Chapter 224: Picking, Picking, Searching, Soso Doesn't Look Like an Emperor at All
Zhu Shuren killed Zhang Xianzhong, how should he be rewarded for such a great achievement?
This question does not seem to be a problem at first, and the answer is already ready:
Three years ago, Chongzhen swore an oath in front of the memorial tablets of his ancestors in the Ancestral Temple, that the Ming Dynasty would be civilized and military, and that whoever killed Zhang Xianzhong would be crowned a duke.
If someone within the bandits rebelled and killed Zhang Xianzhong, even if he was not made a duke, he would still be given another title and official position, and all previous sins would be pardoned.
Furthermore, if the person was in desperate situation and turned against the enemy to kill Zhang Xianzhong, he may not be given an official title, but at least he must be pardoned for his previous crime.
[By the way, the best app for reading aloud and listening to books is Yeguo Reading, install the latest version. 】
Now Zhu Shuren perfectly meets the first condition of the oath, that is, the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty are diligent in the king's affairs and have achieved such great achievements. Isn't it appropriate to give them a duke?
However, the situation in the Ming Dynasty was no longer the same as it was three years ago. When things came to a close, Chongzhen fell into deep sorrow. He was afraid that if he gave up the reward at once, he would no longer be able to control Zhu Shuren well. What should he do?
If Sun Chuanting had not died yet, Chongzhen's hesitation might not be so great. He could have continued to let Sun Chuanting control the war situation in the north and Zhu Shuren to control the war situation in the south, dividing the north and the south.
If anyone dares to be proud of his merits, everyone in the world will see it, and will naturally support another governor who holds a lot of military power and destroy the one who has disloyal intentions. In addition, Chongzhen's own imperial authority is there, and he can do it at any time.
You can achieve balance.
But it happened that while Zhu Shuren was killing Zhang Xianzhong in the south, Sun Chuanting was defeated by Li Zicheng!
In the Ming Dynasty, outsiders were absolutely not allowed to be crowned kings. Only clan members could be crowned kings, and whether or not to be crowned king had nothing to do with merit, only blood relationship.
Now that the duke has been given enough, what kind of bait will be used next time to make Zhu Shuren go north? He will have to go north obediently?
Two months ago, when Huang Taiji entered the customs for the last time, Chongzhen urgently mobilized Wu Sangui, Tang Tong, and Bai Guang Enqin Wang. None of these three people came, and they just fought defensive battles with the Tatars in their own defense areas.
At most, these three warriors just responded to the emperor with a memorial and complained openly, saying that they would definitely come. They were just temporarily held back by the Tatar army. They would definitely come as long as they repelled the enemy in person. But after complaining for two months, they finally
Still didn't come, and Chongzhen had nothing to do with them.
After thinking about it, Chongzhen finally decided to find an excuse to restrain Zhu Shuren again so as to better enslave him for his own use.
He then announced to Zhang Guowei: "According to the oath of the Ancestral Temple, whoever killed Zhang Xianzhong in the Ming Dynasty should be given the title of Duke. But Zhu Shuren did not accomplish the full feat this time. He only killed the chief culprit and did not wipe out all the others.
Sun Kewang, the remnant of Zhang Xianzhong's party, is still entrenched in western Sichuan. It is unknown whether he has the ability to resurrect. Therefore, it is better to promote him to the title of Earl of Kru and to Marquis of Kru. If he can annihilate Sun Kewang and completely eliminate the remnants of Zhang Ni, he will naturally be promoted to the prince by then.
His father is the Duke of E.
I remember that Yue Wumu of the former Song Dynasty was posthumously crowned King of E. During his lifetime, Yue Wumu also entered Xiangyang from Ezhou, and then went on the northern expedition to the Central Plains. Now Zhu Shuren is the governor of Huguang. He also came from Huang and Hubei. He should follow Yue Wumu's example.
I will be loyal to the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, I will not betray him.
In addition, if Sun Kewang devotes himself to survival and escapes to the mountains, even if he cannot catch up with Sun Kewang, I will still give him the opportunity to make him the Duke of E - as long as he goes north to King Qin and continues to help the court put down the intruders, even if he just kills the culprit.
, there is no need to kill all the party members, I will still make him the Duke of E."
Chongzhen originally did not need to explain so much to his ministers. The main reason was that this matter involved the oath of alliance at the Ancestral Temple three years ago, so he had to find a way to go down.
After what he said, it was reasonable for the Duke to withhold the last step for the time being, because Zhu Shuren had indeed not completely wiped out Zhang Xianzhong. Chongzhen also temporarily pointed out another way to Zhu Shuren, leaving a hole, hoping to use it.
Use this opening as bait to better continue to use it.
Zhang Guowei felt that his words were a bit unreasonable, and he always felt that the Taimiao Alliance should not weigh and adjust the oath. But after he gave a few words of advice, Chongzhen showed an unhappy look.
Next to him, Wang Chengen also knew Chongzhen very well. He knew that eunuchs should not be involved in politics, but when he saw that the emperor was being shunned by his ministers, he kindly reminded him: "Your Majesty wants to discuss the promotion of civil servants. Do you need an old slave to help your Majesty call the elder of the Zhou Pavilion to discuss it?"
?”
If it were normal times, Chongzhen would definitely be unhappy if Wang Chengen said this, but at this juncture today, Wang Chengen was so winking, which immediately made Chongzhen happy, so he didn't care.
He immediately said: "Yes, Wang Daban, you immediately send someone to announce Zhou Yanru's appearance!"
Wang Chengen was very measured. From beginning to end, he never said a word about how to award the reward, and he didn't interrupt even a single word about specific government affairs. He only said that he would help the emperor find relevant people, which was not an overstep.
Zhang Guowei was also stunned, and then he realized: Zhu Shuren's contribution should indeed be discussed by him, the Minister of War, but Zhu Shuren was a civil official, not a military general. To reward him, of course, the Ministry of Civil Affairs would have to deal with it. Where can it be the turn of the Ministry of War to take care of it?
?
The promotion of rewards for civil servants is the matter of the Literary Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel, and the promotion of military officers is the matter of the Staff Department of the Ministry of War.
Merit is merit, and reward is reward. Under the framework of the Ming Dynasty system, characterization and execution are separated.
He had no choice but to shut up, otherwise it would be overstepping his authority to say another word.
Chongzhen waited in a good mood for about a quarter of an hour. Zhou Yanru was quickly taken from the six duty rooms to the Wenhua Hall and hurried inside to pay homage.
Zhou Yanru also looked older than a year ago. Huang Taiji invaded again, and Li Zicheng completely occupied Shaanxi and killed Sun Chuanting. These two events made the chief minister of the cabinet a little more worried about the future of the Ming Dynasty.
As the general person in charge of all state affairs, any failure would be related to him to some extent. The emperor would also give him a few words of trouble when he was accountable. This caused Zhou Yanru to have a neurasthenia. His hair was almost completely white, with only a few stray hairs left.
A black hair is interspersed among them.
What worries Zhou Yanru even more is that one of his favorite disciples and right-hand men, Wu Changshi, a doctor in the Literary Selection Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was also thrown into prison for questioning by Chongzhen a few days ago because of some eulogy.
Historically, Wu Changshi was beheaded in the winter of the 16th year of Chongzhen's reign, and was imprisoned a month or two earlier. Now all this has obviously been brought forward.
The reason for the advance, coincidentally, was that Zhou Yanru had offended the censors who insisted on impeachment in the process of trying to save his ally Chen Xinjia.
Then Wu Changshi was not a good person to begin with, so he was impeached in advance by some of the censors.
It is said that he made friends with eunuchs and committed huge amounts of corruption. He also accepted huge benefits from the new Jinshi who were selected in the spring of this year when they were assigned officials. Whoever was given more money was assigned to be an official in an area without war, and whoever was not
If you give me money, you will be sent to serve as an official in the war zone between bandits and Tatars.
To be honest, the things Wu Changshi did are all true. Even behind this, Zhou Yanru himself made a considerable part of it.
It's just that if this kind of thing were set back a few years, it wouldn't be a serious crime, and it wouldn't be so big. It can only be said that the Chongzhen Dynasty reached the last moment, and everything started to happen.
Zhou Yanru was so worried recently that he didn't dare to dissuade the emperor from his decision, for fear of causing trouble again. Now that Chongzhen told him his decision, Zhou Yanru didn't have to argue for Zhu Shuren's title, so he said solemnly:
"Your Majesty's decision is very reasonable. After all, Zhu Shuren has not done all his work. Besides, he is so young. It is for his own good that he will not be given to the Duke for the time being, so as not to be unrewarded for his great achievements in the future."
After hearing this, Chongzhen was very satisfied and asked the officials to prepare a detailed statement when he went back, and then provide a charter.
The follow-up process lasted for another three to five days. Needless to say, by late June, Chongzhen's decree on the reward and further instructions to the civil and military forces of Huguang and Sichuan were also officially issued in the form of decrees.
Since Li Zicheng was still dormant and resting recently and was not exposed to any greater danger, there was no need to rush the order this time, so he sent it southwest at a normal daily speed of about two hundred miles.
In addition, in addition to giving orders to Huguang and Sichuan officials, Chongzhen also did two things.
First of all, the day after the reward discussion, he asked the eunuch to find a box that complied with the sacrificial etiquette and put Zhang Xianzhong's head and 500 pieces of meat. Then he went to the Ancestral Temple in person to worship the tablets of his ancestors as a fulfillment of his wish.
This unscrupulous descendant of him finally fulfilled his promise to avenge his ancestors and help them rest in peace.
After he finished the sacrifice at the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the capital, he thought about it and consulted the officials of the Ministry of Rites to check and fill in the gaps to see if there was anything that should be done.
After racking his brains and thinking about it, the Minister of Rites also checked with the professional officials of various departments of the Ministry of Rites, and then reported it again, saying that Chongzhen should also send people to the Fengyang Ancestral Tomb site (or the renovated Fengyang Ancestral Tomb)
Also offer sacrifices.
Considering that it is not appropriate for the emperor himself to leave the capital, and it is best for the descendants of Emperor Taizu to do this kind of thing, it is best to invite a vassal king who is close to the emperor's blood to "visit the mausoleum" on behalf of the emperor.
Chongzhen thought it reasonable. After all, Zhang Xianzhong dug the Fengyang ancestral mausoleum six years ago. Now that his enemy has beheaded him, he really should go to the place to tell the ghosts of his ancestors.
So I asked the priest of the Rites Temple to check the list of vassal kings and find a vassal king whose fiefdom was relatively close to Fengyang Mansion, preferably with a suitable bloodline.
Fengyang Prefecture is the location of the central capital, and local vassals are not allowed to be granted there, so the nearest vassal prince must be the state capital adjacent to Fengyang Prefecture.
After checking, the priest of the Rites Temple reported the truth, saying that the nearest ones were Zhu Yousong, the king of Fu, and Zhu Changzi, the king of Lu, who were taking refuge in Hefei due to the war.
Although they are not formally vassaling each other, at least they are currently close to each other. The emperor only needs a vassal king to visit the mausoleum on his behalf, and there is no need to worry about his official fiefdom. The bloodlines of Prince Fu and Prince Lu are the closest to Chongzhen.
After Chongzhen got these two options, he knew in his heart that his cousin Zhu Yousong was a generation closer to his cousin Zhu Changzi.
But he also knew about the grudge that lasted for more than twenty years between his third uncle, King Fu, and his father, Guangzong Zhu Changluo, who competed for the position of crown prince.
Of course Chongzhen didn't like the members of Wang Fu's family in his heart, so he gritted his teeth and handed over the job of visiting the mausoleum on behalf of the emperor to Zhu Changzi.
There must be a valid reason for abandoning relatives. After thinking about it, Chongzhen ordered:
"According to blood, it is true that Brother Fu Wang is closer to me. But I just remembered that Zhu Shuren, the man who killed the thieves this time, happens to be Uncle Lu Wang's son-in-law!"
Since it is Uncle Lu Wang’s family who established this special honor, we will not bother the two masters about anything. Let Uncle Lu go and show his face in front of the ancestor’s spirit, and I think the ancestor’s heroic spirit will be more comforted.”
The priest of the Temple of Rites immediately took note of Chongzhen's intention, and quickly went through the process to draft the edict: Uncle Lu Wang would visit Tianye Mausoleum on his behalf.
…
Beijing is obviously much closer to Hefei than Beijing is to Sichuan.
So just seven or eight days later, on the third day of July, King Zhu Changzi of Lu, who was in Hefei, received the imperial edict from Chongzhen first.
Recently, Zhu Changzi stayed in the temporary palace every day, either playing the piano or studying Buddhist scriptures, appreciating bronzes, spices, or engaging in random entertainment activities with his concubines and concubines.
Since his only daughter Zhu Yuchan was sent to Sichuan to marry Zhu Shuren more than three months ago, Zhu Changzi was a little uncomfortable at first. He always felt that he had lost something every day, and even felt a little regretful——
It’s not that I regretted choosing the wrong son-in-law, but that my daughter had to marry far away and endure hardships. It would be much more convenient if the son-in-law could stay in Wuchang and serve as an official nearby, and the daughter could also stay in Wuchang. At worst, the whole family of the royal family would also move to Wuchang. But
Sichuan is really too dangerous, so I can only hope that my son-in-law will finish the war and come back as soon as possible.
Half a month ago, he learned from the eunuch sent by his daughter to deliver a letter home that his son-in-law had won a great victory and killed Zhang Xianzhong. At that time, Zhu Changzi was quite excited.
It's not that he's happy that his son-in-law is getting promoted again - his family is all princes, and whether his son-in-law is an earl, a marquis or even a duke, it doesn't really matter much. He just feels that his daughter can finally go back to Huguang instead of staying in broken Sichuan.
The official seat of the Governor was permanent.
At that time, Zhu Changzi heard that Zhu Shuren personally went to Changde in order to pay homage to Yang Sichang, and took a hundred slices of Zhang Xianzhong's preserved meat to pay homage to the people who were massacred in Changde. Zhu Changzi thought that his son-in-law would return to Wuchang after paying homage to him.
So he also ordered his concubines to pack their bags and consider moving to Wuchang. Anyway, his vassal territory has fallen, and Hefei is no different from Wuchang. Wuchang is not a sensitive place, and the emperor's nephew has no relationship with him.
Yes, it should not prevent him from living with his daughter and son-in-law.
However, Prince Lu's house had not yet finished cleaning up. A few days later, it was learned that Zhu Shuren had gone to Changde to pay homage and only stayed in Huguang for a few days to deal with some important government affairs that required high-level approval.
Back to Chongqing.
This really made Zhu Changzi very depressed. This was not a false shot! Later, I heard that the Sichuan war was not over yet, and Sun Kewang also brought a considerable part of Zhang Xianzhong's remnants to fight to harass him. This should not be taken lightly. Anyway, the news was released by Zhu Shuren, and he tried his best to
Continue to blow Sun Kewang's threats further.
On this day, Zhu Changzi was playing the harp when his personal eunuch suddenly rushed in and reported: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty has a decree. The messenger has arrived in Hefei. I can help you pack up and prepare to receive the decree."
Zhu Changzi was surprised: "The will? For a lonely person? What kind of will can there be for a lonely person?"
He suddenly had a bad premonition. As an idle and useless vassal king, the last thing he wanted was to receive the emperor's orders. He wished that the emperor would never come to him for the rest of his life. After all, they had no room for advancement. It was better to do less than to do more.
Zhu Changzi packed up anxiously. The angel had also arrived at the temporary palace, and Zhu Changzi went out to greet him respectfully.
The eunuch who arrived was all smiles. He read out the decree through the process, then handed the scroll to Zhu Changzi and congratulated him with a smile on his face: "Congratulations to Your Highness for winning this honor. He was specially selected by His Majesty to visit the mausoleum on behalf of Heaven. It would be ordinary if it were not for His Majesty's personal visit."
Sacrifice, or Zongzheng ordered to offer sacrifices on behalf of the clan, how could an ordinary vassal prince enter Fengyang to worship his ancestors.
This is all due to His Highness's benevolence and filial piety to the clan, and he deserves this honor. Although our Ming Dynasty has long established Zong Zheng Order to control Zong Zheng's duties, since the Wanli Dynasty, the clan has been thin. In recent years, some kings of Qin, Chu and Zhou have been killed.
Or the heir may be extinct, and there are many vacancies in Zongzheng's various positions. Your Majesty is also making an exception this time to give you extra favors, so your Highness must behave well."
After hearing the cause and effect, Zhu Changzi breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he felt quite honored and quickly expressed that he would do a good job.
Isn't it just to go to Fengyang's ancestral graves to visit the tombs and cry for the ancestors on behalf of Chongzhen? This job must be done well. When the time comes, I will take all the most precious spices and sacrificial vessels from Prince Lu's palace and invite the ancestors to enjoy them.
I must make a digression here: both the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty had institutions such as Zongzheng Mansion/Zongren Mansion. It was just that in the Qing Dynasty, each emperor would choose another clan to serve. In the Ming Dynasty, many Zongzheng system positions were
Zhu Yuanzhang was destined to die.
For example, when Zhu Yuanzhang was still alive, he named his second son, King Zhu Ping of Qin, as the Zongzhengling. The King of Qin lineage would always retain this honorary title. Although the blood relationship between him and the emperor later became longer, the new King of Qin actually did not care about anything.
Yes, other low-level officials handle the specific work of clan affairs on their behalf.
In the same way, as early as the time of Zhu Yuanzhang, the kings of Jin, Yan, Zhou, and Chu all had the title of Zuozheng. Among them, the Yan kings usurped the throne with Zhu Di and became emperors, so naturally they did not need titles.
No one has changed the position for more than two hundred years. It only has a symbolic meaning and is assigned to a lower-level official for specific tasks.
But when it came to Chongzhen, the situation became complicated, because major changes had occurred that had not happened in more than two hundred years. Finally, bandits began to completely destroy the old lords who had not been touched for hundreds of years and held the title of Zongzheng.
Killed to extinction.
The King of Zhou who escaped from Kaifeng last year has died of illness, but he still left a grandson. The entire palace of King Qin has been killed by Li Zicheng. Several other Kai kings were also in the same situation, which freed up a lot of money.
Location.
This time Chongzhen needed Uncle Lu to help him cook 500 slices of Zhang Xianzhong's marinated meat for his ancestors. He also wanted to be dignified, so he gave some of the space he had vacated, which invisibly elevated King Lu's dignity among the kings.
Now Zhu Changzi is the "head of clan affairs" in the Ming Dynasty, and can still handle ancestor worship affairs on behalf of the emperor.
Zhu Yousong, the little lucky prince who was also in Hefei, was jealous just two days later when he heard that Uncle Lu led his troops to the north to Fengyang to visit the tombs of his ancestors on behalf of the emperor.
Obviously his bloodline is closer than Uncle Lu Wang, why not let him worship his ancestors on behalf of the emperor!