The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 717 The Trial of the Perfect Old Man

It was said by word of mouth among the provincial governors that the current Emperor Guangde was cowardly, incompetent and indecisive, and was the same kind of person as Zhu Youjian, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He was born in the deep palace and raised by women. He did not have the great spirit and glorious military achievements of the retired emperor.

The reason why the retired emperor was reluctant to give up power was because he was worried about his son controlling the empire.

Behind this rumor is the questioning of Emperor Guangde's ability to govern.

Another rumor directly questioned the legitimacy of Liu Kan's rule.

According to an old eunuch named Cao (who has been killed) from Kaifeng Prefecture (the hometown of Empress Zhang), the current emperor is actually not the flesh and blood of the retired emperor at all.

Twenty-eight years ago, Zhang Yan, who was still in her teens, ignored her parents' orders and secretly had a tryst with the son of an official in Kaifeng Prefecture, and eventually became pregnant with a bastard.

The great grudge Kang Yinggan was completely unaware of this and thought he had found a bargain. He spent eight thousand taels to buy the beautiful Zhang Yan and brought her back to Liaodong to present her to the retired emperor.

The retired emperor was not interested in women and had no children with his concubines (except Jin Yuji).

Back then, on the shores of Daming Lake in Wendeng County, Zhang Yan only had sex with the retired emperor once and became pregnant. If it weren't for Old Wang next door, this would have been a bit unreasonable.

The rumors were described in great detail, and the narrator was well aware of the palace secrets in the early years of the Wuding period. He could even tell the secrets such as Kang Yingqian's false surrender to Li Zicheng and Qiao Yiqi being deceived by a palace maid.

In addition, Eunuch Cao also had the jade bracelet that Zhang Yan had worn.

Therefore, people judged that this person was most likely one of the young eunuchs who served Empress Zhang back then.

Everything he said was true.

When Liu Xingzuo sent people to capture this man, they found the old eunuch dead in his own apartment, with his body hanging on a rope, disguised as hanging...

Emperor Guangde was extremely angry, but he could do nothing as he could not launch a thorough investigation.

Doing so will only make the rumor spread more widely, and it will be confirmed, making it seem even more obvious than before.

In another time and space, there was a story about Emperor Qianlong investigating the "Zeng Jing Case", "Soul-Calling Case" and "Fake Manuscript Case", and the principle is very similar to this one.

Before understanding Emperor Guangde's mental journey, it is necessary to briefly recall the three major cases of the Qing Dynasty.

Due to space limitations, today I will only talk about the soul-calling case during the Qianlong period.

This originally vague civil case was eventually turned into a top-down movement in the Qing Dynasty in front of the suspicious Emperor Qianlong.

In the 32nd year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, the Dongmencheng Bridge in Deqing County, Zhejiang Province collapsed. The county magistrate ordered the bridge to be repaired, and Wu Dongming, a stonemason from the neighboring Renhe County, received the task.

The following year, Wu Dongming and his disciples began repairing the bridge. After two months, Wu Dongming realized he had run out of food. So, he returned to his hometown in Renhe County to purchase food. Upon his return, a man named Shen Shiliang asked him for help.

Shen Shiliang had long been bullied by his two nephews. He couldn't beat them, and he couldn't scold them enough. So, he came up with the idea of calling back their souls. He would stick a paper talisman with a living person's name on it to the top of a wooden stake. When he hammered the stake, it was like striking the person's soul. If he struck the stake repeatedly, the person's spirit would be shaken apart.

Shen Shiliang asked Wu Dongming to stick paper talismans with the pictures of his two nephews on them on the bridge piles.

Although Wu Dongming was a stonemason, he knew the severity of the Qing Dynasty's literary inquisition and was worried that he would be implicated, so he directly reported the matter to the baozheng, and then together they took Shen Shiliang to the county government office.

The magistrate did not take it seriously. He beat Shen Shiliang with a stick, put him in shackles and displayed him to the public, and then let the matter go.

However, the rumor that stonemason Wu Dongming could call souls spread like wildfire.

All rumors have their promoters behind them, but this time the main promoter of the rumor was the official. The reason was very simple. As things developed, soul-calling had become somehow connected with cutting braids.

The braid hairstyle of the Han people has always been one of the most concerning issues for the Qing Dynasty rulers.

The Grand Council then sent a court letter to Zhejiang Province, reprimanding them: "Did the people of Zhejiang create a demon while building a bridge? I heard they even cut people's hair and stole people's clothes to pad the bridge piles. What kind of shamanic method is this? A thorough investigation is needed. If anything is found, severe punishment must be imposed. Originally, it was a paper talisman with a person's name on it, but now it's been replaced with cutting a pigtail."

I have heard rumors in Zhejiang that a bridge pier is being built, and some are secretly cutting hair, clothes, and other items to use as pads for bridge piles as a talisman. I have sent a letter to the governors of Zhejiang and Shandong, instructing them to conduct a secret investigation. If any such incidents are found, they will be severely punished.

The document was sent on June 12th. Subsequently, Shandong Province took action. Why did Shandong take action? Because this imperial letter was also copied to other governors-general, that is, "sent to the governors-general of Zhejiang and Shandong."

On June 16, Shandong Governor Fu Nihan reported that two cases of queue-cutting had been discovered in the province: the case of Cai Tingzhang and the case of Jin Guanzi. However, these two individuals were minor figures; the real evildoers were the monk Wu Yuan from Zhejiang and the monk Yu Shi from Anhui.

On June 23, Fang Guancheng, the governor of Zhili, also reported that two people were found with their braids cut off in Jingzhou, which borders Shandong.

It's no big deal to make a paper talisman, write your name on it, and then cast a curse.

However, cutting off someone's braids must be a big deal.

The Qing Dynasty had an order to shave the hair, so anything related to hair had to be treated with sensitivity.

The location they pointed to was the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, which had always been the base camp for anti-Qing forces.

When the Qing Dynasty was founded, intellectuals and common people in Jiangnan region frequently stirred up trouble.

The event was sensitive, the location was sensitive, and crucially, the timing was also sensitive. At the time, the Qing Dynasty was at war with Burma, and the fighting was at a stalemate.

So, all this has to do with politics.

The most unlucky province is Zhejiang Province.

First, Zhejiang knew about the case but did not report it. Even after the imperial court's letter arrived, Zhejiang still did not take any action. Second, the masterminds behind the cases in Shandong and other places all rushed to Zhejiang.

Why are you all coming to Zhejiang?

There are not so many bad people who want to harm Zhejiang. It’s mainly because the local officials want to pass on the blame.

If the old man Shiquan said there was a case of cutting braids and calling back souls, then it must have happened; if he said there must be a thorough investigation, then it must be thoroughly investigated and the truth must be revealed; but the culprit is not here, it is in Zhejiang, so let Zhejiang investigate. ······
Finally, after tackling more than a dozen provinces and lasting for more than a year, the soul-calling case came to nothing. In this inexplicable movement, the old man Shiquan dealt with a total of 68 county magistrates, 22 prefects, 14 prefects, 32 provincial judges, 29 provincial governors, 26 provincial governors and 14 governors-general.

Why did the Soul-Calling Case evolve into a major movement?

The most fundamental reason is the lack of self-confidence of the Qing rulers.

Relying on the good deeds of Wild Boar Skin, they seized the Han people's kingdom, so they have a strong sense of crisis.

Let’s return to the Great Qi Dynasty.

At the beginning, Liu Zhaosun relied on force to seize the throne of the Ming Dynasty. He obtained the country in an illegitimate way and was extremely insecure in his nature.

Emperor Guangde had been looked down upon by his father since he was young, so naturally he had little self-confidence.

The emperor's lack of self-confidence led to strained interpersonal relationships between the monarch and his subjects, which then spread to the entire population, and the nerves of the military and civilians were all on edge.

During the months when Emperor Guangde was determined to cut down the military, rumors about the new emperor's background spread like wildfire, and became more and more bizarre.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that someone was deliberately smearing Liu Kan behind the scenes.

This force was prepared to erase the legitimacy of Liu Kan's succession to the throne from a legal perspective, and thus subvert the rule of the Great Qi.

How could Liu Kan not know!

As the saying goes, a tiger father will have a dog son. Although Emperor Guangde was not as brave and invincible as the retired emperor, he was still a brave and invincible person.

After all, he led his troops to Shandong and suppressed the resurgent White Lotus Sect.

He was not completely ignorant of military affairs. In Liu Kan's bones, there was still some of the warlike blood of the retired emperor.

Therefore, even if there was no "cleansing of the imperial court", Emperor Guangde would have declared war on the spreaders of rumors and the forces behind the attempt to overthrow the Great Qi.

~~~~
At noon, Liu Kan, fully armored and with a sword at his waist, arrived at the north gate Tongtian Gate, surrounded by three thousand imperial guards.

The whole city was filled with shouts of "Long live the emperor!", and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians raised their heads and looked at the young and energetic new emperor.

When you see the emperor, all your grievances will disappear with the wind?

A large-scale rebellion ended just like that?

Of course it won't be that simple.

Tongtian Gate was densely packed with people. Soldiers and civilians were waving small black flags. Some were shouting "Long live the emperor" and some were shouting "Purge the emperor's side". The scene was in chaos.

Liu Xingzuo stepped forward and reported:

"Your Majesty, we've found out that the deceased eunuch was named Cao Tianxing. He wasn't a member of the Cining Palace at all, but a horse groomer at the Imperial Stables. He stole the bracelet during the Wanggongchang explosion."

"Two months ago, a Taoist priest found Cao Tianxing, gave him 1,000 taels of silver, and asked him to conspire with a storyteller from Tianjin to create a story saying that Your Majesty is not the biological child of the retired emperor..."

"Taoist?" Liu Kan asked with interest.

"Things are getting more and more interesting."

Liu Xingzuo said angrily:

"I personally interrogated the storyteller for three days and three nights, but could not get any other information out of him. He only knew that he was a Taoist priest. Your Majesty, the Taoist priest must be dissatisfied with the Great Qi's abolition of Taoism and Buddhism, so he committed such a heinous act!"

"I suggest digging the dead eunuch out of his grave and pulverizing his bones. Slowly execute that storyteller! With Nanjing as the center, round up a group of Taoist priests and torture them severely. There's no doubt we'll find out who orchestrated this!"

Liu Kan shook his head and said:

"That would make me seem cowardly, but there's no need for that. This matter ends here. The storyteller should be locked up first, but he can't die. When this incident is over, I will have him give a speech throughout the country to tell people the truth."

Liu Xingzuo: ...

Liu Kan waved everyone away, looked at the soldiers and civilians in front of him who were cheering like thunder, took the loudspeaker handed to him by the guard, and prepared to make a speech.

Kang Jingxiu stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, these soldiers and civilians have been misled by rumors and have just burned down the villa of the uncle of the emperor outside the city. The uncle of the emperor's two concubines were burned to death by this mob..."

Intelligence chief Liu Xingzuo carefully introduced it to the emperor.

"Among the soldiers who were deceived were the Imperial Guard, the Capital Guard, and some of Pu Gang's men. The common people were all garrison commanders and garrison commanders around Nanjing. When they heard that Your Majesty was going to abolish the "Land System," they were afraid of not having enough food to eat, so they joined in the commotion."

Angry faces appeared in the field of vision.

"Did other regiments participate in the mutiny?"

"Your Majesty, a few Mongolian soldiers from the Fourteenth Corps are causing a commotion, while the other corps commanders are mostly just watching."

"Wait and see?" Emperor Guangde weighed these two words carefully and repeated them twice.

"These people are waiting for me to die."

A general hurried up from the foot of the city wall. Upon closer inspection, the man was none other than Deng Changxiong, commander of the Second Corps.

The gloomy Emperor Guangde showed a look of joy.

(End of this chapter)