Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 186 Please obey public opinion!
The civil officials and gentry were very interested in the emperor's civil governance, but had little interest in his military achievements, and even resented them, denouncing them as unkind and unwise actions of the emperor!
Moreover, they can cite many such examples, such as Emperor Yang of Sui's expedition to Goryeo.

Just like in the original history, after Zhengde Zhu Houzhao won a great victory in the Battle of Yingtian, the civil officials also directly said at the beginning that the emperor was defeated.

Today, the same is true for the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty. It is not that they are unwise, but they instinctively hope for such an outcome, which makes them take the false rumors as reality.

After hearing the news, the Cabinet Deputy Minister Xu Jin, who stayed in the capital, the newly transferred Minister of War Liu Yu, and the Left Censor-in-Chief Tu Yu were also very panicked. They were really worried that His Majesty might meet with an unexpected accident.

After all, the Ming Dynasty doesn’t have a crown prince yet!
Of course, many officials were secretly glad, saying that this was nothing more than a second Battle of Tumu. It would be best if the emperor was dead. If he was not dead but captured, they could choose a vassal king to be the temporary emperor, following the example of the previous dynasty!

"Second Minister! And all the ministers! If Your Majesty really hasn't returned from the Northern Expedition, I wonder who can be Yu Qian!"

Liang Chu, the Left Vice Minister of Rites and the head of Hanlin Academy, said this at the court meeting urgently convened by Xu Jin, but Xu Jin and the Minister of War Liu Yu both looked gloomy. They did not dare to do what Yu Qian did. After all, everyone knew what happened to Yu Qian.

"That's right! Just as Shao Zai said, if the emperor really goes on a northern expedition and never returns, we can't abandon the country because of him. We should make plans early!" The Thirteenth Censor Li Tianfu seconded.

"Why make plans early? The Ministry of War has not received the report from Datong, and the Cabinet and the Imperial Household Department have not received the imperial decree from His Majesty. Everything is just a rumor. It is unknown whether the emperor has actually gone on a northern expedition!"

At this time, Deputy Minister Xu Jin knew that the only thing the capital had to do now was to avoid chaos because of any news. Therefore, no matter what the civil servants under him said, he still did not take any measures on the grounds that the official documents had not arrived.

But at this time, the civil servants had already begun to blame Xu Jinlai.

For example, at this time, the official He Tai said, "Mr. Deputy Prime Minister! You are now in charge of the capital! Your Majesty has brought the Chief Minister of the Cabinet and the Chief of the Imperial Household to the border town. If they have not returned with Your Majesty in the northern hunting expedition, it will be difficult for them to report to the capital for a while. But you cannot stand still and respond quickly! That is what a prime minister should do!"

Xu Jin knew that these civil servants were clearly forcing him to be like Yu Qian. He led them to establish a new prince as emperor and get this done first. By then, no matter whether Zhu Houzhao was dead or alive, as long as there was an emperor in the capital, Zhu Houzhao could naturally be abandoned.

"What prime minister? I don't have a prime minister in the Ming Dynasty, I only have ministers! Are you trying to force Xu to become a power-grabbing person?"

Therefore, Xu Jin was not polite and directly retorted the words of the official He Tai. He knew that at this time, as a member of the Zhongjun Society, the best strategy for him was to remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing circumstances before getting definite news.

Zuodu Yushi Tu Yu couldn't help but ask at this time: "Then according to what you said, how should we deal with the change?"

"Of course, I will go to the palace and ask the Queen Mother for her order to select a new king. I will first coordinate the troops left in the capital and order all the troops in the country to come to the capital to defend the king, just like the example of Zhengtong Jingtai!"

At this time, the son-in-law of the emperor, Cai Zhen, suddenly stood up and said that he was Zhu Houzhao's uncle and his wife was Princess Chun'an, the daughter of Chenghua. As a representative of the nobles, he knew that none of the officials present dared to speak out to establish a new emperor because of the previous incident of the Minister of Rites Zhang Sheng. Therefore, he took the initiative to stand up.

"Why should the prince consort get involved in this? Why not avoid the suspicion of interfering in government affairs?" Xu Jin responded coldly.

"I am your majesty's uncle! Establishing a new emperor is the Zhu family's family affair. How can I not get involved?"

The imperial concubine's son-in-law, Commandant Cai Zhen, was furious. As a man who had originally become famous for the court interrogation of Liu Jin in history, he was not willing to be just an idle nobleman in this life. This was because Emperor Zhu Houzhao's way of governing, which required the use of force externally and hegemony internally, also affected the interests of his noblemen.

"I will say one more thing! Before receiving the official document, I will never believe any rumors! And His Majesty has said before leaving Beijing that he is going to Datong not to personally lead an expedition outside the Great Wall, but to gather outside the Great Wall to unite various tribes and kill the stubborn bandits together! His Majesty has also repeatedly instructed me that no matter what happens, the capital must not act rashly before receiving the imperial edict. Otherwise, I have the right to execute first and then report!"

Xu Jin took out Zhu Houzhao's imperial sword and shouted again: "Now is not the time to disturb the Queen Mother! If anyone dares to be the second Zhang Sheng and wants to force the emperor to abdicate, then first ask if the imperial sword in my hand can agree!"

"Vulgar! Vulgar! Since this is a court discussion, why does the deputy prime minister, who is the pillar of the country, do such a warrior act? It is really unreasonable, unreasonable!"

The Minister of Rites Mao Cheng was quite indignant about this. He did not expect Xu Jinwei to directly draw his sword and threaten him.

Liang Chu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Jiang Mian, the Chancellor of the Imperial Household, both glared at Xu Jin because of this. They did not expect Xu Jin to be so stubborn and unwilling to comply with public opinion on this matter.

However, Li Tianfu, the 13th Imperial Censor, stood up and said, "No matter what, please obey the public opinion!"

The official He Tai also stood up and said, "Please obey the public opinion, Mr. Deputy Minister!"

……

Because of a rumor, the people in the capital were agitated, and some even wanted to force the emperor to establish a new king. At the same time, the people in the border towns were also agitated because of this.

It stands to reason.

After the main force of the little prince was completely wiped out and even he himself was captured alive by the Imperial Guard Battalion, this was the best time for the Ming army to recapture Hetao. However, at this time, the Ming border troops did not dare to go out rashly because His Majesty might be captured and the little prince might return with a great victory.

Even some important officials in border towns, such as governors and generals, began to gather troops and move inland to prepare for going to Beijing to support the king!
Ma Wensheng had just received the news that His Majesty had been defeated and was afraid that the Northern Expedition had not returned yet, so he hurried to Yansui and ordered the border troops in various places to strictly guard the local areas and not to move rashly! At the same time, he also sent his confidant to Datong to ask His Majesty when he would personally lead the expedition.

Cai Kuan, the governor of Shaanxi, was also rushing to Yansui. He was also afraid that if His Majesty was really captured alive by the little prince, he would repeat the same trick that Yesen did to hold Emperor Yingzong hostage. He really didn't know how to respond at that time.

……

At this time, Yansui Governor Liu Meng was pacing anxiously in the room.

"Young Master Zhang! Are you telling the truth? Didn't you return in defeat? Is the person you captured really the little prince?"

Liu Meng paced back and forth and then turned around and asked Zhang Lun.

"Replace it if it's fake!"

After Zhang Lun and his cavalrymen from the Imperial Guards Battalion escorted the little prince to Shenmu Fort, they fell to the ground and fell asleep due to overwork as soon as they saw Liu Meng, the governor of Yansui and explained their identities. The same thing happened to the other cavalrymen from the Imperial Guards Battalion.

Because of this, Liu Meng instinctively believed this result and spread it out. But now that Zhang Lun has woken up, when he asked about it again, he realized that this was not the case.

"But, but, how can you possibly defeat the little prince! He is the Great Khan of Mongolia, with 50,000 cavalrymen under his command! This is impossible, how is this possible!"

Liu Meng had a headache. He didn't believe the result and was even more unwilling to think about how he would deal with the next things if he believed the result.

A hint of coldness flashed in Liu Meng's eyes. He wanted to kill Zhang Lun and the cavalrymen of the Imperial Guard beside him, but he was also afraid of leaking secrets and incurring punishment from the court. After all, according to Zhang Lun's confession, the emperor was still in Datong, and Zhang Lun's identity was not simple. Once he died, someone would definitely hold him accountable.

However, Liu Meng knew that he seemed to have made a huge mistake. He could guess that after the capital city learned the news, some civil servants who had the same idea as him would surely be eager to do something extraordinary. If the matter became a big deal and led to the establishment of a new emperor, he would really be unable to escape the blame!
At this time, Yan Ying, the Imperial Censor of Yansui, asked, "Governor! Should this matter be re-reported? In addition, your majesty commanded the Imperial Guards to unite with the Mongolian right wing to kill the little prince, and Zhang Lun also made a contribution by capturing the little prince alive. Should this matter be recorded and reported immediately?"

"No hurry! We can't rush to report this matter. We can't listen to Zhang Lun's one-sided words. The little prince is such a powerful person, how could he be captured so easily? We must be cautious now! This matter can't be publicized. You write the credit book like this, saying that the military report was wrong because of the rumors last time. Your Majesty didn't personally lead the army in this battle, and there was no great defeat, but it was not a great victory either. The government troops killed no more than a hundred enemies! The casualties were no more than a hundred! It was a small victory, not worth publicizing too much! In order to prevent the little prince's revenge! I have decided to strictly abide by it!"

Liu Meng said, "Find a way to release the little prince, and then kill him halfway! Don't record Zhang Lun's merit in capturing the little prince alive! Otherwise, the nobles will rise again!"

……

Shaanxi General Cai Kuan arrived at Yansui first. When he saw Liu Meng and Zhang Lun, he asked, "What exactly is going on? I received two official documents from you along the way. One said that your Majesty was defeated in the expedition and has not returned from the northern expedition; the other said that your Majesty won a small victory in this battle and is fine! Which one is true?"

"General Cai! These are not true. To be specific, it was a great victory! A real great victory! Your Majesty personally commanded the battle outside Datong City, which can be considered a personal expedition, but to be honest, it is General Qiu who made the greatest contribution in this battle. Of course, this young master did not bring shame to our family this time and captured his little prince alive!"

Zhang Lun spoke proudly. He was still young and innocent, and now that he had captured the little prince alive, he naturally wanted everyone in the world to know that he was a great hero.

At this time, Liu Meng smiled and said, "Reporting to the General! It is the latter. This battle is just a small victory. Your Majesty is fine! The government troops also suffered no major casualties!"

"You are talking nonsense! This is clearly not what I told you! This young master even captured a prisoner..." Zhang Lun's eyes turned black and he suddenly fainted.

Cai Kuan was greatly surprised when he saw this, and hurriedly shouted, "Young Master Zhang, what's wrong with you?"

Liu Meng also panicked when he saw this, and hurriedly ordered a doctor to come, and explained to Cai Kuan: "Young Master Zhang has consumed too much energy in this battle, and his injuries are serious. He has lost a lot of blood and has fainted several times. Please rest assured, the doctor has examined him before, and it is not serious. He just needs to sleep for a few days."

(End of this chapter)