A civil uprising suddenly broke out in the city of Nanjing. This matter was naturally extremely urgent and vital. It must be suppressed quickly without any delay, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.
But does the urgency and importance of this matter exceed that of the ancestor worship ceremony being held in Xiaoling?
Or should we say that because of the civil unrest in Nanjing, the process of the ancestor worship ceremony should be affected and interrupted?
Regarding this issue, benevolent people have different opinions and wise people have different opinions.
Regardless of whether it is ancient or modern, at home and abroad, the first reaction of many officials when encountering trouble is always to try to conceal the news with a sense of luck, suppress it as much as possible, whitewash the situation, and not shed tears until the coffin is seen!
This kind of reaction seems to be short-sighted and extremely stupid, but in fact it also has a very clear logical thinking and a very clear consideration of interests, which is why this kind of thing is repeatedly prohibited.
Take this Nanjing civil uprising as an example. For those imperial officials who stayed in Nanjing, if they reported the situation directly and without any cover-up, they would inevitably take the blame and bear all kinds of culpability. They would also be ruined.
career.
On the other hand, if you suppress the news for the time being and try to settle the chaos on your own before the news leaks out, if you are lucky enough to succeed, you will dare to take the responsibility and have meritorious deeds. You may still have the opportunity to get promoted and make a fortune. There are countless similar examples in history.
Even if you are unable to recover in the end and suffer a disastrous defeat, your guilt and punishment will not be much heavier, it will just become more trouble and then be thrown to the court.
In short, under such circumstances, reporting the situation quickly would only be beneficial to the overall situation of the court, but suppressing the news for the time being and trying to whitewash the situation would give you the opportunity to benefit yourself.
Between their own interests and the overall situation of the court, not everyone is willing to sacrifice the former and choose the latter.
What's more, the ancients said that "the most important things in a country are sacrifice and war", which means that for a country, there are only two most important things, namely sacrifice and war.
The ancestor worship ceremony currently being held at Xiaoling Mausoleum is undoubtedly one of the most important sacrificial activities of the Ming Dynasty in recent years.
Therefore, if the civil unrest in Nanjing is immediately reported to Xiaoling, the ongoing ancestor worship ceremony will inevitably be affected. In this case, if it is later discovered that the civil unrest in Nanjing is not serious in fact, it can be easily quelled.
Officials who decide to report the matter may face additional culpability.
It was precisely because of this idea that the officials who stayed in Nanjing were extremely slow to respond to all the chaos on this day.
When the tribute students of Yingtian Academy had conflicts and fought with each other, they just sent people to order Yingtian Academy to handle it on their own; when the entire south bank of the Qinhuai River was in chaos, they were still repeatedly confirming the authenticity of the news;
When students blocked the Nanjing Rites Yamen to protest and petition, they only focused on quarreling and discussing; when the common people began to attack the Nanjing Rites Yamen, they still wanted to quell the chaos as soon as possible before the ancestor worship ceremony ended...
Waiting until the scale of the civil unrest became larger and larger, under the secret instigation of certain forces, many people not only began to attack the Nanjing Rites Yamen, but even the nearby Nanjing Yamen were also affected and impacted. The entire city of Nanjing was
It was after the chaos quickly broke out that the officials who stayed in Nanjing finally realized the seriousness of the matter, finally put out their luck, and reluctantly reported the civil unrest to Xiaoling.
.
Coupled with the layers of checkpoints outside the Xiaoling Mausoleum and repeated screenings, by the time the relevant news reached the ears of Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian and others, it was already approaching noon.
For the seventh prince Zhu Hejian, both the civil unrest in Nanjing and the slow response of Nanjing officials were all anticipated.
This situation is Zhu Hejian's opportunity to perform. Although danger and opportunity coexist, it is undoubtedly his best performance stage.
As a result, Zhu Hejian's performance began soon!
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At this time, although the ancestor worship ceremony in Xiaoling Mausoleum has come to an end, if the original process is followed, it will take at least another half an hour to truly end.
When the news of civil unrest in Nanjing reached Xiaoling, all the officials in Xiaoling were in disarray and at a loss.
In comparison, Zhu Hejian's performance can be called the style of a general and the spirit of a king. Not only is he calm in the face of danger and not alarmed by changes, he still calmly presides over the ancestor worship ceremony, trying to appease the emotions of the officials and make the ancestor worship ceremony smooth.
It went on smoothly, and he made a prompt decision, changing the content of his ritual on the spot, greatly compressing the remaining process of the ancestor worship ceremony, and finally ended the rest of the ancestor worship ceremony in only half a stick of incense.
Seeing Zhu Hejian's performance, all the officials in Xiaoling were amazed and felt inferior.
After the ancestor worship ceremony was completely completed, Zhu Hejian immediately led the officials to leave the Xiaoling Baocheng area.
(Note: The so-called "Treasure City" refers to the mausoleums and palaces of ancient Chinese emperors.)
After leaving the confines of Baocheng, Zhu Hejian's expression immediately became serious and stern, finally revealing his anger, but he still did not attack immediately, as if he was worried about disturbing the peace of the ancestors in Baocheng.
After everyone had left the area within one mile of Baocheng, Zhu Hejian finally stopped, turned to the Nanjing officials and asked angrily: "What on earth is going on? Why did civil unrest suddenly break out in Nanjing? Haha.
!When civil unrest breaks out during the ancestor worship ceremony, the imperial court really has face!"
Seeing Zhu Hejian finally burst into anger, all the officials in Nanjing became more and more frightened and apologized one after another. They immediately knelt together, not daring to raise their heads to look at Zhu Hejian.
Zhu Hejian completely ignored the performance of the officials in Nanjing and just asked coldly: "When things have developed to this point, it is already too late for you to apologize, but now is not the time for accountability. I only want to know three things!
First, where did this civil unrest start? Second, to what extent has this civil unrest developed? Third, how do you plan to quell this civil unrest?"
After hearing Zhu Hejian's three consecutive inquiries, no one in Nanjing dared to answer, but they all turned their heads and focused their attention on He Rong, the prefect of Yingtian.
This He Rong was the person responsible for coming to Xiaoling to report the news of the civil unrest to everyone.
Regarding the three questions raised by Zhu Hejian, He Rong naturally did not dare to answer the first one, which was the cause of the civil unrest in Nanjing, otherwise he would completely offend the ministers and ministers of the Sixth Department of Nanjing. He also did not dare to answer the last question.
Otherwise, if your proposal fails to work, you will inevitably bear more responsibility.
In the end, He Rong had no choice but to avoid the important and take the easy. He bit the bullet and only answered Zhu Hejian's second question, saying in a trembling voice: "Replying to Your Highness, the scale of the civil unrest in Nanjing is already extremely large. Just when Xiaguan came to Xiaoling to report
At that time, nearly ten thousand Nanjing rioters participated in the riots. Led by the Nanjing Liubu Yamen, many government offices in Nanjing were attacked by the rioters, especially the Nanjing Rites Yamen. Now they have been smashed by the rioters... If the imperial court
If we cannot make up our mind to quickly send troops to suppress it, this civil unrest will probably become even more uncontrollable!"
Zhu Hejian's expression was a bit shocked, as if he had underestimated the seriousness of the matter, and asked quickly: "Is it so serious? Why did you wait until now to report it?"
He Rong hurriedly explained: "His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince Mingjian, as the saying goes, 'the most important thing for the country is to worship the soldiers', and the ancestor worship ceremony at Xiaoling Mausoleum is one of the most important sacrificial activities of the imperial court in recent years, so Xiaguan and others cannot
When absolutely necessary, I would naturally not dare to disturb..."
Before He Rong could finish speaking, Zhu Hejian interrupted angrily: "What a fart! What a pedantic opinion! 'The most important thing for the country is to sacrifice and serve the army.' This sentence is certainly true, but have you seriously thought about the meaning in this sentence?"
What does the word 'sacrifice' mean? This prince is here to tell you that this word represents the aspirations of the people! It represents the prestige of the court! It represents orthodoxy! The people of Nanjing actually chose this day for us to worship our ancestors to launch a riot, which is enough
This proves that the Nanjing officialdom has lost the support of the people, the prestige of the imperial court has been wiped out, and the orthodox moral principles are gone! Under such circumstances, how can we talk about "the important matters of the country are only sacrifice and military affairs"? I think you just want to deceive the subordinates and conceal the superiors.
!”
Without waiting for He Rong to defend himself, Zhu Hejian asked angrily again: "Also, I think you dare not answer the cause of this riot at all, are you afraid of offending others? But even if you don't say it, I can definitely guess it.
Come out with the truth! If Nanjing officials had not acted perversely and lost the support of the people, why would the people of Nanjing attack the government offices? You just said that when the people attacked the government offices, the situation in the Six Ministries of Nanjing was the most serious... Obviously, the people were at the forefront of the attack.
It mainly points to the Nanjing Sixth Department, and the Nanjing Sixth Department is the culprit of this civil unrest!"
After hearing Zhu Hejian's words, the expressions of all the ministers and ministers in the Sixth Department of Nanjing changed drastically.
But Zhu Hejian still didn't wait for them to open their mouths to explain, and made the final decision resolutely, saying loudly: "When Zhao Gechen, the center of the imperial court, inspected the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu, he discovered that some civil and military officials on the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu were engaged in negotiations and appeasement.
behavior, and then decisively removed the relevant officials from their positions, took the initiative to take over the military and political affairs of Shaanxi-Gansu, and finally achieved the great victory of Shaanxi-Gansu and the great military exploits of regaining the Hetao!
Now, since this riot was caused by the Six Ministries of Nanjing, and none of you have any idea, I believe that the Six Ministries of Nanjing are no longer suitable to be responsible for presiding over the situation in Nanjing... Therefore, I decided to obey the authority urgently and follow the example,
Do you have any objections to personally taking charge of the situation in Nanjing?"
Zhu Hejian knew very well that the Nanjing Civil War was a coexistence of danger and opportunity for him. It was not only a trap set by Zhou Shangjing for him, but also an opportunity for him.
Therefore, Zhu Hejian must do the following three things.
The first is to smoothly stabilize the situation in Nanjing, realize the imperial court's plan to take over power, deal with various problems prepared by Zhou Shangjing, and take the opportunity to show off his abilities and further enhance his impression and evaluation in the hearts of Emperor Deqing, court officials, and the people;
The second is to try to show his resoluteness and courage to take on responsibilities, and take the opportunity to reverse the "obedient" image that Zhou Shangjing deliberately created for him, so that the world will understand that he also has a tough side, not only to strive for reputation, but also to win
prestige!
The third is to seize the benefits and power from the Nanjing officialdom to the greatest extent and prevent the "Zhou Party" and "Zhao Party" forces from picking peaches! With these interests and power, he can further expand his influence.
It can also be used as a bargaining chip to deepen ties with his supporters, and he can even completely tie the prince and grand master Wang Baoren into his own ship.
In fact, with Zhu Hejian's current reputation and status in Nanjing, even if he does not take the initiative to express his position, he will soon be elected to take charge of the overall situation due to "popular support".
However, in order to take advantage of the opportunity to show his toughness and responsibility, Zhu Hejian did not intend to wait for the situation where "public expectations" and "people's aspiration" emerged, and then he took the initiative to say that he would stand up and preside over the situation.
After hearing what Zhu Hejian said, Nanjing officials did not dare to respond and did not immediately express their support.
If Zhu Hejian had not taken the initiative to express his position, considering Zhu Hejian's status and reputation at this time, they would definitely express their support for Zhu Hejian to stand up and take charge of the overall situation and lead the Nanjing officials to control the situation in Nanjing. In this way, they could not only evade part of the responsibility, but also gain support.
After receiving their support, Zhu Hejian would not embarrass them too much even if he knew clearly about their culpability.
However, at this time, Zhu Hejian took the initiative to express that he would stand up and take charge of the overall situation. The situation was naturally completely different. They lost the opportunity to support and support. Zhu Hejian did not have to worry about the old relationship when he was held accountable afterwards.
The difference between these two situations is that everyone in the officialdom is naturally well-connected.
So, after hearing Zhu Hejian's statement, the scene fell into awkward silence again, with no one responding.
But Zhu Hejian was determined, and the silence of these officials could not stop him.
Therefore, after seeing everyone's silence, Zhu Hejian asked again: "You all are silent, does that mean no one objects? In this case, until the central court has other arrangements, this prince will be fully responsible for all matters in Nanjing!"
Now, this prince declares three orders that no one can violate, otherwise they will be punished as disobedient!"