Chapter 42 Chapter 9: The Absurd Loyalty

What happened to the Donglin Party is a typical illustration of how ridiculous a role "loyal minister" is. The Ariake generation was the generation with the most foolish emperors in Chinese history, and it was also the generation that produced many loyal ministers.Faint rulers and loyal ministers complement each other, just like yin and yang, high and low, black and white, opposing and interdependent. The loyal ministers have read the books of sages and sages since they were young, and they have listed many principles of heaven in their chests.They believe that the world should operate according to the laws of heaven summed up by these sages, and there should be no mistakes in the slightest.

According to the law of heaven, the emperor is the representative of heaven in the world and the example of all the people in the world. It is said that "one person is upright and the world is upright".The emperor should have the highest moral standard, and use it to influence the people of the world, as the saying goes, "the people are born with good qualities, but they are not good, so they establish a king to be good, this is the will of heaven." However, comparing these natural principles with the emperor's behavior, they were often extremely disappointed. There were emperors of the Ming Dynasty, because of the despicable factor in the blood of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, too few became talented.Since Cheng Zu, that is, Zhu Yuanzhang's grandchildren, one generation is not as good as the other.

Because of their enthusiasm for the secret drama of the palace, most of them will never live forever.Renzong died of sexually transmitted diseases less than a year after he ascended the throne; Xuanzong played too much and died in his prime at the age of thirty-eight; He was good at alchemy and favored alchemists and eunuchs; Wu Zong was absurd and indulgent, and played around all his life; Sejong's reign name Jiajing was interpreted by Hai Rui as "every family is clean and has no money to use"; Mu Zong was excessively indulgent and died at the age of thirty-six; Shenzong reigned for forty-eight years and did not go to court for thirty years. The ministers didn't know what he looked like; after that, he would be the emperor Guangzong in January and the emperor Tianqi at that time.

Obviously, the father and son are not outstanding people. Because of Zhu Yuanzhang's vigorous advocacy, scholars in the Ming Dynasty memorized the Four Books and Five Classics most firmly.They held a cavity of grief and indignation, and desperately tried to correct the emperor into a saint like Yao and Shun. Because of the great sense of superiority in morality, in the Ming Dynasty, ministers and emperors were particularly rude when speaking to the emperor, and there were also many people who offended Yan bluntly.They were so happy with the writing that they even laughed and cursed at the emperor in the memorial, sarcasm, and then showed it triumphantly for everyone to see.Hai Rui said bluntly to Emperor Jiajing: "It's been a long time since people in the world have not treated Your Majesty!" That is to say, people in the world have not taken you seriously for a long time!The ministers of the Wu Zong Dynasty accused Wu Zong of "inflicting self-destruction and laughing at the world".Luo (luo) Yu Ren accused Emperor Wanli of drinking, greedy, lustful, and caring.These people have left their names in the history books.

Strange to say, loyal ministers risked their lives for the benefit of the emperor, and the emperor hated these loyal ministers to the bone.Because in the loyal minister's writing, they show their true colors, and the dragon robes cannot cover up their mediocrity, and their selfishness, laziness, stupidity, and wretchedness are fully revealed. In the eyes of the emperor, loyal ministers are like paparazzi in modern society, the most annoying creatures in the world. The emperor once drank wine and rode a horse in the palace. On the second day, someone immediately gave a report, telling him that wine is immoral and not suitable for the emperor; Chi.Even if he went to a concubine a lot during this period of time, someone would write a letter after a while, vaguely admonishing him to abstain from sexual desire, telling him "don't be greedy for a moment of pleasure, and forget the art of self-protection".

Compared with the ministers, the cultural level of the emperors is generally not high. Since they can't argue with the ministers, they should do it. Fortunately, the imperial staff system allows them to legally vent their grievances. The so-called court rod means that the emperor would push out of the Meridian Gate when he saw any minister who was not pleasing to the eye, strip off his pants, and spank his buttocks.Because this method is very suitable for venting the emperor's deep grievances against loyal ministers, the emperors have repeatedly used it. Sometimes, the imperial staff is regarded as an easy way to eliminate those annoying ministers, because there is no need to go through any judicial procedures.

There are countless officials in the Ming Dynasty who died under the imperial staff.But loyal ministers have no fear of this, and they even desire to die, because this will make them get the highest honor on the list of loyal ministers. The Donglin party members are such a group of loyal ministers.They opposed Wei Zhongxian, not because Wei Zhongxian's level was too low, nor because of differences in political opinions, but because of Wei Zhongxian's identity.Under the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs were not allowed to intervene in politics.Even if Wei Zhongxian really has the ability to rule the world, he cannot be the one who governs the world.Therefore, after the Wei family came to power, all kinds of opposition memorials came up again and again.

In the second year of Tianqi (AD 1622), Wen Zhenmeng, a newborn calf who had just stepped into the officialdom and the number one scholar in the new discipline, made a memorial, accusing the emperor of not really taking on the great responsibility of economics and state affairs: Not diligent, but the reality of diligent government has not yet been seen. When Honghe leads the music, kneels down and stands up, it is like a puppet's debut, and there is no business." Wen Zhenmeng bluntly pointed out the abnormality of the political phenomenon at that time: Although the emperor went to and from get off work on time and never arrived late or left early, he was just a puppet manipulated by others.

This new top scholar obviously has the knack of writing letters from loyal ministers of all dynasties, and his sharp words hit the nail on the head, making it impossible to avoid.Wei Zhongxian was furious when he saw this, and immediately issued an order to beat Wen Zhen and Meng Ting eighty times.However, the courtiers resolutely opposed and rescued Wen Zhenmeng vigorously. Wen Zhenmeng was exempted from the imperial staff, and was only demoted to rank. Through this round, Wei Zhongxian clearly realized for the first time that there was a huge force against him in the imperial court.This is just the beginning, and later, there are more and more such memorials.

In the third year of Tianqi (1623 A.D.), Zhou Zongjian wrote a letter comparing Wei Zhongxian to Liu Jin, the eunuch of the former dynasty, saying that he would bring disaster to the country and the people, and demanded that he be dismissed immediately.Immediately afterwards, Liu Huahong, Chen Liangxun, Yushi Fang Daren, Huang Zunsu and others directly or indirectly attacked Wei Zhongxian from different angles. In June of the fourth year of Apocalypse (AD 1624), Yang Lian, the representative of the Donglin party and the deputy governor of the left, wrote a letter enumerating Wei Zhongxian's 24 serious crimes, accusing Wei Zhongxian of seizing the power of the emperor and arbitrarily doing things; , Breaking the law; accusing Wei Zhongxian of arrogance, and traveling like an emperor.

This letter actually became a mobilization order for the officials of Donglin to launch a general attack on Wei Zhongxian.In June, July, and August, there were more than 70 chapters of impeachment memorials for the Wei family.From bachelors, ministers, to ordinary Beijing officials, they all joined the ranks.For a time, dark clouds covered the Forbidden City.