On August 1, Zhu Changluo, the fourteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, completed his enthronement ceremony and was named Taichang.
Due to etiquette, this reign name will not be used until the first month of the following year. In the next four months, the empire's official records will still use the former emperor's reign name "Wanli".
No matter how solemn the Ministry of Rites said about retaining the reign name, in the hearts of the people, it was just a superficial comment.
The political animals in the two capitals of the empire and the provincial and state capitals focused more on the personnel changes of important officials in the internal and external courts when it came to "going or staying".
Anyone who is well-informed and knows that Wanli's edict was drafted by Sun Chengzong, Zhu Changluo's teacher, will most likely conclude that Fang Congzhe, the chief minister of the cabinet, has come to the end of his "career as an independent prime minister."
Everyone estimated that those who were about to join the cabinet were Zhou Jiamo, the then Minister of Civil Affairs, Zhang Wenda, then the censor of Zuodu, and Ye Xianggao, the former chief minister of the cabinet and now resigning at home. These Donglin faction members who have made great contributions to protecting the crown prince , or the pro-Donglin faction, are all possible candidates.
As for the new leader of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, there is no need to choose. It must be Wang An, who has been loyal and protective of Zhu Changluo all the way.
On this day, near the beginning of Shen Dynasty, we were in the northeast outside the Forbidden City, near the Long Live Mountain.
Liu Shimin came out of the inner weaving and dyeing bureau and waited at the door of the ceremonial supervisor opposite.
Soon, several big men in scarlet clothes stepped out of the door.
"Eunuch Lu, Eunuch Cui, Eunuch Wang..."
Liu Shimin stepped forward and saluted Lu Shou, Cui Wensheng and Wang An one by one.
Lu Shou, who was still the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, twitched the corner of his mouth, glanced at Cui Wensheng, and smiled at Wang An: "Your godson will soon retire and return to his hometown like our family."
One of the emperor's last edicts was to stop weaving. Liu Shimin was in charge of the weaving bureau, and Lu Shou was about to resign from his position as Chief of Ceremonies, so he would tease Liu Shimin like this.
Lu Shou was an old man in front of Wanli. He had formed an alliance with Cui Wensheng, a close confidant of Concubine Zheng, betting that Zhu Changxun would be established as the prince. Unfortunately, it backfired.
When the Queen of Wanli passed away this spring, Lu Shou bet again that Concubine Zheng would get the throne, but he was wrong again.
Concubine Zheng did not receive a posthumous title from her terminally ill husband, nor did she receive any words of respect from the Empress Dowager in the edict drafted by the opposition civil servants.
Not long after Zhu Changluo came to the throne, Fang Congzhe, the first assistant, asked Lu Shou. He heard that people from Dongchang entered Fusi, Jinyiwei North Town, and peeled off the skin of the Jiangnan scribe who spread the evil deeds of King Fu Zhu Changxun in the capital. Layer, this is to challenge the scholars in the world.
Lu Shou then understood that Fang Hu, who was experienced in eunuchs, was hinting to him that Wang An and Dong Lin would control the inner and outer court in the future. His chief minister and assistant were all ready to turn their backs on their tails, so Lu Zhangyin should know better and hurry up. Free up the seat of the Chief of Ceremony and give it to Wang An.
The latter is not only embarrassing, but may also lead to loss of one's life.
At this moment, Cui Wensheng, who was next to Lu Shou, narrowed his triangular eyes and accepted Lu Shou's fault with a smile: "Eunuch Lu is right, Eunuch Liu is the junior whom Eunuch Wang loves the most, and we are the one who loves Eunuch Wang the most. A well-known talent in the twenty-four yamen of the inner court, but he can't go to Jiangnan Sanwei, so he can come to our chief ceremonial office to be a pen-holder."
Liu Shimin bent down even lower, and said respectfully to Quan Xuan beside Concubine Zheng: "Eunuch Cui, how dare you think of anything wrong in your humble position? The reason why you are waiting here is because someone from Songjiang Mansion has entered again." Some new silk-cotton blended sweat towels, because last time Long live the Lord said that he likes the blue color to be lighter, so I humbly ask the prince to go to the weaving and dyeing bureau today."
Cui Wensheng walked over and patted him on the shoulder: "Well, the Neiwei and Dyeing Bureau is also a good place, Fatty."
After saying this, he walked away with Lu Shou.
Wang An had a gentle look from beginning to end.
Seeing the two inner court political opponents walking away, he raised his hand to signal Liu Shimin, who was still bowing, and whispered "I'm sorry for you" in a low voice before walking into the inner weaving and dyeing bureau.
Deep in the weaving and dyeing bureau, after the confidant young eunuch closed the door, Wang An said to Liu Shimin straight to the point: "Ruoyu, let me ask you about someone, Songjiang Zheng family, Zheng Haizhu. Is this woman from Donglin?"
Liu Shimin, just like before, showed no hesitation in front of Wang An and said: "Godfather, when she was still employed by the Han family, she had a good relationship with Huang Zunsu, a civil servant from the Donglin faction. After recruiting troops in Chongming, I heard that there was another She had a quarrel with relatives of the Zhejiang Party's Yao Zongwen family, and finally got that Yao Qianhu to jail. However, it would not be wrong to say that she was a member of the Donglin sect. I think this girl is like Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua who like Taixi. Firearms guy, come closer.”
Wang An lowered his eyes and listened carefully. The information was basically consistent with what Dong Qichang, Yang Lian and others passed on, so he nodded and said: "If it's not the Qi, Chu and Zhejiang Party, that's fine. Ruoyu, the eldest son of the emperor is about to go out to study, Donglin Someone came to me and asked me to let Mr. Zheng teach me."
Liu Shimin was startled.
That day in his house, Zheng Haizhu said that he was going to see Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou. Liu Shimin thought that it was like doing business and recruiting soldiers like his interaction with Huang Zunsu, and found Donglin Wenchen, who was about to gain power in the capital, as his backer. Unexpectedly, How could this girl be so favored by Yang Lian and the others?
Wang An saw Liu Shimin's surprise, changed the subject, and said pleasantly: "Ruoyu, do you think why I am close to Donglin?"
Liu Shimin said: "Because Donglin always adheres to the right path in the struggle between the country and the country."
Wang Andao said: "That's right, Ruoyu, whoever treats my brother well, our family will join him. Yang Lian persuaded me this time, also because this Zheng family is worried about the new king, and we are from the same family. "
"What's wrong with her?" Liu Shimin asked.
Wang An looked outside the door, leaned over and whispered: "She guessed something right. She said that Concubine Zheng may not give up. She must first keep her position in charge of the harem. The new emperor does not have a queen, and several people have the qualifications to choose an attendant. If she is inferior, she cannot be named Queen Mother, so the title of Queen Mother is very important. Concubine Zheng must try her best to win over the new emperor and ask the new emperor to give her the title of Queen Mother. What other tricks can a harem woman come up with? In the name of Guangyan's descendants, I send you women."
When Liu Shimin heard the last few words, his eyes were filled with surprise and admiration, and he blurted out: "Sure enough, I was right. There was so much movement in Yikun Palace yesterday that Concubine Zheng sent eight beauties to Qianqing Palace."
Wang An said in a deep voice: "Long Live Lord is so soft-tempered that he actually accepted those eight palace servants. Well, let's not talk about it. Only Zheng Haizhu is so good at guessing various thoughts, and she invited her to Wenhua Palace by herself. It's very difficult for her to come to Wenhua Palace. It's worth it. Even if she works for the Tian family, she still has her own plan. Yang Lian said that plan is probably to stabilize the industry and troops in her hands, to make firearms for the court and to guard the country. There is nothing wrong with it. What's more, , she gives lectures to the emperor's eldest grandson, talks about new things outside, and pleases her little brother, who may also tell her the secrets of the inner court that you and I don't know."
Liu Shimin already understood what Wang An and Yang Lian were thinking.
In fact, today, Wang An should have made a decision before asking him. As long as Liu Shimin, as another source of information, did not reveal any flaws in Zheng Haizhu, Wang An's decision would not be changed.
But Liu Shimin, thinking of the big changes that might happen in a year or a few months, somehow wanted the girl named Zheng to stay as far away from the Zhu family as possible.
"Godfather," Liu Shimin weighed his words and added, "It does sound like we have a good helper. However, the lecturers at the Wenhua Hall have always been Hanlin bachelors. This Zheng family has no name or status. I'm just afraid of those gossipy officials outside who will speak unceremoniously and throw dirty water."
Wang An waved his hand: "Yang Lian is an official herself, and has already thought about this. Zheng, she just doesn't have the title of editor or compiler of the Hanlin Academy, but she has the imperial order and was given by the imperial court. Fame. Furthermore, Xu Guangqi was once the emperor's master. Is his reputation enough? Xu Guangqi liked Western fire attacks, and the courtiers knew it. As for the Zheng family, they were close to him and simply made the firearms directly. This time, the Zheng family As his disciple, we teach together. Didn’t the late emperor say it in his edict that he was worried about the external provocations and should allocate more internal funds to support military needs. How did the Battle of Fushun teach the Tatars a lesson? Wasn’t it just about artillery and muskets? In accordance with the late emperor's last wish, I will teach the eldest son the method of quelling border provocations."
The more Wang An spoke, the smoother he became, as if he was reporting the time to the new king.
Liu Shimin wanted to make one last effort, and said with a hint of embarrassment: "But she is a woman. Will other lecturers in the Hanlin Academy...especially the old-fashioned Sun Chengzong."
Wang An chuckled softly: "Ruoyu, thank you for being in the palace for twenty years. The female officials in various bureaus and departments in the palace, ranging from seventh to fifth rank, hundreds of people, are not the emperor's concubines. I have many interactions with you, and some of them come in and out of Wenhua Hall. How come, a foreign woman entering Wenhua Hall makes those Hanlin masters feel ashamed?"
Liu Shimin choked on his words, but finally changed his attitude of relief immediately: "It's my son who is stupid. My godfather is right."
