On August 1, Zhu Changluo, the fourteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, completed his enthronement ceremony and was named Taichang.
Due to etiquette, this reign name will not be used until the first month of the following year. In the next four months, the empire's official records will still use the former emperor's reign name "Wanli".
No matter how solemn the Ministry of Rites was about retaining the reign name, in the hearts of the people, it was just a superficial comment.
The political animals in the two capitals of the empire and the provincial and state capitals focused more on the personnel changes of important officials in the internal and external courts when it came to "going or staying".
Anyone who is well-informed and knows that Wanli's edict was drafted by Sun Chengzong, Zhu Changluo's teacher, will probably conclude that Fang Congzhe, the chief minister of the cabinet, has come to the end of his "career as an independent prime minister".
Everyone estimated that those who were about to join the cabinet were Zhou Jiamo, the then Minister of Civil Affairs, Zhang Wenda, the then Yushi of Zuodu, and Ye Xianggao, the former chief minister of the cabinet, who has resigned and is at home. These Donglin faction members who have made great contributions to protecting the crown prince
, or the pro-Donglin faction, are all possible candidates.
As for the new leader of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, there is no need to choose. It must be Wang An, the great companion who has loyally protected Zhu Changluo all the way.
On this day, near the beginning of Shen Dynasty, we were in the northeast outside the Forbidden City, near the Long Live Mountain.
Liu Shimin came out of the inner weaving and dyeing bureau and waited at the door of the Supervisor of Ceremonies opposite.
Soon, several big men in scarlet clothes walked out the door.
"Eunuch Lu, Eunuch Cui, Eunuch Wang..."
Liu Shimin stepped forward and saluted Lu Shou, Cui Wensheng and Wang An one by one.
Lu Shou, who was still the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, twitched the corner of his mouth, glanced at Cui Wensheng, and smiled at Wang An: "Your godson will soon retire and return to his hometown like our family."
One of the emperor's last edicts was to stop weaving. Liu Shimin was in charge of the weaving bureau, and Lu Shou was about to resign from his position as Chief of Ceremonies, so he would tease Liu Shimin like this.
Lu Shou was an old man in front of Wanli. He had formed an alliance with Cui Wensheng, a close confidant of Concubine Zheng, betting that Zhu Changxun would be established as the crown prince. Unfortunately, it backfired.
When the Queen of Wanli passed away this spring, Lu Shou bet again that Concubine Zheng would get the throne, but he was wrong again.
Concubine Zheng did not receive a posthumous title from her terminally ill emperor husband, nor did she receive the words of honor from the empress dowager in the edict drafted by the opposition civil servants.
Not long after Zhu Changluoling came to the throne, Fang Congzhe, the first assistant, asked Lu Shou. He heard that people from Dongchang entered Fusi, Jinyiwei North Town, and peeled off the skin of the Jiangnan scribe who spread the evil deeds of Zhu Changxun, the king of Fu, in the capital.
Layer, this is to challenge the scholars in the world.
Lu Shou then understood that Fang Hu, an experienced eunuch, was hinting to him that the next inner and outer court would be controlled by Wang An and Dong Lin. His chief minister and assistant were all ready to turn their backs on their tails, so Lu Zhangyin should know better and hurry up.
Free up the seat of the Chief of Ceremonies and give it to Wang An.
The latter is not only embarrassing, but may also result in loss of one's life.
At this moment, Cui Wensheng, who was next to Lu Shou, narrowed his triangular eyes and accepted Lu Shou's fault with a smile: "Eunuch Lu is right, Eunuch Liu is the junior whom Eunuch Wang loves most, and we are the one who loves him the most.
A well-known talent in the twenty-four yamen of the inner court, but he can't go to Jiangnan Sanwei, so he can come to our chief ceremonial office as a pen-holder."
Liu Shimin bent down even lower, and said respectfully to Quan Xuan beside Concubine Zheng: "Eunuch Cui, how dare you think of anything wrong in your humble position? The reason why you are waiting here is because someone from Songjiang Mansion has entered again."
These are some new silk and cotton blend sweat towels. Last time, Long live the Lord mentioned that he liked the blue color to be lighter, so I have come here today to ask the prince to take charge of the weaving and dyeing bureau."
Cui Wensheng walked over and patted him on the shoulder: "Well, the Neiwei and Dyeing Bureau is also a good place, fat."
After saying this, he walked away with Lu Shou.
Wang An had a gentle look from beginning to end.
Seeing the two inner court political opponents walking away, he raised his hand to signal Liu Shimin, who was still bowing, and whispered "I feel sorry for you" while walking into the inner weaving and dyeing bureau.
Deep in the weaving and dyeing bureau, after the confidant young eunuch closed the door, Wang An said to Liu Shimin straight to the point: "Ruoyu, let me ask you about someone, Songjiang Zheng family, Zheng Haizhu. Is this woman from Donglin?"
Liu Shimin, just like before, showed no hesitation in front of Wang An and said: "Godfather, when she was still employed by the Han family, she had a good relationship with Huang Zunsu, a civil servant from the Donglin faction. After Chongming recruited troops, I heard that there was another
She had a quarrel with a relative of the Zhejiang Party’s Yao Zongwen family, and finally put Yao Qianhu in jail. However, it wouldn’t matter if she was a member of Donglin’s family. I think this girl is the same as Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua who like Taixi.
Firearms man, come closer."
Wang An lowered his eyes and listened carefully. The information was basically consistent with what Dong Qichang, Yang Lian and others had passed on, so he nodded and said: "If it's not the Qi, Chu and Zhejiang Party, that's fine. Ruoyu, the eldest son of the emperor is about to go out to study, Donglin
Someone came to me and told me to let Mr. Zheng come and give lectures to me."
Liu Shimin was startled.
That day at his house, Zheng Haizhu said that he was going to see Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou. Liu Shimin thought that it was just like the interaction with Huang Zunsu, doing business and recruiting soldiers, and finding Donglin Wenchen, who was about to gain power in the capital, as his backer. Unexpectedly,
How could this girl be so favored by Yang Lian and the others?
Wang An saw Liu Shimin's surprise, changed the subject, and said pleasantly: "Ruoyu, do you think why I am close to Donglin?"
Liu Shimin said: "Because Donglin always adheres to the right path in the struggle between the country and the country."
Wang Andao said: "That's right, Ruoyu, whoever treats my brother well will be with us. Yang Lian persuaded me this time because this Zheng family is worried about the new king and is from the same family as us.
"
"What's wrong with her?" Liu Shimin asked.
Wang An looked outside the door, leaned over and whispered: "She guessed something right. She said that Concubine Zheng may not give up. She must first keep her position in charge of the harem. The new emperor does not have a queen, and several people have the qualifications to choose an attendant.
If she is inferior, she cannot be named Queen Mother, so the title of Queen Mother is very important. Concubine Zheng must try her best to win over the new emperor and ask the new emperor to give her the title of Queen Mother. What other tricks can a harem woman come up with?
In the name of Guangyan's descendants, I send you women."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! When Liu Shimin heard the last few sentences, his eyes were filled with surprise and praise, and he blurted out: "Sure enough, I was right. There was so much movement in Yikun Palace yesterday. Zheng
The imperial concubine sent eight beauties to Qianqing Palace."
Wang An said in a deep voice: "Long live Lord is so soft-tempered that he actually accepted those eight palace servants. Well, let's not talk about it. Only Zheng Haizhu is so good at guessing all kinds of thoughts, and she invited her to Wenhua Palace on her own. It's very difficult.
It's worth it. Even if she works for the Tian family, she still has her own plan. Yang Lian said that plan is probably to stabilize the industry and troops in her hands, to make firearms for the court and to guard the country. There is nothing wrong with it. What's more,
, she gives lectures to the emperor’s eldest grandson, talks about new things outside, and pleases her little brother, who may also tell her the secrets of the inner court that you and I don’t know.”
Liu Shimin already understood what Wang An and Yang Lian were thinking.
In fact, today, Wang An should have already made a decision before asking him. As long as Liu Shimin, as another source of information, did not reveal any shortcomings about Zheng Haizhu, Wang An's decision would not be changed.
But Liu Shimin, thinking of the big changes that might happen in a year or a few months, somehow wanted the girl named Zheng to stay as far away from the Zhu family as possible.
"Dad," Liu Shimin weighed his words and added, "it does sound like we have a good helper. However, the lecturers at Wenhua Hall have always been Hanlin bachelors. This Zheng family has no name or status.
I'm just afraid of those gossipy officials outside who will speak dirty words without restraint."
Wang An waved his hand: "Yang Lian is an official herself, and has already thought about this section. Zheng, she just doesn't have the title of compiler or editor of the Hanlin Academy, but she has the imperial order and was given by the imperial court.
Name and status. Furthermore, Xu Guangqi has been an imperial master. Is his title enough? Xu Guangqi likes Western fire attacks, and the courtiers know it. As for the Zheng family, they were close to him and simply made the firearms directly. This time, the Zheng family
As his disciple, we taught together. Didn’t the late emperor say in his edict that he was worried about the external provocations and should allocate more internal funds to support military needs. How did the Battle of Fushun teach the Tatars a lesson? Wasn’t it about artillery and muskets?
In accordance with the late emperor's last wish, I taught the emperor's eldest son the method of quelling border provocations."
The more Wang Any spoke, the smoother he became, as if he was reporting the time to the new king.
Liu Shimin wanted to make one last effort, and said with a hint of embarrassment: "But she is a woman, will other officials in the Hanlin Academy... especially that old-fashioned Sun Chengzong."
Wang An chuckled softly: "Ruoyu, thank you for being in the palace for twenty years. The female officials in various bureaus and departments in the palace, ranging from seventh to fifth rank, hundreds of people, are not the emperor's concubines. They are usually inside and outside."
I often interact with you, and I also come in and out of Wenhua Hall. Why, when a foreign woman enters Wenhua Hall, does it make those Hanlin masters feel ashamed?"
Liu Shimin choked on his words, but he immediately changed his mind and said, "My son is stupid. My godfather is right."