The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

Tang Hao was ready to leave Beijing.

Zhu Houzhao was a little annoyed.

He insisted on taking Tang Hao out for a walk.

His Majesty was upset, but it was not because of the court affairs.

To be honest, the current court situation was "very good".

Zhu Chenhao, the rebel king with ulterior motives, was having a great time fighting with the civil officials headed by Yang Tinghe, the chief minister of the cabinet.

Zhu Houzhao was happy to see it, and it was worth it for him to suppress his murderous intention and give Zhu Chenhao a chance!

If you can't even beat Yang Tinghe, what kind of rebellion are you doing?

So what really bothered Zhu Houzhao was the issue of his offspring.

Yesterday, Liu Wentai, the most famous doctor in the Imperial Hospital, personally examined the emperor and empress and confirmed that there was no problem with both of them. At least in terms of having children, it was completely possible.

However, Liu Wentai mentioned that Zhu Houzhao was in a very poor health, with weak breath, back pain, weak feet and knees, etc.

Well, this is a sign of kidney deficiency!

So Zhu Houzhao is very upset now, and he finally understands why Queen Xia's stomach has not responded.

If you want to blame someone, you can only blame Zhu Houzhao himself. He spent more than a year on Feng'er, a boy lover, and ended up making himself weak.

Recalling the strange look Queen Xia gave him last night, even if Zhu Houzhao was thick-skinned enough, he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

So at this moment, Tang Hao wanted to leave again, and Zhu Houzhao acted like a child, insisting that he find a way to take him out of the palace to relax before leaving.

At first, Tang Hao refused, and even didn't want to pay attention to this kid.

But Zhu Houzhao's stubborn temper came up, and no one could persuade him.

In desperation, Tang Hao could only ask Chen Kuan to find a eunuch's clothes for Zhu Houzhao to change into, and then took him out of the palace in a swagger.

The civil officials and gentry were completely unaware of this. Yang Tinghe finally got the solid evidence of Zhu Chenhao through the Censorate, and was excited to rush to the Qianqing Palace to meet the emperor, ready to give Zhu Chenhao a fatal blow, but was told that the emperor was missing, and the prime minister was dumbfounded on the spot.

The capital was busy, with cars coming and going and people flowing.

You must know that Beijing, as the imperial capital of the Ming Dynasty, is not only the national political center, but also the center of international exchanges. Foreign envoys who come to pay tribute can often be seen. The tribute items include lions, tigers, zebras, peacocks, ostriches and other rare animals, ivory, gems, corals, rhinoceros horns and other rare treasures.

The larger markets in the capital of the Ming Dynasty include Chaoqian Market, Lantern Market, Inner Market, Poor Man Market, and City God Temple Market, but only Chaoqian Market is open every day. The scope of this market is roughly from Zhengyang Bridge Archway in the south to Daming Gate in the north. It can be said to be the most popular and prosperous section of Beijing in the Ming Dynasty.

Since Zhu Houzhao wanted to come out to relax, Tang Hao simply took him to this prosperous market to let the Zhengde Emperor, who had lived in the deep palace for a long time, breathe the air of life.

This Chaoqian City is known as "the world's scholars, civilians, workers and merchants gather here with their letters, rubbing shoulders and making noise all day long". Various shops are lined up on both sides of the street, some of which have tall signs erected, and shop assistants are singing loudly to attract customers; in the middle of the street, someone is carrying two large cages forward, attracting passers-by to stop and watch. The cages contain ferocious lions and tigers. The horse riders who are protecting them are wearing strange clothes. They are obviously foreign envoys who come to pay tribute.

Not far ahead, several officials are riding horses out of the alley. Two people in front are shouting with sticks, and someone next to them is protecting them with a fan. I don't know if they are shopping or rushing to official places. Looking further ahead, there are people driving a few camels leisurely, perhaps from the distant frontier.

These are extremely new to Zhu Houzhao, who has lived in the deep palace for a long time. Looking around, Tang Hao feels a little pity for no reason.

Yes, pity.

Although it seems a bit ridiculous to pity an emperor who holds the world, the thoughts in the heart will not lie.

Is the emperor really that good?

At least not in Tang Hao's eyes, he is even pitiful to the extreme.

Zhu Houzhao is the eldest son of Emperor Hongzhi and the only adult son, so he is uniquely favored and has reserved the throne early.

However, in his growth process, all forces have also placed their chips. The civil officials and gentry include Yang Tinghe, Liang Chu, Mao Ji, Jiang Mian and other teachers of the Eastern Palace, and the eunuchs include Liu Jin, Gu Dayong and other eight tiger eunuchs. Even his wife, Queen Xia, is full of various calculations and games of various forces behind her.

So if you really want to talk about it, Zhu Houzhao is actually a poor guy who is calculated by various forces.

And because of the actions of the scum emperor Zhu Qizhen, the "Ming War God", the emperors of the Ming Dynasty could not easily leave the palace after that, let alone lead the army in person, so Zhu Houzhao could not leave the palace many times in his life. The last time he left the palace was to attend Tang Hao's wedding.

Among the forces that plotted against him, the civil officials and gentry were undoubtedly the most ruthless and the most ruthless.

They wanted to create another wise ruler like Emperor Hongzhi, so they used those skilled Confucian rhetoric, morality and patriarchal etiquette to put layer after layer of shackles on His Majesty the Emperor, in order to achieve the purpose of undermining the imperial power.

Unfortunately, Zhu Houzhao is not his father, Emperor Hongzhi, and Tang Hao will not allow Zhu Houzhao to become his father, Emperor Hongzhi!

So, I took the poor guy out for a walk.

The two walked north along Zhengyangmen Street and soon saw a large archway with five rooms, six pillars and five floors. A peddler was carrying a load and knocking on a wooden clapper, his face slightly raised. He might be looking at the plaque on the archway, thinking about where to sell his goods to maximize the profit.

Behind the archway, three bridges span the moat side by side. After crossing the bridge, you will reach the Zhengyang Gate Wengcheng, where the majestic arrow tower stands on the moon wall. On both sides of the archway, on and under the bridge, especially between the stone bridge and the moon wall, there are many small vendors, some of whom set up tables, some carry loads, and some simply put their goods on the ground.

The south gate of the Wengcheng is only for the emperor to enter and exit. Usually, the gate is closed and pedestrians can only enter through the east and west side gates. The space inside the Wengcheng is not large, but there are many vendors, and even stalls are set up inside the doorway.

On both sides of the Zhengyang Gate in the Wengcheng, there is a small temple, Guandi in the west and Guanyin in the east. A woman holding a bundle of incense is about to enter the Guanyin Temple to worship. Outside the east and west gates of the Wengcheng, there are also many shops and tourists.

Zhu Houzhao was in a good mood and insisted on taking Tang Hao to the temple to worship, but the monarch and his minister had a disagreement on the question of who to worship.

Tang Hao naturally wanted to worship Guandi, who was admired by every warrior for his righteousness. However, Zhu Houzhao was like a lunatic and insisted on worshipping Guanyin Bodhisattva. It was unknown whether he was going there to pray for a child.

Finally, Tang Hao seemed to have thought of something and let Zhu Houzhao drag him into the Guanyin Temple.

This small temple was not big, with only a clay statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva, but it was very popular, and women came in one after another to burn incense.

Looking at Zhu Houzhao who was unable to walk, Tang Hao finally became alert. He seemed to have dug a big hole for himself.

So the Marquis of Zhongshan directly grabbed the emperor and took him out of the Guanyin Temple. He found a deserted place and roughly lifted Zhu Houzhao up and pressed him against the wall.

The Jinyiwei who were secretly protecting around were so scared that their legs almost softened when they saw this scene.

They subconsciously looked at Mou Bin, the commander of the Jinyiwei who was disguised as a peddler, who was also panicked at this moment.

Damn it, Zhongshan Hou, are you f*cking crazy?

We were talking and laughing and having fun just now, why did you attack the emperor right away?

That's the emperor, the only one in the royal family, can't you f*cking respect him a little?

Zhu Houzhao has been favored by everyone since he was a child, how could he have been treated so rudely, and he couldn't help but get furious for a while.

"Savage, you are f*cking crazy, let me... this young master down!"

"Zhu Houzhao!" Tang Hao reminded with red eyes, "I warn you, don't touch those women who are scheming to rob women and promiscuous women!"

"They all have husbands and children. If you are still a human being, you can't do such a disgusting thing without bottom line. Do you understand?"

"Think about your wife and daughter. If they were kidnapped and abused by some powerful people, could you bear it?"

Zhu Houzhao was stunned when he heard the words, and then lowered his head with shame on his face.

He was indeed dazzled by what he saw just now, and he also had some thoughts. He was thinking whether to ask someone to arrange it and try something new. As a result, he was discovered by Tang Hao before he showed it, and now he was beaten up.

"Okay, okay, I know, let me down!"

Hearing this, Tang Hao still did not let go.

"I brought you out to relax, not to let you come out to harm the people!"

"If I know that I am not in the capital, you dare to sneak out of the palace, you dare to rob and forcibly take women back to the palace for promiscuity, be careful of your skin!"

As soon as the voice fell, Tang Hao punched Zhu Houzhao's head directly, and a hole was smashed in the solid city wall. Zhu Houzhao was scared silly in the dust.

Tang Hao let go of his hand and turned away on his own.

It's not that he is making a fuss, but Zhu Houzhao did do this in history.

This guy was famous for his "extreme debauchery". He was not interested in the concubines in the palace who followed the rules. He was more interested in women from the people. When he was on a tour in the north, "every night he would rush into a tall house, ask for drinks, or search for women, which made the people suffer." His servants searched for decent women to serve as "concubines", sometimes as many as dozens of carts, and women died every day.

Tang Hao didn't want him to take Zhu Houzhao out of the palace to relax, but ended up opening this Pandora's box. So when he saw Zhu Houzhao staring at women from the people with lustful eyes, he became furious and warned this guy directly.

Zhu Houzhao was embarrassed. Seeing that Tang Hao was really angry and turned around and left without paying any attention to him, he also realized the seriousness of the problem.

At this time, Mou Bin hurried over with the Jinyiwei.

"Your Majesty, Marquis Tang..."

"All of you, get out!"

Zhu Houzhao roared unhappily.

"Even if Marquis Tang really wanted to attack me just now, could you stop him?"

A group of Jinyiwei took a look at the hole in the city wall that was punched out by the punch, and all swallowed their saliva, and then kept silent.

Is this something that human power can do?

If Marquis Zhongshan punches them, they might die!

Mou Bin also shook his head with a bitter smile.

"That's it, get out!"

"Don't bother me to relax!"

Zhu Houzhao drove away these rubbish unhappily, and then quickly caught up with Tang Hao.

"Savage, have you become stronger again?"

"Savage, did you use all your strength in that punch just now?"

"Savage, you are so fucking powerful, who can stop this punch!"

"Savage..."

Tang Hao was annoyed, but he couldn't really attack this kid, so he could only stop and look at Zhu Houzhao helplessly.

"Can you shut up?"

"I'm hungry, I want to eat!"

Zhu Houzhao laughed and said.

Tang Hao sighed and could only lead the way.

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao hummed a little song triumphantly.

Hehehe, I can't cure you!

The two came to the largest restaurant in the market, and Tang Hao asked the shopkeeper to bring all the special dishes.

While eating and chatting, the unpleasantness that happened before also completely disappeared.

Just when the two were chatting happily, there was a harsh noise downstairs.

Zhu Houzhao looked out and was immediately happy.

"I didn't expect that the method you gave to Jinyiwei really worked. Look at these guys, they are really angry!"

It turned out that a group of scholars dressed as scholars were talking loudly, and what they were discussing was the crimes of Japan.

"Bang!"

I saw a man slap the table angrily, and then said: "Wakoku is a small country, and it dares to repeatedly offend the power of our Ming Dynasty. It is simply seeking death!"

"We didn't know before that this country is so arrogant and dares to disrespect our Taizu Gaohuangdi!"

"They also disguised themselves as Japanese pirates and plundered Shandong, Liaoning and other places in our Ming Dynasty. No wonder the Japanese pirates are always there. It's outrageous!"

Someone followed angrily.

"Isn't this country a vassal state of our Ming Dynasty? Do they still take our Ming Dynasty seriously? I heard that they haven't come to our Ming Dynasty to pay tribute for many years!"

Another person followed.

"What a shitty vassal state! Haven't you heard? The reason why they pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty is for the profit of trade!"

"This time, Japan is in civil strife and war. Our Celestial Empire sent the great scholar Xie Duo to mediate the three-year struggle and failed. These damn Japanese people are still respectful to Xie the great scholar!"

"What?" A scholar shouted angrily: "This is outrageous!"

"The court must send out a large army to teach Japan a lesson. It would be best if the King of Japan came to our Ming Dynasty to apologize in person!"

"Hahaha... Which King of Japan are you talking about? There are two Kings of Japan in Japan! What about the Shogun and the Emperor of Japan!"

"What a bunch of barbarians who don't know etiquette and law. What the Emperor Taizu Gao said is true. The king is unrighteous and the people are thieves!"

"What's the use of just apologizing? The key is to kill these Japanese pirates. Do you really think that our Ming Dynasty is easy to bully?"

The scholars became more and more excited as they spoke. Scholars are good at pointing out the country's problems, writing inspiring articles, and making bold statements. These are the scholars that the country needs.

After all, they have not yet entered the officialdom, have not experienced the petty intrigues of the officialdom, and their passion has not yet been extinguished.

Tang Hao looked at these guys and couldn't help but raise his mouth slightly.

"Your Majesty, this is public opinion."

"Or to put it simply, this is the power of public opinion!"

"The power of public opinion?" Zhu Houzhao asked, not quite understanding.

"That's right!" Tang Hao took a sip of tea. "To put it bluntly, this era is dominated by civil officials, gentry and scholars!"

"Civil officials and gentry hold the power of government, so they control the discourse power of the court; local gentry control the land, so they also control the local discourse power. In other words, the discourse power of the entire Ming Dynasty is in their hands!"

"Just like me, the Marquis of Zhongshan, under the manipulation of public opinion by these gentry, I have become infamous and a well-known traitor who deceives the emperor and persecutes loyal officials. But in fact, Your Majesty knows in his heart that all I have done is for the Ming Dynasty."

"But the problem is that these scholars and scholars below don't know, and the common people are naturally even less clear. Do you understand, Your Majesty?"

Zhu Houzhao's pupils shrank suddenly, and he seriously thought about Tang Hao's words.

Discourse power!

The power of public opinion!

"Savage, are you saying... let me try to control this...power of public opinion?"

"That's right!" Tang Hao said solemnly: "In case you have no place to vent your energy and harm the people, I might as well give you a task before you leave."

"The Tongzhengsi is the mouthpiece of the emperor, but in recent years, due to the expansion of the power of the cabinet, it has gradually weakened. The problem lies in its functions."

"There are no fools and fools in this world. The people are simple and kind. The reason why they seem ignorant is that they have no channels to understand the affairs of the court. Think about these people who have to go to the fields when they open their eyes, work at sunrise, rest at sunset, and go to bed at dark. They are imprisoned in the fields all their lives. How can they understand the outside world? "

"But think about it again, because they have no channels to understand the outside world, the countryside where they live is like an independent kingdom. They have no chance to contact the court officials. All matters depend on the gentry and powerful people in the countryside. They don't understand the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Everything is decided by these gentry and powerful people. They don't know who the current emperor is. In their eyes, the highest official may be the county magistrate, but they can't contact them. So these gentry and powerful people are local emperors in their eyes..."

Just when Zhu Houzhao's face became more and more ugly, Tang Hao finally said the final goal.

"This is called... information barrier!"

"The gentry used their power to deliberately create this information barrier, so that Your Majesty does not know the people, and the people do not know the emperor and father. All information must pass through these gentry, so they will naturally tell the people what is beneficial to them, and immediately eliminate what is not beneficial to them!"

"To put it more harshly, when Your Majesty fights with these gentry, through these information barriers, the gentry can even incite the common people to stand on their side and fight against you, the unjust and incompetent monarch!"

"Asshole!" Zhu Houzhao was so angry that his face turned red.

He had never heard of these heart-piercing words before.

However, when he calmed down and thought about it, it was hard not to believe it!

"Because the people don't know what you are doing or why you are doing this. What they hear and see are all what the gentry deliberately let them hear and see!"

"Your Majesty, in the next year, you should work hard to break this information barrier!"