The next day, the news of the death of Duke Cheng Guo came, and he died in Wuzheng yesterday. Zhu Yijun muttered to himself that this was another example of the false rumors that the emperor was so sick of his ministers that they had to die. Immediately, he announced his resignation from the court, offered sacrifices, and granted favors so that he could be buried with royal titles - these were all proper responsibilities.
Zhang Juzheng immediately went to court and begged the emperor to grant Zhu Xizhong the title of King Dingxiang. Wang Xilie, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, and a group of public officials immediately went to court and spoke fiercely, opposing the pursuit of the title. In the next two days, there was a lot of quarrel in the court over whether to pursue the title of Zhu Xizhong. There were dozens of memorials, with half of them being in favor and those against.
Zhu Yijun took out his little notebook and wrote down in detail the names and positions of the civil servants who agreed. As expected, those who agreed on such matters were all Zhang Juzheng's partisans, speaking for him without conscience.
At the Duke Cheng's house, the Duke's wife objected to having a swollen face and pretending to be fat, but she couldn't stop her son Zhu Shitai from wanting to do so and stepped up her efforts to contact the nobles and dignitaries to help. There are those among the nobles who oppose the pursuit of the title, but they at best remain silent because they do not want to offend others.
Zhu Xixiao originally strongly supported the pursuit of the title, but that day he saw the electric exchange between Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng, and he was so frightened that he woke up several times at night. When Zhu Shitai asked him again, all he said was that there were advantages to pursuing the title, and it would be no worse if we did not pursue the title. The two sides talked in silence, and did not actively communicate with each other. They stood on the dry bank and watched the excitement.
Zhu Shitai was dejected, thinking that things were not harmonious. Zhang Juzheng's memorial and Zhu Yijun's comments put an end to the debate. Zhang Juzheng said in his memorial: "Although the current system has different surnames and no kings, the Duke has made great contributions to the country." He listed the Duke's achievements in saving the world and being ordered to offer sacrifices on behalf of the emperor. When he was the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, The merits of guarding one's body, being firm and disciplined in the capital camp, and the merits of nurturing the officers and soldiers, etc.
There is a saying in the memorial: "The Duke has served in three dynasties, and Shizong once instructed the Crown Prince: 'This is your teacher's protection.' Why? The Duke is too talented to ignore others, and being generous can be a big deal. Be respectful and cautious, and save him." The merit is no less than that of conquering captives."
Zhu Yijun read the memorial and replied: "The weight of the holy bow is more than ten thousand jun, and it is the master of gods and men of heaven and earth. The Duke saved Shizong, how can I not reward him for his great contribution? The matter of pursuing the king's title is not a permanent rule, and there is no need to discuss it again. , the Ministry of Rites wrote the edict to see."
Seeing that the emperor elevated the matter of pursuing a title to the greater justice of saving the emperor and filial piety, and stated that it was "not a permanent rule," even though the opponents among the courtiers felt that it was not appropriate to violate the ancestral system, they all lost the idea of resisting.
Subsequent memorials of opposition were sparse and lackluster, and Wang Xilie became angry and took a few days off because of illness. Zhu Shitai was so angry that when he came to pay his respects to the Duke, he would have wanted to find someone to beat him if Zhu Xixiao hadn't stopped him.
...
Amidst the noise, several edicts were issued inconspicuously. One of them was to reinstate Zhang Siwei as the minister of the Ministry of Rites and take charge of Zhan Shi's affairs. He served as the vice president of "Records of the World Temple" and Zhang Juzheng was the president. The second is to order Qi Jiguang to return to the court from Jizhen, with a charter to lead three thousand troops, to meet the emperor and receive the reward for defeating Dong Kuli, and to be reviewed together with the Beijing camp.
Prince Shaobao and Minister of War Tan Lun had already been ordered by Zhang Juzheng, and it was he who wrote the memorial asking Qi Jiguang to lead his troops back to the court. Wang Lin, the left minister of the Ministry of War and the military minister in charge of the Beijing camp and the assistant manager of the military affairs, saw the edict and felt a cool breeze blowing from the back of his head.
Some time ago, he and the late Duke Cheng Guo organized the camp in Beijing, recruited troops to fill up the numbers, and sharpened their guns before the battle. Once you've done more than half of it, you can fool around with it. Duke Cheng Guo was lying down tiredly, and his brother was left alone, unable to direct anyone, just working in a hurry.
Fortunately, because the emperor's first review was too big, Cheng Guogong was very fastidious and immediately recommended the British Duke Zhang Rong to the court to take charge of it in his place without any delay.
Zhang Rongduo is a shrewd old man, and he is about to become a spirit. Are you going to help him fight against this? Moreover, Duke Ying and Duke Cheng have always refused to deal with them. If you smell it, you will know that Duke Cheng has no good intentions.
When I met Zhang Juzheng that day, Duke Zhang said, "If you let me take charge of the capital camp, uncle, I will ask my two sons to carry it with door panels and block it in front of your house." Zhang Juzheng didn't even dare.
When Cheng Guo Gong was ill, he asked Ding Guo Gong to take charge first. Compared with the Nanjing family, Ding Guo Gong's family has been in disgrace since Yongle. After finally turning over in the Jiajing Dynasty, he was helping the royal family with some sacrifices. He was earning credit for running errands, but he shook his head.
In the end, Yang Bing, the uncle of Zhangwu, found Duke Cheng and took the initiative to invite him with a generous gift. Duke Cheng was overjoyed and immediately reported the news to the court. Zhang Juzheng was also very happy and gave Uncle Yang the title of Prince Shaobao.
Lao Yang's family is worthy of being the only family that can still leave a place name in the capital of New China. They always face difficulties in their work. Wang Lin didn't know why Yang Bing came forward, but he was so moved that he almost cried.
Uncle Zhangwu was quite good among the nobles. He didn't need to beg his grandfather and grandma like Wang Lin, and he could gather enough 30,000 troops to be inspected - Duke Cheng Guo had already collected most of them before.
Wang Lin also arranged for people to make books and distribute the dusty weapons and armors in the War Department's warehouse, and arranged for the generals and generals to train day and night. The food in the Beijing camp these days may be the best in the Ming Dynasty.
Yang Bing originally wanted to take advantage of Duke Cheng's illness to practice his skills in the capital camp and show off in front of the emperor. Anyway, the ancestral motto of the old Yang family was: "Wealth can be obtained through danger." He calculated that the capital camp was like a grandma. As long as he could line up, he would definitely have achieved nothing. If he could take two steps, it would be considered a meritorious service. This opportunity must be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
But he didn't expect that Wang Lin made an urgent announcement that the Beijing camp would be paraded together with the elite soldiers of Jizhen. Uncle Zhangwu was confused after hearing this. Thinking with his toes, Jingying stood next to the elite soldiers of Jizhen and competed with each other. All bezoar and dog treasures would have to be exposed. At this time, he wanted to hang himself.
Duke Cheng Guo has passed away, no, King Dingxiang has passed away. If he doesn't get back the large sum of money he sent, he has to bring another memorial ceremony and kowtow. Yang Bing was so angry that he almost scorched the Tianling Gai.
When Wang Lin brought the copied contents of the edict, Uncle Zhangwu wiped away his tears and convened a meeting with the commander of the camp together with Wang Lin.
At this time, the fifth military camp was jointly managed by Wu Jijue, Marquis of Gongshun, Li Huan, Marquis of Fengcheng, Zhao Zuzheng, Marquis of Xincheng, and Gu Huan, Marquis of Zhenyuan, with Wu Jijue as the leader. Wukangbo Li Yingchen was in charge of the Three Thousand Battalion, and Guo Yingqian of Anbo was in charge of the Shenji Battalion. The messenger searched all over Beijing and called these people from different places to the capital governor's mansion.
Xinchengbo Zhao Zuzheng was the first to arrive, and Zhangwubo's soldiers led him into the custody room. Seeing Uncle Zhangwu's dark square face full of sadness, and Wang Lin sighing, he joked: "Uncle Yang, you are looking at the Chinese New Year, what are you worried about? But we can't hide it in the outer house. Is sister-in-law going to take a back road?" After saying that, he smiled lewdly.
Uncle Zhangwu raised his head and glanced at him, and said angrily: "Zhao Zuzheng, if you don't want to die, please speak up! This is the contract room, and I am your immediate boss, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Military Affairs!"
Generally speaking, nobles in the Ming Dynasty were divided into big and small according to the grades of duke, hou and uncle. However, after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, according to their status in the court, the level of dispatch, and the different financial resources of the family, the ranking between the lord and the uncle The distinction is not so particular. Hou Zai did a lot of things under Bo Zhang, and everyone was used to it.
But when away from official duties, most of Hou would go to Hou to play with him, and Bo would still go to Bo. The two uncles, Yang Bing and Zhao Zuzheng, had a good relationship on a daily basis, so Zhao Zuzheng dared to make a joke. Seeing that Yang Bing was annoyed, he quickly saluted and sat down without saying a word.
