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

Chapter 231: Liquidation of officials in the capital, the first execution being Yu Shen!
Zhu Youtang's words made Wang Zhi's expression even more solemn.

But he did not hesitate at all and bowed his head to accept the order: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

"But... I don't know when is the best time to bury him?"

Wang Zhi lowered his head and looked at Zhu Youtang secretly.

Zhu Youtang said expressionlessly: "It is appropriate to bury him on the 27th of this month."

"Yes, I understand!"

Wang Zhi bowed his head and accepted the order.

"besides!"

Zhu Youtang issued another order: "After the Western Factory has finished investigating the troops in the capital, continue to track down the civil and military officials who participated in the Tumu Incident during the Zhengtong period!"

"Go back 40 years and settle accounts with all their descendants!"

"Find Yang Hong's tomb for me, I will open it and kill his body!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Wang Zhi went through all of this with Zhu Youtang, and began to doubt the Battle of Tumu that year.

He didn't need to know the truth about the Battle of Tumu. He just needed to find out those who participated in the Battle of Tumu and their descendants.

As for how to investigate, Wang Zhi knew it very well.

It is to investigate those officials who were quickly promoted after the Battle of Tumu.

After explaining these two things, Zhu Youtang waved his hand and said, "Go."

"Yes, Wei Chen is resigning."

After Wang Zhi left the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, Zhu Youtang looked at the empty palace and sighed slightly.

In the following days, the capital city was extremely busy.

The Western Factory was investigating the troops that had been transferred to the capital, and its investigation was mainly aimed at military officers.

The four guards of Tengxiang were the first to be checked. They had no problems and had taken over the defense of the capital again.

Gao Shun's Xianzhen Camp replaced the Wucheng Bingmasi and the Jingwei Commandery, taking over the defense of the capital and the public security work within the capital.

The martial law has been continuing, the streets of the capital are deserted, with few people, and commercial activities have suffered severe damage.

The Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were checking the officials in the capital while investigating what had happened in the capital in the past few days.

Those officials who were promoted quickly, such as Yu Shen, Xie Qian and others, did not need to be tried. They were just locked up and awaited execution.

As for those officials who have not been transferred or have been demoted, they need to be thoroughly investigated.

Letters of information were continuously sent to the Yangxin Palace, and Zhu Youtang gradually understood everything that had happened in the capital during this period.

While Zhu Youtang was busy dealing with the backlog of government affairs, he also had to restore order and correct all the laws that had been made when Yu Shen was in power.

"Mo Bin!"

"The humble position is here."

In the Yangxin Palace, Zhu Youtang looked at the memorial presented by the Jinyiwei and gave orders expressionlessly.

"Immediately send a hundred Jinyiwei to Wang Yue's central army camp and kill all those who sent orders to stop the army from marching south."

"Let Wang Yue continue his southern expedition and conquer the counties and prefectures!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Mou Bin bowed and accepted the order.

"Liu Jin."

"The slave is here."

"Let the Imperial Household Department draft an imperial edict to announce to the world that all the laws previously issued by Yu Shen will be abolished!"

"The imperial examination will continue to be divided into north and south, and the salt tax, mining tax, and vehicle and vessel tax in the south will continue to be collected."

"Let the officials who are investigating the amount of farmland in the country continue to investigate the amount of farmland in the South!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Liu Jin bowed and obeyed the order.

During the short one month that Yu Shen was in power, he promulgated many laws that benefited southern officials, southern gentry, and southern scholars.

Zhu Youtang tried his best to eliminate the impact of these decrees on the Ming Dynasty.

The capital city was extremely busy. A large number of Jinyiwei and Dongchang men left the capital and brought Zhu Youtang's orders to various parts of the Ming Dynasty.

Time passed quickly, and three days later, the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot had finally completed the investigation of all officials in the capital.

The results of the review were shocking!
Zhu Youtang looked at the list jointly submitted by the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guards with gloomy eyes and expressionless face.

At a glance, the names on the list are almost all high-ranking officials of the first or second rank in the court.

The cabinet chief and the minister of the Ministry of Revenue Xu Pu, the minister of the Ministry of War Liu Daxia, the minister of the Ministry of Punishment Peng Shao, the grand secretary of the Dongge Xie Qian, the left vice minister of the Ministry of War Yu Shen, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel Cao Ding, the right vice minister of the Ministry of Punishment Ding Xuan...

Two cabinet ministers, three chancellors, three vice ministers, and all the senior officials under Zhu Youtang were almost all wiped out!

These people were officials who were promoted after Zhu Youtang came to power and destroyed the original cabinet and the six ministers.

But only one year had passed and these people had committed another unforgivable crime punishable by death!
Zhu Youtang had to reorganize the cabinet again and replace a new group of ministers and vice ministers of the six ministries.

Zhu Youtang didn't even know how many cabinet ministers, chancellors, and vice ministers he had to replace before these officials would feel fear of the imperial power.

Only then can you abide by the law and fulfill your duties as a minister.

Under these senior civil servants, there were countless relatives of the emperor, military generals, and civil servants at all levels.

The son-in-law of the emperor and commander of the Beijing Guards Cai Zhen, the director of the Imperial Observatory, the scholar of the Hanlin Academy, the director of the Ministry of Rites, the reader of the Hanlin Academy, the head of the Ministry of War, etc. The entire book is densely packed with memorials, all of which record the official titles and names of these officials.

Hundreds of officials were involved, and the official positions involved covered almost all government offices in the capital.

Most of these officials did not actually participate in the coup organized by Yu Shen.

They only took the initiative to side with Yu Shen after Yu Shen seized power, and thus gained promotion and advancement.

Among them, the Hanlin Academy is the department involving the most personnel. A large number of reserve officials took the initiative to curry favor with Shen in order to be assigned a powerful official position after leaving the Hanlin Academy.

Yu Shen had just seized power and was in the process of recruiting people, so he accepted all the potential officials from the Hanlin Academy.

Most of the reserve officials that the Hanlin Academy had accumulated over the years were destroyed after this battle.

If a person cannot even guarantee his loyalty, it is useless even if he has the talent to save the world.

Kill them all together!
After Zhu Youtang read the list presented by the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he was filled with murderous intent!
Only blood can quench the rage in his heart.

Zhu Youtang slammed the list in his hand heavily on the dragon table, stood up and walked out of the Yangxin Palace.

"Take everyone to the outside of Chengtian Gate and wait for execution!"

"Please proceed to Chengtian Gate. I will personally preside over the execution!"

Liu Jin and Mou Bin immediately accepted the order: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

After Zhu Youtang left the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, he sat on the dragon chariot and headed towards Chengtian Gate.

Liu Jin and Mou Bin returned to the East Factory Yamen and the Northern Pacification Office as quickly as possible.

Mobilize the Dongchang guards and the Jinyiwei to escort the officials who have been investigated to Chengtian Gate for punishment!
"Quick, escort all those rebellious officials to the outside of Chengtian Gate immediately!"

"Your Majesty will personally preside over the execution this time. There must not be any delay!"

"Yes, Commander!"

In the Beizhenfusi, following Mou Bin's order, the Jinyiwei rushed to escort the officials detained in the Beizhenfusi out of the imperial prison.

Yu Shen, whose limbs were all broken and who was barely hanging on to his breath, Cao Li, whose face was as pale as death, Cai Zhen, who was extremely frightened, and the editor of the Hanlin Academy, who was crying and shouting... were all taken to Chengtian Gate.

At this moment, these people who plotted rebellion finally received the retribution they deserved!

At the same time, in the Dongchang Yamen, Liu Jin was also giving orders to a group of Dongchang men.

"All the soldiers, listen up! Take those traitors in prison to Chengtian Gate for trial immediately!"

"Hurry up! This time, His Majesty is personally judging. If you delay His Majesty's business, we will hold you accountable!"

"Yes, Mr. Factory Supervisor!"

After hearing Liu Jin's words, the East Factory's guards acted quickly and escorted the convicted officials in the East Factory prison to Chengtian Gate one after another.

The dishevelled Xie Qian, the miserable Peng Shao, the zombie-like Xu Pu, the desperate Liu Daxia... were shackled and escorted through the streets to Chengtian Gate by the East Factory guards.

Xu Pu and Liu Daxia had actually died when they were in Xuanfu.

It was only now, after everything had come to light, that he was formally executed.

The Eastern Depot guards and the Embroidered Uniform Guards escorted hundreds of officials from the capital and rushed to Chengtian Gate in a mighty procession.

Zhu Youtang had already arrived at Chengtian Gate on his dragon chariot.

When Zhu Youtang, accompanied by a group of eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department, climbed up to Chengtian Gate.

The Chengtianmen Square was already filled with kneeling officials convicted of treason.

In addition to the officials themselves, their families in Beijing were also captured by the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang guards.

These family members, numbering thousands in total, also knelt behind these officials, crying miserably and wailing in pain.

On both sides of Chengtianmen Square were two rows of factory guards with solemn expressions.

The Dongchang guards were in the east, and the Jinyiwei were in the west, strictly guarding the prisoners and their families in the square.

Behind Chengtianmen Square, there was a steady stream of factory guards escorting officials and their families, constantly gathering here.

Zhu Youtang sat on the dragon throne with an expressionless face, looking down at the officials waiting for execution.

His eyes swept across the familiar faces in front of him, his eyes filled with gloom.

These were high-ranking officials in the court who were promoted by him and whom he placed high hopes on.

But what they did was unworthy of being a subject!
In front of the group of officials kneeling on the ground stood an official from the Ministry of Justice who was pushed out to assist Zhu Youtang in presiding over the execution.

It was none other than Fei Ju, a doctor in the Ministry of Justice who had extensive experience in executions.

Fei Ju looked at these ministers kneeling in front of him, his legs trembling.

After Yu Shen seized power, he also tried to win him over.

But the more he presided over executions, the more timid Fei Ju became. He was so frightened that he claimed to be sick for a month and submitted three documents requesting resignation.

This also made Fei Ju one of the few doctors from the six ministries in the capital who were not implicated.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Fei Ju hurriedly bowed to Zhu Youtang and asked for his order: "Your Majesty, it is noon, shall we start the execution?"

In the distance, there were factory guards leading the remaining officials to Chengtian Gate, but Zhu Youtang no longer intended to wait.

"Begin the execution immediately!"

"The first person to be executed is Yu Shen, the Minister of War!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)