In the 13th year of Jiajing, the New Year was very quiet, and even banquets were rare in Beijing. However, not long after the first day, bad news came from the palace.
Yan Guifei was unhappy because of the death of the emperor's eldest son, coupled with postpartum physical weakness, and died on the sixth day of the first lunar month because the medicine stone was invalid.
She was only in her twenties and in her youth, she died early. The emperor took pity on her, and posthumously named the Yan family as the imperial concubine, the posthumous title of An Huishun Duanxi imperial concubine.
In history, there was no such title as the imperial concubine. The queen was the queen, and the concubine was the concubine. However, there were several favored concubines in this dynasty, such as the favored concubine of Emperor Xuande, the famous concubine Wan, the famous concubine Wan during the Chenghua period. Jinbao, after being the same deputy, only had the imperial concubine.
But no matter how honorable you are, you have to have your life. The people in the harem sighed for a few days for the poor concubine Yan Huanggui, and soon began to pay attention to other things. After the first concubine became pregnant, the emperor seemed to have learned how to have children, and the good news from the harem came one after another. Concubine Cao Duan and Concubine Wang Zhao were raising their babies. Concubine Du Kang was diagnosed with pregnancy in the first month. Concubine Lu Jing, who had never dealt with Concubine Du Kang, was unwilling to be outdone. She was diagnosed with Huamai, only a month away from Concubine Du Kang.
At present, there are four concubines in the harem who are pregnant with imperial heirs. The expected birth dates are all this year. It can be expected that the palace will be very lively in a few months. Fu Bo's eldest son and Imperial Concubine Yan fell into the water like a stone, only making a shallow splash, and they were soon forgotten by everyone. The eyes of the former harem turned to the remaining four pregnant concubines.
However, four people were selected by luck, but none of them were Queen Fang.
Undercurrents in the harem are surging, and the intrigue of the previous dynasty continues. Although the emperor was angry with Zhang Jinggong for taking advantage of him, the reform had to continue. In February, the emperor found an excuse to revive Zhang Jinggong and restore Zhang Jinggong to the position of first assistant.
Probably every dynasty is similar, the Han, Tang and Song dynasties were different, but the reasons for the collapse of the country were land annexation. More than a hundred years have passed since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Hongwu was born in a peasant uprising, but now, the problems of land and refugees in the Ming Dynasty have also become serious.
When the emperor first ascended the throne, half of the world's farmland had been appropriated by interest groups in various names, the refugees accounted for one-tenth of the total population, and there were small-scale peasant riots in the four directions.
It is not a good start for the emperor to take over, but he must first settle down in order to fight against the outside world. After he ascended the throne, the first half of his ruling career constantly relied on the great ceremony to stabilize his position and eliminate the disobedient officials in the court. Now, the power has been completely taken back into the hands of the emperor, and the emperor has also begun to attack the country's accumulated abuses.
The emperor appointed Zhang Jinggong, on the one hand, Zhang Jinggong made great contributions in the ceremony, and on the other hand, Zhang Jinggong was indeed capable. Zhang Jinggong's political opponents scolded him for being self-willed and arbitrary, but this also shows that Zhang Jinggong is not afraid of offending people, and he really does something.
Since Zhang Jinggong entered the pavilion, he has both moved the fields and moved people. He surveyed the farmland in Gyeonggi, liquidated more than 50,000 hectares of land that had been embezzled by heroes, dignitaries, and relatives of the royal family. returned to the national treasury.
In addition to Gyeonggi, there are also vast territories in other provinces. At this juncture, the emperor will never give up Zhang Jinggong.
Zhang Jinggong was right, not long after the end of the Shangyuan holiday, the emperor restored him to his original post. This time, however, something was different.
After Zhang Jinggong returned to the cabinet, he was full of energy in his heart, and he was determined to make some achievements for everyone to see, so he immediately expanded the scale of Qingzhang's land to the whole country. Among them, the areas of Huguang, Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Zhejiang with the most serious land loss are the focus of Zhang Jinggong's rectification. At the same time, he also vigorously dismissed redundant officials and investigated corruption. Unexpectedly, this move suddenly stabbed the hornet's nest.
Jiangxi and Zhejiang are both major imperial examination provinces. Half of the Juren and Jinshi come from these places every year, and the land that Zhang Jinggong wants to liquidate happens to be in the name of this group of Shilin families.
Previously, when Zhang Jinggong surveyed the land in Gyeonggi, the civil servants were watching the excitement, but now the interests of the country gentry have been shaken, and half of the civil servants in the court can no longer sit still. Many people jumped out to accuse Zhang Jinggong, and the articles of impeachment were overwhelming, not only the officials in Beijing were impassioned, but also many officials from other places.
The most outrageous thing is that a comet appeared in the sky. Feng En Shangshu, the censor of Nanjing, said that this was a warning from a vision from heaven. Zhang Jinggong was a disaster comet in the court. There is bound to be a catastrophe, and I implore the emperor to behead the traitor Zhang Jinggong.
The emperor is a sensible person, and he knows that the so-called disaster from heaven is nothing but nonsense. It was his idea to reform the land. Feng En seemed to be scolding Zhang Jinggong, but wasn't he actually scolding the emperor as a bum? The emperor scolded the book again in the morning, and scolded: "Feng Enfei specifically refers to Zhang Jinggong, but he really hates the emperor in the name of propriety, and there is more than sin in death."
The emperor attacked, but the impeachment storm did not stop there, and the momentum became more violent. In the chaos, impeachment gradually turned into rumors, slander, and insults. Rumors spread with the wind. Some truths were mixed with falsehoods, and it was impossible to distinguish the truth from the truth.
Zhang Jinggong had long anticipated that he might offend people, but he didn't expect that, as literati, these literati who had read the books of sages and begged for the people's orders would be more interested in wanting him to die than their peers when their interests were touched. The impeachment turmoil was much more serious than Zhang Jinggong had expected, and it got out of hand and became more and more intense.
In this wind, of course, the Marquis of Wuding also contributed. After all, many of the more than 500 Gyeonggi farms confiscated by Zhang Jinggong belonged to Guo Xun.
As the old saying goes, three people become tigers. It turns out that Zhang Jinggong is not afraid, but a few years ago, the trust between him and the emperor had just cracked. Zhang Jinggong can use a small Xue Kan to attack dissidents, can he use the land of Qingzhang to seek other personal interests
When the first person said this, the emperor ignored it, believing that Zhang Jinggong had touched the interests of others, and that was why he was criticized. But more and more people said it, and the emperor's heart was shaken.
Once the seed of suspicion is planted, it will take root and sprout like a parasitic vine, and any gust of wind and grass will cause the suspicion to grow wildly. So one day, Zhang Jinggong suddenly discovered that the emperor no longer fulfilled his demands unconditionally. When he wrote to request the dismissal of certain officials, the emperor stayed longer and longer, and his eyes were filled with scrutiny unconsciously.
Zhang Jinggong was like being drunk, and his enthusiasm for reform was also quenched by a basin of cold water.
At the beginning of the year, the weather was repeated, infectious diseases were prevalent, and the elderly were prone to fall ill. Zhang Jinggong was impeached for two months, and due to mental stress and overwork, Hou Chaoshi suddenly passed out in the duty room. Everyone hurriedly sent Zhang Jinggong home. The emperor heard that and sent an imperial physician to Zhang's house for diagnosis and treatment.
Zhang Jinggong was unconscious for more than a day and did not wake up until noon the next day. However, this time, after Zhang Jinggong woke up, his energy seemed to dissipate, and his body was not as good as before.
The emperor pro-medicated bait and ordered Zhang Jinggong to recuperate in peace, but Zhang Jinggong offered to serve as an official and resigned as the first assistant.
After this illness, Zhang Jinggong also wanted to understand that if he dared to be the first in the world, he should not die. Reformers in all dynasties and dynasties, there are many who are smarter, more capable, and more virtuous than him, but none of them have a good death. Shang Yang's reforms, his car split in the city, and An Shi's reforms, so he didn't dare to go to the door. Why did he think he could be an exception
Since he entered office, there have been three ups and downs, and there were times when the reform was besieged, but at that time the emperor believed in him, and the more people he impeached, the safer he would be. Now, the emperor's heart has cracked, and now the emperor is still willing to stand on Zhang Jinggong's side, what if it will take some time
When he was lowly, he was ignored. When he was in high office, he was Zaifu. When he was in trouble, he was suppressed and imprisoned by the Yang Party. Most of the people in the court scolded him for flattering and flattering the master. In the cabinet, Jingchengtai saw him hand in hand and called him "Ge Lao".
Huanhai has been ups and downs, and his life has been turbulent. With such an opportunity in his life, it is not a waste of time.
The emperor called back Zhang Jinggong's request for official service several times. Zhang Jinggong had worked with the young emperor for so many years and had already figured out the emperor's thoughts. Zhang Jinggong knew that it was the emperor who gave him face, and he really should retire and return home. Zhang Jinggong went to sparse again and prayed for his official position because of his illness. The emperor had no choice but to stay as the first assistant for a while, and Xu Zhang Jinggong returned to his hometown to recuperate.
Zhang Shoufu, who was in power for a while, left the stage.
Another chief assistant has stepped down, and before the capital can be shocked, a new round of power replacement has begun. According to the seniority of the cabinet, Li Shi should serve as the first assistant.
I don't know, but when Li Shi sat in this position, he realized that the first assistant is really not what normal people can do. He didn't have the guts to continue managing the land, and he couldn't settle the complicated interests. A Shoufu who can't implement the emperor's will and can't implement administrative orders, what does the emperor want him to do? The emperor was dissatisfied, and Li Shi quit his job himself, and resigned within two months.
After Li Shi abdicated and made a virtuous person, Xia Wenjin took over the baton and became the first assistant of the new cabinet.
Zhang Jinggong and Li Shi resigned one after another, leaving two positions in the cabinet at once. Xia Wenjin was busy taking over the first and auxiliary power, and quietly, the Minister of Rites, Yan Wei, worshipped the Grand Master of Wuyingdian and officially entered the cabinet.
When Xia Wenjin was too busy, he looked back and found an acquaintance behind him. Yan Weicai is famous all over the world, and he is a very good man. No one can offend him, and he is very well regarded in the court. But Xia Wenjin knew that Yan Wei, like Lu Heng, was a slippery old fox.
In particular, Yan Qinglou, Yan Wei's son, has many tricks and is good at following the emperor's favor. Lu Heng has the power to save the driver, and Xia Wenjin will not be able to pull it back for a while, but Yan Wei and his son must be nipped in the bud, otherwise, it will develop into a serious problem for his confidants in the future.
Xia Wenjin silently thought about the Yan family and his son, and did not forget his other nemesis - Guo Xun, Marquis of Wuding.
That's right, although Guo Xun helped to get rid of Zhang Jinggong, the first assistant in power, he also offended the new first assistant Xia Wenjin. Guo Xun thinks that he saved Xia Wenjin's life in Xue Kan's case and is a big favor to Xia Wenjin, but Xia Wenjin is not appreciative.
These power changes were completely within Lu Heng's expectations, including Guo Xun and Xia Wenjin's grievances. Lu Heng could see clearly that it wasn't that Xia Wenjin beat Zhang Jinggong, but that Zhang Jinggong made a big mistake, made himself a fool, and finally had to resign.
In officialdom, the one who has the last laugh is not the one with the highest means, but the one who does not make mistakes. In this regard, Lu Heng has not missed anyone before. With his eyesight, the next person in danger is likely to be Guo Xun.
Ask Lu Heng to say that Guo Xun has been smooth sailing for too long, and he is a little floating. Once people start to be pretentious, the road to perdition is not far away.
Xia Wenjin was busy liquidating Zhang Jinggong and the rest of the party, and Lu Heng once again disappeared in the turmoil of the alternation of the first auxiliary and took the emperor's secret order to investigate a case.
To be precise, it is a forbidden book.