On June 20, the tenth year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng, a reformer of the Ming Dynasty, a generation of emperors, and a powerful minister, became ill due to long-term fatigue and finally died suddenly. His life was full of controversy, and he thought that these disputes would disappear with his death. Unexpectedly, however, shortly after his death, a new storm struck like thunder.
On the fourth day of Zhang Juzheng's death, seven famous officials including Yu Shi Lei Shi joined forces with ** Pan Sheng, and Emperor Shenzong ordered him to send a message. Pan Sheng, who was strongly recommended by Zhang Juzheng, his ** seems to indicate Zhang Juzheng's fall from grace. Immediately afterwards, the officials pointed the finger at the late Zhang Juzheng. Emperor Shenzong complied with this trend, ordered the house to be raided, and deprived Zhang Juzheng of all palace ranks, forcing him to take back all the seals and four generations of edicts given during his lifetime, and revealed the world with the crime.
Zhang Juzheng, who was once known as a generation of emperors, was completely exposed in front of the world. For a time, his reputation hit rock bottom and became the target of public criticism. However, in the midst of this catastrophe, the performance of Zhang Juzheng's descendants has received little attention. When we learn more about what they did, we may be amazed by their loyalty and tenacity. If everyone in the Ming Dynasty can be so loyal, why would they go to the fate of the country?
Just because of the sentence of the second concubine of the Liao Wang, "Jinbao has all the tricks into Zhang's mansion", it is like opening the Pandora's box of Emperor Wanli and casting the fate of Zhang's house.
In the laws of the Ming Dynasty, raiding one's home was an extremely severe punishment that applied only to three crimes: treason, treason, and treachery. However, which of them did Zhang Juzheng violate? No one looked into it, and the raid began hastily.
When the edict reached the local government, the officials mercilessly blocked the gates of Zhang's mansion. The children of the Zhang family were forced to hide in an empty house, not daring to move. Originally, there was very little food in reserve, but in just two days, Zhang's mansion fell into a desperate situation of running out of food.
On the fifth day of the fifth month of the fifth month, Qiu Xian, the minister of the Qin Mission, finally arrived, and he slowly pushed open the door of the Zhang Mansion, and the sight before him made him stunned. The once prosperous mansion has now become a dead silence. Hunger and despair have claimed more than a dozen innocent lives, and those who survived are struggling on the brink of death.
In the face of the indifferent hearts, the tragic situation of Zhangfu continues. No one reached out to help, only merciless search and torture. The private collections of Zhang Juzheng's brothers and sons, no matter how deeply hidden, were found out one by one. **More than 10,000 taels, **more than 100,000 taels, these riches are enough to be staggering, but in the eyes of greedy officials, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Not satisfied, they tortured again, forcing the Zhang family to pay for the two million silver taels stored outside the house. This move even implicated Zeng Xingwu, Wang Zhan, and Fu Zuozhou.
In this long torture, Zhang Juzheng's eldest son, Zhang Jingxiu, chose to die. He could not bear this humiliation and eventually committed suicide. The second son, Zhang Maoxiu, threw himself into a well to survive, although he did not die, but his body and mind had suffered heavy damage, and he was able to survive only by a trace of luck.
Before Zhang Jingxiu died, with full grief and indignation, he wrote a blood book. In the blood book it reads".Looking at it, the sage of Confucius also died, and the sage of Hui also died, and the death was heavier than Mount Tai, and there were those who were lighter than the feathers. If he was suspected of being full of duties in the court, he was worried about the country, but he thought about the weight of his life, and martyred the country, and he couldn't harm the country first, so that he could not harm him first, and his merits and crimes were falsely accusing the Liao Domain today, and he had the public opinion of the world and future generations, and there was no need to argue in Jingxiu.
This bloody statement is not only Zhang Jingxiu's loyalty and admiration for his father Zhang Juzheng, but also an indictment and reflection on the power struggle of the entire era. In the tragic situation of Zhangfu, we see the dark side of human nature, and also see the helplessness and struggle of justice and conscience in the face of power.
What a bloody statement!
Zhang Jingxiu hanged himself in despair, Zhang Maoxiu attempted suicide in pain, and the news of these two tragedies spread like thunder throughout the government and the opposition, shaking all directions. The former first assistant Zhang Juzheng, his remnants have not yet dissipated, but his heirs have suffered such a cruel fate. Shen Shixing and the ministers of the six ministries could no longer sit idly by, they mustered up the courage to risk death to intercede for the Zhang family, hoping that Shenzong would be lenient. Pan Jitao, the secretary of the Criminal Department, was even more blunt: "Juzheng's mother is more than eighty years old, and she will not be killed at dusk, and she will beg for her release." ”
Under this air, Shenzong issued an edict to leave an empty house and ten acres of land to support Juzheng's mother. The Liaofu case also ended at this time. Shenzong came forward to respond: ".Zhang Juzheng slandered his relatives, restrained the officials, concealed the cong, privately occupied the waste of Liaotian acres, pretended to measure and cover up, disturbed the sea, dictatorship and disorderly government, recklessly gracious, disloyal to the country, should have beheaded the coffin and killed the corpse, and thought of serving for many years, so he would have spared the law. Zhang Juyi, Zhang Sixiu, Zhang Shu, and Zhang Shun all ordered the miasma to fill the army.
So even at this time, Emperor Wanli still held on to accusing Zhang Juzheng".Authoritarian and chaotic government, reckless and disloyal to the countryThoughts. Thinking back to a few years ago, Emperor Wanli still pulled Zhang Juzheng with a handful of snot and tears and said: "There is nothing to repay, I can only take care of the heirs for my husband." Now it seems that the emperor's so-called "care" is so cruel and ruthless.
As for why Emperor Wanli wanted to liquidate Zhang Juzheng, historians have many **, and this article will not repeat it. But it is worth mentioning that even if the Zhang family suffered such a bad luck, Zhang Juzheng's descendants have never owed the country the slightest. Among them, the most touching is Zhang Juzheng's great-grandson - Zhang Tongchang. His life is full of legends, and his story is even more emotional.
What kind of experience does Zhang Tongchang have? Let's move on to the history books to find out.
Time flies, and it has been 15 years of Chongzhen in a blink of an eye. At this moment, there are only two years left before the tragedy of Emperor Chongzhen's self-hanging on the coal mountain. In the imperial court, Emperor Chongzhen urgently issued an edict and ordered Zhang Tongchang to go to Huguang to comfort the kings, and mobilize the troops of Yunnan by the way. Zhang Tongchang took the order, but when he returned from his mission, he was shocked to learn that Beijing had fallen, and then Nanjing had also fallen into the hands of the enemy.
In troubled times, Zhang Tongchang had no choice but to defect to the Longwu regime. Emperor Longwu appreciated his talents, restored his martial arts, and sent him to Hunan. However, on the way, Zhang Tongchang learned the news of the loss of Tingzhou, and the whole country, except for the southwest corner, had fallen under the iron heel of the enemy. Faced with such a grim situation, Zhang Tongchang resolutely decided to go to Guangxi and defect to Emperor Yongli.
Under the strong recommendation of Qu Shiyun, Emperor Yongli entrusted Zhang Tongchang with important tasks, awarded him the position of the right attendant of the military department, and supervised the military affairs of Zhulu. In this way, the heavy responsibility of leading the people of the Central Plains to resist the Qing Dynasty once again fell on the shoulders of the Zhang family. Zhang Tongchang felt a great responsibility, and he recalled the teachings of his great-grandfather: ".The country may have a major event, the emperor is fortunate to summon the ministers, and the court hears the fate and goes to the road, although he insists on killing Hoge and serving the death field, he also avoids it. At this moment, he seemed to feel the blood of his ancestors boiling in his veins.
Zhang Tongchang's ancestor had followed Ming Taizu to overthrow the brutal rule of the Yuan Dynasty; And his great-grandfather Zhang Juzheng rectified national defense, divided the Tatars, and laid a solid foundation for the revival of the Ming Dynasty. Stroking his muscles and bones, Zhang Tongchang was deeply proud. However, he is also well aware that the current big picture is not the same as it used to be. The Ming Dynasty only had this remnant of mountains and rivers, defeated soldiers and generals, and various drawbacks such as internal strife, self-disturbance, resistance, and containment were constantly staged in this small court. Despite this, Zhang Tongchang was still full of enthusiasm and determined to participate in this national duel.
Although the military affairs of the governor Zhulu were only a nominal position, the military power at that time was actually in the hands of the generals. However, Zhang Tongchang is not afraid of these difficulties. In all struggles, he always took the lead and forged ahead. When it comes to advancing, he leads the way; When he wavered, he sat still and stabilized the morale of the army with firm conviction. Gradually, he won the trust and respect of the soldiers.
Unfortunately, in the fifth year of Yongli, the enemy attacked Guangxi and Yanguan fell. The soldiers of the former enemy were defeated one after another, and Emperor Yongli also fled to Wuzhou in a hurry. Guilin's army also collapsed, leaving only the university scholar Qu Shiyun to stick to his post. What was once an important town is now an empty city. It happened that at this time, Zhang Tongchang rushed from Lingchuan to meet Qu Shiyun.
In the face of such a crisis, Qu Shiyun said to Zhang Tongchang: "I should have died in Guilin for staying behind; And the Governor has no responsibility to defend the land, so you better get out of here! However, Zhang Tongchang resolutely replied: "The ancients were ashamed of being alone. Why didn't you let me go to the national disaster with you? After hearing this, Qu Shiyun was greatly moved, and ordered the remaining veterans to bring wine, and the two spent the last night in the empty city together.
Early the next morning, the enemy finally entered the city of Guilin, and Qu Shiyun and Zhang Tongchang were captured at the same time. Facing this scene, Qu Shiyun smiled indifferently and said, "We have already prepared. "The enemy used both soft and hard, first tempted them to ** Houlu, hoping that they would surrender, but both of them resolutely refused. Seeing that the lure could not be achieved, the enemy turned to coercion and offered to let them cut their hair and become monks in order to save their lives. However, they preferred to die, firmly stating that they would rather leave their blood to the nation than submit to the obscenity of the enemy.
The enemy had no choice but to confiner them separately. The two were imprisoned by a wall, but that didn't stop them from believing and feeling in their hearts. During the more than 40 days of solitary confinement, they often clinged to the wall, whispering the poems in their hearts, meeting friends with poetry and clarifying their aspirations with poetry. The poem, low but firm, was full of infinite expectations for the future of the nation.
On the 17th day of the 11th month of the leap year of the Yongli calendar, a day shrouded in haze. The enemy finally dealt a poisonous blow to them. It is said that at the moment of the execution, Zhang Tongchang dressed up and stood with his head held high. When the enemy's butcher's knife fell and his head rolled to the ground, he leapt forward three steps before he collapsed. His bravery and fearlessness moved everyone present.
To this day, Guilin's Dongguan still stands the tomb of this national hero. Whenever people pass by here, they will stop to pay respects to his indomitable and heroic deeds of sacrificing their lives for righteousness. His spirit will forever inspire future generations to strive for the prosperity and rejuvenation of the nation.
Let's borrow a passage from Mr. Zhu Dongrun to end it:
Tong Chang died, and the warm blood irrigated the sprout of national rejuvenation.
When anyone traces back to their ancestors, they will always see many singing and crying facts: some are more radiant, some may be bleak, but when we think of our ancestors, who once struggled for freedom, worked hard for development, and even shed blood for survival, we certainly see infinite brilliance for the past, and we must have greater expectations for the future.
Forward, every son and daughter of the Chinese nation!