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

Chapter 251 I request that Yu Yunzhong be executed and his entire family be executed!
In the Yangxin Palace, red candles were flickering.

The eunuchs had all left the Yangxin Palace, and only eight palace maids were still on duty in the palace.

Zhu Youtang waved to Gu and said, "Come here."

"Yes."

Gu took a deep breath and slowly stepped forward.

At this moment, Gu's heart was in turmoil.

Because of Zhang Wan'er, the excitement and joy in her heart were of course gone.

All that's left in my heart is tension and uneasiness.

She didn't know what the situation would be like in the harem after tonight.

Can she go back to the quiet and peaceful days of the past?

Zhu Youtang looked at Gu who was slowly walking towards him, raised her chin with his hand and looked at her face.

As a concubine personally chosen by Zhu Youtang, Gu's appearance was naturally excellent, but compared with Zhang Wan'er, Chen Yuanyuan, and Liu Rushi, she was far inferior.

Gu had a very typical northern woman's appearance, tall and plump, with a broad face and a heavy chin, a round face and a square chest, a high nose bridge, a thin mouth, three-dimensional facial features, and quite a classical charm.

She is not like Chen Yuanyuan and Liu Rushi, who are gentle and charming, and make people fall in love with her at first sight.

Rather, it is the kind that becomes more attractive the more you look at it, and there is nothing wrong with it.

"Yes, it was my fault that I ignored you some time ago. You won't be angry with me, right?"

Gu responded quickly: "I dare not. Your Majesty is busy with official duties. I am already worried that I can't help you. How dare I get angry with your Majesty?"

"Just be happy that you are not angry. It is getting late. Let's just rest now."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhu Youtang took Gu's hand and walked towards the dragon bed at the back of the hall.

"His Majesty……"

Gu let out a soft sound and was embraced by Zhu Youtang.

The bed curtains fall lightly, the red candles are dimmed, and another night of dancing of fishes and dragons begins.

……

The next day.

At 1 a.m., Zhu Youtang was awakened by the morning bell from the Bell and Drum Department.

The palace maids and eunuchs were busy in the Yangxin Palace, helping Zhu Youtang get up.

The eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department had already been waiting outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation early, awaiting Zhu Youtang's orders.

After Zhu Youtang stood up, he glanced at Gu who was still sleeping beside him, and got up alone without waking her up.

Zhu Youtang usually gets up late, but the reason he got up so early today was mainly because he had a court meeting today.

After Zhu Youtang was helped by the palace maids to put on his court robes, he walked out of the Yangxin Palace, sat on the dragon chariot, and headed towards the Fengtian Gate.

This was the first court meeting since Zhu Youtang returned to Beijing and purged the officials who participated in the coup in the capital.

None of the officials who survived the purge dared to delay. They changed into court robes early and waited at Fengtianmen Square.

As Zhu Youtang arrived at the Fengtian Hall and sat on the dragon throne, the civil and military officials in the Fengtian Hall square knelt down in salute.

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

Zhu Youtang looked around and saw that the officials standing in the Fengtian Palace Square were much less crowded.

Zhu Youtang's last purge was so severe that it affected hundreds of areas in the capital.

In particular, the Hanlin Academy, which was known as the place for storing officials, was almost wiped out by Zhu Youtang.

Because most of the reserve officials have died, the speed of filling vacancies is a bit slow. Many official positions have not yet found suitable candidates and can only remain vacant for the time being.

"Flat body."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After the civil and military officials stood up, a young eunuch from the Imperial Household Department shouted loudly: "If you have a certificate, please report it early. If you don't, please leave the court!"

All the civil and military officials stood there, their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts, in silence.

Zhu Youtang's iron-blooded methods frightened all the officials.

No one is willing to provoke this evil god.

Zhu Youtang waited for a while, but still no one came up with a report, so he asked in a deep voice: "Is there no one to report?"

Wherever Zhu Youtang's eyes swept across, all the officials lowered their heads, fearing that they would be noticed by Zhu Youtang.

Zhu Youtang looked at the officials standing in the front, six ministers and three cabinet ministers, all of whom were silent.

Including the several ministers newly promoted by Zhu Youtang, no one dared to say much.

"Since you all have nothing important to report, I do have something I would like to ask you to discuss."

Zhu Youtang snorted coldly, and then said: "Two days ago, I received a memorial from Zhang Peng, the Minister of War in Nanjing."

"The petition says that the Nanjing Military Department uncovered a smuggling case."

"Yu Yunzhong, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, and the Liu family of Liu Daxia in Ruichang County privately built a sea vessel and attempted to go to sea for smuggling. They were caught by the Nanjing Military Department and were caught red-handed."

"The Liu family of Ruichang resisted fiercely and refused to surrender. They have been annihilated by the Nanjing Five Cities Army."

"As for the Yu family, they were arrested by the Royal Guards in advance and taken to the capital."

"The Yu family is now being held in the Jinyiwei prison. My dear ministers, how do you think I should handle this matter?"

Zhu Youtang's words immediately made the few remaining Jiangnan officials feel a chill in their hearts and their faces turned serious.

They sighed in their hearts that what was coming would eventually come.

As expected, the matter of smuggling could not escape the scrutiny of His Majesty.

Before this, Zhang Peng had secretly greeted these Jiangnan officials in the capital.

They already had an idea in their minds, and after looking at each other, they made their presentations one by one according to the agreed upon rhetoric.

"Your Majesty, the sea ban was an ancestral rule established during the reign of Emperor Gaozu."

"Yu Yunzhong and the Liu family disregarded the ancestral rules and went into business without permission. They must be severely punished!"

"I propose that Yunzhong and others be executed immediately to serve as a warning to others!"

Zhang Ning, the Minister of Rites, stepped forward and bowed in greeting.

Zhu Youtang's gaze shifted to Zhang Ning, his face expressionless, not revealing a single emotion.

But he was already thinking about Zhang Ning's hometown in his heart.

Zhang Ning was from Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture, Nanzhili.

Thinking of this, a sneer flashed across Zhu Youtang's heart.

Zhang Ning thought that his suggestion was relatively safe.

Didn't Zhu Youtang like to kill officials? My suggestion was not to protect Yu Yunzhong, but to get rid of Yu Yunzhong. No matter how angry Zhu Youtang was, he couldn't take his anger out on me, right?

But facing Zhu Youtang's gaze, Zhang Ning couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

But soon, another official stepped forward to share the pressure on Zhang Ning.

"Minister Zhang is right. The laws of our ancestors must never be changed. Yu Yunzhong is the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture. He broke the law knowingly. His crime is even more serious!"

"I think that we should not only execute Yu Yunzhong alone, but also the entire Yu family. This will deter everyone and make them strictly abide by the sea ban system!"

The person who spoke was Huang Yun, a member of the Li Ke Jieshi Zhong, and a native of Jishui County, Ji'an Prefecture, Ganzhou.

Like Zhang Ning, he always felt that persuading Zhu Youtang to kill officials was the right thing to do.

As long as he didn't ask for mercy for Yu Yunzhong, Zhu Youtang would definitely not make things difficult for himself.

Immediately afterwards, several officials from Jiangnan stood up and asked Zhu Youtang to severely punish those who engaged in smuggling.

Officials from Jiangnan demanded severe punishment for those officials from Jiangnan who engaged in smuggling.

At first glance, one really thinks that these officials are loyal to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and are willing to sacrifice their own relatives for the sake of justice and punish their fellow countrymen with great pain.

But when I thought about it carefully, I found that it was not the case at all.

These officials are merely trying to distance themselves from the Yu and Liu clans in order to protect their own vested interests.

These smuggling gangs in the south are really cruel and ruthless even to their own people.

Knowing full well that he could not rescue them, he resolutely chose to completely eliminate the Liu and Yu families in order to protect the interests of others.

I wonder if they feel cold or sad after doing this?
This is the complexity of history and politics. Actions that seem to be in conflict with one's own position are actually due to changes in core interests.

If we fail to understand the interest relations of historical figures, it will be like seeing flowers in the fog; a slight mistake will lead to a huge error.

He is clearly a treacherous minister who pursues personal gain, but in one matter, he behaves like a loyal minister.

This is the reason why they say a traitor appears loyal.

But as long as we dig deep into history and sort out their core interests.

It is not difficult to see that the fundamental reasons that drive these historical figures to make complex, incomprehensible, and even contradictory actions are actually very simple and have never changed.

There are only two words: benefit.

Zhu Youtang did not say anything, but secretly kept these people in his heart.

Without exception, all of these officials who demanded severe punishment for Yu Yunzhong were from Jiangnan.

Officials from other places chose to stay out of the matter as it had nothing to do with them. They stood there and said nothing and did not get involved in the matter at all.

After Zhu Youtang scanned the civil officials, he looked at He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Justice whom he had reappointed, and called on him to ask a question.

"My dear Lord He, you are the Minister of Justice. Please tell me how I should sentence you in this case."

He Qiaoxin mentioned before that he was from Zhujiang Town, Guangchang Prefecture, Ganzhou, and was the only one among the six ministers who was from Jiangnan.

Zhu Youtang deliberately asked him to give advice in order to test his position.

If He Qiao Xin just said lightly that Yunzhong was executed, there would be no follow-up words.

His position as the Minister of Justice was almost over.

When He Qiaoxin was named by Zhu Youtang, his face suddenly darkened.

He walked out of the queue quickly, holding a tablet in his hand, and bowed respectfully: "Your Majesty, I think that Yu Yunzhong and others should be severely punished."

"But smuggling involves many people, and there should be more than just these two families involved."

"Your Majesty, please order Zhang Peng to continue the investigation, follow the clues, thoroughly investigate the smuggling, and catch all the smuggling forces in one fell swoop!"

He Qiaoxin's suggestion went a step further than other officials' and proposed expanding the scope of the investigation to investigate more smuggling forces.

It seems that He Qiaoxin also realized that Zhu Youtangbin was not satisfied with dealing with Yu Yunzhong alone, but wanted to expand the results of the battle.

So he tried to calm the situation by handing over more smuggling forces.

But He Qiaoxin still avoided the main issue and did not talk about the root cause of the Jiangnan smuggling case at all.

The Jiangnan civil servants in the court were shocked and slightly dissatisfied with He Qiaoxin's proposal.

It's enough to just pretend. Why are you really following the emperor and attacking your own people?
Who knows whether the unlucky guy handed over by Zhang Peng later is from his own family?
Zhu Youtang was not satisfied with He Qiaoxin's proposal.

How could the Jiangnan smuggling case end so easily?
What Zhu Youtang wanted was far more than what these Jiangnan smuggling groups were willing to give.

Zhu Youtang looked at He Qiaoxin expressionlessly. After a long silence, he said, "Yu Yunzhong really deserves to die, but I don't quite understand."

"Liu Daxia has been saying before that going to the West is more costly than profitable, with more disadvantages than benefits. The next trip to the West will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but will bring very little benefit."

"If that's the case, then why are officials in Jiangnan scrambling to engage in smuggling, and why can't they stop despite repeated prohibitions?!"

"Could it be that these Jiangnan officials like to lose money to provide warmth?"

"Even Liu Daxia, who secretly kept Zheng He's navigation charts, his own family is secretly engaged in smuggling?!"

Zhu Youtang's question directly pointed out the core reason why officials went into smuggling, and immediately made all the Jiangnan officials in the court change their faces.

These officials were extremely panicked, their bodies were shaking unconsciously, and they felt like the sky was falling!

The secret that the Jiangnan officials have guarded for nearly a hundred years from generation to generation is about to be exposed by Zhu Youtang!

Since the death of Emperor Taizong, the civil officials in Jiangnan, led by the Three Yangs, have tried their best to cover up the truth about Zheng He's voyages to the West.

The elders of the Jiangnan cabinet, headed by Yang Shiqi, did not hesitate to kill two emperors in a row and completely destroyed the plan of sailing to the West.

Emperor Xuanzong made only one voyage to the West, and when he was preparing for his second voyage, he passed away.

The Ming Emperor's plan to sail to the West was successfully stopped by the civil officials in Jiangnan.

After Emperor Yingzong took power, he realized that something was wrong with the voyages to the West, which had been neglected.

Why would you stop a profitable business just like that?
Therefore, after defeating Yang Shiqi, Emperor Yingzong ordered Jiao Hong, the Minister of Works, to supervise the construction of 120 ships for sailing to the West in Minzhou, in preparation for restarting the voyage to the West.

But after the Battle of Tumu, this matter came to an end.

The Ming Emperor's plan to sail to the West was once again successfully prevented by the civil servants in Jiangnan.

Zhu Qiyu, the puppet emperor who was pushed to power later, didn't even dare to fart in front of Yu Qian. How could he dare to bring up the matter of sailing to the West again in front of Yu Qian?

So the Jiangnan smuggling groups spent eight comfortable years, happily and boldly smuggling for eight years.

To this day, there are still many gentry in the south of the Yangtze River who miss Zhu Qiyu, the wise ruler, and Yu Qian and Zhu Qiyu, the model ruler and minister who had no doubts about their relationship.

After Emperor Yingzong was restored to the throne, he had been clearing out the officials who participated in the Battle of Tumu, and at the same time was trying his best to regain the imperial power that was stolen by Yu Qian from the hands of the civil servants.

Therefore, there was no time to restart the voyage to the West. Eight years later, Emperor Yingzong finally gained power, but died inexplicably.

There was no talk of sailing to the West.

After Emperor Xianzong ascended the throne, he also considered sailing to the West.

He once asked Wang Zhi to go to the Ministry of War to ask for a nautical chart, but Liu Daxia evaded the question by saying that it could not be found.

After that, Emperor Xianzong never mentioned the voyage to the West again, and did not even punish Liu Daxia. The matter just passed.

Just like that, the plan to sail to the West again came to nothing.

(End of this chapter)