The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 16 Who Can Command the Imperial Guards
Zhang Siwei suddenly counterattacked, and the strength he unleashed was truly terrifying.

Not to mention anything else, there were more than a dozen censors and secretaries who submitted memorials to impeach Feng Bao, Xu Jue and others.

He had just killed seven people when more than ten fearless ones appeared.

Zhang Siwei was able to make so many censors and secretaries brave enough to fight for his country and continue to fight for it. One can imagine how powerful he was.

There is also Wang Zhizhen, the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who is Zhang Siwei's nephew.

He really didn't expect that this guy could be in charge of the Northern Pacification Office.

Wanli stared at the gloomy sky outside, and his brows furrowed slightly.

It seems that Feng Bao is completely useless.

Feng Bao must have hidden a lot of things from him. Who knows how many of Zhang Siwei's men there are in the Jinyiwei and the Imperial Guards.

As for why Feng Bao kept it from him, it must have been for money.

The three major wealthy families in Puzhou had plenty of money, and Feng Bao and Zhang Siwei did not fall out when Zhang Juzheng was still alive.

Feng Bao was a guy who accepted bribes everywhere and dared to accept money from anyone. It was too easy for the three wealthy families in Puzhou to spend some money to buy some positions in the Jinyiwei and the Imperial Guards.

Wang Zhizhen is just the one on the surface. I guess there are many Feng Baos who don’t even know whether they are Zhang Siwei’s men.

In short, Feng Bao and his confidants are no longer useful because they are too greedy for money.

People die for money, birds die for food, and greedy people can even lose their lives for money. He can't lose his life with these guys.

The question is, if Feng Bao and his cronies aren't used, who else will he put in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guards and the Imperial Guards?

This is also the reason why he has not tried to regain control of the Jinyiwei and the Imperial Guards, because he has few confidants at the moment.

It seems that the only people he could trust in the Jinyiwei were the fathers and brothers of the concubines in the harem. These people basically held the titles of Jinyiwei Qianhu, Duzhijianshi or even Duzhijiantongzhi. If they were promoted, they could take charge of the Jinyiwei.

However, these people were either from farming families or from craftsmen and merchants, and there was no way they could defeat Zhang Siwei's men.

He didn't even know who would be in charge of the Imperial Guards.

Among the four secretaries of the Imperial Household Department, Zhang Hong and Zhang Jing are both confidants of Empress Dowager Li, while Chen Ju and Sun Xian are even more timid than Feng Bao and dare not offend Empress Dowager Li at all. Who can he let take control of the imperial guards?
His trusted eunuchs had long been exiled to the Jing Army by Empress Dowager Li and Feng Bao, and now none of the eunuchs in the palace were his trusted ones!

What should we do next? Should we let the Beijing troops guard the palace forever?

The food and wages for the Beijing troops have not yet been resolved.

He trained these people to regain the imperial power. If they can't even get food by following him, who will follow him in the future?

Wanli frowned and pondered for a long time before he said loudly to the outside of the door: "Yuan Jing."

Qi Jiguang walked in quickly, bowed and said, "I am here."

Wanli gave detailed instructions: "Order Qianji, Zhang Xueyan, Xu Xuemo, Zeng Shengwu, and Duke Chengguo to come to the emperor for an audience."

He had never summoned all these people to meet him before. In fact, he still wanted to paralyze Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing and make these two guys think that he was just an ignorant and rebellious teenager.

Originally, he wanted to keep the situation inactive and wait for the Beijing camp to gain strength before launching a sudden attack to deal with Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing's gang.

It seems that it is no use now. Zhang Siwei is too vicious. He not only withheld the food and wages of the Beijing camp, but also launched a surprise attack on him, seizing the control of the Jinyiwei in one fell swoop.

It was obvious that these guys were not just sitting there waiting for him to take back the imperial power, they were also trying their best to seize power.

He couldn't keep pretending to be a pig and paralyzing Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing. He had to throw a bunch of punches from time to time to disrupt the group's plans.

Liang Menglong, Zhang Xueyan, Xu Xuemo, Zeng Shengwu and Cheng Guogong arrived together not long after.

They also knew that the matter was urgent. There was so much noise this morning that even the Beijing troops had entered the palace.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli asked directly, "Lord Zhang, the cabinet has been holding up the supply of grain and wages for the Beijing camp, right?"

He asked this question to give them face. If it were Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing, he would have started scolding them directly.

Zhang Xueyan heard this and reluctantly explained, "Yes, Your Majesty, the cabinet has not approved it, so I dare not distribute the money and grain. If I distribute the money and grain privately, they will seize the opportunity to impeach me."

At this moment, the power of the cabinet was too great. Not only was the imperial power hollowed out, but the power of the six ministries was also hollowed out.

He has to change his tactics.

Wanli pretended to be angry and said, "The cabinet is supposed to assist in government affairs, but now it has become the main government. They just say they will not approve my imperial edict. This is simply unreasonable. Zhang Siwei is trying to usurp the throne.

He didn't even say a word to me this morning and directly asked Wang Zhizhen to arrest Xu Jue. Now the Jinyiwei are under their control. This is clearly deceiving the emperor!
Tell me, do you listen to him or me?"

This Zhang Siwei is really sinister.

When Zhang Juzheng was alive, this guy pretended to be so honest and obedient, just like Zhang Juzheng's lackey. As soon as Zhang Juzheng died, this guy tricked Empress Dowager Li into becoming the prime minister.

Then, this guy actually started to deal with them!

This guy clearly wants to purge them from the court. Can they let him succeed?

Fortunately, the Emperor has not been fooled by this guy, otherwise, they would be finished.

Everyone bowed without hesitation and said, "Your Highness, I obey your command."

Just listen to me.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said solemnly: "From now on, you don't have to worry about the cabinet's documents. If you have anything, just tell me directly. I will issue you an imperial decree. You don't have to worry about whether the cabinet has approved it or not. Just execute it directly."

This!
Everyone was stunned when they heard this.

Minister of Rites Xu Xuemo immediately reminded him, "Your Majesty, this is against the rules!"

Do I need to follow the rules?
If I had still followed the rules as before, I would have been in Zhang Siwei's hands long ago.

Did you know that this is how the Ming Dynasty ended in history?
You scholars, those who are pedantic are truly pedantic, and those who are vicious are truly vicious.

How can I listen to you bunch of pedantic people?
In this day and age, if you really care about morality, propriety, integrity, and following the rules, you will be exploited. People with ulterior motives will use these to scheme against others.

They have no morality, righteousness, integrity, or rules in their minds. These are just tools they use to plot against others.

Do I still follow the rules?
Rules are used to restrain people, do you know?

Those with ulterior motives just want to use rules to restrain me.

Can I follow the rules?

If I listen to your talk about rules, the Ming Dynasty will be finished.

I don't care about the rules.

I just want to beat the master to death with my random punches.

I am just an ignorant and rebellious teenager. I don’t follow any rules!

Wanli pretended to be annoyed and said, "You guys follow the rules, but does Zhang Siwei follow the rules?

If we talk about rules, Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Teacher and Parents, with respect to hierarchy and order, are the most fundamental rules. Is Zhang Siwei following the rules by deceiving the emperor in this way?
Don't worry about him. If he refuses to obey, tell him to come to me. I'll see if he dares to come."

This makes sense. As a minister, you should obey the emperor. This is the most basic rule.

Since you, Zhang Siwei, are breaking the rules, we won’t break the rules either!

We are acting according to the imperial edict and not listening to you, Zhang Siwei. What's wrong?

Liang Menglong immediately bowed and said, "This humble official will obey the order of His Majesty."

Seeing this, the others also hurriedly bowed and said, "Your humble servant will obey the order of His Majesty."

Is that right? What rules are you talking about when playing with that old bastard Zhang Siwei?

Wanli nodded slightly, then picked up the imperial edict that had been written long ago and said solemnly: "Zhang Aiqing, I have written the imperial edict for you. You must immediately send food and wages to the Beijing camp, and pay them according to the number of 50,000 men."

Zhang Xueyan quickly took the imperial edict with both hands, bowed and said, "Your humble servant obeys your order."

Very good, you have to do it in a chaotic way, so that people will not expect it, so as to catch them off guard.

If we follow the rules, others have calculated everything, and there is no point in playing.

Wanli nodded slightly, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, you can go down first. If you have anything, don't forget to tell me. Duke Chengguo, you stay."

Upon hearing this, Liang Menglong, Zhang Xueyan, Xu Xuemo and Zeng Shengwu hurriedly bowed and took their leave.

Upon seeing this, Duke Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen subconsciously shrank his neck, and a look of panic appeared on his face.

This guy is really timid.

The line of Duke Chengguo was originally quite powerful. During the Jiajing period, Duke Chengguo Zhu Xizhong was undoubtedly ranked first among all dukes and nobles.

At that time, not only did Duke Chengguo Zhu Xizhong take charge of the Right Army Commandery, but Zhu Xizhong's younger brother Zhu Xixiao also took charge of the Rear Army Commandery.

The two brothers controlled two of the Five Military Commanderies. Moreover, after Lu Bing's death, the Jinyiwei was under the control of Zhu Xizhong. After Zhu Xizhong's death, the Jinyiwei was under the control of Zhu Xixiao.

During the Jiajing and Longqing dynasties, the line of Duke Cheng was at its peak.

The decline of the Chengguo Duke's line can be said to have started with an accident. In the second year of Wanli, Zhu Xixiao, who took over the Jinyiwei, died, and Zhu Shitai, who succeeded the Chengguo Duke, also died. At that time, the Chengguo Duke's son Zhu Yingzhen was less than ten years old.

Zhu Yingzhen was not granted the title of Duke of Chengguo until the eighth year of the Wanli reign. At that time, this guy was not even eighteen years old, even younger than him!

Wanli was speechless when he saw this little guy who was even younger than him.

In history, such a powerful first-class duke was actually forced to commit suicide!

You are really timid, boy.

After much thought, he decided that the only option was to let this guy take over the Jinyiwei. Although this guy was a little timid, his identity was the most suitable person to take over the Jinyiwei.

This guy is not only the Duke of Chengguo, but also Lu Bing's grandson, and his biological mother is Lu Bing's eldest daughter.

Lu Bing and the line of Duke Chengguo were in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for nearly forty years. One can imagine how many old friends of the Lu and Zhu families there were in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Can this cowardly boy be used?

He stared at the boy for a while, then asked tentatively, "Ying Zhen, you won't betray me, will you?"

what?
How can this be?

Zhu Yingzhen hurriedly clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "I swear to be loyal to Your Majesty until death."

Well, this sentence is enough. Sometimes being timid has its advantages. At least you won’t dare to betray.

Historically, the reason why this guy was forced to commit suicide was probably because he was young, ignorant, and had no choice but to be bullied by Zhang Siwei's group.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said decisively: "Then you will enter the palace at dawn every day, stay by my side, and wait for my orders."

Zhu Yingzhen bowed without hesitation and said, "I obey your order."

Being young has its advantages. If I keep him by my side and train him well, he will become my confidant and there will be no problem for him to be in charge of the Jinyiwei.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard can be put in charge of Duke Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen, but who will be in charge of the Imperial Guards?
Wanli was just frowning in deep thought when a murderous shout suddenly came from outside: "Stop, what are you doing?"

A weak voice said, "I am the steward of the Cining Palace, and I am here to convey the Empress Dowager's decree."

Sun Dexiu!

What does Empress Dowager Li want to do next?
This woman really can't stand being lonely.

(End of this chapter)