Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 138: Arresting the Southern Zhili Inspector

Zhu Houzhao did not expect that Jiang Wei would dare to use this as a threat, and could not help but ask:
"Didn't you hear me? I've already said that anyone who stands in my way will be killed immediately!"

"Your Majesty is a holy monarch. A holy monarch will not kill his subjects just because their honest advice is unpleasant to the ears!" Jiang Wei buried his head and used this as an excuse.

Zhu Houzhao suddenly didn't know how to refute Jiang Wei. He thought that this guy was actually flattering him and threatening him, implying that if he killed him, he would not be a sage king.

Zhu Houzhao ignored Jiang Wei, because Jiang Wei's words actually did not threaten him. He did not care about the title of Saint King or not. He turned to look at Qiu Yue and said, "What are you standing there for? Chop him off!"

"Yes!"

Qiu Yue drew his knife and walked directly towards Jiang Wei.

Jiang Wei suddenly stood up and tried to run: "Your Majesty! Please return to the palace! I will go back to the Ministry of Rites to submit a memorial first! I hope Your Majesty can return to the palace!"

Click!

Jiang Wei obviously did not expect that Zhu Houzhao was really going to kill him, and his reaction was a little slow. After hearing the sound of the steel knife being unsheathed, he just stood up and wanted to run, but he was too late, so he was chopped off to the ground with his head and half of his body by the brave Qiu Yue.

Bang!

Jiang Wei, with only half of his body and a head left, looked at Zhu Houzhao in astonishment, but closed his eyes before he could open his mouth.

"move on!"

Looking at the blood on the ground, Zhu Houzhao was helpless and only gave one order. He didn't know whether this was a foreshadowing that he was destined to stir up a bloody storm when he was about to go to the south of the Yangtze River.

……

At this time, Jiangnan was still prosperous and peaceful.

Song Kai, the imperial censor of Southern Zhili, had just come out of Yuan Zhongan's concubine's room. He had had too much fun last night, so his waist was still sore. He had to turn his waist while asking his staff, "Has the imperial court's reply arrived?"

"Imperial Censor Song, you don't have to wait for approval!"

At this time, Liang Ze, a captain of the Imperial Guard, suddenly appeared at the Moon Cave Gate and waved his hand: "Capture him!"

So, the two Jinyiwei lieutenants immediately put on their boots and ran towards Song Kai. Song Kai was also very surprised to see this. He never thought that Jinyiwei would come to arrest him directly. For a moment, he couldn't help but shout:

"You! What are you doing? I am the Imperial Inspector, I am innocent and blameless, why are you arresting me so arbitrarily?"

"According to the imperial decree! The Taxation Bureau of Zhenjiang Prefecture, the Taxation Bureau of Chongming County of Suzhou Prefecture, and the Taxation Bureau of Zhenjiang Prefecture have been slaughtered. As a patrolling censor, you have the authority and responsibility to supervise local military affairs, but now under your jurisdiction, pirates are so rampant, which is enough to show that you have failed in your duty! Therefore, arrest you! Put you in the Jinyiwei prison and interrogate you for the suspicion of nurturing the enemy and causing trouble!"

As Liang Ze was speaking, two Jinyi officers had already detained Song Kai, and Song Kai said in a timid tone:
"I have explained in my memorial that I was in Nanjing at the time. The disaster of pirates was caused by the poor defense of Susong Bingbei Dao and Zhenjiang Zongbing. I have impeached them. What does this have to do with me? Even if I am held responsible, it should be investigated by the Metropolitan Censorate! You, the Jinyiwei, are asking for the emperor's order without permission, which is an act of disrupting the imperial order!"

Liang Ze ignored Song Kai's questioning. After all, he was only responsible for arresting people. He didn't understand the rules of the court and was too lazy to understand them.

Song Kai was a little scared at this moment. After all, he knew in his heart that he was involved in this matter, but he could not admit it now. He could only use the rules to stop the Jinyiwei from arresting him.

Civil officials and gentry have always hated the Jinyiwei's interference in the judiciary and arresting people without reason, because this would prevent them from using their power to circumvent the court rules to do things. Therefore, literati have always criticized the Jinyiwei's interference in the judiciary and arresting court officials as evil policies, but they have not heard how they themselves arbitrarily trampled on the law and abused the common people when they were officials.

But as an emperor, Zhu Houzhao obviously needed the Embroidered Uniform Guards, especially an old fox like Song Kai. If you follow the rules, you will never be able to catch his mistakes, and you may even have no way to deal with him. But with the Embroidered Uniform Guards, things will be much easier.

Now Zhu Houzhao first ordered the Jinyiwei to arrest Song Kai and put him in prison, thus avoiding the situation where the Inspector General Song Kai interfered when Wang Yangming, the governor of Nanzhili, arrived in Jiangnan to investigate the case of the Taxation Bureau. This also allowed the Jiangnan gentry to lose their biggest umbrella of protection in the officialdom, thus preparing for further crackdowns on these local gentry in Jiangnan in the future.

……

Jiangnan was a place where gentry gathered. Therefore, the Jinyiwei came here and took away a patrol censor, which naturally attracted the attention of the gentry, not to mention that they took it from a gentry's home. On the day that patrol censor Song Kai was captured by the Jinyiwei, Yuan Zhongan, a Juren from Suzhou, knew about it. He immediately called a group of gentry and said, "Everyone, Mr. Song was taken away by the Jinyiwei. We can't just stand by and watch! Jiangnan is not the capital. We can't let the Jinyiwei do this. Moreover, if Mr. Song is captured, we will be held responsible for whatever is revealed during the interrogation!"

"All of you here are scholars with achievements, and some of you have officials in your family. The court dares to arrest people in Jiangnan at will, which is undoubtedly very disrespectful to us, the Jiangnan families! We can't let the court do this! We must organize the scholars to petition the government office and ask the officials to submit a petition to the court on our behalf, asking the court not to destroy the reputation of honest officials and listen to the will of the people in Jiangnan!"

At this time, Gu Xiantong, who had served as a minister in the Nanjing Hanlin Academy, also spoke up.

Yuan Zhongan nodded in agreement. "I heard that the court has added a new governor of Southern Zhili, who will take office soon. This governor is Wang Shouren of Zhejiang, the son of Wang Hua, the number one scholar. I can rely on Mr. Gu to introduce him to you. After all, you are his uncle. Wang Hua and you were both successful candidates in the same imperial examination."

"That's fine. I don't think he would dare to be an enemy of all the gentry in Jiangnan!"

……

As soon as Wang Yangming, the governor of Southern Zhili, arrived in Nanjing, Gu Xiantong and other gentry from the south of the Yangtze River sent a letter requesting a meeting.

Township officials and students have always been the two most typical representatives of the local privileged class in the Ming Dynasty. They are also one of the two major dangers that led to the collapse and even demise of the Ming society. The other is the clerks. Now that these township officials and students from Jiangnan have come to ask for a meeting, Wang Yangming dare not refuse. He also knows that these local officials and scholars have always wanted to interfere in local government affairs, but as an official in charge of the local government, he cannot do without these gentry to lead the local grassroots to obey his rule.

But Wang Yangming did not expect that so many people would come this time, and even his father's old friend Gu Xiantong was one of them. Moreover, when these gentry arrived, they bowed to him and said earnestly:
"Governor! We are here only to plead for Inspector Song. Inspector Song is an honest official! During his time as governor of Jiangnan, he rested with the people, studied and repaired the river, and his achievements were outstanding. The people of Jiangnan were grateful for his kindness and built a temple to worship him. Why did the Jinyiwei arrest him for no reason, causing this honest official to be wronged? Therefore, we follow the people's request and ask the governor to speak to the court and restore Inspector Song's innocence!"

"Yes! The governor is also an official appointed by our court. Can you just sit back and watch the factory guards run rampant in Jiangnan and disregard the court's laws? Don't you think this is a disgrace to civility?"

Yuan Zhongan also said this.

"Everyone, please stand up quickly. This is my first time here, and I don't know the truth yet. However, the Jinyiwei is the emperor's personal army, under the control of His Majesty. I have no right to interfere, and I am helpless. However, I can report your request to the emperor, and I believe His Majesty will not ignore your request!"

Wang Yangming finally persuaded these gentry to leave after much persuasion. At the same time, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. It was really not easy to come to Jiangnan to be the governor of Southern Zhili. He had just taken office, and so many officials and gentry came to interfere in government affairs, and even wanted to force the court to release Song Kai.

Unconsciously, I seemed to have become one of these Jiangnan gentry. I thought to myself, no wonder His Majesty came to Jiangnan in person. Otherwise, in Jiangnan, which is far away from the capital, I could not follow the emperor's orders and could only listen to public opinion. And now public opinion is controlled by these Jiangnan gentry.

But in any case, Wang Yangming still submitted the requests of these Jiangnan gentry to Zhu Houzhao.

……

At this time, Zhu Houzhao, who was still on the road, also received Wang Yangming's memorial about the Jiangnan gentry requesting the release of the inspector Song Kai. He couldn't help but laugh for a moment, and took the memorial to Song Kai, who had been detained here, and said, "Song Kai, you are so honorable! You were just arrested by the Jinyiwei, and these Jiangnan gentry went to the governor to plead for you!"

"Your Majesty! I am innocent! I really don't know what crime I have committed, but you let you send out the Jinyiwei to arrest me! Since Your Majesty asked me to inspect Nanzhili, you should trust me. But now Your Majesty believes in slander and arrests me for no reason, which makes the people dissatisfied. I have no intention of holding the people hostage to oppose Your Majesty. I only ask Your Majesty to allow me to resign! I would rather return to my hometown!"

Song Kai roared fearlessly. After he knew that the Jiangnan gentry had pleaded for him, he not only did not feel afraid, but instead felt more confident. After all, he now knew that he had the support of the entire Jiangnan gentry behind him.

"Public opinion? You dare to threaten me with public opinion! The gentry in Jiangnan can represent public opinion? You, Song Kai, are worthy of public opinion! Stop fooling me! I am not a three-year-old child! The cabinet just rejected your memorial requesting the abolition of the Taxation Bureau, and you immediately submitted a memorial saying that the Taxation Bureau should be slaughtered. Do you really think that the people in the central court are fools! Can't you see that there is a connection here?
No, you and the gentry behind you are not blind to it, but you are fearless! Isn’t it! You want to threaten me and the court with this, and tell me that if I don’t comply with your request, more tax bureaus like this will be massacred and more innocent people will be killed! Yes and no! "

Zhu Houzhao questioned Song Kai loudly.

Seeing that Zhu Houzhao had exposed his previous intentions with the Jiangnan gentry, Song Kai did not make any excuses and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know how to respond. I just want to ask Your Majesty, do you want to offend the entire Jiangnan gentry and leave a bad name for eternity?"

"presumptuous!"

Zhu Houzhao kicked Song Kai on the spot and pointed at him: "How dare you threaten me!"

Then, Zhu Houzhao said: "However, I can tell you that I am really not afraid, even if it means offending the entire Jiangnan gentry. Come, hang up Song Kai and interrogate him about the massacre at the Taxation Bureau!"

Thanks to the book friend 20171027185303596 for the 100 Qidian coins reward

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(End of this chapter)