The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 334: Death of a Nobleman (I)

April 8th, the second year of the Tianqi reign.

Before the morning court was over, the Huangji Palace suddenly fell into chaos.

The Kaiyuan officials beat and kicked the noble officials in the capital with brutal force, staging a thrilling fight in front of the young emperor.

Kaiyuan is full of elite soldiers and generals. They have been invincible since the time of Sarhu. They are indeed the strongest army in the world, and there is no doubt about this.

However, no one knows the actual combat effectiveness of the civil servants under Liu Zhaosun because there is no chance to verify it.

Now, the opportunity has come.

It's time to show and verify the true strength of Qiao Yiqi, Sun Chuanting, Xie Yang and others.

Considering that group fights in the court were a traditional skill of the Ming Dynasty's civil officials, everyone showed no mercy when they attacked and hit each other's vital parts fiercely.

People will eventually realize that under the command of Ping Liaohou, not only are the military generals brave and good at fighting, but the civil officials are also equally full of martial virtues.

Suddenly, Ping Liaohou stepped forward and grabbed the emperor's fair little hand, scaring Zhu Youjian so much that he screamed.

The palace maids and eunuchs standing on both sides stood there motionless as if they were deaf and blind. The censor on duty and the Han general in the distance also ignored the emperor and stared blankly at the fight between the ministers.

Zhu Youjian was shaking like a sieve, frightened and angry.

"Liu... Liu Aiqing, what are you doing? Guards, come and rescue me!"

Zhu Youjian tried hard to break free, but was held tightly by the warrior's iron-like fingers.

Liu Zhaosun smiled at the young emperor.

In an unquestionable tone:
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I am here with you. Don't worry, Your Majesty!"

Of course, worrying about nothing is nonsense.

I heard the minister's shrill screams, blood and flesh splattered, and my scalp numbed.

The scene was comparable to the Hunhe battlefield.

A thin civil servant with a Cantonese accent took off the hairpin from his bun, leaned over and poked Suianbo, who was lying on the ground. His skillful movements were like those of an old farmer who was diligently planting rice seedlings.

A tall civil servant with a Shaanxi accent swung the wooden board used for court sessions and smashed it hard on the forehead of the chief officer of the Military Affairs Department.

boom! boom! boom!
He didn't stop until the board shattered and the grayish-white brain matter burst out, and cursed at the corpse:

"How dare you lay a hand on a civil affairs official? Today, I'll show you what I, Sun Baigu, can do!"

Liu Zhaosun looked calm. The bloody scene before him was Kaiyuan's revenge against the officials and nobles in Beijing.

In the past half month, all the Kaiyuan civil servants who stayed in the capital were caught in one fell swoop.

Except for important figures such as Yang Hao, Yang Qing'er, and Xie Yang who had to stay behind as hostages, the other civil officials were first beaten by the mob soldiers and then sent to the Pacification Office, where they were tortured and suffered terribly.

In just half a month, only less than 100 of the more than 230 people Liu Zhaosun left in the capital were left.

Many of them are the core team of Kaiyuan Civil Affairs and Commerce.

The methods that Kang Yingqian used during the examination and plunder last year were now being used twice as hard by Beijing officials on Kaiyuan officials.

This is what is meant by the law of cause and effect.

The survivors hated the nobles and officials in Beijing to the core.

Revenge when there is a grudge, and revenge when there is a grudge.

This is the law of Kaiyuan.

That's why we have this crazy, unregulated free fight.

Zhang Qingzhen, Earl of Hui'an, Fang Lutai, Earl of Nanhe, and Chen Changheng, Earl of Su'an, fell to the ground and their heads were crushed by hundreds of pairs of official boots. They died on the spot.

In addition to these three initiators of the "Jingnan Rebellion", Governor Li of the Beijing Camp and Commander Xiang of the Five Cities Army were also beaten to death on the spot.

Half an hour later, twelve noble ministers were beaten to death by Qiao Yiqi and others.

The cabinet's chief minister Ye Xianggao, the eunuch Wang Chengen, and other bigwigs all stood up and said:

Marquis Ping Liao clutched the emperor's sleeve, begging for forgiveness and rewards for the Kaiyuan officials implicated in this incident.

The Jingnan Campaign, carefully planned by Emperor Tianqi and loyal ministers such as Li Mingrui, was suppressed by the Kaiyuan Army in just one day.

In the end, Li Mingrui was forced to commit suicide, more than half of the nobles died, and officials in the capital all turned to Ping Liaohou.

Such a result made the young emperor feel completely desperate.

"Your Majesty is strong and decisive, wise and powerful. You should be able to distinguish between loyalty and evil and restore order. These traitors have disturbed the capital and harmed officials. They deserve punishment. Your Majesty should reward those who have made contributions and not let them feel discouraged."

Liu Zhaosun looked at Zhu Youjian with sharp eyes, and his calm and peaceful tone revealed a creepy murderous intent.

Zhu Youjian was already in a state of distraction at this time. The successive failures had left him with neither the heart nor the energy to deal with the powerful official in front of him.

Finally, Apocalypse nodded weakly and silently accepted his fate of becoming a puppet.

Ping Liaohou clapped his hands at the crowd fighting in the distance.

Qiao Yiqi, covered in blood, immediately stepped forward and took out two memorials that had been prepared long ago from his arms.

Liu Zhaosun soon discovered that there were still traces of blood from the murder in the lower left corner of the memorial.

"Your Majesty, this is the list of soldiers who will accompany me to Japan to fight against the red-haired barbarians. Please review it."

The palace maid took the list respectfully with both hands.

Without waiting for the emperor to speak, Ping Liaohou handed over another list.

"Your Majesty, this is the list of civil servants who suppressed the traitor Li Mingrui and executed the treacherous officials. Please review it..."

The maid handed the list to the emperor, but Zhu Youjian didn't even look at it and said expressionlessly:

"Award according to merit and leave the court."

The bloody morning court session on April 8th finally ended.

However, the Kaiyuan Army's retaliation did not end there.

On the tenth day of April, Zhu Guozhen, the cabinet deputy minister who led the planning of "Jingnan Eliminating Bandits", was beheaded for treason, his property was confiscated, and his family was exiled to Kaiyuan.

After investigation and interrogation by Shen Lianzhangdong and others, it was found that more than one hundred officials in Beijing were implicated in the case, including thirty-seven officials of the fifth rank and above.

On April 12, Liu Zhaosun submitted a memorial requesting that only the main culprits be punished, and that "officials who coerced and assisted should all be given lenient sentences."

On April 13, Emperor Tianqi issued an edict, conferring the title of Duke of Protector of the Country on Liu Zhaosun and promoting him to the rank of National Pillar. He was not named in imperial edicts, nor in praises or greetings. He did not have to bow when entering the court, and he had to wear a sword and shoes when entering the palace.

The turmoil in the capital in the second year of the Tianqi reign finally came to an end.

The people, who were originally worried about the war, were grateful to the Kaiyuan Army and compared Ping Liaohou to a savior who turned the tide.

Like citizens of capitals around the world, the people of the Ming Dynasty capital are also very concerned about politics.

Although they know little about the power struggles at the top.

What the common people knew were usually gossips that were said to come from some eunuch or censor in the Forbidden City, such as:

Emperor Tianqi was slapped in public by Marquis Ping Liao; the Kaiyuan army wanted to retaliate by massacring the city; Marquis Ping Liao demanded that all people should believe in religion; and people could no longer eat beef!
Rumors like this are flying all over the place, and it is really difficult for ordinary people to tell the truth from the false.

But one thing is certain.

That is, whenever similar rumors spread, the prices of rice, coal and vegetables in the capital would skyrocket as if they had wings.

This has made the situation even worse for many families that were not well-off to begin with.

Thanks to Zhu Di's relocation of the capital, any disturbance would affect this capital city that was heavily dependent on the canal, affect the prices in the capital, and ultimately affect the livelihoods of the people.

So, from this perspective, the people of Beijing are the ones in this world who truly care about politics.

At this point, I must insert a paragraph about the official gazette of the capital in March and April (similar to the newspapers of later times).
The following are excerpts from the headlines of the Beijing Gazette after March 8, the second year of the Tianqi reign. They have been translated into vernacular Chinese for readers' reference (any similarities are purely historical facts).

1. Beasts from the wild lands of Fusang landed at Busan Port. (March 8th)
2. Unnameable traitors are approaching Weihaiwei. (March 18)
3. The heinous Kaiyuan rebels entered Tianjin. (March 23)

4. Liu Zhaosun occupied Tongzhou. (March 30)
5. Ping Liaohou approaches Zuoanmen (April 3rd)
6. Nicholas Ares, Grand Tutor of the Ming Dynasty, Minister of War, Grand Secretary of the Jianji Hall, Marquis of Pingliao, Commander-in-Chief of Liaodong, Governor-General of Korea, Minister of the Handong Administration, and Archbishop of the Asiatic Diocese, has returned to Beijing with his army today. Millions of officials and civilians have welcomed the imperial army with food and drink! (April 8th)

(End of this chapter)