The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 759 The power is in hand
The deaths of Jin Yuji and Yang Qing'er marked the complete end of the era of the retired emperor.

If we ignore Liu Yufei and her followers, now, from the capital to the prefectures and counties, from the harem to the army, all power is firmly grasped by Emperor Guangde.

Guangde's "New Deal" replaced the utopian polarism military-first system of the Liu Zhaosun era. Da Qi was sliding towards an unknown abyss following the inertia of a thousand years - of course, it can also be said that it was corrected.

In short, as time goes by, the traces left by the time traveler in this time and space are gradually fading, until they finally turn into nothingness. No one will remember that he has been here, as if everything has never changed.

As the modern poet Xu Zhimo wrote in "A Farewell to Cambridge":

Gently I go, just as I come gently;

I waved my hand gently, saying goodbye to the clouds in the western sky.

From then on, the crime of matricide was added to Liu Yufei's list of unforgivable crimes.

The news of the Empress Dowager's death was strictly sealed, and no one outside the Kunning Palace knew about it. This was not for the purpose of keeping the death secret, but probably because Kang Guangxu, Li Juying and other ministers were still spending their energy on how to tell this story well.

Before and after the Empress Dowager's funeral, rumors spread throughout Nanjing. Overnight, the news that the Empress Dowager had been assassinated spread like wildfire.

The various versions of the rumor all contained similar content: the Queen Mother was assassinated by an assassin sent by the Princess. Of course, the difference between them was that the assassins used slightly different weapons when they assassinated the Queen Mother. Some said it was a musket, while others said it was poison.

As for the reason why Liu Yufei assassinated the empress dowager, it was of course obvious. The purpose was to frame Emperor Guangde.

There are also rumors that the Queen Mother did not die from an assassin, but because she was worried about the eldest princess's rebellion and worried that she might be implicated, coupled with her illness, she embarked on a path of no return.

All rumors are like the wind, they come and go as soon as they appear, filling the whole city with uproar, and disappear without a trace.

The truth of the matter was eventually drowned out by various rumors and is now difficult to verify.

Fortunately, people don’t care about the so-called facts and truth. They only believe what they see with their own eyes, or to be more precise, what they want to see.

The people in the capital always only care about the prices of rice and vegetables, and their food rations for tomorrow.

As for whether the eldest princess rebelled or whether Liu Yufei was born with the eyes of an eagle and the back of a wolf, this is really not the focus of everyone's attention.

The fact is that the rebellion in Junzhou has really affected the prices in the capital. The prices of rice, vegetables and coal have skyrocketed. With this, even if Liu Yufei is the reincarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva, she cannot escape the fate of being pointed at and cursed by the people.

Moreover, this was just before Emperor Guangde led his army to fight in person. With the imperial court fanning the flames behind the scenes, the criticism of the eldest princess from all walks of life in Da Qi was like a storm that was out of control.

Liu Yufei's various crimes were unearthed and sorted out by the censors and various upright officials, compiled into a book, and published in various provinces together with the "Da Zhong Jue Mi Lu" which was used to educate the people. Especially in Huguang, almost every common people had a copy.

The court's original intention was to make the people fully aware of the heinous crimes of the rebel Liu Yufei, which were mainly due to his greed for money and goods, his favoritism towards men, and his use of the name of the emperor to commit crimes and bully the people.

Liu Kan was quite proud of this method. In his opinion, it was killing people unintentionally.

However, according to the observations of the Suoyi Guards, as long as people left Nanjing City, they were not very interested in Liu Yufei's crimes. The "Record of the Crimes of the Traitor Liu Yufei" distributed by the court to each county and village was often used by the people as toilet paper.

Fortunately, after this propaganda campaign, Emperor Guangde believed he had secured the commanding heights of public opinion. More simply, his rule was more secure. Liu Kan was well versed in the essence of later political struggles. To completely negate an opponent, one didn't need to focus on major issues or a single fatal strike, but rather on a gradual, progressive process.

For example, you can start by attacking someone's personal morality. The more absurd the content, the better, because it will spread quickly to a wider area. At this point, the other party has already lost the upper hand. Then you can throw out even bigger evidence and launch a fierce attack on the other party. At this time, the other party will have no time to prepare and will eventually fail completely.

The vast majority of Nanjing residents don’t know what kind of person the eldest princess is, and most people simply equate Liu Yufei with a traitor.

Just like another dimension, the people don't know whether Yuan Chonghuan is a loyal minister or a traitor.

However, this did not prevent everyone from scrambling to eat his meat.

Everyone can eat Yuan Chonghuan’s meat, and of course they can also eat Liu Yufei’s meat.

The date for the royal army to set out on the expedition was getting closer, and the eldest princess's crime had not been completely clarified, so Emperor Guangde ordered the trial to be accelerated through the three judicial departments.

In the end, Emperor Guangde charged his sister with a total of 108 crimes, and Liu Kan issued an edict to have the eldest princess executed by slow slicing.

Since the eldest princess was far away in Huguang, Liu Kan's wish to execute her by slow slicing had to be postponed.

Although the rebellions flared up like wildfires, Liu Kan believed that as long as Liu Yufei was completely eliminated - including physically - the resistance to the new policies would truly collapse.

The eldest princess is a symbol of rebellion, or the spiritual totem of the rebels. Now, it is time to end it all.

On October 18th of the seventh year of Guangde, Emperor Guangde swore an oath to his troops at Longsheng Pass in Nanjing to go to war. The emperor personally led the army to the battle, and the troops mobilized included the main corps, the garrison troops in the capital, the main forces of the navy and air force, as well as the local garrisons in Huguang, with a total strength of more than 200,000. This was also the maximum force that Emperor Guangde could currently mobilize.

Compared with the Fourth Corps, which had only 40,000 to 50,000 people, backward equipment and insufficient firearms, Liu Kan's suppression of the rebellion this time can be described as a lion fighting a rabbit, striving for complete victory.

"Commendants of each corps, today, I will lead you to Huguang to quell the rebellion! Liu Yufei is slaughtering your families and your comrades in Jingxiang... She has the support of the White Lotus Sect and the support of the rioters, so she dares to act so boldly. The rebels in Yunyang have wiped out the gentry and wealthy families, and even spared no rich peasants! I know that many of your captains, sergeants, and flag captains are from middle-class families. I have always advocated that all people are brothers and that everyone is equal in the army, but the traitor Liu Yufei insists on dividing people into different classes..."

Emperor Guangde shouted with the loudspeaker until his mouth was dry. He was in high spirits and completely entered the state of an instructor.

"Liu Yufei deliberately misinterpreted the Emperor's will. She deliberately divided the people into poor peasants, middle peasants, and rich peasants, and then the local tyrants and evil gentry. She had her subordinates incite the poor to rob the rich, and she even claimed that she was carrying on the will of her father! This is not only shameless, it is absolutely shameless!"

A loud shout of curses was heard at the Longshengguan Wharf. Some of the officers present were from Huguang. During the eldest princess's rebellion, their families were regarded as conservative forces supporting the new policy and were cleared out.

"Now she has occupied Junzhou and is attacking Xiangyang. She says she wants to advance eastward and capture Nanjing. She wants to redistribute the land of the wealthy families in Jiangnan and re-nationalize the mining and salt industries. This is not only shameless, it's simply insane!"

Emperor Guangde was so excited that he stopped to rest for a short while.

At this time, the instructors stationed in the various regiments immediately stood up and shouted:
"Protect Da Qi! Kill Liu Yufei!"

"Protect Da Qi and kill Liu Yufei!"

Tens of thousands of soldiers had blazing eyes and shouted in unison with their instructors. They stood densely at the edge of Longsheng Pass and roared towards the northwest, shaking the earth.

(End of this chapter)