Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 310 Intelligence System, Warning! The Beginning of Anti-Corruption!

Zhu Yunhuan, who was lying with his eyes half closed, opened his eyes, looked at Jiang Li who was kneeling on the ground, and said, "Stand up."

Ever since Zhu Yuanzhang passed away, Jiang Li came to pay his respects almost every morning and evening, with an obvious intention of flattering and currying favor.

Even he, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was kept in the dark about the fact that Zhu was hiding in the harem.

The main reason is that he is different from Yoshigaki.

Yoshigaki served Lao Zhu in the palace, so there was no worry about the secret being leaked.

There's no need to hide it from him.

But Jiang Li, as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was an outsider.

He also has to do things outside, and if the news is leaked, all that Zhu has painstakingly arranged will be ruined.

However, the channels through which the Jinyiwei passed information to the inner court were still in operation.

Not long ago, Jiang Lin took out a hidden brick on the wall of the imperial city and put a piece of information inside.

The bricks were then put back in place, making the exterior wall look intact.

When he took the brick away again, he found that the information he had handed in was gone.

Instead, there was an order from above.

During the entire process, no one could be seen, and no one knew who gave the instructions.

But whether it was the intelligence he handed over or the instructions he issued, there were specific methods to verify their authenticity, and there was no way they could be wrong.

Even if outsiders discovered this place, they would not be able to pass information inside.

Because of the anti-counterfeiting feature, people inside can tell it is fake at a glance.

The same is true of the news that has been spread.

They were all transmitted while waiting outside, and carried signs to distinguish the authenticity.

This method of information transmission was established when Zhu Yuanzhang was alive.

The inside and the outside are isolated and cannot see each other.

There is more than one similar intelligence point, and Jiang Li is not the only one who is qualified to transmit intelligence and receive instructions.

In many cases, spy agencies need to remain secretive and independent of each other.

But Jiang Li originally thought that this operating model would change after Zhu Yunhuan ascended the throne.

At least there will be major adjustments.

But unexpectedly, nothing has changed.

He didn't even know whether the new emperor had taken over the inner court's intelligence system.

Whether the intelligence submitted through secret channels has reached the new emperor.

Or could it be that the inner court's intelligence center had long been out of control?

Became a self-operating "monster"?
This question always lingered in Jiang Li's mind.

I have always wanted to find an opportunity to ask the new emperor for clarification in person.

"Your Majesty, ever since the death of the late emperor, rumors have been spreading throughout the capital." Jiang Li was the first to talk about this matter.

"Oh?" Zhu Yunhuan's face was calm, and he asked back: "What did they say? Tell me!"

Jiang Li immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I dare not repeat what you said, for fear of offending your Majesty."

Zhu Yunhuan said calmly: "How can it be so derogatory? They are simply saying that for the throne, they killed their own grandfather, which is a great treason."

"Even worse, some even make up some bizarre story about a grandfather and a grandson fighting over a beautiful woman."

"Or maybe the old emperor is not dead yet, but is imprisoned in the harem by the new emperor."

"Something like that."

Jiang Lin was shocked. He didn't expect that the new emperor knew all this.

He had always thought that the new emperor must know nothing.

Although Jiang Li also knew that the new emperor had secretly set up a spying department to gather intelligence when he was the crown prince.

It is impossible for the Intelligence Department to fail to find out about widely spread rumors in the market.

But in his opinion, such things are usually concealed and not reported.

This does not require any interference from powerful officials.

It is the consensus of everyone to report good news rather than bad news.

Everyone will do it consciously.

Especially rumors like this that insult the emperor, who would risk being scolded by the emperor and making him furious by reporting them to his superiors?
But I didn’t expect that the old monk Yao Guangxiao didn’t think so.

The Intelligence Department had already reported the news to Zhu Yunhuan.

"Your Majesty!" Jiang Li kowtowed heavily and said, "It is my negligence that has caused these rumors slandering Your Majesty to spread everywhere. I have ordered my Jinyiwei to conduct a strict investigation."

"Anyone who spreads rumors and slanders His Majesty will be severely punished."

"At the same time, we must follow the clues to find the source of these treasonous remarks and punish all nine generations of their clan."

Looking at Jiang Lin's confident words, Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help but blink slightly, then returned to normal and asked, "Have you arrested anyone?"

Jiang Li said hurriedly: "In the past few days, the Jinyiwei has been investigating with all their strength and has arrested 275 people who spread the rumors."

Is that much?

Zhu Yunhuan was slightly stunned.

Indeed, gossip is human nature.

Even though the Jinyiwei arrested people on such a large scale, they were unable to stop the spread of rumors.

"What are you going to do with them?" Zhu Yunhuan asked again.

Jiang Li said sternly: "Your Majesty, these people actually slandered the emperor and spread rumors wantonly. If we don't kill them, we won't be able to set things right. If we don't kill them, we won't be able to quell the loyal ministers."

"I think they should all be sentenced to death."

"Forget it." Zhu Yunhuan waved his hand and said, "It's just a few ignorant people spreading nonsense."

"There's no need to make such a fuss. Just detain them for three days, give them a warning, and then release them all."

These rumors were originally fanned and spread intentionally by him behind the scenes.

The true and false, the real and the unreal, are all intentional.

After all, the only way to get the news out without revealing the truth is, of course, to spread all kinds of rumors.

Since he was the one who released it, it would be a bit too much to kill someone for it.

Released?

Jiang Li was shocked.

The new emperor is so magnanimous?

Is he so easy to let go of those who plotted against him behind his back?
Could it be... In an instant, Jiang Li thought of many things.

Some people speculate that the rumors in the capital in recent days may have been deliberately spread by the new emperor.

The purpose is to lure out opponents in the government and the opposition.

Jiang Li was both convinced and skeptical about this.

Hearing the new emperor's decree, the doubts in his heart increased.

"As ordered!" Jiang Li said, "Your Majesty is so kind and generous that there is no one like you in the history. The people will surely remember your Majesty's kindness."

"You still need to teach the ignorant people well." Zhu Yunhuan said, "You must sternly warn them not to spread rumors again."

"Yes!" Jiang Lin responded quickly, still standing in the hall and did not leave.

"Is there anything else?" Zhu Yunxun raised his eyelids and asked.

"Your Majesty!" Jiang Lin looked outside nervously and saw that the guards outside were standing far away from the door.

As long as you don't shout too loudly, no one should hear you, so I felt relieved.

"The Imperial Guards and the Inspectors used to pass messages into the palace through secret cracks in the palace walls. Now..."

"Oh, that's what you are talking about." Zhu Yunhuan knew that Jiang Li was suspicious.

This is also normal.

The new emperor ascended the throne, but the channels remained unchanged, which seemed abnormal in any way.

Moreover, although people outside did not know where the news was transmitted to through the cracks in the palace walls, they could roughly guess that the location should be inside the harem.

But the harem has now been sealed by Zhu Yunhuan's order.

How could he not be suspicious?
Zhu Yuanzhang was in the harem, and he also needed to rely on secret reports from the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Inspectors to learn about the situation outside, so the intelligence could not be interrupted.

Otherwise, Lao Zhu would be worried because he didn't know what was happening outside.

"For now, everything remains the same as before. I will make adjustments and changes later."

Zhu Yunhuan already had a plan in mind for this.

Just move the address where the information is currently being transmitted slightly.

Move it to the place where the front and back palaces meet.

Outsiders would have no way of telling who received the message.

On the other hand, Zhu Yunhuan also took over the intelligence system of the Jinyiwei and the Jianxiu.

The information they collected will be divided into two parts.

One copy was given to Lao Zhu and one copy was given to himself.

Although the information collected by Yao Guangxiao's Intelligence Department was large and extensive.

But after experiencing the previous events, Zhu Yunhuan clearly realized the importance of delegating power and checking and balancing subordinates as a superior.

The intelligence system is the emperor’s most important eyes and ears and cannot be monopolized by subordinates.

No matter how much you trust this subordinate, it won't work.

For an emperor, there is nothing more terrible than being blinded by his ears and eyes.

Once the information channels are monopolized, it is tantamount to giving the emperor's power to others and putting the life and death of the country in the hands of others.

The intelligence from the Jinyiwei and the Jianxiu served as a supplement to the information from the Intelligence Bureau.

On the other hand, the Investigation Department only had the authority to gather information, and its power was much smaller than that of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

For example, the Embroidered Uniform Guard could directly summon officials for questioning, which the Investigation Department could not do.

Zhu Yunhuan also did not intend to give the Investigation Department more or greater power. It was enough to let them become the same as the "plainclothes reporters" of later generations.

It was used to collect and summarize information from the public, and turned into a secret agency for internal rule.

In addition, the secret reporting system should be further strengthened to give ministers the opportunity to report news that is difficult to report publicly to the emperor. "As you wish!" Jiang Lin finally felt relieved after feeling a heavy weight on his heart.

It doesn't seem to be a problem.

It is just that Your Majesty hopes to take over smoothly, so he does not change the old system.

That's good.

"I will withdraw first." Jiang Li bowed and said.

Zhu Yunhuan glanced at him and suddenly remembered something: "You have been the commander of the Jinyiwei for many years and have been loyal to the country. I have seen it all."

"I grant you a house and ten thousand strings of silver."

Jiang Li was stunned for a moment, then he bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace. I will repay Your Majesty with my life."

Old Zhu would never give such a generous reward.

Zhu Yuanzhang was notoriously stingy towards his subjects.

Of course, this stinginess is mainly directed at civil servants.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very generous when rewarding the meritorious soldiers fighting on the front lines.

The reason why the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes collapsed completely and became worthless was largely because Zhu Yuanzhang liked to use a large amount of them to reward soldiers who won battles on the front line.

This is not to fool them.

At least, that's when Lao Zhu gave the money out.

The Baochao is real Baochao and is worth a lot of money.

But because the rewards were too great, the treasure notes soon depreciated wildly, which is another matter.

Although the Jinyiwei also belonged to the military officer system, they seldom went to the front line to fight and therefore did not receive many rewards.

Of course, the Jinyiwei did not completely avoid the front lines.

In fact, during the Hongwu period, when a war broke out, the Jinyiwei still sent troops to the front line in shifts.

This is the lesson that Lao Zhu learned from history.

All the troops stationed in the capital, no matter how powerful and elite they were in the past.

As long as you stay in the capital for a long time, away from the front line, there will be no fighting for a long time.

In the end, the combat effectiveness will decline rapidly and almost collapse completely.

The Imperial Guards received the highest salary and had the best armor and weapons.

Theoretically, the most powerful army in the country should be stationed in the capital.

But in fact, throughout the dynasties, there has never been a dynasty whose imperial guards could be compared with the border troops in terms of combat effectiveness in the later period.

To be realistic, if there is peace for 180 years, the border troops fighting the imperial guards would be like a tiger fighting a sheep.

Theoretically, the hundreds of thousands of imperial guards in the capital should be the strongest army, but when a real battle breaks out, they are not even as strong as the tens of thousands of border troops.

This is the norm in history.

Zhu Yuanzhang was well aware of this, which is why he let the Jinyiwei take turns fighting on the front lines.

But, in reality, it's all in vain.

In later generations, the imperial guards stationed in the capital of the Ming Dynasty still inevitably went down the path of corruption and degeneration!

After all, when Li Zicheng's rebel army was approaching the capital.

On paper, there are still 200,000 imperial guards in the capital of the Ming Dynasty!

But from the emperor and officials to the ordinary people on the street, no one would think that the 200,000 imperial guards had any real fighting power.

The Jinyiwei at that time was no exception.

Although the Jinyiwei itself is an army, it is the most important army in the Ming Dynasty.

But they can be used as a secret service system to suppress officials and civilians, and they are naturally powerful and invincible.

He is quite competent in security work.

But if they are really used as an army and sent to fight on the front line, they will also be vulnerable.

Only when Zhu Yuanzhang was alive, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was truly the first army of the Ming Dynasty with strong combat power.

But although Jiang Li was the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he had no chance to fight on the front line and make merit, so Zhu Yuanzhang naturally would not give him any rewards.

Only the new emperor would be so generous.

The first transaction was a house, and the return was ten thousand strings of cash.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at him deeply and said, "You have the house I awarded you, so you should give up the houses of others."

Jiang Lin was startled, looked up in astonishment, and stared in amazement.

"Don't take other people's money." Zhu Yunhuan said slowly, "If you really need money, tell me and I will reward you."

Beads of sweat oozed out of Jiang Li's forehead, and in a flash, his whole body was soaked.

A few days ago, one of his clansmen said that there was a very nice house that was for sale.

Jiang Lin went to see the house and liked it very much.

He now has six wives and concubines, but his house is too small and inconvenient to live in.

If he were to marry a seventh or eighth wife in the future, it would be even more difficult to accommodate her.

However, Jiang Li did not dare to openly seize it.

So, he asked someone to ask, and the other party first offered 30,000 taels of silver. Later, when he heard that it was the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who wanted to buy it, he dared not offer any higher price.

Finally, the two parties reached a deal at a price of three hundred taels of silver.

Jiang Li thought he had done this without any flaws.

After all, it's a fair trade.

One is willing to sell, the other is willing to buy.

Although the other party was afraid of his identity as the commander of the Jinyiwei, he offered such a low price.

But he did not publicly threaten the other party, nor did he use any means to arrest the other party and put him in jail or force him.

The other party was willing to sell it to him for three hundred taels of silver.

However, unexpectedly, the news still reached the ears of the new emperor.

As for taking other people's money, he didn't remember anything about that.

Because I have done it many times.

Who knows which time His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is referring to?
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I will never do it again." Jiang Li begged for mercy quickly, not daring to say a word in defense.

"It's good that you admit your mistake." Zhu Yunhuan sighed softly.

Regarding Zhu's iron-fisted anti-corruption efforts during his administration.

He always has a feeling of being in a dilemma.

Many people were killed, but the corruption was not stopped.

People in later generations always hate corrupt officials and say that anyone can be killed.

But compared with this era, the supervision system for officials in later generations was much more complete.

Corruption among officials was far less serious than it is today.

Many of the corrupt things that people dare to do openly in this era would be low-level mistakes that even the dumbest officials would not make in later generations.

This is the power of an effective supervision system.

Without establishing an effective supervision and management system, once a big mistake has been made and the higher-ups discover it and impose the death penalty, how much effect will that have?
After all, everyone has a sense of luck.

They all thought that what they did would not be discovered by the emperor.

And this is indeed the reality in this era.

Without an effective supervision mechanism, corruption and lawlessness among officials cannot be detected at all, and no matter how severe the torture is, it will only be superficial.

We have even fallen into a vicious circle where the more we crack down on corruption, the more corrupt officials there are.

Kill one batch and another batch comes.

It pops up faster than leeks.

Old Zhu could never figure out the reason, but Zhu Yunhuan knew it clearly.

Harsh laws and punishments are only auxiliary; an effective supervision mechanism is the fundamental one.

The goal is to immediately discover and correct officials’ mistakes as soon as they make them.

After the establishment of the Ministry of Posts and Communications, the use of written reports and investigations by the Censorate had initially curbed the bad practices in the Ming officialdom.

But the reality reflected by the report also shocked Zhu Yunhuan.

If the law that stipulated that anyone who embezzled 60 taels of silver would be executed was really followed, basically all the officials of the Ming Dynasty would be killed, and there would only be a few left.

As an emperor, he can only be a pure emperor.

This is certainly unrealistic.

You can only deal with it in stages, holding things from the past high and putting them down gently.

First give a warning, then gradually tighten up, becoming more and more strict.

This is the only way, and there is no other way.

Three feet frozen, not a cold day.

It will not be an overnight task to change the atmosphere in the Ming Dynasty officialdom.

Even the Jinyiwei, an agency founded and supervised by Zhu Yuanzhang himself, is still plagued by corruption today.

Jiang Li was considered relatively clean.

To put it bluntly, power breeds corruption.

Without supervision, it goes without saying.

"Let's forget about the past." Zhu Yunhuan said, "The Jinyiwei must conduct self-examination and self-correction."

"I give you three months to rectify the situation."

"If anyone commits the same offense again after three months, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Jiang Lilian said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace. I will keep it in mind."

Zhu Yunhuan waved his hand, Jiang Lin kowtowed again, got up from the ground and retreated.

At this time, Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, Yao Guangxiao, Xia Yuanji and other four people walked in from outside.

……

(End of this chapter)