The emperor turned another page on the calendar placed on the royal eucalyptus. Tomorrow will be the Beginning of Autumn.
The beginning of autumn in July means autumn is officially about to enter. Although the weather is still hot, ancient people also said that July is a hot month and the weather will slowly start to get cooler.
The end of summer's splendor and the beginning of autumn's harvest.
In front of the emperor's window, in the flower bed in the courtyard, the corn planted by the fifth princess has also begun to tassel and pollinate. These green corns grow in the flower bed, like rows of strong guards, standing there upright.
The fifth princess took good care of the corns, watered and fertilized them regularly, and often brought her younger brothers and sisters over to catch insects.
This former war orphan has now grown into a virtuous royal princess. What is rare is that she can not only arrange flowers and paint, but also grow corn and vegetables, and is also good at cooking.
These corn crops are very good, and the old farmers have to say good things when they see them.
The prince paid an audience.
Zhu Yihai waved to the prince standing at the door, "Come in."
The prince came in and bowed again, "Your Majesty, Wu Sangui and Zhang Guozhu are plotting rebellion in Halong Port, Xin'an Prefecture, Annan."
Zhu Yihai didn't care at all, "As a military leader in troubled times, it's hard to change his arrogant and domineering nature. But I can understand Zhang Guozhu's rebellion, but Wu Sangui shouldn't also rebel. Doesn't he understand that their rebellion is a dead end and has no chance of winning?"
"
The emperor is full of confidence. Although these guys have been arrogant and domineering in the past, some are self-respecting by supporting thieves, some are self-respecting by supporting soldiers, and some are refusing to obey orders, but today is different from the past.
During the Chongzhen Dynasty and even before, institutional problems and official corruption allowed them to have such an environment, but now they do not.
Especially when they were all taken to Halong Port, why did they still rebel?
"result?"
The prince admired his father's calmness and replied: "Wu Sangui and Zhang Guozhu fled in the middle of the night while taking advantage of the ship's supply in Halong Port. He tried to escape to the mining area to summon the servants and slaves of his own mine to rebel. As a result, he was discovered by the guards when he climbed over the wall and was hunted down in the city.
At that time, Zhang Guozhu was shot to death with a musket by the pursuing guards, while Wu Sangui was intercepted by Baoding who was on patrol at night. He refused to be captured and was shot to death by random arrows."
Wu Sangui and Zhang Guozhu were considered two tycoons in troubled times, but they both died without even escaping from the collapsed street.
Zhu Yihai couldn't believe it when he heard it.
"Were they really killed while escaping?" Zhu Yihai asked the prince.
"Indeed."
"Are you sure it wasn't the escorting guards or the generals at Ha Long Port who took the initiative to kill them and then accused them of absconding and treason?"
The prince was a little nervous because of his father's gaze: "My son has never given such an order. Annan reported it, and there were reports from several parties. They all said that Wu Sangui and others absconded, and then resisted arrest and were killed. The prefect of Halong Port and the county magistrate
As well as the captains, county captains, naval generals at Ha Long Port, provincial garrison, and even the battalion officers at the imperial garrison, as well as the customs officials at the port and wharf, as well as the spies of the Jin Yi Guard, etc., all have the same caliber."
Such an answer means that Wu Sangui and the others really escaped and were killed, not directly executed, because no one in Halong Port has such great ability to make all parties in different systems unify such a caliber.
Unless it was the prince, but the prince was not involved in this matter. He was handling it personally.
The emperor took a long breath, lay back, and leaned back on the chair.
"How could Wu Sangui be so stupid? Why did he have to take such desperate risks? Didn't he know that there was no way he could succeed?"
The prince bowed his head and stood to one side. He could feel that the emperor was very angry.
Zhu Yihai was indeed very angry.
He wanted to judge those guilty officials and clean up those erratic people before abdicating the throne, so that the prince could take over a cleaner and safer Ming court.
But these guys actually refused to cooperate.
Geng Zhongming committed suicide, Qian Qianyi pretended to be crazy and tried to seduce him with his wife, and now Wu Sangui and Zhang Guozhu actually want to escape and rebel.
The angry Zhu Yihai slapped the table directly.
"Send the corpses of Wu Sangui and Zhang Guozhu to the capital and hand them over to the Eighth Hutuktu stationed in Beijing. They will use their corpses to make magical instruments. Their skins will be used to make drums, their tibias will be made into flutes, their brow bones will be used to grind rosary beads, their skulls will be used to make bowls, and they will be fed with their flesh and blood.
The dog's bones were ground into ashes, and the ashes were burned into bone china kneeling statues, which were placed in the provincial governor's offices for collection as a warning."
"Execute all the men, including Wu Sangui's brothers, children, grandchildren, and nephews, and make the curly-haired women slaves of Yongning Temple and the border army."
······
All the men in the family were executed, and the nine clans were implicated.
Zhang Guozhu was treated in the same way.
If they cooperate in going to Beijing for trial, Zhu Yihai will try them in public, and finally list them in the criminal record, and then execute them, but their tribesmen will let them go, that is, they will move to the border, their property will be confiscated, and they will not be allowed to pass the exam for the third and fifth generations.
They were not allowed to serve as soldiers or serve as officials and were not allowed to move back to the interior. The rest were still free citizens.
But now, if they still rebel in this situation, they are completely challenging the emperor's bottom line.
Before he abdicated, he only wanted to do this one thing well, but they were still unwilling to cooperate. Under such conditions, they all still wanted to rebel. It is conceivable that if he doesn't clean up these people now, these guys will be in the prince's hands in the future.
Under his rule, rebellion may occur at any time.
"Send all the men from the nine rebel tribes to Australia to raise sheep and hunt kangaroos, and all the women will be slaves at the Hong Gai Mine in Halong Port and the Royal Miners."
An angry Zhu Yihai reminded the prince, "Send more people to pick up Hong Chengchou, Ma Guozhu, Tu Guobao and others. There must be no more suicides, absconding, or rebellions. I want them all to attend the trial and accept their final judgment."
."
"Tell them that whoever dares to disobey me will end up worse than Wu Sangui and Zhang Guozhu. I will send all nine of their tribes to Australia and Yin to be slaves forever, and their children and grandchildren will all be executed."
The emperor was a bit violent and filial like a foolish king.
This is a side that the prince has never seen before. Recently, he has vaguely noticed that the emperor has become a little moody and is no longer the kind and kind emperor. Such an emperor makes him very afraid and even uneasy.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Time is running out,"
Zhu Yihai leaned on the dragon-headed cane and said, "We don't have time to drag it out like this. According to the list I gave you, go ahead and catch those who should be arrested, those who should be interrogated, those who should be demoted, those who should be expelled, and those who should be moved.
Move, cut the mess with a sharp knife,"
"Your Majesty, is it too involved and too hasty? I'm afraid it will cause turmoil."
"Don't worry about it. I will do it myself. This is my last thing. After I finish it, I will hand over this country to you and give you a clean country without any hidden dangers. As long as they are willing to cooperate with me, I will not kill them."
Of the many people, I only killed a small number of those who committed the most heinous crimes and had great influence. The rest were just dismissed from their posts, demoted, exiled, relocated, etc. Compared to the mistakes they had committed, my treatment of them was already very polite. If
They can't accept this, so there's nothing more to say."
The emperor was very powerful and authoritarian.
The prince retreated.
Zhu Yihai looked at the prince's back and shook his head helplessly.
His current almost crazy behavior is ultimately due to the fact that his time is short. It has only been nine years since he started the army, and he is about to abdicate. The prince is less than twenty, which is too young.
Wu Sangui was only in his early forties, and many of the warlords and civil servants from the troubled times at the end of Chongzhen were still there, and they were even still young and strong. However, although the prince's performance was acceptable, he was still young and could only be regarded as a middle-aged man in all aspects.
If the prince were placed in Chongzhen's position, he might not be able to do better than Chongzhen.
How could Zhu Yihai safely leave the world to the prince and let the prince continue to walk with those tigers and wolves? The current situation is not easy.
As long as he was sure that he could work for another ten or twenty years, he would not be so impatient. How could he not know that doing so would easily go too far and may even cause turmoil, which would not only damage his own reputation but also damage the credibility of the court?
But after weighing it, he still decided to do it himself first.
For example, if Zhu Yuanzhang could truly consider his grandson Jianwen and change the vassal system and reduce or abolish the vassal king during his lifetime, then Jianwen would not have to reduce the vassal and his uncle would not usurp the throne.
Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't think there was anything wrong with his vassal system, and Emperor Jianwen was ultimately incapable and failed to cut down the vassals slowly, but acted too hastily. But in the final analysis, it was Lao Zhu who didn't make arrangements for him.
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"Wu Sangui and Zhang Guozhu absconded in Halong Port and rebelled. When they were hunted, they resisted arrest and died. Wu Sangui even died in the hands of Baoding Baojia in Halong Port City. He was shot to death by random arrows from Baoding who was patrolling the night."
When Lu Liuliang came home from duty, he saw his brother Yuanliang drinking tea and playing music, and sighed and told him.
"Wu Sangui was beaten to death by Baoding of Halong Port?"
Lu Yuanliang opened his mouth in surprise. This news was as shocking as when he heard that Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in Meishan or that Li Zicheng was beaten to death by a local regiment in Jiugong Mountain in Hubei.
Baoding, under the Baojia system, are civilian strongmen selected from each Baojia system. They are on duty at night to patrol the rural streets. These people are not even group drills, they are ordinary people.
What a person Wu Sangui is, a hero of his generation.
He actually ended up like this.
"The emperor was furious and ordered that all Wu Sangui's family be executed, and all nine of his clans were implicated and made into slaves..."
"The royal guards and knights are out in all directions."
"A storm is coming."
The two brothers sat there in silence for a long time.
Lu Yuanliang threw down the chess piece and suddenly said to his younger brother, "I suddenly have the idea of retiring. I want to become an official and return to my hometown."
"The third brother is only in his fifties, and at this juncture, it is not the right time for the third brother to resign. We should wait a little longer." Lu Liuliang told his brother, "Now it is almost certain that on New Year's Eve at the end of this year, the emperor will abdicate.
Prince, on the first day of the first lunar month next year, the prince will hold a grand ceremony for his enthronement."
"The current turmoil may be just the pain before rebirth."
Lu Yuanliang sighed.
"I don't know how many statues of sinners have to kneel in front of the Ancestral Temple."
"This is the judgment of history. Although it is a little late, what is supposed to come will come after all. This is a good thing." Lu Liuliang still has the same attitude. Ethics are the foundation of everything and must be upheld and maintained.
