Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 125: Complete Settlement!

As the snow fell heavily, a cleansing of the case of the Virgin Queen Mother hidden eighteen years ago quietly began.

Led by Runqiu and Jushuang, there are palace maids and eunuchs serving in Ciqing Palace and Renshou Palace.

On the day the two deposed empress dowagers passed away, he was buried alive with them.

And this purge has just begun.

Zhang Ben and Zhang Qing are Zhang Min’s two cousins.

In the second year of the Zhengtong reign, Deng Maoqi of Sha County and Youxi in Minzhou started an uprising, and Kinmen was also affected.

Afterwards, Zhang Min's clansmen were accused of colluding with the bandits. The elders were sentenced to military service, while the young ones were castrated and made slaves.

For this reason, Zhang Min was castrated at the same time as his two cousins, Zhang Ben and Zhang Qing, and sent to the capital, where they were selected to serve as supervisors in the palace.

After entering the palace, Zhang Min was sent to serve Zhou, and from then on he rose rapidly to become the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Stables.

And under Zhang Min's protection, his two cousins, one became the chief eunuch of Jingshifang, and the other became the director of Shangshenjian.

Among the eunuchs who participated in hiding the Holy Mother Empress Dowager and Zhu Youtang, there were two of them!
The name of the Holy Mother Empress Dowager was also tampered with by Zhang Ben himself!

At this moment, they were already old, and in the seventeenth year of Chenghua, they were allowed by the late emperor to beg for their remains and to spend their old age in peace outside the palace.

He was also given 300 acres of fertile land in Miyun, four houses, and ten slaves.

Being a eunuch to this extent can be considered a complete accomplishment.

At this moment, the two old eunuchs Zhang Ben and Zhang Qing were sitting by the fire and drinking tea in the house, thinking about how to spend the New Year, when there was a hurried knock on the door outside.

"Who?"

One of the family's servants asked, and went to open the door.

But when he opened the door and saw the Western Factory guards outside the door wearing pointed hats, white leather boots and straight uniforms.

He was so frightened that he screamed, kept backing away, and finally tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground!
"what!!!"

"You...what are you doing here?!"

The fear of the Western Factory had already penetrated into the hearts of every household around Shuntian Prefecture.

Whether it was an official or a commoner, if someone from the Western Factory knocked on the door, it would be no different from being knocked on the door by a ghost.

"Who is it? Who's here?"

Zhang Qing heard the noise in the yard and walked out of the room to check.

When he saw the costumes of the Western Factory, the memories that he had deliberately suppressed for eighteen years came to his mind again.

Along with the memories, a deep fear also surfaced.

They have not forgotten that the reason they can spend their old age in peace is entirely because of their cousin Zhang Min, who sacrificed his life for it.

Moreover, since leaving the palace, they have been cautious, never offending others, and never daring to cause trouble for others.

Now that the Western Factory has come to our door, it can only mean one thing, that what happened back then has been exposed!

"Ah! It's the West Factory! The West Factory is here to find us!"

Zhang Qing screamed and quickly hid back in the house.

"what?!"

Zhang Ben, who was in the room, was so frightened when he heard Zhang Qing's scream that the tea bowl in his hand broke into pieces.

Zhang Ben has been worried and afraid for half his life, and has hidden the secret for half his life. Is it finally exposed?

Zhang Benzhong's fear was infinitely magnified. He stood up tremblingly, his voice shaking uncontrollably: "Really...it's really from the Western Factory..."

Before Zhang Ben could finish his words, the Western Factory guards rushed into the house, without saying a word, and raised their cold knives high.

Under the sword attack, Zhang Qing and Zhang Ben died without even being able to beg for mercy.

I wonder if they would regret secretly moving the pregnant Fu into Anletang on that night eighteen years ago before they died.

Zhang Qing and Zhang Ben were lucky. They could leave the palace and live out their retirement years.

Many eunuchs in the palace became sick or died from exhaustion due to the heavy work in the palace when they were still young.

The eunuchs who occasionally lived to the age of begging for their bones could only stay in Anle Hall to retire.

But this winter seems to be particularly cold.

Many eunuchs who had already retired did not survive the winter and died quietly in Anle Hall.

Not only the eunuchs, but also the old palace maids who had already left the palace died suddenly at home for unknown reasons.

The word Zhu Youtang used to describe this operation was "cleansing"!

No evidence needed, no arrests needed, no trial needed!
Execute these people wherever they are caught!

The number of deaths in this purge was much lower than the first time the Dongchang cleansed the harem.

But the depth of the cleansing and the breadth of the investigation are incomparable to that of the East Factory.

After all, this time, we are investigating something that happened eighteen years ago.

Many of the participants at that time have passed away for various reasons in the past 18 years.

While purging the palace maids and eunuchs, Wang Zhi also did not forget to deal with the officials from the outer court who were related to the case.

The younger brother who was appointed as the deputy commander of the Jinyiwei by Zhang Min's favor had been eliminated by Mou Bin when Mou Bin took over the Jinyiwei.

But this does not mean that Zhang Min has no relatives in the court.

The current Minister of Taichang Temple, Zhang Miao, is Zhang Min’s nephew.

Because of Zhang Min, he was first promoted to Zhongshu Sheren, and later moved to Dali Temple Pingshi, and then appointed Taichang Temple Cheng and Shaoqing.

Finally, thanks to Zhang Min's recommendation, he was promoted to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Rites. Zhang Miao had a smooth life and was awarded high positions and generous salaries.

Moreover, this person was well versed in the ways of self-preservation, and under Zhu Youtang's high-pressure rule, he still sat firmly in the high position of the third rank nine ministers.

But today, Zhang Miao felt uneasy and his right eye kept twitching.

Not long ago, he had just received news that Huai'en, the former eunuch in charge of the East Factory's Silijian and director of the East Factory, was sentenced to death by Zhu Youtang.

Huai'en was sentenced to death, and this news was temporarily known only to high-ranking officials such as the six ministries and nine ministers in the capital.

When the other Shangshu and Jiuqing heard the news, they were not ecstatic, but at least they were overjoyed and delighted.

Although it was not known why Zhu Youtang wanted to execute Huai'en, it was a great joy for these civil servants to have one less head of the factory guards who persecuted officials.

The six ministries and nine officials applauded, except Zhang Miao, the Minister of Taichang Temple, who was not happy.

The other six ministries and nine officials did not know the deeper meaning of this, but he, Zhang Min's nephew, knew some of the hidden stories of that year.

Not to mention anything else, just the death of Zhang Min and the special treatment that the Zhang family received from the late emperor after Zhang Min's death, can explain a lot of problems.

Now that Huai'en has been executed, Zhang Miao's first reaction is that Zhu Youtang may have known something about what happened that year.

Zhang Miao looked uneasy when he was having dinner at home, which made his wife feel puzzled.

"Master, why are you so restless today? Is there something on your mind?"

Zhang Miao came back to his senses and forced a smile: "No, no, just some annoying things in official business, not worth mentioning."

"Come, come, eat some food."

As Zhang Miao spoke, he personally picked up a few pieces of meat for his wife and two sons, who were seven or eight years old.

Just as Zhang Miao's family was having a happy meal, the door of the Zhang family's residence rang at an inopportune time.

Hearing the rapid knocks on the door, Zhang Miao's hair stood up and the feeling of uneasiness in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

"Who is it? Why are you knocking on the door at noon?"

From the front yard, there were the sounds of servants complaining and footsteps going to open the door.

At this moment, Zhang Miao was so frightened that his heart contracted rapidly, his legs became weak and powerless, and all the muscles in his body were tense.

Although he knew it was futile, Zhang Miao couldn't help but shout: "Don't open the door!!!"

As soon as Zhang Miao finished speaking, a scream of fear was heard outside the yard.

Among the screams were men, women, old and young.

But what is the same is that there is a deep fear hidden in every scream.

"what?!"

Zhang Miao's wife was startled by the screams from the front yard. She stood up, covered her chest with her hands, and looked towards the front yard in confusion.

"Master, what's going on? What happened in the front yard?"

Zhang Miao's two sons were also frightened and hid behind Mrs. Zhang.

Zhang Miao felt his mouth was dry, as if someone had grabbed his neck, and he squeezed out a few words with great difficulty.

"No...it's okay...I'll go check it out..."

Before Zhang Miao could finish his words, he saw Wang Zhi, the director of the Western Factory, leading a group of Western Factory soldiers to come in front of Zhang Miao.

Seeing Wang Zhi, Zhang Miao's breathing became rapid. Every breath he took was painful and difficult, and his eyes were filled with anxiety and fear.

"Mr. Wang, why are you here? Please take a seat!"

Zhang Miao tried hard to force a smile and greeted Wang Zhi with a bow.

It seemed as if he didn't feel that it was a very abrupt thing for Wang Zhi to lead a group of guards and quietly break into his house in the middle of the day.

But Mrs. Zhang and his two sons were far from being as calm as Zhang Miao.

Mrs. Zhang covered her mouth in fear, afraid that she would scream out.

But her wide-open eyes and silent tears showed the fear and terror in her heart.

Zhang Miao's two sons were even worse off.

The age of seven or eight is just the right time to know some things.

Unfortunately, they had some knowledge of the two factories and one guardhouse that were famous in the capital.

At this moment, seeing my father's respectful expression and the way he addressed the leader, as well as my mother's frightened look, how could I not guess that this was the director of the Western Factory, Wang Zhi?

Thinking of the rumors about Wang Zhi and the Western Factory, the two of them felt a boundless fear and burst into tears on the spot!
"Wow ah ah ah!!!"

"woo woo woo woo!!!"

"..."

Wang Zhi completely ignored the crying of Zhang Miao's two sons and just spoke coldly to Zhang Miao.

"Your Majesty has ordered that Zhang Min be convicted of treason and his entire clan be executed!"

"Zhang Miao, do you want me to take action, or do you want to go on your own?"

After all, Zhang Miao was the Shaoqing of the Taichang Temple, a third-rank official recorded in the official register of the Ministry of Personnel.

The purge that was used on the palace maids and eunuchs could not be used on him.

Zhang Miao's case must be recorded by the Ministry of Justice and executed publicly.

After hearing Wang Zhi's words, Zhang Miao's eyes widened instantly, and the fear in his heart actually became a reality.

He stared at Wang Zhi blankly, and suddenly his body became stiff and he fell to the ground!

Zhang Miao was so frightened by Wang Zhi that he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died!
(End of this chapter)