Those Things in the Ming Dynasty Part 3 The Enchanting Court _ Chapter 10: The Opportunity Finally Comes
premeditated
Congratulations, Mr. Wang Shouren, but that’s it. Life is very real, and enlightenment is exciting. But you’d better go to bed early, because tomorrow morning, you will have to pick up a hoe to plow your two fields.
Damn it, philosophy is great and important, but you should know that having a full meal is the greatest philosophy.
According to the arrangement of the historical director, Mr. Wang Shouren will stay here for a while until something happens that changes his destiny. There will be a few years in between, and we will not accompany Wang Shouren to open up wasteland. Because at the same time, a
The show is going on in Beijing.
Wang Shouren was tired of farming in the barren mountains and suffered a lot, but Li Dongyang suffered even more than him. Since Xie Qian and Liu Jian left, he stayed alone, but Liu Jin was a very vigilant person after all, and he suspected that Li Dongyang had something else.
In order to achieve his goals, he kept arranging for people to punish him from time to time.
For example, Mr. Li Dongyang compiled a book called "Tongjian Zhuanyao". When Liu Jin found out about this, he asked people to find faults in the book and wanted to create some literary inquisition. However, Li Dongyang had already taken precautions and wrote an article.
It's airtight and there's nothing to grab onto.
When Liu Jin heard the report, he became even more interested (this is his character trait). He knew that there were tigers in the mountains, so he preferred to go to the tiger mountains! He must deal with Li Dongyang. For this purpose, he hired many people to check day and night.
Finally found the flaw.
What's the flaw? It turned out that Mr. Li Dongyang wrote a few words in the book, and Liu Jin thought that his work attitude was not serious (the logic was quite strict), so he planned to take the opportunity to entertain him.
When Li Dongyang learned the news, he immediately prepared countermeasures.
Just when Liu Jin was about to take action, something unexpected happened. Jiao Fang came to intercede for Li Dongyang. It turned out that Li Dongyang gave him a gift and called him brother. The two had always had a good relationship. Due to face, Liu Jin let Li Dongyang go.
Ma, forget it.
In this round, brother Liu Jin, a junior high school student, has never played against the scheming Dr. Li Dongyang. This shows that reading more is still very useful.
While carrying out the arduous struggle, Li Dongyang's underground work was also carried out in an orderly manner, with the following results:
In the second year of Zhengde (1507), Liu Jin planned to kill Liu Jian and Xie Qian, but when they were done, Li Dongyang came to rescue them.
In the same year, Yao Xiang, the censor, and Zhang Wei, the chief officer, were framed, and Li Dongyang came to the rescue.
In the third year of Zhengde (1508), the imperial censor Fang Kui scolded Liu Jin. Liu Jin was going to arrange for him to work for the King of Hell, but Li Dongyang came to the rescue.
There were many similar situations, but Li Dongyang never expected that his actions would lead to a very embarrassing ending.
One day, on his way to court, Li Dongyang happened to meet his protégé Luo Qi. Li Dongyang was very happy and hurriedly went up to say hello, but Luo Qi ignored him and turned away, fearing to say another word to him. Li Dongyang was very strange.
I would like to find an opportunity to find out.
But before he could find a relationship, he received a letter from Luo Qi in the evening. After reading it, Li Dongyang's eyes almost fell out.
The general meaning of this letter is: Everyone (Liu Jian, Xie Qian) has left, what’s the point of you staying? Please retire early, don’t be embarrassed here, I will no longer be your disciple from now on
, just pretend that we have never met, and don’t say hello to me. I really don’t have time to talk to you.
Li Dongyang was so angry that he vomited blood.
But Mr. Li Dongyang, you have to continue wiping your mouth after vomiting. You know, enduring humiliation and hardship is never an easy job.
In such an environment, Li Dongyang still persisted in his belief. He firmly believed that victory would eventually come.
Liu Jin is a cunning person. He has the support of the emperor and the well-informed Jiao Fang. But on his side, except for a few idiots who can only talk about integrity, there is no one with both wisdom and courage who can win a thousand miles.
Be patient, be patient, you must be patient until the right candidate comes along.
In comparison, Liu Jinke was much more prosperous. Since the cabinet was reorganized, his style became more and more powerful day by day. At that time, ministers had to prepare two copies of memorials, one for the emperor and one for Liu Jin.
Of course, there is no response to the emperor's share, which is quite wise. If you expect Mr. Zhu Houzhao to go to work on time to approve the memorial, it is a daydream. Everyone can only expect Liu Jin to work hard. After all, it is better to have someone in charge than no one.
Be good.
In other words, during those years, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were basically named Liu, and Zhu Houzhao himself didn't have any objections. Who would want to meddle in others' affairs?
But the problem is that Mr. Liu Jin doesn't study much, his level is not high, he can't handle national affairs well, and he engages in corruption and bribery from time to time, making the government a mess.
But these are all child's play. Many eunuchs and ancestors have done it before. The reason why Mr. Liu Jin is notorious is actually because of his good memory.
The so-called good memory means that he can clearly remember anyone who scolded him even after a few years. For example, Liu Jian and Xie Qian, who scolded him, have gone home to retire, and he plans to capture them and parade them through the streets.
Han Wen once impeached him, and after he was removed from office, Liu Jin still refused to let him go. Knowing that his family was poor, he still wanted to fine him until he was bankrupt.
At the same time, he is also a very creative person in terms of punishing people. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a kind of punishment called shackles. Compared with things like skinning off people and killing people with a thousand swords, this thing was just a verbal warning. At most, it was wearing a helmet.
Although it was quite embarrassing to stand in the shackles at the gate of the city or to swim twice in the streets, at least the skin and flesh were not harmed. Therefore, this punishment was very popular with the ministers.
But if you have offended Liu Jin, don’t be happy after hearing the sentence of shackles. It’s better to ask your family to buy a coffin immediately, because when the execution is carried out, you will be surprised to find that the shackles assigned to you
Quite special.
What's special about it?
According to historical records, in order to achieve the purpose of using small punishments to accomplish big things, Brother Liu Jin had an idea and transformed the shackles into a big thing weighing more than 100 kilograms. This is like hanging an oversized dumbbell on you.
If you go around doing weightlifting with such a baby, it won't be over until it crushes you to death.
In addition, Eunuch Liu was still a very suspicious person. He could not even trust his own spies, so he was ingenious and set up an expert factory. This factory even did not let go of the old spy organization Dongchang, and often went to Dongchang to stage spy arrests.
A good show of secret agents.
What is even more ridiculous is that Liu Jin also implemented an unspoken rule that all officials, big and small, as long as you enter and leave Beijing, whether they are reporting to the central government from other provinces or going to the central government to help the poor, no matter what they do or how much they walk.
No matter how far away you are, you have to go and give him gifts.
If you don't have money to give gifts, you will be in trouble, and the consequences will be very serious. For example, a Yanguan named Zhou Yao went on a business trip one day and didn't go far. When he came back, he had to give gifts according to the rules, but his family was poor.
No money.
No money? If you don’t have money, just leave your life behind.
The poor official had no choice but to commit suicide.
Liu Jin has been so lawless for several years, becoming more and more arrogant. The emperor is the boss, he is the second child, but the boss doesn't care about things, so he basically has the final say. More and more ministers are joining him, and his power is becoming more and more powerful.
However, those who opposed him were beheaded beheaders and beheaded beheaders and beheaded beheaders were beheaded, and almost all the beheaded beheaders were beheaded by him.
The world is so big, Eunuch Liu is in charge!
But please note that above I said that the ministers who opposed Liu Jin were "almost" eliminated, not "all". This is because there are two exceptions.
In fact, it's not that Liu Jin doesn't want to solve these two people, it's that he can't solve them because he can't handle one of them and he can't kill the other.
The society is cruel and the competition is fierce. Since Mr. Liu Jin can't handle it and will be tortured to death, his final result will be that he will be beaten to death by these two gentlemen.
Let’s talk about it first. The real name of this “unable” brother is Yang Ting.
and.
We mentioned him before, and now it's the turn of this fierce man to come on stage. He has been standing in the background for a long time.
We often call children who can read and write at a very young age and are smart and clever as prodigies. According to this standard, Yang Tinghe is a super prodigy.
Yang Tinghe, a native of Xindu, Sichuan, was born into a family of officials. If you look at his resume, you will find that Mr. Yang Tinghe maintains an astonishing record - examination record.
Yang Tinghe was too smart when he was a child. At the age of eight, he read the Four Books and Five Classics, recited poems and composed poems, which made him famous. The local education director thought that it would be unnecessary and a waste of national paper resources for him to be a boy and study in the county school.
With a swipe of the pen, he was directly asked to take the examination.
A miracle in the history of Chinese examinations was born.
In the seventh year of Chenghua (1471), Yang Tinghe took part in the Sichuan Provincial Provincial Examination for the first time and won the imperial examination at the age of twelve. If Mr. Fan Jin knew about this, he would probably kill himself by hitting the wall.
The next year, 13-year-old Yang Tinghe took his father's hand and went to Beijing to take the joint examination. People who took the exam at the same time were not very surprised when they saw this scene, but they often asked his father when chatting:
"Why did you bring your son to the exam?"
Facts have proved that China is a country with hidden dragons and crouching tigers. The waves are huge and the water is deep. Yang Tinghe, who was famous in Sichuan Province, couldn't do it when he came to the country. He failed in the exam this time. But this brother Yang is really very characterful. He doesn't believe in evil, so he didn't leave.
, went to the Imperial College to study on the spot, and said he would not go back unless he passed the exam.
Yang Tinghe stayed in Beijing and became a Northern drifter, but he was very successful as a drifter. Six years later, he became a Jinshi. During his studies, he also seduced the daughter of his teacher, Huang Ming, the Prime Minister of the Imperial Academy.
In six years, not only did I solve my work problems, but I also found a wife. I really can’t accept it.
Later, Yang Tinghe's experience was even more jaw-dropping. He was elected to the Hanlin Academy at the age of twenty, graduated from the Hanlin Academy at the age of twenty-one, started giving lectures to the emperor (Jingyan Lecturer) at the age of thirty-two, and became a university professor at the age of forty-three.
Sergeant. In today's terms, the speed with which he was promoted was like being on a helicopter.
In the second year of Zhengde (1507), after Liu Jian and Xie Qian were expelled, he officially entered the cabinet and helped write documents for the emperor who was playing without anyone all day long. Most of the imperial edicts at that time were written by him.
Yang Tinghe was not only smart in mind, but also a good character. He disliked Liu Jin and his gang, but it was not convenient for him to say it openly. Once when he was giving a lecture to the emperor, he suddenly said this:
"The emperor should learn from the late emperor, stay away from villains, and stay close to virtuous ministers, so that the country can prosper."
Zhu Houzhao didn't have the heart to listen to the lecture, so he just said a few words of hum and then passed.
This sentence entered Zhu Houzhao's left ear and flew away from his right ear, but fell into Liu Jin's heart.
The villain is me, and the virtuous minister is you, right?
This is Mr. Liu Jin’s logic of taking a seat.
He was furious and wrote a transfer order overnight, transferring Yang Tinghe to Nanjing as the Minister of Household Affairs. Nanjing Household Department had nothing to do but sit and drink tea all day long. This transfer was actually a kind of transfer and retaliation.
But Yang Tinghe's reaction was far beyond Liu Jin's expectation.
After receiving the transfer order, this man was not angry at all. He happily packed up his things and went to Nanjing. Now Liu Jin was puzzled: If Yang Tinghe was demoted and was happy, why would he be demoted?
There must be a conspiracy!
Liu Jin used the trick he used against Wang Shouren again, and sent people to follow Yang Tinghe secretly to see what he was up to!
But what happened next was even more puzzling. The people who were following him discovered that Yang Tinghe went to Nanjing without doing anything and not even complaining. When Liu Jin heard the report, he felt a little embarrassed and stopped looking for him.
Yang Tinghe's troubles.
Comrade Liu Jin, your moral practice is still a little too shallow.
The answer was finally revealed. One day not long after, when Mr. Zhu Houzhao was leaving the court, he suddenly asked Liu Jin:
"Where's Mr. Yang?"
Liu Jin was stunned and quickly replied:
“In Nanjing!”
Zhu Houzhao became angry when he heard this:
"Didn't he join the cabinet?! Why did he go to Nanjing again? Call him back quickly!"
So a few days later, Yang Tinghe returned to Beijing and continued to be his cabinet minister. As before, he said nothing and regarded it as a trip at official expense.
Yang Tinghe was proud, but Liu Jin was confused. What was going on?
Mr. Liu should have investigated Yang Tinghe, but he didn't read the files carefully. How did this dear friend know that Yang Tinghe once served as an important official - Zhan Shifu of Zhan Shifu.
Everyone should know that Zhan Shifu is not an ordinary place. Its main job is to tutor the prince in his studies. When Zhu Houzhao was the prince, he called Yang Tinghe "Master Yang".
"Master Yang" had a solid foundation and the emperor's support. Eunuch Liu didn't even know how deep the river was, so he dared to wade into the muddy water. Misstep, misstep!
After that, Liu Jin kept a distance from this "Master Yang" and never dared to embarrass him again. After this incident, Yang Tinghe and Liu Jin completely broke up. He turned to Li Dongyang's side and began to prepare a plan to deal with Liu Jin.
This "uncertain" Yang Tinghe had already made Liu Jin lose face, but the next "unruly" one was more vigorous and powerful, and Liu Jin's life was ruined in his hands.
This "unstoppable" brother has also been waiting backstage for a long time (no way, there are too many actors). He is Yang Yiqing, who was sent to Shaanxi to raise horses.
It is hard to understand how Yang Yiqing, a horse breeder, could have a conflict with Liu Jin. They had no grievances in their previous lives, and Yang Yiqing had never borrowed a loan shark from Liu Jin. How could they get into such a quarrel?
For this matter, I can only blame Liu Jin, because he is too idealistic and pursuing.
As we all know, raising horses is not a good job in the eyes of ordinary people. Even in the sky, it is a despicable job. Its scientific name is "Bi Ma Wen". Even Sun Houhou, who does not study, is not willing to do it.
But in the Ming Dynasty, this was an important position. The reason is very simple. Without horses, do you want to ride a donkey to fight the Mongolian soldiers?
Don't underestimate Yang Yiqing. This brother is of a very high level. He came to raise horses with the title of deputy censor (third grade) of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. This deputy ministerial cadre may have worked before.
He did very well in animal husbandry here, and soon after, the imperial court decided to promote him to the title of Yushi (Second Grade) of Youdu.
More importantly, the imperial court also gave him an unprecedented position - the trilateral system.
Please note that this official is really unusual. It can be said to be a super official. It does not manage one province, but three places: Gansu, Ningxia, and Yansui. Even the local governor has to be obedient. It can be said that he has a high position.
Although Yang Yiqing is very powerful, he still guards the boundaries after all, and he should not be able to get along with Liu Jin. The problem is that Liu Jin is different from the previous eunuchs. In addition to taking bribes and killing people, he also wants to do something.
But he himself was uneducated, so in order to attract talents, he would also use some means to win over people's hearts. For example, Li Mengyang wrote a memorial to scold him. Liu Jin gritted his teeth with hatred, but this person was too famous. In order to gain a reputation as a talent lover,
, the man was imprisoned, but he just endured it and did not do anything. In the end, he was treated to a meal and was released with honor.
Because he was too old-fashioned, this trick failed to deceive many people, but it also attracted a very powerful person to defect to him. This person later became Liu Jin's military advisor and a powerful opponent of Li Dongyang, Yang Yiqing and others. His name was
Zhang Cai.
In the Liu Jin criminal group, although Jiao Fang has a high status, his ability is average and he can be considered a big gangster at best. However, Zhang Cai is extraordinary. He is a man of scheming, has a deep city, and is well-read in poetry and books.
Very good, even Ma Wensheng, who was dominating back then, was highly respected by Liu Daxia. With his help, Liu Jin truly had a reliable adviser, and his criminal group continued to grow and develop.
But Liu Jin was not satisfied, and he quickly targeted Yang Yiqing.
Liu Jin hoped to draw Yang Yiqing over and treat him as one of his own, but Yang Yiqing did not think highly of this eunuch and rejected him sternly. Liu Jin was very angry and wanted to punish him. Soon after, the opportunity came.
At that time, Yang Yiqing was raising horses while working on an important project - building the Great Wall. This is no joke. The Great Wall in Ningxia today was built by his old man. Yang Yiqing served as the contractor and supervisor.
Yang Yiqing was a reliable contractor who never cut corners, but what was unexpected was that the weather suddenly changed and it snowed heavily. Several leading construction workers made plans to make trouble and escape. Yang Yiqing made a prompt decision and settled the matter, but Liu Jin caught him.
Seizing the opportunity, I sued him severely.
Now Yang Yiqing was unlucky and could only resign voluntarily. But what Liu Jin didn't expect was that Yang Yiqing, who was about to leave, made an incredible request:
"Please let Zhang Cai take over my position."
Liu Jin was depressed. He thought hard and couldn't figure out what kind of medicine Yang Yiqing was selling in the gourd. Was it out of public interest? Or did he have an unusual relationship with Zhang Cai?
Liu Jin became suspicious of Zhang Cai.
But no matter what, he still did not let Yang Yiqing go. A year later (the third year of Zhengde), Liu Jin put Yang Yiqing in prison on the pretext of embezzling military pay. This time, he was determined to torture Yang Yiqing to death.
But Liu Jin didn't know that the seemingly innocent Yang Yiqing, like Yang Tinghe, was by no means a simple figure. He also had a profound background.
Forty years ago, fifteen-year-old Yang Yiqing was recommended by the local government and came to the capital to become a student of the famous scholar Li Chun. Here he met a talented senior brother. The two cherished each other and agreed to work hard together and be loyal to the country.
In the following decades, they remained in close contact in private.
His senior brother is Li Dongyang.
So when Yang Yiqing was imprisoned, Li Dongyang immediately found Liu Jin and Jiao Fang, hoping to be accommodating and pay a fine. Liu Jin refused at first, but couldn't help Li Dongyang's repeated pleas, and Yang Yiqing had led soldiers.
, there were many desperadoes under his command, and he might be hacked by someone for no apparent reason one day on his way to work. After thinking about it, Liu Jin decided to release this person.
Yang Yiqing took a deep breath after walking out of the prison, looked at Li Dongyang who came to pick him up, and nodded knowingly.
"What are your plans?"
"Let's stay in the capital first and take a look before talking."
"No," Li Dongyang suddenly became serious, "You must leave here immediately, do not go home, and find a place to live in seclusion."
Then he stopped and looked at Yang Yiqing meaningfully:
"When I need you, I will naturally come to you."
Yang Yiqing smiled. Decades had passed and the two high-spirited young men had long disappeared, but this far-sighted senior brother seemed to have never changed.
"Okay, I'm going to Zhenjiang to live in seclusion. When the time comes, you can come find me."
Even if everyone in the world misunderstands you, I understand your words and deeds and your intentions. I know that you have been waiting in humiliation.
variable
Liu Jin plans to do several good things.
This is not surprising, because he has done too many bad things, so he naturally wants to do some good things. It is not difficult for a person to do one bad thing, but it is really difficult to do only bad things for the rest of his life.
More importantly, he gradually found that his reputation was getting worse and worse, and a conversation between Zhang Cai and him strengthened his determination.
"Eunuch Liu, don't accept the routine anymore."
The so-called routine is a special rule of Liu Jin. Every provincial official who comes to Beijing must pay him tens of thousands of taels of silver after completing his report. If there is any outstanding payment, by the time he returns home, the removal documents may have arrived.
.
Although the senior officials who came to Beijing to report their work were very rich, where could they get tens of thousands of taels of silver at once? But Eunuch Liu could not be offended. In desperation, many of them had no choice but to borrow usury from people in the capital and go back.
Then use money from the treasury to pay it back.
But Zhang Cai told Liu Jin bluntly that this was an extremely stupid way to make money.
Liu Jin was confused again. Using this method, he could collect a lot of money every time, and it was simple and fast. How could he call it stupid?
Looking at this ignorant guy, Zhang Cai was furious. He pointed out clearly that if you charge each official tens of thousands taels, it seems like a lot, but you have to know that these guys are all veterans of corruption, and they don't know how to do it themselves.
If you pay this amount of money, you can take the opportunity to collect several times the amount in your own province. Of course, it will all be in your name and said to be tribute to you. In this way, Mr. Liu, your bad reputation will soon spread.
All over the country.
Liu Jin suddenly realized this.
"These bastards are trying to make money in my name. It's really unreasonable!"
Eunuch Liu's anger is justified. Small corrupt officials have borrowed the reputation of a big corrupt official like him, but have not paid royalties and patent fees. They should be angry, and indeed should be very angry.
Out of anger, Eunuch Liu immediately ordered to cancel the routine and investigate corrupt local officials.
This can be regarded as the first "good thing" done by Eunuch Liu.
Soon after, Eunuch Liu decided to do something innovative. He analyzed the country's economic situation and unexpectedly found a loophole. He had an idea and decided to do another "good thing".
Perhaps because he was too sure about this matter, he decided to report to the emperor directly instead of listening to Zhang Cai's opinion first as usual.
So he eventually died from this incident.
The next day, he went to court alone and raised the matter with Zhu Houzhao in front of all civil and military officials:
"Your Majesty, it's time to tidy up the military garrison."
This is where it all begins.
The so-called military settlement is a special policy of the Ming Dynasty. In layman's terms, soldiers can support themselves. They serve as soldiers during wars and as farmers when they have nothing to do. They grow their own vegetables and grain, and they also raise a few pigs from time to time to improve their food.
, the remaining grain can also be given to the state.
This system was thought up by Lao Zhu with great effort back then, but now it is difficult to maintain it.
Because if you want the army to develop, you must ensure that there is land. Although landlords and bullies dare not occupy the army's land, the army's senior corrupt cadres will not be polite. After more than a hundred years, the land has become less and less, and the food has become less and less.
There are fewer and fewer, and many soldiers cannot fill their stomachs.
Liu Jin discovered this problem and publicly stated that he wanted to inventory and redivide the land to increase national food revenue and improve the lives of soldiers.
Liu Jin did this, naturally not for the sake of the soldiers, but just to achieve some political achievements. The ministers knew it well and remained silent.
Zhu Houzhao nodded repeatedly after hearing this, waved his hand and said:
"Good idea, just go for it!"
However, Yang Tinghe, who was standing aside, was about to speak out. With his rich experience, he had already discovered the fatal flaw in this so-called plan.
But just as he was about to stand up, a hand grabbed his shirt tightly from behind.
Yang Tinghe turned around and saw the silent Li Dongyang.
He stood back again.
After the court was over, Liu Jin hurried back home, ready to start his own plan.
Yang Tinghe stayed, and he also held back Li Dongyang, who wanted to open a way, because he had a question in his mind:
"Why did you hold me back just now?"
Li Dongyang looked at him and showed a mysterious smile: