Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 163 Changes after I hold the military power, those who rebel against me will die!

Seeing that Zhou Song was unwilling to listen to his grandfather's advice, Gu Zhongli had no choice but to follow his grandfather's instructions and go find Zhu Xizhou.

"They are only allowed to burn the storehouses and warehouses, but the emperor is not allowed to send people to survey the land?"

"That doesn't make sense!"

"We, the Nanzhi nobles, may not agree with the reform, but we cannot really do anything disloyal, or we will lose more than we gain!"

"The reason why Neo-Confucianism emphasizes loyalty to the emperor is not because one is willing to serve the emperor, but because after enlightenment, one realizes that this is the law of nature and must be followed."

"I will submit a petition to impeach this famous Neo-Confucian minister! He is the first to disloyalty to the emperor. He is simply unworthy of being a great scholar!"

After Zhu Xizhou heard this, he immediately submitted a memorial to impeach Zhou Song, the president of the Nanjing Hanlin Academy, for obstructing the court and forcing the deputy list to be released.

After hearing this, Gu Zhongli returned to Songjiang and told Gu Qing about it.

Gu Qingyin said: "It is Zhu Xizhou who understands!"

"Father, I don't understand."

Gu Zhongli replied at this time.

Gu Qingxiao asked: "What don't you understand?"

"My grandson does not understand why we should obey and cooperate with the reforms of Wang Yangming, Zhang Yongjia and other ritual advocates, but at the same time call them treacherous ministers who deceived people."

Gu Zhongli replied.

Gu Qing asked, "You can't just scold your father, right?"

Gu Zhongli was stunned.

"Not only can you not scold your king, you must also respect him!"

"This is our greatest duty as a subject, and the greatest justice."

“This is where the ritualists lose, but we have to support them because they represent public opinion.”

"It's just that public opinion is now contrary to the emperor's will, so we need to condemn Wang Yangming, Zhang Yongjia and others as treacherous ministers based on public opinion, while at the same time obeying the emperor's will."

"After all, neither side can confront each other at the moment."

Gu Qing replied.

Gu Zhongli asked: "Why are the two sides contradicting each other?"

"Because selfish desires are hard to eliminate, it is hard for the principles of heaven to exist."

"Originally, everyone in the world could pretend that the laws of nature are easy to maintain and selfish desires can be eliminated, including the emperor. In this way, the emperor can easily become a sage and benevolent ruler, and the ministers can easily become wise and virtuous gentlemen."

"But the emperor chosen by Yang Xindu is a truly pure and kind ruler!"

"That would tear off everyone's masks! That would allow Wang Yangming, Zhang Yongjia and other eccentrics to be given important positions."

Since Gu Zhongli had passed the provincial examination in Yingtian Prefecture and was about to go to Beijing to take part in the metropolitan examination and become the new official leader of the family, Gu Qing frankly told him the nature of the struggle between the ritual protection faction and the ritual debate faction.

Gu Zhongli was even more confused after hearing this and asked, "Why are Wang Yangming and Zhang Yongjia considered to be outliers in the orthodox teachings?"

"Because they believe that the principles of heaven are human desires, that is, they think it is not difficult to abide by the principles of heaven, it is human nature, so if people in the world cannot be loyal to the emperor and love the people, it is not because human desires are difficult to eliminate, but because they do not want to do so."

"This means that people in the world who were supposed to be gentlemen on the surface, in their eyes, cannot even be gentlemen on the surface, and must be brought down to become true villains."

"So, they had no scruples when it came to killing the gentry. They just felt they were killing the real villains."

Gu Qing said.

Gu Zhongli couldn't help but ask: "So, they are actually the true gentlemen?"

"You may think so in your heart, but you can't say it now."

Gu Qing did not get furious about this, but calmly gave his grandson some instructions.

Gu Zhongli thought for a moment and asked, "Is it because public opinion does not allow it?"

"That's right!"

Gu Qing nodded and said, "But you have to know that just because public opinion doesn't allow it now doesn't mean it won't be allowed in the future."

Gu Zhongli bowed and said, "Please teach me, great father!"

Gu Qingze took a sip of tea and said, "Things in this world are always unpredictable, so we have to think about change!"

"Just because the emperor is kind and good now and works hard to govern the country doesn't mean he will be in the future!"

"The wealth of the people in the world is limited, but the population is constantly growing, and the number of nobles and gentry is also constantly growing."

"So, no matter how diligent the emperor is, he is forcing everyone to be abstinent, and sooner or later it will force him to do so. In other words, sooner or later this reform will have to come back to bite him."

"In this case, he will either give up the reform or become ruthless and unkind to his family, but the result will be that the people around him will be unable to hold back and kill him first!"

"In this matter of selecting a prince consort, although there were officials from outside the court among those who bribed him, most of them were his own servants. This shows that the people closest to him are not completely like saints, and may even be more unscrupulous."

"So, if the emperor chooses to give up the reform in the future and becomes a hypocrite and a villain, then Wang Yangming, Zhang Fujing and other true gentlemen will go against the will of the emperor, and those who do not want the emperor to take too much of the world's benefits will naturally take the initiative to unite with them."

"And they will naturally represent public opinion, so it will be understandable if you call them gentlemen and virtuous officials."

After Gu Qing said this, Gu Zhongli nodded and said, "Grandson understands!"

"It seems that no matter whether the emperor is working hard to govern the country now or becomes corrupt in the future, ministers should always praise and commend him, but they must strike a balance between public opinion and the emperor's will."

Gu Zhongli replied.

Gu Qing nodded with satisfaction: "That's right, I named you Neutral because I want you to be impartial between the two."

Let’s talk.

After Zhu Houcong gave a banquet to the candidates for son-in-law, he received a memorial from Zhu Xizhou impeaching Zhou Song.

"Scholars are not allowed to go north. This is a sign of rebellion!"

"Send an order to Zhou Shangwen, ordering him to lead the Yongwei Battalion to the Southern Capital to prevent officials from refusing to execute the imperial decree. Let him follow the secret order and maintain discipline. Anyone who disobeys the imperial decree, below the fourth rank, will be killed without mercy. Those above the fourth rank will be arrested on the spot and detained in the camp until the Jinyiwei arrive to hand them over!"

Zhu Houcong now has the Weiwu Camp in the capital and the Yongwei Camp in the south. Naturally, he is not worried that there will be changes in the capital and the nine borders while the Yongwei Camp is enforcing the law in the south.

Therefore, after receiving this memorial, he did not hesitate to directly characterize this behavior as treason! He asked Zhou Shangwen to lead the Yongwei Battalion directly to Nanjing to cooperate with Zhu Xizhou and others in exercising power.

The Southeast Governor Zhu Xizhou, General Zhou Shangwen, and Jinyiwei Zhu Qi became the three chess pieces he arranged to go to Nando.

Zhu Xizhou, the governor-general of the southeast, was specifically responsible for executing the king's orders and controlling officials at all levels in the southeast.

Zhou Xiwen maintained discipline and suppressed any acts of disobedience and violation of discipline, while Zhu Qi secretly monitored whether Zhu Xizhou and Zhou Shangwen were loyal and responsible.

As an emperor who already had military power, Zhu Houcong naturally no longer needed to negotiate or compromise with the southern gentry.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong not only directly classified this incident as treason, but also Tang Chang, Hua Wei, and Hua Bangrui were identified as treason and high treason for being clerks involved in bribing the emperor to select the son-in-law, and they were directly executed by slow slicing.

Officials from the Ministry of Rites and other organizations who participated in bribing the emperor's son-in-law were also sentenced to death by slicing.

The families of these people were also sent to Donglai to mine gold.

Besides.

Those who slandered the imperial guards like Jin Kun were also sentenced to death by slicing.

And his family was exiled to Donglai to mine gold.

Xu Lin was also impeached by Ma Lu, the imperial censor of Nanzhi, for harboring ulterior motives and harboring disloyalty, so he believed the rumors in his hometown and joined in the slander against the Yongwei Camp. Zhu Houcong also ordered Xu Lin to be exiled to Donglai to dig for gold.

Zhu Houcong is now trying his best to drive these people to Donglai, so as to transform Donglai from a place of exile for the Han people into a place where Han culture flourishes as soon as possible before the Western Barbarians invade here.

Let’s talk.

Because the court's official express delivery was faster, Zhu Houcong's urgent order to Zhou Shangwen and the order to exile Xu Lin and others to Donglai arrived in Nanzhi almost at the same time.

Zhou Shangwen naturally immediately assembled his troops and sailed to Nanjing.

The developed water transportation and commerce in the south of the Yangtze River brought great convenience to the march of the Yongwei Camp. Many military supplies such as food, fodder and medicinal materials could be obtained by purchasing in various towns and cities.

Many Huizhou merchants even followed the Yongwei Camp with their merchant ships, acting as a paid logistics supply team. Although they, like the Nanzhi gentry, were quite dissatisfied with the Yongwei Camp staying in Jiangnan, after seeing that officials such as Wu Tingju and Ma Lu did not support them, they just let their dissatisfaction go and continued their business.

"Sir, please at least think of my aunt and cousin and find a way to rescue me. I have never been to such a far place in my life!"

"I still have to cross the ocean, and I don't know if I will end up in the belly of a fish! Woohoo!"

When Gu Qing and others were seeing him off, Xu Lin started crying and knelt down to beg Gu Qing to help him.

Today, the Xu family is not considered the top aristocratic family in Songjiang Prefecture.

The Gu family is the great aristocratic family in Songjiang Prefecture, and the Xu family also intends to rely on the power of the Gu family.

After all, Xu Jie, the new Jinshi of their Xu family, is still gaining experience in the Hanlin Academy, while Gu Qing already holds the title of Minister of Rites of Nanjing.

Therefore, Xu Lin specifically asked Gu Qing for help.

"Don't say such unlucky words!"

"Many of my fellow countrymen have already gone there. You won't be lonely if you follow them. Just dig well. Once you have dug enough, you will naturally come back."

"I will try my best to find a way for you to be released early."

Gu Qing spoke to Xu Lin.

After hearing this, Xu Lin nodded with tears in his eyes, then bid farewell to his parents, wife, children and relatives, and boarded the boat.

And on the side of the Yongwei Camp.

Zhou Shangwen did not take the boat directly to Nanjing, but disembarked early in Zhenjiang.

In order to avoid causing chaos by arriving in Nanjing suddenly, he planned to go ashore in Zhenjiang first to rest, and personally lead the cavalry to contact the Nanjing garrison to establish a camp.

Zhu Xizhou has already begun to contact Chen Yuanheng and other scholars who are preparing to go north to join the second list, and expressed his support for them to go north to the Ming Dynasty Practical School.

When Zhu Xizhou learned that these second-place scholars could not take a boat to the north because the shipping companies in various places were ordered by the gentry not to let them go north, he wrote a letter to the Nanjing Jiang Governor Yingcheng Bosun Yue, asking him to transport grain and have the commander-in-chief Qi Jingtong use the official grain transport ships to send these second-place scholars to Beijing first.

After receiving the letter, Yingcheng Bo Sun Yue deliberately placed the transfer order in the most conspicuous place in his study. When he was leaving, he told his trusted servant Xue Jun, "I have something to do and I'm leaving now. No one is allowed to enter my study."

Xue Jun nodded in agreement and went to Sun Yue's study specially to see the transfer order, and then leaked the order.

After Sun Yue handed the transfer order to Qi Jingtong, the newly-appointed scholar Fang Gao and others all knew that Chen Yuanheng and others who were on the second list were going to board the official grain-carrying ship to the north.

So, when Qi Jingtong just brought the official ship and picked up Chen Yuanheng and other second-place scholars.

Fang Gao, Pan Hongye and other successful candidates had already stopped Chen Yuanheng and other second-place candidates.

"Don't leave!"

Qi Jingtong also heard Fang Gao say this at this time.

Qi Jingtong saw this and shouted, "What are you doing!"

Fang Gao ignored Qi Jingtong and said to Chen Yuanheng and other scholars on the second list: "If you really want to join the traitorous party, we will have no choice but to be rude!"

"Catch these scholars first! Don't let them delay our voyage!"

Upon seeing this, Qi Jingtong gave an order.

"Yes!"

The officers and soldiers under Qi Jingtong immediately began to arrest Fang Gao and others.

When Fang Gao was arrested, he struggled desperately and shouted, "I am a newly-appointed scholar. You grain transport officers and soldiers cannot arrest me without reason!"

Pan Hongye and other candidates also struggled desperately.

Qi Jingtong didn't say anything. He knew what kind of dispute was involved, but he didn't ask too many questions. He just wanted to complete the task as soon as possible and transport these second-place scholars to Qingjiangpu.

"stop!"

But this time.

Caojiang Admiral Yingcheng Bosun Yue came over and shouted.

Seeing this, Qi Jingtong could only bow and say, "What instructions does the admiral have?"

Snapped!
Sun Yue directly gave Qi Jingtong a whip.

"Nonsense!"

"You dare to take it, you newly-appointed scholar?"

Sun Yue asked after shouting.

Qi Jingtong said with pain: "They are preventing me from executing the order of the capital hall, so I have no choice but to arrest them first."

"Let them go!"

Sun Yue ordered.

Qi Jingtong was slightly stunned.

then.

Qi Jingtong explained: "But they will prevent me from carrying out the order of the capital hall."

"I will report this to the governor."

Qi Jingtong had no choice but to obey and ordered the release of Fang Gao and others.

Fang Gao saw that Yingcheng Bo Sunyue was on his side, and he was disgusted that Qi Jingtong blindly followed the orders of Zhu Xizhou, a traitor in their eyes, so he said:

"This military official bullied us, the filial and honest people. Please help us, otherwise we can only go to the Censorate to sue the Nanjing government troops!"

"Kneel down and kowtow to apologize to them, and ask these literary stars to forgive you."

Sun Yue intended to encourage the arrogance of these candidates, so he gave orders at this time.

Fang Gao and others were very surprised and opened their mouths wide.

of course.

Qi Jingtong himself was also very puzzled.

By the way, although after Longqing, the status of military generals declined to the point where even generals like the commander-in-chief had to kneel before the censor, and it was common for military officers to kneel when they met scholars, and high-ranking military generals like Qi Jiguang even called themselves the running dogs of the prime minister.

But now it has not yet come to the point where military generals need to kneel down to the new candidates.

You know, in history, when Wang Yangming's son served as the commander-in-chief of the Grand Canal Transport, he was only on an equal footing with the then Governor-General of the Grand Canal Transport.

"Didn't you hear that?"

Sun Yue asked Qi Jingtong a question.

then.

Sun Yue also threatened: "Don't think I can't remove your hereditary position! You haven't reported the three-month extension of your grain transportation yet!"

The first level of officialdom crushes people to death.

In order to keep his hereditary position, Qi Jingtong had no choice but to grit his teeth, bend his knees, and spread his hands heavily on the cold sand by the river.

The soldiers under Qi Jingtong's command were filled with anger when they saw this, and at the same time they couldn't help but shed tears.

dong dong!

dong dong!

A large number of cavalrymen appeared here holding flags.

Sun Yue looked distraught upon seeing this, and said to himself: "Damn it, why is he here!"

Why did the Nanjing nobleman Yingcheng Bosun Yue choose to force Qi Jingtong to kneel? The following will explain. Here I will also briefly explain that those who are familiar with Ming history know that most of the nobles at this time are not as good as their ancestors, especially those in Nanjing, who have long been in collusion with the local gentry, so in history, they basically all surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. They actually did not oppose the fact that civil officials are noble and military officials are humble, but welcomed it very much, because this can avoid the emergence of new military officials and competition with them. They just want to weld the door of the car that will be conferred again. Zhang Dai has a short essay in "Dreams of Taoan" that indirectly reflects the situation that the Nanjing nobles at that time were drunk and dreaming, ignoring the national crisis, and only actively interacting with civil officials and literati. Therefore, I chose to write here that Yingcheng Bosun Yue did not support the reform, and the "Ming Shilu" also recorded that this person was not active in military missions and even refused to perform military missions.

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(End of this chapter)