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

Chapter 35 I executed them all today!

"But words are not enough. We must first verify our identity before we can officially register as a citizen."

"Okay, Doctor Zhang, please do as you wish."

After getting Zhang Wenshao's permission, Zhang Cai nodded slightly to a female official in her thirties behind him.

"Granddaughter Shi, thank you for your help."

Sun Nvshi nodded, saying sternly, "We are all doing things for His Majesty, so why would it be troublesome?"

Every team that came to select concubines was accompanied by female officials from the Chuxiu Palace in order to verify the identities of the concubines.

The royal selection is a top priority, and a woman who has lost her virginity must not be allowed into the palace.

Otherwise, the entire team responsible for the selection will be killed.

Sun Nv Shi is a very experienced person in this matter and has a very sharp eye.

Just by looking at the way a concubine walks and her usual movements, one can tell whether she is married or not.

The granddaughter Shi Ganggang had been standing aside, observing the eight women.

She could tell at a glance that these eight women were all innocent.

But the selection cannot be careless, so the granddaughter Shi still took the eight women into the secret room.

Only after completing the inspection according to the process can you confidently draw your own conclusions.

"Doctor Zhang, the governor is right. These eight women are all innocent."

"Good good!"

Zhang Cai smiled and clapped his hands, then immediately ordered people to register these eight women as citizens.

"Do you all have names?" asked the official in charge of Nazi nationality.

"some."

"Gu Hengbo, Dong Xiaowan, Bian Yujing, Li Xiangjun, Kou Baimen, Ma Xianglan, Liu Rushi, Chen Yuanyuan."

Eight women came forward timidly.

Zhang Wenshao was extremely happy to see that the skinny horse he had carefully trained was successfully selected.

"Doctor Zhang, I am hosting a banquet today. Please do me the honor of joining us."

"Haha, easy to say, easy to say."

Zhang Cai was also extremely excited, but what excited him was not that he had selected eight beautiful and talented girls for Zhu Youtang.

Instead, he found eight beautiful concubines for himself.

Zhang Cai was deeply attracted to these eight beauties the moment he first saw them.

Where had he ever seen such a beautiful and gentle woman?

Suddenly, a bold idea came into his mind.

That means he is hiding a beautiful girl!
Of course, keeping a beautiful girl privately is a serious crime punishable by death, but the risk of being discovered is actually very low.

In previous selections, officials often secretly hid the concubines in their own mansions.

When the time comes, just report that he died of illness or escaped.

Or simply erase the name of the concubine from the register and no one will know.

Ji Gang, the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard during the Yongle period, once did this.

In the fifth year of Yongle, Emperor Taizong ordered a nationwide beauty contest, and Ji Gang privately kept the beauties selected for Emperor Taizong.

This matter was not disclosed until the 14th year of Yongle, when Ji Gang was executed by slow slicing for treason by Emperor Taizong.

From this we can see that the risk of secretly keeping a concubine being discovered is actually not that great.

You know, during the Ming Dynasty, the imperial palace would select more than 5,000 beauties at a time.

And there were only about fifty beauties who could actually stay in the harem.

Among these fifty or so beauties, no more than ten can truly become the emperor's women.

Most of the other concubines would only become ordinary palace maids.

If that’s the case, then why can’t Zhang Cai get the advantage?

Zhang Cai is not very interested in money, he only loves beautiful women.

Zhang Cai felt that the beauty of these eight Yangzhou skinny horses was worth the risk!
The same selection plot also took place simultaneously in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

Governors, merchants, gentry, and nobles from all over the country all used their talents and racked their brains to send their own girls into the palace.

However, the real target of the selection was decent girls from ordinary families, and people were unwilling to send their own daughters into the palace.

The entire audition process was not entirely smooth, but it was proceeding in an orderly manner.

What they didn't know was that since Zhu Youtang started the national talent show, every selected team was secretly monitored by the Jinyiwei!

Anyone who attempts to manipulate the election or plays tricks will fail in their goal and will only bring fatal disaster to themselves and their families!
……

Five days later.

Beijing.

At midnight, some officials had already left their homes, dressed neatly, and gone to the palace to attend court.

Those who had sedan chairs sat in them, and those who didn't walked. Before the morning, most of the officials had arrived at Hou Chaofang.

When Xie Qian saw Li Dongyang, he hurriedly went up to him and said, "Binzhi, how have you been lately?"

Li Dongyang knew what Xie Qian was asking, and sighed and shook his head.

"It's fine, but I can't sleep."

"As soon as I closed my eyes, I seemed to hear someone crying for mercy in my ear."

Xie Qian and Li Dongyang looked at each other and smiled, their mouths full of bitterness.

The West Factory has been going like crazy over the past five days.

The house searches continued day and night, making all officials nervous and the people applauded.

Moreover, Zhu Youtang specially issued an edict to suspend court for five days.

This made all the officials happy and scared.

The good thing is that they don’t have to go to court and face the emperor, as Zhu Youtang’s mood was unpredictable and he would confiscate property at any time.

They were really afraid that they would be able to attend the court but not be able to leave.

They were also afraid of not having to go to court and face the emperor. Ever since the eunuchs and maids in the palace had undergone a major purge, they could not get any information from the harem.

No one knows when Zhu Youtang got unhappy and launched another large-scale purge affecting hundreds of officials.

Then they don’t even know how they died.

All the civil and military officials in the capital have their own grievances.

I don’t know what’s going on, but being an official in the Ming Dynasty has become a high-risk job that requires you to put your head on the line.

At three quarters past the hour of Mao, the gate of the imperial palace opened and all civil and military officials entered the palace in an orderly manner.

When three whip sounds were sounded, officials crossed the Jinshui Bridge and found their own positions on the Fengtian Temple Square.

With his hands bowed, he waited respectfully for the Ming Emperor Zhu Youtang to come to court.

Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youtang had already put on his court robes and the Yishan crown and was sitting on the dragon throne, looking through the accounts brought by Wang Zhi.

"Okay, that's great."

"My dear ministers, you are all excellent officials."

Zhu Youtang threw the account in his hand heavily to the ground.

"Just 176 officials were able to confiscate 1.8 million taels of silver for me!"

"There are also 270,000 mu of grain fields in various places, other antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and 300 boxes of gold, silver and jewelry!"

"My Ming Dynasty really has a group of good officials!"

Wang Zhi bent down to pick up the account book and stood respectfully beside it.

Huai En held the warm fish soup in his hand and whispered: "Your Majesty, calm down. Don't let these dog officials ruin your dragon body."

"Your Majesty, please have some fish soup. It's still hot."

"Don't eat!"

Zhu Youtang waved his hand and turned to look at Wang Zhi and Mou Bin.

"Have all the relatives of Ma Wensheng and Qiu Yue been brought into the capital?"

Wang Zhi bowed his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty, the people of the three clans of the Junzhou Ma family have all been imprisoned in the West Factory Prison."

Mou Bin bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty, all the nine clans of Pingliang's enemies have been imprisoned in the Jinyiwei prison."

"Alright, bring Ma Wensheng, Qiu Yue, and their families to the court!"

"And the 176 officials from the Western Factory, all of them will be brought to the court!"

"Wan'an, Liu Wei and Liu Ji are also brought up here. I will execute them together today!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Wang Zhi, Huai En and Mou Bin bowed and accepted the order.

(End of this chapter)