The spring day was tired, and after three days of sunrise, Zhu Houzhao was still sleeping soundly with his beauty in his arms in the Spring Pavilion of Leopard Fang.
Since the completion of the Leopard Room, Zhu Houzhao can be said to be free and happy as he pleases. Living in the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Houzhao always feels uncomfortable. After all, it is the residence of the emperors of the past dynasties. Whenever he welcomes the joy, he always feels timid. , I always feel that the heroic souls of the late emperors are wandering in the palace, frowning and staring at me.
Moreover, the Qianqing Palace is in the inner palace, and the queen mother also lives in the inner palace. Although I don't care about Empress Dowager Zhang, she is the queen mother after all, so I can't be too outrageous, and I have to be cautious.
But after living in the Leopard Room, I no longer have such scruples. On Qionghua Island, no one will care even if there is a quarrel. Listening to the roar of tigers and leopards in the woods at night, mixed with the sound of singing and dancing of silk and bamboo, is very exciting.
After the year of Liu Jin, many girls came in and they were all placed in the leopard room. Many famous actors and beautiful young people from various provinces and cities also came in. This made Zhu Houzhao overwhelmed, and he always hated that the nights were too short and the days were too long.
Last night was another night of all-night carnival. Zhu Houzhao fell asleep from exhaustion in the early morning, so he slept very soundly.
At this time, someone rushed in from the corridor and shouted loudly and horrified through the curtain.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty. Something bad has happened. Something bad has happened."
Zhu Houzhao woke up with a start. Hearing the sharp and harsh sounds outside, he got goosebumps all over his body.
"Who is making a noise? Who is making a noise? Damn it." Zhu Houzhao said loudly.
"Your Majesty, this is your slave. Your slave Liu Jin." Liu Jin's trembling voice came from outside.
Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment. Liu Jin's voice became a little bit incomprehensible to him. Besides, how could Liu Jin be so ignorant of the rules? How could he come and disturb him when he was sleeping?
"You bastard, why are you making such a noise?" Zhu Houzhao scolded.
"Your Majesty, something bad has happened. King Anhua...has rebelled." Liu Jin said in a trembling voice.
"What?" Zhu Houzhao seemed to be petrified, his mouth wide open and speechless.
…
Anhua King Zhu Zhixiu, the great-grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang, the 16th son of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, inherited the title of King of Anhua, and was a vassal king of the Zhu family in Ningxia Town. He rebelled.
Strictly speaking, Zhu Zhixiu's banner was not rebellion, but 'clear the emperor and eliminate traitors'. Because it was clearly stated in his proclamation that he raised the army to eliminate Liu Jin and other traitors. .Of course this is just an excuse.
Zhu Zhixiu had long had great ambitions. Because he was located in a border town in Ningxia, where the mountains were high and the emperor was far away, this prince had actually treated himself as an emperor in Ningxia Town. He maintained a large group of guests and staff in his palace. He has long been called 'Old Emperor' in private or in public.
Of course, since the fifth year of Hongzhi's attack on the throne of King Anhua, no one has ever doubted that Zhu Chixiu really wanted to be the emperor. The so-called title of "Old Emperor" was actually just regarded as an honorific and a joke.
In the fifteenth year of Hongzhi's reign, someone once reported this matter to the court. When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he laughed heartily and did not take it seriously at all.
It's not that Emperor Hongzhi was arrogant, but because the local vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty had long been deprived of the right to lead troops, and even the number of guards in the prince's palace had been reduced again and again. By the Chenghua period, the vassal princes were only allowed to There are fifty guards as guards. They have no capital except some fiefdoms and some money in hand.
Because of this, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty could sit back and relax without worrying that these vassal kings would become famous. Because they did not have the ability to rebel at all.
However, nothing is difficult in the world but only for those who are willing. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty seemed to have forgotten the lessons learned by King Yan Zhu Di when he seized the throne. They seemed to have forgotten that the local vassal kings had been outside Beijing for a long time and managed their own power in the local area. After all, they were still A hidden danger. Although they do not have the power to lead the army, and they do not have soldiers and horses that belong to them in name, it does not prevent them from making friends with local officials and the local army. They have money in their hands, and money can make ghosts They are pushovers. Unless they have no evil intentions at all, they will always find opportunities and helpers to cause trouble.
This is the case for Zhu Zhixiu in Ningxia Town. Over the years, Anhua Palace has established a foundation in Ningxia Town and accumulated a lot of prestige. In Ningxia Town, the status of Anhua Palace is almost equal to that of the imperial court. During major sacrifices or festivals As the representative of the royal family, King Anhua summoned all officials to carry out large-scale activities, and even handled some matters that the court could not handle in time. This seemed to have become a habitual behavior.
Among them, Anhua King Zhu Chixiu actively sought out and made friends with officials and generals to create his own power. Although his palace did not have large-scale guards and horses, it also maintained many guards and domestic slaves. Nominal manpower.
It can be said that the imperial court thought that the local vassal kings just lived the lives of wealthy men. But in fact, vassal kings such as Zhu Zhixiu actually had considerable connections and reputation in Ningxia Town. The power they accumulated should not be underestimated.
Of course, relying on these alone is not enough to do big things. After all, no matter how happy they talk, how much they drink, and how close their contacts are, if they really pull those officials to rebel, they are not fools. Rebellious people will be beheaded. Even if a person loses his head and rebels, he must have a reason to rebel.
Therefore, although Zhu Zhixiu had a respected position in Ningxia Town, he did not dare to take action easily. He usually just complained, closed the door and listened to the emperor a few times, and wore a fake dragon robe to enjoy his pleasure.
However, a sleepy night brings a pillow, and a long drought brings nectar. Zhu Zhixiu did not expect that the reality of rebellion would suddenly arrive. It came so unexpectedly and so irresistibly.
Everything started with the imperial edict issued by Liu Jin years ago to rectify the military villages. After the edict was issued, the government and the public were shocked and there was a lot of commotion. However, most people believed that Liu Jin would not be so brainless as to do this. The incident offended everyone in the world, including officials and generals in border towns.
After careful analysis, these people believed that this was just Liu Jin's bluff. At most, he just wanted to take the opportunity to make some money. When the inspection officials come, they will send some gifts and treat them well, and everything will be fine. .
A group of officials and generals in Ningxia Town thought the same way. It was not until Zhou Dong, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple who was responsible for cleaning up and verifying the military settlements in the first month, arrived in Ningxia Town that they suddenly discovered that they were completely wrong.
This young minister of Dali Temple, Zhou Dong, was originally unlearned and unskilled. Relying on the recommendation of others and giving Liu Jin heavy gifts, he was finally promoted to the young minister of Dali Temple, and was entrusted by Liu Jin with the important task of cleaning up military settlements in Ningxia. .This guy thought this job was extremely simple from the moment he received the appointment.
He believed that he only needed to look up the land records and find out who cultivated these military villages, and then he would know who had occupied more acres. Then he could just ask these people to return the acres.
He also believed that the purpose of Liu Jin asking him to inspect the fields this time was to take back a large number of privately occupied military fields to the court. The greater the number, the more effective it would be, and the more satisfying the task would be to Eunuch Liu. In view of this, he
He asked the men who were accompanying him to measure the acres to make a fuss about the measuring scale. Originally, one hectare of land was equal to one hundred acres, but when he measured it, fifty acres became one hectare, directly doubling the number of acres in other people's hands.
One can imagine the consequences of doing so.
Ningxia Weidu Commander He Jinyi, deputy capital commander Zhou Ang, Qianhu Ding Guang, Li Xuancheng and other military lieutenant generals, as well as some of the hundreds of general bannermen below, did occupy a lot of land. Some officials in Ningxia Town also
To some extent, they occupied a lot of military garrison land. However, according to Zhou Dong's measurement method, they could not close the holes even if they had to lose their capital.
Take He Jinyi, the commander of Ningxia Weidu, as an example. Over the years, he has occupied 2,500 hectares of military farmland, and he is the largest rat. Originally, when Zhou Dong came to Ningxia Town, he had already given Zhou Dong 50,000 taels.
Yinzi also arranged the best banquets, food and accommodation, even at the expense of his own house.
He gave the beautiful concubine to Zhou Dong to enjoy, just to get rid of the matter and spend some money to settle the matter. As a result, Zhou Dong also took the money, slept with the woman, and had a banquet. A month later, he issued an order to He Jinyi
He issued a notice telling He Jinyi that he needed to return the 3,500 hectares of occupied military settlements.
He Jinyi is going crazy. He has only occupied a total of 2,500 hectares. He has spent so much money to take care of this guy, but in the end he has to return 3,500 hectares. If he returns all the occupied acres, he will pay a thousand hectares.
Now, where can I explain this?
Zhou Dong also asked someone to tell He Jinyi that he had done something noble, because according to his method of measurement, He Jinyi should return five thousand hectares.
One can imagine how He Jinyi feels?
Not only He Jinyi and a group of thousands of households, but also some local officials. Even the homes of ordinary military households in Ningxia Wei, because of Zhou Dong's doubling measurement method, they were all those who had invaded the imperial farmland, and all had to return part of it.
Acres.
I originally thought that the imperial court would send people to clear out the military settlements, so that the occupied land could be returned to their own hands. As a result, not only was the land not taken back, but it was even handed over. From this, it can be seen that the people above and below are...
What a state of mind.
Zhou Dong acted vigorously and resolutely. For more than three months, relying on having the holy decree at hand and having Eunuch Liu, the Supervisor of Ceremonies, as his backer, he was arrogant and arrogant. He led the accompanying officials to tell him that what was happening in Ningxia town was chicken.
The people he brought were arrogant and angry at some military households and petty officials. They yelled, scolded and arrested people when they had no words to do anything. They were arrogant and arrogant.
An Weixue, the governor of Ningxia, wanted to cling to Liu Jin, and this time he gave Zhou Dong great convenience. He personally accompanied Zhou Dong in various troubles, causing a lot of trouble.
As the saying goes, cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents. Zhou Dong's trip was originally meant to cut off people's money, which is already a hateful job. What's more, he also used the double measurement method to seize someone's land, which is no longer cutting off people.
Instead of making money, people's livelihoods are ruined.
Taking away people's fields and destroying their livelihoods. There is no way to survive. What else is there to say? The hatred from top to bottom is growing crazily, and the anger is also gathering.
Of course Zhu Zhixiu saw all this. He was keenly aware that the opportunity had come.