Huangming

Chapter 119 The Golden Axe Suppresses the Rebellion, the Lead and Printed Tablets Display Power

Ten days.

For ten whole days, Beijing and its surrounding areas were very noisy.

The entire Four Guards were mobilized to assist the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Revenue in investigating the Beijing garrison.

During this time, there was naturally a lot of resistance.

Hundreds of men from the Fifth Army Camp charged at the sedan chair carried by the Duke of Cheng, nearly breaking both of Zhu Chunchen's legs.

Three thousand men in the camp, with over a thousand men shouting, intended to create chaos.

The Shenji Battalion even had members who set fire to the main camp, attempting to burn down the granary and destroy evidence of their crimes.

The methods employed by these Beijing garrison generals can be described as incredibly diverse.

However, Zhu Youxiao anticipated the situation too much. The Embroidered Uniform Guard's spies were densely distributed throughout the capital garrison, and they could often detect any movement the moment they made it.

Furthermore, the 20,000 most troublesome men were transferred away, leaving more than 40,000 who are now relatively easy to deal with.

Under absolute military suppression, almost all those who dared to cause trouble were killed.

In addition, Zhu Chunchen could be said to have gone completely insane because his two testicles were blown out by the camp officer Zhao Jiu.

The Beijing garrison was slaughtered by him, with rivers of blood flowing and heads rolling everywhere.

The air above the entire city of Beijing was filled with a lingering stench of blood.

With such measures, the long-standing malpractices of the Beijing Garrison were quelled!
Ten days later.

Inside the East Warm Pavilion.

Duke Zhu Chunchen, the Grand Eunuch Wei Zhongxian of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and generals Qi Jin, Tong Zhongkui, and Qin Bangping came to report back.

For the past ten days, the group has barely closed their eyes, working day and night to thoroughly search the Beijing garrison.

They all had panda eyes and looked exhausted.

However, their eyes were shining.

"Your subject Zhu Chunchen (slave Wei Zhongxian) (junior generals Qi Jin, Tong Zhongkui, and Qin Bangping) respectfully wish Your Majesty good health!"

Zhu Youxiao looked at these people with a smile on his face and said, "Get up, all of you!"

Everyone stood up, and Zhu Youxiao said with a smile, "You have done a great job in reorganizing the Beijing Garrison. I am very pleased. Please sit down and let's talk!"

Wei Chao had already instructed the eunuchs to prepare small stools.

of course
Among the crowd, there was one person who couldn't sit still.

That was Zhu Chunchen, who had lost his eggs.

As the primary figure drawing the attention of others, Zhu Chunchen, whether willingly or unwillingly, was loyal to the country.

Now that I've gotten rid of the root of all worries, I can only be a virtuous person like Liu Xiahui.

but
Liu Xiahui was able to remain unmoved even with a woman in his lap, while he was completely impotent.

Without worldly desires, one must find other things to do.

For example.
that power.

In addition, by investigating the Beijing garrison, he offended almost all the nobles.

Having ruined these people's livelihoods, Zhu Chunchen has also ruined his own. Now, the only path left for Zhu Chunchen is to follow the emperor.

Without the emperor's protection, he could probably be drowned by the spit of any of these nobles.

Holding the booklet on investigating the Beijing Garrison, Zhu Youxiao said, "The problems of the Beijing Garrison are more serious than those of the Four Guards. You should reorganize the Beijing Garrison in the same way you reorganized the Four Guards. As for the vacancies, there is no need to fill them. The Five Armies, the Three Thousand Battalion, and the Divine Machine Battalion should be downsized and merged. You should train them well."

Now that new troops have been recruited, the old canteens in the Beijing garrison should be reduced as necessary.

At that time, the new army will replace the Beijing garrison.

The Xishan Ruijian Battalion and Fengtai Battalion, which he built with his own hands, were absolutely loyal to him.

They are more trustworthy than the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison.

The current investigation of the Beijing garrison is just the beginning; there are follow-up measures such as reorganization, reorganization, recruitment, and training.

Zhu Youxiao has already made an overall plan.

"I will obey your orders!"

The group immediately accepted the order.

Duke Cheng, Zhu Chunchen, looked slightly worried and asked, "Your Majesty, the Jingying garrison in the capital has been reorganized, but the 20,000 Jingying garrison troops that the Duke of Yingguo brought to Kaifeng have not been reorganized. Could there be any changes?"

Wei Zhongxian frowned slightly; he shared the same concern.

"Your Majesty, in terms of crimes, those who left the capital committed far more serious offenses, and their connections are widespread. If they harbor any disloyalty, I fear..."

Zhu Youxiao understood that they were worried that the 20,000 garrison troops who had left the capital might rebel under the leadership of those nobles.

The emperor waved his hand and said:
"Those good-for-nothings, if they have the ability to rebel, why should I bother dealing with them? I can just give them important positions. These days I often receive reports from them that as many as a thousand have become separated. How much fighting power can an army have if it can even get separated during a march?"

Rebellion is a skill.

With the abilities of those nobles who left the capital, could they possibly rebel?

Zhu Youxiao did not believe it.

During this crackdown on the Beijing Garrison, the servants of the nobles who left the garrison suffered the most severe losses.

With its roots severed, what kind of trouble can it possibly cause?

Moreover, with the Duke of England present, as long as the ringleaders are captured, the so-called 20,000 Beijing garrison soldiers can be easily brought under control.

One by one, these people addicted to prostitution and indulging in alcohol and sex also dare to dream of power?
You little bastard!
Do you deserve it?

However, Zhu Youxiao was not overly confident.

He can underestimate the enemy strategically, but he must take the enemy seriously tactically.

In fact, he had already contacted the Henan General and had Qin Minping lead a thousand White-Spear Soldiers south to follow the Beijing garrison.

A thousand white-spear soldiers, it doesn't seem like many people.

Of the 20,000 soldiers in the Beijing garrison, probably less than a thousand were capable of fighting.

Although this may sound exaggerated, it is true.

Many of those who entered the Beijing Garrison through connections had never even held a sword before.

A thousand White-Spear Soldiers, plus the several thousand men under the command of the Henan General, and the personal guards and retainers of the Duke of Ying, were more than enough to deal with those twenty thousand men. If the Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, couldn't even handle this task, it proved he didn't deserve to be given such an important position.

Since the emperor had already made preparations for the 20,000 soldiers of the Beijing garrison stationed outside, Wei Zhongxian then reported on other matters.

He pondered for a moment, then stepped forward and said, "The names of the eight major Shanxi merchants whose properties have been confiscated, as well as the names of ministers who have connections with the Beijing Garrison, are all in this book. I request Your Majesty's approval!"

Wei Chao took the booklet from Wei Zhongxian and presented it to the emperor. Zhu Youxiao looked at the list on it and frowned slightly.

These were also civil officials who held prestige among scholars.

"Your Majesty, should we deal with them?"

These civil officials held immense prestige among scholars, and dealing with them would likely provoke significant public pressure.

Spread a rumor and break a leg.

These literati lacked the integrity of gentlemen; when it came to spreading rumors and gossip, they were masters at it.

The reorganization of the Beijing Garrison, along with their affairs, will likely cause him a great deal of trouble.

But they don't clean it up.
Doesn't this implicitly allow these civil officials to interfere in the affairs of the Beijing Garrison?
In recent days, Zhu Youxiao has also received many memorials, all requesting civil officials to assist in recruiting soldiers, just like the story of the Beijing Garrison, wanting to bring the Emperor's personal troops of the Xishan Ruijian Camp and Fengtai Camp under the control of the Ministry of War.

He directly rejected these memorials, expressing his opinion as the emperor.

A civil official wants to command the emperor's personal guard?
Absolutely impossible!
However, despite his rejection of many memorials, the civil service group still did not relinquish military power.

The performance never stopped.

Since you ignore my attitude, then I will make you take it seriously!
When it's time to cut off those hands that have reached too far out to them, it's time to cut them off!

Only when you feel pain will you realize you've made a mistake.

Sometimes, you can't convince them with words alone unless you beat them into submission.

Especially these pedantic scholars.

Having figured out the key point, Zhu Youxiao asked, "How many printing houses are there in the capital?"

The emperor's sudden question startled Wei Zhongxian, who was momentarily unsure of the emperor's meaning.

After pondering for a moment and finding no answer, he had no choice but to reply truthfully: "Your Majesty, the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs has a scripture hall located in the northeast corner of the Imperial City."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youxiao's eyes lit up, and he asked again, "What printing method was used? How many copies could be printed in a day?"

Does His Majesty no longer love woodworking but prefer printing?

Inside the East Warm Pavilion, everyone's expressions were also quite strange.

No one knew why the emperor was asking about this.

Although Wei Zhongxian was also puzzled, he honestly replied, "The printing factory mainly prints palace almanacs and Buddhist scriptures, and publishes imperial edicts and examination questions. It uses three techniques:
Firstly, it uses whole-page engraving, selecting pear wood or jujube wood for engraving, with one page per page, which can be printed thousands of times. It is mainly used to print almanacs, imperial edicts, and Buddhist scriptures.

Secondly, movable copper type printing was mainly used for urgent documents and a small number of classic books, but it was more expensive.

Thirdly, multi-color printing was mainly used for printing royal painting catalogues and Buddhist scripture illustrations.

It seems that Wei Zhongxian had some knowledge of printing factories.

He took a breath and continued, "As for the printing speed, each edition has a daily print run of 500 to 800 pages. The Silijian Printing Factory has more than 200 engravers who work in shifts, and can operate 20 to 30 editions at the same time."

This efficiency isn't good.

Zhu Youxiao frowned slightly and asked again, "Using movable type printing, with daily plate changes, can 100,000 copies be printed?"

Wei Zhongxian shook his head and asked hesitantly, "What is the meaning of Your Majesty's daily change of the version?"

Zhu Youxiao slowly revealed his intentions.

"I have reorganized the capital garrison and executed corrupt officials. The whole world must know this. Otherwise, some scholars will spread rumors and turn black into white and white into black. Even if there are good policies, they will be slandered by them. I will print a daily newspaper with daily changes in content: eliminating traitors, killing corrupt officials, bringing peace to the people, and rewarding meritorious service. I want the people of the world to know what I am doing."

It's unclear when exactly, but discussing national affairs and criticizing current events has become a trend. From the ruler's perspective, if there are no vested interests involved, and it's just pure discussion or criticism, it's not something that can't be tolerated. After all, some facts are there for all to see, and to govern the country well, it's necessary to hear different voices.

Unfortunately, most discussions about national politics and criticisms of current affairs are mixed with interests and personal motives. They raise the banner of so-called public interest and righteousness in order to pursue their own interests. As long as people are involved, things become extremely complicated, and the root cause is always self-interest.

Those people in the Donglin Party can't come up with anything good.

For Zhu Youxiao, the high ground of public opinion is something that if you don't occupy it, someone else will.

Although ordinary people may not have much power, if their support can be obtained, many things at the grassroots level will be much easier to advance.

Moreover, the daily newspaper was aimed at people who could read.

This group constituted the main body of public opinion in the Ming Dynasty.

With the support of these people, the civil officials would no longer be able to manipulate public opinion.

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian was completely stunned.

He immediately understood the emperor's meaning.

His Majesty wants to kill those civil officials who colluded with Shanxi merchants and interfered with the capital garrison!

But before killing them, the people of the world, at least the people of the capital, must know why they are to be killed.

It wasn't the emperor who wronged these people.

They deserve to die!

They deserved it!

In this way, public opinion sided with the emperor.

clever!

Your Majesty's move was truly brilliant!
"Your Majesty's move is truly admirable!" Wei Zhongxian praised sincerely.

Our Majesty truly often comes up with unexpectedly brilliant ideas.

It makes one want to applaud!

Zhu Youxiao showed no smugness on his face, but asked, "I only ask you, what method is there to make the Huangming Daily print 100,000 copies a day? Or even more?"

Wei Zhongxian's eyes flickered as he said, "Relying solely on the Directorate of Ceremonial's printing press is probably far from enough, but if we add other printing workshops in the capital, it should be just about enough."

"it is good!"

Zhu Youxiao immediately clapped his hands and said, "Find someone who can speak and write, and have them write down the crimes of these wicked officials. I want to print them out and present them to the world!"

Trying to manipulate public opinion against me?
Look at my Imperial Daily, let it stir up public opinion throughout the land!

ps:
I update thousands of times every day, racking my brains to come up with plot ideas, but the subscription rate is crawling like a snail, and the monthly tickets are empty with no one voting.

My beloved subjects, why don't you hurry up and cast your monthly votes and subscribe?
(End of this chapter)