Chapter 33: Picking melons from vines, flowers in bloom

The sun was blazing.

Zhang Shouyue was kneeling outside the Meridian Gate, holding a memorial in his hand and looking righteous.

Not far away, two eunuchs were holding umbrellas and fanning Feng Bao who was sitting on the chair.

Feng Bao stared at Zhang Shouyue and asked, "Who taught you to say these words?"

The inexplicable sense of déjà vu made his words sound even colder and harder.

Zhang Shouyue didn't even look at Feng Bao, and snorted coldly: "I am the Censor of the Ming Dynasty! I fulfill my duties as a Censor, unlike some eunuchs who can only rely on others to speak and do things."

This was naturally not the answer Feng Bao wanted.

Feng Bao seemed to be hard of hearing: "Oh, Song Zhihan, no wonder, after all, they were classmates and Jinshi."

He called the eunuch and ordered, "Record it."

Zhang Shouyue was furious when he saw Feng Bao's behavior: "Feng Bao! How dare you call a deer a horse in front of me! Do you want to be Zhao Gao?"

Feng Bao nodded: "Okay, okay, it turns out that Zhang Qi is also in the same group. Come, write it down."

The young eunuch beside him was recording quickly.

After pretending for a while, Feng Bao saw that the time was almost right, and he looked shocked and said in a lost voice: "What? All this was instructed by Gao Gong!?"

"How dare you form a clique?!"

He stood up in shock and grabbed his godson: "Quick! Write it down! I want to send it to the Queen Mother immediately!"

Form a party!
What a big deal!

Even if my job as Feng Bao goes against ancestral rules, it is still a reward from my master.

It is a huge taboo for people like you, Gao Gong, to dare to form a clique.

Don’t mention that there are a lot of factions in the court now, openly or secretly. Let them come out and publicly admit it, right?

Some things, if not weighed, are not even a pound, but if weighed, they weigh even a thousand pounds!

Faction? Every time a major faction case is brought up in the court, there is always a bloody storm!
Look at the current situation. Among the 140 censors, more than 20 are impeaching Feng Bao.

Among the forty-eight censors in the six departments, half of them took turns to come every now and then to find trouble in the inner court.

Gao Gong said that Feng Bao was hated by both humans and gods, and was hated by heaven and people. But from Feng Bao's point of view, it can still be said that Gao Gong formed a clique and attacked loyal and good people!

Feng Bao ignored Zhang Shouyue's insults behind him, took the records and went straight to Empress Dowager Li's bedroom.

He was very confident about the outcome of the match between him and Gao Gong.

Why do eunuchs gain power? It's because they have someone behind them!

Throughout history, those who were able to overthrow eunuchs were either abandoned by those who left behind them, or they simply targeted those who left behind them.

Want to point fingers at your own small mistakes and bring yourself down? Ridiculous!

If Empress Dowager Li was alone and had no one to support her, she would be unable to stop the censors from submitting a joint memorial and might abandon him.

But...collusion? He really thought that all the court officials were on the same page with him!
By the time Gao Gong realized that not all court officials shared his idea, it was too late.

If Empress Dowager Li had not inexplicably changed her mind and said that for the sake of political stability, she had to wait for Gao Gong to retire, Gao Gong would have been deposed and sent home by now!
Well, it’s better to keep it. It’s actually a good time to cut off Gao Gong’s followers.

As long as the stalemate continues, the treacherous ministers will jump out on their own.

The Censors and Imperial Secretaries were just pawns; he wanted to see who else was among the high-ranking officials in the Six Ministries and Nine Officials.

Wait until they all jump out, then join forces with Zhang Juzheng and catch them all in one fell swoop!
None of Gao Gong and his followers can be left alive!

……

As soon as Zhu Yijun arrived outside the Cining Palace, he heard chattering inside and the shouting of children. It was very lively.

He walked into the hall with a strange look on his face, and sure enough, he saw his younger brothers and sisters, Zhu Yiliu and Zhu Yao'an, running around in the house.

The two children were born to him from the same mother, Empress Dowager Li.

Zhu Yiliu was four years old and Zhu Yao'an was five years old.

When Empress Dowager Li saw the emperor coming, she quickly asked the palace servants to grab the two children and said, "Come here and pay your respects."

The two children were obviously taught.

Zhu Yiliu mumbled as he bowed, "I, your brother, pay my respects to your Majesty the Emperor."

Zhu Yao'an was a year older and spoke more fluently, but she also stammered: "Sister, I pay my respects to my elder brother, the Emperor."

Although he was in a panic and stuttered, he still performed all the etiquette properly and was allowed to stand up.

Zhu Yijun did not stop them from saluting and playing with modernism.

In this era, it would be good for them to determine the hierarchy as soon as possible.

Have you not heard that Duke Zheng defeated Duan in Yan?
He held his sister Zhu Yao'an's hand and walked to the side of Empress Dowager Li: "I haven't seen my brother and sister for a while, and they seem to have grown taller."

Before long, he had reached the point where when he saw a child, he could only praise him for growing taller.

Empress Dowager Li smiled with satisfaction as she looked at the scene of her children surrounding her lap.

She picked up Zhu Yiliu and said to Zhu Yijun, "These brothers and sisters will all depend on you to take care of them in the future."

Zhu Yijun was teasing Zhu Yao'an. Hearing this, he couldn't help but look at Zhu Yiliu, then lowered his head to look at his little sister's ignorant eyes.

In history, Zhu Yiliu was well taken care of, but Zhu Yaomei suffered a miserable fate.

Taizu left a legacy that the son-in-law must be chosen from the families of commoners or low-ranking officials, and the family whose sons are chosen must not have close relatives who are officials at the court, but rather are often chosen because of royal patronage.

This led to the situation that scholarly families who had the slightest aspiration to take the imperial examination did not want to marry a princess.

Who are the people who are willing to do this? Upstarts who seek to be noble!
The Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong recorded that "the sons of wealthy families sought the protection of the officials who presided over the weddings and the hermaphrodites who arranged the marriages, and even those who had money and sought favors from people of low status and worth. "

What does it mean? That is to say, recruiting a prince consort is more like buying honors to fill the pockets of the officials and eunuchs who preside over the wedding.

A concrete example is the younger sister in front of me, Zhu Yaomei.

In history, in the tenth year of Wanli, Zhu Yao'an reached marriageable age, while the nouveau riche Liang Bangrui was just a consumptive patient.

Just because he bribed Feng Bao and gained Feng Bao's support, this marriage was arranged.

At the wedding, a consumptive man had a nosebleed that soaked his wedding gown, and he almost fainted, but the eunuchs said it was a good omen to hang up red clothes!

The man who died of illness two months after his wedding ruined the princess's life for half a century.

Let me take care of it? Okay, let me take charge first, then I won't be bullied by Feng Bao like you were.

It’s a pity that I can’t say this.

Zhu Yijun could only find another way to start. After thinking for a while, he said, "What the Queen Mother said is true. We are brothers and sisters, so I naturally have feelings for you."

"It's just that the royal family can't make their own decisions like the common people."

When Empress Dowager Li heard this, her expression darkened.

Obviously, my son's sentiments were not groundless.

It must have been written from some inspiration, or even with some hidden meaning.

She paused for a long time before saying, "My son must be feeling uncomfortable because of what happened recently."

He knew that his son now had the support of the people and was surrounded by many officials and eunuchs.

Zhu Yijun nodded: "Everyone in the court is impeaching Feng Daban, and even the daily interpretation of the text uses Feng Daban as the negative example. There is no way to avoid it."

"The child has now realized that even the most powerful person in the world cannot decide everything."

Empress Dowager Li snorted coldly: "They are all bullying me, an orphan and a widow!"

Zhu Yijun took the opportunity to sit next to Li.

He said in a casual tone, "At first I just thought it was because I was young and my mother couldn't attend the court."

"Until yesterday when I went through the memorials submitted by my father to the throne..."

"In the first year of Longqing, the late emperor wanted to use Gao Gong, but because of Xu Jie's opposition, he had to let Gao Gong retire."

"In the second year of Longqing, the emperor asked the Ministry of Revenue for silver, but was blocked by the Minister of Finance Ma Sen, who said that the emperor's imperial decree should be issued by the cabinet and could not be directly conveyed by the Imperial Household Department."

"In the fourth year of Longqing, there were constant reports of censors insulting my father, saying that he indulged in sensual pleasures and ignored state affairs, and that the world was hopeless. My father wanted to punish the censors, but was dissuaded by the cabinet and was even taught a lesson."

"There are so many reasons, too numerous to mention. My father was an emperor in his prime."

"Mother, you asked me to take care of my brothers and sisters, so I have a sense of kinship."

"But... the Emperor also promised my grandfather to take good care of Lu Bing's family. In the end, he could not resist the opinions of the court officials and confiscated his family property."

"Zhang Shouyue, who petitioned to dismember the corpse, is now kneeling outside the Meridian Gate to make his petition."

He shut up after he finished speaking, seeming to be in a low mood. He didn't even look at Empress Dowager Li's expression, but focused on teasing his younger sister.

These words were not intended to exaggerate the threat theory from court officials, but to deliberately remind Empress Dowager Li.

Power is more like a product of cultivating immortals, because it is the true meaning of using the false to cultivate the true.

The extent of a power depends only on how great people imagine it is.

If all the court officials felt that the imperial power was supreme, then they were truly speaking the law of heaven and their words were the final word.

If the court officials all felt that the imperial power was just that, someone might punch the emperor three times and then spit in his face and leave.

To put it bluntly, the source of power is actually nothing more than the obedience of those below.

The emperor's power is not granted by God.

The emperor is the one who has strong soldiers and horses.

Even if you are an emperor, you must make as many friends as possible and kill as few enemies as possible.

If no one obeys and implements the imperial edict, how can the imperial power be extended?
What do they have now? Eunuchs? Killing people is something they can think of, but how can they govern the country?
When civil servants can stick together, imperial power is like a balloon. If there are conflicts between the inside and the outside, there is a risk of bursting this balloon.

People, don't get angry easily. Once you get angry, you will show your true strength, which will easily make people see that you are strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

Yi Yin released Taijia, Huo Guang was able to depose and enthrone, Emperor Taizong of Tang was able to have his son overcome his father, and Zhang Juzheng was able to serve as regent for ten years. It was all due to the same principle. Everyone had some influence on public opinion, so it just depended on who could suppress whom - the imperial power was not an unbreakable golden body.

The people who are most afraid of someone seeing through this are you and me. The late emperor was a real middle-aged emperor, but he couldn't follow his words.

My mother, how could a mere woman in the deep palace dare to fight against the emperor for Feng Bao?

If the disaster is too serious, I really can't guarantee that I can take good care of this family.

Emperor Sejong was indeed very powerful, but did anyone see how unlucky his descendants were?

Zhu Yijun didn't know whether Empress Dowager Li could think so deeply. Having said that, there was nothing more to say.

Empress Dowager Li was silent for a long while, and it was unclear whether she listened or not.

He did not continue the conversation, but only asked, "Zhang Shouyue...what are you kneeling at the Meridian Gate to report?"

His tone was low and he was obviously in a bad mood.

Zhu Yijun reached out and took out a handkerchief to wipe Zhu Yiliu's saliva, saying, "Let's impeach Feng Dayong."

"He said that Emperor Taizu Gao first issued a decree that eunuchs were not allowed to interfere in foreign affairs, and those who violated the law would be punished without pardon."

"It is also said that the Holy Son and the Divine Grandson have been loyal to each other and have not dared to change. Although there were arrogant and unruly Wang Zhen and Liu Jin, they were quickly killed."

"I advise my mother not to damage the reputation of the emperor, Yao and Shun, and bring endless disasters to the country and the nation, leaving a bad reputation in history."

Empress Dowager Li looked up in disbelief.

He stretched out a finger and pointed tremblingly in the direction of the Meridian Gate, his mouth slightly open, looking at Zhu Yijun.

He trembled and said, "How dare you! How dare you insult me ​​like this!?"

Zhu Yijun quickly stood up and helped her calm down.

There is no way, the words of these literati are too destructive.

The couplets are so antithetical and smooth to read that the people involved can't help but savor them over and over again.

Zhang Shouyue's words not only implied that Empress Dowager Li violated the ancestral rules and was an unfilial daughter-in-law.

He also said that she was meddling in government affairs and doing bad things in the harem, which was damaging the emperor's reputation, and she should be careful not to be infamous for eternity.

Any normal person would be very angry after hearing this, let alone a young woman in power.

Empress Dowager Li laughed in anger: "Good! Great Zhang Shouyue! I don't believe I can't kill him!"

Zhu Yijun sighed: "Mother, he has sent his parents, wife and children away and prepared a coffin at home, waiting for you to punish him."

Censors are never stupid. Although they talk about omens from heaven and the will of heaven all the time, their minds are actually as clear as a mirror.

It’s just that the pursuits are different.

Most of those who can become censors do so directly for fame, and they would rather die by hitting their heads against the throne and leaving a name in the history books.

I guess Zhang Shouyue had to fight hard to get this opportunity to emulate Hai Rui.

As for traffic passwords, the ancients also understood them.

Empress Dowager Li's hand, which was pointing in the direction of the Meridian Gate, paused for a moment.

She looked around in disbelief: "What do you mean? Does it mean that everyone in the world thinks I'm wrong and he's right!?"

Unless you have the approval of Shilin, you cannot act like this.

If you want fame, you have to get praise from everyone in the world before you can gain fame.

Zhu Yijun had to ease his mother's mood and comforted her by saying, "Mother, you and I both know this very well. It must have been Gao Gong who ordered this."

"But it is really difficult to pass this ancestral law. This is the consensus of the scholars and officials."

"We cannot afford the reputation of 'not following the laws of our ancestors' yet."

What is law? Law is political consensus.

If you, the emperor, do not abide by the established laws today, tomorrow I, the officials, will ask you whether your throne as emperor is in accordance with the laws established by our ancestors.

If you don't abide by the political consensus, how can you expect the court officials to be loyal to you? If you don't rely on the ritual system, are you going to ask the court officials to point to the Luo River and swear allegiance?
It would have been fine if Taizu and Chengzu were emperors on horseback, but their basic base included not only civil officials but also the military.

Just as the Manchu Qing Dynasty was able to treat court officials as domestic slaves because its base was the Eight Banners.

Power cannot go against the foundation of power. Now that he is the emperor, there are only bureaucrats sitting under the chair.

Everything needs to be discussed before it can be done, and at least some people need to support it.

Until... until he builds up his own base.

Empress Dowager Li had witnessed the power of the censors in recent days, and she also felt how anxious she was because no civil official came to support her.

Hearing this, he became even more depressed.

Zhu Yijun took advantage of the time difference. While Zhang Juzheng had not yet defected, he used Gao Gong to put pressure on Empress Dowager Li and cut into Feng Bao's flesh.

Seeing that Empress Dowager Li did not answer, she simply said, "Mother, the transition from the old to the new requires stability."

"I heard that the petitions of resignation from the two ministers, Gao Gong, have already been submitted. Gao Gong can't delay for a few more days. Why should we confront each other now?"

"In my opinion, instead of getting entangled with these censors, it is better to keep calm and wait for Gao Gong to retire."

"At most, it will take three to five days."

He grabbed Empress Dowager Li's hand and said earnestly, "Mother, let's keep the peace. Let's remove Feng Daban's post at the East Factory first, and we will start over later."

This was just to persuade Empress Dowager Li to give in temporarily. She would not lose anything, and the East Factory would not fall into the hands of the outer court - of course, the East Factory at that time would not be something Feng Bao could take back easily.

Today he came here for the position of director of Feng Baodong Factory.

No matter what, we have to cooperate with the momentum of the censors this time and implement the interim results first.

Empress Dowager Li was still unconvinced: "Is there really no precedent in our dynasty for the Imperial Household Department to hold the seal and supervise the Eastern Depot?"

Zhu Yijun shook his head: "I haven't even finished studying the Four Books and Five Classics, so how can I have the time to read the records of my ancestors?"

"Mother, why not ask the scholars?"

Empress Dowager Li snorted coldly: "They are all birds of a feather!"

Zhu Yijun said calmly, "Mother, Gao Gong is the Prime Minister after all, the leader of the civil officials in the world, so naturally all officials are on his side."

"However, if the civil officials are unreliable...why not ask the noble ladies?"

"I see that Duke Cheng is also one of the Three Dukes and concurrently serves as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. In terms of holding important positions, isn't he more prominent than Feng Dayong? Perhaps there are other precedents."

Empress Dowager Li was stunned for a moment.

After hearing what my son said, it felt a little wrong, but it seemed to be the case.

I thought about it but couldn't figure it out.

Just let it go: "I'll ask Duke Cheng tomorrow."

"However, we cannot just let the matter of Zhang Shouyue go like this."

"Immediately demote him to Daozhou!"

Zhu Yijun nodded repeatedly.

I didn't continue to argue about it, as saying too much might cause rebelliousness.

He then said some considerate words to calm down Empress Dowager Li.

"Mom, there is one more thing."

Queen Mother Li looked at him.

Zhu Yijun said, "Tomorrow, Lord Zhang will go to visit the mausoleum, and Lord Gao also said that he is not feeling well and needs to rest for a few days."

"My idea is that there will only be Gao Gong in the cabinet now. It would be better for me to stop giving lectures every day and attend court for a few days to put pressure on Gao Gong."

"As for schoolwork, I have already finished studying Shangshu, so it's a good time to rest for a few days."

This is a fight between two sides, and he is selling arms in the middle.

Given the degree of suspicion that Empress Dowager Li had towards Gao Gong, she would definitely agree to it.

Empress Dowager Li was surprised and asked, "Has the Shangshu already finished learning?"

This is a course that is expected to be completed in September.

Zhu Yijun nodded.

Since the progress of the course was satisfactory, Empress Dowager Li nodded without hesitation: "Alright, Gao Gong will be the only one left in the cabinet. Humph! Who knows, maybe Gao Gong is waiting for this opportunity to embarrass me!"

"Then keep an eye on Gao Gong when you are in charge of government these days."

Zhu Yijun touched his nose. He actually helped his mother to get the upper hand unexpectedly. Gao Gong was really waiting for this opportunity.

Unfortunately, the child was supposed to assist.

He didn't dare to respond.

He just lowered his head and teased his younger brothers and sisters.

After a while, Feng Bao came in hurriedly from outside.

Seeing this, Zhu Yijun decided not to stand there and be conspicuous.

He made an excuse to go and pay a visit to Empress Dowager Chen and left.

As soon as he walked out of the palace, he heard the astonished voice of Empress Dowager Li: "What! Forming a clique!?"

And Feng Bao's intermittent voice: "Temporarily...freeze...the appointment of...one hundred...ten...officials in the Ministry of Personnel."

Zhu Yijun listened for a while, shook his head, and walked away.

Let’s fight, and he will be the one who benefits.

As for the advice just now...it's still a little short of the right timing.

Before Gao Gong retired, he had to take this opportunity to remove Feng Bao from his position as the head of the East Factory!

　In the tenth year of Wanli, the emperor chose Liang Bangrui, the son of a wealthy family in the capital, because his younger sister Princess Yongning was going to marry him. Liang Bangrui was very sick and weak, and everyone was worried about him. He specially sent Feng Bao, the great vassal, to accept a bribe of tens of thousands of yuan from Liang Bangrui. The chief minister, Duke Jiangling, strongly supported him, and the Empress Dowager Cisheng was also deceived. Not long after the wedding, she had two nosebleeds, soaking her robes and sleeves, and she almost couldn't complete the ceremony. The palace supervisor was still happy, thinking that hanging red was a good sign. After just one month, she died. The princess lived as a widow for several years and died. ——"Wanli Yewpian"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)