In the later period of the Hongzhi Dynasty, the power of civil officials was able to overwhelm the clan. Or a few heads.

The emperor is the biggest backstage of the clan. The civil officials don't even care about the emperor, let alone the clan?

In the seventeenth year of Hongzhi, the frost fell on the day.

The weather suddenly turned cold, and the frost of the early morning covered the wide courtyard in front of the Fengtian Gate. Civil and military officials have changed into winter clothes.

Rao is like this, the cold autumn wind still blows people's necks cold.

Emperor Hongzhi came to the front of the court with eight people, and hundreds of officials knelt down to greet him.

A tall Han general knelt down in front of the eight people. Carrying Emperor Hongzhi on his back, he walked to the dragon chair.

Xiao Jing and several eunuchs and young eunuchs helped Emperor Hongzhi to the dragon chair.

Chang Feng in the military attache class was particularly sad when he saw this scene.

Only eighteen years ago, the emperor was still a high-spirited young emperor. Now he is as weak as an eighty-year-old man.

You know, the emperor is only thirty-five years old this year! He is four years younger than Chang Feng.

I have to say that Emperor Hongzhi was a diligent son of heaven. Even if he is so sick, he still does not miss the morning and afternoon pilgrimages every day.

Early dynasty begins.

Emperor Hongzhi opened Chrysostom: "I plan to build a longevity tower outside the Chaoyang Gate." Let's prepare a letter from the Cabinet. Zhang Yong, the chief celebrant and eunuch, and Li Xing, the eunuch of the internal officials, supervised the construction of the matter. ”

"Oh, the silver comes out of the inner storehouse. You don't need to pay one or two dollars. ”

It is not too much for a terminally ill emperor to build a stupa to pray for him to prolong his life.

It is a pagoda that is repaired, not a palace of Afang. It costs tens of thousands of taels of silver to die. And it's still the inner money.

Chang Feng was the first to come out of class: "The emperor respects the heavens and loves the people." Heaven will definitely send blessings, bless me with a long life tomorrow! ”

"Chen Changfeng asked to go to the construction site of Yanshou Pagoda to carry wood and stone bricks. Do your best as a courtier. ”

The clothes are not as good as new, and the people are not as good as the old. From the time when Emperor Hongzhi was still the prince, Changfeng often accompanied him.

Chang Feng is Huai'en's godgrandson, and whenever he sees Chang Feng, Emperor Hongzhi thinks of his benefactor Huai'en.

Chang Feng took the initiative to ask to go to the construction site of Yanshou Tower to work as a coolie, which greatly moved Emperor Hongzhi.

Emperor Hongzhi was just about to praise Chang Feng for a few words. Liu Jian, the first assistant to the cabinet, was the first to come out.

Liu Jian said something that went down in the history books: "Your Majesty." The things of the Buddhas, ghosts, and gods are not beneficial to the world and harmful to the people. Today, the temple looks at each other, the Buddha is in groups, the Jiao is not entered, the reward is not calculated, the wealth of the world is exhausted, the power of the world is exhausted, the power is extremely poor, and there is no way to add more. Please take back your previous order and stop building the pagoda temple! ”

As soon as Liu Jian's words came out, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian, two elders, first came out of the class: "The minister seconded the proposal!" ”

The officials of the six departments and the officials of the science and technology came out one after another: "The minister seconded the proposal!" ”

It's a dead life! A pro-virtuous minister, far from the villain, hard work, diligent governance, to create a prosperous era of the Ming monarch, when he was terminally ill, even built a pagoda to pray for longevity, to be opposed by the "virtuous ministers".

The "virtuous ministers" are not unreasonable. They are just defending their own principles: the court of the Hongzhi Dynasty is the co-rule of the monarch and the minister. You can't let the emperor have the final say! It doesn't matter whether the thing proposed by the emperor is reasonable or not. We have to make a bar.

The civil officials of the Ming Dynasty are the earliest bars.

The Guangting in front of the Mukden Gate formed a one-sided situation. A group of civil officials opposed Emperor Hongzhi's construction of the pagoda.

Emperor Hongzhi was extremely disappointed, and under the depression, he almost fell off the dragon chair with gold stars in his eyes. Fortunately, Xiao Jing's eyes were quick and he helped him.

The prince Zhu Houzhao couldn't listen to it anymore, and he said loudly: "Do the civil officials of the Manchu Dynasty still have a conscience?" My father's body was exhausted by the government! ”

"He just wants to build a stupa! You have obstructed it, and no one has filial piety! ”

"Mr. Li and Mr. Xie, don't you teach lonely filial piety and loyalty, courtesy, righteousness and shame all day long? Where is your filial piety? Where is your loyalty? ”

Emperor Hongzhi interrupted Zhu Houzhao: "Don't talk nonsense! ”

Zhu Houzhao's face was full of grievances: "Father."

Emperor Hongzhi repeated: "Don't cough cough, don't talk nonsense." ”

"What the Qing family said is extremely true. It's my fault. The national money and the internal money are all the people's fat and people's ointment. I shouldn't be good at building buildings. ”

"I won't talk about the construction of the pagoda again."

When Chang Feng heard this, he felt sorry for the benevolent and weak emperor.

What kind of court is this, what kind of courtiers are this!

"Monarch" has become "minister", and the minister is on the king. Emperor Hongzhi may be able to leave a good reputation in the history books for the co-governance of monarchs and ministers, and the good as the stream. But it can't change the fact that the vassal power overwhelms the imperial power.

Taizu and Taizong have knowledge under the spring, I'm afraid the coffin board can't be suppressed!

After the morning dispersed, Chang Feng, who was holding his breath, returned to Jinyiwei.

He made a decision to help Emperor Hongzhi build the pagoda.

At this moment, Liu Long, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, entered Changfeng's duty room in a big way.

When Liu Long saw Chang Feng, let alone bow down, he didn't even bother to bow his hand. He put his hands behind his back and was domineering.

This person is the twelfth year of Hongzhi's Tanhua, and Liu Jian values Gaozu the most. With Liu Jian as the backstage, he doesn't take Chang Feng seriously at all.

The emperor is weak, and the emperor's house slave leaders naturally lack deterrence against civil officials.

Liu Long said: "Liu Shoufu ordered you to go to the cabinet immediately. ”

"Life", or "immediately"? This is the word of the boss to the subordinates.

When did the commander of the emperor's pro-army become a subordinate of the cabinet?

Chang Feng's face was calm, and he couldn't bear what ordinary people couldn't bear, so he was the eldest husband: "Oh? Liu Shoufu didn't say anything? ”

Liu Long didn't say a word, turned around and left. There is no respect for Changfeng at all.

Zhang Cai, a thousand households on the side, said: "Master Chang, do you want to check Liu Long's bottom?" I'd love to see if this bull-nosed guy has done anything wrong. ”

Chang Feng said: "Check! Not only to investigate him, but also to investigate him for three generations. I want to see if Liu Shoufu's tall feet are white and flawless lotus flowers. ”

Zhang Cai asked: "Then are you still going to the cabinet?" ”

Chang Feng said: "Go." Of course you have to go. If what I expected is right, the thing I laid out for a month will have a result today. ”

Half an hour later, the cabinet was on duty.

Chang Feng stood in front of the three elders.

Liu Jian took a sip of tea and glanced at Chang Feng: "There are rumors in Beijing, the clans are in tandem, saying that the clans want to come out to manage the government and reduce the power of the cabinet." Is there such a thing? ”

Chang Feng lied: "Yes, Beizhen Fusi has ears and eyes in all vassal kings. This is true. ”

Liu Jian asked: "Who is the leader?" ”

Chang Feng smiled slightly: "I'm not very easy to say." I am the domestic slave of the Zhu Ming royal family, and those vassal royal clans are also my masters. ”

Liu Jian frowned: "So, you want to protect the vassal royal family?" ”

Chang Feng said: "Don't dare." ”

Xie Qian interjected: "Why don't you dare?" Is there anything else that the butcher of Jinyi Wei often dare not do? ”

Chang Feng sneered: "Heh, if you protect the clan of the vassal king, you will be enemies with the three of you pavilion elders and the six departments and nine kings." Now the emperor wants to give you three points. How dare I, a house slave, be bored? ”

Xie Qian said: "You know the current affairs. ”

Li Dongyang played a round game: "Chang Tongzhi has always pretended to be the people of Li in his heart. The vassal royal family provided for more than 20% of the imperial court's financial expenditure in a hundred years."

"Chang Tongzhi is sensible, so naturally he will not stand with them."

Chang Feng said: "I said it, I don't dare to stand with them." ”

"As for what Elder Li Ge said, the vassal royal clan spends a lot of money on support, which is a big disadvantage of the imperial court, and I have the same opinion as you."

"The clan system, the eldest son is the lord. The concubine was demoted to a knighthood. ”

"The prince and the prince are crowned the kings of the county. The prince of the county is the general of Zhenguo, the general of Zhenguo is the general of the auxiliary country, the general of the auxiliary country is the general of Fengguo, the general of Fengguo is the lieutenant of Zhenguo, the lieutenant of Zhenguo is the lieutenant of the auxiliary country, and the lieutenant of the auxiliary country is the lieutenant of Fengguo"

"During the Hongwu period, there were only fifty-eight people in the clan. By the Yongle period, the population of the clan had increased to 127. In this dynasty, the number of people in the clan has reached 11,800! ”

"This is not counting princesses, county lords, county lords, county lords, county lords, townships and their honored guests."

"In another hundred years, I'm afraid the number of sects will become hundreds of thousands, even millions! The imperial court's finances were far from sufficient to support the clan. ”

Chang Feng's words resonated with the elders of Sange.

Xie Qian praised Chang Feng for the first time: "Chang Feng, you still have some knowledge." ”

It's really the ass that determines the head and the title. Before Xie moved into the cabinet, he called Chang Feng "Chang Ye", but now he calls him by his name.

Li Dongyang said: "If you rashly cut off the sect's offerings, I'm afraid there will be changes." For the sake of the overall situation, we can't do this for the time being. ”

Liu Jian nodded: "Yes." Although after the Yongle Dynasty, the power of the vassal king became weaker and weaker. However, many vassal kings still had protectors. ”

Chang Feng ostensibly sided with the cabinet this time. He actively contributed to the cabinet's handling of the clan.

Chang Feng said: "The rice should be eaten one bite at a time, and the road should be walked step by step." It is obviously impossible to cut off the clan offering all of a sudden. ”

"It's not as good as this. Limit the number of clan raiders first. ”

"King Qingcheng, one of the Jin vassal kings, gave birth to more than 90 children. The imperial court just sealed his concubines, and gave out forty-three titles of general of the town state. ”

Li Dongyang echoed: "Among the clans of the various feudal clans, there are many Jin clans. The governor of Shanxi once said a while ago that the Jin clan needed 770,000 stone of grain for a year. ”

Chang Feng grasped the main point: "There are loopholes in the clan system of the Ming Dynasty. The wives and concubines of the clan are all dragon sons and grandsons, and they can attack the lord. There is only one wife in the clan, but concubines can be widely accepted. ”

"For example, King Qingcheng alone has dozens of concubines."

"If you can control the number of concubines in the clan, you can control the number of concubines in the clan."

Liu Jian looked at Chang Feng with a strange look. He secretly said in his heart: Chang Fengneng has been a favored minister in the Hongzhi Dynasty for nearly 20 years, and he is really capable. Seeing things can grasp the key.

Li Dongyang said: "Chang Tongzhi is extremely true! Limiting the number of concubines in the clan is a good idea! ”

Chang Feng has figured out the temperament of the civil official group, and the civil official group has unknowingly become the object of Chang Feng's use.

Of course, it would be unfair to say that the civilian-bureaucratic clique is a dark mess. They dealt with the clan, in addition to the rumors caused by the crow captain, but also for the sake of the country.

A few days later, the cabinet led the petition with more than 200 civilian officials from the DPRK and China.

Song Shu suggested that Emperor Hongzhi issued an edict: "In addition to the concubines, the vassal kings everywhere have no more than four concubines; In addition to the Zheng wife, the general of Zhenguo and the auxiliary state, and the general of Fengguo except for the Zheng lady, there are no more than three concubines each; In addition to the lieutenant of Zhenguo, in addition to the lieutenant of the auxiliary country, in addition to the pleasant person, the lieutenant of Fengguo in addition to the Anren, there are no more than two concubines each. ”

Hundreds of civil and official joint names, Emperor Hongzhi will definitely be gracious.

This is the famous "Sect Restriction Order" in the seventeenth year of Hongzhi.

In a sense, the concubine restriction order of the clan may have allowed the Ming Dynasty to continue the state for several more decades.

And Chang Feng, the driving force behind the concubine restriction order, has deep merit and fame.

A few days later, Liu Bingyi, the old Taishan of Changfeng, passed his birthday. The elders of the three cabinets of the cabinet actually ordered someone to send a birthday gift.

Liu Bingyi was greatly surprised, and after the birthday banquet, he asked Chang Feng: "Virtuous son-in-law, the cabinet has always been unfriendly with you." This time I did my birthday, why did they give me a birthday gift? ”

Chang Feng smiled: "Recently, I helped them come up with an idea, and the originally tense relationship has eased. ”

Liu Bingyi advised Chang Feng: "Now the power of the cabinet is greater than that of the emperor. You're right. As an official, you must learn to keep your eyes on it. ”

Chang Feng smiled: "Next, I'm going to do something that makes them unhappy." ”

What Chang Feng said was to repair the longevity tower for Emperor Hongzhi.

On this day, several builders of temples, Taoist temples and pagodas came to Jinyi Weizhong.

Chang Feng treated these builders politely, everyone drank a few teas, and Chang Feng began to get to the point: "If you build a nine-story pagoda, how much silver will it cost?" ”

The leader of the builder asked, "It depends on how the materials are used." Geometry of scale. ”

Chang Feng said: "I'll tell you the truth. This pagoda was built for the emperor. The specifications should be much higher than those of ordinary pagodas. ”

A group of builders listened to this and offered their advice. Then they estimated the cost, which was about 60,000 taels of silver.

Chang Feng got this amount and immediately found Liu Jin to discuss.

Chang Feng got straight to the point: "I plan to help the emperor build the longevity tower." ”

Liu Jin frowned: "It's unlikely." The civil officials opposed the emperor's repair of the pagoda. The emperor has agreed. ”

Chang Feng said: "You are wrong. The civil officials were opposed to the emperor using the silver from the inner treasury and the national treasury to build pagodas. What if the silver taels from the repair of the stupa were voluntarily donated by the courtiers? ”

"The courtiers donated silver to the emperor to repair the pagoda and pray for longevity, which is filial piety! Don't civil officials talk about filial piety every day? ”

Liu Jin thought for a moment and stretched out his thumb: "High!" It's really high! Little Uncle Takami! ”

Chang Feng said: "You immediately make a public welfare in the palace and raise donations from the eunuchs." I was in the factory guards and the army, and I was raising donations with the cavalry and military generals. ”

"The inner palace and the army raised money to donate money to the emperor to fulfill his filial piety. I guess those civil officials will not be wrong with the word 'filial piety', and they will also donate money generously. ”

"In this way, the silver for repairing the Longevity Tower will be there!"

On the same day, Liu Jin opened a public welfare in the palace. Empress Zhang learned that she took the lead in donating 3,000 taels of silver.

The queen took the lead, and the eunuchs and concubines naturally enthusiastically donated silver.

Chang Feng also opened public welfare in the factory and the army. Factory guards and soldiers also enthusiastically donated silver.

Cabinet duty.

Liu Jian discussed the matter with Li Dongyang and Xie Qian.

Liu Jian said: "Donating money to repair the longevity tower is to do filial piety for the emperor." We can't afford to lose to those eunuchs and Qiuba. ”

Li Dongyang echoed: "Yes." The Ming Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety. If we want to talk about filial piety, we officials who are from the two lists of Jinshi cannot be left behind. ”

Xie Qian also said: "That's it." Your Cabinet clerk ordered the civil officials in Beijing to immediately raise money taels. ”

In just three days, civil officials, military generals, and eunuchs donated a total of more than 100,000 taels of silver. The construction of the longevity pagoda that prayed for the blessing of Emperor Hongzhi was successfully started.

Chang Feng once again achieved his goal.

From the two things of "Sect Restriction of Concubine Order" and "Construction of Longevity Tower", Chang Feng figured out an experience.

The lesson is not to clash head-on with the civilian clique. It is necessary to be hypocritical and wrong, and use ingenious means to make the behemoth of the civilian clique for its own use.

(End of chapter)