Huangming

Chapter 98 Eliminating Corruption and Traitors, Deceptive Words Overturn the Situation
With mixed feelings of excitement and worry, Li Ruzhen slowly left the East Warm Pavilion.

He was originally a disgraced nobleman, but now, thanks to the recommendation of the Marquis of Dingyuan and the emperor's favor, he has actually turned his life around.

The wonder of life's encounters is truly remarkable.

of course.

Li Ruzhen understood this in his heart.

He needs to prove his abilities.

They need to prove that they deserve the emperor's favor; otherwise, the emperor could take back this sudden imperial favor at any moment.

After Li Ruzhen left, Wei Zhongxian stepped forward and said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, Li Ruzhen's crimes are serious. If we employ him, I fear the censors will impeach him."

"The military families of Liaodong still have some uses."

Li Ruzhen and Li Rubai, these two people still have residual value that can be extracted.

As for the censor's impeachment?

"We can't condemn someone outright. If they can atone for their sins through good deeds, wouldn't that be a case of a prodigal son returning home, more precious than gold?"

Who to use and how to use them.

Zhu Youxiao didn't need others to tell him, and he certainly didn't want anyone pointing fingers at him.

Li Ruzhen was guilty, but it was precisely because of his guilt that Zhu Youxiao wanted to employ him.

Moreover, on the very first day of his audience with the emperor, he presented the charge of privately possessing military equipment directly to the emperor.

This shows that this guy still has some ulterior motives.

By placing leverage over him, Zhu Youxiao could dispose of him whenever he wanted, based on the charge of illegally possessing military equipment.

In other words, Li Ruzhen had no choice but to remain loyal to him.

He had no other choice.

Just then, the eunuch outside the pavilion spoke up.

"Your Majesty, Wei Chao, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and Xu Yingyuan, the Right Commander of the Imperial Guard and Marquis of Yongkang, request an audience."

Wei Chao and Xu Yingyuan went to the Xi'an Gate of the Imperial City to reorganize the Wu Xiang Right Guard garrison. Has there been any result yet?
Zhu Youxiao immediately said, "Let them in."

Soon, Wei Chao, full of vigor, strode into the East Warm Pavilion with an air of arrogance, but upon seeing the emperor, he immediately dropped his arrogance, lowered his head, walked slowly, and then knelt down.

"This servant greets Your Majesty."

Marquis Yongkang, Xu Yingyuan, turned pale. This time, when he went to reorganize the Right Guard of Wuxiang, he not only had to return the salary he had been eating for several years, but he also offended a group of noble military households.

Bitter!

"Your subject Xu Yingyuan respectfully wishes Your Majesty peace and good health."

Xu Yingyuan bowed listlessly.

"I'm in peace!"

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and asked, "Get up, everyone. How is the situation?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Chao immediately straightened his back, a hint of smugness on his face, but he deliberately lowered his voice to show respect: "Your Majesty, as soon as I arrived at Xi'an Gate with the Zhejiang soldiers and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, those parasites went wild! One of the commanders even dared to point at my nose and curse, 'How dare this eunuch bully nobles!'"

He suddenly began to mimic the ferocious expression of the commander.

"That man immediately drew his sword, ready to fight to the death! Fortunately, the Qi family army's arrows were fast, and one arrow pierced his throat!"

Wei Zhongxian's eyelids twitched as he listened, but the emperor lightly tapped the table with his fingertips, listening with great interest to the story of the Wei dynasty, and even chiming in with a joke: "And then what happened?"

"later?"

Wei Chao suddenly ripped open his collar to reveal the bandage, and said aggrievedly, "Your Majesty, look! A centurion who was pretending to be dead suddenly jumped up and almost chopped off half of my ear!"

Before Zhu Youxiao could even comfort the pitiful-looking man, the fat eunuch's face lit up with excitement again: "But this audacious centurion didn't fare much better; he was shredded into mincemeat by the Embroidered Spring Blade of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

"A total of twelve troublemakers were killed, and the rest knelt in the blood and kowtowed. One of the officers was so scared that he wet his pants and insisted that he was a servant of the Duke of Cheng's mansion."

Zhu Youxiao suddenly sneered: "Duke of Cheng?"

Wei Chao immediately cowered like a chicken with its neck choked, prostrating himself on the ground and trembling, "This servant has already locked that madman up in solitary confinement, awaiting Your Majesty's judgment."

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Marquis Yongkang, Xu Yingyuan, was ashen-faced. He chuckled to himself, thinking that this fool had been so scared at the Xi'an Gate that he had crawled under the carriage. His crotch was probably still wet with sweat!

Where are the details?

Wei Chao suddenly realized what was happening. He slapped himself hard, then crawled forward on his knees and held the booklet he had taken out of his arms high in front of the emperor.

"Please accept this, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Youxiao picked up the booklet on reorganizing the Wuxiang Right Guard, and his brows furrowed as soon as he opened it.

Good heavens, the situation of the Right Guard of Wuxiang is not much better than that of the Left Guard of Wuxiang.

The five thousand-household units of the Wuxiang Right Guard only had a total of two thousand men in the end.

That is, a thousand-household office only has four hundred people.

Furthermore, the left and right thousand-household garrisons were responsible for guarding the palace and serving as ceremonial guards, so they had relatively sufficient troops, with each thousand-household garrison having 600 men.

However, the three thousand-household garrisons (middle, front, and rear) were mostly used for farming or miscellaneous tasks, with only 200-300 soldiers per garrison.

This damned Ming Dynasty, you can find problems with anything you look into.

Others sift through the sand to find the gold, but his reorganization of the Four Guards Camp was more like sifting through dung.

"Marquis Yongkang".

After reading the pamphlet, Zhu Youxiao exuded murderous intent. He called out to Xu Yingyuan, causing the nobleman to shudder and instinctively kneel down.

"The minister is here."

"You are the Commander of the Right Guard of Wuxiang. I entrust you with the important task of investigating and reorganizing the Right Guard of Wuxiang."

Xu Yingyuan was immediately overjoyed.

If we leave it to him to handle, wouldn't that create an opportunity for him to exploit?
However, before he could fully enjoy himself, the emperor continued with his next words.

"Don't even think about finding loopholes. Those who commit crimes will be executed or dealt with accordingly. The Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard will be by your side at all times. If you dare to bend the law for personal gain or even deceive the emperor, you will be severely punished."

Zhu Youxiao's eyes were extremely dangerous as he stared at Marquis Yongkang. The latter felt as if a sword was held to his neck, and a chill ran down his spine.

"Then I think we should stop keeping the Yongkang Marquis's residence as a source of trouble."

bang bang bang~
Xu Yingyuan immediately kowtowed to express his agreement.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, if the Right Guard of Wuxiang fails to rectify the situation, please behead me and confiscate the Marquis's mansion."

He was filthy from head to toe.

In order to survive, I had no choice but to become His Majesty's sword.

As for not doing
Those thousand-household commanders and hundred-household commanders killed today will likely suffer the same fate as him.

"Remember what you said."

After dismissing Xu Yingyuan, Zhu Youxiao looked at the sky.

It's getting late.

As for the reorganization of Tengxiang Left Guard and Tengxiang Right Guard, it will probably take several days to see results.

The reason is simple: the Tengxiang Left Guard was stationed near the Tianshoushan Tangquan Palace in Changping, and their main task was to guard the Ming Tombs and defend Juyong Pass.

The Tengxiang Right Guard was stationed in Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou.

The two garrisons were some distance from the capital, and the round trip took a considerable amount of time.

but.

In Zhu Youxiao's view, the situation of these two garrisons was probably not much better.

Let's eradicate the chronic problems of the Ming Dynasty one by one!
October 23rd, the first year of the Taichang reign.

Outside Chongwen Gate, teahouses lined the streets, attracting scholars in droves.

One of the teahouses was particularly famous, called Ma's Tea House, renowned for its Wuyi tea from Fujian.

Teahouses not only have areas for drinking tea and playing chess, but also feature storytelling performances, such as those of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin".

Recently, the teahouse has changed its storyteller, who can tell stories of palace secrets and the dirty dealings of officials, attracting many people to come and drink tea.

In a private room on the second floor, a tall young man took out twenty coins and gave them to the waiter on duty.

"The two of you, do not disturb them."

The young man wore an indigo blue robe with dark cloud-patterned brocade trim around the collar and sleeves, and a plain white silk sash tied around his waist with a jade pendant hanging from it.

He wore a black square headscarf with two straps hanging down the back, which made his face appear even more solemn. His suede boots, though old, were clean, and the edges of his white cloth socks could be faintly seen as he walked.

It was the "refined and elegant" attire commonly seen among scholars in the capital at that time.

This person is none other than Hong Chengchou, the current head of the Ministry of Justice.

"Sir, would you like someone to serve you?"

Hong Chengchou shook his head, shooed away the 'tea server' who wanted to serve him, and sat down directly in the window seat.

"Yan Yan is so refined, he even goes to a teahouse to drink tea."

Accompanying Hong Chengchou were young men of similar age.

The man wore an apricot-colored inner robe, the body of which was embroidered with fine ice and plum blossom patterns in the same color silk thread. He wore a dark blue blouse with a front opening over it, and the buttons and loops were fastened meticulously.

He wore a black gauze hat with gold trim, a jade hairpin with bamboo patterns inserted on the side of the hat, a purse and ivory plaque hanging from his waist belt, and a gilded silver ring on his finger that subtly revealed his wealth without being presumptuous.

He was Hou Tongzeng, the eldest son of Hou Zhenyang, the current Minister of Revenue, who was still taking the imperial examination.

"Are you in the mood?"

Hong Chengchou shook his head and said, "This teahouse owned by the Ma family has the Embroidered Uniform Guard behind it. Otherwise, if it were anyone else, they would have been arrested and interrogated long ago for talking about palace secrets and officials' secrets. Why are they still at peace?"

Hou Tongzeng was taken aback for a moment, then said, "I thought you wanted to drink Fujian tea."

The tea shop owned by the Ma family sells Wuyi tea and Anxi Tieguanyin tea, both of which are Fujian teas.

Hong Chengchou was from Fujian.

"I have no interest in drinking tea."

Hong Chengchou sighed.

"His Majesty's divine will is unpredictable, and I have no way to do so, so I can only try to find out more information."

To be honest, Hong Chengchou was unlucky. He had only been the head of the Ministry of Justice for a short time when the emperor launched an investigation into corruption. He diligently investigated the corruption, but he was still dragged down by other officials in the Ministry of Justice. Now he is waiting for trial at home, and it is uncertain whether he can keep his job.

He felt that the future was bleak.

Having heard that secrets often circulated at the Ma family's teahouse, I came here to find out.

It would be best to gain something, but it doesn't matter if you don't.

Anyway, I'm just killing time.

Hou Tongzeng gave a wry smile and said, "Who isn't?"

His father was investigated by Hou Zhenyang, the Minister of Revenue, and in the end, he was able to retain his position by making up for the corruption and bribes he had received over the years.

Putting everything else aside, his quality of life has significantly declined.

Previously, one could visit Cuiyunxuan once every seven days, catching a Yangzhou slender horse and galloping along; now, it's only once a month.

slap~
As the two were talking, the storyteller downstairs slammed his gavel on the stage, and in an instant, the noisy teahouse became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone turned to look at the storyteller.

The storyteller, dressed in a gray cloth long gown, wearing a square scarf on his head, and holding a folding fan, stood on a high platform in the center of the teahouse.

He had a thin face and bright eyes. When he spoke, he would lower his voice as if whispering, and then suddenly raise it, making all the tea drinkers in the room hold their breath.

"With the new emperor's ascension to the throne, undercurrents were swirling in the court!"

He flicked his folding fan with a "snap," and the fan unfolded to reveal the four large characters "upright and honest".

"That treacherous eunuch Wang An, relying on the late emperor's favor, formed cliques for personal gain and persecuted loyal officials! Furthermore, corrupt officials preyed on the people, causing widespread suffering."

The tea drinkers in the audience listened intently, when one of them slammed his fist on the table and shouted angrily, "Those eunuchs! They should be killed!"

Seeing the crowd's indignation, the storyteller subtly curled his lips and continued, "However, Heaven blesses the Ming Dynasty! Although His Majesty is young, he is wise and decisive! He has only been on the throne for a month, yet he has already used thunderous methods to eliminate treacherous eunuchs and purify the court!"

He snapped his fan shut and pointed it into the air, as if pointing a sword at a treacherous official.

"On the day Wang An was executed, the people of the capital all clapped and cheered!"

"it is good!"

"well said!"

A burst of cheers erupted in the teahouse, with the clinking of teacups and shouts of approval echoing throughout.

Hong Chengchou sat in a private room on the second floor, his fingertips gently stroking the edge of the teacup, his gaze deep.

Hou Tongzeng was also engrossed in the story and couldn't help but whisper, "Yanyan, this storyteller is really entertaining! His Majesty's actions are truly gratifying!"

Hong Chengchou shook his head slightly, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes: "Feeling good?"

His expression was complicated. He lowered his voice and almost muttered to himself, "This story is too 'coincidental'."

Downstairs, the storyteller had reached the climax of his tale: "His Majesty is wise. He not only executed the treacherous eunuchs but also ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to thoroughly investigate corruption! Fan Jian, the commander of the Right Guard of the Wuxiang Army, had been embezzling salaries for many years. Now, he has been thoroughly investigated and is so frightened that he is kneeling down and begging for mercy. However, His Majesty has decreed that these parasites of the country will not be tolerated and will be executed on the spot!"

"Good kill!"

The tea drinkers were excited, and some even stood up and shouted.

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Hong Chengchou's gaze sharpened, and he tapped his fingertips lightly on the table.

"The timing was perfect, and the news came too fast."

He thought to himself.

"How could the common people know such detailed information about palace affairs? Unless..."

Unless, this was a rumor intentionally released by the emperor!

He looked out the window and saw a bustling crowd outside Chongwen Gate, amidst the hustle and bustle of the city.

But beneath this clamor, there seems to be an invisible hand quietly plucking the strings of public opinion.

"Your Majesty," Hong Chengchou murmured softly, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

"How brilliant!"

Hou Tongzeng, seeing Hong Chengchou's admiring expression, said, "This storytelling is so captivating, how come you have no interest at all?"

Hong Chengchou shook his head and said, "His Majesty's reorganization of the Four Guards is something that has happened in the last few days. Does this storyteller have extraordinary abilities?"

After Hong Chengchou said that, Hou Tongzeng also realized what was going on.

"You mean, this is the palace's intention?"

Hong Chengchou nodded and said, "This is His Majesty's method!"

The Donglin Party members controlled public opinion, and therefore were able to manipulate people's hearts.

However.
His Majesty went deep into the grassroots and established himself as a wise ruler. The thoughts of ordinary people may not be as important as those of upright officials. However, if this trend were to gain momentum, then no one would believe the words of upright officials who slander His Majesty.

He was in charge of the inner court, the censorate, the cabinet, the four guard battalions, and even public opinion.
Your Majesty's actions are swift. Our Ming Dynasty has long suffered from deep-seated problems. Perhaps we truly have a chance!

Hong Chengchou was filled with emotion, but outside the teahouse, he heard hurried sounds.

"Master, Master."

Hong Chengchou looked up and saw his servants.

"I am here."

Upon hearing Hong Chengchou's voice, the servant immediately went upstairs to the second floor and entered the private room.

"Sir, this is wonderful news! It's incredibly wonderful news!"

On a cold winter day, the weather was bitterly cold, yet the servant was covered in sweat, panting heavily, and speaking in a daze.

"What happened?" Hong Chengchou frowned slightly.

Even the greatest benefits wouldn't just fall into your lap for no reason.

The servant hurriedly said, "The Ministry of Justice has informed us that Master can go to work as usual. The Censorate has found no evidence of your guilt. Moreover, a palace eunuch has come to deliver a message, asking Master to enter the palace to meet the Emperor today!"

Boom~
Hong Chengchou felt as if his brain had been struck by lightning, and he was completely dizzy.

Why does Your Majesty wish to see me?

He put his arm around the servant's shoulder and asked, "Is it truly His Majesty who wishes to see you?"

The servant was startled by Hong Chengchou's appearance, but still said, "This is a matter of utmost importance, how could I dare to lie to you, sir?"

"Ah!"

"Hahaha~"

Hong Chengchou laughed loudly, looking up at the sky.

He was just complaining about not having any powerful backing.

Now, the world's biggest backer is beckoning to him!

noon.

Qianqing Palace.

Dong Nuan Pavilion.

After several days, news of the surprise inspection of the Fourth Guard Battalion in Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou and Tianshoushan, Changping was quickly delivered to Dongnuange via express courier.

Zhu Youxiao's reorganization of the Four Guards finally yielded results.

The process of reorganizing the Four Guard Battalions was roughly as follows:

The Ming Emperor stated that the Four Guards were plagued by serious issues of sham personnel and misappropriation of labor, lax training, collapsing combat effectiveness, and rampant corruption and incompetence among officers, all of which urgently needed to be addressed.

The Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, the Directorate of Ceremonial, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the Ming Dynasty jointly responded: In order to implement His Majesty's decision to "strengthen the army, eliminate corruption, and reorganize the Four Guards," and in response to the prominent problems of false personnel appointments, corruption, dereliction of duty, and lax training in the Four Guards, the court has established a special inspection team, which is jointly conducted by the Directorate of Ceremonial, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to carry out a thorough investigation and rectification.

The relevant information is hereby announced as follows:

This operation adopted the "four no's and two direct's" approach (no prior notice, no greetings, no reports, no accompaniment or reception, going directly to the grassroots and directly to the scene), and comprehensively investigated the organization, equipment and pay distribution of the Fourth Guard Battalion through surprise inspections, account checks and personnel verification.

A total of more than 8300 people were found to have falsely reported their military numbers, 42 taels of silver were recovered, and 217 officers were held accountable, of whom 112 were executed for serious crimes and 105 were exiled to Liaodong for minor crimes.

Finally, all departments stated that the problems of the Fourth Guard Battalion exposed deep-seated contradictions such as the rigid management system and lack of supervision mechanism of the Beijing Garrison. They will thoroughly rectify the problems and learn from this experience to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

Of course, the investigation of the Four Guards Camp was not without its challenges.

The farther away from the capital, the more intense the struggle.

In the West Garden, Qi Jin only killed one person.

At the Xi'an Gate of the Imperial City, the Wei Dynasty killed dozens of people, including a commander of a thousand households and several commanders of a hundred households.

In Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou, Huang Hua and Earl of Huian Zhang Qingzhen burned three warships and killed a hundred soldiers on land and sea, as well as more than ten officers.

At Tianshou Mountain in Changping, Wang Tiqian and Duke Zhu Chunchen of Chengguo almost failed to complete the investigation. A commander led his troops to defy the imperial order, but Tong Zhongkui intervened in time to quell the situation.

Those who rebelled were imprisoned for treason, along with several hundred members of the thousand-household garrison.

It is evident that when deep-seated interests are involved, only those with weapons in hand can ensure that imperial edicts are carried out.

Otherwise, how many people would listen to his imperial edicts?

In order to completely resolve the problem of the Four Guards Camp, Zhu Youxiao tried every possible means.

He implemented a real-name system for military personnel and promoted dual verification of "military household registers" and "facial recognition" to prevent false reporting and fraudulent claims.

This also ensured that military pay was directly distributed to soldiers by the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Horse Administration through the Imperial Treasury, cutting off the chain of embezzlement by officers and letting the soldiers of the Imperial Horse Administration know who was supporting them—not the commanders of the thousand or hundred households above them, but the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, training and assessments are required to ensure the combat effectiveness of the Four Guards Battalion. The Ministry of War and the Imperial Horse Administration will jointly review them every month, and those who fail to meet the standards will be dismissed and sent to the frontier.

If this policy can be maintained for a few months, or even less than a year, the Four Guards will surely become a powerful army loyal to the emperor.

Furthermore, during the reorganization of the Four Guards, Zhu Youxiao discovered incriminating evidence against many people.

For example, Zheng Guotai (the family of Consort Zheng), a relative of the imperial family, forcibly occupied soldiers from the Four Guards Battalion to work on his estate.

His son, Zheng Yangxing, a first-rank official and Left Vice-General, was guilty of embezzling public funds and exploiting soldiers.

This is yet another opportunity to make a fuss about.

Consort Zheng has too many spies in the palace, and outside the palace, Zheng Yangxing is also working for her. In the month or so since Zhu Youxiao ascended the throne, this woman has been making constant moves, but he has kept them hidden.

Now that we have complete control of the Four Guards Battalion, it's time to make our move.

Taking advantage of the situation, we can also loosen up Prince Fu's bones; Zhu Youxiao has long coveted his enormous wealth.

ps:
Day 5 of 10,000 daily purchases!
The author is almost burnt out; only a relic remains on the chair in front of the computer.

Asking for a monthly ticket~
(End of this chapter)