Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 181 Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the earth, all people are the king's subjects.

The emperor is going to personally travel to the south of the Yangtze River.
Hear the news.

A ridiculous look of horror appeared in the murky eyes of Zhang Weixian, the Duke of England, who had seen three emperors and was usually calm and indifferent.

Last time, His Majesty personally led an expedition to Shaanxi, which many court officials considered a great act of defiance against the world, and the criticism from both the court and the public has not subsided to this day.

Now, we're heading to Jiangnan, a place so complex that even ten Shaanxi provinces couldn't compare!

This is tantamount to sailing the already flimsy Ming Dynasty ship, along with all its passengers, into the heart of the storm.

His concern wasn't whether the emperor's authority was being damaged, but whether the Zhu family's empire, this barely maintained state, could withstand such turmoil.

This shock quickly settled in his heart. The foundation of his ancestors' legacy and the safety of the monarch were paramount. This was a belief etched into his bones. At this moment, to remain silent would be an unforgivable breach of integrity!

Unlike Zhang Weixian, whose heart sank, Wei Zhongxian, with his shrewd mind, instantly calculated the cause, effect, advantages, and disadvantages of the matter for himself.

Leaving Beijing carries risks. Going to Jiangnan amplifies those risks a hundredfold.

The gentry and salt merchants of Jiangnan were not like the refugees from Shaanxi. They had money, people, pens, and even the audacity to kill!
In the worst possible event... just in the worst possible event, if His Majesty were to encounter even the slightest mishap in Jiangnan, he would have no chance of escaping unscathed. He would undoubtedly be the first to be purged and chopped into mincemeat by those eager civil officials!

Wei Zhongxian's face, which usually wore a fawning smile, was now unpredictable, with veins twitching slightly beneath his pale skin.

His eyes, like those of a most alert wolf, darted rapidly between the emperor's unfathomable gaze, Zhang Weixian's solemn expression, and Tian Ergeng's slightly trembling back as he lay on the ground.

Zhou Quan, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was the one with the most direct and pure reaction among the four.

He lacked Zhang Weixian's concern for the foundation of the nation, and Wei Zhongxian's scheming about life and death. In his mind, the most loyal servant of the Ming emperor, the emperor's orders were not multiple-choice questions to be understood and judged, but orders that had to be carried out.

The emperor is going to Jiangnan.

This thought instantly transformed in his mind into a cold, emotionless list of tasks.
He wasn't thinking about whether he should go, but rather how to get there.

What Zhou Quan was considering was not the political risks of this move, but "how many people must be killed to guarantee His Majesty's absolute safety." On his angular face, there was no horror or doubt, only absolute obedience to the slaughter order and a chilling ruthlessness about to unleash his power.

In stark contrast to the other three, Tian Ergeng, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, remained kneeling on the ground. He did not rise, nor did he even raise his head. However, his slightly trembling shoulders betrayed his true emotions at that moment.

That was ecstasy!

The overwhelming joy of finally getting another chance to make a name for oneself after suppressing one's feelings for so long!
From the moment he began secretly reporting various events in Jiangnan to the emperor, he had been gambling that the emperor's greed for Jiangnan would outweigh his fear of it. Now, he had won his gamble, and won a fortune!
The emperor is here in person!

These four characters mean that the events in Jiangnan will no longer be local civil unrest or tax resistance, but will be directly defined as a national affair of the highest level.

Its nature is no different from treason!
And he, Tian Ergeng, as the executor of this whole affair, will undoubtedly become the sharpest, most trusted, and most discerning knife in the emperor's hands!

He could almost see the embroidered spring knives of the Embroidered Uniform Guards sweeping across the land before the emperor's carriage, leaving behind a trail of heads and rivers of blood for the once high-ranking gentry and wealthy families. He himself was standing on this staircase paved with countless riches and blood, and on that blood-stained Jiangnan, a monument of immortal merit belonging to him, Tian Ergeng, would rise high!
For a moment, the four people in the warm pavilion remained silent, each harboring their own thoughts and making different plans.

The deathly silence was finally broken by a hoarse, heavy breath.

Zhang Weixian snapped out of his shock, took a deep breath, and stepped forward. His aged body trembled slightly with excitement as he lifted his robes and knelt down with a thud.

"His Majesty!"

His voice was hoarse and heavy, filled with an undisguised plea: "The capital is the foundation of the nation. Only when the emperor sits in the center can he command respect from all directions. This is an immutable principle throughout the ages! How can we lightly move the imperial carriage for the sake of a mere disturbance in Jiangnan?"

Zhu Youjian stared at him expressionlessly, as if looking at a lifeless stone statue.

Seeing that the emperor remained unmoved, Zhang Weixian grew anxious. He raised his head, tears welling in his eyes, and said, "Your Majesty! Your last tour of Shaanxi has already caused criticism in the court and among the people, and unrest among the populace. If you were to travel south from the capital again for an extended period, the journey to Jiangnan would be over a thousand miles long. News would be blocked, and travel would be inconvenient. If... if treacherous officials in the capital were to take advantage of the situation and cause trouble, or if war were to break out again on the border, we would be too far away to act, and the nation would be in jeopardy! I beg Your Majesty to consider the well-being of the country!"

These words were spoken with sincerity and conviction.

However, the young emperor's eyes remained as calm as a deep abyss, without the slightest ripple.

Zhang Weixian's heart sank lower and lower. He knew that ordinary reasoning could no longer persuade this emperor with an iron will.

He steeled his resolve, casting aside all notions of decorum between ruler and subject, and personal honor and disgrace, and kowtowed once more, his voice trembling violently with determination:

"This old minister...this old minister dares not forget the lesson of Tumu Fortress!"

The moment the words "Lesson from Tumu Fortress" were uttered, the warm pavilion fell into complete silence, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Wei Zhongxian and Zhou Quan both paled, their faces drained of color.

This is the sharpest, most shameful, and most terrifying sword hanging over the heads of all the Zhu family emperors of the entire Ming Dynasty!
Zhang Weixian lay prostrate on the ground, shouting hoarsely, "The late emperor acted hastily and was poorly prepared, resulting in the annihilation of 500,000 troops and the loss of the emperor to the world—a great misfortune for the nation! This old minister begs Your Majesty to reconsider! To reconsider!"

Just as Zhang Weixian's lamentations had faded, a loud, bell-like voice suddenly rang out.

It's Tian Ergeng!
"The British Duke's consideration is absolutely correct!" Tian Ergeng kowtowed loudly. "Your Majesty is of noble birth and of the highest rank. Why should Your Majesty personally risk your life? Those lawless gentry and wealthy merchants in Jiangnan are nothing but a bunch of parasites spoiled by the grace of our ancestors! Do they even deserve Your Majesty's personal presence?"

These words flattered the emperor and affirmed Zhang Weixian's loyalty, making them perfectly tactful.

He then abruptly raised his head, his eyes, hidden in the shadows, gleaming with a wolf-like, bloodthirsty light, and volunteered:
"Your Majesty! Your subject is willing to go for Your Majesty!"

He paused deliberately, drawing everyone's attention to him, then licked his chapped lips and said, word by word, "Your Majesty, I am willing to go and speak with the gentlemen of Jiangnan on behalf of the Emperor!" The words "speak" that came out of his mouth were filled with a bloody, nauseating stench.

"Your Majesty, I guarantee it!" He kowtowed again, his voice filled with boundless confidence and cruelty. "I guarantee that they will obediently return all the land and taxes they have taken! They will honestly confess to the heinous crimes of killing officials! They will deliver every single head and piece of land they are owed to you!"

Tian Ergeng's words were like a drawn embroidered spring knife, carrying a chilling aura that lingered in the warm pavilion.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Wei Zhongxian kept his head down and remained silent. He resembled a clay statue of a bodhisattva, seemingly asleep. However, the slight twitching of his ears and the glint of light flashing in the corner of his eye revealed that he had absorbed every expression and word of everyone present.

He is waiting.

Until the true master on the throne makes the final judgment.

He would support whomever the emperor told him to support; he would do whatever the emperor told him to do!
The deadlock was finally broken.

Zhu Youjian walked straight to Zhang Weixian and personally reached out his hands to gently help the old minister up.

This gesture is full of friendliness and respect.

"I know of the loyalty of the Duke of Ying." Zhu Youjian's voice was gentle, as if he were comforting a family member who had been wronged.

But what he said next was like the sharpest ice blade, devoid of any emotion.

"But you only know about the defeat at Tumu Fortress, do you know why it was defeated?"

Zhang Weixian was stunned, his cloudy eyes filled with confusion.

Zhu Youjian's gaze suddenly sharpened, staring intently into Zhang Weixian's eyes: "The defeat was due to being caught off guard and unprepared, due to the soldiers' unfamiliarity with battle formations, and due to insufficient supplies! The greatest defeat was also due to the fact that power fell into the hands of eunuchs, causing chaos in military orders and frequent changes in command! It was not the emperor's personal involvement in the campaign that caused the defeat!"

His voice suddenly rose, filled with absolute confidence and control: "Today, in the Great Ming Dynasty, I have completely purged the capital garrison and the border troops! The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, their power is entirely in my hands! In the inner court and the outer court, no one can shake my will, no one can disobey it!"

His tone shifted abruptly, his gentle demeanor replaced by a chilling, authoritative air: "Moreover, Jiangnan is no longer a minor ailment, but a deep-seated threat! It is the source of the nation's wealth and the land of culture and education, yet it dares to openly engage in armed conflict, murder court officials, and violently resist national policies! What is it doing?"

"This is telling me, and the people of the world, that my decrees cannot leave the Forbidden City!"

"If I don't go in person, but only send one or two envoys, it's like scratching an itch through a boot! That will only make them think that I... am afraid of them!"

After saying that, he released Zhang Weixian and turned to face Tian Ergeng.

His eyes held approval, but even more so, an all-knowing authority.

"I am aware of your request to speak."

"You can kill, you can confiscate property, you can turn Jiangnan into a river of blood, you can pile up the heads of those gentry into a mound of corpses. But... then what?"

This "then" came like a blow to the head, leaving Tian Ergeng's fanatical mind momentarily stunned.

Zhu Youjian stared intently at him and asked a question he could not answer at all: "Can you kill all the tens of thousands of gentry in Jiangnan who are related by marriage? Can you confiscate all their deeply rooted and wealthy families who have been hiding their wealth among the people for hundreds of years?"

Zhu Youjian's voice carried a cold and grand perspective, as if he were surveying the chessboard, revealing his deepest purpose:
"What I want is not your heads, nor a few more chests of silver in the national treasury."

"What I want is to break their spines!"

"I want everyone to understand from the bottom of their hearts that all land under heaven belongs to the king, and all people within the borders are his subjects!"

His voice was firm and unwavering, brooking no argument: "This matter cannot be left unattended without my personal presence!"

The words were spoken.

Zhu Youjian slowly walked back to the imperial desk and sat down again.

His gaze swept over Zhang Weixian, Wei Zhongxian, Zhou Quan, and Tian Ergeng in turn. His face was devoid of any emotion, only displaying an absolute will to rule arbitrarily.

Inside the warm pavilion, deathly silence descended once more, but this time it was not thick and sticky, but rather chilling and oppressive.

The emperor spoke slowly, his voice not loud, yet each word carried immense weight, as if every single word could crush a mountain.

"Did you all think I was going on an inspection tour? To issue a reprimand? To make an example of someone?"

He paused, allowing these seemingly casual questions to ferment and collide wildly in the minds of the four ministers, stirring up even more violent waves than before.

Then, he gave them an ultimate answer that sent shivers down their spines.

"It's all wrong."

Zhu Youjian's gaze pierced through the palace gates, reaching the boundless night outside. His vision seemed to have traversed thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, seeing the myriad lights of Jiangnan and, beneath those lights, the undercurrents and smoke of war surging forth!
With an incredibly clear, incredibly calm, and incredibly cruel voice, he finally named his upcoming trip to Jiangnan:
"In my mind, from the moment they murdered court officials and violently resisted national policy, this trip had only one purpose—"

"flat--"

"rebel--!
(End of this chapter)