The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 225 Emperor Taichang
"Where is Captain Shen?"

"Your Majesty, the thief escaped through Zuo'an Gate and fled towards Tianjin with his accomplices. Your Majesty, will you order the Japanese-prepared troops and the garrison troops to assist in the extermination?"

The Qianqing Palace in Beijing.

The thin Emperor Taichang took the steaming hot Longjing tea from the palace maid, took a sip, and looked at Xu Xianchun, the newly promoted governor of the East Factory.

"Follow the rules. It's best to catch him alive. I have met Shen Lian once before."

Zhu Changluo waved his hand and several palace maids quickly retreated.

The emperor glanced at the pretty back of the palace maid, and seeing Xu Xianchun still kneeling on the ground, he said to him:

"Get up and talk."

After thanking him, Xu Xianchun stood up, hunched over, and hesitated for a moment before speaking:

"Your Majesty, I have something else to report."

Zhu Changluo motioned him to sit down and talk. Eunuch Xu sat halfway down on the edge of the chair with a flattering smile on his face.

"Speak, there are only the two of us, the king and his subject."

"Your Majesty, we must arrest one more person. If we allow this person to escape from Tianjin, there will be endless trouble."

Zhu Changluo gestured for him to continue.

"Your Majesty, this man is Yang Hao, the former governor of Liaodong."

"Yang Hao?"

In the 47th year of Wanli's reign, Zhu Changluo had just ascended the throne. His foundation was shallow and his throne was secure. He condoned and appeased the rebellious officials and rebels in Liaodong.

It's funny that the court's only countermeasure against Liu Zhaosun was his father-in-law Yang Hao.

However, Ping Liaohou did not seem to care about his father-in-law's life or death.

"Until the traitor Liu is eliminated, there will be no peace in the country!"

Xu Xianchun was emotional:
"Your Majesty, in the second year of Taichang, the Kaiyuan army launched attacks from all sides. In April, they threatened Korea, landed in Shandong in September, and at the end of the year, they engaged in a decisive battle with the Jiannu. Aside from the suppression of the White Lotus, none of these troop movements were carried out without orders from the Ministry of War. Mobilizing troops without such orders is tantamount to treason! Liu Zhaosun is also implicated in the affairs of Duke Yansheng."

Zhu Changluo nodded slightly.

Compared with Emperor Wanli, the new emperor was cowardly and submissive in front of his ministers.

Before ascending the throne, Zhu Changluo had been the crown prince for 38 years and had been suppressed for 38 years.

The unfortunate childhood experiences and cruel political struggles made this short-lived emperor depressed and inferior.

Of course, the more terrifying impact is that Emperor Taichang's team was also very loose.

He had no feelings for the eunuch Wei, the 9,000-year-old man left by his father. Therefore, at the last moment, Zhu Changluo watched Wei Zhongxian being overthrown and did not help him.

Xu Xianchun became the new factory manager and Taichang's new dog.

"The decisive battle between Liu Zhaosun and Huang Taiji at Hetuala was nothing more than a fight between jackals and tigers. It's a boon to the imperial court, and it would be best if both were to suffer losses. I believe now is the best time to resolve the Liao issue. My spies stationed in Kaiyuan have already contacted the Liao garrison, saying that General Zu is capable of great service and is willing to lead the elite troops of Liaodong as the king's vanguard to capture Kaiyuan in one fell swoop and slay Liu the Bandit!"

"Yang Hao is no longer useful. Letting him escape to Kaiyuan will only harm the court. Therefore, I suggest that he be brought back to the capital, tried, imprisoned, and sentenced to death! Or, he can be executed directly in Tianjin!"

Emperor Taichang quickly shook his head upon hearing this. Xu Xianchun was making too much noise, clearly intending to confront Kaiyuan. The court was not yet prepared.

"Marquis Ping Liao is the tiger of Liaodong. The late emperor instructed us to make important use of him. I was bewitched by Wei Zhongxian and oppressed Liaodong, which led to chaos in Liaodong that is out of control. This matter requires long-term consideration. We will make a final decision after summoning Prime Minister Fang and others to discuss it."

"But Fang Congzhe is so timid that he probably can't say anything..." Xu Xianchun hesitated to speak, carefully observing the emperor's reaction.

"Don't be rude! Prime Minister Fang is the minister of state left by the late emperor. You are not allowed to make irresponsible remarks in the future!"

"I deserve death for my crime!"

Xu Xianchun's excited expression turned low, and Emperor Taichang said again:
"However, the Pacification Office can act first. The Tusi in the southwest are rebelling, and the people of Shaanxi are revolting again. The elite troops of the nine frontiers are exhausted and the court is powerless. Wei Zhongxian received great favors from the late emperor, but he has no intention of repaying his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty. He is a traitor and has secretly colluded with Liaodong, embezzling Liaodong funds. He deserves death! If it weren't for Eunuch Xu's timely intervention, I would have been deceived by this evil slave!"

When Xu Xianchun heard what the emperor said, he quickly agreed:

"Your Majesty, be wise! Wei eunuchs have oppressed all officials and persecuted loyal and honest people. Even today, Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou were imprisoned last year. It was all Wei eunuchs' fault. After submitting a memorial to the emperor, he wanted to kill them. I have tried my best to persuade him not to kill them all, but he refused to listen..."

Seeing Taichang's unhappy expression, Xu Xianchun quickly changed the subject.

"I heard from Zhao Luanzheng the other day that several beauties from the Western Regions have come to the Jiaofang Bureau. Some are from Turpan, some from Persia. They are all stunningly beautiful, and compared to the women from the Central Plains, they have a unique charm."

The emperor's eyes were bright, and he said to Eunuch Xu:

"Xu Qing, I made you the factory manager, but I don't want you to send women around every day. Imperial Physician Wu told me to rest..."

"You go to Tianjin in person and arrest those who should be arrested and kill those who should be killed. Have the troops from Shuntian Prefecture, Zhengding Prefecture, and Tianjin, who are preparing to fight against Japanese invaders, cooperate in the encirclement and suppression and prevent them from escaping again!"

~~~~
On November 24, the second year of Taichang, the Eastern Investigation Factory in the capital.

Xu Xianchun hurried past the screen wall in front of the gate, not even glancing at the statue of Yue Fei. His peripheral vision swept across the row of corpses laid out at the entrance. The commander-in-chief, deputy commander, and captain of a thousand households who followed him all had solemn expressions.

"Master, that villain killed many of us again and set fire to the Jiaofang Bureau..."

Surrounded by several of his men, Xu Xianchun came to a charred corpse and slowly uncovered the white cloth covering it.

A burnt jade pendant appeared in front of the factory owner.

Xu Xianchun grabbed the jade pendant and burst into tears:

"Tianxing, my dear nephew! Your uncle will cut Shen Lian into pieces with his own hands to avenge you!"

The corpse lying on the ground was Xu Xianchun's nephew, Zeng Tianxing, the chief flag officer of the Southern Pacification Division.

Yesterday afternoon, Zeng Tianxing led a team of men to ambush under the Jiaofangsi building. He originally wanted to give Shen Lian a surprise attack, but he didn't expect to be killed by the enemy in the end. More than a dozen of his men were killed or wounded, and only one escaped back to report the news.

Shen Lian not only killed people, but also set fire.

The Jiaofangsi, which had a glorious history of more than 200 years and satisfied the various personal preferences of officials - for example, Duke Yansheng liked to beat the musicians of the Jiaofangsi to death - was actually burned down by the evil villain Shen Lian, and it was burned completely.

The gentle paradise of Beijing officials is gone from now on. The skinny horses from Yangzhou and the enchanting beauties from the Western Regions, everything is gone.

This angered all the officials in the capital.

Whether it was the Zhejiang Party, the Chu Party, the Donglin Party, the Eunuch Party, or the vast majority of non-partisans, although these upright gentlemen had many disagreements in political views, and sometimes even fought over them, when it came to women, everyone's aesthetic tastes showed a surprising consistency:
A red skirt does not have to be well-educated, but it must be interesting, and of course, its bed skills must also be decent.

The women trained by the Jiaofangsi are not only well-educated and knowledgeable, but also have beautiful faces that cannot be compared with ordinary women. They are also very good at sex...
Shen Lian burned down the Jiaofangsi. For the officials in the capital, it was like severing their lifeblood. Their careers and careers were no longer complete. How could this be tolerated?!
Under the excitement of his ministers, Emperor Taichang was forced to issue an edict, announcing that he would conduct a thorough investigation to find out the culprit behind the scenes.

In fact, the culprit was obvious, but everyone was intimidated by Wei Zhongxian's power and did not dare to offend him easily.

Now that Wei Zhongxian is dead, the new Lord of the Factory has no relationship with the Marquis of Ping Liao.

By the way, Xinchang Gong’s only nephew was burned into charcoal by Pingliao Hou’s subordinates.

Since the feud between Dongchang and Kaiyuan has already been formed, they can only fight to the death.

All the ministers submitted memorials one after another, urging the use of military force in Kaiyuan.

After careful consideration, Emperor Taichang kept these memorials without sending them out.

Tian Ergeng knelt on the ground, braving the cold wind, not daring to look up. Beside him knelt the commanding officer Sun Yunhe, who was also silent.

Captain Tian was in charge of directing the capture of Shen Lian.

Unfortunately, the arrest operation became a joke.

They mobilized a large army, even the troops from the Five Cities Military Department, but in the end Shen Lian escaped and drove out of the city from Zuo'an Gate in a carriage with his wife Youyouran.

The only thing that saved the East Factory's face was that the captain of the military department who helped Shen Lian open the door was beaten to death by Tian Ergeng.

"They even dared to kill the factory owner's nephew. How cruel and insane! They must have been extremely bold!"

Commander Cui Yingyuan stood in front of Xu Xianchun, taking advantage of the power of the other party.

Cui Yingyuan has now become a favorite of the new factory owner.

He and Xu Xianchun were fellow townsmen and old friends. Cui Yingyuan made an indispensable contribution to Xu Xianchun's successful assassination of Wei Zhongxian.

After Xu Xianchun came to power, he rewarded his close friend handsomely and directly promoted Cui Yingyuan from the original captain of the Beizhen Division to the commander of the Zhenfu Division, a promotion of three levels in a row.

Compared with Cui Yingyuan, the other five tigers were not so lucky.

At this moment, Eunuch Xu didn't care about brotherhood and kept urging Tian Ergeng and Sun Yunhe.

"This time, we must not only kill Shen Lian and his gang, but also Liu Zhaosun's father-in-law Yang Hao! We must kill him too."

"The Emperor has decreed that Yang Hao, the governor of Tianjin's coastal defense, has lost his troops and territory, and colluded with Japanese pirates. He is guilty of rebellion and is unforgivable!"

Sun Yunhe and Tian Ergeng were a little scared. They were used to being domineering in the capital, and they were unfamiliar with the streets of Tianjin and felt unsure of themselves.

Xu Xianchun said impatiently:
"Are there any of our people in Tianjin?"

Sun Yunhe quickly replied:
"Yes, we do have some, but I'm afraid those foreigners are unwilling to work hard. The court hasn't paid their monthly wages for a long time."

Xu Xianchun was furious:
"You two are useless! Can't you confiscate Yang Hao's property? If you confiscate Yang Hao's property, you'll have the silver! Yang Hao has embezzled a lot of silver in the past two years! He gave all the silver to those poor bastards. If you're willing to spend the silver, you must kill Shen Lian!"

"Go contact Lü Tongzhi in Tianjin, the fat man who's been trafficking women and salt in Tianjin. Tell him Pei Dahu's background. He has a blood feud with Liu Zhaosun and will definitely help us."

The two were about to go down when Xu Xianchun called them:
"Eunuch Zeng has caused chaos in Liu Zhaosun's family in Kaiyuan. Our family values him very much. You two should stop occupying the toilet without doing anything. If you can't kill Shen Lian this time, don't come back. Each of you should castrate yourself and be exiled to Nanjing to grow vegetables. Get out!"

The two men bid farewell to the factory manager and hurried to the Pacification Office to mobilize the Jinyiwei. Together with the elite troops of the Five Cities Bingmasi, they left Zuoanmen and rode towards Tianjin.

(End of this chapter)