Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 295: The princes were sent to the capital in chains, and Jiajing sent his own troops to deal with the dukes and marquises!
In the main hall of Qianqing Palace.

The ministers Fei Hong and Wang Qiong from the Imperial Study and the eunuch Huang Jin from the Imperial Household Department all held their breath and did not move.

Only the candlelight in the hall kept swaying in the autumn wind, and on the golden pillars in the hall, human shadows were drawn.

suddenly!

On the golden pillar, a figure suddenly grew larger.

Then, the square object in the figure's hand fell to the ground with a plop.

"Rebellion!"

At the same time, the knees of the ministers in the Imperial Study and the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department in the main hall also fell to the ground.

After Zhu Houcong threw the memorial away, he looked out of the hall with his eyes spitting fire.

Coming from later generations, he thought he had already gotten used to the identity of Emperor Jiajing.

But when he learned that the bureaucrats under him treated ordinary civilians like non-human beings and slaughtered them at will, he realized that he was different from the emperors of this era.

He would still get angry about it, so angry that even the ministers were surprised by his anger.

This also made him realize that he was, after all, an ordinary person from later generations, and he would still regard the ordinary people's position as his own.

Let’s talk about this, at this time, outside the palace.

The autumn wind is chilly and the setting sun is blood-red.

It seemed as if countless cries were echoing between the vermilion walls and red tiles, along with the sound of sea water hitting the city walls under the force of tides.

It's really creepy and makes people even more annoyed.

Zhu Houcong had to turn his gaze back into the hall.

then.

Zhu Houcong squatted down and handed the two memorials to Fei Hong and Wang Qiong: "Take a look! Stand up and take a look!"

The two men bowed and nodded, then hurriedly stood up, took the memorial, and read it carefully under the candlelight.

"I dare not refuse the labor of defending the sea borders, repaying the emperor's kindness, and protecting the people."

"What else can you say? Although he is treacherous and jealous, his king is virtuous and his country is upright, so he can rely on my great blessing to win this great victory!"

"If it weren't for Lord Liang's secret report, would I have to give him the title of Duke for his role as Marquis of Fu Ning in suppressing tens of thousands of bandits, and also give him the title of Earl for his strategic strategy?"

As Zhu Houcong spoke, he bared his teeth and sneered.

Subsequently.

Zhu Houcong then said, "I don't know where they got the confidence from to think that I would trust them to wipe out tens of thousands of bandits. If they could wipe out so many bandits, why didn't they have any deterrent power during the previous civil strife among the chieftains in Guangdong and Guangxi?"

After saying this, Zhu Houcong sat back and waved his hand:
"I don't care what kind of marquis or governor he is, including those princes who tried to dissuade me before, as long as they are against me, then I will be against them!"

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

"I think this matter must be handled strictly, but Funing Hou has been guarding Guangdong and Guangxi for several years. If we want to deal with him, we must send loyal and reliable soldiers!"

"And if we need to send a large army, the closest troops to the emperor's personal guards are the Xuanwu Guard Liu Hui troops sent to Changde to monitor Prince Rong."

Wang Qiong spoke first at this time.

Zhu Houcong said: "Then send Liu Hui and transfer him to be the general of Guangdong and Guangxi!"

Zhu Houcong continued, "It's time to settle the matter of the princes Huai, Rong, and Qing interfering with government affairs!"

Zhu Houcong was talking about the previous incident in which a group of princes pleaded for the Qingliu people.

Originally, Zhu Houcong had basically replaced the important officials around them and sent troops to wait for them to rebel.

However, since these people had never rebelled, and Zhu Houcong was busy dealing with those who plotted to murder Imperial Physician Zhou, those involved in the navy construction, and those who opened mines in Korea, he had not yet dealt with these people.

just now.

When Wang Qiong mentioned this, Zhu Houcong also remembered this matter, and looked at Fei Hong and Wang Qiong, saying:

"Their attitude at the time was as if if I didn't forgive the guilty officials, they would rebel against me, so I had no choice but to let you take charge of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War, and send people and soldiers to monitor them."

“In the end, they didn’t rebel!”

Zhu Houcong said with a sneer: "Since they didn't rebel, then I won't rebel!"

The two of them couldn't help but look up and glanced at Zhu Houcong.

What does "I won't rebel anymore" mean?
Does Your Majesty really want to rebel?
But who are you rebelling against, Your Majesty?

Rebellion against your own Zhu family?
Just when Fei Hong and Wang Qiong were puzzled, Zhu Houcong spoke again: "It's time for me to deal with them."

"First, send a secret order to the governor of Huguang and the generals who have been transferred there, and ask them to arrest these Rong princes who are interfering with internal affairs first! Send them to the capital in chains!"

"At the same time, tell Liu Hui to send someone to deliver Prince Rong's weapons to the capital, and then go to Guangdong and Guangxi immediately to secretly arrest Funing Marquis Zhu Qi and his accomplices!"

Zhu Houcong ordered.

Fei Hong said at this time: "Your Majesty, the fact that Marquis Funing can do such a thing in Guangdong and Guangxi shows that many bureaucrats in Guangdong and Guangxi are controlled by him. In my humble opinion, sending Liu Hui may not be enough to stabilize Guangdong and Guangxi while arresting Marquis Funing Zhu Qi and others, so as to prevent Guangdong and Guangxi from causing chaos. I think we should issue a secret decree to let Yang Ge Lao go to Guangdong and Guangxi, let him preside over the military and political affairs of Guangdong and Guangxi first, and temporarily appoint the relevant vacant official positions left after the arrest of the corresponding bureaucrats."

Zhu Houcong nodded: "This is a proper strategy!"

then.

Zhu Houcong instructed Huang Jin: "As for arresting Xu Tingguang, let Zhu Qi of the Pacification Office arrest him after he arrives in Nanjing."

Huang Jin nodded in agreement.

And this time.

Fei Hong added: "The court has always needed to have a legitimate reason to deal with officials and civilians, and it cannot violate the imperial constitution. Although the arrangements have been made, there must be a reason to punish them. Otherwise, even if a secret order is issued to arrest them, it will be difficult to announce to the public what crime they have committed."

"After all, it is only Lord Liang's one-sided statement that Marquis Funing and Xu Tingguang were conspiring to massacre the fleeing Tanka people who were recruited. The court does not have enough evidence that the great victory he reported is not true."

After Fei Hong said this, Wang Qiong followed up and said, "I can raise doubts in the name of the Ministry of War, and then ask for permission to send someone to investigate, but the investigation will definitely make them alert and prepared, and it will be difficult to find evidence at that time."

"fine!"

"There are other crimes to punish them!"

Zhu Houcong smiled coldly as he spoke.

It was September 15th, the fourth year of Jiajing.

Zhu Houcong had just arrived at the Zuoshun Gate for the noon court session. Yan Xing, the eunuch who was transferred here to stand guard, was pushed by Jinyiwei Luo An. He then walked through the ranks of civil and military officials waiting for the court session and came towards the imperial carriage with his hands tucked into his sleeves.

It was the first time for all the officials to see such an unruly little eunuch walking around at the solemn moment when the emperor was about to attend court, so they all frowned and stared at Yan Xing.

Soon, all the officials saw Yan Xing pull out a dagger in his hand.

The eunuch Gu Dayong, who was leading the imperial carriage, saw this and shouted, "There's an assassin!"

The Jinyiwei on both sides immediately ran towards Yan Xing.

The response was quick.

Many court officials did not see clearly what was happening, they saw Yan Xing being pressed to the ground, and a shiny dagger fell on the gold brick next to him.

"Why do you want to assassinate me?"

Next.

Half a quarter of an hour later, Zhu Houcong sat on the throne inside Zuoshun Gate and asked Yan Xing in a calm and composed manner.

Yan Xing replied: "It was Funing Marquis and Chief Censor Xu Tingguang who told me to do this. I don't know why I did this."

The court officials were immediately shocked.

Zhu Houcong asked again: "Why do you listen to them?"

"They forced me to do this through my uncle, and I had to listen."

"Now that the plan has failed, I only wish to die quickly!"

Yan Xing then kowtowed.

"His Majesty!"

"I accuse Zhu Qi, Marquis of Funing, and Xu Tingguang, the Left Vice Minister of the Nanjing Ministry of War, of treason!"

Zhao Huang reacted the fastest and immediately stepped out to play.

Zhu Houcong stopped him from continuing and ordered in a deep voice: "First, throw this man into the imperial prison, and the Pacification Division will immediately arrest the family members of Funing Marquis Mansion!"

"Yes!"

Shi Bao, an official from the Pacification Division, stepped out and responded, then withdrew.

Zhu Houcong also announced the end of the court on the grounds that he was in a bad mood due to the assassination.

Most of the ministers were still in panic and naturally did not dare to advise the emperor to continue the noon court to show his diligence. After glancing at Zhao Huang, they all bowed and left.

That night.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard raided the Funing Marquis’ mansion in the capital and found a large amount of evidence.

After seeing the evidence, Zhu Houcong ordered Fei Hong and Wang Qiong:

"Submit these evidences to the Three Judicial Departments, and then immediately draft an edict to Yang Yiqing, asking him to quickly deal with Funing Hou and take Xu Tingguang away. Gather all the officials from Guangdong and Guangxi who are ruining my great cause in Nanhaiwei and execute them, to show my determination to comfort the boat people in Guangdong and Guangxi and strengthen the navy!"

Fei Hong and Wang Qiong were now full of admiration for the emperor.

Because they didn't expect that the emperor had already prepared a way to deal with Funing Hou and Xu Tingguang, and he had been holding back just to see how the two would perform.

It was obvious that the performance of the two men disappointed the emperor, which made him finally make up his mind.

The two of them were naturally impressed by the emperor's tolerance and scheming, but they were also more afraid, and worried that the emperor might have already prepared a way to deal with them.

The two thought it would be better to be obedient in the future.

The closer you are to the king, the more you must not be careless and you must not think that you completely understand the king.

"Yes!"

After answering, the two returned to the cabinet.

Zhu Houcong ordered: "Tell Yan Xing that he has done a good job. I will not skin him alive. I will leave his body intact and let him accompany his uncle in the underworld!"

"Yes!"

Gu Dayong responded here.

Zhu Houcong stood up, put his hands behind his back, walked out of the hall, and looked at the dark blue sky.

When the Jinyiwei went to arrest Uncle Yan Xing, Uncle Yan Xing had already been silenced.

However, the Embroidered Uniform Guards still searched Uncle Yan Xing's home carefully and found a diary in which Uncle Yan Xing recorded borrowing money from the Funing Marquis' Mansion to repay his debts.

This made Zhu Houcong start to suspect that Uncle Yan Xing's plan to assassinate him was related to Marquis Funing.

However, Zhu Houcong did not choose to act rashly at the beginning in order to avoid chaos in Guangdong and Guangxi.

Now that this has happened, he no longer cares about anything else. Compared to the chaos in Guangdong and Guangxi, the key is to prevent others from ruining his cause of strengthening the navy.

Because the place is in chaos, there will always be a day when peace will be restored.

After all, everyone in the world, whether they are dignitaries, officials, or even ordinary people, likes stability.

But once the great cause of strengthening the navy is compromised and abandoned, there will be no chance to start over again.

Let’s talk.

After seeing Xu Tingguang off, Zhu Qi returned to Guangzhou Prefecture, waiting for Zhu Ying to come and report to him, and also waiting for the imperial court to reward him for his achievements.

Zhu Qi didn't think the emperor would know that he had killed an innocent person and taken credit for it.

Because they had the endorsement of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Xu Tingguang, and the officials of Huguang were also on the same page as them, they would never submit a memorial to reflect the facts just for a few boat people.

The only thing that worried Zhu Qi was that Liang Chu in Shunde would report to the emperor.

But Zhu Qi had always sent people to keep an eye on Liang Chu near the Liang family.

According to his understanding, Liang Chu has not sent anyone to Beijing in these years.

Therefore, Zhu Qi felt that Liang Chu had no intention of interfering in local government affairs in order to avoid suspicion.

But after returning to Guangzhou, Zhu Qi still asked his son Zhu Ji: "Is there any movement from the Liang family?"

"Nothing happened."

Zhu Ji replied.

Zhu Qi smiled slightly: "That's good! Liang Shunde is indeed a man who knows how to protect himself. I thought he was really loyal and dared to report the local situation to the emperor regardless of the consequences."

Zhu Ji also laughed and said, "He was just pretending in the court. Everyone in the world knows that he is as timid as a mouse. Apart from lending money at low interest rates in Shunde County because of the emperor's order, he did not dare to use his power to supervise the government!"

"Go to his house and leave a note, saying that your father wants to arrange a date to meet him."

Zhu Qi said, "Since he abides by the rules, we should respect him. Who knows when your majesty will think of him and send someone to ask him about it. He can also say something good for us and let his father continue to guard Guangdong and Guangxi."

Zhu Qi knew that what he did in Guangdong and Guangxi would eventually come to light. Several previous inspectors had begun to impeach him, but the court did not touch him because of the internal strife among the chieftains in Guangdong and Guangxi at that time. But it was possible that he would be transferred away next and let him return to Nanjing to retire. After all, Xu Tingguang had already been transferred.

But Zhu Qi didn't want to go back to Nanjing.

to him.

Nanjing is not as comfortable as Guangdong and Guangxi.

Not only does he have power in Guangdong and Guangxi, he can also make a fortune through smuggling and accumulate merits by killing innocent people.

In Nanjing, not only did you not have much power, but if you wanted to make some money you had to be wary of the eyes of the censors.

The key point is that it is not that easy to kill innocent people and take credit for it.

Nanjing is a place with well-developed transportation. Not to mention the massacre of an entire village, even the killing of a person could be reported to the capital through the canal in half a month.

Unlike Lingnan, which has many mountains and forests and poor transportation, if a few villages were massacred, it would sometimes take several days for the Guangdong Censorate to find out about it.

After receiving Zhu Qi's order, Zhu Ji ran out.

But not for a while.

Zhu Ji ran back and shouted to Zhu Qi with an angry look on his face:

"Dad! Wang Hong killed Zhu Ying and also skinned the Portuguese he had placed in Dapeng!"

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(End of this chapter)