Daming Super Dimension Company, President Zhu Yuanzhang!

Chapter 58 Zhu Houzhao’s weird operation!

Xiao Ran put the book on the table and did not read it, but said: "History books are written by people. You can trust them, but you can't trust them all. Especially because Zhu Houzhao offended too many civil servants, and the civil servants responsible for recording turned against him. Isn’t it normal to throw dirty water?”

After hearing what Xiao Ran said, Zhu Yuanzhang was not so angry.

He sat on a chair nearby and said, "But everything mentioned here can't be all false!"

Xiao Ran sat next to Zhu Yuanzhang, "There are truths and there are lies. In my opinion, Zhu Houzhao is not a fool who only knows how to have fun. He has his own scheming and purpose in doing things. What's more, Zhu Houzhao has been very alert since he was a child. In addition to loving Apart from riding and shooting, there are no other shortcomings.”

"When he grew up, he was also very talented in learning and had an extraordinary memory. He could recite the contents of the previous day's lesson the next day. He also remembered the names of all the lecturers. As long as one person did not come, he would He will find out."

"There is no reason for such a person to become a different person after taking the throne."

Seeing that what Xiao Ran said seemed to be reasonable, Zhu Yuanzhang's anger completely disappeared, but he still had some questions, "Then it is false that he is fun-loving and does not care about political affairs?"

Xiao Ran shook his head, "It's true. Zhu Houzhao really likes riding and shooting. This also caused his learning progress to be very slow. Before he ascended the throne, he had only studied "The Analects of Confucius" and "Shangshu", and he had not finished them."

"In general, although Zhu Houzhao is fun-loving and likes to go out and have fun, he is not an empty-headed person with no ambitions. Not long after he ascended the throne, the family members of his uncles Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling sued some people. Invading Huangzhuang, Zhu Houzhao is on their side."

"The Jinyiwei was ordered to arrest more than 200 people, but the courtiers collectively opposed it and even demanded that the imperial village be abolished."

Zhu Yuanzhang was very dissatisfied, "The emperor is so majestic that he cannot be violated by others!"

As a commoner, he actually usurped the emperor's things, which was originally a matter of beheading. The group of civil servants actually demanded the destruction of the imperial village because of this. No emperor would tolerate this matter.

Xiao Ran said: "Actually, it's not surprising that Zhu Houzhao was dissatisfied with the civil servants. They really pushed their limits. Because Zhu Houzhao's father was very good to the civil servants, the civil servants felt that everything should be decided by them."

Regarding this matter, compared to other emperors, the group of civil servants were at most interceding for the people and asking the emperor to let these people go. How could they dare to make such a request to destroy the imperial village.

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly, "They are quite courageous!"

Xiao Ran said: "Of course it's a big deal. In the end, although Zhu Houzhao refused to cancel the imperial village, he stipulated that each imperial village should only retain one eunuch and more than ten school captains, and they were not allowed to disturb the people."

"Perhaps Zhu Houzhao's concession made them even more arrogant. The eunuch Cui Gao asked Zhu Houzhao for 12000 yuan of Changlu Salt Yin. Zhu Houzhao agreed, but the Minister of Household Affairs, Han Wenzhi, only gave half of it! This is really too much. ”

Regardless of why the eunuch asked for so much salt, Zhu Houzhao had already agreed. What do you mean by only giving half?
If you don't agree, that's fine, but you should discuss it with the emperor first and make a petition instead of making the decision without permission.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry, "Don't these civil servants take the emperor Zhu Houzhao seriously?!"

He was very angry now. If he hadn't known that this was not his palace, he would have overturned the tables!
Xiao Ran poured a glass of water for Zhu Yuanzhang, "Quiet the fire, don't be angry first."

Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the water glass and drank it in one gulp, suppressing his anger, "Then what did Zhu Houzhao do?"

Xiao Ran said: "Although Zhu Houzhao was very dissatisfied with them at this time, it was not to the point where he had to fall out, so he still did not make a compromise and no longer asked for Cui Gao's remaining half of the salt. Maybe he also felt that the salt was enough. It’s too much to give.”

"But what he didn't expect was that the civil servants headed by Liu Jian and others would dare to further provoke."

Xiao Ran looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and asked, "Do you still have some impression of Zhu Houzhao's 'Leopard Room'?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "Of course there is."

As he said that, he frowned, "I see there are different opinions above. Some say that this leopard room is used to raise leopards, while others say that it is for his sexual pleasure. Anyway, it is not a good thing!"

Xiao Ran shook his head, "This is all possible, but now more and more people think that this 'Leopard Room' is just a deception. Its real purpose is to suppress the civil servants and control Chao Gang's headquarters. The people inside are all his cronies." .”

Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it carefully and found that it was not impossible. If Zhu Houzhao really didn't care about government affairs, he would definitely act according to his own temperament regardless of these civil servants, instead of giving in step by step. .

Xiao Ran said: "There were a total of eight people he favored at that time. These eight people were also called the 'Eight Tigers'. Let's not talk about the character of these people, but since they were selected by Zhu Houzhao, from now on In a way, it represents Zhu Houzhao."

"But when Liu Jian and others saw that Zhu Houzhao had given in to them, they decided to 'take advantage of the victory' and wanted to get rid of these people. They said that these 'Eight Tigers' were luring Zhu Houzhao for fun and wanted to kill them."

"Zhu Houzhao naturally disagreed with this. After reading the memorial, he was frightened, shed tears, and did not think about food and drink. He had to send eight eunuchs including Chen Kuan, Li Rong, and Wang Yue to go to the cabinet to inform Liu Jian and others. I have repented and begged to spare the lives of the Eight Tigers."

"What's outrageous at this time is that Zhu Houzhao was already like this as an emperor, but they still didn't agree. Then, Zhu Houzhao sent Chen Kuan to wait for the cabinet to send a message to the cabinet, saying that he intended to remove Liu Jin and others from their posts and transfer them to Nanjing."

"Zhu Houzhao gave in step by step and said that as long as these people's lives were spared, Liu Jian refused to give in at all and insisted on executing these people. Maybe he really wanted to clear the emperor, but Zhu Houzhao had already said , let them live, he will not be ridiculous again in the future, this is not okay, if I were Zhu Houzhao, I would just slap him with a few slaps."

Zhu Yuanzhang was very dissatisfied, "These civil servants still want to put pressure on the emperor?!"

As an official, you can give advice, but this does not mean that you can be the emperor or make the emperor listen to you. Zhu Yuanzhang was not only dissatisfied with these civil servants, he was also dissatisfied with Zhu Houzhao. "As an emperor, he was forced to do this by his ministers! Can't he be tougher?"

Xiao Ran smiled inexplicably, "Well, it's hard to say whether I was forced to do it or if I did it for others to see."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he actually changed his mind? He immediately became interested, "Tell me carefully, why do you have such a view?"

Xiao Ran said: "At that time, Liu Jian and other ministers led Jiuqing and Yanguan to gather in front of Zuoshun Gate, preparing to write a petition to kill the 'Eight Tigers'. But before they could do anything, a eunuch came out and announced forgiveness. The imperial edict of Liu Jin and others can be said to be blatantly opposed to these ministers."

Zhu Yuanzhang's frown relaxed, "This is the courage that an emperor should have!"

Although it is very irritating to see some incompetent emperors not listening to advice, from Zhu Yuanzhang's point of view, having a useless descendant is even more irritating.

Xiao Ran smiled and said: "So, was Zhu Houzhao really helpless and instigated by Liu Jin and others to confront the ministers, or was Zhu Houzhao setting a trap for them to get in? Seriously? Not allowed."

"And after that, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian saw that their goals had not been achieved. It can be said that they were greatly disappointed, and they all submitted their resignations. Is this resignation because they felt that Zhu Houzhao was hopeless, or was it a threat, or was it unclear Easy to talk about."

"But anyway, Zhu Houzhao didn't take this trick, and simply agreed, leaving only Li Dongyang who had a relatively mild attitude towards the Eight Tigers, and the eunuchs Wang Yue and Fan Heng who had previously stood on the side of the courtiers were also sent to Nanjing. The Eight Tigers were also sent to Nanjing. Liu Jin, the leader of the tiger, took his place and became eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch of the ceremony. In this way, this position belongs to Zhu Houzhao."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows and said, "So, this Zhu Houzhao is a bit clever. As the saying goes, great wisdom is like foolishness, and it is true."

Xiao Ran said: "It's hard to say whether he is wise and foolish or has a lot of eyes. Anyway, Zhu Houzhao's goal was achieved."

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was in a much better mood, "Indeed, this boy has some abilities."

Xiao Ran said: "Zhu Houzhao also established the 'Leopard Room' at this time. It is said that he indulged in sexual activities in the Leopard Room, but there is no sign that he gave up control of the government. It is just that he used the eunuch Liu Jin and Jiao Fang who were attached to him. People come to contain other court officials and change the situation in which power was vested in cabinet ministers during the Hongzhi period."

"In addition to Jiao Fang, Zhu Houzhao also promoted the independent Yang Tinghe to the cabinet to balance each other. However, Liu Jin's power was not restrained, and he tried to remove the last obstacle to his power - the eunuch Li Rong, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony. Liu Jin also directed and acted in a play."

"One day, the censor of the imperial court discovered that there was an anonymous document on the royal road of the class below the fifth rank. It praised Li Rong and others and criticized Liu Jin, so he kept more than 300 officials below the fifth rank at Fengtianmen and knelt down at Fengtianmen. Under the scorching sun, he tried to find out the author of the document, but no one confessed. During this period, Li Rong knelt on his knees for a while. He couldn't bear it and sent ice, melons, etc. to all the officials."

"After kneeling all afternoon, Zhu Houzhao sent an order to escort more than 300 officials to Jinyiwei for interrogation. Three of them died of exhaustion. The next day, Li Dongyang wrote a letter to plead for mercy. Zhu Houzhao followed suit and released all the officials. At this time, Zhu Houzhao may have sensed that something was wrong. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have released everyone smoothly.”

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "That makes sense. If you just find someone belittling yourself and improving others, it should be tit-for-tat between the two of them. How could so many people be involved? It doesn't matter who wrote the document. matter."

Xiao Ran agreed, "Yes, it's just a piece of paper. But I don't know if Zhu Houzhao was testing Liu Jin or if he was really rebellious. Regarding the content of the anonymous document, he said: 'You say you are wise, but I don't use it. You He said he was not virtuous, but I still want to use him now, so he dismissed Li Rong and others, and promoted Liu Jin to the position of chief ceremonial officer and eunuch in charge of seals."

After the previous discussion, Zhu Yuanzhang now felt that Zhu Houzhao was not incompetent, so he said: "Why do we feel something is wrong about this matter?"

Xiao Ran said: "I originally thought it was Zhu Houzhao who did it on purpose. After all, later on, Liu Jin often arranged entertainment for Zhu Houzhao. When Zhu Houzhao became more interested, Liu Jin took the memorials from various yamen and respectfully asked Zhu Houzhao to make a decision."

"Zhu Houzhao loves to play. If you disturb him at this time, how can he calm down and deal with things? So he asked Liu Jin to deal with these problems. After several times, Liu Jin no longer respectfully asked Zhu Houzhao to make a decision, and all government affairs were handled by him. .”

"Originally, I thought that it would not be unreasonable if Zhu Houzhao deliberately raised Liu Jin's ambition to let others deal with Liu Jin, but the price would be too high. After all, Liu Jin is not a kind person."

Zhu Yuanzhang silently added Liu Jin's name to the beheading list in his mind, and then asked: "Why do you say that?"

Xiao Ran said: "Liu Jin used the power of factory guards to strengthen his power. He also encouraged Zhu Houzhao to establish an expert factory and let him personally command it, overriding the East and West factories. He used these spy agencies to frame dissidents, especially Yanguan, and many officials They were all persecuted, ranging from having their status reduced to being killed in serious cases."

"It is said that during the years when Liu Jin was in power, thousands of people died with the shackles. Under Liu Jin's power, more than 80% of the officials knelt down when they saw Liu Jin, while the previous authoritative eunuch Wang Zhen was only invited to The fact that 50% of the officials knelt down shows that Liu Jin's autocratic power reached a new height in the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it carefully and said: "It is not unreasonable to say that this was Zhu Houzhao's intention."

Xiao Ran said disapprovingly: "But the price is too high, and many officials have suffered greatly from it!"

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head with an incomprehensible look, and then asked: "How do you know that these people are not the ones Zhu Houzhao wants to die?"

Xiao Ran was stunned by these words, and then fell silent.

Indeed, Zhu Houzhao also hated these officials very much. If it was said that he did it on purpose, would it make sense?
Even in this way, he can let the people he hates die without having to bear the infamy, killing two birds with one stone!

It can also make Liu Jin more and more inflated. The inflated Liu Jin is bound to offend many people. In this case, someone will definitely come to deal with Liu Jin. As for Zhu Houzhao, it is enough to just reap the benefits and get a good reputation.

In fact, this was indeed the case. In the end, Liu Jin was executed, or executed at Lingchi. Before that, Zhu Houzhao even showed mercy and said that he did not want to kill Liu Jin. In the end, millions of taels of gold and silver, various treasures, and private treasures were confiscated from Liu Jin’s home. Zhu Houzhao executed Liu Jin Lingchi with his armor, crossbow and folding fan hiding two short knives.

Xiao Ran took a deep breath, "It's terrifying to think about it!"

(End of this chapter)