Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 236: The First Case of "Rebellion" in the Taichang Dynasty

In a state of surprise, joy and confusion, Zuo Guangdou took some time to figure out what was going on.

Then he couldn't help but be shocked: "Nearly a hundred scholars were arrested today, and there are still thirty-two on the list?"

If this were not the case, how could he have made up for his rank by moving up to 288th?

It was a happy event for Zuo Guangdou, but it was a bolt from the blue for the nearly 10,000 candidates who were still in the capital.

Of course, there is surprise, anger, fear, and anxiety mixed in.

Although there were only about a hundred scholars, during this period of time, they were preparing for and taking the exams in the capital. Fellow townsmen, old friends, and new acquaintances... it was actually a major change that affected almost everyone.

Zuo Guangdou met and talked with at least a dozen of them.

One more thing to note: this doesn't seem to be the end.

After all, they had arrested some before, and now it seems like they have “confessed” them?

If we let someone pass the exam and then have it withdrawn, will it implicate more people?

The Ministry of Rites was of course aware of this problem, and Zhu Guozuo was like being fried in a pan of hot oil.

"Minister Wen, there is still the palace examination, as well as the joint examination in February next year and the palace examination in March. There are already so many candidates in Beijing, and after a while, the new candidates from the provincial examinations will also arrive in Beijing one after another. The scholars are discussing..."

Zhu Guozuo felt very aggrieved now. He had not been qualified to go before the emperor and feel his anger before. He really did not expect that Shen Shixing would come back with an order to arrest people, remove names, and hold by-elections.

Now Shen Shixing just looked at him with a dull look, and then said faintly: "I'm old."

"…Minister of Literature?"

Shen Shixing stood up with great effort, leaning on the back of the chair, and slowly paced towards the courtyard of Wenhua Palace.

Li Dai looked at him with deep eyes. Shen Shixing's figure and desolate demeanor were too strong.

This is of course because the disturbance this time is so huge.

"There's no need to worry about what the scholars say. Half of the Beijing troops will be divided into three groups and sent to the local areas. Why should we worry about what the scholars say?" Shen Shixing was holding onto the door frame at the entrance of the palace, looking up at the sky blankly.

Zhu Guozuo stood there in a daze.

"...Why is it so?" Even Li Dai had just heard the news. He stood up and rushed to Shen Shixing's side. "After all, it's just some rumors..."

"Just?" Shen Shixing sighed, "Yes, in fact, it was just some rumors. However, it caused more than 3,000 clan members to rush into the governor's office and beat to death a provincial official on the spot."

"Since the Chu Emperor has suffered such a change, why did Your Majesty mobilize the army and send the Beijing garrison away from the capital? All the vassal states were horrified when they heard about it, but Tian Shumi did not dissuade them?"

Shen Shixing closed his eyes tiredly, as if the light in the sky was too dazzling.

"It's different now. Your Majesty is not the Supreme Emperor." Shen Shixing turned around and looked at the two of them.

Under the Jinxian Academy were the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, the Imperial College in Beijing, the Imperial Academy in Nanjing, the Taichang Temple, and the Honglu Temple.

"When I return home, no matter which of you two takes the position of Grand Secretary, or if Your Majesty has someone else in mind, I have a piece of advice for you."

Li Dai and Zhu Guozuo were shocked: After Shen Yikuan, is Shen Shixing also determined to leave?

"…Minister Wen, why has it come to this?" On the surface, the two pretended to be confused.

Shen Shixing shook his head and said, "This piece of advice is also very simple: since Your Majesty is determined not only to maintain the status quo, a mediocre person like me, Shen Shixing, cannot be a good Grand Secretary."

Hearing his words that were derogatory towards himself, Dai Li felt mixed emotions.

Of course they understood that the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat was in charge of the nation's culture and education, and when he was in front of the current emperor, he could not just be a peacemaker.

"Officials and gentry of the whole country pray for the Prime Minister to take charge of the central government..."

"This is a great sin! A great sin!" Shen Shixing's voice became a little higher. "Officials and gentry in the world can only pray to Your Majesty! Thunder and rain are all grace from Your Majesty! Increase in salary and exemption from punishment, is it always like this? Do we have to see rivers of blood before we understand the relationship between rulers and subjects?"

Today, Shen Shixing finally figured it out.

This does not mean that the so-called "public opinion" can be ignored. If it were not necessary to care about it, then Shen Shixing would not have been invited back.

But now that the Beijing Army can be deployed to the local area, it means that this part of the "public opinion" can be ignored. Therefore, it is time for Shen Shixing to leave.

Confucianism will certainly have a new look, and how can this process not involve blood and fire?

However, some people think that they can try some things by taking advantage of the fact that the emperor is concerned about the chaos among the royal family and vassal states.

Would the emperor be concerned about the rebellion of the royal family and vassal states?
Shen Shixing thought about the emperor's decree to bestow favors on the clan, the emperor's insistence on conferring titles on the three marquises and five earls, the Changming Company that the nobles and relatives had joined together with the emperor, and the commander of the Jinyiwei who had recently disappeared in the capital...

Watching Shen Shixing sitting back at the desk and starting to write his resignation, Li Dai and Zhu Guozuo looked at each other, then bowed and left.

It was only after they received the imperial edict and arranged the tasks that they rushed to Wenhua Hall to ask Shen Shixing. However, they did not expect that Shen Shixing would convey such important news.

After leaving the Forbidden City and arriving outside Chengtian Gate, we saw people from the Five Cities Army and Horses patrolling the streets.

In addition, eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department announced the emperor's orders in plain language in every inn, every guild hall, every side street, and every temple inside and outside the capital.

"The authenticity of the bloodline of the King of Chu has not yet been determined, and Your Majesty is about to make a personal judgment on the family affairs. Therefore, the Dingyuan Marquis deposited money and land with the Chu vassal state. Now it has been found out that it was a traitor who spread rumors and caused chaos. When the scholars were preparing for the exam, those who boasted about their words and deeds have now been found to have ulterior motives. Within a few months, the rumors spread to all provinces, causing panic among the vassal states. It caused the Chu vassal royal family to riot in the Huguang Governor's Office, beat the governor to death, and seriously injured the official. There were people behind the scenes who instructed and fanned the flames."

"It is to make the Ming Dynasty more worried, and to hope that the court will think twice about whether to implement the preferential treatment!" "The Chu vassal has no intention of rebellion. Those who want to rebel are some greedy gentry!"

"I can only tell you scholars one thing clearly: this is a major case of treason!"

"I will only tell you this once. Since you are here to take the exam, just prepare for it peacefully and don't let yourself be used by some traitors with ulterior motives!"

The only people to whom this decree was conveyed were the scholars who had come from other places to take the imperial examinations in the capital and who were staying overnight in various places.

The content of this decree is terrifying.

This was the first time that something was clearly characterized as treason.

In the first year of Taichang, the Cheng family in Jiangyou robbed and destroyed grain and killed the transport soldiers. That was not treason; hundreds of gentry in Jiangnan were involved in a major case, but that was not treason.

In the second year of Taichang, the policy of pardoning the guilty was strictly enforced, and those who surrendered themselves were exempted from punishment. There were so many cases in various parts of the Ming Dynasty that were "written off" after the stolen money was returned, and they were certainly not cases of treason.

However, this year some scholars talked too much about Chu Fan's affairs, saying whether the King of Chu was an illegitimate child, whether the King of Chu's palace had hidden more than 10 million taels of silver, and that this matter was treason.

Since it is treason, those involved will be guilty of an unforgivable crime, and it is a serious crime that will implicate their families.

Outside the capital, in the Beijing Camp, the military examination had just ended, and the soldiers of the Beijing Camp were preparing for the camp-wide competition in October.

I thought that just like in previous years, if I could rank among the top 100 based on my ability, I would be favored by the emperor and be incorporated into the mysterious Tianshu Camp.

But after the order was passed down, the three battalions that ranked in the top three last year were used as the foundation, and three armies were formed. Each army had 6,000 people, and they were about to march to the local areas, which was called a training march.

Each route had a lieutenant general, under whom were two guerrillas and generals of varying ranks; accompanying each route heading south was also a military inspector from the Military Discipline Inspectorate, a staff officer from the Privy Council, and one general each from the Zhifang Hall and the Wuxuan Hall.

These people have now arrived at the Privy Council in Wuying Hall for a meeting.

Privy Councilor Tian Le, Deputy Privy Councilors Li Wen and Wen Chun, Minister of War Jian Da, and Li Chengliang were all here.

"Deputy Minister Wen will go straight to Nanjing." Tian Le said solemnly, "This training is still considered a competition, but it is not to send you to the local areas to quell rebellions and make contributions! Deputy Minister Wen is in charge of military discipline in the military selection. This is a marching exercise. If you can avoid harming the people wherever you go, have a neat military appearance, and march on time and have full personnel, then you can be called an elite soldier!"

He looked at the lieutenant generals, guerrillas, and captains of the various armies, and after a brief pause, he said, "To put it bluntly, let all the locals know that the Beijing camp is ready. As long as Your Majesty gives an order, the Beijing camp will appear where it is needed. They will fight when ordered and obey orders. This trip is just to show up in the local areas. Do you understand?"

"I will finally understand!"

They understood that it was actually just going to a place to scare people.

But who can say for sure whether they will really take action or whether there will be no chance of meritorious service?
Anyway, we must be able to fight when ordered. This is a must.

The first thing that can be confirmed at present is that Your Majesty has specially prepared the treasury for this purpose, and the amount required for the march is not a small amount. After returning, the rewards that should be given are also not a small amount.

The generous rewards after the Beijing Camp competitions for two consecutive years have already made them look forward to it: Your Majesty is a man of his words.

"Go back and count the troops, and explain things clearly to the soldiers! On the first day of October, His Majesty will personally come to the south of the city for inspection, and we will set out after the ceremony!"

The mood in the capital began to become tense first. At that time, the emperor's characterization of some gentry as plotting a rebellion had not yet spread.

Wang Zhizhen had just arrived in Jiangxi.

In Jiangxi, if the King of Jing had not moved to Huguang, there should have been four vassal states.

But after the rebellion of Ning Wang Chenhao, the Chu vassal, nowadays in Jiangxi only has Yi Wang in Jianchang Prefecture and Huai Wang in Raozhou Prefecture.

Now, Prince Yi Zhu Yizhu had just passed away and was given the posthumous title of Xuan. The Prince Yi's palace was still in mourning, and Prince Yi's son Zhu Changqian trembled in fear in front of Wang Zhizhen.

"Since the news of Chu Fan has reached here, the prince has also understood the meaning of His Majesty asking me to come here in person." Wang Zhizhen looked at the 43-year-old Prince Yi and emphasized again, "The authenticity of Chu Wang's bloodline is one thing, and the integration of the vassal states with the country is another. Now, in order to strictly implement preferential treatment, the Yi Wang Mansion should not be instigated by the local people to cause the same disaster as Chu Fan again."

"Don't dare, don't dare..."

"Please select your trusted envoys to come to the capital as soon as possible. Your Majesty has always wanted to help all the vassal states find a way out. Previously, you selected the Shu, Chu, and Lu vassal states as a first try. The prince is in Jiangxi, so he has naturally heard of Changming. This time, the ministers proposed to reform the clan salary, and Your Majesty will eventually find a way to reassure all the vassal states."

“Naturally, naturally…”

The Prince of Yi did not dare to show that he was disobedient at all. Who knows how many people the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard brought with him?

He had to wait until he had completed his mourning period before he could peacefully inherit the throne of King Yi.

At this moment, another vassal king of Jiangxi, Zhu Yiju, had just turned eighteen years old.

Wang Zhizhen first arrived in Jiangxi. Although there had been a rebellious Prince Ning here, it was easier to appease him, or rather, to command him to stay.

After arriving at Jianchang from Raozhou and visiting the two vassal kings in Jiangxi, he was about to go to Huguang.

The emperor ordered him to go to Jiangxi first, so he naturally did not ignore the vassal kings in Henan and Shandong, which were closer to the capital and much more obedient.

The vassal kings in Shanxi and Shaanxi are very close to the border troops, so there is no need to worry too much.

The most important ones are the vassal states in the three provinces of Jiangxi, Huguang and Sichuan.

There are many vassal kings in Huguang. In addition to the King of Chu, there are still the King of Min, the King of Xiang, the King of Jing, the King of Ji, the King of Rong, and the King of Gui, plus the Prince of Huayang who was transferred from the King of Shu to Huguang.

The various vassal states in Huguang are probably the most frightened right now.

Wang Zhizhen was absolutely right. When a team of warships led by Chen Lin docked outside the city of Wuchang, the entire city of Wuchang was on high alert.

I’m afraid that the Chu clan members will think that I’m here to quell a rebellion!
(End of this chapter)