"The assassination of Zhang Wenming marks the complete intensification of the contradiction between the conservative forces and the reformists." ---, an editorial published in the 35th year of Wanli.
On the morning of August 19, Zhu Yijun met with Zhang Juzheng and informed him of the assassination of Zhang Juzheng.
Zhang Juzheng's red eyes, trembling lips, and tears rolling down his face from crying - as well as his eyes full of pain, all made Zhu Yijun feel strong sadness in his heart.
Grab, grab, grab. As a person who traveled through time and became an emperor, Zhu Yijun consciously shouldered the mission of coming to this world. He wants to lead this country and its people to escape from the fate of being occupied, humiliated, and enslaved three hundred years later; he wants to lead this country and its people to carve up the world after the great geographical discovery, so that China in this time and space can truly have a vast land and abundant resources; he does not want China's land is still divided in the 21st century; he does not want future generations of Chinese to bear the glory of the distant past and the shame of modern times, and swallow their anger in the process of catching up. ——No one asked him to do all this, he did it consciously.
But it’s difficult, too difficult. Although he let the newspapers advocate for a long time, even though he did a lot subtly, and even though he used kindness and power to eliminate all kinds of resistance, reality still gave him two loud slaps in the face.
The fantasy is fantastic. His own fall from the horse and Zhang Wenming's assassination, both murderous intentions, must be solved by solving the problem of the person who caused the problem. Zhu Yijun thought frustratedly: I have done a good job, why should I be thankless? I have been the Taiping Emperor for decades - why bother, why bother about the lives of future generations?
What's more, he thought, all this might not be true. Maybe there really is a parallel world, and everything you do in this world is real and credible; there is also a possibility that this world is just a dream of yourself in the future or the imagination of a madman. In one lifetime, the vegetation lasts for one autumn, and when the morning dew evaporates in the sunshine, who cares about how brilliant it once was in the sunshine?
However, however, it cannot be! He thought amidst Zhang Juzheng's cries, I won't admit defeat! This world is supposed to be dominated by my country, and those who accompany me, those who believe in me, and those who love me are all telling me the fact that I am alive and well integrated with them!
I - Zhu Yijun, this is the last time I call myself this. I am the king of this world. Yes, I will never be that well-intentioned, compassionate little director, a history buff. Since I am the king and you have not dealt with me, then let me deal with you.
"I didn't want to make you suffer." Zhu Yijun thought. "Perhaps, I was wrong at the beginning. I shouldn't have only used the Ten Court Staff."
After the desolation, Zhu Yijun's heart was filled with anger. "When the emperor is angry, millions of corpses will be laid down" - maybe he should raise the butcher's knife and let the flower of reform absorb nutrients from his blood, because the opponents no longer want to talk to him.
"Old sir, please forgive me. I will give you an explanation - with the blood of many people."
Zhang Juzheng's crying stopped. He wanted to admonish the emperor, but deep down in his heart, he hoped that the emperor would really bury his old father with hundreds of thousands of people. It had been nineteen years since he came to Beijing again. He has not served his father for a day in nineteen years. What was unimaginable was that the father who loved him most would bid farewell to him in this way.
He fell to the ground and cried: "I am heartbroken when I hear the news of my obituary. Pigs, dogs and other beasts dare not come to kill me, but I kill my father. How can we live with this hatred for a day?"
"However, I hope that your Majesty will not administer the government out of anger, and do not kill indiscriminately out of anger. Anyone who harms my father will be punished, and it is useless to implicate innocent people. Please control your anger."
Zhu Yijun heard this and said: "Old sir, please get up. Those who killed your father just wanted Ding You, the prime minister of the reform, to obstruct the reform! Zhang Hong's rebellion and your father's assassination, one in the south and one in the north, one inside and one outside. Even if there is no connection between the two, who outside can believe it?"
"At this time, if we do not strictly enforce the law, the authority of the reform will be gone! I will give the old man three months' leave first, and go home to deal with my father's funeral. After that, I will issue an order to seize love - let's see who it is. I still have to jump out.”
"As for how to clean up, sir, you don't have to worry about it - the top priority is to find out who committed the crime."
"Your father is old and failed in the imperial examinations. Although he has been a student all year round, he must have regrets in his heart. I grant Mr. Zhang Wenming, who was born with the same Jinshi, the title of a first-class scholar."
Seeing Zhang Juzheng opening his mouth to resign, Zhu Yijun raised his hand and said: "Sir, there is no need to resign. I have had this intention for a long time. It is my fault that I failed to give it to the old man before he was alive and be honored in the village."
Zhang Juzheng walked to the throne, knelt down and kowtowed with tears, saying: "I'm all in danger, this trip is absolutely unavoidable. However, although I'm temporarily gone, my heart and intention of reform can be expressed by the sun. My heart is always with the emperor." On the left and right, look down at the Holy Protective Bow of the Emperor. Especially after being injured, please be careful in your daily life, food and rest."
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun said: "I understand, old sir, don't worry."
Zhang Juzheng continued: "The above is the most important thing, and I can't worry about it day and night. The day before yesterday, when I heard that the emperor fell from his horse, my heart was shattered, and I looked up to the saint to protect the saint with all my heart. The second thing, for several years, nothing happened. The Emperor has entrusted all matters to his ministers, no matter how big or small. From now on, the Emperor must pay attention to his own affairs. Don't say that there may be mistakes if the ministers are separated for several months."
"An old saying goes: 'One day, two days, tens of thousands, if one thing is not done carefully, it may cause trouble to the whole world.' How much more when the reform is just starting? From today on, all the yamen will report, hoping that the emperor will carefully read it and make a decision personally. Those who are relevant , summon the ministers of the cabinet, or Pan Sheng, Liu Yingjie, Wang Chonggu and others, to discuss with them and proceed accordingly."
After listening to his earnest instructions, Zhu Yijun's eyes turned red and he said: "Don't worry, old man, I know your loyalty and love. I also hope that you will take care of yourself during the long journey and don't get too sad when you get home."
After hearing this, Zhang Juzheng fell to the ground and cried bitterly again.
...
Zhang Hong's rebellion and the assassination of Zhang Juzheng's father temporarily silenced those who opposed the reform. While they were hiding in the dark and celebrating each other, they also knew that if they talked nonsense at this time, they would probably be included in the scope of the traitors and traitors and be hunted down in one fell swoop.
However, it was too late to shut up at this point. In the anger of the emperor, the Jinyiwei conducted a large-scale roundup of subjects across the country who opposed the reform and made it clear based on previous surveillance results.
The manhunts were white terror-style and quickly turned into massacres. The time has not yet entered September, and the first batch of Beijing officials related to Zhang Hong's rebellion have been arrested. The highest-ranking one is Xiong Dunpu, the director of the Ministry of War - because the warehouses and funds of the Ministry of War will be directly transferred to the branch after the reform, he was in different positions. On this occasion, I spoke against the reform.
When the emperor no longer used his imperial staff to talk to his subjects, but directly raised his butcher knife, the real silence of thousands of horses came. The death of Xiong Dunpu and the large amount of blood of the Yi family involved in Zhang Hong's rebellion turned the second half of the fifth year of Wanli red. Moreover, the bloody smell is getting stronger and stronger - gradually becoming darker and more permeating, making everyone in the empire feel depressed and find it difficult to breathe.
...On the second day of September in the fifth year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng arrived in Jiangling under the escort of three thousand soldiers from the Beijing camp. On the fifth day after he arrived home, that is, the seventh day of September, significant progress was made in the assassination case of Zhang Wenming.
On that day, the assassin knocked out the old man who played Yang Jisheng in the Zhang family troupe. After dressing up and performing, no one noticed. The lyrics were vivid and did not arouse any suspicion. Starting from this, Jin Yiwei made a list of all the actors who studied and acted in Jiangnan, and traced their whereabouts before and after the incident.
At the beginning of September, the man who used to work for the Dong family, but was exiled after the Dong family broke up, and was renamed Dong Jianxiong, came into the sight of Jin Yiwei. After he broke into the Dong family, he established the Jiqing Troupe and started his own business, making a living by singing operas for the wealthy gentry in the south of the Yangtze River who did not have a troupe.
At the end of the fourth year of Wanli Dynasty, he went to the Zhang family with a letter of introduction from the troupe and Shen Jing, a famous playwright at the time, and had a performing arts exchange with the Zhang family opera troupe - to celebrate Zhang Juyi's birthday.
In the fifth year of Wanli's reign, when it became popular, Dong Jianxiong asked his own actors to learn to sing this opera, and they fully matched the Zhang family's troupe. When Zhang Wenming was assassinated, he and his troupe were also in Jiangling, performing at the home of Jiangling squire Chen Bingzhong.
