Chapter 71 Complaint

However, despite his feelings, Wang An still knew his own strengths and weaknesses.

Just a manager under Zhu Chunchen... has forced me to risk everything. How can I interfere with the fate of the Han Dynasty...

Wang An sighed, encouraged himself in his heart, and then strode towards the Meridian Gate.

At that time, all kinds of vendors set up stalls and carried loads of goods gathered in front of the Meridian Gate, unlike the "keep away from strangers" in later film and television works.

Because the ministers had to go to court very early, they often did not have time to eat breakfast. They had to start waiting at three in the morning and officially report to the palace at five in the morning. They would wait until the emperor came to court to discuss state affairs. When there were many things to do, the civil and military officials in the court would not be able to eat or drink until eleven or twelve in the afternoon.

However, man is iron and rice is steel, and he will feel hungry if he doesn't eat for a meal.

What's more, there are many elderly people among the officials. How can they endure so much?

Therefore, during the Hongwu period, after all officials entered the palace for the morning court session, they had rest time in between sessions, and Emperor Hongwu would also reward all officials with breakfast.

But this good thing did not last long. Perhaps Emperor Hongwu felt sorry for feeding the officials with good grain, or maybe he simply felt sorry for the money.

Our old stingy emperor has abolished the rule of requiring officials to stay in the palace for breakfast.

But officials could not go to court without eating, so Emperor Hongwu allowed private vendors to set up stalls outside the Meridian Gate to sell food and tea.

Although they could not eat for free, at least they gave the officials the opportunity to buy their own meals.

Later, when Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, he also retained this "imperial grace" like his father.

However, the vendors also abided by the rules. Unlike the vendors in later generations who were eager to set up their stalls in the middle of the street, they kept a distance from the Meridian Gate and did not approach it easily.

So when Wang An strode towards the Meridian Gate, he was not immediately driven away. But when Wang An reached a certain distance, the big general on duty immediately frowned and shouted at Wang An to leave.

However, Wang An seemed to have heard nothing and continued to stride rapidly towards the Meridian Gate.

Just when the leading general put his hand on the hilt of the sword, Wang An turned around, walked around the Meridian Gate and walked towards a big drum beside it.

The big generals were stunned for a moment, and then showed expressions as if they had seen a ghost.

Under the watchful eyes of the big Han general, Goodnight walked straight to the giant drum placed next to us, copied the drumstick from the skeleton, and swung it recklessly.

Suddenly!

The huge drum sound of "dong dong dong" resounded throughout the Meridian Gate, and it went over the Jinshui Bridge, rushed through the Huangji Gate, and plunged into the Wenhua Hall without hesitation.

Emperor Chongzhen, who was reviewing memorials, suddenly raised his head and looked towards the Meridian Gate, and asked uncertainly: "Dear companion, did you hear the drums?"

Wang Chengen was also in doubt at this time. He listened carefully and said hesitantly, "I also heard something that seemed to come from the Meridian Gate..."

"Wu Men..." Chongzhen frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly widened his eyes: "Dengwen drum! Someone filed a complaint with the emperor?"

Unlike later film and television dramas, if the common people wanted to file a complaint to the emperor, they had to roll on a nail board or crawl all the way from the Meridian Gate to the Golden Palace. Along the way, hundreds of big men and generals would whip the people with sticks, and those who could withstand it could file a complaint to the emperor.

At least there was no such rule in the Ming Dynasty. Even the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of this dynasty, strongly encouraged the people to file complaints to the emperor.

But having said that, only a few people have the courage to file a complaint with the emperor.

Even if these few people had the courage to sue, it was not easy to do so. First of all, they had to be in the capital. Given the traffic conditions in the Ming Dynasty, for most people who had never left their village for half their lives, the village Lijia was the highest official they could see in their lifetime.

Even if one suffered a great injustice, the most one could think of was to file a complaint with the county magistrate, or, if more ruthless, to the prefectural governor in the city.

Even if someone imitated the lines from opera viciously and shouted that they were going to file a complaint to the emperor, this long road would be enough to scare them off.

Even if there are those who don't know how to live or die, they may be killed by their enemies halfway along the way.

After all, ordinary grievances cannot be reported to the emperor, and if the grievances are really worth reporting to the emperor, the enemies are not small.

Moreover, there must be the shadow of local government behind this, or even it is the local government that is directly harming the people. How could they allow you to go to Beijing to file a complaint?
It would be easier to just catch up with him halfway, kill him and throw him into the wilderness.

Therefore, during the more than 200 years of the Ming Dynasty, the method of filing a complaint with the emperor has always existed and was even encouraged to a certain extent.

But there are still very few people who are truly capable of high imperial control.

Not to mention Emperor Chongzhen who had just ascended the throne, even his elder brother Tianqi had never encountered the situation of being reported to the emperor!
But once someone files a complaint with the emperor, it proves that there is a great injustice among the people!

The government is derelict in its duties and is even harming the people. Otherwise, the people would have redressed their grievances to the government. Who with a mental disorder would come to file a complaint with the emperor?
As an emperor who was determined to become a wise ruler, how could he allow such a huge injustice to happen among the people? After being shocked, he immediately ordered Wang Chengen, "Daban, go to the Meridian Gate immediately to ask what happened!"

Wang Chengen did not dare to slack off and immediately bowed and left.

At this time, as the sound of the Dengwen Drum resounded throughout the Forbidden City, all the palace servants and eunuchs passing by, as well as the vendors setting up stalls outside the Meridian Gate to eat for a living, gathered around.

Looking at Wang An who was still beating the drum with all his might, he pointed and commented.

"No one has beaten the Dengwen drum for hundreds of years, right?"

"How great is this injustice that you have to file a complaint with the emperor?"

"Who knows? If they were not forced to live, who would dare to complain to the emperor?"

"I just don't know what kind of injustice I've suffered. I really want to go up and ask!"

The several big generals guarding the Meridian Gate were even more at a loss.

"Master Bai Hu, should we stop him?"

"The commander-in-chief has never taught us what the rules are if someone files a complaint with the emperor?"

"Yes, did you bring him to the palace to report to His Majesty, or did you just beat him away with a few sticks?"

Just when everyone was hesitating, not knowing what to do.

Wang Chengen hurried to the Meridian Gate and came out from the West Gate. He was still some distance away from the main gate of the Five Gates. Wang Chengen took a quick look and saw that there was indeed a person standing in front of the Dengwen drum beside the main gate, beating the Dengwen drum continuously.

Just as he was about to raise his hand to tell the man to stop knocking, he swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth, "Gudong, my god!"

"Why is it Master Tang!"

The young eunuch who followed him didn't hear clearly, but seeing that Wang Chengen looked unhappy, he thought that the senior eunuch in the ten-mile area was unhappy.

(End of this chapter)