Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 346: The Prime Minister stabs the Qingliu in the back and arrests the Imperial College’s chief academic officer!
Zhu Houcong summoned Qin Wen from the East Factory and Shi Bao from the Northern Pacification Office and asked, "Has the Grand Secretary of Justice done anything unusual recently?"

"Your Majesty, the Grand Secretary suddenly went to the Jiangxi Guild Hall last night!"

"Not only the Grand Secretary of Justice, but also the Grand Chancellor, the Grand Constitutional Prince, and the Priest Wu Gong also went to the Jiangxi Guild Hall. However, because the guild hall requires a badge to enter, our people are spies, so it is difficult to force our way in. In addition, the people inside are all managed by the villagers, so it is difficult to place them there, so we have no way of finding out what they did inside the hall."

Qin Wen replied at this time.

"So many senior officials went to Jiangxi Guild Hall."

Zhu Houcong muttered to himself and looked like he was thinking seriously.

At this time.

Shi Bao also said, "Your Majesty, the Jinyiwei people have discovered that the Grand Secretary has been close to the people from the Imperial College recently. To be more precise, the people from the Imperial College have been hanging out with everyone recently, and have also been in contact with Prince Yi's people in secret."

After Shi Bao said this, Zhu Houcong frowned.

There were many scholars and officials involved in Prince Ning's rebellion, so Zhu Houcong could not help but wonder whether those bureaucrats and officials who were unwilling to obey his will would also use Prince Yi as the second Prince Ning to deceive him.

to this end.

Zhu Houcong then instructed Qin Wen, "Send a secret message to Lu Bing, asking him to strengthen surveillance of Prince Yi, including Prince Yi's relatives!"

Qin Wen bowed and said yes.

Then, Zhu Houcong instructed Shi Bao, "Keep a close eye on the Imperial College. If necessary, you can recruit spies among the students of the Imperial College and tell them that if they can help the court solve major cases, I will commend them and grant them favors."

Shi Bao also nodded in agreement.

then.

Zhu Houcong came to the Imperial Study and asked Yang Yiqing and other officials in the Imperial Study who were listening to the announcement, "How do you plan to draft this petition from the Ministry of Justice?"

"Your Majesty, the cabinet has discussed it and thinks it should be delayed."

"The Ministry of Justice dared to go against the emperor's will, whether it was voluntary or forced, which shows that someone outside the court is stirring up trouble, and the courage of this person to stir up trouble comes from either the northern barbarians or the southern Japanese."

"Because since ancient times, all the traitors in the world have been those who nurtured the enemy to gain power."

Yang Yiqing said at this time.

Zhu Houcong nodded.

"His Majesty!"

"The Ministry of War just received a report saying that about fifty Japanese pirates, wearing red clothes and wearing yellow caps, led a group to attack the Da'ande Gate of the Southern Capital, and burned, killed, and looted in the Jiagang area. More than a hundred people were killed or injured, and hundreds of shops and houses were burned. The commander Wang Jun and Qianhu Wen Heng died in the battle!"

"Nandu is in danger!"

At this time.

Wang Qiong handed a report from the Ministry of War to the emperor.

Zhu Houcong and the ministers present were all greatly shocked.

The red clothes and yellow umbrella mean that this is the real Japanese.

The appearance of fifty real Japanese in Nando, one of the most prosperous thoroughfares in the world, and the wanton killings would naturally cause great panic and would be equivalent to a heavy slap in the face of the Ming Dynasty court.

After all, it is in the inland Nandu! The garrison in Nandu is second only to that in the capital!

But although Zhu Houcong was stunned, he was not surprised.

Because he remembered that this happened in history.

Therefore, after Zhu Houcong received the report, he frowned and asked: "Fifty Japanese pirates were able to invade the Southern Capital, and one commander killed a thousand households in battle. What are the Nanben soldiers Zhu Xizhou and the garrison Wei Guogong and other official troops doing?"

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

"This matter is not that simple. Fifty Japanese pirates were able to penetrate deep into Nandu and suddenly appear. Even if the Nandu official army is incompetent, they can only do this with the help of powerful internal support!"

"Undoubtedly, this is a demonstration to the court by the big families in the South who are dissatisfied with Your Majesty's strict ban on sea trade, the opening of the imperial merchant system, and the inspection of the East. This time, fifty Japanese pirates suddenly appeared in the Southern Capital."

"Then next time, who knows, tens of thousands of Japanese pirates might appear outside the southern capital and attack the Xiaoling Mausoleum."

Wang Qiong spoke in a deep voice at this time.

then.

Wang Qiong continued, "Your Majesty, as Yuan Fu just said, those who have always resisted the court either colluded with the northern barbarians to hold the court hostage, or colluded with the Japanese pirates to hold the court hostage! Generally speaking, if the court wants to do great things and rectify the world, it will offend the northern party gentry and then there will be trouble from the barbarians, and if it offends the southern party gentry, there will be trouble from the Japanese pirates! During the Zhengtong period, the elite troops of the Beijing camp were captured by Yesen before they even left the border. Isn't this the help from the inside?"

Wang Ao said at this time: "Fortunately, Your Majesty has strengthened the central military power and is not afraid of the scoundrels."

At this point, Wang Ao bowed to Zhu Houcong and said, "Your Majesty, I ask the Ministry of War to immediately dispatch elite troops from the capital to the south."

"Mr. Zhenze is confused!"

"We can't mobilize troops at this time!"

Yang Yiqing shouted at this time.

Wang Ao couldn't help but be stunned.

Wang Qiong, who was familiar with military affairs, immediately followed up and said, "That's right. We can't mobilize troops at this time. First, if 50 Japanese pirates force Your Majesty to send out a large army, it will embarrass the court again. Second, Xiang Zhuang's sword dance is aimed at Pei Gong. If we mobilize troops at this time, we will fall into their strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao!"

"Because once the troops are transferred south, there is a high probability that there will be no major chaos in the southeast, but the court will have wasted a lot of food, fodder and money. At the same time, in order to avoid chaos in both the north and the south, a compromise will have to be made, and the recent Zhang Yin case will implicate Marquis Wu Ding and the two uncles-in-law. Behind the two uncles-in-law is Empress Dowager Zhaosheng. Once Empress Dowager Zhaosheng is involved, the harem that Your Majesty has managed to stabilize with great difficulty will also be in turmoil."

After Wang Qiong said that, Wang Ao suddenly realized: "Your Majesty, what Wang Gelao said is right. I am too concerned and confused, and I didn't think so much."

"It doesn't matter!"

"Those who can enter the Imperial Study are all people I trust and rely on. How can I be harsh on them?"

Zhu Houcong then asked: "Then according to your opinion, how should this matter be handled?"

Zhu Houcong had to admit that allowing fifty Japanese pirates to suddenly appear in Nando and killing a commander of a thousand households was indeed a way for the big families in the south to show off their muscles and threaten him as the emperor.

As Yang Yiqing said, if there are fifty people this time, then next time it may very likely be five thousand or even tens of thousands.

If we send troops there, they will prevent chaos in the southeast.

If I don't send them, they will cause chaos in the southeast.

In short, the main point is that you either have to watch the chaos in the southeast or waste millions of military expenses going south.

The thought of this.

Zhu Houcong was also very angry.

Therefore, he asked these ministers.

He didn't believe that these ministers in the Imperial Study really had no way to deal with these wealthy families in the south.

"The key lies in whether the southeast will be in chaos because of these southern tycoons manipulating the Japanese pirates!"

"The key to whether it will happen or not lies in whether the inspection of the East Ocean is successful or not."

Yang Yiqing replied at this time.

Zhu Houcong nodded after hearing this: "It seems that they dare to do this because they believe that the inspection tour to Japan will not succeed."

Speaking of it.

Zhu Houcong sneered and relaxed, and said, "I know why they think the inspection of Dongyang will not succeed. They just think that the minister I sent to inspect Dongyang has become their internal support, but in fact, they have been deceived by me!"

After hearing this, Yang Yiqing and others did not ask them why they were cheated.

"But we can't let them know that they have been deceived, otherwise we won't be able to find out who is behind the scenes manipulating the court push!"

"I will make these people and those big families in the south suffer a great loss this time!"

Zhu Houcong said at this point: "So, you should just bring up the matter of the Japanese pirates invading the Southern Capital and let the ministers discuss whether to send troops!"

Yang Yiqing and others bowed in agreement.

But this time.

Yang Yiqing suddenly said, "Your Majesty, if this is the case, I request that Wu Jing, the chief priest of the Imperial College, be arrested!"

"Why arrest him?"

When Zhu Houcong heard that it was an official from the Imperial College, he immediately became excited.

Yang Yiqing said: "He forged a piece of evidence that I caused the late emperor to fall into the water. He slandered me! He even tried to threaten me, the Prime Minister, to work for him and become their Prime Minister!"

"Because no matter whether this is true or not, as long as they bring it out and spread rumors to the world, I will never be able to clear myself of this even if I jump into the Yellow River! After all, the emperor only saw me, an opposition minister, on the eve of his drowning!"

"How dare you slander the Prime Minister and ruin my government? Order the Royal Guards to arrest this person immediately and interrogate him severely!"

Zhu Houcong was not interested in asking whether this was true or not, but since Yang Yiqing chose to turn against Wu Jing, the person who disrupted his government, after he said that the inspection tour to Japan would not go wrong, he would naturally arrest this person immediately.

(End of this chapter)