June 10th, the first year of the Apocalypse, is a day destined to go down in history.
Emperor Zhu Youxiao of Apocalypse issued an imperial edict on this day, officially announcing that many civil servants headed by He Shijin had secretly communicated with the Tartars during the emperor's expedition, intending to murder the emperor and commit treason. They were all arrested and imprisoned, and these people were handed over to the
Trial by three departments.
In the end, a joint trial led by Dali Temple, the Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Punishment confirmed the fact that these people were plotting rebellion. In accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty and the emperor's instructions, they were all sentenced to death in Lingchi, and the three tribes were annihilated!
In addition, the 21st Guards Shangzhiqin Military Guard was also involved. They planned a mutiny with He Shijin and others, and were also sentenced to the Lingchi and Yi tribes.
The most important thing is not what kind of punishment these people received, but the emperor's imperial edict announced the most important thing, which is to permanently abolish the 21st Guards Guards.
Only the Jinyi Guards and the Tengxiang Four Guards were retained, and even the Banner Guards and the Martial Arts Guards were abolished.
This is simply unbelievable. The Shangzhi Guards and Military Guards Station was established by Emperor Taizu, and now His Majesty actually dares to completely abolish it?
The common people didn't think it was anything. After all, it didn't affect their daily lives, and most of them supported the emperor. If they dared to murder the emperor and commit rebellion, they should be killed.
The imperial edict cooperated with newspaper propaganda to maximize its influence. Under the leadership of Jin Yiwei and Dongchang Fanzi, the people even began to denounce these treacherous traitors.
However, those officials who were familiar with poetry and books were not as good as these ordinary people. They wrote letters one by one to criticize the emperor.
A Liuke Yanguan even said directly in his memorial:
"Emperor Taizu's ancestral precepts, future generations must not change or violate the ancestral precepts of Emperor Ming, and must implement the ancestral precepts to the end. Your Majesty dares to ignore the sacred laws of your ancestors now, which is really unfaithful and unfilial!"
"The Shangzhi Guards have been established for many years. They have been loyal to their duties and stationed in the capital for more than two hundred years. It is really unjust to abandon them now!"
"The bodyguards of Shangzhi are the emperor's personal soldiers. They have protected the previous emperors and His Majesty for generations. They have worked hard without any merit. But now three tribes have been wiped out because of a rumor. It is really unkind!"
A memorial written by this censor immediately branded Zhu Youxiao as an unfaithful, unfilial, unkind and unjust king. However, it attracted the attention of many people, and some people even came to visit him at his home because of this.
This made this little-known censor become a famous person in the capital.
After all, at the cusp of this storm, there are really not many people who are so outspoken and dare to speak out.
But his good days did not last long. Just when he was chatting and laughing, Dongchang Fanzi unceremoniously threw him into prison, and labeled this man and those who were close friends with him as traitors.
.
And because he scolded the emperor, he was also given special attention by Wei Zhongxian.
Don’t you like to talk about the ancestral teachings? Well, let’s use the ancestral teachings to condemn you.
This censor was not investigated at all, and Dongchang easily obtained evidence of his corruption and bribery. As a result, he became the first person to be stripped of his skin and solid grass in the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years since the Hongwu Year. Moreover, he
The skin will also be hung in the Western Market for everyone to see.
Zhu Youxiao also responded to this matter. His message to officials and people clearly stated:
"The sacred law of our ancestors is not a life-saving talisman for you traitors. In his life, Taizu hated the traitors and corrupt officials the most!"
"The close military guards and these officials conspired to harm me and almost put our Ming Dynasty in danger. Now they are deceiving the public with their evil words and deceiving people's hearts. They want to fight to the death. If they are not severely punished, they will truly violate the ancestral precepts of Taizu."
And holy law!”
The common people were extremely disgusted with these corrupt officials and traitors, and wished they could kill the two corrupt officials with their own hands. Especially in the face of the irrefutable evidence, their inner emotions were completely stirred up, and almost everyone supported the emperor.
Because of the censor's encouragement, Zhu Youxiao was able to take a step further and once again organized a new army.
Zhu Youxiao plans to select 10,000 loyal and brave men from the Yulin Army. These are the people who have accumulated the most military exploits in this personal expedition. He will form these 10,000 people into the new emperor's bodyguard army, the Yulin Army!
The defense of the imperial city is handled by the Tengxiang Four Guards and the Jinyi Guards.
The task of the Yulin Army is to guard the inner city of the capital and outside the imperial city. Jinyiwei and Dongchang will also replace the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division and exercise greater power in the inner city.
From now on, the Wucheng Military and Horse Division was only responsible for the outer city and the suburbs of Beijing. They no longer had jurisdiction over the inner city. They even lost the Yamen and gave it to Jinyiwei and Dongchang.
This news made most civil servants feel uneasy. Who are the people living in the inner city? Isn't it just them who are officials?
Your Majesty is really cunning. He actually used this as an excuse to create a new army. One Yulin Army has already made them miserable. Now that there is another Yulin Army, and it is stationed in the inner city, isn't this completely under the control of the emperor?
The most terrible thing is that Jin Yiwei and Dongchang actually replaced the Wucheng Soldiers and Horses Division. Can they survive after this? So they must stop it, even if they go to the guillotine.
After deliberation, these officials jointly submitted a petition stating that we firmly disagreed and asked His Majesty to withdraw his order.
Finally, Zhu Youxiao summoned these people to Qianqing Palace and told them face to face:
"My guards and soldiers are all going to rebel against me. If I'm not careful, I'm afraid I won't be the one sitting here discussing state affairs with you dear friends tomorrow!"
"Although the bodyguards and soldiers were established by Taizu, and I don't want to kill them all, they dare to act like traitors and want to assassinate the king. If they continue to stay in office, wouldn't it mean that the safety of me and the people of the world depends on these traitors?
Killed by a thief?"
"Dear dear friends, do you want to see this happen? I have no choice but to strengthen the defense of the imperial city and the inner city, so as to better protect the safety of my dear friends. After all, the traitors are concentrated in the inner city. I
I am also afraid that you, my dear friends, may make mistakes, and I don’t want to lose all of you loyal and loyal ministers because of this!”
Zhu Youxiao's hand of cards was completely incomprehensible, and for a while these civil servants could not find any reason to refute.
If you object, you will immediately be labeled as having evil intentions, because the emperor said that the reason for setting up the pro-army was because the emperor's safety was affected.
Moreover, the emperor also took care of his ministers, and this move was impeccable.
These officials were full of expectations on their way to the palace. They all thought that the emperor had accepted it, but they did not expect that the emperor, who had always been bloodthirsty and cruel, would show up like this.
In the end, there was really no reason or excuse to stop the emperor, so everyone had to return to the Yamen dejectedly. However, they no longer had the intention to deal with political affairs or review memorials.
Everyone is deeply worried about their future. Times have really changed. Nowadays, His Majesty has adopted a series of measures against civil servants like them since he ascended the throne. It is really overwhelming.
If I had known this, why would I have to protect the prince with all my strength and have a country-based dispute with Shenzong for several years?
Many veterans of Wanli years are thinking in their hearts that they have made the wrong decision.