Emperors in ancient China believed in "heaven and man induction", believing that in the event of a natural disaster or major disaster, it was the heavens warning him. Generally at this time, the emperor would issue an edict asking hundreds of officials to give opinions on their own administrative policies, so as to achieve "no gap in government affairs". However, in the history of China, there was an emperor who actually executed Ling Chi, the person who wrote the book, what was the matter?
This emperor is Ming Chengzu Zhu Di! Zhu Di and Li Shimin have many similarities, they are both emperors immediately, and they both became emperors through improper means. However, in terms of humility and advice, Zhu Di was far worse than Li Shimin! Li Shimin never killed those who gave advice to him, and even if there was a problem with the opinion, he did not get angry on the spot.
Zhu Di was different, his narrow-mindedness, his belly was very small, and he executed Ling Chi, the person who wrote to him, creating the history of the Ming Dynasty! It has to start from the nineteenth year of Yongle, that is, 1421. On the eighth day of April of this year, heavy rain suddenly fell in beijing, and lightning and thunder were instantaneous, and wind and rain were mixed. With a flash of lightning, the three halls of the Forbidden City were struck by lightning, and a raging fire instantly ignited!
The foreign mission that was paying tribute in Beijing at the time witnessed the fire and recorded his observations, "the fire was so fierce that even the whole city was illuminated by the light of the fire", "the fire was uncontrollable, raging all night, and continued to burn until daylight, despite the best efforts to rescue, the fire could not be controlled until the afternoon prayer time". Apparently, this extraordinarily large fire caused panic among the military and civilians throughout the city.
It should be known that Zhu Di did a lot of work to move the capital to Beijing, and spent a lot of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, which caused the dissatisfaction of many courtiers at that time. It was not until November of the eighteenth year of Yongle that Zhu Di officially issued an edict to move the capital, and at this time, the new palace was destroyed by thunder and fire in less than half a year. In March of the nineteenth year of Yongle, Zhu Di held a temple examination in the Fengtian Hall and talked about the way of Yao Shun, who had thought that a month later, the three halls would be burned down.
On the third day after the fire, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di issued an edict seeking the opinions of hundreds of officials, asking them to speak bluntly and point out the mistakes in political affairs, "On the eighth day of the first month of April in the nineteenth year of Yongle, Fengtian and other three temple disasters, the heart was afraid, and they did not know what to do", "Erwen Wuqun was appointed by the Emperor, and the friendship was the same." If there is an improper result of what has been done, it is advisable to be chen wuyin, and to change it in order to return to Providence."
At the emperor's call, hundreds of officials enthusiastically spoke and put forward many opinions. Yang Rong, Hubu Shangshu Xia Yuanji, Hanlin Yuan, Zou Kai, Luo Rujing, Yushi Hezhong, Luo Tong, Zheng Weihuan, and others wrote letters one after another; some advocated abolishing the gold and silver tax, some suggested compensating displaced people, and some said that the project of laboring and hurting the people's wealth should be suspended. Anyway, everyone made a lot of pertinent suggestions in the compromise.
However, there was one person who angered Ming Chengzu, and he was Xiao Yi, the head of the household department. Xiao Yi explicitly opposed the relocation of the capital to Beijing in the recital, and from the perspective of heavenly induction and disaster theory, he believed that the lightning and fire hitting the three halls was a warning to Zhu Di to move the capital. Xiao Yi also proceeded from a historical point of view, saying, "Isn't it appropriate to take only a hundred years of Jin Zuo and a hundred years of Yuan Zuo?" After Ming Chengzu saw it, he was furious and ordered Xiao Yi to be arrested and imprisoned on the spot, and then Ling Chi was executed.
In this regard, the Ming Dynasty literary scholar and historian Wang Shizhen sighed: "There are ministers who speak about things in this dynasty, and there are some people who send scepters to the court, but there are no conclusives." Emperor Gao had no time to discuss it, but Xiao Yi's advice was moved to the capital." Wang Shizhen was a Ming Dynasty native and proficient in ming dynasty history, and Xiao Yi responded to Ming Chengzu's propositions and wrote to say things, but was executed by Ling Chi.
After Xiao Yi's death, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di continued to expand the scope of his attacks, and punished all those who had originally written opinions, "Serving Li Shimian and Serving Luo Rujingju to prison, Yushi Zheng Weihuan, He Zhong, Luo Tong, and Xu Yao, and handing over their toes to Ke Xianju's left officials in the matter." Zhu Di also said that those who wrote the letter were "slanderous" and that "the edict strictly prohibits it, and the offender will not be forgiven." ”
References: 1. "History of Ming"; 2. "Economic Speech of the Zhao Dynasty"; 3. "Collection of Yishan Tang"