Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 285: The Great Ming Dynasty’s Extraordinary Men! The Great Ming Dynasty’s Extraordinary Women! [Subscription Request]

On the eve of his departure for the southwest to quell the rebellion, Wang Yangming left behind four lines of teaching on the philosophy of mind at Tianquan Bridge: The heart is neither good nor evil in nature, but it can have both good and evil intentions. Knowing good and evil is conscience, and doing good and eliminating evil is the study of things.

"And the core ideas of the School of Mind are summarized as: Investigating things to gain knowledge, integrating knowledge and action, and achieving conscience!"

"It is known in history as 'Tianquan Enlightenment'!"

Upon seeing this, Zhu Biao, who had the deepest understanding of Confucianism, as well as Zhu Su, Zhu Zi, Zhu Chun, Zhu Bo and other princes who also liked Confucianism, all had their eyes shining, as if they wanted to imprint these "mantras" of Confucianism into their minds.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly, looking thoughtful.

"Upon hearing of Wang Yangming's arrival, the rebel chieftains of Guangxi surrendered one after another. The remaining bandits were quickly crushed by the Ming army. While the rebellion was being put down, Wang Yangming's lung disease worsened."

"He submitted his resignation to the court and returned home by boat."

"In January 1529, a small boat docked at Qinglong Harbor in Nan'an, Jiangxi Province, and the last sage of Confucianism passed away."

The video plays to the end here, and the host begins to give a more concise summary of Wang Yangming's life.

"Born as the son of a top scholar, he aspired to become a saint at a young age. At 19, he focused on bamboo carving. At 37, he attained enlightenment in Longchang. At 50, he quelled a rebellion and was knighted. At 57, he died of illness on his way home."

"Wang Yangming spent his life fulfilling the Confucian ideal of establishing virtue, merit, and words, and realized the ideal of becoming a sage."

"His philosophy of mind is like a torch in the darkness, once again illuminating the sky of Confucianism."

"The sage of Longchang is called Wencheng, the Wang Yangming of the past five hundred years!"

After the video ended, Zhu Yuanzhang leaned over and paused it.

Then he asked, "Liu Kuan, how much do you know about Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind?"

Liu Kuan smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, I only understand a little of what was shown in the video. In fact, my understanding may not even be as good as that of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and others who have studied Confucianism in depth."

Zhu Yuanzhang was puzzled and asked, "Aren't you some university student in the future? How could you possibly know nothing about Confucianism?"

Liu Kuan explained, "Your Majesty, in later generations, Confucianism was not included in the primary and secondary school curriculum, only Chinese language. Some Confucian articles and ideas were only partially excerpted and included in the Chinese language textbooks of each grade. In college, students had to take a Confucian major to study Confucianism."

"So, I may have been influenced by Confucianism to some extent, but I have certainly not studied Confucianism systematically."

"And the School of Mind is a relatively profound school within Confucianism. I don't really understand it very well."

Although Zhu Yuanzhang was dissatisfied, he had no choice.

He frowned and asked again, "How do you think the School of Mind compares to the School of Principle?"

"I really don't know." Liu Kuan shook his head, then added, "But I can tell you about the situation in later generations. Later generations regarded Confucianism as a philosophy with Chinese characteristics, that is, a kind of knowledge for self-cultivation and interpersonal relationships."

"As for governing a country, later generations have made greater use of disciplines within the scientific system, such as political science, management, mathematics, law, business, and finance."

After hearing Liu Kuan's words, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and others all looked thoughtful.

After a while, Zhu Biao wanted to ask something else, but Zhu Yuanzhang stopped him and said, "Continue playing the video."

"Yes."

The video continues and a second subtitle appears.

"He is a remarkable man, the loyal and brave Zhang of Jiangling. The Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, he has been in office for a hundred years!"

Is this a video about Zhang Juzheng?
When Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and Zhu Di heard Liu Kuan mention Zhang Juzheng, they all reacted immediately and were looking forward to the content of the video.

A familiar soundtrack sounded (Drowning), and a woman's commentary voice also sounded.

"Zhang Juzheng fell ill. Before his death, Emperor Wanli held his hand with tears in his eyes and said affectionately, 'Sir, your contributions should be shared with the country. I have no other choice but to take care of your descendants.'"

"Zhang Juzheng used history to prove that his family had indeed perished along with the country, but the Wanli Emperor did not fulfill his promise to look after the Zhang family."

"Two years after Zhang Juzheng's death, the Wanli Emperor ordered the confiscation of Zhang Juzheng's property. As soon as the order was issued, the local authorities sent troops to besiege the Zhang family, forbidding entry or exit. Thus, the Zhang family was trapped in their home."

"More than ten days later, the Jinyiwei, who were responsible for confiscating the property, finally arrived, and more than a dozen members of the Zhang family had already starved to death in their home."

"The Zhang family's plight did not move the officials who confiscated their property. Their only goal was to bring ruin to the Zhang family."

"But the result disappointed them greatly. Zhang Juzheng, who had been at the helm of the Ming Dynasty for more than a decade, had less than one twentieth of the wealth of the treacherous minister Yan Song. This money did not belong to Zhang Juzheng alone, but to the entire family."

"This result displeased Emperor Wanli, so rounds of torture began, and Zhang Juzheng's six sons suffered..."

Seeing this, the Zhu family all frowned, even the deep-minded and hard-hearted Zhu was no exception.

He remembered Liu Kuan saying that Zhang Juzheng's reforms were half successful and extended the life of the Ming Dynasty for decades.

Even though Zhang Juzheng was a powerful official and Emperor Wanli hated him, there was no need to bring disaster to his family after his death. In Zhu's view, doing so would have no substantial benefits other than venting his anger, but would instead bring about a lot of disadvantages, and a wise man would not do that.

The video tells the tragic story of Zhang Juzheng's descendants.

After being tortured severely, the eldest son Zhang Jingxiu could not bear the humiliation and hanged himself.

The third son, Zhang Maoxiu, also committed suicide by jumping into a well in grief and anger. After being rescued, he starved himself to death, but he never died.

Zhang Juzheng's other sons suffered the worst consequences of being dismissed from office, having their property confiscated, and having their families exiled.

In the end, Emperor Wanli even wanted to open Zhang Juzheng's coffin and whip his corpse to vent his anger, but was dissuaded by his ministers.

It was not until the second year of the Tianqi reign that Zhang Juzheng was rehabilitated, and it was not until the beginning of the Chongzhen reign that some of the Zhang family's honors were restored.

"Under this belated and generous imperial grace, Zhang Juzheng's descendants returned from their places of exile to their homeland in Jingzhou."

In the 17th year of Chongzhen's reign, Zhang Xianzhong reached Jiangling and forced Zhang Juzheng's fifth son, Zhang Yunxiu, to serve as an official. Zhang Yunxiu refused and committed suicide.

"The Zhang family suffered decades of misfortune and came to believe that officialdom was treacherous, so they stopped serving as officials. Thus, they went from being a prominent official family to an ordinary farming and scholarly family."

"Only Zhang Juzheng's great-grandson, Zhang Tongchang, made a different choice: to remain loyal to the crumbling Ming." "After the fall of Beijing, Zhang Tongchang, despite numerous hardships, escaped to Jiangnan. However, the Hongguang court had already been destroyed, so he surrendered to the Longwu court and was ordered to go to Hunan to fight against the Qing."

"Zhang Tongchang possessed both civil and military talents. He led the charge in every battle, and remained steadfast even in defeat, earning the respect of his fellow generals."

"However, the general trend was difficult to change. In the fourth year of the Yongli reign, the Qing army entered Guangxi. The generals dispersed without a fight. Zhang Tongchang arrived in Guilin and sat solemnly in the hall with his teacher Qu Shisi, who was then captured by the Qing army."

"He refused to surrender and was tortured, with both arms broken. On November 17 of the same year, Zhang Tongchang was heroically executed."

"As time went by, later generations wrote a poem titled 'Praise for Zhang Tongchang'."

"He is a remarkable man, the loyal and brave Zhang of Jiangling. He followed his teacher through thick and thin, and lived and died with his country."

"A broken arm is not a broken one, an injured eye is not a broken one. Tens of thousands of people stand in awe of him, and his clothes will be straightened for eternity."

Then, the "Zhang Juzheng" from the beginning of the video reappears, only much younger, seemingly in middle age. He is seen wearing a bright red official robe and holding an umbrella. He looks back at the continuous palaces of the Forbidden City, then walks away step by step in the snow and disappears.

At the same time, another poem appears in the video.

"There is no Zhang Juzheng in the world anymore, I bow down and pay my respects to Jiangling. Who says that God is unkind? The sky is covered with snow and wind to send one person away."

Zhang Juzheng's video ended here, and Liu Kuan took the initiative to pause the video.

Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Zhu Di and others took several breaths to come to their senses - it was indeed Emperor Wanli's revenge on Zhang Juzheng that made the Zhu family feel humiliated.

Old Zhu glared at Zhu Di first, then said to Liu Kuan: "How much do you know about Zhang Juzheng? Tell me about it."

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, if we were to discuss Zhang Juzheng's affairs, which span the reigns of Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli, it would take far too long to finish. Why don't you start by discussing some of the evaluations of Zhang Juzheng by later generations?"

Old Zhu nodded, "Okay."

Liu Kuan said, "Some say that the Ming Dynasty actually perished during the Wanli reign. If it weren't for Zhang Juzheng's reforms that prolonged the Ming Dynasty's life for several decades, the Ming Dynasty might have perished during the Wanli reign."

"Some say Zhang Juzheng was the greatest reformer after Wang Anshi; others say he was the only great politician of the Ming Dynasty."

"Zhang Juzheng's reforms not only prolonged the Ming dynasty, but also paved the way for the Qing dynasty, laying the foundation for reforms such as the land-based tax system."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded at first, then said, "Zhang Juzheng lived during the late Ming Dynasty, right? Reforms at that time would inevitably affect the interests of many parties, and it would require absolute power and dictatorship. So Zhang Juzheng must have been a powerful minister, right?"

Liu Kuan was slightly stunned and thought to himself, Old Zhu clearly knew that Zhang Juzheng was a powerful prime minister, why did he ask again?

By the way, he wanted the others present to know this as well.

So he replied, "Zhang Juzheng is the powerful prime minister."

As expected, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Powerful ministers have always been hated by emperors, so it's not surprising. But Zhang Juzheng is already dead, and the Wanli Emperor recognized his achievements and promised to take care of the Zhang family, but then went back on his word to vent his anger. It was truly foolish. Fourth Brother, what do you think?"

When Zhu Di was named by his father Zhu, he couldn't help but shudder, knowing that he was implicated by his unfilial descendants again.

He quickly said, "Father is right. This Wanli Emperor is truly foolish. I wish I could pull him out from the afterlife and give him a good lesson!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao and Liu Kuan's expressions changed and they almost couldn't help laughing.

Zhu Chong, Zhu Ying, and other princes were mostly bewildered, wondering why Zhu Di would say that. The Wanli Emperor was a descendant of his elder brother, wasn't he? How could it be your turn to lecture him?
Only Zhu Tan looked at Zhu Di, as if thinking about something.

Seeing Zhu Di like this, Old Zhu smiled, let go of the matter, and said, "Continue playing the video."

Liu Kuan touched the screen to play the last part of the video.

At the same time, the subtitle also appeared in front of everyone.

"With the military order hidden in her sleeves, who says a general isn't a man? The loyal marquis of the Ming Dynasty—Qin Liangyu!"

This title made the Zhu family stunned.

I thought: What's wrong? It seems to be about a military general who was granted a title of nobility, but what does "in the mandarin duck sleeves" and "not a husband" mean?
Could it be that this marquis-like general is actually a woman?
At the same time, the background music "Hanging Drowning" sounded again, and the doubts of Lao Zhu's family were answered at the beginning of the video.

The last part of this video is about a female general of the Ming Dynasty!
"In the second year of the Wanli reign, a baby girl was born in the Qin family's old house in Zhongzhou, Sichuan. As the Qin family's only daughter, she had a nice name, Liangyu."

"This girl was born with great courage and spirit, talented in both writing and riding and shooting. When she reached marriageable age, she married Ma Qiancheng, the chieftain of Shiqu. Worried about her husband's safety, she trained a special unit of brave and skilled warriors - the White Spear Soldiers."

"The late Ming Dynasty was in turmoil and wars were frequent. After suppressing the invasion of Japanese invaders, the chieftain Yang Yinglong rebelled in Bozhou..."

The video uses various images with commentary to tell the story of how Ma Qiancheng and Qin Liangyu, a couple, led the White Spear Soldiers to fight for the Ming Dynasty in the south and the north, and made many contributions.

Seeing this, those who read a lot of history, such as Zhu Biao and Zhu Di, could not help but wonder: Could it be that Qin Liangyu is the Liang Hongyu of our Ming Dynasty?

However, if she only assisted her husband in achieving many military exploits, she would at most be granted an imperial title or the title of Lady. How could she be granted the title of nobility as a woman?
Not to mention, he was granted the title of marquis in the Ming Dynasty - it was not easy to be granted a title in the Ming Dynasty.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking: Could it be that in the late Ming Dynasty, meritorious service was awarded indiscriminately, and some Southern Ming emperor was so foolish as to confer the title of marquis on a mere woman, Qin Liangyu?
Soon, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Zhu Di and others no longer thought so.

Because Qin Liangyu's husband Ma Qiancheng was unjustly killed by the Ming Dynasty!
Ma Qiancheng was falsely accused by a eunuch and died unjustly in a Yunyang prison. Qin Liangyu was filled with resentment and anger. Looking at her young child, she decided to go to war in her husband's place!

"Qin Liangyu was forty years old that year. The female general who had lost her husband was determined to continue to accompany the Ming Dynasty despite the open and hidden attacks!"

In the video, the blood-stained female general put down her husband's body, said goodbye to her children, put on armor and helmet, held a spear, mounted her warhorse, and rushed into the dark night with heavy rain.

For a moment, the women of the Zhu family, including Lu, Deng, Guanyinnu, etc., could not help but feel sympathy and shed tears. Even Empress Ma's eyes were red.

To be honest, although the five Ming Dynasty figures shown in the previous video were also touching, as they were women, there was a layer of separation, and the feelings were not as strong as those of men.

But the appearance of Qin Liangyu made them feel the same heartache - her husband was unjustly killed, and she had to abandon her children and go to war in his place.

They feel uncomfortable just thinking about it.

　First update.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)