The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 147

The Jiangnan area is undoubtedly the most affluent place in the Ming Dynasty, with developed commerce and rich families everywhere.

And the biggest guarantee for these wealth and prosperous businesses is not the emperor and the law of the Ming Dynasty.

It was the civil official group from Jiangnan and their disciples all over the world. This force was extremely huge, and it had always occupied the mainstream of the court, and it had always been invisible on the heads of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, subjecting them to various constraints.

They are like a paper wall, the emperor can pierce it at will, but it will be repaired immediately, and the emperor will always be trapped in it.

Tactically, the emperor controls the life and death of the civil servants, but strategically, the civil officials firmly control the emperor.

Zhengde, Jiajing, Wanli, and Tianqi are all like this. They all know what is wrong with Daming, but they can't change anything at all.

Zhengde and Tianqi refused to admit defeat, they all wanted to use eunuchs to break the situation, but in the end they all died without knowing why.

Jiajing and Wanli were more afraid of death. They hid in the palace and only dared to use civil servants to check and balance civil servants.

Although he died well, he lived a miserable life without accomplishing anything.

In fact, the best situation and the easiest to break the situation belonged to Chongzhen.

It's a pity that Chongzhen's ability is limited, and he wakes up too late.

And Zhu Cihong took advantage of the chaos and used Hong Niangzi and other rebels to subdue the generals in one fell swoop over the civil officials.

He directly controlled the military power that the emperors of all dynasties in the Ming Dynasty dreamed of, and was no longer bound by any force.

So in the past six months, the big government and businessmen in Jiangnan have actually been in a state of insecurity.

Because the civil servants who gave them a sense of security in the past have been completely marginalized by the emperor, not to mention controlling the court situation, they can't even see the emperor's face.

Zhang Yan's arrival was just to make everyone feel at ease temporarily, but the emperor's true attitude and thoughts were still unclear to everyone.

But it is certain that with today's great talents and methods, it is impossible not to know where Daming's shortcomings are, and he will definitely make drastic reforms.

Otherwise, the noble concubine would not be allowed to come to Nanjing to recruit and train troops, obviously to prepare for the subsequent reform.

Only then was the cotton cloth incident stimulated, and the anxiety and panic in my heart broke out completely, and I began to think wildly, and everyone was in danger.

Because His Majesty is not trying to reform to grab food from their pot at all, but to take all the pot away and cook for himself.

.........

Under such panic, in just half a month, all the states and counties in Jiangnan were talking about cotton cloth everywhere.

Of course, no one dared to point the finger at the emperor directly, but pointed the finger at the nobles.

Label those nobles as treacherous ministers, accusing them of bewitching His Majesty into doing business for self-interest, not doing business properly, and striving for profits with the people, so that the people in the south of the Yangtze River are struggling to make a living, and then they jointly signed their names, like tens of thousands of words in Nanjing.

For a time, the entire Jiangnan was full of excitement, as if the emperor was going to impose some kind of tyranny.

The 10,000+ spinning, weaving and dyeing workers also gathered outside Nanjing from all directions with their families.

At the entrance of the palace, countless scholars knelt down, most of these scholars came from various states and counties in the south of the Yangtze River, to petition on behalf of the people.

Where did Zhang Yan see this kind of formation?Immediately, he was caught off guard and scared to death.

What's more, I can't figure it out.

No matter how good it is, the whole Jiangnan suddenly exploded. She would never believe it if it was said that it was really caused by those nobles selling a few bolts of cotton cloth.

In Fengtian Hall at this moment.

A civil official knelt on the ground, holding a blood book, and tearfully told Zhang Yan how the public opinion in various places was turbulent. If he didn't want to come up with a countermeasure, the whole south of the Yangtze River might be in chaos.

"Loves, this matter has been reported to His Majesty. I believe His Majesty will reply soon. All my dears must appease the gentry and people everywhere, and there must be no trouble. Those people outside the city must be properly settled. You can't starve and freeze."

Zhang Yan took a deep breath and said with a haggard face.

Obviously, he has been tortured a lot these days.

"The empress dowager is merciful! The ministers and others respectfully obey the empress dowager's order!"

Everyone saw that Zhang Yan had said that, and they knew that forcing her would not be of much use. They just wanted to use Zhang Yan to show their attitude and test the emperor. Now they just need to wait patiently.

Otherwise, if you push it any further, it will be counterproductive.

After all, counting the time, the red lady should be back soon.

The reason why the gentry and businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River dared to make such a big commotion was because they saw that Zhang Yan was generous and kind, and would not use force.

And Hong Niangzi is not here, otherwise, even if they wanted to do it, they wouldn't dare to make such a big noise, let alone make it so radical.

Because at the beginning of the year, Hong Niangzi left Nanjing for Huguang, and personally organized Zuo Liangyu's millions of rabble.

After some reorganization, only 3 people were left for Zuo Menggeng to continue to lead, and the others also set up guards for them to farm in accordance with the military household model of Datong Xuanfu.

For this reason, Hong Niangzi brought a total of five thousand veterans to serve as military officers in each guard.

Hong Niangzi has also heard that Huguang Shutianxia is full, and knows that Jianghan Plain is the main grain production area of ​​Ming Dynasty.

So after the reorganization, I didn't leave, but started to inspect various places in Huguang, and didn't plan to return to Nanjing until the autumn harvest was over.

And with Hong Niangzi sitting in town in person, bandits and bandits were recruited one after another and reorganized their households to garrison fields. Officials from all over the place did not dare to collect taxes randomly, which made Huguang a rare bumper harvest this year.

Just when Hong Niangzi was busy transporting rice and rations to Henan, and was preparing to play Zhu Cihong's crusade against King Chuang this winter, who would have thought that news of Jiangnan fried pot came, and Zhang Yan called her back immediately.

This drove Hong Niang to go crazy, startled and angry.

"Zuo Menggeng, you are going to Nanyang immediately with your troops and horses, and you are not allowed to go anywhere without the order of my palace and His Majesty?"

"But empress, if the general leaves, what should I do if the thief comes from Guizhou to Huguang?"

Zuo Menggeng said weakly, obviously he didn't want to leave Wuchang.

"Where do you come up with so much nonsense? When the bandits come, they will naturally be defended by guards from all over the country. Don't worry about it. You will arrive in Nanyang within half a month, which is a violation of the military law!"

The red lady glared at him and said impatiently.

After she left Huguang, this Zuo Menggeng would definitely be transferred away, and she must not be allowed to stay in Huguang.

As for offering thieves, she has already set up capitals in Xunyang, Xiangyang, Jingzhou, Yuezhou, and Changde. She farms the fields and trains soldiers at the same time. There are millions of military households with swords and guns, so she is not worried at all.

"The last will obey!"

Zuo Menggeng's heart trembled when he was kicked by her, and he didn't dare to say a word anymore.

He knew that the red lady had always disliked him. If he hadn't been honest in the past six months and hadn't been caught by her, he might have been taken down long ago.

After returning to the barracks, Zuo Menggeng didn't dare to delay, and early the next morning, he led the army northward along the Han River and marched towards Nanyang.

The red lady made a hasty confession without any delay, took a boat with her personal guards, went down the river, rushed to Nanjing, and arrived in Nanjing in just three days and three nights.

(End of this chapter)