The emperor's chariot was walking on the road to Qianqing Palace. The emperor in the chariot suddenly opened the sedan curtain and asked Chen Ju, who was accompanying him: "Chen Ju, you heard what the Empress Dowager Cisheng said. What do you think of my answer?" ?”
Chen Ju kept walking, but at the same time he bowed slightly and replied with a bit of fear in his tone: "Your Majesty is wise, so his answer is naturally excellent. How can I dare to comment?"
"Since the 'servant' doesn't dare, what about the 'subordinate'?" Zhu Yijun asked calmly, seemingly not intending to let him go easily.
The status of eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty began to improve significantly after the death of Zhu Yuanzhang, especially during the Yongle period. Not only did they gradually gain control of the real power of the inner court, but they also gradually invaded the imperial guards and eventually formed a "factory guard" system. In some cases, some eunuchs could directly or Indirectly obtain command of the army.
The title changes with the change of status. Therefore, after the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty reached a certain status and mastered a certain amount of power, they had the right to call themselves ministers in front of the emperor, not just as domestic servants. From this point of view, it can be seen that This is very clear from Zheng He's memorial to the emperor.
Of course, Zheng He is somewhat of an exception, but even without Zheng He, many eunuchs after Yongle were still able to call themselves ministers in a very normal tone, and both the emperor and the officials in the court recognized this title. For example, in many imperial edicts and official documents recorded in history, the eunuchs who guarded various places were called "guarding ministers", and the admiral of Dongchang was called "factory minister", etc. This is clear evidence.
Since he is a minister, he not only has "primary responsibilities" such as taking care of the emperor's daily life, but also has the same responsibility as the officials to assist the emperor and manage the government. Although Chen Ju has been self-effacing for a long time and calls himself a slave, his status is clear. No matter how you look at it, he is worthy of the word "minister".
But after all, eunuchs are still deformed products of the feudal social system. Most people in the world believe that those who are purified have lost their dignity as a human being and their qualifications as husbands. The psychological imbalance can be imagined , so except for a few who are kind-hearted, most of them are scum, a group of bad guys with sores on their heads and thick blood on their feet.
It is not entirely unreasonable to think so. After all, in the highly hierarchical eunuch team, the young eunuch who has just entered the palace still has to serve the senior eunuch with status, serving tea and water, emptying the urinal, and even washing clothes, wiping the back, and twisting and massaging the feet. In order to please and gain favor, they speak human words to their faces and lies behind their backs. It is not surprising that their hearts are extremely dark.
There are many people who cheat and deceive each other, turning their hands to make clouds and turning their hands to make rain. These people are used to being sweet to one's face and making trouble with their feet.
To discuss in detail, although most of the eunuchs during the Qin and Han Dynasties were eunuchs, they also used some scholars. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, most eunuchs "used eunuchs and not complicated other scholars." From then on, eunuchs and the royal family had no relationship. The imperial power formed one body.
In later generations, the Ming Dynasty often had the label of "eunuchs' exclusive power" affixed to their foreheads. As analyzed in the previous article of this book, the so-called "eunuchs' exclusive power" of the Ming Dynasty was far inferior to that of the Han and Tang Dynasties, especially in the middle and late Tang Dynasty when they controlled the divine strategy army and abolished the power of eunuchs. The great eunuchs who established the emperor as easily as drinking water and eating.
After the Zhongming Dynasty, the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty actually did a lot of self-examination. For example, Chen Ju was quite disciplined. After being the admiral of the East Factory for so many years, he never did anything to actively suppress civil servants. This is because at this time,
The eunuchs also had a considerable understanding of their own position, power, fate, etc., and the origin of these understandings probably started with Wang Zhenshi.
The orthodox eunuch Wang Zhen, a native of Yuxian County, Hebei Province, once studied in his hometown. Wang Zhen entered the palace from the palace and taught the palace people books. At that time, although most young eunuchs also studied in the inner library, they were taught by Chen Shan, a great scholar.
But compared to Wang Zhenlai, he was much inferior. Moreover, Wang Zhen had been in the officialdom and had certain social experience. Therefore, other eunuchs could not compare with him in terms of writing and playing with power.
When Xuanzong died, Yingzong was young. After he succeeded to the throne, he was in awe of Wang Zhen and even called him sir without giving his name. Wang Zhen was also quite cunning, pretending to be kind and playing tricks in order to obtain the status of the cabinet minister "San Yang" at that time.
Good impression.
One day, Zhu Qizhen and the young eunuch were playing ball in the palace and "stopped after hitting the ball." The next day, Zhu Qizhen was in the pavilion, and Wang Zhen knelt down and said: "The emperor is a chess piece, and he has missed the world several times. Your Majesty replied.
Heel is as good as the country!" He acted like he was loyal and loyal, which moved Sanyang. He sighed, "Unexpectedly, I would rather have a good person among the internal officials." This changed Sanyang's view of him.
There is also a legend that one day after Yingzong came to the throne, the Queen Mother Zhang summoned the British Duke Zhang Fu, the great scholar Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, Yang Pu and the minister Hu Hu to the Biandian, and said to Zhu Qizhen: These five people are the "Jianzi of the previous dynasty"
If you want to please the emperor, you must plan for it, and it cannot be done without the approval of five people.
Then he went to Wang Zhen and said: "You have served the emperor in a very unruly manner, and now you must die." After the request of Zhu Qizhen and the ministers present, Wang Zhen was spared and stipulated that "from now on, he cannot be ordered to do state affairs.
"
It is said that the Empress Dowager emphasized the importance of listening to the advice of the five ministers in front of the newly enthroned emperor, followed by a warning to Wang Zhen, which shows her wisdom. But this is probably not true: not long after Wang Zhen entered the palace,
The evil deeds were not exposed, and there was no need for Empress Dowager Zhang to do this. This matter has been verified by later generations, so I won’t say more.
In October of the fourth year of Zhengtong, Liao Mo, the governor of Fujian Province, was killed with a stick. This post minister was from the hometown of the cabinet minister Yang Pu, and Liao Mo was the hometown of the cabinet minister Yang Shiqi. Yang Pu wanted to avenge the post minister and wanted to kill Liao.
Mo died. But Yang Shiqi tried every means to protect Liao Mo. In the name of "killing people on duty", the dispute was unresolved and he asked the Queen Mother to rule.
Wang Zhen took the opportunity and said to the Queen Mother: "Both of them are holding on to their hometown. It is too heavy to sacrifice their lives, and it is too light to do business. It is better to downgrade their grades." The Queen Mother followed this and later promoted Liao Mo to be a colleague. The Queen Mother saw that Wang Zhen handled the matter "fairly and impartially".
Selfless", and gradually trusted him.
People who are cunning and treacherous do not have labels on their faces that you can see clearly at a glance. They are loyal on the surface, but they hide conspiracies in their hearts. When such people are not mature, they will hide and hide, and once they gain power, they will join the party.
Form a faction and do whatever you want.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! In the sixth year of Zhengtong, the construction of the three halls of Fengtian, Huagai and Jinshen was completed, and Zhuqi Town held a banquet for hundreds of officials. According to the Ming Dynasty etiquette, "eunuchs"
Although he is favored, he is not allowed to attend the royal banquet." However, Yingzong was afraid that Wang Zhen would be unhappy, so he sent someone to check it out privately.
Sure enough, Wang Zhen was furious and compared himself with Duke Zhou, saying, "Gong Zhou assists Duke Zhou and I can't sit alone!" Yingzong immediately sent someone to open the main entrance of Donghua Gate and let Wang Zhen come to the banquet. All the officials present also hurriedly got up to greet him.
Speaking of which, although Sanyang is called a virtuous prime minister, he could not see through Wang Zhen's character when he was still young, because he could not judge people; he could not stop him in time before he gained power, because he could not cure the disease in its infancy.
.
Later, Empress Dowager Zhang died of illness, Yang Rong died first, and Yang Shiqi was arrested and imprisoned because his son Yang Ji murdered someone. He lay down and passively resisted. Among the three Yangs, only Yang Pu was in the court at this time, and he was old and lonely. Wang Zhen also
It became even more unscrupulous.
He first took off the prohibition card that Zhu Yuanzhang had set up in the palace that "ministers are not allowed to interfere in political affairs". From then on, he became more and more bold and uncontrollable, and the minister of weaponry did everything.
Wang You, a doctor in the Ministry of Industry, who could be regarded as a department-level cadre in later generations, shamelessly recognized a thief as his father and claimed to be Wang Zhen's adopted son. Later, Wei Zhongxian's adopted son, Manchu Dynasty, probably started from this. This shows the power of Wang Zhen at that time.
Xuntian, and the so-called eunuch power in the Ming Dynasty also began with Wang Zhen.
But Wang Zhen's fate also became a lesson for the later eunuchs to remind themselves. In the Tumubao Incident, Yingzong was captured, and the main force of the 200,000-strong Beijing camp was defeated. Wang Zhen was eventually punished and died in the rebel army.
Almost all of the dozens of civil and military ministers died in the battle. The news reached the capital, and hundreds of officials burst into tears in the palace.
Later, the Empress Dowager ordered Yingzong's younger brother, King Zhu Qiyu, to supervise the country. The imperial envoy Chen Yi reported to King Yi and listed Wang Zhen's crimes. They said with grief and anger: "Wang Zhen's crime cannot be punished, and he deserves to die. If your highness does not die, he will be punished according to law."
His family and ministers all died here today." After saying that, he knelt down and got up.
At this time, Wang Zhen's best friend Ma Shun also protected Wang Zhen and chased the ministers away. During the incident, Wang Hong saw that Ma Shun was still pretending and was furious. He stepped forward and grabbed Ma Shun, punched and kicked him, and killed him on the spot.
The angry people beat Wang Zhen's other two best friends, the eunuch Mao Gui and Wang Changsui, to death on the spot.
At this point, Zhu Qiyu ordered Wang Zhen's nephew Wang Shan to be killed and his clan to punish Wang Zhen's party. Ma Shun's body was dragged to the street for public display.
Although after the restoration of Emperor Yingzong, he rectified Wang Zhen's name and used fragrant wood as a statue of Wang Zhen to worship and summon his soul. In the first year of Tianshun, Yingzong also built the Jingzhong Temple in the north courtyard of Zhihua Temple in the capital to worship Wang Zhen. However, this
At this moment, people all over the world have already concluded Wang Zhen's death. Even if Yingzong did this, it would only be seen as him trying to save face for what he had done back then.
Wang Zhen was defeated and succeeded by Liu Jin, but relatively speaking, Liu Jin was not as powerful as Wang Zhen, and his death was more tragic than Wang Zhen. Therefore, from then on, the great eunuchs came because of the Jiajing and Longqing emperors.
They delegated power too much, and secondly, they were alerted by the fate of the first two "predecessors". Therefore, even Feng Bao and others in the original history never dared to be too tough on the civil service group. It was not until the emergence of Wei Zhongxian that the "tradition" was broken.
"——However, Wei Zhongxian's ending is well known to everyone, and he still did not escape the pattern of those two "predecessors", so I won't go into details.
In short, Chen Ju himself is an "honest man", and he has learned from the fate of his "predecessors". Therefore, when faced with the emperor's question, he was suddenly startled and sweaty, and said cautiously: "I am stupid and have never understood the truth."
, I only know that the harmony of kings and ministers is the blessing of the world."
The emperor said "Oh", not sure whether he believed it or not, but the emperor quickly asked: "In your opinion, does the Empress Dowager Cisheng believe what I just said?"
Chen Ju was startled and said in surprise: "How could the Queen Mother not believe it?"
"Ha, it would be great if everyone in the world were as honest as you." Zhu Yijun chuckled, shook his head, and lowered his voice slightly: "What I just said was not meant for the Queen Mother. I'm afraid the Queen Mother just thought it was strange.
I’m afraid most of them don’t believe it.”
Chen Ju was startled and said, "Didn't you say it to the Queen Mother?" Then suddenly his hair stood on end and he asked in a trembling voice, "Then the emperor meant this to..."
Zhu Yijun glanced at him and said calmly: "Of course I'm talking to pragmatic people."
Chen Ju swallowed quietly and said, "It was in Cining Palace just now..."
"If what I said in Cining Palace is irrelevant, then that's fine. Since the matter involves practical matters, I think he will be informed of the details, don't you think?" Zhu Yijun continued to chuckle.
Chen Ju thought about what to do, and finally made up his mind. He first stopped the emperor's ceremonial guard, then knelt down and bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, I have been trusted by you. I have been in charge of Dongchang for more than ten years, and I have always had a personal relationship with Gao Situ. If the emperor
It means that if someone in the palace has an affair with an outside court and has connections both internally and externally, then I will bear the brunt of the crime and my crime will be unforgivable. I ask the emperor to punish me, and I am willing to die to thank you for your kindness."
Zhu Yijun looked at him seriously for a moment and said: "Get up, I understand."
"The guilty minister dare not."
"I want you to get up!" Zhu Yijun's tone became more serious and he repeated: "Get up and talk."
Chen Ju didn't know the emperor's intention for a moment, so he had to stand up first, but he still stood there with his head bowed, waiting for his resignation.
Zhu Yijun said, "Come closer." Chen Ju stepped forward.
"Closer." Chen Ju took a step forward again, reaching a distance where he could whisper to the emperor by extending his head.
Zhu Yijun then lowered his voice and said: "I ask you, have you ever been unfaithful to me?"
Chen Ju shook his head and said: "Return to your Majesty, I never did."
"I also know that you have never done this. If so, what crime do you deserve to deserve?"
Chen Ju was stunned and replied: "But I actually have a close relationship with the ministers of the foreign court. This is..."
"What is this? I also have a lot of friendship with pragmatism." The emperor's words were obviously strong words, but he did not give Chen Ju a chance to say more, but immediately continued: "I am not blind or deaf, let alone a fool, the inner court
I don’t know how many people in the past dynasties have been able to ban people who have close friendship with foreign courts!"
Chen Ju was silent. This was of course an obvious truth, and it was impossible for the emperor's shrewdness to not know it.
Zhu Yijun snorted softly, then sighed again and said: "Governing the world is like governing a river. Blocking and sparing cannot be neglected. Human nature cannot be banned. Just like this palace, it is said to be a forbidden area, but in fact it is the same as the streets and alleys.
What's the difference? My words and deeds are not only pragmatically known, but also the ministers and officials in the outer court must be aware of them. It's just a matter of precedence.
When the Queen Mother mentioned those things just now, I could have not answered them, but I thought it would be better to answer them than not to answer them. Some things are hidden and make everyone feel uncomfortable, but if they were really revealed, that would be the case. However, this is not the case. The opening itself has to be a bit particular. If I go to Qianqing Palace and say this to you gentlemen now, then of course I can't, but if the news leaks quietly from the inner court...do you understand what I mean now?"
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