Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1251 Vigilance
In a side hall of the Qianqing Palace, after Hong Chengchou and the others left, Zhu Shenzhui did not continue working as usual, but sat quietly, seemingly lost in thought.

After a long while, Zhu Shenzhui's voice rang out.

"Lu Jiude!"

"The slave is here!"

"Go! Bring Wu Mengming to me."

"yes……."

About half an hour later, footsteps sounded outside. Lu Jiude informed the emperor that Wu Mengming, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had arrived.

Zhu Shenzhui called him in, and Wu Mengming quickly entered the side hall. Upon seeing the emperor, he immediately knelt and bowed.

Zhu Shenzhui glanced at Wu Mengming, then, without telling him to get up, asked directly, "Are you aware of the Yellow River breach?"

"Your Majesty, I am aware of the matter and have already sent people to Huaibei to investigate it," Wu Mengming replied hastily.

Zhu Shenzhui nodded slightly. Although Wu Mengming was of average ability, he was quite serious and meticulous in his work. Moreover, he had no powerful backing and was promoted by Zhou Anmin. Back then, Zhu Shenzhui considered that it was inappropriate for Zhou Anmin to have been in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for so long. So, for Zhou Anmin's sake, he specially found an opportunity to take away his position as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and then made Wu Mengming the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Over the years, Wu Mengming has held this position fairly well, barely managing to get by. Most importantly, he is obedient and knows who his master is, so he can be considered a decent dog.

"Get up." Wu Mengming raised his hand and got up from the ground, standing to the side with his hands hanging down.

"Regarding the breach of the Yellow River dike in Huaibei, you must send more people to investigate carefully and find out for me as soon as possible how the dike breached, what the main cause was, and who is primarily responsible!" Zhu Shenzhui instructed.

Wu Mengming nodded in agreement, and then tentatively asked, "If it is verified, would we need the Embroidered Uniform Guard...?"

"No need!" Zhu Shenzhui warned, "You just need to investigate. You don't need to do anything else. Someone else will handle it."

"Your Majesty, I understand. I will personally go to Huaixi," Wu Mengming replied hastily.

Zhu Shenzhui was quite satisfied with his attitude, and then said, "There is another matter. Pick some good people and have them thoroughly investigate the Ministry of Revenue and Yang Sichang for me."

Wu Mengming was taken aback, and a chill ran down his spine. He hadn't expected the emperor to entrust him with this task; it involved the Ministry of Revenue and Yang Sichang!

Although the Embroidered Uniform Guard wielded considerable power and enjoyed even greater notoriety among the common people, even inspiring fear at one point, the Embroidered Uniform Guard of today is not the same as it once was. During the Tianqi era, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's power was terrifying. Wei Zhongxian not only controlled the Eastern Depot but also directly controlled the Embroidered Uniform Guard; imprisoning someone was merely a matter of a word from him.

However, the Embroidered Uniform Guard no longer wields such power. After Zhu Shenzhui ascended the throne, considering the practical situation, he began to dismantle the Embroidered Uniform Guard and established the Police Department. Currently, the Embroidered Uniform Guard is effectively divided into three parts: one is the Police Department, responsible for maintaining public order; another is responsible for external intelligence, namely intelligence on vassal states outside the Ming Dynasty and overseas; and the last part is the original Embroidered Uniform Guard, responsible for internal affairs. Moreover, it no longer has the power to arrest people directly without going through the Three Departments (the three police departments). It can be said that it has gradually evolved into an intelligence agency.

Zhu Shenzhui believed this separation was absolutely necessary. After all, the Jinyiwei (Imperial Bodyguard) held too much power and its targets were too obvious, which would hinder future development and the emperor's control over intelligence. Appropriately splitting the Jinyiwei would not only allow the imperial power to extend from the central government to the local levels through the police department, thereby controlling information channels and ensuring public order in local governments, but also, since the police department also had some military functions, this would allow the central government to use this opportunity to check and balance local power and strengthen direct control.

As for intelligence, it has become more specialized, divided into internal and external parts. All of these are under the control of Zhou Anmin, and the current commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Wu Mengming, is essentially similar to the later Director of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs, which is different from the previous Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Even so, Wu Mengming was still greatly alarmed when he heard that the emperor had ordered him to investigate the Ministry of Revenue and Yang Sichang. The Ministry of Revenue was one of the Six Ministries, a central institution of the court, and Yang Sichang was not only the Minister of Revenue but also a Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty's cabinet. This was no ordinary person. Why did the emperor want to investigate him?
Thinking this to himself, Wu Mengming dared not refuse and quickly agreed. However, Zhu Shenzhui noticed the change in his expression and said calmly, "Do this matter seriously, carefully, and cautiously! Do you understand?"

A bead of sweat appeared on Wu Mengming's forehead. He quickly replied that he understood and would investigate according to His Majesty's wishes and produce results as soon as possible.

Zhu Shenzhui didn't say much more. Since he had finished giving his instructions, he let him leave. Wu Mengming bowed and left. After he left, Zhu Shenzhui's expression remained solemn. He got up and paced around the room a few times. Feeling somewhat stuffy, he thought for a moment and then left Qianqing Palace and went to the garden of the inner palace.

Although it was summer, the north was still cooler than the south. The hottest part of the afternoon had passed, and Zhu Shenzhui was strolling in the garden. A slight breeze made him feel much more comfortable.

After walking around for a while, he casually found a place to sit down. Lu Jiude was about to have tea served when Zhu Shenzhui waved his hand in refusal, telling Lu Jiude and his men not to get too close to him and to give him some peace and quiet.

Sitting under the shade of a tree, with the sound of cicadas chirping all around him, Zhu Shenzhui's mood improved considerably. His discomfort today wasn't solely due to the Yellow River breach. Although it was a major event, the cause of the breach and subsequent disaster relief efforts were all governed by court regulations; he simply needed to investigate step by step.

If the problem lies with someone, it should be dealt with according to the law. Those who need to be punished should be punished, and those who need disaster relief should provide relief. This is a normal procedure. What makes Zhu Shenzhui uncomfortable is Yang Sichang's underhanded actions and intentions today, which makes Zhu Shenzhui extremely vigilant.

Judging by the timeline, Zhu Shenzhui has been on the throne for more than ten years now. If we include his entry into the capital to seize control of the government during the Jingnan Rebellion and his subsequent appointment as regent, the time will be even longer.

Over the past ten years, Zhu Shenzhui believed that even if he did not have the same great talent and ambition as Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, he was not much different from Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di, and even better.

After all, although Zhu Di was good at fighting, he was not good at governing the country. Moreover, even when he fought, Zhu Di failed to completely subdue the Mongols despite several campaigns against them, and ultimately died on his last expedition to the Mongolian steppe.

Zhu Shenzhui, however, used the Tumet and Chahar to suppress the entire Mongol region, and personally went to Guihua City to hold an alliance meeting, making all the Mongol tribes acknowledge the Ming Dynasty's suzerainty and express their submission to the Ming Dynasty. This alone was something that Zhu Di failed to do.

Not only that, Zhu Shenzhui also quelled the domestic rebellions of bandits and recovered Liaodong, completely eliminating the threat of the Jurchens. Furthermore, the Ming Dynasty's economy gradually recovered from its chaotic state. In recent years, with economic improvement, stable livelihoods, and increased national strength, although there were no voyages like Zheng He's, the establishment of three major fleets, especially the completion of the ocean-going navy, coupled with the granting of fiefdoms to members of the imperial family, signaled that the Ming Dynasty had begun to expand outwards and compete with Western countries for global influence.

It can be said that under Zhu Shenzhui's leadership, the Ming Dynasty underwent tremendous changes in the past decade or so. The entire country showed signs of revival, even showing signs of surpassing the prosperity of the Yongle era. This was something Zhu Shenzhui was proud of. In order to implement various policies, Zhu Shenzhui also did a lot of work in the court, one of which was to use various means to solve the problem of the Donglin Party. The complete collapse and disintegration of the Donglin Party made subsequent policies proceed very smoothly. However, no one expected that only a few years later, a new faction of upright officials would emerge in the court, faintly resembling the Donglin Party of yesteryear.

Yang Sichang's actions today made Zhu Shenzhui extremely wary, especially the hidden purpose in Yang's reply, which angered Zhu Shenzhui even more.

Zhu Shenzhui was no fool like Zhu Youjian; he wasn't so easily fooled. He saw through Yang Sichang's tricks clearly and guessed his intentions.

Although Yang Sichang might be using this opportunity to express his dissatisfaction with the weakening of the Ministry of Revenue's power in recent years, it's more likely that Yang Sichang harbored other intentions. With the collapse and disintegration of the Donglin Party, coupled with Zhu Shenzhui's suppression of various parties in the court in recent years, the original factional strife had long since disappeared. Although some private struggles still existed, this was normal, given the different factions, regions, and political views within the civil service, which inevitably led to such situations.

However, Yang Sichang's actions today have shown a very bad sign. If I had backed down on this matter at the time, or allowed Yang Sichang to find a suitable reason to go further, then Yang Sichang's reputation in the court would have been further enhanced. Moreover, Yang Sichang was already quite famous and called himself a member of the "pure stream" (a group of upright officials). If he used this as an opportunity to improve his reputation and status, and then gathered a group of "pure stream" officials to work for him and form a clique, then the situation would be completely different.

Zhu Shenzhui knew Yang Sichang very well. When Zhu was dealing with the Donglin Party, Yang Sichang was relatively obedient and even helped him with many things. However, although Yang Sichang was capable, he was also jealous, especially because he was extremely dissatisfied with Qian Qianyi's superiority over him. Not only did Qian Qianyi enter the cabinet earlier than him, but he also ranked higher in the cabinet. The two were always at odds, neither willing to concede to the other.

Yang Sichang's use of such methods is not only a struggle with Qian Qianyi, but also a challenge to imperial power. He intends to continue the practice of civil officials controlling the government in the Ming Dynasty, testing the emperor's bottom line step by step, and using these methods to increase his power.

This was something Zhu Shenzhui absolutely could not allow. If Hong Chengchou hadn't intervened and smoothed things over, Zhu Shenzhui might have given Yang Sichang a hard time, cornered him, or even used imperial power and the reasons Yang Sichang presented to turn the tables on him. Unfortunately, Hong Chengchou's words were too timely, and Yang Sichang was merely testing the waters before revealing his ultimate goal when Hong Chengchou interrupted him. This left Zhu Shenzhui with no choice but to go with the flow and use the opportunity to finalize the disaster relief plan.

(End of this chapter)