Chapter 348 Chapter 347 Sejong Zhu Houcong

Anlu, a small city in Hubei, is an oasis of prosperity.During the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty, there was an additional Xingxian Palace here. The fourth son of Xianzong Zhu Jianshen and the younger brother of Xiaozong Zhu Youtang, Zhu Youzhang, were named here as vassal kings. In March of the 16th year of Zhengde, Zhu Houcong, a handsome young man, came out of here. He bid farewell to his homeland by the Han River with tears, and became the eleventh emperor of the Ming Dynasty, with the temple name "Shizong". In the 16th year of Ming Zhengde, Zhu Houcong was only 15 years old, and his father Zhu Youcong had just passed away the year before last. According to the etiquette and law of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houcong was in charge of the affairs of the palace at the age of 13, and was appointed to inherit the throne not long ago. All the privileges of a prince.

It was not too early for Zhu Houcong to know the news of Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao's death. In the last few days of March, the news of Wuzong's death came, and the palace held a very extravagant mourning as usual. But what does this matter have to do with me. It was Yang Tinghe, the chief assistant of the imperial court cabinet who was far away in the capital, who thought of the succession relationship for Zhu Houcong and advocated that he be enthroned.After Wu Zong's death, because he had no son to succeed the throne, Empress Dowager Zhang of Cishou ordered the cabinet to be established.Yang Tinghe, who had been prepared for a long time, was the first to speak and said: "Brothers will end up with brothers, and they should be established in accordance with the order." The empress dowager did not raise any objections to Yang Tinghe's suggestion, and approved the writing of the emperor's edict, which was implemented immediately.

On April 22, the travel-worn Zhu Houcong came to the outskirts of the capital from Anlu.The cabinet greeted him with the etiquette for the crown prince, but Zhu Houcong refused to participate in the ceremony based on his knowledge of etiquette. He asked the ministers who asked why: "The edict is clearly written. Emperor, you welcome me according to the way of the crown prince, am I here to be the crown prince?!" The new monarch's alert and tough attitude was beyond the expectations of the ministers, and the university scholars had to make a new arrangement and change it to the crown prince. The Empress Dowager led civil and military officials to go to the table to persuade them to enter.After persuading him to enter the table three times, Zhu Houcong got up at noon and entered the palace from the Daming Gate after he felt that his name was justified.He first sent official representatives to pay homage to the ancestral temple and the country, then paid homage to the gods of the ancestors, and then went to greet the empress dowager.The enthronement ceremony was held in Fengtian Hall on the same day, and Zhu Houcong chose Jiajing as his year name, with the intention of calming chaos, seeking governance, eradicating bad governance, and prospering the empire.

Sejong was not very old, and he had no lack of desire for governance.He managed a small fiefdom in Anlu and accumulated some ruling experience.What Wu Zong left him was a mess, internal and external troubles, a lot of waste waiting to be done, and people's hearts were extremely unstable.He understands what is needed to govern the government, so he appreciates and reuses Yang Tinghe.With the assistance of Yang Tinghe, Sejong carried out some reforms to the bad government during Wuzong's period: he killed Wuzong's courtiers Jiang Bin and Qian Ning, demoted eunuchs Gu Dayong and Qiu Ju to guard Xiaoling, and forced eunuchs Wei Bin, Zhang Yong handed over his power to live idle; twice eliminated more than 180,000 people from Jinyiwei and the Internal Supervision Bureau's fake military academy and craftsmen; promoted some honest officials and entrusted them with important tasks; All localities are not allowed to donate any more; reduce grain by 1,532,000 shi.Before assuming the throne, Yang Tinghe transferred the frontier army to return to the town, closed the unseemly imperial store, and sent back the beautiful women from all over the country, etc., and gave affirmation.When Yang Tinghe aroused the hatred of dereliction of duty because he expelled Wuzong's adopted son from the palace and eliminated redundant staff, and someone threatened to retaliate, Sejong reacted extremely quickly and ordered to dispatch more than a hundred soldiers to provide special protection for Yang Tinghe day and night.In October of the first year of Jiajing, a minister came to the shuffle, pointing out that it was not enough for eunuchs to go out of the town, saying that they enjoyed honor in ordinary times, poisoned the common people wantonly, and were extremely unreliable because they were full of expectations when things changed.Shizong agreed with this view very much, and soon issued an edict to recall the eunuchs stationed in various state capitals to the capital, and they have not been repatriated for more than 40 years.In a short period of time, Sejong demonstrated his majesty and eased social conflicts with his bold actions that dazzled the world. The subjects all over the world called the new emperor Shengming and praised Yang Tinghe for his great achievements.

Sejong became the emperor as the successor of his uncle, Emperor Xiaozong Zhu Youtang, because Emperor Wuzong of Ming Dynasty had no son. His father was Xingxian King Zhu Youtang.So, after ascending the throne, will Sejong call his father "Huang Kao" or Xiaozong as "Huang Kao"?The core of the problem is whether he can recognize his biological father as his father after becoming an emperor. If he can, according to the feudal etiquette system, there will be a set of etiquette issues.Sejong's original intention, of course, is to honor his biological father.On the 5th day after the enthronement ceremony, in order to give his dead father a higher title, Sejong ordered the officials to discuss this issue, and the opinions of the courtiers were divided.Yang Tinghe abided by the etiquette and law, and thought that since Sejong entered the system as a vassal, he should call Xiaozong "Huang Kao" and renamed King Xingxian as the emperor's uncle. Some people said: "Anyone who dissents should be punished." Shizong was very dissatisfied with the parents of "Yiyi" and asked for a reconsideration, but because of the opposition of his ministers and his throne was not yet consolidated, he had to put it aside.But it was Sejong's mother Jiang who made things change.About four months later, Jiang went to Beijing from Anlu. Hearing the opinions of the ministers in the court, he lost his temper and said to the accompanying court envoy: "You are appointed as officials, and your parents have been favored. I became the emperor, but became someone else's son, so why should I go to Beijing?!" After speaking, he stopped in Tongzhou, refusing to leave.When Shizong heard the news, he went to Empress Dowager Zhang crying and said, "You can choose someone else to be emperor. I want to go back to Anlu with my mother, and I will still be the king."Yang Tinghe had no choice but to order the Ministry of Rites on behalf of Shizong, respecting Zhu Youzhu as the Xingxian Emperor and Jiang as the Xingxian Empress.According to this, the ceremonial officer arranged for Jiang to enter the palace from Dong'anmen, and sent the report. Sejong threw it back without waiting for it. The ceremonial officer also suggested improving the Daming East Gate. Beijing, you should enter through the middle gate and visit the Taimiao." After hearing this decision, Mrs. Jiang continued to move forward.After Jiang's entry into Beijing, Yang Tinghe took advantage of his power to instruct the Ministry of Officials to demote Zhang Cong, a scholar of politics who catered to Sejong's ideas, to the head of the Ministry of Criminal Justice in Nanjing. The Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Industry.Sejong didn't intervene in this, but he didn't abandon his original claim either.It is a pity that this disagreement with Yang Tinghe left a grudge in Sejong's heart, and he began to squeeze out and weaken conservative officials who opposed his respecting his biological father as the emperor.

In the first month of the third year of Jiajing, Zhang Cong, who was demoted to Nanjing, and Gui E, the head of the Nanjing Ministry of Civil Affairs, saw that Sejong had gained a firm foothold, speculated on the emperor's intentions, and wrote a letter to bring up the old case again, demanding that "quickly issue an edict, follow the name and test the facts, Call Xing Xiandi the Emperor Kao." Seeing Shu Zuo, Shizong nodded again and again, sighed and said: "This Shu Zuo is too important, the laws of heaven are normal, and we must rely on it to maintain it." He ordered the court officials to gather for discussion.Yang Tinghe saw that he had reverted to his old ways, and expected that he would not be able to recover, so he decided to resign. He also asked for resignation with him, and Mao Cheng, Minister of Rites.Sejong wrote the words "listen to go" on his resignation letter, and the officials asked him to keep the two of them. Sejong didn't say a word, expressing his tough attitude with silence.In the end, Yang Tinghe was dismissed as a civilian.

After Yang Tinghe resigned, the dispute over etiquette reached a fever pitch.Wang Jun, the new Minister of Rites, resolutely opposed the Shuzuo from Nanjing, but Sejong refused to let go of this opportunity until Wang Jun agreed to change Xingxian Emperor to Xingxian Emperor, and he still did not give up, and ordered Zhang Cong, Gui Calyx was reinstated as an official in Beijing.Before Zhang Cong and Gui E set off, they made another commentary, proposing that "etiquette is not about being emperor or not, but about whether or not to be tested." Sejong ordered the Ministry of Rites to honor Emperor Xingxian as Emperor Bensheng, and Emperor Gongmu Xian, The Ministry of Rites built another room on the side of Fengxian hall to house the emperor Kao.Wang Jun refused to obey his orders and resigned to return home.Sejong ordered Xi Shu to succeed him.Jiang Mian, a scholar, saw that Sejong left the cabinet and insisted on going his own way, so he also followed Yang Tinghe's example and angrily resigned.Shizong was unmoved, and asked Shi Yao to be a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion. Shi Yao was not flattering, and immediately asked Shizong to stop calling Zhang Cong and Gui E after taking office.Zhang and Gui were on the way at this time. It was rumored that they were asked to return to their posts, and they went to the shuffle again, saying, "From the newspaper in the residence, I saw that the title still has the word 'Bensheng' on it. This is no different from the emperor's uncle. I would like to come to Beijing to question face to face." Yunyun.After seeing it, Sejong hurriedly summoned the two to go to Beijing quickly.Immediately after the two entered Beijing, they were appointed as Hanlin Bachelors, who were in charge of ceremonial matters.In July, according to the report of the two, Sejong ordered the cabinet to remove the word "Bensheng" from the title of his parents. The university scholar Mao Ji and others could not agree. Me, don’t you think I don’t have a father?!” Then he summoned all the officials to the Zuoshun Gate, and issued a decree to honor the treasure within four days.From Sejong's unquestionable tone, the courtiers felt that the situation had reached the last moment.After the early court on July 15th, Yang Shen wrote: "The country has supported scholars for more than a hundred years, and it is today!" Many ministers agreed with him. He Mengchun and other 237 people under Jiuqing , Kneeling under Zuo Shun's gate together, shouting Emperor Xiaozong.Mao Ji and Shi Yao, cabinet scholars, also joined the ranks of kneeling after hearing about it.After Sejong persuaded him twice, he failed to restrain himself and was furious. He sent Jin Yiwei to arrest the 8 leaders. Seeing this scene, Yang Shen shook the door and burst into tears.Sejong became more and more angry, and ordered the factory guards to arrest 134 people.Two days later, he ordered that the first person be sent to the frontier, and the rest who were above the fourth rank would be deprived of their salary, and those below the fifth rank would be punished with sticks. Sixteen people died successively because of their severe punishment.When Mao Ji came to the rescue, Sejong unceremoniously reprimanded him, saying that he would make friends and betray the king.Mao Ji was humiliated and resigned in anger.Amidst the sound of beating sticks, Zhu Youzhu's divine master welcomed him from Anlu to Beijing, and placed it in the newly built Guande Hall next to Fengxian Hall.So far, the "Etiquette" case that has shaken the government and the public for three years has come to an end with Sejong's victory.

The consequences of a matter of etiquette are very bad.Since then, Sejong has frequently imprisoned unsatisfactory ministers and kicked off the beginning of Shunchang's rebellion.Zhang Cong and Gui E, who supported Sejong, were respectively awarded the Minister of Rites and the Bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion and the Minister of Officials and the Bachelor of Wuyingdian, and they entered the cabinet and took power.Since then, the upright people have kept their mouths shut, and some lucky people have seen Zhang Cong and others being promoted because of their obedience to Shizong, and they have also spoken out one after another, trying their best to curry favor.Since then, the wind has changed suddenly, and intrigues have emerged endlessly. This kind of consequence was beyond Shizong's expectation.

In the second year of Jiajing (1523 A.D.), the weather was not beautiful. There was a severe drought in the northwest in summer and floods in the south in autumn. The abnormal weather changes made Sejong restless and restless.This gaffe is because he is too superstitious, thinking that the heavens are capricious, and there will probably be disasters.The eunuch Cui Wen saw this opportunity to flatter him, and told him that he could avoid disaster by praying to the heavens for worship and offering sacrifices.Sejong was convinced of this nonsense, so he ordered the establishment of a sacrificial altar in the palace.He personally selected 20 young eunuchs, put on Taoist uniforms, learned to recite scriptures and repented, all Qianqing Palace, Kunning Palace, Hanjing Factory, Wuhua Palace, Xinuang Pavilion, etc., were built sequentially, and since then, the incense lanterns in the palace Candles, day and night, gongs, cymbals and banners, bubbling with noise, turned the Forbidden City into a Taoist monastery.At that time, Yang Tinghe, the chief assistant of the cabinet, and Qiao Yu, the secretary of the Ministry of officials, couldn't stand this farce, and tried hard to persuade Sejong to stop building sacrifices and stay away from the monks, but Sejong ignored them at first, and then alienated them. Officials are punished separately.After Yang Tinghe and other important ministers were dismissed, Sejong worshiped monks and Taoism even more unscrupulously. Especially after a few years on the throne, he only wanted to live a long life.

In the winter of the third year of Jiajing, Emperor Shizong heard that Shao Yuanjie, a Taoist priest from Jiangxi Province, had the art of longevity, so he summoned him into the palace. Lead Taoism.Shao Yuanjie rearranged the original feast in the palace, and followed the alchemist up and down, very busy. In the ceremony of fasting and offering sacrifices, it is necessary to use memorials and essays written to the "God", usually in parallel style, because they are written on ivy paper with a vermilion brush, so they are called "Qingci".Sejong regards whether he can write Qing Ci well as the standard for judging the level of knowledge of civil servants. In order to win his favor, many ministers ponder over the writing method of Qing Ci all day long.As the rituals continued, Qing Ci was refurbished, and in the whole court, there was a trend of comparing and writing Qing Ci.

In the eighteenth year of Jiajing (1539 A.D.), Shao Yuanjie died of illness. Shizong was visiting the tomb in Anlu at this time. Hearing the news, he mourned unceasingly.Shao Yuanjie introduced Tao Zhongwen, an alchemist, to Shizong before his death.Tao Zhongwen instigated Shizong to use the menstrual blood of a virgin as a raw material to make "Yuan Xing Pure Red Pill", which can be immortal after persuasion.Sejong believed it to be true, so he told local officials everywhere to select more than 300 virgins to enter the palace to prepare for medicine.In a not too long time, Tao Zhongwen won the favor of Emperor Shizong again, and made his way to the top. He was the official at least Bao, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, and also served as a young tutor, with a first-class salary, and took charge of Taoism.A large number of Tao Zhongwen's descendants and apprentices were also employed as officials in the imperial court. Sejong believed in Taoism and tried various techniques to become immortals. He felt good about himself and gained great pleasure from it.But he did not follow the Taoist teaching of "purity of heart and as few desires", but frequently sent people to the folks to select thousands of ladies.The woman who entered the palace had dual identities for his pleasure and driving, and was bullied and humiliated, so she rose up to resist.On October 21st, the 21st year of Jiajing, Shizong was having fun at Concubine Duan's place, and after that he lost his energy and fell into a deep sleep.While Concubine Duan was away, the court lady Yang Jinying greeted more than a dozen sisters, and rushed forward, one person covered Sejong's face with a yellow silk rag, and the rest restrained him.Then, Yang Jinying tied a rope around his neck, and two court ladies each held one end and pulled it hard.But Yang Jinying mistakenly tied it into a dead knot when he was knotting the rope, so several court ladies strangled him for a long time and only strangled him unconscious, but did not strangle him to death.Queen Fang got the news and brought the eunuchs to rush there, and snatched him from the maid.The rebellious court ladies were executed the next day, and Duanfei Cao and Ningpin Wang were also executed in the palace because of their involvement. The rebellion of the palace servants sounded a wake-up call to Sejong, but he didn't realize it, and even thought that his survival was the result of respecting the gods.But from then on, he no longer dared to live in Qianqing Palace, and declared that he was a person outside the world. Let's meet.The civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty just knew that there was such an emperor. Yan Song was originally the right servant of the Ministry of Rites. In the seventh year of Jiajing, he was ordered by Emperor Shizong to go to Anlu to pay homage to the tomb of Emperor Xingxian. When crossing the river, even the river suddenly rose, which is God's will." Sejong admired him very much for this.After that, Yan Song flattered Xia Yan, the chief minister of the cabinet at the time, and spoke ill of Xia Yan in front of Sejong, finally won Sejong's full trust in him, and gradually paved the way to enter the cabinet. Before Yan Song entered the cabinet, Xia Yan was in charge of the power. The reason why Xia Yan was favored was because of his well-written poems for sacrificial offerings and his willingness to work hard on offering sacrifices.But Xia Yan gradually got tired of this matter and resisted it from time to time. Shizong was very dissatisfied with this.For example, Sejong often wore a fragrant leaf Taoist crown, dressed as a Taoist priest, and ordered people to carve five fragrant crowns for five ministers including Xia Yan and Yan Song.Xia Yan refused to wear it, and even persuaded him closely, while Yan Song always wore it when Sejong called him, and Sejong was naturally even more dissatisfied with Xia Yan.Shizong often sent eunuchs to ministers' mansions to proclaim and accomplish affairs. Xia Yan relied on his high position and never spoke politely, treating him like a servant. Say good things about Yan Song to Shizong.Shizong felt that this could not explain the superiority of the two, so he specially sent someone to check on the two's homes at night, only to find that Xia Yan was often sleeping at home, while Yan Song was reviewing his Qing Ci under the lamp.Sejong compared the Qingci sent by the two several times, and found that most of Xia Yan's were written by his staff, and sometimes he used the used ones to make up for the number, while Yan Song's writing became more and more exciting.Sejong had a bottom line in his mind, and his impression of Xia Yan plummeted.He threw Xia Yan's Qing Ci to Xiyuan on the ground many times, and said angrily: "You use this kind of trick to fool me, you really deserve my value!" Naturally, those who have value cannot stay for long In the 23rd year of Jiajing (AD 1544), Xia Yan stepped down and replaced him with Yan Song.In the 25th year of Jiajing, under Yan Song's instigation, Xia Yan was finally beheaded. Shizong replaced the chief minister of the cabinet with Yan Song, but he didn't think Yan Song had the talent to govern the world, but he appreciated Yan Song's obedience.Shizong practiced in Xiyuan and didn't want to meet his courtiers. Yan Song lived in Xiyuan, accompanied him day and night, waiting to be summoned at any time, and he didn't even care about washing.Sejong's evaluation of him was "loyalty, diligence and wisdom".When Sejong was dreaming of becoming an immortal, the incompetent Yan Song's cabinet failed to keep the court.Under the impact of the rising northern peoples, the border defenses that had been lax for many years finally collapsed. The Mongolian Lihan's horse captain galloped straight in, and the capital's palace was shocked. In June of the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing (AD 1550), Alda, the leader of the northern Tatar tribe, led an army to attack Datong. Both Zhang Da and Lin Chun, the deputy commander, were killed in the bloody battle, and the entire defenders were wiped out.In August, Alda moved his troops to the east and broke through Gubeikou from Jizhen.I Da waved his army forward, crossed Tongzhou and Miyun, and went straight to the city of Beijing.The victors set up camp outside Andingmen, plundered the village residents wantonly, and burned the huts, and the flames continued day and night.Shizong ignored court affairs, so he knew nothing about Alda's invasion before.After the soldiers came to the city, Xu Jian, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, repeatedly supervised him, and then went to Yutian Palace to convene all civil and military officials to discuss matters.After the minister reported the truth, he realized that the disaster had come. In his panic, he couldn't remember who the Minister of the Ministry of War was. In front of the Minister of the Ministry of War, Ding Rukui, he exclaimed in surprise: "Where is the Minister of the Ministry of War? Hurry up and send out the decree. Let him come to see me right away!" The defense of the capital fell on Ding Rukui's shoulders.When he checked the records of the Beijing army, he found that most of them were imaginary numbers, and only 40,000 to 50,000 old, weak and remnant soldiers had been assembled into a temporary team to meet the urgent need to defend the city.Fortunately, reinforcements arrived at this time, and Sejong ordered Qiu Luan, who led the troops, to be the general of Pinglu, and command the reinforcements from all walks of life.More than 100,000 soldiers and horses led by Qiu Luan watched Alda's army plunder wantonly, and no one went out to fire a single bullet.The reason is not that the soldiers are timid to fight, but that they have received absurd orders to avoid fighting.After the reinforcements arrived, Ding Rukui found Yan Song and asked whether he was the main battle or the main defender.Yan Song said: "If you lose a battle on the frontier, you can still hide it. If you lose here, who doesn't know? Of course, you should not fight against the wall and preserve your strength. When the enemy has plundered enough, they will naturally retreat." Ding Rukui followed his plan. Row.I Da led the army to kill and plunder for 8 days, and then began to retreat.Before leaving, I replied that someone sent Sejong a letter requesting mutual trade and the opening of the horse market. The whole text was full of threats and intimidation.After Sejong received the letter, he mistakenly thought that the siege of the city was imminent, so he urgently ordered the Ministry of Rites to prepare a large amount of leather coins, pearls and jade, intending to kneel down and sue for peace.I don't know the real situation in the Ming Dynasty, but it was a little early to pull out the stronghold, and I didn't get this generous gift. Afterwards, I said that the Mongols came to the capital's city twice and plundered it. Sejong still let it go and made the people in the suburbs full. Suffered from the war. The frontier defense in the north is full of loopholes, and wars are always on the rise, and the south is not so peaceful. The long coastline from Liaodong through Shandong to Guangdong, there are always sirens.Make people panic.It is Japan across the sea that brings trouble to Tangtang.In the early Ming Dynasty in Japan, it was the period when the feudal lords were fighting. The vassals fought fiercely in the annexation war, winning and losing each other.In order to satisfy their extravagant desires and solve financial difficulties, feudal lords often organize businessmen and ronin to smuggle, trade and plunder in mainland China.The desire of the down-and-out samurai to plunder wealth is no less than that of Alta in the north.The Chinese call these uninvited guests who are short in stature and specialize in looting houses and earning a living, "Japanese pirates". In the early Ming Dynasty, the imperial court set up anti-Japanese guards along the coast and built additional warships, so the Japanese pirates did not become a serious problem.By the time of Jiajing, the coastal defense was so bad that it couldn't be worse. In the coastal guards of Zhejiang and Fujian, only one or two of the ten warships remained, and only four-tenths of the original soldiers remained.The Japanese's fear of the Ming court has been wiped out.Sejong lacked effective measures to combat the increasingly rampant Japanese invasion.He believes that the best way to calm the crisis is to close the official door to overseas trade and implement a maritime ban.This seemingly decisive, but actually stupid policy has been implemented along the coast since the second year of Jiajing, but the effect is counterproductive.Some Japanese pirates rely on "ronin" to form armed smuggling groups, trade as much as they can, and rob without profit if they have the opportunity.Some colluded with traitors along the coast of China to plunder places and make a fortune. In the thirty-first year of Jiajing (AD 1552), Sejong agreed with the cabinet's opinion and set up inspection ministers along the coast, which played a role in strengthening coastal defense.More than a year later, Sejong sent Zhang Jing, Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, to supervise coastal naval affairs, and entrusted him with the important task of pacifying the Japanese.After Zhang Jing took office, he actively planned military operations and prepared to show his skills.At this time, Zhao Wenhua, the right servant of the Ministry of Industry, came, and the problem became complicated.Zhao Wenhua is Yan Song's adopted son. After Zhao Wenhua took office, he proposed seven suggestions to Sejong, the first of which was "Please send officials to sacrifice to Haishi for peace." After seeing it, Sejong immediately approved it and asked Zhao Wenhua to go handle it.Zhang Jing's position was higher than that of Zhao Wenhua, so he didn't pay much attention to the new priest, so Zhao Wenhua went straight to Zhejiang to inspect Hu Zongxian's place.Zhao Wenhua repeatedly urged Zhang Jing to send troops, but Zhang Jing ignored him due to lack of preparation, so Shizong received a secret note from Zhao Wenhua, falsely accusing Zhang Jing of fearing that the thief would lose his chance and should be punished.After Sejong watched it, he summoned Yan Song for advice. Naturally, Yan Song would not speak well of Zhang Jing, so Sejong ordered Zhang Jing to be arrested.At this time, it was May of the thirty-fourth year of Jiajing.Just when the arrest warrant was about to be issued, Zhang Jing's military deployment was in place. He commanded the soldiers to attack Shitangwan, the Japanese pirate's lair, and won a big victory. He intercepted and killed a large number of fleeing enemies, and drove the Japanese pirates to the sea.When the good news came, Sejong refused to take back the order. He repelled the persuading officials, saying: "Zhang Jing's crime is disloyalty. The reason why he fought this battle was because he heard Zhao Wenhua exposed him and wanted to show it off. "Soon, Zhang Jing was taken to Beijing and beheaded in October.Seeing that Zhang Jing was killed, Zhao Wenhua pretended to take credit for his merits, saying that the victory came from himself and Hu Zongxian's "supervisor". Sejong promoted him to Minister of the Ministry of Industry, added Prince Shaobao, and promoted Hu Zongxian to governor.Compared with Zhao Wenhua, Hu Zongxian is better. Zhao Wenhua served twice in Zhejiang and Fujian. For his own pocket, after Hu Zongxian took office, he successively lured and killed several pirates who had connections with foreign countries, which made the Japanese pirates' fierce flames somewhat restrained, although this did not fundamentally solve the problem. When the Japanese pirates could not be calmed down for a long time, the famous general Qi Jiguang appeared in the Ming army. Together with Yu Dayou, Liu Xian and other military generals, he carefully organized the battle and finally solved the Japanese pirates.Qi Jiguang was transferred to Zhejiang in the 34th year of Jiajing, and was promoted to a general in the second year. He felt that the combat effectiveness of the coastal defense soldiers was too poor, so he recruited new troops in Yiwu.Qi Jiguang conducted rigorous training for this army and created the "Mandarin Duck Formation" tactic, making it an elite army capable of fighting tough battles. He made many military exploits and was known as "Qi's Army". In just a few years, the "Qi Family Army" fought from eastern Zhejiang to Fujian. After several battles, the Japanese pirates were terrified.In the forty-second year of Jiajing, in order to completely solve the Japanese problem in Fujian, the imperial court transferred Yu Dayou as the general soldier of Fujian and Qi Jiguang as the deputy general soldier.Qi Jiguang entered Fujian from Zhejiang again, and together with Yu Dayou and Liu Xian, the commander-in-chief of Guangdong who rushed to help, attacked Pinghai in three ways.Qi's army first boarded the enemy base, and Liu and Yu's troops rushed in one after another, "beheading 2,200 people."Qi Jiguang was promoted to the governor Tongzhi because of his military exploits, and he had thousands of households in the world, and replaced Yu Dayou as the commander-in-chief.In the spring of the second year, Qi Jiguang defeated the bandits in Xianyou, Wangcangping, Caipiling and other places one after another, and gained a lot.After Fujian was pacified, there were still more than 20,000 Japanese pirates in eastern Guangdong. The imperial court ordered Yu Dayou to be the commander-in-chief of Guangdong.So far, the Japanese pirates have been in a slump and gradually withdrew from the coastal area, which was not enough to form a Japanese invasion, and the south tended to be safe. During the long period of time when the soldiers fought bloody battles, the invisible battlefield in the court was also fighting vigorously, which was full of blood.Although Yan Song, the first assistant, was clever and had been in power for a long time, he was eventually defeated by Xu Jie.Xu Jie was also good at concocting Qing Ci, and Sejong trusted him more.Because Xia Yan had recommended Xu Jie to Shizong before his death, Yan Song was very wary of him.Aware of this danger, Xu Jie played a trick and pretended to flatter Yan Song without showing any sharpness.After a long time, Yan Song became numb and careless, and stopped monitoring this potential opponent in everything, allowing him to be smoothly promoted to Minister of Rites and Dongge University Bachelor, and participated in maintenance.As Xu Jie's position was higher, he naturally had more contact with Sejong, so it was possible to influence him. Sejong's view of Yan Song gradually changed.When Yan Song was in power, it was the most serious period of "Southern Japanese and Northern Barbarians". Due to Alda's attack, from the 29th year to the 42nd year of Jiajing, martial law occurred in the capital three times, and the harassment of Japanese pirates spread all over the southeast coast. Provinces and state finances are increasingly in crisis.In the 23rd year of Jiajing (AD 1544), the Ministry of Households reported that the fiscal deficit reached 1.47 million taels, and the deficit rose to 3.73 million taels in 32 years.Shoufu cannot shirk this responsibility.In addition, Yan Song's obscenity can make courtiers look sideways, but can't silence Taoist priests.There was a Taoist priest named Lan Daoxing who liked Bo Shizong very much and believed in him as a god.One day, Sejong called a Taoist priest to help him, and asked whether the gods would come, and asked about the secret of longevity.Shizong asked who is the most virtuous of the assistant ministers now, and the Taoist chanted words, and wrote that Yan Song was a big beetle that hindered the virtuous, and if the beetle can't be removed, why are there virtuous people?Shizong didn't believe it, and asked again: "It's really like what the immortal said, why don't you punish him with disaster?" The Taoist wrote again: "Leave it to the emperor to rectify the law." Shizong was inconvenient to ask again, and his heart moved slightly. In the 40th year of Jiajing, Yan Song's wife Ouyang died of illness. It is reasonable that his son Yan Shifan should take care of the funeral, but Yan Song couldn't do without him for a day. It would be unimaginable if Yan Shifan hadn't answered and corrected the royal letter and the request of the various divisions for him.So, he braced himself and asked Sejong to let Yan Shifan stay in Beijing to "serve" him and replace him with his grandson, and Sejong agreed.Yan Shifan is usually sensual and sensual, but his mother is very strict and dare not be presumptuous.Now that her mother has passed away, she just happens to be having fun. On the outside, she is filial and obedient, but in the inner court, there are so many beautiful girls, and she shuts the door and makes a fool of herself.Yan Song was on duty in Xiyuan, Shizong sometimes ordered to ask about things, Yan Song sent someone to fly to Shifan for advice.Shifan only cares about teasing and drinking with his concubine, so he doesn't care about these things. When he sees a letter, he responds hastily and sloppily.Sejong looked at it and was very unhappy.For some urgent royal letters, the eunuchs would pick them up immediately at the on-duty house. Yan Song had no choice but to forcefully deal with them, often with vague meanings and full of contradictions. Sejong was puzzled when he read them.In Sejong's eyes, Yan Song, who was understanding and skillful in writing Qing Ci, no longer exists. In this year, a fire broke out in Yongshou Palace where Sejong lived, and he had to move to Yuxi Palace.Yuxi Palace was small and short, and Sejong couldn't live there, so he wanted to build Yongshou Palace again.He called Yan Song and asked for his opinion.Yan Song didn't know the details, and said that he could temporarily live in Li Palace in Nancheng.Nancheng Palace was the place where Yingzong lived when he lost his throne, and Sejong was not happy about it.Then I asked Xu Jie, a bachelor, and Xu Jie asked to repair Yongshou Palace.Soon Yongshou Palace rose from the ground, and it was more beautiful than before, and it was renamed Wanshou Palace.The construction of the Longevity Palace marked the end of Yan Song's political career. From then on, Shizong stopped looking for Yan Song when he had troubles. Yan Song has fallen out of favor, and the officials in the court who wanted to bring down Yan Song stepped up their actions.Once it was raining heavily, Yu Shi Zou Yinglong took shelter at the house of an eunuch. During the chat between the two, the eunuch mentioned Lan Daoxing's diabolism and the emperor's various dissatisfaction with Yan Song.Seeing an opportunity, Zou Yinglong wrote a memorial to impeach Yan Song and his son, and sent it up the next day.From the perspective of Sejong, it is probably impeachment of Yan Shifan's false father's power, corruption, perverting the law, interfering in government affairs, disrespect and filial piety, etc., and even played the fault of Yan Song's drowning son. He was beheaded to thank Yan's father and son." After reading the memorial, Shizong called Xu Jie to discuss how to deal with it.Xu Jie pushed back the eunuchs on the left and right, and said to him cautiously: "The father and son of the Yan family have committed serious crimes. Your Majesty must deal with them decisively, otherwise accidents may happen." Sejong then dispatched Jinyi guards to enter Yan's mansion, read the imperial edict, and ordered Yan Song to return to his hometown. Yan Shifan was also arrested and imprisoned, and then banished to Leizhou (now Leizhou Peninsula, Guangdong).Yan Songbu's confidantes in the court were all impeached and dismissed from office one after another. After Yan Song fell from power, Xu Jie took over as chief assistant.Sejong gave Xu Jie the house where Yan Song was on duty.Xu Jie was so grateful to Sejong that he wrote three sentences in ink and had them framed and hung in the value room: Repay the Lord with prestige, government affairs with ministers, and justice with punishment and reward.He presided over government affairs according to these three sentences, and did some good deeds, which made Jiajing a bit decent in the last five years, and the courtiers promoted him as a "famous minister".Shizong was very satisfied with him, and his trust surpassed that of Yan Song. Since his middle age in Jiajing, Sejong has been keen on alchemists and alchemists, and at the same time, he has added a new hobby, that is, he likes to talk about Ruixiang.This hobby of his continued until his twilight years, and he still enjoyed it tirelessly.In the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing (AD 1558), Hu Zongxian, the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian, was criticized by the cabinet for not being effective in suppressing the Japanese, so he dedicated a white deer captured in Zhoushan to Sejong.Seeing this, Emperor Shizong turned his anger into joy, and held a grand memorial ceremony in the Xuanji Palace and Taimiao, and all the officials also congratulated him.When Hu Zongxian heard the news, he brought two white tortoises to the palace, and also brought five extremely large Ganoderma lucidum. Sejong happily named these two things "Jade Turtle Fairy Mushroom".In return, he promoted Hu Zongxian to an official position, gave him some silver coins, and gave him a golden crane coat.Since Xian Ruixiang can please, why not all officials? Sejong was obsessed with Ruixiang's feelings, especially in his later years, when the governors and officials competed for Fu Rui, the officials of the court congratulated him frequently, and all the important officials including Xu Jie dared not say "no" to this.On the contrary, Hai Rui, the head of the small household department, boldly went to a private school alone, and poured cold water on Sejong.In February of the forty-fifth year of Jiajing, Hai Rui made a statement and said: "Your Majesty exhausted the people's fat, abused the construction, and ignored the government for more than 20 years. The law and order have deteriorated to the extreme. Because of your suspicion, killing and humiliating loyal officials, corrupt officials Rampant, the people are extremely miserable. Although His Majesty has dealt with Yan Song and other bad people, the social politics is still unclear. The common people say, "The good ones are the family; The world, what kind of world is it?... Renlords have made mistakes since ancient times, but because of the ministers to correct them, they will not make the same mistakes again and again. Your Majesty is still practicing fasting and offering sacrifices. No one pointed out His Majesty's mistakes. This is also the minister's dereliction of duty. Your Majesty has made many mistakes, the biggest of which is seeking longevity. Your Majesty asked Tao Zhongwen to seek immortality, and even he could not live forever, let alone Your Majesty. Your Majesty was misled and deceived. It was a big mistake. Very wrong." After Hai Rui went to the school, he knew that he had offended Longyan, so he ordered his servants to buy a coffin to be punished at home, left a last word with his wife and children, and dismissed the servants one by one.When Shizong saw Shuzou, he was furious. He threw Shuzuo on the ground, looked around and roared, "This man speaks boldly, arrest him immediately, and don't let him escape!" Eunuch Huang Jin told him that Hai Rui has always been a straight man name, and did not intend to escape at all, but waited at home to be convicted.After listening to it, Shizong thought for a while, and read it again.After his anger calmed down, he called Xu Jie and said, "Hai Rui may be right when he said that people cannot live forever. But I have been ill for a long time, and I can't see things. Why not take some fairy medicine?" "It's also my fault that I don't pay attention to caring for my body. If I can come out of Yushangdian, how can I be so slandered by him?" Xu Jie replied: "Although Hai Rui has said too much, he has a good heart. Please forgive him. Let's go." At this time, Shizong was not willing to kill more admonishers, so he ordered Xu Jie to send Hai Rui to imperial prison. Although he was not punished, he was not allowed to be released, so that he could reflect on himself in prison.Sejong mercilessly punished many ministers throughout his life, including treacherous ministers and lonely people. The punishment of Hai Rui was the last big mistake he made in employing people in his later years. 世宗服食的丹药，有不少是用水银制成的剧毒品，吃下去之后，造成的后果十分可怕。世宗的身体本来就不健康，长期的慢性中毒，使他四肢麻木，脸上呈暗灰色，走路摇摇晃晃，说话也变得相当困难。大臣们见到他，莫不从内心替他感到担忧，特别是徐阶。为了让方士们有所收敛，徐阶杀掉了自称要向世宗献剧毒丹药的方士蓝田玉，并力劝世宗不要服食水银。世宗对徐阶没有责备，但也没听徐阶的苦劝。嘉靖四十四年正月，陕西方士王金等人伪造了《诸品仙方》、《养老新书》与炮制的金石药一起献给世宗。这些药成份不明，世宗吃下之后，顿时感到头晕目眩，鼻孔中流出鲜血，很快就不省人事了。经太医的救治，世宗才苏醒过来。此后，他一直卧床不起。嘉靖四十五年十二月十四日清晨，世宗突然变得精神饱满，周身不再觉得疼痛。日夜守候在他身边的徐阶感到大事不好，连忙下令将他从西苑搬出，抬回乾清官。没有多久，世宗就咽了气，时年60岁。 世宗的陵墓称永陵，跟他前面的几个明代皇帝一样，选在北京昌平县的天寿山，庙号为“世宗”。