Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 358 Zhu Xiongying: Jiajing is actually the descendant of the fourth uncle?! [Subscription Request]

Soon, the camera turned to the leading eunuch, and two columns of small characters appeared next to him - the eunuch commander-in-chief of the East Factory, Feng Bao.

Feng Bao said, "One last question. Why didn't it snow in December this year?"

The camera turned to the official again, and two columns of small characters appeared next to him, introducing his identity - Director of the Imperial Observatory, Zhou Yunyi.

Zhou Yunyi said, "The imperial court's spending is excessive, officials are corrupt, the people are living in poverty, and the heavens are angry and the people are resentful..."

At this moment, the camera suddenly moved and turned to the back of Zhou Yunyi. It turned out to be a eunuch who raised a wooden stick and hit Zhou Yunyi on the back, knocking him to the ground and interrupting his words.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly.

Because he had a strong sense of déjà vu about the opening plot - the ministers gave advice, but the emperor did not listen, and instead beat the people who came to see him in court.

In the ninth year of the Hongwu reign, Ru Taisu, the head of the Ministry of Justice, submitted a memorial of over ten thousand words outlining current problems. The memorial contained little actual content, but it was filled with exaggerated allusions and flowery rhetoric, making the language difficult to understand.

At that time, Ru Taisu had been demoted from the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice to the position of Chief Official for his incompetence in handling affairs. He was then asked to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence, but he did not achieve any results and instead ended up with such an incident.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very unhappy at the time, so he summoned Ru Taisu and reprimanded him and beat him with a stick in court.

From then on, if any minister did not correct his mistakes after being reprimanded or angered him, he might be beaten.

However, under the persuasion of Empress Ma, he did not abuse this punishment. The imperial guards usually beat people with rattan sticks or bamboo boards at most, not the thick and long wooden sticks like those in the drama.

Having said that, the plot at the beginning of the play still makes Zhu Yuanzhang feel like he is being ridiculed.

"It seems the people who filmed this drama have some ill will towards us."

Muttering this in his heart, Zhu Yuanzhang continued watching the show.

Feng Bao came to the fallen Zhou Yunyi's head and asked, "Who taught you to say these words to the emperor?"

Zhou Yunyi: "I am an official of the Ming Dynasty. I am doing my duty. I don't need anyone to teach me."

Feng Bao sighed and said, "Court stick."

The camera zooms out to reveal the eunuchs beating Zhou Yunyi with a stick in front of the Meridian Gate. When the camera zooms in again, Zhou Yunyi is sprawled on the ground, motionless, his life or death unknown.

At this time, a narration appeared, which should be from Emperor Jiajing.

"Everyone is guilty, and the fault lies with me. From the first to the fifteenth day of the New Year, I will be alone in Yuxi Palace, fasting and praying for snow."

Although he had only watched the beginning, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but pause the TV show and asked, "Biao'er, what do you think of this opening plot?"

Zhu Biao said, "It's likely that there was no snow in winter, and the next year will be poor. The Imperial Astronomical Observatory's Zhou Yunyi took advantage of this opportunity to meet with the Emperor and urge him to punish corruption."

"However, if Zhou Yunyi was not acting voluntarily, but was being instructed by someone as the eunuch said, I'm afraid it's likely a hidden factional struggle between the upright officials of the Jiajing Dynasty and the corrupt official Yan Song, as my brother-in-law mentioned."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and looked at Zhu Di, "Fourth Brother, tell me."

Zhu Di said, "Father, your Majesty, I hold the same view as you, elder brother."

"Xiong Ying, what do you think?"

Zhu Xiongying thought for a moment and said, "My grandson believes that even if the Jiajing Emperor condoned Yan Song's corrupt group as the teacher said, Zhou Yunyi shouldn't have used the time of day to persuade him."

"Firstly, the weather is a natural phenomenon and has nothing to do with the emperor or anyone else in the world."

"Secondly, if the Confucian theory of 'the connection between heaven and man' in the play is taken as the guiding principle, then Zhou Yunyi's use of the heavenly order to advise against the Emperor is tantamount to saying that the Emperor Jiajing is immoral—and as an emperor, the Emperor Jiajing certainly cannot admit this. Therefore, Zhou Yunyi deserves to be beaten!"

When Old Zhu and the other two heard Zhu Xiongying say that the weather was a natural phenomenon and had nothing to do with anyone, they looked strange at first - although they also knew this, they did not really accept it in their hearts, and subconsciously still somewhat agreed with the theory of "the connection between heaven and man".

But upon hearing the second point, Old Zhu smiled with satisfaction. He patted Zhu Xiongying on the shoulder and said, "Xiongying is right. Zhou Yunyi deserves a beating. Of course, there's no need to kill him for this." "The emperor holds the life and death, honor and disgrace of his subjects in his hands. When imposing such power on an official, one must be both decisive and cautious. Remember that?"

The three of them immediately responded, "My sons and grandsons will remember this!"

Zhu Yuanzhang continued to play the show.

But one night, it finally snowed. Several middle and high-level eunuchs took the opportunity to report the good news to Emperor Jiajing to fight openly and secretly, and tried every means to take credit.

Seeing the eunuchs and eunuchs in the play addressing each other as father and son, and even eunuchs riding in sedan chairs, Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and thought: If what is shown in this drama is true, it means that the Ming Dynasty court at that time was really in a mess.

In this situation, it is no wonder that a palace maid would try to strangle Jiajing to death while he was sleeping in the middle of the night.

Afterwards, a wonderful imperial meeting began as the palace servants loudly announced the auspicious signs.

At this time, a narration was inserted, explaining that the director of the Imperial Observatory, Zhou Yunyi, was beaten to death with a stick in the court.

Then the 70-year-old Yan Song appeared.

Not only did the civil servants who accompanied him come to flatter him, but even the eunuchs came out to greet and flatter him. There were also officials who had a bad relationship with Yan Song and made sarcastic remarks nearby.

When they arrived at a palace, a man wearing a loose white robe and sitting cross-legged on a platform was vaguely visible.

He struck the jade chime, and several eunuchs outside began to discuss matters with a group of cabinet ministers and ministers.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned deeply. After watching several people arguing about the expenditure issue for a while, he paused the TV series again.

Then he tilted his head and glared at Zhu Di, "To actually let eunuchs hold meetings with cabinet ministers and decide on state affairs is simply absurd! We're not saying that eunuchs can't be used, but they must not be allowed to participate in state decision-making!"

"Eunuchs are close to the emperor and easily gain his trust. If they participate in the decision-making of state affairs, I am afraid that all major events in the world will be affected by them!"

"By then, we will be no different from those corrupt eunuchs who controlled the imperial court and even deposed and enthroned emperors at the end of the Tang Dynasty!"

Zhu Di knew that his father was blaming his family for favoring eunuchs, so he immediately said, "Father is right. I will remember this and never allow eunuchs to participate in state affairs!"

Zhu Xiongying looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, as if thinking about something.

He had always felt that Zhu Yuanzhang treated Zhu Di differently from his other uncles, and seemed to value him more. When he saw Zhu Di watching the TV series with him today, this feeling became even more obvious.

"What makes Fourth Uncle different from the other Imperial Uncles? Could it be..."

Looking at Zhu Di's face, Zhu Xiongying had some bold guesses in his mind, but he couldn't be sure.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang continued to play the TV series.

While the cabinet ministers and the ministers were arguing with each other, the camera switched to the platform with a curtain, and a middle-aged man with a somewhat immortal look appeared on the screen.

At the same time, two columns of small characters appeared next to it, introducing his identity - Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houzhao!
It is indeed Emperor Jiajing.

Zhu Xiongying thought so first.

Then his gaze suddenly shifted back to the three words "Zhu Houcong". He thought of something and his eyes widened.

Zhu Houcong?!

If I remember correctly, this generation name should be from my fourth uncle's lineage, right?
In other words, this Emperor Jiajing is actually a descendant of his fourth uncle?!

　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)