Chapter 84 Chenghua Li Ting!

【Wang Zhi, a eunuch who was completely demonized.】

[It is true that Wang Zhi was the governor of the Western Factory, but in the special political ecological environment of the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs were just the emperor's white gloves.]

[If the emperor doesn't use them, the eunuchs will be sidelined by the civil officials. ]

[Wang Zhi spent the first half of his life as the emperor's secret police, responsible for secretly monitoring all officials, and the second half of his life was spent on the battlefield.]

……

"Supervising all officials? Isn't this what we let the Royal Guards do? Why do we need to re-establish the Western Factory..."

Old Zhu frowned as he watched this scene. It was obvious that the Jinyiwei had the power to supervise all officials, so why did they have to re-establish the Western Factory, wasting time and money...

After hearing what Zhu said, Zhu Biao couldn't help but fall into deep thought. However, when he saw the sentence "eunuchs are just the emperor's white gloves", he suddenly understood and expressed his thoughts:

"In my opinion, it's because eunuchs are more loyal. Jianshen is a newcomer to power. It may not be easy for those civil officials to obey orders easily. They are easily hindered by civil officials. Those civil officials have been in the court for many years. There must be some of them in the Jinyiwei. Choose a loyal person to do the job, and he won't be deceived by the officials."

"And the establishment of the Western Factory can also check and balance the Imperial Guards, so that the Imperial Guards will not dominate alone."

After listening to Zhu Biao's words, Zhu nodded approvingly. However, he still had some resentment in his heart about his descendants making use of eunuchs. After all, the example of Wang Zhen was still vivid in his mind.

During the Yongle era, Zheng He developed a keen interest in this eunuch who spent the rest of his life on the battlefield.

After all, he was an excellent general, well-versed in the art of war, and a talented commander. During the Jingnan Campaign, he had fought with Emperor Yongle in many battles.

There were many battles during the voyages. I still remember that on the return voyage from the first voyage in the fifth year of Yongle, we defeated the then bandit leader Chen Zuyi from Old Port and escorted him back to Beijing, which shocked the government and the public at that time.

It should be noted that Chen Zuyi was one of the most famous pirate leaders at that time. His pirate gang once had tens of thousands of people and hundreds of warships. He also launched attacks on more than 50 surrounding cities with the intention of becoming king. His power was extremely large. The imperial court had tried to encircle and suppress him many times but failed. In the end, he was wiped out by Zheng He.

Of course, this is just a small episode in Zheng He's voyage to the West. There are many similar famous battles.

Perhaps because of the sensitivity of his identity, Zheng He developed a strong interest in Wang Zhi, a eunuch who later served on the battlefield.

at the same time.

In the palace, Emperor Yongle Zhu Di, Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi, Crown Prince Zhu Zhanji, Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu, Prince of Zhao Zhu Gaosui and others all thought of Zheng He at the same time.

While looking forward to Tianmu’s narration, I silently compared the two of them in my heart.

……

[In the 16th year of Chenghua, Emperor Xianzong established the West Factory in addition to the East Factory, and together with the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they were collectively called the Factory Guard. Wang Zhi was appointed as the governor of the West Factory. Wang Zhi was only years old that year.]

[With the support of the Western Factory, Emperor Xianzong began to take action against the cabinet. He used two methods to deal with the cabinet. The first method was to restore the imperial examination system established by Zhu Yuanzhang, which was the Ministry of Personnel, and hold a major examination every three years.]

[Through the imperial examinations, Emperor Xianzong expelled 2016 people in the 1909th year of Chenghua, 3500 in the th year of Chenghua, and an astonishing people in the th year of Chenghua.]

[You know, the Ming Dynasty was very different from today. In the Ming Dynasty, officials under the control of the Ministry of Personnel were all big tigers, not flies or mosquitoes.]

[While the Ministry of Personnel continued to dismiss people, Xianzong's second move was to appoint a large number of officials to serve in the court.]

[When the cabinet controlled the government, the appointment of court officials was a list drawn up by the cabinet, and the emperor could take up the post once he approved it. As for the appointment of officials, Emperor Xianzong drew up a list, and the eunuchs handed it to the Minister of Personnel through Zuo Shunmen. The cabinet received the list and acted according to the emperor's order.]

[There is no need for the cabinet to express its opinion. If the cabinet dares to disagree, the Minister of Personnel may be fired.]

[Emperor Xianzong would appoint a group of messengers every month, ranging from dozens to hundreds. By the late Chenghua period, there were thousands of messengers in the court.]

[When civil officials compiled the Ming Shilu, they would add the words "Chuanfeng" or "Chuansheng" before the name of the official who passed on the message to distinguish them.]

[In the eyes of those ministers, the people you, the emperor, appointed are not the same as the people my cabinet selected.]

……

"How outrageous! What do these civil servants want to do! Are they forming cliques for personal gain?" Old Zhu was furious. They are all officials of the imperial court and are all working for the country, but you, the Ministry of Personnel, want to make distinctions. If it's not for forming cliques for personal gain, then what could it be?
Zhu Biao, who was standing aside, also had a serious expression on his face.

The power of the cabinet seems to be too great. It is in charge of the appointment of court officials. Doesn't that mean that most of the people in the Ming Dynasty court are their people?

No wonder Jianshen was forced to use eunuchs.

……

【Xianzong controlled the cabinet by increasing and decreasing the number of officials appointed to the throne, leaving them powerless to fight back.】

[After settling the cabinet, in the 15th year of Chenghua, Emperor Xianzong began to rectify military affairs.]

[Because of more than a decade of neglect, the military and the cabinet have become corrupted by the mix.]

【Xianzong learned from Yingzong's experience and did not go out in person. After all, it was too dangerous for a Ming emperor to leave the city and it was easy for him not to come back.】

……

Zhu Qiyu silently gave a thumbs up.

Zhu Qizhen felt offended.

……

【Xianzong still used Wang Zhi to rectify military affairs.】

[In October of the 15th year of Chenghua, Emperor Xianzong first ordered Wang Zhi to supervise the army and led three armies to attack the Jianzhou Jurchens in an attack that destroyed their nest and exterminated their race. This was the third Chenghua Li Ting.]

[This battle caused the Jurchen forces to be suppressed for nearly 100 years. ]

[In fact, in the third year of Chenghua, the Jianzhou Jurchens had been defeated once, but Xianzong did not care. Fighting the Jurchens was not the goal, but controlling the army in Liaodong was the goal.]

[In February of the 2th year of Chenghua, Wang Zhi and the Minister of War Wang Yue, a eunuch and a civil official, led 2 cavalrymen and advanced alone to Weininghai without saying hello to anyone, and destroyed the Mongolian royal court.

[In this battle, the Ming army beheaded 437 people, captured more than 7000 horses, and more than 19 armors and weapons. The female leader Manduhai, who had just unified the Mongolian tribes, was killed. Wang Zhi became famous in this battle. Wang Zhi was only years old that year, the same age as Huo Qubing when he was awarded the title of Champion Marquis.]

[There is a problem here. Wang Zhi and Huo Qubing used the same fighting style, which was sneak attacks. Both of them were in their teens, leading troops for the first time, and had no combat experience. However, they won a great victory as soon as they attacked.]

[The main forces of the Han and Ming dynasties were all famous generals like Li Guang and Wei Qing, but they either couldn't find the enemy or were ambushed. The contrast was huge.]

[Has anyone ever thought about why this happened? In fact, the situation in the Han Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty was the same. Some people in the army secretly colluded with foreign enemies and did not want the enemy to be eliminated.]

[Because of the different lifestyles between the northerners and us, they need to exchange horses for our food and daily necessities, but the Ming Dynasty officials strictly manage the tribute trade at the border, not only setting prices, but also limiting quantities. This has two purposes: one is to increase prices and ensure profits.]

[Another thing that is hard to say is that at certain times, a food blockade against the North can cause a reduction in their numbers and weaken their strength without bloodshed.]

[But there is a rule in business that the tighter the official control, the higher the profit of the business. ]

[You know what fishermen say: The bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish. ]

[High profits will inevitably lead to an increase in smuggling. The northern border is guarded by these border troops. Who else could be involved in smuggling? In addition to selling food and strictly checking it, the border troops of the Ming Dynasty also sold armor and weapons, and even their own firearms. This is a very profitable business.]

[The emperor asked these people to beat up their clients. How could they do that? ]

【So the secret of Wang Zhi and Huo Qubing's victory was that they didn't tell anyone where they were going, not even the emperor knew.】

[Even if someone wants to tip off, there is no way. ]

……

Collusion between inside and outside!

As Tianmu spoke, the expressions of Emperor Wu of Han, Li Guang, Zhu Qizhen and many famous generals were frozen!
(End of this chapter)