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

Chapter 31 The Jealous Factory Guard Commander

"Your Majesty, General Gao Shun has led the Xianzhen Camp and completely annihilated the Tatar prince's troops."

"This is a secret letter sent to me by General Gao Shun."

Xu Chang took out the secret letter from his arms and presented it respectfully.

"Oh? Bring it here for me to see."

When Zhu Youtang heard that the threat from the Tatars had been resolved, a smile appeared on his face.

Huai'en quickly walked up to Xu Chang, took the secret letter, and carefully presented it to Zhu Youtang.

Zhu Youtang casually took the letter, tore off the seal, and unfolded it to read.

After quickly reading the letter, Zhu Youtang's previous gloom was swept away and he felt refreshed.

"Hahaha, the Xianzhen Camp did not disappoint me!"

"Wai En, read!"

Zhu Youtang threw the letter to Huai'en, took a wolf hair brush, and splashed ink on the rice paper.

Huai En took the secret letter and read it aloud.

"Set up the camp at Tumubao and annihilate the Tatar army led by the little Tatar prince."

"A total of 38,642 enemies were killed!"

"Twenty-six thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven prisoners."

"Thirty-two thousand one hundred and thirty-nine horses seized."

"We seized 340,000 taels of silver."

"..."

Every time Huai En read a word, Wang Zhi and Mou Bin were shocked.

He was secretly amazed at the terrifying combat power of the Xianzhen Camp.

Huai En was also horrified when he heard this.

With such a large army, it is likely that they will be able to sweep across the grassland in no time and completely incorporate the Northern Yuan Dynasty into the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

After Huai'en finished reading, Zhu Youtang also stopped writing with the wolf hair brush in his hand.

Zhu Youtang looked at it with satisfaction and waved to the young eunuch from the Imperial Household Department behind him.

"Frame it and send it to the Xianzhen Camp."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Two young eunuchs came forward, carefully absorbed the ink, and then stood the rice paper up.

Four large characters written in a flamboyant style came into the eyes of the four people.

"The bravest of the three armies!"

When Xu Chang saw this, he was overjoyed!
He immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times, his voice trembling with excitement.

"One hundred thousand soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp thank your majesty for the generous reward!"

"Thanks to your majesty's kindness, the 100,000 soldiers in the Xianzhen Camp are willing to die for your majesty!"

When Wang Zhi, Huai En and Mou Bin saw this, their eyes turned red with jealousy.

His Majesty actually rewarded Xianzhen Camp with a calligraphy written by his own hand, and added the extremely glorious words "Bravest of the Three Armies"...

The three of them gritted their teeth silently, clenched their fists secretly, and vowed to work harder to strive to obtain the calligraphy written by Zhu Youtang himself.

Zhu Youtang chuckled and shook his head: "This is not a reward, I just wrote a couplet casually because I was in a good mood."

"Go back and tell Gao Shun to keep the Tatar captives in Changtong for a few days."

"When the time comes, I will order him to lead all the soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp to the capital to be rewarded."

"That's when I'll give you a big reward."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Okay, take this calligraphy and go back."

"Yes, Your Majesty. I will take my leave now!"

After Xu Chang respectfully left the imperial study, he followed the two young eunuchs to wait outside the Imperial Household Department.

The eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department lost no time in framing the painting "The Bravest among the Three Armies".

After Xu Chang left, Zhu Youtang sat back on the dragon throne and looked at Wang Zhi and the other two.

"You three can also tell us what news you have."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Huai En was the first to report: "Your Majesty, the East Factory has confiscated the property of Liu Wei and Liu Ji."

"A total of 123,000 taels of silver and 3,700 acres of land deeds were seized, and the remaining 46 boxes of property have all been sent to the imperial treasury."

"Seventy-six family members have been taken to the East Factory Prison and are still being tortured."

Zhu Youtang nodded and said nothing. Mou Bin continued to report: "Your Majesty, the Jinyiwei has arrested Qiu Yue and put him in prison. Qiu Yue's house in the capital has also been raided."

"A total of 35,000 taels of silver and 1,600 acres of land deeds were seized, and the remaining 17 boxes of valuables have all been sent to the treasury."

"Eleven members of his family have been imprisoned in the Jinyiwei prison."

"It's just that Qiu Yue's hometown is in Pingliang Prefecture. It will take some time for Qiu Yue's nine clansmen to enter the capital."

Zhu Youtang nodded slightly and looked at Wang Zhi.

Wang Zhi bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Ma Wensheng has been arrested and imprisoned in the Western Factory Prison. Ma Wensheng's home in the capital has also been confiscated."

"Wan'an's property in the capital has also been confiscated by the Western Factory."

"A total of 374,000 taels of silver, 15,400 acres of land deeds, and 174 boxes of other valuables were seized, all of which have been sent to the imperial treasury."

"Sixty-four family members have been imprisoned in the West Factory Prison."

"As for Ma Wensheng's clansmen in Junzhou, it will take a few days for them to enter the capital."

"The investigation of another 179 retired officials in the capital has also made a breakthrough."

"One hundred and seventy-nine people have been found guilty of embezzling money, selling official positions, occupying good farmland, abusing their power, using their power for personal gain, and shielding their family members."

"One hundred and seventy-nine officials, none of them are innocent, they can be arrested and investigated at any time!"

"Then do it!"

Zhu Youtang's originally happy face turned gloomy again and his tone was sharp.

Wang Zhi bowed his head and saluted: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Youtang closed his eyes and thought, slowly tapping the dragon table with his right hand.

A myriad of thoughts came into his mind, and he needed to sort them out before making a decision.

Now that the little Tatar prince has been eliminated, the most important thing has been resolved, and the next step is to settle the accounts.

Qiu Yue and Ma Wensheng, these two troublemakers, have been thrown into prison, waiting to be killed together with their families after they arrive in Beijing.

Wan'an, Liu Wei and Liu Ji all had their homes confiscated and were imprisoned, awaiting execution.

There were 179 retired officials, and after removing the three Wan'an officials, there were still 176 remaining.

They were all extremely corrupt officials, and the Western Factory was required to search their homes and investigate them.

After pondering for a while, Zhu Youtang began to issue orders.

"Wang Zhi, Mou Bin, I only give you five days."

"Five days later, I want to meet the families of Qiu Yue and Ma Wensheng."

Wang Zhi and Mou Bin were shocked and quickly bowed to accept the order.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Wang Zhi, I will also only give you five days to confiscate the property of 176 retired officials."

"Five days later, retired officials and their families will appear in the West Factory Prison."

"The silver and property they embezzled will appear in my treasury."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Go back."

"Yes, Wei Chen resigns!"

After the three factory guards left, Zhu Youtang sat on the dragon throne and breathed a sigh of relief.

He finally felt relieved after the threat from the little Tatar prince was lifted.

The Shangshenjian brought a snack, which was a bowl of deliciously cooked bird's nest.

After eating the bird's nest, Zhu Youtang drank a pot of the best West Lake Longjing tea and walked around the Imperial Garden.

The only thing that made Zhu Youtang feel a little regretful was that the Imperial Garden was too small, with only less than 20 acres of land, and he could not spend much time strolling around it.

Zhu Youtang returned to the imperial study only after his body and mind were sufficiently relaxed and the fatigue from handling official duties for days was relieved.

“Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish.”

"After dealing with the harem, relatives, internal officials, and external enemies, currency reform should be put on the agenda."

"But how to change, how to change, where to start... all need to be carefully discussed."

"There's no rush."

Zhu Youtang picked up the pen and continued to write down his general plan for currency reform on the unfinished memorial.

As for the specific implementation, it will be officially implemented only after discussion with the cabinet ministers.

But the only thing that is certain is that the currency reform of the Ming Dynasty is imminent.

No change!

(End of this chapter)