Emperor Chongzhen was too extreme.

Chapter 4 All members of the royal family deserve to be killed
Wei Zhongxian felt a lump in his throat again, but he only hesitated for a second before quickly kneeling down.

The Emperor only said that he died peacefully in the Directorate of Ceremonial. Although the Emperor had not yet said the second half of the sentence, I must not let the words fall to the ground.

"Your Majesty! I have another matter to report! I am old and exhausted, and can no longer serve as the Director of the Eastern Depot."

"I beg Your Majesty to have mercy on this humble servant and grant me permission to resign from this post!"

Compared to Wei Zhongxian, Wang Chengen's reaction was much stronger.

His eyes reddened, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.

Your Majesty, Your Majesty, in your imperial status, have shown such favor to us eunuchs and made such a commitment. In the future, who will not be willing to die for Your Majesty?

God bless my Great Ming! God bless my Great Ming!

"That's right."

"Cheng'en, draft an imperial edict tomorrow to promote Wei Zhongxian, the Grand Secretary of the Directorate of Ceremonial, to Grand Eunuch, and Wang Cheng'en to Grand Secretary, while temporarily taking over the post of Director of the Eastern Depot."

"This servant thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness!"

"The slaves obey the orders!"

Looking at the two kneeling on the ground, Zhu Youjian waved his hand at Wei Zhongxian: "Go and do your job well."

Wei Zhongxian knelt and thanked him again before leaving, clutching the precious sword tightly in his arms.

He walked out of the main hall and returned to the Directorate of Ceremonial, where he was on duty.

Wei Zhongxian was still feeling rather smug.

Having served the late emperor for so many years, I have never heard such heartwarming words before.

Simultaneously.

He couldn't help but think of the Donglin Party, who wanted to kill him, and he became furious again.

I'll fuck those bastards of the Donglin Party into your mother's cunt!

You want to kill us.

But as long as the Emperor doesn't speak, no one can kill us!

The Emperor even said that he wanted me to die in the position of Director of Ceremonial.

We'll see how long you bastards can keep fooling the Emperor.

And those disobedient godson sons, they all deserve to be killed!

Seeing that our family is about to lose power, you're thinking of changing your tune and joining the Donglin traitors?!
Why don't you take a piss and look at yourselves? If it weren't for our family, would those self-proclaimed upright and filthy Donglin Party members even give you a second glance?

After we die, you'll be next!
Just right now.

Since we're all going to die sooner or later anyway, let's use your lives as our first pledge of allegiance to His Majesty!

After Wei Zhongxian left.

Zhu Youjian, inside the main hall, took a sip of fragrant tea to moisten his throat, and then spoke to Wang Chengen again:

"Send someone to the Imperial Kitchen to fetch some plum juice for the guards and palace maids on duty in the palace to cool them down."

Wang Chengen immediately summoned a young eunuch to handle the matter.

It's currently August or September.

It was the height of summer in the Forbidden City, but what kind of life did the eunuchs and palace maids lead?

Forget about taking a bite out of the cold; some of them haven't even seen their monthly salary for several months.

There was no other way; beset by internal and external troubles.

We can only let these people, whose lives are as insignificant as grass, suffer first.

So, just a bowl of plum juice moved everyone on duty in the hall to tears.

now.

Zhu Youjian sat alone in a side room, listening to the grateful praises outside.

Although his face showed no expression, his fingers twitched slightly inside his sleeve.

If even the close attendants within the imperial city are treated this way, what about the ordinary people in other places?

What kind of lives are they living?
Zhu Youjian glanced at the scroll in his hand, and the anger in his heart burned even more fiercely.

The book was titled "List of Imperial Family Members of the Ming Dynasty".

There are as many as seven princes in Henan province alone?

Take the lineage of Prince Fu as an example; their recorded fertile land alone exceeds two million mu.

The amount of arable land they possess exceeds half of the total arable land in Henan Province.

And it was completely tax-free.

As for other places, they are even more outrageous.

Shanxi's annual tax revenue is only one or two million shi of grain.

However, the stipends of the local imperial family members were as high as three million shi (a unit of dry measure). Looking at these shocking figures, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

With these parasites around, how can the empire move forward?

Since that's the case, let's kill them all.

In this regard.

Zhu Youjian would not feel any burden whatsoever.

If sacrificing his own life would bring the empire to its zenith, he would not hesitate to die.

He would kill himself, so why would he care about the lives of the royal family?

Ideals must be firm, and beliefs must be extreme.

Anyone who gets in the way must die.

Zhu Youjian took a deep breath, having already memorized the list.

After calming himself down, he summoned Wang Chengen again:

"Go and call Xu Yingyuan over."

"Yes," Wang Chengen replied, bowing.

After leaving the main hall, Wang Chengen couldn't help but feel uneasy.

He and Xu Yingyuan were both former retainers of the Prince's residence, so they naturally had some connection.

Now that His Majesty has learned of Xu Yingyuan's embezzlement of 20,000 taels of silver, it remains to be seen how His Majesty will handle this matter.

Old friend, that depends on your own fate.

soon.

Wang Chengen led Xu Yingyuan to a side room.

After the formalities of greeting, Zhu Youjian spoke quite bluntly:

"You shall hand over 15,000 taels of silver to the imperial treasury, and keep the remaining 5,000 taels for yourself, so that you may perform your duties well in the future."

Xu Yingyuan broke out in a cold sweat. He had just received the silver during the day, how did His Majesty find out in the evening?!
Honestly.

He did have ulterior motives in trying to make some money, but he really had no intention of being disloyal.

Previously, when they were at Prince Xin's residence, His Majesty had never been kind to them eunuchs.

He has to find a way to save some money for his retirement!
Is this going too far?

Given His Majesty's temperament, if he finds out now that he's embezzled money, wouldn't he just kick him out of the palace?!
In his panic, Xu Yingyuan only noticed the first five words of His Majesty's words, temporarily ignoring the rest.

He hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, crying, "This servant deserves to die! This servant deserves to die! This servant..."

"Alright, alright!"

Zhu Youjian waved his hand.

The original owner of this body didn't really regard these eunuchs as human beings, which caused them to be very afraid of her.

But based on my own memory...

This man named Xu Yingyuan is loyal and capable, but as for the issue of greed...

Based on Zhu Youjian's understanding of human nature, he knew that this was unavoidable.

Taking money is fine, but there should be limits, and things should be done well.

"By imperial grace, I will draft an edict tomorrow to promote Xu Yingyuan to the position of Director of the Imperial Kitchen. From this day forward, the Imperial Kitchen will be in full charge of my meals, and the Imperial Stud will no longer be involved."

"Also, keep five thousand of the eighty thousand taels for yourself, and hand over the rest to the imperial treasury."

"This servant obeys the decree!"

Wang Chengen breathed a sigh of relief for Xu Yingyuan, and was also genuinely happy for the Emperor's decision.

That's more like it. Using the people brought from our Prince Xin's residence is much less troublesome than using those people from the palace.

As for the silver that His Majesty rewarded him, he didn't care much about it.

"Xu Yingyuan".

"Your servant is here!"

Xu Yingyuan still hasn't quite come to his senses.

Not only did the Emperor not blame me, but he also appointed me as the supervisor of the Imperial Kitchen?!

Is this... is this still the same harsh and ungrateful emperor from before?
"After completing the duties of the Imperial Kitchen, find some talented and loyal people who are knowledgeable in medicine, place them in the Imperial Kitchen, and get them ready to work immediately."

Zhu Youjian insisted on keeping matters concerning clothing, food, housing, and transportation firmly in the hands of his own people.

"This humble servant obeys the decree!"

(End of this chapter)