Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Prisoner Zhu Qizhen

Since then, the desolate Nangong has ushered in new masters—the Supreme Emperor Zhu Qizhen and his wife Empress Qian. It is not appropriate to say that they are masters, because in fact, they are all prisoners of the current emperor Zhu Qiyu. Zhu Qiyu has great wariness and hostility towards this brother who returned unexpectedly. Although Zhu Qizhen has betrayed his relatives and lost everything, and only wants to live a comfortable life for a few days, Zhu Qiyu is not even willing to meet his brother's most basic request. In December of the first year of Jingtai (1450), Hu Wei wrote a letter requesting to lead a hundred officials to worship the Supreme Emperor Zhu Qizhen at Yan'an Gate on New Year's Day next year, hoping to get Zhu Qiyu's approval.

Zhu Qiyu's answer was no. Then he added another one, "No pilgrimage for all festivals and celebrations from now on!" In order to do a good job in life services and security, he also specially selected some eunuchs who were dissatisfied with Zhu Qizhen to serve the Supreme Emperor, and sent Jin Yiwei to tightly surround the Nangong Palace.At the same time, Zhu Qiyu also thoughtfully considered the issue of environmental noise. In order to allow his brother to live without interruption, he ordered that no one should be allowed in to visit Zhu Qizhen, and all his daily necessities would be brought in regularly by the outside world.

Wang Zhi and Hu Wei once came here to visit Zhu Qizhen, but were blocked by these loyal defenders.Only then did they realize that the so-called Supreme Emperor was actually just a prisoner. Zhu Qiyu did everything right. Although he was under pressure and didn't kill his brother, he did almost everything he shouldn't have done and sentenced his brother to life imprisonment. The good brother who was originally kind and friendly has disappeared, replaced by a stranger who doesn't recognize his relatives and has a heart like stone. Although this is a tragedy, it is also an inevitable rule of the game of imperial power.

Zhu Qizhen, who lived there, was very peaceful. For him, he was satisfied with surviving. He honestly lived the life of a prisoner arranged by his younger brother and never made trouble. The only problem was that Zhu Qiyu cut off his His connections with the outside world, not even the necessities of life for him, are guaranteed. Zhu Qizhen did not ask Zhu Qiyu, because he knew that it would be useless even if he asked, but he had no other source of income. In desperation, Empress Qian could only do handwork by herself like an ordinary woman. Ask someone to take it out to exchange for some food and clothing. (Money will be traded with needles and threads in the future for jade food)

As long as it is not a black prison, even if it is a prisoner, eating should not be a problem. There is an extra meal during the holidays, and you can go out to let the wind and breathe if you have nothing to do. But Zhu Qizhen doesn't even have this kind of basic treatment. The only thing he can do every day All he wanted was to look up at the sky and talk to his wife. It is an anecdote through the ages that the so-called Supreme Emperor has been reduced to this level. But even such a life, his good brother is not willing to let him live. There is no place to cool off in Nangong, so in midsummer, Zhu Qizhen can only rely on the shade of a tree to enjoy the cool, which is his only poor luxury.

One day not long after, as usual, he was going to lean against the tree to escape the summer heat, but he was surprised to find that the big trees around him had disappeared. He asked around and found out that it was his good brother. He smiled wryly, sighed deeply, and returned to the hot residence without saying anything. He has lost everything, and now he can't even keep his own shade. Trees are still like this, how can people be embarrassed! The reason why Zhu Qiyu wanted to cut down those trees was because Minister Gao Ping told him that there were too many trees in Nangong to hide spies.As for Mr. Zhu Qizhen's shade, of course it was not within his consideration.

Zhu Qizhen finally understands that his good brother is a more terrifying enemy than Yexian. Although Yexian is not well-educated and behaves rudely, he is still a relatively loyal person and keeps his word. But in order to consolidate the throne, he wholeheartedly wants to drive himself, who has lost everything, to death. Zhu Qiyu, you are too much! But he has no other choice but to continue living like this, after all, every day he can live is just one day. So he endured it silently, and still treated the people around him with sincerity and sincerity. Slowly, those who were arranged to monitor him were also moved by his sincerity and calmness, and became his friends.

One of them was Ruan Lang. Ruan Lang is a relatively loyal eunuch. He entered the palace during the Yongle period. He didn't know how to flatter or speculate. He just lived his life honestly. He stayed in the palace for forty years, but he was just a small young prisoner It's just that no one thinks highly of him, this time he was sent to serve Zhu Qizhen because no one is willing to do this job. Zhu Qizhen is like a treasure, he is fine on weekdays, just can chat with this old eunuch he has known since childhood, once had a good chat, he took a gold embroidered bag and a gold-plated knife ( Note, it is gold-plated) to Ruan Lang.

At this time, Zhu Qizhen had no possessions, and these so-called gifts were already one of the few valuable things on his body, which showed that Zhu Qizhen was indeed a sincere person.But he never expected that it was this golden embroidered bag and that worthless knife that cost Ruan Lang his life. Ruan Lang is a relatively casual person, and he didn't think of the great risks involved. He took these two things and thought they were useless, so he gave them to his friend Wang Yao. This Wang Yao is just like Ruan Lang, he is just a petty official, he accepts it without thinking about it, if the matter ends like this, there is no problem, but this Wang Yao has a friend named Lu Zhong, he will often put Take these two things out and show them to Lu Zhong.

Lu Zhong is Wang Yao's friend, but Wang Yao is not Lu Zhong's friend. Lu Zhong is a Jinyiwei. When he saw these two things, his spy instinct immediately told him that this was an opportunity he could use. So he colluded with his colleague Jin Yiwei Li Shan to inform Zhu Qiyu on the charge of plotting restoration.The basis is the embroidered bag and the golden knife, because in their view, these two things are ironclad evidence that Zhu Qizhen bought Ruan Lang and Wang Yao. Zhu Qiyu finally found an excuse, and he took action immediately. The rest of the matter was simple. Wang Yao and Ruan Lang were arrested and imprisoned, tortured and tortured, just to get a word from them - Zhu Qizhen had an attempt to restore.

Lu Zhong personally participated in the torture and interrogation, and threatened to release them if they confessed to the so-called conspiracy, because Lu Zhong thought that even if there was no such thing, the two of them would confess something to protect themselves, but the facts told him, Not everyone is as shameless as him. Although Ruan Lang and Wang Yao were not high-ranking officials, they had a lot of backbone, and they didn't utter a word after being tortured. They didn't frame Zhu Qizhen until they were escorted to the execution ground for execution. Zhu Qiyu's attempt failed, and Lu Zhong's dream of being promoted was also shattered. Although Ruan Lang and Wang Yao were soft-spoken, their behavior was upright and aboveboard. Zhu Qizhen was pulled back from the cliff again. And when he learned that the kind old eunuch had been killed by his younger brother and could no longer chat with him, he already understood that in this game of power, there is no such thing as abstaining from voting, only the victor can have it. Qualifications to live! Zhu Qiyu became more and more uneasy. Since his good brother came back unexpectedly, he has been in a state of fear and fear. He is used to being called the emperor, and he is used to worshiping him with civil and military officials. He is afraid that he has got Everything was lost again, so he imprisoned his brother and looked for every opportunity to kill him. The occurrence of the golden knife case deepened his fear. Since then, his behavior has become more and more extreme and excessive. In order to eradicate the roots and avoid future troubles, Zhu Qiyu had already made up his mind that even if he didn't kill Zhu Qizhen, he would also abolish his son, the then crown prince Zhu Jianshen.Replace the future heir of the empire with his son Zhu Jianji. Yes, only in this way can I sit down on this dragon chair with peace of mind. But this matter is not ordinary difficult, because long before Zhu Qiyu was temporarily promoted as emperor, the scheming Queen Mother Sun had already established Zhu Jianshen as the crown prince, and said that Zhu Jianshen must inherit the throne in the future. At that time, Zhu Qiyu himself agreed, although Zhu Qiyu himself can turn his face and deny it, but he still has a difficulty to overcome, and that is to get the support of the ministers. But since ancient times, things like abolishing the prince have not been very popular. It is not easy to ask the ministers to support him!He thought hard about the method, but he still couldn't figure it out. At this moment, his trusted eunuch Xing'an came up with a wonderful "good idea" for him. One day not long after, Zhu Qiyu called a meeting of cabinet members. There were six members of the cabinet at that time, namely Chen Xun, the chief assistant, Gao Zhu, the cabinet member, Shang Lu, Jiang Yuan, Wang Yining, and Xiao Yi. the ringleader. They entered the palace to pay respects to Zhu Qiyu, and after saluting, they waited for His Majesty's orders, but after waiting for a long time, the man sitting on top remained silent. After a long while, His Majesty the Emperor finally hemmed and hawed to speak, but what he said was such things as how well you have done your work and how hard you have worked. These six ministers are all well-tested figures in the officialdom, and they are all treacherous and cunning. As soon as they heard Zhu Qiyu's tone, they knew that the emperor had something very important to say.With smiles on their faces, they said that they dare not dare, but they were nervously calculating in their minds.Be prepared to deal with it. But after Zhu Qiyu finished speaking these clichés, he even announced the end of the meeting, which made them confused. Could it be that the emperor was suffering from a cold, lost his mind, and uttered nonsense to make fun of himself? But not long after, they knew the answer. After the meeting, Xing'an found them separately and sent money to each of them.The specific amount is: the first assistant Chen Xun and the second assistant Gao Hub are 100 taels of silver each, and the remaining four cabinet members are 50 taels of silver each. As long as you have basic sociological knowledge, you should have already guessed that the "good idea" that the eunuch Xing'an gave His Majesty the Emperor was bribery. It can be said that the emperor bribed the ministers, which is unprecedented, and the amount of bribes is really ridiculous, it is only one hundred taels! This is the good method that Mr. Xing'an tried his best to think of. After thousands of years, it is still incredible and sighs for a long time.It seems that it is very important to study hard when you are young, so that even if you become a eunuch in the future, you can be a cultured and knowledgeable eunuch. These six dear friends are really dumbfounded with this little money. Although the wages of the Ming Dynasty are low, these important ministers naturally have various unplanned incomes. How can they take this little money seriously, but they understand that, You don't need to accept other money, but you can't refuse this money. This is not the time to talk about integrity. If you don't accept it, you won't give the emperor face. After accepting the money, they learned of the emperor's intention: change the crown prince. No matter whose money it is, if you receive the money, you must help others. This principle is always applicable, let alone the emperor's money. He agreed and suggested that a new crown prince should be established immediately. After Xing'an settled the six adults, he continued his activities among the officials. Specifically, he gave money. Of course, the amount was about the same as before. To his surprise, things went very smoothly. The officials accepted the money and agreed He proposed to change the crown prince.Naturally, this is not because of the small amount of money received, it's just that everyone knows Zhu Qiyu's purpose and dare not offend him. It's not that everyone is pretending to be confused, Wang Zhi, Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials, has carried forward his true qualities of a veteran tough guy.He never expected that the emperor would make such a bad move and openly bribe the ministers, so when others gave him his share of the money, he patted the table, beat his chest and shouted: "There is such a thing, what will we ministers do in the future?" Have a face to see people!" It doesn’t matter if you have the face to see others, anyway, the matter is finally done. In May of the third year of Jingtai (1452), Zhu Qizhen’s last hope—the crown prince Zhu Jianshen was abolished, and Zhu Qiyu’s son Zhu Jianji succeeded the prince. In Zhu Qiyu’s view, For all eternity, it is a foregone conclusion. But what he didn't expect was that just as he was in full bloom, an undercurrent was also secretly operating, and the core of this undercurrent was a person full of hatred and ambition. Let us go back to August 18th, the fourteenth year of Zhengtong (1449). On that day, Yu Qian stepped forward and took on the important task of saving the empire. He was respected by thousands of people and began his life The most glorious journey. But on that day, the fate of another person was also completely changed. "But today's fate is gone, and the only way to avoid disaster is to move south." This is what Xu Cheng said that day, and we all know the response he got next: "Those who suggest moving south should be killed!" These two sentences determined the fate of Yu Qian and Xu Yu. Yu Qian became the defender of Beijing City under the unanimous praise and recommendation of everyone, and he was extremely honorable. What Xu Zhen got was the eunuch Jin Ying's reprimand: "Get out!" Then, amidst the contempt and ridicule of the crowd, he staggered out of the hall.He couldn't figure it out, that he would be ridiculed by the officials because of this sentence, and be regarded as a villain who is greedy for life and afraid of death. He knew very well that his political career was over. In fact, many people wanted to escape, but I just said what was in their hearts. Why should I be the only one to blame? After being reprimanded by Yu Qian and treated coldly by everyone, Xu Xuan left the palace in a daze and walked towards his home.Because only there, he can get a moment of peace. But what he didn't expect was that before he got home, another blow was about to hit him. Because when he walked to Zuoye Gate, he met a man named Jiang Yuan. Jiang Yuan was Xu Zhen's friend and colleague. He was a lecturer at the Imperial Academy at the time, and the two had a good relationship. When Jiang Yuan saw Xu Zhen in such a mess, he asked him what happened with concern. Xu Yu was very moved, and said with a mournful face: "I suggested moving to the south, but it didn't suit me, and that's why I ended up in this situation." Jiang Yuan comforted Xu Zhen with a good voice, and asked him to go home and have a good rest. Everything will turn around, and he will speak for him. Then, Jiang Yuan walked into the main hall under Xu Xuan's grateful eyes. After meeting Zhu Qiyu, he said in a loud voice, "It is absolutely impossible to move to the south, the only way is to stick to the ear!" A few months later, Jiang Yuan was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, a Bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, and became Zhu Qiyu's important minister. It was a wonderful scene. Xu Yu was in despair, not only for his official career, but also for people's hearts. At that time, countless people were talking about running away, and his theory was also supported, but when he was reprimanded, no one People speak for themselves, and those who were greedy for life and fear of death all of a sudden became the main fighters, and turned to scold themselves for stealing life and shaking the morale of the army. This unexpected and dramatic change taught Xu Zhen a vivid lesson, and also made him realize the true meaning of the world's coldness. After that, when he went to court every day, many people would point at him in secret, and said mockingly: "Isn't this the coward who suggested moving south?" Embarrass him. These insults are more unbearable than death for a scholar who has read poetry and books and regards reputation above all else. But Xu Yu went to work on time every day amidst such cold reception and insults, because he wanted to live, and his life must continue. If he didn't go to work, he would have no salary, and he would not be able to support his wife and children. It is better to live uselessly than to die tragically. This is Xu Ting's philosophy of life. The hardest thing to bear in life is not tolerance, but waiting. Xu Yu persisted because he believed that his abilities and work achievements would eventually be accepted by people, and that he would turn around one day.But the facts let him down again.He has good grades at work, but he can't always get promoted. In desperation, he has no choice but to beg his enemy Yu Qian. Yu Qian is indeed an upright person. He didn't ignore Xu Yu's suggestion to move south, but recommended him to Zhu Qiyu. Isn't it the one who advocated moving south, Xu Zhen, this person is too bad, so don't worry about him." Yu Qian had no choice but to let it go, but Xu Yan didn't know all this, and he mistakenly thought that it was Yu Qian who was obstructing it.Since then, in his heart, a seed of revenge has been sown. To be insulted and ridiculed, and to work hard without getting any rewards, just because he said a wrong sentence at the time, it was indeed unfair to Xu Yan. He wanted to change his predicament, but he couldn't get anyone's help. After thinking hard, he came up with a brilliant idea-changing his name. From our point of view today, this seems incomprehensible. Don't you know you if you change your vest? But in that year, the situation was indeed the case. After all, His Majesty the Emperor had a lot of time to deal with, and there was no need to notify Xu Zhen of changing his name, let alone the whole country.When it came time to submit the promotion, His Majesty the Emperor only briefly checked the list, and would never go into the details of whether anyone had changed their names.Xu Zhen seized this opportunity and changed his name to Xu Youzhen. After deceiving the world, Xu Youzhen really waited for the opportunity. He was sent to Shandong as an official. Xu Youzhen is a very capable person and has a strong ability to handle government affairs. Due to his achievements, he was promoted to the left deputy capital censor. I once had a question about this, because Zuo Fudu Yushi is the third person in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, has the power to go to court, and is also the person the emperor often sees, so why Zhu Qiyu can't recognize this so-called Xu Youzhen? What about Xu Cheng? I don't know the specific reason. It seems that His Majesty the Emperor is too busy, so he doesn't remember Xu Zhen's appearance for a long time. In any case, Xu Youzhen's life finally had a turning point, but in his heart, he never forgot the insult and irony he suffered, and he waited quietly. Waiting for the opportunity for revenge. Zhu Qiyu got his wish and appointed his son as the heir to the throne. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.In this struggle for the ownership of the throne, he won. But this victory did not last long. In November of the second year (the fourth year of Jingtai, AD 1453), Zhu Qiyu suffered a heavy blow. His son Zhu Jianji, the future successor of the empire, died. Now the problem is troublesome, it doesn't matter if the son dies, the problem is that Zhu Qiyu only has this one son, where can he find another heir to the throne? The more troublesome thing is yet to come. Many ministers were already dissatisfied with Zhu Jianshen's dismissal, so they took this opportunity to ask for his restoration. This is a matter of course. Anyway, you don't have a son anymore, why don't you have another one. But Zhu Qiyu didn't think so, he had already broken his face with Zhu Qizhen, if he restored his son as the prince, what would happen to him in the future? ! But the problem is that the prince must be established, but he is not up to date, and he can't give birth to a son. This son is not said to be born at birth. Even if you are the emperor, you can't do whatever you want. After coming and going, Zhu Qiyu became impatient, and because of the state affairs, his health was not as good as before. Thinking of the uncertain future, his temper became more and more irritable and suspicious. But the dilapidated house happened to be raining all night, so there was nothing to be afraid of. Not long after, the two ministers publicly wrote a letter and finally set off a serious political storm. One of these two ministers is Yushi Zhongtong, and the other is Langzhong Zhanglun. These two brothers are not high-ranking, but they are not timid. They each wrote a memorial requesting that Zhu Jianshen be reinstated. In fact, this statement was made very early. Yes, Zhu Qiyu has also read similar memorials, even if they don't approve it, there shouldn't be any major problems, but the bad thing happened in the two memorials of the two of them. What's wrong with the memorials of these two dear friends? The excerpts are as follows: Let's look at Zhong Tong first: "The father has the world, and he should pass it on to the son. When the prince dies, he knows that the destiny exists." If this sentence is a little more straightforward in modern language, it can be explained like this: Laozi's world should be passed on to his son. Now that your son is dead, this is the destiny. God open your eyes. But Mr. Zhang Lun was even more serious. He not only asked for his restoration, but also asked Zhu Qiyu to greet Zhu Qizhen every year and festival. There was a shocking sentence in the middle: "The emperor has been in the world for fourteen years. Received canonization, is the minister of the emperor." There is no need to explain the meaning of this sentence, everyone on earth knows it. Just speak well, but one of the two memorials satirized the emperor's death and deserved his son's death, and the other reminded the emperor to pay attention to his identity.Treating the emperor as an outsider is really tiresome. The consequences were not unexpected. After Zhu Qiyu saw it, he was furious. It was already late at that time, and the court had already left work. According to the rules, we should talk about it the next day, but Zhu Qiyu was so angry that he wrote the arrest warrant overnight. The door of the palace passed it out (this transmission method is only used in emergencies), allowing Jin Yiwei to arrest the two overnight. After the two were arrested, they were tortured severely. Jin Yiwei asked them to tell about their relationship with Nangong and who instigated it, and wanted to use this matter to solve Zhu Qizhen together, but these two people have a lot of backbone, and they beat me to death He didn't say a word, didn't say a word. The arrest of these two people not only did not eliminate the voices demanding restoration, but caused a bigger trend, known in history as the "return to the reserve".For a while, ministers wrote letters one after another, demanding restoration, and there was a lot of voices inside and outside the court, and even some local officials from other places also wrote letters to join in the fun. Zhu Qiyu never expected that things would get worse and worse. He had already lost his son, and now even his throne was threatened. Under the increasing pressure, his emotions were almost crazy. In order to suppress this trend, he used the family heirloom left by his ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang - the imperial staff. His principle of using the imperial staff is also very simple, as long as anyone who talks about Fuchu, he will not let anyone go, they will beat everyone! All of a sudden, the imperial staff rose and fell one after another in front of the imperial city, blood and flesh flew all over the place, screaming again and again, overwhelmed, all the ministers were in danger, and this trend was finally over. At that time, almost all the ministers who were restored to the reserve were beaten, and the most unlucky one was an official named Liao Zhuang. His experience was unique. Liao Zhuang is not a Beijing official. His position is Dali Temple Minister in Nanjing. In the fifth year of Jingtai (1454), he also joined in the fun and wrote a letter requesting to restore the reserve. For some reason, he was missed when the number was spanked later. , since he is not in Beijing, there is no further investigation. A year later, his mother died. According to the regulations, he had to go to Beijing to have an audience with the palace, and then go home to observe his mourning. , did not expect Zhu Qiyu to stop him: "You are Liao Zhuang?" Liao Zhuang felt honored. He never expected that the emperor would still remember him as a small person, and hurriedly replied: "The subject is Liao Zhuang." Zhu Qiyu didn't talk nonsense with him, and directly ordered Jin Yiwei: "Drag on, hit eighty sticks!" Liao Zhuang was dumbfounded, and then he remembered that he had joined in the fun a year ago. Zhu Qiyu not only beat him, but also saved him the travel expenses to go home, and directly sent him a new job, appointing him as the postman of Dingqiang post station in a remote area (similar to the director of an official guest house, it is a hard job). After beating Liaozhuang, Zhu Qiyu suddenly remembered the two culprits in this matter, Zhong Tong and Zhang Lun, and asked his subordinates where the two men were going. After learning that they were still in prison, Zhu Qiyu decided to come Anniversary celebration, even these two people fight together. In order to show their identity as the first offender, Zhu Qiyu was ingenious. He felt that Jin Yiwei's execution stick was too small and not impressive enough, so he actively used his brain and designed two big guys (giant sticks).They specially sent someone to the prison and specifically explained: "These two sticks are specially used to beat them, don't make a mistake!" To be honest, I don't know how big those two specially designed giant sticks are, but what I do know is that Mr. Zhong Tong went to see Hades after the meal, and Zhang Lun is probably in better health , unexpectedly survived, but was also disabled. Zhu Qiyu's almost crazy behavior shocked the people inside and outside the court, and no one dared to mention the restoration of storage since then. Zhu Qiyu was not a tyrant at all. Just a few years ago, he was a gentle and refined young man who treated his elder brother with respect and had a harmonious relationship. However, the temptation of imperial power pushed him into darkness step by step, and he became selfish, cold, suspicious, and cruel. .Imprisoning his elder brother, deposing his nephew, and killing the ministers who opposed him, he will kill anyone who dares to block his way. However, these actions of his did not result in the consolidation of power. People continued to oppose his actions. His only son died, but no one sympathized with him. Those ministers only cared about who the next master would be, and his body also It's getting worse and worse, and it won't last long. He knows very well that once he dies, Zhu Jianshen is likely to succeed him, and Zhu Qizhen will come out again to liquidate what he has done.For the sake of power, he disowns his relatives and has done a lot of wrong things, but now he has no way to recover from it, and he can't stop it. Facing hidden dangers and undercurrents, he can only suppress them in a more cruel and violent way. Power eventually drives him crazy.