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

Chapter 161: Hand over the old documents from Annan to me!
Zhu Youtang looked at Wang Zhi quietly and motioned him to continue.

Wang Zhi organized his thoughts and began to introduce Wang Yue to Zhu Youtang.

"Wang Yue was from Jun County, Daming Prefecture, Yuzhou, and was a Jinshi in the second year of Jingtai."

As a northerner, Wang Yue was able to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi in the second year of Jingtai when there was no distinction between the north and the south. This is enough to show his strong cultural strength.

You should know that among the 201 Jinshi in the second year of Jingtai, only 27 were from the north.

"Wang Yue was initially appointed as the Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate, and toured Zhejiang, Shu, Jin, and other places."

"Later, he became the Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief of the Metropolitan Censorate, and accompanied Fu Ning Hou Zhu Yong in the expedition against Mao Lihai. He was in charge of military affairs for the first time and also recorded meritorious service and rewards."

"After that, Wang Yue has been fighting on the front lines. He defeated the Tatar Mandulu Khan at the Red Salt Lake in Hetao and took charge of the military affairs of the three borders!"

"Afterwards, he and I launched a surprise attack on Weininghai, fought a pursuit battle at Black Stone Cliff, and won a great victory at Yansui, making great military achievements."

"The previous emperor issued an edict to confer Wang Yue the title of Weining Earl and to take charge of the Front Army Commandery."

"As a civil servant, Wang Yue was the only one who was awarded a title for military merit, apart from Wang Ji of the Zhengtong Dynasty who was awarded the title of Jingyuan Earl by Emperor Yingzong for his meritorious service in the three expeditions to Luchuan."

In fact, in the entire history of the Ming Dynasty, there were only three civil servants who were awarded titles for their military merits.

The last one is the famous Wang Yangming and Wang Shouren.

At the same time, during the reign of Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, he launched three northern expeditions during the Zhengtong period, namely the Battle of Yijinai, the Battle of Fengzhou, and the Battle of Kelesu.

Three battles, three wins, without a single defeat.

Zhu Qizhen not only launched an expedition to the north, he also launched an expedition to the south.

Zhu Qizhen conquered Luchuan four times and reached Mengyang and other places. He erected stones on the Jinsha River as a boundary and summoned the local natives to swear in front of the stones that they would be allowed to cross the river only when the stones rotted and the river dried up.

He made four expeditions to Luchuan and never suffered a single defeat.

If the battle of Luchuan is not won, the consequences will be the same as that of Annan, and Luchuan will become independent from the Ming Dynasty forever.

Therefore, there are not only the Wanli Three Major Expeditions, but also the Zhengtong Three Major Expeditions.

During the Zhengtong period, the Ming Dynasty waged foreign wars very frequently. Since Emperor Yingzong came to power, wars had occurred almost every year.

And without a single defeat!

It was not until the 14th year of Zhengtong that Zhu Qizhen led the army in person. He lost for the first time, and it was at the hands of his own people.

It was this time that the civil servants nailed him to the pillar of shame forever.

……

In the Hongde Hall, Wang Zhi introduced the life of his old partner, and he knew everything about him.

There was also a hint of smile on Wang Zhi's face, as if he was recalling the happy days when he and Wang Yue fought on the front lines together.

But then, Wang Zhi sighed again.

"However, in the 19th year of Chenghua, I was demoted to Nanzhili by the late emperor, and Wang Yue was also stripped of his title and exiled to Anlu."

"In July of the 21st year of Chenghua, Wang Yue submitted a petition to the court to appeal for his grievances, but to no avail."

After hearing this, Zhu Youtang did not respond immediately, but drafted another imperial edict.

"I understand. Send this imperial edict to Anlu."

Wang Zhi was stunned for a moment before he reached out to take Zhu Youtang's imperial edict, looking unusually excited.

Wang Zhi knelt on his knees and saluted Zhu Youtang joyfully: "On behalf of Wang Yue, I would like to thank Your Majesty for your great grace!"

Zhu Youtang waved his hand and said, "Don't speak for him. Let him come to me in person to express his gratitude."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Go."

"Yes, Wei Chen resigns!"

After Wang Zhi expressed his gratitude again, he respectfully left Hongde Hall with Zhu Youtang's imperial edict.

Afterwards, Wang Zhi quickened his pace and returned to the Xichang Yamen as quickly as possible.

A moment later, dozens of Western Factory guards surrounded Wang Zhi and rushed towards the city gate.

Wang Zhi is going to Anlu in person to bring Wang Yue back!

……

When Wang Zhi left the West Factory, Xie Qian also came to the East Factory with Zhu Youtang's imperial edict.

Liu Jin, who was at the East Depot, saw Xie Qian and hurried over to him, saying with a fake smile, "Mr. Xie, what brings you to our East Depot?"

"Isn't our East Factory the place you least want to come to?"

Xie Qian's attitude towards Liu Jin was not as arrogant as Xu Pu's, but it was not really friendly either.

Xie Qian took out the imperial edict bestowed by Zhu Youtang and said calmly, "Of course it is the east wind from your majesty."

When Liu Jin saw the imperial edict in Xie Qian's hand, his face changed drastically. He immediately stopped smiling and became serious. He lifted up his clothes and was about to kneel down.

Xie Qian glanced at him and stopped him, saying, "Eunuch Liu, it won't be too late to kneel later. Take me to the prison first."

Liu Jin's face froze, and he stood up again: "Is this the decree of pardon from His Majesty?"

"What do you say?"

Liu Jin's face turned pale. He turned around without saying a word and took Xie Qian to the Dongchang prison.

In the Dongchang prison, Xie Qian finally let go of his worry when he saw Xu Pu and Liu Daxia were safe and sound.

"Prime Minister Xu, Minister Liu, are you all right?"

"Yu Qiao, you're here."

Xu Pu opened his eyes and a relieved smile appeared on his face.

After seeing Xie Qian, Liu Daxia also breathed a sigh of relief.

These days in the Dongchang prison, it would be a lie to say that I was not worried or afraid at all.

Now that he had seen Xie Qian, Liu Daxia finally felt relieved.

Xie Qian walked forward quickly and confirmed that Xu Pu and Liu Daxia were not injured before he unfolded Zhu Youtang's imperial edict.

"Your Majesty has issued an order. Xu Pu, Liu Daxia, and Liu Jin are to obey your order."

The three of them immediately straightened their expressions and knelt down together.

"Pardon Xu Pu and Liu Daxia, and have them come to the palace with Liu Jin to meet the emperor." "Your humble servant, I will obey the emperor's order."

After reading the imperial edict, Xie Qian turned to look at Liu Jin and said, "Come over here quickly and open the prison door for the two adults!"

Liu Jin had a gloomy face and reluctantly stepped forward to open the cell doors of Xu Pu and Liu Daxia.

When Xu Pu and Liu Daxia walked out of the prison, they both felt like they were reborn.

Xu Pu straightened his messy clothes and glanced at Liu Jin with a neutral expression: "Thank you for your care these days, Eunuch Liu."

"If there is an opportunity in the future, Xu will definitely repay you."

Liu Jin said angrily, "Haha, Lord Xu, you are too polite. It's just a small matter, not worth mentioning."

"His Majesty has summoned the two adults to the palace for an audience. We should hurry in and not keep His Majesty waiting for too long."

Xu Pu and Liu Daxia shook their heads: "How can we enter the palace to see the emperor in our current state, with dishevelled hair and untidy clothes?"

"Eunuch Liu, is there a place in the East Factory for us to wash up?"

"We will wait until we have cleaned up before entering the palace to see the emperor. This way, we will not be impolite."

"Lord Xu is really thoughtful and considerate."

"Of course there is one in the East Factory."

Liu Jin winked at a Dongchang guard beside him and said, "Go, take the two adults to wash and dress."

"Yes, Mr. Supervisor."

"My lords, please follow me."

The Dongchang guard brought Xu Pu and Liu Daxia to a room with water and a bronze mirror, and Xie Qian followed them in.

After Xu Pu asked the guards from the Eastern Depot to leave, only Xu Pu, Liu Daxia and Xie Qian were left in the room.

Xie Qian lowered his voice and quickly told Xu Pu and Liu Daxia what had happened so that the two ministers would be aware of the situation.

Afterwards, Xu Pucai and Liu Daxia put on their clothes and went into the palace with Liu Jin to meet the emperor.

In the Hongde Hall, the three of them walked quickly to Zhu Youtang and saluted respectfully.

"Your humble servant, I pay my respects to your majesty."

"Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Zhu Youtang looked at Xu Pu and Liu Daxia and asked, "Do you know about Annan's invasion of the Ming border?"

Xu Pu nodded: "I have just heard Xie Qian mention it. Annan is really abominable. It is indeed time to teach Annan a lesson."

Zhu Youtang, Xu Pu and Liu Daxia all tacitly did not mention the fact that Zhu Youtang had put them in prison.

This matter seemed to have just passed.

"Lord Xu, I will leave the food and fodder for the Annan army to take care of."

"Yes, Your Majesty. However, the food and fodder stored near Beizhili was almost completely consumed during the expedition to the northwest last year."

Xu Pu carefully suggested: "So for this time's food and grass, I suggest that we raise them from Dianzhou, Guizhou and Qianzhou..."

"No!" Zhu Youtang immediately rejected Xu Pu's suggestion.

"Yunnan Prefecture, Guizhou Prefecture, and Qian Prefecture are all mountainous, with little arable land. The food burden is already high. If we continue to withdraw food and grass, I'm afraid famine will occur again."

"Let's transfer grain from Shuzhou, Ganzhou and Nanzhili. First, we need to collect 500,000 shi of grain and immediately transport it to the border of Annan."

Shuzhou is known as the Land of Abundance, while Ganzhou and Nanzhili are the land of fish and rice. Both places were important grain-producing areas of the Ming Dynasty.

It shouldn't be a problem to raise 500,000 shi of grain and fodder from these three places.

But when Xu Pu heard the news, he was dumbfounded.

"what?!"

There were only three places in the south of the Yangtze River: Nanzhili, Zhejiangzhou, and Ganzhou. Zhu Youtang immediately selected two of them to supply food to the army.

The landlords and gentry in Jiangnan suffered too great a loss.

Xu Pu quickly spoke up, trying to argue again: "Your Majesty, Shuzhou can indeed raise grain, but Nanzhili and Ganzhou..."

Zhu Youtang was already a little impatient: "Stop talking, let these three places raise grain!"

Seeing that Zhu Youtang was getting angry, Xu Pu did not dare to persuade him anymore and could only bow his head and accept the order.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Also, Liu Daxia!"

Zhu Youtang suddenly shouted loudly, which frightened Liu Daxia so much that he trembled all over and his heartbeat suddenly quickened.

"Chen is here!"

"Where are the old Annams from the Yongle era?!"

"Hand it over to me!"

Zhu Youtang got angry when he saw Liu Daxia, and there was a hint of anger in his tone.

If this traitor had not hidden the ancient Annan documents and not given them to Wang Zhi during the Chenghua period, Annan might have returned to the territory of the Ming Dynasty during the Chenghua period.

There is no need to fight this battle today.

Liu Daxia had just been imprisoned, and his release was entirely due to the war between Ming Dynasty and Annan.

So at this moment, Liu Daxia did not refuse again.

"Your Majesty, the Annan documents are in my home. I will present them to you tomorrow to help the Ming army and make them invincible!"

In fact, there is a deeper reason why Liu Daxia was so willing to hand over the Annan documents.

This reason is actually the main reason.

That is, Zhu Youtang only asked for the Annan documents, and did not ask for the navigation chart of Zheng He's voyage to the West.

As for the reason, it involves a huge secret spanning decades.

　Because someone mentioned Zhu Qizhen's three major expeditions in the comment section, and many people laughed at me for even getting Wanli's three major expeditions wrong, so I said a few more words in this chapter to mention Zhu Qizhen's three major expeditions.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)