King of Han Dynasty of Ming Dynasty

The palace of the King of Han.

With a bang.

Zhu Gaoxu slapped the stone table heavily, and stood up from the couch with a sullen face. He stared at Ji Gang standing beside him and shouted angrily:
"What do they want to do?"

"Do you think the imperial court is unfair in selecting officials?"

Zhu Gaoxu shouted angrily toward the door, "Someone, hurry to the East Palace and tell them that we have an urgent matter and need His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to come and discuss it."

"Yes! I will do it right away."

Outside the courtyard gate, a servant girl bowed respectfully, turned around and ran towards the door.

After the servant left, Zhu Gaoxu stared coldly at the Jinyiwei commander-in-chief Ji Gang who was standing close to him with his tiger eyes, and said in a deep voice:

"Ji Gang."

"Didn't the prince and I give you many instructions in the Hall of Supreme Harmony yesterday?"

"Did you ask me to keep a close eye on the things happening in front of me these few days, and be careful of any changes in the entire Yingtianfu City?"

“Why can this happen?”

"Three Mohist disciples who had just taken up the post of the Ministry of Personnel were beaten to death by students who were causing trouble."

"Three people!"

"Still on the street. Do you know what this means?"

"This is not an attack on the Mo family, this is a slap in the face of me and the prince!!"

"Is this how you fulfilled your promise in front of both me and the prince?"

Angry roars and questions rang out.

Ji Gang's body suddenly softened and he knelt down, cold sweat pouring out of his forehead. He didn't know what to say for a moment.

Heaven and earth conscience!
As for what happened right now, Ji Gang never dreamed that some people could be so bold. He thought that at most they would just insult and criticize, but he didn't expect that some people would really dare to hurt people and take several lives without knowing the severity of the situation.

When Ji Gang learned the news, his first reaction was that the sky was falling!
Because of what happened in the court yesterday, Ji Gang, a shrewd man, knew better than anyone how much importance the King of Han and the Crown Prince attached to those Mohist disciples stationed in the Ministry of Works.

结果
These were the people whom the two men had repeatedly warned and valued very much, but three of them died in his hands.

to be frank.

Ji Gang also feels bitter about this matter!
how to say?

After all, he was a person who had an overall view of the situation, so he certainly couldn't do everything personally. The focus of his work was actually on monitoring the civil and military officials who attended court yesterday, because in his opinion, the place where problems were most likely to occur was bound to be the side of these powerful people. Therefore, he handed over the promotion of officials from the Mohist school to his subordinates.

God knows.

This was the place he thought was most likely to go wrong, but he didn't find anything abnormal. Instead, such a big thing happened in the place he thought was least likely to go wrong.

It really caught him off guard.

"answer me!!"

Seeing that he remained silent, Zhu Gaoxu slammed the table again with a "bang", and looked back coldly with his tiger eyes.

Seeing this, Ji Gang knew that it was useless to play the ostrich at this time, so he had to bite the bullet and look back, carefully admitting his mistake:

"This matter is my fault."

"I have betrayed the trust of His Majesty and the Crown Prince, and failed to fulfill the promise I made."

"I have no reason to defend myself. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

"Haha..." Zhu Gaoxu sneered and shouted angrily: "Ji Gang, do you think that you are the emperor's henchman and his majesty's close minister? Do you really think that I can't touch you?"

"You want to shut me up with words like this?"

"Know the crime and punish it?"

“Is this an attitude of admitting one’s mistakes, or an attitude of admitting guilt?”

"You must know that this is not the answer I need or want."

"certainly……"

"You can also pretend to be ignorant in front of me when you know the truth."

"But don't worry, I will just say this right here."

"Don't be complacent and take it for granted."

"In the entire Ming Dynasty, I am not bragging, as long as I want to move, at least at this stage, there is no one that I cannot move."

"Don't mention that you are the commander-in-chief of the Jinyiwei. Now that the old man is not in the capital, even if I chop you off, what do you think the old man can do to me?"

"If you don't believe me, Ji Gang, you can give it a try and see if I have the ability to do it."

"I believe that as long as the operation is done properly, the beheading of you, the Jinyiwei commander-in-chief who has made many enemies, should be a result that many people are very willing to see. I am afraid that many people will applaud for it."

These words were not harsh enough and were actually a naked threat.

Ji Gang, who was kneeling on the ground, was stunned on the spot. His head, which had been lowered, suddenly raised up in shock and looked back with a look of fear and panic on his face. His heart couldn't help but start to beat nervously.

If someone else said this, Ji Gang might have sneered at it and regarded it as a complete joke.

But, since these words came from the mouth of Han Wang Zhu Gaoxu, people had to be serious and take them seriously. After all, when others say such words, they are probably just threats and scares at most.

Judging from the character of Han Wang Zhu Gaoxu, under the current circumstances, Ji Gang really didn't dare to treat his words as just a threat and to scare him.

After all, during this period of time, he had been getting along with Zhu Gaoxu and witnessed the things Zhu Gaoxu did. Ji Gang did not dare to doubt at all that Zhu Gaoxu was telling lies.

In fact, when Zhu Gaoxu goes crazy, he can really do something amazing.

Moreover.
Although he was the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a second-rank official in the court, exercising power and supervising the world on behalf of the emperor, and had great power in his hands, and was trusted and loved by the emperor, this identity was indeed extremely noble and enviable in the eyes of outsiders.

But Ji Gang was not a fool. He knew that although his status was noble and enviable, it was not enough when compared with Zhu Gaoxu, a real prince. After all, as a close minister of Emperor Yongle, he knew better than anyone how high the real status of Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu was in the heart of Emperor Yongle.

Don’t think that the crown prince is Zhu Gaoxu.

It was only that the present crown prince Zhu Gaochi held the title of eldest son of the legitimate wife. Even with this title, the position of crown prince almost fell on Zhu Gaochi.

At the same time, Emperor Yongle is now in his prime, and there is still so much time left. God knows what changes will happen in the future.

Will the original position of crown prince fall into Zhu Gaoxu's hands again?

Ji Gang did not just make this idea up, he actually knew it better than anyone else. Especially over the past few months, the series of actions taken by Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu had actually raised Zhu Gaoxu's status in the heart of Emperor Yongle.

Thinking of this, Ji Gang's anxiety became even more serious. He lowered his head and shook his head repeatedly, hastily defending himself:

“No, no, no.” “Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty, please calm down.”

"I have absolutely no such intention, absolutely no such intention!"

"I beg you, Your Majesty, to learn from this."

Having said that, he no longer dared to hide it and continued anxiously:
"Your Highness, all the students who participated in the fight and committed the crime have been arrested by the Royal Guards. I am absolutely not biased towards anyone, and I will definitely not let anyone go. I am just waiting for your order to deal with them."

Da da da.
At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard, interrupting Zhu Gaoxu's words. Both of them looked towards the place where the sound came from. What they saw was the crown prince Zhu Gaochi, sweating and panting, trotting in from outside.
"Second child"

"What's going on with you? What do you mean?"

"What big thing happened? You called me here in such a hurry."

Seeing the person coming, Zhu Gaoxu withdrew his gaze from Ji Gang and turned to look at the prince in front of him. He handed over the handkerchief on the table and pointed to the tea that had been prepared on the table, saying:
"okay."

"Boss"

"Wipe your sweat first, drink some water and then we'll talk about it later!"

In response, the prince was not polite. He reached out to take the handkerchief and wiped his sweaty forehead. Then he took the warm tea on the table and drank it like a cow. He simply calmed his restless thoughts. After a long while, he spoke again:
"Okay, that's almost it."

"Tell me, what happened?"

"Let's stop hiding things, brothers."

Seeing that the prince had calmed down his restless thoughts, Zhu Gaoxu pointed to the letter on the table, tapped it lightly, and said:
"Look at it!"

“It’s all recorded here!”

"See how bold and cruel some people are, and how little they regard the imperial court."

"You are so self-righteous. You take the court's preferential treatment for granted."

"How can I not see my own position clearly?"

Hearing the anger in the words, Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but look sideways slightly. With a suspicious look on his face, he reached out and picked up the letter on the table, curiously examining it and browsing through it. When he saw the words and content, Zhu Gaochi's eyes darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye, and murderous intent rose between his brows.

At this moment, he finally understood why Zhu Gaoxu was so angry.

Not to mention Zhu Gaoxu was furious about this matter. Even though he was a good man who rarely got angry, he was so furious at this moment that he wanted to pick up a knife and kill someone, let alone the King of Han Zhu Gaoxu.

"boom"

Afterwards, after reading the contents of the letter, Zhu Gaochi slapped the table hard, his face livid and he roared:
"What exactly do they want to do?"

"In broad daylight, in the open, they dared to kill people in the streets. Who gave them the courage? Who gave them the confidence?"

"What?"

"Where are the thieves who participated in the crime?"

"Have they all been arrested?"

This is said.

Ji Gang, who was kneeling on the ground, came back to his senses in an instant and said repeatedly:

"Reporting to His Royal Highness, arrest...arrest them."

“Everyone was arrested.”

"Just waiting for the judgment of His Majesty the Prince and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

After receiving a definite answer, Zhu Gaochi turned to look at the King of Han beside him, frowned and pondered for a moment, then asked in a deep voice:
"Second child"

"What are you going to do with these people who have been arrested for committing crimes?"

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked at Ji Gang who was kneeling on the ground and shouted:

"Ji Gang, you are the commander-in-chief of the Jinyiwei, and you should be very familiar with the laws of the Ming Dynasty."

"According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, what crime should these people be charged with?"

“What should be done with these people?”

"Tell me what you think."

After these words were spoken, everyone in the pavilion focused their attention on Ji Gang, who was kneeling on the ground. Feeling the gazes on him, Ji Gang was stunned for a moment, raised his sleeve to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, and spoke carefully:

"Replying to Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, the murderer must pay with his life. This is an eternal principle."

"but."

At this point, Ji Gang paused, his expression suddenly changed, his words became hesitant and urgent, and he forced out a smile that was uglier than crying, and replied:

"The Jinyiwei arrested more than 20 people involved in this incident."

"The people who were beaten to death, and who beat them to death, even they themselves couldn't clearly explain."

"So many people are involved, and they are all students from the Hanlin Academy."

"Your Highness, if we behead all these twenty people, will it..."

After saying that, Ji Gang quickly buried his head deep in his chest.

In this matter, it's not that he, the leader of the Jinyiwei, was kind-hearted or that he didn't dare to kill so many people. It's just that the law cannot punish the masses!

None of the more than 20 people could give a clear answer as to who had killed him.

For this reason, he beheaded all the twenty-odd people. He was really afraid that it would cause some unnecessary troubles. After all, God knows who are the people behind these people!
Once things get serious, it will be really not fun.

At that time, it would certainly alarm Emperor Yongle who is far away in Mobei. If he is questioned, it would be something he would not be able to bear.

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu's expression changed. He was certainly not a fool, so how could he not understand Ji Gang's implication and concerns? However, he did not immediately express his opinion on this matter. Instead, he looked at the prince beside him and asked:
"Boss"

"Ji Gang has said everything he should say. How do you plan to deal with this matter?"

"Let it go or kill it?"

Zhu Gaochi was stunned for a moment, his eyes swirling around. After a long while, he came back to his senses. His anger calmed down a little, and he said hesitantly:

"Second child"

"How about we go and meet these daring students first?"

"Let's see how they react. Is there something we don't know about this matter? Or do they feel any regret?"

"We will discuss and determine their crimes later?" (End of this chapter)