Chapter 14 [Key "lower body"] -2

Cao Qincheng, head of the Eunuch Party and Industry Department, came forward and impeached Zhao Nanxing, Gao Panlong, Huang Zunsu, Wei Dazhong and others for accepting bribes. Cui Chengxiu was impatient, and presented two lists of "Tianjian" and "Comrade" to Eunuch Wei. A list of names is made to provide evidence for the eunuchs to arrest people.The eunuch Wang Shaowei presented "Dianjianglu" again. This catalog is even more vivid. It is based on one hundred and eight generals of the Water Margin. Its "leaders" are thirty-six "Tiangangxing". Ye Xianggao, the prodigal son Qian Qianyi, the sage scholar Wen Zhenmeng, the great swordsman Yang Lian, the wisdom multi-star Miao Changqi, etc.; there are also seventy-two "earth evil stars", including Gu Dazhang, the commander of the Shenji army, and the dry land Kuluyou Daren and so on.When Eunuch Wei heard this, he danced for joy.When he was a rascal in the market in the past, Wei Zhongxian loved to listen to Water Margin and Three Kingdoms the most. Now that there is such a "Dian Jianglu", he can't help but appreciate it.

The ridiculous thing is that Wei Zhongxian showed Wang Shaohui's "Dianjianglu" to Ming Xizong. The young man saw the four characters "Tuota Tianwang" and didn't know why. He had never heard the storytelling of "Water Margin", so he naturally didn't know the origin of these nicknames.Eunuch Wei got up his spirits and gave a big lecture to the emperor about the "Tuota King" Chao Gai and others who robbed the "Birthday Steel" s story.The more the emperor listened, the more fascinated he was, and he shouted, "The King of Tota is really brave and wise!" Now, the discussion digresses, fearing that the emperor will have a good impression of the "King of Tota" in the real list, the Donglin party members and other ministers, Wei Zhongxian From then on, I will never show Emperor Tianqi's "Dianjianglu" to read. (Historians have researched that "Dianjianglu" is likely to be the representative work of the eunuch Ruan Dacheng. This opera master is good at this kind of thing. He presented Wei Gonggong's "Hundred Officials Picture" by himself, and taught Wei Zhongxian to kill people step by step by drawing pictures. .) Wang Wenyan was a staunch man. He was tortured beyond imagination for more than two months in prison, and he refused to slander ministers until his death.Xu Xianchun, the presiding eunuch, forced him to accuse Yang Lian of being bribed by Xiong Tingbi. Wang Wenyan looked up to the sky and shouted: "Hey! There is no corrupt Yang Dahong in the world, no one in the world will believe it!" Dahong is Yang Lian's alias.

It didn't matter if Wang Wenyan didn't admit it, Xu Xianchun wrote the "confession" by himself, and then grabbed the finger of Wang Wenyan who had been beaten to death and "pressed his fingerprints" on the case file. In the autumn of May of Tianqi (1625), Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Zhou Chaorui, Gu Dazhang and other officials who had previously impeached Wei Zhongxian the most were arrested and entered Beizhen Fusi.The eunuch Xu Xianchun was extremely vicious, tortured and plundered everyone. Yang Lian and others pleaded not guilty.During this period, Zuo Guangdou said to his fellow prisoners: "There are two ways for the eunuchs to kill us. They torture us to death while we don't plead guilty; second, they assassinate us in prison and slowly report that we died of illness.

Why don't we plead guilty now and send him to the judiciary, or we can avoid immediate death. "Everyone felt that it was reasonable, so they temporarily admitted the crime of accepting bribes. The despicableness and insidiousness of the villains are beyond the imagination of ordinary gentlemen.The eunuchs had been mentally prepared for a long time. Zuo Guangdou and others admitted to "taking bribes", which just gave them the opportunity to "chasing competition".The so-called "chasing ratio", also known as "stick ratio" That is to say, every time the prisoner is punished with a rod, the next date for handing over the bribe money is set, and if he fails to hand it in at that time, he will serve him with a big rod again.Usually every five days, the prisoner can only be forced to tell the date of the next delivery.As long as you can't vomit the amount of bribes you have accepted, you will be punished every five days, and the torture will continue endlessly.

As a courtier and martial artist, Xu Xianchun, an accomplice of the eunuch Jinyiwei, is as vicious as a scorpion. He ordered these former colleagues to kneel before the steps, strip off their clothes, turn around naked, and wear the shackles for torture.After beating with sticks, he was tortured with pincers and tortured day and night, which was extremely cruel.After fighting for more than ten days, everyone couldn't even kneel down.The whole body bears more than a hundred catties of heavy wooden flails and falls on the ground to receive the stick. So, more than 20 days later, Yang Lian, who was the first to absolve Wei Zhongxian of the 24 crimes, was first tortured to death.At the time of death, the soil bag was pressed against the body, and two big iron nails were pierced through the ears. Xiong Tingbi, the main culprit of the "Liao case", was also taken into the downtown area and publicly questioned and executed.Before Xiong Tingbi was killed, he must have wondered why so many Donglin "comrades" were kidnapped and killed?A few years ago, when Xiong Tingbi was the censor in the court, he was just scolded by sex, and he specially repelled the Donglin Party members with Yao Zongwen and others. He was not a "fellow traveler" with these Donglin Party members at all.Later, Xiong Tingbi's in-law and Yushi Wu Yuzhong died when the eunuch party became the court staff.For the family members of the murdered ministers, members of the Wei Eun party still did not let them go, and continued to torture them severely.

According to Wu Yingji's "Biography of the Dead Officials of the Xi Dynasty", the first person who died at the hands of Wei Zhongxian's eunuch was Wan Xie who was killed by a stick; six people including Zuo Guangdou and Yang Lian died tragically in Wang Wenyan's case; Seven people, including Zhou Shunchang, Gao Panlong, and Li Yingsheng, were killed in the performance; sixteen people were arrested and tortured to death in prison for the crime of rebelling against the party, including Wang Yuanping; Liu Duozhi was killed in the city because he wrote a poem mocking Wei Zhongxian; Seven offended the eunuchs and were hanged to death; Zhao Nanxing was tortured to death in Xusuo.Every time a minister was killed, the eunuch Xu Xianchun would pick out the throat bone of the deceased and put it in a small box, write the name of the deceased on the seal, and send it to Wei Zhongxian for verification.

Immediately afterwards, the eunuch party crazily carried out a "big purge" in the court, and expelled more than 50 officials at the ministerial and deputy ministerial levels, including Shangshu Li Zongyan, Zhang Wenda, and Minister Gongnai who were not attached to themselves, from the court.Zhao Nanxing, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, was sent to Zhenwuwei to be labor-educated and died of exhaustion in Xusuo.Zhao Nanxing and the eunuch Wei Guangwei's father were still good friends. After he re-entered the court, he treated Xiao Wei as a son and nephew, which aroused Wei Guangwei's self-hate, and actually caused his father's old friend to die.

At the same time, Wei Zhongxian planted his private party feathers in important places. Therefore, the court at that time was actually Wei Zhongxian's court.The Hakka family also gave a seal, and the text said "I bestow on the holy lady".Don't everyone think that the largest of these two seals is the size of a jade seal.No, each seal is made of gold and weighs three hundred taels.The huge golden seal, with Old Wei's burly physique, he couldn't even hold the big golden seal himself. Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty didn't know anything about the foreign court at all, and he usually played with Hakka and Wei Zhongxian in family gatherings all day long.Once, the emperor himself rowed a boat with two young eunuchs on Xiyuan Lake. While playing, he greeted Wei and Ke who were sitting openly on the bank and drinking with a smile.Suddenly a gust of wind blew up, the boat capsized and Ming Xizong fell into the water.Wei Zhongxian and Ke Shi looked at each other in astonishment, not knowing what to do.Fortunately, Ming Xizong knew how to plan a few times with a dog and jumped ashore.Two young eunuchs landlubbers sank to the bottom of the water and drowned.This time it was very strange, Ming Xizong almost followed in the footsteps of the former Emperor Zhengde.

With arrogance and arrogance, Wei Zhongxian resorted to the Dongchang secret agency to run amok and ruin families. Anyone who was targeted by them, three clans and nine sects, would be smashed to pieces.Needless to say, ordinary officials and ordinary people, even a royal family like Li Chengen, the son of Princess Ning'an, falsely accused him of stealing imperial objects from the palace because of his covetousness with his family's imperial artifacts, and then seized the belongings and transported them all. into his house. At the same time, Eunuch Wei tried his best to cultivate his own family's influence by pulling seedlings to encourage him. He used his nephew Wei Liangqing as Jinshu Jinyiwei, who was in charge of the governor of Nanzhen; his nephew Wei Ximeng as Jinyi Tongzhi, controlled Jinyiwei; For the governor's affairs, he was in charge of the Lin army; as for the eunuchs of the inner court, more than 30 people including Wang Tiqian and Li Chaoqin "warmly supported" him; "Five Tigers"; Wuchen Tian Ergeng, Xu Xianchun, Cui Yingyuan, Sun Yunhe, Yang Huan, etc. are responsible for killing people and eliminating dissidents, and they are called "Five Biao"; Zhou Yingqiu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and others are in charge of "organization and personnel", and they are called "Ten Dogs" ; There are also titles such as "Ten Children" and "Forty Grandchildren", which are innumerable.From the cabinet, the six ministries to the governors of the four directions, Wei Zhongxian is full of buddies, and the internal and external powers are all in the hands of Wei Zhongxian.

The funny thing is that Cao Qincheng, the servant of the eunuch party, had a bad relationship with everyone, and was deprived of his citizenship as a citizen and excluded from the court.Lao Cao bid farewell, and cried in front of Wei Zhongxian: "The righteousness of the monarch and his ministers is over, and the kindness of father and son is unforgettable!"After Wei Zhongxian's defeat, Cao Qincheng was imprisoned for many years, and his family did not send him food.Lao Cao robbed the food of other prisoners every day, and was drunk all day long.Li Zicheng broke through Beijing, Cao Qincheng surrendered in prison, and finally lost with the intruders, without knowing where he ended up.

In order to further attack the Donglin party members, Wei Zhongxian asked the eunuch cabinet minister Gu Bingqian to revise the "Three Dynasties Essential Code", which described in detail the "Hongwan Case", "Shooting Case", and "Moving Palace Case", and wanted to make the "Three Dynasties Case" The "case" reverses black and white and casts it into an iron case. In the sixth year of the Apocalypse, when Jin Yiwei went to Suzhou to arrest Zhou Shunchang, the head of the Ministry of Officials, Zhou Shunchang had a good reputation because of Tiqi's dominance. Big civil upheaval. Of course, in the end Zhou Shunchang and Yan Peiwei, who wanted to save him, were all killed.The "Tombstone of Five People" in the middle school textbook records the whole story of this incident in detail.In fact, this kind of civil uprising is also a sign, which shows that the rule of the Ming Dynasty really has a sense of fading away.The resentment in the hearts of the common people at the grassroots level is like melting slurry in a volcano, ready to explode. Changed from the previous eunuch Shangshu who called himself "servant", Wei Zhongxian called himself "Chen"; changed from the previous eunuchs who called the emperor "Long Live Lord", Wei Zhongxian changed his name to "Emperor" and "Your Majesty" The father-in-law is equivalent to the minister of the foreign court.Moreover, Wei Zhongxian at this time has already been called "Nine Thousand Years" by the eunuchs in the palace. As long as it falls on his birthday, the sound of "Thousand Years, Thousand Years, Thousand Years" resounds like thunder, reverberating in the Forbidden Palace for a long time. The ministers of the foreign court were even more shameless. When they met Eunuch Wei, they flattered him as "nine thousand and nine hundred years old", which was only "one hundred years old" behind the emperor. In order to demonstrate the dignity, every time Wei Zhongxian goes out, he rides in a gorgeous and unusually gorgeous Wenxuan car with a green cover and feathers, four horses drawn like dragons and horses, surrounded by knights with swords and guards in brocade clothes, plus actors, actors, and chefs. People wait for handymen and others, and there are about ten thousand followers.Eunuch Wei likes the ostentation of a big drama. On the way, drums and thunder, beating and beating, wind and flute music, the smoke and dust avoid the sky, and the flags spread all over the ground. Passers-by along the road always misunderstand that the emperor is coming. Eunuch Wei's concubine, Hakka, did his part.Every time I go out, I wear beautiful clothes and make-up. Dozens of old women paint their eyebrows, paint their eyes, powder their cheeks, and dozens of eunuchs, including Wang Chaozhong, wear red jade belts as their precursors.She also often traveled around in a horse-drawn carriage in the Forbidden Palace, and never got out of the carriage at the rest place of the Qing Palace, just like a grandma. Keshi is very happy to go out of the palace at night to return to his private house, and the torch shines on the ground, shining like daytime.Around the carriage, hundreds of court ladies dressed in gorgeous palace gowns, each carrying a lantern, look like fairies descending from the mortal world, surrounded by the Hakka carriage.After the gate of the private house was opened, thousands of people, from the stewards to the servants, kowtowed one after another, shouting "Old Ancestor Wife Thousand Years, Thousand Years, Thousand Years", and the noise shook the sky. In order to further respect Wei Zhongxian, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty and the eunuchs of the inner court did not dare to call him by his first name, but only called him "Factory Minister".The cabinet minister drew up the ticket in the name of the emperor, and kept saying "I and the factory minister", that is, in the official official document, Eunuch Wei and the current emperor stayed shoulder to shoulder. In the summer of the sixth year of the Apocalypse, Pan Ruzhen, governor of Zhejiang Province, began to build a "living shrine" for Wei Zhongxian in the name of machine household gratitude, that is, a living memorial hall, located between Guan Yu Temple and Yue Fei Temple.He flattered and praised Eunuch Wei for "being diligent and caring for the country, and thinking about caring for the people".Shushang, the imperial decree praised him and gave him the name "Pude".As a result, the flattering officials all over the world followed suit, and the ancestral halls of Duke Wei were all over the world. , "Yongen", "Chongde", "Chongren", "Repaying Gratitude" and other excellent names.The cost of a temple ranges from tens of thousands to tens of millions, all of which are paid out of the public treasury, plus scraping money from the people. For the construction of the shrine, the forests in various places also suffered a lot, and most of them were cut down for the wood of the shrine.The ancestral temple built by Wu Chunfu and others is huge in scale, with nine entrances to the palace, as solemn as an imperial temple, and as magnificent as an emperor's residence.Just one item of land occupation will demolish tens of thousands of houses.In the ancestral temples in Datong, Huguang, Jizhou and other places, the statues of Wei Zhongxian are all made of pure gold, wearing a sky-rocket on his head, and holding a jade wat in his hand, just like the emperor of heaven.Due to the many skillful craftsmen, most of the statues in the Wei Zhongxian Temple in the south of the Yangtze River are made of agarwood. The eyes, ears, mouth, nose, hands, and feet are lifelike. When the sun is shining, the mouth can make sounds. Even the stomachs of the sitting statues are carved into intestines, stomachs, hearts and livers with gold, jade and jewelry according to the true proportion. The lungs and kidneys are full of oil and offal, which is like a real person. The statue of Wei Zhongxian is decorated with ornate color rituals, and a hole is left in the topknot for daily seasonal flowers to be inserted. Once, because the head of a seated statue in a ancestral temple was carved too big, the little eunuch sent by the imperial court to give the crown pressed the real precious gold crown on the head for a long time and couldn't press it down for a long time.The craftsman was terrified, and seeing that the size was slightly off, he picked up the ax and shaved off the head of the statue twice to stabilize the crown.When the little eunuch saw that his "father" had his head chopped off, he felt pain in his heart, hugged the portrait and cried loudly, scolding the craftsmen. ... The eunuchs are like this, and the officials are even worse.Li Jingbai, governor of Shandong Province, flattered Eunuch Wei with the words "Yaotian's majesty" when he built the ancestral hall. The "Wei" who suppressed Lord Wei"; Huang Yuntai, governor of Tianjin, led local officials to welcome the statue of Eunuch Wei, performed five prostrations and three kowtows, and led them on horseback, as if welcoming an imperial decree; The return is the obedience of the heart of heaven.” Eunuch Wei became the savior of the people; many officials knelt in front of the statue of Eunuch Wei and “sweared” one by one: “On a certain day in a certain month and a certain year, the nine thousand-year-old promotion !” Then, he kowtowed to express his thanks, and danced again and again. When Wei Gonggong's personal worship was at its peak, Lu Wanling, a member of the Imperial College, proposed that Wei Zhongxian and Kong Shengren should be honored together. The reason was that Wei Gonggong "eliminated traitors and preserved good people."He also compared them one by one: Confucius wrote "Spring and Autumn", Wei Gonggong wrote "Three Dynasties Yaodian"; Confucius punished Shao Zhengmao, and Wei Gonggong punished the evil party in Donglin. The student Zhu Zhijun was even more amazing. Instead of the trouble of writing a letter and going to the yamen, he directly put up big-character posters on the road, claiming that Wei Zhongxian's contribution was "below Dayu and above Mencius", and that the statue of Wei Zhongxian should be moved into the Confucian Temple to sit side by side with Confucius. . Scholars in the capital are so shameless that it can be seen how violently the eunuch party has destroyed morale. Arrogant to such an extent, Wei Zhongxian and the Hakkas then made up the idea of ​​Ming Xizong Empress Zhang, and planned to take the operation on Empress Zhang's father Zhang Guoji first.Empress Zhang is a virtuous and dignified woman, she hates Wei Zhongxian and Hakka very much, once she saw that Hakka was too ostentatious in the palace and regarded herself as the empress dowager, so she summoned the half-grandmother to reprimand her.As far as court etiquette is concerned, the empress is the most respected, and Ke Shi did not dare to say anything at that time, but she hated the mistress to death in her heart. Empress Zhang also satirized Xi Zong.One day, the young emperor went into the Queen's Palace to chat and saw Zhang Hou was reading, so he asked with a smile, "What book is the Queen reading?" Zhang replied seriously, "The Biography of Zhao Gao." of silence. The confidant palace maid placed by Ke Shi quickly reported the matter.After discussing secretly with Lao Chuan, Ke Shi and Wei Zhongxian spread that Empress Zhang was not Zhang Guoji's biological daughter, and planned to use Empress Zhang's father, Taikang Bo Zhang Guoji, as the starting point to attack.Therefore, Eunuch Wei secretly sent several strong men to the side hall, and let them carry sharp knives.The Jinyi Guards had already arranged to take down these strong men in one fell swoop.At that time Ming Xizong was making furniture. Hearing the turmoil in the courtyard, there was a lot of noise, so he hurried out to ask what happened. As a result, the emperor was startled and angry when he saw several big men and the dangling weapons all over the place, and immediately called Eunuch Wei to send them to the factory guards for severe torture. After the big men were imprisoned, according to Eunuch Wei's previous confession, they all admitted that they were appointed by Queen Zhang's father Zhang Guoji, and planned to enter the palace to kill the emperor and then seek to establish the emperor's brother Zhu Youjian.Within a few days, Wei Zhongxian had sent someone to compile the confession into a book, preparing to set up a big prison, and enlist Queen Zhang's family and Xi Zong's younger brother Xin Wang together to kill them. Just about to present it to the emperor, the eunuch Wang Tiqian read a lot and knew the character of Emperor Xizong himself. He persuaded Wei Zhongxian, saying: "The master is confused about all major affairs inside and outside the court, but the friendship between husband and wife and brothers is not weak. If in case If the matter fails, the emperor will be furious, and we are all done!" Wei Zhongxian thought about it, and the more he thought about it, the more afraid he became, if the emperor summoned his younger brother Xin Wang and empress Zhang for the interrogation, those people would tell a lot of secrets about themselves, which might make the emperor change his trust in him. Frightened, Lao Wei murdered and silenced, and sent someone to hack to death several strong men whom he himself had sent to be "assassins" beforehand, and threw their corpses into the wild. After that, Wei Zhongxian still wanted to take over the world's military power, so he sent his confidant eunuchs out to guard Shanhaiguan, and ordered the governor of Taicang and Qishen, the two major treasuries under the Li Jian, to grasp the logistics support while grasping the military power.However, the military system of the Ming Dynasty was too complicated. It was easy for Eunuch Wei to control the government within the court, and it was also easy for officials from all over the country to pledge their allegiance to him.In terms of relatives, Wei Zhongxian, in the name of the emperor, added Wei Liangqing, the nephew of Ning Guogong, as the prince Taibao, Wei Mingwang Jinyi, Marshal Wei Ming, grand nephew Wei Liangdong Anhou, and Wei Pengyi Anpingbo (the two are two years old and the other three years old).The Wei family's in-laws Dong Fangming, Wang Xuan, Yang Liuqi and others all went to important positions in the army such as the left and right governors and the governor Tongzhi. Wei Zhongxian vigorously promoted Cui Chengxiu, his confidant and chief strategist, as Minister of the Ministry of War, Shaofu and Taizi Taifu, and also served as the censor of Zuodu.Cui Chengxiu had just passed away his mother, and Yili should go home to observe the funeral. Naturally, Old Wei couldn't leave him, and let him take matters into his own hands.In the Ming Dynasty, the word "Duoqing" was most eye-catching when the emperor asked Zhang Juzheng's chief assistant to "Duoqing" after his father's death.Originally, "duoqing" generally refers to the fact that when the generals of the army go out to resist, if they abandon the army to go to the funeral at a critical moment, it will definitely affect the military situation. Therefore, ordinary soldiers will observe loyalty and retire from filial piety. That's why it's called "Love".Under such circumstances, officials are exempt from Ding You.Zhang Juzheng was in love with power. He was supposed to go back to his hometown for the funeral and then stay at home and serve the guard system for 27 months.Under the persuasion of his confidant Li Youzi, he came up with the trick of "seizing love", which was actually deviant, and was attacked by many officials at that time. Later generations followed suit. When Cui Chengxiu came here, he played the trick of "seizing love". When everything was going well, there was a big problem at the root of Wei Zhongxian's wealth and glory: Ming Xizong's health was failing due to years of drinking and indulgence and taking aphrodisiacs. Wei Zhongxian's demise On the 22nd of August in the autumn of the seventh year of Tianqi (1627), Ming Xizong, who had been taking aphrodisiacs for many years, "collapsed".He was only twenty-three years old.According to historical records, the eunuch Huo Weihua had a brother-in-law who was a little eunuch guarding the Meridian Gate. He offered a kind of "Xianfang Linglu" to Emperor Xizong. Put a long-necked silver bottle, add miscellaneous rice little by little at any time, and pour water in the pot little by little. The sweet sweat distilled is known as the essence of rice grains, and it is said that drinking it can prolong life.Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty liked to drink this kind of drink very much, and usually gave the leftover "Xianlu" to his servants. Ming Xizong was seriously ill, Wei Zhongxian was flustered and the boss was not happy, he believed that there was something wrong with the drink offered by Huo Weihua's brother-in-law, the eunuch, which aggravated the emperor's condition, so he called Huo Weihua to scold him.Judging from the "recipe", this drink is absolutely natural and does not contain any toxic minerals. If Emperor Xizong's drinking really aggravated his condition, it can only show that he is still suffering from severe diabetes.Otherwise, the sweet pure rice drink is not harmful to ordinary people at all. Huo Weihua saw that Eunuch Wei shifted the responsibility to himself, and found out that the emperor was in a state of death, and he was heartbroken with hatred and fear. Before Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty died, he called his half-brother Zhu Youxiao into the palace to entrust his funeral affairs.When a person is about to die, his words are also kind. This licentious king sincerely hopes that his younger brother can be a wise king like "Yao and Shun", and asks him to take good care of his Queen Zhang. Finally, he earnestly asks his younger brother to trust Wei Zhongxian. At that time, the letter king Zhu Youjian burst into tears and nodded repeatedly. After the collapse of Xi Zong, Zhu Youjian, the king of faith, was called into the palace.Eunuch Wei greeted him personally at the door.It was just at dawn when all the officials heard the obituary, they all went to the gate of the palace, but were stopped by the eunuchs and told them to wear mourning clothes to enter the palace.Everyone quickly changed their clothes, and when they re-entered, they were told that they should still wear ordinary clothes.The ministers were exhausted and out of breath, begging the gatekeeper eunuch for mercy, hoping to enter the palace first to cry.In the end, the eunuch of the gate saw a large number of courtiers kneeling in Hulala and weeping, so he had to wave his hand to let them in. When everyone entered the palace, the body of the "Emperor Daxing" was placed in the mourning hall, and all the officials cried loudly.Apart from King Xin, the only important figures in the funeral home were the eunuchs Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian.Wang Tigan, the Ritual Superintendent and the admiral who supervised the eunuch, was knowledgeable in literature and etiquette, and kept directing the Ritual Department to arrange the details of the funeral.Grand Duke Wei sat in front of the coffin in a daze, as if his concubine was mourning, his eyes were rotten from crying. After the officials left the palace, Wei Zhongxian summoned Cui Chengxiu, Minister of the Ministry of War, into the palace alone, and the secret words of the people were changed. Later generations do not know what the two discussed.Shi Chen speculated: "Wei Zhongxian wanted to usurp himself, but Cui Chengxiu stopped the matter because the timing was not right."Eunuch Wei is full of crimes and crimes, but he has absolutely no idea of ​​"usurping the throne"!No matter how illiterate or illiterate he is, he should know that since ancient times, there has never been such a thing as a father-in-law being an emperor.Besides, Ming Xizong was brought up by him, and the relationship between father and son is as deep as father and son.That's why he cried until his eyes were swollen, he became unconscious, and even his bad thoughts temporarily stopped. Not only the old Wei was heartbroken, but Emperor Xi Zong's nanny Hakka also cried to death. She knelt and cried before the coffin, and took out the "fetal hair scab" wrapped in yellow silk from the small gold box and the accumulation of shaved hair accumulated over the years. , teeth, nails and other things, crying and burning, almost fainting. The grief of these two wicked people at this moment has nothing to do with acting.One is because of the family relationship for many years, and the other is because of the black and ominous premonition in their hearts: the emperor as the "host" is dead, and no matter how big and tough these "worms" are, how many days can they last? Xin Wang Zhu Youjian is the emperor, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, that is, Emperor Sizong Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty. In order to test the meaning of the new emperor, Wei Zhongxian begged to resign from office.The new emperor is an old and cautious person, pretending not to allow it, and first stabilize Eunuch Wei.However, "Mrs. Fengsheng" Ke Shi had no reason to stay in the palace anymore, she moved out of the palace in desperation. Emperor Chongzhen was only seventeen years old when he succeeded to the throne, and he was very calm and alert.After ascending the throne, not only did he not move Wei Zhongxian, but he also quickly issued an order to grant Wei Zhongxian's nephew and grandnephew "iron coupons", which seemed to be insurance for the old Wei's family.Foreign ministers didn't know what to do, Jiangxi governor Yang Bangxian and others still applied to build a shrine for Wei Zhongxian, but the imperial edict refused.This seems to be a signal that Wei Zhongxian is going to be unlucky. A few days later, the Governor of Denglai played the Xuanchuan Great Victory and rewarded them for their meritorious deeds. Wei Zhongxian, Cui Chengxiu and others all participated.All these made the waiting and watching officials confused, and the eunuchs were also uncertain about the new emperor's intentions. Yang Weiyuan, the censor who was originally a member of Wei Eun's party, harbored resentment because Wei Guangwei, one of the leaders of the Eunuch party, did not promote and reuse him.After smelling the political atmosphere, he discussed with his cousin Xu Dahua in detail, and decided to participate in the impeachment of Cui Chengxiu first, and prepared to bet on it.In this way, if the eunuch party falls, he will become the first batch of "heroes" to overthrow the eunuch party.The world is indeed ridiculous. After the death of Emperor Tianxi, the first person who jumped out to fight against the eunuch party turned out to be the core member of the eunuch party who first brought the loyal minister Gu Dazhang into Xiong Tingbi's case for Wei Zhongxian. Emperor Chongzhen followed the trend and acted according to the memorial, first dismissing Cui Chengxiu as an official.Soon after, an imperial edict was issued to punish Pan Ruzhen, the governor of Zhejiang who first played for Wei Zhongxian to build a shrine. Then, Lu Chengyuan, the head of the Ministry of Industry, went up and pointed out that Wei Zhongxian had received too much favor, but he did not dare to denounce it.Qian Yuanxi, the head of the Ministry of War who followed closely, impeached Wei Zhongxian for breaking the law: Wei Zhongxian, the official of the factory, served in the service of dressing clothes in the posture of an owl. The late emperor thought that he served diligently, and pretended to be in power.Praise of meritorious deeds spread all over the world, almost like Wang Mang's arrogance of talisman orders; the third rank of nobles, thrown into the stinky milk, is almost like the five lords of Liang Ji's family; Precious chariots and treasures are stored in Suning, which is almost like Dong Zhuo's Wuwu; Yin nourishes the dead, and Chen Bing defends himself, almost like putting people behind Huanwen's wall; spreading advertisements and criticizing the road with eyes, almost like (Wu) Zetian's pliers and auspicious nets.The first emperor thought that Zhongxian was driven to work a little bit, and the day he heard the words of praise came, he did not expect his authority to be attached to this.If the first emperor knew about his misfortune early, he must be loyal and virtuous. ... Wei Liangqing's generation, who were not the founders of the country, nor were they favored by the dragon, wanted to tarnish Mouth and this Yi badge.Immediately ordered to disband the gentry, and the long farmer passed away.Zhang Tiqian who was rewarded, Yang Huan who was exercising suddenly expensive, Zhang Lingyun who took a sedan chair as a husband, Chen Datong who was commissioned to open a stick, Tian Ergeng who was known as the eldest son, Bai Taishi and Gong Yiming who were friends of Ningguo, etc. The minions are all clear about the crime of violence, they are killed or released, the traitors are eliminated, and the nine streams are cleared up. The article is well written, full of literary spirit, and unrestrained, but it doesn't get to the point.At this time, Qian Jiazheng, a tribute student from Zhejiang, wrote a letter, listing Wei Zhongxian's ten major crimes in detail: Said "Emperor Bing": the seal must be closed first, to praise the merits and virtues, and to match the late emperor;Said "Mianhou": Zhang Guoji, the emperor's relative, did not suffer from the "unpardonable" clause. The first emperor ordered Zhongxian to declare the empress to destroy the decree and not pass it on, causing the empress to rebel in front of the emperor;Lai Xiandi is a god, only guilty of small guilt.Otherwise, the palace will be in danger!It is said that "playing soldiers": the ancestors did not hear about internal maneuvers, loyal and virtuous, threatening ministers and workers from outside, forcing the palace from inside, wielding swords and sharp blades, and striking with cannons, stones and lightning.It is said that "there are no two ancestors": Emperor Gao taught that "Zhongjuan is not allowed to interfere in the government". , Water transport throat, put more heart, what is the intention?It is said that "Keep off the feudal vassals": in the kingdom of the three kings, the land given by Zhuangtian is not as good as one of the Fufans; but the land of the loyal and virtuous princes and uncles is selected to be fertile, no less than ten thousand hectares.Said "no saint" : The first teacher is the famous leader of all ages, who is loyal and worthy, dare to worship the side of Taixue!It is said that "indiscriminate nobles": the ancient system is not based on military merits, and the loyal and virtuous have exhausted the world's resources to help form the three palaces, and they actually attacked the nobles of Shanggong, so shy and ignorant!It is said that "inviting the frontier merit": since the founding bandits (Manchurians) violated obedience, they have fallen into famous cities, annihilated women, killed marshals, and the gods and men are indignant; Before the banquet was warm, Zhongxian pretended to be Hou Bo.How can we pay for the return of fake Liaoyang and Guangning books?It is said that "Jianmin fat cream": counties and counties asked for no less than a hundred words, and the temple fee was no less than 50,000 gold; breaking the bones and stripping the marrow, is it the blood of the country!It is said that "Tongtong joints": Shuntian Xiangbang was disassembled on the 26th, and Cui Duo posted it on the 24th, and then republished the Zhongxian Book; Wei Zhongxian learned that several people had impeached him, but didn't know the details, so he ran into the palace in a hurry, knelt and cried and sued Emperor Chongzhen. Seeing that the majestic Eunuch Wei was so relaxed in the past, Emperor Chongzhen laughed secretly, and asked his fellow eunuch Wang Tiqian to read Qian Jiazheng's memorials aloud. Wei Zhongxian knelt and listened, terrified and sweating like rain. The ashen-faced Wei Zhongxian came home from the palace, racking his brains, remembering that when Emperor Chongzhen was a prince, Xu Yingyuan, a favored eunuch, was his old gambler in the countryside, so he clung to this "life-saving straw" and gave away countless treasures overnight Yu Gonggong said that he would give up the position of eunuch of the East Factory to Lao Xu, and let him say a few good words for himself in front of the emperor. Emperor Chongzhen, not Emperor Tianxi, immediately reprimanded Xu Yingyuan for accepting bribes to speak for Wei Zhongxian, and issued an edict to relegate him to a distant place.In this way, Eunuch Wei can only wait for the slaughter at home. In November, Emperor Chongzhen issued an edict to remove Wei Zhongxian from important positions such as the eunuch of the East Factory.Fearing that his relatives and party members would change quickly, they only took demotions to deal with those people, depriving them of the real power to hold soldiers, and did not immediately punish them with ruthless measures. After staying for a few days, seeing that there was no sign of the Wei Dang's bombing, Emperor Chongzhen came up with courage and ordered Wei Zhongxian to be relocated in Fengyang.For Wei Zhongxian and Hakka's crimes, list them one by one: I have heard that to do all the evil and do all the work, the power of the world is great, the ministers have no generals, and the ones who have a position are admonishing.In our country, the Ming Dynasty hangs three feet, and the big scorpion is severely punished, and the law is the most serious.I have seen that all the ministers have repeatedly listed crimes against Wei Zhongxian, and they have all been fully aware of them.It is hard to enumerate. I think that the first emperor used little labor and false favors. (Wei) Zhongxian didn't think about serving the country with all his loyalty, and rewarded him with kindness.A brief summary: the birth mother of the emperor's elder brother, Princess Huaining, became Li's concubine, and the decree was used to seize it, and the grievances have not yet been resolved; , And with his confidantes, he tortured him severely, falsely defended his internal organs for selfishness, and killed many people.If he is in pain under the stick, if he is soft, he is suffering from the shackle.The subjects are full of feet, and the road is for the eyes.And receiving the third rank, honoring the fifth rank, is an unprecedented honor for a minister.Tongtong Hakka family was a traitor outside and inside. When the first emperor was dying, he was still favored and promoted to rank, and his death was extremely disciplined.Ancestor Lai is the spirit of the sky, the sky hates the great evil, the gods take his soul, and his crimes are exposed.I think Zhongxian and others not only peeked at the famous artifacts, messed up the criminal seals, but also stole my ancestral treasures, rare treasures, gold and silver, etc. Positive.The second crime of family property, naturalization as an official.He abused his ancestors and relatives, and they were all garrisoned in a miasma forever. The "nine thousand and nine hundred years old" in the past is not even as good as a dog now!Wei Zhongxian had no choice but to go on the road obediently.After walking for three days, the group rested at night in a small hotel run by a shopkeeper surnamed You in Fucheng. Eunuch Wei received a secret report from the party members in Beijing: the imperial court issued a new decree to arrest him and return to Beijing for retrial. The Grand Duke killed countless people like he abused animals in the past. Thinking that he would soon return to the living hell in Jinyiwei Prison, and personally experience the cruel punishment that he thought was a joke in the past, Old Wei's whole body was cold even to the fingernails.In desperation, after thinking about it, I realized that the word "death" cannot be escaped.So, in the middle of the night, Eunuch Wei and his fellow eunuchs hanged on the beam of the room. Wei Zhongxian, who did a lot of evil, got a "good death". As for the Hakka clan, Jin Yiwei found eight pregnant young women when they ransacked the house. It is said that they might want to sneak into the palace and pretend to be "princes" before Ming Xizong's death. Emperor Chongzhen was furious, and immediately ordered the guards to go to the clothing bureau, handed over the big sticks, and beat the old women into a pile of meat. Cui Chengxiu was under "double regulation" at her home in Suzhou and was awaiting investigation.When he heard of Wei Zhongxian's defeat, he knew it was inevitable.So, overnight, he held a big banquet, and had dozens of prostitutes and concubines present their white meat to accompany the wine, displaying the rare treasures he had received over the past few years, opening several altars of delicious royal wine, and drinking with open arms.Every time he drank a full cup, he picked up a treasure, looked at it carefully and threw it on the ground to destroy it.Drink ten cups in a row, and drop countless priceless and rare treasures.After laughing, weeping again.Cui Chengxiu's many concubines were all at a loss, not knowing why the master had lost his heart. Drunk and drunk, the eunuch mastermind threw a white rope on the beam and hanged himself. As for the members of Wei Zhongxian's clan, such as his nephew Wei Liangqing and others, all those who were related to Wei with the surname Wei were sent to the downtown area to be executed.Several baskets were filled with hundreds of heads of men and women, big and small.Many of them were still babies, and when their small bodies were placed under the sword, they were still sleeping quietly. "The whole world thinks that it is a cruel retribution, and there is no displeasure." After killing the first batch of "evil chiefs", Emperor Chongzhen recalled Han Kuang, the chief assistant who had been excluded by eunuchs before, and asked him to organize manpower to investigate Wei Zhongxian's party members.Han Ge is a kind old man, he is lenient to his old enemies, he investigates carefully, and has not reported the names and numbers for several days. At this time, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't hold his breath, and urged the officials of the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Punishment to assist in the investigation and handling of the case. Finally, in the second year of Chongzhen, he announced the list of "reverse cases" and announced to the world: The two first rebellious Ling Chi: Wei Zhongxian, Hakka (Wei Zhongxian is dead, can only kill the corpse). The first rebellious and accomplices are six people who will never wait for the time: (Cui) Chengxiu and Wei Liangqing, the Hakka son and governor Hou Guoxing, the eunuchs Li Yongzhen, Li Chaoqin, and Liu Ruoyu. Nineteen people were executed after making friends with close attendants: Liu Zhixuan, Liang Menghuan, Ni Wenhuan, Tian Ji, Liu Zhao, Xue Zhen, Wu Chunfu, Li Kuilong, Cao Qincheng, Xu Zhiji, the official of Dali Temple, Sun Ruzheng, the general judge of Shuntianfu, Lu Wanling, a student of the Imperial College, Fengcheng Hou Li Chengzuo, governor Tian Ergeng, Xu Xianchun, Cui Yingyuan, Yang Huan, Sun Yunhe, Zhang Tiqian. I made friends with eleven people who were second-class soldiers: Wei Guangwei, Zhou Yingqiu, Yan Mingtai, Huo Weihua, Xu Dahua, Pan Ruzhen, Li Lusheng, Yang Weiyuan, Zhang Na, the governor Guo Qin, and the commander of Xiaolingwei Li Zhicai. Those who made close servants and waited for three years to lose and redeem for the people: University scholars Gu Bingqian, Feng Quan, Zhang Ruitu, Lai Zongdao, Shangshu Wang Shaohui, Guo Yunhou, Zhang Woxu, Cao Erzhen, Meng Shaoyu, Feng Jiahui, Li Chunye, Shao Fuzhong, Lu Chunru, Xu Zhaokui, Xue Fengxiang, Sun Jie, Yang Menggun, Li Yangde, Liu Tingyuan, Cao Sicheng, Nanjing Shangshu Fan Jishi, Zhang Pu, Governor Shangshu Huang Yuntai, Guo Shangyou, Li Congxin, Governor Shangshu Li Jingbai and other 129 people. Forty-four people, such as Huang Liji, made friends with those who were dismissed from their posts and stayed idle. 魏忠贤亲属（可能是姻亲疏属）及内官党附者又五十余人。 名单中应该注意的是，首先弹劾阉党的原阉党杨维坦也被惩治，受到削籍处理，罪名是“逆阉亲信，占气最先，转身最捷，贪无为功，沽名反复”。小人枉为小人。此外，名单中还有最早与阉党分手的兵部尚书霍维华。 魏忠贤逆党定案后，漏网的党羽多次蠢蠢欲动。更可笑的是，崇祯帝派去整理逆党的吏部尚书王永光本人就与阉党是“同志”。他后来与奸臣温体仁多次谋划翻案，均因崇祯帝的坚定态度而未遂。 这位新君对魏忠贤及其同伙极端厌恶，日后有人上章举荐阉党人物霍维华等人重新为官，崇祯帝怒下诏旨，把举荐人谪戌重罚。此后，其党待偃旗息鼓，不敢再言。明朝灭亡后，福王朱由崧跑到南京建立小朝廷，漏网阉党阮大铖冒定策之功，援引杨维坦、徐得阳等阉党复起，大肆残害东林党人等异已，勾心斗角，直至南明覆亡乃止。 观明天熹帝一朝，给我们后人留下最难忘印象的，是杨涟、左光斗等“东林六君子”的“明知不可为而为之”的耿耿忠贞。为了清除奸阉邪党，为了尽忠报国，他们不惜身死族灭，挺身而出，赤手空拳与手握东厂、锦衣卫实权的魏忠贤抗争，忠直肝肠，苌弘碧血，不惧酷刑，不悲残死，不悔直节，正如杨涟被杀前所表白的那样： 浩气还太虚，丹心照千古。平生未报恩，留作忠魂补。 至今读之，凛然生气，沛然诗文之间。 特别可贵又可悲的是，这些骨鲠忠臣，皆为血肉之身，皆有家人宗族，他们绝对不似简单宣传中的董存瑞，刘胡兰那样的“英雄符号”式人物。在天高不可呼、阉党猛于虎的暴虐政权下，在与妻儿父母痛别后，在被逮入地狱般的锦衣卫诏狱前，这些道德文章气节均达至“完人”层次的烈士，也有凄怆，也有迷茫，也有对生命深沉的眷恋： 世事浮云变古今，等闲回首尽伤心。愁霾镇日迷荒草，不觉郊原夜色侵。——《顾大章被逮道经故人里门》