The Qianqing Palace, before the Yangxin Palace was built in Jiajing, was not only the emperor's bedroom, but also the emperor's formal office.
"Uncle, please come in." The eunuch accompanying him said with a smile.
The right commander of the rear army, who was in charge of the royal guards, Li Ying, the loyal and brave uncle, followed the eunuch in slowly. When Zhu Houzhao was alive, Li Ying saw the emperor holding his head high and looking majestic. Now that the emperor has changed, he has become quite orderly. .
"I pay homage to Your Majesty!" Li Ying kowtowed.
Zhu Zaiyi was not polite and asked directly: "Have you ever caught the rumor maker?"
Li Ying replied: "More than 600 people were arrested in three days. Most of them were hearsay, and a small number of them picked up rumor-mongering articles on the street. Those rumor-mongering articles were carved with wax plates with their left hands, and hundreds of them were printed with a wax printing machine. Posted on street walls all over the capital."
Zhu Zaiyi said angrily: "Posting hundreds of pieces of paper in the capital, but there is not a single clue? Jin Yiwei is really good at it!"
Li Ying hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, it's not that there are no clues, but there are too many clues. Under torture, everyone has clues to confess, and it is difficult to distinguish between true and false. We need to verify them one by one. But every clue must be checked. , for fear of causing chaos in the capital, please give instructions from your majesty."
Zhu Zaiyi fell silent immediately.
Hundreds of clues mean there are no clues, because they are all obtained through torture. If the investigation continues, these hundreds of clues may become thousands of clues.
At the end of the investigation, the scope of suspicion is not getting smaller and smaller, but getting wider and wider as we go deeper. It is normal to arrest tens of thousands of people in Beijing.
Li Ying was a wise man. After capturing more than 600 people, he immediately asked the emperor for instructions on whether to expand the scale.
The curfew in the capital is not lifted after dawn. Otherwise, how can officials living outside the city enter the city in the dark to attend morning court?
The lifting time is at three o'clock in the morning, that is, 3:48 in the morning. If the morning bell is rung at this time, the city gates will be opened, and the residents in the city can move around freely. People who post rumors in remote streets and alleys in the dark will be safe even if they are caught by others. Can't see clearly what he looks like.
Damn it if you find out!
Zhu Zaiyi was troubled for a while and asked: "Is there any start to this matter?"
Li Ying held out a pile of memorials: "Your Majesty, here are the memorials and the secret disclosure."
"Zouzhang" is just a general term, which is subdivided into: memorial, chapter, table, kai, zhuang, jian...etc.
For example, if you want to flatter the emperor, you would use a congratulatory seal such as a watch or a note.
When officials in the capital report official matters, they use a question book for all official matters. The question book has a fixed format and can even be prepared by the clerk. When officials report official matters, they can just fill in the relevant content in the blank spaces, which greatly saves writing and reading. time.
Therefore, don’t think that ancient memorials are all in parallel prose. They are difficult to read, and daily official documents are written like this. Not to mention that the emperor will be confused, and the cabinet will probably explode on the spot.
As for memorials, they are used for begging for favors, confessing guilt, expressing feelings, making suggestions, complaining, and impeaching. The memorials written by Wang Yuan on the Reform are among the memorials.
The Jin Yiwei acted under the emperor's orders. Not only could they search and interrogate, they could also accept memorials and unveils from their subjects.
Zhu Zaiyi opened the memorial and read a few at random. He was so angry that he wanted to jump up and beat someone. They were all made by the officials of the Sixth Section to make use of the memorial.
There are many officials in the Sixth Section, and they are filled with countless stupid young people. It is impossible for Wang Yuan to completely control them. This time there are a lot of defectors, and they all suggest that Wang Yuan should resign to avoid suspicion, and then recruit Wang Su as his consort to quell the rumors in the capital.
Why is it the sixth subject that jumps first?
First, young people are not afraid of trouble, and their grades are low. Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes; second, Wang Yuan formulated the "Examination Law", which only retains the powers and responsibilities of impeachment, supervision, secretary, etc. for the six subjects, and does not allow the six subjects
The department directly rejected the cabinet decree and also revoked the right of the six departments to receive memorials from subjects.
The power of the six subjects was cut in half by Wang Yuan!
The reason for Zhu Zaiyi's anger was that he was influenced by the Empress Dowager Gu and always wanted to reuse the General Affairs Department. The Sixth Section could directly accept memorials, which led to the General Affairs Department's power being robbed and gradually turning into a document transfer department, which involved civil servants and eunuchs.
of struggle.
Just because the eunuchs could intervene in the selection of officials of the General Affairs Department, the General Affairs Department was jointly suppressed by the cabinet, the Sixth Section, the Sixth Ministry and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. For example, during the Wanli period, Ni Guangjian was promoted to the General Affairs Department because he served as a counselor.
The minister of the Ministry of Industry deliberately did not write his name in the "Chronology of the Seven Qings". Zhao Jin, the censor of the capital, publicly expressed that it was a shame just because he was ranked behind Ni Guangjian at the court meeting, so Zhao Jin became
The Minister of War can finally be ranked ahead of Ni Guangjian, who was born in the General Affairs Department.
Zhu Zaiyi has divided the rights of the eunuchs Bingbi into nine, and made the eunuchs of the ceremony and the eunuchs independent of each other. This has greatly weakened and dispersed the rights of the eunuchs. Correspondingly, the civil servants must also be weakened, and the general administration department is
A chess piece can take back some power from the six subjects.
These actions were all intended to centralize power and check and balance, and ultimately increase the emperor's authority.
Wang Yuan saw the reform of the Director of Ceremonies, why didn't he understand the little emperor's intentions? So he chose to divest the six departments, which not only pleased the little emperor, but also improved the efficiency of the cabinet.
But the officials of the Sixth Section who had been seized of power did not know the emperor's thoughts, and only focused their anger on Wang Yuan. This time rumors were flying all over the sky, and the Jinyiwei was ordered to investigate. The Sixth Section took the opportunity to deliver a memorial to the Jinyiwei, and collectively jumped in and gave Wang Yuan eye drops.
.And Li Ying is a good friend of Wang Yuan. If Li Ying dares to stop the memorial, the Sixth Section can take the opportunity to impeach Li Ying!
Zhu Zaiyi was already angry because of the rumors, and now that the Sixth Section was sabotaging his reform of taking over power, he immediately hated these stupid young people with itch in his heart.
"The imperial edict is drafted. From now on, the ancestral system will be restored, and all reports in Beijing will go through the Chief Secretary!" Zhu Zaiyi was aroused to have a rebellious mentality. The more opposition the six subjects were, the more he insisted on going his own way.
It is impossible for this imperial edict to be passed. The cabinet and the six ministries will not agree to it.
Starting from the Hongzhi period, there were so many official documents that the General Affairs Department could not handle them. Therefore, the title books (official documents) of various yamen in the capital were no longer sent to the General Affairs Department for review, but were sent directly to the cabinet and the six ministries. This is a simple matter.
Political reform has greatly improved work efficiency. How can civil servants tolerate the emperor's reversal?
A chaotic decree was sent out, and Zhu Zaiyi read the secret notice again. After scanning it only once, he became furious and asked: "Who wrote this anonymous notice?"
Li Ying replied: "I don't know. It was a beggar that was handed over to the Jinyi Guards. Because it was marked secret, I did not dare to open it without permission, so I only took the beggar into custody."
Zhu Zaiyi burned the post on the spot, leaving only a few lines of text, and threw it to Li Ying and said: "Look at this handwriting and find out the Yi tribe!"
Li Ying observed the handwriting, sweating on his forehead and said: "Your Majesty, this is in Guange style, and the strokes are weird. It may be written by the left hand."
Zhu Zaiyi roared: "Even if it was written with my feet, I have to find it out, otherwise you, the right-hand governor, will not be the right governor!"
"yes!"
Li Ying was so frightened that he quickly left. After leaving Qianqing Palace, his expression was calm. How could he look at all afraid?
Li Ying and Wang Yuan are one and the same. The more fierce the rumors are this time, the more the emperor will protect Wang Yuan, and the more stable Li Ying's position will be. At the same time, the more the rumors anger the emperor, the more things the Jin Yiwei will have to do. So as not to gradually lose its existence value.
Jietie, a type of memorial, originated from the financial statements of the Song Dynasty.
By the Ming Dynasty, a variety of functions had developed, one was to release downwards, one was to advance upwards, and the other was to announce to the society.
For example, eunuchs often used Jiezhi as an informal edict to issue instructions on what the local area must do, and they also avoided the suspicion of issuing false edicts.
Officials, on the other hand, used postings to engage in political struggles, which was extremely common after the Jiajing Dynasty!
Officials' disclosures to the emperor were divided into three types: secret disclosures, private disclosures and anonymous disclosures.
If a cabinet official writes a secret report to the emperor, no one else can read it. When the emperor opens the envelope, even the eunuchs have to avoid it. This kind of small report is often fatal. However, it can only be used at critical times, otherwise it will be a fatal blow. If the attack fails, you may be punished by the emperor.
The anonymous letter that Zhu Zaiyi just read actually states that the Empress Dowager Gu had done a favor in the past. All the scribes in the capital knew about this, and many local scribes also knew about it. If Wang Yuan was not allowed to serve, Wang Yuan offered the favor to the late emperor as his concubine. , I'm afraid it will soon spread throughout the country. For the sake of the country, Wang Yuan is no longer suitable to be the chief assistant.
Did your mother advocate excellence in the past?
The little emperor really didn't know, and no one dared to talk about it in the palace.
Zhu Zaiyi naturally did not dare to verify this matter, and even believed it in his heart, because the person who wrote the anonymous expose could not threaten the emperor with false things, otherwise it would not have a threatening effect.
Is it true that my father is infertile?
Is your husband really my biological father?
Zhu Zaiyi felt panicked, and even though he was worried, he also recognized it. After all, he has always regarded his teacher as his idol. Who doesn't want to have a father who is both civilized and military?
However, you can’t admit it even to death, and you definitely can’t talk about it!
In the morning of the next day, Zhu Zaiyu looked at Wang Yuan with a somewhat awkward look, and did not even bother to listen to what the ministers had to say. He recalled that when he was a child, his husband's care and kindness during lectures, and his kindness and guidance were completely different from other teachers; he also recalled his mother's mother-in-law. I get along with my husband as cordially and familiarly as if I were an old friend. I’m afraid they really were lovers in the past!
What should the mother do if she has a private meeting with her husband again?
We can't make a fuss about this matter, we can only give tactful advice, and we can't stop it.
My father is also very good to me, and I cannot be sorry for him. But my husband is my biological father, and he has taught me a lot. Alas, it is so difficult to make a choice. Should I turn a blind eye?
Also, Asu wanted to marry his sister, so he wanted to be the consort.
This...how can brother and sister get married!
At the court meeting, Zhu Zaiyu didn't listen to a single word, and his mind was already in a mess. The more he recalled and thought, the more certain he became that Wang Yuan was his biological father.
To put it bluntly, Zhu Zaiyu has already got into the corner of the bull, and he has trapped himself in and cannot get out.
I'm afraid that if the Queen Mother personally explained and clarified, Zhu Zaiyi would think that her mother was covering it up. After all, once the seeds of doubt are planted, they will automatically take root and sprout in his heart. What's more, if the Queen Mother Gu won't clarify, there is no way to explain this thing.
After the court meeting ended, Zhu Zaiyi ran to look at the portrait of the late emperor, and then looked in the mirror for comparison. One moment he felt that his eyebrows looked like Zhu Houzhao, the next moment he felt they were not similar at all, and the next moment he felt that his mouth looked more like Wang Yuan, at least in terms of face shape. It definitely doesn't look like Zhu Houzhao.
Zhu Houzhao is too thin, and his face is both thin and elongated. Zhu Zaiyi's face shape is completely inherited from his mother's.
After looking in the mirror for a long time, the little emperor felt like crying but had no tears.