The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 201 Unexpected Power

In the evening, the ministers who had attended the morning court were brought to the Wuying Palace one after another and were also locked up in several scattered side halls.

When these civil servants were half-captured and half-invited into the palace, they knew that the emperor must have made up his mind to launch a de facto coup to complete the decision to change the crown prince.

When they met in the palace, some officials just shook their heads silently, some officials cried and laughed, and some officials kept muttering to themselves.

"To abolish the elder and enthronize the younger is the way to chaos, the way to chaos!"

"How can this be good..."

However, some officials have already faced the reality.

"The present is different from the past. If the princes, regardless of age, have not made any achievements and are only relying on the emperor's favor, then deposing the eldest and enthroning the youngest is a natural way to cause chaos.

"But now the King of Wu has won a great victory in the Northern Expedition and has made great contributions to recovering his homeland and old capital. His reputation among the people is also at its peak. Establishing the King of Wu can actually avoid civil strife."

"Your Majesty has obviously made up his mind and is ready. It is useless for us to continue to oppose..."

But more people still can't accept it:
"If the eldest son is deposed and the youngest son is enthroned, where will the eldest son be placed? How will the King of Wu choose his own heir in the future?"

"The King of Wu has no heir yet. How can the world be at peace?"

"If we resist together, can His Majesty dismiss us all?"

"Yes, without us, the entire court will come to a standstill. How will His Majesty handle court affairs?"

"If the common people down below can call for a rest, we can also call for a rest together!"

These officials thought the emperor would meet them immediately, but they were left alone until the next morning.

The old emperor didn't want to announce the important matter at night and wanted to wait until the next day.

Fortunately, the emperor did not intend to kill them directly, and asked the guards to prepare hot porridge and bedding for them, otherwise a large number of old bureaucrats would have frozen to death that night.

It was not until nine o'clock the next morning that they were driven by the guards and gathered again in the main hall of Wuying Palace.

Normally, not all the main officials of the court would be present at the morning court, but now they are all here.

Everyone who had stayed up all night, whether they had slept or not, was not in a good mental state, and their clothes were a little indecent.

But now no one cared about unimportant things, and everyone was waiting for the emperor to announce his final decision.

After everyone arrived, the old emperor walked into the hall with a group of guards and sat on the throne.

Regardless of whether the officials at the scene had any opinions about the emperor or not, they instinctively bowed and greeted him at this time.

No one immediately jumped out to argue with the emperor. They even stopped their previous discussions and waited quietly for the emperor to announce his decision.

The old emperor did not hesitate and asked the accompanying guards to read out the prepared imperial edict.

The first imperial edict changed the title of Crown Prince Zhu Jiancan to Prince of Liang, and ordered him to choose a time and place to build a vassal palace and then take up his fiefdom.

Generally, when demoting someone, one must list the problems, whether it is ability, identity or moral level, and it is necessary to clearly state why the person should be demoted.

But this imperial edict had none of that, and even gave some praise, saying that the emperor had a good sense of the overall situation, knew when to advance and retreat, was wise, mature and polite, etc.

It was also specifically stated that regardless of whether the Prince of Liang was enfeoffed or not, he would have an annual salary of 30,000 silver dollars, which was three times that of an ordinary prince.

But no matter what the content of the imperial edict was, it still deposed Zhu Jiancan from the position of crown prince.

The core content of the second imperial edict was to enthrone Prince Wu Zhu Jianxuan as the crown prince.

First, the king of Wu was praised for his good character, then it was explained that his inventions and creations had made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty, and finally it was explained that the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains was a great achievement in rebuilding the country, so he was made the crown prince.

The group of officials at the scene listened attentively to the end and knew that the old emperor had made up his mind and that it was useless to oppose it at this time.

However, only a few people bowed and accepted the order. Most people just stood there in silence.

What some officials said last night was recognized by many officials.

You can also call for a break or go on strike.

If the emperor dismissed all these people, let's see how he would handle government affairs next. Now it is just a direct silent confrontation.

Some people even couldn't accept the reality and jumped out to loudly accuse:
"Deposing the eldest and enthroning the youngest is the way to chaos. Your Majesty, please revoke your order!"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is kind-hearted and has good conduct. Why did Your Majesty change the heir?"

"The Crown Prince has done nothing wrong, so he cannot be deposed. This is a chaotic order, and we, the ministers, will not obey it!"

The old emperor waved his hand expressionlessly:

"Those who disobey orders and have no respect for the emperor will be dismissed from their posts and exiled to the Falkland Islands."

A few more people couldn't bear it anymore and chose to bow their heads and accept the order, but they still accounted for less than a quarter of the total number of people on the scene.

At the same time, several people knelt down and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, please think twice..."

The old emperor lost his last bit of patience and asked the guards he brought with him to step forward.

All officials who refused to obey orders and those who knelt on the ground in opposition had their official uniforms stripped off.

Some ministers struggled and continued to clamor, saying that it was not advisable for the old emperor to depose the eldest son and enthrone the youngest son, while others silently accepted this fate.

But most of the officials were waiting to see how the government would be handled after the old emperor dismissed them all.

At this moment when everything seemed settled, two guards rushed into the hall in a panic:

"Your Majesty...an emergency..."

The old emperor subconsciously thought that something had gone wrong, and instinctively put together in his mind what had happened from yesterday to today, and at the same time asked the guards to come to him and report the situation.

A guard handed his sword and pistol to his companion, then ran to the emperor's desk and reported:

“Your Majesty, a group of workers called Xie surrounded the Yingtian government office and demanded that the Yingtian governor release the leaders and members of the civilian workers’ gang who were arrested a few days ago.

"The soldiers in charge of the Yingtian Prefecture Yamen don't know how to deal with this. Your Majesty, please give us some instructions..."

Among workers from all walks of life in the city and its surrounding areas, there are various non-governmental organizations named after certain gangs, certain associations, or certain behaviors.

The unemployed people on the streets, land thugs and other people may also join this kind of organization.

They often become the main force of the "Xie Xie" and "Qi Xing" activities, and may be the ones who rush to the front to confront the boss or the government. These people and the leaders who organize the "Xie Xie" activities are easily arrested and detained by the government.

After the old emperor knew what was going on, his worries immediately dissipated.

It wasn't that there was something wrong with my arrangements, but that an accident happened.

The prefect of Yingtian Prefecture was also a high-ranking official of the imperial court, and he was also arrested and taken to the Wuying Palace. Of course, he was unable to handle these matters on the spot.

These workers now attacked the Shuntian Prefecture government office but could not find the Shuntian Prefecture governor.

The old emperor thought for a while and decided to calm the emotions of the workers' gang members first:

"You go back immediately and release the people these workers are demanding. At the same time, demand that they immediately disperse and go back to their respective jobs. Otherwise, I will punish them severely!"

The old emperor immediately wrote a note and asked the guards to take his orders back to do the work.

But not long after the guard left, two more guards ran in, both of them were injured:
"Some workers rushed into the Jinyiwei Yamen station and released the prisoners who were temporarily detained by the Jinyiwei."

When the old emperor heard the second piece of news, he immediately felt that something big was going to go wrong.

The Jinyiwei Yamen was actually breached. This time, these workers were not just asking for a break, they were actually rebelling!
Under normal circumstances, an order should be issued immediately to send troops into the city to control these rebellious workers.

However, the low-ranking officers were unable to command the army, and they did not know whether the senior officers would obey them completely or would take advantage of the chaos to coax the workers into rebellion.

The old emperor hesitated for a few seconds, but decided to try a conservative strategy:

"Let all the guards guarding the Jinyiwei Yamen enter the Imperial City and rely on the imperial city's walls to defend and wait for reinforcements.

"Find a way to get out of the city to Shuntian Prefecture and summon the King of Wu to lead his troops south to defend the king immediately."

The old emperor once again wrote an order note himself and asked the two guards to go out and do the work immediately.

The old emperor's sense of crisis was very accurate, and soon bad news from all sides was delivered to him one after another.

The government offices of Yingtian Prefecture, Shangyuan County and Jiangning County were successively broken into by the workers.

The members of the Workers' Union who were detained in the government office were released, and many other ordinary prisoners were also released.

Now the streets inside and outside the walls of Yingtian Prefecture are full of workers gathered together.

The situation in and around the city seemed to be out of control.

Now the entire Ming central court, as well as the entire Yingtian Prefecture, including the Jinyiwei and other administrative agencies, all major officials are under house arrest in the Wuying Palace by the old emperor.

The imperial court and various government offices in Yingtian Prefecture were basically in a semi-paralyzed state.

The low-level guards arranged by the emperor could barely control these government offices to maintain daily operations, but they were unable to deal with emergencies.

It was too late for the emperor to personally command all the government offices.

This obviously contributed to the chaotic trend in the city.

However, it was impossible for the emperor to release the heads of various government offices. That would be like letting a tiger return to the mountain, and all the efforts would be in vain.

Who knows which side they will be on when they get out?
It would be even more troublesome if they took the opportunity to lead the workers in rebellion.

Even if they do not join forces with the workers, even if they suppress the rebellious workers, it is hard to say whether the next step will be to target them.

The old emperor felt that the ultimate goal of these workers' unrest was to increase their wages, and even if they were causing damage, the most they would do was to destroy the city of Yingtian.

If the main officials of the court were released, it might trigger a coup and civil war throughout the Ming Dynasty.

The key point is, who knows whether these unruly people were organized and instigated by these officials?

The emperor considered it for a long time and finally decided to let the workers make trouble for the time being.

We will wait until the King of Wu’s army arrives to support him.

The old emperor always asked the guards to come to him to explain the situation, and the officials under the Wuying Palace could not hear clearly what the guards reported.

But looking at the guards' condition, some were in a panic or were injured, so I knew something had happened outside.

The officials who had been stripped of their official uniforms watched coldly. The officials who had previously chosen to accept the imperial decree to change the crown prince began to worry and struggle. Some could not help but ask the emperor about the situation:

"Your Majesty, what happened to us? What do you need me to do?"

The old emperor was not sure whether the troublemakers outside had anything to do with them, and naturally did not want to waste words with them. He directly ordered the guards to lock these people up in several side halls and arranged for the guards to guard them day and night.

Even those who had chosen to accept the change of crown prince would continue to be detained in the side hall of Wuying Palace.

We have to wait until the King of Wu's army arrives and takes control of the situation in Yingtian Prefecture before we can formally send them to the Falkland Islands or release them.

Then he ordered most of the guards in the Forbidden City and the Imperial City to guard the walls of the Imperial City.

The eunuchs and maids in the palace were ordered to go to the warehouses in the imperial city to move important materials such as grain and coal into the Forbidden City.

The imperial city's Xiao Wall is just a circle of relatively tall and thick courtyard walls, and its defensive capabilities are very limited.

The inner walls of the Forbidden City are typical wide walls made of rammed earth and bricks, with horses able to run, troops transported, and artillery mounted on the top.

Outside the Forbidden City, in the Imperial City, there are a large number of warehouses that supply the Forbidden City’s daily consumption materials.

Zhu Jianxuan’s original King Wu Laboratory was converted from a warehouse.

There is unrest in the city now. If the rebellious workers attack the imperial city, the city walls may not be able to be defended.

We must move the necessary supplies for life into the safer Forbidden City as soon as possible.

The old emperor did not take the rebellious common people outside seriously, thinking that they would never amount to anything.

As long as he relied on the Imperial City and the Forbidden City and held out until the King of Wu's army arrived in Yingtian Prefecture, all problems would naturally be solved.

The old emperor knew that the weapons of the main army of Wu State had been upgraded, and it would definitely be unilaterally suppressed against the main army of the Ming Dynasty, not to mention the rebellious people.

It only took Fei Chun four or five days to travel from Yingtian Prefecture to Shuntian Prefecture by steamship.

The King of Wu's army had just been fighting for a year, so they should be able to organize themselves immediately, and it should only take a few days to reach Yingtian Prefecture.

You only need to stick to it for half a month to a month.

(End of this chapter)