There is no shortage of idealists in this world, but there is a shortage of down-to-earth doers, and even more so, miracle makers who specialize in making the impossible possible.
Yang Rong is undoubtedly a man of action, but Yang Shiqi is a miracle worker. He dared to dream of a world ruled by civilian officials in an era when civil servants were humble; he dared to dream of turning a bachelor of the cabinet into a commander in an era when the cabinet bachelor was only the emperor's secretary.
The prime minister and assistant of all civil and military officials!
At the time, this seemed nothing more than a wishful dream, but Yang Shiqi never wavered in his belief and turned it into reality step by step through his own actions. No matter what the final result was, no matter what his fate would be.
, the name Yang Shiqi has left the most profound mark in the history of the Ming Dynasty.
Emperor Hongxi fully adopted Yang Shiqi's plan, and a wonderful operation to remove fuel from the cauldron began...
The next day, the civil servants in the capital responded positively to Yang Shiqi's call. They all stayed behind closed doors. The cabinet, the six ministries, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Dali Temple, the General Affairs Department... all the government offices were empty. The central organs of the Ming Dynasty
, and suddenly fell into paralysis!
This trend soon spread from Beijing to local governments. Governments in Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Zhejiang responded one after another. From the Chief Secretary, the Inspector General to the Fuya and County Yamen, they all went on strike together. The local government of the Ming Dynasty also fell into a state of shock...
…
Normally, the princes and ministers in the capital did not realize how important these yamen were, but once the civil servants went on strike collectively, the Ming Dynasty's regime immediately came to a halt! The court lost contact with the localities, supplies from the provinces stopped being delivered, and the army immediately ran out of food.
There are no water transport ships docking in the capital. The entire Ming Dynasty is lifeless, as if it will suffocate at any time...
His Majesty the Emperor was 'frightened', so he tried to persuade some senior scholars, six ministers, imperial censors, ministers of Dali Temple and other civil servants to the palace to ask them how they could resume work? This was a play that had been discussed.
The answer is of course no surprise. The civil servant leaders unanimously demanded that the murderer of Changling be severely punished. No matter how high his title, he must be brought to justice to comfort the souls of his colleagues who died in heaven.
Zhu Gaochi said that he would try his best to uphold justice for them, and asked the civil servants to go back first, and then called for a distinguished leader.
Zhang Fu, Zhu Yong, Xu Jingchang, Wang Tong and others appeared in front of the emperor. After all, they were all scheming people. On the surface, they were respectful and showed no hostility or estrangement. But everyone knew that after what happened before
, both parties have become strangers and can no longer play happily together.
"What happened in Changling is shocking to the past and shocking to the present." Zhu Gaochi looked at a few people expressionlessly and said solemnly: "I can't bear to recall the scene at that time. How could anyone do this if there is still a trace of humanity?
What about that kind of bestiality?”
The emperor's accusation was expected by several distinguished nobles. At this time, they would definitely not give in. Zhu Yong straightened his neck and said: "If the emperor had not listened to the slander and was too disrespectful to the late emperor, how could the late emperor's spiritual appearance have happened?
How can you, the nobles, be so embarrassed that you take action with hatred?"
"It's so difficult to control one's feelings, so I took action with hatred!" Emperor Hongxi snorted coldly, waved his hand to stop the nobles from continuing to defend, and said: "I came to you today not to talk about Changling, but to ask you, what should I do now?"
A look of deep tiredness appeared on the emperor's face as he said: "The civil servants have collectively dismissed the government. The Ming Dynasty has turned into a mess. If this goes on for a few days, the country will be destroyed!"
"This..." Without the great banner of the late emperor, the nobles could no longer stand up. They are experts at fighting and can master intrigues, but we must let them handle the affairs of the country, down to the smallest detail.
, it would be better to kill them for fun.
So no one dares to say such stupid things as, 'Without Butcher Zhang, we can't eat pigs with hair on them'.
"Your Majesty, we cannot condone them!" Xu Jingchang said in a low voice: "If you ask me, you have to catch them in the lobby like Emperor Taizu and let them handle government affairs in shackles to see if they dare to act arrogant!"
'Pa!' Zhu Gaochi really couldn't listen anymore. He slammed the table and pointed at Xu Jingchang and cursed: "That's nonsense! It was the officials who were guilty during Taizu's time, so they were allowed to wear shackles to govern. What crimes have the officials committed now?
, do you want to put shackles on them too?"
"They dare to threaten the imperial court by calling it quits. Isn't this a crime?" Xu Jingchang said sternly, holding his neck high.
"That's because more than a dozen of their colleagues were beaten to death, and dozens or hundreds of colleagues were seriously injured and bedridden!" Zhu Gaochi shouted sharply? "If it were your people who suffered all this, would you be indifferent?!" Only those who are not involved are
The late emperor, the king is the king, and the ministers are ministers. The king teaches the ministers, and the ministers can only listen obediently.
"Your Majesty..." Maybe because he felt that the situation was a little passive, Zhang Fu wanted to blame Zhu Di again: "The nobles couldn't control it until they saw the late emperor's appearance... If it hadn't been for that scene, maybe the late emperor's son would still be alive today.
The palace can’t be lifted yet.”
"Stop rambling for me!" Zhu Gaochi has tasted the benefits of staying out of the matter and being the arbiter. How can he let Zhang Fu lead the way again? He patted the table again and said in a deep voice: "Now I will ask you what to do.
?! Killing to pay for life, debt to pay for money, is this not the law of the Ming Dynasty anymore?"
"Yes..." Zhang Fu said bravely: "But the situation that day was very special. The scene was so chaotic that it was impossible to tell who took action and who didn't..."
"As long as you check carefully, you can always find out clearly!" Zhu Gaochi interrupted Zhang Fu and said in a deep voice: "If it doesn't work in one month, just two months, if it doesn't work in half a year, it will be a year! I don't believe that you can't find out the ugly Yinmao!
"
"..." The nobles stopped talking and just looked at each other and sneered. The emperor is too naive! Judging from their rich experience in group fights in the army, they will never find out the truth about this kind of thing. In the end, they will kill a few at most.
Scapegoat, the whole thing is over.
"Of course the emperor wants to investigate, but I don't know who will be sent to investigate?" Zhang Fu was the calmest and did not forget to ask who the chief interrogator was.
"Are the Ministry of Punishments, Dali Temple, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Jinyiwei enough?" Zhu Gaochi asked coldly. Now that the Dongchang has been abolished, the Jinyiwei has also lost its judicial power. This was originally a sign that Emperor Hongxi had abolished the tyranny of the previous dynasty, but in the face of
Zhu Gaochi did regret that he had acted too hastily in front of the nobles who couldn't lose their tail. This time, letting Jin Yiwei join the Sanfa Division was actually a symbolic correction.
"I think that the imperial guards alone are not enough to guarantee that the civil servants will not retaliate against the nobles, or even beat them into submission." Zhang Fu insisted: "I ask the emperor for permission to let the five military governors jointly review the case to ensure that the honorable officials will not retaliate against them."
Your safety..."
"Yes, Your Majesty, what you said makes sense, and I agree with you!" Zhu Yong and others also agreed: "Otherwise, I would never dare to obey the imperial edict!"
"You..." Zhu Gaochi's chest rose and fell, as if he was very angry at the aggressive nobles.
The nobles were no longer afraid of the emperor's wrath and still held on with their necks held high. Finally, the emperor gave in, his face turned purple with anger and said: "Only one of the five governors can go at a time. You can discuss it among yourself!" "
"I obey the order..." The nobles were overjoyed. As long as a governor participated in the court hearing, they would be sure to find out nothing...
The nobles came out of Qianqing Palace feeling refreshed and couldn't help laughing.
"Grandma, I've been worried all these days," Zhu Yong laughed loudly: "If I had known this result earlier, there would be no need for Xiaosi and the others to go out and hide from the limelight!"
"Who would have thought that the civil servants would make such a big fuss and end up in trouble?" Wang Tong said with a smile: "At that time, we thought something big would happen, so we asked them to go out and hide. It was really in vain for us to worry. Already."
"Be careful and you won't make a big mistake." Xu Jingchang said with a smile: "Let them come back quickly, and we will find someone else to take the blame." If he ran away at this time, wouldn't it be true that he was the one they beat to death? After seeing the emperor's weakness, Xun Xun You are no longer satisfied with letting the murderer save his life, you also want to save their name.
"My lord, what do you think?" Wang Tong asked the British gentleman. Only then did everyone realize that Zhang Fu had not spoken since he came out.
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Zhang Fu said, "Don't act rashly yet. I feel something fishy about this matter."
"Oh?" Zhu Yong and others asked hurriedly: "What's wrong?"
"It's too anticlimactic..." Zhang Fu said slowly: "The emperor met with the civil servants first and then met with us. This means that the emperor already knows the attitude of the civil servants, so the civil servants should be able to accept the plan proposed to us. .”
"That's right." Everyone nodded.
"Don't you think it's strange? Civil servants have joined forces across the country to make such a big fuss, and just a 'thorough investigation' can satisfy them? This doesn't make sense!" Zhang Fu frowned and looked at everyone.
When everyone thought that this was really the case, they couldn't help but fall into confusion. Xu Jingchang asked tentatively: "Do they have some trump card that can uncover the murderers?"
"How is that possible?" Zhu Yong didn't believe it: "How many group fights do the army have in a year? How many times have you ever been able to detect Ding Mao?"
"That's weird..."
"Forget it, don't think about it if you can't figure it out, just wait and see what happens." Zhu Yong said carelessly: "After all, the Fifth Army Commander's Office is also the chief judge, are you worried that they will make some mistakes?"
"That's right..." Everyone felt that this was the truth, so they put their hearts back in their stomachs and stopped thinking wildly.
Although Zhang Fu was not relieved, he stopped talking and walked out of the palace with everyone, got on the sedan and went back to his house.
In the sedan chair, Zhang Fu frowned. According to his and Zhu Zhanji's plan, great pressure should be put on the nobles at this time to make them make up their minds and change the world. Now that the emperor is so weak and easy to bully, he is right His pre-war mobilization was very unfavorable. After all, everyone is willing to live under a weak leader. It was easy to smooth out the emperor, but it would be too uneconomical to replace him with a strong leader.
No one wants to do a losing business.
But soon, the British father will find that he is actually worrying too much...