Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 125 Cut it! Kill it! (First update, please subscribe first! Please give me a monthly ticket!)

Wang Ao was also a little angry when he saw Zhu Houzhao being so aggressive. He still thought Zhu Houzhao was his father, Emperor Hongzhi, and he directly bowed his hands and said, "Since ancient times, all sages have respected teachers and valued education. I hope Your Majesty will treat me with courtesy. If Your Majesty thinks that I am not worthy of being a teacher, I will resign!"

"What I am asking now is, which hand did you use to hit Yan Song?"

Zhu Houzhao took a step closer to Wang Ao and asked again.

Wang Ao didn't understand why Emperor Zhu Houzhao insisted on asking this question. He thought that he was just a small official of the sixth rank, and not one with power. As the Minister of Personnel and the emperor's teacher, even if he slapped him and taught him a lesson, what crime would he commit? So he replied, "Your Majesty, you can ask Yan Siye yourself!"

Zhu Houzhao looked at Yan Song.

"Your Majesty! Please do not blame Minister Wang. It was because I was too stupid that my answer did not satisfy Minister Wang, causing him to think that the Imperial University was a place of heresy and chaos. He said that I had deceived Your Majesty and made him do such a foolish thing! I think it was right for Minister Wang to punish me. It was because of my incompetence that Minister Wang misunderstood Your Majesty as a tyrant!"

Although Yan Song's words seemed to be pleading for Wang Ao, in fact, he was clearly telling Zhu Houzhao Wang Ao's intentions.

Zhu Houzhao naturally knew that Wang Ao wanted to intimidate him by attacking Yan Song and force him to demolish the Imperial University of Peking.

Because he was the teacher of the previous emperor and also his own teacher. Even if he beat Yan Song, he could only choose to forgive him. In order to save his face, he should even punish Yan Song.

However, Zhu Houzhao knew that if he did this, Wang Ao would definitely think that he respected him as his mentor and was taking advantage of his seniority, and would become even more aggressive, such as asking him to demolish the Imperial University of Peking.

Therefore, when Wang Ao saw him, he directly emphasized that I am your teacher. He was undoubtedly telling Zhu Houzhao that I am your teacher and you must respect me!

But Zhu Houzhao would not give Wang Ao the opportunity to control him. He still asked Wang Ao in a cold voice: "Tell me, which hand did you hit me with?"

Wang Ao still did not answer.

At this time, Zhang Cong stood up. He knew that Zhu Houzhao was trying to use the Yan Song incident to assert his power, so he replied: "Your Majesty, I report to you! Minister Wang hit me with his right hand. I saw it clearly!"

"Guo Rong, cut off Wang Ao's right hand for me!"

As soon as Zhu Houzhao said this, Wang Ao couldn't help but be shocked: "Your Majesty, I am your teacher, why did you cut off my arm because of a small official!"

Zhu Houzhao did not answer Wang Ao, but shouted: "Chop him off for me!"

"Yes!"

Guo Rong immediately ran over and chopped off Wang Ao's right arm at the shoulder with a swing of his knife. Instantly, the bloody right arm fell to the ground, and Yan Hanlin and Zhuang Zhongyun were so scared that they knelt on the spot: "Your Majesty, spare us! It's none of our business, it's none of our business!"

Wang Ao also screamed and fainted on the spot.

Zhu Houzhao hurriedly ordered someone to pour cold water on him to wake him up. After being poured with a basin of cold water, Wang Ao couldn't help but shiver, and then he howled loudly: "It hurts! It really hurts! Woo woo! Your Majesty, why do you treat me like this!"

Wang Ao was crying and shouting, and his image of a refined gentleman had completely disappeared. He was in so much pain that he couldn't hold back his urine and feces. The gurgling sound came from his official robes that were covered in dirt, followed by a foul smell.

"You, Wang Ao, are my subjects, and so are Yan Song. You are all appointed officials by the court. If a commoner commits a crime, he will be killed! A prince who breaks the law is guilty of the same crime as a commoner! Although you, Wang Ao, are an official appointed by the court, you slapped Yan Song for no reason, and Yan Song is even my close subject. Your behavior is even more of an insult to the emperor! Cutting off your arm is a light punishment for me! If it weren't for the fact that you were the teacher of the previous emperor, I would have taken your life long ago! Why don't you kneel down and thank me!"

Zhu Houzhao could not help but take three steps back before he started to scold Wang Ao.

Wang Ao didn't expect Zhu Houzhao to actually find a reason, and he didn't know how to answer for a moment. Of course, he was in so much pain that it was difficult for him to speak fluently.

"Why, you don't want to kneel? You are the leader of Confucianism and you value ethics and etiquette the most. Do you dare not acknowledge me as your father and king?!"

Zhu Houzhao asked coldly. Wang Ao didn't want to kneel. He was used to being respected by scholars and the emperor.

Now, he was asked to kneel before Zhu Houzhao, a 15-year-old young emperor, which was difficult for him to accept, so he said: "Your Majesty, you can kill me, but you cannot humiliate me. Please respect your teacher and teach me!"

"Well, in that case, I will first punish you for not recognizing me as your father and ruler! Then I will bury you with honor and ceremony and posthumously grant you a posthumous title!"

Zhu Houzhao said, "Those who have no king or father should be punished with death! Come, take Wang Luo to the Jinyiwei prison and prepare to punish him severely!"

thump!
Wang Ao suddenly gritted his teeth and stood up, then knelt down despite the severe pain: "I dare not disown my father! Your Majesty cannot punish me with death for this reason!"

"You'd better know your place! Pass the decree. Wang Ao disregarded the emperor's grace, had no regard for the emperor and father, and bullied me because I was young. This is really abominable. I wanted to kill him to restore order, but considering that he is the emperor's teacher, I will temporarily demote him to the magistrate of Jilong County, Dongfan Island!"

Zhu Houzhao said.

"Jilong County, Your Majesty, there is no such county in the Ming Dynasty," Xia Yan replied.

Wang Ao found this very difficult to accept: "Your Majesty, you have banished me to that miasma land, which is equivalent to letting me die in a foreign land, and no one will collect my body. You might as well kill me now!"

"Wang Ao, don't you want to teach me how to be a wise ruler? Go and be a good official who governs the people first, and then come back to teach me!"

Zhu Houzhao left the Imperial University and said, "Pass the order! In the future, any court official who dares to cause trouble at the Imperial University will be charged with disturbing the imperial palace!"

……

Wang Ao was filled with hatred in his heart, but he hated why Zhu Houzhao treated him like this, when he was just one step away from entering the cabinet!
But Wang Ao himself did not expect to meet such a ruthless king, nor did he expect Zhu Houzhao to have such a different temperament from before, but he could only accept his fate at this time!

On the day Wang Ao left the capital, upright officials such as Yang Tinghe saw him off in tears and spoke up for Wang Ao.

Wang Ao also sighed with tears to Yang Tinghe and other upright officials, "I really didn't expect Your Majesty to be like this now! It's because of my incompetence! I failed to teach Your Majesty well! Your Majesty didn't want to hold the imperial lectures and destroy the Imperial University, so I could only die to persuade him! I didn't expect that I angered Your Majesty and was chopped with a knife, resulting in my right arm being lost from now on. I was also exiled to the wild land of Dongfan and will die in a foreign land in the future!"

"Your Majesty, you are not afraid of life or death, and dare to speak out against me. You are truly a loyal minister! Alas!"

Yang Tinghe and other upright officials were deeply moved after hearing this.

Wang Ao was very satisfied to see this. He said this naturally in the hope that one of these upright officials would intercede for him and make Zhu Houzhao change his mind, or even force Zhu Houzhao to let him return to Beijing by writing a joint letter.

However, Wang Ao did not say it clearly here, but he gave Yang Tinghe a wink, and he believed that Yang Tinghe could understand what he meant.

Wang Ao believed that he would come back, because the clean officials could not do without a leader like him, and the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River could not do without a figure like him in the court.

But Wang Ao also secretly vowed in his heart that the next time he returned to Beijing, he would let Emperor Zhu Houzhao know how powerful the clean officials and the Jiangnan gentry behind them were.

However, Wang Ao had just left the capital for a few days when he met the Imperial Guards. Liang Ze, a captain of the Imperial Guards, said, "Your Majesty has said that Wang Ao has no intention of repenting. When he left the capital, he slandered Your Majesty with words! He even deliberately instigated officials to intercede for him. His intentions are really evil! It is obvious that exiling him to the Eastern Barbarians is meaningless and will only harm the people! So kill him!"

"Ah! I, I just want to go back to the capital. Your Majesty, please spare my life, Your Majesty, please spare my life!"

Wang Ao did not expect that Zhu Houzhao would know about his affairs through the Jinyiwei so quickly, and would kill him directly. He hurriedly pleaded for mercy, but it was too late. The Embroidered Spring Knife of Liang Ze, a captain of the Jinyiwei, had already pierced Wang Ao's chest.

Thanks to the book friend Chaoxuexuechi for the 100 starting coins reward. Thank you to the book friend Zhoutian Meridian for the 100 starting coins reward. Thank you to the book friend The Ant Who Stole Life for the 100 starting coins reward. Thank you to the book friend Chiqie for the 500 starting coins reward. Thank you to the book friend Fruit 001 for the 100 starting coins reward.

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(End of this chapter)