Chapter 224: Order the beginning and be cautious to the end, pull the horse and drop the stirrup

Amidst the sound of firecrackers, the old year passes; the spring breeze sends warmth into the Tusu wine. Under the sun of a thousand doors and ten Battalion Commander, we always replace the old peach wood charms with new ones.

The so-called bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, during the New Year season, is naturally extremely lively.

The capital's first month is especially so.

The auspicious star lanterns burned out at the Aoshan Lantern Festival were all divided by ordinary people, and one by one they were hung in front of the gates along the street; the street performers and actors were crowded with pedestrians strolling leisurely; the scholars who came to the capital for the exams, in order to subsidize their travel expenses, rarely put down their airs and set up writing stalls to customize spring couplets.

Just talking about the festive atmosphere, it can be said to be celebrating throughout the country, like fire cooking oil.

But the New Year of reform often gives the New Year a different meaning, and the situation is also tense and intense, like fire cooking oil.

Even so, the sparks were not seen to be less at all.

For example, the well-known treacherous prime minister Wang Anshi was finally remembered for his literary status in the literary world, and his poetry and lyrics became popular in and out of the capital overnight for no reason.

Leaving aside the "New Year's Day" that fits the New Year, one of his poems, "Climbing Feilai Peak," was also put on the table again for people to appreciate his noble patriotic feelings and lofty political ambitions.

Implicitly borrowing from Wang Anshi's affair, they shouted the outline of "reform is not guilty, innovation is reasonable."

Again, for example, in order to sweep away the atmosphere of "seizing land and gathering wealth, engaging in large-scale construction, damaging the outside to fatten the inside, and being arrogant and extravagant" that the eunuch partisans had brewed in the inner court to flatter the late Emperors of this dynasty, the Emperor took the initiative to publicize the source and destination of imperial assets and asked the people of the world to supervise.

At the same time, Minister of Personnel Wang Xijue was moved by the Emperor's holy virtue and chose to follow the good.

Just for this matter, Wang Xijue couldn't be quiet during the New Year and was repeatedly impeached—impeached for having no status in planning the country, for being ugly, for falsely borrowing integrity to cover up incompetence, and for flattering from above to sell fame.

It was an endless quarrel.

Again, for example, the criminal Liang Yuan, in order to seek a reduced sentence, bit innocent people in prison and reported it to the Kong mansion, saying Kong Chengde conspired with Five Classics Doctor Yan Sishen and Meng Yanpu to hunt the father-in-law of the Emperor and fraudulently register land.

Although Shen Li was unwilling, he still personally led people to invite Kong Chengde to the Land Survey Provincial Governor's Prefectural Yamen and asked patiently.

He only said that after He Xinyin was released from prison, they would confront each other, and he didn't know how it would end.

Furthermore, Zhu Junguo, a General of the State-Protecting Commandery of the Prince of Raoyang's mansion, and others obstructed the land survey and left the garrison city without authorization. They planted yellow flags inscribed with "Those who obstruct shall be beheaded" and beat four clerks to death, leading to their arrest and transport to the capital by the Censor Ru Zongshun.

For this, Grand Secretary Shen Shixing came forward to memorialize that the imperial clansmen occupied the land of soldiers and civilians, not only in the Dai mansion, but requested to strictly order all Prince's mansions in the world to have the pacification and inspection officials investigate and verify the purchase of military land, pay grain according to regulations, and that Zhu Junguo and others should be strictly punished according to the law as an example.

The Emperor had been lazy in politics for many days and hadn't had time to approve it.

The Revenue Division here set off another major case.

Supervising Secretary Li Deyi impeached Chizhou Prefect Guo Siwei, Huizhou Seal-holding Vice Prefect Yan Bangning, and others for colluding with powerful families, obstructing the land survey, resisting major policies, deceiving the Emperor, and other crimes, listing twelve major crimes, looking like he wanted to put them to death.

Each and every one of them was a sensitive matter with far-reaching influence.

The court officials were inevitably made irritable, and they didn't have a very stable New Year.

It just so happened that during the New Year's rest, the Emperor didn't hide in the deep palace to enjoy family happiness, but drilled into the Five Chief Military Commissions, the Beijing Camp, and other places to hang out with the officers and soldiers.

If they wanted to find the Emperor to argue or test him, there was no way to heaven.

Especially looking at the Emperor's posture, if the New Year's rest wasn't over, don't even think about entering the palace to report.

Therefore, the court officials could only watch helplessly as the eunuch partisans in the inner court and the hawks and dogs of the ministries and courts did whatever they wanted and wove major cases, beating their chests and stamping their feet.

In this agonizing wait, they finally waited for the Emperor to end his long rest—today, the Emperor is reviewing the Beijing Camp at the Yuewu Gate.

According to the national dynasty's regulations, there are many places where the Great Review ceremony can be held; the suburbs near Yongding Gate and Desheng Gate are all optional places.

But since the fourteenth year of Chenghua, Emperor Xianzong chose dozens of people to symbolically review the martial arts in the Forbidden City, the Great Review ceremony existed in name only, and these drill grounds in the capital for the Emperor to review martial arts gradually fell into disrepair.

It wasn't until the third year of Longqing, after ninety years, that Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng supported the late Emperor to hold a review near the suburbs again, and the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War rebuilt the drill ground outside the Yuewu Gate in the northern suburbs.

Now, in order to save money, this review of the eighth year of Wanli was also set outside the Yuewu Gate.

Unlike the third year of Longqing, this review, in addition to renovating the Emperor's imperial road, the welcoming gate, and the point-to-point platform, also added several viewing stands for military and civilian representatives to sit.

This move was naturally to invite scholars and people widely.

The people of the capital were the most authentic, and they rarely had leisure during the first month, so they responded to the invitation one after another.

Just early in the morning, the scholars and people going out of the Anding Gate to the northern suburbs were crowded on the official road, the crowd was surging, shoulder to shoulder, gathering towards the drill ground outside the Yuewu Gate.

The military and civilian representatives, with their thumbs hooked on their belts, were invited to the viewing stands on both sides of the drill ground in high spirits.

The scholars, merchants, and commoners who were represented, although blocked outside by the imperial guards, were allowed to climb the city walls to look into the distance.

At this time, the civil and military officials, under the leadership of Shen Shixing, were solemnly standing in the center of the drill ground to sacrifice the flag.

Beijing Camp Viceroy Qi Jiguang personally held the signal flag, ready to go.

Looking around, one could see the military formations standing one after another, spreading across the near suburbs, weapons reflecting cold light, horses' hooves digging uneasily in the damp and cold rammed earth, and the flags around them flapping.

The crowd was noisy, the atmosphere was solemn, but it hadn't reached the time to start yet.

After all, the Emperor had just finished the sacrifice in the palace before the review ceremony and was being surrounded by the imperial guard of honor, being escorted out of the palace in the imperial carriage.

The imperial guard officers and soldiers were originally part in front to guide, part behind to escort, with gongs and drums ringing in unison.

But the Emperor disliked it being too noisy and drove them all to the front of the guard of honor to blow gongs and drums, while he himself took the opportunity to talk to those around him about recent political affairs.

After resting for many days, there were naturally many things to ask about.

Zhu Yijun sat on the imperial carriage, looking down and responding to the topic just now: "... Reasonably speaking, Minister Yu's rank does not yet have the right to ask about the resolutions of the imperial annual meeting."

Yu Yuding followed the Emperor left and right, and after being reprimanded by the Emperor, he fell into a brief silence.

Zhu Yijun smiled when he saw this, but changed the subject: "However, the teacher is after all the Provincial Governor of Shandong, and even more my teacher, so I will make an exception to satisfy the teacher's curiosity."

"The matter of the Kong mansion hunting the father-in-law of the Emperor will definitely not stop at the person himself; all matters involving the Kong family must be investigated to the end!"

Yu Yuding was stunned when he heard this.

Hunting, indeed; between bribery and accepting bribes, who is the master and who is the secondary? It's truly turning the world upside down.

However, as the Provincial Governor of Shandong, he naturally knew the reasons for this.

Don't look at the Emperor's words being high-sounding; in the final analysis, he was still looking for an excuse to handle the Kong mansion.

The descendants of the sage, a thousand-year family, happened to hit the muzzle of the land survey policy, and the Emperor just picked them up to kill them for the people of the world to see.

Only hearing the Emperor's voice rise again: "This is the manuscript that He Xinyin entrusted to be published in prison; just wait for Minister Yu to take it back to Shandong for publication."

While speaking, the accompanying Chief of the Tongzheng Office, Ni Guangjian, immediately took a manuscript from his sleeve and handed it to Yu Youding.

Yu Yuding was stunned and took it subconsciously.

At a glance, he saw the title on the cover—"The Kong Mansion with Countless Crimes."

The titles of each volume were even more bloody.

The vanguard of foreign invasion, the black template of shaving hair and changing clothes;

The way of annexing land, circling, forced buying, and bullying;

The means of harming the people, personal control, economic exploitation, and killing without breaking the law;

Collusion and struggle with local yamen, seizing judicial, administrative, and tax power...

Yu Yuding watched with fascination, and only after a while did he come back to his senses.

Slowly closing the manuscript, he muttered to himself: "Your Majesty is not only a Confucian master, but also a true literatus."

The Emperor's way of fighting was truly unpredictable.

There had only ever been scholars hijacking public opinion, editing little stories about the current Emperor and Grand Secretary.

It was the first time he had encountered current rulers writing little essays to destroy the golden body of the Confucian master.

This is the true essence of a literatus!

Zhu Yijun waved his hand casually: "Although I let He Xinyin borrow some county and prefecture gazetteers, memorials, and case files, in the final analysis, it is still He Xinyin's personal behavior."

Personal behavior, just a temporary worker, don't talk nonsense.

Even the old ministers of the Crown Prince were speechless for a moment by the Emperor's shameless words.

Yu Yuding suppressed the abdominal criticism in his heart, thought quietly for a moment, and checked for omissions.

After a long silence, Yu Yuding tentatively opened his mouth: "Your Majesty, I have heard of He Xinyin's reputation among the people."

"However... the matter of land survey is like attacking hard wood; start with the easy parts, and then the joints."

"The Kong mansion, this kind of thousand-year sage family, occupies the Central Plains, with deep roots, bearing the great expectations of scholars all over the world, is a 'joint' that deserves the name."

"I believe that if things are slow, they will be round; this matter might as well keep the joint and finish it last."

This is the methodology of the "Book of Rites"; the intersection of branches is called a joint, and the entanglement of textures is called a target; when cutting wood, one often leaves it for last, starting from easy to difficult, from shallow to deep.

The land survey matter is about the same.

If one starts by attacking a thousand-year family, there is a risk of colluding and causing trouble.

In his opinion, the Kong mansion is best kept as a "reserved program" and handled calmly at the end.

Zhu Yijun suddenly laughed when he heard this. Yu Yuding didn't understand.

He met the Emperor's gaze, only to see the Emperor laughing and shaking his head, sneering: "Joint?"

"In terms of the pen, I am the sage of the present age, the master of Confucianism, holding the news and publication bureau, and I haven't seen the voice be half as small."

"If we talk about the gun, isn't today's review ceremony for showing off power and suppressing those who don't submit?"

"How many battalions does the Kong family have to dare to call themselves a joint?"

Yu Yuding was stunned and speechless when he heard this.

He didn't come back to his senses for a long time.

Zhu Yijun looked at Yu Yuding and didn't say anything more.

Addressing the easy before the difficult also requires specific analysis of specific problems. Like the issue of land annexation, "easy" is often merely the shadow of "difficult." If "difficult" is not properly resolved, countless "easy" issues will continue to emerge. I fear one might only keep spinning in circles on "addressing the easy first," and in the end, merely shout a couple of times that "the water is too deep" to perfunctorily finish the matter.

Top-down is the last chance for reform; if it doesn't work, one can only wait for bottom-up.

!

At this time, no matter who it is, imperial clansmen or relatives, high officials or nobles, powerful families, whoever dares to come out must be killed all the way.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yijun turned his head to look at Zhang Hong: "The heat is almost there; have the attendant approve all the memorials of recent days later."

"The Dai Prince obstructed the land survey; the culprit Zhu Junguo is sentenced to death, and Zhu Chongkun and others are abolished as commoners."

"Zhu Chongyu, the Prince of Lucheng, sat by and watched as the various clansmen left the city, acting as if he heard nothing; Zhu Naixuan, the Prince of Taiping, failed to submit a memorial; Wang Mingfu, the Chief Clerk of the Prince's mansion, and Hu Guan, the acting professor, were derelict in their duties of guidance. Let the judicial authorities punish them severely according to the law."

"Chizhou Prefect Guo Siwei, Huizhou Seal-holding Vice Prefect Yan Bangning, and others copied old registers, perfunctorily handled major policies, disobeyed in public and obeyed in private, obstructed the land survey, and are sentenced to death."

Zhang Hong bowed and agreed.

After waiting for a while and seeing that the Emperor had no movement, he reminded in a low voice: "Your Majesty, there is also the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue Right Vice Minister Sun Guanghu, who impeached Anqing Prefect Ye Mengxiong for being slow in the land survey."

Ye Mengxiong was one of the officials impeached in the same batch as Guo Siwei and Yan Bangning because of the land survey, so it was naturally inconvenient to be an exception.

Zhu Yijun clearly hadn't forgotten.

He pondered for a moment and waved his hand: "Sun Piyang ordered the Anqing Prefecture to clear the land and households within one month; this is not something human power can do, so Ye Mengxiong naturally turned a deaf ear."

"This former Provincial Governor Sun Guanghu is being sarcastic, saying Sun Piyang is eager for success."

"Send an oral decree for me to appease Sun Guanghu and let Ye Mengxiong be as he was."

"As for Sun Piyang... bring this matter up for court deliberation and then issue a decree to inform the governors of all provinces to take it as a warning."

Layer-by-layer increase is a problem that cannot be avoided under the performance assessment system.

Increasing the code and running ahead to make achievements is the ability of local high officials.

But similarly, if things go wrong, they cannot spread their hands and refuse to admit it; they must be held accountable.

Isn't this also a part of the assessment of the pacification and inspection officials?

Zhang Hong didn't know where the Emperor learned the ins and outs, so he didn't ask much and just agreed silently.

Just then, the gongs and drums stopped abruptly.

Zhu Yijun looked up and saw that while they were talking, the guard of honor had already passed the imperial road of the capital and arrived in front of the Anding Gate.

Outside this gate, the officials in charge of military affairs led the generals and officers to kneel and welcome them in military uniform, and the central army fired three cannons, and all these messy things.

The officials of the Ministry of War and the Court of Ceremonial had long been waiting in front of the Anding Gate as guides.

Zhu Yijun naturally had no interest in looking at these familiar faces.

He shifted his gaze and looked at Wang Chonggu, who stood out from the crowd in front of the city gate with an imposing manner.

And the Mongol woman behind him.

The imperial carriage landed lightly, and Zhu Yijun got up from the imperial carriage and walked down, waiting for the Ministry of War official to lead the imperial horse—this was the Emperor's little willfulness; for things like going through the motions, riding a horse was still more martial than the imperial carriage.

Zhang Hong on the side stepped forward to support him, following the Emperor's gaze, and whispered to identify: "Your Majesty, the person behind Wang Chonggu is the Loyal and Obedient Lady, whom the Mongols call the Third Lady."

Zhu Yijun nodded gently to Wang Chonggu, but in fact, he was observing the Third Lady with his peripheral vision without moving.

The Third Lady should be exactly thirty years old this year; standing behind Wang Chonggu, she was a head shorter, but she could still see her tall figure, bright eyes, clear and bright gaze, and her manner was not inferior to Wang Chonggu at all.

But perhaps because of the wind and sun outside the Great Wall, she looked like Empress Dowager Chen, about thirty-five or thirty-six years old.

Putting aside the age of her skin, her bone structure was indeed extremely beautiful, worthy of Zhao Shizhe's evaluation of "clear and beautiful bone appearance, intelligent and different nature."

Added to the exotic style of her dress and the momentum of years of commanding troops, she looked like a person who shouldn't be approached, which was quite beautiful.

It's no wonder she was married by four generations of Khans, grandson and grandfather, and relied upon as a family treasure.

Zhu Yijun observed secretly, but his mouth didn't stop: "What has been the reaction of the Loyal and Obedient Lady these two days?"

Although the Third Lady was ordered to enter the capital, Zhu Yijun instructed the Ministry of Rites to deliberately leave the Third Lady out on the pretext of the New Year's rest, placing her in the Four Barbarian Hall, and not allowing her to enter or leave.

At the same time, he repeatedly sent eunuchs to question the Third Lady with words like "Why did Altan Khan disobey the decree?" and "The Emperor is extremely dissatisfied."

Until today, the Third Lady, along with foreign ministers from Korea, Oirat, and native chieftains, was invited to the review ceremony.

With such pressure, Zhu Yijun was now very curious about her reaction.

Zhang Hong lowered his voice and replied: "Your Majesty, the Third Lady has been the same these two days; she exercises every morning, then entrusts the Four Barbarian Hall to ask for peace from Your Majesty, goes out to shop during the day, and borrows books from the Ministry of Rites to read at night, not even visiting the Wang Viceroy's mansion."

"She only occasionally expresses homesickness to those around her, saying she is afraid that her family will be worried, afraid that her subordinates will cause trouble for no reason, etc."

The Viceroy Wang in his mouth was naturally Wang Chonggu.

The two sides, as old acquaintances of Xuan-Da, had close contacts, but the Third Lady was under such pressure and didn't even contact Wang Chonggu; she was truly able to hold her breath.

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but look at the Third Lady again and clicked his tongue: "Worthy of being the uncrowned king of the Right Wing; she is truly a fierce and smart person."

And at this time, the Third Lady was openly observing the Emperor.

Everyone on the grassland knew that the Great Ming dynasty was an empire with a vast territory.

The Emperor had to control tens of millions of young and strong men, and had to live in the palace, dealing with political affairs as high as a small mountain.

Let alone galloping on the battlefield and being the first to charge, he didn't even have much time to leave the palace to sunbathe.

This also caused the biggest difference between the Ming dynasty's emperors and the grassland Khans: deep wisdom, soft and weak.

The Third Lady saw it with her own eyes now and found that the so-called "everyone knows" might only be half-believed.

The Emperor didn't look burly compared to the leaders of the tribes.

But he truly couldn't be called soft and weak; he was probably a healthy young man.

If the latter was discounted by half, then whether deep wisdom also needs to be discounted...

The Emperor summoned her to the capital, was it simply because Shi Maohua passed the border back then and he wanted to vent his anger, or was it, as she had drafted these days, for the Ming-Mongol situation, having other calculations?

Should she believe Wang Chonggu's evaluation of the Emperor as "having the world in his heart, including Ming and Mongol," or should she believe the Emperor's attitude of "Han and thieves cannot stand together, the king's cause cannot be partial" that she obtained by bribing eunuchs these days?

The last Ming dynasty review ceremony laid the foundation for the Khan's tribute; what was the review ceremony ten years later pointing at?

The Third Lady stared straight at the Emperor, her thoughts constant.

Seeing the attendants leading the horses for the Emperor, the Third Lady chatted with Wang Chonggu to get information: "Why doesn't the Emperor ride the imperial carriage? I heard that Emperor Mu rode all the way to the palace at the Yuewu Gate last time."

She was an expert on Han affairs; Guhua City was the name she gave herself, a gift she offered to the Great Ming dynasty.

She knew a little bit about stories that weren't too obscure in the Great Ming dynasty.

Wang Chonggu was expressionless and explained: "The Emperor is a great gentleman, accomplished in literature and martial arts, and skilled in the six arts; on the occasion of this review, he naturally has to ride a horse."

No matter what happened in private, Wang Chonggu wouldn't give the Third Lady a good face in public.

The Third Lady glared at Wang Chonggu's serious appearance.

She was about to ask again, but saw the Emperor had already mounted the horse and was heading outside the Anding Gate, passing in front of her.

"Respectfully invite Your Majesty to review the three armies!" 【2

San Niangzi followed suit, performing the rites of a foreign official alongside the Ministry of Rites officials.

She had been left waiting for many days, assuming the Emperor would at least wait until after this display of military might before granting her an audience.

Unexpectedly, the Emperor of the Great Ming dynasty, upon hearing this, suddenly reined in his horse to pause and turned his head to cast his gaze: "Lady Zhongshun."

San Niangzi subconsciously took a deep breath in a hurry.

She quickly reacted, bowed, and said: "This foreign official pays respects to Your Majesty the Emperor."

Zhu Yijun nodded in return, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly revealed a kindly smile: "Lady Zhongshun, the steed beneath me was a gift presented by the Tumut Khan in the first year of Wanli to celebrate my ascension to the throne."

"This is a fierce horse; I myself dare not ride it lightly. Today, for the sake of the dignity of the Celestial Empire and to show off our military prowess, I have had to force myself to ride it, and my close ministers are all fearful that I might make a mistake."

"I just saw Lady Zhongshun, and suddenly, a thought came to mind..."

Zhu Yijun paused and kindly narrowed his eyes: "Lady Zhongshun, could you lead the horse for me?"

(End of chapter)