In the sixth year of Zhengde, a passenger ship sailed slowly on the waters of Linqing. At the bow of the ship stood a middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in cloth, looking worriedly into the waters ahead. Several clippers were rapidly approaching the passenger ships, and the momentum was menacing. Someone on the Clipper was swearing and screaming, and a sword that emitted white light was particularly glaring in the sun. Middle-aged people understand that this is coming at themselves.
In the sixteenth year of Zhengde, the city of Beijing had just sent away a deceased emperor and welcomed a new monarch from Hubei. An old man in his fifties led several servants and hurried into the city gate. Ten years ago, he was the Kyoshi who left from here. Before he could make the old man lament that things were human, a lieutenant came up and wanted to bring the old man into the palace. The new emperor wanted to see him.
This old man is Fei Hong.
imperial palace
Fei Hong, a famous minister in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, was the cabinet elder and first assistant, and the youngest leader of the Ming Dynasty. This veteran minister of the four dynasties of Chenghua, Hongzhi, Zhengde, and Jiajing had entered the cabinet three times, twice because of political struggles, and died in office the last time.
Objectively speaking, compared with Yang Tinghe, Zhang Juzheng, Xu Jie, and other cabinet chief assistants, Fei Hong's popularity is not high, and he has not done much earth-shattering greatness. But Fei Hong's career experience is very interesting, because through Fei Hong, we can roughly understand how the court officials in the middle of the Ming Dynasty took sides, how they ascended to the throne, and how they failed.
Fei Hong was born in Shangrao County, Jiangxi Province, where the Fei family was a prominent family. The Fei family has produced several sons of officials, but the official positions are not high. In Fei Hong's generation, because of his intelligence and sensitivity since childhood, the Fei family poured a lot of effort into Fei Hong, hoping that the family could go to a higher level.
Myodai City
Fei Hong did not disappoint everyone, the thirteen-year-old boy tried first, the sixteen-year-old township test was the first, and the twenty-year-old temple test was the first. It was also in the twenty-third year of Chenghua that Fei Hong, as a champion, officially entered his career and became a Hanlin Academy cultivator.
Generally speaking, the Title Awards the Hanlin Academy for Cultivation, the List Eye and the Tanhua Award the Hanlin Academy for Editing, and the other Hanlin who have been selected as Shu Jishi are awarded the Hanlin Academy review after three years of examination, and the official ranks are from six pins, from the seven pins, and from the seven pins. From this point of view, Fei Hong's cultivation has a very high gold content.
But unfortunately, the first rank of the Ming Dynasty's imperial examinations, namely Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua, their later success rate in the career path was not high. On the one hand, because a well-written article does not necessarily mean that the official will be an official, on the other hand, the ranking of a top student is often operated in a dark box. Quite simply, Fei Hong is a native of Jiangxi, and there are still fewer officials from Jiangxi in the Ming Dynasty?
Keju Bangwen (Qing Dynasty)
The emperor also understood this situation, and the three brothers of the general first class rarely asked questions after they entered the Hanlin Temple. So from this point of view, the benefits of the title of champion are very limited.
However, Fei Hong's situation is a bit special. Chenghua became a hanlin academy cultivator in the twenty-third year, and In the eleventh year of Hongzhi, he was promoted to Zuo Zanshan of Zuo Chunfang in Zhan Shifu. Don't forget, Zhan Shifu was the team of the Prince of Donggong, which meant that Fei Hong became the reserve cadre of the next emperor.
But why did this crucial transfer fall on Fei Hong's head? Because Fei Hong hugged his thighs. who? Li Dongyang.
In the first year of Hongzhi, Fei Hong also participated in the revision of the Records of Emperor Xianzong, and Li Dongyang was Fei Hong's direct superior at that time; after the second year of Hongzhi, Li Dongyang was Zuo Shuzi of Zuo Chunfang and a bachelor of teaching; in the third year of Hongzhi, Li Dongyang served as the examination official of the temple, and Fei Hong participated in the evaluation and drafting of this scientific examination; in the ninth year of Hongzhi, Li Dongyang was again appointed as the official of the temple examination, and Fei Hong became the official of the temple examination.
Li Dongyang
Li Dongyang entered the cabinet in the eighth year of Hongzhi, and when Zhu Houzhao, the crown prince of Hongzhi, left the cabinet to study in the eleventh year, it was also Li Dongyang who recommended Fei Hong.
Oh, and one more detail. When the revision of the Records of emperor Xianzong was almost completed, Fei Hong actually took sick leave to return to his hometown, so that when he finally discussed the merits, he did not attach Fei Hong's name. Li Dongyang, on the other hand, was promoted to the post of Shaoqing of Taichang Temple in the fourth year of Hongzhi because of his meritorious work in revision of history. And many of Li Dongyang's other writings have Fei Hong's shadow.
Be a gunner to your boss, closely follow the pace of your boss, do not ask for credit, do not complain, as long as the boss is flat, sooner or later it will be his turn, this is Fei Hong's way of being an official when he first entered the official field.
Luckily, he was right.
Ming Dynasty official
In the seventeenth year of Hongzhi, Fei Hong presided over the Ying Tianfu Township Examination; in the eighteenth year of Hongzhi, the rank of nine years was full, and he entered the Zuo Zhide and Hanlin Academy to serve as an attendant; in the same year, Emperor Xiaozong of Ming died and Emperor Mingwu Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne. In this year, Li Dongyang became the Minister of Gu Ming, promoted to Young Fu and Crown Prince Taifu, Fei Hongsheng Taichang Temple Shaoqing, and concurrently hanlin yuan attendant, Zheng Sipin.
In the following four or five years, Fei Hong was promoted to the rank of Rebbe Attendant, Rebbe Shangshu, and finally entered the cabinet.
We know that from the first year of Zhengde to the fifth year of Zhengde, when Liu Jin was the most fierce, a large number of officials were forced to pay tribute and were expelled from the capital. So why did Fei Hong instead have official luck and prosperity? Did Fei Hong defect to Liu Jin's faction?
First, Fei Hong, as an old man of the original Eastern Palace, will generally receive preferential treatment from the new monarch;
Second, Li Dongyang is still in the cabinet, and Fei Hong has a backstage guarantee;
Third, on the issue of dealing with Liu Jin, Fei Hong did not act extremely.
The first two are easy to understand, and the third point I can illustrate with an example.
When Liu Jin presided over the reform, he had reduced the number of township examinations in Jiangxi, and at the same time greatly increased the quota of Liu Jin's hometown of Shaanxi. This is Liu Jin suppressing jiangxi officials in the DPRK. After Liu Jin's fall, Fei Hong, who was in the Rebbe, only restored the quota in Jiangxi before, but did not compress Shaanxi. Fei Hong means that they are all for the sake of the country, and the division of regions does not need to be so deliberately artificially divided.
Looking at Liu Jin's expulsion of Xie Qian, the ruthlessness of Liu Jian and others, and Li Dongyang's later "cooperation" with Liu Jin, Jiao Fang, and others, it is not difficult to find that Fei Hong learned the essence of Li Dongyang at this point. It should be known that in the first year of Zhengde, after Xie and Liu left, Li Dongyang became the first assistant of the cabinet in order.
Mrs
After Liu Jin's downfall, Channing, Jiang Bin, and others gradually became the core team of Wu Zongxin, which was used to balance the civilian official clique. The contradiction between Fei Hong and Channing became the main reason for his first contribution.
The conflict is mainly in two things. One was the issue of Prince Lu's heirs, and the other was King Ning's request for more guards.
King Lu's contending for the title is actually two sons who want to compete for the qualification of the knight, and there is a problem of deceiving the imperial court in the middle. The matter was simple, but because Fei Hong and Channing had been unhappy in a previous personnel appointment and dismissal, one of King Lu's sons took Channing's path again, so Channing and Fei Hong fought against each other. The result was that Fei Hong won.
The matter of King Ning's guard was a little more complicated, because there were too many people involved, including Yang Tinghe in addition to Channing. In fact, King Ning's bribery of the Manchu Dynasty and his desire for power were well known to Emperor Wuzong. I even felt that King Ning's final rebellion was a big move under Emperor Wuzong. Of course, Yang Tinghe received the benefits of King Ning, so the role he played was not very glorious.
Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao
When Fei Hong insisted on his own opinion, impeached King Ning for plotting against him, and disapproved of increasing King Ning's guards, Emperor Wuzong summoned Yang Tinghe alone and asked him to handle the matter, and incidentally reprimanded Fei Hong. This time, it was Fei Hong who lost, and Fei Hong had to resign and return to his hometown.
This matter is actually not as simple as it seems.
At that time, the vast majority of courtiers either helped King Ning speak or were silent and did not take a stand, but Fei Hong stood up against it very firmly, which was diametrically opposed to Fei Hong's performance during Liu Jin's period of employment. Why did Fei Hong do this? Or because of Li Dongyang.
At that time, Li Dongyang and Yang Tinghe, the two people were not as harmonious as they seemed on the surface.
Yang Tinghe
After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, what did the first assistant of the cabinet do? Only when the predecessor falls, the latter has the opportunity to sit on it. Fei Hong's voice this time should have been instructed by Li Dongyang. It's just that Li Dongyang also planted it this time, because Emperor Wuzong's attitude Li Dongyang was not accurate.
That is, about five years after Zhengde, Li Dongyang began to gradually fade out of the political core decision-making circle. Li Dongyang repeatedly offered to resign, and Emperor Wuzong suppressed it. Emperor Wuzong was still worried about some sentiments, after all, he was a tired courtier. But everyone knows that Li Dongyang's days in the cabinet are not long.
That is to say, more than a year after Fei Hong returned to his hometown, Li Dongyang also sent a message. This is also why on the way back to his hometown, Fei Hong was met with the crazy ambition of King Ning, which is what happened in the Waters of Linqing mentioned above. The history books say that at that time, Fei Hong's entourage and luggage were burned, and Fei Hong was spared.
Ming Army
Fei Hong is also really miserable. The Fei family hoped that Fei Hong could revitalize the family, but unexpectedly provoked King Ning. When Fei Hong fled back to his hometown, King Ning did not give up, still sent people to pretend to be bandits, to rob the Fei family, and even dug up the tomb of the Fei family's ancestors. Fei Hong had no choice but to run into the big city with his whole family to avoid trouble, and King Ning actually dared to send someone to attack the city. Fei Hong went to the local government several times to file a complaint, but finally he did not settle it.
Fei Hong was a native of Shangrao, Jiangxi, and Zhu Chenhao, the King of Ning, was in Nanchang, Jiangxi, and Fei Hong could not hide from him no matter how he looked at it.
In the fourteenth year of Zhengde, Zhu Chenhao, the king of Ning, officially rebelled. At the time of the incident, Zhu Chenhao actually sent a team of cavalry to capture Fei Hong. At that time, King Ning was powerful, and many people advised Fei Hong to leave Jiangxi to hide from trouble. Fei Hong did not listen, and ran to Wang Yangming's camp with his people. Obviously, Fei Hong already had his own judgment on the current situation: as long as King Ning dared to rebel openly and honestly, he would certainly not be able to achieve great things.
Sure enough, Wang Yangming quickly quelled the rebellion. When it came time to discuss merit, Fei Hong asked Wang Yangming not to add his name to the list.
This is where I admire Fei Hong the most. Wang Yangming's summary of this counterinsurgency was actually revised three times, because the first two times were returned by Emperor Wuzong. How did Wang Yangming change the summary for the third time? The beginning is "Thanks to the wise leadership of His Majesty the Emperor, thanks to the coordination of Yang Tinghe, the head of the cabinet...", this is basically qualitative, and this time the credit belongs to the emperor and the top level in Beijing.
Fei Hong knew about this matter, and the reason why he was reluctant to list himself on the list of meritorious personnel was because from the summary point of view, this victory was the biggest winner except for Wuzong, Yang Tinghe and others. Fei Hong wanted to take himself out of Wang Yangming's camp and not to have a relationship with Yang Tinghe.
Wang Yangming
Fei Hong knows that even if he is reinstated due to merit, as long as Yang Tinghe is there, his life will not be comfortable, which is one of them;
Because Of king Ning's rebellion, Channing had fallen, Jiang Bin and others began to ascend to the throne quickly, and Yang Tinghe's days were coming to an end, which was the second;
Helping to put down the chaos is not only to serve the country, but also to repay one's own personal vendetta, the credit is too great, and I am afraid of provoking small words.
The above three points, Fei Hong thought very clearly, Wang Yangming also understood the twists and turns here, so he agreed to Fei Hong. But soon, the imperial historians went up one after another, saying that they had forgotten Fei Hong's merits and would give Fei Hong the reward he deserved.
Look, it is not a question of whether to repay or not to repay the merits, but a question of what channel to repay the merits from. It was just that at that time, Emperor Wuzong was on a tour of the south, so Fei Hong's affairs were temporarily shelved, and this shelving was directly "changed from dynasty to dynasty".
The Emperor went on a tour
In the sixteenth year of Zhengde, Emperor Mingwuzong Zhu Houzhao died, and in the same year, his cousin Zhu Houxi succeeded to the throne and changed the year to Jiajing, that is, Ming Shizong. As soon as Sejong came to power, he immediately activated Fei Hong and entered the cabinet again. This year, Fei Hong was 54 years old.
Sejong uses Fei Hong, with the following considerations.
First of all, Fei Hong's reputation is out of the ordinary, and he has been framed for Zhi Shi, and the use of Fei Hong can show Sejong's political posture.
Fei Hong was an old minister and a former cabinet minister, and was one of the typical representatives of the Zhengde Dynasty's opposition to King Ning at that time. Fei Hong's family was persecuted by King Ning, and he made meritorious achievements in the suppression of the rebellion, and when Fei Hong was activated at this time, Sejong could prove to the world that he was different from Emperor Wuzong and flaunt his wisdom and popularity.
Secondly, Sejong is a collateral successor to the throne and needs to form his own ruling team.
Ming Shizong Zhu Houxi
Emperor Wuzong was childless, and Sejong ascended the throne from a local domain, and he himself did not experience the cultivation process of a crown prince, let alone the Eastern Palace team like Zhan Shifu. At the beginning of Sejong's ascension to the throne, he urgently needed a group of capable courtiers who were familiar with the government and were willing to set up their own ruling team. Obviously, the use of Fei Hong can not only buy people's hearts and minds, but also add a cadre.
In the end, Yang Tinghe confronted Sejong with a "ceremony", and Sejong needed someone to check and balance in the cabinet.
Everyone knows that Sejong, who had just ascended the throne, and the clique of civilian officials headed by Yang Tinghe were very fierce. In fact, the two sides are competing for the right to speak in the future court. Although Sejong gradually gained a foothold with the support of his courtiers, such as Zhang Xuan and Gui Cao, in terms of seniority and prestige, Zhang and Gui were obviously insufficient. On the other hand, several cabinet elders in Zhengde Nian have either passed away, or are embarrassed to reuse, or they are Yang Tinghe and a family, only Fei Hong, who can compete with Yang Tinghe in terms of seniority, and has a "front gap" with Yang Tinghe, so there is no need for Fei Hong to use anyone?
Only this time, Fei Hong disappointed Sejong. Maybe he was older, maybe he had experienced too many life and death, fei Hong was in the cabinet in the early years of Jiajing, but he was a faction of old people, a posture of mingzhe to protect himself. Fei Hong really resembled Li Dongyang too much.
But political struggles, especially the struggle for the right to speak, are not so easy for middlemen. Yang Tinghe looked down on Fei Hong, Sejong was disappointed that Fei Hong could not charge into the battle, and Zhang Xuan and other upstarts felt that Fei Hong was blocking his career, so the three parties did not please.
When Yang Tinghe took the initiative to back down and admit his defeat, when Zhang Xuan, Gui Cao, and others successively entered the cabinet to participate in the core aircraft maintenance, when Sejong gradually grasped absolute power, Fei Hong's existence seemed so distracting.
In the sixth year of Jiajing, Fei Hong gave his second contribution. This time away from Beijing, he took away his son who had just passed the entrance examination. Fei Hong understood that as long as he walked resolutely and conceded defeat thoroughly, he might be able to maintain a stable old age.
Fei Hong
In fact, before Emperor Shizong of Jiajing reinstated Fei Hong in the fourteenth year, Fei Hong did have a few years of comfortable days, digging righteous canals, building dams, and teaching scriptures in his hometown, at least he did not have to worry about the extreme situation of Killing people and destroying mouths like King Ning.
In the fourteenth year of Jiajing, Sejong once again used Fei Hong. Fei Hong arrived in Beijing in July, and died in office in October, at the age of sixty-eight.
I sometimes think that if Sejong doesn't use Fei Hong again, maybe Fei Hong will live a few more years. Because Fei Hong is really tired. Busy government affairs are on the one hand, and perhaps more because Fei Hong wants to show a posture: Your Majesty, the old minister is obedient.
Forty-three years, looking at the middle of the memory, Beacon Yangzhou Road. Looking back, under the Buddha's Shrine, a sacred crow club drum. Who asked: Honest and old, can you still eat?
The ups and downs of his career, the rise and fall of his family, and the things that Fei Hong carried in his life were too much and too tired. Zhang Tingyu has a comment: Fei Hong and others all started from literature and became prime ministers. Hong, however, channing, refused Chenhao, and Zhang and Gui, and then revived, and finally did not damage the reputation.
Without compromising reputation, that's enough.
Talk about the family, talk to relieve boredom.
Asahi Twilight, exclusive original.