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

Chapter 259 Please order a coffin for me first!

The gate of the Northern Pacification Office was wide open, and Mou Bin, Qinglong, Baihu and Xuanwu, each leading 500 men, came out of the Northern Pacification Office in a mighty manner.

They rushed to the capital like wolves and tigers, going to the residence of every civil servant from Jiangnan in the capital.

In the capital city, the sound of horse hooves shaking the city walls could be heard once again. All officials in the capital city felt insecure!

"What's wrong! What happened again?!"

"Today in the court, His Majesty just executed a group of officials who were against opening the sea. Why is he now releasing the Jinyiwei, a bunch of killers, to harm the officials?!"

"I can't stand it! I really can't stand it! Your Majesty is so harsh on officials like me, who will be willing to work for the Zhu family in the future!"

"Your Majesty, have you made a mistake? It is the scholars and the Zhu family who share the world, not the unruly people who share the world with the Zhu family!"

"Your Majesty has only been on the throne for a short time, but you have already launched several massacres against officials like us, making the officials in the capital city insecure. Isn't Your Majesty afraid of becoming a lonely emperor?!"

"Your Majesty is so cruel and persecutes Ming officials so much. Heaven wants the Ming to be destroyed. Heaven wants the Ming to be destroyed!"

"..."

A series of massacres in the capital have caused officials in the capital to become furious.

The initial corruption case, the poisoning case of the previous emperor and the smuggling case of border generals had already frightened all the officials.

The subsequent Tumu Incident and the current Jiangnan smuggling case made all officials terrified.

Especially after Zhu Youtang experienced the Battle of Tumu and returned to the capital, his methods became even more cruel!

They hated these officials even more, and looked at them as if they were enemies, with eyes full of suspicion and fear.

This time he stopped pretending and arrested a large number of officials from Jiangnan. He acted in an extremely overbearing manner and left no room for maneuver.

The Jiangnan region was originally wealthy, with rich educational resources and high-quality talents, many of whom were Jinshi from the top two lists.

In addition, the people of Jiangnan are united. Under the trend of interests, they stick together for warmth and support each other.

This resulted in more than half of the senior officials in the capital being from Jiangnan.

If Zhu Youtang killed them all with one blow, it would directly lead to the shutdown of the Ming Dynasty court!

Under these intensified conflicts, many officials in Jiangnan became resentful towards Zhu Youtang and began to harbor rebellious thoughts!
……

Beijing.

He Qiao's new residence.

He Qiaoxin couldn't sleep tonight and didn't sleep the whole night.

He sat in the unlit room, feeling uneasy and inexplicably irritated.

Suddenly, there was a restless noise outside the mansion, chaotic footsteps and bright torches, illuminating the room.

Immediately afterwards, screams of maids and servants were heard in the yard.

He Qiaoxin sighed, and suddenly remembered the shock and confusion he felt when he received the news that his father He Wenyuan had committed suicide on that afternoon more than 30 years ago.

Perhaps at that time, my father must have felt the same as he does now?

He Qiaoxin's father, He Wenyuan, was a Jinshi in the 16th year of Yongle. During the Zhengtong period, he was appointed as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

In the 14th year of Zhengtong, he was appointed as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel on the recommendation of Grand Secretary Chen Xun.

In the early years of the Jingtai reign, not long after Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne, he was promoted to the Minister of Personnel and appointed as the Prince's Grand Tutor.

The main reason why He Wenyuan was given the title of Prince's Grand Tutor was because he supported Zhu Qiyu's decision to change the crown prince.

In the third year of Jingtai, Zhu Qiyu took out a lot of gold and silver and secretly bribed the ministers of the time, asking them to support him in changing the crown prince.

Among those who accepted bribes was He Wenyuan, who was rewarded with fifty gold by Zhu Qiyu.

After receiving the money, He Wenyuan could do things more easily. He once wrote in a memorial: The father owns the world and I pass it on to my son.

With the support of his ministers, Zhu Qiyu finally got his wish and successfully appointed Zhu Jianji as the crown prince.

Later, after Emperor Yingzong was restored to the throne, the first thing he did was to strip him of the title of Prince Grand Tutor that Zhu Qiyu had bestowed on him.

After He Wenyuan learned about this, he was terrified that he would be punished by Emperor Yingzong.

So he straightened his clothes, sat down, wrote an impromptu regulated verse, and then hanged himself.

Even though He Qiaoxin had already been buried, Emperor Yingzong ordered the coffin to be opened for an autopsy, fearing that it might be a fraud.

He Qiaoxin's mood at this time was probably the same as He Wenyuan's.

He was alone in the unlit room, quietly putting on his official uniform, then took out a three-foot white silk and hung it on the beam.

After sighing, He Qiaoxin hung his neck on it and kicked the bench under his feet away.

Feeling strongly of suffocation, He Qiaoxin began to struggle subconsciously.

Just as his consciousness was gradually becoming blurred, the door was suddenly kicked open and a large number of Jinyiwei swarmed in.

The Jinyiwei swung his sword and the white silk broke instantly. He Qiaoxin fell to the ground and coughed violently.

"Cough...cough...cough..."

He Qiaoxin breathed the air greedily, and the next moment, a group of Jinyiwei took He Qiaoxin under control.

"Minister He, why are you leaving in such a hurry?"

"Your Majesty has not yet sentenced you. What is the purpose of your hanging yourself out of fear of punishment?"

As he spoke, Mou Bin walked into the room and looked at He Qiaoxin with a sneer.

He Qiaoxin lowered his head, looking as pale as death, and did not answer.

The look in Mou Bin's eyes when he looked at him was full of disgust, without any disguising.

"Minister He, it's too easy to want to die, but making people live a life worse than death is what our Jinyiwei are good at."

"Besides, you also know the current emperor's style of doing things. Do you want to die alone?"

"Oh, how is that possible! If I have to die, your whole family must die!"

"As a family, we should be together in order!"

Having said this, Mou Bin's expression turned cold and cruel. "Take them all away!"

"Yes, my lord!"

The Jinyiweis escorted He Qiaoxin out of the room and headed towards the Jinyiwei prison.

When he arrived at the courtyard, He Qiaoxin discovered that his wife, sons and heirs had all been arrested by the Jinyiwei and taken to the Jinyiwei prison along with him!
In addition to He Qiaoxin, a large number of civil servants in Jiangnan were also arrested by the Jinyiwei.

Tu Yu, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, has always been relied upon by Zhu Youtang, and Zhu Youtang also trusts him very much.

The last time Zhu Youtang inspected the nine borders, he also brought Tu Yu with him and asked him to be responsible for the work of checking the accounts of the border commanders in the Censorate.

But this time, Zhu Youtang arrested all the civil servants in Jiangnan without distinguishing right from wrong. Tu Yu, who was from Yin County, Ningbo Prefecture, Zhejiang Province, was not spared.

But compared to He Qiaoxin's despair, Tu Yu was much calmer. He followed Qinglong to the imperial prison without any resistance.

Also arrested at the same time was Bai Ang, the right vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Bai Ang was a native of Wujin, Changzhou Prefecture, Nanzhili. He was a Jinshi in the first year of Tianshun. He had suppressed Liu Tong's rebellion, had military merits, and was in charge of the right vice minister of the Ministry of War.

But later he was transferred to the Ministry of Revenue and served as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Bai Ang did nothing wrong and suffered this unexpected disaster.

But he was also open-minded, just like Tu Yu, he followed Jinyiwei Baihu without any resistance.

Along with these officials who have an open mind, there are naturally also officials who have something to hide.

And there are quite a few such officials.

When the Jinyiwei came to arrest people, the most common ones were those Jiangnan officials who were crying and shouting that they were innocent.

The Jinyiwei were accustomed to these things, and naturally had their own ancestral methods to deal with them.

Throughout the entire night, the wailing and crying in the capital city never stopped.

Suddenly, it seemed as if we had returned to the heyday of Emperor Taizu, when officials were killed.

A large number of civil servants from Jiangnan were imprisoned in the imperial prison of the Northern Pacification Office.

Countless officials in the capital were worried all night and dared not fall asleep.

Because they were listening, while the Jinyiwei were arresting all Jiangnan officials in the capital, they received a desperate notice.

Tomorrow Zhu Youtang will continue to hold court meetings in the palace.

During this period of time, officials in the capital have become relatively familiar with Zhu Youtang's habits.

Every time a court meeting was held after a major turmoil in the capital, nothing good would happen.

Maybe, there will be another scene of heads rolling and blood flowing like a river.

No one knows whether they can survive tomorrow's court meeting.

Cheng Minzheng, the Minister of Taichang Temple, was originally from Xiuning County, Huizhou Prefecture, Southern Zhili, but he was born in Hejian Prefecture, Northern Zhili.

According to Zhu Youtang's regulations, Cheng Minzheng could not be considered a Jiangnan native, so he escaped this arrest.

But hearing the miserable screams outside the mansion, Cheng Minzheng was still trembling with fear.

Ever since he was awakened from his dream, he has been worried and afraid to fall asleep.

At this moment, when he heard that the court meeting would continue tomorrow, his eyes suddenly went dark, he staggered two steps, and fell to the ground.

His fall was not a serious matter, but it scared his wife and son half to death.

Cheng Minzheng's wife, Mrs. Li, looked anxious and kept shaking Cheng Minzheng, with tears in her voice.

"Master! Master, wake up, don't scare me, Master!"

"Master, have you done anything illegal? Have you been found out by His Majesty?!"

"Speak, sir!"

Cheng Minzheng's eldest son, Cheng Jin, was so frightened that he burst into tears, with tears and snot streaming down his face.

"Dad! Wake up, Dad!"

"Dad! You're not really going to do anything stupid, are you?!"

"Dad, you are being stupid, please don't let this get me into trouble, Dad!"

"..."

Cheng Minzheng woke up in a daze.

He stood there in a daze, recalling the current situation for half a minute, and his face was suddenly filled with sadness.

"Help me go to the study."

"Ah? What are you going to do, Dad?"

Cheng Jin didn't understand why, but he still did as he was told.

Suddenly, a large group of people followed Cheng Minzheng to the study.

In addition to Cheng Jin and Li, there were also some maids and servants in the Cheng family.

Cheng Minzheng came to the desk and wrote a suicide note in just a few strokes.

Then he handed it to Cheng Jin and said to the servant beside him: "Xiao Liuzi, go to the coffin shop at the end of the alley and order a coffin for me first..."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room burst into tears.

The ones who cried the most sadly were Cheng Jin and Li.

Little Liuzi finally stopped crying and wiped away her tears. Just as she was about to run to the alley entrance to order a coffin, she was stopped by Li.

Li cried uncontrollably and spoke breathlessly: "Xiao Liuzi, please order a coffin for me too..."

Then, Cheng Jin, who was crying, said, "And me, order one for me too..."

(End of this chapter)