Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"Jiang Xinghuo established the method of examination and considered it as the foundation of the country's governance. Because it has become a trend among those who follow the rules and regulations, it has been since the first year of Yongle when the method was established. It has been tempered at home and abroad. No one dares to slack off. We must pay attention to details and relax. Together, the prime minister can weigh the world, nothing more than that." - Tan Qian's "Guoyan"

Jiang Xinghuo, who is in the middle of the game, does not know what impact his every move will have on future generations, and how people will judge him later. But it is obvious that at the end of the winter of the first year of Yongle, trouble is coming. .

"This is a false accusation!"

"This is a false accusation."

Yao Guangxiao was not surprised by Jiang Xinghuo's reaction, but said, "What are we going to do now?"

The old monk's simple words made Jiang Xinghuo fall into a long thought.

Yeah, what should they do?

The cause of the matter is not complicated, and the execution can even be called simple.

A monk who was responsible for worshiping Buddha in Zhu Gaochi's house was reported. The content of the report was that he had accepted bribes from officials. The reason why a monk could accept bribes was because many people heard that he had a "path" and therefore wanted to take this path. , when they passed the exam at the end of the year, they received an evaluation that exceeded their expected performance, and passed the Beijing inspection.

The officialdom is ups and downs, that's how it is.

There is no problem with the intelligence of the officials, but most of them do not have high expectations for this.

But the core of this kind of thing is that you may not believe it, but you cannot help but do it.

Just like the filial piety during the holidays, the eldest prince is busy with many things and won't remember who came to give gifts and how expensive the gifts were, but he will definitely remember who didn't come.

Those who come will be checked on the list and will not be listed separately.

But whoever is not ticked is conspicuous and a separate list is required.

Therefore, even if the monk repeatedly pushed him away, no one would really make a big deal out of this matter. It seemed that a mute person was not worth really bringing it out and offending the eldest prince.

But there are always adults in this world who, after walking all the roads, desperately find themselves with nowhere to go.

This is the case for this minor official from the Ministry of War who was reported to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Sixth Section, and even the General Affairs Department under the real-name system.

It's not easy to be a Beijing official. He looks majestic, but in fact, when he lifts up his gorgeous official robe, underneath, there are all leaky old clothes.

The salary that Lao Zhu set for officials was ridiculously low, leaving no room for welcome and transportation. It was barely enough for the family to eat and not starve to death. But if this was the case, what did these people want to do as officials? Even if you are a straight person, it is difficult for you to not socialize at all. When visiting your boss during the holidays, wouldn’t it be appropriate to bring a pastry bag?

But socializing requires money. Regardless of whether it is Qinhuai River or Mochou Lake, the consumption is not low. Even if you want to maintain the most basic dignity, you will need one or two months of salary to go to a government-run or private restaurant.

On another level, the Chengkao Law and the Beijing Examination have actually increased the frequency of year-end social activities for officials that have no real effect. This is like an arms race. Maybe you know that it is useless, so don’t do it. If you do, you will fall behind.

It is now the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. In terms of military affairs, the group of ministers in the Governor's Office of the Five Armies who are always in the position of Hou Bo are in control of the military power. However, the power of the Ministry of War is nothing in front of these ministers with great military exploits. It is inappropriate to say so. According to the metaphor, the Ministry of War is more like a subsidiary agency of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion.

Therefore, although the Ministry of War has oil and water, it is not much, and it is extremely unevenly distributed.

The Ministry of War has four departments: Military Selection, Staff Division, Vehicle Driving, and Arsenal. The military selection and arsenal are quite profitable. After all, one selects people and the other stocks, while the Staff Division and Chariot Driving Department have only a little room for maneuver by the officials. Quite small.

Liu Cunwu is a sixth-grade chief of the Zhongfang Department of the Ministry of War. The Zhongfang Department is responsible for three major matters: maps, military systems, and garrison, as well as some minor matters such as City God, Guanjin, and arrests. For the Ming Dynasty, these matters include Some are big or small, but for the officials of the Ministry of War's Staff Division, they are all matters of little benefit.

Therefore, Liu Cunwu wanted to move his position rather than go to another department, but even if he was transferred to the Military Selection Department and the Arsenal Department, it would be great!

But his hopes are not high, because his performance at work is really lackluster, and he even made some mistakes. Although the results haven't come out yet, he once heard some unfaithful rumors. , I am afraid that this time he will be transferred, which is the so-called "buffer period". If he fails, he will be dismissed. This immediately made Liu Cunwu anxious. It was at this time that he heard about the monk's approach.

At first, General Liu Cunwu was doubtful, but when he saw that several of his colleagues had been sent away, and neither the Jin Yiwei nor the Inspectorate seemed to respond, Liu Cunwu began to fall into a state of severe anxiety, so he did not hesitate to piece together everything. , borrowed some more money, and came to give a big gift.

After delivering this heavy gift, Liu Cunwu felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his chest as he listened to the monk patting his chest and confirming his promise. He was full of confidence and hope, but as time went by, more and more signs showed that the monk Maybe he was just a liar who was hiding the truth from the eldest prince, but no official dared to expose him, and they all seemed to have suffered the loss of being dumb by default.

Liu Cunwu didn't dare to do it. It wasn't until debt collectors came to his door and forced him to sleep in the government office every day that he didn't dare to go back to his home. Then Liu Cunwu became anxious.

Until this moment, Liu Cunwu was still thinking that if the monk refused to do anything after receiving the money, he would just get the money back.

It's a pity that all the money has been lost by the monk who plays more and more. Is there any possibility of getting the money back?

"Liu Cunwu, who was forced into a desperate situation, finally chose to report the case - this is the statement of the Metropolitan Procuratorate."

Yao Guangxiao said meaningfully.

In other words, this is only Liu Cunwu's one-sided statement, and it is difficult to obtain other evidence. It may be true or it may be a perfectly crafted lie.

But no matter what, Liu Cunwu had no connection with Jiang Xinghuo and people related to Jiang Xinghuo.

Therefore, even if there is a factional struggle, it will not affect Jiang Xinghuo in the first round.

As for if it really expands in the future, of course no one can avoid it.

Jiang Xinghuo was silent for a moment before saying, "Without information, we can't know the truth."

Yes, there is no information.

Now the Yanjun intelligence agency that Yao Guangxiao was originally responsible for has been completely abolished or merged into Jinyiwei.

Zhu Di, who was sitting on the throne, seemed to have a good handle on Jiang Xinghuo.

There is no army, no intelligence, and only some administrative power. Apart from being controlled by the imperial power and serving the imperial power, what else can it do?

"Why didn't Jin Yiwei notice it at all? Does Ji Gang really take care of the child every day?"

"Maybe he noticed it, but he didn't dare to report it."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded. Although the rebuilt Jinyiwei was also very powerful, it was far less pervasive than the Hongwu Dynasty. Moreover, Zhu Di did not admire the rule of secret agents, so he had many restrictions on Jinyiwei. And as Jinyiwei's stall began to spread again, Many capable personnel have been transferred to other places and even foreign countries. Within the capital, Jinyiwei's monitoring capabilities have dropped a lot.

Furthermore, even if Jin Yiwei really didn't know, Jiang Xinghuo wouldn't be surprised.

Sometimes we should not think about how controllable the political events in the Ming Dynasty were. In fact, just look at the Ming Dynasty in history. The cause of one of the three major cases in the late Ming Dynasty was a man named Zhang Cha, who was holding a wooden stick. Along the way, she broke into the Ciqing Palace where the prince lived and injured the eunuch guarding the gate. People at the time suspected that Concubine Zheng wanted to murder the prince. But who assassinated the prince and let someone enter through the main entrance with a wooden stick? There are indeed tricks, but excessive conspiracy theories often lead things far away from the truth.

As the saying goes, "Fiction requires logic, reality does not."

Jiang Xinghuo lacked the necessary information at this time. He was like a blindfolded person, and he really couldn't tell whether this incident was an accident or someone did it intentionally. If it was an accident, it might have been done by the monk himself. Yes, but from the perspective of who benefits and who does the work, we can guess some clues. It is either the remnants of Jianwen who are still evil-minded, or the conservative forces who resist the law.

Because of this, Jiang Xinghuo and Yao Guangxiao said in unison at the beginning, "This is a false accusation."

For the reformists, it was intolerable that Zhu Gaochi fell into passivity at this time, and even the progress of the entire legal examination was delayed.

In the temple, Jiang Xinghuo had certain conflicts of interest with Zhu Gaochi. Even in the previous incidents, it was apparently the reformists who charged into the battle, but in fact, upon closer inspection, it was Zhu Gaochi who followed behind to pick peaches. In the Ming Dynasty, The temple was quickly conquered, and to this day, Zhu Gaochi is the most powerful party in the civil administration system.

The group of people brought out by Zhu Gaochi from the Peking civil service system have now occupied many key positions in the six departments except Shangshu by virtue of Jingnan's contribution.

But no matter what, Zhu Gaochi supports the reform. It doesn't matter whether he is happy or not. What matters is the actual attitude.

In the face of common interests, any conflicts can be put aside temporarily.

"The fire hasn't burned us yet. The most important thing now is to pass the test. The Beijing inspection later is just to implement the results of the test, so we don't need to panic. We have to do the last part of the test. The specific situation of this matter, I’ll try to find out more.”

Yao Guangxiao probably knew what Jiang Xinghuo could do, and it was nothing more than exchanging information with Zhu Gaosui.

Ji Gang's line is out of control, and now the only one who can find out the truth of the matter is Zhu Gaosui.

At this time, inside the Fengtian Hall of the Nanjing Imperial Palace.

Zhu Di sat on the dragon chair, his expression calm.

"Tell me what's going on."

Zhu Gaochi, who was kneeling below, already felt that his blood supply was insufficient due to his excessive weight. His feet were even cold and he was dizzy. However, he still did not dare to neglect and quickly explained: "Father, I really don't know about this." Affection."

"Of course you don't know!"

At this time, Zhu Di stood up with a puff of his sleeves and said with a smile: "I have been busy all day installing cronies in the court and weeding out dissidents. I am so busy that I have no time to collect money? Isn't that right, Prince? Oh! , No, it’s time to call him Prince!”

This is what Zhu Di said to Zhu Gaochi, who was clearly mocking the civil servants who came from the Peiping administrative system.

In the past, Zhu Gaochi was the crown prince of King Yan, and these people all called him that. But now, whether it is out of the desire to show old friendship to show closeness, or some metaphor of dissatisfaction with Zhu Gaochi not becoming the crown prince justifiably, these people still call him that. Zhu Gaochi.

It's a very small thing.

But here Zhu Di has endured it for a long time, and now it just explodes completely.

Zhu Gaochi wanted to speak, but looking at his father's terrifying expression, he pursed his lips and said nothing.

"The left minister Xu Siwen and the right minister Liu Guan of the Ministry of Personnel, the left minister Sun Yu of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the left minister Chen Shou of the Ministry of Industry, the left minister Qiao Wen of the Ministry of War, the right minister Shi Kui, the ministers of Dali Temple, Taichang Temple, and Taipu Temple , Tongzheng Envoy, and You Tongzhengman are all looking at the court, they are all the cronies you have promoted, do you want to let you sit on this throne?"

"Come on, stand up!"

Zhu Di had extraordinary arm strength. A fat man like Zhu Gaochi, who weighed more than 200 kilograms, did not dare to resist. Zhu Di actually pulled him up with both hands, and then pushed Zhu Gaochi onto the dragon chair. Zhu Gaochi was so frightened that he stopped. Don't dare to move at all.

"Father, father!"

At this time Zhu Gaosui appeared at the right time.

"Misunderstanding, really misunderstanding. This monk was picked up from the temple by my sister-in-law and Zhang Anshi. He was originally a flowery monk who didn't abide by the precepts. Brother, I really don't have any integrity at all."

Zhu Gaosui's words came to an abrupt end because Zhu Di suddenly raised his hand to signal him and pointed at the dragon chair.

The meaning is obvious. Is it your turn to speak? What, you also want to be the emperor?

Zhu Gaosui immediately shut up and stepped aside.

At this point in the performance of the father and son, Zhu Gaochi also understood that it didn't matter whether he knew or not. This was because his father wanted to give him a beating, or in other words, the root cause was that his power had begun to threaten the imperial power.

And everything that happens next, as well as the final consequences of this incident, will be affected by his attitude.

This situation between father and son has actually been vividly demonstrated in the history of Jiang Xinghuo's previous life.

Even if Jiang Xinghuo doesn’t know much about the history of the Yongle period, he still clearly remembers that once Zhu Di returned from the Northern Expedition, Zhu Gaochi came to greet him a little late, which caused an extremely serious incident in the temple. Many princelings were immediately arrested. imprison.

In this time and space, as the conservative forces suffered a greater blow, the vacant positions and power gaps were all occupied. The majority was occupied by Zhu Gaochi and the Peiping civil service system that he had directly managed before.

After all, in Zhu Di's opinion at the beginning, although most of the civil servants in Peiping were not close to him, regardless of whether they took the initiative or were coerced, these civil servants rebelled with him, so compared to the old officials of Hongwu and Jianwen in the temple , Zhu Di is still more willing to use these officials who came from the Peiping civil service system.

But as the saying goes, one moment after another, when Zhu Gaochi's power expanded to an extent that Zhu Di could not bear, this kind of beating became inevitable.

Under normal conditions, the imperial power does not allow any force to threaten it. Once there is a threat, it will be destroyed.

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaosui and asked in an indifferent tone: "Third brother, what do you think?"

Zhu Gaosui smiled bitterly in his heart. He had figured it out just now, but obviously the truth was not important. His father wanted to say what he wanted to say for him.

"My son, I dare not speak nonsense." Zhu Gaosui replied in a low voice.

He didn't know what to say now. After all, he didn't want to offend his elder brother. Now that the internal disputes were getting more intense, he really wanted to run away with the bucket as soon as possible.

But Zhu Gaosui also knew that there were only three people in the palace, and his father would definitely not let him go.

"Um?"

Zhu Gaosui said helplessly: "But now that my father has asked me, I dare not refuse to answer. No matter what, the eldest brother always has someone who is lax in his discipline."

"Um?"

Zhu Gaosui was not needed this time. Zhu Gaochi admitted his mistake: "The upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. It is the fault of the son. The son asks the father to punish him, but the loyalty of the son to the father can be learned from the sun and the moon. There is no partisanship or evil intention." Things!"

After saying this, there was silence in the hall for a long time.

After a long time, Zhu Di snorted coldly: "That's it! I wanted to deal with you today, but I thought you had to work hard, so I exempted you from the responsibility of laxly disciplining your family. But starting from now on, you will go home and reflect for three months." , you don’t need to interfere with the matter of passing the law test and Beijing inspection."

Although Zhu Di did not do anything to Zhu Gaochi, he still asked him to go home and reflect, which was equivalent to house arrest. Moreover, these three months were actually very important for Zhu Gaochi to compete for the position of prince, because at this time, Beizhili was also At the same time, post-war reconstruction and the implementation of the New Deal began, Zhu Gaoxu was not idle for a moment.

But when Zhu Gaochi heard this, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and kowtowed quickly in thanks: "Thank you very much, father, for your magnanimity. I will reflect on it carefully."

"hope so."

Zhu Di waved his hand: "Everyone, please step back!"

Zhu Gaosui also followed suit, but when he helped Zhu Gaochi out, he saw that the other person's face became very pale. Obviously, Zhu Gaochi's heart was not as calm as he showed.

After the two left, the door of the palace rang, and someone came in silently. After a while, when Zhu Di's expression calmed down, a eunuch's voice came: "Your Majesty, your dragon body is not healed yet. You should rest well." Come on, don't get angry."

At this time, Zhu Di took the handkerchief handed over by the other party and wiped his nose. However, the charcoal fire in the temple was too hot and he caught a cold.

"I know my body very well."

Looking at the eunuch Huang Yan, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, Zhu Di seemed to be angry again, and his voice became a little louder: "These useless things are thinking about fighting for power all day long."

Huang Yan sighed softly, as if he was very sad, and then comforted him: "Your Majesty, I don't have a son, so I don't dare to advise you. But at this time, when I look at the princes who I have seen since childhood, I sometimes think about it. "

Looking at the old eunuch, Zhu Di was already very angry, but now he couldn't let it out.

Yes, people rarely realize how much they have. They can only feel it when they lose it and compare it. Everything they own and take for granted is actually insignificant to other people. Said, they are all priceless treasures.

Seeing that Zhu Di was thoughtful, Huang Yan continued to persuade: "Your Majesty, you don't have to be impatient. You are in good health. It is the peak of the Spring and Autumn Period. This old slave has been with you for thirty years and witnessed countless storms. In the end, he took control of everything. It must be you."

"Ha ha."

Zhu Di smiled and seemed to be comforted a lot: "You! You are still so good at comforting people."

"That's alright, let's summon Jian Yi, the official minister, and Jiang Xinghuo, the national advisor, to the palace for an audience."