The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 2 The Viciousness of Scholars
Feng Bao originally thought that little Wanli was just habitually daydreaming, and it was normal for a little guy to be in a daze after waking up.

Unexpectedly, these words suddenly came out of the little Wanli's mouth.

He was stunned for a moment, then asked carefully, "Why do you say that, Your Majesty?"

Wanli pretended to be sad and said, “Oban, don’t you think there is something wrong with the death of your mentor?

My teacher reviewed memorials the day before he died. Moreover, on that day, he also submitted a secret memorial to me, promoting Pan Sheng and Yu Youcai to the cabinet to assist in government affairs. Does this look like a dying person?
As a result, my mentor died the next day. Is this possible?"

There's something wrong with this.

If a person is seriously ill and dying, it would be difficult for him to even open his eyes, making it impossible for him to review memorials, let alone write secret letters by hand.

Feng Bao heard this and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, are you saying that the Prime Minister was murdered?"

This is really possible.

There are also unofficial historical records that Zhang Juzheng was killed by Emperor Wanli.

Those civil servants are really vicious to put all this blame on him.

Wanli pretended to be terrified and said, "My teacher told me that after the land was surveyed, corrupt officials would be punished. As a result, my teacher died. You will be next. Duke Cheng will also die. I'm afraid they will not even let my teacher's family go."

what?
Feng Bao was shocked when he heard this and said, "Your Majesty, this is impossible, right?"

This is not a scare tactic, those civil servants are really that vicious.

Historically, as soon as he issued the order to confiscate the property, the civil officials arrested several sons of the imperial tutor Zhang Juzheng, tortured them severely, humiliated them wantonly, and forced several sons of Zhang Juzheng to commit suicide. Among them, Zhang Juzheng's eldest son Zhang Jingxiuzhen committed suicide.

In addition, Zhang Juzheng's wives, concubines, daughters-in-law, grandsons and unmarried daughters, a total of thirteen people, had the doors and windows nailed shut and locked in the inner house. They were not given any water or food and all starved to death!

He only ordered the confiscation of property, not the extermination of Zhang Juzheng's entire family, but those civil servants were aiming to exterminate the entire family.

As for why those civil officials wanted to exterminate Zhang Juzheng's entire family, part of the reason was to settle accounts and take revenge, but the main reason was that they wanted to put the blame on him as the emperor.

Zhang Juzheng was the emperor's teacher. How deep was the hatred between him and his teacher that he wanted to wipe out the entire family. He was so disrespectful to his teacher and ancestors that no one in the world would be ashamed of him!

And, more importantly, this act of exterminating an entire family would certainly make those officials promoted by Zhang Juzheng dissatisfied with him as the emperor, and break with him from then on.

In this way, he became a lonely man, and neither those who supported Zhang Juzheng nor those who opposed Zhang Juzheng would listen to him.

When scholars become vicious, they are truly inhumane.

This is not the end yet. Destroying Zhang Juzheng's entire family is just the beginning. There are also disciples promoted by Zhang Juzheng. Anyone who refuses to go along with him will be beaten to death.

Zhu Yingzhen, Duke of Chengguo, who supported Zhang Juzheng's reforms, was also forced to commit suicide.

As for Feng Bao, his property was confiscated and he was exiled to Southern Zhili. No one knows how he died.

Wanli thought about it for a while, then said solemnly: "Daban, you should know clearly what you and your mentor are doing.

You are helping the imperial court to rob them of their money. Stealing someone's money is like killing their parents. You have robbed them of so much money. Can they let you live?
Also, don't forget how you expelled Gao Gong from the court. Zhang Siwei was Gao Gong's disciple. How could he let you go?"

This!
Feng Bao's eyes were filled with panic, but after a moment's thought, he consoled himself by saying, "Your Majesty, there are currently four Grand Secretaries in the Cabinet. Shen Shixing is a disciple of the Prime Minister, and Pan Sheng and Yu Youcai were recently promoted by the Prime Minister. How could Zhang Siwei, on his own, truly overthrow the government?"

Are you still hoping for luck?

You are far inferior to Zhang Siwei. No wonder you were killed in history.

To be honest, Feng Baozhen is not that good. Without Zhang Juzheng, this guy is like a stray dog.

You are a stray dog. If you just listen to me and bite those civil servants, you can live a few more days, do you know?
You're still hoping for a lucky break.

snort!
Wanli snorted inwardly, then said solemnly, "My dear friend, don't you know that Shen Shixing is famous for being two-faced?
Yu Youcai was talented but not courageous, and he didn't dare to go against Zhang Siwei at all.

Only Pan Sheng is calm and capable, and can be of great use. Therefore, they have already pointed their spearheads at Pan Sheng, and they want to prevent Pan Sheng from returning to Beijing to take up his post! "

After saying that, he took out a memorial from the table and put it in Feng Bao's hand.

Feng Bao took the memorial and looked at it carefully, and his hands began to tremble.

What is written on this memorial?

I, Lei Shizhen, the Imperial Censor of Zhejiang Province, respectfully report:

Grand Secretary Pan Sheng has been tarnished by the Qing Dynasty for a long time. He is not known for his upright character. He has abandoned all his extraordinary abilities and integrity, and is only good at sweet talk and flattery.

When he first served as the Minister of Rites, his deeds were notorious and the previous emperor often rebuked him. When he came to power again, he was universally disliked by the public.

If I give him the position of foresight and the responsibility of discussion and thinking one day, I am afraid that those who are greedy for fame and advancement will take advantage of it.

I, the minister, dare to ask Your Majesty to revoke the order and dismiss Pan Sheng from his post to demonstrate the rule of peace and justice.

These guys really don’t want Pan Sheng to return to Beijing to take up his post!

If Pan Sheng was dismissed and sent back, Shen Shixing, the indecisive guy, would definitely defect to Zhang Siwei, and Yu Youding, the talented but cowardly guy, would not dare to say a word.

If the cabinet is controlled by Zhang Siwei, he will be in real danger. Seeing that this guy's hands were shaking with fear, Wanli immediately added fuel to the fire and said, "Will the emperor scold the Minister of Rites Pan Sheng?

Don't you understand why they impeached Pan Sheng on such trumped-up charges? If Pan Sheng is dismissed, you'll be next."

Feng Bao actually said with some luck: "Your Majesty, if you hadn't issued an order, Pan Sheng wouldn't have been dismissed."

Can I not issue an order?

What power do I have now?
You don't know how shameless they are in the dispute over the national foundation. If you don't listen to them, they will turn against you.

Perhaps, the struggle for the foundation of the country in history was his last struggle.

As a result, he did not win the argument, and the officials in the court did not listen to him. So what was the point of attending court?

Historically, he did not regain the imperial power, and attending court was just a decoration. No one listened to him, so he simply stopped attending court.

Wanli sighed and said, "Otomo, you also know who is in control of the government now.

If the cabinet does not approve my imperial edict, it will be an imperial decree and will be of no use.

Also, you know very well who has the final say in the palace, and you also know very well who Zhang Siwei means by being the Prime Minister.

They asked me to issue an order to dismiss Pan Sheng. You know what the consequences will be if I don't issue the order.

"Daiban, why don't you think about why Zhang Siwei was able to become the Prime Minister?"

Now Empress Dowager Li has the final say in the palace, and it was Empress Dowager Li's idea that Zhang Siwei be the Prime Minister.

Little Wanli had to listen to Empress Dowager Li. If he didn't obey, he would be punished by kneeling or facing the wall to reflect on his mistakes. If he still didn't listen, she would threaten to replace Prince Lu as emperor!

He also used Empress Dowager Li to suppress the young Wanli and make him obedient. He naturally knew how powerful Empress Dowager Li was.

Now that Zhang Juzheng is dead, Empress Dowager Li actually lets Zhang Siwei be the Prime Minister. What does this mean?
Zhang Siwei and his sworn enemy, Zhang Hong, the Chief Secretary of the Imperial Household Department, are in the same group!
It is very likely that Empress Dowager Li felt that he was no longer obedient and wanted to replace him with Zhang Hong!

Empress Dowager Li probably discussed this matter with Zhang Hong and Zhang Siwei in secret. This was how he and Zhang Juzheng expelled Gao Gong from the court!
Zhang Siwei was Gao Gong's disciple, and Zhang Hong was a close confidant promoted by Empress Dowager Li herself.

It is obvious that Zhang Hong now wants to seize power in the inner palace just like he did back then.

The eunuchs in the palace are more vicious than each other. Once he loses power, he will definitely die a miserable death.

The more Feng Bao thought about it, the more frightened he became. He couldn't help but tremble and said, "Your Majesty, what should we do?"

This guy was so scared that his voice was trembling. That was almost it.

Wanli said solemnly: "This is actually very simple. You must listen to me in the court meeting and do your best to protect Pan Sheng. If Pan Sheng is saved, you will be fine."

I listen to you?

Do you still want to use me as a gun?

How come this little Wanli seemed to have grown up all of a sudden and actually said such words?

Feng Bao was stunned for a moment, then hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, do you want me to do it? This is not good, the Empress Dowager will be angry."

You still want to use your mother to suppress me.

Wanli stared at Feng Bao coldly and said, "You want to die? I can't save you. Anyway, as long as I obey them in everything, nothing will happen to me. They don't even dare to kill the king."

In fact, they dared to kill the king!

If those civil servants were allowed to continue to act arrogantly, it would not only mean that the imperial power was taken away, but also that the emperor would be killed if he disobeyed.

Historically, after Wanli, Taichang died in one month, and Tianqi died in the seventh year. They had the same formula and died suddenly, but the drug was called Hongwan and the other was called Lingyinlu. The officials who presented Hongwan and Lingyinlu were all fine.

Chongzhen didn't eat these and lived for more than ten years, but was eventually forced to hang himself on Coal Hill!
The struggle for imperial power has always been a life-and-death struggle.

The only way for scholars to suppress it is to kill without caring about anything.

Emperor Hongwu, Emperor Yongle, Huang Taiji, and Dorgon all killed scholars to scare them away, so scholars became obedient.

Therefore, he had to make Feng Bao listen to him and take action in order to regain the imperial power.

Feng Bao's face was gloomy and uncertain when he heard this, but he finally gritted his teeth and said, "I will leave my life to Your Majesty."

He thought that Wanli was going to punish all the ministers with a stick, and in order to save his life, he had no choice but to offend all the ministers.

This guy fell into the trap.

Wanli raised his lips slightly, smiled wickedly to himself, then raised his hand and said majestically: "It's almost time, wash up, change clothes, and prepare to go to court."

Hearing this, Feng Bao hurriedly shouted to the outside: "Someone come here."

(End of this chapter)