The Prosperous Era of Longwan

In ancient times, the appearance of auspiciousness represented God's affirmation of the current emperor, indicating that the emperor governed well, the weather was smooth, and the people lived a prosperous life.

Every emperor hopes that he will be famous throughout the ages and have auspicious appearances, which is undoubtedly a happy thing for the emperor.

Reporting to the emperor for auspiciousness caters well to the emperor's psychology, secretly flatters the emperor, and leaves a good impression on the emperor, hoping to be promoted to a higher rank.

In all dynasties, auspicious events were regarded as extremely important omens, but in the Ming Dynasty, these events were more likely to attract attention.

The specific contents of auspicious events in the Ming Dynasty include many kinds of auspiciousness, such as colorful clouds, mythical beasts, dragons, phoenixes, tigers, deer, etc., which are considered to be some auspicious prophecies and omens.

These auspicious events are not only natural phenomena, but also include humanistic and social aspects. They believe that these auspicious events can bring blessings and peace, so they are widely used in military, political and economic fields.

Although auspicious events in the Ming Dynasty were mysterious and incredible, in fact, these auspicious events had very important practical significance in the society at that time.

Auspicious events not only herald the prosperity and prosperity of the country, but also symbolize the steady state of order and tranquility.

Therefore, the explanation of auspicious events must also take into account the political, cultural, religious and philosophical thoughts of the time. Only by comprehensive consideration can we have a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of a period of history.

The earliest auspicious sign is actually the uprising in which Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty killed the White Snake. It was a famous historical allusion before Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty. At that time, Liu Bang split the big snake with one sword, which made the people who followed him even more awed. The "White Python Terrace" in the Peking Opera is It evolved based on this allusion.

It is said that Qin Shihuang once said: "There is the spirit of the emperor in the southeast." Liu Bang suspected that it was him.

People who were looking for him later said that there were always clouds gathering where he appeared. This was the reason why many people followed him in the beginning. The auspiciousness contained people's yearning for a better and stable life.

As for the earlier ones, they are suspected to be auspicious. Because there are few records and more are passed down by word of mouth, they have become legends.

It is not surprising that similar auspiciousness appeared in most of the subsequent dynasties.

Since that time, there has been a tradition of having all officials come to the table to celebrate when something auspicious occurs.

In September of the second year of Yongle, Zhou King Zhu Xi, whose fiefdom was in Kaifeng, Henan Province, went to Beijing to see Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor, and presented a sacred beast named "Zouyu".

When the mythical beast appeared in the world, hundreds of officials came to congratulate it. Everyone thought that the emperor was most benevolent and that heaven loved him, so he sent this mythical beast down to show auspiciousness.

The earliest record of Zouyu can be found in "Poetry. Zhaonan Chapter", in which there is a sentence "I am complaining about Zouyu". Mao Zhuan's explanation is: "Zouyu is a righteous beast, white tiger black text, does not eat living things, has to The virtue of faith.”

Because Zuoyu is a beast of justice, auspiciousness, and benevolence, and is rare, there are very few records about it in historical books.

Only Volume 7 of "Book of Jin" records that Zoyu appeared in Liaodong in the eighth year of Xianhe and "New History of the Five Dynasties" that Zoyu appeared in Wuding and Bishan, Sichuan.

However, even Ouyang Xiu, who compiled the "New History of the Five Dynasties", did not have the opportunity to see the true face of Zuo Yu. He had to add a note at the end of the record, frankly saying: "Zou Yu, I don't know what he is."

Since the world does not know what Zouyu is, then why did Zhu Yu, the king of Zhou Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty, conclude that what he presented to the emperor was the legendary mythical beast Zouyu?

Obviously, his basis is what Mao Chuan said: "Zouyu is a righteous beast, a white tiger with black characters, does not eat living things, and has the virtue of utmost faith."

Zhu Youdun, the son of Zhu Ji, once wrote an article describing the discovery process of Zuo Yu: "In the autumn of the second year of Yongle, an auspicious beast appeared. It was white and black, with a rounded head and a trimmed tail. Two tigers followed it. It does not eat living things. Do not practice grass.

Although it looks fierce and fierce when viewed, it is very tame and disturbing when forced, which is what Zou Yu is called in "Rui Ying Tu". "

In the first month of the fourth year of Xuande reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, Xiangcheng Bot, who was guarding Nanjing, sent an envoy to escort to Beijing two Zouyu with the same heads as those presented by Zhu Xi, the king of Zhou Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty.

The Zouyu was discovered in Shigu Mountain, Chu County, Anhui Province. After arriving in Beijing, hundreds of civil and military officials and tribute envoys from all over the world gathered around to watch.

Jin Youzi, the minister who had experienced his great success, wrote down in detail what he saw about Zou Yu: "The white texture of Xuanzhang, the skin and body are bright and moist, he is tame and comfortable, not intimidating and not frightening."

Another minister, Xia Yuanji, also wrote in his own records: "The appearance is like a tiger-like head, white body and black seal, tail and eyes are trimmed, and his nature is very tame. It is truly an auspicious thing in the prosperous age."

After reading the comments of these two witnesses, if you are as smart as you are, you should be able to guess what kind of animal this black and white, "very tame" auspicious animal is.

That's right, when Wei Guangde saw the record of this incident, he concluded from this that this thing should be the national treasure of later generations-the giant panda.

At first, he thought it was a giraffe, because in Wei Guangde's impression, Emperor Yongle had obtained a giraffe. After feeling something was wrong, he remembered that the giraffe should have been captured by Zheng He from Africa.

As for why it deteriorated in the Jiajing Dynasty, that is another story.

Now, Zhang Juzheng wants to make a fuss about auspiciousness, and Wei Guangde can't veto it.

To put it bluntly, auspiciousness is more about political influence. What is good from above will be followed by the lower ones.

Now Zhang Juzheng also needs auspiciousness to show his ability to govern and counter the slander against him by those who oppose Zhang.

At this time, Wei Guangde expressed his approval for his wish to express his auspiciousness, and Zhang Juzheng was very happy.

However, he also saw Wei Guangde's concerns. In fact, he didn't know that maybe someone would make a big fuss about this matter afterwards, saying that he was a flatterer.

However, in order to consolidate power at this time, some small details were not taken into account.

After all, although it is said that Zhang Juzheng's position is extremely stable, in fact, the real decision-makers in the court during the Wanli period were the Queen Mother and the young emperor in the palace. Zhang Juzheng's position was not as stable as everyone thought.

If the palace was really just a decoration, the high arches would not be removed so easily.

In fact, they were all obtained from flattering the Queen Mother in the early Wanli period.

In fact, at this time, the outer dynasty almost always responded to the palace's needs, and the treatment was better than that of Emperor Longqing.

The palace got real benefits, which made the queen mother in the palace satisfied with Zhang Juzheng.

Fortunately, Zhang Juzheng's reforms just made up for the imperial court's financial deficit and enriched the national treasury, so few people took this matter to comment on Zhang Juzheng.

Wei Guangde naturally noticed it, but he didn't want to offend the palace because of this trivial matter, so he pretended to be deaf and dumb and asked Zhang Juzheng to go to the draft.

"Shan Loan, then my congratulatory form will be delivered to the palace tomorrow."

Zhang Juzheng said to Wei Guangde.

There is also a ranking. If there is no communication in advance, whoever thinks of it will naturally go first.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng suggested that naturally he, the first assistant, should come first, followed by the second assistant, and then all the officials from other dynasties would follow suit.

Zhang Juzheng is still confident about this. Even if everyone has opinions on this matter, most people will still follow his example and send congratulations to the palace.

After nodding slightly, Wei Guangde smiled and said, "I understand."

The first assistant made the first move. Naturally, he, the second assistant, cannot take a back seat and must also be on the list.

If he doesn't show up, there will be a lot of people looking for him in the mansion that night. Naturally, these people will look down on the officials who do this. Of course, there are also people with ulterior motives who want to kidnap him and let him take the lead in corruption.

"Boom boom boom"

Outside Tortoiseshell City in Luzon, the sound of cannons was rumbling at this time. The army composed of the Ming Army and the Spanish had completed the encirclement and suppression of several villages of the Lin Feng Pirate Group outside the city. There was only the last fortress left in front of them. It's Tortoiseshell City.

Deng Zilong ordered people to remove the cannons from several Fu boats and use them directly as land cannons.

Some soldiers with good marksmanship were also selected to form a cannon team to carry out fire suppression on the battlefield.

After all, we didn't actually prepare ground combat equipment for this trip, so we had to make do with it first.

At this time, Deng Zilong behind the artillery position was also losing his temper.

"Wang Wanggao, you take five hundred people over there. Today, you will take the Ming people who will capture the Yi people no matter what. If they don't hand over, you will just grab them and take the musketry team with you."

Deng Zilong ordered.

On the first day since the war began, artillery fire continued all night to blockade Pengjia Yuclan Bay, destroying almost all the ships of the Lin Feng Pirate Group.

After dawn, the coalition forces attacked Tortoiseshell City from three sides, successively captured several nearby residential areas, and successfully advanced the battlefield to the base of Tortoiseshell City.

Among the several settlements outside Tortoiseshell City, the Ming army only captured two, but they also captured hundreds of Ming prisoners. The situation in the settlements that the Yi people were responsible for capturing was similar.

Although Lin Feng had taken precautions, there were still a large number of crops in the wild that were about to be harvested, so when the war broke out, many people were trapped outside the city and did not retreat to the city in time.

According to the information Deng Zilong received, there were thousands of Ming people captured by the Yi people this time.

Although these people came here with the pirates, most of the captured people were family members of the pirates, and most of the vicious pirates had been killed in the battle.

After Deng Zilong heard that the Yi people tortured the Ming prisoners, he immediately contacted Wang Wanggao and asked the Yi people to return all the Ming prisoners.

However, judging from his anger just now, it is obvious that Wang Wangao's contact has not made any progress.

"Sir, if General Mo takes away five hundred people, the front here will be tight."

Wang Wanggao was also very angry at the Yi people and was scolded angrily by Deng Zilong. At this time, he also wanted to find the Yi people to vent his frustration.

However, the most critical thing at the moment is the battle situation below the city.

At this moment, if he left directly with so many people, the front line would be tight.

"Don't be afraid, Lin Feng should have been shocked by our firepower.

The cannons on our side are constantly bombarding us, so they don't dare to think of leaving the city to fight. "

Deng Zilong shook his head and said, "But those pirate prisoners, no matter what, they are all wise people, when will it be the turn of the barbarians to kill people.

Even if we want to kill him, we have to do it and behead him in accordance with Ming law. "

Seeing that Wang Wanggao was still hesitating, Deng Zilong shouted again: "If this matter cannot be handled, the capital will blame us when we return.

Don't be afraid, the Yi people are now gathering their troops under the city, and there shouldn't be many people in their barracks.

If you take five hundred people there, you should be able to scare them so that they don't dare to act rashly. "

"But Master Deng, what if the Yi people really open fire?"

Wang Wanggao still hesitated.

Before, he went to the barbarian camp to ask for someone. The exchange between the two parties was peaceful at the beginning, but soon developed into a tense situation.

Yes, the Spaniards did not want to hand over thousands of prisoners, although there were men, women, old and children, but there were many, and the construction of Manila city now requires a lot of labor.

If so many people were brought back to Manila City, they would be a considerable force.

Moreover, these prisoners do not need to be paid, they only need to be given to stutterers to control them to death.

Yes, these prisoners, they did not regard them as laborers, and they did not intend to let them have a way to survive.

It's just to squeeze out the last bit of residual value before they die.

"Why did I ask you to lead the bird gun team? Are you here to eat dry food?"

Deng Zilong said unhappily, "As long as they dare to turn against you and shoot, you just shoot them."

At this time, Deng Zilong turned around and looked at the wall of the Tortoiseshell City in the distance and said, "This is also an opportunity. If a fight really breaks out, it may not be a bad thing.

I will ask Captain Lin to go back and mobilize the troops of Sulu.

If the barbarians really want to fight with my Ming Dynasty for these captives, then we can just fight them.

By that time, our military strength will be strong, and I think Lin Feng in the city should know what to do."

Deng Zilong's move is a gamble, betting that the barbarians dare not turn against the Ming Dynasty before eliminating Lin Feng.

The bet is that the barbarians are short of troops. If they are enemies of the Ming Dynasty, their troops on the front line will inevitably be weakened. Then Lin Feng in the city should pick the soft persimmon and will definitely choose to launch a counterattack against the barbarians instead of the Ming Dynasty.

By then, the barbarians will be the ones fighting on two fronts, and it is conceivable that they will go from a great victory to a great defeat.

"Moreover, according to the time, the admiral's fleet should be very close to Luzon and may appear in the open sea at any time.

Even if the barbarians want to suppress us with their armed merchant ships, the comparison of maritime strength will be reversed when the main force of the navy arrives.

As long as my South China Sea navy arrives, I think it should be the barbarians who tremble, hehe"

Speaking of his pride, Deng Zilong couldn't help but laugh.

"Lord Deng is far-sighted, and I admire him."

Wang Wanggao immediately made an admiring gesture and flattered Deng Zilong.

"Then sir, when I go there this time, should I also pretend to be aggressive, and it would be best to provoke the barbarians to take action?"

Wang Wanggao then thought of Deng Zilong's plan, which seemed to be very good, and said that it seemed that fighting with the barbarians at this time would be very beneficial to the Ming Dynasty.

Opportunities cannot be missed, and they will never come again. How can we let the opportunity go like this?

Wang Wanggao naturally thought about whether he could deliberately provoke the barbarians to take action, and then he could change the situation by taking advantage of the situation.

"No need."

Deng Zilong thought of the plan of Wei Guangde that he had seen before coming here. It seemed that the capital did not intend to completely take over Luzon now.

If he provoked the barbarians to take action and drove all the barbarians in Luzon out, he didn't know whether it would ruin the plan of the capital.

After all, the Ming Dynasty still needs to do business with the barbarians. They have a lot of silver, and Manila is one of the strongholds of these barbarian merchants.

It is easy to take over Luzon, but if the barbarian merchants are really driven away, it may be bad.

"Yes, then I will go to gather troops now."

Wang Wanggao bowed.

"Go."

Deng Zilong said, and after Wang Wanggao left, he immediately sent someone to find Lin Baihu to come over, and at the same time sent his personal soldiers to take a small boat to notify the gunboats cruising outside the bay.

Since there might be a war with the barbarians, the navy's gunboats must naturally be notified so that they can be prepared.