Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 228: Not following the imperial decree, but following the orders of the master of the family!
Become a family.

It is the ultimate goal of all Chinese families.

However, during the late Tang Dynasty, the separatist regimes of the feudal lords, the separatist regimes of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and the Yuan Dynasty's conquest of the Central Plains, the aristocratic families and powerful clans were purged again and again by real armies in the human world. By the Ming Dynasty, the aristocratic families had disappeared and only a few powerful clans were left.

Fortunately, after expelling the Tartars and restoring China, the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to the imperial examinations, and scholars studied diligently, especially in the south of the Yangtze River, where there was a strong learning atmosphere. There were many examples of fathers and sons, or brothers, becoming Jinshi successively.

There were as many as seven fathers and sons who passed the imperial examinations and became Jinshi.

During the Ming Dynasty, Jinshi families were generally stronger in the south and weaker in the north, especially in Zhejiang and South Zhili provinces, where the largest number of Jinshi families were found.

Among these numerous families, the five that belong to it are Chen, Wang, Lin, Xu and Liu.

List.

There is no doubt that they are the Chen family of Nanchong, Shunqing Prefecture, the family of Chen Yiqin, and the descendant of Chen Yaozuo, the Prime Minister of the Northern Song Dynasty.

As a father, Chen Yiqin was a cabinet minister of the time. His eldest son, Chen Yubei, was a Jinshi. If his second son, Chen Yujie, had not taken the path of official selection, he would have also become a Jinshi in the future.

Three heroes from one family, well-deserved.

However, the Wang family of Shandong became famous even before the Chen family.

The Wang family, like the Chen family, is descended from a famous prime minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, whose name was Wang Anshi.

The Shandong Wang family is a descendant of Wang Anshi.

The previous head of the family, Wang Chongguang, was a Jinshi in the 20th year of Jiajing. He served as the Director of the Ministry of Works, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Revenue, the Assistant Director of Yunzhong, and the Councillor of Shanggu.

Later, he served as the Left Councillor of Guizhou Provincial Administration and was ordered to purchase large timber from Guizhou to repair the three main halls. In the 37th year of Jiajing, he died in the forest due to illness caused by malaria due to overwork.

The emperor personally wrote the plaque "Loyalty and diligence are pitiful", built a temple to worship him, and posthumously awarded him the title of Shaoqing of the Imperial Household Department, and later the titles of Prince Taibao and Minister of War.

His six sons, Zhihan, Zhiyuan, Zhiyou, Zhifu, Zhicheng and Zhidong, were all Jinshi (Jinshi) in the Ming Dynasty.

There are seven outstanding people in this family, and their reputation is far greater than that of the Chen family.

The Wang family is also the most active family in entering officialdom among the five major families. Perhaps they inherited the style of their ancestors, or perhaps they were too aloof. The Wang family passed down the family tradition of farming and reading, and passed on poetry and books to the world.

The family relied on salaries and farming for their livelihood, and they lived in poverty for generations, resulting in the decline of the family.

Then there is the Lin Pu Lin family.

The Lin family was located on a remote island east of Fuzhou. The reason why they were able to produce so many talented people during the Ming Dynasty was mainly due to the Lianjiang Academy.

Lianjiang Academy was built in the Song Dynasty, and the thinker Zhu Xi once gave lectures here.

Later, the Southern Song court fled and built a temporary palace in Linpu.

During the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the Lin family migrated south from Gushi, Henan, and settled here.

The Lin family had three chief academic officers and five ministers in three generations, which is known in history as "eight Jinshi in seven subjects", "five ministers in three generations", and "three chief academic officers of the state".

Three generations of a family, a grandparent and grandchild, successively served as the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, which at one point made the Imperial College, the highest institution of learning in the Ming Dynasty, a private place for the Lin family.

The Lin family began to serve as officials during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. Up to today, for one hundred and forty years, there have always been people in the family serving as officials.

At the peak of their power, three generations of the Lin family served in the court and held high positions, shocking China.

However, the glory of the Lin family still remains.

The current head of the Lin family, Lin Tingji, was a Jinshi in the 14th year of Jiajing. He was selected as a Shujishi, appointed as a reviewer, and participated in the compilation of "The Ming Dynasty Code".

In the 23rd year of Jiajing's reign, he served as a co-examiner for the imperial examination.

He served successively as Director of the Imperial College, Chief Academician of the Nanjing Imperial College, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Vice Minister of Works, Vice Minister of Rites, and Minister of Works of Nanjing.

After several official turmoils in the northern and southern Zhili in the 40th year of Jiajing, he took the position of Minister of Rites in Nanjing.

His nephew Lin Xuan was also a Jinshi and was now the head of the Ministry of Rites, but the Lin family seemed to have set their sights on the Tongzhengsi. Before Chen Yiqin left the capital, he submitted many memorials requesting that Lin Xuan be promoted to the position of councilor of the Tongzhengsi.

Lin Tingji had two sons. The eldest son, Dun, became a Jinshi in the 26th year of Jiajing and is now the Minister of Taichang Temple.

The second son, Qing, passed the imperial examination and was initially appointed as the Director of the Ministry of Justice. He has now been promoted to the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Justice.

Four outstanding people in one family.

The Linpu Lin family is one of the largest families in the Ming Dynasty with the longest heritage and the most prosperous influence.

The imperial court has high-ranking officials from generation to generation. At the local level, the Fuzhou Prefecture has the final say. If the Lin family is not satisfied, even the prefect can be replaced at any time. On the small island where the Lin family's ancestral land is located, everyone only recognizes the head of the Lin family, not the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and only recognizes the Lin family's family rules, not the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

It has become a country within a country.

The national policy of "measure the land and distribute the land equally to the people" is essentially to give the land equally to all the people of the Ming Dynasty. The country is a country, and hundreds of millions of small families make up the country.

At that time, Xu Jie's family's fields were said to be spread all over the south of the Yangtze River, but they did not own an acre of land in the nine counties of Fuzhou Prefecture.

Xu Jie was known as Xu Bancheng, while the Lin family of Linpu was known as "Lin Manfu" in the local community.

The area of ​​one prefecture and nine counties belonged to the Lin family first and then to the Ming Dynasty.

There is no doubt that the national policy implemented by Chen Yiqin touched the fundamental interests of the Lin Pu family.

As both were prominent families in the Ming Dynasty, the Lin Pu family chose to take action for the sake of their own family.

Hundreds of dead soldiers.

What a big deal.

In the entire Ming Dynasty, perhaps only the Lin Pu family could afford it.

However, the power of one family was too weak in front of the entire Ming Dynasty.

Trying to assassinate a cabinet elder is like a mirage, it's far from possible.

Furthermore, hundreds of people came all the way from Fuzhou Prefecture, and the expressions, actions, and behaviors of the dead were all different from those of ordinary people. If the Jinyiwei had not noticed anything unusual along the way, they might as well have just killed them all.

Therefore, before the Lin family's assassins took action, the Jinyiwei collected intelligence from various sources and found out who was behind the scenes, the Linpu clan.

The death squad, bows and crossbows, and thin armor doomed the Lin Pulin family.

Zhu Qi reported the matter to the Northern Pacification Office. Jinyiwei Commander-in-Chief Lu Bing had received the imperial edict and immediately arrested the second generation of Lin Pu's family in Beijing.

Lin Xuan, Director of the Ministry of Rites, Lin Dun, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Lin Qing, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Justice.

At the same time, Ba Baili urgently notified the Nanjing Town Government to arrest Nanjing Minister of Rites Lin Tingji.

He also ordered the southeastern troops to blockade Fuzhou Prefecture and "attack" Linpu, and anyone who resisted would be killed without mercy.

The old stories of Huizhou Prefecture are right before our eyes.

Speaking of Huizhou Prefecture, Zhu Qi told Chen Yiqin and the elders of the Chen family a piece of news from Huizhou Prefecture. The Chen family, who have always paid attention to self-cultivation, couldn't help laughing out loud.

The oldest elder of the clan sighed, "When the wisdom and cognition of a person or a family do not match the wealth they possess, their wealth will be lost in various ways."

The Hu family had Hu Zongxian, who accounted for most of the Hu family's luck.

But even if Huizhou Prefecture is in such a state, there are still people who dare to plot against the family of the current cabinet minister. It really deserves to be called Huizhou.

The elders of the clan went to pay homage to the two Cheng brothers, and Chen Yiqin told Zhu Qi about the two big clans, Liu and Xu.

None of them are as legendary as Chen, Wang, and Lin. The Liu family had ten Jinshi in five generations, and the Xu family had four Shangshu, father and son.

It was glorious, but most of the Liu family members held idle positions, and some of the Xu family members died or lost their official positions. In the 40th year of Jiajing, no one was an official, and the country had fallen into decline, which made Zhu Qi sigh. …

cabinet.

In the government hall.

Four large basins of sandalwood given by the emperor were burned with open flames, and two incense burners were added, which also burned open flames with sandalwood. The doors and windows were closed.

The whole house is filled with fragrance and warm like spring.

Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang are now all veteran officials in the court, and none of them has ever enjoyed such favor from the emperor.

Moreover, the political situation in the 39th year of Jiajing seemed to have returned. The emperor sent the eunuch Lu Fang, who was in charge of the Imperial Household Department, to the cabinet, which was next to the Government Affairs Hall. Whenever the cabinet had any unresolved matters, they could take them directly to the next door and discuss the decision with Lu Fang without having to present them to the Yuxi Palace.

Every other day, Lü Fang would switch shifts with the eunuch Huang Jin, the chief eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department. One would guard the Yuxi Palace, and the other would guard the Cabinet. They would take turns.

The emperor did not interfere in state affairs, and the major and minor events of the Ming Dynasty once again fell on the shoulders of the Cabinet and the Imperial Household Department.

The cause of all this was the emperor's wedding, just as the poem said, "Spring nights are short and the sun rises high. From now on, the emperor will not attend court early. He has no time to entertain guests and serve at banquets. He has to go on spring outings every night."

The four ministers were a little worried about the emperor's health. After all, the emperor was over fifty years old and was no longer young.

But after asking Lu Fang and Huang Jin, I learned that the emperor had made great progress in his cultivation and was at the peak of his powers.

The Queen alone could not bear the grace, so the two newly promoted Imperial Noble Consorts and five newly promoted Noble Consorts all received it in the past few days.

The ministers were still somewhat worried, so they specially invited Li Shizhen, the director of the Imperial Medical Bureau, to come to the palace to check on the emperor. After receiving the diagnosis of "no problem" from the genius doctor, they were relieved and handled state affairs in peace.

It must be said that by letting the Silijian work in the cabinet's duty room, the cabinet does not have to ask for instructions from Yuxi Palace. This saves a lot of time on the road when solving state affairs, and the efficiency is much higher.

At the end of the year, all six ministries submitted their expenditure bills. Zhang Juzheng signed the bill of the Ministry of Personnel, Gao Gong signed the bill of the Ministry of Revenue, Hu Zongxian signed the bills of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Works, and Li Chunfang signed the bills of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War.

Lu Fang and Huang Jin approved the six bills in red.

To a certain extent, the state affairs of the entire 40 years of Jiajing came to an end.

Although the emperor temporarily stopped paying attention to state affairs, the cabinet and the Imperial Household Department each submitted a verified bill from the six ministries to Yuxi Palace.

Hearing the sound of the bronze chimes, Lü Fang and Huang Jin from the Imperial Household Department and Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang from the Cabinet all subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, with a feeling of relief in their hearts.

The relief is that during these bloody 40 years of Jiajing, as subjects (house slaves), they finally gave a fairly satisfactory answer to the emperor, the Ming Dynasty and the history books.

It is foreseeable that the 40th year of Jiajing will become a time for study and exploration by countless historians in future generations.

During this year, the government and the public were in turmoil, scholars wept, the trade routes were nearly destroyed, the northern expedition began, and the fields had a bumper harvest...

There are too many things that are worth studying for future generations.

What makes them feel fortunate is that they have survived this year.

They will definitely leave a strong mark in history books, and even the vast history books will open a separate page for them.

Just like Zhuge Wuhou.

His good name will live forever.

State affairs are temporarily concluded.

The elders were finally no longer busy, and the bitter and resentful expressions on their faces disappeared, and they had time to sit together and chat.

At Zhang Juzheng's insistence, Lu Fang from next door was also invited to have a cup of tea together.

Liu Tai, the secretary of the cabinet and a disciple of Zhang Juzheng, poured tea for the old man and Lu Fang, then left tactfully.

Lu Fang looked at Liu Tai's back, especially the back of his head, with a thoughtful expression.

"Eunuch Lu, is there anything wrong?" Zhang Juzheng, who always protected his children, noticed that Lu Fang was acting strangely and asked.

"nothing……"

Lu Fang wanted to laugh it off, but Zhang Juzheng took over and said, "There are no outsiders here, so you can speak directly if you want to say something, Eunuch Lu."

Lu Fang hesitated for a moment, but still said, "This kid seems to have a rebellious mind."

This person is Liu Tai.

Lu Fang had seen this man many times. He often presented memorials to Yuxi Palace on behalf of the cabinet. However, Liu Tai had always faced him before and did not pay attention to him.

Now that I'm closer and can see clearly, the bone behind the head is higher than that of ordinary people. Although it's not very obvious, it is indeed a rebellious bone.

Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang could not help but look at him, thinking that someone had finally said this.

They noticed Liu Tai's rebellious intentions earlier than Lu Fangguan. Liu Tai had been serving in the cabinet and hanging around several people, so it was hard for them not to notice him.

But after all, he is Yuan Fu's disciple, so as an outsider it is difficult for me to say much.

But I always feel that Liu Tai will be a person worth looking forward to in the future.

"Just be able to do the job." Zhang Juzheng nodded, then shook his head and smiled.

He didn't take it to heart. The reason was very simple. After he became the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, he had hundreds of disciples.

Those disciples came to him for his title as the Prime Minister, but he valued their abilities.

As for moral character, it’s enough to be good enough.

Haven’t you seen Shen Weijing, the Ming Dynasty’s ambassador to Tatar, who is still in the territory of the Northern Tartars? He is a big traitor trained by the Ming Dynasty.

Now when master and disciple exchange letters, you call me "my dear teacher" and I call you "my beloved disciple", which makes us call each other very close.

There is no such thing as master and disciple. They just use each other.

Yuan Fu's advanced master-disciple theory made the corners of the mouths of several people present twitch.

"Next year, I plan to send Liu Tai to Liaodong to serve as a county magistrate," Zhang Juzheng added.

After the reform of the imperial court official positions, the Cabinet Secretariat was no longer a reserve for the Nine Ministers. If one wanted to become one of the Nine Ministers, or even a cabinet elder, one had to first serve as an official in the local county government, then as an official in the provincial government, and finally could be transferred to the Nine Ministers, or directly promoted to the Cabinet.

Hu Zongxian is a representative who was promoted directly from a local governor to the cabinet.

Liu Tai claimed that he had gained enough experience in the central government and wanted to be appointed to a local post to make some achievements. Zhang Juzheng approved of him and chose Liaodong Town, which was currently a frontier town of the Ming Dynasty.

Gao Gong was moved when he heard this and asked, "What about the position of the Secretary of the Cabinet?"

looks.

The current official positions in the Ming Dynasty are very unfriendly to positions like Cabinet Secretary, and are not a path to promotion.

However, being able to work in the cabinet can greatly improve one's abilities, vision, and awareness of the overall situation.

If Yuan Fu gave up this position, Gao Gong was ready to fill it with his own people.

"I have another disciple, Fu Yingzhen, who is suitable for honing his skills as a secretary in the cabinet." Zhang Juzheng said with a smile.

The Secretary of the Cabinet was a person who often met the emperor. When it came to power, Zhang Juzheng would not give up even a little bit.

Gao Gong remained silent.

(End of this chapter)