Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

114. The Ming Dynasty has been in existence for 131 years

Why did Xie Yan ask about telegraphs and trains?

Because it’s mentioned in this history book.

Xie Yan carefully checked the dates of birth and death of Emperor Ming, but there was no information about Emperor Dingtai. It is estimated that the time of death was too recent and the relevant textbook content has not been compiled yet.

The Huangdi Calendar was also canceled from textbooks. Even the calendar commonly used does not exist in the Yellow Emperor Calendar.

Xie Yan excused himself for having a headache and went back to the bedroom with his history textbook. Wang Sheng said goodbye and left without disturbing him.

After returning to the bedroom, Xie Yan took out a pen and paper.

He fainted and rubbed the ink stick for a while, then realized that he was grinding the ink subconsciously.

It may be that daily activities such as talking, dressing, and studying ink have long become habits of this body. Like a person who has suffered a concussion and lost his memory, he can't remember his own name, but he still knows how to speak.

In the pen holder on the desk, there are two pen-like things.

There is a nib and a pen barrel, but there is no leather tube to hold the ink. It seems to be stuffed with cotton or something to absorb the ink.

There are also ink bottles with glass bodies and cork stoppers.

Xie Yan opened the history book, dipped his pen in ink, and began to write down in his writing pad——

Zhu Guoxiang abdicated from the first year of Hongwu to the sixth year of Hongwu. (Reigned for 6 years, died at the age of 93.)

Ju Ming, abdicated, the first year of the restoration of China - the eleventh year of the restoration of China, the first year of the restoration of China - the forty years of the restoration of China. (Reigned for 51 years, died at the age of 90.)

Zhu Yang died of illness in the first year of Duanxi - the seventh year of Duanxi. (Reigned for 7 years, died at the age of 67.)

Zhu Tang died of illness in the first year of Yanchun - the eighteenth year of Yanchun. (Reigned for 18 years, died at the age of 69.)

Zhu Xiaochi died of illness in the first year of Longsheng - the fourth year of Longsheng. (Reigned for 4 years, died at the age of 55.)

Zhu Jingjun died of illness in the first year of Dingtai——? (Year of reign unknown, age unknown.)

Zhu Hepei is currently in office in the first year of Jiaqing - the third year of Jiaqing. (The emperor’s grandson succeeded to the throne.)

If we do not count the reign of Dingtai Emperor Zhu Jingjun, it has only been 89 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

But Wang Sheng said that it had been more than a hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, so Emperor Dingtai had been in power for at least 11 years.

Looking at Emperor Dingtai's father, he died at the age of 55 after reigning for four years, so he himself may have succeeded to the throne in his 30s.

Moreover, Emperor Dingtai even killed his son and directly succeeded him to the throne by his grandson who was less than 10 years old. He is probably also a long-term candidate.

Xie Yan even suspected that the Emperor Jiaqing, who was succeeded by the emperor's grandson, might have some identity issues, which was why a prince dared to stage a coup.

If the reign of Emperor Dingtai is set to 35 years, it will be 124 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

124 years after the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, should it be the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, or has it already reached the Yuan Dynasty? Xie Yan's history is so bad that he can't figure it out at all.

Grass!

Xie Yan slapped his forehead fiercely. He just forgot to ask Wang Sheng how long the Dingtai reign had been used.

This Emperor Dingtai should be very powerful, because Wang Sheng said before that Emperor Dingtai suppressed the rebellion in the Western Regions and the grasslands, and built the railway to the Western Regions and the grasslands.

"Bang bang bang!"

There was a knock on the door.

Xie Yan quickly tore off what he had just written, crumpled it into a ball and put it in his pocket: "Please come in."

A little girl jumped in and pushed the door open: "Brother Six, are your injuries healed?"

"Are you the little sister?" Xie Yan asked.

The little girl was a little unhappy and pursed her lips and said, "It doesn't look like she's healed yet. Even I don't recognize her."

Xie Yan covered his head: "I get a headache just thinking about things. Please help me recall it. What's your name?"

The little girl said: "My name is Xie Wan. I am the thirteenth in the clan. I usually call me Thirteenth Mother."

"It turns out to be Thirteenth Sister, I kind of remembered it." Xie Yan started to talk nonsense.

"Really?" Xie Wan became happy again.

Xie Yan took the opportunity to ask: "Thirteenth sister, how old is Dingtai?"

Xie Wan said: "Forty-two years. In the forty-two years of Dingtai, I just entered the first grade of elementary school. Brother Six, why are you confused again?"

"Sometimes I remember, sometimes I forget." Xie Yan explained.

Xie Wan said with concern: "Then you should get more rest and take the medicine prescribed by the doctor on time."

Xie Yan said a few casual words, but he was counting the years in his heart.

If Dingtai is 42 years old, it will be 131 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

"You guys finish school so early?" Xie Yan glanced at the clock and had nothing to say.

Xie Wan said: "In girls' school, school ends early."

Xie Yan asked: "Do all girls go to girls' schools? Are there any government-run girls' schools?"

"No, all girls' schools are private schools." Xie Wan walked over and looked in the mirror, "I heard that during the Dingtai period, government-run girls' schools were opened in both the east and west capitals, and famous scholars were hired as professors of girls' studies. But there was an important minister My granddaughter was pregnant, and it was found out that she was the daughter of a lecturer. The incident caused a big fuss, and the government-run girls’ school was closed after only a few years.”

Xie Yan could imagine the situation at that time.

Whether it was a mutual love or a teacher seducing a female student, it would be ridiculous to get the granddaughter of an important minister pregnant.

The lecturer had the heart of a bear and the courage of a leopard, and probably wanted to take a chance, cook the raw rice into cooked rice, and take the opportunity to become the grandson-in-law of an important minister.

Xie Yan asked: "Private girls' schools have not been affected?"

Xie Wan said: "It must be affected. All girls' schools now are no longer allowed to use male teachers, and even school handymen are all female."

Xie Yan asked again: "Can women take the imperial examination?"

"I can only take the child prodigy exam. First, I will study in Piyong for three years, and then I will take the exam to enter the Imperial College."

Xie Wan was full of energy when she said this, and recounted the details: "It's very difficult. The child prodigy test is not easy to pass, and Piyong and Taixue have to study for seven years. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, only four women have successfully graduated from Taixue. . One of them became the imperial concubine, two became the crown prince, and one passed the imperial examination and became an official. "

Xie Yan was surprised and said: "A woman can take the imperial examination and become an official?"

Xie Wan nodded vigorously: "For more than a hundred years, there was only one woman who became a scholar and became an official. On the first day I entered school, the teacher told the story of that strange woman. All the female students admired her. It is a pity that her ending Very bad.”

"What's the ending?" Xie Yan asked.

Xie Wan said: "Everyone opposed her becoming an official, and only Emperor Dingtai supported her. After becoming an official, she was often slandered, and the censor always impeached her. She has never married in her life. She is in her forties. Resigned to become a Taoist nun."

Xie Yan was silent.

Xie Wan added: "The teacher told us that when she was an official, everyone criticized her, but when she became a Taoist nun, everyone praised her. Every day, people come to the Taoist temple to talk with her about the past and the present, and discuss academics and poetry. . One day, she suddenly disappeared and never appeared again.”

"It's quite ironic." Xie Yan commented.

Xie Wan continued: "Among the four strange women, one of the crown princes also had a bad ending. She was three years older than the prince, with mediocre appearance and stronger personality. The prince did not like her, and the emperor insisted on marrying her. . She never gave birth to a son, and the prince was deposed in the second year after he ascended the throne. All the civil and military advice was useless. "

Xie Yan thought it was okay. At least this woman from the Ming Dynasty could, in principle, take the imperial examination and become an official. Moreover, after studying at Imperial College, she would be easily selected by the powerful.

Xie Wan whispered: "The current Queen Mother is a child goddess who was born in the Qihe Protectorate. She was selected as the crown prince's concubine when she was studying in the Imperial College. The crown prince's main concubine is in poor health, and several of her legitimate sons have also died. This It’s the emperor’s turn to be the grandson of the emperor. Today’s empress dowager and emperor have foreign ancestry, so the civil and military ministers support King Yong’s coup.”

Xie Yan was surprised and said: "You know this kind of secret? You haven't graduated from elementary school yet!"

"I'm eleven years old, what don't I know?" Xie Wan said, "I was at school and eavesdropped on two teachers. Many teachers were discussing this matter."

As expected of an all-girls school, those female teachers are quite capable of gossiping.

Actually, the current Queen Mother is a serious Han woman.

Her ancestors immigrated to Qihe in the late Taizong Dynasty, married a foreign woman, and had children. From then on, they all married Han Chinese, and all they read were Han books. My grandfather’s generation was even admitted as a regular official.

However, her appearance does have some alien characteristics, because among the so-called Han women who have been intermarrying for several generations, two of them are Qihe mixed-race children.

Very beautiful.

The prince was already in his forties at the time. When he inspected the Imperial Academy, he fell in love with her at just one glance. When he returned, he applied to Emperor Dingtai for a concubine.

Xie Wan eavesdropped on the gossip of the female teachers, but what she knew was not all the information. The sources of information for those female teachers were limited.

The real reason for King Yong's coup was that the wise and powerful Emperor Dingtai became extremely dim in the last few years of his reign.

Upright ministers were squeezed out, and treacherous villains came to power one after another. While Prince Yong was currying favor with the dim-witted Emperor Dingtai, he secretly made friends with eunuchs, civil servants and military generals.

Although King Yong himself was just a Hanlin official with no real power, many eunuchs, civil servants, and military generals had close personal relationships with him.

In addition, Emperor Dingtai lived too long, and the two empresses, the prince, and several direct emperors died of illness, which further fueled their ambitions.

These guys took advantage of Emperor Dingtai's critical illness, isolated the inside and outside, blocked news, and forged imperial edicts. They were almost 100% sure that the coup would be successful.

Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, the crown prince's concubine from the Land of Seven Rivers ran away with her son who had only been made the crown prince for half a year!

No one knows how they escaped from the East Palace, but they quickly arrived at Chang'an Tongdian Qinwang. Moreover, a civil servant accompanied him throughout the whole process, and this civil servant has now become the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty.

The still-charming Queen Mother, the young new monarch, and the sudden rise to power as Prime Minister returned to Luoyang and joined forces to carry out a bloody purge of the court.

Too many civil and military officials have been implicated, causing rumors to spread everywhere. Some people are secretly making crazy rumors, saying that the Prime Minister often sleeps in the Queen Mother's bed.

Some people even say that the little emperor is the illegitimate son of the prime minister.

After chatting with my sister for a while, Xie Yan’s father and brother came home one after another.

His older brother had a lively personality and joked with Xie Yan, who was "not smart".

My father looked sad.

While eating, my mother asked, "Is there something difficult in the Yamen?"

The father asked the servants to disperse first, and then sighed: "The New Deal has spread everywhere. The emperor and the cabinet have issued orders to reduce the number of civil servants and servants in all levels of government offices."

"This is a good thing. All the clerks in the yamen are idle and do nothing. Reducing the number of white officials and white servants will allow the clerks to work more easily," said my mother.

The father shook his head: "You don't understand. There are too many messy things. The new monarch and the prime minister are trying to change the law. Rectifying the administration is only the first step. We don't know what to do next. They have cleaned up the court, and now It’s my turn to tidy up the place, and I’ll be in trouble if I don’t pay attention.”