Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 341: Civil servants suffer defeat
Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhou Luo, who was more than ten years older than him and trembling, and felt a little pity for him, but more hateful. He thought that these old guys were not bad. Sometimes they made the eldest son the heir and sometimes the most capable one the crown prince. Their fundamental purpose was to make the eldest son Zhu Zaile's current behavior dissatisfied with them, the civil servants representing the bourgeoisie.

However, Zhu Houzhao did not intend to deny face to these selfish civil servants, and used his status as emperor to forcibly appoint his eldest son Zhu Zaile as the crown prince.

After all, he didn't want to make the relationship between the monarch and his subjects so tense. Of course, more importantly, he wanted to protect the safety of his eldest son Zhu Zailei.

The eldest prince Zhu Zailei is no different from himself. He has loyal partners with interests and the support of the people. In addition, it is a matter of morality, so he does not have to worry about his personal safety now.

But the eldest prince Zhu Zailei was different. He did not have these security guarantees. Therefore, Zhu Houzhao was also worried that once he confirmed that Zhu Zailei was the crown prince at this time, he would undoubtedly become the target of public criticism, and he was even afraid that someone would use extreme means to kill him directly!
Zhu Houzhao knew that political struggles were never as simple as a passive-aggression argument, and that he would not give up until the other party was killed.

You should know that after Crown Prince Yinreng of the Qing Dynasty was established as the crown prince by Emperor Kangxi, he was badly betrayed by his other brothers.

Zhu Houzhao is, after all, a father, a father who does not want to put his son in danger and wants to protect his son.

Therefore, his determination to make Zhu Zailei the crown prince was not so firm at the beginning. Now that he heard Zhou Luo said so, he just went along with it and said:

"The establishment of a crown prince is indeed the foundation of the country, and it should not be decided arbitrarily. Since you say so, let's put this discussion aside for the time being. I order all the princes to be diligent and abide by the law and contribute to the interests of the country and the people! I will choose the wisest one to be the crown prince!"

When Zhu Houzhao said this, Zhou Luo and other civil officials hurriedly bowed and praised: "Our emperor is wise!"

Xu Jin, who, like Zhou Luo, did not want Zhu Zailei to become the crown prince and also began to advocate "establishing a virtuous person", could not help but smile smugly upon seeing this.

Zhu Houzhao saw the smugness on the faces of these civil servants. He knew that these civil servants must think that they, the emperor, were becoming weaker as they grew older, and that they had really prevented Zhu Zailei from becoming the crown prince.

As I said, to destroy the enemy you must make the enemy crazy, and this is also the only way to give yourself the greatest chance of winning in the future. Zhu Houzhao now likes to stew meat over a slow fire, and he will not lift the pot until it is cooked through. He does not want to have a direct conflict with these civil servants who represent the bourgeoisie, because that will ultimately deplete the country's strength, and now he no longer has the energy of youth, and dares to preside over all the world's affairs alone when no one in the world stands on his side.

But Zhu Houzhao naturally had no intention of letting these selfish civil servants have an easy life.

As the emperor, there is no need for me to have a direct conflict with these civil officials, but that does not mean that the people of the world cannot do so.

After all, the system of establishing the eldest son as the heir is still deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Because even though the Ming Dynasty has now become an industrial country, its farmers still make up the majority, and agriculture is the foundation of industry. A country with developed industry does not mean that its agriculture is underdeveloped. On the contrary, its agriculture is more developed. Moreover, the small peasant mentality and the Confucian ethics it represents cannot be eliminated just like that.

thus.

For many people, especially the lower-level scholars and civil servants, it is right to establish the eldest son as the heir.

Regardless of whether the emperor is wise or foolish, at least this system is fair.

For most people, what they want most is justice.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao ordered again after this:

"The Hanlin Academy recorded that in March of the 51st year of Zhengde, the emperor wanted to follow the imperial Ming ancestral teachings and establish the eldest son as the heir, and this was also the will of the people. He decided to establish the eldest son Zhu Zaile as the crown prince. However, the Minister of Rites Zhou Luo advised against it, saying that it was better to establish a virtuous person than an heir. The crown prince was the foundation of the country and should not be chosen lightly. He should choose someone with outstanding talents and virtues! Therefore, the emperor agreed to his request and put the issue of establishing a crown prince on hold for the time being."

Zhu Houzhao said, and then ordered: "Publish it to the whole country! I am still very receptive to criticism."

Zhu Houzhao said this calmly, but it was like a thunderclap that exploded in the magnificent palace. Zhou Luo, who was feeling complacent, shuddered and fell to the ground with a pale face.
"Your Majesty! The people can be made to follow it, but they cannot be made to know it! Most of the people in the world are ignorant, and most of the young scholars are ignorant! Establishing the eldest son as the heir is not the right choice for the crown prince, but because it is the ancestral precept and conforms to the ethics of the world, if you tell this to the people of the world, the destruction of my reputation will be a small matter, but the resentment of the people will be a big matter! Your Majesty!"

"I beg Your Majesty to keep this discussion secret for the sake of world peace. The affairs of the court should not be known to everyone in the world. After all, the foresight of the officials in the court is not something that ordinary people can understand. Once this discussion is made public, it will only cause the court to lose its dignity!"

Zhou Luo pleaded with Zhu Houzhao very sincerely. He was a civil servant and knew how strong the popular support for the system of establishing the eldest son as the legitimate heir had among the literati. It was no less than the rule of mourning for the death of parents. At least the eldest sons in the world who relied on the system of establishing the eldest son as the legitimate heir to obtain the management rights of the clan would not agree to it.

Xu Jin did take into consideration that denying the policy of "establishing the eldest son as the legitimate heir" would lead to criticism from people all over the world, so he did not stand up himself. He also hoped that His Majesty would not be aware of the public criticism, and that people like him could directly say that it was the Emperor's will and let the Emperor take the blame. However, he did not expect that His Majesty the Emperor could ignore public opinion when he did not need it. However, that does not mean that the Emperor would not use public opinion when he needed it.

The emperor was unwilling to bear the blame and wanted to let the world know that it was the Minister of Rites Zhou Luo who stopped the emperor from enthroning the eldest son as the heir. This was equivalent to pushing Zhou Luo, the leader of the civil officials, to the front to be scolded by the world. What should he do? !

Xu Jin and others could understand why Zhou Luo was so panicked at this time, and frantically begged the emperor in a pleading tone not to make this court meeting public.

Zhu Houzhao was so happy that he couldn't help but think that these civil servants also get scared sometimes.

Xia Yan was just as happy as Zhu Houzhao. Xia Yan had been unhappy with these civil servants who did not listen to him for a long time. Now that he saw that they were forced into such a situation by the emperor, he could not help but add fuel to the fire:

"Your Majesty, whether you choose the eldest son or the most virtuous son, both are the legal principles of the court to choose a crown prince. No matter which legal principle you choose, it should be known to the people of the world, because Your Majesty is choosing the crown prince for the people of the world! Moreover, the Constitution Outline clearly stipulates that the people of the world are the masters of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, although the people of the world do not have the right to make decisions, they have the right to know!"

Zhu Houzhao was now waiting for a minister to come forward and refute the behavior of these selfish civil servants who did not want the world to know their tricks, so that he could once again take advantage of the situation. Now that he heard Xia Yan say this, he nodded:
"What the Prime Minister said is very true. The people of the world have the right to know how the crown prince was chosen."

Zhu Houzhao directly called Xia Yan the chief minister, naturally intending to promote Xia Yan and take this opportunity to let Xia Yan share the complaints of these civil servants with him.

Xia Yan had no choice but to accept it. After all, as the Prime Minister, a figure similar to the Imperial Prime Minister, his value in existence did lie in taking the blame for the Emperor or diverting conflicts.

Xu Jin stood up at this time and said, "Your Majesty, I think what the Prime Minister said is very true. Today's discussion should indeed be made known to the world. However, the world can know about it, but cannot make the decision. I think what the Grand Master said is not absurd, but rather a mature and wise statement for the country. It is natural for the ancestors to establish the eldest son as the heir, but it is also a concern for the country's future generations to establish a virtuous crown prince. Therefore, I think that establishing a virtuous crown prince should be the first consideration, and if the world does not understand, the court should teach them!"

Xu Jin knew that the emperor had made his tone clear, and with the support of Xia Yan, the prime minister who only cared about the country and the people, it was impossible for him to keep the world in the dark about the fact that he and his fellow civil servants had rejected the idea of ​​"establishing the eldest son as the legitimate heir". Moreover, there is no wall that is impenetrable, and even if he didn't let the world know now, they would know it sooner or later.

Therefore, Xu Jin decided to once again make the move of sacrificing the chariot to save the king. He would rather let Zhou Luo be despised by the world than sacrifice the interests of the civil officials and let Zhu Zaile become the crown prince. He also rushed to make the conclusion that the crown prince should be chosen by a virtuous person.

Zhu Houzhao smiled slightly. He knew what Xu Jin was thinking, but he was not in a hurry to expose him. Moreover, he wanted to take this opportunity to trick Xu Jin, so he said:

"In this case, Xu Qing, you have always been talented and eloquent, so you will be fully responsible for organizing the scholars to explain to the people of the world the issue of establishing the virtuous and the eldest son as the heir!"

Xu Jin was stunned for a moment, and immediately realized that he had been tricked by himself. He could not help but feel extremely regretful, thinking that now he was appointed by the Emperor as an official to explain to the people of the world, which would undoubtedly make him be scolded by the people of the world.

Xu Jin wanted to pretend to be sick, but he knew that the Emperor would not allow anyone to reject him, and pretending to be sick was not an option unless he committed suicide.

Therefore, Xu Jin had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree: "I obey your order!"

Seeing Xu Jin's frustrated look, Zhu Houzhao was naturally very pleased, and nodded: "This matter should not be delayed for too long. Once it is made public, it will cause an uproar. My dear, you should immediately publish an article in your capacity as the Grand Secretary of the Dongge to set the record straight!"

soon.

Zhou Luo, the Minister of Rites, opposed the eldest son's appointment as the heir and suggested that the emperor appoint a virtuous person as the heir. This was made public, and immediately, it really caused a crusade among the scholars in the folks, who cursed Zhou Luo for not following the etiquette and being unworthy of being a Confucian official.

Not only did Zhou Luo's behavior attract criticism from scholars, it also caused opposition from some court officials, even some upright civil servants.

Jiang Rubi, the Junior Chancellor of the Chancellery, even cursed the Minister of Rites Zhou Luo for his perverse actions.

Wen Yuanben, the Minister of Justice, was recuperating from illness. After learning the news, he also wrote an article to denounce Zhou Luo as a despicable villain.

Even some military officials and nobles were very dissatisfied with this. Dingxi Marquis Jiang Rou also submitted a memorial to impeach Zhou Luo as a traitor.

Xu Jin explained Zhou Luo's behavior and the court's decision by publishing an article in the Huangming Newspaper. But soon, Xu Jin was also attacked by all officials who insisted on maintaining the Confucian ethical order of establishing the eldest son as the heir.

After all, if it was the emperor who asked for the appointment of a virtuous person, or if it was the prime minister who wanted to do so, it would be acceptable. After all, it is due to the dignity of the monarch and the power of the prime minister, and no one could comment on it. But now Xu Jin, Zhou Luo and others are deliberately misleading Your Majesty, asking Your Majesty to give up the appointment of the eldest son as the legitimate heir, so naturally you can scold them as much as you want.

Some people even wanted to burn down Xu Jin and Zhou Luo's houses.

Zhu Houzhao was very happy to see the current situation, because it meant that selfish and upright civil servants such as Xu Jin and Zhou Luo had completely lost their prestige among the people, and it would be impossible for these people to hold public opinion hostage and fight against themselves, the emperor, in the future.

After most of the scholars and court officials had criticized the selfish civil servants in the court, Zhu Houzhao stood up and said that he would decide the position of crown prince himself and would still announce it according to the original schedule. He also ordered that no one should make any more irresponsible comments on state affairs.

In this way, the scholars and court officials of the empire calmed down a little, but smart people would find that, invisibly, who was qualified to be the crown prince was still under the control of His Majesty the Emperor.

Zhu Houzhao had actually already drafted his will and was just waiting for a good opportunity to make it public.

In other words, Zhu Houzhao had already decided who would be the crown prince. Although the outside world was still discussing the matter, he no longer hesitated and began to focus on the construction and expansion of the empire.

For Zhu Houzhao, the issue of succession had been resolved, but for the other princes, it seemed to be getting worse.

This time, the selfish behavior of some civil servants in the court made Zhu Zailei see through the meanness of these people, and made him clearly realize that the gentlemen he had respected in the past were not all as pure as ice and jade, and his previous behavior had undoubtedly made these civil servants completely disappointed in him.

Zhu Zailei knew that from now on, Xu Jin and others would become his political enemies and would not be of any help to him.

Zhu Houzhao also guessed that his eldest son Zhu Zailei would gradually realize that he was in opposition to the civil servant group representing the bourgeoisie, and that it was impossible to rely on civil servants to create the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, he could not help but say to his empress, who was holding her aging hand, "Although Lei'er is not the crown prince yet, he must have the mindset of a crown prince."

While the Ming Empire was constantly fighting over national issues, in the Ceuta region of the Mediterranean, the Ming army had already engaged in a battle with the Spanish Armada.

However, the Ming army's rifled cannons and faster sailing warships did not allow the Spanish fleet to gain an advantage. However, due to the insufficient military strength of the Ming army in the Ceuta area, the Spanish fleet was not seriously damaged. Therefore, Spain prepared to launch another attack on Ceuta of the Ming Dynasty.

After all, the Ming Dynasty's Ceuta region was near the Strait of Gibraltar. How could he allow others to sleep next to his bed? As the ruler of Spain, even if he had never heard of this saying, he could understand this truth. What's more, what he could not tolerate even more was that a non-Western empire had a military base here.

In terms of weapons and equipment and tactical command, the Ming Dynasty naturally had an advantage over Spain. However, the Ming Dynasty had a fatal problem: the Ming Central Empire was too far away from the Ceuta region, and logistical support was a problem. As a result, it was difficult for the Ming Dynasty to deploy a large number of military forces at one time to completely eliminate the Spanish military threat to the Ceuta region.

But the Spanish army could harass the Ceuta region of the Ming Dynasty at any time.

At this time, after decades of Ming Dynasty colonization, the Ceuta region was no longer just a trading base. Although its main function was still as a trade transit station, many people from the Ming Dynasty moved here because of its rich mineral resources, cheap labor and abundant fishery resources.

The siege of the Ceuta area by the Spanish Armada some time ago prevented the Ming fishermen in the Ceuta area from going out to sea to fish for several months, which was a heavy loss. Therefore, these days, the fishermen of the Ming Dynasty would take their black and white slaves out to sea to fish every day in order to make a fortune during the short fish shortage in Ceuta.

On this day, just after daybreak, Lu Liang, a fisherman who had moved to Ceuta and settled there twenty years ago, took his fleet out to sea to fish. As a fisherman from Qiongzhou for generations, he used the fishing experience and skills he had accumulated over the years along the coast of Daming, so that he returned with a full load this time, with the entire boat filled with fish.

Of course, he was not the only family that went out to sea to fish. There were three or four fishermen from the Ming Dynasty who returned with him.

As Chaoyang just emerged above the Atlantic Ocean and was swayed by the waves, the entire Atlantic Ocean was filled with the sound of Han fishermen's songs composed by the people of the Ming Dynasty. The voices were high-pitched and powerful, yet filled with the joy of a good harvest. It seemed that even in this distant Atlantic Ocean, one could feel the prosperity of the Han people of the Ming Dynasty.

But at this moment, a large fleet of white sails emerged from the sea, like thousands of white ghosts, holding flags with a red background and a yellow cross, and rushed towards the Ming fishing boats. Judging from the formation, there were no less than a hundred ships.

Lu Xunxian shouted in fear: "It's the Westerners! Run away!"

But how could the ordinary fishing boats of the Ming Dynasty be a match for the regular Spanish fleet? Naturally, they could not escape in time. Not long after, Lu Xun saw with his own eyes that the few fishing boats in front had been surrounded by the Western barbarians, and were soon blown into pieces by the Western barbarians' artillery. Many fishermen fell into the sea, and some were even killed on the spot!

As for some larger fishing boats, these Westerners even stuck close to them, then jumped onto the boats and stabbed the Ming fishermen in the stomach with a knife, killing them directly.

Lu Xun saw with his own eyes his compatriots falling into the sea with blood all over their bodies, and he was so scared that his heart was in his throat. But just as he was feeling sorry for the killing of his compatriots, at this time, the Western warships surrounded his fishing boat and jumped onto his deck.

It just so happened that Lu Xun's youngest son was playing on the deck, but at this moment, he was suddenly caught by a Westerner, who cut his son's neck in front of Lu Xun.

"do not want!"

Lu Xun saw with his own eyes that his youngest son was killed by this Westerner. Even his neck was cut. Only his lips moved instinctively, as if he was calling for his father.

Lu Xun was in great pain. He picked up the harpoon and rushed towards the foreigners: "Damn it! I'm going to fight you!"

Pfft!

Lu Xun saw with his own eyes that the Westerner who killed his son also stabbed a knife quickly into his stomach. He looked at the Westerner in astonishment, his eyes revealing endless hatred. He didn't understand why he was killed by this evil man instead of himself killing the evil man!

The Westerner smiled triumphantly and threw the bodies of Lu Xun and his son into the sea.

Immediately afterwards, the miserable cries of Lu Xun’s wife were heard from the cabin.

In this era, the Spanish colonists were naturally not peaceful messengers of civilization, but were essentially pirates who committed all kinds of evil. They did not dare to directly attack the Ming Dynasty's regular areas in the Ceuta region, but they dared to attack the Ming Dynasty's fishermen.

And now, Lu Xun and other Ming fishermen were naturally not spared and were all slaughtered by the Spanish colonists!

Thank you for the reward of one pound of sugar and 100 starting coins from the book friend

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(End of this chapter)