The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 576: All the Princes and Counties Taken Down
More than 30 members of the Chu royal family who led the rebellion were beheaded.

The culprit Zhou Yingzhi and his entire family were executed.

The Chu vassal rebellion seemed to have ended completely at this point.

Who would have thought that this was just the beginning.

The next morning at about noon, Wanli ordered someone to summon Li Rusong to the imperial study.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, he praised with a look of satisfaction, "Rusong, you did a great job this time. For suppressing the rebellion of the Chu vassal, I will award you 3,000 military merits. If you continue to work hard, you will have the hope of being promoted to Duke."

This can be counted as three thousand military merits!

Li Rusong quickly bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

Wanli nodded slightly, then said solemnly: "I have an important matter for you to do.

Gather two thousand personal guards and quickly board a swift navy ship to Huguang. Arrest Prince of Chu Zhu Huakui and Prince of Xuanhua Zhu Huabi for me and bring them back to the capital for trial."

what?
You asked me to capture the royal princes and dukes!

Li Rusong was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then he quickly bowed and said, "I obey your order."

Well, not bad, better than your dad.

If it were your father, he would definitely be hesitant and weigh the pros and cons.

Wanli nodded slightly, and then explained in detail: "This time, the Chu clan and Zhou Yingzhi have confessed that Zhu Huakui, the Prince of Chu, and Zhu Huabi, the Prince of Xuanhua, are not the sons of Prince Gong.

They are all fake kings. Don't have any reservations when arresting them. Anyone of their subordinates who dares to resist will be killed without mercy.

However, please do not kill Prince of Chu Zhu Huakui and Prince of Xuanhua Zhu Huabi. I must interrogate them personally."

Oh, it turns out the rumors are true, these two guys are fake royal relatives!

Upon hearing this, Li Rusong nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli nodded slightly and then gave detailed instructions: "Remember to bring all your war horses. The river north of Xuzhou may be frozen by then. Also remember to bring all your winter clothes."

Upon hearing this, Li Rusong nodded repeatedly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your advice. I will remember it."

Wanli thought about it carefully again, then waved his hand and said, "Go."

Li Rusong quickly bowed and took his leave.

Seeing this, little Zhu Changxun couldn't help but ask, "Father, haven't Zhu Huakui and Zhu Huabi already been proven to be fake royal relatives? Why are you still trying them?"

What?

In order to reduce the power of the feudal lords.

Wanli patiently explained, "There is no need to put Zhu Huakui and Zhu Huabi to trial as they are fake royal relatives. Your Majesty is trying them to reduce the Chu vassal state.

You have also seen that they and the Chu clan are as hostile as water and fire. If the Chu clan wants to deal with them, they will definitely bite back at the Chu clan.

The Chu clan is simply being instigated into rebellion, and the reason for reducing their power is a bit far-fetched. Father wants them to dig up more scandals about the Chu clan so that he can justify reducing their power."

Oh, so it's just a dog-eat-dog fight.

Wanli actually ordered Li Rusong, deputy general of the Shenwu Camp, to lead two thousand personal guards back to Huguang and bring both Prince of Chu Zhu Huakui and Prince of Xuanhua Zhu Huabi back to the capital for trial!

This caused a sensation throughout the Ming Dynasty.

Arrest both the princes and the dukes?
And he was taken to the capital for trial!

How long has it been since this happened?

It seems that it has not been seen many times since the Yongle Dynasty.

The Prince of Han and the Prince of Ning were both arrested for rebellion, and the Prince of Ning was beheaded before he was escorted to the capital.

In other words, the people in the capital had not seen princes and dukes being captured and brought back to the capital for hundreds of years.

This excitement must be seen.

If you don't see it, you may never see it in your lifetime.

It was already the end of November when Prince of Chu Zhu Huakui and Prince of Xuanhua Zhu Huabi were escorted to the capital.

At this time, the entire northern Zhili was covered with heavy snow.

The heavy snow covered the sky and the sun. It was already a little dark before the hour of You.

If you stand outside in such heavy snow, you will turn into a snowman in less than half an hour.

However, none of this could stop the people of the capital from coming to watch the fun. Even if it was snowing, they would still bring their iron hats to watch.

From Datong Bridge Canal Wharf to Dongbianmen, from Dongbianmen to Zhengyangmen, and from Zhengyangmen to Jinyiwei Yamen, both sides of the street were densely packed with people.

The capital city was deserted, and everyone was looking forward to seeing the princes and dukes.

Not long after, the cavalry in heavy armor formed two lines, rode in from the east gate, and spread out on both sides of the street.

Immediately afterwards, Li Rusong, the deputy general of the Shenwu Camp, led two long cavalry phalanxes and slowly escorted two prisoner carts.

"Is this the prince and the duke? They really look wealthy."

"Oh, I finally saw it. Now I can brag about it for the rest of my life."

"Why were they arrested? Because of rebellion?"

"No, it's rumored that these two aren't the sons of Prince Gong of Chu. They're fake kings." "Fake kings? I've seen real kings outside the Ten Princes' Palace, but this is the first time I've seen a fake king."

King Zhu Huakui of Chu couldn't help but shiver all over when he heard the noisy sound.

His identity could no longer be hidden, and he was finished.

In order to suppress the Chu clan, he has done countless things against the Tiangang over the years. It would be a blessing if the current emperor didn't cut him into pieces!

He was watched all the way to the imperial prison.

This imperial prison is said to be a place more terrifying than hell. When he saw the word "imperial prison", he felt so weak that he almost wet his pants.

Unexpectedly, the imperial prison was bright and seemed a little warm.

He was not thrown into the cold prison. Instead, two jailers carried him directly to a room as warm as spring.

There seemed to be two people wearing dragon robes here, a young man and a child.

No, this young man is wearing a dragon robe!

Zhu Huakui finally reacted and quickly fell to the ground, saying in a trembling voice, "Little Wang pays his respects to His Majesty."

Do you still think you are a real vassal king?

Wanli said expressionlessly, "The Chu clan has accused you and Prince Xuanhua of not being the sons of Prince Gong. Tell me the truth, is this true?"

what?
You ordered people to bring us brothers to the capital just because the Chu royal family filed a complaint!
I thought the evidence was irrefutable.

This means there is still hope!
Should I tell the truth?

Just tell the truth and that’s it!
Upon hearing this, Zhu Huakui shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, they are making false accusations. Huabi and I are both our father's biological sons."

You're still trying to make excuses, right?

well.

Wanli feigned confusion and said, "Then why did they all accuse you brothers of not being Prince Gong's sons?"

Uh, this.

why?

Did they take the wrong medicine?
This reason is obviously ridiculous.

I have to find a reason quickly.

Zhu Huakui was stunned for a long moment before he said carefully, "Your Majesty, it's probably because Xiao Wang's discipline is too strict, and they don't accept it, so they falsely accuse Xiao Wang."

Too strict discipline?

You have a stupid brain, why don’t you make sense?

Wanli still pretended to be confused and asked, "Why do you have to discipline them so strictly? What's wrong with them?"

Do they all have problems?

Yup!

If you sue me, won’t I sue you in return?
Zhu Huakui nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, they are too unreasonable. I have no choice but to discipline them strictly, otherwise they will cause chaos."

You finally got it.

But don't talk nonsense, find some actual evidence against you.

Wanli pretended to be curious and asked, "Why are they so unreasonable? Please explain it to me."

This is it.

Zhu Huakui thought about it carefully, then said carefully: "This has to start from before the little prince inherited the throne.

At that time, Wugang County Prince Zhu Xianhuai was acting as the agent for Chu vassal affairs. He actually committed embezzlement and teamed up with several other county princes to emptied almost all the gold, silver and treasures from the Chu Palace!

When the young prince inherited the throne, there was less than 100,000 taels of money left in the entire palace. The young prince asked the Prince of Wugang for it, and since then he has offended them.

Your Majesty, these people are lawless. They have embezzled nearly two hundred years of savings from the Chu Palace.

In addition, Xiao Wang also discovered that Generals Zhu Yunqin and Zhu Yunhong of Fengguo were recruiting soldiers and plotting against their will.

Your Majesty, this time they mobilized over 3,000 men and horses in an instant to rob the tribute. This is irrefutable evidence."

Mm, not bad, good bite.

Wanli nodded slightly and encouraged: "Also, tell me everything you know, and I will help you discipline them."

What I mean is, if I say they all have problems, then I have no problems?
Zhu Huakui finally understood, and he began to make random accusations.

He exposed all the illegal and disorderly deeds of the Chu royal family that he knew about.

He also brought out things he didn't know, things he only heard from hearsay.

He even blamed all the dirty deeds done by other princes and royal families on the Chu princes and royal family as long as he heard of them!
He just made random accusations of bullying men and women, robbery and murder, setting up private courts, building weapons and plotting rebellion, etc.!
When Wanli heard this, he nodded repeatedly to show his encouragement. This guy can really bite!

This is enough. There is no need to try Zhu Huabi. The crimes confessed by this guy are enough.

He doesn't need to care whether it is true or not. He just takes it as the truth as Zhu Huakui said!

(End of this chapter)