Chapter 50 230 Yang Yiqing plans to get rid of Liu Jin

After the civil engineering change, the Ming Dynasty began to decline.The generations of emperors after Ming Yingzong were all fatuous and corrupt.It is impossible for them to learn the lesson of Wang Zhen's misuse of the country and blindly rely on eunuchs.The situation of eunuch dictatorship became more and more serious.When Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen (the son of Yingzong) was in power, the eunuch Wang Zhi took over the power. Besides the East Factory, he set up a West Factory to strengthen the rule of secret agents, and many good people died unjustly. In 1505 AD, Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao came to the throne.There are eight eunuchs around him, who often accompany him to play ball, ride horses, hunt eagles and rabbits, and the leader is Liu Jin.Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty was greedy for fun, and felt that Liu Jin and others expressed his affection, so he doted on them very much.Relying on the emperor's power, these eight eunuchs ran amok outside.People call them the "Eight Tigers".

Some ministers advised Wu Zong to eradicate the "Eight Tigers".When Liu Jin got the news, she cried in front of Wu Zong. Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty not only refused to listen to the minister's advice, but instead promoted Liu Jin to be the supervisor of ceremonies, and made Liu Jin's two accomplices serve as the admirals of the East Factory and the West Factory respectively. With power in hand, Liu Jin ordered the summoning of ministers to kneel in front of the Jinshui Bridge, declared a large number of upright ministers to be "treacherous parties" and drove them out of the court.

Liu Jin arranged many fun-seeking things for Wu Zong every day. When Wu Zong was having fun, he sent many memorials from ministers to Wu Zong for review.Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty was very impatient and said, "What do I want you to do? Let me handle all these trivial matters by myself?" Then he handed the memorial to Liu Jin. After this, no matter how big or small, Liu Jin stopped playing.He falsely spread Ming Wuzong's will and acted arbitrarily.Liu Jin himself was illiterate, so he took all the minister's memorials home and asked his relatives and party members to handle them.Some princes and ministers knew that the emperor could not see the memorials sent to Ming Wuzong.Therefore, if there is anything to play, the copy should be sent to Liu Jin first, and then the original to the court.There is a folk saying: "There are two emperors in Beijing: one sitting emperor and one standing emperor; one Zhu emperor and one Liu emperor."

Fearing opposition from others, Liu Jin dispatched spies from the East Factory and the West Factory to spy on him; besides the East Factory and the West Factory, he set up an "Expert Factory" which he would directly manage. Factory surveillance.People captured by these secret agencies were subjected to cruel punishments, thousands of people were persecuted to death, and there were many complaints from the people. Liu Jin also used his power to extort and accept bribes.When the local officials came to the capital to meet, they were afraid that Liu Jin would cause trouble for him, so they had to give Liu Jin gifts first, 20,000 taels of silver at a time.Some officials did not bring so much money with them when they went to Beijing, so they had to borrow usury loans from the rich in the capital first, and then repay them after returning to the place.Of course, this burden is all passed on to the common people.

In 1510 A.D., Anhua King Zhu Zhiyu (sound zhifan) launched a rebellion in the name of opposing Liu Jin.Ming Wuzong sent Yang Yiqing, the governor of Ningxia and Yansui, to attack Zhu Zhiyu and sent eunuch Zhang Yong to supervise the army. Yang Yiqing was originally the military commander in Shaanxi, and he made great contributions to training soldiers and strengthening border defense.Because he was upright and did not agree with Liu Jin, he was framed and persecuted by Liu Jin, and was later rescued by ministers before he was released and returned to his hometown.This time Ming Wuzong re-appointed him in order to quell the rebellion of the vassal king.

When Yang Yiqing arrived in Ningxia, the rebellion had been quelled by Yang Yiqing's former generals. Yang Yiqing and Zhang Yong captured Zhu Zhixiong and escorted him to Beijing to offer him prisoners. Yang Yiqing wanted to get rid of Liu Jin early on. He found out that Zhang Yong was one of the "Eight Tigers". After Liu Jin gained power, Zhang Yong also had conflicts with Liu Jin, so he decided to win Zhang Yong.On the way back to Beijing, Yang Yiqing talked to Zhang Yongmi and said, "This time, with your great efforts, the rebellion was quelled. This is something to be happy about. But it is easy to eradicate a vassal king, but it is not easy to solve internal troubles. What should we do?"

Zhang Yong said in surprise, "What internal troubles are you talking about?" Yang Yiqing leaned close to Zhang Yong, and wrote the word "Jin" on his left palm with his right finger. Zhang Yong looked at it, frowned and said: "This man is by the emperor's side every day, and has many eyes and ears. It is very difficult to eradicate him!" Yang Yiqing said: "You are also a close friend of the emperor. The emperor will definitely summon you when you return to Beijing this time. Take this opportunity to tell the emperor why Zhu Zhijiu rebelled, and the emperor will definitely kill Liu Jin. If the event is successful, you will be famous in future generations La!"

Zhang Yong hesitated for a moment, and said, "What if it doesn't work?" Yang Yiqing said, "If the emperor doesn't believe it, you can cry bitterly, show your loyalty, and the event will surely succeed. But you must do it quickly." , I’m afraid of leaking the accident if it’s too late.” Zhang Yong was originally dissatisfied with Liu Jin, but after being encouraged by Yang Yiqing, he became more courageous. When he arrived in Beijing, Zhang Yong followed Yang Yiqing's strategy and exposed Liu Jin's rebellion in front of Emperor Wu that night.Ming Wuzong ordered Zhang Yong to lead the forbidden army to arrest Liu Jin.Unprepared, Liu Jin was lying at home sleeping, when the imperial guards arrived, they arrested him and put him in prison.

The Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty raided Liu Jin's home and found 240,000 ingots of gold, 5 million ingots of silver ingots, and countless jewels and treasures. They also confiscated dragon robes and jade belts, armor and weapons.Ming Wuzong was taken aback and sentenced Liu Jin to death. Although Liu Jin was killed, Ming Wuzong's fatuous corruption was hopeless.After he killed Liu Jin, he favored a military officer named Jiang Bin. Under Jiang Bin's instigation, he left Beijing many times to Xuanfu (now Xuanhua, Hebei) to have fun.After handing over the power of government to Jiang Bin, Jiang Bin took the opportunity to embezzle and accept bribes and reject good people.

Due to the corrupt rule of the Ming Dynasty, the annexation of land was very serious, the burden of taxes and labor on the people was even heavier, and peasant uprisings continued one after another.In 1510 AD, an uprising led by Liu Liu and Liu Qi broke out near Beijing.The uprising lasted for two years. The uprising army swept across eight provinces including Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi, and approached Beijing four times, dealing a heavy blow to the decadent Ming Dynasty.