The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 70: Plotting against the Five Military Commandery

It seemed that Wanli was not going to let Zhang Cheng go, but his target was actually Zhang Siwei and his party.

What Li Wenquan, the son of Wuqing Marquis, confessed only proved how ruthless the three powerful families in Puzhou were in their pursuit of money, but it was actually not very useful.

At least it's useless now.

Because Yang Bo, Wang Chonggu and Fang Fengshi, the three officials who had controlled the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of War for more than 20 years, have all retired, and Yang Bo is dead.

At this time, he did not have the time to deal with the retired officials, and Wu Dui was replaced by Liang Menglong less than a year after he took office as the Minister of War.

Although Wu Dui may have some connection with this matter, it should not be a big deal. At most, he can use it to scare Wu Dui.

The people he needs to implicate are the officials who are currently in power under Zhang Siwei's party, and at the very least, he needs to make sure their homes are confiscated and they are exiled.

The key person in this matter is actually Zhang Xin.

Zhang Xin, this guy, seemed to have lost his mind and suddenly bullied the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion. There must be a reason for that.

Wanli thought about it and decided to interrogate Zhang Xin personally.

After Li Wenquan was taken away, Zhang Xin was dragged in like a dead dog.

At this moment, this guy really looked like a dead dog, with wounds all over his body, lying on the ground motionless.

Maybe Lu Yi tortured him too harshly yesterday, and this guy hasn't recovered yet.

Seeing this, Wanli said to the jailer at the door in a straightforward manner: "Go, bring a bucket of water and sober him up."

Soon, the jailer brought a bucket of cold water and poured it over his head.

"Ouch!"

When Zhang Xin was doused with cold water, the wounds all over his body seemed to wake up, and he shivered with pain.

He shuddered, raised his head suddenly and looked forward.

This sight frightened him so much that his eyes almost popped out.

Of course he knew why he was arrested. The person in front of him was the young Emperor Wanli!
The little emperor suddenly appeared in front of him again, which really scared him.

He froze for a long time, then suddenly came back to life, kowtowed vigorously and said, "Your Majesty, please spare my life! I didn't know it was Your Majesty in front of me yesterday!"

Is it okay if you don’t know?
Wanli sneered with disdain, "Aren't you going to kill my entire clan? You always want to kill everyone's clan, you're so arrogant."

My lousy mouth!
Zhang Xin shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, that's just nonsense."

You said it, even if it's nonsense, it counts.

I can kill all your clans with this!

Wanli said coldly: "Master Xin, the bully in the south of the city bullies people by taking advantage of his power, forcibly abducting women and seizing people's property. He often hurts and even kills people. Do you think there is no law in the Ming Dynasty?"

Don’t I have someone protecting me?

Who knew I would end up with someone like you, a jinx?

Zhang Xin quickly repented and said, "I was wrong. I will definitely change in the future."

Do you have a future?

Wanli tempted, "Now I'm giving you a chance. Tell me the truth. Why did you suddenly attack Zheng Yue'er?"

This one.

Zhang Xin thought about it for a while, and suddenly he understood, "I understand now. I was fooled by that kid Guo Yinglin."

Guo Yinglin?
Is it famous?

Wanli asked, "Who is Guo Yinglin?"

Zhang Xin said without hesitation, "Guo Yinglin is the eldest son of the Marquis of Wuding, and his father is Guo Dacheng, the governor-general of the Left Army Commandery."

Very good, finally a key figure was implicated. Wanli pretended to be curious and asked, "How did he trick you?"

Zhang Xin still thought he had a chance to escape punishment.

He thought about it carefully, and then explained in detail: "In fact, I have had my eyes on Zheng Yue'er for a long time, and I often go to see Zheng Yue'er under the opportunity of buying cloth.

However, I know that Zheng's Cloth Shop belongs to the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion, so I just went there to take a look and didn't dare to act rashly.

Guo Yinglin often drinks with me, and I often mention this to him.

A few days ago, he suddenly told me that they had already found out that the Duke of England was powerless at the moment and it was impossible for him to risk his life for the daughter of a merchant under his command.

He asked me to send someone to threaten them, and then wait for a long time. If the Duke of England's Mansion did not respond, then I would just kidnap the person. With their support, it would be fine.

Also, he said that the shop originally belonged to their Wuding Marquis Mansion, and after forcibly marrying Zheng Yue'er, he could use this as an excuse to seize the shop."

You are a pig too.

This is clearly using Zheng Yue'er's beauty and the Zheng family's cloth shop as bait to drag you into the water.

Once you get involved, Li Wenquan, the son of Marquis Wuqing, will certainly follow suit. By then, the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion will be in conflict with Empress Dowager Li.

After the Duke of Ying's Mansion and Empress Dowager Li come into conflict, I will definitely stand on the side of Duke of Ying's Zhang Yuangong. At that time, I will definitely have a huge quarrel with Empress Dowager Li, and it is possible that this will cause Empress Dowager Li to desperately provoke a dispute over the dethronement and enthronement.

This is obviously a plot of Zhang Siwei and his party to sow discord. The Wuding Marquis Mansion and Zhang Siwei are in cahoots. The last time Nurhaci was conferred the title, Wuding Marquis Guo Dacheng deliberately helped Zhang Siwei conceal it and deliberately did not report it!
How did they get involved with Zhang Siwei?
Oh, right, the shop!
It is indeed possible that this shop belonged to the Wuding Marquis Mansion during the Jiajing period.

Because in the early period of Jiajing's reign, Marquis Wuding Guo Xun stood on the side of Emperor Jiajing and helped Jiajing fight against the faction of Prime Minister Yang Tinghe, so Jiajing particularly favored Marquis Wuding Guo Xun.

This guy not only controlled the Beijing camp but also the imperial guards. He was extremely powerful. In the end, Jiajing actually agreed to promote Wuding Hou Guo Xun to the title of Yiguo Duke. This shows how favored Wuding Hou Guo Xun was.

However, after Wuding Hou Guo Xun came to power, he began to amass wealth crazily. Not only did he sell official positions and titles, he also used his power to annex military farms and swallow up shops in the capital.

Marquis Wuding Guo Xun is most famous for his annexation of shops in the capital. It is said that this guy annexed more shops than Yan Song and his son.

This guy must have done business after taking over the shops. It was probably from that time that the Wuding Marquis Mansion became mixed with the three major families in Puzhou.

It is estimated that Yang Bo rose to power by giving money and goods to Wuding Hou Guo Xun, because Yang Bo was a third-class Jinshi in the eighth year of Jiajing, and was eligible to be a county magistrate. According to the rules of officialdom, it was impossible for such a background to enter the center of power in the court.

At the beginning, Yang Bo was indeed sent to Zhouzhi, Shaanxi to serve as a county magistrate. He served as a county magistrate for three years without being promoted. Three years later, he was transferred to Chang'an to serve as a county magistrate.

In other words, Yang Bo had no ability and did not achieve any achievements after serving as county magistrate for three years.

Such officials are the worst in the officialdom, no doubt about it. According to the rules of the officialdom, if he has been a county magistrate for three years without making any achievements, then the best he can do in his life is to become a local prefect, and he can forget about returning to the court and entering the center of power.

However, after Yang Bo was sent out to serve as a county magistrate for two terms, he was suddenly appointed to the Ministry of War, and he rose through the ranks and became the Minister of War in the 34th year of Jiajing!

At that time, the top scholar Luo Hongxian, the second place Cheng Wende, the third place Yang Ming, and the first place Tang Shunzhi in the second class, all had the highest position of assistant ministers of six ministries.

Yang Bo, a third-class Jinshi, suddenly became successful when Wuding Hou Guo Xun was in power. If there is no connection between the two, then it would be strange.

In addition, the Left Army Commandery was originally under the control of the line of the Duke of Ying. After the death of the former Duke of Ying, Zhang Rong, Guo Dacheng, the Marquis of Wuding, suddenly took charge of the Left Army Commandery. Zhang Siwei's line must have made great contributions to this.

However, according to the rules, Duke Yingguo Zhang Yuangong can regain control of the Left Army Commandery after a few years of training after inheriting the title.

It is obvious that Zhang Siwei and his party are killing two birds with one stone.

Not only do these guys want to bring down Duke Yingguo Zhang Yuangong and let Marquis Wuding Guo Dacheng take over the Left Army Governor's Office, they also want to seize the Central Army Governor's Office!
If he starts a dispute with Empress Dowager Li about dethroning and enthroning, Li Wenquan, the Left General of the Central Military Commandery, will definitely be removed by him. These guys probably have already prepared a candidate to replace Li Wenquan as the Left General of the Central Military Commandery.

You are plotting to take over the Five Military Commandery, right?
I also want to completely control the Five Military Commanderies.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then said decisively: "Write a petition, accusing Wuding Hou's son Guo Yinglin of instigating you to rebel. Please describe clearly how he instigated you."

Does this mean that we can just put the blame of treason on Guo Yinglin and everything will be fine?

Zhang Xin nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, Your Majesty, I'll write it right away."

He and Guo Yinglin were originally drinking buddies, and drinking buddies are meant to be sold!
Now that his life and property were at stake, he naturally sold Guo Yinglin out without hesitation.

(End of this chapter)