The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 324 Ending and Punishment

Lei Xiong committed suicide.

Zhu Houzhao walked in soon after.

Looking at Tang Hao's pale and miserable face, the Emperor suddenly laughed.

Tang Hao looked at this guy unhappily, glared at him, and then laughed unconsciously.

The king and his minister looked at each other, their hearts filled with joy at surviving the disaster.

Yes, survived a disaster.

Tang Hao really almost died. If it weren’t for that powerful pill, his body would have been cold and pale by now.

Zhu Houzhao had lost this trusted aide, and there was no one to suppress the Beijing troops. Not only would the Beijing troops mutiniate, but the situation in the court would also completely collapse. The rise of military generals and nobles would be stopped, and the royal family and princes would have to be eliminated. Then, the civil officials and gentry would once again control the government.

This means that all the previous efforts made by Tang Hao and Zhu Houzhao will be completely wiped out because of this sudden change!

"so close!"

“That was a close call!”

Zhu Houzhao patted his chest with lingering fear.

"If you hadn't survived, I'm afraid we would have lost everything this time."

Tang Hao smiled bitterly, nodded, and then sighed.

"No one thought that Li Dongyang would be so unpredictable and even want to kill me!"

"Speaking of which, this is all caused by you. You insisted on forcing Li Dongyang to death. Now he is desperate and has done nothing!"

Zhu Houzhao was immediately unhappy when he heard this and complained: "Didn't I just want to solve this hidden danger?"

"Who would have thought that this damned bastard would dare to stir up trouble!"

Having said that, Zhu Houzhao immediately made a guarantee.

"Don't worry, Savage. This time, Li Dongyang will definitely be confiscated and his clan will be exterminated. He will definitely die!"

"There is also the Prince of Ning, and this Prince of Ning, Zhu Chenhao. Let's just settle accounts with them all!"

Things had come to this point, and the imperial court had no choice but to liquidate Zhu Chenhao, the rebel king.

After all, even his own son reported Zhu Chenhao for treason, so it was impossible for the Emperor to continue to turn a deaf ear and remain indifferent.

Tang Hao nodded and said, "Then let's clean up the court. After the Five Governments are re-established, the military generals and nobles will have the capital to compete with the civil officials and gentry. The royal family and princes are actually not very useful to us!"

"By the way, Tang Mu, An Guo and the others, Your Majesty, can you ..."

Tang Hao looked at Zhu Houzhao with difficulty, but did not finish his words.

Because this time the Beijing army mutinied, although Lei Xiong instigated it, the problem is that they did mutinied, and they directly mobilized troops in the capital without any imperial edict. In more serious cases, it is tantamount to treason, there is nothing to say!

However, if these military heroes were feared, suspected, or even directly suppressed by the Emperor, the rise of these military generals and nobles would become a joke.

Zhu Houzhao also understood these principles. Although he was very unhappy in his heart, he still relented for the sake of the overall situation.

"Put all the blame on Lei Xiong, so that we can shut up the officials and gentry!"

"As for Tang Mu, An Guo and others...they took away the hereditary imperial certificate. What do you think, savage?"

After hearing the result, Tang Hao finally felt relieved.

This kind of painless punishment is what he wants to see most.

The reason for the punishment is that Tang Mu and others did something wrong. To mobilize troops without an imperial edict is a capital crime. Even if all the blame is put on the dead Lei Xiong, the civil officials and gentry will certainly not let go of such a good opportunity to criticize them.

So, this is a warning and also a lesson.

Are hereditary imperial decrees important?
Of course it matters.

Without this hereditary imperial decree, the titles of Tang Mu and others would be temporary and could not be passed on to their descendants, and their titles would be gone once they died.

It's not that important.

Because at least their official positions and titles were preserved, and if they continued to follow Tang Hao to fight on the battlefield, they could easily obtain the hereditary imperial edict again.

Therefore, the mild punishment proposed by Zhu Houzhao was undoubtedly well considered.

His Majesty the Emperor Zhengde increasingly demonstrated the bearing and methods of an emperor.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Tang Hao flattered him with a smile.

Zhu Houzhao glared at him unhappily.

"It's not because of you!"

"Heal your injuries as soon as possible, and then teach those guys a lesson!"

"I can tolerate them once for your sake, but there will never be a second time!"

After these words came out, Tang Hao's expression became solemn, and he promised solemnly: "Your Majesty, rest assured, there will never be a second time!"

The two continued to finalize some details, and then Zhu Houzhao left.

His Majesty the Emperor still has a lot of things to do, and many people are also concerned about Tang Hao's injuries.

As soon as the Emperor left, Zhang Jingshu walked in holding her son and stared at her husband in a daze.

Tang Hao looked at his wife apologetically, then extended his hand to her.

Zhang Jingshu slowly walked to his side and buried her head in his chest.

"I'm so scared. What should I do if you really leave? The child is still so young..."

The beauty cried with tears in her eyes, and Tang Hao felt heartbroken.

He held his wife and children in his arms and promised solemnly: "I was tricked this time, and I was totally unaware of it, so I almost died."

"I won't do that again. I promise you, I won't do that again!"

Who knew those killers would be so despicable as to use poison arrows directly, and the kind that kills instantly upon first sight of blood!
This time, Tang Hao really went to the gates of hell and truly experienced the feeling of death!
Zhang Jingshu said nothing, silently wiped away her tears, then smiled and said: "It's good to be alive, it's good to survive!"

"My dear husband, please take good care of yourself. I will take Tuo'er back to rest first."

This is a woman who knows the big picture.

At this moment, there are still a large number of military honors waiting outside the door.

So she didn't pester Tang Hao. As long as she confirmed that he was fine, the couple would have more time to spend together in the future.

After Zhang Jingshu left, generals such as Tang Mu, An Guo, Xu Tianci, and Chen Jizu came in one after another, and then knelt down in front of Tang Hao.

"Please punish me, sir!" Without saying anything else, he knelt down and admitted his mistake.

Even though the reason they led the Beijing troops to mutiny was to avenge Tang Hao, right is right and wrong is wrong.

Not only did they lead the Beijing troops to mutiny, they also attacked the emperor's personal army, the Embroidered Uniform Guard. This undoubtedly touched the emperor's bottom line.

So at this moment all the generals were a little uneasy, not knowing how the court would punish them next.

In minor cases, the punishment is dismissal from office and loss of title, while in serious cases, the punishment is beheaded to serve as a warning to others!
Tang Hao looked at these guys coldly and started cursing at them.

"One by one, can you bear it?"

"You dare to openly attack the Jinyiwei Zhenfu Division?"

"That's the emperor's personal army! Are you guys planning to raise the flag of rebellion?"

"Why? You want to use the name of revenge for me as an excuse to make a scene and become an emperor for fun?"

Hearing these harsh and sarcastic words, the expressions of all the generals suddenly became strange.

I wanted to laugh but I didn't dare, I could only hold it back.

"You guys are so brave!"

This time, the generals really didn’t dare to laugh anymore and apologized again.

"Please punish me, Lord Marquis!"

Tang Hao looked around at the generals coldly, and finally told them the results.

"Just this once, never happen again!"

"Lei Xiong will bear all the blame, and you will be stripped of your hereditary titles as a warning to others!"

Hearing this, the generals were immediately overjoyed and smiles appeared on their faces unconsciously.

Because it has basically no impact on them.

We are all in our prime now. We can easily make military achievements by following the Marquis. Are we still afraid that we won't be able to regain the hereditary certificate?

"Thank you, Lord Marquis!"

All the generals thanked him in unison.

Of course they understood that it must be the Marquis who begged for them, otherwise they would not have escaped so easily.

"Okay, get out!"

"Calm down the Beijing Army soldiers and go do your own thing!"

The generals left obediently.

The next person to enter the ward was the Cabinet Chief Minister Yang Tinghe.

This gentry leader confirmed with his own eyes that Tang Hao was truly alive, and he finally felt relieved.

"Mr. Tang, how lucky!"

Tang Hao was also filled with emotion.

"If I die, the situation will completely collapse."

"Then Li Dongyang might even make a comeback!"

The civil officials and gentry once again controlled the government, and Li Dongyang might be able to make a comeback.

Yang Tinghe nodded silently, feeling extremely disgusted with Li Dongyang.

He was so disregarding the interests of his country and family, and only cared about his own selfish desires, that he almost brought the Ming Dynasty to ruin. Such a villain...it is better to get rid of him as soon as possible.

"Next, I hope the civil officials and gentry will not stop us and the court will start the reckoning!"

Tang Hao looked at Yang Tinghe solemnly and said, "You have also seen that if people like Li Dongyang continue to stay, it will do more harm than good to the Ming Dynasty. Sooner or later, a big mess will arise!"

"Now the court has to settle accounts with Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao, so why not clean it up all at once? What do you think, Prime Minister?"

Clean it in one go!

This simple sentence will determine the life and death of dozens or even hundreds of officials!

But Yang Tinghe also felt bored. He did not like the current civil officials and gentry, or rather, he was extremely disgusted with these selfish gentry!

Especially this Li Dongyang!

"Can!"

"I will fully cooperate!"

"I will go and explain to Wang Ao!"

"Let's take this opportunity to clarify the administration of officials!"

There was a gleam in Yang Tinghe's eyes.

He needed a clean and efficient system of civil officials to help him realize his political ambitions.

Therefore, eliminating some corrupt officials is extremely beneficial to civil officials and gentry.

The two sides reached an agreement and each gained something.

Yang Tinghe left immediately, and the person who came in next was Yang Yiqing.

As soon as the old fellow saw Tang Hao’s pale face, he immediately started to mock him, wishing that he could anger the Marquis of Zhongshan to death.

Tang Hao didn't tolerate him and scolded him when necessary. After all, Yang Yiqing was just a stinky stone in the toilet.

The two started arguing and cursing at each other, and in the end the problem came back to the soldiers of the Beijing army.

Yang Yiqing solemnly warned Tang Hao that the Beijing Army soldiers must never become his, Tang Hao's private army. The mutiny of the Beijing Army tonight undoubtedly confirmed this, and this is exactly the way to death!
Tang Hao also understood that Zhu Houzhao did not punish Tang Mu and others this time because of his face, but he must have felt wary in his heart.

"I will recommend Qiu Yue to join the Beijing Camp, and I hope you will cooperate!"

Yang Yiqing spoke in a deep voice and offered a solution.

Tang Hao nodded silently and did not reject the proposal.

There is no doubt that Qiu Yue's entry into the Beijing camp will naturally divide his power.

Qiu Yue was born a frontier general, and he had the support of Yang Yiqing behind him.

But this is good for everyone.

(End of this chapter)