When Hu Shanwei was burning incense and praying for Consort Duanjing Guo, at the Duke of Qian's mansion, the eldest son Mu Chun set up an incense table and led his family to welcome the angel who came to convey the emperor's decree.
The angel opened the imperial edict and said, "There is an imperial decree!"
Mu Chun, still wearing coarse linen mourning clothes, knelt down, with his third brother Mu Ang and fourth brother Mu Xin kneeling behind him. There was a screen beside him, and behind the screen knelt the wife of the Duke of Qian, Geng, and the second wife of Mu, Cheng, and other female relatives.
The angel read: "I order the son of the late Qianning Zhaojing King Mu Ying to inherit the title of Duke of Qian in spring and go to Yunnan. The edict says: Those who lose their parents at an early age and are raised and cared for are also parents. In the past, your father Mu Ying was orphaned and young at a time of turmoil in the world. He had nowhere to turn to. I felt sorry for him and raised him as my son. He followed me across the Yangtze River until he grew up. When I have a son, I order him to restore his original surname and return to the ancestral temple. Because of his hard work, he is named Duke of Qian, with a generous salary and rewards, hoping that he will become a great family. He has been with the country for as long as I have been, and I ordered him to assist in the expedition to Yunnan and stay there to garrison the area. He was able to show his kindness and power, and the barbarians all submitted. I have no worries about the southwest for eleven years."
This means that Mu Ying's son Mu Chun was ordered to inherit the title of Duke of Qian and to guard Yunnan. The emperor said that when Mu Ying was young, his parents died, and I adopted him as my son, named Zhu Ying. Later, when I had my own son, I ordered him to restore his original surname and build a Mu clan temple. Later, Mu Ying was named Duke of Qian for his outstanding military exploits. Since Mu Ying guarded Yunnan, he used both kindness and power, and the barbarians surrendered. For eleven years, I have not worried about the safety of the southwest.
"… I comfort you with the title of King, and now I order you to inherit the title of Duke of Qian in the spring. Alas! I regard your father as my own son, and I still feel the love for him. You should think of the good fortune of your father following you, and never Don't forget the grace of his helping you out of trouble. Be loyal to the country, and keep this in mind in your dreams and dreams. Then the gods and ghosts will see it, and you will be blessed with prosperity forever. Respect!"
What I mean is, in order to comfort Mu Ying's spirit in heaven, I posthumously confer the title of king on him and bury him with royal rites. Now, I confer the title of Duke of Qian on you, Mu Chun. Alas, I treat your father as my own son. Thinking of the various things that happened when I raised your father in the past, you should be grateful for your father's kindness, learn from your father's loyalty to the country, and ensure that the Mu family has successors.
The edict conferring the title of Duke of Qian on Mu Chun was written with true feelings. Mu Ying, this adopted son, was worth twenty biological sons. He was truly loyal, serving the country and the people without any selfish motives, which made Emperor Hongwu feel the least worried.
Unfortunately, the sons who were easy to take care of died, while the ones who were not easy to take care of are all alive and well.
"Your servant Mu Chun respects the order. Long live the emperor!" Mu Chun accepted the order and thanked the angel. The angel handed the imperial edict to him with both hands, "Congratulations, Duke of Qian."
According to the filial piety system, officials must resign their official positions and observe mourning for 27 months for the death of their parents, which is called Dingyou. If they are the eldest son of a large clan, they must also observe Dingyou after the death of their grandparents. Of course, if there are special circumstances, the court will approve officials to not resign and observe Dingyou, and continue to work, which is called "Duoqing". However, regardless of whether the court decides to deprive officials of their duty, officials must first ask for Dingyou, otherwise it is unfilial, and no matter how high the official is, they will fall into the trap of filial piety.
Due to their profession, military generals would generally not have to resign from their posts to observe mourning. The court would grant them about a hundred days of bereavement leave to take care of their parents' funeral arrangements. In short, when it comes to filial piety, no matter whether they are civil officials or military generals, or even the emperor, there is a bottom line that cannot be crossed.
Therefore, nearly a hundred days before Mu Ying's death, Emperor Hongwu issued an edict, ordering Mu Chun to inherit the title and become the second Duke of Qian, rushing to Yunnan to guard the southwest.
Mu Chun brought the imperial edict to the ancestral hall to offer to the ancestors. On the incense table was Mu Ying's tablet. While offering the imperial edict and various imperial gifts, Mu Chun threw the whip that his father often used into the brazier where paper money was burning.
"Dad, the ancestral hall is the place I hate the most because you often made me kneel here, recite the family rules, and whipped me. You almost beat me to death. Fortunately, I am lucky."
"Now you have turned into a wooden sign. You can't hit me even if you want to. I will burn a whip for you to go down and beat the little devil."
In the past you beat me with a whip, but today you are squatting on a wooden platform, watching me praying in a tone that doesn't recognize any relatives. Come and beat me, the whip has burned for you, come and beat me.
Even though he inherited the title, Mu Chun was still the unruly "rebellious son".
"Now, I have inherited your title. Actually, I don't want to inherit the family title. I want to make a career for myself. You can give the title to whoever you want. But after many twists and turns, the title is still given to me. As the saying goes, you will be grateful if you take something from someone else, and you will be soft-hearted if you eat someone else's food. I have no choice but to do some practical things under the title of Duke of Qian. I will take my third brother back to Yunnan, and my fourth brother will stay at home. If you know about this, please bless the stability of the Yunnan border, and people to have more children and less wars."
Now that Mu Chun is the head of the family, he dares to speak freely in the ancestral hall. Anyway, he is the eldest in the Mu family, and no one dares to refute him.
The third brother Mu Ang: Don’t look at anything indecent, don’t listen to anything indecent, I know nothing.
The fourth child, Mu Xin, is nine years old this year. The sons of wealthy families have long been in charge of the family. He has replaced his second brother, Mu Sheng, and married his second sister-in-law, Cheng, into the family. He has grown up and is no longer the naughty child who ate boogers.
Mu Xin knew why he stayed in Beijing, so, at a young age, he remained silent and did not clamor to go to Yunnan.
Mu Chun looked at his younger brother. In fact, at this age, what he wanted most was to travel around and see the outside world, but Mu Xin was destined to never even step out of the capital. The Mu family's surname gave them brothers wealth and corresponding responsibilities, and no one had an easy life.
Mu Chun remembered that he was the head of the family, so he had to remind his younger brother, "Mu Xin, you are now a tutor for the princes and grandchildren in the main hall of the imperial palace. I used to be one, but now the population of the Zhu family has increased more than ten times, and the situation is different from that time. Moreover, I had Empress Xiaoci to take care of me back then, so I dared to walk sideways in the palace. So my experience as a tutor is useless to you. You have to figure everything out on your own."
What Mu Chun said was the truth. In the past, Empress Xiaoci and Emperor Hongwu almost treated him as a pet.
Mu Xin was nine years old. His sensibility did not mean he had no rebellious heart. Hearing this, he said, "Brother, it's the same whether you said it or not."
The third brother, Mu Ang, sternly scolded his younger brother: "How do you talk to your elder brother? You are disrespectful."
Mu Xin remained silent and refused to apologize.
Mu Chun didn't care about the size or status, and said, "Now there are more than a dozen princes and grandsons of the emperor in the Grand Hall. Do you know why?"
Mu Xin said: "These princes are actually the same as me."
A hostage like me.
Mu Xin was quite talented and knew that this kind of truth had to be kept in his heart and not spoken out loud, otherwise it would bring disaster, which was something a little kid like him couldn't bear.
When Mu Chun heard this, he knew that his younger brother was on to something. "Since you understand, there is no need for me to say anything more. Don't get involved in the affairs of the Zhu family. Just remember that your last name is Mu."
"I will keep it in mind." Mu Xin thought for a moment and said, "Big brother, can you ask your second brother to take some time to come back and bring the two nephews back to Beijing?"
Mu Chun: "What?"
Mu Xin said: "If my second sister-in-law could give birth to a child, she wouldn't be so sad all day long; with two nephews at home, I might be able to take turns to go to Yunnan."
The hostage takes turns, it can't always be me, I also want to see the world outside.
Mu Chun looked at his younger brother, a nine-year-old body with a nineteen-year-old soul, "Okay, second brother hasn't seen the Madam for eleven years. Third brother and I will go to Yunnan to ask him to come back."
Mu Sheng, who was thousands of miles away, sneezed three times.
Mu Xin had a smile on his face, but when he saw his father's tablet, he suddenly realized that laughing in this place was disrespectful to his ancestors, so he restrained his smile and put on a bitter and resentful expression again.
Mu Chun caught the change in Mu Xin's expression from the corner of his eye and thought to himself, he is still a child after all.
After telling the good news that his ancestor inherited the title, Mu Chun went to the palace to express his gratitude. Emperor Hongwu had suffered a series of severe blows, and half of his hair had turned white recently. Mu Chun came here not only to express his gratitude but also to say goodbye, and was about to go to Yunnan.
Mu Chun told Emperor Hongwu about his basic direction for governing Yunnan in the future, "… Yunnan is a special place with a different culture from the Central Plains. I want to encourage talented local people to take the imperial examinations, go out to broaden their horizons, and take the initiative to get in touch with the civilization of the Central Plains. But now they can't even understand the examination questions, which are too difficult and sometimes a little biased. The gap between them and the scholars and juren in the Central Plains is too big. I suggest that the county and township examinations in Yunnan and Guizhou be handed over to the local education officials to set their own questions according to the actual situation. First, select the juren, select the outstanding ones to study in the Imperial College, and then prepare for the joint examination with the candidates from all over the country."
"In addition, the threshold for officials in Yunnan can be lowered. As long as they are capable and willing to be local officials, they can be given opportunities. In order to maintain stability, the Ming Dynasty has appointed many hereditary local officials and asked them to govern themselves without paying taxes. They only need to serve in the military and pay tribute. This has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that the Ming Dynasty can quickly incorporate Yunnan into its territory and expand its territory. The disadvantage is that the local officials always rebel. If the rebellion fails, they surrender. After surrendering, they rebel again. It is like psoriasis that is difficult to cure. My father was assassinated when he captured Si Lunfa, the leader of Luchuan, for the sixth time."
"After a hundred years or even hundreds of years, the native officials will eventually be replaced by officials from the imperial court. For the sake of political achievements and promotion, these officials will definitely work hard for the welfare of the local people. Gradually, the people will have a sense of justice. When they realize that they will benefit more from the governance of officials from the imperial court, they will be willing to accept officials from the imperial court and resist the native officials."
"The transformation of native officials into officials must be completed with the support of the people. If the imperial court directly puts pressure on the local officials and simply and roughly seizes the local officials and replaces them with officials, I am afraid that the local people will take up arms and rebel together with the local officials..."
Mu Chun talked eloquently, trying to convince Emperor Hongwu to allow Yunnan to hold its own imperial examination system and select scholars and juren according to Yunnan's actual conditions. Emperor Hongwu did not interrupt him and let him talk. In a trance, the face of his godson Mu Ying replaced Mu Chun, as if it was Mu Ying who said these words.
The father and son do not look alike. Mu Ying has thick eyebrows and fierce eyes, while Mu Chun has delicate eyebrows and handsome eyes, with a bit of the demeanor of a civil servant.
However, they were surprisingly similar in military talent and political views. The last time, which was also the last time, he met Mu Ying, it was when Mu Ying proposed the one million immigrant plan to him, and he also spoke eloquently and with reasoning.
This is the benefit of guarding Yunnan for a long time. The father and son understand Yunnan as well as they understand their own bodies, and they know where the root of the problem lies.
Now, six years have passed since Mu Ying's one million immigrant plan. Much Chun has settled 2.5 million immigrants, which has suddenly changed the population structure of Yunnan. Although Yunnan still has unrest from time to time, it is much more stable than before.
The key point is that the new immigrants will pay taxes to the court after three years. The court’s investment can be paid back, so Mu Ying’s suggestion is correct.
According to the development speed of the new immigrants, in a hundred years, the people in the Central Plains will change from guests to the main ethnic group and will never rebel again.
If Mu Ying's immigration plan was a century-long plan, then Mu Chun's plan was a thousand-year plan, which fundamentally changed the primitive governance model that had been maintained by local officials for thousands of years, and replaced it with officials sent by the court to manage the local area.
The far-sightedness and ingenious strategies of this father and son really made Emperor Hongwu envious: Why wasn't it my child? Why are the best children all from other families? Even a dandy boy like Muchun, who was known as the "devil in the world" when he was young, was able to stand on his own feet when he was nearly thirty years old.
"Your Majesty, in the past six years, I have basically solved the food and housing problems of 2.5 million immigrants in Yunnan. The Mu family will guard Yunnan for generations, but how can the Mu family alone be enough? Yunnan needs a large number of grassroots officials. Moreover, if the Mu family continues to guard the southwest and inherits the throne, then the Mu family will become the largest native official in Yunnan, which is not the result your majesty wants."
"So, the next step is to solve the problems of Yunnan's lack of education, talent shortage, and cultural assimilation. I hope the emperor will allow Yunnan to hold its own imperial examinations according to local conditions, and then encourage the descendants of local nobles and native officials to come to the capital to study, encourage them to study and take the exams, and return to Yunnan to become temporary officials with real abilities. In the future, when there are conflicts between native officials and temporary officials, they can act as middlemen to mediate between the two places, use native officials to deal with native officials, and avoid bloody conflicts."
Every move of Mu Chun is a killer move, and it is obviously the result of careful consideration. It seems that while he was handling his father's funeral during the 100-day bereavement leave, he never stopped thinking about how to govern Yunnan.
Emperor Hongwu sighed, "Alas, if the Crown Prince had half the wisdom you have, I wouldn't have to worry about him."
Mu Chun was as sensitive as Mu Ying in terms of political sense. He quickly said, "Your Majesty, please don't look down on me. I am almost thirty years old, and the Crown Prince is only fifteen. When I was fifteen, I was a useless dandy, not even half as knowledgeable as the Crown Prince."
Mu Chun: Please don't compare me with the Crown Prince. I don't want to participate in the fight for the throne. I want to live a few more years. Once the mourning period is over, I will grow old with Sister Shanwei!
The crown prince Zhu Yunwen was born to Consort Lu of Crown Prince Yiwen, and was the eldest grandson of the royal family. However, Lu was a concubine who was promoted to the first wife. The original wife of Crown Prince Yiwen was Chang, the eldest daughter of Chang Yuchun, a founding general and Prince of Kaiping. Chang gave birth to the eldest son Zhu Xiongying and the second son Zhu Yunhuan. Unfortunately, Zhu Xiongying died at the age of eight, and now only the fourteen-year-old Zhu Yunhuan is left.
In terms of age, Zhu Yunwen is eleven months older than Zhu Yunhuan.
In terms of origin, Zhu Yunwen was the legitimate son born to his second wife, while Zhu Yunhuan was the legitimate son born to his original wife.
According to the patriarchal inheritance rules, the legitimate son of the original wife is definitely older than the legitimate son of the second wife, so Zhu Yunhuan is the crown prince.
However, Zhu Yunwen was smart since he was a child. He started learning at the age of three and could write poems at the age of five, which made him very popular with Emperor Hongwu. However, Zhu Yunhuan was mediocre in both civil and military affairs.
Regarding the huge difference in intelligence between the two half-brothers, there was once a rumor in the palace that the former Crown Princess Chang had a difficult delivery when giving birth to Zhu Yunhuan, and Zhu Yunhuan was stuck in the birth canal for a long time before he was born, which damaged his brain and made him a little stupid.
As soon as the rumor spread, Gong Zhengsi Fan Gong Zheng immediately took drastic measures, picking out several palace servants who were the leaders of spreading the rumor, pulling out their tongues, and then beating them to death. From then on, no one dared to talk nonsense. However, Zhu Yunhuan's reputation as a fool eventually spread.
In fact, Zhu Yunhu was able to study and cope normally. He was not stupid. He was just too mediocre. The royal children had all been taught by famous teachers, were energetic and had favorable conditions. Some were good at literature, some were good at martial arts, some were interested in drama, and some even wrote medical books. Basically everyone had his own strengths and characteristics and had made a name for himself in some field. Even the King of Lu, who was known for his absurdity, had some good calligraphy and some good poems.
Zhu Yunhuan was so mediocre that he had no special features, just an ordinary person, which disappointed Emperor Hongwu very much. Therefore, he violated the basic principles of patriarchal inheritance, abandoned his original son Zhu Yunhuan, and chose his second son Zhu Yunwen as the crown prince.
This move by Emperor Hongwu caused a great stir in the court, because Zhu Yunhuan's grandfather was Chang Yuchun, the Prince of Kaiping! How could the Chang family of Zhengguo Mansion accept this
In addition to the Chang family, the younger brother of Lady Lan, the Dowager Lady of Zheng, is the Duke of Liang, Lan Yu, the most outstanding middle-aged general in the Ming Dynasty. He won a great victory in the Battle of Buyuerhai during the Northern Expedition. Emperor Hongwu compared Lan Yu to Wei Qing. He was promoted from Marquis to Duke, and was the youngest duke in the Ming Dynasty.
Lady Feng, wife of Duke of Zheng, was the daughter of Duke of Song Feng Sheng. Feng Sheng was Mu Chun's great-uncle, and Mu Chun's uncle Feng Cheng was Duke of Ying - in other words, in addition to the Lan family, the Feng family also naturally supported Zhu Yunhuan.
Mu Chun has been disliked by his father and uncle since he was a child. Duke of Song Feng Sheng always urges him to please his father and secure the position of crown prince, so Mu Chun does not like Feng Sheng.
Mu Chun didn't want to get involved in the dispute over the throne of the Eastern Palace, especially since Emperor Hongwu had already named Zhu Yunwen the Crown Prince. He was not stupid!
Can Emperor Hongwu’s decision be changed by pressure from others
When Emperor Hongwu was expounding on several opinions on the governance of Yunnan, he did not say whether he agreed or disagreed. Instead, he talked about the Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen, saying things like "If the Crown Prince had half as much knowledge as you, I wouldn't have to worry about him."
Mu Chun immediately became alert. He realized that the emperor was testing his attitude towards the new crown prince, so he quickly distanced himself from the matter, saying that he was a puddle of mud at the age of fifteen and not half as knowledgeable as the crown prince Zhu Yunwen.
Muchun's reaction was simply perfect. It seemed that his bad relationship with his uncle's family was not entirely a disadvantage. Now that it was a sensitive period in the political situation, it was safer to keep a distance and live his own life behind closed doors.
This was also the basic rule that Hu Shanwei told Mu Chun, not to go against Emperor Hongwu. This old emperor was used to controlling everything, and the older he got, the more suspicious he became. So from the very beginning, Hu Shanwei concluded that the crown prince would never be chosen from among the powerful princes.
The reason is simple. The princes are difficult to control and there is a danger of turning Emperor Hongwu into an emperor emeritus.
Therefore, the crown prince will be chosen from two young men aged fourteen or fifteen in the Eastern Palace.
The eldest grandson of the emperor, Zhu Yunwen, was the legitimate son of the second wife. His maternal grandfather's family, the Lu family, had a scholarly family for generations and was a middle-level civil servant in the court.
The emperor's second grandson Zhu Yunhuan is the original wife's legitimate son. His maternal grandfather is the famous King of Kaiping Chang Yuchun. In addition to the Chang family, Duke of Song Feng Sheng, Duke of Liang Lan Yu, and most of Chang Yuchun's surviving old subordinates have been conferred the title of marquis or earl. They are powerful and control at least half of the military power of the Ming Dynasty.
Who should be chosen as the crown prince? Hu Shanwei knew the Hongwu Emperor too well, and he decided to choose Zhu Yunwen, because the power behind Zhu Yunwen was complex and powerful, while Zhu Yunwen was mediocre and young, so he could easily be controlled by the power behind him instead of controlling the power.
If the Ming Dynasty was handed over to Zhu Yunhuan, he would be like a puppet, and the person sitting on the throne in the future might have to change his name.
Emperor Hongwu would never allow this situation to happen, so in the eyes of others, choosing Zhu Yunwen was really puzzling, but in Hu Shanwei's view, this was almost inevitable.
Therefore, Hu Shanwei asked Mu Chun to be vigilant at all times and never stand in the wrong position. No matter whether the crown prince is reasonable or not, he should support whoever Emperor Hongwu chooses, because the emperor will be someone from the Zhu family anyway.
Before they got married, Mu Chun listened to his wife, so he immediately passed the test of Emperor Hongwu.
Sure enough, as Hu Shanwei expected, after Emperor Hongwu confirmed that Mu Chun had no connection with the Feng family and had high hopes for the Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen, he immediately agreed to Mu Chun's request.
"Your suggestion is very good, but I cannot change the imperial examination system and the selection of officials in Yunnan with just my mouth. It requires the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel and other departments to jointly formulate regulations. You go to Yunnan first, and when they have discussed the specific methods and finalized the details of the rules, I will immediately approve and promulgate it, and implement it before the examination begins."
Mu Chun was overjoyed. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace. This move is related to Yunnan's great plan for thousands of years. I will definitely implement it well and solve the problem of insufficient grassroots officials in Yunnan."
Xiaoling Mausoleum.
Mu Chun said goodbye to Hu Shanwei, "Twenty-seven months will pass quickly. The emperor has agreed to my proposal for Yunnan's imperial examination autonomy. This will cultivate a lot of local talents in Yunnan. This is the focus of my future work. It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. Yunnan will have so many good officials who are familiar with the local actual situation in the future. I can safely and boldly give the title to my second brother Mu Sheng... Then we will... Hehe, when do you plan to leave the palace? As soon as I return to Yunnan, I will prepare a quiet place for you in Kunming and wait for you to find me."
Hu Shanwei said: "Ever since the death of Concubine Duan Jing, I have lost all hope. I feel that this palace is simply inhumane. No matter how hard I try, I can't change anything. I always want to leave this heartless and heartless place. After Concubine Duan Jing passes her 77th day of mourning, I will resign from Cao Shanggong."
The author has something to say: You must believe in Zhou, Shanwei and Muchun will be together, but the way will be more special.
Good night... Let's do a question before going to bed to help you sleep.
Today there is a 100-point red envelope question. In the Ming Dynasty Palace, the position of imperial concubine is like a curse. Whether it is the first imperial concubine Hu, the respected imperial concubine Chengmu Sun, imperial concubine Li, or the last imperial concubine Guo, they all died. This is very similar to the teacher of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class in the novel "Harry Potter". As long as you teach this course, you will not have a good end and die miserably.
So now the question is, who among the following has been a teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts
Dumbledore
Temple
Temple
Harry Potter
Greenwood
Snape