Wang, the founder of Humble Administrator's Garden, was originally the suggestion of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty. The eunuch of Dongchang falsely accused him of impeaching Liaodong to kill Liang, and finally angered Ming Xiaozong. Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty sent him from the empire to the constitution. Later, although Wang was promoted to county magistrate during the Ming Wuzong period, he was basically far from the political core of the Ming Dynasty. The devastated queen came to establish a humble administrator's garden in her hometown. From the name "Humble Administrator's Garden", we can see the degree of Wang's frustration with officialdom.
Wang impeached and killed Liang in Liaodong, involving hundreds of lives. Finally, many officials were killed, and many people, such as Wang, imperial advisers, Dali Temple officials and Royal Guards, were punished. The cause of the matter should start with a good news from Liaodong.
In the seventeenth year of Hongzhi, Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty received good news from Liaodong border. The annunciators were Zhu Xiu, the eunuch of Liaodong, Yu Yang, and Zhang Nai, the governor. Some emperors in the Ming Dynasty trusted eunuchs more. Since Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs have been set up to supervise officials. In the later period, the power of the prison army even surpassed that of the army commander. This is why the good news sent by border officials should be jointly signed with eunuchs.
This good news, sent by officials and eunuchs together, is naturally more credible than the officials themselves. The good news said that in December of Hongzhi's 16th year, Taining Sanwei's men raided Ruichang Fort at night, shot and wounded Jianzhou Tribute Mission, and looted cattle, horses and other property.
Zhang Tianxiang, our commander in Ningyuan, led the army in pursuit and killed 27 people in a place called Waitoushan. After the robbers fled, Zhang Tianxiang continued to pursue, killing 1 1 and regaining the property robbed by the robbers.
The so-called Taining Sanwei is also called Duoyan Sanwei. In the early Ming Dynasty, Mongolians east of Daxing 'anling joined the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming dynasty, there were three guards in this area: Duoyan, Taining and Fuyu.
Also active in Liaodong is the Jurchen tribe in Jianzhou. In the first year of Yongle, the Jurchen tribe in Jianzhou surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, and Jianzhou Wei was established in the Ming Dynasty. These Jurchen tribes in Jianzhou later produced a Nuerhachi named Aisingiorro, who unified various departments of Jurchen, stood on his own feet as gold, and publicly broke away from the Ming Dynasty. Of course, these are all later stories. During the reign of Xiaozong in the Ming Dynasty, the Jurchen tribe in Jianzhou still needed to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty.
For the rulers of the Ming Dynasty, Mongols and Jurchen were both foreigners in their eyes. A foreigner attacked another foreigner's tribute mission, and the heroic officer led the army to defeat the mob and recapture the property. This behavior must be rewarded.
According to the Record of General Manager Lu Xiao of Shi Ming (volume 1 1), Zong received a personal commendation after receiving the good news. Give clothes and money to Zhu Xiu, the eunuch who gave him good news.
This matter could have come to an end, but an impeachment letter from Wang revealed the terrible truth hidden behind this matter.
At this time, he is still the suggestion king, and his main duty is to supervise officials. When Zhu Xiu, the governor and the governor of Liaodong returned to the good news, Wang became suspicious. At the right moment, an officer named Zhang Mao and his son came to the king with official documents. According to documents, Zhang Tianxiang, the commander-in-chief of Ningyuan, never led an army to pursue bandits. He randomly found a residential area full of old, weak, women and children, killed hundreds of people, took dozens of heads, and used them as gangsters to take credit.
According to Records of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty (volume 1 1), Wang quoted the evidence provided by Zhang Mao and others and reported to Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty. Zhang Mao is Zhang Tianxiang's grandfather's brother-in-law, that is, Zhang Tianxiang's uncle and grandfather. There was some contradiction between him and Zhang Tianxiang, so he reported Zhang Tianxiang. As a suggestion, Wang did not find out the facts clearly, so he handed these reports to Ming Xiaozong. This also became the reason why he was later convicted.
Wang Xiangming Xiaozong reported that at the beginning, eight Mongolians from Taining Sanwei asked for necessities such as salt and rice. In the process of communicating with them, Zhang Tianxiang learned that the tribute mission in Jianzhou was nearby. Zhang Tianxiang then ordered people to shoot the people of Jianzhou Mission. Then he attacked a residential area under the pretext of killing the regiment by Taining Sanwei.
In the residential area, Zhang Tianxiang killed hundreds of people, old and young, and also killed eight people who told him the news. After some burning, killing and looting, Zhang Tianxiang gave the heads of more than 20 of them to his superiors and received a reward of 2,200 taels of silver. Later, Zhang Tianxiang was rewarded by Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty for effectively chasing thieves and bandits.
Not only killed Liang, but also deceived the court. After hearing this, Ming Xiaozong attached great importance to it. Then he ordered Dali Cheng Wu and Taishou Yang to inquire. Royal Guards are the characteristics of the Ming Dynasty. They are specialized intelligence gathering agencies. Responsible for investigation, arrest, interrogation and other activities. Dali Temple, similar to modern the Supreme People's Court, is responsible for hearing cases.
At the same time, the two agencies launched an investigation and soon found that Zhang Tianxiang really killed a good man and took credit. According to Ming history, Zhang Tianxiang killed 38 innocent people and used them to pretend to be soldiers. After the incident, Zhang Tianxiang was arrested and imprisoned, and soon died in prison.
It is reasonable to say that this matter should stop here, but it is far from over. Because in addition to Dali Temple, Royal Guards and other institutions, there was another institution called "East Factory" in the Ming Dynasty. With Dongchang's participation, the case has been greatly reversed. Wang He and Wu Consistency and Yang, who were later in charge of the inquest, were severely punished, and Wu Consistency even almost lost his life.
Zhang Tianxiang, the police officer who committed the crime, is dead. He also has an uncle Zhang Hong. Zhang Hong always believed that his nephew had been treated unfairly and insisted on seeking justice for his nephew. To this end, Zhang Hong found Liu Jin, the eunuch of the East Factory, for help. This Liu Jin was originally reported by Wu, who was in charge of the inquest of this case. He bears a grudge against Wu, so naturally he won't spare Wu. In addition, the eunuch stationed in Liaodong was also the first to report good news to Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty. If Zhang Tianxiang kills a good man and takes the credit for himself, the eunuch in Liaodong will be punished for fraud. Under the comprehensive action of various factors, the mutual echo of Zhang Hong and Dongchang turned the case upside down.
After Shi Yu, Dali Temple and Wei Jinyi all confirmed that the case was correct, Ming Xiaozong asked Dongchang to secretly investigate the case again. At this time, Liu Jin was in charge of the East Factory and won the trust of Ming Xiaozong. After the investigation of Dongchang case, it was considered that the Imperial King and the martial arts of Dali Temple were false accusations. They tipped it off to Ming Xiaozong.
Ming Xiaozong was furious when he heard the news. He ordered Wu and others to be arrested and tried. Supposedly, Yushi, Dali Temple and Royal Guards have all been checked correctly, and there will be no major problems. As soon as Dongchang made a paper report, Ming Xiaozong totally denied the results of the joint investigation by several institutions. From here, we can also see that there were some differences in the trust of emperors in ministers and eunuchs during the Ming Dynasty. Ming Xiaozong, for example, would rather believe the eunuch's one-sided words than admit the joint investigation of several ministers. Under the guidance of the emperor, it is no wonder that eunuchs such as Dongchang are becoming more and more powerful.
The angry Ming Xiaozong believed that Wang and Wu had been fabricating facts and framing frontier generals. If this kind of thing is not handled well, it will chill the hearts of border guards. Ming Xiaozong even personally interrogated Wu and tried to kill him.
In the end, under the urging of his ministers, Wu was saved from death, but was expelled from the capital by Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty. Wang, who first exposed this incident, was demoted to the secretariat of Guangdong, accused of asking about the military and political affairs privately, and used officers and men as guides when investigating the case. Other officials involved in the investigation of the case were also punished to varying degrees.
Zhang Mao and his son, the remonstrators who exposed the incident, were executed, and the officer who robbed Liang of his credit died in prison, but he was rewarded by his uncle.
Whether in Ming history or other records, it is recorded that Zhang Tianxiang really killed a good man and took credit for it. But such a fact is clear, but the case has undergone earth-shaking changes under the operation of the East Factory. This case fully illustrates the control and control of state affairs by Ming eunuchs. In front of the East Factory, Shi Yu, Dali Temple and Royal Guards are insignificant. The truth of the case is left to the East Factory to describe at will. The situation of eunuch dictatorship in the Ming Dynasty also made the later Qing Dynasty realize the harm of eunuchs. Because of this, the Qing dynasty strictly restricted eunuchs to prevent them from repeating the mistakes of the previous dynasties.
Perhaps one of the most frustrating things in the world is that what you say is true, but it is considered a lie. This case has a great influence on Wang. Since then, throughout his life, he has only been promoted to county magistrate and has never been seen in the political core of the Ming Dynasty.
However, there are gains and losses in everything, because Wang was demoted and his political future was blocked, but he devoted himself to creating garden masterpieces that have been passed down to this day. Left us with precious garden culture. If Wang had not been expelled from the political core of the Ming Dynasty because of this case, there might have been a world-famous "Humble Administrator's Garden" missing.
References:
Shi Ming Lu Xiao master record11; Sixty-eight biographies of Ming history; "Ming Xiaozong's Sermon" and so on.