Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 861 Duke of Wei

Nanjing, Duke Wei's Mansion.

The Duke of Wei was one of the six founding dukes of the Ming Dynasty and a descendant of Xu Da.

After Xu Da's death, his title was inherited by his eldest son Xu Huizu. Because Xu Huizu was a man of Emperor Jianwen and opposed Zhu Di, his title was stripped after Zhu Di took over the world, and he died of illness in the fifth year of Yongle.

After Xu Huizu passed away, Zhu Di, remembering Xu Da's contributions, issued an edict to restore the title of Duke of Wei, and let Xu Huizu's son Xu Qin inherit it. Thus, the lineage of Duke of Wei continued.

During Zhu Di's Jingnan Campaign, Xu Da's descendants were divided into two factions. One faction was naturally Xu Huizu, Duke of Wei, and the other was his brother Xu Zengshou. Xu Zengshou was killed by Jianwen after his defeat. After Zhu Di came to power, he specially conferred the title of Duke of Dingguo on Xu Zengshou's lineage. From then on, Xu Da's descendants were divided into two factions, Duke of Wei and Duke of Dingguo, which was extremely rare among the nobles of the Ming Dynasty.

Compared with the lineage of Duke Dingguo, Duke Weiguo was not well received because Xu Huizu stood on the wrong side. Although the title was passed down, it was only a title of top noble and was actually marginalized.

Just from the fact that the capital of the Ming Dynasty was moved from Nanjing to Beijing in the late Yongle period, and then Beijing was officially designated as the capital, most of the nobles followed them to the capital, but the lineage of Duke Wei stayed in Nanjing. It can be seen that although Duke Wei had a high position, he had been excluded from the center of power. Nanjing was nominally entrusted to Duke Wei, but in reality it became a decoration.

But no matter what, the Duke of Wei was one of the six founding dukes after all, and Zhu Di's Empress Xu also came from the Duke of Wei's mansion. Even if Xu Huizu's title was stripped, his descendants would eventually inherit the title.

After the capital was moved to Beijing, Nanjing, as the temporary capital, not only established the Nanjing Six Ministries, but also established a special position of Nanjing Garrison in Nanjing.

In other words, the highest power in Nanjing of the Ming Dynasty was actually held by the Nanjing garrison, and this position was originally called "controlling the Nanjing guards." Later, considering that this position was too important, the position of counselor of machinery was set up to restrain it.

The garrison of Nanjing is served by meritorious officials, and the advisor of mechanical affairs is served by the Minister of War of Nanjing. The former has been held by Duke Wei nine times in successive dynasties, and the latter is also the reason why the Minister of War of Nanjing has the most power among the six ministries of Nanjing.

As for the eunuchs garrisoning Nanjing, they were set up later. The purpose was to prevent the Nanjing garrison and the counselors from having too much power. The emperor sent eunuchs to Nanjing to take up the post, thus the political structure of Nanjing began to have a three-way balance of power, which has continued to this day.

The contemporary Duke of Wei is Xu Hongji. Xu Hongji inherited the title of Duke of Wei in the 23rd year of Wanli's reign, and served as the garrison of Nanjing in the 35th year of Wanli's reign. After the Tianqi year, Xu Hongji voluntarily resigned from the post of garrison of Nanjing due to health reasons, and was replaced by Marquis Huaiyuan. After Chongzhen ascended the throne, Xu Hongji once again served as the garrison of Nanjing until today.

"Cough cough cough..." Bursts of coughing sounds were heard from the bedroom, and Xu Wenjue, the son of Duke Wei, walked in with medicine.

"Father, take medicine."

"Drink medicine again..." Xu Hongji frowned as he looked at the black medicine in Xu Wenjue's hand, but he did not refuse and reached out to take it.

He drank the medicine in one gulp while holding his breath. The medicine tasted terrible, bitter and fishy. Xu Hongji endured the churning in his stomach and did not spit it out.

Quickly taking the empty bowl, Xu Wenjue took the honey water beside him and fed Xu Hongji two sips, which suppressed the taste of the medicine.

"I'm dying of suffocation. This medicine is so uncomfortable to drink." Xu Hongji took a few sips of honey water and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

"The doctor said that you need to recuperate for your illness, so you still have to take this medicine." Xu Wenjue comforted.

Xu Hongji sighed and shook his head, "I know my illness well. It's definitely not going to get better. Every year when the seasons change, the cough gets worse. It's okay in summer and autumn, but it comes more frequently in spring and winter. I've been coughing for many years. I've taken a lot of medicine, but my body hasn't gotten any better. This... cough cough cough..."

Before he finished speaking, Xu Hongji started coughing violently again, and he was out of breath. Xu Wenjue beside him hurriedly patted his chest and back, and it took a while for Xu Hongji to recover. After catching his breath, he rested for a while. Perhaps the soup he had just drunk finally took effect, Xu Hongji's cough gradually got better, and his asthma was not as severe as before.

"Father, I thought this medicine was effective. Look, your cough has finally been suppressed." Xu Wenjue said happily.

Xu Hongji shook his head slightly without commenting. This disease of his was an old problem. He didn't pay attention to it when he was young and it has never been cured. It has been intermittent for decades. How can it be cured? He has taken so many soups and medicines over the years, but at most it can only alleviate the symptoms. It is impossible to cure it. Moreover, he is old. He is now over 60 years old. With his body, he may not live too long.

His eyes looked at Xu Wenjue. Xu Wenjue was his only son. Xu Hongji had a hard time having children in his life and he only had Xu Wenjue.

Xu Wenjue was born when Xu Hongji was 40 years old, and he is still in his early twenties now. Although his son is filial and obedient, he is just an average person and will not achieve anything great in this life. However, as the heir to the Duke of Wei's Mansion, as long as Xu Wenjue behaves himself, he will surely enjoy wealth and glory in this life with his status. Xu Hongji also does not want his son to achieve anything great.

Duke of Wei was a noble man, the top noble of the Ming Dynasty, but it was lonely at the top, especially since he lived in Nanjing for generations, he had to be more cautious. Xu Hongji had been like this all his life. Outsiders saw that Duke of Wei was in great glory, but his family knew their own business. Ever since his ancestors sided with Emperor Jianwen, the Duke of Wei's mansion was doomed to be in an awkward position. Although Emperor Yongle eventually restored the Duke of Wei's title, he was always on guard against the Duke of Wei's lineage.

It was for this reason that Xu Hongji took the initiative to resign from his post as garrison commander of Nanjing after Emperor Tianqi ascended the throne. In fact, he did so for health reasons, but mainly because Xu Hongji could see clearly that although he was in Nanjing, he could not hide what was happening in the capital. Especially after Emperor Tianqi used Wei Zhongxian to fight against the Donglin Party, Xu Hongji immediately felt that something was wrong and decisively resigned to avoid the vortex.

And things turned out just as he had expected. The Tianqi Emperor used Wei Zhongxian to fight against the Donglin Party, including the civil servants and gentry groups. The fight spread from the capital to Nanjing because of the Liaodong war. Fortunately, Xu Hongji was smart and ran away quickly. After resigning from his post, he stayed indoors for several years on the pretext of recuperating from illness. This way he avoided many subsequent whirlpools and allowed the Weiguo Mansion to safely overcome the crisis.

But who would have thought that after the death of Emperor Tianqi, the new Emperor Chongzhen somehow remembered Xu Hongji in Nanjing, and then directly ordered Xu Hongji to serve as the garrison commander of Nanjing again. Although Xu Hongji was reluctant, he could not disobey the emperor's will, so he had no choice but to accept the order and serve as the garrison commander of Nanjing again.

This position lasted for several years. During these years, Xu Hongji, the garrison commander of Nanjing, was walking on thin ice. He never took the lead in many things. Everything was decided by the eunuchs sent by the emperor to guard Nanjing and the Nanjing Minister of War. He, who nominally held the highest position in Nanjing, almost became a figurehead.

Xu Hongji didn't care how others viewed him. He had lived long enough, more than sixty years from the beginning of the Wanli period to now. He had experienced Zhang Juzheng's new policy, the three major expeditions during the Wanli period, the rise of the Liaodong Jiannu and the Ming's disastrous defeat at Sarhu. In addition to the changes in the throne and the political situation in recent years, Xu Hongji's only thought was how to keep the title of Duke of Wei and its continuation. As for other things, he didn't consider them at all.

However, there were many things that Xu Hongji could not avoid if he wanted to. For example, three years ago, Zhu Shenzhui suddenly launched an uprising in Shanxi. Just like Zhu Di did in the past, he raised the banner of clearing the court and pacifying the national crisis. In less than a month, he entered the capital and took control of the central government. Even Emperor Chongzhen became a puppet in his hands.

When the news reached the south, there was a great uproar.

The civil service and gentry groups in the south were indignant, and many people, including scholars, called for going north to support the emperor and eliminate the rebellion. However, the situation in the north soon stabilized. Zhu Shenzhu not only promoted Li Xuanshi, the former concubine of Emperor Taichang, to the Empress Dowager, but also obtained the imperial edicts and imperial decrees of Emperor Chongzhen and the Empress Dowager, and was directly promoted from a member of the royal family to the position of Regent.

After becoming the regent, Zhu Shenzhui achieved his goal of using the emperor to control the princes. He demanded that the local areas maintain stability in the name of the central government. At the same time, he announced to the world that the Ming Dynasty was still the Ming Dynasty, the emperor was still Emperor Chongzhen, and that he, Zhu Shenzhui, was only temporarily in charge of the government for the sake of the country.

Because of these measures, the voices of local opposition were indeed much smaller, but there were still some people who were dissatisfied and even mobilized the army to take back the capital and rescue the imprisoned Emperor Chongzhen in order to "rebuild China". Unfortunately, Zhu Shenzhu, who held military power and had an elite new army, easily solved these people's attempts, and the army heading north was defeated in a blink of an eye. Seeing that Zhu Shenzhu was so good at fighting, and that the capital and the royal family had all fallen into his hands, including the cabinet, the six ministries and other central institutions, all civil and military officials had not escaped, seeing this situation, some smart guys immediately changed their minds and joined the party, and those hardliners also seemed to be submissive after being suppressed, and the situation in the Ming Dynasty gradually stabilized.

During these changes, Xu Hongji, as the Duke of Wei, did not intervene at all. Instead, he immediately closed the door to visitors and used the excuse of being seriously ill to avoid getting involved in the matter.

Don't forget how the Duke of Wei was stripped of his title. Wasn't it because he was involved in the struggle for imperial power and stood on the wrong side? With the example of his ancestors, how could Xu Hongji make the same mistake again? No matter who sits on the throne, as long as they are from the Zhu family and his Duke of Wei, what is the difference? The Duke of Wei's title has long been unattainable. As long as he keeps his own piece of land, he doesn't care what others do. This is what Xu Hongji is thinking.

Facts have proved that Xu Hongji's response was correct, and everything that happened afterwards proved that it was wise not to get involved. Now Duke of Wei is still Duke of Wei, but the throne of the Ming Dynasty has passed from Emperor Chongzhen to the current Emperor Yongming.

After Emperor Yongming ascended the throne, Xu Hongji once again resigned in a letter citing illness as the reason, but Zhu Shenzhu rejected his resignation and issued an edict to appease Xu Hongji. This did not make Xu Hongji feel relieved, but rather felt a little uneasy. He spent these days recuperating in the mansion, but for some reason Xu Hongji always felt his left eyelid twitching, and felt that something big was going to happen.

(End of this chapter)