Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

In the evening, the Forbidden City in the twilight showcases the most outstanding architectural craftsmanship of this era.

The red walls of the Forbidden City are a rare wall color in this era, and the yellow glazed tiles give each palace the majesty of a king. The palace surrounded by city walls is like an independent kingdom.

The group of people came out of the royal garden with lakes and mountains, and entered the Xihua Gate of the Forbidden City. The Royal Forest Army and the Imperial Guards were already on guard here.

Zhu Youtang rode a dragon chariot out of Xiyuan Gate and saw Xihua Gate on the opposite side. He had adapted to the current life of "leaving early and returning late".

It's just that I feel a little depressed at the moment. I just happened to encounter a super big fish, and my fishing line was broken again.

As a qualified fisherman, naturally he cannot just be satisfied with "not having an air force", but must constantly challenge himself and catch some "giant things" that can shock the world.

It's a pity that the fishing line collapsed again. This feeling is like having an erotic dream in a previous life, only to be suddenly woken up by your roommate. How discouraged do you think you feel?

Zhu Youtang knew that if he wanted to prevent this kind of thing from happening again, it would be unreliable to just rely on Bai Ang, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry. He would also have to work hard to find better natural fibers, or make major breakthroughs in chemical experiments.

Zhu Ji seemed to be very conscientious and guarded the passage, but today was different. He suddenly knelt down in the passage and handed over the memorial: "Your Majesty, I have a request, please read it personally!"

"Commander Zhu, aren't you deliberately disturbing His Majesty's rest?" Liu Jin couldn't help scolding him when she saw Zhu Ji handing him the music in front of him at this time.

Zhu Youtang gently raised his hand towards Liu Jin, then looked at Zhu Ji who was kneeling on the ground and said lightly: "Bring it up!"

Liu Jin actually knew that His Majesty did not like the commander of the Imperial Guard, but when he heard that Zhu Youtang had spoken, he hurriedly shut his mouth and stepped forward to forward the memorial.

The dragon chariot just stopped, but did not put down.

When Zhu Ji saw that his memorial had been handed over to Zhu Youtang, he made a request: "My father-in-law, Shaobao Yu Qian, was rehabilitated by the late emperor. I would like to ask your majesty to confer a posthumous title, a plaque, and a national sacrifice!"

In the defense battle of Beijing City, Yu Qian and Shi Heng played the most important roles.

After the Tumu Fort Incident, Yu Qian, the left minister of the Ministry of War, became the supreme commander of the defense war of the capital. Since he knew that he would come first, he also made full preparations for the war in Beijing.

He asked the imperial court to order the deployment of troops from the north and south of Beijing, preparations for Cao in Henan, preparations for Japanese troops along the coast of Shandong and Nanjing, and grain transport troops from the prefectures in Jiangbei and Beijing. At the same time, the northern prefectures sent a total of more than 100,000 troops to Shuntian Prefecture, and would The rice and grain from the Tongzhou granary were brought back to the capital, and now it can be said that there are many soldiers and sufficient food.

In addition, Ma Shun, the commander of the Jinyi Guards whom Ying Zong relied on, was beaten to death by civilian officials, and Zhao Rong, the admiral of the Three Thousand Battalion, Xincheng Bo, was imprisoned. All personnel with military power and loyal to Ying Zong were suppressed.

The nine garrison generals of Beijing were no longer Wu Xun or eunuchs, but were replaced by frontier generals such as Shi Heng, Liu Ju, and Tang Jie, or local generals such as Sun Boring and Tao Jin.

On October 11th, Ye first led a large army to Beijing and asked the Ming court for a huge reward in exchange for Yingzong.

Faced with Ye Xian's request for a huge reward, Yu Qian refused, but he already intended to give up on Ying Zong.

As for the generals guarding the gate, they have always been in a state of hostility with Mongolia. Their ancestors even died under the sword of Mongolia. Now that they are favored by the civil servant group, they are naturally unlikely to open the city gate.

After all, Ye Xian was a foreigner. Seeing that he could not obtain large benefits through the Yingzong, he wanted to take the city of Beijing as his own, and immediately sent his younger brother Polo and General Ping Zhangqing to attack Xizhimen.

In this battle, the one who performed best was actually Shi Heng.

In the 9th year of Xuande, Shi Heng inherited Kuanhewei and commanded the Qianshi. Because of his tall body, good at horseback riding and archery, and his courage similar to that of Guan Gong, he soon stood out in the Datong army and served as the Datong general to assist the Datong commander-in-chief Wu Jinbo and Zhu Mianshi. More than a year.

Because of his wisdom and bravery, and his prowess in battle, people at the time said, "Although Heng is a partial general, the court regards him as a general."

In the 14th year of Zhengtong, he also led the army to invade. Datong's general Wu Jinbo Zhu Mian and Xining Marquis Song Ying were killed in Yanghekou, and general Shi Heng fled back alone.

Although the imperial court retained his position as Datong General, the governor Qianshi was demoted to the commander of the capital, and the imperial court required him to recruit troops locally and wait for meritorious service to atone for his sins.

Although Shi Heng was convicted by the court, the court also knew that the responsibility did not lie with Shi Heng. Judging from Shi Heng's military exploits in Datong for more than ten years, he can be said to be the most brave general in the Ming Dynasty.

Shi Heng was recalled to the capital as "King Qin" together with other frontier generals. Supervisor Zhu Qiyu promoted Shi Heng to right governor, took charge of the Fifth Army Camp, and was granted the title of Wu Qingbo.

During this battle, Xizhimen, Deshengmen and Zhangyimen were attacked, with Deshengmen being the most violent.

Shi Heng was stationed at Desheng Gate. Shi Heng led Shi Biao, Fan Guang and other generals to charge forward and successfully withstood Oara's attack. When Zhangyi Gate was attacked, Shi Heng personally led his troops to support.

On October 14, Wala saw that the Ming court did not agree to the huge reward and did not even bargain with him, and it was impossible for him to capture the city of Beijing, so he finally chose to loot the capital and return.

From October 11th when the Oara army arrived outside the Xizhi Gate of Beijing City, to October 14th when they repelled the Oara army at Zhangyi Gate, the battle lasted three days and three nights and ended with the Ming Army successfully defending Beijing.

Whether it was Yu Qian who stood up and abandoned Zhu Qi in favor of Zhu Qiyu, or Shi Heng who performed bravely in the defense of Beijing City, they did not end well in the end.

After the restoration of Yingzong, Emperor Jingtai was dethroned, and Yu Qian was sentenced to death for being impeached by Ke Daoyan for planning to welcome the son of Prince Celi Xiang.

Although Shi Heng was the beneficiary of Yingzong's capture, he served as a Datong general in the Yingzong dynasty for more than ten years, and eventually became an important participant in the coup, and was promoted to the title of Duke Zhongguo.

It's just that Shi Heng's military power was too heavy. Neither the Yingzong, who was considering the throne, nor the civil service group, who were considering status, would allow such an awesome figure to exist.

However, Shi Heng's nephew Shi Biao and others were domineering and did not restrain themselves. When Shi Biao was found to have privately owned embroidered python dragon clothes, he was accused of conspiracy. Shi Heng's home was confiscated and he was imprisoned. He died of illness in prison.

Just like this, Yu Qian and Shi Heng were originally the two most outstanding heroes in the defense of Beijing. As a result, Yu Qian still has no posthumous title, while Shi Heng is still the guilty minister.

"Yu Shaobao's posthumous title has a lot to do with it. I have to think about this carefully. Please step back!" When Zhu Youtang heard that it was Yu Qian's posthumous title, he decided to drag it out.

Zhu Ji hesitated for a moment, but directly petitioned: "Your Majesty, my father-in-law, Shaobao Yu Qian, during the crisis of the Ming Dynasty, made great contributions to the internal disputes in the court and the defense of powerful enemies from outside! The posthumous title should be Wenzheng, worthy of the title. Hengtai Temple!”

Wen Zheng? Worthy of enjoying the Ancestral Temple?

Liu Jin was originally angry at Zhu Ji's insistence, but after hearing this request, she secretly swallowed her saliva.

Posthumous titles began in the Western Zhou Dynasty. After the death of a figure with a relatively high social status, descendants will evaluate the person based on his life story and give words of praise or derogation, ranging from one to more than 20 words.

By the Han Dynasty, only three dukes and marquises were eligible to receive posthumous titles. In the Tang Dynasty, the scope had been expanded to include official officials of the third rank and above and casual officials of the second rank and above.

By the Ming Dynasty, due to the proliferation of posthumous titles among the literati class, posthumous titles no longer set a threshold and depended entirely on the wishes of the emperor or the court.

The highest posthumous title in the Song Dynasty was Zhongxian, which was the posthumous title of Zhao Pu, the first hero of the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty. Therefore, the posthumous title pursued by civil servants was "Wenwen".

It's just that there was an ineffective person in the civil service group - Qin Hui. Although Qin Hui's posthumous title was later changed to "Miao Chou", he was still "stolen" after all.

In this dynasty, the highest posthumous title for military commanders was still Zhongwu, but the highest posthumous title for civil servants was Wenzheng. Therefore, the ideal of many literati was "to be born as a Taifu of Jin, and to die as Wenzheng".

Wenzheng was actually Wenzhen. In the Song Dynasty, it was changed to "Wenzheng" in order to avoid the name taboo of Song Renzong Zhao Zhen. The reason why this posthumous title can replace the supremacy of literature is that the person who made the greatest contribution is "worry about the world first, and worry about the world later." Fan Zhongyan who is happy and happy.

In the eyes of current historians, "Fan Zhongyan was the first among pre-Confucian scholars to discuss the figures of the Song Dynasty", but they believe that the collapse of the Song Dynasty stemmed from the emperor's failure to insist on allowing Fan Zhongyan to implement the New Deal.

It's just that the two most important civil servants in the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Song Lian and Li Shanchang, were both implicated in the Hu Weiyong case. Song Lian was exiled and Li Shanchang was beheaded, so they didn't even have posthumous titles.

Since the first two did not have the posthumous title of Wenzheng, it was naturally difficult for the subsequent civil servants to use this posthumous title. Even Yang Shiqi received the posthumous title of "Wenzhen".

As for why Wen Zhen can be used again? You can't really use the Song Dynasty's Shangfang sword to kill Ming Dynasty officials!

It's just that Zhu Ji asked for the posthumous title "Wenzheng" for Yu Qian, and he also had to enjoy the Ancestral Temple. This is not to say that Yu Qian is not worthy of "Wen Zheng", but it is inappropriate for this request to come from Zhu Ji.

Not to mention that there had never been such a high posthumous title during the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and this matter should not have been brought up by Zhu Ji, the son-in-law, as it could easily deteriorate the matter.

"I will think about what kind of posthumous title should be given to Yu Shaobao. You don't need to worry about it!" Zhu Youtang was too lazy to open the memorial and looked unhappy.

Zhu Ji knew that he had offended Zhu Youtang, so he immediately knelt on the ground and explained: "I just want to express my wish, and please forgive me!"

Zhu Youtang didn't want to get upset over this trivial matter, so he moved his fingers gently.

Liu Jin saw that Zhu Youtang wanted to leave, and immediately urged the team to enter Xihua Gate.

"Your Majesty, please give generous gifts to the meritorious officials!" Zhu Ji watched Zhu Youtang leave and immediately petitioned again.

Zhu Youtang's brows frowned slightly, and he suddenly felt unhappy in his heart, and he also secretly had a headache.

In fact, he had to face not only the issue of Yu Qian's posthumous title, but also the need to vindicate Shi Heng.

Unlike Yu Qian who relied on the civil service group, although Shi Heng was a military commander, he had no background after all, but he was a military general who rose to power from the local area relying on military merit.

Shi Biao's rebellion was undoubtedly framed by someone with ulterior motives who wanted to bring down Shi Heng.

Although he could not completely enter the thinking of military generals in this era, if he really wanted to rebel, he would think more about how to implement it and how to cultivate his own team of choice, rather than preparing a useless dragon robe early.

Judging from the fact that Shi Biao's son was only demoted to a commoner in the end, it is enough to show that Shi Biao's rebellion is not true. At least Yingzong did not think it was a rebellion.

Zhu Youtang knew that later generations believed that Yu Qian was the number one hero who saved the Ming Dynasty and extended the life of the Ming Dynasty for two hundred years. With his achievements in the defense of Beijing, he could naturally be awarded civil and military titles and be entitled to the Ancestral Temple.

Although Yu Qian's achievements cannot be denied, the real key in that battle of guarding the city in Beijing was the heroes like Shi Heng and the group of soldiers who were willing to sacrifice.

Promoting Yu Qian now is indeed conducive to the loyalty of the civil servant group, but history has long proved that the civil servant group is actually a bunch of kneeling ministers. The reason why they defended Beijing with all their strength back then was probably out of their own interests.

Although Xu Jue, Liu Dingzhi and others who had just entered the officialdom proposed to move south, the wealth of a group of important officials was in the capital, and a group of military heroes had been entrenched in the capital for hundreds of years. Even if the family of the Empress Dowager Sun was in Shandong, how could these people not be affected? Keep the principles of Beijing city?

Why Chongzhen could not move the capital back then was related to Chongzhen's indecisive character, but the interests of the civil servant group and the general group had already been bound to the city of Beijing.

That's why, even if the Beijing City Defense War extended the life of the Ming Dynasty for two hundred years, wasn't it a self-defense action by the civil servant group to protect property?

For example, although Yue Fei's Northern Expedition failed in the end, their slogan was "Welcome back the Second Emperor". As a result, the heroes of the Ming Dynasty, who had millions of troops, actually ignored them when faced with only 70,000 troops.

Hundreds of thousands of troops were mobilized from various places to Beijing, and they once wanted to burn down the Tongzhou granary. They considered more of their own interests, but they had no plan to welcome Yingzong back. In the end, they even wanted to refuse to welcome Yingzong back.

Zhu Youtang knew that Yu Qian was a hero of China, but he was still a step behind Yue Fei. As a suitable emperor, you must also consider the interests of the entire dynasty and what kind of role model China needs.

Although Yu Qian was the biggest contributor to the defense of Beijing, he never thought about welcoming back the Ying sect, or even being the vanguard to prevent the return of the Ying sect, so some cold water needed to be poured on him. What's more, the Ming Dynasty's army does not need civilian officials like Yu Qian to compete with it for military power. Instead, it needs fierce generals like Shi Heng and batches of soldiers who have the courage to sacrifice themselves to defend the city.

Zhu Youtang did not intend to give Yu Qian the posthumous title of Wenzheng, or even give him a slight blow, but wanted to rehabilitate Shi Heng, and even more so to pay homage to the hundreds of soldiers who sacrificed their lives to defend the city.

"Your Majesty, I feel that Zhu Ji is a little unusual today! Not to mention that this request is too much, and the words and deeds just now are easy to offend Your Majesty, he should not be so ignorant!" Liu Jin expressed his judgment after staying away from Xihua Gate.

If Zhu Youtang nodded enlightenedly, he actually felt that Yu Qian's behavior today was weird.

Although people in later generations highly praised Yu Qian, everyone in this era clearly knew that Yu Qian had abandoned the Yingzong after all. Even the civil service group did not dare to push Yu Qian to such a high level.

Zhu Youtang suddenly realized that he was still holding the memorial presented by Zhu Ji in his hand. He immediately opened the memorial and said sullenly: "Tell Qin Conggui later! Tell him not to just stare at Zhu Ji. Let him Target everyone in Zhu Ji’s family, I need to know his every move, especially who he is in contact with!”

Liu Jin knew that Zhu Youtang had been investigating Zhu Ji, but there had been no breakthrough, so he immediately said yes.

The dragon chariot passed by Renshou Palace as usual, but the Queen Mother had already sent a eunuch waiting here to invite Zhu Youtang, so she turned into Renshou Palace.

"Your Majesty, I wonder if you can spare some time tomorrow?" The Queen Mother asked softly, her charm still intact.

Zhu Youtang has spent more time with the Queen Mother now, and his behavior seems more casual and authentic: "Queen Mother, what's the matter?"

"Three hundred beautiful ladies will enter the palace tomorrow, and the Ai family wants you to show your face!" The Queen Mother already regarded Zhu Youtang as a relative, and said with a slight raise in the corner of her mouth.