The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 719 Benevolent Government
At the beginning of February in the sixth year of Guangde, the three major corps of the empire gathered in Nanjing and immediately surrounded and disarmed part of the Imperial Guard, part of the Eighth Corps, and part of the Fifteenth Corps that participated in the rebellion.

Pu Gang, commander of the Eighth Corps, and Anger, commander of the Fourteenth Corps, as well as some battalion officers and training officers who participated in the "cleansing of the court" were captured alive and secretly escorted to the Fengtian Hall in the Forbidden City to be interrogated personally by Emperor Guangde.

Most of the rumors circulating in Nanjing City about Emperor Guangde not being the son of the retired emperor were spread by Pu Gang.

Emperor Guangde hated this man to the core, and the Mongolian general named Anger, who used the death of Bumbutai as an excuse to rebel, must be killed.

As for how Emperor Guangde will deal with everyone in the end, we will not discuss it here for now.

Let’s talk about Liu Kan’s confidant, the new chief eunuch Li Juying, who brought a group of straw raincoat guards and went straight to the Nanjing Imperial Prison to interrogate Tang Tiezui, the storyteller from Zhangjiawan, Tianjin.

Li Juying is a small girl with a big belly, and looks like a walking pickle jar.

However, this does not affect his majestic image at all.

A group of burly straw raincoat guards guarded this popular big shot from front, back, left and right, and broke into the depths of the imperial prison as if they were in an empty place.

When the soldiers and officials on both sides of the corridor saw Eunuch Li and his entourage coming, they stopped what they were doing, knelt down and kowtowed, paying their respects to the general manager.

"Meetings, Chief Steward Li!"

"I greet Steward Li!"

Li Juying glanced at the people kneeling down and nodded slightly:

"Good, Dongfang Zhu has taught me well and is very polite."

A battalion officer echoed:

"The Imperial Prison was founded by the Retired Emperor and is under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Palace. From the commander-in-chief to the soldiers and servants, they all obey the orders of Chief Li..."

Li Juying interrupted, "The three mu of land was given to us by His Majesty. Even our lives were given by His Majesty. You must never say such things again."

The battalion commander's flattery hit the horse's hoof, and he looked embarrassed and retreated with a nod.

Manager Li is favored by Emperor Guangde and is second only to the emperor. As long as he serves this ancestor well, he will surely rise to prominence in the future.

"Did they arrest anyone?"

Hearing Li Zongguan's question, someone quickly replied:
"Replying to the old ancestor, we arrested five civilians in Yandai Street the day before yesterday, and two retired soldiers at Simenkou yesterday. We haven't had time to get out yet today."

Li Juying's expression suddenly changed, her brows furrowed as she asked, "Retired soldiers? Why are they being arrested?"

"To answer the old ancestor's words, these are not ordinary warriors. There was a rebellion in the city a few days ago, and these few were the leaders. When they arrested people, they were still spreading rumors to the people."

Li Juying waved her hands as if to shoo away a fly and said impatiently:
"Just kill these ignorant little bastards. Don't bother us with such trivial matters again."

"However," Li Zongguan glanced back at the battalion officer and said with a smile:

"You just called me ancestor, and our family really enjoyed hearing that. What's your name?"

The battalion officer's feet seemed to be greased. He slid out of the formation and knelt in front of Li Juying.

"In reply to Chief Li, I am Yu Qi, the Deputy Governor of Jinshan Guard of the Suoyi Guard, with the courtesy name Ruizhi..."

Li Juying looked the man up and down, stepped forward to help Yu Ruizhi up, imitated the Taizu, patted the man's shoulder, and said casually:
"Okay, Yu Ruizhi, from now on, you will stay in Nanjing and be a deputy commander."

Yu Ruizhi was overjoyed. He didn't expect that a piece of flattery could allow him to be promoted directly from the local commander to the commander of the capital. The surrounding straw raincoat guards looked at him with envy and jealousy. Yu Ruizhi quickly knelt down to express his gratitude.

Li Zongguan waved his hand, turned around and looked at the battalion officer in charge of guarding the imperial prison, and shouted:
"Where is that damned Tang being held?"

"Reporting to the ancestor, the traitor is imprisoned in the "Tian Zi Hao" dungeon, waiting for the Holy... Ancestor to sentence him."

Li Juying laughed loudly, revealing two rows of yellow-brown teeth.

"How can we convict him? It all depends on His Majesty's intentions. Let's go and check on this guy. Oh, did they kill him?"

"No, no, according to the old ancestor's order, he was provided with fine wine and delicious food every day. This fellow ate and drank for free in the imperial prison for three months and gained thirty pounds."

"He's pretty carefree."

The prison officer mustered up his courage and said, "Could it be that our ancestors wanted to refine oil, so they fattened us up like this..."

The so-called "oil refining" was a torture used to torture prisoners in the Suoyiwei Prison.

First, fatten the prisoners in advance, clean them up and put them into a large vat. Then, hang the vat up, put a long-burning lamp at the bottom of the vat, and roast them slowly over a low fire. The prisoners will not die immediately. As the temperature gradually rises, the fat under their skin will be roasted out little by little until they are reduced to a ball of dried meat...

Eunuch Li was a little displeased: "What oil refining? His Majesty wants him alive. Keep him. He will be of great use in the future."

There was a burst of admiration from all around.

For this group of murderous executioners, it was a bizarre thing to enter the imperial prison and still get out alive.

What? The emperor still wants to use this person?

Unheard of.

Yu Ruizhi carefully looked at Eunuch Li and said cautiously:

"Grandfather, although I am in Jinshanwei, I have heard that this Tang is colluding with the evil ways, spreading rumors and slandering the emperor. For a man like him, ten deaths would be a relief. Why let him go? We don't have such rules."

Li Juying looked at the new little brother with a look of satisfaction, touched his protruding belly, and said with a smile:
"If we just let Tang Tiezui go, there will be no law in Da Qi. Your Majesty only said not to kill him, not to beat him."

Yu Ruizhi narrowed his eyes, and like a typical confidant, he leaned close to Li Zongguan's ear and said in a low voice:

"Our ancestors have been very thoughtful. Perhaps His Majesty, out of consideration for his kindness, has forgiven this fellow. However, we must teach him a lesson and let him know the consequences of opposing His Majesty. When His Majesty learns about this in the future, he will surely praise our ancestors for their prudent conduct."

Li Juying pondered for a moment, then decided that this made sense, so she waved her hand. "Let's go, let's meet this Tang Tiezui today!"

The straw raincoat guards, surrounded by people, soon arrived at the depths of the dungeon. Because they heard that the ancestor was coming, the narrow passages of the dungeon were fumigated with mugwort in advance, so the various indescribable smells were not so pungent.

Li Juying had enjoyed fine clothes and delicious food in the palace for more than three months, so she could not stand such a harsh environment. She asked the straw raincoat guards to take the person out and take him to a slightly more spacious side hall in the imperial prison for interrogation.

Soon, a disheveled, flea-ridden prisoner was brought in.

Li Juying and Wei Zhongxian had similar backgrounds. Before they became successful, they were both impoverished people in the northern Zhili area. They had seen a lot of fraud and deception from all walks of life, so they naturally knew how to deal with those gangsters and bullies.

"I work for His Majesty in the palace. I came to the Imperial Prison today to ask you some questions. Are you Tang Tiezui? The storyteller from Tianjin?"

Tang Tiezui (Tang San) didn't even raise his head.

Yu Rui waved his hand, and two straw raincoat guards immediately stepped forward and used a crowbar to pry open Tang Tiezui's mouth without saying a word.

"I am, yes, I am," Tang Tiezui's mouth was full of blood, and he nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. At this moment, he finally realized how powerful Eunuch Li was.

Li Juying jumped up and slammed the table:

"How dare you slander and frame the emperor! We have never seen such a fool!"

"Confess, tell the truth."

Tang Tiezui acted like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water, and started to sing a piece of Beijing opera drum:
"Twenty years ago, we fought for the country, risking our lives to build it.

Where is the young Zhou Lang now? Where is the battle-hardened Lü Wenhou now?

Now these mountains and rivers are still there, so I don’t feel that my hair has turned gray.

The scar left by beheading is only the size of a bowl, but eighteen years later, he is a hero again! I regret that I killed Brother Zheng by mistake. Come, come, come and take my head! This order in the army... "

Seeing this, the people around hurried forward to explain to Eunuch Li:
"Grandfather, this man was beaten badly a few days ago, and his brain is not working well anymore."

Seeing that this guy was still stubborn even when facing death, Yu Ruizhi stepped forward and slapped the storyteller in the face, making him dizzy and falling to the ground.

A bucket of cold water was poured over him, and Tang Tiezui shuddered and said hurriedly:

"I've said everything I need to say. I don't know that Taoist priest. If you insist on not believing me, you can kill me or chop me up as you please!"

Yu Ruizhi wanted to fight again, but Li Juying stopped him and said:

"It would be easy to chop off your head, but unfortunately I'm not that kind-hearted. You, aren't you a storyteller? When you know the ending of Yang Yang Liu Lang, come and tell me a story. If it's good, I'll be happy and let you go. If it's not good, I'll pierce your heart with thousands of arrows and chop you into minced meat!"

Tang Tiezui covered his swollen face and looked timidly at the eunuch Li in front of him with a perverse temper.

"Speak," Yu Ruizhi swung the Embroidered Spring Knife and chopped it down fiercely. The scabbard hit the storyteller's shoulder. Tang Tiezui fell down again, wailing incessantly.

"I said, I said."

The storyteller was so confused that he blurted out and sang:
It is said that when the ancients came to the ancients, they would sing the story of the Yang family father and son soldiers.

The Yang family is located in Tianbo Mansion, with their gate on the Datang Mountain.
My grandfather’s father-in-law Yang Gaowang, my father’s father-in-law Yang Jiupin,
The third generation father-in-law is named Yang Jun, who is unknown but famous.
Yang Jun gave birth to Yang Jiye, who was the son of Duke Ling.
Ling Gong gave birth to seven sons, Balang was adopted.
This is about the Yang family's affairs. Do you think it is true or false?
The eight tigers of the Yang family broke into Youzhou and fought so hard that the sky was dark and the earth was worried.
The eldest brother Changjiang came to stab him to death, Erlang's short sword split into two parts,
Sanlang's horse stepped into the mud, Silang was trapped in the foreign camp,
Wu Lang became a monk out of fear of death, Liu Lang hid himself in three passes.
Only Qilang died a miserable death, with seventy-two arrows piercing his heart.

The defeated soldiers returned home and reported to Old Lady Yang.

There was no need to rush when Master Ge arrived, and the two of them rode to the battlefield.
Soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals, no one is allowed to help.
If anyone asks for help, he will be chased to pieces.

How can a star compare to the moon, how can a crow compare to a phoenix?
Singing in the filial hall tonight, the horse teeth frost will appear at dawn.

······
In the end, everyone realized that this was a mourning song, a song for the dead, and Yu Ruizhi was furious.

"Tang San'er, you're looking for trouble, aren't you? I asked you to tell a story, and you're wailing!"

After saying that, he walked forward and was about to hit someone again.

Li Juying held Yu Ruizhi and laughed:
"Your Majesty is indeed Your Majesty, he can see further than us! No wonder he wanted to keep you here. We thought you would commit the heinous crime of exterminating your entire clan! Why did His Majesty want to protect you? So you can sing filial songs?"

Tang Tiezui said cautiously, "I'm from Junzhou, Huguang. I used to learn some random skills from a Taoist priest. Later, when the emperor's uncle (Jin Dajiu) built Tianxin City in Junzhou, I fled to Tianjin to avoid labor service..."

"That makes sense. You're from the same hometown as the retired emperor, and you can sing filial songs. No wonder His Majesty was able to spare your life."

Eunuch Li smiled and said in a pleasant manner:
"Tell me, where are your accomplices? What does the Taoist priest who gave you the money look like? Is he fat or thin? What's his accent? I can't tell you. Either you'll be castrated and sent to the Imperial Palace to be a eunuch! Or, you'll be buried alive in the mausoleum of the retired emperor and have to sing mourning songs for him."

~~~~~
"I have no accomplices, and no one is instructing me! I am the sole person responsible for clearing the imperial court. The Great Qi has been thrown into chaos. If Zhao Lu had led them back, he would have also cleared the imperial court!"

Forbidden City, Fengtian Palace.

Emperor Guangde's trial of Pu Gang and other rebel generals is proceeding in an orderly manner.

Emperor Guangde Liu Kan sat on the dragon throne. The hall was filled with civil and military officials of Qi. More than a dozen military generals were kneeling in the front, two of whom were the chief officers of the imperial legion.

The people watching around had different expressions, but they all kept a distance from the dozen or so tied-up generals.

Emperor Guangde Liu Kan looked at Pu Gang, who was kneeling in front of him, with a compassionate look.

At this time, Kang Guangxu, the Minister of Rites, jumped out and scolded him: "General Pu, today I am here to convict you. Don't confuse the public and try to drag others into this."

Pu Gang didn't even look at Kang Guangxu, and cursed:
"I am innocent!"

"Pu Gang, this is not the Eighth Corps barracks, don't be so presumptuous!"

Pu Gang glanced at the newly appointed Minister of Rites and said with disdain, "How could Kang Yingqian give birth to a thing like you? You are far inferior to his nephew!"

(End of this chapter)