Chapter 41 Staying in China
Emperor Jiajing’s concern for Zhu Zaijing was still somewhat different from the affection of ordinary parents.
Emperor Jiajing, who was deeply influenced by Taoism, took it as his mission to become an immortal throughout his life, so his family affection was much weaker than that of ordinary people.
But because he is still a mortal living in the world, it is inevitable that he will not be swayed by worldly emotions sometimes, and he shows some rare care and love for Zhu Zaijing and others.
But that’s all, no more and it will be gone.
So his current mentality is a vague and distant mentality. As long as Zhu Zaijing doesn't have any accidents and doesn't embarrass him, then let him be.
Of course, Zhu Zaijing still doesn’t know what Emperor Jiajing is thinking. If Zhu Zaijing knew that Emperor Jiajing was thinking like this, he would probably wake up from his dream in Prince Yu’s Mansion.
It is rare for a father to be so trouble-free.
Time passed by so quietly, and the former crown prince Zhu Zaihen was now buried with great splendor on Jinshan Mountain, the royal mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty. This mausoleum is located near Yuquan Mountain and is dedicated to burying some of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty. The cemetery is for the "important" imperial concubines, princes, princes and princesses who died early and are not eligible to be buried in the imperial mausoleum.
Of course there are exceptions. For example, Emperor Jingtai, who was unexplainably killed by his brother who was an overseas student, was also buried in this mausoleum. Therefore, among the royal mausoleums, Emperor Jingtai can be regarded as "unique." "Yes."
And because Emperor Jiajing was also the heir to the vassal, in the fifteenth year of Jiajing, in order to strengthen his orthodox status and further win over the hearts of scholars, Emperor Jiajing also personally visited Jinshan Jingtai Mausoleum. Emperor Jingtai.
During the visit, Emperor Jiajing believed that the Jingtai Mausoleum was completely inconsistent with the imperial mausoleum system and ordered it to be replaced with yellow tiles. In addition, a mausoleum stele pavilion was built outside the mausoleum gate and in the middle of the gate, and the mausoleum stele was moved into the pavilion to make it have the style of an imperial mausoleum.
This is Emperor Jiajing's belated recognition sixty years later to his great-uncle who once worked with Yu Qian to turn the tide and save the Ming Dynasty from collapse.
Because before this, although Emperor Xianzong Zhu Jianshen also issued an edict to restore the imperial title of his uncle, Emperor Jingtai, in the 11th year of Chenghua, he had not actually renovated the mausoleum system for Emperor Jingtai. Only slight decorations have been added to the mausoleum. The mausoleum building is still covered with green tiles according to the level of royal mausoleums. The mausoleum stele is also erected east of the mausoleum gate in accordance with the royal mausoleum system. It only bears the name of an imperial mausoleum. In fact, It is still a royal tomb.
So Emperor Jiajing still had some skills and routines. He just made a gesture, changed the tiles of Emperor Jingtai’s mausoleum, and built a stele pavilion. He gained huge political benefits and made his reputation reach reached an unprecedented peak, causing scholars all over the world to praise Emperor Jiajing as a wise master who "revived" the Ming Dynasty.
It's a pity that Emperor Jiajing's title of "Zhongxing" as a wise man only lasted until about the 20th year of Jiajing. After that, Emperor Jiajing seemed to have suddenly changed into a different person. He became particularly good-looking, and also became particularly devoted to Taoism. He didn't like going to court, and he didn't wear a dragon robe every day. He just dressed up as a Taoist priest. As a result, important political activities of the Ming Dynasty in recent years were determined and carried out with absurd Taoist rituals.
After Zhu Zaihen’s funeral, the political infighting that was still hidden underwater suddenly jumped out of the water.
Xu Jie, who had made the plan together with his good disciples, could no longer wait any longer. He immediately suggested to Emperor Jiajing that he should rebuild the crown prince in order to calm the people of the world. But at this moment, where is Emperor Jiajing who feels that he has succeeded in cultivation? Would you like that?
It had just been two days since the funeral of the former prince, and the bones had not yet cooled down. If we are rushing to build a reserve now, wouldn't this be rubbing salt on people's wounds?
I don’t know that Emperor Jiajing still taboos the prophecy of “two dragons will never meet” in his heart. If he really wants to appoint a prince, wouldn’t he have to meet his son again?
By then, if this fatal prophecy comes to light again and Emperor Jiajing has another son die, or he is sent away by the prince, who will be blamed for such a big scapegoat?
So Emperor Jiajing's face turned dark when he saw the memorial from Xu Jie asking for the throne. Emperor Jiajing held this memorial in his hand and said angrily: "Young man Xu Jie still can't understand my painstaking efforts. I really shouldn't be so soft-hearted and use him! If I don't establish a prince, it's for the sake of the Ming Dynasty. Shouldn't he?" Knowing that the two dragons between me and the prince are in conflict, can he afford to pay for it if he hurts my son again?"
Huang Jin also hurriedly heard the angry words of Emperor Jiajing. He comforted: "The emperor must not be enchanted by a mortal like Xu Jie. How could he understand the emperor's good intentions? Xu Jie asked for a crown prince not to contradict the emperor, but to stand before justice and consider the Ming Dynasty. "Emperor, please calm down."
Huang Jin's comfort made Emperor Jiajing's anger subside a little, but he was still angry.
Jiajing said: "Back then, I used Zhang Fujing (Zhang Cong) in order to change the Confucian Temple's sacrificial rituals and establish laws for all generations. But it turned out that Xu Jie ruined my plan and had to jump out to confront Zhang Cong. How could he be targeting Zhang Cong? Cong, he is slapping me in the face!"
Zhang Fujing is Zhang Cong. In the tenth year of Jiajing, Zhang Cong took the initiative to avoid the emperor's taboo and requested to change his name. Emperor Jiajing gave Zhang Cong the name "Fujing" and the character "Maogong" based on the four characters of Yubi. It can be said that before Yan Song, Zhang Cong was the favorite of Emperor Jiajing.
And Zhang Cong is really capable. He helped Emperor Jiajing win the great etiquette dispute. He also assisted Jiajing in developing the "Jiajing New Deal", reforming and rectifying the bad government of the previous dynasty, and investigating the affairs that had been seized by his relatives. Zhuangtian, return the farmland to the people. The system of hereditary titles for relatives was also changed so that they could not be hereditary and became a permanent system.
The incident that Emperor Jiajing is talking about now is a major event that occurred in the ninth year of Jiajing's reign and related to whether Jiajing's New Deal can go further.
At that time, Zhang Cong wrote a book under the instruction of Emperor Jiajing: "The Confucius sacrificial canon has not been corrected since the Tang and Song Dynasties. Today it is better to call it the sage and teacher instead of the king, and it is better to call it the temple instead of the king. For the palace, it is advisable to use wood as the master and remove the earth as the main symbol.
This restored the title of Confucius, who had "transgressed" as king since the Tang Dynasty, back to normal. However, this move was met with crazy resistance from a group of conservatives who believed that Zhang Cong's move was to deceive his master and destroy his ancestors.
Xu Jie, who was still senior in the Imperial College at that time, immediately went to the court to declare that three of the names of Confucius should not be removed and five should not be removed. He opposed Zhang Cong's theory and advocated the use of the old system.
Zhang Cong was extremely angry and summoned Xu Jie to the court room to reprimand him. Xu Jie argued emphatically. This also offended the enterprising Emperor Jiajing to death.
Emperor Jiajing finally acted decisively, supported Zhang Cong's opinions, and forcibly demoted Confucius. He removed the title of "Dacheng Supreme Saint Wenxuan King" that the former Yuan Emperor had posthumously conferred on Confucius, and called Confucius "the Supreme Saint." "Holy Master" and worshiped him with a wooden main body.
At the same time, Emperor Jiajing also kicked Xu Jie away and demoted him to Yanping Mansion in Fujian as a promotion official. He also wrote on the pillar of the Imperial College "Xu Jie, a villain, will never The horoscope of "recruitment".
Now Xu Jie, who cares not only about food but also about fighting, is talking nonsense about establishing a heirloom. How can Emperor Jiajing not be annoyed?
Emperor Jiajing said: "Keep this memorandum without publishing it, let him dry it out, so that he can remember it longer."
After hearing Emperor Jiajing's words, Huang Jin felt in his heart He was secretly relieved, but he was not happy for Xu Jie, but for Emperor Jiajing.
Now anyone with a discerning eye can see at a glance that Yan Song’s party dominates the current political situation. This is not necessarily a good thing for Emperor Jiajing as the emperor, so within the established strategy, Emperor Jiajing wanted to deliberately support a force that could compete with Yan Song. This would not only better balance the power of the DPRK, but also make Yan Song's already sharp knife more effective.
So even if Xu Jie touches Emperor Jiajing's reverse scale this time, he will be safe. It was because he was still valuable to Emperor Jiajing. Otherwise, given Emperor Jiajing's mean and ungrateful temperament, it would have been possible to scrape him. After all, the blood of Xia Yan, the former chief assistant, had not yet dried in Xishi.
(End of this chapter)