-- The book continues --

Xu Miaoyun looked at Zhu Di and said: "Zhu Yijun has been "sick" for 30 years, and he dragged the Ming Dynasty into a desperate situation! ”

"Sick? What disease did he have? Zhu Di had to ask.

Zhu Yijun, who calls himself Yu Zhai, has the temple name Shenzong. The third son of Ming Muzong Zhu Zaikun, his mother is the noble concubine Li. The thirteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, whose name was Wanli, reigned for forty-eight years, making him the longest-reigning emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun was made the crown prince at the age of 6 and ascended the throne in June of the sixth year of Longqing. Due to the political corruption of the Ming Dynasty, the financial depletion, and the crisis, the court mainly relied on the cabinet scholar Zhang Juzheng.

In terms of internal affairs, it implemented the examination law, abolished redundant officials and redundant personnel in government agencies, reformed the system of enslavement, and introduced a whip law; Militarily, it strengthened armaments and reorganized, and reused the famous anti-Japanese generals Qi Jiguang to train troops in the three towns of Ji, Chang, and Bao.

After Zhu Yijun became pro-government, he worked hard, lived a frugal life, had the demeanor of a diligent and wise monarch, and created a situation of "Wanli Zhongxing".

In the first ten years of his succession, Zhu Yijun worked hard to make the economy of the Ming Dynasty prosperous and promote the emergence of capitalism in the Jiangnan region. In the middle ten years, he changed from diligence to laziness, coupled with the sick psychology of indulging in wine and goods, not only failed to make the Ming Dynasty prosperous, but on the contrary, pushed the Ming Dynasty to a desperate situation.

Later generations commented on Zhu Yijun's "death of the Ming Dynasty is actually the death of the Divine Sect".

…………

"What, Da Ming is dead? Didn't Yu Qian say that Yu Qian gave Daming more than 200 years of life? Zhu Di asked in surprise.

Zhu Yijun could have become a generation of Ming Jun, but he indulged in the sick psychology of wine and wealth for more than 30 years and did not go to court, he was under the supervision of the eunuch Feng Baode when he was a child, and he got up before dawn to study, and after Zhu Yijun ascended the throne at the age of ten, his father left Zhang Juzheng to take care of his life.

All the major military affairs were handed over to Zhang Juzheng, and Zhang Juzheng spent ten years to recommend a new policy for whipping, and at the same time, Zhang Juzheng reused the famous anti-Japanese general Qi Jiguang in the military to train troops in the three towns of Ji, Chang and Bao.

In Li Chengliang town guarded the invasion of the Japanese-Kou, after Zhang Juzheng's new policy made the Ming Dynasty become rich and usable for ten years, to Zhu Yijun's pro-government, hard work, frugal life, diligent and gentlemanly demeanor, created a 'Wanli Zhongxing' situation.

After the death of Zhang Juzheng, who had done his best for the nation and the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yijun presided over the three major expeditions of Wanli, and Bibai and Bichengen father and son rebelled in Yinchuan, Ningxia (Bibai was a Mongolian Tatar who served as a deputy general soldier after the Ming Dynasty. His son's name is Bi Chengen, inheriting his father's title and becoming a commander), Zhu Yijun decisively decided to quell the rebellion. The army sent to quell the rebellion attacked several times without winning, and the Wanli Emperor sent Li Chengliang's son Li Rusong as the chief soldier to lead the army to quell the rebellion. Li Rusong sent people to flood the city with the water of the Yellow River, and the outside of the city was full of water, and the city was washed open; Li Rusong took advantage of the situation and ordered the siege of the city, quelling the Bibai Rebellion in one fell swoop.

From the twentieth year of Wanli to the twenty-seventh year, Chao Xian was invaded by the Japanese (Wako), Wangjing fell, and the eight provinces fell to seven provinces, and only the area near the border of the Ming Dynasty in Yizhou still existed.

Zhao Xian was in danger and asked for assistance from the Ming Dynasty, "the messengers asking for help were constantly on the road." Zhu Yijun decided to send troops to Chao Xian to aid the Korean war against the Japanese. The war was fought intermittently for more than seven years.

In the end, due to the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Japanese invaders withdrew from Chao Xian, and the Ming army returned victorious.

Because the perennial war caused a very heavy burden on the finances of the Ming Dynasty, and the wealth obtained by Zhang Juzheng's new policy also disappeared in the three major campaigns of Wanli, Zhu Yijun began to let the eunuchs serve as the mine envoys, and searched everywhere for the people's fat and people's ointment, which led to the rise of the Houjin in Liaodong many years later, and began to continue to go south to the Ming Dynasty.

In March, in the battle of Salhu, the Ming army was annihilated by the four routes and the three routes, and 90,000 soldiers were lost, and the defeat was achieved. The Liaodong War required about 4 million taels of silver every year, and in order to cope with this huge military expenditure, Zhu Yijun ordered three times to increase the national field endowment since September of the 46th year of Wanli, which was called "Liaoyu" at the time.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the three salaries (Liao, Liao, and Lian) began to be added.

Far from being of any avail, the increase in factions aroused the strong dissatisfaction of the people of the whole country, and Zhu Yijun himself was depressed and worried.

Zhu Yijun caused the people's resentment to boil, and finally suffered a defeat in the Battle of Salhu, which led to the decline of the Ming Dynasty, and then Zhu Yijun began to indulge in wine, his body was weak, and his condition deteriorated.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were many parties in the ranks of the bureaucracy, and the battle for the gate was flourishing day by day, and they were tilting against each other. Donglin Party, Xuan Party, Kun Party, Qi Party, Zhejiang Party, there are many names.

At the time of the endless party struggle in Donglin, because Mingshenzong personally loved Zhu Changxun, the son of the concubine Zheng, and the king of Fu, he insisted that his palace Zhuangtian "be a total of 40,000 hectares", so he was willing to let him go out of the country of Beijing, so he set off a dispute over Fuwang Zhuangtian that lasted for seven or eight years in the imperial court.

On the fourth day of the fifth month of the 43rd year of Wanli, there was a famous attack case in the history of the late Ming Dynasty, and the perpetrator was a Jizhou man named Zhang Cha, which was known as the "attack case" in history.

Because of the establishment of the crown prince, he disputed with the cabinet for more than ten years, and finally simply did not leave the palace gate for 30 years, ignored the government and politics, did not go to the suburbs, did not go to the temple, did not go to the court, did not see, did not approve, and did not speak.

Zhu Yijun no longer received courtiers, and the cabinet appeared the phenomenon of "people staying in the office" and "Cao Office being long and empty".

As for the greed for money, Zhu Yijun confiscated the family properties of Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng after he became pro-government, and asked the eunuch Zhang Cheng to move all into the palace and put them at his disposal. In order to plunder the money, he sent eunuchs to serve as mine supervisors and tax envoys, and searched everywhere for people's wealth.

Although he did not go to the court after the middle of Wanli, there was no rebellion of eunuchs after not going to court, and there were no relatives interfering in politics, and there were no traitors like Yan Song, and the party struggle in the court was also controlled.

Zhu Yijun was seriously ill due to long-term unrestrained drinking, coupled with the fiasco of Liaodong, and state affairs. On July 21, Shinjong died at the age of 58 at Hongdejeon. On the 22nd, the funeral was held, and on the 23rd, the edict was issued, ordering the crown prince Zhu Changluo to take the throne.

…………

"Damn! Damn Zhu Yijun, Zhang Juzheng is such a capable minister, he actually dares to harm him! Zhu Di scolded after hearing this.

"Yes! Zhang Juzheng's old illness relapsed, although he has been repeatedly treated by famous doctors, but Zhang Juzheng himself knows that he is "exhausted" and "just a walking corpse"!

Xu Miaoyun said helplessly: "Zhu Yijun commented in the recital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate to impeach Zhang Juzheng: "Zhang Juzheng slandered his relatives, invaded the king's tomb, controlled the officials, and deceived me into being smart. Authoritarian and chaotic government, deceiving the Lord and being ungrateful, plotting disloyalty to the country. The coffin will be cut off and the corpse will be killed, and the memory will serve for many years, so as to avoid all the legal pursuits. ”

The population of Zhangfu, some old and weak women and children were closed in Zhangfu because they had no time to quit, and more than ten people starved to death, Zhang Juzheng's 80-year-old mother still left an empty house and 10 hectares of land at the request of Shen Shixing, a scholar of Shoufu University. Zhang Juzheng probably never imagined that after his death, he would be so ruthlessly punished by the Divine Sect who supported him. Zhu Yijun's 180-degree change of attitude is the vent of his long-term constraints under Zhang Juzheng, and it is also the basis for him to start his own pro-government, overthrowing Zhang Juzheng, and establishing the emperor's own authority.

"Hey! How about that Zhu Changluo? Zhu Di asked.

"The January Emperor?"

"What January?"

Zhu Changluo, that is, Mingguangzong, the son of Mingshenzong Zhu Yijun and Xiaojing Empress Wang, the fourteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Changluo was born to the palace maid of the Mingshen Sect by chance.

In the twenty-ninth year of Wanli, the eldest son of the emperor, Zhu Changluo, was the crown prince, the third son Zhu Changxun was the king of Fu, the fifth son Zhu Changhao was the king of Rui, the sixth son Zhu Changrun was the king of Hui, and the seventh son Zhu Changying was the king of Gui.

This most intense and complicated political event in the Wanli period forced the dismissal of four cabinet chiefs and assistants (Shen Shixing, Wang Jiaping, Zhao Zhigao, and Wang Xijue), more than 10 ministerial-level officials, and more than 300 central and local officials, of which more than 100 were dismissed, dismissed, and assigned to the army, and the other "Donglin Party" was rectified.

Although the position of the crown prince was determined, Zhu Changluo walked on thin ice all the way, and from time to time there were rumors that Emperor Wanli wanted to change the crown prince, and the spearhead was pointed at Emperor Zheng's concubine, and as a result, the emperor arrested many people.

There are also rumors, saying that Emperor Zheng and King Fu are going to murder the crown prince, but the emperor just let King Fu become a vassal, but Zheng Guifei secretly stopped him.

Concubine Gong Wang still lives in the secluded palace, can't see Emperor Wanli, washes her face with tears all day long, spends her days in tears, and gradually loses her sight.

In the thirty-ninth year of Wanli, Wang died, and the scholar Ye proposed a thick burial to Gao, but the emperor did not agree. After further speaking, the emperor reluctantly agreed to pursue the imperial concubine.

On the fourth day of the fifth month of the 43rd year of Wanli, a man in his thirties Zhang Cha held a jujube stick, broke into the Ciqing Palace where the prince Zhu Changluo lived, and beat everyone he met, injuring many officials guarding the door, until he hit the eaves in front of the palace.

After the incident, Zhang Cha confessed that he was the eunuchs Pang Bao and Liu Cheng under Zheng Guifei. In order to avoid the guilt of her henchmen, Concubine Zheng cried to the emperor. But the crown prince was almost killed, and the ministers of the court and China talked about it, and the emperor was helpless, saying that it was best for you to ask the prince for understanding in this matter.

Zheng knelt down to worship the prince, and the prince hurriedly bowed back. In the end, Shenzong and the prince were unwilling to investigate deeply, and killed Zhang Chayu City on the charge of crazy traitors, because the witnesses disappeared, Pang and Liu Er were guilty of fearlessness, and flatly denied being involved in the case, and Mingshenzong secretly ordered the eunuchs to execute Pang Bao and Liu Cheng, and the whole case could not be investigated, which was known as the "Attack Case" in history.

But after the attack case, the prince reviewed Miao Changqi and thought that the backstage of the "attack on the attack" was the eunuch party headed by Wei Zhongxian, so he said indignantly: Can the traitor snipe the Taigong use the word "crazy" to exonerate the crime of the rebellious ministers and thieves, and use the "Yuan Gong Strange Goods" to erase the loyal ministers and righteous people?

Later Miao Chang was framed to death by the eunuchs.

In the forty-eighth year of Wanli, the emperor died. In August, the crown prince Zhu Changluo assumed the throne of the emperor, granted amnesty to the world, and announced the change of Yuan Taichang.

——To be continued——