The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 10 Qi Jiguang is granted the title of Marquis

The next morning at about noon, the morning sun rose vigorously, releasing great light, and the entire capital seemed to be prosperous.

In the cabinet duty room, Zhang Siwei was not in a good mood. He was squinting his triangular eyes and thinking.

The little emperor actually issued another imperial decree.

Moreover, the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict also said that the little emperor would not attend court unless the imperial edict was approved!

The imperial edict was very simple, just one sentence: Liang Menglong, the Minister of Personnel, was transferred to be the Minister of War, and Wu Dui, the Minister of War, was transferred to be the Minister of Personnel.

In fact, this move is beneficial to them.

What they need now is an obedient Minister of Personnel so that they can purge Zhang Juzheng's old party in the court and replace them with their own people.

However, the Ministry of War is also very important, and they don't want to let go yet.

If they wanted to let go of the Ministry of War, they could have simply replaced Wu Dui when they dismissed Wang Guoguang.

It was precisely because they did not want to let go of the Ministry of War that they sent Liang Menglong to try.

Unexpectedly, Liang Menglong, who had dared not to argue for anything like Yu Youcai, dared to disobey them this time and even dared to surrender to the young Wanli.

Would it be okay for such a person to be transferred to the position of Minister of War?
More importantly, if they compromise this time, there will be a next time.

This is probably what the young Wanli thought.

This little guy seems ignorant, but he seems to have some brains and is not easy to fool.

If they approve the imperial edict this time, what if the young Wanli gets angry with them next time and refuses to attend court unless they approve the edict?
The problem is that if they don't approve this time, the little guy won't go to court, and they will have no way to purge Zhang Juzheng's old party in the court.

This is like a spear and a shield, which is really a headache.

It seemed that they could ask Empress Dowager Li for an imperial decree to purge Zhang Juzheng's old party members in the court one by one.

actually not.

They could only use this trick on Pan Sheng who was still on his way back to Beijing.

Because Pan Sheng had not yet returned to Beijing to perform his duties, he did not have any power, and Pan Sheng could not contact Zhang Juzheng's old party in the court on the way to ask them for help.

Pan Sheng was isolated and helpless on the way. If he did not obey the cabinet's order and go back honestly, they could use force and forcibly escort him back.

It is different for Zhang Juzheng's old party members in the court in the capital. They all have real power, and they can call on a large number of people to help them with just a wave of their arms, and their number is even greater than theirs.

By then, there will be a big fight in the court, and it will be extremely disadvantageous for them to tear each other apart and start fighting.

Therefore, their approach of asking Empress Dowager Li for an imperial decree would not work at all. Doing so would only force all of Zhang Juzheng's old party to turn to the young Wanli.

They also had to use the imperial power of the young Wanli to legitimately purge Zhang Juzheng's old party in the court.

This brings us back to the starting point. What if they acted like a spoiled child and refused to attend court right from the start of their purge of the young Wanli?
If they wanted to purge one, little Wanli would just throw a tantrum and not attend court, and then they wouldn't be able to purge any of them!

Oh, what a headache.

Did he really listen to Empress Dowager Li and launch a mutiny in the Beijing camp, or even mobilize border troops to purge the court and replace the disobedient Emperor Wanli?

This is the worst possible strategy. It should not be used unless absolutely necessary. It is too risky.

He knew very well that the Beijing Army was rotten to the core and could not defeat the Jinyiwei and the Imperial Guards at all!
The border troops cannot be mobilized at will. After all, the young Wanli is the true emperor. What they are doing is tantamount to treason. Even if they can control the border army generals, the people under them may not follow them in rebellion.

The young Wanli probably wanted to transfer Liang Menglong to the Ministry of War because he wanted to take control of the Beijing camp.

Perhaps, the Beijing Army can give young Wanli a big surprise.

This surprise was not a real surprise, but a complete shock and a false alarm!
Zhang Siwei frowned and pondered for a long time before he turned to the eunuch Wang An, who was waiting to deliver the imperial edict, and said, "Eunuch Wang, please tell His Majesty that governing a country is no joke. He cannot act like a spoiled brat and ignore state affairs. If His Majesty agrees to stop being so petty in the future, we will do as he pleases."

He was actually testing whether the young Wanli could still be deceived. As long as he could be deceived, he would have a way to control the entire court.

After hearing what Wang An said, Wanli couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth and smile evilly.

Zhang Siwei thought he was just being petty?

very good!

He said without hesitation, "Go tell Zhang Siwei that I will attend court once this imperial edict is approved. From now on, I will never miss court without a reason again."

When Zhang Siwei heard what Wang An said, he thought that the young Wanli could be fooled, so he immediately asked the cabinet to issue a document to cooperate. After the imperial edict was issued, Liang Menglong was quickly replaced as the Minister of War, and Wu Dui also became the Minister of Personnel.

Wanli was not vague about it. As soon as the imperial edict came down, he ordered Feng Bao to arrange for someone to convey the oral order and to hold a court meeting early the next morning.

This morning court meeting was originally to be held every day, but only Emperor Hongwu and Emperor Yongle insisted on holding it every day. Later emperors of the Ming Dynasty basically only attended the morning court once every three or four days.

The same was true in the early years of Jiajing, but later on he became obsessed with cultivation and did not attend the morning court for more than ten years. This seems to have set a very bad precedent.

At the beginning, Longqing held morning court on the 3rd, 6th and 9th days of the lunar year, but later he became lazy and simply canceled the morning court.

In history, Wanli followed his grandfather's example and did not attend court for decades!

However, at this moment, Wanli seemed to be coaxed back by Zhang Siwei and started to attend the morning court.

The next morning at around 1 a.m., the court meeting was held on time.

This time, after all the civil and military officials got up from the ground, Wanli did not follow the usual practice of letting the ceremonial officer of the Honglu Temple speak.

He stared at the cabinet train and breathed heavily, as if he was about to have a seizure.

Shen Shixing felt a little nervous because he was being stared at.

What does this little guy want to do?
What if the little emperor did something stupid and ordered his men to drag him out of the Meridian Gate and behead him?
Zhang Siwei was not afraid because he had people in the Imperial Guards and the Embroidered Uniform Guards. He just didn't let these people take action.

Wanli pondered for a while, then suddenly shouted angrily, "Shen Shixing, I want to posthumously confer the title of Marquis of Jiangling on my mentor. Why don't you agree? Why are you accusing me of treason?"

Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials were stunned.

It turns out that what Shen Shixing said about the little emperor being a treasonous person was true!

The little emperor was so angry that he went to settle the score with Shen Shixing.

When Shen Shixing heard this, he was a little panicked.

How could he have imagined that the young Wanli came to the court to settle accounts with him.

Young Wanli asked this question in front of all the civil and military officials, and he had to stand up and respond.

He could only reluctantly walk out of the train, stand at the edge of the red carpet in the middle, and bow, saying: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. How dare I scold you?

"My humble opinion is that the Imperial Ming Ancestor's Instructions clearly stipulate that no one can be granted a title of nobility without military merit. My mentor is a civil official and has never led troops in battle. He has no military merit, so he cannot be granted a title of nobility."

Wanli was still furious and said, "You still know that my mentor is your mentor. You are really treasonous for treating your mentor like this."

My mentor is dead, so stop holding on to him.

Shen Shixing's eyes rolled around for a while, then he feigned respect and said, "Your Majesty, I will never forget the teachings of my mentor. The court has its own laws and regulations, and we cannot disrupt the court's laws for personal gain."

You've been fooled. Do you think I really want to confer a title of nobility on Zhang Juzheng?
Wanli pretended to be still angry and said, "You still know that the court has its own laws. I thought you wanted to be lawless."

What do you mean?

Shen Shixing quickly denied it, saying, "I dare not."

you dare.

But if you dare this time, I will kill you!

Anyway, in the eyes of others, he is just an ignorant and rebellious teenager, and it is normal for him to lose his temper and even kill people.

Wanli said coldly: "You don't dare to be lawless, right?

"Okay, let me ask you, Qi Jiguang fought against the Japanese pirates in the southeast for over twenty years, leading his troops to kill over a hundred thousand pirates. He also defended Jizhou for sixteen years, leading his troops to kill fifty to sixty thousand northern barbarians. According to the imperial court's laws, shouldn't he be awarded a title of nobility for his military merits?"

what?
Why are you bringing up Qi Jiguang again?
Zhang Siwei wants to deal with this guy, but you say that he should be made a marquis for his accumulated military merits?
Question, can I say no?
I said no, that would be deceiving the emperor in person.

The little emperor was just looking for an excuse to deal with me.

This kid will kill people when he goes crazy. Zhang Siwei may not save me when the time comes. Can I risk my life for Zhang Siwei?

Shen Shixing could only bite the bullet and say, "Yes, Your Majesty, according to the court laws, Qi Jiguang can be granted a title of nobility for his accumulated military merits."

Upon hearing this, Wanli immediately said, "Okay, you're right. I'll issue an edict shortly, conferring upon Qi Jiguang the title of Marquis of Penglai and transferring him to the position of General of the Beijing Camp. If you dare not approve, you'll be deceiving the emperor and will be executed according to the law!"

what?
Would Shen Shixing dare not approve?
He had to criticize it even if Zhang Siwei didn't allow him to.

When little Wanli goes crazy, he really kills people!
This matter was said in front of all the civil and military officials. If he did not approve it, the crime of deceiving the emperor would be irrefutable evidence. It would be strange if the young Wanli did not execute this traitor who betrayed his mentor.

Qi Jiguang was unexpectedly granted the title of nobility and became the general of the Beijing camp with full legitimacy.

No one expected this tactic of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west.

Wanli actually did not want to confer a title of nobility on Zhang Juzheng.

He wanted to confer a title of nobility on Qi Jiguang, and then transfer Qi Jiguang to be the general of the Beijing Camp and take control of the Beijing Camp!
(End of this chapter)