"Everyone wants to be an emperor, but once you become an emperor, you realize how difficult it is!"
In the Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City in Nanjing, Zhu Hengjia lamented that after he ascended the throne, he was almost exhausted from all the affairs, large and small.
Of course, he just sighed, that's all. What if there was someone who said to him, since it's so difficult to be an emperor, why don't you let me do it? Wait and see, I have to chop off this guy's head! Power is such a thing There is magic power, no matter how hard and tiring it is, you still have it in your hands! I will be the emperor for the rest of my life, until I die!
Later historians agreed that Zhu Hengjia, Emperor Mingguang, was an extremely diligent or power-hungry emperor. This is because almost every memorial he wrote was "criticized".
If the emperor of the Ming Dynasty wanted to be lazy, it was actually very easy. According to the ancestral system, when the memorials from the ministers were sent in, the cabinet had already formulated opinions on how to deal with them. The emperor only needed to select a few copies from the memorials of the day and batch them. , and the rest will be recorded by the Supervisor of Ceremonies according to the words drawn up in the pavilion ticket, or changed according to the order. There is no need to approve every copy. Therefore, being an emperor really does not need to be so tiring!
No way! How can this be possible? What if the Chief of Ceremonies’ palm prints, Bingbi, and other ministers collude with the foreign ministers to fool me? No way! It’s absolutely impossible to approve a few books! I must try my best to approve every book, every day At least five hours of criticism. Even if I am exhausted, I still have to criticize!
Come on, this Emperor Guangwu is so diligent in his work, so distrustful of his ministers and eunuchs, and yet so diligent in criticizing, criticizing, criticizing!
Of course, he did not really approve every copy, but asked the Chief of Ceremonies to classify the memorials into categories and select the more important ones for approval.
The emperor's comments on memorials were written with a vermilion pen, so they were called "Red Pi", also known as "Zhu Pi". The ministers' instructions were written with a blue pen, called "Blue Pi". In special circumstances, such as national funerals, the emperor also used blue Pi.
One memorial after another becomes a sea!
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Wang Huacheng, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, said: After you ascend the throne, you need to grant amnesty to the whole country. Can the Ministry of Punishment send officials to various places to supervise and deal with the backlog of cases, and then release all the prisoners except those who are heinous?
Well, Wang Huacheng’s suggestion is good. I have just ascended the throne and should be benevolent to the world. In addition, there are many backlogged cases in various places that need to be dealt with as soon as possible. The comment said: "The sparseness you have mentioned is very commendable, so that I can live up to my intention of benefiting the world." .Accurate!"
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The first assistant, Guan Shouzhen, a cabinet scholar, is a veteran minister who is bold and dares to touch sensitive matters. Shangshu said: You are already old, please establish a prince as soon as possible!
Establishing a prince is a sensitive issue. Since ancient times, emperors have been most wary of their own sons. If you can establish a prince later, do so later. It is best to live forever without handing over power. Therefore, there is a certain risk when ministers submit to the emperor, and they may offend the emperor. The reverse scale.
After reading Guan Shouzhen's notes, Zhu Hengjia sighed, Guan Qing is loyal to me! He dared to mention this matter. Then he thought that he ascended the throne in a hurry and only made Concubine Shi the queen. The other concubines, princes, and princesses in the harem were not named. It was just right. They were sealed together. He replied to Guan Shouzhen and said: "Looking at the remarks you wrote, it is really the words of an old minister who plans for the country!"
Immediately, an order was issued to make Zhu Ruoji the Crown Prince, Zhu Ruodeng the King of Ji, and Zhu Ruofeng the King of Yu. Ji and Yu were currently in the hands of the Tartars, and the sealing of these two places was intended to inform the world and restore the Central Plains; Concubine Chen Shu was made a noble concubine.
In Chunhe Palace, Huang Huipin was the virtuous concubine and lived in the West Palace. These two concubines both gave birth to princes, and the mother was honored by her son. She named Princess Zhuang as the concubine Shu, Concubine Liu De as the concubine Zhuang, Concubine Zhao Xian as the concubine Jing, and Li
Zhuang concubine was concubine Hui, and she lived in the first four palaces among the six east and west palaces respectively; she also named her daughters princesses from princesses.
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The second assistant, Sun Jinding, asked Shangshu to revise "The Biography of Erchen". He had raised this proposal before. At that time, Nanjing was not conquered and the country was unstable, so it was temporarily shelved. Now, it is the right time!
Traitors are hateful!
Xincheng Bo Zhao Zhilong, who was originally a noble minister of Nanjing after Zhao Yi, was a noble garrison minister of Nanjing. He actually led 238,300 horses and infantry to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. He also ordered the people of Nanjing to "set up incense tables, yellow paper, and Qing Dynasty books in their homes."
"Long live the emperor", he was the first to take the initiative to shave his head and help the Qing army drive away the people in the city. Duduo gave him "golden stirrups, silver pommel horses, and mink fur eight-treasure hats". He was incorporated into the Han army with a yellow flag and was awarded the title of third-class Ashanihafan.
.Hmph! The earl turned into a baron, but he was still a third-class man, so he was happy about it!
Zhu Guobi, the Duke of Baoguo, Xu Wenjue, the Duke of Wei (after Xu Da, said Xu Jiujue), Cai Yichen, the great scholar, Li Zhan, the imperial censor of Zuodu, Zhang Bingzhen, the governor of Zhejiang, and other honorable ministers and high officials, who are not deeply favored by the country? All of them were demoted to the Qing Dynasty.
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How abominable!
Replying to Sun Jinding, he said: "Your words are very good. I have been selected by the Ministry of Rites, the Hanlin Academy, and the Imperial Academy to compile the Biography of Er Chen. I hope you can write it truthfully and scold me happily, so as to relieve the hatred in the hearts of me and the people of the world!"
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In fact, the agreement to compile "The Biography of Er Chen" had a lot to do with the lack of money and food in the treasury. Zhang Xiaoqi, the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue, said in the book that after several big battles, the treasury was almost out of money. Therefore, Zhu Hengjia decided to inspect these two ministers.
The property of Chen’s family is used to benefit the country, and it is necessary to compile the "Biography of Erchen" to build momentum.
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Zhu Hengjia handed over the investigation of the property of the two ministers to Guo Zhiqi, the censor of Zuodu, the Inspectorate. Guo Zhiqi was an upright person and once refused Zheng Zhilong's request to take care of his son Zheng Sen's scientific research.
When a new dynasty was established, it was necessary to have a good sword to groom the officials. Zhu Hengjia felt that Guo Zhiqi was a good sword and put him in charge of punishing corrupt officials and investigating the land tax in South Zhili.
The gentry in Southern Zhili are famous for resisting taxes. Guo Zhiqi offended many people and led to numerous impeachments.
As an emperor, he must support officials who can do things at critical moments, otherwise no one will dare to do things soon. Therefore, Zhu Hengjia has repeatedly supported Guo Zhiqi and backed him up. This time, he was even asked to lead the Three Laws Council.
Trial and punish the two ministers, and confiscate their property.
Of course, not all those who were demoted to the Qing Dynasty are classified as Erchen. Those who later returned to the Ming Dynasty or those who did not do too bad after being demoted to the Qing Dynasty will not be punished as Erchen.
Just as I was thinking about Guo Zhiqi, Guo Zhiqi's memorial arrived.
It turned out that he was ordered to inspect the fields in Southern Zhili, but he was obstructed by Guo Duxian, the governor of Yingtian and other local officials in Southern Zhili. In anger, Shangshu impeached Guo Duxian. The truth was revealed in Shu, and he said:
I checked the fields by myself, but encountered many obstacles and was struggling. I was worried that I would fail in my job, and I am sorry for your trust, Your Majesty.
"The only thing I know in my heart is that I have a king, so I will do everything justice and no one can work with me. However, there are many obstacles and it is difficult to move..." Zhu Hengjia was very moved when he saw Guo Zhiqi's tearful memorial. Guo Qing was a loyal minister.
Ah! We must support our loyal ministers!
The reply said: "Your superiors have consulted Guo Duxian's advice and are commendable for your loyalty. Only in this way can you live up to the intention of my appointment. If you can follow this intention, enforce the law impartially, without hesitation, and go boldly, I guarantee that you will always be safe."
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I just finished cheering for Guo Zhiqi, and by coincidence, Guo Duxian's memorial also arrived. It seems that people with the same surname are really enemies!
At first glance, my nose was twisted with anger. But it was Guo Duxian who impeached Guo Zhiqi for inaccurately measuring the acres of land and overcalculating the area of some gentry's acres. Huh! How can you not make mistakes when doing practical things? But you obstructed the court from clearing the acres and helped
Jiangnan gentry's tax evasion is really abominable!
I wanted to remove Guo Duxian from his post as governor of Yingtian. But Guo Duxian was very senior and well-known. He was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi, and he was very upright. When the Qing army went south, he hid in the mountains.
, righteous but not honest, he was very prestigious among some gentry and common people. Therefore, Zhu Hengjia decided not to remove him from his post for the time being, but to let him go and observe for a period of time.
Although he did not remove Guo Duxian from his post, Zhu Hengjia decided to give this old man a good beating. He responded unceremoniously in the memorial: "The investigation of the land tax in South Zhili is a major matter of the country. You should comply. If you still obstruct and deceive me,
, don’t want to be this governor again."
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Later historians studied the "Zhu Pi" written by Mingguang Emperor Zhu Hengjia and felt that he, like Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and Chengzu Zhu Di, liked to use vernacular in his comments. From this, they came to the conclusion that the Ming Dynasty hero had little literary talent.
This is indeed the case. If you don’t believe it, look at Taizu’s "Imperial Imperial Edict" (also known as "Ming Edict"). The entire text is in vernacular.
In the opening chapter of "Imperial Imperial Letter", he introduced this book like this: "Everyone has seen this document. Parents, wives, brothers, friends, how can I advise and teach them not to be such evil people? It is the law of heaven and benevolence."
The intention is good, but not good? There is a first-class official family, where parents, wives, and brothers harm others together, but no one in the family has a benevolent heart. It seems that if the whole family is bad, there are better ones. This document says
You must understand, and you must understand one by one. If you continue to harm the army like this, you are committing the same crime again and again. It is hard to say that you have never seen the document. You don’t know. This document is not a document written by an official, nor is it written by a scholar. I am afraid.
Save it! When I say it so straightforwardly, everyone, big and small, will know it, and everyone, wise and foolish, will save it."
