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

Chapter 82 Don’t splatter blood on me!

At this moment, the figure of the eunuch from the Imperial Household Department appeared on the upper floor of the Meridian Gate.

Liu Jian, the deputy minister of the cabinet, yelled at the Meridian Gate: "My Lords, why is the Meridian Gate not open?"

"Please open the Meridian Gate quickly so that we can go to court and see the emperor!"

The young eunuch from the Imperial Household Department at the Meridian Gate Tower replied indifferently.

"Today, His Majesty has issued an order that the court meeting will be held in front of the Meridian Gate."

"Please, my lords, please stand in the order you arrange for your majesty to come to court."

"Ah? How could this be?!"

"Holding court in front of the Meridian Gate? I've never heard of that!"

"Why are we holding court at the Meridian Gate? This... this is against etiquette!"

"This! This! This Wumen Square is where officials are executed. How can we hold court here?!"

"Oh my God! Your Majesty, are you thinking..."

"Shut up! Don't say such unlucky words!"

"..."

The words of the young eunuch from the Imperial Household Department were like a stone thrown into a pond, causing ripples.

Many officials were whispering to each other, their words full of shock and fear.

After all, holding court in such a sensitive place as the Meridian Gate was too unusual.

It's hard not to be suspicious.

Xie Qian and Li Dongyang looked at each other, the worry on their faces was evident.

Liu Jian, Wang Shu, Liu Daxia and other senior officials from the six ministries were like ants on a hot pan, pacing anxiously on the spot.

Liu Jian looked up at the towering walls surrounding the courtyard. This environment of being surrounded by walls on all sides, like a trapped beast, made him anxious and uneasy.

Only Xu Pu stood in the first seat on the left with his eyes closed, saying nothing.

Looking at his indifferent look, Liu Jian didn't know whether the Prime Minister had come to terms with it or not.

Amid the anxious mood of the civil and military officials in the court, time passed slowly and all the officials gradually took their own positions.

At one o'clock in the morning, Zhu Youtang, accompanied by Huai En, Wang Zhi and Mou Bin, appeared on the top of the Meridian Gate Tower.

"The Emperor has arrived!"

Under the chanting of the young eunuch from the Imperial Household Department, all the civil and military officials present at the Meridian Gate Square knelt down at the same time and paid homage to Zhu Youtang.

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

On the upper floor of the Meridian Gate, a young eunuch from the Palace Supervisor had already brought up the dragon throne.

Zhu Youtang sat on the dragon throne and looked down at the ministers downstairs. After a quick glance, he frowned angrily.

"The Censorate!"

The current highest official of the Censorate, Tu Yu, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate who was in charge of the affairs of the Censorate, immediately stepped forward.

"I am Tu Yu, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"

"Call in now!"

"You have a quarter of an hour to report the names of all officials who did not attend court today!"

Zhu Youtang just took a quick glance and found that there were fewer officials attending court today.

In fact, every morning court session, there would always be some officials who asked for sick leave, ranging from a few to dozens.

Zhu Youtang did not make things difficult for these officials who asked for leave. He usually just nodded, as if he knew it.

Every time there was a court meeting, dozens of people would take leave and not attend, which was still considered a small number.

After all, attending court was a torture for both the emperor and the officials.

Don’t look at the officials of later generations who cursed Emperor Shizong and Emperor Shenzong and did not attend court for decades.

But in fact, these officials were secretly grinning from ear to ear, because they really liked the emperor who didn't attend court.

When the previous emperor was alive, he held court every day, but every time he called the roll, hundreds of people were missing.

The most absent people at one time was 634 people who did not attend the court.

This time, Zhu Youtang noticed with his naked eyes that there were no less than two hundred officials who did not attend the court.

In addition, Zhu Youtang is going to make big moves at this court meeting. It is no wonder that he is so angry that so many officials are not attending the court.

After hearing Zhu Youtang's order, Tu Yu hurriedly obeyed it.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Tu Yu immediately stood up and organized the censors of the Censorate to start signing in all officials.

All the civil and military officials present were shocked at first, and then secretly rejoiced.

The emperor is calling the police, what’s the difference between this and the King of Hell calling the police?
In particular, this emperor was Zhu Youtang.

Tu Yu first came to the Minister of Personnel Wang Shu and asked in a low voice: "Minister Wang, how many people have asked for sick leave today?"

Wang Shu had a conflicted look on his face and sighed twice before replying.

"The Ministry of Personnel alone received notices of leave from 237 people."

Tu Yu's expression changed drastically: "Why are there so many? This is so confusing!"

Wang Shu sighed, lowered his head and stopped talking.

Tu Yu also shook his head and continued to check the officials' ivory plates one by one.

Soon, the censors of the Censorate compiled a list of absent officials and handed it to Tu Yu.

After Tu Yu got the list, the Meridian Gate opened a small hole and a young eunuch from the Imperial Household Department walked out from behind the Meridian Gate.

The young eunuch walked up to Tu Yu, took the list from Tu Yu's hand, then returned to the Meridian Gate and closed it again.

Soon, the list came into Zhu Youtang's hands.

Just one glance made Zhu Youtang furious.

Today, 562 officials took sick leave!

This data is almost about to exceed the record of official absenteeism set during the reign of the previous emperor!

Zhu Youtang threw the list to the ground angrily and sneered in anger.

"Great! There are more than 500 officials who dare not attend the court!"

"I want to see whether these people are really sick or just pretending to be sick!"

"If you are pretending to be sick, I will never let you off easily!"

"Mo Bin!"

Zhu Youtang shouted loudly, and all the officials kneeling in the Wumen Square trembled all over.

"Have someone check every household according to the list. If they are really sick, then that's fine."

"If he is pretending to be sick, bring him to the palace immediately!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After receiving the order, Mou Bin immediately picked up the list from the ground, quickly left the Meridian Gate Tower, and sent people to thoroughly investigate the absent officials.

At this time, all the officials in the court were still kneeling in the Meridian Gate Square.

Without Zhu Youtang's approval, they would never dare to stand up on their own.

Zhu Youtang waved his hand impatiently: "Stand up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

All the civil and military officials breathed a sigh of relief, secretly rubbed their aching knees, and slowly stood up.

"Something's going to happen."

Huai'en stepped forward and gave orders to all officials on behalf of Zhu Youtang.

After a brief silence among the civil and military officials, Xu Pu from the cabinet broke the silence and reported the matter to Zhu Youtang as planned.

"Your Majesty, I have this memorial!"

"Play."

"Your Majesty, the Tao River in Lintao Prefecture, Ganzhou, burst its banks this summer, resulting in a poor harvest in the fall."

"The prefect of Lintao Prefecture has submitted a memorial requesting Your Majesty to reduce the autumn tax in Lintao Prefecture by 50%."

Zhu Youtang narrowed his eyes slightly and thought silently.

Although natural disasters continued to occur in the Ming Dynasty, the frequency of disaster reports from various places was too abnormal.

In the two capitals and thirteen provinces, three or four prefectures would report disasters to the court almost every year.

Either they requested tax reduction or exemption, or they requested the opening of warehouses to provide relief grain.

However, the imperial court had no way of verifying whether the disaster was real or fake, or how serious it was.

However, once the disaster was reported, the court had no choice but to provide relief. Otherwise, if it was a real disaster, tens of thousands of people might be displaced.

"allow."

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Youtang approved the memorial submitted by the prefect of Lintao Prefecture.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After Xu Pu returned to the team, the Minister of Works Jia Jun also took the initiative to report to Zhu Youtang. "Your Majesty, I have this report."

"Accurate."

Jia Jun stood out from the ranks holding a tablet in his hand and said, "Your Majesty, the governor of southern Yunnan reported that one hundred southwestern nanmu trees have been dispatched from Yunnan to Huguang."

"It is expected to reach the port of Qizhoufu in one month."

"understood."

"Your Majesty, I have this report!"

"Play."

"..."

As before, no official dared to mention what happened last night.

All the civil and military officials pretended to be completely unaware of what was going on, and only hoped that the court would be dismissed as soon as possible so that they could return home safely.

Just as the civil and military officials were holding court in the Meridian Gate Square.

In the Taimiao, which is only separated from the Wumen Square by a wall, hundreds of people are kneeling in front of the tablet of the late emperor Zhu Jianshen.

Among these people, a small number were court officials, and some were imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau.

The vast majority of people are the families of these officials.

It is solemn and dignified in front of the Taimiao.

Hundreds of Dongchang guards, with sharp knives in their hands, stood on both sides of the Taimiao, staring at the people kneeling there.

At this time, in front of the Taimiao, Liu Wentai, who was no longer in human form, Shi Qin, the main person in charge of the Imperial Medical Bureau, Zhong Lan, and Geng Wenxin, the commander of the Zhongcheng Bingmasi, were all kneeling here.

The officials kneeling in the field knew they could not escape death, and there was a deathly silence on everyone's face.

But they still had a glimmer of hope in their hearts, that is, they hoped that Zhu Youtang could give their families a way out.

Under such high pressure, even if I cried, I could only do it carefully and sob in a low voice.

And from time to time, the East Factory men would enter from the Yongtai Gate and bring more people into the Taimiao.

The purge of the East Factory is still going on!

……

At the same time, under Mou Bin's order, the four great guardians in brocade robes, Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird and Black Tortoise.

Each of them brought his own Jinyiwei and were tracking down the more than 500 officials who did not attend the court according to the list.

Because the situation was urgent, there were a large number of people and not enough time, this investigation was led by a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The Jinyiwei were divided into one hundred teams, each with ten people, and they went to the officials' homes to investigate and arrest people.

Among these officials who took sick leave, some were really frightened by the commotion in the capital last night.

But most of the officials were afraid and did not dare to go to court to face Zhu Youtang.

The fact that they did not attend court was not because they were as brave as Zhu Youtang thought.

On the contrary, they did not dare to go to court because they were too timid and were frightened by Zhu Youtang.

The Xuanwu Guards knocked on the door of the Left Councillor of the Ministry of Public Administration for a long time but received no response.

He then had someone break down the wooden door and rush into the house.

"what!!!"

The maids and servants behind the door turned pale with fear and screamed.

The Xuanwu Guard ignored everyone else and rushed straight to the main house.

But I saw Councillor Zuo lying on the bed, looking nervous and coughing constantly.

"Ahem... I'm sorry, sir... ahem... I'm too ill... ahem... I can't..."

The Xuanwu Guard tilted his head, and immediately a Jinyi Guard came forward and touched the forehead and chest of the Left Councillor.

"My lord, there is no fever."

"If he doesn't have a fever, he's not sick. Take him back to court!"

"Yes!"

Before Councillor Zuo could react, two Jinyiwei immediately grabbed him and dragged him out of the house.

Councillor Zuo shouted anxiously: "I am not suffering from a fever, I am suffering from a mental illness, I need to rest..."

No one was listening to his explanation. They still had many officials to check and there was no time to waste!

At the same time, scenes like this, where officials claiming to be sick were being arrested, were taking place in every corner of the capital.

They did not alarm the sick official who was obviously pale, listless and had a fever.

Those they arrested were healthy officials like the Left Councillor, who had ruddy complexions and were full of energy.

……

Forbidden City.

Meridian Gate.

The boring court meeting was still going on, and Zhu Youtang was reviewing the state affairs reported from the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

At this time, Mou Bin walked to Zhu Youtang's side and reported in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the officials who took sick leave have been investigated."

"Forty-nine of these officials were genuinely ill."

"The remaining 513 officials are pretending to be sick."

"All the officials who pretended to be sick have been arrested."

Zhu Youtang nodded and looked at the Censor of the Ministry of Works who was talking incessantly downstairs of the Meridian Gate.

What he reported was not a big deal, just an ordinary impeachment of a cabinet minister and some verbal battle.

"Okay, back off."

The Minister of Works immediately shut up and bowed respectfully.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After standing back in the team, the Ministry of Works breathed a sigh of relief, feeling fortunate that he had managed to get through again.

Zhu Youtang ordered: "Bring those officials who claim to be ill to me!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

At the Meridian Gate, an Imperial Guard immediately took the order and passed it on to other Imperial Guards who were guarding officials.

Soon, the Duanmen Gate, located behind the Wumen Square, slowly opened.

One by one, the officials who pretended to be sick and did not attend court were arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guards and taken from the Duanmen Gate to the front of the Wumen Gate.

They looked pale and had tense expressions. Some of them had such weak legs that they could not even walk. They had to rely on the Jinyiwei behind them to push them forward.

The officials on both sides stepped back a few steps, leaving the middle space to the Jinyiwei.

He was afraid that these vicious Jinyiwei would hurt him by mistake.

At the same time, they were silently mourning for these poor officials in their hearts.

After all, none of the officials who were taken before Zhu Youtang by the Embroidered Uniform Guards have survived so far.

Xu Pu, Liu Jian, Liu Daxia, Jia Jun and others who were in front of the Meridian Gate retreated even more.

Otherwise their blood would splash on you.

Not only the civil and military officials around them thought that these officials who pretended to be sick and did not attend court would die.

Even these officials who were brought here pretending to be sick felt that their time was up and they had no chance of survival.

When they passed Chengtian Gate, they also saw countless soldiers from the Xianzhen Camp wearing black armor.

The last time they saw the Xianzhen Camp was when they were outside the city, executing 191 officials.

Especially since they are now in front of the Meridian Gate.

You know, this was a place that was previously used to execute officials.

They were officials who were relatively timid to begin with, and now they were dragged before Zhu Youtang under the Meridian Gate.

Suddenly, everyone was shaking like a sieve, their faces were as pale as paper, without a trace of blood.

Some were even frightened to the point of incontinence, and a foul smell wafted over the Meridian Gate Square.

Zhu Youtang looked coldly at the group of officials claiming to be sick downstairs and asked coldly.

"Why are you guys pretending to be sick and not attending court?"

Faced with Zhu Youtang's question, none of the more than 500 officials who were pretending to be sick dared to answer.

He just kept kowtowing, crying, confessing, and begging Zhu Youtang's forgiveness.

"Please have mercy, Your Majesty! I was confused for a moment, confused for a moment!"

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty! I will never do it again! Never again!"

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty! Please forgive me, Your Majesty! Please spare my life!"

"..."

　Chapter 3 is now available!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)