Qianqing Palace
Xu Xianchun came to report to the emperor. He had done his best in the past few days and found out the crimes of more than a dozen ministers. After drawing up the list, he went to the palace and reported it as soon as possible.
"Is all this evidence conclusive?"
Zhu Youxiao asked in a deep voice after reading the list.
Even though he was mentally prepared and knew what civil servants were like in this era, he was still shocked when he actually saw it.
"Your Majesty, it's all true. I have all the evidence of these crimes."
Xu Xianchun has been extremely tired these past two days, and all his Tiqi are even more exhausted. He has not slept for two days and two nights.
Zhu Youxiao saw it.
"Wang Banban, all the Jin Yiwei who participated in this matter will be rewarded with twenty taels of silver. The Jin Yiwei all commanded Xu Xianchun to give a set of Feiyu suits and an embroidered spring knife."
"You go back and have a good rest. Your people will also take half a day off to relax. Those civil servants will keep a close eye on them from now on and enter the palace early tomorrow."
Xu Xianchun quickly thanked him and slowly retreated.
Zhu Youxiao thought for a moment and then ordered:
"Yang Huan, bring Imperial Concubine Zheng and Li Xuan to Qianqing Palace."
Yang Huan on the side shouted:
"I obey the decree!"
At this moment, a young eunuch came in and reported to the emperor:
"Your Majesty, Zhang Shize has arrived outside the palace with five hundred Yulin troops."
Zhu Youxiao quickly stood up and walked outside.
…
value room
A group of civil servants are discussing tomorrow's court meeting and how to attack the emperor.
They are:
"Second Assistant of the Cabinet Liu Yizhen, Assistant Minister of the Cabinet Han Xu, Minister of Civil Affairs Zhou Jiamo, Minister of Rites Sun Shenxing, Minister of Household Affairs Wang Yingjiao, Li Ke were all assigned to Shi Zhong Wei Dazhong, Yu Shi Yang Lian and Feng Sanyuan, and Criminal Branch were all assigned to Shi Zhong Mao Shilong , Wang Wenyan from Zhongshushe, and others are basically from Donglin, and there are more than thirty people in total."
Censor Yang Lian said:
"Tomorrow I will be the first to impeach Fang Congzhe. At that time, all ministers and colleagues must speak out together and drive him out of the capital first. Then the three parties (Qi, Chu, and Zhejiang) will not have anything to worry about. Then we can ask Your Majesty together. Leaving the palace."
Wang Wenyan, a member of Zhongshushe, immediately agreed:
"What Mr. Yang said is absolutely true. We must drive Fang Congzhe out first, otherwise the three parties may support His Majesty."
Zhang Heming, Minister of War, said again:
"After driving away Fang Congzhe, we will impeach Xiong Tingbi together next time, drive Xiong Tingbi out of Liaodong, and support Duke Yuan in taking office. When the time comes, I, Dong Lin Qingliu, will be in charge of the government. Duke Yuan will definitely plow the court and sweep the holes in Liaodong. The Ming Dynasty is about to regain its glory."
Zhang Heming had wanted to drive away Xiong Tingbi for a long time. He was the Minister of War and ordered Xiong Tingbi to go to war several times. Who knew that Xiong Tingbi didn't care about him at all. After driving Fang Congzhe away this time, his backer in the court was gone. How could he still survive? How to fight with me.
"Mr. Zhang is indeed worthy of being an important minister of the country. If the situation continues like this, you will all be remembered for eternity."
Wei Dazhong said flatteringly.
As soon as the civil servants heard this, they began to praise him in various ways.
This was the normal behavior of civil servants in the Ming Dynasty after the Wanli period. Before the work even started, you would congratulate me and I would congratulate you. In their hearts, everything seemed to be a fact as long as they thought of it.
Live in your own world.
…
royal palace
Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied when he looked at the five hundred sergeants standing in front of him. After so many days of reorganization and training, it looked like a strong army.
At least they were standing neatly, and at a glance everyone was high-spirited and glowing.
This is something Zhu Youxiao invested in. For their physical fitness and their ability to officially form an army as soon as possible, Zhu Youxiao gave all the guards two taels of silver a month, three meals a day, and meat at noon every day.
However, the training is equally hard. He insists on elite soldiers for everyone, and they must be proficient in everything with swords, guns and sticks. He even lets them fight in close quarters with real materials every day. He organizes a big melee for three days, and everyone must Being able to draw a bow weighing at least 60 pounds was his most basic requirement for the Yulin Army.
They have to train with heavy loads every day, just to find heavy armored infantry who can wear three layers of armor and fight like Jiannu. After all, in this era, well-trained, brave and capable heavy armored soldiers are really invincible.
If you want to defeat the enemy, you must have a stronger armored force than them.
Some people talk about using firearms and artillery to deal with it, which is completely unreasonable.
First of all, the firearms of this era are terrible. Even the flintlock gun is only more convenient and not much more powerful.
As for artillery, unless you use hundreds or thousands of artillery pieces for carpet bombing, and the heavy armored soldiers charge into the formation on horseback, otherwise you will lose your life.
It is also necessary to spend a lot of money to form a high-mobility cavalry army of at least ten thousand people. Each person must have at least two horses. Otherwise, even if they defeat the Jiannu on the battlefield, they will not be able to cause maximum damage to them. After all, everyone has a horse. , the infantry couldn't catch up at all.
What's more, there will be a battle in Mongolia in the future, and the cavalry regiment must be there. This is the conclusion he came to after in-depth study of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing's fighting methods and the knowledge of later generations in his head. The only way to deal with cavalry is with cavalry. In this era without Maxim , the cavalry is always the protagonist.
"Zhang Shize, now lead 300 sergeants and royal guards to seal the palace. No one is allowed to come or go without my order."
Zhang Shize didn't know what His Majesty was going to do, but he knew to obey the holy orders. This was what his grandfather had told him time and time again.
"I obey the decree!"
After Zhang Shize left, Zhu Youxiao looked at a sergeant standing in front of him and asked:
"May I have your name?"
The sergeant replied forcefully:
"Your Majesty, my name is Li Xing!"
"You will be in command of these two hundred soldiers for the time being, waiting for my order."
After Zhu Youxiao finished speaking, he turned around and returned to Qianqing Palace.
Imperial Concubine Zheng and Li Xuanshi have not left the palace for a long time. Just now, Jin Yiwei suddenly rushed into Yikun Palace and said that the emperor wanted to see them. At this moment, both of them were uneasy.
Concubine Zheng is okay. After all, she has been in the palace for so many years. What kind of world has she not seen? She was fighting against the ministers with Emperor Wanli in the battle over the country. He was just worried about his own status. As for her life, she knew that the emperor would definitely not kill her.
And Li Xuanshi is about to collapse now. How many years has she been in the palace? The last time he dared to put Zhu Youxiao under house arrest was all because of the support given to him by Imperial Concubine Zheng. Now his backer was in trouble. She was almost driven crazy by Zhu Youxiao's "cold violence".
"Your Majesty, please bring Concubine Zheng and Li Xuan here!"
After Yang Huan brought the people in, he wisely retreated outside and closed the door, guarding the door himself.
This is the first time that Zhu Youxiao has met Concubine Zheng. Even though she is older, she still has her charm and good temperament. She is worthy of being the master of the harem for so many years. She is so rich and powerful. No wonder the emperor's grandfather has only lived for so many years. Favoring her alone, she must have been a stunning beauty when she was young.
As soon as Li Xuanshi came in, he knelt on the ground and begged for mercy:
"Your Majesty, I know that I was wrong. I am obsessed with ghosts. All this was done by the imperial concubine. It was not my concubine who killed the late emperor."
Zhu Youxiao ignored her at all. She had been sizing up Concubine Zheng in front of her, and Concubine Zheng was also sizing up Zhu Youxiao, and they both kept silent as if they were in understanding.
After a while, Imperial Concubine Zheng said:
"The emperor ordered me to come, do you have something important to do?"
Even without saluting or saying hello, Zhu Youxiao still looked down on her, but he didn't care.
"I intend to build a series of Buddhist halls in Yikun Palace to worship Grandpa Shenzong. The imperial concubine was Grandpa Shenzong's favorite person during his lifetime. Will you be willing to keep vigil for Grandpa Shenzong?"
Concubine Zheng already had a result in her mind. She was going to be placed under house arrest. However, she also guessed that this was the outcome and it was also the best outcome for her. She said with a helpless smile:
"Since the emperor has such filial piety, I should obey it."
Talking to smart people saves your worries.
"Give the imperial concubine some tea and take care of her, otherwise be careful with your heads."
After saying that, he stood up and walked out.
Li Xuanshi on the side felt that he could still be saved, and was about to beg for mercy when he heard Zhu Youxiao said coldly:
"Drag this poisonous woman who plotted against the late emperor to death in front of the late emperor's spiritual throne!"
When Li Xuanshi heard this, his mind went blank and he couldn't even beg for mercy.
Jin Yiwei came in and dragged her out alive.
"Wu Wangfu, go and bring the eunuchs and maids from Yikun Palace."
"Yang Huan and Wei Zhongxian, bring Jin Yiwei and Dongchang Fanzi to check the palace thoroughly for me. If there are any troublemakers, kill them on the spot and bring all the eunuchs and maids here."
After saying that, he walked towards the harem. There was another person in the harem who had the same transcendent status as Concubine Zheng, and that was Emperor Shenzong's Concubine Liu Shi Zhao.
Concubine Liu Zhao did not fight for power like Concubine Zheng, but instead stayed in the harem eating fast, chanting Buddha and maintaining health. Zhu Youxiao came here just to serve Concubine Liu Zhao as the host of the harem.
"Why is the emperor free to come to my place today?"
Concubine Liu Zhao had always kept aloof from the world and did not want to interfere too much with matters in the palace. Zhu Youxiao naturally knew that.
Because he couldn't really leave the harem to others to take charge of it. No matter who it was, Zhu Youxiao only believed in himself for this kind of thing.
"I am here to invite Concubine Zhao to move into Cining Palace and bear the Queen Mother's seal to preside over the harem."
Zhu Youxiao said with a smile.
"Don't worry, the emperor, the harem will be safe and sound. The emperor just needs to do great things with all his heart."
Concubine Liu Zhao also knew what the emperor meant, so she accepted it directly.
"In this case, I will honor Concubine Zhao as the concubine at the court meeting tomorrow. The concubine can now tidy up and move into Cining Palace."
"I have something else to do, so I'll leave first!"
Concubine Liu Zhao saluted and said with a smile:
"Emperor, walk slowly!"
The grand search of the palace lasted for three hours and did not come to an end until evening.
Zhu Youxiao looked at the thousands of eunuchs and maids kneeling in the square and said slowly:
"Yang Huan, take someone!"
That night, the entire palace was filled with the smell of blood, and hundreds of palace maids and eunuchs were all killed by the royal guards.
These people are either in cahoots with foreign ministers, or they are colluding in the palace to harm the unfavored princes and princesses, and there are even worse people like Wang An who are in two boats.
The palace is clean.
