Di Ming

Chapter 273 Drag him out and beat him to death!
Zhu Changxun showed no fear and answered directly, "It was my grandmother who told me. She said that brothers should be kind and respectful to each other, and that the family should be harmonious. She said that my eldest brother and I are blood brothers, and we should be close..."

When the emperor heard that it was his mother's idea, he immediately gave a wry smile and had no intention of asking any further questions.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Changxun continued, "Grandmother also said, 'Third grandson, if you want to see your eldest brother, there's a ready-made opportunity. I heard that a victory celebration banquet will be held at the Wuying Hall tomorrow. If you and your eldest brother can attend the victory celebration banquet at the Linde Hall together, wouldn't you be able to meet?'"

Consort Zheng almost cursed upon hearing this. However, these were words the Empress Dowager had taught her son to say, so she couldn't speak disrespectfully and could only glare at her son fiercely.

Wanli's expression was also somewhat gloomy.

The unbearable memories of his childhood, when his mother conspired with Zhang Juzheng to strictly control him, resurfaced like a nightmare.

The Empress Dowager personally woke him up every day, and even in the coldest winter, he would go to court and study before dawn, never sleeping in.

When Zhang Juzheng reprimanded him and Feng Bao suppressed him, the Empress Dowager did not intend to protect him. Instead, she relied on Zhang Juzheng and favored Feng Bao.

So he almost exhumed and mutilated Zhang Juzheng's corpse, tortured Feng Bao to death, and wiped out all their cronies.

The Empress Dowager also publicly berated the emperor, forced him to kneel, stand, and shoved him, and even threatened him more than once to depose him and install the Prince of Lu in his place.

The Empress Dowager was biased; she favored her youngest son, the Prince of Lu, and disliked herself.

If the Empress Dowager really had the ability to do so, she probably would have deposed him long ago and installed the Prince of Lu instead.

He clearly disliked the Prince of Lu, but in order to please the Empress Dowager, he had to pretend to be a brother in front of everyone!
The grand wedding and enfeoffment of the Prince of Lu cost a total of over two million taels of silver, more than thirty thousand taels of gold, nine thousand gemstones, and twenty thousand pearls…

The national treasury was insufficient, so 900,000 taels of silver were diverted from the military funds for the nine border regions. All the jewels in Beijing were bought up. Five hundred ships were used to transport the valuables!
That's not all; they also granted him four million mu of farmland!

Even now, thinking about it still makes him so heartbroken that he can't sleep at night and can't breathe.

That's my money!
But what did the Empress Dowager do? She gave so much! She gave so much to Prince Lu!
Empress Dowager, what right do you have to give so much money from the national treasury to Prince Lu? I am the emperor, the national treasury belongs to me, not Prince Lu!

Thinking of this, Wanli suddenly couldn't help but touch his chest, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Where does Your Majesty feel unwell?" Consort Zheng asked with concern, gently stroking the emperor's chest. "Should we summon the imperial physician?"

The emperor shook his head. "I'm fine, I'm perfectly fine, my wife, don't worry. It's just that I was thinking about what happened before, and I'm feeling a little upset."

Consort Zheng immediately understood and chuckled, saying, "You old nanny, you startled me. Forget it, why dwell on the past? The titles have been bestowed, and the gifts have been given. Unless he rebels, they can't be taken back."

Although Emperor Wanli harbored deep resentment towards his mother, he was also a "filial son" and never dared to easily disobey her.

The Ming Dynasty governed the country based on filial piety; he couldn't be unfilial. All the officials were watching.

Speaking of his eldest son, Zhu Changluo, he hadn't seen him for more than half a year. He couldn't even remember what Changluo looked like.

This lowly son of a man, yet he does not die young!

They eat and use the worst food and supplies available to the princes and princesses, even less than the palace servants. How can they survive like weeds?

If this child dies young, without the eldest son of the emperor, Xun'er will automatically become the crown prince, and the wife will be happy.

But this child did not die young; instead, he lived a more and more fulfilling and prosperous life.

How to do?
I can't just kill him on purpose. He's a prince, my own flesh and blood, and he hasn't done anything wrong. Even if I hate him, a tiger wouldn't eat its own cub. Otherwise, how can I face my ancestors? The founding emperor wouldn't forgive me.

More importantly, the court officials and the Empress Dowager are watching, and the whole world is watching. If the boy's death is suspicious, neither he nor his wife will be able to explain it.

Emperor Wanli could never have imagined that although the Empress Dowager sympathized with Consort Wang and her son, the reason she instructed Zhu Changxun to say those words was because someone close to her advised her, and it was not the Empress Dowager's original intention.

As for who said what to the Empress Dowager, and what Consort Zheng's people said to the Third Prince, he had no idea.

There are 20,000 to 30,000 people in the palace. With so many people, there are bound to be a lot of gossip. So it's perfectly normal for someone to say something or for public opinion to arise.

"Alright, Xun'er." The emperor patted his beloved son's head. "Your grandmother is right, but your elder brother is eccentric and unpredictable. Don't go to play with him, lest the brothers quarrel or you get hurt, which would be unpleasant."

"Yes, Father." Zhu Changxun nodded obediently.

Wanli forced a smile and said, "My lady, light another one for me. This 'longevity drug' is more satisfying to smoke than to swallow. You can try it too."

Emperor Wanli had been taking opium for eight years. It started because of a toothache, and the imperial physician used the opium to relieve the pain. He found that after each use, he experienced an indescribable pleasure and comfort, and felt refreshed.

So he became addicted to it and used it several times a day. Although the imperial physician advised him that all medicines have some toxicity and that excessive use would harm his health, he wouldn't listen.

Nowadays, many wealthy families across the land are consuming longevity pills, which has become a refined pursuit. However, they are all ingested.

Some time ago, Zongqin said that he had researched a wonderful method to show his respect to me: burning and inhaling the elixir of immortality was more pleasurable than swallowing it directly. And it turned out to be true after trying it. I was so pleased that I rewarded Zongqin with one tael of gold.

Zongqin, that lackey, is indeed a sensible one!

Thus, he became the first person in the Ming Dynasty to use an opium pipe, truly befitting an emperor.

Consort Zheng took out the longevity ointment from the jade box, lit it according to the method taught by Emperor Zongqin, and said with a smile:
"Old nanny, the tax on opium these days is over 300,000 taels of silver a year. It's amazing that you even thought of taxing opium. Hey, what else can be taxed?"

A few years ago, Emperor Wanli issued an edict to officially levy a tax on opium (also known as styrax), which generated more than 300,000 taels of silver annually, becoming a major source of revenue for the imperial treasury.

The Wanli Emperor took the white jade pipe, took a satisfying puff, exhaled a cloud of smoke towards his beloved concubine's face, and said thoughtfully:

"Well... I've been pondering this myself. I listened to what Tian Yi and Hai Rui said before, that Zhoushan should be re-established as a county so that taxes could be collected. But now the county has been established and the people have been relocated, but the merchants' silver hasn't been collected yet. I'm afraid we'll have to wait a while longer."

"These past few days, I've been thinking about how to open mines in various places and then levy mining taxes and monopoly taxes, but I'm afraid the ministers will object."

Consort Zheng narrowed her phoenix eyes. "It's the ministers who are against it again. They opposed making Xun'er the crown prince. They opposed your idea of ​​opening mines. Does this Ming Dynasty belong to you or to the ministers? Can't they even tell who's the master and who's the slave?"

“Old nanny, in my opinion, you’re just kind-hearted and soft-hearted, letting them take advantage of you. Who is the emperor after all? The emperor’s words are law, and his words are law. You can make whoever you want the crown prince. You can open mines and collect taxes if you want.”

"Hmph, if I were the emperor, I would have killed a batch, dismissed a batch, imprisoned a batch, and promoted another batch long ago. I wouldn't be afraid they wouldn't submit. There are plenty of scholars in the world who want to be officials. Do we need to eat hairy pigs if we don't have these butchers like Zhang?"

Wanli sat up, tapped his white jade opium pipe on the rosewood-inlaid gold table, then gently tapped the woman's head, and said with a wry smile:

"My lady speaks so lightly, after all, you are just a woman. It is true that I am the emperor, but it is precisely because I am the emperor that I must take the lead in following the ancestral rules. It is not that I am afraid of them, but that the ancestral rules are hard to violate."

"You think that killing, imprisoning, and dismissing disobedient officials will still produce scholars who serve the court? Heh heh, they're very concerned about their reputation; they'd rather not serve as officials and instead stick together even more. How will we clean up this mess then?"

"You don't understand. Without Butcher Zhang, we certainly won't eat pigs with hair on. But without them, the Ming Dynasty could immediately descend into chaos, into a major upheaval!"

Consort Zheng snorted coldly, showing absolutely no respect for the Emperor, and said angrily:
"Then what do you suggest we do? Your Majesty, you swore an oath to me before that you would make Xun'er the crown prince. Do you think you can disregard your oath just because you care about the attitude of the officials? We, the imperial family, have to be mindful of their opinions!"

At this point, his eyes welled up with tears.

"Alright, alright." Wanli grabbed Consort Zheng's hand. "My lady, please don't be angry. This matter needs to be considered carefully and cannot be rushed. The Empress Dowager is above us and the officials are below us. I cannot forcefully issue an edict to establish Xun'er as the crown prince. I am the emperor, and I must be cautious first."

"I will make arrangements slowly, promoting officials who support Xun'er and gradually dismissing those who are stubborn and incorrigible. Once this process is completed and the balance of power in the court is shifted, things will be much easier."

Upon hearing this, Consort Zheng's face hardened with frost, and she said:
"That's all we can do. Speaking of this, I'm reminded of that Zhu prodigy. He's Changluo's teacher, and his reputation is growing. He's increasingly able to gain momentum for Changluo, and one day he'll become the leader of the faction that supports Changluo."

Emperor Wanli was quite troubled. "It is true that Zhu Yin is Changluo's teacher, but he is also loyal, filial, and sensible. In recent years, he has also contributed a lot of money from the imperial treasury. Considering this loyalty and filial piety, I cannot dismiss him arbitrarily." "Today, Zongqin went to the Zhu family and talked about Mai Fu's hidden gold. Without saying a word, he agreed to find it and hand it over to the imperial treasury, without saying anything resentful."

"However, as you know, I have already been suppressing him. Otherwise, he would definitely have been granted a title this time."

Consort Zheng's expression turned cold: "He's Changluo's crony, isn't there any way to remove him? Old nanny, Zhu Yin is too young, and he has a very high reputation among the people. They all say he's the reincarnation of the God of Literature, an auspicious omen for the Ming Dynasty..."

Emperor Wanli sighed, "Zhu Yin is a child prodigy who passed the imperial examinations three times in a row, a teacher of Changluo, a young minister admired by the court and the public, and a man of merit. If he hadn't made a mistake, would I dare to risk public condemnation and punish him on trumped-up charges?"

"If a case involving three words leads to imprisonment, all the officials will surely oppose it, and they will all feel insecure, causing chaos in the court. As I said before, I need stability first."

"As for Zhu Yin... it's not too late to punish him after he makes a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes; he's not a god. Gao Huai!"

"This servant is here!" Gao Huai immediately knelt down. "Please grant my decree, Your Majesty!"

The emperor solemnly said, "Issue my decree to Chen Ju, the director of the Eastern Depot, and Liu Shouyou, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, instructing them to send people to monitor Zhu Yin."

"This servant obeys the decree!" Gao Huai immediately withdrew with a sinister smile.

However, what the eunuch didn't know was that a junior eunuch not far behind him had a glint in his eye, preparing to leak this information to Tiger Fang.

He never imagined that there were more than one Tiger Fang agent's informant right here in the Qianqing Palace!

The mysterious Ninefold Palace held no secrets from that young tiger.

This seemingly heavily guarded Forbidden City has actually been infiltrated long ago, and it's not just Tiger Tooth's spies.
High-ranking officials, nobles, regional kings, chieftains, and even people from Korea all had spies within the palace, secretly exchanging information.

It's just that Tiger Tooth had the most and most powerful spies in the palace.

The walls of the Forbidden City can keep people out, but they can't keep people's hearts out!

"Grandfather!" Zong Qin, a eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial, entered carrying a stack of memorials and knelt down to report:

"Grandpa Tian said that he dared not use his seal on these draft proposals, and Grandpa Chen dared not approve them either. They could only let Grandpa preview them."

"Hmm?" Wanli frowned. Tian Yi was the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and Chen Ju was the Grand Eunuch of the Imperial Secretariat. Neither of them dared to approve or stamp the memorials, which meant that these memorials were very sensitive.

He immediately became impatient.

I hate politics the most!

But now that the memorial has arrived, he, as the emperor, cannot ignore it.

Upon opening it, I was immediately filled with anger.

"To request that the eldest prince attend the victory banquet in my place? Absurd!"

"They're really meddling! If I'm not going to the victory celebration banquet, does that mean Changluo has to take my place? Changluo isn't the Crown Prince!"

"Those gentlemen in the cabinet are incompetent. The memorial just arrived at the cabinet today, and they've already drafted their proposals! They're incredibly fast when it comes to things like this!"

Emperor Wanli, enraged, swung his arm and threw a stack of memorials to the ground. "Zongqin, go back and tell the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs to keep them in the palace and not issue them!"

With a "smash," a palace maid who was pouring tea for him was knocked over by his sudden arm swing.

The hot water in the teacup immediately soaked the emperor's sleeve, scalding him and making him shiver.

"You dog servant!" In his anger, the emperor kicked the palace maid hard in the stomach.

"Ah—" Before the palace maid could even apologize, she screamed and clutched her lower abdomen, her face contorted in pain, her body bent over like a shrimp.

"What are you yelling about!" Upon hearing the scream, Wanli's violent temper flared even more. "Guards! Drag him out and beat him to death!"

Several eunuchs immediately pounced on her, grabbed the pleading palace maid by the hair, and dragged her out of the palace. With a few loud thuds, the palace maid's screams came to an abrupt end.

He'll die instantly from the beating!

Consort Zheng and Gao Cai remained unfazed, and even the young Zhu Changxun seemed unsurprised.

The emperor was capricious, and it wasn't uncommon for him to have eunuchs and palace maids beaten to death with sticks. Even during Zhang Juzheng's reign, with the Empress Dowager's strict restraint, palace servants were still beaten to death. After Zhang Juzheng's death, even more palace servants were beaten to death.

"Your Majesty, please calm down." Consort Zheng and the others knelt down together. This time, Consort Zheng didn't call her "old nanny" anymore.

"Father, please calm your anger." Zhu Changxun quickly knelt down as well.

Although the emperor was angry, he also knew that keeping the matter unresolved was not a good solution.

"Get up," the emperor waved his hand.

Consort Zheng said, "If this memorial is kept in the palace and not issued, the Empress Dowager will soon find out. The Empress Dowager previously told Xun'er to go to the victory banquet with Changluo. If the Emperor keeps it in the palace and doesn't issue it, the Empress Dowager will definitely blame me and say that I am interfering in state affairs."

"How about letting Xun'er go too? If Xun'er goes, they won't object, and they have no reason to object."

Wanli waved his hand at Zongqin, "Did you hear what the Empress said? Do it this way. Issue my decree that the eldest prince, Zhu Changluo, and the third prince, Changxun, attend the victory banquet together. But they will not represent me; the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Grand Secretariat will represent me. Understand?"

"This servant obeys the decree!" Zong Qin kowtowed and accepted the order, a cold smile appearing on his lips the instant he kowtowed.

Very good, Your Highness, the eldest prince, you will finally be able to attend the victory celebration banquet and meet your benefactor.

Although he is now highly regarded by the emperor, he harbors resentment and disrespect towards the emperor.

How was he punished and sent to Nanjing back then? It was because he didn't avoid using the character "钧" (Jun) when writing, so he was expelled from the imperial study by the emperor and demoted to a military officer in Nanjing.

But if you really want to be serious, the Ming Dynasty wasn't strict about avoiding the emperor's name. Even if he wrote the character "Jun," it wouldn't be considered a crime. But the emperor was capricious and would often have a fit of temper.

Just today, another innocent palace maid was beaten to death. I almost ended up like that maid!
Is it a blessing for the world that the emperor is so negligent in his duties, so irritable, and so greedy?
Consort Zheng suddenly asked, "Among the ministers who requested Changluo to attend the victory celebration banquet, is Zhu Yin among them?"

Zong Qin's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly replied, "Your Majesty, Zhu Yin did not request the eldest prince to attend the victory banquet. Either he deliberately avoided it, or he did not think of this matter."

“Deliberately avoiding it?” Consort Zheng narrowed her phoenix eyes. “Zhu Yin is young and proud, and has always been very high-profile. Why didn’t he personally submit a memorial at a victory celebration banquet?”

Zong Qin's eyes darted around, and he immediately said, "Now that Your Majesty mentions it, I've remembered something. Today, when I went to the Zhu residence to deliver my grandfather's message, Zhu Yin specifically greeted Your Majesty before leaving, saying that if he were to return from Japan in the future, he would find some fine things to present to Your Majesty as a tribute."

"I was wondering whether he just said it casually or if there was a deeper meaning. I was just thinking whether I should say it for him."

Consort Zheng had no doubt about Zong Qin's words and sneered, "Oh? What does he mean by that? Could it be that he intends to switch allegiance?"

The emperor pondered for a moment and said, "He's a slippery fellow. After all, he's young. How could he dare to risk his future? He's keeping his options open, not daring to bet everything on Changluo. He wants to leave himself an escape route."

"Very well, I'm not afraid of him being a fence-sitter, I'm afraid of him being stubborn. Let him be for now. When he returns from his mission to Japan, I will personally summon him and see what this famous and respected Jiangzuo Zhu Lang really is!"

P.S.: Emperor Wanli was likely psychologically unstable, prone to mood swings, especially when drunk. His temperament was somewhat similar to that of Emperor Jiajing, but he lacked Jiajing's political acumen. Some might think my portrayal of Wanli doesn't resemble that of an emperor. But in my view, the real Wanli was never like an emperor at all.

(End of this chapter)