Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 377 Keep a Close Eye on the Civil Servants

At this time, Zhu Houzhao was trying to communicate with Crown Prince Zhu Yizhuo who was far away in Tianjin by radio.

This is considered to be the latest technology of the Ming Dynasty. Decades since Zhu Houzhao proposed the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction, the Ming Dynasty has made great progress in the field of electromagnetics. At the same time, it has also achieved in-depth research results on mechanical waves and has now invented radio communication technology. Of course, this is not unrelated to the current development of electricity in the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, we successfully received radio waves." At this time, Ni Si, a researcher from the Academy of Sciences, ran in and happily reported to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao was also smiling, and hurriedly ordered Ni Si to immediately check the translation and translate the information revealed by the radio waves, even though he actually already knew the content of the radio waves.

Not long after, Ni Si came running from the radio room again: "Your Majesty, our translation is the same as what we agreed upon in advance."

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but say, "Very good! In this way, our Ming Dynasty will finally cross the audio-visual distance in the field of communication. Ni Si, I will give you another 500,000 silver dollars to immediately establish radio technology between the capital and Nanjing!"

Ni Si nodded and said, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will definitely establish radio communications as soon as possible."

Zhu Houzhao immediately asked Ni Si to send a message to Zhu Yizhuo, but when Ni Si returned to the radio room, he ran out in a hurry and said in a panic: "Your Majesty, we just received a different message from Tianjin. The translated content is: Zhao Wenhua was beheaded by Qi Jiguang!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, wondering what was going on. How could Zhao Wenhua be killed by Qi Jiguang? Could it be that the information was spread incorrectly, and Qi Jiguang was killed by Zhao Wenhua? After all, in the original history, during the Ming Dynasty, there were civil officials who killed military generals, even those at the level of generals.

"Send a message immediately to ask and confirm whether it was Zhao Wenhua who was killed by Qi Jiguang or Qi Jiguang who was killed by Zhao Wenhua. Find out the reason. At the same time, immediately inform the emperor that one of Qi Jiguang and Zhao Wenhua may have been beheaded!"

Zhu Houzhao immediately gave the order, thinking in his heart: "Don't kill Qi Jiguang! Zhao Wenhua's death is not a pity! Qi Jiguang is a military genius. I am still counting on Qi Jiguang to march into the Western Regions and sweep across Tsarist Russia after defeating the Japanese. After all, commanders like Qi Jiguang who are good at both land and sea warfare in the north and south are rare in history. There are only a few in the two hundred years since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. If Zhao Wenhua dares to do this, I will make him be tortured to death like Yuan Chonghuan!"

But Zhu Houzhao soon regained some of his rationality, thinking that with Zhao Wenhua's current power, he could not kill Qi Jiguang. He was not stupid enough to let Qi Jiguang and Zhao Wenhua have the power to execute beforehand and report later. Sending generals to fight means doing things, and the first thing to consider is efficiency, and checks and balances are only secondary.

Anyway, here, Ni Si soon showed Zhu Houzhao the contents of a telegram: "Reporting to the Emperor, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has learned from the signalman at the post station that it was Qi Jiguang who killed Zhao Wenhua! The reason is that Zhao Wenhua owed wages, which led to the workers making trouble in the military camp, affecting the relationship between the army and the people, not to mention almost delaying military operations. In order to quell the people's grievances, Zhao Wenhua violated military discipline and should be executed according to military laws!"

Ni Si also said it himself when Zhu Houzhao was reading it, and he was secretly puzzled: "In all these years of the Ming Dynasty, I have never heard of a military general daring to kill a civil official, let alone a minister of the Ministry of Works. I don't know what will happen to Qi Jiguang, and how the emperor and His Majesty will deal with this matter."

Zhu Houzhao showed no emotion, just waved his hand and said calmly, "I understand."

But in his heart, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but sigh secretly: "Great, great Qi Jiguang! He is indeed a famous general! As the ancients said, a merciful man cannot command an army. Now I can see that if this guy really has the chance, he would dare to kill even the Minister of Works! However, this also shows that the relationship between the civil and military officials in the Ming Dynasty under my rule has indeed changed. You know, in the previous Ming Dynasty, even Qi Jiguang, who had made outstanding contributions, had to curry favor with the elders!"

Here, Zhu Zailei was discussing matters with Xu Jie at this time, and they also dared to decide to let Xu Gang, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, replace Zhao Wenhua, the minister of the Ministry of Works. Xu Jie was naturally not very satisfied with this. Although he knew that this was the decision of the retired emperor Zhu Houzhao and he could not go against it, he still said:
"The old emperor has really worked hard for the Ming Dynasty. He is nearly 80 years old but still supervises the government affairs. He even personally supervises the appointment of officials in charge of engineering construction. It seems that this time the destruction of Japan will be foolproof."

Zhu Zailei naturally knew that Xu Jie had ulterior motives in his words. He was trying to sow discord between him and his father. He was saying that his father had already abdicated but was still so involved that he even had to take care of officials of Zhao Wenhua's level.

But Zhu Zailei did not dare to say anything. After all, in front of someone who had the power to absolutely kill him, sometimes complaining and being dissatisfied were useless, and could even cause greater losses. Therefore, Zhu Zailei also flattered openly:
"The Emperor Emeritus is certainly not like Emperor Minghuang of Tang or Emperor Gaozong of Song. The Ming Dynasty is also blessed with his longevity. Otherwise, this fast-changing world would have been in chaos long ago. The Emperor Emeritus is 500 years ahead of us, and there are many things that only he can see."

Xu Jie nodded. He admitted that Emperor Zhu Zailei was right. He also knew that Emperor Zhu Zailei was helpless. "I wish the Emperor a long life!"

Politicians' words should be understood in reverse. When they scold you, they really value you and treat you as their own. When they praise you and flatter you, they are killing with a smile. Now, Zhu Zailei naturally understood that Xu Jie meant that it would be better for the emperor to leave earlier.

Zhu Zailei was not angry, he just smiled. In the eyes of others, he seemed very cowardly. He was so cowardly that he was neither angry because Xu Jie wanted his father to live longer and he had been a puppet, nor was he happy because Xu Jie actually did not want his father to live longer.

Just at this moment, an eunuch ran in and reported the news that Zhu Houzhao had asked him to convey.

"What? Qi Jiguang or Zhao Wenhua was beheaded?"

Zhu Zailei stood up in a hurry and said, "No, how did the emperor know about this? I, the Privy Council, and even the Ministry of War don't know about this yet."

"Radio. Recently His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been accompanying the Emperor to work on radio. This is the news His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sent back from Tianjin. We expect to receive an urgent report tomorrow," the eunuch replied.

Zhu Zailei then remembered that this happened. Because of the application of electricity, the emperor had been dragging his son to follow up on some scientific research these days, and had also taken him to inspect major scientific research institutions, hold commendation meetings, and even spend money everywhere, like a god of wealth. He was very popular among the masters of the Ming Dynasty whose status had become increasingly high recently, and he also envied the Confucian teachers who only made a living by relying on salaries and selling brainwashing books on ethics and morality.

Recently, my father and son have been working on some radio and a radio network. A few days ago, they compiled a unified translation, saying that it would allow people to send messages thousands of miles away and have them delivered back in an instant.

Zhu Zailei naturally didn't want to ask whether this radio technology really existed and whether it could really transmit sound over a long distance. Instead, he wanted to confirm whether one of Qi Jiguang and Zhao Wenhua was really killed. He hurriedly ordered: "Li Fang, tell me as soon as you have any news." Then, Zhu Zailei asked Xu Jie: "Lord Xu, what do you think about this?"

Xu Jie was also very surprised at first and couldn't believe it, but he said immediately: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, if this is true, it is very likely that the person who was killed was the Minister of Works Zhao Wenhua. These military officers have always been arrogant and domineering, and difficult to control. Now that they have power, they will inevitably do things that are beyond the emperor's control. Regardless of whether Zhao Wenhua is guilty or not, this is the first time in our Ming Dynasty that a military general has killed a civil official! And he killed a high-ranking official in the ministry!"

Zhu Zailei nodded. He felt that Xu Jie was right. If Zhao Wenhua was really killed by Qi Jiguang, it would really be a precedent.

All of a sudden, Zhu Zailei couldn't calm down, and he didn't know why. Although he was not sure whether this was true, he was already unsure at this time. So he had to come to the Royal West Garden and find Zhu Houzhao to see what was so powerful about this radio technology. In fact, he wanted to ask Zhu Houzhao's opinion.

"Father, can we really know what people are saying thousands of miles away through electromagnetic waves? But apart from the beeping sound, I can't hear what they are saying."

Zhu Zailei had limited knowledge of natural sciences. Although Zhu Houzhao was a science student, he only knew that electromagnetic waves could transmit information, such as the radio stations in some modern TV dramas and the telephones he used in later generations. Therefore, he did not spread these to Zhu Zailei. He only mentioned some electromagnetic concepts that he knew to the craftsmen of that era who were conducting research in this area.

Therefore, Zhu Zailei still remained skeptical about this at this time.

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "Right now, the communication technology of the Ming Dynasty has not yet developed to the point where we can hear what people are saying thousands of miles away, but I believe it will be possible in the future, and we can even see what people are doing."

Zhu Zailei didn't know why his father, who was almost eighty years old, was still thinking about something that seemed ridiculous, but he didn't know what to say. He just responded casually and asked, "My son heard from Chen Hong that your father learned from the crown prince that Qi Jiguang and Zhao Wenhua were beheaded?"

Seeing that his son, the emperor, had no interest in the telephones and smart phones that would surely appear in the future, Zhu Zailei had no choice but to change the subject and nodded:

"It has been confirmed that Qi Jiguang executed Zhao Wenhua for violating military discipline. This is constitutionally justifiable. After all, the military is special! Now it is estimated that the local civil servants will find it difficult to accept it, and perhaps the whole world will find it difficult to accept it. But this matter is not a big deal. Zhao Wenhua violated military discipline. Let alone the Minister of Works, even if he is a cabinet minister, there is no one superior to others in this world."

"Your Majesty is right. I am just wondering if you are crazy. How can you determine that the news is true based on the dripping sound? No matter whether it is Qi Jiguang or Zhao Wenhua, neither of them dares to kill the other," Zhu Zailei asked. He still couldn't believe the news in his heart.

"If you want to do something, there is nothing you dare not do. Military generals at the level of generals and civil officials at the level of ministers and chancellors, sometimes when they have the will to kill, no one can escape. After all, no one can escape the sword!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Zhu Zaile just responded perfunctorily and found an excuse to return to the palace. The news that the retired emperor Zhu Houzhao learned through the radio still made him difficult to believe.

But in the middle of the night, Li Fang, the governor of the Western Factory, hurriedly found him and said, "Your Majesty, an urgent message has just arrived from 800 miles away, Qi Jiguang did indeed kill the Minister of Works Zhao Wenhua."

As Li Fang spoke, he quickly handed the document with the Grand Seal of Defense to Emperor Zhu Zailei.

Emperor Zhu Zailei was so frightened that he sat up quickly: "This, this, this is actually true?! Radio, Qi Jiguang killed Zhao Wenhua, no wonder Xu Jie said yesterday that there is such a possibility, now it actually happened, this Qi Jiguang dared to kill the second-rank civil servant of the court! What kind of storm will this stir up?"

Zhu Houzhao had a lot of fun tonight and hadn't gone to bed yet. He was hugging a Japanese woman and kissing her, showing off his strength despite his old age. But at this moment, he heard the door outside clacking. He had to stand up and ask, "Who is it? What are you doing so late? Don't disturb the old man's rest! Come in!"

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, Zhu Zailei hurried in and bowed to him, saying, "Father, I am sorry for disturbing you so late at night. I hope you will forgive me. Father, you have the technology to transmit sound over a thousand miles. What you said is true. Qi Jiguang, Qi Jiguang really killed Zhao Wenhua! What should we do? Please decide whether to summon Qi Jiguang back to the capital to investigate the situation?"

"Why are you asking? Is Zhao Wenhua more important or is the fate of the Ming Dynasty more important? When a general is away from home, the king may not grant him orders. At this time, even if Qi Jiguang pokes a hole in the sky, he cannot touch him!"

Zhu Houzhao felt that this sentence did not conform to some people's thinking, such as which is more important, the dignity of the common people or the rise of a great power, that is, Zhao Wenhua's life is not as important as the national plan? But now from the perspective of him as the emperor and his own son, Zhao Wenhua's death is indeed not a big deal. On the contrary, it is more important to transfer Qi Jiguang back at this time to disrupt the deployment of destroying the Japanese.

However, Emperor Zhu Zailei still agreed with Zhu Houzhao's point of view. As an emperor, he was influenced by the ideas of the new era and received new education. He was able to accept the idea that all Han people were equal. But he still instinctively felt that Zhao Wenhua's life was not as important as the stable implementation of the entire Ming Dynasty's combat plan. What's more, Zhao Wenhua did violate military discipline.

So Zhu Zailei nodded and asked, "What do you think, father?"

"To cope with all changes, one must remain unchanged. Civil officials have always suppressed military officials. Now military officials are rising in places, and some even dare to kill civil officials. This shows that the civil and military officials have checked and balanced each other. As an emperor, you should not help the civil officials punish the military officials, so that the civil officials will continue to look down on the military officials, but you should not help the military officials to be arrogant. Don't take this opportunity to help Qi Jiguang punish the civil officials who took the opportunity to cause trouble. Just sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and let the civil and military officials make trouble. It's a good opportunity to see who is more powerful in the Ming Dynasty, which now emphasizes human rights in everything! Are the civil and military officials equal?"

Zhu Houzhao said as he entered the bed tent and began to have sex with the Japanese woman. Zhu Zailei had no choice but to leave and instructed Li Fang from the Western Factory: "We need to keep a closer eye on the movements of these civil servants than usual."

Li Fang agreed. He also knew that it was no small matter for a military general to kill a civil official at the Shangshu level, and he did not dare to take it lightly.

(End of this chapter)