Chapter 3440 3442【Good omen from heaven】
After taking the throne, Xiang Nan did not take any major actions in the first few days except for renovating the East Factory.
However, he has been gradually tightening his power, such as canceling the power of the Supervisor of Ceremonies to approve red papers and reviewing memorials himself; for example, summoning officials from the six ministries to the palace to discuss matters instead of going through the cabinet.
The cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty was founded during the period of Emperor Jianwen. Originally, the bachelors in the cabinet only played an advisory role. During the reign of Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty, the cabinet and the six ministries were still two departments. The cabinet is responsible for discussing affairs, and the six ministries are responsible for administration.
However, during the reigns of Renzong and Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, cabinet academicians began to take charge of the six ministries. As a result, the cabinet has both deliberative and executive powers, and its power gradually increases. Gradually, he grew from the emperor's secretary and advisor to a representative of the civil service system, enough to compete with the imperial power.
This way, there are advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage is that the imperial power is checked and balanced. Even if there are faint emperors like Zhengde, Jiajing, Wanli, and Tianqi, who have not been in court for decades, the national affairs can still continue to operate under the control of the cabinet and great scholars.
The disadvantage is that the imperial power is subject to checks and balances. For an emperor who likes power, it is naturally extremely painful to be constrained by the cabinet in every move.
Moreover, the struggle for power between the cabinet and the eunuchs, the cabinet and the cabinet, and the cabinet and the six ministries often lead to crony wars, mutual strife and mutual criticism, resulting in idle administration and a waste of national power.
Therefore, Xiang Nan wanted to take back power and gradually emptied the power of the cabinet into a decoration like the Qing Dynasty.
…
In addition to gradually taking over power, what Xiang Nan is doing now is to reverse the cases of the officials who were framed, framed, and killed by the **** party, including the Yang Yuxuan, Zhou Huaian, Qiu Moyan and other families.
Not only were their charges revoked and they were rehabilitated, but they were also granted official positions and posthumous titles, so that their souls in heaven could be comforted.
At the same time, the wanted orders for the remaining descendants of their family were naturally cancelled. In this way, Qiu Moyan, Yuying, Jinbao, etc. can all meet people.
Xiang Nan also ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to return the seized homes and properties to their original owners. Although the Ministry of Household Affairs will definitely not return all the property confiscated from the house, it is a good thing to return the ancestral home.
Xiang Nan's move satisfied all his ministers.
After all, when the eunuchs were powerful, countless ministers in the court suffered, and many of them were their relatives and friends. Just because the eunuchs are so powerful, they dare not complain for them.
It is naturally a good thing to be able to rehabilitate people now.
The most important thing is that those who vindicated Xiang Nan and Zhaoxue were all loyal ministers and good generals.
As for the chief culprit of the Tumubao Incident, Wang Zhen, his nephew Wang Shan, best friends Ma Shun, Mao Gui, etc., not only were they not rehabilitated, but their bodies were dug out by Xiang Nan and whipped to vent his anger.
In this way, the courtiers were naturally more satisfied.
They had a bad impression of the eunuchs to begin with, so they were naturally happy to see Xiang Nan vigorously punishing the eunuchs.
When Qiu Moyan learned that the emperor had issued an order to rehabilitate the Qiu family, the Zhou family, and the Yang family, he couldn't help but burst into tears with excitement.
Her grandfather, father, and uncle all died in Tumubao. Later, after Emperor Jingtai succeeded to the throne, he suspected that his uncle had treacherous intentions and had the Qiu family confiscated and exterminated. Now I have finally waited for the day of justice, which is really hard-won.
…
On the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month, Emperor Jingtai, who had been deposed as King Ye, passed away suddenly.
However, Xiang Nan still ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to bury him in an imperial manner, and the posthumous title was also planned to be "Emperor Fu Tian Jian Dao Gong Ren Kang Ding Long Wen Bu Wu Xian De Chong Xiao Jing", and the temple name was Ming Dynasty Zong.
He was only buried according to the rites of a prince, and his posthumous title was also an evil one, using the word "戾". According to the "Explanation of Posthumous Laws", "If you don't regret your past mistakes, you are called cruel; if you don't want to be obedient, you are called cruel; if you know your mistakes and don't change them, you are called cruel." It can be seen how much Zhu Qizhen hates his younger brother Zhu Qiyu in his heart.
Moreover, Emperor Jingtai has not yet been given a temple name, which means that he will not even be allowed to enter the Ancestral Temple. It was not until the small imperial court of the Southern Ming Dynasty that the temple title of "Ming Dynasty Zong" was added to Zhu Qiyu.
Annotation in "Shuowen": "Dai means Geng. Anyone who exchanges one with another and succeeds later is called Dai." Although Zhu Qiyu's status is recognized, it also shows that he was not the legitimate heir to the throne.
Xiang Nan was not as mean as Zhu Qizhen, so the burial specifications, posthumous titles, and temple names were all pretty good. The ministers were also very satisfied and felt relieved at the same time.
After all, the emperor was able to tolerate his younger brother who had seized the throne, so it was natural that they, the old ministers of the former dynasty, would be fine.
Empress Dowager Sun in the harem, Empress Dowager Wu, Zhu Qiyu's biological mother, and others also expressed satisfaction when they learned that Xiang Nan had arranged the funeral of Emperor Jingtai in this way.
The so-called debt disappears after death. No matter what conflicts their brothers had before, Zhu Qiyu is dead now, so there is no need to continue to hate him.
It would also be a good thing to let him go and let him die in mourning and glory.
It is also worth mentioning that Xiang Nan also issued an edict to abolish the system of burial of palace concubines.
It turns out that burials with sacrifices have been around since ancient times. During the period from Xia, Shang and Zhou to the Qin Dynasty, the practice of burials was very popular. Confucius criticized that, "The one who started the figurines has no successors."
In the Han Dynasty, the burial system was gradually abolished. However, during the Liao, Jin and Yuan dynasties, the Liao State began to revive the burial system. When Yelu Abaoji died, more than a hundred ministers were forced to be buried.
During the Yuan Dynasty, the practice of burial became more and more intense. Before Genghis Khan was buried, all the people along the way were killed, and about 20,000 people were buried.
Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang also asked his concubines to be buried as sacrifices when he died. Later Emperors Yongle and Xuande also had their concubines and maids buried as victims.
But Xiang Nan knew that this was actually a very cruel evil act.
After all, it is better to die than to live. Who is willing to give up his own life to bury a dead person?
Hence Xiang Nantes’ decree, exempting palace concubines from the burial system.
Following this edict, the concubines and maids who had served Emperor Jingtai breathed a sigh of relief and chanted "Amitabha!"
…
In February, when Xiang Nan was accompanying Queen Qian at night, he secretly used his supernatural powers to help her repair her eyes, which had been blind for a long time.
Because this woman’s life is really miserable.
When Zhu Qizhen was captured, she cried so hard that she went blind. During these years in Nangong, she had to take Gong'e to make female celebrities, and she never enjoyed much happiness.
After Zhu Qizhen's death, because she had no son, Concubine Zhou's son Zhu Jianshen succeeded her, so Concubine Zhou competed with her for the throne of Queen Mother. Moreover, after her death, she was not buried with Zhu Qizhen, but her coffin was buried aside.
It can be said that Queen Qian was very pitiful during her lifetime and after her death. So Xiang Nan sympathized with her and helped her repair her eyes.
When Queen Qian woke up early, she opened her eyes and found that her eyesight, which had been damaged for a long time, had recovered. She couldn't help being surprised and happy.
Because even the imperial doctor said that her eyes had been blind for too many years and there was little chance of recovery. But she did not expect that her blindness has recovered now.
In her opinion, she was blinded that year when the emperor's accident occurred. Now that the emperor is back on the throne, her eyes are healed again, which is a good sign from God.
(End of this chapter)