Chapter 347 Chapter 346 Wu Zong Zhu Houzhao

In April of the eighteenth year of Hongzhi (AD 1505), Emperor Xiaozong had been ill for many days, and his health was deteriorating, and the lamp was about to go out.After staying up until noon on May 6th, he died amidst the crying of the officials and the prince.On May 18th, the 15-year-old crown prince came to the throne, and the second year was the first year of Zhengde. The new emperor was Zhu Houzhao, who was posthumously named Emperor Wu Zongyi. Zhu Houzhao's childhood was carefree. His only younger brother Zhu Houwei died when he was three years old. Therefore, when he was a prince, he was not like the previous dynasties.

Zhu Houzhao performed quite well when he first entered school.The Confucian ministers went to talk about Zishi classics again and again, and the schedule was very tight. He often listened to it for a whole day, and was very fascinated.When the lecturer leaves class, he must bow his body to pay tribute and bid farewell.The next day, I covered the book and read the homework I had learned very fluently. Out of concern for the prince's studies, Xiaozong also liked to visit the academy in his spare time, and asked Zhu Houzhao some questions for him to answer.Every time Zhu Houzhao heard that his father was coming, he immediately led his palace staff to greet him, acted respectfully according to the etiquette he had learned, and answered his father's questions attentively.Xiaozong was very satisfied with this.In order to increase the knowledge of this only son from the direct line, Xiaozong always liked to take him with him when he went out.But who knows that this good intention did not bring good results.Frequent going out provided Zhu Houzhao with the opportunity to get to know the world outside the palace, which made him suddenly feel the narrowness of the palace middle school. Gradually, the study lost its former charm, and the witty remarks of the officials became boring.He was like a bird that flew out of its cage and never wanted to go back into the cage.Zhu Houzhao was so distracted that he became lazy in his studies.Originally, the prince had a lot of time and types of games, such as kicking string ball, cricket fighting, horn beetle, and Baixi, which are all familiar pastimes for Zhu Houzhao, but this is different from being in the royal garden, letting go of eagles, dogs, and boating. Zhuliu, after all, the taste is not the same, and Zhu Houzhao is no longer a child learning to speak, he needs more, fresher and more exciting game methods.Perhaps the martial arts guards around Xiaozong impressed him too deeply. Zhu Houzhao became more and more interested in weapons, and then developed to like riding a bow and shooting.Under the guidance of the enthusiastic eunuchs, it will not be difficult for Zhu Houzhao to hit the horse gallop, draw the bow and shoot quickly.Someone told Empress Zhang about Zhu Houzhao's new changes. Empress Zhang was a little worried, but Xiaozong didn't take it seriously, saying: "He is learning military knowledge, and he knows how to be prepared for danger at a young age. This is a good thing, don't interfere."

In the eighteenth year of Hongzhi (1505 A.D.), a child who had not been well educated and had a crazy heart suddenly became emperor, and it was Wuzong.How could Zhu Houzhao, who was used to being at ease, deal with complicated court etiquette, boring ministers' memorials, and complicated state affairs all day long?So every morning morning became the most difficult time of his day.He yearned for the joy of the prince's time, and missed the eunuchs who played with him in the East Palace, and his heart became impetuous. Beside Wu Zong, there is a very insidious person named Liu Jin.This man was born in Shaanxi. He was castrated into the palace in his early years. During Xiaozong's reign, he did not gain power. He was sentenced to death for committing a crime. Later, he was pardoned and entered the East Palace to serve the prince. When Wuzong came to the throne, his status among eunuchs was not high high.Liu Jin has a bad character and is cunning. He is good at trying to figure out Wu Zong's psychology and tries his best to cater to his master's hobbies. He knows that Wu Zong likes to play, so he does everything possible to get hawks, kabukis, horns, etc. for Wu Zong's entertainment, and even takes him out of the palace. Therefore, he won the trust and favor of Wu Zong.Soon Liu Jin recruited seven eunuchs Ma Yongcheng, Gao Feng, Luo Xiang, Wei Bin, Qiu Ju, Gu Dayong, and Zhang Yong. The "eight parties" and "eight tigers" are Wu Zong's "private love".

Under the guidance of Liu Jin and others, it didn't take long for Wu Zong to take the throne, and he became bored with the affairs of the court to ignore it.The ministers wrote the memorabilia with all their heart, but he just marked the word "Wenzhi", and there was no result.He was often surrounded by eunuchs with knives and sticks, galloping away from the imperial palace, and sailing in the South China Sea all day long.Regardless of the emperor's majesty, he chased the court ladies, slipped out of the palace with Zhang Yong every three days, or hang out in the Qinlou Chu Pavilion, or mistook a good woman for a prostitute when he was drunk, and broke into the house at will, laughing and making ugly appearances. out of nowhere.In order to cover up his lewd behavior, he first ordered the eunuch who was dedicated to recording the emperor's dormitory and the lucky concubine to be exempted from recording, and then he simply removed the official position of Shang's dormitory.Because Wuzong indulged in wanton behavior and caused mental sleepiness, the early court time was often delayed again and again, and often had to wait until the sun was high.The guards and executives and the ministers of the court and the central government could not stand for a long time, and the scenes of sitting and lying down and abandoning battles all over the ground were often seen.

A group of upright ministers in the Hongzhi Dynasty were very sad to see this situation, but they refused to listen to their repeated admonitions, and some people began to feel disheartened.In April of the first year of Zhengde (AD 1506), Ma Wensheng, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, asked to retire.Since Wu Zong came to the throne, Ma Wensheng has tirelessly handled various government affairs within the scope of his duties as before, and he did not hesitate to offend the eunuchs in power in order to eliminate the officials.The eunuchs resented him very much. When they saw his begging memorial, they persuaded Wuzong to make an order to allow him to return.Wu Zong followed the advice of the eunuchs and sent Ma Wensheng home very politely.Among the important ministers who were sent home by Wu Zong, there was Liu Daxia, Minister of the Ministry of War.While rejecting upright officials, Wu Zong appointed some villains who liked him under the instigation of Liu Jin and other eunuchs.For example, Jiao Fang, who replaced Ma Wensheng, was seen through by Liu Jian and Xie Qian because of his evil intentions and determination to climb upwards. Thaumaturgy, but frugality is recommended." Out of concern for this matter, Wu Zong asked his confidants to observe among the ministers.Jiao Fang, the left servant of the Ministry of Officials at that time, participated in this discussion. Knowing that Wu Zong arranged the eyes and ears, he deliberately said loudly: "Even ordinary people have to spend money at home, not to mention the country and the monarch! Now it is common practice to refuse rent and hide taxes. Go and investigate and deal with it seriously, and instead say that the emperor is wrong, what is the reason?" As soon as he said it, Wu Zong naturally looked at Jiao Fang differently, and Liu Jin was blown away, and he was quickly promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Officials.

Seeing the rampant behavior of the "eight parties" and the deteriorating government, the upright courtiers couldn't bear it. In October of the first year of Zhengde, Han Wen, Minister of the Household Department, angrily joined other ministers to go to the shuffle.They enumerated the crimes of the "eight parties" and advised Wu Zong to put state affairs first, give lectures diligently, stay away from villains, and demanded that the "eight parties" be punished by the law.Wu Zong received the memorial, thought it over, and had to submit the memorial to the cabinet for discussion because it was a matter of public anger, but proposed to send Liu Jin lightly and let him go to Nanjing to do hard labor.The cabinet ministers disagreed with this and insisted on killing Liu Jin.Wang Yue and Fan Heng, the eunuchs who went to the cabinet to convey and discuss opinions, also hated Liu Jin very much. They came back and reported to Wu Zong: "The attitude of the ministers is very firm, and there is no room for negotiation. Wept and said: "Before the death of the late emperor, I asked me to assist the prince to rule the world. Now that the soil on his mausoleum is not dry, if I don't kill the eight parties, I have no face to see the late emperor!Their opinion is correct. "In the face of the aggressive situation, Wu Zong had no choice but to agree to the death penalty for Liu Jin and others. After he made this decision, he couldn't help but burst into tears, with endless grievances in his heart.

After Liu Jin's best friend Jiao Fang learned of the news, she told Liu Jin who was still in the dark overnight.Liu Jin turned pale with fright, and in desperation, took 7 other people and rushed to Wuzong's bedroom, crying loudly around him, begging the emperor for mercy.Wu Zong couldn't bear it, and regret appeared on his face.Liu Jin saw the opportunity, relieved his son in every possible way, and provocatively said: "This incident is all due to Wang Yue, a villain. He colluded with the court officials to restrict the emperor from going out of the palace, and deliberately eliminated us first so that he could control the emperor. Taking a step back, what's the point of playing with a few eagles for a rich emperor? If there is someone the emperor trusts in the supervisor of ceremonies, wouldn't the cabinet ministers dare to persecute your majesty like this?!"

Wu Zong nodded after hearing this. He thought that Liu Jian and others were going too far. The more he thought about it, the more angry he became.Ma Yong became the admiral of the East Factory, and Gu Dayong was the admiral of the West Factory (the West Factory was established in the 18th year of Chenghua, and it was re-established at this time), and almost all the court power was handed over to Liu Jin.Liu Jin gained power, and sent people to arrest Wang Yue and Fan Xiang overnight, and escorted them to Nanjing. Overnight, the tables turned.The imperial decree read out early the next day was a blow to the ministers who were full of confidence and prepared to fight against Que.Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian never expected that the world would be turned upside down overnight. Liu Jin and others not only survived, but also got promoted and took control of the key departments around Wu Zong.They were extremely disappointed with Wu Zong, and many ministers offered to resign and go home.Wu Zong was not polite, and wrote "Imperial Approval" on their resignation papers.

The decision to reprimand Minister Gu Ming met with fierce opposition from speech officials and ministers.Many people risked their lives to speak to Wu Zong, please stay Liu Jian and Xie Qian.Wu Zong thought this was an offense and contempt for Huangwei.He ordered the officials who complained to be punished with the cane, and their posts were demoted.In those few days, the palace was crying and screaming, blood and flesh were splashing, and on the dirt roads outside the capital, carriages carrying demoted officials and their families hurried past from time to time.The head of the Ministry of War, Wang Yangming, angrily reprimanded Liu Jin face-to-face in order to protect the speech officer. As a result, he was also punished with a stick and demoted to Guizhou Longchang Postmaster.On the way to his post, he found out that the killer sent by Liu Jin was chasing him, so he had to throw his shoes and hat into the Qiantang River at night, creating the illusion of suicide by drowning himself, so he survived.

Since Liu Jian and Xie Qian, the cabinet scholars, resigned, Wu Zong trusted Liu Jin more and more and obeyed him.After Liu Jin took control of the emperor, he began to take revenge on his political opponents and expand his sphere of influence.First, he killed Wang Yue and Fan Heng who were on the way to Nanjing, and quickly dismissed the officials of the Minister of the Ministry of Households Han Wen with excuses, and ordered the detectives of the factory guards to monitor the actions of the officials, and then sent his trusted eunuchs to divide the towns into various border towns. All those who begged for mercy were promoted to official positions. At one time, 1,560 officials were promoted, and under the pretext of Wuzong's will, hundreds of Jinyi guards were awarded. His best friend, Jiao Fang, was recommended to the cabinet by him.Inside and outside, Liu Jin's party feathers are all over the place.

At the beginning, whenever Wu Zong was in the middle of having fun, he would always disappoint the fun, because Liu Jin would always hand over the plays sent by the various divisions at this time for him to approve.Wu Zong was very annoyed by this, and he tolerated it once or twice. Often like this, he couldn't help becoming irritable.He scolded Liu Jin with straight eyebrows: "I will take care of everything, and I will ask, what do you people do?!" Don't you know that this is Liu Jin's trick.After that, Liu Jin grabbed Wu Zong's imperial pen, and all the civil and military officials' memorials were actually sent to Liu Jin for review.Liu Jin is uneducated, ignorant and incompetent, and he can't understand many memorials, let alone comment on them.But he also has a way, which is to take the memorial back to his private house, discuss it with his sister-in-law Sun Cong, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and then hand it over to Jiao Fang for execution.In front of Liu Jin's house, every day, a large number of officials from various government offices waited to report on official business, and they bowed down to the emperor as if they were waiting for the emperor's summons.Officials must call him Liu Gonggong or Liu Weng in memorials and ordinary conversations, and they cannot call him by his first name.The Metropolitan Procuratorate ignored it once, and wrote the word "Liu Jin" in the official document, and was scolded by him, so the Du Yushi had to lead his staff to kneel down to plead guilty, and nothing happened.Officials, big and small, were ordered to go out of Beijing to handle errands or come back. They had to pay homage to Liu Jin before they could go to court.There was a steady stream of "imperial criticism" and "imperial decree" from Liu Jin's hands, and civil and military officials couldn't tell whether they were true or false, so they had to follow them one by one.In March of the second year of Zhengde (1507 A.D.), Liu Jin did two more things in order to consolidate his position under the guise of Wuzong's imperial decree.He first went to the cabinet and asked the cabinet ministers to write an edict to expand the power of the guarding eunuchs, ordering the guarding eunuchs in various prefectures to intervene in the governor's criminal affairs.Afterwards, 53 people, including former academicians Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Shangshu Hanwen, doctor Li Mengyang, principal Wang Shouren, and Yushi Chen Lin, were included in the traitor party. Listen to the "edict" to intimidate decent people among the court officials. Wu Zong was not angry when he heard Liu Jin's rampant and domineering, and he was not surprised when he saw it.On the one hand, he was addicted to sensuality and had no time to take care of it. On the other hand, he believed that Liu Jin was loyal, and he removed many thorns in his eyes.Some officials who hated Liu Jin very much used the method of writing anonymous letters to report Liu Jin's crimes of dominating the world, asking for bribes, and invading the common people to Wu Zong.Not only did he jokingly say, "It's okay to give my world to this person, but when I am happy", he even handed over the anonymous letter he received to Liu Jin to deal with, to show his full trust in Liu Jin.On the morning of June 26th in the third year of Zhengde, a letter to Liu Jin was found in front of Danqi.Wu Zong asked someone to bring the letter, swept it hastily, handed it to Liu Jin, and walked away.Liu Jin became furious and immediately issued an "order" to order all officials to kneel outside Fengtian Gate and question them.Because no one acknowledged it, more than 300 officials below the fifth rank were sent to Jinyi Guard Prison that night.It was a hot summer, and some people died of thirst.The next day Li Dongyang went to Shushu to apply for rescue. Liu Jin also heard that it was the eunuch who did it, so he released him.Afterwards, Wu Zong said to Li Dongyang: "The good people you mentioned, I just don't use them. The bad people you mentioned, today I just want to reuse him." With the support of Wu Zong, in order to monitor the words and deeds of the scholars and officials in the capital, in August of the third year of Zhengde, Liu Jin set up an expert factory, which he personally controlled.In this way, the three secret service agencies of the East and West Factory and the Expert Factory joined together, competing to arrest Luo Zhi and killing innocent people indiscriminately.Various special instruments of torture were installed in the expert factory, one of which was called anti-shackle, which weighed 150 jin. Once a person was put on it, he would be crushed to death.And the lingering execution is a torture that can't survive or want to die.Within a few years, thousands of officials and civilians were executed.Officials in the capital, no matter how big or small, when seeing eunuchs coming to the door, the first thing they feel is that disaster is imminent, but the officials and common people outside the capital are even more nervous. They all declared to avoid them, like frightened birds. Liu Jin held the official position of the Zhu family dynasty in his hands, and whoever gave him the most bribes would be awarded.He once boasted to his cronies that the wealth he had amassed was comparable to that of the emperor.This is indeed the case. A low-level official named Liu Yu bribed Liu Jin with ten thousand gold at once. Liu Jin immediately named him Minister of the Ministry of War, and later promoted him to Prince Taifu.When a local chief envoy goes to Beijing for a pilgrimage, he must donate at least 20,000 taels of silver to him. If the money cannot be paid, not only will he lose his official position, but it will also cause even greater disasters. The family borrowed, and on the day of reinstatement, they would repay twice as much as they had stored in the official treasury, which was called "Beijing debt". Wu Zong became the puppet emperor manipulated by Liu Jin.But when he stood on the high Hall of Supreme Harmony, bathed in the glory of the Forbidden City, and admired the obedient faces of the court officials, his heart was filled with the pride of a gentleman.Of course he won't hear people talking about him behind his back. People call him "sitting emperor" and Liu Jin is "standing emperor". After Emperor Wuzong handed over the affairs of state to Liu Jin, his desire to have fun was out of control. His restless heart was always in turmoil, and he was constantly looking for new excitement. Put on civilian clothes and do business transactions inside, bargaining in a serious way, and let people adjust the deal.He also asked the eunuch to open a hotel, and selected some beautiful court ladies to play piano and dance in the shop, and also called those cockfighters and dog chasers in the capital to enter the palace to perform various "unique skills".In August of the second year of Zhengde, Emperor Wuzong followed Liu Jin's idea and ordered to build a tall palace with secret rooms on both sides outside the Xihua Gate, and named this magnificent building "Leopard Room". After the Leopard Room was built, a large number of rare birds and animals were selected Beasts and folk show girls enrich it.Wu Zong indulged in sensuality while admiring rare birds and animals all day long.Later, the governor of Jinyiwei knew Yu Yong, and when he saw that Wu Zong was tired of playing with the women in the palace, he flattered him and said: "Women in the Western Regions are very beautiful, with fair and delicate skin. Compared with Han women, they are better than one." A hundred times." After hearing this, Wu Zong asked Yu Yong to search for it.Yu Yong "lived up" to the emperor's entrustment, traveled around the capital for a few days, and found a group of singers and dancers from the mansions of the officials in the capital.After Wu Zong saw them, they were all enchanting and stunning. He was overjoyed and kept them in the secret room of the leopard room, treating them like concubines.Wu Zong had an almost innate preference for music, singing and dancing. He summoned the musicians of the Jiaofang Division to play in front of him every day, but he was not satisfied, so he ordered the Ministry of Rites to move to the chief secretary of the bureau, and selected artists from all over the country to come to Beijing to be called. As a result, hundreds of actors come to Beijing every day.The dancers and musicians were dressed in beautiful clothes, and their acting skills were superb. Wu Zong couldn't keep his eyes open.Diligent study and practice will surely yield results, and after a while, Wu Zong was able to sing a song, although his voice could not resound through the clouds, he was very happy and happy. Wu Zong's extravagance and waste reached the point where both the government and the public were shocked.In just a few years, he successively cleaned up and expanded the leopard house, and spent 240,000 taels of platinum.In the ninth year of Zhengde (AD 1514), in order to restore the Qianqing Palace that was burned at the beginning of the year, an additional 1 million taels was awarded to the whole country, and more than 100,000 military academies were employed.For women, Wu Zong's interest continued unabated, and anyone who presented beautiful women to him received extremely generous rewards.Ma Ang, the commander-in-chief of Yansui, was originally dismissed for a crime. His younger sister was born beautiful, could sing and dance, was proficient in riding and shooting, and was married and pregnant.Wu Zong was amazed by her beauty and loved it very much.Ma Ang was reinstated soon, and also got the residence and python clothes given to him by Emperor Wuzong. The drunkenness and dreams in the Leopard Room did not hinder Wu Zong's other hobby, that is, building large-scale construction.After Leopard House, he ordered the repair of Taisu Hall, Ningcui Hall, Zhaohe Hall, Guangji Hall, Chongzhi Hall, etc., and expanded the Nanhaizi Dockyard.All these projects are done in a luxurious and magnificent way, and the cost is huge.The people who undertook the construction projects made a fortune, and some officials and eunuchs also took the opportunity to make a fortune, using the embezzled money to build their own manors, ancestral tombs, and incense temples.The large-scale squandering and waste that ignored the national power caused the sharp reduction of the internal treasury silver accumulated during the Hongzhi period, and it was a disaster.After that, Emperor Wu Zong ordered several times to increase taxes to the whole country, but it still couldn't make up for the income.The minister of the Ministry of Industry did not dare to stop these projects, so he asked Wu Zongzuo to sell the officials, and he was immediately approved.In the second year of Zhengde alone, it was sold twice. As long as you are willing to accept the silver, you can buy it from the commissioner, the official who knows the seal, to the command and the affairs.As a result, there appeared absurd scenes of civil servants who were illiterate, and military officials who could not speak out.Wu Zong set this precedent, and officials from various ministries followed suit one after another, using all means to increase the income of the royal family as a stepping stone for their own promotion, and at the same time filled their pockets.In the Gyeonggi area alone, in just a few years, they annexed more than 37,500 hectares of good land and beautiful land for the common people and set up more than 300 Huangzhuang.Under the banner of Wu Zong, the officials and schools in Guanzhuang extorted and extorted the common people, doing all kinds of evil.The people outside of Gyeonggi are living in dire straits under the majesty of officials. New ways of playing, places to play, new rare birds, and new beauties made Wu Zong even more tired of those tedious and boring affairs.The ministers tried their best to persuade him for a long time, and he had to "occasionally respond to his own affairs". Sometimes, although he announced his visit to the court, the officials waited from morning to dusk, but they issued an order to avoid the court, and the ministers had to return disgruntled.On New Year's Day in the eleventh year of Zhengde (AD 1516), a celebration ceremony was held according to the ancestral system, and Wu Zong should go to accept the congratulations of all officials as usual.All the officials and foreign envoys gathered at the gate of the palace to wait at four o'clock that day, and Wu Zong didn't get up until the afternoon, staggering lazily.The ceremony started at You o'clock in the afternoon and ended late at night.Hundreds of officials were hungry and thirsty for a day, and they finally heard the dismissal, just like prisoners who heard the amnesty, all ran wildly, many people were pushed down, and even trampled on each other, General Zhao Lang was trampled to death in the forbidden gate. In the Ming Dynasty at this time, the emperor indulged in lust and pleasure, and the eunuchs exercised power recklessly, and the government was in a mess at this time.Who knows that Liu Jin is still dissatisfied with his real power of one person under one person and above ten thousand people at this time. He is afraid that one day Wu Zong will lose his favor, so he actually launched a coup d'état and became the emperor himself, which caused a lot of trouble. Allayed the doubts of one of his buddies, Zhang Yong.Zhang Yong had some conflicts with Liu Jin at first, fearing that he would be destroyed if he failed to participate in Liu Jin's affairs, so he reported Liu Jin to Wu Zong.After hearing this, Wu Zong asked in bewilderment: "What is Liu Jin doing?" Zhang Yong said that he wanted to win the world, and Wu Zong said, let him get it.Zhang Yong also said, where will His Majesty be placed at that time?Wu Zong came to his senses at this time, ordered Liu Jin to be arrested overnight, and prepared to be exiled to Fengyang, but he was still dubious. Encouraged by Zhang Yong, Wu Zong personally led Jin Yiwei to search Liu Jin's home.From Liu Jin's house, a false imperial seal, palace plaques, and contraband such as armor, bows and crossbows, clothes, and jade belts were found.In addition, there are 240,000 ingots of gold and 57,800 taels, 5 million ingots of ingots and 1.5836 million taels of gold, and 2 buckets of gems.The careful soldiers also found two extremely sharp daggers from the fan Liu Jin often used.It was only then that Wu Zong gritted his teeth with hatred for Liu Jin, and said: "This slave really wants to rebel!" In a fit of rage, he punched Liu Jin several times, and then ordered Liu Jin to be punished.On the day of Liu Jin's execution, many people rushed to buy his meat from the executioner to vent their shame and hatred.A group of internal and external officials who followed Liu Jin were impeached as traitors, including cabinet scholars Jiao Fang, Liu Yu, and Cao Yuan. The total number exceeded 60. From the twelfth year of Zhengde (AD 1517), Wu Zong was no longer satisfied with misbehavior in the palace or the capital. Under the instigation of Jiang Bin, a new favorite minister, he came up with the idea of ​​traveling outside the Great Wall.He was afraid of causing opposition and obstruction from the ministers of the DPRK and China. In August of the twelfth year of Zhengde, Wu Zong and Jiang Bin went out of Beijing quietly without the escort of Yiwei, accompanying ministers, and generals guarding chariots. Chase after knowing.Wu Zong and others crossed Changping and arrived at Juyongguan, and ordered people to pass orders to open the gate.Zhang Qin, the censor of the patrol, refused to carry out this order. He summoned the envoy sent by Wu Zong to call the pass, and reprimanded him, saying: "The emperor will never go on patrol quietly. Go out to communicate with the enemy." After hearing the minister's report, Wu Zong ordered him to announce the edict the next day.Zhang Qin no longer pretended to be stupid, tied the "imperial seal" on his back, held a sword, and sat under the closed door, sternly declaring that he was ordered by the emperor to guard the border, without the emperor's edict, "those who dare to speak open and close will be executed!" Wu Zong was furious when he heard the report, and ordered Zhang Qin to be arrested and punished. Just when Liang Chu arrived, he tried hard to persuade him to return to Beijing.A few days later, Wu Zong went out of Beijing secretly in the middle of the night, and went to Juyongguan. He sent someone to spy on Zhang Qin and learned that he was inspecting Baiyangkou. The courtier who pursued.Under Jiang Bin's guidance, Wu Zong traveled day and night, enjoying the scenery on the frontier, and arrived at Xuanfu in September.Here, Jiang Bin had already built the Zhenguo Mansion for Wu Zong in advance, and arranged the treasures in the Leopard House and the women plundered during the parade inside.Wu Zong couldn't help being elated when he saw that all the female singers and singers in the mansion were prepared, the houses and buildings were painted with painted beams and carved buildings, and red eaves and yellow tiles.Xuanfu is located outside the Great Wall, because it is an important traffic road, the market is rich and prosperous, there are dots of green houses outside the city, the pastoral songs are long, the sky is high and the clouds are calm, which has a unique atmosphere.Wu Zong was so happy that he forgot to return. He often went out at night, broke into houses, asked for food and drink, or robbed women.The sergeants who were transferred to protect Wuzong couldn't keep up with the cooking firewood, and demolished houses at every turn, disturbing the shops and closing their doors during the day. Not long after, Wu Zong went to Yanghe (now Yanggao, Shanxi).It was the time when Mongolian soldiers were harassing this area. After hearing the report, he thought it was a good time to show his "bravery", so he named himself "Governor of Military Affairs, Mighty General, Chief Military Officer Zhu Shou", and called the station as the "Military gate", and wrote a memorial to the cabinet to ask for money for military horses.The cabinet ministers did not agree, and Shangshu asked him to return to Beijing as soon as possible.Wu Zong directly issued an order to the Ministry of Household Affairs, "allocate one million taels of silver to the Xuanfu to reward the military division." Shangshu Shijie had to send half of this amount to deal with it. In October, the two armies fought in the north of Yingzhou City. Wu Zong personally held the weapon and led troops from Yanghe with the eunuchs to help them. They fought fiercely for two days.In this battle, although the Mongolian army died 16 people and finally retreated, but the Ming army suffered more than 600 casualties, and Wu Zong was almost captured, but he thought he had achieved a major victory, so he sent people back to the imperial court to report the victory, and he led his troops back to Xuanzong. government.Not long after, when it was the beginning of spring, Wuzong prepared various dramas in Xuanfu to celebrate the new year. Among them, he was most happy to decorate dozens of carts and carry hundreds of monks and women on board, making them tease each other, thinking that Lots of fun.In the spring of the thirteenth year of Zhengde (1518 A.D.), he decided to return to Beijing, and ordered all the officials to welcome the "mighty general Zhu Shou" in triumph.On the 16th day of the first lunar month, Wu Zong returned to the capital and "sleeped in the Leopard Room" that night. Within a few days, Wu Zong got up again to inspect Xuanfu in the north.In February, Empress Dowager Wang (Xuanzong's queen) passed away, so he had to put away You Xing and rush back to the capital for the funeral. In March of the thirteenth year of Zhengde, Wu Zong took the opportunity of the burial of the empress dowager to start the third tour.He first went to Changping and then to Miyun.Along the way, Jiang Bin and others plundered dozens of carts of good girls. Wherever they passed, many people fled, causing commotion from far and near.In May, returning to Beijing from Xifeng Pass, the whole journey was full of spring breeze, without any trace of sadness. Only one month later, Wu Zong was planning to go on tour again because he missed the Great Wall, so he used the excuse that the border was often invaded by the northern bandits, and asked the cabinet ministers to draft an imperial edict: "Specially appointed Zhu Shou, the commander-in-chief of the mighty general of military affairs, to lead the six armies to conquer. "On July 9th, before dawn, Wu Zong led Jiang Bin and his soldiers out of Dong'anmen, followed the familiar route, passed Juyongguan, and arrived at Xuanfu.Then, he came to Datong again, and issued an edict in Datong, proclaiming himself the Duke of the Town, with an annual salary of 5,000 Dan.In October, the parade team crossed the Yellow River west to Yulin, Shaanxi.In November, south to Suide.In December, crossed the Yellow River east and arrived in Taiyuan.During this parade, Jiang Bin and the accompanying soldiers looked for beautiful women for Wu Zong everywhere, regardless of whether they were in official or private households, married or not.Liu Shi, the wife of Yang Teng, a musician in Jinwangfu, Taiyuan, is quite beautiful and proficient in music.From then on, this woman followed Wu Zong and favored her more than other women, and she was called "beauty", while Jiang Bin called her "mother".In February of the 14th year of Zhengde, Wu Zong's "expedition" came to an end, and he returned from Xuanfu full of gold, jade, toys, eagles, dogs, tigers and leopards, and beautiful women.This tour lasted more than half a year, and most of his followers were overworked and sick. However, he rode on horseback all the way, encountered dangers, braved wind and snow, was in high spirits, did not feel tired, and even had a small cold. Never suffered from it. After returning from his fourth tour, Yang Tinghe, the minister of the inner palace, asked Wu Zong to "declare the world and stop the tour", but Wu Zong refused.After reading all the wonderful scenery on the frontier, his piercing eyes moved to the south shrouded in drizzle and light smoke.In less than a month, another southern tour edict was issued.As soon as the edict of the Southern Tour was issued, it was opposed by courtiers.First, Yang Tinghe and others met Wu Zong, saying that the tour to the northwest had already caused the people to mourn, and if the tour to the south would cause embarrassment to the south of the Yangtze River, they also said that the prince had not been born, and that the emperor should take care of his body, so that he could inherit the clan and the imperial edict should be withdrawn.Wu Zong ignored this.Seeing that there was no result, Huang Gong, a doctor in the Ministry of War, and others went to the shuffle one after another, criticizing Wu Zong for favoring bad people, making the government worse than Liu Jin first, and then Jiang Bin, pointing out that Wu Zong's southern tour was just "extravagant pleasure".Wu Zong was very angry about this, and more than 30 people including Huang Gong who had stopped him were arrested in Jinyiwei Prison.The other 146 ministers who opposed the court were punished with rods.Jiang Bin hated them for denouncing his crimes, and secretly ordered the prison in charge to increase the beating. For this reason, a total of 15 ministers were killed.But the rest of the ministers were not intimidated, and they still refused to retreat, forcing Wu Zong to temporarily give up this plan. Just as Wu Zong was arguing with the courtiers about the southern tour, a rebellion was quietly brewing in Nanchang, Jiangxi.As soon as the turmoil of the southern tour subsided, news of the rebellion spread to the capital. The leader of the rebellion was Zhu Chenhao, whose ancestor was Zhu Quan, the seventeenth son of Ming Taizu's Ning Wang.Zhu Chenhao had long been prepared to steal the country. His guard army was canceled several times, but he was quickly restored by various means. After painstaking efforts, there were more than 20,000 troops.Due to Wu Zong's misbehavior and lack of heirs, Zhu Chenhao believed that the time had come. On June 14th of the 14th year of Zhengde, Zhu Chenhao claimed that "according to the Queen Mother's secret decree, he ordered troops to enter the court", and concentrated the troops available for deployment. Known as 100,000, openly rebelled.The rebels killed a group of officials including Sun Sui, the governor of Jiangxi, the deputy capital of Jiangxi, appointed the so-called left and right prime ministers, and the Minister of the Ministry of War, and sent troops down the Yangtze River to attack Anqing. Wang Shouren, the deputy governor of Ting and Jiangxi, urgently ordered all prefectures and counties to send troops to suppress them.Just when Wang Shouren fought fiercely with Zhu Chenhao and won a decisive victory, Wu Zong got the news. He believed that the time had finally come to break through the obstruction of the ministers and realize the dream of the southern tour, and he began to plan the imperial conquest.Jiang Bin and other close officials who accompanied him to play in the leopard room immediately responded positively.Wu Zong feared that the situation of the last time would recur, and publicly issued a decree: "Anyone who dares to speak falsely to dissuade him will be sentenced to death! There will be no forgiveness." This time he finally achieved his goal. Out of the capital. As soon as the team arrived in Zhuozhou, the news of Wang Shouren's victory in suppressing the rebellion arrived.After reading the victory report, Wu Zong was afraid of losing his excuse, so he quietly hid the victory report and kept it secret.In early December, arrived in Yangzhou.The eunuch Wu Jing had arrived early and changed the seized house into the "Great General's Mansion". He also searched for virgins and widows everywhere under the guise of the saint. match.The looted women were locked up in a nunnery, and the rich people ransomed them out, and most of the poor committed suicide, and the rest were sent to the "Great General's Mansion".Wu Zong lived in Yangzhou for a few days. Afterwards, the army marched to Nanjing and visited Nanjing for several months.Jiang Bin, who accompanied him along the way, pretended to be a tiger and acted recklessly, making officials from all over the place wear military uniforms to welcome and send off the chariots, while Jiang Bin passed on imperial edicts from time to time.The Banner Military Academy treats magistrates and county magistrates with lesser official positions, arbitrarily chains them up, and treats them like slaves.In order to satisfy Wu Zong's personal conquest, Jiang Bin also instructed Wang Shouren to release Zhu Chenhao in the Poyang area so that Wu Zong could capture him.Wang Shouren was extremely angry. He wrote a letter stating that Jiangxi was devastated after the war.In July of the fifteenth year of Zhengde (AD 1520), Wang Shouren reported victory again. In order to take care of Wuzong's mood, he wrote in the victory report that the rebellion was quelled completely according to the arrangement of the mighty general. His name is also listed for credit.Wu Zong did not personally capture Zhu Chenhao, but still felt that it was not enough, so in August of the fifteenth year of Zhengde, he held a very ridiculous capture ceremony in Nanjing.He set up a square, set up the banner of a mighty general, surrounded by heavily armed soldiers for a week, ordered Zhu Chenhao's shackles to be removed, put on his uniform, held a sharp sword, and rushed to the palace amidst the sound of drums and gold. Enter the arena to fight with Zhu Chenhao, capture him, put him in shackles again, and then accept the offer of captivity.Only when the farce was over, Wu Zong felt satisfied, and under the persuasion of the great scholars Liang Chu and Jiang Mian, he decided to be a "class teacher". On the way back to the capital from Nanjing, Wu Zong was obsessed with the beautiful scenery of the water town. He fished and shot geese along the way, walked and stopped, and enjoyed the last part of the southern tour leisurely.In September, he came to Qingjiangpu and rowed a small boat to fish and catch shrimp in a place called Jishui Pond. He didn't want the boat to capsize and fall into the water when he was struggling to cast the net. Fortunately, people around him jumped into the water in time to pick him up.At this time, Wu Zong's physical condition was not good. Although he was not drowned this time, he caught cold and fell ill, which has not been relieved.In October, Wuzong returned to Tongzhou.Not long after, Zhu Chenhao was executed in Tongzhou, and his body was burned and ashes were collected.At this time, Jiang Bin was still agitating Wu Zong to go north to the Xuanfu, but he refused to obey because his body could not support him.On the way back to Beijing from Tongzhou, Wu Zong was no longer able to ride a horse, so he had to ride on a chariot.From the tightly covered chariot, Wu Zong heard from time to time the violent coughing of the religious ministers.十一日，文武百官迎驾到正阳桥，武宗强打精神，披挂战袍，立于正阳门下，与百官们检阅大军以及“赫赫战果”，接受人们的欢呼表贺。十四日，武宗因凯旋大祀天地于南郊，跪行天地时，由于病体不支，突然从口中喷涌出鲜血，终于提前告退。 正德十六年三月十四日，武宗死于豹房，终年31岁。武宗一生嫔妃如云，美姬常拥，但他没能为自己留下后嗣。对自己荒嬉无度的一生，武宗自己有个评价。他在临死的头一天，对守护身边的太监说：“我的缺点实在是太多了，不足以成为人们学习的榜样。你把我的意思转告太后，天下的事情，还是朝政为重，请她今后一定与阁臣们商量行事。过去的事情，责任由我负，与别人无关。”君王们威福任情一生，能引咎自责的，不算太多，武宗临终能做如是说，确属不易。这位临死才有点明白的皇帝，庙号“武宗”，葬于康陵。