The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 267: Killing relatives for justice
Empress Dowager Li was unwilling to be lonely again.

Wanli was really annoyed.

The reason why he never dealt with Empress Dowager Li was mainly to give face to his uncle Li Xuancheng.

After all, they are siblings.

If he really dealt with Empress Dowager Li, his uncle Li Xuancheng would probably leave him even if he didn't turn against him.

If this is true, he probably won't be able to sleep well.

The only eunuch in the palace he could completely trust was his uncle.

Shan Sinan could protect him from all sides, but it was impossible for him to manage the eunuchs and maids in the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace.

You can't be careless about things like this. You have to be on guard against everything, but the hardest thing to guard against is the people around you.

Emperor Jiajing was almost strangled to death by a palace maid!

At this time, he and those civil servants with ulterior motives were incompatible, and it would eventually be a life-and-death struggle. If there was no completely trustworthy person around to manage the eunuchs and palace maids, he really would not be able to sleep.

Another issue is reputation.

Empress Dowager Li was actually his biological mother.

His punishment of his uncle can be said to be a sacrifice of personal responsibility for the sake of justice.

If he even kills his own biological mother, can it be called killing one's own relatives for the sake of justice?

Li Shimin didn't even dare to deal with Li Yuan.

There are very few emperors in history who killed their own parents.

During the Southern Dynasties, Liu Shao, the son of Emperor Wen of Song, seemed to be the only emperor who seized the throne by "patricide".

His act of treason has caused him to be cursed for all eternity. All historians do not recognize him as the legitimate emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty. He does not even have the title of emperor. Xie Zhuang even called him "the most treacherous and rebellious act, unprecedented in history."

If he really did this, he would definitely be cursed for eternity, and those civil servants would also take the opportunity to make a fuss.

So, what to do?

It seems we have to learn from Li Shimin.

How did Li Shimin, the wisest ruler of all time, do it?

Wanli frowned and pondered for a while, then said decisively: "Sigong, quickly investigate the residences outside the palace where Zhang Hong and Zhang Jing and their gang are. Find out everything related to them. Don't leave any of them out."

Upon hearing this, Luo Sigong bowed without hesitation and said, "I obey your command."

Wanli waved his hand and asked him to leave, then called his uncle Li Xuancheng in.

He asked directly, "Uncle, what do you think of my performance as emperor?"

Why are you asking this suddenly?
Li Xuancheng thought about it carefully, then said frankly: "Your Majesty, you know, I am not a big reader, I just like martial arts. I don't think I have ever seen an emperor more powerful than you in the books. If you ask me, then you are the wisest ruler in history."

This statement may seem like flattery.

However, since they grew up together, there is no need to flatter him.

In other words, he was telling the truth.

Wanli nodded slowly, then sighed softly, "I want to be the wisest ruler in history, but the Empress Dowager always tries to trip me up."

what?
Hearing this, Li Xuancheng subconsciously shrank his neck and asked in a slightly terrified tone, "What does the Queen want to do now?"

You have been psychologically traumatized by the teachings of Empress Dowager Li since childhood.

Alas, this is how a close relative behaves.

Otherwise, with his current status and power, he would not be afraid of Empress Dowager Li.

Wanli couldn't help but sigh again, "She always wants to use the power of outsiders to undermine my imperial power. If my imperial power is really undermined, those civil servants will definitely retaliate wildly, and the prosperous situation of the Ming Dynasty will be ruined."

This one.

Li Xuancheng was a little panicked and asked, "What should we do then?"

Wanli said solemnly: "We have no choice but to find a way to cut off her contact with outsiders."

What does this mean?
Li Xuancheng was indeed psychologically traumatized by the teachings of Empress Dowager Li. Whenever he thought of his elder sister, he became flustered and his mind became a mess.

He thought about it randomly, then asked, "Do you mean to let Brother Shan lead the army to surround the Cining Palace?"

What the hell is this idea of ​​yours?

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "There's no need to go to such trouble. We can just replace everyone around her with our own people."

Are you kidding me?
Li Xuancheng subconsciously shrank his neck again and said, "Will the Queen agree? You know her temper. If we do this, she will be furious."

cut.

Wanli said disdainfully: "The people around her have been replaced by our people. What's the point of getting angry?"

Is this possible?

Li Xuancheng thought about it randomly and said worriedly: "What if she runs around? Even if all the palace maids and eunuchs are replaced by our people, we won't be able to control where she goes." Well.

Wanli pondered and said, "We will send several hundred imperial guards to take turns guarding outside the Cining Palace. Once she leaves the Ciqing Palace, we will have the imperial guards surround her and not let her leave the protective circle, let alone the palace, to prevent any accidents."

You call this protecting her?

Li Xuancheng thought about it randomly, and then said fearfully: "What if she comes over and scolds us?"

This is the simple, emotionless Dan Sinan.

Wanli said without hesitation: "General Shan is here, we can just let him guard outside."

Yes, Brother Shan is here, so don’t be afraid.

Li Xuancheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, then let Brother Shan go up and we'll hide."

Why are you still hiding?

Okay, as long as you don't object.

Wanli was afraid that his uncle Li Xuancheng would have objections.

It seems that his uncle Li Xuancheng is still completely on his side. As long as he doesn't make an effort to deal with Queen Mother Li, everything will be fine.

He gave detailed instructions, "Send your trusted men to investigate thoroughly to find out who in the palace obeys the Empress Dowager. Don't let any of the eunuchs and court ladies in charge go unpunished. Investigate them all."

what?
Upon hearing this, Li Xuancheng said with horror, "If the Queen knew, wouldn't she scold me to death?"

What are you afraid of?
Wanli said helplessly, "Just let them investigate secretly. There's no need to investigate openly. Once you've investigated, give me the list and I'll have General Shan take action. Is that all right?"

Li Xuancheng thought wildly for a while after hearing this, and then shrank his neck and said, "You must not let anyone know that I sent people to investigate."

This is your problem, not mine.

If your close confidants don’t tell us, who would know?
Wanli nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

After he figured out how to solve the troublesome problem of Empress Dowager Li, he began to consider how to build all the roads in the capital into asphalt roads.

If we only recruit young and strong people from the capital to build the road, it would be difficult to complete it this year.

After all, the walls of the inner and outer cities of the capital are dozens of miles long, and the roads in the city are crisscrossed and densely packed, with a length at least ten times that of the city walls.

In other words, the spider-web-like roads in the capital are at least a thousand miles long.

Although horse-drawn carriages specifically for road construction have been built, it is not enough to just mix asphalt and gravel and then pour it on the road. A lot of things need to be prepared to build asphalt roads.

He thought about it carefully and decided to order someone to call Qi Jiguang over.

Qi Jiguang did not have a residence in the capital at this time. His fiefdom was still in Zunhua, the original Jizhou Town, and he rarely went there.

After the Beijing Camp returned to the capital, he basically lived with Wanli. When Wanli went to the Mountain Resort, he lived in a small courtyard in the former Miyun County. When Wanli returned to the palace, he lived in a small courtyard in the Wanshou Palace.

He now lives in the small courtyard of Wanshou Palace, so he comes here very quickly.

After a while, he walked in quickly, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Yuan Jing, how is the grain harvest going in the Beijing camp?"

Qi Jiguang explained in detail: "This time, all the soldiers from the Beijing camp have returned, and every household has a manual harvester, so the harvesting speed is very fast.

By now they have finished harvesting and the rice is almost dry. All that is left is pounding the rice. Every hundred households now have a waterwheel for pounding rice, so they don’t have to do much work.”

That's good.

Wanli thought for a moment and then instructed: "First, have all the officers and soldiers go to the Mountain Resort to learn how to build asphalt roads.

They are now building carriages specifically for repairing asphalt roads, and they are also paving asphalt roads. After they have learned how to do it, you can ask them to come to the capital and designate areas for them.

Then, you let the soldiers of the Shenji Camp pull the grain carts to the nearby mountains to collect gravel, transport it here, and prepare it. Let the soldiers of the Shenshu Camp pull the chariots to the Datong Bridge Canal Wharf and pull all the asphalt bricks into the city and arrange them.

The soldiers of the Shenwu Camp were responsible for delivering materials, clearing the streets and maintaining order within the city. As for how the materials were delivered, they would know if they went to the Mountain Resort. The key was to maintain order.

This asphalt road will take one or two days for people to pass through, and two or three days for cars to pass through. They must protect it well and prevent it from being damaged by people and cars right after it is built."

Uh, I don’t even know how to do this yet.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang said cautiously, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid I'll have to learn from you too."

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Well, you can go with us. Tell the soldiers that you will give them an extra one or two taels of silver each month for the two months of road construction."

The Beijing Army now has 360,000 troops. If they pay an extra 1 tael of silver in wages every two months, that would be 720,000 taels!
Qi Jiguang thought for a moment and then reminded them, "Your Majesty, this one shot is worth 720,000 taels. They should do some work, so can we waive their wages?"

Now he also knew how terrible the army's food and wages were, so he wanted to save as much as possible. After all, the soldiers in the Beijing camp were relatively wealthy.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "Building the road is very tiring. We can't let them work in vain. Besides, it will be the New Year after the road is finished. This can be regarded as a little money for them to buy New Year's goods."

Well then, two taels of silver can buy a lot of New Year's goods.

Qi Jiguang quickly bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

(End of this chapter)