas Chinese are separated from the Ming Dynasty by an ocean, their hearts have never left their homeland. After the old people die, they will definitely tell their younger generations to remember their hometown of the Ming Dynasty."

Shi Jinqing suddenly knelt down and cried bitterly: "Your Majesty, we are all descendants of China. The emperor's grace is so great that we have benefited the world. But who can we tell our sufferings to? We feel so helpless! Are we? An abandoned child of the Ming Dynasty? Your Majesty!"

Many courtiers couldn't help but shed tears after hearing Shi Jinqing's sad words.

"Your Majesty, if the sea is not peaceful, the country cannot be at peace. Even though our overseas citizens are wandering in foreign lands, they are of Chinese blood. The Ming Dynasty is the kingdom of heaven, how can we accept the humiliation of foreigners?"

Qitai, the minister of the Ministry of War, came out.

Shi Jinqing was so excited that he burst into tears.

Just when Zhu Di was about to say a few words of comfort to Shi Jinqing, Lu Zhen, the minister of Dali Temple, suddenly came out and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, during the reign of Emperor Taizu Gao, the people who went to sea were firstly criminals, secondly fugitives, and thirdly For profiteers."

"The guilty ministers and the fleeing people have already violated the laws and forgotten their ancestors, and are treasonous. The profiteers who went to sea also resisted Taizu's order to ban the sea for small profits. Wei Chen believes that Shi Jinqing should be punished for Ling Chi's crime."

As soon as Lu Zhen, the minister of Dali Temple, said this, all the ministers were in an uproar.

Shi Jinqing was so frightened that his face changed drastically. In the cold winter, he was so frightened that cold sweat broke out on his back.

Zhu Gaoxu immediately retorted: "There is no order to ban the sea now. Lu Qing should not use the old prohibition to govern the people of Yongle Dynasty."

Lu Zhen, the minister of Dali Temple, was speechless and bowed back with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Overseas Chinese people share the same ancestors as the people of the Ming Dynasty. How can we talk about the power of the Chinese dynasty if we ignore them? The waters of the Ming Dynasty are also my land. How can we allow foreign pirates to run rampant and cause chaos?"

Zhu Di stood up suddenly, glanced at the ministers, and asked loudly.

Shi Jinqing's mood was like a roller coaster. He was scared to death just now, but now after hearing what Zhu Di said, he felt that the possibility of him being Ling Chi had disappeared.

"Those who offend my Ming Dynasty will be killed no matter how far away they are! Those who kill my subjects will be beheaded in public even if they are pursued to the ends of the earth! If the Boyi Kingdom is full, I will destroy it!"

Zhu Di said murderously.

"My Holy Emperor!" Shi Jinqing bowed again.

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(End of this chapter)