Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 323 You made the choice, Jiajing!

Huang Jin carried the freshly brewed ginseng soup and walked along the corridor, looking somewhat dejected.

In just over half a year, his round face was no longer there.

He has visibly lost a lot of weight.

Zhou Shunli, the treacherous official who murdered the emperor in a palace coup, had once received favors from him.

Even the name "Shunli" was chosen by him.

In fact, Huang Jin was kind-hearted and often took care of the young eunuchs in the palace. Many of them received his favor and were even given names.

But that scoundrel unfortunately harmed the emperor's health and was one of the main culprits in the palace coup.

The moment this news broke, the tide turned.

Suspicion arose among the crowd.

Rumors circulated that this senior attendant, who had served the current emperor since the time of the Prince of Xing, was about to fall out of favor, or at least lose his former glory.

The key point is that His Majesty has not come forward to deny it.

They ignored it and allowed the news to spread unchecked.

As a result, Huang Jin's power in the palace greatly declined, and many of his adopted sons who had originally followed him switched allegiance to other eunuchs.

The infighting within the Directorate of Ceremonial was even more intense.

Huang Jin's temperament was not suited to this kind of deceit and intrigue. When Jiajing trusted him, he could still control the situation by virtue of his favor, but now he was no longer able to do so.

In fact, Huang Jin had little attachment to power. He was quite content with his lot and felt that as a disabled person, he could serve his master well and that would be enough for him. He didn't need any overwhelming authority.

But now, rather than feeling disappointed, I feel more emotionally exhausted.

"Ugh!"

With a long sigh, Huang Jin composed himself, picked up the freshly brewed ginseng tea, and made his way to the outside of the Wenhua Hall.

The master's voice came from inside the hall, sounding more lively than usual.

"You speak of the deep-seated problems in the prefectures and counties, but have you ever considered their root causes?"

"Under the Emperor."

"Ok?"

"The Yellow Register was established during the Hongwu reign to equalize taxes and corvée labor. However, officials at all levels have manipulated it, resulting in the rich owning vast tracts of land while the poor have nowhere to stand. This is not the fault of the current emperor, but rather his responsibility!"

In the past, Huang Jin would have been shocked.

He had never heard a subject dare to answer his master like that.
But the one inside seemed unremarkable.

This was not the first time Zhu Houcong had heard Hai Rui lecture.

Huang Jin was not present at first; he had only heard about it from other eunuchs.

This scholar's younger brother had made great contributions in suppressing Japanese pirates in the local area. Upon returning to the capital, he should have been promoted to a high position, at least as the Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, with a promising future.

As a result, he angered the emperor by submitting a memorial requesting the establishment of a maritime trade office, and upon returning to the capital, he only received the position of lecturer in the Hanlin Academy.

However, the lecturer had the opportunity to meet the emperor, and His Majesty actually chose him to have an audience, which was truly a blessing in disguise.

They thought this man should be extremely grateful and flatter the emperor, but his lecture that day made the eunuchs who were attending him break out in a cold sweat.

Hai Rui's lectures were not extensive; they mainly consisted of dialogues between the emperor and his ministers.

But this man's answer was neither like that of some ministers who were trembling with fear, nor like that of ordinary remonstrating officials who were passionate and eloquent. It was plain and simple, yet it was resounding and hard to ignore.

And for some reason, the more His Majesty spoke, the uglier his expression became, yet he didn't stop, and the lecture lasted even longer than before.

During the second lecture, Huang Jin served by his side.

He didn't quite understand those Confucian classics, but he knew that Emperor Wen of Han was a wise ruler, and his master greatly admired him.

The two, the emperor and his minister, seemed to be discussing Emperor Wen of Han.

The master's voice grew softer and softer, as if he were gritting his teeth, containing anger that he had to suppress.

When Hai Rui took his leave, the master suddenly threw the inkstone off the table, his chest heaving violently.

This is the third time I've met Hai Rui.

Standing outside the hall, there was no sound of cups being smashed or inkstones being thrown inside, but there was a muffled thud of the emperor slamming his hand on the table.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Huang Jin leaned closer to listen more closely.

"Lord Xue died from being flogged in court, and the emperor died from being recorded in the annals of history."

Just that one sentence made the ginseng soup in his hand tremble, almost spilling it. He quickly shrank back and waited patiently.

After an unknown amount of time, a slender figure slowly emerged, his expression calm and serene, like a still well, without the slightest ripple.

When Huang Jin entered the hall, he found that his master behind the desk had his knuckles clenched so tightly that they turned blue, and his expression was somewhat distorted, but he forcibly suppressed it so that outsiders would not see it.

The defenses have clearly been breached.

Huang Jin gently served the ginseng soup, still concerned about the other's health, and whispered, "Master, let's not see this person..."

"What do you know, you lackey!"

Zhu Houcong flew into a rage and violently swept the soup cup to the ground.

Ever since meeting Hai Rui, Zhu Houcong has been caught in a strange mood.

How dare he speak to me like that?

Isn't he afraid of dying?
Hmm! They really aren't afraid of death!
But it wasn't just a simple act of dying for justice!

The more I think about it, the angrier I get.

The angrier I get, the more I think about it.

I still have to see him.

Because the two sides are debating.

Previously, Xue Kan was merely talking to himself, informing the king of his own set of theories.

Zhu Houcong refused to listen, but Xue Kan insisted on making the emperor listen, and neither side would give in.

Furthermore, given the special circumstances of that time, it was necessary to make an example of him, so the Hanlin scholar was flogged to death in court. However, Hai Rui's advice was not merely persuasion; he was discussing strategies for governing the country with him.

Zhu Houcong was not only well-versed in Confucian classics, but also considered himself exceptionally intelligent in governing the country. He had been on the throne for over twenty years and had manipulated his ministers at will. How could he possibly be defeated by a mere minister?

It's impossible!

So at this moment, after reprimanding Huang Jin and seeing the servant kneeling on the ground, Zhu Houcong stood up, put his hands behind his back, paced around twice, and said coldly, "Let Hai Rui come to see me the day after tomorrow and continue his lecture. I want to see if he can escape my grasp!"

This Buddha Tathagata is determined to suppress this monkey under the Five Finger Mountain and ruthlessly crush him!

……

at the same time.

After leaving the Forbidden City and returning to the Hanlin Academy, Hai Rui's expression finally changed.

After three lectures and three meetings, through dialogues between the ruler and his ministers, he had been completely demystified.

There was no longer any longing or expectation in his eyes.

All that remains is disappointment and contemplation.

The emperor is good; it's the subordinates who mess things up.

This idea arose because 99% of the world's population had no contact with the emperor.

Even for those who passed the imperial examinations, their entire lives might only consist of the final palace examination, where they could catch a glimpse of the emperor on his throne. Many would spend the rest of their lives basking in the glory of being the emperor's protégé, not to mention ordinary officials.

In doing so, it was inevitable that the monarch would be given a great deal of divine aura.

But after actually getting to know them, they discovered that the so-called supreme ruler, the true Son of Heaven, was just an ordinary person.

They are even worse off than ordinary people.

Of course, Jiajing was still far superior to ordinary people.

On the contrary, the harm is much greater.

"Wisdom is enough to reject advice, and words are enough to cover up one's mistakes!"

Hai Rui sighed silently: "If such an emperor were to willingly degenerate, the world would be in grave danger!"

Haiyue walked in, and the two brothers exchanged glances, everything understood without a word.

In the Hanlin Academy, where there were many people and much noise, they did not say much until they returned to their studies at home, where they began to speak freely.

Hai Rui asked directly, "How are the princes doing since the palace coup?"

Haiyue said calmly, "The two Imperial Concubines were banished to the Cold Palace, and their maternal families were also implicated. The other concubines are also having a hard time. Meanwhile, His Majesty has chosen new concubines..."

Here's a little-known fact: Emperor Jiajing had the most concubines of any Ming Dynasty emperor. He had a total of 82 concubines with official titles, which is four times that of Zhu Yuanzhang, five times that of Emperor Xianzong, ten times that of Emperor Wuzong, and eighty-two times that of Emperor Xiaozong.

This included four empresses, three imperial concubines, three concubines, thirty-one consorts, and forty-one concubines.

This number is only slightly less than the 143 concubines of Emperor Huizong of Song.

So don't assume that the old Taoist priest stayed away from women just because he didn't attend court. Even while cultivating his Taoist practice in the Western Garden, he didn't neglect his pursuit of women.

And now, at the beginning of the year, the emperor selected new concubines, and a new batch of noble ladies entered the palace for his enjoyment.

However, the number of princes did not increase; it remained at five.

"The prince is still young; such harsh criticism may be detrimental to his development..."

Hai Rui was more concerned about the prince, and frowned.

Haiyue said, "We must not offer advice on this matter. If we rashly submit a memorial, we will only put the princes in danger."

"I see……"

Hai Rui sighed softly: "The position of heir apparent is vacant, and the princes are without support. Our Ming Dynasty is facing deep hidden dangers!"

Deep down, Hai Rui still hoped that the current emperor could pull himself together and return to the diligent and hardworking phase of his early years. Even if his nature hadn't changed, the country needed such a ruler.

But rationally, he knew that such hope was extremely slim.

Therefore, as a second-best option, they shifted their focus to the heir.

This has always been the choice of ministers.

If the current emperor is incapable, then he places his hopes on the next generation.

Haiyue, however, thought differently.

Let's put it this way: given the Ming Dynasty's imperial education system, it was already quite an achievement to produce an emperor like Jiajing who was at least a decent ruler for the rest of his life.

Many are inferior to Jiajing.

For example, the Longqing Emperor in history constantly extracted huge sums of silver from the national treasury for his own use, disregarding the lives of the people to an extent that surpassed even the Jiajing Emperor, and he didn't even try to hide it.

The good thing about the Longqing Emperor was that he was caught between the Jiajing and Wanli Emperors, and he died relatively quickly. In addition, he initially wanted to confront the ministers, but found that he did not have the ability, so he delegated power to the Grand Secretary. He encountered Gao Gong, who had strong governing ability, and thus received a good evaluation.

As for Wanli and the subsequent emperors, let's not even mention them.

Now, due to changes in their life trajectories, the lineage of the Longqing and Wanli emperors no longer exists. However, judging from the current trend, the Imperial Study system has not changed anything. Under the suppression of the Jiajing Emperor, it is difficult for the princes to have the temperament of normal people.

The hidden worries are profound!

However, for many people in the world, there seem to be only two ways out.

First, the current emperor has become better.

Secondly, the successor must be a wise ruler.

For example, Hai Rui, after a moment of worry, regained his resolve: "Please rest assured, brother, I will definitely advise His Majesty to revitalize the country!"

"I believe you!"

Haiyue smiled slightly.

It's like two little people, one dressed in a Taoist robe, and the other constantly punching the former, asking if the other is angry.

The Taoist-robed figure remained patient until the other party produced the "Memorial on Governance".

You chose it!
Jiajing!

(End of this chapter)