Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 16: The Successor King Treats the People with Kindness and Purity
Zhu Houcong was waiting for Mao Cheng to answer like this.

After Mao Cheng praised Yang Tinghe, Zhu Houcong immediately laughed, breathed a sigh of relief, folded his hands behind his back, and paced around the room:

"That way, I feel relieved!"

Zhu Houcong then looked at Yuan Zonggao and others and said:
"If the people want to follow, let them follow!"

"As the heir, I can't drive you away either, otherwise it would mean that the country is not established properly!"

"We just need to prevent the outbreak of plague when there are too many people. We need to manage them well. We don't have to worry about not being able to accommodate them after they are brought to Beijing. We have to believe in the ability of Yuan Fu!"

Zhu Houcong then specifically asked Mao Cheng: "Grand Master, do you think this is right?"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Mao Cheng replied, then closed his eyes and sighed slightly.

Liang Chu couldn't help but cover his face with his sleeves, with a slight smile on his face. He didn't expect that Yang Tinghe would end up like this.

For a moment, he was somewhat reluctant to resign, as he wanted to see how Yang Tinghe would help the successor emperor to settle the refugees who would follow him to Beijing in the future.

Because Liang Chu was still somewhat dissatisfied with Yang Tinghe in his heart. After all, if Yang Tinghe had not snatched the prime minister position that should have belonged to him, he would not have flirted with Wang Qiong.

However, Liang Chu also glanced at Zhu Houcong with a complicated expression.

He also didn't know whether the heir in front of him really dug a big trap for Yang Tinghe by being too kind, and forced Mao Cheng to pull Yang Tinghe into the trap, or whether he was pretending to be kind, secretly harboring great ambitions, and even using open and legitimate means to seek power, and had great strategies in his mind?
"No matter which one it is, it is good for the people, it is good for the Ming Dynasty, and it is also good for myself."

Liang Chu couldn't help but complain a few words in his heart about this.

Yuan Zonggao also felt a little respect for Zhu Houcong because Zhu Houcong had created a big problem for Yang Tinghe.

Therefore, after Mao Cheng said this, Yuan Zonggao also nodded and thought to himself: "The successor is indeed wise and sage, and he is indeed a natural born leader! He has used upright and fair means to make the upright civil officials first lose their prestige and then put them in a dilemma."

Let’s talk.

Because Zhu Houcong allowed refugees to follow him into Beijing.

Therefore, more and more refugees followed Zhu Houcong into Beijing.

Even many local people who were not considered refugees chose to follow Zhu Houcong to Beijing.

For example, some families who are afraid of being eaten by the locals.

Or the small people who cannot tolerate the exploitation by local evil gentry and bullies.

Because Zhu Houcong allowed them to follow him, they all took the opportunity to follow Zhu Houcong to Beijing without having to worry about being exploited by bandits and officials along the way, and followed Zhu Houcong north.

The local officials along the way were also frightened by this. At first they were worried that it was a civil uprising. However, after asking clearly, they felt much more relieved and then took the initiative to allow these people to move away.

Because these unemployed vagrants who do not contribute any tax revenue would be both a financial burden and a burden on maintaining stability if they remained in the local area, they would naturally be happy to have these people come to Beijing and be dealt with by civil servants at the central government level.

then.

For a time, the people who followed Zhu Houcong's carriage kept running all night long.

One day, when Zhu Houcong looked back, he saw a large number of people behind his carriage. Some were leading children and carrying old men, like ants. They were endless and the ground was full of people.

"How serious is the cannibalism in the local area that so many people would rather follow me to the unknown capital city than stay in the countryside?"

Zhu Houcong couldn't help but ponder inwardly.

The people who followed Zhu Houcong to Beijing were still managed and supported by Yuan Zonggao and Yang Tingyi's 3,000 guards.

However, as more and more people followed the imperial carriage, Zhu Houcong sent more middle and lower-level court officials to help manage and provide relief to the people who followed the imperial carriage north, on the grounds that the new court officials knew more about how to pacify the people than his own old officials. He also trained these people and gave them a chance to understand the sufferings of the people.

As for the level of enthusiasm of these bureaucrats in managing the people who accompany the emperor.

Of course there is no need to worry.

Because no one would fail to work actively and show their love for the people and integrity under the eyes of the successor monarch.

Needless to say, Yuan Zonggao was in charge of this matter.

He took advantage of this opportunity to manage the people accompanying the emperor and establish his own authority among the middle and lower-level officials and generals.

Make these people believe that he, as the Chief Secretary, will not be entrusted with important tasks in the future just because of his status as the successor teacher, but that he has the real ability and is worthy of being followed.

The accompanying officers and generals did not have to worry that their dedication and good deeds at this time would not be overlooked by the emperor.

Because even if someone rescued an orphan who accidentally fell into the water, Zhu Houcong would know about it and reward him.

Even Yang Tingyi, who became the commander of the 3,000 guards because of his brother Yang Tinghe, did not dare to withhold the relief food and medicine that should have been distributed to the people accompanying the emperor, but actively cooperated with Yuan Zonggao.

Therefore, although more and more people followed the emperor's carriage, everything was still in good order.

In addition, it was early summer, and the temperature was suitable, so there was no major epidemic, famine, or large-scale riots. Yuan Zonggao also led officials such as Yang Tingyi to register the people who followed the emperor northward to avoid the disappearance of people without reason and the infiltration of spies from outside the Great Wall.

Moreover, the orphans who followed were specially organized into a battalion and were escorted and cared for by a team of guards.

Zhu Houcong had already set his sights on this orphan camp and would send eunuchs every now and then to give these orphans some delicious food, which moved the orphans greatly.

Besides.

When Zhu Houcong took a rest, he would ask the Grand Secretary Liang Chu to visit these orphans and even the common people who accompanied him on his behalf.

Liang Chu was old and had a kind face, which made him quite popular among the orphans. When he said that Zhu Houcong cared about them and told them to go to Beijing with peace of mind and that he would let Prime Minister Yang Tinghe settle them down, the people were willing to believe Liang Chu's words and had an increasingly favorable impression of Zhu Houcong, the successor to the throne. They even hoped that Zhu Houcong would ascend the throne and become emperor as soon as possible.

On the way to Beijing, Zhu Houcong personally visited the people who were accompanying him, which made the people even more moved.

But Mao Cheng became more and more uneasy because of this.

"All the people we brought with us have been assigned to help the people. Now the heir to the throne has been replaced by the old people in the palace. The key is that Yuan Changshi is gaining more and more trust from the ministers and the people."

"Don't you think there is some hidden agenda here?"

Mao Cheng asked about Liang Chu during a rest stop before arriving in the capital.

Liang Chu laughed and said, "There is no hidden agenda here. It's just that the successor is extremely kind and pure to the people!"

Liang Chu then took the initiative to say to Mao Cheng: "Your Majesty is as benevolent as heaven, and cares about the common people, but we only think about petty maneuvers and fighting for power and profit. Don't you think we are failing the way of a gentleman?"

Mao Cheng was speechless after hearing Liang Chu's words. For a moment, he just looked at Liang Chu with a gloomy expression.

He began to suspect that Liang Chu also had the same idea as Yuan Zonggao, wanting to guide the successor emperor to reform the system in the future.

Mao Cheng did not expect that because the successor emperor loved the people so much, many people would accompany him to the capital because of his kindness. This also made Yuan Zonggao, who was in charge of managing the people accompanying the emperor, become prominent. His own upright civil servants became a foil. Even Liang Chu, the second assistant of the cabinet and the head of the civil officials who welcomed the emperor, began to want to defect.

Mao Cheng was quite worried about this.

What worries him even more is that more and more people are accompanying him, which will undoubtedly make it more difficult for his party member and leader Yang Tinghe to govern the country.

to this end.

When Yuan Zonggao reported that the number of civilians accompanying the emperor had exceeded 200,000, Mao Cheng had no choice but to find Zhu Houcong and say, "There are too many civilians accompanying the emperor. In my humble opinion, I am afraid that the prime minister will not be able to deal with the aftermath. Please let the local officials take away and resettle some of the civilians first."

"If local officials could have been relocated, they would have been relocated long ago."

"I believe Yuanfu can take care of the aftermath. After all, my husband is only the chief historian of the palace, and Yang Shilang of the Ministry of War is his younger brother. He can manage the people accompanying the emperor in an orderly manner. I think Yuanfu, as a loyal minister, will help me settle these people."

Zhu Houcong rejected Mao Cheng's proposal and asked Mao Cheng: "Does the Grand Master think that I can't trust the Prime Minister to handle this matter?"

"I have no such intention!"

"The Prime Minister is in power, and has the ability to mend the sky and shift the tide. It is wise for the successor to trust the Prime Minister."

There was no way Mao Cheng could deny it, so he could only bow and answer like this.

Liang Chu saw that Mao Cheng was helpless because of the heir, and he felt inexplicably happy. In order to please Zhu Houcong, he took the initiative to agree and said:
"A wise ruler is coming, and good ministers are in the court. All the lands will be at peace! Not to mention 200,000, even 2 million is just a number."

Zhu Houcong nodded and smiled: "You are right, Lord."

Mao Cheng's expression when he looked at Liang Chu was even more complicated.

Zhu Houcong was naturally happy to see a split among the upright civil servants who supported him, because this would undoubtedly help him to seize power from Yang Tinghe.

In the following days, the common people continued to follow Zhu Houcong's carriage to the capital.

Because there were too many common people accompanying the emperor, many states along the way had already been alarmed and knew about this matter.

The bureaucrats and common people had never expected that Zhu Houcong was so popular, and they all rushed to tell each other.

As a result, Zhu Houcong, who was already widely expected by bureaucrats and people all over the world for his benevolent character, had more and more people expecting him to go to Beijing and proclaim himself emperor as soon as possible.

Many young and restless scholars also followed him to Beijing, and some even arrived in the capital in advance, ready to personally welcome Zhu Houcong to Beijing.

By the time Zhu Houcong arrived at the outskirts of Beijing, the entire capital was already crowded with people and boats. On both sides of the canal, there were people kneeling to welcome Zhu Houcong, shouting "Long live the emperor" like a tsunami.

If it were half a month ago, Mao Cheng would never have thought that the heir to the throne would have such a high reputation.

However, in order to make Zhu Houcong, the new emperor, willing to accept the control of these upright civil officials, Mao Cheng decided to test Zhu Houcong's obedience on behalf of the upright civil officials. So when Zhu Houcong was discussing with the ministers about which gate he should enter the city from to ascend the throne tomorrow, as a ceremonial officer, he still said against all odds:
"If the successor enters the city today as the emperor, what is the significance of ascending the throne in the future? Does the etiquette of persuading the emperor to decline the throne have to be abolished?"

Everyone was reluctant to say much.

Because Mao Cheng was the Minister of Rites, he had the authoritative power to interpret etiquette and laws.

So Mao Cheng turned to Zhu Houcong and said, "Please come into the city with the ceremony of the crown prince's accession to the throne!"

(End of this chapter)