Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 260: The Elusive Jinyi Guard
"The study of principles is the essence, and the study of sages is the application?"

When Zhu Houzhao learned of the views of officials such as Zhang Cong and Xia Yan, he was extremely surprised. He had never expected that these two famous ministers who had successively become the prime ministers of the cabinet in history would actually put forward such views.

"Neo-Confucianism is the self-cultivation study of Chinese Confucianism, and sacred learning is natural science. This is the same idea as the "Chinese learning for learning and Western application" advocated by Han bureaucrats during the Westernization Movement."

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh to himself. He had to admit that after he, a time traveler, used his identity as the emperor to forcibly spread natural science knowledge, the Han bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty at this time, who were deeply influenced by his natural science, began to adhere to Confucian Neo-Confucianism and use natural science knowledge to strengthen their ruling power.

Zhu Houzhao believed that this was also a kind of progress, and it was unrealistic to ask these Han bureaucrats to directly abandon the Neo-Confucian thought.

In fact, Zhu Houzhao could see that these Han bureaucrats did not reject knowledge of natural sciences. What they really rejected was the new knowledge in social sciences and the new ideas that went against the core of Neo-Confucianism.

Therefore, the sacred learning representing natural science did not encounter much opposition from enlightened Han bureaucrats, but the philosophy of mind proposed by Wang Shouren obviously encountered stronger opposition from the Han bureaucrats.

"Nowadays, the academic circles in the Ming Dynasty are quite fresh. Neo-Confucianism, Taoist studies, and psychology studies are truly flourishing. This is a good thing. If the knowledge does not come from only one school, the scholars of the world will not only focus on one school."

Zhu Houzhao sighed, and at this time, Tang Bohu, an attendant in the attendant room, couldn't help but say: "There are more than these three subjects. There is also a subject called Qi. The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Yan Song, is a great advocate of this subject. He said that everything in the world is controlled by Qi, even us humans, which are transformed by Qi."

Upon hearing what Tang Bohu said, Zhu Houzhao was surprised and said with a smile: "All things are transformed by qi, which is quite interesting!"

At this time, Ma Yongcheng, the governor of the East Factory, could not help but ask: "Your Majesty, now the world has no external threats, no internal worries, the people live and work in peace and contentment, it is a time of peace and prosperity, and these scholars obviously have nothing to do. Just two of them have four or five new knowledge. Do you think we should let the East Factory take care of it?"

"No need! There's nothing wrong with a few kinds of knowledge. The Ming Dynasty is different now than it was before. There are people from all kinds of backgrounds, so naturally they think differently. We, the politicians, can use these knowledge to know what people are thinking. The only thing we have to be careful of is that some people will use the knowledge dispute to seek personal gain!"

Zhu Houzhao then ordered: "Arrange a time for Yan Song to meet with the emperor!"

Zhu Houzhao knew that there was a kind of Qixue thought that opposed Neo-Confucianism in this era, but he didn't know much about this kind of knowledge. The Ming Dynasty was an era of great ideological outburst since the Zhengde period, with various thoughts emerging one after another, and the most important one was the emergence of Mind Learning. But at this moment, after Zhu Houzhao heard what Tang Bohu said, he began to feel that this Qixue had a bit of materialistic flavor, so he couldn't help but pay some attention to it.

But just when Zhu Houzhao became curious about what Qixue was, he discovered a memorial in which Tu Jie, a member of the Ministry of Personnel, impeached Xiong Jia for making irresponsible comments on academic affairs and opposing the School of Mind, and for taking revenge by murdering Xu Ai, a disciple of Wang Shouren who was a disciple of the School of Mind.

Zhu Houzhao did not oppose the emergence of various thoughts in the Ming Dynasty, but he could not tolerate people who would use academic disputes to seek personal gain and harm others, or even attempt to manipulate the government to achieve some ulterior political purpose.

Therefore, after Zhu Houzhao received the report from Tu Jie, the official in the Ministry of Personnel, impeaching Xiong Jia for killing the court official Xu Ai due to a dispute over knowledge, he could not help but look solemn, thinking: "Not long ago, it was this Xiong Jia who dared to submit a petition to the court to fully open the sea. How come he was impeached for murder in the blink of an eye? There is something strange going on here!"

"Issue an order for the Censorate to investigate whether Xu Ai, the deputy minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, was really killed. Also, whether Xiong Jia really impeached Xu Ai, and whether Xiong Jia really had the possibility of killing Xu Ai. Also, find out the details of Tu Jie, why he knew that Xu Ai was killed, and why he impeached Xiong Jia at this time!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but give orders.

"According to the order!"

Liu Jin retreated.

……

And this time.

In an unknown tavern on the outskirts of the city, Tu Jie, the Imperial Censor who had just submitted a memorial to impeach Xiong Jia, was drinking and chatting with Wei Ying, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

"Xu Ai died at the right time! If he hadn't died, Tu would have never found a way to impeach him," Tu Jie said with a smile, and Wei Ying personally poured Tu Jie a glass of wine:

"Everyone knows that Xiong Jia and Xu Ai have a feud. Now there is a dispute between Neo-Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism in the court. Now your majesty wants to give the Neo-Confucianism a position. Xiong Jia is against the Neo-Confucianism. Xu Ai happens to be a disciple of Wang Shouren. With his death, even if you impeach Xu Ai for being harmed by Xiong Jia, it is reasonable. Xiong Jia has no choice but to resign! In this way, he will not be able to petition your majesty to open the world! In this matter, you should be the first to contribute."

Tu Jie accepted Wei Ying's wine and replied with some pride, "However, Liu's impeachment can only make Xiong Jia resign. Whether the court will agree depends on the opinion of Hang Zongxian of the Censorate and Your Majesty."

"That's fine. General Hang is also very dissatisfied with Xiong Jia. If His Majesty agrees, that's fine. If he doesn't agree and wants Xiong Jia to resign, General Hang will let Xiong Jia make another choice, a choice that will send him to hell!"

Wei Ying took a sip of wine as he spoke, and then continued: "If it really comes to that, Xiong Jia will die because of your majesty. I believe your majesty will understand by then that opening up the world will only harm other people's lives, but will not help."

...Although the Left Censor-in-Chief Hang Huai was also very dissatisfied with Xiong Jia's behavior of standing up and requesting the court to fully open the sea, he also knew that Xiong Jia was now a person favored by the emperor. If he approved Xiong Jia's resignation at this time, it would cause dissatisfaction from His Majesty the Emperor Zhu Houzhao.

Therefore, Hang Huai did not approve it, but brought Xiong Jia's resignation letter to Emperor Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, because Tu Jie, the official in the Ministry of Personnel, impeached Xiong Jia for murdering Xu Ai, Xiong Jia submitted a letter of resignation. I dare not make my own decision, please make a decision, Your Majesty!"

"You dare not act on your own! General Hang, when many censors resigned together, you, the Left Censor-in-Chief, did not dare to act on your own. Now that one censor has resigned, you dare not act on your own. What on earth can you, the Left Censor-in-Chief, do?"

Zhu Houzhao could naturally see that Hang Huai obviously wanted Xiong Jia to resign, but he did not dare to let Xiong Jia resign because he knew that he, the emperor, remembered Xiong Jia, so he said something in a bad mood.

"Bring me a pen!"

Zhu Houzhao personally took the red brush and wrote: "Not allowed!"

……

Hang Huai took the memorial with Zhu Houzhao's imperial approval. Seeing that Zhu Houzhao did not agree to let Xiong Jia resign, he could not help but feel disappointed, but he did not show it. He just bowed and said, "My emperor is wise! Your Majesty, do you have any other instructions?"

"Go away," Zhu Houzhao waved his hand. He had no interest in continuing the conversation with Hang Huai.

Hang Huai returned to the Censorate and sighed. After returning home, he found one of his trusted servants and told him the whole story in detail.

Soon, Wei Ying came to Hang Huai without anyone noticing: "Greetings, General Secretary!"

"You're welcome. To make it short, His Majesty did not agree to let Xiong Jia resign. It can be seen that our Majesty is not so easily bewitched!" Hang Huai said.

Wei Ying was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then he slammed the table with his fist, "The emperor is really cunning! In this case, we can only take a risky move. Your Excellency, this is a poison from India. If you drink it, no cause of illness can be found, and you will die in three days. Since Your Majesty is unwilling to let the censor Xiong Jia resign, we can only let him die in the line of duty!"

"I will do this, but it's a pity for Xiong Jia!"

Hang Huai sighed and let Wei Ying leave. The next day, Hang Huai summoned Xiong Jia to the Censorate. The reason was naturally to persuade Xiong Jia not to be discouraged because of being impeached.

But in fact, Hang Huai said to Xiong Jia: "Xiong Yushi, because you want to petition His Majesty to open the sea, Xu Ai has already died, but His Majesty won't let you resign. If you stay here, more people will die, and it may even be you who will die. So, drink this bottle of medicine! You will die in three days. When the time comes, I will take care of your children for you!"

"Master General! What are you going to do? I will never agree to it!"

Xiong Jia couldn't help but shout excitedly.

"Why are you shouting! You have committed a sin yourself, who can you blame? Do you think that others will not dare to kill you if you don't commit suicide? I'm making it clear to you, if you dare to say a word after you go out, you will not survive this night!" Hang Huai said.

Xiong Jia was not stupid. He knew that Hang Huai had prepared for him to commit suicide. He had no choice but to take the poison and said bitterly, "You bunch of hypocritical traitors! You will not have a good death!"

Hang Huai was not angry, he just smiled.

Xiong Jia left Hang Huai with a wave of his sleeves, and returned to his own house without saying a word for the whole night. He just sat in the hall, stunned for a long time. But just when he was about to put the poison into his mouth, Shen Xiang, a plainclothes guard, walked in and knocked out Xiong Jia's poison with a lead bullet:

"Sir, what are you doing? His Majesty is still waiting for your memorial to the court to fully open up the sea! Why are you in such a hurry to die?"

"You, who are you?" Xiong Jia asked.

"Shen Xiang, the general flag of the Jinyiwei, is currently under the command of the Western Factory's Internal Affairs Department. Please come to the palace with me now!"

After Shen Xiang, who was only a dark shadow, finished speaking, he clapped his hands, and then two Jinyiwei captains fell from the beam and picked up the confused censor Xiong Jia.

(End of this chapter)