Li Hualong outwitted Long Yan Hoard, and Emperor Wanli had no choice but to set up a prince

In May of the twenty-eighth year of Wanli, Governor Li Hualong rushed to Longyan to suddenly hear his father's funeral, wept silently, fainted and fell to the ground. On the 18th, Li Hualong dressed in filial piety clothes convened the generals to discuss the tent, Li Hualong said: "Longyan hoarding is the thief relying on the natural danger, it is rumored that the flying birds and apes can not be crossed, surrounded by water on three sides, one side of the mountain, the terrain is dangerous. After summarizing the reports of many parties, it can be seen that there are six passes of Tongzhu Pass, Iron Pillar Pass, Feihu Pass, Feilong Pass, Chaotian Pass and Feifeng Pass between the mountain road and cliff in front of Longyan. According to the danger, guard layer by layer, there are 36 ladders across the rugged mountain road, each stone ladder has children high and low, after hoarding also has Houguan, Xiguan, Wan'an three passes stand, Longyan hoarding for Yang Yinglong's last reliance, after hundreds of years has not fallen, so conquering this hoarding can be called Keding Banzhou. ”

Ma Gui proposed: "As the governor said, the thieves are based on the Longyan hoard, I am attacking from the back, the cavalry cannot be used, and the firearms have little effect, so the only way to encircle the thieves and attack day and night is to attack the hoard as soon as possible." In the end, the general thought that in addition to the strong attack, the methods of inducement, exploration, and internal response should also be carried out together, and a multi-pronged approach could also reduce casualties. ”

Li Hualong said: "That's right, the generals listen to the order!" Since the beginning of the day to build a long siege, more repeated attacks, since the thief is sitting in poverty, knowing that the soldiers are in the neck. The army is divided into two parts, one is hoarding before attacking and one is hoarding after attacking, Ma Kongying, Chen Lan, and Wu Guang will each lead the road to outflank the three levels of the rear hoard, and the rest of the generals will attack each other in turn, gradually winning the six passes, and those who are afraid of the war will be killed, and each road will quickly prepare, and immediately enter the army, and there must be no mistake! "The generals commanded.

The Ming army began to attack Longyan Hoard, and the troops were defended according to the dangerous pass, and the Ming army could not overcome it quickly. Yang Yinglong watched from the top of the house, and when he saw the fierce battle, he couldn't help but sigh: "All the elite soldiers in the world came to attack me, how similar is it to the ancestor Yang Wen who was besieged by the Mongols when he was there." Time turns, this Longyan hoard finally stood in the flames of war, fortunately, I have this fortress in Banzhou, solid as gold, no matter how many reinforcements the imperial court sends to suppress it, I Yang can't do it. After this battle, it will be time for me to establish myself as king. ”

Sun Shitai said: "Longyan hoarding is steep in front of it, it is difficult to fly over, the ancestors of the Yang family have been carefully built for generations, and the outer sub-cities and supply strongholds are dotted around, and so on, even if it is called the first fortress in the world. Although the outskirts have been occupied by the official army, Longyan is heavily guarded and the military rations are sufficient, and if it is properly deployed, everyone will fight to the death, and it can still hold on for several months. However, I am worried about these two points, one is that if the officers and soldiers seek an opportunity to win and gradually seize the pass, our casualties will increase day by day, and we will be trapped here, and I am afraid that the people's hearts will not gather. Second, if the officers and soldiers abandon the battle to the death and implement the strategy of encirclement instead of attacking, we will be tantamount to sitting back and waiting for death. ”

Yang Chaodong was dissatisfied with Sun Shitai being so depressed, so he said: "Mr. Sun has too many concerns, and there is no other way to do it, but to defend to the end, I will strictly supervise the morale of the army, and even if it fails, I can still scatter my money to encourage me to fight again!" If it is besieged, then it should think of a surprising winning strategy, the survival of Banzhou is in this move, and the Yang ancestor is blessed by the heroic spirit, and the official army will be wiped out in Longyan this time! ”

Yang Yinglong praised: "Heroic and heroic!" I am very comforting to my father when I hear what you say. As a descendant of the Yang family, you should do so, you go to Qianguan to supervise the battle, and also keep an eye on the movements of the soldiers of He and Tian Er's clans, He Tingyu, He Hanliang, Tian Yipeng, Tian Feipeng and others are loyal on the surface, but in fact, they also have their own ghosts, so they must not relax their vigilance. As for the strategy of defeating the enemy, Mr. Sun and I need to discuss it again. Yang Chaodong took the order and left.

When the day was bitter and rainy, the Ming army's firearms were not effective, and the cavalry could not be used to attack the mountain pass, and the soldiers of the Ming army were running around in the mud all day long. Ma Qiancheng led the troops to attack the Tongzhu Pass, and the Ming army followed one after another, bravely rushed to the pass, risking arrows, and was repelled by the Miao soldiers several times. Ma Qiancheng gathered the department, returned fire with a bow and crossbow, shot for a long time, each had dead and wounded, Ma Qiancheng led the department to borrow the bow and crossbow to cover and then break through, rush through the gate, and rush up, the Tongzhu Pass Miao soldiers are not many, it is difficult to stop the Ming army's offensive and retreat.

Ma Qiancheng captured the Tongzhu Pass and then charged to the Tiezhu Pass, and the battle was not overcome for two days, and Ma Qiancheng's troops were immediately ordered to withdraw and be replaced by Dong Yiyuan's troops. Dong Yiyuan attacked for two days and did not resist, the Ming army repeatedly climbed the pass and was shot down by the Miao soldiers, the Miao soldiers were more tenacious in the defense of the iron pillar pass than the copper pillar pass, the iron pillar pass was mostly used to resist the gate, the Miao soldiers flocked to the wall, and every time the Ming army came to attack, they fought to the death.

There are many corpses in front of the Iron Pillar Pass, Dong Yiyuan has a plan, it is high temperature and humidity, Dong Yiyuan makes people burn the corpse in front of the Iron Pillar Pass, and the stench makes people feel disgusting, and the Miao soldiers gradually dare not approach. Dong Yiyuan formed a death squad, the whole body was protected against the poisonous stench of the corpse, the head was hung on the waist, and the bloody knife was held with the help of the black smoke of the cremation corpse to charge the Tiezhu Pass again, and the rear team followed closely behind the pass, and the Ming army suddenly attacked, showing the bloody and terrifying, and the Miao soldiers were afraid of the rout, so Dong Yiyuan won the Tiezhu Pass in one fell swoop.

Dong Yiyuan rested on the spot after seizing the pass, cleaned up the battlefield, and the army was attacked by Ma Gui to attack the Flying Tiger Pass, the 36 ladders in front of the Flying Tiger Pass were high and steep, the Ming army climbed the steps, used both hands and feet, and the sowing army threw down the rolling wood and rocks, poured fire oil, ignited the mountain road, and then blocked it with bows and arrows, the Ming army was miserable, it was difficult to advance, and the Ming army charged three times in a row, the casualties of the Ming army surged, and the military heart almost collapsed, and Ma Gui had to stop the army first.

The flying tiger closes the cliff, the lower is adjacent to the hanging rock, sits on the top of the ladder of the sky, such as the negative tiger, opens its mouth and roars the sky, and shocks the mountain. The arrow tower is heavily garrisoned, and the soldiers guarding the pass are also the elite tiger soldiers of Banzhou. And there is only a suspension bridge connection between the ladder and the Flying Tiger Pass, which is the only passage leading to the Flying Tiger Pass, Ma Guibu attacked ten days in front of the Flying Tiger Pass, it rained continuously, it was difficult to move an inch, there was no gain, Ma Gui was worried, and thought hard about the plan to seize the pass. Suddenly, the weather turned clear, Ma Gui was overjoyed, and ordered the tiger to squat and go up the mountain, and shelled the Feihu Guanlou to suppress the broadcast soldiers. The soldiers were suddenly hit by artillery, the stone was splashed, the building collapsed, and it was difficult for the soldiers to gain a foothold on the wall, and it was difficult for the guards of the Flying Tiger Pass to fight back at the Ming army for a while.

Ma Gui led the troops to take the opportunity to rush across the drawbridge and storm the gate, and the Flying Tiger Pass broke through the Ming army, and then started a melee with the Banzhou Tiger soldiers. Banzhou tiger soldiers are not afraid of life and death, fight to the death and do not retreat, the gate is narrow and the Ming army is blocked by the tiger soldiers several times and is forced out of the gate, Ma Gui ordered the projection of rockets to force back the enemy soldiers, the Ming army charged again and bravely counterattacked one after another to re-enter the gate, the Ming army formed a formation and advanced step by step, the tiger soldiers were also difficult to rush into the formation, Ma Gui ordered the whole army to rush and kill, Ma Gui took the lead, and killed more than ten people in a row, and the tiger soldiers were defeated and finally the whole army was annihilated.

After the battle of Feihu Pass, Liu Wei led his troops to follow and climb to Feilong Pass, Feilong Pass was guarded by He Hanliang and Tian Feipeng led by troops, there is Dragon and Tiger Avenue in front, similar to the 36-step ladder, one side of Feilong Pass is close to the abyss, steep and deep, snakes and rats are holes, there are often wailing voices coming from under the ditch with gusts of yin wind, creepy. He and Tian wanted to make all the Ming troops bury themselves in the ditch, especially in the Longhu Avenue all over the wood and stones, supplemented by bows and arrows to delay the Ming army's offensive, but also used homemade gunpowder to blow up one side of the mountain, the rocks flew down, the Ming army could not dodge, many fell off the cliff and died.

For two consecutive days, most of the Ming army was still delayed in Longhu Avenue, Liu Wei was furious and personally supervised the battle, and strictly ordered to rush to Feilong Pass, rushing straight to the flesh and blood along the way, and the Ming army suffered hundreds of casualties and finally rushed across the avenue. Liu Wei watched the Feilong Pass, it is made of bluestone and lime glutinous rice masonry, the pass is three open, three arches are set, two moon gates, it is the gateway to the east of the hoarding city. Liu Wei led his troops to attack Feilong Pass and rest from time to time, holding each other for ten days in a row. Liu Wei abandoned the strategy, only to attack, every time the rain continued to attack, every time the clouds opened and the fog dispersed, the artillery was deployed, the battle was fierce, the sound of artillery was like thunder, and the Longyan hoard could be heard.

Under the strong attack of the Feilong Pass gradually difficult to support, Yang Chaodong led his troops to help, the wall of the Feilong Pass on one side was broken, the Ming army took advantage of the situation to attack, Liu Wei broke into the Feilong Pass with the army and took He Hanliang and Tian Feipeng directly, He Hanliang saw Liu Wei killing, and quickly moved forward to meet the battle, but after a few moves, he died under Liu Ling's knife, Tian Feipeng saw Liu Ling's fierceness, turned around and fled, Liu Wei opened his bow and shot an arrow into the back of the heart, Tian Feipeng fell to the ground in response. Yang Chaodong knew that it was difficult to hold on to Feilong Pass, so he immediately led the remnants to retreat to Chaotian Pass.

When the Ming army attacked the front hoard, Chen Luan, Ma Kongying, Wu Guang and other troops were attacking the rear hoard, Yang Yinglong also deployed heavy troops in the rear hoard, Chen Lan was equal to the first pass after the gate was repeatedly defeated, for a long time, Chen Lan ordered the whole army to stop the attack and retreat three miles to stop, and secretly set up an ambush to lure the troops out of the pass. The Ming army pretended to be slack, and the rear Guan Miao generals relied on their heavy troops, and saw that the Ming army could not attack the fortified positions for several days, and the casualties gradually increased, and they were timid, so they ordered to go out of the pass to destroy the enemy in order to outflank the Ming army camp.

Chen Luan was overjoyed to report that the broadcast army was out of the customs, and immediately ordered Ma Kongying to lead his troops to set up an ambush on the left flank, and Wu Guang to lead his troops to set up an ambush on the right flank, and Chen Luan led the Chinese army to attract the broadcast army to attack. The broadcast army rushed all the way, the sound of killing shook the sky, Chen Lan sent several teams to meet the enemy, pretending to be defeated, and the broadcast army was even more unscrupulous, chasing into the pocket of the Ming army. Chen Lan saw that the time had come, so he immediately ordered a large firearm, and Ma Kongying and Wu Guang heard the sound and dispatched to surround the army, and the water was impassable. Seeing the ambush by mistake, the whole army wanted to withdraw, and the Ming army fought fiercely for a day, suffered heavy casualties, and could not form an army.

After the broadcast army in the West Pass to the back pass between the guerrilla raids, the broadcast soldiers are accustomed to fighting in the mountains, between the mountains and forests and rocks, flashing and moving, walking like flying, the Ming army suffered from guerrillas, it is difficult to pursue easily in the mountains, so they have to passively defend and march with difficulty. However, although the attack had a slow effect on the Ming army, it did not cause much damage to the strength of the Ming army. Chen Lan and others spent many days to Xiguan, and Ma Kongying, Wu Guang took turns to tackle the key problems, the two armies could not hold each other, Chen Lan strictly ordered to attack day and night, Miao soldiers abandoned the pass in fear, the Ming army captured Xiguan, the whole army was tired, rest and wait. So far, the Ming army has besieged Longyan Hoard for more than 40 days, the front hoarding to Chaotian Pass, and the rear hoarding to Wan'an Pass, it is difficult to move forward for a long time.

During the siege of Longyan Hoard by the Ming army, Governor Li Hualong summoned Miao people woodcutters around Longyan and Banzhou to inquire about the secret road of Longyan Hoarding, and finally one person knew that there was a hidden mountain road in the mountain behind Longyan Hoarding that could go to the top of the hoard, which was more conducive to climbing places could enter the Wan'an Pass of Longyan Hoard, and the mountain road was relatively empty and unguarded. Li Hualong was overjoyed, so he ordered the exploration team to sneak into the back mountain with him to record the mountain road.

Since the siege, there have been many casualties among the Miao soldiers, suffering from low morale in the defense, rumors have spread in Longyan's hoard, and Yang Yinglong has no way to break the enemy. Sun Shitai, the military advisor, rushed to persuade him: "This move by the head of the family is tantamount to causing everyone to betray their relatives and leave, and this must not be the case." If the head of the family has the heart to fight, he will share the joys and sorrows with the Banzhou warriors at this time, and scatter all the wealth to inspire the fighting spirit. If you don't have the power to return to heaven, in order to protect the lives of these people, the head of the family, you might as well immediately ask the officials and soldiers to surrender and exchange for sentient beings. ”

Yang Yinglong suddenly became angry: "Shameless old thief! How can I, Yang Yinglong, succumb to the enemy, and the Banzhou warriors should also regard death as their home and fight to the end! Why do you want me to bind myself here? Those who are greedy for life and afraid of death, those who steal their lives, if you can't control the enemy, what is the use of me keeping you?! Immediately, Sun Shitai was slashed to the ground with a knife and died on the spot. Yang Yinglong wanted to split his body to vent his anger, but Yang Zhaolong hurriedly stepped forward to grab Ying Long, and Yang Yinglong was able to calm down.

That night, Li Hualong assembled the generals, so that Chen Lan and Wu Guang led their troops to capture Wan'an Pass through the secret road, and attacked the city at night, causing it to panic, attracting the former hoarding Miao soldiers to come back to help, and the former hoarding generals took advantage of the situation to seize the pass, occupy the surrounding dangers, and conquered Longyan Hoard in one fell swoop the next day, and the generals received their orders.

That night, the fourth watch, Chen Luan, Wu Guang led the troops to sneak the hidden mountain road, climbed up the branches, attacked Wan'an Pass, and attacked the Longyan Hoard City with all the troops guarding the pass, Longyan Hoard suddenly fell into a panic, Yang Yinglong woke up in the night, knowing that the Ming army descended from the sky Wan'an Pass was attacking the top of the hoard, and the night scattered thousands of gold to raise the dead refused to fight, and all the seedlings were shocked and had nothing to do. Yang Yinglong was furious, raised his knife and went into battle, gathered panicked soldiers to fight a bloody battle with the Ming army, and the guards of Chaotian Pass and Feifeng Pass received Yang Chaodong's order and divided his troops to help. Chen Lan and Wu Guang were short of troops, and after a short battle, they led their troops back to Wan'an Pass to defend it. The former hoarding was negligent in guarding against the division of troops to return to help, and the Ming army took advantage of the situation to seize the pass, and the two passes of Chaotian and Feifeng were captured by the Ming army.

That night, Yang Yinglong was frightened, and led the team to inspect the hoarding roof, only to see the flames rushing to the sky on all sides, and the Longyan hoarding and dangerous passes were all occupied by the Ming army. Then he turned into the palace and cried with his wife and concubine: "Yang Yinglong is incompetent, ashamed of the ancestors and ancestors, without the wisdom and courage of the ancestors of the past dynasties, he has been repeatedly defeated in the hands of the official army, and the dangers around Longyan have fallen, and the official army will definitely attack this place tomorrow, and the Yang family of Banzhou will never be able to take care of it again." The wives and concubines all wailed and wept.

In the early morning of the next day, the Ming army attacked the Longyan hoard from the front and back, and the Miao soldiers were scattered, and there was no longer any will to fight. He Hanliang, Tian Yipeng and others died in the chaos, Yang Yinglong knew that the general trend had gone, and first ordered his wife and concubine to hang themselves, and then Yinglong also hanged himself and burned himself. Chen Luan, Wu Guang and others captured Yang Chaodong, Yang Zhaolong and other more than 100 people but did not see Yang Yinglong, Wu Guang led people to search everywhere but saw that Yang Yinglong had hanged himself in the fire, Wu Guang ignored the fire and hurriedly dragged Yang Yinglong's body out of the fire, Wu Guang also lost his voice because of the poisoning fire, fainted and fell to the ground for a long time before waking up. Longyan hoarding was broken, and Banzhou was pacified.

In December, Li Hualong's class returned to the dynasty and entered Beijing in triumph. After the noon gate was captured, the Wanli Emperor ordered Yang Chaodong and Yang Zhaolong to equal the city, and the imperial court then revoked the Banzhou Tusi, changed the land and returned to the stream, and placed Zunyi and Pingyue two mansions under Sichuan and Guizhou provinces. Emperor Wanli issued an edict to spread the victory in the world and accept the congratulations of hundreds of officials.

Zhao Zhigao, the first assistant of the cabinet at the time, had returned to his hometown to recuperate for four years due to his aggravated illness, but he was not dismissed. During the period, the court affairs were repeatedly neglected, Emperor Wanli sent Chen Ju to visit, Zhao Zhigao was difficult to stay because of illness and ordered someone to invite in, bitterly smiling that the illness was difficult to heal and could not get up to welcome, and asked for guilt again and again. Chen Ju said: "The elder of the pavilion should take care of his body, he is still seriously ill and has repeatedly neglected state affairs to the emperor, the elder is still worried about the country and the people, the emperor can't bear it, so he sent our family to visit, and brought good medicine in the palace, please the elder of the pavilion must recuperate with peace of mind and take it on time." ”

Zhao Zhigao thanked again: "The old minister is deeply favored by the emperor, even if he is riddled with diseases, he does not dare to know or think about state affairs, the emperor's concern makes the old minister moved, may I ask if Gonggong Chen has any other wills here?" Chen Ju replied: "The emperor also knows that the old man is loyal to the heart of the country, and specially ordered our family to listen to the old man's views on the future government affairs. ”

Zhao Zhigao coughed a few times, struggled to straighten up, and said earnestly: "The old minister knows that Gonggong Chen has always been merciful and discerning loyalty and treachery, and the old minister knows that his days are numbered, and he also asks Gonggong Chen to relay his heartfelt words to the emperor." Over the years, there have been many years of war, the northern border passes, the southwest border and small wars, the border towns and the inland areas can recruit good generals, and there are not a few soldiers who have been tempered for a long time have been killed and wounded, and now there are frequent incidents of empty salaries, occupation, escape, corruption, and mutinies in the army in various places, and the general combat effectiveness of the army is low, not like a soldier but more like hard labor, and no one dares to speak. Now that the disadvantages have been accumulated for a long time, it is not easy to cure the stubborn disease, the elite soldiers are lost, and it is difficult to train in more than ten years. The old minister thought that he should recuperate, pacify the frontier, and make the barbarians have civil strife and have no power to peek at my Ming, please think about it.

The annual expenditure of the treasury was huge, and after years of wars and disasters, the imperial court had no surplus silver. To restore the people's livelihood, repair the city, reorganize the farmland, and many other matters, the silver taels must be several times the military expenditure. In this way, the expenses of the imperial court in the next few years will definitely be beyond their means, there will still be corruption among the officials of the provinces, the annexation of land, and the emperor's big mine supervision to compete with the people for profits. I hope the emperor thinks twice. ”

Chen Ju asked: "We heard that the business in this southeast is prosperous, and the amount of silver obtained is countless, and even the weaving bureau is almost incomparable. However, the commercial tax is extremely low, and the merchants are self-fertilizing. There are many good fields in the homes of famous people and eunuchs, and they do not have to pay taxes and have many annexed lands, and the people also have a lot of dependence, what should I do about this matter of the elder? ”

This Zhao Zhigao replied: "This tax law is unbreakable for the Taizu, the middle can be exempted from 400 mu, the Jinshi can be exempted from 2,000 mu, the official to the fourth grade is exempted from another 2,000 mu, and the second grade or above is exempted from 10,000 mu, this is a preferential incentive policy." The disadvantages that have arisen naturally need to be remedied, and it is necessary to think of another way to open up sources and reduce expenditures, because the old minister is already old and deaf, and he is seriously ill, and it is difficult to have a good plan for a while, so he only advises him not to compete with the people for profit. But the most worrying thing is that because of the dispute over the country, the opposition between the monarch and the minister, the emperor neglects the government, there is gradually a party dispute in the court, and it is difficult for the ministers of the pillars to do anything, so it will affect the people's livelihood of the officials of the two capitals and 13 provinces, please the emperor. ”

Zhao Zhigao wanted to speak and stopped, suddenly the illness reappeared, weak and powerless, Chen Ju saw this and comforted him again and again, persuaded him to recuperate, and after several admonishments to his subordinates, he said goodbye to Zhao Zhigao and set off to return to Beijing. After the beginning of the 29th year of Wanli, hundreds of officials in the court began to ask for the East Palace on the month, and the Wanli Emperor stayed in the middle and ignored it, and the court and China discussed a lot, and rumors rose again. Empress Dowager Li was also restless, unable to bear it, and summoned Emperor Wanli to Cining Palace to meet her. Emperor Wanli knew that the Empress Dowager was angry because of the country's affairs, so she was quite uneasy.

Empress Dowager Li questioned Emperor Wanli: "The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty have repeatedly asked for the emperor's eldest son to be the crown prince, why do you always delay the establishment?" For more than ten years, the matter of the country's capital has not been decided for a long time, is the eldest son of the emperor immoral, and he is not worthy of being called the prince? Or do you really want to abolish the longevity! The mourning family heard that because of this country, you have repeatedly used hundreds of officials to get angry, since ancient times, which virtuous monarch and lord have acted like this?! Do you want your ancestors' society to be ruined?! The government affairs of the DPRK and China do not care about the mourning family, the emperor has his own opinions, and the mourning family also knows that you have the ability to judge right from wrong and know people well. But why are you so confused in this country?! The mourning family didn't want to ask about it, but they can't bear it anymore, you say, why can't the eldest son of the emperor become the crown prince?! ”

Emperor Wanli replied: "The queen mother's anger is all the fault of her sons and daughters that makes the queen mother hurt her body so much. The sons and daughters have no intention of abolishing the long-term and establishing the young, nor are they willful and reckless, wantonly insulting hundreds of officials. The reason why Erchen has not established a prince for a long time is to sharpen his intentions. Chang Luo also knew this matter, and he was deeply aware of the hard work of his sons. ”

Empress Dowager Li asked: "The emperor's ninety-five honor, the father of all the people, why is it full of lies in front of his mother today?!" Is it for grinding? The mourners see that you have no tempering behavior except to reprimand and alienate. It is really unheard of to sharpen the prince in this way, and there is no precedent for the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty to follow, so that the emperor is unique today. Why does the eldest son of the emperor deeply understand you? That's forced! It's fear! Why do you tell me the truth? ”

When Emperor Wanli saw the queen mother reprimanded him like this, he had mixed feelings in his heart, and muttered that it was because the emperor's eldest son, Zhu Changluo, was born to a palace maid and had a low status. When Empress Dowager Li heard this, she was furious and held a staff and pestle on the ground, shocking the temple. Empress Dowager Li pointed at Emperor Wanli and scolded: "The palace maid was born with a low status? Don't forget that you, the emperor, were also born to a palace maid! The mourning family is also a palace maid, and you were born by the first emperor, what is the difference between you and your concubine Gonggong giving birth to the emperor's eldest son? ! The mourning family remembers that you were reluctant to be crowned a concubine because she was a palace maid, and the mourning family was still the daughter of a mason before becoming a palace maid. In this way, you also dislike the mourning family, yes or no!? ”

Emperor Wanli was so ashamed that he had no choice but to shut up and plead guilty, and the Empress Dowager Li said: "Concubine Gong left roots and seedlings for the family of the Son of Heaven, made great contributions to the Jiangshan Society, and was obedient to you, virtuous and virtuous, why can't you be named the imperial concubine?" Isn't her son your son? The eldest son, humble and benevolent, should be canonized as the crown prince by the way to determine the country's foundation. The mourning family hopes that you can immediately canonize Concubine Gong as the imperial concubine and canonize the emperor's eldest son as the crown prince. Emperor Wanli hurriedly helped Empress Dowager Li into the inner hall and then retreated.

When Concubine Zheng heard that Emperor Wanli was going to canonize Zhu Changluo as the crown prince, she panicked and felt that the general trend was about to go, but she still wanted to make a last stand. Concubine Zheng invited Emperor Wanli into the palace, and cried repeatedly, asking for the resumption of her life. Emperor Wanli said: "I have been fighting with hundreds of officials for more than ten years in this matter, and hundreds of officials have no intention of Chang Xun, so I can't turn their faces with all officials for this, so how can the world be in chaos, how can the country continue?" Even the queen mother was extremely angry, and I was very ashamed of the queen's teachings, which was the general trend. ”

Zheng Guifei was unwilling, and never wanted to stop there: "The emperor once promised his concubines to establish Chang Xun as the crown prince, and the emperor's edict is still stored in the brocade box on the beam of the concubine's bedroom, which is the evidence left by the emperor. Then Zheng Guifei took off the brocade box from the beam, opened the brocade box with joy but saw that the handwritten edict had already been bitten by silverfish, broken, and Zhu Changxun's Changxun word Changxun was no longer traced. Emperor Wanli sighed: "The name of the third son of the emperor is buried in the belly of the silverfish, which is the will of heaven and cannot be violated." Zheng Guifei fell to the ground and cried, Emperor Wanli was distressed, comforted again and again, hugged her on the couch and put her to sleep.

After that, the Wanli Emperor officially canonized the emperor's eldest son Zhu Changluo as the crown prince in October of the 29th year of Wanli, and named the emperor's third son Zhu Changxun as the blessed king. Emperor Wanli was physically and mentally exhausted because of this, and Concubine Zheng was depressed. After fifteen years of quarreling, the dispute over the national capital, which made the entire empire unstable, also came to an end with the end of the Wanli Three Great Expeditions.

After the three major expeditions, the prestige of the Ming Dynasty spread far and wide, shaking Kyushu overseas. In the first and last eight years, tens of millions of silver were consumed, and the provinces were greatly consumed. While restoring people's livelihood, border provocations continued and military spending surged. In addition, there are often disasters to ask for relief, as well as the routine affairs of the imperial court and the huge expenditure of the palace and the clan, and the state is in short supply. Corruption has become a trend, filling one's own pockets, and gradually there are more people who cannot make ends meet. There is also an economic crisis due to the disadvantages of silver.

The private industry is prosperous, but the income of the imperial court has not increased. Many fields are annexed, and grain production is difficult to support the needs of the people. The elite soldiers are half lost, and the shortcomings in the army are difficult to return. Since the beginning of the country-based dispute, Emperor Wanli has gradually neglected his government, and the reform has stopped. As a result, there are many parties in the DPRK and China who have formed parties for personal gain, the cabinet is weak, and the party strife is fierce, and major cases have been frequently sparked. The Son of Heaven is the master of military affairs, and the personnel who are not profitable to the society do not give an answer, but it is still difficult to stop the disputes between the courtiers and the political affairs hinder each other. Under the party struggle, the imperial court did not work well, and in the late Wanli period, although the Ming Dynasty was prosperous on the surface, in fact, corruption was rampant, the treasury was empty, the armament was lax, the local quota was lacking, and the frontier army sprung up.