The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 19 Who Swallowed the Confiscated Money?

Empress Dowager Li really didn't expect that her youngest brother Li Xuancheng would suddenly come back.

She never expected that this boy would dare to lie to her.

Li Xuancheng followed Wanli's instructions and pretended to be scared and worried, and Empress Dowager Li softened her heart.

This kid is right. The safety of their family cannot be completely left to outsiders. The imperial guards must at least be controlled by their own family.

Empress Dowager Li was fooled!
She thought that her youngest brother was still as obedient as before, and she never imagined that the two rebellious teenagers were colluding to deceive her.

She really agreed to let Li Xuancheng take the position of the seal of the Imperial Stables.

The next morning, before dawn, Wanli got up.

He summoned Qi Jiguang, Li Xuancheng, and Shan Sinan to the imperial study and said excitedly, "We will take full control of the imperial guards shortly."

Li Xuancheng also rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "Your Majesty, how do you decide how to take over?"

Wanli took the imperial edict that had been prepared long ago and handed it to him, and gave him detailed instructions: "First, take the imperial edict to take over the Imperial Horse Administration. Then, take General Shan with you to take over the Tengxiang Four Guards and replace all the thousand households, hundred households, and general flags of the Tengxiang Four Guards."

what?
Are you going to replace so many people at once?

Li Xuancheng took the imperial edict and said in a daze, "The Tengxiang Four Guards have 20 thousand-household officers, 200 centurions, and 400 general flag officers. Where can I find so many people? I don't have anyone under my command."

You don't have it, but Qi Jiguang does.

Wanli asked directly: "Yuan Jing, have you prepared all the manpower, including the commanders of the four guards?"

Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "I'm ready for this. They are all veterans from my personal guards. They are a little older, but they are steady and have no problem leading the imperial guards to guard the imperial city and the palace."

That'll do.

Wanli then said to Li Xuancheng, "You can take General Shan and Yuan Jing's men to take over the Imperial Guards. You can hand over the replaced thousand households, hundred households, and general flags to Yuan Jing. Anyway, there are plenty of positions in the 72 guards of the Beijing camp.

Also, after you take over the Imperial Guards, go to the inner training grounds and select a group of young eunuchs around fifteen years old to replace all the eunuchs in the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace. I will have Xier select a group of palace maids and replace them all as well. From now on, you will be in charge of the eunuchs and palace maids in the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace."

This concerns his personal safety, so he cannot be careless.

At about the hour of Mao, just as the sky was getting light, a major reshuffle of the imperial guards in the palace and the imperial city began. Regardless of whether they were sent by Zhang Siwei or not, all the thousand-household members, hundred-household members and general flag-bearers in the imperial guards were transferred to the Beijing camp to eat idle meals.

When Duke Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen brought Luo Sigong into the imperial city, they were a little confused.

Early in the morning, the entire imperial city was filled with commands. Almost all the imperial guards were summoned, and the open space in the imperial city was filled with neat square formations.

When he walked into the Qianqing Palace and took a look, he was stunned again.

All the eunuchs in the palace were replaced by young eunuchs around fifteen years old, and the eunuch standing guard outside the imperial study actually looked very similar to the Emperor!
This eunuch really looks like the Emperor, except that he is a little thin, everything else is similar.

He was stunned for a moment, then he realized that there seemed to be such a eunuch by the Emperor's side before. He seemed to be the Emperor's cousin and the younger cousin of Empress Dowager Li.

However, this eunuch has not appeared by the Emperor's side for several years.

What is the name of this eunuch?

He walked forward, bowed carefully and said, "Eunuch Li, long time no see."

Li Xuancheng stared at him for a while before he suddenly realized, "Are you the prince of Chengguo?"

Duke Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, I just inherited the title two years ago."

There should be no problem with this person. The Chengguogong family is still very loyal to the royal family.

Li Xuancheng stared at Luo Sigong again and asked, "What are you doing now?"

Luo Sigong quickly bowed and said, "Eunuch Li, I am Luo Sigong, Captain of the Imperial Guard, in charge of the Secret Guard. His Majesty has ordered me to accompany Duke Cheng to the palace for an audience today."

At this time, Wanli's voice came from the imperial study: "Uncle, let them in. I invited them here."

After hearing this, Li Xuancheng let him go.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli said solemnly, "Sigong, don't investigate the corrupt officials for now. Quickly and secretly gather your men outside the residences of Feng Bao, Xu Jue, Zhang Dashou, and others.

As soon as my imperial decree arrives, they will raid the homes of Feng Bao and the others. Have your men secretly monitor where they take the seized property. Don't worry about what's brought into the palace; focus on those who secretly take it home or smuggle it out."

Is Feng Bao's faction finally going to be purged?

Fortunately, he has little to do with Feng Bao.

Upon hearing this, Luo Sigong hurriedly bowed and said, "I obey your order."

Immediately afterwards, the imperial edict issued, promoting Zhang Hong, the chief secretary of the Imperial Household Department, to take charge of the Imperial Household Department, and promoting Zhang Jing, the chief secretary of the Imperial Household Department, to be the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Factory.

Wanli also approved the memorials that called for the dismissal of Feng Bao and others, their property to be confiscated and their exile to be carried out.

Zhang Siwei was somewhat caught off guard.

He really didn't expect that Empress Dowager Li's cousin would suddenly return to the palace to take charge of the Imperial Stables.

Moreover, this guy cleaned up the Imperial Guards early this morning, and all the people he had planted in the Imperial Guards were wiped out.

In addition, all the eunuchs and palace maids in the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace were replaced by this guy.

Now he didn't know what the little emperor was doing, and his plan to keep the little emperor in his hands was completely disrupted.

Fortunately, the young emperor finally agreed to purge Feng Bao's faction, and they could now legitimately control the Jinyiwei. Early that morning, Wang Zhizhen, the deputy commander of the Jinyiwei, and Zhang Jing, the chief inspector of the East Factory and the chief of the Imperial Household Department, began to confiscate the property.

Not only did they raid the homes of Feng Bao, Xu Jue, Zhang Dashou and others, they also raided the homes of Feng Bao's younger brother Feng You and nephew Feng Bangning, as well as the homes of Xu Jue and Zhang Dashou's brothers.

At this moment, the entire capital city was in an uproar.

House raiding, I haven’t seen it for a long time.

Moreover, more than ten companies were copied at one time!
As soon as the news spread, people from the capital flocked to the scene.

There was no telling how many people had gathered outside the residences of Feng Bao, Xu Jue, Zhang Dashou and others to watch the fun.

There seemed to be something fishy about this house search. Many of the Jinyiwei and Dongchang men who participated in the search looked like they had not woken up yet. They were listless in everything they did and had to rest for a long time just to lift a box.

As for why, the layman watches the excitement while the expert sees the details.

Luo Sigong is an expert, so he is not in a hurry at all.

These guys want to line their pockets, but it's not convenient to do this during the day, so they have to wait until night.

Sure enough, this time the house search lasted a whole day and was not finished until the curfew in the evening.

The next morning at about 11:00 AM, Wanli came to the imperial study and sat down leisurely, as if he had no idea what was going on, apparently waiting for today's memorials.

Not long after, Li Xuancheng came in with a secret report.

When Wanli saw the secret report, he couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth and smile evilly.

These guys really enriched themselves.

very good!

He pretended to be clueless and sat in the imperial study waiting until around noon when the Embroidered Uniform Guards and the Eastern Depot handed over the list of confiscated property.

This time, he seemed to have suddenly fallen ill.

He immediately ordered Zhang Jing, the commander of the East Depot, to come over. He waved the list and roared, "How dare you! Feng Bao and the others confessed to a total of four or five million taels, and you only copied out a little over one million taels. There are still two or three million taels left. Who of you took it?"

Are you sick!

The money copied is not given to you, why are you shouting?

Zhang Jing knew very well that the money he had confiscated was for Prince Lu's wedding.

Empress Dowager Li wanted to get more money for Prince Lu to hold a grand wedding, so she listened to Zhang Siwei and issued an imperial decree to arrest Feng Bao, Xu Jue and others.

It was normal to try to get something for yourself during the house search. The little emperor obviously saw through the trick.

His eyes were a little evasive as he said, "Your Majesty, I didn't take a single cent. They did embezzle four or five million taels, but after all, they have to spend it. Over the years, they have probably spent two or three million taels."

Wanli roared, still disregarding the matter: "Do they eat gold and silver as if it were their livelihood? Two or three million can be spent in two or three years. If you didn't swallow it, did the Jinyiwei swallow it?"

What does this mean?
You want me to bite Wang Zhizhen?
That guy can't be bitten.

Zhang Jing shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, this servant doesn't know."

You do not know?

I'll let you know.

Wanli coldly threatened: "Tell me, did the Jinyiwei swallow it? If you don't tell me, I will immediately order people to raid your house outside the palace to see if you swallowed it."

This kid is really sick.

The problem is, this guy is the emperor, if he says he will confiscate the property, then he will really confiscate it!

Zhang Jing said in a panic, "It's possible that the Jinyiwei swallowed it."

Upon hearing this, Wanli immediately said to Chen Ju, who was kneeling at a small table beside him waiting to review the memorials, "Eunuch Chen, write your confession.

I would like to ask why only more than one million taels were seized from the mansions of Feng Bao and others, and who swallowed the remaining two or three million taels.

Zhang Jing replied, "I didn't swallow a single cent. It's possible that the Jinyiwei swallowed it."

Hey, Your Majesty, please don't drag me into this.

Chen Ju had no choice but to write it down.

Wanli looked at the written confession and threatened coldly: "Sign and seal it, otherwise it will be a crime of deceiving the emperor. I will immediately order people to drag you out and behead you."

I*****.

There's nothing we can do. This kid really attacks people when he gets angry.

Zhang Jing could only sign and seal.

When Wanli received the confession, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly and he smiled evilly.

Zhang Siwei probably never dreamed that he would use a barrage of punches to seize control of the Jinyiwei.

(End of this chapter)