Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

As night fell, only a few stars twinkled in the dark sky.

Inside the large tent, the flickering fire cast a long shadow of Zhu Jian.

A warhorse's neigh broke the silence of the night.

Zhu Yiming of Xiangyang hastily dismounted and stumbled into the main tent, kneeling down and panting, "Your subject Zhu Yiming pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

Zhu Jian sat on the wooden stool in the main seat, his arm resting on the table, his hand supporting his forehead, as if he hadn't heard anything.

For a moment, the tent was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Zhu Yiming, kneeling on the ground, swallowed hard, cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and the smell of earth filled his nostrils. Even so, he dared not move an inch.

He gave the messenger ten taels of silver and learned that the emperor was furious. He knew nothing else, so he arrived at the main tent with trepidation. Now that the spirits of the two kings of Jin and Dai had not yet gone far, he felt as if it was his turn again.

"Don't you have anything you'd like to say to me?" Zhu Jian asked calmly.

"Your Majesty, I... Your Majesty, I do not know. Please enlighten me!" Zhu Yiming thought about it all the way, trying to figure out what he had done to anger the emperor, but he couldn't come up with anything. This kind of unknown fear was the most frightening thing.

"You know, I recently issued an edict exempting the entire country from taxes. Could someone be going to add the exempted portion back to the farmers' rent?"

Zhu Yiming was taken aback upon hearing this. Instead of ordering an increase in rent, he ordered a slight reduction to echo the emperor's decree on tax cuts: "Your Majesty, some people might do this! But I did not! My royal lands originally collected 40% rent, but now that Your Majesty has exempted them from taxes, I have reduced it by 20%, so now I only collect 20%!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jian remained silent, instead staring intently at the Prince of Xiang. If things were truly like this, the situation would be far more complicated than he had imagined.

After a moment, he spoke, "Get up!"

"I thank you, Your Majesty!"

Who manages your royal fields?

King Xiang replied truthfully, "The Grand Envoy of Guangying Granary oversees four Royal Field Stewards, and each steward has their own estate steward!"

Zhu Jian waved his hand: "Cao Bianjiao, go back with the Prince of Xiang and bring back the ambassador of the Guangying Granary of the Prince of Xiang's residence to me!"

"I obey your decree!"

Zhu Yiming slowly withdrew from the main tent, turning around with a fierce expression. If the emperor hadn't asked a question, he would have almost been tricked to death. If he really reduced the rent, but the people still increased it, the huge profits in between would fall into the hands of these damned stewards.

........

The following morning, as soon as Zhu Yiming returned to his residence, he ordered the arrest of the Guangying Granary official. However, an hour later, the messenger returned with the report that the official had died of illness…

Zhu Yiming, who was drinking tea, slammed his teacup to the ground: "Bring the heads of all departments here to me!"

Zhu Jian asked him to take the men back, but they have now died of illness. So he has to take the rest of the men with him to avoid getting burned.

As evening fell, Zhu Jian, who was in the main tent, received the news and asked suspiciously, "Died of illness?"

"Your Majesty, the men I sent to arrest him found the Guangying Granary Ambassador of the Prince of Xiang's residence dead in his room. I have seen the body! It was not arsenic poisoning!" Cao Bianjiao reported truthfully.

Zhu Jian sneered, "Fine! Fine! Fine! You really think I'm here to challenge you to an investigation?"

"Have Liu Guoneng lead his troops and bring all the stewards and managers of the Xiang Prince's manor, along with their entire families!" He paused, then asked, "Where is the Xiang Prince?"

"Prince Xiang has brought back all the heads of various departments in his household! They are awaiting an audience!"

"No need to summon them. Make them write it down. I can kill only one of them. If they don't write it, their entire family will be executed tomorrow!"

Zhu Jian had no interest in arguing with these parasites of the Prince's mansion. If they wanted to talk, they should; if not, then there was no need for them to talk. He would just kill them.

As for why the Prince of Xiang wasn't targeted, it's because these matters couldn't bring him down. There was no way to kill them all like the two princes of the Jin Dynasty. Even if the Prince of Xiang had given the order, he couldn't abolish the princely fiefdom. At most, he could only depose Zhu Yiming from his throne, but the Prince of Xiang couldn't be abolished. So there was no need to dwell on it.

Before long, Prince Xiang, Zhu Yiming, entered nervously, carrying several confessions: "Your Majesty, it was...it was my...third son...who...instructed us to increase the rent!"

Prince Xiang, Zhu Yiming, wasn't foolish enough to defy the emperor. Although his three sons' maternal families held some influence, they were now forced to cut their losses. He felt that if he didn't tell the truth, he would soon follow in the footsteps of the two princes who were replaced by the Jin dynasty...

"It seems there are quite a few corrupt officials in the Prince of Xiang's residence!"

"I am not an unreasonable person. I will spare the lives of those who wrote their statements! Take them back with you!"

King Xiang was overjoyed upon hearing this: "Your Majesty, I thank you!"

"Since you can't even manage the Prince's Palace, I will temporarily take charge of its royal lands, salt and tea taxes, iron mines, and other industries on your behalf!"

He then changed the subject and shouted to the soldiers outside the tent: "Tell Liu Guoneng that there's no need to bring back any of Wang Tian's managers. After confiscating their property, execute the entire family on the spot!"

The dozen or so stewards of the Prince's Mansion, along with hundreds of people from various households, were killed without hesitation, without even blinking an eye.

Upon hearing this, Prince Xiang, Zhu Yiming, trembled violently, his throat bobbing.

"Your three sons?"

Zhu Yiming immediately knelt down, saying, "I will return and immediately execute my rebellious son to prevent him from harming the people!"

He was truly terrified. He still had two legitimate sons and the throne, yet in this situation, he was willing to sacrifice a son born of a concubine...

"Forget it! Father killing son is never a good thing to hear!"

"I've taken care of all the properties of the Prince of Xiang's residence for you. Now you should focus on educating your third son within the palace walls!"

Zhu Jian slapped the Prince of Xiang in the face and then gave him a sweet treat. He had no interest in whether the Prince of Xiang's third son was alive or dead; he was only interested in the Prince of Xiang's nearly two-hundred-year-old estate.

Although he did not transfer the Xiangwang's properties to the imperial estate, but merely entrusted them with their management, the duration of this management was uncertain...

We can't just arrest and kill every vassal king or abolish every fiefdom; after all, the imperial family still has some dignity. The Prince of Xiang belongs to his lineage and is of the same generation as his grandfather, the Wanli Emperor—both belong to the Yi generation. Let's spare his life...

"Your subject Zhu Yiming kowtows to thank Your Majesty for your great kindness!" After saying this, Zhu Yiming let out a long sigh. He knew that he was safe now, and his whole family was safe. As for losing his property and land, so be it. It was better than being forced to commit suicide and having his fiefdom revoked like the two princes of Jin and Dai.

"Yesterday, the soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion specially hunted two wild rabbits for me. I'll have them roasted later, and Prince Xiang can stay and have a meal with them!"

"As you command!" Prince Xiang, Zhu Yiming, felt that since he had bought these two wild rabbits with his property and land, which brought him annual income of over a million taels of silver, he might as well eat them.

......

As night fell and the weather cleared slightly, two wild rabbits were roasting in front of a large tent on the outskirts of Xiangyang.

"King Xiang, have a taste and see if it's ready!" Zhu Jian said softly.

"yes!"

As King Xiang was enjoying a wild rabbit, Zhu Jian spoke up, "I've heard that the King of Chu is secretly possessing a golden chair?"

Before he could finish speaking, the small piece of rabbit meat that King Xiang was holding fell to the ground with a thud: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty does not know..."

Possessing a golden chair is a crime of rebellion, and the consequences would be even more severe than those of the two kings of the Jin Dynasty...

This story originates from historical records. In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen (1643), when Zhang Xianzhong attacked Wuchang, local officials from Huguang gathered at the Prince of Chu's mansion and knelt down to beg Zhu Huakui to donate funds to support the army. Zhu Huakui pointed to the gold-wrapped chair bestowed by the Hongwu Emperor and said: "This can assist the army, but he has none!" However, it is unknown whether Zhu Huakui was a real or fake official.

"I heard it was bestowed by the founding emperor!" Zhu Jian said casually.

Prince Xiang, Zhu Yiming, shook his head: "I have never heard of Emperor Taizu bestowing a golden chair upon anyone!"

Zhu Yiming believed that how could Emperor Taizu, who distinguished between legitimate and illegitimate sons, possibly bestow a golden chair upon a son of a concubine, the Prince of Chu? What about the five legitimate sons at the time: Crown Prince Zhu Biao, the second son Prince of Qin, the third son Prince of Jin, the fifth son Prince of Zhou, and their Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di?

Zhu Jian waved to the soldier beside him: "Go tell Liu Guoneng to check the Chu Prince's residence while he's there, and see if he finds this golden chair!"

Zhu Yiming was startled, but quickly calmed down. He felt that the life or death of the King of Chu was none of his business, and there was no need for him to plead for the King. If the King of Chu really had a golden chair, then pleading for him would be like jumping into a fire pit himself.

The emperor before us is ruthless and cunning. If Zhu Yunwen had possessed such methods, Zhu Di wouldn't have been able to rebel...