Di Ming

Chapter 400 "Lord Hai has passed away!"

The emperor had never been so angry before, not even when he was suppressed by Zhang Juzheng.

The entire Qianqing Palace was filled with the emperor's roars.

"Strike and protest! Resign from court and resign! Good, good, good! This is how loyal and filial they are to their emperor and father! What a group of loyal and filial officials! What a group of loyal and filial officials!"

"They openly defied me and even killed Liang Yong! This is rebellion! Treason! How dare they!"

"Do you really think I dare not kill? When the emperor is angry, blood will flow like rivers! Do you think my sword is not sharp enough?!"

The corpulent emperor brandished his imperial sword, slashing at the air as he walked around the dragon pillar, his robes billowing in the wind, panting heavily, his face contorted with ferocious killing intent.

Zhang Jing, the head of the inner court, knelt on the ground, not daring to offer any advice when he saw the emperor's uncontrollable rage. The other eunuchs and palace maids were even more afraid to breathe.

Some palace maids carrying trays were even forced to kneel down on the spot with their heads down before they could even put the trays on the table when the emperor became angry.

My grandfather has repeatedly beaten and killed people around him with sticks. Who wouldn't be afraid of him when he gets angry? In recent years, my grandfather's temper has become worse and worse, and he has become more and more unpredictable. I don't know why.

Just last year, because of the matter of the three princes being granted titles, the Grand Secretary Wang Xijue advised against it. In a fit of rage, my grandfather grabbed an inkstone from the jade table and smashed it on Wang Xijue's head, knocking off his official hat.

My grandfather once hit Zhao Zhigao, the former second-ranking minister, with an inkstone, causing Zhao to injure his knee and fall ill for more than a month.

If this is how they treat the chief minister and the second-in-command, what about their own servants?

But what if Grandpa gets sick from anger?
At this moment, only the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Concubine could appease Grandpa's anger.

However, the Empress Dowager is in Cining Palace observing a vegetarian diet and recuperating, and the Imperial Concubine has taken the Third Prince to the West Garden, so they won't be able to get there for a while.

Zhang Jing quickly gave a wink to one of the eunuchs, signaling him to summon the Empress to persuade the Emperor. Since the Imperial Concubine was not present, only the Empress could be sent.

Zhang Jing, Gao Huai, and the others knew very well that their grandfather disliked the Empress and wished for her immediate death so that the Imperial Concubine could have a place. He would absolutely not listen to the Empress's advice. So what use would the Empress's arrival be?
Of course it's useful. As someone Grandpa dislikes, and also the Empress, isn't she the perfect punching bag? After Grandpa vents his anger on her as the Empress, he might calm down.

The emperor grew angrier with each scolding, even bringing up old grievances:
"The late emperor was angered to death by you! Now you want to anger me to death too! You have studied the classics in vain, you are disloyal and unfilial! You serve as my officials and take my money, yet you dare to deceive the emperor!"

Just then, a young palace maid carrying a tray suddenly dropped the tray because her arm was numb and she was afraid.

With a 'clang,' the exquisite jade pot fell onto the gold brick floor and shattered into pieces, spilling its contents all over the ground.

The voice was like a sharp blade, piercing the hearts of the eunuchs and palace maids. Everyone's expression changed and their bodies stiffened.

The little palace maid's face turned deathly pale in an instant, her expression filled with terror.

The emperor suddenly stopped scolding. He turned his head and stared blankly at the little palace maid who had overturned the tray and shattered the jade pot.

"This servant deserves to die, this servant deserves to die! Grandfather, spare my life..." The little palace maid was so frightened that her soul almost left her body, like a startled little quail.

"That vile woman deserves to die!" The emperor strode forward and plunged his sword into the young palace maid's heart!
"Ah—" the little palace maid screamed, gripping the sword blade with both hands, her face contorted with fear and pain.

The terrifying pleasure of killing with one's own hands sent shivers down the emperor's spine. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he twisted the hilt of his sword fiercely, pushed it forward, and then pulled it out suddenly!

With a "plop," the little palace maid's scalding blood splattered all over the emperor, leaving his dragon robe stained with blood.

The young palace maid's fingers, which were gripping the sword, were severed by the sharp blade, two of them falling to the ground with a thud. Her face was frozen in terror and pain, her eyes wide open, dying with unresolved grievances!

Zhang Jing said in a trembling voice, "What are you standing there for! Quickly carry him to the Jingle Hall at Xuanwu Gate and burn him!"

Several eunuchs scrambled forward, some carrying the body, others wiping away the blood.

Even the chief eunuchs present were terrified.

Grandpa killed someone with his own hands today.

The emperor, carrying his blood-stained sword, didn't even glance at the little palace maid he had killed, and continued speaking viciously to himself:
"This is a coup d'état! Outrageous! They're using public opinion to command the emperor! Hmph, without Zhang the butcher, we'll eat hairy pigs?! I hereby grant their resignations, dismiss them from their posts, strip them of their official ranks, and ban them from future employment! All the scholars who went on strike will have their academic titles revoked and will never be allowed to take the imperial examinations again!"

After saying that, he threw the sword to the ground.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw him throw away the sword. Zhang Jing quickly stepped forward and put away the blood-stained sword.

Just then, the sound of whips cracking came from outside the palace, followed by an announcement from an attendant: "The Empress has arrived!"

Soon, Empress Wang's imperial carriage stopped outside the Qianqing Palace, and then a pair of three-inch golden lotuses emerged, revealing a dignified and beautiful face.

It is none other than the current Empress Wang, Wang Xijie.

Empress Wang Xijie has been the empress for fifteen years. She has always been gentle and virtuous, winning the favor of Empress Dowager Li and being praised by the court officials. She can be called a virtuous empress.

However, because she was not favored and only gave birth to a princess, she was neglected by the emperor for many years, and Consort Zheng seized power in the harem. The emperor wanted to depose his wife and favor his concubine several times, but the empress dowager and the court officials stopped him each time.

Speaking of which, the Empress hasn't seen the Emperor for a long time because the Emperor doesn't like her.

But today, a eunuch from the Qianqing Palace came to the Kunning Palace to report that the Emperor was furious and asked her to come and persuade him.

Empress Wang knew perfectly well that she was being used as a punching bag. But she was always virtuous and kind. Knowing that the emperor was furious and that she would be the target of his anger, she still came to Qianqing Palace without hesitation.

"What brings Lady Wang here?" the emperor asked irritably when he heard that the empress had arrived. Ever since he had favored Lady Zheng, he referred to the empress as "Lady Wang" and rarely addressed her as Empress or Zitong.

Empress Wang entered the Qianqing Palace with trepidation. Upon seeing the emperor's robes stained with blood, she was terrified, her face turning pale. "Your Majesty, what happened..."

"Kneel down!" the emperor roared. "Wang! Why do you not kneel before me? How dare you be so disrespectful before the emperor?!"

The Empress trembled, her face turning deathly pale. She quickly knelt down in alarm, saying, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects! Long live the Emperor!"

"Enough!" the emperor roared again. "Look at you! Timid and timid, where is the dignity of an empress who rules the world?!"

Empress Wang, with tears streaming down her face, said, "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. Please take care of your health. The Ming Dynasty rests entirely on Your Majesty's shoulders. For the sake of the nation, please calm your anger and do not harm your health. I am unfit to be Empress; I submit to Your Majesty's judgment..."

Suddenly enraged, the emperor lashed out and kicked the empress squarely in the abdomen, shouting:

"You vile women! Just like them, you keep talking about the country and its people. No matter how vast the world is, it is still the Zhu family's country, and you have no right to criticize it! You think you know anything about the country and its people? Do you think I don't understand?! How dare you!"

Empress Wang gritted her teeth and remained silent, clutching her lower abdomen and collapsing to the ground. Her beautiful and dignified face was contorted with pain, large beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and tears rolled down her cheeks silently.

"Stop pretending!" The emperor looked down at the empress with a murderous gaze. "I don't believe I can kill you with this kick! If I do kill you, then I'll apologize to the Empress Dowager!"

Empress Wang was in so much pain she almost fainted; she felt as if her lower abdomen had been struck by a hammer, the pain piercing her very soul. Enduring the agony, she struggled to regain her composure and said in a hoarse voice:

"Your Majesty, I have spoken rudely and offended you. I beg Your Majesty to calm your anger and not harm your health..."

The emperor berated the empress and kicked her hard, which calmed his anger considerably.

Sure enough, the queen-level fire extinguisher is very useful and has a great fire-extinguishing effect.

"Get out!" The emperor pointed to the palace gate. "Without an imperial decree, you are not to set foot in the Qianqing Palace again. Do you understand?"

"Yes!" The Empress kowtowed, swallowing her anger. "Your Majesty, I obey your decree. Take care. I take my leave."

"Get out!" the emperor spat out a single word.

After the empress left, the emperor finally calmed down, and only then did the eunuchs dare to step forward to serve him, change him into a clean dragon robe, and apply a medicated ointment to his skin.

Zhang Jing planned to wait until the emperor had smoked the longevity pill and calmed down before discussing serious matters. It was better not to mention it now; let them make a scene at the Meridian Gate Square first, since they couldn't cause any major upheaval.

The emperor felt much better after taking the opium. But at that moment, he suddenly felt a burning sensation in his heart.

"Gao Cai!" the emperor exclaimed, "Where is that aphrodisiac? Bring it to me!"

What? Gao Cai hesitated. Grandpa had already used it twice last night, making the Imperial Concubine unable to resist. It was only morning, why did he need to use it again?
Even though he was a eunuch, he knew that such potent aphrodisiacs shouldn't be used too frequently, as it would harm the body. But Gao Cai wasn't a loyal and upright minister; how could he possibly offer advice? He hesitated only for a moment before quickly fetching the aphrodisiac, serving the emperor the medicine while asking:
"Her Imperial Concubine has gone to Yong'an Temple in the Western Garden and won't be back for a while. May I ask, sir, who should we invite...?"

The emperor said, "Summon Consort Li."

He was very lustful and had many concubines. Although he favored Consort Zheng the most and she spent most of his time with him, he was definitely not devoted to one person.

This Consort Li also pleased him quite a bit.

Gao Cai immediately went to invite Consort Li, as it would be too late if he was late, since the Spring Elixir from the south was extremely potent.

When Consort Li arrived, she was immediately led to the inner palace, where she was followed by a female official responsible for recording the emperor's sexual affairs.

Emperor Wanli, after taking the aphrodisiac, was truly vigorous and energetic, indulging in debauchery even in broad daylight in the Qianqing Palace. The eunuchs were used to it; who didn't know their grandfather was a womanizer? The ministers' advice outside was not unfounded.

Zhang Jing and the others breathed a sigh of relief. After Grandpa vented his anger, he calmed down.

Things outside are nothing serious; the sky won't fall.

After a while, Consort Li, with her hair disheveled and her eyes slightly glazed, finally emerged from the back hall and was escorted out of the Qianqing Palace with a blush on her face.

A short while later, the emperor emerged looking radiant, his face glowing with an indescribable brilliance, his eyes flushed.

“Grandpa.” Zongqin immediately lit a cigarette and offered it to him.

The emperor took a few puffs with a satisfied smile, stroked the small mustache around his mouth, and slowly said, "Minister Zhang, all of you tell me, how should we deal with this matter?"

Zhang Jing said what she had already considered: "Grandpa, I think we should just go all the way and approve all their resignations, and take this opportunity to dismiss them all."

The emperor, having calmed down, realized that while Zhang Jing's actions were satisfying, they didn't solve the underlying problem. Of the 1,300 civil officials in the capital, the dismissal of 800 would cripple the entire government. What would the consequences be? He dared not even imagine.

“Grandpa,” Zhang Jing’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Three-legged toads are hard to find, but people who want to be officials and are capable of being officials are everywhere. With official positions, why worry about a lack of officials?”

"Not to mention the civil officials, there are no fewer than a thousand literate eunuchs in the palace. They can all fill vacant positions, and the court will not be in chaos."

"Grandpa is well-versed in both ancient and modern knowledge, so he must know the story of the Southern Han Dynasty during the Five Dynasties period. The officials of the Southern Han were all eunuchs, yet they still governed the country, didn't they?"

“Yes, Grandpa,” Gao Cai quickly echoed. “What Eunuch Zhang said is absolutely right. Does the Ming Dynasty need to eat pigs with hair just because we lack those civil officials? Apart from the Emperor, the Ming Dynasty needs everyone. They are threatening to resign to threaten the Emperor and Father right now, so let’s just not use them and let them regret it. Then they won’t be able to get an official position again.”

Zhang Jing and other leaders of the eunuch clique hoped to use this incident to completely sideline civil officials and replace the officials of the outer court with eunuchs.

The emperor was even a little tempted. If he could take this opportunity to get rid of those officials and let his household servants fill the vacancies, then no civil officials would be able to point fingers and criticize him anymore. He could then appoint whomever he wanted as crown prince or empress, wouldn't that be wonderful?

But he was an emperor for over twenty years, how could he not know the consequences of doing so?
For over two hundred years, the Ming Dynasty has nurtured scholars, and the national civil service examination system is the foundation of the nation. If the inner court officials were to replace the court officials in governing the country, not to mention whether they could be competent, at least the scholars of the whole country would not agree!
If we really did that, things would descend into chaos. There might even be a rebellion among the scholars!

Without official positions, scholars would rebel. This would harm his Zhu family's empire and shake his throne. He understood this principle.

He didn't refuse Zhang Jing and others' suggestions, but he simply couldn't!

If he were to completely break ties with the scholars of the entire land, then he would have wasted all those years as emperor.

"No." The emperor thought for a moment and shook his head. "If we do that, all the scholars in the country may boycott their classes and exams, and become alienated from the court. This will inevitably lead to a major upheaval in the country."

The emperor was actually a very talented and intelligent man. It's true that he was lazy, greedy, negligent in his duties, and lustful, but that doesn't mean he was incapable of being an emperor.

Once he's forced to get serious for once, he'll immediately know what to do.

The emperor paced back and forth in the hall, smoking a cigarette, his steps slow and heavy, his face grim.

A full quarter of an hour passed before the emperor, having calmed down, stopped and said in an extremely cold tone:
"Don't send in any more troops to arrest people. The situation should be calmed down, not escalated further. This is the meaning of 'the law does not punish the masses.' We can settle accounts slowly after things are resolved. At that time, we'll deal with each person one by one, and no one will be able to escape."

"Zhang Jing conveys the imperial decree: I am going to the Wenhua Hall to summon the Grand Secretaries and the Nine Ministers! The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs will also attend!"

Zhang Jing and the others looked at each other, somewhat astonished.

Grandpa hasn't summoned the Nine Ministers to the Wenhua Hall for a long time. Today, he was actually forced to go to the Wenhua Hall to summon the ministers!

...

The sun was high in the sky, at the fourth quarter of the morning.

The noise has subsided.

Before the Meridian Gate, eight hundred civil officials, carrying their official hats, stood in orderly ranks beneath the Five Phoenix Tower, quietly watching the Meridian Gate.

More than 10,000 scholars sat quietly cross-legged, their expressions solemn.

Everyone knows that today's events are the responsibility of every scholar in the world, and no one is exempt!
On the square, dozens of corpses lay, their blood still wet. Apart from the bodies of Liang Yong and a few other eunuchs, the rest were scholars who had been beaten to death.

This is a scene of corpses lying in state before the imperial palace!

Hai Rui finally woke up, his face radiating a strange glow, as if he had suddenly become several years younger.

“Lord Hai…” Shen Yiguan, Wang Xijue and the others knew what was going on, and all of them looked sad.

"My lords and colleagues," Hai Rui said in a clear voice and with a pure gaze, "I entrust the handling of today's events to you all. As long as the righteous spirit of our Great Ming Dynasty remains, justice prevails, and the hearts of the people are not corrupted, our country will be secure forever, and our people will live in peace and prosperity."

“The ruler is blinded by petty people, acts willfully, disregards etiquette and law, and favors one person. If this continues, the country may face unspeakable consequences, and the state may be in grave danger. I am deeply worried about this.”

As he spoke, the light on his face gradually faded, and his eyes began to dim. He continued:

"Hai Rui wasted eighty years of his life and served three emperors in vain. He failed to achieve the three immortal things of a gentleman: establishing virtue, establishing merit, and establishing words. He was utterly useless. He could neither assist the emperor nor pacify the people. I deeply regret this."

"Hai Rui was dull-witted, mediocre, and incompetent, holding a high position without doing any work. He was ashamed to receive the state's salary and to have failed the people's hard-earned money. He was not even a fraction as capable as you gentlemen, and he died without accomplishing anything. But I believe that with your concerted efforts, upholding the great principles, purifying officialdom, and reforming the current abuses, we can eventually bring the ruler to the level of Yao and Shun, and there will be no more worries about the phoenix and the unicorn. A dying man's words are good. I humbly hope that you gentlemen will strive together to do good, to do good."

Upon hearing this, everyone wept.

Wang Xijue said with tears in his eyes, "Lord Hai is twenty years older than me and is highly respected. Although I have not had much personal contact with Lord Hai, I have always admired his character."

Shen Yiguan said sadly, "Brother Gangfeng is a model of our way and an exemplar for scholars. Who in the country does not know you? We are ashamed to face you."

Everyone expressed their respect for Hai Rui, even his former political enemies, who showed him deep reverence and spoke from the bottom of their hearts.

Hai Rui's face was now ashen, his eyes like flickering flames, and his voice, once clear, had become hoarse.

"In these turbulent times of court intrigue and national upheaval, wise and capable ministers and generals are especially rare. Zhu Yin of Jiangning is of pure and kind nature, devoted to the nation, and compassionate towards the people. He is a capable minister for governing the country, a wise man for all ages, a blessing to the people, and a boon to the nation. I hope you all will treat Zhu Zhihu with utmost care and protect him properly..."

After speaking, he took out a memorial from his robes. "This is my dying wish to present to Your Majesty. Please, Grand Secretary, forward it to Your Majesty. My final thoughts are contained in these few words. I bow deeply in gratitude..."

Before he could finish speaking, his body suddenly went limp, the hand holding the eulogy fell limply to his side, and his eyes, now completely extinguished, closed.

He had already passed away suddenly.

Zhang Wei shouted loudly, "Lord Hai has passed away!"

The moment the words were spoken, the entire square was filled with deafening cries, and tens of thousands of people wept.

"Hai Gong has passed away!"

On the 25th day of the fourth month of the 21st year of the Wanli reign (1694), a Jia-Yin day, Hai Rui, the former Left Vice Minister of the Censorate and Junior Tutor of the Ming Dynasty, passed away at the Wufeng Tower of the Meridian Gate, leaving behind unfinished business.

People are deeply saddened!

P.S.: Hai Rui is dead, will you all scold me?
(End of this chapter)