bookcurios Chapter 450 Auspicious
Chapter 450 Auspicious
After Li Wenda left, Meng Bian thought for a long time alone, and then ordered Zhou Zhuo and Chen Ao to take a team of people and set off to Kunming first to wait for his arrival. This matter was of great importance, and Meng Bian had to go to Kunming in person to make the arrangements.
Meng Bian went to the palace alone to meet Meng Jun. He wanted to ask the king for permission to go to Yunnan and Guizhou in person to set up branches.
Meng Jun did not say anything about Meng Bian's farewell. However, when Meng Bian left, he turned around and looked at his young master. It seemed that his eyes were meaningful, as if he said something, but also as if he said nothing.
After Meng Bian left, Meng Jun looked through the memorials submitted by many officials of the shogunate. Since Meng Jun moved into the Forbidden City, this message had been a clear signal to the civil and military officials that the king wanted to go a step further.
Therefore, in recent days, officials have begun to submit memorials one after another, reporting that auspicious signs have occurred in their local areas. Although Meng Jun scoffed at this in his heart, in official documents, he still only ordered local officials who had seen auspicious signs to carefully identify them.
Auspicious signs are the pet of politics. In the imperial system that lasted for thousands of years, auspicious signs were indispensable. They could be celestial phenomena, animals, plants, stones and so on.
The emperor needed it to add icing on the cake for political games, and officials and people needed it to seek promotion for themselves. Throughout history books, countless emperors were pursuing auspicious signs. Sometimes, auspicious signs were the icing on the cake for the prosperity of the dynasty, and sometimes they were the life-saving straw for the legitimacy of the regime.
Meng Jun knew that Lu Zhenfei and others had already begun planning the steps to become emperor. This was completely different from what Qian Biao, Bai Yongfu and other military generals thought. These literati had already begun preparing for the future.
In the eyes of literati, in times of chaos, warriors bring peace to the world, while in times of peace, it is time for us, the wise men who are well-read in the books of sages, to come out and govern the world. Although auspicious signs have become commonplace after they were politicized and extended, it is a pity that in this era, the general public still believes in this.
Looking through history books, we can see that there were various reasons for the fall of many dynasties. However, after each new cycle, people would ponder the root causes of the previous dynasty's fall, and therefore carry out targeted containment.
By the time of the Ming Dynasty, the threats from the feudal lords, the imperial harem, powerful ministers, and external relatives had basically disappeared. However, the Ming Dynasty also had many fundamental problems. Not to mention the old problem of rebellion by the feudal lords, the over-powerful civil service group was an extremely difficult problem to solve.
In the early Ming Dynasty, there was still suppression by the noble group, and Tumu Fort was just a point of outbreak. Even if there was no Tumu Fort, after another hundred or eighty years, the noble group would still not be a match for the civil service group.
The most fundamental problem is that the metabolism of the civil service group is extremely fast. Every year, the imperial examination will produce a new civil official, while the nobles need war to maintain fresh blood. The imperial examination will definitely produce civil officials, but the war may not be won.
There was another reason for the fall of the Ming Dynasty, and that was factional strife. Even though the Kunming court was on the verge of collapse, with such a small piece of land, it still had to start a factional struggle between Wu and Chu. After the Chu party was defeated, the Kunming court did not calm down. Instead, the local forces in Yunnan and Guizhou were fighting against the Wu party.
As for party struggles, they originated from censors. As the saying goes, the channels for speech must be open, but not too diverse. The state affairs of the Ming Dynasty were all ruined by censors. Especially in the late Ming Dynasty, censors all forgot about the public interest for their own benefit, formed cliques and factions, and ganged up on those who were different, making the court a mess.
However, Meng Jun pondered for a long time and realized that the world was still not stable at this time, so these things could be done slowly. Fortunately, it was still the start-up stage and the decline of the Zhou army had not yet appeared.
In the north, only Shanhaiguan had not yet been captured. As long as Shanhaiguan was recaptured, at least the Zhou army's defense system in the north could be roughly established.
The person stationed in Shanhaiguan at this time was not an ordinary person, but the brother of Dorgon, the former regent of the Qing Dynasty, Prince Heshuo Ying, Ajige.
In the third year of the Yongli reign, Ajige requested to be granted the title of uncle prince on top of his princely status, but was rejected by Dorgon. As a result, the relationship between the two was not harmonious. Especially after Dorgon's death, Ajige lost his position of regent and even the title of assistant prince. Therefore, Ajige felt no sadness about Dorgon's death.
………………
Shandong.
It can be said that the purpose of the Korean envoy Yin Shandao's trip was basically achieved. Although the Zhou army had not yet set out, various supplies were already being prepared. The two towns of Liang Min and Yang Sanwu had already set out for Dengzhou and had marched into Shandong.
Yin Shandao was accompanying the army and flattered Liang Min and Yang Sanwu, but Liang and Yang were not enthusiastic about him. Liang Min, in particular, sarcastically said, "Don't always rely on the Celestial Empire. You have to do something yourself. We are fighting to the death, and they want to hide behind us. What? After we finish fighting, your prince can go back and continue to be the King of Joseon, right?"
Hearing this, Yin Shandao's face turned pale and blue for a while. After a while, he recovered and retorted: "General Liang is wrong. Although my lord is in danger, he dare not forget the grace of the Celestial Empire's rescue. Although Korea is a small country, it treats the Celestial Empire like a son serving his father. It is grateful and pays tribute every year. The general's words have greatly hurt the hearts of the people of Korea!"
These words left Liang Min speechless. As a son, what was wrong with him asking his father for some help? Although Liang Min always felt that something was wrong, he couldn't think of any words to refute. He could only snort angrily, turned around and left, no longer paying attention to Yin Shandao.
After Liang Min left, Yin Shandao sighed. Yin Shandao was naturally aware that Li Hao wanted to escape. Fortunately, King Zhou refused, otherwise, the impact would be extremely bad.
When Li Hao fled in a hurry, he wanted to submit a petition to the Celestial Empire, but was stopped by the ministers accompanying him. Until Bolo issued the order to shave the head, not only the ministers accompanying him, but even Li Hao believed that the country would perish. At that time, Li Hao still wanted to submit a petition to the Celestial Empire, but was still stopped by his ministers.
Zhao Junhe, the assistant judge of the Ministry of Personnel, advised: "Your Highness, why are you so anxious? If the Celestial Empire sends troops, it may be possible to fulfill the story of Emperor Xuanzong. If Your Highness is really worried, why not write to the Celestial Empire and request to escape to Shandong first!"
Li Hao felt that what Zhao Junhe said made sense, so he wrote to Meng Jun, requesting to take refuge in Dengzhou. However, Li Hao did not expect that Meng Jun's reaction was exactly the same as that of Emperor Wanli, and he also rejected the King of Korea's request to flee to the Central Plains.
In this regard, Li Hao was like a bereaved mother, and was in a state of anxiety all day long. When sending Queen Inseon and Crown Prince Yi Jin on board, Li Hao said to the crown prince with a sad face: "The country is in a difficult situation, and the world is like a dream. The court is in ruins, and your father is heartbroken. I hope you will take good care of your mother and your sister, and don't let them suffer any grievances."