Chapter 9 Chapter 8 The Power of Constraint and Direction

In the face of Emperor Hongguang's "administrative chaos", is there any force to restrain and guide?What is the specific reaction of all parties? The answer is yes.Because even under the imperial autocracy, although there is no parliament, there is no court.However, the rights of His Majesty the Emperor are still restricted by the cabinet, courtiers, and even the army. What's more, Emperor Hongguang was still a rare "popularly elected" emperor, and the "voters" took great pains to elect him, so he should accept the constraints and supervision of the "voters".

Under the current circumstances, the first one who can restrain and guide Hongguang Emperor's behavior is of course our "highly respected" Comrade Ma, because he was not only the "chosen leader" back then, but also the actual "government leader" today. "Head", legislative power, executive power, and judicial power are integrated into one body. In the history of our country, there have been four models in total between the "workers in power" like Lao Ma and the "absurd boss" like Emperor Hongguang. The first mode: if you don't do a good job, you will be crippled.This is Huo Guang's model. At that time, the king of Changyi in the Western Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne for 27 days and committed 1127 ridiculous things. As a result, General Huo used family law and directly drove him back to the place as "Haihunhou".

The second model: the power of example to influence you.This is Zhuge Liang’s model. At that time, Comrade Liu Chan, the post-master, also wanted to be corrupt and degenerate, but seeing that the “Shangfu” Zhuge Liang was “dedicated to himself, and died after his own death”, he could only behave in a similar manner. Be a man, do things honestly. The third mode: you do "crooked things", and I do "right things".This is Yang Tinghe's model. When Emperor Wu Zong Zhu Houzhao, who was the most troublesome in Ming Dynasty, was "playing happily and getting close to the group", Comrade Yang Tinghe worked diligently and diligently, and finally let the dangerous Daming ship sail through Zhengde Years of rapids and dangerous shoals.

The fourth mode: you do "creatures", and I do "private affairs".This is Yan Song's model. More than a hundred years ago, Comrade Yan Song took advantage of Emperor Jiajing's big loophole of becoming an immortal and ignoring political affairs. He successfully recruited power, accepted bribes, corrupted and corrupted, and successfully made himself the chief traitor of Ming Dynasty. To our great misfortune, Comrade Ma just has the "ambition" to develop towards the fourth model. (This is also the main reason why he was later rated as a traitor by "History of Ming Dynasty")

However, as an old bureaucrat who was poor in his youth, poor in his middle age, and prosperous in his later years, Comrade Ma still has a "compassionate feeling" of "worrying about the world's worries first, and enjoying the world's joys later". While doing big things for the country and the nation and making big profits, you can also do small things for yourself and your family and make small profits. This idea represents the same aspirations of the vast majority of officials in the bureaucratic circles of our country from ancient times to the present, and it seems understandable and not easy to criticize.

Therefore, Comrade Lao Ma is more willing to form a cooperative alliance with Emperor Hongguang that "everyone does his own thing, each takes what he needs, and both love each other". Especially after Emperor Hongguang issued a statement that "there is an old horse in the affairs of the world", the old horse was even more "embarrassed" to interfere in the private life of His Majesty the emperor. Of course, behind the "non-interventionism" is Comrade Ma's ideal of "curing the country and the world" for many years, which is gradually becoming a dream come true; "Limited Liability Company" is booming and has become a reality ahead of schedule.

It seems that the first factor that can restrict and guide Emperor Hongguang is so dead! Then look at the second restrictive and guiding factor, the performance of the Donglin and Fushe parties, which have always regarded themselves as the incarnation of justice. The performance of the two parties is now - anger, outrageous anger. The anger was not only because the "candidate" they put forward was not elected, but also because they discovered that the new national leader who came to power turned out to be—as idiotic as Liu Chan and as lewd as Sui Yang. The two parties decided to take the following measures in order to impress the emperor and save the situation.

It is still the same old method, as always, perseveringly going to the school, talking about life, ideals, morality, entrepreneurship, crisis, development, improvement, health, and life in the school... I want to pass the "cramming duck" education, Heart to heart, in order to achieve the goal of "punishing the past and avoiding the future, curing the disease and saving the patient". In this regard, the tiresome Emperor Hongguang simply wrote a simple and clear "confession", and asked Wang Duo, a great scholar and great calligrapher, to announce it in "Couple", the content is-"Everything is worse than a cup Hands, how many times in this life will be your head."

That's right, I'm now a wine, sex, folk art, there are a lot of them, and it seems to be very enjoyable, but, the pain in my heart, you will know it later? I was originally a mortal, born between heaven and earth; but I was suddenly pushed to this high place by "people with a heart"; the high place has beautiful scenery, but it is not too cold. I can't command those "people with a heart" who embrace me as emperor, I can't intervene! I don't understand business, lack knowledge, lack interest, and don't want to intervene! I have no parents (only one aunt in name), no children, no worries, no responsibility in this world except myself, and no need to interfere with things outside of me!

My father, the king, spent a lot of time drinking and drinking, but his cousin Chongzhen had to work all the year round, and he would inevitably die. He was born in the dead world, and his life was impermanent. Why bother to be depressed all day long and suffer himself. Ladies and gentlemen, I've got my heart, I won't blame you, there are thousands of roads in the world, don't care about what others say, go boldly and walk your own road! The two parties had nothing to do with His Majesty the Emperor, so they poured their anger on the Ma Ruan Xingui Group, which was "prosperous" in the Nanming political arena.

It was this group of heinous guys who drove away the just Shi Kefa, brought down the emperor, corrupted Chao Gang, and cultivated the "black and evil" forces. "Catch the thief first and capture the king" University scholar Jiang Riguang, Hubu Minister Lu Daqi, Huji Shizhong Luo Wanxiang and other ministers pointed the spearhead of the struggle at Ma Shiying, the leader of this group. , intending to control Emperor Hongguang as a mediocre emperor like Cao Mao. Soon, Comrade Huang Shu, an outstanding fighter in the Donglin Party, who served as the inspector and censor in Zuo Liangyu's army, went to the court to see him, pushing the struggle against Comrade Lao Ma to a new climax. After finishing his face-to-face with the king, Huang Doushi suddenly shouted in the court hall: "I come to court now, and I swear to risk my life to fight against the traitors!" The eldest brother of Emperor Hongguang didn't understand, looked left and right, and asked, "Who do you think is a traitor?" Huang Doushi replied loudly: "The treacherous minister and thief is Ma Shiying! This man has a criminal record. Emperor Meng Xian was kind enough to be promoted to the governor of Fengyang, but the late emperor was trapped in Beijing, and he did not send a single soldier to rescue him. If you were not loyal to the first emperor, how can you be loyal to the emperor today? In addition, Fengyang is the ancestral mausoleum, the birthplace of the Ming Dynasty. Ma Shiying was supposed to live and die with the ancestral mausoleum, but when he heard the police, he fled and let him fall into the hands of the rebels. He was reprimanded by unfilial sons and grandchildren..." The more Huang Doushi spoke, the more reasonable he became, and the more he spoke, the more excited he became. In order to enhance the effect of the performance, he even started to use body language, and went straight forward to slap Comrade Lao Ma loudly. Seeing that the "leader" was being beaten, people from the two parties present not only did not fight, but secretly applauded from the sidelines. Comrade Lao Ma, who has passed the age of "knowing the destiny", is only good at fighting in literature but not in martial arts. Facing the aggressive violence of the Huang fighters, he can only kneel on the ground and ask Hongguang Emperor hoarsely to let him live. Return to your hometown by yourself. Emperor Hongguang, whose brain had been severely short-circuited, played immediately. The elites of the two parties were taken aback. They did not expect that the problems they had been unable to solve for many days would be settled by Huang Doushi's slap in the face. They finally realized the importance and necessity of violent struggle. Comrade Ma, who had been slapped and lost his official position, returned home, and the more he thought about it, the more angry he became, and the more he thought about it, the more angry he became. After years of hard work, how did he suddenly return to "before liberation"? It's useless to be angry and angry. The best counterattack plan is: bluff the emperor and keep the official hat. Comrade Lao Ma burnt the lamps and nights to fight, wrote hard, and gave an urgent memorial to Emperor Hongguang, pointing out the dire consequences that would occur in the political arena once he left office: "If the minister resigns, the Donglin Party will gain power. After gaining power, His Majesty will be abolished and King Lu will be established." At the same time, two "caring old eunuchs" who had been following Emperor Hongguang for a long time, who had been bribed heavily by Comrade Lao Ma, were "crying and admonishing" His Majesty with a pair of soft ears in the palace. "If the emperor does not have an old horse, it is impossible to ascend the throne. If you drive away the old horse, everyone in the world will call the emperor ungrateful. Moreover, if there is no old horse to work hard in front, how can the emperor develop his personal life in the harem safely? hobby?" Emperor Hongguang, who was as good as he was, and as evil as he was, immediately withdrew his order, and soon recalled Lao Ma to continue to preside over the work of the cabinet. The dog of the Donglin Party bit the piss bubble, and was completely happy. Comrade Lao Ma, who has regained control of the world, no longer has the bearing of "the prime minister can pull a boat in his stomach", and has no suspense to list the Donglin Party as his number one enemy. Comrade Ruan Dacheng also ran to Comrade Lao Ma, suggesting that the bastards and tortoises should be attacked together to wipe out Donglin and Fushe. Because compared with Comrade Lao Ma, Comrade Ruan Dacheng not only has "enmity" with Donglin Party, but also "hatred" with Fushe. "Hate" was forged six years ago. At that time, Comrade Ruan Dacheng had just been cleared out of the ranks of "civil servants of the Ming Dynasty" and was exiled in Nanjing as an "apartment". He has a lot of money and is good at opera creation. He has raised an opera troupe at his own expense. He makes up and performs new operas, makes friends, welcomes and sends them off all day long. This way of life "collided" with Fushe's consistent advocacy of the "celebrity" lifestyle, which seriously infringed on Fushe's patent ownership. Under the leadership of Gu Gao (the son of Gu Xiancheng of the Donglin Party), Huang Zongxi (the eldest son of Huang Zunsu of the Donglin Party), Wu Yingji, and Chen Zhenhui, 138 members of the Fushe started their vigorous "rights defense" activities. They jointly wrote one of our big-character posters - "Liudu Anti-Craft Public Announcement", and widely collected signatures on the big-character poster, and launched a merciless attack on Comrade Ruan Dacheng. Comrade Ruan Dacheng, who had been listed as a "third-class political prisoner against the criminal case", could not argue with his words, and suffered a crushing defeat. He had to go to Niushou Mountain in the suburbs of Nanjing for "political asylum" in disgrace. When the Fushe elites who had won such a great victory cheered for joy, they did not know that the seeds of "hate" had been deeply buried in the dark heart of Comrade Ruan Dacheng. Now, since the "horn has been sounded and the steel knife has been polished" in the struggle, let the horse come and fight to the death!Fighting with others is a lot of fun! It is best to find out the "weak link" to fight with others and win! "The emperor pays off those who wait and see", Ruan Dacheng, who is not only good at playing art, but also good at playing politics, has really found a breakthrough point in his struggle. This is why during the days when Li Zicheng occupied Beijing, most of the officials in the court, Donglin and those who were restored to society, once surrendered to the "pseudo-dynasty" - Dashun, and the "shameless man" among them - Zhou Zhong "Li Zicheng" put on a congratulatory list with "more martial arts than Yao and Shun, and no shame in martial arts", and suggested that he "determine the south of the Yangtze River early to achieve a great unification." Comrade Ruan Dacheng, who had found a breakthrough point, said to Lao Ma with high spirits: "He attacked the reverse case (meaning that the Donglin Party used the reverse case as a political prisoner to oppose him from becoming an official), and I made a 'convenient case' to fight against him." The "smooth case" is a political case aimed at attacking those officials who had "belonged to the enemy and treasonously". This is indeed a very good reason. ——The "dishonest elements" kicked into the stinking ditch of the "scholastic scum". As a result, under the blow of the "successful case", the party members of the two parties who had such "dishonest" behaviors were jailed, and their heads were beheaded. Some former Ming officials who had "broken their integrity" and were on their way "returning south", no matter what party or faction, had to turn their horses around when they heard the bad news, and threw themselves into the arms of the Qing Dynasty helplessly. Under pressure, important leading cadres of the Donglin Party, such as Jiang Riguang, a cabinet scholar, Liu Zongzhou, the censor of Zuodu, and Zhang Shenyan, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, took the blame and resigned one after another.Later, more members of both parties joined the ranks of the "resignation army". As a result, the strength of the two parties has been greatly damaged, and the old glory no longer exists. The shattering of the "dream of saving the nation" turned some high-level figures from the two parties from "gentlemen" into "hippies" in a blink of an eye. "Hippies" often get together to engage in "political salons" to let go of their boredom and dissatisfaction. At the party, they sometimes lamented that they were in the era of "the mountains and rivers are broken and the wind is blowing, and the life experience is ups and downs." Imagine the success of "Why don't men wear Wu hooks and collect the fifty states of Guanshan".Thousands of tastes, all kinds of sorrows, people are sick, does God know? After feeling a lot, I suddenly looked back and realized that I was too small and helpless in this world. There are too many things that cannot be given up, and too many ideals that cannot be realized!Then cry, cry, "Endless sorrow rolls in, tears fly and rain down."At this moment, tears may really vent some of the anguish in my heart. "Scholar's salvation of the country is ultimately empty, and it is better to forget the common people when drunk."After sighing and crying, let's start the last project - let's sing to the wine! So, before the crying is over, the song has been heard, the tricks are mixed, and there is joy in the banquet hall; tomorrow is sad, don’t ask, and the singing is strong for the time being; hide in the brothel for a meal, and ignore the sound of the wind and rain. Time flies like an arrow, the sun and the moon fly, and in a blink of an eye, Nanming has been established for a hundred days. Instead of realizing their dream of saving the country, most of the members of Donglin and Fushe have turned themselves into "angry youths and angry people" one by one. . Angry poets!Under the social background of Nanming's political corruption, lax rule and lax cultural censorship, all the "angry youths and angry people" gave full play to their intelligence and wisdom, and wrote a series of anti-corruption poems that have been passed down for hundreds of years. "Exposing corruption and criticizing corruption" became the main theme of this period, and at the same time made these poems a magnificent "weird flower" in the treasure house of Chinese literature.Now only two excerpts are as follows for readers. "There are Zhongshu everywhere, the governors walk all over the street, the supervisors are as numerous as sheep, and the staff are as cheap as dogs. The dust of the millennium is covered, and the tribute is presented. Sweep all the money in the south of the Yangtze River and fill the Ma's house." "Blessings come naturally. If you don't have money, you don't need to arrange. There are governors all over the street and no one to carry them. The local officials are scoundrels. How can one's ability be compared with the world's affairs? A lot of talent is not as much as a lot of money. A tiger head sign is hung in front of the door, and officials, big and small, betray it." Alas, the pitiful comrades of the two parties, now we can only make some "special contributions" that scratch the surface of the skin, have no "positive effect" on world affairs, but have a lot of "negative effects", but who is to blame? It seems that the second factor that can restrict and guide Emperor Hongguang has failed again. Don't be discouraged, cheer up, and look at the third factor that can restrict and guide Hongguang Emperor. They are the pillars of the country and the guarantee of Ming Dynasty. ——The soldiers of the "Five Towns in Jiangbei". "I would rather be a dog of peace than a person in troubled times."Born in troubled times, it was an unfortunate time for many common people, but it was a happy time for soldiers, how many heroes emerged from among them, and how many brilliance were forged in their hands! Liu Yu of the Southern Dynasties, Guo Wei of the Five Dynasties, Zhao Kuangyin of the Northern Guard, Yue Fei of the Southern Song Dynasty, all famous soldiers, with their own efforts, rewrote history and brought the beautiful things of stability, peace and order to the world again. Soldiers in the "Five Towns" of Nanming, the times have given you a sacred mission, how will you perform? The performance of the soldiers now is-it's annoying recently! One day, the central government headed by Emperor Hongguang violated their public promises and withheld their military pay.The chief imperial censor, Shi Tianyang, was entrusted by Dongpingbo Liu Zeqing to make a report requesting an increase in military spending. Emperor Hongguang, who had always been "responsive to requests", lost his temper, and counted four of his "benefactors" in front of the ministers in the court—— Liu Zeqing, Gao Jie, Huang Degong, and Liu Liangzuo are here. Emperor Hongguang said loudly: "The country only collected 5 million taels of tax this year. The four of you should have drawn 2.4 million taels of military expenditure for the whole year. Now you have actually drawn 3.6 million taels of silver. It took a year Half of the money, where can I give you more money?" Since then, Emperor Hongguang has become indifferent to them, and his military expenditures have been stingy and intermittent. That's all, the "tax-free" policy of the jurisdiction that was originally promised has also existed in name only with the arrival of the centrally appointed tax officer.In a chaotic world, if soldiers are not paid, there will be chaos. It has become a headache for these army leaders to maintain the stability of the army without pay. The second trouble is that part of the Donglin Party, led by leaders Jiang Riguang and Liu Zongzhou, launched a "vicious attack" on them.First it was said that they were "received titles for no merit", and now they were said to be "soldiers who were overpaid", "sweeping the people", and "cowardly to go north", one hat after another was put on their big heads. After all, the soldiers are proficient in the art of war, and they will not attack from all sides like the Donglin Party.We know that when we are attacked from "two fronts", we cannot engage in "two-front warfare", we must stabilize one side, and then attack the other side. They buried their dissatisfaction with Emperor Hongguang deeply in their hearts, ready to go. While stabilizing the central government, they fought back nakedly against the mad dog-like "Donglin Party". Liu Zeqing said bluntly in the court hall: "All the ancestors in the world are corrupted by these white-faced scholars who seem to be loyal and honest, but in reality they are extremely treacherous. Donglin Party, in the future, the state will never hire cadres from among them. Go to kill the enemy, and when I come back from killing the enemy, I will personally preside over the examination, so as to select for the country good cadres who are truly popular and professional, and who can apply what they have learned!" Jingnan Marquis Huang Degong's approach was even more extreme. The member of the two parties in the court wrote to attack him. He was neither angry nor defended. After the "army life", and then "before the army" - directly to cut off the writer's talkative head. (Of course, this matter was not completed under the interference of the "wise" Emperor Hongguang.) You see, this is the third factor that restricts and guides Emperor Hongguang. Needless to say, there is no play! The final result is: under the imperial autocratic system of the Ming Dynasty, although Emperor Hongguang was pushed to the throne, he was not a puppet like Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty.He has the power and prestige of the emperor, and his words, deeds, and actions largely determine the future of the empire. However, in the face of the reality that he has no responsibility, no ability, and three greedy for personal enjoyment, his power and prestige are overwhelming. land was "wasted".Moreover, in the outside world, out of consideration of their own limitations or interests, instead of restricting and guiding Emperor Hongguang, the three influential parties were "restricted and guided" by Emperor Hongguang, and fell into the trap of "you scold me, you argue, you fight." I fight" in the chaotic situation. The final conclusion is: First, in the Ming Dynasty, the emperor built the whole country into a special iron house, and made the house more and more compact and exquisite. The ministers, soldiers, and people who lived in the house People, in this iron room, you can only be honest, and you can't talk nonsense.Even if someone outside is already smashing the house, but the owner of the house does not take the lead in resisting, other people who want to take the lead in resisting are not qualified and do not have much appeal. The second is that the people living in the house do not regard themselves as the owner of the house, but think that they are just a tenant who has paid the rent and moved in temporarily. Since the owner of the house is unwilling to protect and love the house, he acts Tenants, why bother?Those with high morals should persuade the master to love and cherish the house, and help the master to protect and protect the house when needed; those with bad morals, simply toss the house with the master, and secretly make something while the house is not falling down! This is the sorrow of the "imperial world", and this is also the "strange circle" that China will not be able to get out of in two thousand years. We can only wait until 1911 in 267 years, and this "strange circle" was finally broken, because in that year, the Revolution of 1911 broke out that changed the direction of Chinese history. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Revolution of 1911. When we discuss the profound significance of the Revolution of 1911, should we link her with the victory of the Anti-Japanese War? Because, since that revolution, we, the people living in this house in China, have changed from "tenants" to "owners".The reason why the Anti-Japanese War was able to persevere tenaciously in a pool of blood for fourteen years and finally win is because those thousands of people who fought to the death have truly regarded themselves as the "masters of the house of the country" in their bones!