On the second day, Zhu Qiyu met with the five kings of Zhou, Shen, Shu, Xiwu, and Jingjiang one by one.
In the next half month, the capital once again entered a period of calm. Zhu Qiyu didn't go out anymore. He spent every day at home studying the founding of newspapers, currency issuance, and the construction plan of Dengzhou City.
During this period, Chen Xun became an official and left the capital.
Annan's envoy Cheng Zhen left the capital and returned to his country to report the news.
The seven kings of Su, Lu, Zhou, Shen, Shu, Xiwu, and Jingjiang returned to their feudal states.
The four kings of Qin, Huai, Qing and Zhao were sent to Fengyang under house arrest by Zhu Qiyu in the name of supervising the construction of the central capital.
The three kings of Xiang, Jin, and Han were demoted to county kings. The king of Tang was reported by the imperial censor for all his misdeeds in the fiefdom, and was temporarily detained in the capital for questioning.
The seven kings of Chu, Liao, Ning, Yi, Zheng, Dai and Jing rebelled and died in the mutiny. Their surviving sons and nephews, a total of eleven princes and princes, temporarily lived in seclusion in the palaces of the kings.
Zhu Qiyu gave birth to three more beloved concubines successfully, giving birth to two sons and one daughter.
Wang Cheng and Wang Qin completed the inspection of the Yang Shiqi and Yang Pu families and returned to the capital.
Henan and Shandong suffered heavy rains and floods.
…
On July 30th, the sky was cloudy and rainy, and the wind and thunder were strong.
That night, trees and houses were struck by lightning, fire broke out in the capital, and Mingzhaofang, Chengjifang, and Nanxunfang were affected.
The Zhuwang Pavilion, Ten Princes' Palace, Huitong Beiguan, and Lao Qi Palace were all hit by fire.
On August 1st, it was just dawn.
Zhu Qiyu was sleeping soundly when he heard three bells ringing outside his palace gate, which woke everyone up.
Except for himself and his beloved concubine, Zhu Qiyu did not allow anyone to enter the Lingyu Palace without an edict, so a bronze bell was placed at each of the east and south palace gates.
If you really have something urgent, you can ring the bell outside.
But you may not hear the bells even once a year.
Qianxue and Su Xi hurriedly got up and went out to check. After half an hour, they walked in with the secret report:
"Husband, take a look, there was a fire yesterday. The king of Tang, the former king of Jin, the former king of Han, and twenty-four princes died in the fire.
There was only one original King Xiang left, the current King Lecheng. Because he was seriously injured in the mutiny, he was moved to Xiyuan for treatment, and he survived by luck.
Lu Zhong, the commander of Jinyiwei, neglected his duty and failed to rescue him, so he wrote a letter to plead guilty.
Our old palace was also burned down. Part of it was burned during the last mutiny, and with this fire, it was almost destroyed. "
Zhu Qiyu nodded: "I will fine Lu Zhong a year's salary, that's all. Let's continue sleeping."
"Just a year's salary and that's it?"
"Hmm, what else should I do? I asked Lu Zhong to set the fire, so I can't kill him.
Think about it, so many feudal lords participated in the mutiny, so I couldn't just pat my butt and let it go.
Not dragging them to the Meridian Gate to behead them is enough to save their dignity, isn't that enough?
Instead of letting them go back and continue to harm the people, I'd better be a bad guy and end it all. "
Qianxue asked curiously: "Just like this, isn't your husband afraid that the officials will have opinions?"
Zhu Qiyu explained: "The officials will not have any objection. First, these vassal kings are real rebels, and they deserve to die.
Second, do you think the civil and military officials like the vassal kings very much?
If you put yourself in his shoes, you are a gifted scholar. You were a high school scholar in your early twenties. After working hard for fifty years, you finally became the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty.
At this time, your annual salary is one thousand dan. This means that before I gave the officials a salary increase, the highest civil servant only received one thousand dan a year, and that was not actually paid, and part of it was still waste paper.
Looking at the vassal princes again, a good prince will not have to do anything when he is born, and his annual salary will be ten thousand shi.
The prince of the county did nothing when he was born, and his annual salary was only one thousand dan or two thousand dan.
You have worked hard for decades and survived until you became the chief minister, but you are still no match for the feudal king who was born and did nothing.
The key point is that these feudal kings also committed murder and arson, doing all kinds of evil. Then when you, the chief minister, see the prince, you have to kneel on the ground and kowtow to him.
Do you think you will like these feudal kings?
This is also talking about the chief minister. If he were an ordinary civil servant, the gap between him and the vassal princes would be even greater. Do you think he would be happy in his heart?
On other issues, I may have differences with the officials, but when I cut down the vassal, the officials will never stand up against me.
Even if an out-of-the-brained civil servant pops up, other civil servants will deal with him without me having to say anything. "
Qianxue nodded and climbed into bed again to continue sleeping.
It was not until almost noon that Zhu Qiyu slowly came to Qingyun Pavilion.
As expected, the important ministers were already waiting in the cabinet.
Zhu Qiyu leaned back on the soft couch and waited for the ministers to speak. But the ministers all asked for forgiveness, and no one questioned the emperor.
Looking at the ministers, Zhu Qiyu also felt very embarrassed. Unknowingly, Xiao Chao will be made into a man of one word by himself. The opposition has been completely wiped out, and the rest are those who want to follow themselves to create a prosperous China.
When they reach this stage of being an official, most of the people present pursue more power and fame both before and after their lives.
The prosperous times of the Zhongxing Dynasty and their fame will go down in history, which is very attractive to these people.
Zhu Qiyu glanced at He Yi.
He Yi then took out a sinner's edict and read it to himself.
This is the third and last edict issued by Zhu Qiyu after he ascended the throne.
It only takes three things. After confessing the crime this time, the reform will be fully launched, but there will be no confession again.
Also, this is also the last time we engage in 'Thunder and Fire from Heaven'.
As for why Zhu Qiyu dared to engage in "thunder and fire from the sky" several times, it was because the people of later generations were too kind and innocent. As long as it was not written clearly in the history books, they would not think of bad things.
The most obvious example is how many times our Daojun Emperor Jiajing was burned by fire. Every time there was no fire anywhere, only Jiajing's residence was on fire.
But people of later generations still believe that these fires were caused by nature.
Occasionally, someone would jump out and express the view that Jiajing was deliberately set on fire. He would immediately be labeled as a conspiracy theory by a group of people and criticized to death.
Therefore, as long as it is not punished, the 'thunder and fire from the sky' must fall from the sky, and it can only fall from the sky.
In this criminal edict, Zhu Qiyu admitted to three charges:
First, I did not return the throne in time.
The eldest brother returned to Beijing in April this year. I wanted to return the throne, but the eldest brother refused because he was guilty of committing crimes against the country.
I wanted to return my seat later, but my eldest brother and I became seriously ill one after another.
While I was seriously ill, I had already handed over the military and political power to my eldest brother and summoned all the vassal kings to Beijing to prepare for the formal ceremony of abdicating the throne and returning the throne to the government once I had recovered from my illness.
Unexpectedly, it was only the first day of July, less than a hundred days after the eldest brother returned to the capital. Some vassal kings, nobles, military generals and civil servants launched a coup to seize the throne and supported the restoration of the eldest brother by force.
My eldest brother and I both suffered from it, just because I failed to return the throne in time. This is the only crime.
Second, I failed to abide by Taizu's laws, abolished the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes without authorization, and minted copper coins and silver coins without authorization as the legal tender of the Ming Dynasty. This is also a serious crime.
Third, I arbitrarily changed the established law of Xuan Temple in the prosperous times, from using the way of saints to teach and convert Wala to killing by force. This move was against the integrity of the Ming Dynasty and the principles of loyalty, forgiveness and benevolence in Xuan Temple.
As a result, the Wala delegation broke out and injured people, and the important minister Hu Hu and others died as a result. The three crimes were committed.
Those who have committed these three crimes should be punished by an edict to the world and reflect on their own mistakes.
If the ministers, officials and people want to speak out, they can write letters to express their opinions.
The important ministers present were dumbfounded by the emperor's sinful edict.
Article 2 Is that a sin? The common people hated the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes with itch. The Jingtai Dynasty abolished the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes and converted them into copper coins and silver coins. This was definitely good governance.
Article 3 Is that a sin? It is indeed true that Xuanmiao used the saint's way of loyalty and forgiveness to teach the Wala people, but the Wala army has already reached the walls of Beijing. If they don't destroy them, why are they waiting?
This edict was said to be a confession of guilt, but in fact it was Zhu Qiyu who was selling his misery to gain sympathy and demonstrate his merits to win the hearts of the people.
After explaining the edict of sinner, Wang Wen asked for instructions: "Your Majesty, now there are almost all vacancies in the Ministry of Rites, from the Minister to the Director. How to fill the posts? Could you please give me your Majesty's advice?"
Zhu Qiyu replied: "Let me think about it again. Before replacing the official, you should first take charge of the Ministry of Rites. In addition, I have four sons now. The eldest brother Gongrang the emperor has another son in Oala."
I want to make all five of these people princes.
The eldest brother's son is named King Yi. As for the name, you can ask the eldest brother for advice.
I have already chosen the names of my four sons. You can just draft them accordingly. "
(End of chapter)
