The chrysanthemum terrace is covered with wounds, and the falling flowers are heartbreaking.
One after another, giant lamp stands such as "Flowers Blooming with Prosperity" and "Dragon and Phoenix Appearing" collapsed and the fire spread into one piece. Fortunately, the palace servants "desperately" rescued the body of Empress Dowager Lu, but Prince Heng could not be rescued at all, and in the end only a charred corpse was left.
The prosperous scene of sizzling fires, blooming flowers and brocade instantly turned into a hell on earth.
The flames from the Chrysanthemum Terrace in the harem illuminated the night sky red. The spectators who did not know the truth thought that the harem had come up with something new after the thousands of Kongming lanterns, and they applauded, saying that the people in the palace really knew how to have fun.
Some are happy and some are sad.
However, when the flames of the Chrysanthemum Terrace gradually went out, the Imperial Guards and the Five Cities Military Command took to the streets and declared martial law. The people who came to watch the lanterns on both sides of the Qinhuai River were dispersed, and all doors and windows were closed, not allowing people to go out.
All neighborhoods closed their gates, set up roadblocks, and maintained strict checkpoints.
The people then realized that something had happened. They also heard rumors from somewhere that the King of Yan had received help from heavenly soldiers and generals and was about to attack the city.
So both officials and common people could not sleep all night, wondering if the Prince of Yan came into the city, should they welcome him actively or run away with their children
The answer is obvious. Except for a few officials like Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru, Qi Tai, etc. who followed Emperor Jianwen, most people chose the former. After all, the emperor was a member of the Zhu family, so everyone had to pay taxes, serve as officials, and live their lives as usual...
That night, everyone was mentally prepared. At dawn, notices were posted in the streets and alleys, announcing a national mourning, saying that last night on the Mid-Autumn Festival, the traitor Prince Yan hired assassins to kill the emperor and his family, and that the Queen Mother and Prince Heng were killed... Everyone should unite as one to fight against the traitor.
However, the steamed bun shops and teahouses on the streets were circulating a completely opposite story: Prince Heng was plotting a rebellion and trying to assassinate the emperor but failed, and instead accidentally killed his own mother, the Empress Dowager Lu. After the attempt failed, he set himself on fire.
There is also a saying that Zhu Yunhuan, the original legitimate son of Emperor Jianwen, was dissatisfied with his elder brother, who was born as a concubine, and recruited assassins to assassinate the entire family of Emperor Jianwen. It should be noted that in terms of succession rights, Zhu Yunhuan had the strongest family background and had a better chance of ascending the throne than Prince Heng.
Zhu Yunhuan was not really stupid, and he quickly clarified that he did not attend the family banquet last night. As early as the afternoon when the royal banquet ended, he returned to the Wu Wang Mansion on the pretext of being drunk. Zhu Yunhuan understood the look. He was not born by Empress Dowager Lu, and his mother's family, the Chang family, was exterminated. He had always kept his tail between his legs and was as low-key as air, so he would not join in the fun.
There were also rumors from somewhere that it was the princes in the capital who were trying to kill his nephew and seize the throne.
The princes all fled to the capital. Now they are like a fallen phoenix, no better than a chicken. They have lost all their military power, their armies have been disbanded, and their lives and property are in the hands of the emperor. Who can bear this
In order to save their lives, the princes went to the Xiaoling Mausoleum to mourn Emperor Gaozu and Empress Xiaoci, in order to prove their innocence...
As a result, from the court to the common people, it was all chaos. As for the official statement in the notice, saying that the King of Yan did it, few people believed it. There were too many suspects, and everyone felt that the one with the greatest motive and the most likely one, especially the one officially confirmed, was the least credible.
This is essentially a doubt about the ability of Emperor Jianwen to govern. It is said that the emperor's words are golden, but now he can't even keep his own family safe, and he can't even protect his own mother. On a major festival, someone came to his house and killed him. Can such an emperor still be trusted? Can he still keep the country
If you can't even clean your own house, how can you clean up the world
Because of this, facing the chaotic capital, Emperor Jianwen had no chance of escaping death, or finally getting rid of the traitors and sleeping soundly.
With a sense of victory, he thought that the counterattack on the Mid-Autumn Festival would kill two birds with one stone, not only getting rid of Empress Dowager Lu and Prince Heng, but also framing Prince Yan, boosting morale and making everyone in and outside the court stand on his side and face the outside world in unison.
However, things did not develop as he expected. Rumors were flying everywhere and things got out of control. As an emperor, no one believed his edicts. And those uncles who went to cry at the Xiaoling Mausoleum, I did not do anything to them, but they cried, made a scene, and even hanged themselves. Doesn't this make me unfilial
Emperor Jianwen was very annoyed. He used the excuse that the weather was dry in autumn and that bandits from Yan were setting fires everywhere, so he ordered the closure of the Xiaoling Mausoleum and ordered it to be strictly guarded. At the same time, the bandits from Yan were disturbing the peace of Emperor Gaozu and Empress Xiaoci.
The Xiaoling Mausoleum was closed and the princes were politely "invited to come out". Emperor Jianwen thought to himself, I have no place to cry, let's see how you guys perform.
However, how could the clever Emperor Jianwen be more cunning than the battle-hardened princes
After being driven out of the Xiaoling Mausoleum, the princes became more and more annoyed. They thought, it is only natural for me to cry for my own parents, so why should I consider my nephew's opinion
If we are not allowed to cry in Xiaoling Mausoleum, we will cry outside!
So the princes began their performance around the Xiaoling Mausoleum, crying until they were hoarse, attracting crowds of people to watch.
If the vassal kings were driven out again, Emperor Jianwen would be convicted of being "unfilial" and harsh towards his uncle.
Emperor Jianwen was so angry that he slammed the table and stood up, not knowing what to say: he was the one who personally ordered the princes to be recalled to the capital. At the beginning, he was on guard against his uncles who would lead troops to join Prince Yan like Prince Ning did. But now, Emperor Jianwen regretted it just like he had intercepted the pot of poisoned wine given to his mother two years ago.
If I had known this earlier, I would have ordered the princes not to leave their fiefdoms, and to use all their military strength to protect their fiefdoms at all costs, and to let the imperial uncles commit suicide, so that there would be no more trouble!
However, there is no medicine for regret in this world.
No one is a big winner in the human tragedy of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Emperor Jianwen was dressed in mourning, looking at the body of his mother, Empress Dowager Lu, who was wearing a robe with a vertical collar, covering the horrific knife wound on her neck. Her face was peaceful, as if she was just sleeping, and there was no sign that she was covered in blood and died with her eyes open.
It was very strange that Emperor Jianwen hated his mother for a whole year, to the point that mother and son killed each other, fought with swords, and it was either you live or I, and the conflict was irreconcilable. However, when Emperor Jianwen looked at his dead mother, he did not feel the slightest pleasure of revenge. He felt an emptiness in his chest, as if something had been hollowed out. It was not very painful, but the pain was endless, and he had a premonition that this pain would accompany him throughout his life.
Only dead enemies were good enemies, but this was his mother.
The moment he saw his mother's body, all his hatred for her disappeared. All he could think about was her good qualities. She took care of him when he was a child, how he felt inferior in front of his elder brother as a concubine's son, and how she encouraged him with warm words to strive for everything he wanted. She endured humiliation and became the winner in the end even though his father had a legitimate son and a legitimate wife.
With his mother's legal status, his status also rose and he became the legitimate son. His mother not only gave him life, but his future, his position as crown prince, and even the throne were all closely related to his mother.
Why did it turn out like this
Emperor Jianwen fell to his knees, lowered his head and cried bitterly. His tears were real, his sadness was real, and his desire to kill his mother was real. He loved his mother and hated her. Both the love and the hatred were so strong that they did not disappear with his mother's death. The two forces were fighting in his brain, and he felt a headache and a pain in his heart.
Why did it become like this? Emperor Jianwen asked himself again, he worked very hard to be the emperor, continuing the diligence of the Hongwu Dynasty, but his grandfather had done so many great things, and every one of them, whether right or wrong, was successful under his iron fist.
But he worked just as hard but achieved nothing and did nothing right. No matter how hard he tried, things always went for the worst. Even being a son was a failure.
Not only were national affairs out of control, but even the small families within the royal family were out of control.
Emperor Jianwen cried until he was exhausted, crying for his mother and for himself. The emotions he had suppressed for two full years burst out at this moment, and even his emotions were out of control.
Emperor Jianwen cried so sadly that the civil and military officials who knelt down behind him and cried with him all sighed that no matter how immature this little emperor was, at least he was impeccable in filial piety.
That day, Emperor Jianwen cried and fainted. When he woke up, it was almost midnight. The palace maid hurriedly handed him a throat-soothing decoction. Emperor Jianwen took the medicine cup and asked in a hoarse voice: "Is the queen asleep? How is the fetal movement today? Don't let the queen be too tired."
The palace maid replied, "The Queen is staying with the Crown Prince in the East Palace tonight. The Crown Prince cried a lot today and kept waking up at night. The Queen said that he should stay in the East Palace for the next few days so that she can comfort the Crown Prince."
After Emperor Jianwen drank the medicine and ate his meal, the palace servants were about to make the bed and warm the quilt for Emperor Jianwen to rest, but Emperor Jianwen said, "Change my clothes. I have already rested. Now I will go to the study to review the memorials."
As an adult, after crying, you still have to face reality. Even if reality is a mess, and all you see is compromise. There is no easy word in the adult world. After waking up, in addition to facing the compromise in front of you, you also have to face the compromise in the distance.
There is no time to grieve.
Emperor Jianwen summoned the ministers on duty overnight. Faced with the current situation where the people were in a state of unrest and the people were talking about the royal family, Emperor Jianwen would not allow it to continue to get out of control. He had to find a way to appease the people and make them support the royal orthodoxy instead of gossiping about the struggle between the royal uncle and nephew and who would win the battle.
It is said that all the major gambling houses in the capital are secretly betting on whether the Prince of Yan can compete for the Central Plains and replace his nephew. Currently, the gamblers in the gambling houses are roughly 40% to 60%, with 40% betting on the Prince of Yan and 60% on Emperor Jianwen.
The gambling house poll showed that Emperor Jianwen was slightly better, but as a king, it was a shame in itself to be compared with a vassal king.
Emperor Jianwen couldn't sleep at all. He was anxious to resolve the situation where he was in the orthodox position but could do nothing about the traitorous uncle.
Fang Xiaoru said: "Since ancient times, there are two best and fastest ways to win the hearts of the people. The first is to fight corruption, clean up the bureaucracy, and kill a group of corrupt officials. The people will be happy and will naturally praise the emperor as a wise ruler. The second is to reduce taxes, lighten the tax burden on the people, give them more money, buy new clothes for each family member, and have an extra bowl of meat on the table. The people are easily satisfied. Let them dress and eat comfortably, and they will naturally be grateful to the emperor."
Emperor Jianwen asked another minister of state, Huang Zicheng, "What do you think, Huang Shidu?"
Huang Zicheng's identity was a reader in the Hanlin Academy, similar to the secretary-general of the secretariat. He was the third place in the imperial examination. After the last time he strongly recommended Li Jinglong to replace Geng Bingwen as the commander-in-chief and suffered a great defeat, Huang Zicheng regarded this incident as a shame in his life and a major stain. He has been silent since then. After Li Jinglong was stripped of his title, Huang Zicheng also took the initiative to request to be demoted and take responsibility. Emperor Jianwen only fined him and demoted him, but still kept Huang Zicheng by his side to help with official business.
Until recently, the third commander Sheng Yong won several battles by being even more shameless and coquettish, and Huang Zicheng was able to resume his official position. However, Huang Zicheng became even more silent. He rarely spoke unless Emperor Jianwen asked, and was no longer as eloquent as before.
Fang Xiaoru's two strategies of severely punishing corrupt officials and reducing taxes are common sense for officials. As long as you are an official, you can basically think of them. There is no technical content, just a cliché, so Huang Zicheng nodded and said, "Master Fang is right."
The two great ministers reached a consensus, and Emperor Jianwen asked again: "Should we do both at the same time, or just one?"
Huang Zicheng said: "We are now at war, and it has been going on for a year. The treasury that has been accumulated for many years is mostly empty. If we rashly reduce taxes, the treasury will inevitably be empty. Where will the soldiers' food and grass come from? Therefore, I suggest starting with cleaning up the bureaucracy."
Kill a few corrupt officials to make an example of them and let the people vent their anger. The people will surely support the central government's "tiger hunting" campaign. By the way, their property can be confiscated and some silver can be provided to the court. The corrupt officials' money is not clean and being able to confiscate it and put it into the national treasury is a way to give face to the corrupt officials. It is simply killing two birds with one stone. Therefore, throughout the dynasties, when a new monarch came to power, most of them would choose to remove a few high-ranking corrupt officials to get the best of both worlds.
Emperor Jianwen thought what he said made sense and nodded repeatedly. Fang Xiaoru stroked his white beard and said with a look of a hermit, "I feel something is wrong. Since the emperor ascended the throne, his new policy advocates tolerance, correcting the harsh punishments of the Hongwu Dynasty, cleaning up the prisons, and redressing wrongful convictions. The prisons that were once overcrowded are now much emptier."
"Mr. Huang's starting point was good. He wanted to cut down corrupt officials. However, the interests of the officialdom are intertwined. Mr. Huang wanted to kill corrupt officials, but in the end, just like the four major cases back then, they became a knife for mutual exclusion and factionalism in the officialdom. They reported on each other and blamed each other. In the end, it got out of control and all went to prison. From the Hu Weiyong treason case to the Lan Yu case, Emperor Gaozu killed tens of thousands of officials. The officialdom was bloody. Now the traitor Prince Yan has not surrendered yet. The court must remain stable and cannot be in chaos. Therefore, this old minister thinks that we should not touch the official system first, but start with tax reduction."
Fang Xiaoru's teacher was Song Lian, one of the four great scholars of the early Ming Dynasty. Song Lian was also the teacher of Emperor Jianwen and his father, Emperor Xiaokang. Song Lian was almost killed along with his entire family because he was involved in the "Hu Weiyong Rebellion Case", one of the four major cases in the early Ming Dynasty. His son and grandson were all beheaded. At that time, Emperor Xiaokang Zhu Biao knelt down and begged for mercy, and Empress Xiaoci interceded for him. Only then was Song Lian spared from beheading and was exiled to Baidi City.
Fang Xiaoru witnessed with his own eyes the miserable old age of his teacher Song Lian, so after becoming a regent, he always advised Emperor Jianwen to change the harsh policies and severe punishments of the Hongwu Dynasty, advocating "correcting severity with leniency", eradicating false and wrong cases, and adopting lenient policies such as lenient sentencing as long as the criminals are not extremely vicious.
Emperor Jianwen also admired Song Lian very much and agreed with Fang Xiaoru's ideas. He thought that only in troubled times should heavy punishment be imposed, and in prosperous times should be tolerant and generous, so he implemented it. This received some support, but the Prince of Yan took the opportunity to seize the handle, saying that Fang Xiaoru arbitrarily changed the political system of the Hongwu Dynasty, condoned evil, and was cruel to good people by being tolerant of bad people. Fang Xiaoru was a treacherous minister who destroyed the Ming Dynasty's criminal punishment system!
Therefore, the King of Yan raised the slogan of "killing treacherous ministers and clearing the emperor's side" and publicly listed Fang Xiaoru on the list of treacherous ministers, which actually won the support of some people. After all, revenge is the most acceptable and simple logic for ordinary people.
If even the imperial court cannot uphold justice, why should we pay taxes (protection fees)
Huang Zicheng disagreed with Fang Xiaoru's point of view. "Declare tax cuts during a war? Lord Fang, fortunately, the Hongwu Dynasty has accumulated enough wealth, otherwise, taxes would have to be increased during wars. If we cut taxes now, where will the military funds come from? Although we have just won a few victories, most of the north is still controlled by the rebel King Yan. This war will not be over in a short time."
Fang Xiaoru stroked his beard again, "I have a good idea. Reduce taxes, only reduce taxes in the wealthy areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, because this was Zhang Shicheng's territory before, and the people here supported Zhang Shicheng. After the late emperor pacified Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and Zhang Shicheng committed suicide, the late emperor implemented a heavy tax policy on Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The tax rates in these places were much higher than other places in the Ming Dynasty. Take the land tax as an example. Other places collect taxes of one dou per acre, but the land tax in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is as high as two or three shi per acre. It's too unfair."
"Also, in order to maintain the unfair policy of heavy taxes in Jiangnan, the late emperor once issued an order that officials whose native places are from Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Suzhou, Songjiang and other heavily taxed areas are not allowed to hold any position in the Ministry of Revenue, which is responsible for managing taxes, for life. This rule must also be changed. When the emperor employs people, he should prioritize their moral character and ability, not just their place of origin."
When he was excited, Fang Xiaoru bowed to Emperor Jianwen and said, "Reducing taxes and appointing people based on their merits will win the support of the people in the south of the Yangtze River as well as the ministers in the court. Your Majesty will surely win the support of the whole country."
"Your Majesty, you must not do that!" Huang Zicheng objected vehemently, questioning Fang Xiaoru: "Can Jiangnan represent the world? Can officials from Jiangnan represent officials from the world? Lord Fang was born in Jiangnan, his family's land is also in Jiangnan, his family, students, and friends are all from Jiangnan, and you are blinded by a single leaf and fail to see the whole. In this way, except for the people of Jiangnan and the officials whose hometowns are from Jiangnan, everyone will oppose the emperor and become alienated from him!"
The author has something to say: I will update early tonight, please leave a comment to encourage me.
I will give out 100 red packets tonight. If everyone leaves a comment, "Hu Shanwei" will barely make it to the bottom of the ancient Chinese novel half-year list. I'm counting on you all.
The new policy of Emperor Jianwen was so magical, easing the criminal law and reducing taxes in Jiangnan—only in Jiangnan. He was a genius who ruined the family, so in the end everyone let go all the way, without resistance, and let the Yan army attack the capital. Everyone thought, since only Jiangnan is your son, we in the north, southwest, and northwest are all useless, so let's change an emperor who treats us as human beings.
Therefore, the turning point of the Jingnan Campaign was not because the Prince of Yan was so powerful, but because Emperor Jianwen was too self-destructive. If he had not been so diligent in squandering his wealth, he might have survived a few more years.
Congratulations to the reader 鷋 for receiving a 100-point red envelope
№12 Netizen: 鷋 Comment: "Hu Shanwei" Score: 2 Published time: 2019-04-27 22:53:55 Reviewed chapter: 187
Empress Xiaoci The current Empress Ma The current Empress Ma Empress Xiaoci