A knife in love

Chapter 195

Although Liu Yong was strong in martial arts and had extraordinary knowledge, he knew very little about these important court affairs.Hearing Li Qiufeng's eloquence at this time, he couldn't help being dumbfounded, and said in a trembling voice: "All the court officials are like this, so how can the common people survive?"

Li Qiufeng nodded and said: "Mr. Liu's words are correct. In fact, nine out of ten of the Japanese pirate rebellion in the southeast coast were poor people who lost their fields and couldn't survive. The vanguard in the southeast. If the momentum of land annexation in the south of the Yangtze River can be curbed and the people have land to cultivate, how can Japanese pirates be allowed to be so rampant?

"After the late emperor got the secret report, he took advantage of the opportunity to go out of the palace in casual clothes and went straight to the south of the Yangtze River. The big bosses in the court knew that the late emperor liked to travel in modest clothes, and he had slipped out of the palace several times, but he didn't care. However, many of the eunuchs in the East Factory were bribed by these big bosses, and even leaked the purpose of the late emperor's leaving the palace. When those big bosses knew about it, they were immediately frightened, and they gathered to discuss countermeasures.

"After the first emperor arrived in the south of the Yangtze River, although he saw the seriousness of land annexation with his own eyes, the news from the capital quickly spread to the local area. The officials and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River immediately united and created obstacles everywhere. The late emperor wanted to see the real situation of the people, but he had become Extremely difficult. The first emperor was an extremely wise and wise man, knowing that he would see nothing if he stayed any longer, so he had to return to the capital in displeasure.

"In order to prevent the late emperor from making another southern tour, the officials in the court elected several great scholars to the Empress Dowager's Palace of Compassion and Peace, and asked the empress dowager to persuade the emperor not to patrol the people with ten thousand gold, so as not to be taken advantage of by traitors. On the other hand, they spread rumors everywhere, accusing the first emperor of being fond of folk women, and going out of the palace to hook up with women, which is absurd.

"When the first emperor returned to the palace, he realized that the Dongchang eunuch and the Jinyiwei were also bribed. Shocked, he found Qian Ning and asked him to take charge of the Jinyiwei. Although Qian Ning was a treacherous villain, However, he was very effective in doing what the late emperor had entrusted. He first cleaned up the Jinyiwei on a large scale, killing many people who were bribed by foreign officials, making the Jinyiwei like an iron bucket, and it was difficult for the officials of the court to buy. After Qian Ning took control of the Jinyiwei, He also put Dongchang under his control, spread eyeliner widely in the capital, and strengthened the surveillance of Beijing officials.

"In this way, all the officials of the imperial court were in danger. They were afraid of being caught by Jin Yiwei and Dongchang, so they went to the homes of several senior scholars to discuss countermeasures. Those senior scholars originally belonged to different factions, and they were also intriguing with each other. However, the two aspects of forming a party and making a fortune are surprisingly consistent. Seeing that after Qian Ning took control of Jinyiwei, he had already threatened the various forces in the court, so they even joined hands to fight against Jinyiwei and Dongchang.

"After these people deliberated, a few academicians came forward to report to the emperor, accusing Jinyiwei of 'spying on news and running amok', and saying that Dongchang had 'privately set up prisons and insulted officials', and asked the emperor to take back the authority of Jinyiwei and Dongchang. , to restrict it. After the emperor received the papers, he kept them in the middle and did not send them out. Then he sent the papers about the purchase of land by the Beijing officials that Jin Yiwei and Dongchang visited in the south of the Yangtze River to several academicians. In order to save face, they withheld the discounts for the purchase of land by the scholar and his son.

"The first emperor's move was originally to warn these great scholars, asking them to restrain their own children and former officials, so as not to hinder the imperial court's plans. Who would have thought that after reading the scriptures, these people were all frightened. .Because these Beijing officials are their disciples, if Jin Yiwei continues to investigate, they will inevitably be implicated. Therefore, these people recruited their own party and wanted to find a perfect plan to escape this disaster.

"At that time, these people were divided into two factions. One faction just wanted to get rid of Qian Ning, restrain the power of Jinyiwei and Dongchang, lift the emperor up, and let civil officials preside over the government, so as to avoid being investigated by the court. The other faction went further. Far away, they colluded with the vassal kings and conspired to kill the late emperor and let the foreign vassals inherit the great rule..."

Liu Yong had heard Zhao Zhen talk about some factional struggles in the imperial mausoleum, but he didn't know much about it. At this time, he heard Li Qiufeng explain in detail from the beginning, and only then did he know how fierce the factional struggles in the imperial court were.He said to Li Qiufeng: "Could it be that the current Emperor Jiajing was able to inherit the great rule by conspiracy?"

Li Qiufeng said: "The current emperor is just one of the vassals coveting the throne. The late emperor has never had any heirs, so I don't know how many vassals stared at the throne. Those big men in the court also have their own plans, everyone They all colluded with foreign vassals in private. Among the vassal kings, King Ning Zhu Chenhao was the most powerful, and the most Beijing officials who took refuge in him. Among the four great scholars, three secretly communicated with King Ning. These people are all old foxes, and they will not bet all on one family. They have connections with feudal lords everywhere. At that time, the imperial court was complicated with party disputes, and it had reached a situation where I have you and you have me.

"Through Jinyiwei and Dongchang, the first emperor has already found out the conspiracy of these big bosses in the court. With the temperament of the first emperor, he originally wanted to take down these big bosses immediately. It was only after discussing with a few confidants that he discovered that the five city soldiers guarding the capital The officials of Ma Si and the military officers of the three major battalions in the capital are all confidantes of the senior scholars. Once Jin Yiwei is ordered to capture the senior scholars, these soldiers and horses will rebel, and the situation will be out of hand.

"At this time, the big bosses in the court also found out that the emperor wanted to take them under the knife. How could they be caught without a fight? They immediately sent someone to contact King Ning Zhu Chenhao, and lied that the court was going to cut down the vassal. First, he would use the knife on King Ning. Then King Ning had long been coveted. The emperor, after listening to the lies of these bigwigs, and being instigated by other vassal kings, actually rebelled in Jiangxi, killed Jiangxi governor Sun Sui, and Jiangxi deputy envoy Xu Kui, raised [-] troops, and directed them to Beijing.

"King Ning's rebellion was beyond the late emperor's expectations. He had to put down his thoughts of capturing the big bosses of the court for the time being, and tried his best to put down the rebellion. However, King Ning's rebellion also gave the late emperor an excuse to leave the capital. Because the late emperor had discovered that the soldiers and horses in the capital would not be tolerated. If you want to control it by yourself, you might as well find a way to go to Nanjing, mobilize Nanjing's army in the name of countering the rebellion, and take the opportunity to take down the big shots in the court and their disciples.

"After the late emperor made up his mind on this idea, he left the capital in the name of his own conquest. The big men in the court who had been trying to prevent the late emperor from leaving the capital before were uncharacteristically agreed. In fact, they wanted to use this opportunity to assassinate the late emperor. The vassal kings they were connected with came to Beijing to inherit the Datong.

"It's just that although King Ning was very powerful, he met a great figure in this dynasty, that is, Lord Wang Shouren. King Ning was defeated by Wang Shouren's plan to surround Wei and save Zhao. He was also captured by Wang Shouren. At that time The first emperor had already left Beijing and ordered the offering of prisoners in Nanjing. Those big men in the court did not expect that King Ning's army would be defeated so quickly, and they were in a state of confusion for a while. It's just that they had already made a plan to murder the emperor. If it was revealed, everyone would Being punished by the Nine Clans was because they put all their eggs in one basket and decided to attack in Nanjing.

"It's just that although the first emperor lost control of the soldiers and horses in the capital, Jinyiwei and Dongchang were in the hands of the first emperor. At that time, Qian Ning had been convicted and sent to prison, but Jiang Bin, who succeeded him, was even more cunning and was regarded as a thorn in the side of the court officials. The thorns in the flesh must be removed quickly. With the masters of Jinyiwei beside the emperor, it would be difficult to kill him. So they colluded with Liu Shengzongyan and set up an ambush in the tomb of King Xingxian in Huguang. Then they pretended to be Xingxian The king intended to rebel, forged weapons and armor in the royal tomb, and hid the jade seal of the kingdom.

"After the first emperor received the secret report, he ordered Jinyiwei to investigate the matter thoroughly. At that time, Yun Feiyang, the deputy commander of Jinyiwei, and Xu En, the chief eunuch of Dongchang North Town Fusi, were in charge. They sent Jinyiwei and Dongchang's most capable experts to Anluzhou, Huguang. , and convened a large number of people from the rivers and lakes, divided into several groups to carry out a surprise attack on the place where King Xingxian made and buried weapons and armor. But these news are all false, and the main purpose is to transfer all the masters around the late emperor. After the famous Jinyiwei, Dongchang's masters and Jianghu heroes entered Anlu Prefecture, they were suddenly attacked by Liu Sheng's killers who had already ambushed in various places, and almost the whole army was wiped out. Died by the sword of Liu Shengzongyan. It's just that Yun Feiyang had received a secret report from Jin Yiwei in advance that someone intended to harm the late emperor in Nanjing. Yun Feiyang was very wise, and immediately realized that he might have been fooled, so he brought a few masters Go back to Nanjing first.

"It's just that the conspiracy against the late emperor has been launched at this time. When Yun Feiyang led people to Nanjing, the late emperor had already suffered serious lung injuries due to falling into the water. He couldn't even speak, so he had to be escorted by Jin Yiwei and Dongchang After returning to the capital, he passed away not long after. Several scholars from the imperial court went to the Palace of Compassion and Ning, and persuaded the Queen Mother to make a decree, summoning King Xingxian to succeed him. The Queen Mother had no idea, and was persuaded by these people. Issued a decree to summon King Xingxian to Beijing quickly. In fact, the queen mother did not know that when the first emperor was sent back to the capital, King Xingxian had already gone outside the capital and was hiding in a very secret place. Even if the queen mother disagreed, King Xingxian To inherit the great rule, the bigwigs in the court are also determined to let King Xingxian into the palace, and let him inherit the great rule, so that everyone can be safe."

(End of this chapter)