Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Before dawn in Nanjing, the winter mist shrouded the streets, and the biting cold wind blew up the dust on the ground, rendering the ancient capital somewhat desolate and lonely.

In the northeast corner of Nanjing City, at the door of an inconspicuous small courtyard, a man was sitting by the door. The lantern in his hand swayed casually to illuminate his feet. He squinted at the street scene in the distance, as if he wanted to melt himself. In the night, the occasional shivering and stomping sounds revealed the owner's anxious mood.

Suddenly, there was a "squeaking" sound from the wheels at the end of the alley, and then a carriage with a green curtain drove into the alley and stopped.

"Xilulu~" The horses snorted, and the white mist became more and more chaotic.

A burly driver got out of the driving position and looked at the man in front of him and asked jokingly.

"Jingxiantai has been promoted, but today you are willing to call a car?"

"Go, go, what nonsense are you talking about?" The man stood up with a lantern, took out a bunch of copper coins tied with a rope from his arms, and reluctantly gave it to the coachman.

The coachman didn't say anything after receiving the money. He trimmed the horse's hair and waited for Jingqing, the imperial censor, to go out.

Today's Jingqing is amazing, because in the early years of Jianwen, he was the counselor of Peking and the king of Yan. Oh no, this is the old one, so after he sent his troops to cross the river, he moved the imperial censor, and he also wanted to be revered as "Xiantai" of.

It's just that Jingqing is an honest man and lives a simple life, and the salary set by Lao Zhu is really not enough, so throughout the year, he only hires carriages a handful of times. It is absolutely impossible for Jingqing to buy a carriage and keep a driver. of.

Not long after, Jing Qing, who was already in his fifties, was escorted out by his old servant.

The handsome Jing Qing seemed to cherish his Fei Pao especially today. When he stepped onto the carriage, he deliberately picked up his robe to avoid splattering mud on the muddy ground in front of his dilapidated yard.

The coachman looked at Jing Qing, who was wearing a crimson robe solemnly, and was startled. However, he was only distracted for a moment. He didn't say anything, he just muttered in his heart.

"After all, he has been promoted."

Jing Qing, who was sitting in the carriage, was holding the elephant wat in his hand, seemingly unaware. He just glanced at the old house where he had lived for many years and his family members who said goodbye to him as usual.

——————

"With the four drums banging and my clothes on, it's too late to go to court at the Meridian Gate. When will I be able to enjoy the countryside and sleep until the food in the world is ready?"

Outside Fengtian Gate, Dong Lun, the 80-year-old minister of the Ministry of Rites, leaned on crutches, shaking his head and reciting the poems of his former colleagues.

As soon as this poem came out, the people in front of the old man were shocked. This person was none other than Li Zhigang and Li Shangshu, who said "the more you jail, the more you gain".

As Dong Lun's immediate boss, Li Zhigang's expression changed slightly, and he quickly pulled the old man's sleeve to persuade him.

"Mr. Dong, you are about to become an official, so don't get yourself into trouble. Official Jing Qingqing has been in office for three years, and he is currently watching."

After that, Li Zhigang pursed his lips and motioned to Dong Lun to look at Jing Qing in front of him, who was wearing a scarlet robe and was leading a team to inspect the officials' conduct when they lined up.

"Xiao Li, what did you say?"

Dong Lun smiled and put his hands behind his ears, signaling Li Zhigang to speak louder.

The old man was deaf, so he thought his voice was quite low, but everyone heard his greeting immediately.

"Xiao Li", who was about to turn fifty, saw that the old man was going to become an official this year, so he didn't care and didn't bother to give any more advice.

Looking at his colleagues who were suppressing laughter, Li Zhigang turned around silently, hoping that Jing Qing would not find trouble with him.

After all, that's what Jing Qing is doing today as the imperial censor responsible for monitoring the manners. If the old man doesn't listen to his advice, there's no need for him to be involved.

However, to Li Zhigang's surprise, Jing Qing, who was usually serious and focused on etiquette, was a little distracted today and completely turned a blind eye to the little farce that just happened in the ranks of officials.

This couldn't help but make Li Zhigang feel a little suspicious, but he didn't think too deeply about it.

After all, there are too many big things happening recently.

The specific contents of the "Eight Strategies for Reform" have begun to be revealed to the government and the public, which can be regarded as a teaser before some form of reform.

But to be honest, the feedback Zhu Di received was not good.

——Strictly speaking, it is a voice of opposition.

In fact, this is also the reason why the six ministers did not insist on it.

Throughout the dynasties, whenever reforms were mentioned, unanimous opposition was almost inevitable. Everyone has a comfort zone.

Furthermore, everyone has vested power. Who would be willing to use their own authority?

Ahem, it would be wrong to say that there is absolutely no such thing. Now there are a few long-standing petty officials with no hope of promotion, who are ready to give it a try to see if they can ride the coattails of the reform and change their lives against the odds.

In addition, the government and the public are almost unanimously opposed to it, and the attitude of the noble military ministers is also very ambiguous, neither supporting nor opposing.

For the Jingnan nobles who had just made contributions to Jingnan, although they theoretically benefited from the reform, they did not see huge benefits at the moment. As for the overseas conquests, more credit was given to Hongwu. The way out that nobles covet.

But at the moment, it is Jing Nan, the noble military minister, who occupies the dominant position in the discourse of the general group.

As for the immortal who is about to be worshiped as the national master, the general opinion among the government and the public is that it is not worthy of objection.

Most officials believe that there are no immortals in this world. This person may be a wild Taoist priest who was lucky enough to get the fertilizer pill recipe, and was pushed out by the emperor to be a puppet of the political reform.

Therefore, whether or not he opposes the appointment of a "national preceptor" will not actually prevent the emperor's reform.

Since it only treats the symptoms but not the root cause, why should we oppose it?

Is it to knock the mountain to shake the tiger and slap Zhu Di in the face?

I think your little head has been on your neck for too long.

With everyone on their minds, the Great Court Meeting began.

Today's topic is actually something everyone has expected. After all, it is the first meeting of the imperial court after returning from the New Year, and it is also the first important meeting of the "Yongle Year". What should be discussed is naturally related to the major policies of the Ming Dynasty. Things that are trivial will definitely not be brought up to waste everyone's time.

Both princes were present and sat under the emperor.

Zhu Di, who was wearing a royal robe, knocked on the dragon table and signaled to the officials.

"The first thing is that during the Chinese New Year, I felt sorry for Taizu, so I read the "Records of Emperor Taizu Gao" carefully. What a pity."

After hearing this and hearing the elegant meaning of the string, old man Dong Lun immediately stopped being deaf.

Dong Lun came out of the queue tremblingly, and slowly prostrated himself to the ground in a slow-motion motion. His white-haired head was symbolically knocked on the floor tiles of the main hall.

"My lord, it's a capital crime!"

There is no other reason. "Records of Emperor Taizu Gao" was compiled by Dong Lun as the president, so he must bear full responsibility.

Of course, if you want to say that Dong Lun wrote something wrong, it is not necessarily true. Dong Lun was a veteran of the Jianwen Dynasty who rarely advised Emperor Jianwen to be friendly to the Tianjia vassal king. Zhu Di remembered this intention. It was just that Dong Lun edited " After all, "Records of Emperor Taizu Gao" was written during the Jianwen Dynasty. For Zhu Di, who had just ascended the throne, some contents must be changed.

For example, we need to add that Emperor Taizu Gao loved King Yan very much and often hinted to people around him that he wanted King Yan to inherit the throne, and then delete the content praising Zhu Yunzhen.

Zhu Di naturally couldn't punish Dong Lun. That would be unreasonable and would appear to be too stingy. Dong Lun had submitted a letter requesting to be appointed as an official as early as last year. Zhu Di kept the old man until now just to let him bear the last blame before leaving.

Therefore, Zhu Di said magnanimously: "The "Records of Emperor Taizu Gao" is only slightly flawed and needs to be rewritten. However, Dong Shilang wrote a letter requesting to be appointed as an official. Considering that Dong Shilang is indeed old, I will now make it accurate. ”

Dong Lun was overjoyed. As an official who had successfully survived the Hongwu era to this day, he had passed the customs at Lao Zhu's house in his life, so he kowtowed a few times sincerely and returned to his post tremblingly.

There are naturally a lot of people coveting Dong Lun's soon-to-be-vacated seat, but it is said that the minister of rites has been appointed by no one else. It is the former Righteous Lord of the Household Department who was released from prison by the emperor. Minister Zhuo Jing.

But the emperor's next words about the second matter immediately shattered this still-unripe melon.

Zhu Di first said: "Li Jinglong, Duke of Cao, was the supervisor, and Zhongzhong Borujun, the minister of the Ministry of War, was the supervisor, and Jie Jin, the imperial minister, was the chief executive, and the "Records of Emperor Taizu Gao" was re-edited."

The civil servants looked at the empty position at the head of the hundred officials and missed Cao Guogong for a second.

"The second thing is that Master Zuo Shanshi Daoyan of Senglu Si proposed to me to return to secular life. Remembering the contribution of Jingnan, I will add Yao Guangxiao today to promote sincerity and assist the country to assist the civil servants and Rong Guogong."

This is the proper meaning of the title. Dao Yan's role in the Battle of Jingnan was the same as that of Zhang Liang, the remaining marquis of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. Previously, it was just that Dao Yan did not want to return to the secular world and did not want to accept the titles and rewards given by Zhu Di.

Now that Dao Yan thinks about it, then the Duke of the country is just a matter of course.

But a few sharp and smart people immediately realized the intention of Dao Yan, oh no, Yao Guangxiao's move.

Yao Guangxiao gave up his identity as a monk and prepared to join the struggle for reform and innovation as Duke Jingnan, so that no one would attack him as a Buddhist leader who intended to abolish Confucianism and promote Buddhism.

The matter of Dao Yan returning to secular life was actually nothing, but then, Zhu Di's words seemed to throw a firecracker in the toilet, stirring up countless people's excrement.

"Reform matters are dealt with on a special basis. I want to establish a president's reform affairs yamen. In the future, the national advisor Jiang Xinghuo will be the president, and Dao Yan and Zhuo Jing will be the vice presidents to coordinate all important tasks of the reform."

As soon as Zhu Di finished speaking, the hall suddenly resounded with the same buzzing sound as the remaining flies surrounding the rotten things.

"quiet!"

Jing Qing, the censor doctor, rolled up his sleeves and shouted loudly.

But no one listened.

Jing Qing seemed to be driven into panic, stamped his feet angrily, and walked towards Zhu Di regardless of the rules, as if he wanted to say something to the emperor.