Zhu Zaiyi was reading the memorial, his face became increasingly gloomy, and his hands were shaking with anger. When he finished reading the memorial, he suddenly turned around and saw the eunuch who was accompanying him standing beside him and peeking.
The accompanying eunuch quickly took two steps back and said with a flattering smile: "Your Majesty, the red ink (cinnabar ink) has been prepared."
Zhu Zaiyi slowly put down his ink pen and asked, "Did you see it clearly?"
The accompanying eunuch felt something was wrong in the atmosphere and quickly knelt down on the ground: "Your Majesty, please calm down..."
"Someone is coming!"
Zhu Zaiyu yelled, and several guards and eunuchs immediately ran in.
The accompanying eunuch was even more frightened and kowtowed frantically: "Your Majesty, please spare your life, Your Majesty, please spare your life, Your Majesty, please spare my life..."
Zhu Zaiyi sneered: "You are so brave. You can also read the seal? Tell me, whose spy are you!"
The accompanying eunuch was sweating all over and hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, I just stood closer and was not ordered by anyone to peek at the seal."
Zhu Zaiyi carefully considered the pros and cons and finally said: "Drag him out and kill him with a stick!"
Everyone was shocked, suspicious and frightened, because although Zhu Zaiyi was strict, he never used a royal rod in the outer court, nor used lynching in the inner court. In general, Zhu Zaiyi had always been kind and wise except for having many rules. Image of the Holy Lord.
Now, the eunuch who was accompanying him was actually wanted to be beaten to death with a stick!
"Your Majesty..." A eunuch wanted to put in a good word.
Zhu Zaiyi immediately interrupted: "Shut up, the intercessors will be killed with the cane!"
Suddenly no one said anything, and the eunuch accompanying him was already paralyzed, crying and begging the emperor for his life.
Not long after, the shrill screams of the eunuchs accompanying him sounded outside, and Zhu Zaiyi issued three consecutive edicts.
The first letter contains the edict to replace the Jinyiwei admiral eunuch, the Jinyiwei commander-in-chief, and the Jinyiwei commander.
In the second letter, Chang Lun, the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, was under the authority of the emperor to control the censor of Nanjing's Ducangdu, and had the power to dispatch the Nanjing Military and Horse Division and the military guards to handle affairs.
In the third edict, Tang Shunzhi, the left minister of the Ministry of War, concurrently served as the censor of the right capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and was transferred to the governor of Southern Zhili to thoroughly investigate the warehousing fraud cases in Southern Zhili. The local Jinyiwei in Nanjing, and the Beijing Jinyiwei who were dispatched to Nanjing. The personnel are temporarily under the control of Tang Shunzhi!
As soon as the three central edicts came out, the internal and external courts were in a state of uproar.
A Kedao official questioned that the decree did not comply with the procedures, and was directly demoted to a remote county magistrate by Zhu Zaiyi. This frightened the civil and military officials of the entire court and no one dared to talk nonsense.
Everyone could see that the emperor, who had always had a good temper, was really angry this time.
The cause was very simple. Food relief was urgently needed after the earthquake, and official warehouses in various places were burned down. The emperor not only sent the imperial censor to conduct a thorough investigation, but also asked the imperial guards to follow him. The imperial censor and the imperial guards sent to Nanjing actually colluded together!
On the surface, their investigation speed was very fast. Many officials and granary managers were imprisoned for their crimes, and some even committed suicide in prison out of fear of crime.
However, the investigation was carried out too quickly and the case was handled so smoothly that Zhu Zaiyi inevitably felt that something was wrong.
At this time, Chang Lun, the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, a guy who had been squeezed out to provide for the elderly, suddenly received a sealed appeal through the General Affairs Department - a secret message from the cabinet ministers and ministers, which could bypass the cabinet and the ceremonial supervisor. The Secretary of General Affairs also had no right to open and read the letter, and could only open and read the letter in person by the emperor.
As the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, he was nominally able to manage the official warehouses in Nanzhili. However, this power was returned to the central government during the Chenghua period. The actual person in charge of the Nanjing warehouses was the Censor of Ducangdu sent by the central government.
The Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing can only select one senior and honest doctor to assist the Censor of Du Cangdu in inspecting various official warehouses.
Chang Lun filed a sealed complaint and reported that a doctor from the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing discovered a lot of doubts one after another while assisting in inspecting the official warehouse. The Nanjing nobles, the governor of Ducang, and Jiangnan merchants colluded and used various methods to
The tactics emptied the official position. Now, the censors and imperial guards responsible for investigating the case have also been bribed by local forces. They introduced some scapegoats in order to get away with it.
Jian Gai, a doctor in the household department in Nanjing, refused to join in the conspiracy and was imprisoned. He committed suicide in prison that night.
Although Zhu Zaiyi couldn't stand Chang Lun and sent him to Nanjing for retirement, he knew Chang Lun's character and knew that Chang Lun would never lie about such a big matter.
Why is Zhu Zaiyi so angry?
First, the Jin Yiwei were the emperor's personal soldiers, and they actually got together with nobles and civil servants to deceive the emperor when investigating the case.
Secondly, the censor responsible for investigating the case was a disciple of the cabinet minister Xia Yan, and Xia Yan was the leader of the imperial party.
Thirdly, the censor of the Nanjing Ducangdu was a close associate of Yan Song, the second assistant, and Yan Song was the real helmsman of the cabinet.
The royal guards, local nobles, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the cabinet... actually joined forces to make the emperor look like a fool!
When the emperor gets angry, things get serious.
The eunuchs who oversaw the Jinyiwei, the commander in charge of the Jinyiwei, and the commander of the Jinyiwei were all thrown into Dongchang Prison by Zhu Zaiyi.
Chang Lun, Wang Yuan's best friend of the same age, and Tang Shunzhi, Wang Yuan's favorite disciple, were bypassed by the cabinet and six ministries by Zhu Zaiyi. They were solely responsible for the review and handling of the case! After their thorough investigation, Wang Yuan's best friend Jin of the same age was found.
Lei will also conduct the final trial on behalf of the Three Law Divisions.
The new party represented by Yan Song and the imperial party represented by Xia Yan will suffer a major blow this time.
The core reformists left behind by Wang Yuan will inevitably be reused again, and the three parties will inevitably regain a delicate balance.
Yan Song asked to see him, but he refused.
Xia Yan asked to see him, but he refused.
The two of them went to Shu again and asked to resign, but they refused.
The Duke of Wei, Xu Pengju, failed to teach his son well, and his son participated in the leadership of corrupt officials. He deprived the Xu family of the title of duke and demoted him to a marquis. He dismissed Xu Pengju from his position as Nanjing garrison and was also in charge of the military governor's office. He confiscated 30,000 acres of land and fined 100,000 shi of grain.
, all the food was transported to the northwest for disaster relief.
The grain merchants who participated in the carving up of Nanjing's official warehouses were sent into exile by the army, and their property was confiscated for disaster relief.
The censor of Nanjing's governor Cangdu, the censor responsible for investigating the case, and the Jin Yiwei responsible for investigating the case commanded the affairs, all of them were beheaded after the fall!
Jian Gai, a doctor in the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing, abided by his duties and was unjustly killed. He was posthumously awarded the title of Right Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, his wife was made a third-grade lady, and one of his sons was appointed as the imperial eunuch.
Chang Lun, the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, was awarded the bachelor's degree of Dongge University for his dedicated work and meritorious service in investigating the case.
In other words, Chang Lun, who was retiring in Nanjing, suddenly became a cabinet minister.
Chang Lun asked to resign, but refused.
"What? He went home to repair his ancestral graves?" Zhu Zaiyi thought he heard wrongly.
Song Cang, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, helped to explain: "Xueshi Chang's hometown is in Shanxi, and it was also hit by the earthquake this time. Not only did he have to go back to repair his ancestral tomb, but his ancestral house also had to be renovated."
Zhu Zaiyi was so angry that he slapped the table: "My Lord, you are just trying to get angry with me!"
After getting angry, Zhu Zaiyi said again: "If he wants to become an official, let him become an official, and then give him a plaque with a bachelor's degree."
Chang Lun is already sixty or seventy years old, and he still has the same bad temper. He was thrown to Nanjing by the emperor for many years. This time he finally took action and turned the court into a puddle of muddy water. Therefore, he joined the cabinet to assist him, and then walked away.
Man——I don’t want to serve you anymore!
Jin Lei quickly finished the case and left without even bothering to say hello.
Zhu Zaiyi was already laughing with anger. He wanted Jin Lei and Chang Lun to join the cabinet together to rebalance the power in the court, but neither of them was willing to cooperate.
The core reformists left behind by Wang Yuan, Gui E, Zheng Shanfu, and Ling Xiang, all died of illness. Jin Lei and Chang Lun left the court again. In the officialdom, only Yan Song and Xia Yan were left to fight.
"Your Majesty, I am old and feeble, and I would like to take up my official position and return home." Tian Qiu, the first assistant, directly resigned in the court hall.
"No!"
Zhu Zaiyi was completely angry. He slapped the golden throne and shouted: "Are you trying to force me into the palace?"
"Your Majesty has lost his composure." Tian Qiu reminded.
Yan Song said nothing and Xia Yan said nothing, they both stood there like wooden stakes.
They were also fined this time, with a three-level salary, deprived of all official titles, and their rank in the imperial court was reduced to that of the Six Ministers.
Suddenly, Zhu Zaiyi smiled and said: "Mr. Tian, I misjudged you. It turns out that you are not the chief minister of the Bodhisattva or the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty. If you are such a waste, how could the teacher recommend you to be the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty?"
Tian Qiu still looked dull: "I am scared."
Zhu Zaiyi closed his eyes and pondered for a few seconds before finally speaking: "The Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Shi Dao, is awarded the bachelor's degree in Dongge, pre-engineering. Tang Shunzhi, the left minister of the Ministry of War, is promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. The candidate for the Minister of Criminal Affairs will be determined by the court!"
"Your Majesty is wise!" the ministers shouted.
The core reformists are back, two cabinet ministers, two ministers, and a group of local chief envoys will be promoted.
Jin Lei, why did Chang Lun hang up his seal and leave?
Why did Tian Qiu request to resign?
To retreat is to advance, and at the same time make room for one's own young faction.
Tian Qiu had been the wooden prime minister for ten years and was always regarded as Yan Song's puppet. From now on, he was finally able to truly take charge of the cabinet.
Zhu Zaiyi was completely out of temper because the mess in front of him was all caused by him.
The core reformists had compromised, and Wang Yuan had arranged the situation. However, Zhu Zaiyi wanted to get rid of the teacher's influence and suppressed the reformists in disguise for ten years, which caused Xia Yan's strength to grow crazily. In order not to be suppressed, Yan Song had no choice but to
He drew a clear line with the core reformists and was forced to form a new party force.
This may seem like nothing, but Xia Yan's disciples dared to collude with Jin Yiwei to deceive the emperor!
Xia Yan cannot be completely defeated, otherwise there will be no one to restrain Yan Song.
It is even more impossible to remove both of them at the same time, otherwise the court will be in chaos, and we don’t know what the fight will look like in the future.
Zhu Zaiyi left the Fengtian Temple exhausted both physically and mentally. After ten years of fooling around, the royal party came back and became even more powerful. In these years, the core reformists were suppressed and chose to give in step by step. They worked together to cultivate the underachievers. A group of people emerged.
A large number of local officials with outstanding political achievements. The Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Industry, as well as many ministers and lieutenants, have also been occupied by the latecomers of the royal party.
The next day, Tian Qiu, the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty, asked for reforms in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan - to divide the land into acres!
These three provinces had just suffered a major earthquake, and they took advantage of the chaos to carry out reforms. Disobedient gentry officials could take action against them and confiscate their property for disaster relief.
Yan Song and Xia Yan had just been severely beaten, and they did not dare to stand up and object at this time.
As the chief minister, Tian Qiu held high the banner of deepening reforms and used extremely fierce political methods. All opponents were impeached for corruption. And the evidence is conclusive! You are kidding when you think that Jin Lei has been the Minister of the Ministry of Justice for twenty years
?A lot of black materials have been secretly collected.
Taking advantage of the reform, the core reformists advanced and quickly monopolized the three divisions of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan. For example, Weng Wanda became Shanxi's left governor.
Wang Yuan did not fully implement the policy of allocating land to land, and added three more provinces to Tian Qiu's hands.
From now on, the five provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Liaoning, and Jiaozhi will all implement the policy of dividing land into acres, and people in the five provinces will no longer have to pay the poll tax - although the landowners will definitely pass it on to the tenants.
The wooden prime minister suddenly became the iron-fisted chief minister. Tian Qiu's change shocked the government and the public. Then they were relieved. He was the chief minister left by Wang Yuan. How could he not have a few brushes?
In fact, this was really not decided by Tian Qiu alone, but the result of joint discussions among the core reformists.
They have been suppressed for a long time and either choose to change their family or choose to stay together and tolerate it. Those who stay are the ones with strong minds.
"Your Majesty, the first batch of 100,000 stones donated by the King of Tianzhu for disaster relief has arrived in Tianjin."
"Let's unload the warehouse and transport it."
Zhu Zaiyi suddenly laughed. He had figured it out this time. He was the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, so why should he be afraid of the residual influence of his teacher? No matter which faction he belonged to, he was his minister. As long as he could use it well, there was no need.
Be deliberately wary of suppression.
Alas, it is better to be a father... ahem, it is better to be a teacher.
Although the teacher was far away in Tianzhu, he heard about the disaster in the Ming Dynasty and took the initiative to bring so much food. Even his brother Wang Ce, his childhood playmate who grew up with him, also donated 200,000 stone to relieve the disaster.
How can they be like these morons in Ming Dynasty, who suffered major disasters in three provinces, and yet they are still colluding in corruption!
Zhu Zaiyi called his brother-in-law Wang Su over: "Princess Ningde is thirteen years old. Is there anyone among the teacher's grandchildren who is suitable for marriage?"
Wang Su replied: "My eldest brother has a son, who is fourteen years old this year."
Zhu Zaiyi smiled and said: "You are in charge of the clan mansion, so you have full authority to arrange this matter and pick an auspicious day to get it done."