OBS Chapter 736 Zhu Yuanzhang angrily rebukes his ministers
Chapter 736 Zhu Yuanzhang angrily rebukes his ministers
January of the sixth year of the Hongwu reign.
Emperor Zhu, who had stayed in Ningyang County for a full six months, finally returned to his loyal capital and received the congratulations of his ministers in the Fengtian Hall.
Generally speaking, the so-called "court congratulations" meant that the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty would first offer their New Year greetings to Emperor Zhu, and then Emperor Zhu would give them certain rewards and say auspicious words such as "May everyone have a good New Year".
Along with this, envoys from various foreign vassal states, such as Goryeo, Annam, Ryukyu, Siam, and Burma, would also appear during the court audience. They would first speak auspicious words on behalf of their rulers, such as "Wishing His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming a happy holiday," and then present their local specialties. The Emperor would then reciprocate with gifts depending on his mood.
Of course, the tributes from the various vassal states were certainly worthless, while the gifts bestowed in return by the Ming Dynasty were undoubtedly priceless.
For example, if Goryeo presented a hundred pearls, these things would certainly be worthless. Apart from being ground into powder and used by noblewomen to apply to their faces or mix with water to drink, or used to decorate some useless jewelry, they would basically have no value, so they would definitely be worthless.
However, the set of glass cups bestowed by the Ming Dynasty in return contained the wisdom of the sages of the Central Plains and the hard work of countless artisans of the Ming Dynasty. To describe the value of the glass cups as priceless would actually lower their status.
Then, the historian in charge of recording the emperor's daily activities angrily wrote down, "When the emperor received court congratulations at the Fengtian Hall, envoys from Goryeo and other vassal states sent tributes, which were generously bestowed upon them."
Fangwu sounds worthless.
Houci sounds like a losing proposition.
Especially with the addition of "辄".
"Zhe" means "every time" or "at any time". You, Emperor Zhu, don't know the cost of firewood and rice when you're not in charge of the country. You always give generous gifts to the envoys. You can be called the most wasteful of all the spendthrifts!
The above is the normal procedure for the New Year's grand court ceremony.
but.
As is well known, the Zhu family has always been known for producing eccentric emperors.
As the founding emperor of the Zhu family, Emperor Zhu was certainly no ordinary person.
After the foreign vassal states such as Goryeo and Siam presented their tributes, Emperor Zhu took the initiative to launch an attack.
"Dingyuanwei was burned down, as were Haoliangwei and Huaiyuanwei."
"The barbarian troops invaded Yunnei, the various Tibetan tribes robbed the envoys from Ü-Tsang and their supplies, the mountain people of Fuzhou Prefecture rebelled at Baita Ridge, and the people of Wenzhou Prefecture, including Zhou Dangsan, joined forces to become bandits."
"Four earthquakes in Yangqu County, Taiyuan; an earthquake in Guangzhou Prefecture; a severe drought in Hejian Prefecture and Zhengding Prefecture; and rain and hail in Pingliang Prefecture."
"We are beset by internal and external troubles."
"We're wondering if our emperor isn't quite up to par, so perhaps we should issue an edict of self-reproach?"
Yang Shaofeng had already sneaked over to the dragon pillar, thinking he could take a short nap when Lao Deng wasn't looking.
Upon suddenly hearing that Lao Deng was going to issue an edict of self-reproach, Yang Shaofeng immediately perked up.
There are a few old sayings in Zhongyuantang, such as "Since you've come all this way, you're still just a child, it's the New Year."
It just so happens to be the Lunar New Year, but Old Deng suddenly announced that he would issue an edict of self-reproach.
Is this a plan to kill Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen?
Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen were also dumbfounded.
Why did the emperor suddenly issue an edict of self-reproach during the Lunar New Year?
Despite his bewilderment, Li Shanchang suppressed his shock and bowed to Emperor Zhu, saying, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. This is all our fault."
Liu Bowen glanced at Yang Shaofeng and then bowed to Emperor Zhu, saying, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. So-called earthquakes, droughts, and floods are all celestial phenomena, beyond human control."
Emperor Zhu gave a forced smile and glanced at the civil and military officials in court.
"Since I ascended the throne, it has only been five years, yet there have been no fewer than dozens of droughts, no fewer than a hundred floods and hailstorms, no fewer than a dozen earthquakes, and more than a hundred fires and floods in the various guards."
“The number of people who gathered in Dongman to cause chaos and the people of the prefecture to band together was countless.”
"Furthermore, barbarian troops invaded the south, and Japanese pirates stirred up trouble at sea."
"Are all these chaotic phenomena not my fault?"
As Emperor Zhu finished speaking, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen felt a sudden jolt in their hearts.
broken.
This time, the move wasn't just aimed at the gentry of Jiangnan, but also at us all!
Nobody should get away with this!
Li Shanchang's head throbbed with worry. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Leaving aside droughts, floods, and hail, let's just talk about the Dongman's gathering of people to cause trouble. In the fourth year of Hongwu, the number had already decreased significantly compared to the third year, and in the fifth year of Hongwu, it had decreased even more than in the fourth year."
"The reason for this is that when the dynasty was first established, many of the local tribes and chieftains were unaware of the emperor's power and authority, so they did not truly submit. If anything went wrong, they would easily gather their people to cause trouble."
"believe……"
Before Li Shanchang could finish speaking, Emperor Zhu sneered and said, "Those people of that prefecture who have banded together to become thieves have never truly submitted to us?"
Li Shanchang was completely dumbfounded this time.
Since I started following him to conquer the world, this seems to be the first time he's ever gotten this angry.
wrong.
There have been times when he got angry more severely than this, and times when he was even more disrespectful than this.
The key point is that in the past, no matter how angry he was or how disrespectful he was, it was always in private, but this time it happened at a grand court assembly.
So, what exactly does the person in power want to do?
Just as Li Shanchang was secretly trying to figure out what the Emperor Zhu was thinking, the Emperor Zhu stood up from his dragon throne and walked down the steps to the court officials.
“Mr. Shanchang, this is real qi.”
After reassuring Li Shanchang, Emperor Zhu continued, "Zhang Shicheng, Chen Youliang, Fang Guozhen, and even Hu Yuan, we old brothers worked together to defeat one opponent after another. Now we have finally united the four seas. We have weathered many storms and hardships along the way together."
"But what about now?"
“Look at it, from the plowshare case to the blank seal case, from the illegal coal mine case to the child abduction case and the ironware outflow case.”
"With these major cases coming one after another, how many officials have been implicated?"
"How many of these are our old brothers who fought alongside us to build this empire?"
As Emperor Zhu slowly paced around, he said, "Xiang Fei, the commander of Lingshan Guard, was a brave and valiant man on the battlefield. He could remain silent even after being hit by dozens of arrows, and he personally killed more than 170 Hu soldiers. He rose through the ranks to become the commander of the guard."
"But this brave man who fought his way up on the battlefield, who had only been the commander of the guard for a few years, dared to get involved in a child abduction case and an outflow of ironware, and most of that ironware ended up in Hu Yuan."
"When he was arrested, he even had someone ask us if we felt guilty?"
Emperor Zhu sneered and said, "Our Great Ming is poor, and the common people are even poorer. We would like to bestow countless riches and beauties upon everyone, but if we really do that, will the people under heaven still have a way to survive?"
“When ordinary people have no way to survive, they will rise up in rebellion just like they did at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.”
"By then, we'll probably be forced to flee north in a panic, just like an iron pot."
Emperor Zhu glanced at his ministers once more.
"So, he asked us if we felt guilty? We'd like to ask him the same question: is money really that powerful in swaying people's hearts?"
"And all the officials and fellow veterans here, put your hands on your conscience and ask yourselves, are you really that clean?"