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

Chapter 954: Yongping Descendants
Sun Chengzong left the capital with great honors. On the day he left, the crown prince and the King of Song sent their teacher back home as his disciples. This treatment was unprecedented. In addition, Zhu Shenzhu's praise and reward were also made public. The emperor treated Sun Chengzong so well that everyone was jealous. But everyone also knew that among all the civil and military officials in the court, only Sun Chengzong deserved such an honor. This old minister had no regrets in his life to have such an ending.

Sun Chengzong fulfilled his promise before leaving. Because he suddenly and clearly agreed with the emperor's adjustments to the cabinet and advocated for reform, the Donglin Party and the centrists in the court changed their attitudes and supported the institutional reform of the cabinet.

Such changes allowed Zhu Shenzhui to successfully promote Wang Jinwu's entry into the cabinet, and the voices of opposition gradually died down. Soon Wang Jinwu was officially appointed as a cabinet elder, although his ranking in the cabinet was not high. Among the five cabinet members, Wang Jinwu replaced Liu Yuliang, who was originally ranked third in the cabinet. After Wang Jinwu entered the cabinet, his ranking was postponed to fourth, before Kong Zhenyun.

Although Wang Jinwu's ranking in the cabinet was not high, his identity was different. As a representative of the military, his entry into the cabinet represented a major change in the political structure of the Ming Dynasty. After Wang Jinwu entered the cabinet, he not only had the military's voice in the cabinet, but also caused a subtle change in the political structure of the Ming Dynasty, where civil officials were more important than military officials.

On the third day after Wang Jinwu entered the cabinet, Sun Chengzong retired and returned to his hometown. After Sun Chengzong left, the position of chief chef of the teaching hall naturally became vacant. Just when everyone thought that Emperor Zhu Shenzhui would choose another person from the ministers in the court, or choose one from other chefs in the teaching hall to replace Sun Chengzong, Zhu Shenzhui instead issued an edict to recruit Gao Mingheng, the former Henan governor who was in mourning at home, to come to Beijing and let him serve as the chief chef of the teaching hall.

The reason why Gao Mingheng was chosen was, firstly, because Sun Chengzong recommended him before he left, and secondly, although Gao Mingheng's official position was not high, he was quite famous.

Gao Mingheng was born in the 25th year of Wanli, and passed the imperial examination in the 4th year of Chongzhen. He later served as county magistrate, censor, and Henan inspector. Gao Mingheng was both civil and military. When he was in office, he impeached corrupt officials, enforced political discipline, and was loyal to his duties. He was known as "Gao Qingtian" among the people. In the 10th year of Chongzhen, he submitted a memorial to the emperor, proposing that the court should select virtuous people for appointment, not to judge by seniority, vigorously rectify the administration of officials, and severely punish those who are cowardly. This suggestion was appreciated and recognized by Emperor Chongzhen.

Unfortunately, although Gao Mingheng was talented and Emperor Chongzhen also recognized his political views, Emperor Chongzhen did not follow Gao Mingheng's memorial afterwards, and the government issues did not change at all. Gao Mingheng's passion for serving the country and his talents were nowhere to be displayed. When he was serving as an inspector in Henan, it was the time when various bandits and rebel armies were causing chaos in the Central Plains. Gao Mingheng led the army as a civil servant, went to the front line and fought against the bandits many times, defended Kaifeng City, and created opportunities for the Ming army to encircle and suppress the bandits and finally win. It can be said that Gao Mingheng played an indispensable role in the destruction of Li Zicheng and others in the Central Plains War. After the war, even Lu Xiangsheng and others admired Gao Mingheng very much.

Logically speaking, such a capable minister should be put to good use. However, Gao Mingheng had a different attitude towards Zhu Shenzhu's entry into the capital and his eventual replacement of Emperor Chongzhen. In his opinion, Zhu Shenzhu's "stealing" of the throne in this way was not in line with the system and was also a huge stain.

But Gao Mingheng was different from the others. He opposed not the people but the system, and he admired Zhu Shenzhui. During the more than ten years of Emperor Chongzhen's reign, he could not solve the internal and external troubles. However, the situation changed soon after Zhu Shenzhui entered Beijing as the regent. This was enough to show how capable Zhu Shenzhui was. From this point of view, Zhu Shenzhui's being the emperor was more beneficial to the Ming Dynasty and the world than Chongzhen.

With the end of the Central Plains War, Gao Mingheng's attitude towards the court also improved, and his political inclination gradually moved closer to Zhu Shenzhu's side. Just when Gao Mingheng was about to be promoted based on his merits, his father passed away. Gao Mingheng, who always emphasized filial piety, wrote a letter of mourning and returned to his hometown to observe the mourning period, thus temporarily disappearing from the officialdom.

Sun Chengzong had never worked with Gao Mingheng. You should know that Gao Mingheng passed the imperial examination in the fourth year of Chongzhen, and Sun Chengzong had already retired in his hometown at that time. But Sun Chengzong knew Gao Mingheng's cousin Gao Mingshi and knew Gao Mingheng's character and ability. He also had some understanding of Gao Mingheng. Although Gao Mingheng was born as a scholar, he was not the kind of person who talked big. His style of doing things was very practical, and he had unique insights into politics, military affairs, economy and other aspects.

The position of chief teacher in the teaching hall was extremely important and could not be filled by ordinary people. In addition, Zhu Shenzhu would never allow officials from the Donglin Party, Zhejiang Party, Chu Party, Qi Party, etc. to hold this position. Sun Chengzong knew this very well, so he recommended Gao Mingheng, who did not belong to any party, to the emperor. After learning about Gao Mingheng's situation, Zhu Shenzhu felt that this person was indeed suitable. In addition, Gao Mingheng's mourning period was about to come, so he directly sent an imperial edict to Xinzhou, Shandong, asking Gao Mingheng to come to Beijing.

Gao Mingheng is the best choice to be the chief chef of the teaching hall at present, and he is different from Sun Chengzong as the chief chef. Sun Chengzong is worthy of the title of chief chef, but Gao Mingheng is the chief chef in name only, but in reality his status is inferior.

The main reasons were the establishment of the military academy and the gradual aging of the Crown Prince and King Song.

Zhu Shenzui had been preparing for the establishment of a military academy a long time ago, and according to the system he established, since the Yongming Dynasty, children of the royal family had to enter a military academy when they reached a certain age. After graduating from the academy, they would directly take up actual military positions and then gain experience in the army.

This applies not only to the children of the royal family, but also to the children of the nobles and civilians who are able to enter the military academy. In the future, the military academy will be the main institution for training military talents in the Ming Dynasty, instead of the hereditary military household system as before. Most of the generals in the army are selected from the children of the nobles or the children of the military households. In this way, each generation is inferior to the previous one, which makes the Ming army increasingly depressed and eventually loses its combat effectiveness.

This is also part of the military reform, and it is an important way to train the children of the royal family and the children of the nobles. The situation of living a life of wealth and glory is gone. Whether it is the children of the royal family or the children of the nobles who want to inherit the title, they must undergo various assessments, and their grades in the military academy and their military service ability are one of them. Of course, if you want to go the literary route, you can also take the imperial examinations for the children of the nobles as long as you have the ability, but it is much more difficult than starting from the army. In addition, this is also a means to train a large number of qualified officers and strengthen and enhance the strength of the Ming army. With the establishment of military academies, it provides many people with a channel for advancement and a rare opportunity.

The preparations for the military academy have been completed and it will officially start in June in a few days.

After school starts, the Crown Prince will enter the military academy as one of the first batch of students exempted from examination. Due to his age, Prince Song will continue to study in the teaching hall and wait until two years later to enter the military academy like the Crown Prince. After passing the graduation assessment, he will be awarded a military rank and then enter the army for service and training.

From this point of view, Gao Mingheng, the chief teacher of the teaching hall, only taught the prince of Song, not the crown prince, and after the prince of Song entered the military academy, he would have nothing to do for the time being. Because Zhu Shenzhu did not have many children. In addition to the crown prince and the prince of Song, although the virtuous concubine, the wise concubine, and the virtuous concubine were pregnant, it would take several months for them to give birth. Even if they were born, they would only be babies. It would take several years for the little prince to start learning.

Therefore, Gao Mingheng's position as chief teacher was more of a nominal one, but the teaching hall still needed to exist. Moreover, Zhu Shenzui was quite fond of Gao Mingheng, who was recommended by Sun Chengzong, and thought that he was a talent. He first brought him to his side in this way and observed him closely. If he was indeed useful, he would find an opportunity to give him an actual official position, which could be regarded as selecting talents for the country.

Before the prince enters the military academy, there is one important thing to do, and that is his marriage.

Zhu Shenzhui and Queen Xu Jingqiu had started to arrange this matter as early as last year, and it is almost done now.

After considering many options and weighing the pros and cons, Zhu Shenzui and Xu Jingqiu finally chose the daughter of the descendant of Xie Hua, the grandson of Xie Cheng, the Marquis of Yongping, as the Crown Princess. This Xie girl was named Suyun. She was fifteen years old, had a pretty face, was dignified and humble, and was both beautiful and intelligent. She was not only good at needlework, but also well-educated and well-mannered. She was an excellent candidate.

Although Yongping Hou was stripped of his title during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, and the first Yongping Hou Xie Cheng was also killed for being involved in the Lan Yu case, Zhu Shenzhu still chose his descendants. One reason was the relationship between the two families. Zhu Shenzhu was from the lineage of the King of Jin, and the first King of Jin, Zhu Gang, had a wife who was the daughter of Yongping Hou Xie Cheng. This meant that the descendants of the King of Jin and the Yongping Hou lineage were related by marriage.

As for the second reason, the Lan Yu case involved too many people and killed too many people. Yongping Hou was accidentally involved in the case and was killed, and his title was also stripped. Xie Cheng's descendants only left two branches, and they also moved away from the capital to live in Guizhou, and thus stayed in Guizhou and became military households for generations.

Over the past two hundred years, the Xie family has flourished in Guizhou and has branches in the central and western regions of Guizhou, becoming a large family. Xie Suyun's father was the commander of the local garrison, and the local forces in Yunnan and Guizhou were extremely powerful, with occasional rebellions and confrontations with the central government.

Among the three major expeditions of the Wanli Emperor, the Battle of Bozhou took place in Guizhou. The rebellion of chieftain Yang Yinglong took the Ming Dynasty a lot of effort to resolve. The battle also consumed a lot of national strength of the Ming Dynasty and caused the loss of many elite troops. This was the confidence that Nurhaci took advantage of the situation and launched a rebellion in Liaodong later.

With the suppression of the internal bandits in the Ming Dynasty, the northwest and central plains have been pacified. Because of the previous Jiangnan case, the imperial court has gradually made its policies smooth in Jiangnan and gradually controlled the Jiangnan region. However, in the southwest, some problems still exist, including the local Tu and Miao ethnic groups. The Ming Dynasty must solve these problems to stabilize the southwest, but the imperial court is temporarily unable to do these things and has no ability to do them. Therefore, it is necessary to attract the power of the southwest through marriage to stabilize the local area.

After considering various aspects, Zhu Shenzhui and Queen Xu Jingqiu finally chose Xie Suyun as the Crown Princess after consultation, in order to demonstrate the royal family's attitude, appease the local people, further win over the nobles, and at the same time make up for the previous incident of Yongping Marquis.

(End of this chapter)