The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 417
Wang Shouren led his troops to march forward triumphantly on the grassland.

The news from the capital was very late, and as for the city of Nanjing, it was even more impossible to learn of Wang Shouren's "brilliant achievements" in the first place.

But that doesn't seem to be important anymore, because after Zhang Zhou completed the task of making Zhu Houzhao famous, he still has another important task, which is to beat the Zong vassal. He asked Yang Peng to send people to Nanchang several times, but he gave Yang Peng He was very nervous, because he felt that Zhang Zhou was going to take Ning Fan under his knife.

The grievances between the Ming royal family and Ning Fan have a long history. It is not uncommon for the ministers in the court to know that Emperor Taizong "treated" the first generation of King Ning Zhu Quan. Otherwise, he would not find an excuse to deprive King Ning of his guards. up.

In fact, it is to prevent Ning Fan from rebelling.

Yang Peng went to Zhang Zhou's mansion alone that day, explained to Zhang Zhou what he knew, and expressed his concerns about the operation on Ning Fan.

"Prince Xiao Ning has just ascended the throne, and it's only been a year now. If you want to get rid of Ning Fan, I'm afraid it will make the clans everywhere feel in danger. And there must be a reason to do it." Yang Peng obviously waited In fact, I still support Zhang Zhou's decision, just to show that you, Zhang Zhou, don't be too conceited, the suzerain is not something you can control if you want.

Especially for a big sect like Ning Fan, if you make a fuss, they can make you docile.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "When did I say that Ning Fan was going to be eradicated? Or should I take action against Ning Fan?"

"Then you?"

Yang Peng didn't understand anymore.

You don't want to target Ning Fan, why do you always send people to Jiangxi, but also to Nanchang?The posture he puts on is still the look of checking the clan.

Zhang Zhoudao: "If you want to investigate the clan, you must have evidence. Even if I really come to investigate the clan by order, it can't be Ning Fan. In fact, I told you clearly, it is King Zhongling."

"King of Zhongling?" Yang Peng's eyes widened, a little subverting his outlook on life.

King Zhongling is also a branch of Ning Fan. The contemporary King Zhongling is named Zhu Jinzhui. He is the son of King Ningjing.

The so-called "serving the country with loyalty" is not that he was really loyal to the country, but that he kept asking the emperor that he was going to the frontier to lead troops to kill the enemy. He kept recommending himself, and even trained private soldiers to forge weapons in the palace. Ma Wensheng sued.

"...The minister thought that the generals selected in the imperial edict would not be accepted by the imperial family. Moreover, the bow and horse skills are not suitable for a king. Now the king of Zhongling recommends himself for no reason. It is suspected that he is a subordinate, or he has a different plan. The court kisses each other. It is advisable to do so as early as possible. Beg for an edict and send someone to tell King Ning to strictly admonish King Zhongling, so that reading can be close to Confucian scholars, and Dongping and Hejian in Han Dynasty should be used as the law, and the state should be divorced. If there is something wrong, it should be more than secret Hear it, you won't regret it..."

What Ma Wensheng meant was that you, King Zhongling, have nothing to recommend yourself, and you have a "different plan". Please let King Ning discipline this side branch of King Zhongling, get closer to scholars, and don't always think about "serving the country with loyalty".

Then in the 18th year of Hongzhi, because Zhu Jinzhui's son Zhu Chenxuan's concubine Zhang Peihuan reported that after Zhu Jinzhui failed in his self-recommendation last time, he drank too much at home and killed anyone who disobeyed him, and then the concubine ran out. They also reported that Zhu Jinzhui secretly made weapons at home...

In order to beat Ning Fan, Zhu Youtang removed Zhu Jinzhuo from his title and sent him to Fengyang Mansion to see the imperial tomb, which can be regarded as clearing away a hidden danger of Zhu Houzhao's possible rebellion before his death.

When Zhang Zhou came to Nanjing, it was impossible to attack King Ning directly.

Even though he knew very well that Zhu Chenhao's ambition was much bigger than that of his uncle.

When Zhu Chenhao first won the title, he asked the emperor to go to Beijing: "Ning Wang begged for his kindness by accepting the title, and sent a letter to stop it."

It means that as soon as he was granted the title, he asked for Yique, that is, went to the capital to thank him, but was rejected by the emperor.

King Ning's faction has always spared no effort in grabbing prestige, connections, and resources.

But the problem is that now that Zhu Chenhao has just become King Ning, even if he has ambitions, he is not yet qualified to challenge the court. It is unrealistic to find evidence of his "rebellion".

But not everyone is as careful as Zhu Jinjun and his son. For example, Zhu Jinzhui made weapons privately at home. The suzerain vassal, investigate whether it has privately manufactured weapons, and then extend it to stop the suzerain vassal from using power for personal gain.

"Eunuch Yang, the King of Zhongling was a man of martial arts even though he didn't show his mountains and dews before. You should have heard that he usually doesn't study learning, but often talks about military tactics and talks about frontier affairs. "

"That's why I suspect that he privately manufactured weapons in the house, and may train private soldiers. From this, he may have a heart of disobedience."

Zhang Zhou's tone was very relaxed, as if Zhu Jinzhui could play with it casually.

Yang Peng seemed to be relieved when he knew that Zhang Zhou was not targeting Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao, but only Zhu Chenhao's uncle, but he still said cautiously: "If you want to investigate such things thoroughly, I'm afraid it will be too late. Not easy."

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "If we want to investigate, of course there must be someone to testify. Empty words are not acceptable. I heard that there are also people in the Zhongling Palace who are doing business in Nanjing... People who do business in the south of the Yangtze River say that this is from the Jiangnan Ningfan lineage. A few members of the clan, do not follow the rules when doing business, and often take advantage of others, merchants and common people also have many complaints."

"Who said that? Can you find evidence?" Yang Peng's eyes widened.

He was thinking, do you even know the situation of businessmen in Nanjing?
Zhang Zhoudao: "No, my old Taishan surname is Jiang and his name is Dezhong. He has been in business in Nanjing. Every time he tells me about these things, he is like a treasure. Know the reason behind it."

Yang Peng swallowed.

Zhang Zhou had a father-in-law who was in business, and he was aware of this. Yang Peng and Jiang Dezhong didn't have much contact.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "If you want to manufacture weapons privately, you must buy the raw material, that is, iron. Find the ships of the palace between Jiangxi and Nanjing, detain them, and interrogate them carefully. Then send people to the Zhongling Palace to search... I think my inference should not be wrong, right?"

Yang Peng was taken aback.

Is your own deduction wrong, and you actually ask me?

Immediately Yang Peng understood something, and he said: "Even if Mr. Zhang is wrong in your deduction, a small one can make him right."

"We need to tell the evidence." Zhang Zhou smiled.

It seems that Yang Peng is very good at planting and framing.

This is different from people like Xiao Jing and Mou Bin. Yang Peng seems to be better at doing things by unscrupulous means.

"Yes, yes." Yang Peng nodded hastily and said, "I'm on an imperial errand, how could I not tell the evidence? There are some evidences, if you search carefully, there are still some."

……

……

After Yang Peng knew Zhang Zhou's intentions in detail, his enthusiasm for doing things also increased a lot.

In Yang Peng's view, it was too easy to use a little-known King Zhongling as cannon fodder... Even if he might offend people from King Ning's faction, as the Duke of Dongchang, are you still afraid of this?
After Zhu Houzhao completed the essay meeting, he was full of ambition, and it was time to put his return to Beijing on the agenda.

But more importantly, let the emperor know Zhu Houzhao's "excellent performance" in Nanjing.

Following Zhu Houzhao's appearance in Nanjing as the prince, within just five days, the news had already spread to the capital, and it was not surprising that the ministers in the court knew about it...the court and the public were in an uproar.

The prince of Ming Dynasty was "abducted" to Nanjing by Zhang Zhou?

No wonder the prince never showed up to give lectures on Jingyan Day before, and even the teaching of the East Palace Lecture Class was suspended, and he said that he was sick, so he was just fooling around with Zhang Bingkuan?
After the ministers knew about it, they naturally wanted to use this as a topic to criticize Zhang Zhou. It is not a small crime to kidnap the prince out of Beijing... In the eyes of many ministers, this is also Zhang Zhou's capsized boat.

It was also at the court meeting on September [-].

Zhu Youtang took the initiative to bring up this topic right after the court meeting started. Of course, his focus was not on Zhang Zhou, but on his son's performance in Nanjing.

"...My dear family, I believe that the prince will go to Nanjing to comfort the people. Along the way, he will comfort the drought in the Central Plains and the floods in various places in the south of the Yangtze River, and at the same time let him have more experience. I never thought that the prince would write three poems in the city of Nanjing. Read his poems to everyone present."

Zhu Youtang looked very proud.

My son is only ten years old, or ten years old, and he can compose poetry.

There are three songs at once, and each one sounds so awesome.

Xiao Jing then walked out, smiling and read Zhu Houzhao's three poems in public.

In fact, most of the ministers present have heard of these three poems, and some have heard of some rumors. Some say it was written by Cheng Minzheng, and others say it was written by a ten-year-old boy named "Zhu Shou". Now the emperor took the initiative to say that the young man is the prince... It seems that everything has been cleared up.

It doesn't matter whether the poem was really written by the prince or someone else wrote it for him.

Even the emperor said so, and Cheng Minzheng didn't fight for it, so it seems... this poem was not written by Zhu Houzhao, but by him.

After Xiao Jing finished reading, he returned.

Zhu Youtang sighed: "The words are very flat, but they imply the truth. I just want him to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles. His trip to the south can be regarded as increasing his knowledge and comforting me. Wang Xueshi, what do you think of the prince's poems?"

The emperor felt that it was not appropriate for him to brag, and he needed someone to brag along with him.

If you can't ask Liu Jian directly, they are likely to be picky, so you can directly ask Wang Jia, the head of the Imperial Academy.

Anyway, Wang Jia is also the son's husband, and he doesn't completely belong to the traditional faction in terms of faction. He is also Zhang Zhou's teacher, so I am still very optimistic about it.

Wang Jia came out and said: "The poems are simple and unpretentious, but they show the piety and perseverance of the poets in their hearts. The poems are comparable to the masterpieces of the Tang Dynasty, and I feel ashamed."

"Wow……"

There was an instant discussion at the scene.

Everyone thinks that Wang Jia is a bit "exaggerated", so it's okay, if you are ashamed, you are ashamed, and you have to add "comparable to a masterpiece of the Tang Dynasty", what do you mean?The prince has recited [-] Tang poems, and even wrote three of them himself. Will he be a model for scholars all over the world in the future?

But Wang Jia's words were also tactful.

I only admire poets, not that I admire the prince.

The ministers may not know what the brat is like, but you should know, Your Majesty, even if you don’t know, don’t I, a gentleman, know?

I don't even believe that a poem was written by the prince.

Up to three?
Zhu Youtang said: "I actually doubt in my heart, where did the prince get the experience to write such poems? But I guess he has been cultivated and instructed by Wang Xueshi and others, and has always been diligent in learning. I also It can be seen in the eyes. Donggong lecturer is indispensable... By the way, there is also Bingkuan..."

coming.

The ministers present thought to themselves that the emperor had been going around and talking for a long time, but he still returned to the topic of "Bing Kuan Niu Niu" that he was keen on.

"Before, Bingkuan was a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, but after he was transferred to Nanjing as Minister of the Ministry of War, the job of the Imperial Academy was never returned to him. What I mean is to promote him to be a bachelor of the Imperial Academy and take charge of the affairs of the Nanjing Imperial Academy."

Zhu Youtang was also not polite.

When he gave Zhang Zhou an official rank, Zhu Youtang was like a generous peddler. He gave away the fame and official positions that others valued, and he often bought one and got two free.

Liu Jian came out and asked, "Your Majesty, I don't know how the prince's writing has anything to do with the Duke of Lai?"

Zhu Youtang said: "Maybe it has nothing to do with it. But the prince's growth along the way, I have seen it... and the prince competed with other schools of thought at the Nanjing Cultural Association, and won the favor of scholars." Highly respected, he also proposed to worship Bing Kuan as his teacher, and carry forward Bing Kuan's philosophy from now on. I have passed Zhun Yun's will back to Nanjing."

My son wants to ask his friend to be his husband, but I can't wait for it.

I have been asking Bing Kuan to teach the prince before, and now it is considered as a formal apprenticeship. After the apprenticeship, my son can also establish a reputation in the literary world... such a good thing, I have earned it for nothing.

Li Dongyang said: "The dispute about Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue involves differences of opinion between traditional and emerging concepts. If the prince rashly favors one side, it may not be beneficial to the education of scholars. Please take back your order."

Let the prince worship Zhang Bingkuan as Mr. casually, so what are we people?
Strictly speaking, the group of bigwigs in the Eastern Palace are all the prince's teachers, but now the prince only admits that he is a student of Zhang Zhou?
Wasn't our previous lecture in vain?
Zhu Youtang seemed impatient and said: "I don't want to interfere in the so-called dispute of psychology and Neo-Confucianism, and it doesn't involve the imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty. If it is just because the crown prince admires the study of mind, I will stop it, which is tantamount to Tell the world that the imperial court intends to standardize orthodoxy. Instead, let the prince make his own choice, which I think is more conducive to enlightenment."

After hearing this, the ministers present, especially those determined old scholars of Neo Confucianism, felt angry.

What absurdity is this?
Asking the prince to be Zhang Zhou's disciple and advocating the study of mind is actually to balance the relationship between the two sides?This is called favoritism, okay?
The prince has joined the side of Xinxue, so how can Neo Confucianism develop?

Zhu Youtang said: "Last night, there were several memorials criticizing Bingkuan, which involved Bingkuan bringing the prince out of Beijing. I want to tell you... Bingkuan didn't know about the prince's going south in advance."

This is true.

But from the minister's point of view, he was covering up Zhang Zhou.

If you don't know what to say, how could the prince go to Nanjing at the same time by such a coincidence?What kind of cultural event did you participate in together in Nanjing?It's not clear, Zhang Zhou is behind everything?

……

……

"Is there any battle report from Ningxia and Liaodong?"

Zhu Youtang found that it was not easy to brag to his son in front of ministers.

He never got tired of reading such two good poems hundreds of times, but the minister didn't even mean to praise them at all, and even Wang Jia only said some high-sounding words.

So at this time, Zhu Youtang could only change the topic first.

Xiao Jingdao: "Returning to Your Majesty, Tatar troops from all walks of life on Ningxia West Road are still harassing and harassing. Marquis Anbian led troops to deal with them, but there is no result yet. However, the supervisory censor has already made a report and reported the losses in various parts of Ningxia this year. According to preliminary estimates, the loss of all the captives is...nearly a hundred..."

Unspoken.

Ningxia's loss is a bit big.

Not counting the injuries of the soldiers, the number of captured males alone was nearly a hundred.

If you add the old, weak, women and children, there may be two to three hundred people, and if you add the losses of soldiers... Daming's battle can be said to be a disastrous defeat.

Chai Sheng came out and said: "The minister impeached the governor of Ningxia, Yang Yiqing, the censor of Qiandu, and Zhu Feng, the general officer of Anbian, who lost their troops and lost their generals by advancing rashly. They lost their generals by using firearms. If they don’t go to the rescue, it will be difficult to store the autumn grain in the fields. The supervisory censors should find out the crimes of the two and send them to prison for interrogation.”

No matter how much Zhu Youtang praised Zhu Feng before.

But the indisputable fact is that Yang Yiqing and Zhu Feng did not repel the [-] troops of the little Tatar prince in Ningxia.

On the contrary, it made the Tatars intensify. While the border gates of the Ming Dynasty were raging, they also looted a lot of food, so that the border troops of the Ming Dynasty almost dared not go out of the fortress to fight.

Nominally, Yang Yiqing and Zhu Feng were ordered to lead the troops to take the initiative to attack, but they had already played the defensive game halfway... It's not that they didn't want to go out to fight, but that they couldn't go out. The heads of the Tartars can't be brought back, and the harvest of firing cannons is getting smaller and smaller...

This also seems to mean that Yang Yiqing and Zhu Feng's errands in Ningxia have come to an end.

Zhu Youtang said: "It's too late to change the generals just before the battle. It is estimated that in a few days, because of Xinjian Bo Yusaibei, there will be battle reports, and the little Tatar prince may withdraw his troops and return to the east."

The emperor's words seemed to be comforting himself.

If you can't beat it, just expect a tactic that is almost a floating cloud to attack the grassland to succeed?

Those criticizing ministers were also thinking, could it be that Wang Shouren led more troops than Yang Yiqing and Zhu Feng?Or is it that Wang Shouren can occupy the right time, place, people and conditions better than Zhu Feng and Yang Yiqing?
If not, then why Wang Shouren was able to win a complete victory, and even recruited the main force of the Tatars?
But what about Zhu Feng and Yang Yiqing?

Li Dongyang said: "Uncle Xinjian sent troops, if we don't send him back to the pass, I'm afraid he will fall into a tight siege."

Li Dongyang is also pragmatic.

He sees it.

The withdrawal of the Tatars now seems to be the strategic result pursued by the Ming side.

But when the little Tatar prince withdrew, he must have strangled Wang Shouren, who had gone deep alone.

Now Ningxia has only lost 80 or [-] people along the way, and they can still falsely report the results later, and save a little more... The face can basically be saved.

But if Wang Shouren's entire army was wiped out on the grassland, then the Ming Dynasty's overall strategy would have completely failed.

Not to mention that there is no need to fight in Liaobei, even the borders of Daming will be constantly harassed by the Tatars, and the fangs of the fire sieve will be installed again... The Tatars will take Daming as a victim again. .

(End of this chapter)