In early August of the second year of Zhengde, when it was still dawn, the emperor was awakened by the eunuch.
Liu Jin knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, Duke Zeng Keming of the Ministry of Industry went there last night."
Zhu Houzhao's remaining sleepiness was shocked away. He didn't say anything, he just sat up with his hair hanging down.
a long time.
There was a sigh from inside, "Alas."
Zeng Jian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, was a Jinshi in the eighth year of Tianshun and had been working hard in the court for decades. Looking through his past actions, he mainly did one thing, admonishing the emperor not to do things that wasted people and money.
In the 13th year of Hongzhi's reign, the palace requested that dragon and plain rugs be transformed into hundreds of unique items. Zeng Jianjin said: "The blanket is only one thing, but the hair was collected from the mountains and Shaanxi, the cotton yarn and other materials were collected in Henan, and the craftsmen were summoned from Suzhou and Song Dynasty. After many years, the labor was spent and the prayers stopped."
The rest of the time, although the requests are different things, the core is the same.
It's a bit pedantic, but there's nothing wrong with this kind of advice. It's better than having ministers who waste the energy of the royal family.
In addition, no matter what, this is a veteran of the Four Dynasties with a clear name. Zhu Houzhao will not expect his death, so naturally he will not let go of this opportunity to win people's hearts.
Especially now that there is a war, we need to unite as one.
"deliver an imperial order."
Liu Jin lowered his head.
"Mr. Zeng Keming is a diligent and conscientious man. He has worked hard for decades and has never been lazy. Although he has no outward appearance, he has not lost his virtue. I want to fulfill the kindness of the end and be loyal to the king and his ministers. As usual, the crown prince and the Taibao stayed away from court for one day, and all the civil and military ministers wore plain clothes as a sign of mourning and honor."
This kind of thing is usually issued by the Ministry of Rites, and then a notice is posted at the left and right gates of Chang'an. This is the only way for civil and military ministers to enter the palace.
In the Ming Dynasty, when civil and military officials resigned from the court due to the funeral, they did not abandon their duties, and they still did what they should do.
Only when there is a funeral for the queen or emperor, will they quit the court and abandon their duties.
So Zhu Houzhao still had to change clothes, but today he had to wear light-colored robes. The officials also wore light-colored clothes, with black gauze hats and black horn belts.
These are all etiquette things, just follow them.
At three o'clock in the morning, the important officials of the court entered the palace. Probably because of the death of the Minister of Industry, everyone was in a low mood.
However, they were all moved by the emperor's posthumous honors for Zeng Jian.
"Now that Duke Zeng Keming has left, who will take up the post of Minister of the Ministry of Industry?"
Everyone looked sad, and when the emperor asked a question, they couldn't even answer one, two, or three.
Zhu Houzhao was not polite to them and said directly: "Has He Shiguang (He Jianzi) arrived in the capital?"
Liang Chu, the official minister, replied, "We've arrived."
"Let him take charge of the ministry for the time being. In a few days, the cabinet will draft a decree and order He Shiguang to take charge of the Ministry of Science and Engineering."
He Jian is also a veteran minister, and he has always had a reputation as an official. Although Zuo Shilang was promoted to minister before he was warmed up, there was nothing he could do about Zeng Keming's death.
Wang Hao naturally accepted the order.
"In light of the incident involving Duke Keming, I also have a few words to say to all of you dear friends. Li and Xie left the capital one after another in the court. The cabinet said they were two, but in fact there was only Mr. Wang.
I was assassinated again some time ago. Jinyiwei did a little investigation and implicated various official or unofficial tabloids such as Fuli Sect and Wuwei Sect. Only then did I know that there were still some people hiding, spreading dissatisfaction with the imperial court among themselves, and even slandering me. I ordered the Jinyi Guards to take some people away, but there were still people in the court who made irresponsible remarks, thinking that I was a weak and deceitful king.
This is in Beijing.
Outside, there are also Tatars leading troops to invade, killing my people, plundering and killing my people. It is tolerable, but what is intolerable?
At this time when the imperial court is in chaos and China is in turmoil, I hope that all the dear friends in Qianqing Palace today can put aside their grudges and resentments and work together with me to overcome the difficulties. "
Wang Hao took the lead, and all the ministers knelt down.
"I swear to the death to advance and retreat with Your Majesty!"
Zhu Houzhao said that the situation was very serious, but in fact the advantage was that in the past few years, he had gathered such a group of trustworthy ministers in his hands.
At the local level, there are also officials who have been promoted by themselves at the helm. It is not easy to cause chaos.
"Let's talk about the Fu Li Sect and the Wuwei Sect first. To make iron, you need to be strong yourself. Foreign enemies invade. If the inside is not clean, there is no chance that someone will communicate with the foreign enemies and open all the doors of the capital. My dear friends, isn't it? I want to chop off the heads of these scholars. If it were not an assassination, I would have ignored them, but this is a time of national war, and there is no room for carelessness in this matter."
Zhu Houzhao sounded normal, but behind his back he was extremely cruel.
He is the emperor. If the tone is so determined, thousands of people may be killed if everywhere is implicated.
But in extraordinary times, do extraordinary things.
We just have this opportunity to clean up this batch of sludge and dirt.
The heart is not ruthless and the hand is unstable. There can be no womanly kindness at this time.
Min Gui, who has a tough and bad temper, is the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, but he is actually a soft-hearted person. It was that he listened to the emperor's reasons and wanted to say something, but he didn't know where to refute.
In the end, I could only ask with uncontrollable emotions: "Your Majesty, I don't know how many people are involved in this arrest. However, I am also deeply aware that the situation at the moment is special. It's just that Your Majesty... I dare to ask you, are you really not afraid? Is the history pen as sharp as a knife?"
This question is actually a bit serious.
However, the ministers of the Ming Dynasty had always been like this, and it was what Min Gui said, so it is not surprising that Zhu Houzhao.
"As an emperor, it is my duty to stabilize the court and protect the country! As long as it is beneficial to these two points, I will do it. When I go underground in the future, I will ask Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong for advice on these private criticisms Whether people in government should be killed or not, if they say yes, then I will finally give an account to my ancestors. If they say no, I will bear all the blame. If your surname is not Zhu, it has nothing to do with you."
Min Gui was shocked, "I'm guilty! I didn't mean that, it's just... just..."
"It's just that a lot of people have to be killed."
"Exactly."
"In order to establish the Ming Dynasty, more ancestors died on the battlefield. Forgetting our ancestors and leaving these people alive is also betrayal. The above are all righteousness. As far as the present is concerned, in the time of internal and external turmoil, I will never tolerate them."
Having said this, Min Gui could only sigh.
Again, this is an extraordinary moment.
The young emperor has a royal bodyguard, a personal bodyguard, as well as powerful civil servants and generals such as Yang Yiqing, Zhou Shangwen, and Yang Shangyi.
This is hard.
On the soft side, the emperor governed for the people, and his methods were fierce. Not many people dared to look down upon him in their hearts.
When such a powerful emperor sits on the dragon throne and wants to show his anger, no one can stop millions of people from lying dead.
The "restoration of ancient rites" advocated by Jiang Tongzu and Lu Meng was called the Fuli sect. When there was a sect, this matter changed.
Zhu Houzhao was not interested in distinguishing whether this was a political organization, because there were many similar groups that used articles and tabloids as means of communication, and what was more special was that the country was still at war. At this time, it would definitely be all over the place. You may try to differentiate it over and over again, but it may not be correct. It may even cause greater harm if it lays the foundation for trouble.
He glanced at the faces of these important ministers, Wang Hao, Liang Chu, Han Wen, Gu Zuo, Min Gui, Wang Bing, Zhang Fuhua...
Then he took out the case files about Jiang Tongzu, Lu Meng and others that Jin Yiwei had submitted.
"Talk about state affairs arbitrarily and slander me. You are guilty of conspiracy and rebellion. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, you should be a barbarian to your clan. Will you accept this decree or not?"
"I don't dare!"
Zhu Houzhao's sharp eyes turned aside, and Jin Gui and Xie Pi in the attendant's room lowered their heads and stood up their pens.
"Draw up the decree!"
At this point, it no longer matters whether Jiang Tongzu and Lu Meng recruited someone in Jinyiwei or not.
The emperor made this decision to strengthen his majestic imperial power and not allow anyone to challenge it.
Just like when Zhu Yuanzhang killed people, didn't he know that there were unjust, false, and wrongful convictions?
I must know that the founding emperor was the kind of person who couldn't tell the difference between right and wrong.
It can only be said that this dragon chair will change people. When sitting on it, they will not consider the so-called right and wrong, black and white, but weigh which way is more beneficial.
Prior to this, Mao Yuwen had already gone to the palace to report various matters.
That's why Zhu Houzhao knew about the messy things like Fuli Sect and Wuwei Sect, and he didn't stop anything Mao Yuwen was doing.
The assassination, the false rumors, the tabloids passed around to each other... all the names for treason, this is a solid case.
Ma Yiqian, who had not left that day, was also hunted by the Jin Yiwei overnight, causing every household in the capital to close their windows and doors.
The common people didn't know the specific situation. They only knew that the emperor was assassinated and Long Yan was furious. People were being arrested everywhere. They didn't care about anything else, as long as they didn't get involved with them.
Ma Yiqian no longer dared to live in his own home, but the atmosphere in the capital was so tense that no one dared to take him in!
Ma Yiqian was so angry that he cursed that people today are really not as good as before, everyone is greedy for life and afraid of death, so he said that he should restore etiquette.
Finally, he came up with a plan and hid in a brothel in the city that never sleeps. People came and went here, and he didn't know anyone. He spent some money to find a room without leaving. The Jin Yiwei usually stick to the rules when searching here, because they all know that it is the royal property, and no one can explain anything that was damaged.
In the afternoon, he opened the crack of the window and glanced outside. Not long after, there was a knock on the door and the girl from last night came in.
"Something happened again!"
Ma Yiqian's heart trembled when he heard this. He quickly closed the window and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Didn't a minister die last night? The emperor was grieving and made a decree early this morning to convict the assassins captured earlier for the crime of treason! I'm afraid they will all be beheaded next!"
Ma Yiqian just felt like a stream of cold water was pouring from beginning to end! My whole body could not help but tremble as if I had been struck by lightning!
"How could it be treason?!"
If Jiang Tongzu and Lu Meng were both guilty of treason, how could he escape? It’s nothing more than the difference between catching it and not catching it!
When he thought of his close relatives and clan at home, he felt despair for a moment.
When these tabloids were first circulated, the court did not say that they would not allow it. Wasn't this a massacre in the name of assassination? !
"I can't take care of the affairs of the imperial court in this small room. I only care about being a guest officer. It's not peaceful outside now anyway..." The girl looked at the man up and down. Ma Yiqian still had the style of a scholar after all, so he took action She didn't search for anything, so the girl's eyes were filled with excitement, "How about... just stay here for two days? A spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold. This is the joy of the world, and you can't be as stupid as those who want to assassinate the emperor. "
Where does Ma Yiqian still have that kind of thoughts now? He is as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. What frightened him even more was that someone suddenly shouted loudly outside.
"Jin Yiwei is investigating the case! Stay in your room, no one is allowed to move around!"
(End of chapter)
