Xia Yan once again won a great victory. He pulled out the tiger's teeth, turned raw rice into cooked rice, and transformed the living into the dead. Not only did he kill Guo Xun, but he also teased the emperor without even a single clue.

Leave.

The success of this operation fully demonstrated that Xia Yan's art of struggle had reached a state of perfection, and he himself had thus entered the ranks of top political masters.

Okay, now I'm the only one left. After reaching the top, Xia Yan began to look down at everything under his feet.

We have finally reached this point, everyone is obeying my orders, and the great political ideals and ambitions will be realized in my hands.

Xia Yan finally began to feel proud. There is no doubt that he has enough capital, but history tells us countless times that the beginning of arrogance means the end of victory. There is a pair of eyes watching him, waiting for his mistakes.

The top of that mountain can only accommodate the existence of one person, forever.

A confident choice

In fact, to the emperor, the bloody turmoil in the court did not matter, because although Xia Yan was an extremely smart person, there was still a big gap between him and himself.

At the age of fifteen, he ascended the throne. At the age of seventeen, he defeated Yang Tinghe with his extraordinary talent. At the age of eighteen, he punished hundreds of officials and established his authority. Facts have proved that he

He is definitely not a mediocre person when it comes to governing the country.

Not long after he ascended the throne, he began to inquire about the whereabouts of two people:

"Where are Jiang Bin and Qian Ning?"

The minister reported that he is still in prison and is awaiting His Majesty's disposal.

Regarding this issue, the subordinates are well aware that when a new king ascends the throne, he must provide some amnesty to show tolerance. After all, it is rare to celebrate the opening by killing people.

But the next sentence is a bit different from their imagination:

"You treacherous villain, what are you doing here? Behead him immediately!"

Jiajing is a very special person, not only for his IQ, but also for his life experience.

Unlike Zhu Houzhao, who was pampered and lived in big cities, Zhu Houcong was born in a remote place. As the so-called son of a vassal king, he was actually in a miserable state, because apart from having better food and clothing, he was a person who basically lost his freedom.

.

In the Ming Dynasty, due to the glorious example and successful experience of Zhu Laosi (Zhu Di), emperors of all dynasties regarded the brothers of the vassal kings as a thorn in their side. If the vassal king entered the capital without receiving the imperial edict, it was a rebellion, and he could immediately send troops to attack them.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong could not go to Beijing or wander around. There were always people watching him around him, and the people he could usually come into contact with were just ordinary people.

Zhu Houcong, who grew up in such an environment, knew how to be suspicious and defensive, and also understood the pain of ordinary people, so whenever he heard the deeds of his ridiculous cousin, he couldn't help but shake his head and sigh:

"If I were in the government, I would cleanse the evil spirits and make the world prosperous!"

Now is the time.

In the era of Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs were a promising profession. Not to mention big names like Liu Jin and Zhang Yong, the general eunuchs in charge were also wealthy. Not only could they manage palace affairs, they even had military power (guarding eunuchs).

, even the local commanders had to listen to these armed eunuchs.

It's a pity that Zhu Houzhao failed to live up to expectations and died at the age of thirty. There was a change of leadership above him, so he woke up with no trace of his heart.

Jiajing's positioning of eunuchs was very simple - slaves. In his opinion, these eunuchs should wash toilets and sweep floors, work peacefully, and want to make a fortune, lead troops, and control government affairs?

He publicly expressed his position: slaves should do slave things, and if they dare to cross the line, they will not be leniently spared!

At the beginning, the eunuchs didn't care and didn't believe it. But their miserable world did come.

Jiajing summoned the Chief Eunuch and issued a stern order to recall all eunuchs stationed in other places. This order was quickly implemented.

What do you do when you bring someone back? According to the procedure, first give a lecture, then check after the training, beat if any problems are found, and beat to death if you can't stand the beating. This is quite humane. There were two corrupt eunuchs because of

The amount was huge, the circumstances were serious, and the body was hung outside for public display after being beaten to death. It was really cruel.

This is what happens to the little minions, and even the big shots don't end well.

Among the "Eight Tigers" that year, Liu Jin had been beheaded, and none of the others were spared. Gu Dayong was dismissed from his post and his house was ransacked. His last job was as a guard at Zhu Houzhao's mausoleum. Another one, Wei Bin, worked hard.

After working for decades, he finally climbed up to the position of Supervisor of Ceremonies. At Jiajing's order, he was laid off and transferred. It is said that he was not even given a house, but was kicked out of the palace and lived on the streets as a beggar.

The rest of the people were also miserable, and they were all punished, even the only person who shouldn't have been punished.

In any case, Zhang Yong should be considered a good person. He has helped Yang Yiqing and Wang Shouren. He is also a relatively upright person. It seems that he should not be on the blacklist.

But Mr. Jiajing was too fierce. In his opinion, anyone who risked his life and got stabbed was not a good person. Soon Zhang Yong was demoted and then ordered to retire. His head was about to be saved. Yang Yiqing stood up.

Come out and speak.

Finally, good things come to good people. Mr. Yang swore to his heart and pledged his life to protect Zhang Yong. He was restored to his post and became the only remaining eunuch in power.

In addition to strictly controlling the local eunuchs, Mr. Jiajing also set an example and tried to control the eunuchs around him. For example, Huang Jin, who later became very famous, had followed him since he was a child.

He got angry and gave him a stern warning to be honest and not to play tricks.

Jiajing is a person who rejects eunuchs. On the surface, this seems to be just a matter of personal preference. However, this is not the case. Behind it, there is a secret hidden - the secret of choice.

In fact, ruling a dynasty is about running a business, but the business of running a country is bigger. When doing ordinary business, you have to pay taxes, and you also have to deal with industrial and commercial inspections, safety inspections, fire inspections, and you have to pay during the holidays. If you have a bad year, you will lose money.

Bankruptcy.

Relatively speaking, the business of establishing a dynasty is much easier to do. In addition to the high start-up capital (you have to dare to work hard) and the uncertain operating cycle (you may die tomorrow), as soon as you succeed, you will immediately change the gun. From now on, not only do you not have to

You can pay money, and you can also collect other people's money. You have the final say as to how much you want to collect. No one dares to care about you except you.

Because starting a government has greater profits and broader prospects than starting a company, countless people have been eager to try it since ancient times, but only a few have succeeded (just a few dynasties).

Generally speaking, those first chairman of the board of directors who have successfully started a business are extremely aggressive, such as Mr. Zhu Yuanzhang, who started from scratch. If those who work under him are disobedient, in addition to being fired, they will also have to pay liquidated damages (forfeit their lives), so

Everyone obeys management.

But when the first CEO passed away, the successor chairman was not capable enough to solve the company's problems. In desperation, he had no choice but to recruit talents from outside (the imperial examination system) and hire the elite among them as general managers (chief assistant to the cabinet) to help manage.

However, the problem is that the general manager is not necessarily obedient. This is called an agency problem in economics. Those who can stand out from many applicants and climb to this position are generally extremely cunning and are definitely not good people. They are pampered.

The chairman of the family business is probably no match for him.

In order to control the situation, the chairman introduced a new type of talent - secretaries (eunuchs). These people have low academic qualifications, bad conduct, psychological problems, and like to bully employees. But they have one advantage in common - obedience.

For the chairman, this is enough.

Therefore, for Jiajing, the secretaries (eunuchs) were by no means his enemies, but his friends. Looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, no matter how rampant the eunuchs were and how they bullied the ministers, they had to listen to the emperor's words. Since the time of Xuanzong in the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs have been

He became the emperor's assistant and helped rule this huge empire.

Jiajing knew very well that during his term of office, he had two choices before him - a low-educated eunuch who was good at flattering and being very obedient, or a highly educated eunuch who liked to fight and find faults, and was unruly and unruly.

Even the blind man knew that the former was much easier to deal with than the latter, so many of his colleagues chose eunuchs, but Jiajing did not do so.

Because he is very confident, he believes that he can deal with everyone.

This is an extremely difficult choice. From now on, he will lose

With the help of his secretary, he independently dealt with the cunning and knowledgeable general manager. Facts have proved that he succeeded in doing so.

Regardless of whether his surname is Zhang or Xia, no matter how lively the commotion is below, he is always a calm bystander and the final judge.

Twenty years have passed, and victory has always been firmly in his hands. People of all colors, regardless of education, nationality, gender, zodiac sign, or personal hobbies, as long as they work for him, are all treated submissively.

The life of a top master is quite painful. Since there is no opponent, he has to find something else to do. Soon, Mr. Jiajing found his spiritual sustenance - Taoism.

You must know that Taoism is a native product of China and was independently developed by the Chinese. If I could use two words to describe this religion, it would be mysterious.

The so-called mystery means that you can't figure it out, you can't figure it out, you hold the Taoist scriptures all day long, collect strange materials everywhere, add firewood in front of the smoky alchemy furnace, and then dance with joy while looking at the things that are made that no ghost would dare to eat.

, no one knows what these people are doing all day long.

In short, one word: Xuan.

But you must not think that followers of Taoism are just people who have enough to eat and nothing to do, because Mr. Jiajing is a veteran member of the organization.

We have introduced the character of Mr. Jiajing many times. This man is a guy who is unprofitable and has absolutely no interest in philanthropy. However, he is willing to sacrifice his precious daily office time to set up various projects in the palace.

Incense burner, hire a lot of Taoist priests with high salary to burn the burner every day.

It looks strange, but it's actually very simple.

Unlike other religions, Taoism has an ultimate goal - to become immortals. Taoists always believe that one day they will be able to escape the gravity of the earth, break through aerodynamics, exceed the lifespan of robots, go wherever they want, and live as long as they want.

Live as long as you want.

Jiajing was convinced of this, so he practiced Taoism and pursued immortality for decades. His behavior was defined by many historians as being devoted to Taoism and uninterested in politics.

This is a very outrageous definition, because it is not the case. Mr. Jiajing's calculation is very shrewd: cultivating Taoism is only a means, not an end.

He doesn't care who Taishang Laojun's surname is. For him, practicing Taoism is just to live a few more years, so that he can rule the world forever, because he hasn't lived enough yet. He likes everything now - power.

Manipulation, struggle, this is the truth.

Therefore, the issue of monasticism is, in the final analysis, a political issue.

Knot tying is a technical job

Since Mr. Jiajing ascended the throne, countless people have used various means to try to control or influence him, but they have failed.

Whether he is a minister or an eunuch, he can handle it with ease. No one can threaten him, but he never expected that his seemingly unattainable life was almost taken away by a group of little people late at night, and he failed to do so.

The reason is just a knot.

In October of the twenty-first year of Jiajing (1542), Ding Yin.

Late at night, Emperor Jiajing stayed in his harem as usual. That night, he was accompanied by Concubine Duan. Concubine Duan, whose surname was Cao, was a very popular concubine at that time. The emperor had camped here for a long time and loved her.
To be continued...