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

Chapter 216 During the Jingyuan period, the country was peaceful and the people were prosperous!
After Zhu Youju ascended the throne, Yu Shen officially began to command the world according to Zhu Youju's orders.

At this time, Yu Shen had truly achieved the ability to use the emperor to control the princes.

Yu Shen felt that the 120,000 troops around the capital were not safe enough to stop Zhu Youtang from returning south.

As a result, military transfer orders quickly spread throughout the Ming Dynasty.

On the second day after Zhu Youlang ascended the throne, Liaodong and Jizhou, two important border towns, sent troops to the capital.

Cao Li, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, led 50,000 Liaodong troops into the capital.

Liaodong was one of the three border towns of the Ming Dynasty with more than 100,000 standing soldiers.

Cao Li brought 50,000 troops into the capital, which was equivalent to taking away nearly half of the troops in Liaodong.

Cao Li himself was also one of the people who participated in Yang Tong's mutiny.

The first and most important participants in Yang Tong's mutiny were the three border towns of Liaodong, Datong, and Suzhou.

Jiao Yi, the right commander-in-chief of Jizhou, also led 10,000 troops into the capital.

The first point that needs to be stated is that the Liaodong General Cao Li led his troops into Beijing, not because he was transferred by Yu Shen, but because Cao Li came on his own.

When Cao Li entered the capital, he did not have either the empress dowager's edict or the transfer order from the Ministry of War.

The border troops led troops into the capital without the imperial edict. Under normal circumstances, this would be considered treason.

When people say you are rebelling, you'd better really be rebelling.

And Cao Li really came here with the intention of treason.

First of all, he could not contact Yang Tong in Liaodong, and according to Yang Tong's plan, after he sent troops to attack Zhu Youtang's camp.

The generals of these four border towns should immediately lead their troops back to the capital and take control of the capital's military affairs.

But the problem now is that Yang Tong's attack on the camp failed, but Yu Shen succeeded in seizing power in the palace.

And the fact that Cao Li led his troops back to the capital at this moment was not without effect.

The first is to increase the military strength of the capital and prevent Zhu Youtang from returning to Beijing.

The second is to support Yu Shen in seizing power and taking control of the affairs of the capital.

Of course, Yu Shen didn't let Cao Li come for nothing.

Cao Li was immediately promoted to the position of Right Commander-in-Chief of the Rear Army Commandery and was conferred the title of Marquis Wuneng.

Afterwards, Yu Qian began to mobilize troops from all over the place. He first drew 10,000 garrison soldiers from Jinzhou and Yuzhou to go to Juyongguan to assist Luo Xin in guarding Juyongguan.

Another 10,000 soldiers were drawn from Shanzhou to guard Zijing Pass.

Subsequently, 50,000 garrison soldiers were dispatched from Nanzhili, Zhejiangzhou and Ganzhou to the capital.

At the same time, Yu Shen also issued an imperial decree in the identity of Emperor Zhu Qiyu, which basically asked Wang Yue to stop the southern expedition and stay on standby.

He dispatched a thousand trusted men from Nanjing, holding the imperial edict, and caught up with Wang Yue's army that was heading to Annan.

These one thousand trusted men, in the name of the imperial edict, entered the central army camp and put Wang Yue under guard.

The reason is simple: Wang Yue still has more than 100,000 troops under his command to march south to Annan.

We must not allow these hundreds of thousands of troops to return to the capital.

When Wang Yue learned that Zhu Youtang had been attacked and Zhu Youlang had ascended the throne, his face, though he had been through many battles, suddenly turned pale and he was filled with despair.

Only then did Wang Yue realize that a coup had taken place in the capital.

If Yu Shen really came to power, the political lives of those ministers who were loyal to Zhu Youtang would be over.

Only after solving the worries of the hundreds of thousands of troops could Yu Shen finally breathe a sigh of relief.

At the same time, Yu Shen also asked the Ministry of Works to work overtime to quickly produce 10,000 barricades to surround the capital on three sides.

Yu Shen had prepared for a rainy day and was already preparing for the defense of the capital!
While Yu Shen was making military preparations, he also had to satisfy the interests of southern officials.

After listening to the requests of Xie Qian and other southern officials, Yu Shen did not even frown, but began to write the memorial with a stroke of his pen.

After drafting the edict, Yu Shen took the memorials and went to the palace to find Zhu Youlang.

Now when Yu Shen returns to the palace it is just like returning to his own home. He can be as casual as he wants.

Yu Shen didn't even need to inform anyone in advance, he just kicked open the door of the Qianqing Palace.

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youlang, who was in a daze, saw Yu Shen walk in and trembled with fear.

"Yu...Yu Shaobao, what's the matter?"

"Of course there is something. Your Majesty, please have these policies approved by the Imperial Household Department immediately and begin implementation immediately."

Yu Shen spoke in a condescending and arrogant manner, and his tone was completely looking down on Zhu Youlang.

"Oh... OK, let me see."

Zhu Youqiu took the memorial from Yu Shen's hand and just glanced at it casually.

Even he immediately saw that there were big problems with these regulations.

"This...this...Master Yu, these policies are unreasonable!"

Zhu Youlang held Yu Shen's memorial with an embarrassed look on his face, and was so anxious that he was about to cry.

He was afraid of Yu Shen, and also afraid that the emperors after the Ming Dynasty would point at his spirit tablet and curse him. He was even more afraid that after his death, he would not be able to face his ancestors in the underworld.

He really didn't dare to approve Yu Shen's memorial.

Each policy in it is more outrageous and shocking than the next.

The first one was to abolish the law set by Zhu Youtang, restart the "Imperial Edicts" law, and activate the "Regulations on Interrogation" written by Xu Pu and Liu Jian.

In this way, there is almost no risk of corruption among officials. The golden age of corruption among Ming civil servants is about to come again!
The second was to immediately stop the system of surveying the land areas throughout the country established by Zhu Youtang.

As a result, those landlords and gentry in the south who have not been found yet will be very happy.

They could once again start to annex land with impunity and encroach on the farmland of ordinary people.

The prosperous era of landlords, where the rich had fields stretching for miles and the poor had no place to stand, is coming again!
The third article is to abolish the North-South list system for selecting officials for the imperial examination.

From then on, all scholars in the Ming Dynasty, regardless of their place of origin, were recruited uniformly.

As a result, the scholars in the south were happy to set off firecrackers to celebrate.

But the scholars in the north and southwest were completely finished.

Among the 300 Jinshi in the second year of Jingtai, only 27 were from the north. The heyday of the southern imperial examination is coming again!

The fourth article is to abolish the silver tax, salt tax and vehicle and vessel tax in the three places of Nanzhili, Zhejiangzhou and Ganzhou.

The vehicle and vessel tax in the Ming Dynasty was not an ordinary transportation tax.

In the Ming Dynasty, only merchants used carts and boats to transport goods.

Ordinary people need a pass even to leave the village and have no access to vehicle and vessel taxes at all.

Canceling vehicle and vessel taxes is actually a disguised way of cancelling commercial taxes.

In this way, the prosperous era of wealthy businessmen who make money without paying taxes is about to come again!

Article 5 strictly prohibits the Ming Dynasty court from developing maritime trade, and all official ships of the Ming Dynasty are not allowed to go out to sea!
In this case, the gentry and wealthy families in the smuggling groups in the south would really worship Yu Shen like a Bodhisattva.

If official ships are prohibited from going to sea, then those smugglers will no longer have to go to sea secretly.

The heyday of private maritime trade and unbridled smuggling is coming again!

There was also a series of regulations that clearly favored the Jiangnan region, which made Zhu Youqi so frightened that his hands were shaking.

"I dare not approve these policies. I dare not approve them..."

Are you kidding? These are humiliating and treasonous regulations. Who would dare to sign them?
If people in later generations knew about this, they would be scolded to death!
These regulations were so excessive that Zhu Youjun refused to sign them.

Zhu Youjun thought these regulations were excessive, but Yu Shen thought they were very reasonable.

Because among these regulations, except for the first and second articles, which are intended to abolish the new policies implemented during Zhu Youtang's reign.

All other regulations that follow are policies that Yu Qian had already implemented during the Jingtai period.

Is it too much to implement the policy implemented during the Jingtai period again now?

Zhu Qiyu dared to sign these regulations back then, why don’t you, Zhu Youlang, dare?
Am I, Yu Shen, too polite to you, Zhu Youlang?
"Zhu Youxuan!"

Yu Shen frowned and shouted angrily: "Don't you know your position clearly?"

"How do you think you got your throne? I pushed you onto the throne!"

"Without me, you'd still be the King of Xing!"

"Do you really think that just because you're the emperor, you have the right to say no to me?!"

"I tell you, I can push you to the throne, but I can also make you abdicate and replace you with another prince!"

"The late emperor had so many princes, he doesn't need you!"

"You must immediately have the Imperial Household Department wear red and implement these policies tomorrow!"

"Otherwise, I will immediately make you the emperor emeritus and replace you with someone else to be the emperor!"

Zhu Youqi was frightened by Yu Shen's aggressive words and stepped back repeatedly. Finally, his legs went weak and he fell to the ground.

Zhu Youqiu's face was pale, cold sweat kept coming out of his body, and his whole body was shaking.

He was frightened by Yu Shen's words, and fell into a great fear.

Zhu Youlang had also read history, and he knew that after being forced to become the emperor, the consequence that awaited him would be imprisonment until death.

This is what Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty was like.

Although Emperor Yingzong of this dynasty successfully restored the throne later, he was still imprisoned in the Nan Palace for a full seven years.

Zhu Youqi didn't think that he had the ability to restore the throne after being imprisoned.

Seeing that Zhu Youqiu was frightened by him, Yu Shen smiled with satisfaction and his expression softened again.

"Your Majesty, don't worry too much. Just let the Imperial Household Department approve it. It will be good for both you and me."

"Don't worry about your reputation. As long as you obey me, I will make you a wise ruler."

"If Zhu Qiyu could become a wise ruler, so can you."

"I think officials and historians at all levels are already happy to sing praises for an emperor who governs well and has a harmonious society."

Yu Shen smiled, his words full of temptation.

"During the Jingyuan period, the country was peaceful and the people were prosperous."

"What do you think of this review? Do you like it?"

"If you like, I'll let the historian and the civil servant write it down like this."

Yu Shen used both kindness and force to force Zhu Youlang to sign those regulations.

Zhu Youqiu had no other choice but to agree to Yu Shen's request and win over the eunuch who trusted the seal of the Imperial Household Department.

Let him draft an imperial edict and approve it according to Yu Shen's wishes.

(End of this chapter)