Chapter 9 red pill case

There is a little more than five years between the Hongwan case and the stiletto attack case. It happened at the turn of August and September in the forty-eighth year of Wanli (1620).At this time, Wanli had passed away in mid-July of that year, and his eldest son Zhu Changluo had ascended the throne in early August, and finally ascended to the throne.Although the eldest son of the emperor had ascended the throne as emperor, he did not have his own reign title during his lifetime.He and his father Ming Shenzong, among the 16 emperors of the Ming Dynasty, can be said to be two people who are separated from each other in terms of their reign time.Ming Shenzong Wanli ascended the throne for a total of forty-eight years, which can be said to be the longest reigning emperor in the Ming Dynasty.Contrary to him, the eldest son of the emperor only had a total of 30 days from his enthronement to his exile, which can be said to be the one with the shortest reign.Although his reign was short, the second of the three cases in the late Ming Dynasty happened during his reign, and he was the most important person in that case.

Due to the short reign time, Zhu Changluo did not have his own reign name during his lifetime, because according to the usual practice, the new king would not be able to change the reign title until New Year's Day of the next year. Can live to the next year, so there is no year number during his lifetime.But since he has already ascended the throne, there must be a year number to indicate the period of his reign. Therefore, after his death, when he entered the Taimiao with his father and was called Guangzong, it was discussed by the courtiers. The 48th year of Wanli is divided into two parts. From January to July of that year, it is still called the 48th year of Wanli, and from August it is renamed the first year of Taichang.The reign title of Taichang was agreed upon for the eldest son of the emperor.Some historians felt that the second day of the year was too inconvenient, so they simply changed the Wanli year to the forty-seventh year, and collectively called the forty-eightth year the first year of Taichang.Therefore, there are two theories about the chronology of Wanli. One says it is forty-eight years, and the other says it is only forty-seven years. The reason for the differences is that some count the last year as the first year of Taichang, and some It also omitted the year name that did not actually exist.

The reason why the emperor's eldest son reigned so short was that he was ill when he came to the throne, and later took the wrong medicine, so the emperor who had only been in power for thirty days had to go to the funeral.He is Wanli's eldest son, and because he and his biological mother were not happy with Wanli, he lived in a depressed and indifferent environment for most of his life. It was not until after the taping case that he suddenly changed again.But this sudden change became the root cause of his inability to live forever.The taping case was so noisy that it was finally settled by Wanli who praised him to the officials. We have already described this in the previous chapter.Since then, his position in the East Palace has been firmly established, Wanli treats him differently, let alone others, and his life suddenly changes, which is quite different from before.The most obvious change is that Concubine Zheng treats him like two different people.Concubine Zheng Guifei was ordered by Wanli to ask him to solve the case of the stiletto attack. Only then did she feel that the matter of abolishing the establishment had come to naught, and it was a foregone conclusion that the eldest son of the emperor whom she had bullied would be the future emperor.The prospect terrified her.In order to premeditate, she reversed what she had done in the past and flattered the eldest son of the emperor.On the pretext of being grateful for his rescue, she tried her best to get close to him in order to do what she liked and improve the relationship between them.She is a person who is very good at observing words and expressions, and soon she discovered that the eldest son of the emperor is also very similar to his father.Seeing these weaknesses, she displayed all her skills, not only donating money and jewels at any time, but also choosing eight of the most beautiful ladies among her court ladies to present to the eldest son of the emperor, asking them to serve him.

The character of the eldest son of the emperor was really seen through by Concubine Zheng. He had been suppressed for a long time before, so naturally he could only look forward to what he liked. Although he improved later, but under the prestige, he did not dare to ask for it.Today, according to his wish, Concubine Zheng was so kind to him, she gave him beauties, jewels, everything, he felt very grateful, and forgot all the contempt and cold reception he received before.His physique was originally not good, but he suddenly turned from adversity to prosperity, just like a poor man who becomes rich, he inevitably lost his indulgence, and for several years he often indulged in a life of excessive drinking and sex. Although he is not yet forty, his body has already collapsed On the brink of collapse.He ascended the throne on the first day of August in the forty-eighth year of Wanli. At that time, he was already seriously ill, and he only managed to complete the ceremony of ascension with barely struggling.Afterwards, although he was still able to face the imperial court due to illness until August 12th, he became sick and could no longer sit at the imperial court after that.The reason why he fell ill so suddenly was that it was said that his servant Cui Wensheng saw him. What Cui used was a pair of laxatives.At this time, when he told his ministers, he also said that he was "dizzy, weak and unable to move", which clearly revealed the danger of his illness.In fact, he knew at that time that he was going to be sick, so he summoned his ministers on the sick bed one after another, talking about how to arrange the funeral.On August 29th, he summoned Fang Congzhe, the chief assistant, and other ministers. At the same time, he also called his eldest son Zhu Youxiao, Ming Xizong who was later named Tianqi, to his bed. look like.He talked about the Shoumu and the mausoleum, and Fang Congzhe mistook him for asking about the recently deceased Ming Shenzong, but the sick man pointed to himself and said, "Zhenshou Palace is also."Only then did Fang Congzhe realize that the emperor who had just ascended the throne had not shy away from talking about his funeral.Later, the emperor asked again: "There is an official from Honghe Temple who came to feed the medicine. Where is he?" Fang Congzhe said, "Li Kezhuo, the Chancellor of Honghe Temple, said that he has immortal prescriptions, but the ministers couldn't believe it." But the emperor, who already knew that he couldn't do it, wanted to try this fairy recipe very much, so he immediately ordered someone to announce Li Kezhuo to the palace, and asked him to offer the medicine quickly.What Li Kezhuo took was a kind of red pill, which was later called the "Red Pill Case".After taking the medicine for the first time, the effect seemed to be very good. The emperor felt very comfortable and kept praising Li Kezhuo as a loyal minister.Soon, he ordered his servant to deliver an edict, convincing him that the medicine was fine, and ordered him to take another pill.After Li Kezhuo went to take the medicine again, Fang Congzhe and others asked about the emperor's condition, and Li Kezhuo replied "very good".But in the early morning of the next day, that is, the morning of the first day of September, the emperor, who had only been on the throne for one month, passed away.

The emperor took medicine given by a person at night, and died at dawn, and the person who took the medicine was not an imperial doctor. This kind of thing was not a trivial matter in the feudal era.Because I didn't know what Hongwan was, and some other reasons were involved, this incident finally became one of the three cases in the late Ming Dynasty, which also caused a lot of trouble. When it comes to what kind of medicine Li Kezhuo took the red pill, the people who talked about it later have very different opinions.Some people think it is just a kind of traditional Chinese medicine; others think otherwise, saying that it should be a kind of elixir taken by Taoists. It is red in color and naturally contains a lot of cinnabar. a little.There are also some people who think that both theories are not credible, saying that it is just an ordinary tonic, and Li Kezhuo thinks that there will be no accidents in tonics, so he dares to enter.There are probably a lot of people who hold the first two theories, and each of them is based on historical facts, and they think it is very reasonable.Those who hold the third theory can't come up with any historical facts, but only reasoned, so the number of them is relatively small.

People who say that red pills are traditional Chinese medicines are based on the fact that most of the emperors in the Ming Dynasty were lustful. Because of their indulgence, they favored some sycophants to find aphrodisiacs for them to fuel their joy.The life expectancy of the emperors in the Ming Dynasty was not high, and they often passed away in their 30s and 40s, and this was the reason.The most famous person who took aphrodisiacs was Emperor Xianzong Zhu Jianshen of the Ming Dynasty, and Wan An, the first assistant in his court, rose to the top with aphrodisiacs.It was also because of these things that people at the time called it "washing the dick".

People who say that the red pill is a kind of medicine such as Jindan always mention the color of the medicine first. From the color, it can be deduced that it is made of mercury.Furthermore, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were more superstitious about alchemy in the hope of longevity.Among the emperors who took elixirs, Ming Xianzong was also very prominent. The alchemists favored by him included Li Zixing, Deng Changen, Zhao Yuzhi, Ling Zhong, Gu Hong, and the monk Jixiao. many.He has given the titles of real people, mages, Dharma kings, Zen masters, and national teachers to monks and Taoists who received salaries, and the number of them reached more than 1,000.However, in this regard, Ming Xianzong had to make his grandson Ming Shizong the number one.This year is the emperor of Jiajing, and not only more alchemists are favored, but also more benefits and powers are given to them.He retired to the Wanshou Palace in Xiyuan for more than 20 years, ignoring the government for a long time, and only doing alchemy and seeking immortality.Not only is he like this, but also his courtiers are like him.The first assistant Xia Yan committed a crime of abandoning the market, and his refusal to take the Taoist scarf he gave was actually one of the most important crimes.Yan Song was the one he wanted the most, and he couldn't be defeated by other people's attacks, so Fang Shilan used the shackles skillfully to bring Yan Song down.Whether Wanli also took cinnabar, there is no clear text in the historical records, but in the 30th year of Wanli, he suddenly fell ill and thought he would die, and the next day he was completely fine.This situation is said to be circumstantial evidence of taking cinnabar.

Those who hold the third theory don't have much actual basis, they just use reason to see that the first two are wrong.They believed that it was unreasonable to give aphrodisiacs to dying people. Li Kezhuo was not a lunatic, and he knew that the patient was the emperor, so how dare he act like this?It cannot be a elixir, and the reason is the same as that it cannot be an aphrodisiac, and it is not a medicine that can be given to a dying patient.Some of them also said that Zhu Changluo's body was quickly ruined by indulgence. In the middle of Ming Dynasty, aphrodisiacs were very popular, and they became more prosperous in the late Ming Dynasty.In the court of the Ming Dynasty, the proliferation of aphrodisiacs was even worse than that among the people. Zhu Changluo's indulgence and injury to his body should also be one of the reasons for the abuse of aphrodisiacs. How can he take aphrodisiacs again?They repeatedly refuted it, but it was nothing more than empty talk.But apart from these three theories, there are still people who believe that it is possible that the red pill is an aphrodisiac or a golden pill. If Li Kezhuo is willing to be used by others and deliberately used to speed up his death, the possibility is not impossible of.

In fact, the reason why the Hongwan case has become a major case that has been entangled for many years is mainly because of this last point. The topic, so each of them talked about it again, and then started the dispute.Some people who have always taken the protection of orthodox interests as their own responsibility thought that Cui Wensheng, who had taken laxatives and made his condition suddenly worse, was originally a member of Zheng Guifei, and Li Kezhuo was brought into the palace by Fang Congzhe, so they thought that Li and Cui Wensheng They are all rebellious, and should be punished with capital punishment; this is not enough, it is also necessary to find out who is behind the scenes.To find out who is behind the scenes, this has started since the shooting case, and even the people know that the so-called behind-the-scenes refers to Concubine Zheng and the group subordinate to her.The reason why this time is slightly different from the previous ones is that Fang Congzhe, the chief assistant, has also become a well-known figure.

Fang Congzhe entered the cabinet in the 41st year of Wanli (1613).The following year, the first assistant Ye Xianggao became an official, and Fang Congzhe was appointed as the first assistant.From his entry into the cabinet to his appointment in November of the forty-eighth year of Wanli, although he had only been a cabinet minister for more than seven years, he had changed three emperors one after another in his hands. up.What's even more ingenious is that the three cases of Dingji, Hongwan and Yigong also happened when he was the chief assistant.The assault case happened in the year after he was promoted to chief assistant, and the Hongwan case and the moving palace case both happened in the year when he took office. It was because he mishandled these two cases that he couldn't stop the siege from all sides. Only then did he leave.Regarding Fang Congzhe, "History of the Ming Dynasty" said that he was "soft and cowardly, unable to take on major affairs", which is really not enough. Greed and incompetence are also one of his characteristics.Because of greed, he is enthusiastic about power and wealth; and because of incompetence, he can only get those by drilling and dependence.The fact that he became a member of Concubine Zheng's family was like a "marriage made in heaven", one was willing to recruit and the other wanted to vote, so it hit it off right away, and he became a member who was very willing to contribute to Concubine Zheng very early on.

The reason why the Hongwan case intensified was due to Fang Congzhe's improper handling.First of all, people have accused him of murdering rebels. If he let it go without refuting, it is likely that the commotion will subside after a while.But because Li Kezhuo was introduced by his side, he was afraid of getting the notoriety of rebellion, not only immediately ordered someone to defend him, saying that he was summoned by the late emperor, not rebellion.And because the emperor felt very good after taking the medicine for the first time, he even praised Li Kezhuo as a loyal minister, which was heard by all the ministers at that time, so he took advantage of his body as the chief assistant, which was convenient for drafting the will. In the tone of the emperor, he still praised Li Kezhuo and gave him silver coins.Fang Congzhe believed that his method of rewarding without punishment could use the power of the Daxing Emperor (the emperor who just passed away was called the Daxing Emperor) to suppress the clamor of the officials; But it aroused even greater repercussions. People regarded Cui Wensheng's and Li Kezhuo's medications as a related conspiracy, and included Fang Congzhe in the number of traitors. The situation changed to the point that even he himself became a rebel, Fang Congzhe was even more flustered to the point of loss, but he still wanted to use the important act of the emperor to get himself out of the predicament.He asked people to defend Cui Wensheng and Li Kezhuo again, and said that those who insisted that their medicines were wrong would put the late emperor in the rank of not dying.As soon as this kind of argument came out, the waves aroused were even greater. Those who attacked him first were only some officials, but now many ministers have also joined the ranks of attacking him.Attacking him before was just a hint, but now it not only discusses this matter, but also reveals all his evil virtues.Fang Congzhe couldn't resist the violent current, so he had to go to the doctor's office in a hurry, hoping to escape.But even after he became an official, there was still an endless stream of essays denouncing him, and until the second year of Tianqi (1622), the essays attacking him continued.Among the essays, Sun Shenxing, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, and Zou Yuanbiao, the censor of Zuodu, have the most rigorous discussions.Sun Shenxing bluntly stated in the essay that Fang Congzhe could not escape the crime of regicide.He said: "The whole court attacked Li Kezhuo together, and only ordered him to return to his hometown for recuperation. Wouldn't he recommend him based on his own facts, fearing that he would be guilty of the same crime? I think that Congzhe has no intention of killing, but he has the crime of killing him, so he wants to resign. In the name of murder, the reality of murder is unavoidable. In the "Real Records", it is said that if you want to be a taboo for the emperor and father, you dare not write it directly. The medicine was calculated on Fang Congzhe's head, and he used the brushwork of "Spring and Autumn", which was considered to be a theory of tracing back to the source at that time.He also mentioned the fact that Fang Congzhe and Zheng Guifei colluded with each other in the book.In the end, he said: "The minister is practicing etiquette, his crimes are against the sky, and there is no way out. If other supervising wars harm the country, disregarding the selfishness of superiors, indulging in scorn of the law, violating the name of the world, and causing disasters for the country, the minister You can't tell them all. Your Majesty should urgently punish this thief, because of the vengeance that we cannot share. Don't ask the recent scholars. The recent scholars are all based on the philosophy. Don't be taboo, the taboo is the arrangement of the philosopher. And urgently punish Li Kezhuo, To vent the wrath of gods and men." Zou Yuanbiao also said in the book: "Yuanfu Fang Congzhe did not extend the righteousness of punishing thieves, but instead practiced the code of rewarding traitors, that is to say, he has no intentions. How can he explain himself to the world?" Both Sun Shenxing and Zou Yuanbiao were well-known and highly prestigious ministers, and their comments caused even more waves.Fang Congzhe only tried his best to explain this, and at the same time asked himself to cut off his official rank, and was willing to go far and wide to join his four descendants.He did this, first to calm the public outrage, and second, to hope that someone would defend him.He has lived in Beijing for many years, and has served as the chief assistant for a long time. He has secretly tied up with the palace and has many party members.At this time, many servants spoke for him in front of the imperial court.The "near learning" that Sun Shenxing mentioned in his book refers to these servants.In the outer court, there were also some people who spoke for Fang Congzhe, such as Huang Kezuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, Wang Qingbai in Geshizhong, Yushi Wang Zhidao, and Xu Jinglian all said: "How can I bear the heart of a courtier who falsely accused the former emperor of dying? "Attempt to use this as a solution.The "taboo" that Sun Shenxing mentioned in the book refers to exactly what they said. As those who defended Fang Congzhe said very weakly, the Hongwan case is still difficult to resolve for a while.In the end, it was the cabinet minister Han Yu who went up and explained in detail what he had witnessed when he entered Hongwan, and suggested that Li Kezhuo and Cui Wensheng should be dealt with separately, which barely suppressed the public opinion.Han Yu is an old man, and he doesn't tend to follow Fang Congzhe and others. Both he and Liu Yixiu joined the cabinet a few days before entering Hongwan, and he was one of the ministers present when he entered Hongwan, so his statement Easy to trust. Li Kezhuo and Cui Wensheng were both dealt with again soon. Li Kezhuo was sentenced to exile, and Cui Wensheng was sent to Nanjing for resettlement.The Benimu case has only been temporarily settled at this point.