Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 14

Seven quarters after midnight.

The imperial city was brightly lit.

Teams of cavalry, led by the Jinyiwei Tiqi, rushed out in all directions.

Go straight to the palaces of various countries.

Just now, huge changes have taken place in the court of this country, which is still one of the most powerful countries on earth.

First, the youngest prime minister Wei Zaode was dismissed and replaced by the Minister of Rites Ni Yuanlu.

Minister of War Zhang Jinyan and Minister of Revenue Wu Lizhong were imprisoned for corruption in the Beijing military camp.

Zhang Fengxiang, the Minister of Works, acted as the Minister of Revenue.

The newly appointed Assistant Minister of War, Zhang Shize, took over as acting Minister of War.

The Minister of Justice Zhang Xin was in charge of the trial of the Donglin Party corruption case, which was jointly tried by the Dali Temple, Jinyiwei and the Ministry of Justice.

Wu Xiang, the former general of Ji-Liao, was granted the title of Pingxi Bo and appointed governor of the capital's defense.

The Governor of the Beijing Camp, Li Guozhen, the Earl of Xiangcheng, was appointed as the Governor of the Nine Gates, responsible for providing logistics for each camp.

Jinyiwei commander Luo Yangxing defied the imperial power and ordered the new Jinyiwei commander Li Ruolian to investigate.

The eunuch Cao Huachun, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, was dismissed from his post and investigated, and Wang Chengen was responsible for all matters concurrently.

In addition, regarding the case of corruption of the father-in-law Zhou Kui, the Jinyiwei was ordered to investigate and prosecute four dukes, seventeen marquises and twenty-one earls, headed by Duke Dingguo Xu Yunzhen and Duke Chengguo Zhu Chunchen.

……

The capital city was particularly desolate under curfew.

Apart from the old and weak soldiers of the Wucheng Bingmasi who were on night patrol and holding torches, there was no light at all.

In fact, the common people in the capital, a family of five or six people squeezed on dry and hard reed mats, could not even afford to light a candle.

But Donghuamen is the opposite.

The nobles and relatives who enjoyed support from the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years came from very wealthy families.

Even in the dead of night, the huge mansion was brightly lit.

Luo Yangxing, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, lay in a rocking chair, staring at the lights in the mansion in a daze.

The four or five maids serving around her didn't dare to breathe.

Luo Yangxing raised his wrist slightly, and the gold-plated and silver-inlaid teacup was immediately filled with Wuyi Mountain tribute tea.

The sound of stringed instruments came from behind the twelve brocade screens. It was the Yangzhou skinny horses kept in the other courtyard who were rehearsing a new song "Yu Shu Hou Ting Hua".

The maid brought a green jade plate, and in the ice-crack porcelain cup were lychees that had been urgently sent from Lingnan for 800 miles.

"It's almost midnight." Luo Yangxing murmured.

At this moment, a long-time attendant suddenly ran over and knelt down on the Persian carpet with a neat and decisive gesture.

"Brother Chongwenmen just delivered the news that three hundred cavalrymen left the palace and headed straight for Duke Cheng's mansion."

The gilded crane-beak incense burner suddenly erupted in sparks. Luo Yangxing crushed the lychee shells with his fingertips, and scarlet juice trickled down his ivory ring.

He remembered that three days ago, during a secret conversation in Cao Huachun's villa, the emperor's personal eunuch had dipped his hand in wine and written on the rosewood desk: When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.

Now it seems that His Majesty in the palace does not want to wait for the tree to fall, but wants to let the monkey die first!

"Go and deliver the 'Spring and Autumn Annals' in the West Wing to the residence of the Left Censor-in-Chief."

Luo Yangxing suddenly gave the order.

This is the secret code agreed upon with the Left Censor-in-Chief Li Banghua. If anything unexpected happens, this letter must be handed over.

The maid had just turned around the gilded and lacquered corridor and had not taken two steps.

From the distance came the sound of horse hooves crushing bluestone slabs.

"Sir!" The confidant, covered in blood, broke open the lattice window with swastika patterns.

"Li Ruolian led the Jinyiwei everywhere, and the emperor got some cavalry from nowhere and has surrounded the entire Donghua Gate!"

"There's been no response from the dozen or so men we sent out. I even saw the guards at Censor Li's house being captured by Li Ruolian's men!"

Luo Yangxing stood up suddenly, and the jade belt around his waist knocked over the entire plate of lychees.

The falling red agate fruits stained with the gold threads on the Persian carpet looked like blood drops splashing in front of the Meridian Gate.

He caught a glimpse of the gilded birdcage hanging from the beam. The cage that was supposed to hold the message pigeon was empty.

Outside the window, another sound of horse hooves approached, this time mixed with the clatter of armor, a striking resemblance to the first time he led his troops to raid the eunuch clique in the first year of the Chongzhen reign. Luo Yangxing grew increasingly panicked, pacing back and forth.

"Isn't the Emperor afraid of a counterattack from the officials? How dare he do that?!"

Blood kept dripping from the confidant's body. Looking at Luo Yangxing's panicked face, he asked anxiously.

"What should we do now, sir? Should we call our brothers over first?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Luo Yangxing, who was pacing, was stunned.

He also has a thousand-household Jinyiwei, which he has supported with the money donated by officials over the years. Their fighting power is definitely not comparable to that of the old and weak under Li Ruolian.

"Call all the brothers here, quickly!"

"What's the hurry, Lord Luo?"

"Go and call... uh..."

Xu Feng placed the Embroidered Spring Knife on Luo Yangxing's neck and said with a smile.

"Those thousand of your brothers? Before you came, the Emperor's Night Squad had just demolished a few houses, and inside were thousands of rebellious spies wearing flying fish uniforms. Isn't that a coincidence?"

Luo Yangxing's favorite Hetian jade ring rolled under the armchair.

……

Dingguo Gongfu.

Out of respect for the founding general Xu Da.

Li Ruolian came in person and brought with him five hundred Jinyiwei and three hundred cavalrymen.

Facts have proved that even Xu Da could not withstand the incompetence of his descendants.

Luo Yangxing at least knew that he was going to be in trouble, so he contacted the Donglin Party in advance and tried to make some arrangements.

The contemporary Duke Dingguo Xu Yunzhen was still in his sleep when his house was raided by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

The servants and maids cried and shouted wildly.

Xu Yunzhen couldn't even resist. He was held down by several Jinyiwei and could only use his status to intimidate them.

"You bastard! Who gave you the guts to come to Grandpa's house?"

"Do you know who I am? I'm the Duke of Dingguo! I'm the Duke! Believe it or not, if I report you to the palace tomorrow, you'll lose your head!"

"You bastard!"

Li Ruo Lian had no time to deal with Xu Yunzhen, and assigned personnel to each of the silver hiding places discovered by the Jinyiwei during the day.

Then he turned around and said, "Duke, please hold back your strength. Save it for when you enter the Zhao Prison."

"Without the Emperor's order, I wouldn't dare raid your house even if I had a hundred guts."

"Sir, don't blame the Emperor. If you hadn't embezzled private land, colluded with Shanxi merchants to smuggle salt and iron, and stolen and sold three thousand battalion war horses, the Emperor wouldn't have taken action against you."

Hearing this, Xu Yunzhen became even more anxious. "Why did the emperor confiscate my family? My ancestors followed my great-grandfather to build the country! Without my Xu family, how could his Zhu family survive?..."

Before he could finish his words, he was blocked by the Jinyiwei.

Li Ruo Lian said with a cold face, "Don't be angry, Duke. I'm trying to save you. If you keep talking, I'm afraid I won't be able to help but chop you off first!"

The cold murderous aura instantly sobered Xu Yunzhen.

He was held down by the Imperial Guards and had to watch boxes of silver being carried out.

Xu Yunzhen was heartbroken beyond words.

When Xu Yunzhen saw the Jinyiwei coming straight to a secret cellar, he became completely anxious.

Trying your best to break free.

Two crossbow arrows from the 3,000-man cavalry battalion pierced his knees accurately.

The secret cellar was dug up, and even Li Ruolian couldn't help but take a deep breath when he saw what was inside.

He couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "Does Lord Xu know how much trouble this thing you're hiding can save the Emperor?"

……

Late at night at the hour of Yin.

Zhu Youjian's eyes were red as he looked at the accounts in disbelief.

"Two hundred and thirty thousand taels of silver, three hundred pieces of armor, and thirty-five Fran... Fran machine guns were seized from the Duke of Dingguo's house!?!"

(End of this chapter)