Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 187 The Emperor Returns to the Capital: Protect the Loyal Officials and Kill the Traitors! (Two in One)

Big win!

This is indeed a big win!
Spring has returned, the snow on the grassland has just melted, and the area outside Yulin City is already green and full of butterflies.

Zhu Houzhao then learned that Qiu Yue had led the Ming cavalry to defeat the 50,000 cavalry of the little prince of the left wing of Mongolia, and successfully rescued the Tushe and Ordos tribes of the right wing of Mongolia.

Zhu Houzhao himself did not expect this. He was even prepared for Qiu Yue to return empty-handed.

But now, when he saw Qiu Yue bringing back more than 5,000 frightened captives and countless baggage, Zhu Houzhao had to believe that the Ming cavalry had indeed won a great victory!
Looking at the Tuxie and Ordos tribes, whose faces still showed signs of shock and whose only a thousand or so remnants of cavalry were left under their command, Zhu Houzhao felt even happier. He could also imagine what mystery was hidden in that war.

The little prince was defeated, and the two Mongolian tribes that surrendered to him were also severely damaged. With such a battle, the Ming Dynasty could undoubtedly maintain peace for decades.

In other words, even if Zhu Houzhao did nothing now and just became a carefree king, he would not have to worry about border troubles for decades.

But Zhu Houzhao knew that now it would be the turn of the powerful gentry to be unhappy. Without the little prince, a powerful foreign force, how would they support the invaders and make profits in the future?
Zhu Houzhao could draw a bow that looked like a full moon. He was full of ambition and enthusiasm at this moment, as if he really wanted to compete with heaven and earth. Even when he was hunting outside Yulin City, he felt even more excited. He talked and laughed with the leaders of various tribes who came to pay him a visit, and he never stopped drinking.

Of course, when Zhu Houzhao learned of the great victory of the Ming army, he immediately summoned the civil and military officials in Yulin City and ordered: "Now, the most important thing is to recover Hetao. While the little prince is being defeated, immediately issue an order to Ma Wensheng and Cai Kuan, ordering the border troops from all places to immediately march into Hetao and recover Hetao!

"As Your Majesty said, now is a golden opportunity to recover Hetao. All the Mongolian tribes have been severely damaged. If we don't recover Hetao now, it will only cause more trouble in the future!" replied Jiao Fang, the chief minister of the cabinet.

At this time, Jinyiwei Wei Ming rushed to Zhu Houzhao with an urgent message and broke in directly: "Your Majesty! There was a sudden news from the interior that your Majesty's personal expedition was defeated, and that you have not returned from the northern expedition. Ma Wensheng and others had to be on guard against the border towns and strictly ordered all border troops to act without authorization!"

Zhu Houzhao also guessed at this time that there was important military intelligence. After all, the Jinyiwei who could break in to see him directly could only be the people in the Northern Pacification Division who were specifically responsible for reporting military intelligence.

But what Zhu Houzhao didn't expect was that the military intelligence he passed on was actually the news of his defeat spreading inside the pass. For a moment, he couldn't help but ask: "Who is spreading rumors?!"

"However, I don't have time to ask about this now. Right now, the troops in the border towns must not move. Recovering Hetao is the top priority! Send it to Ma Wensheng as soon as possible, and send troops to recapture Hetao immediately. Otherwise, I will severely punish those who fail to fulfill their duties!"

Zhu Houzhao then instructed Qiu Yue, "You personally lead two cavalry regiments to Wuhai Mountain first! Continue to hunt down the remnants of the little prince, find the whereabouts of Zhang Lun and the Imperial Guard Battalion, and pass on the order to go to Ningxia!"

"His Majesty!"

The chief minister of the cabinet, Jiao Fang, suddenly shouted loudly with an extremely serious expression, in stark contrast to his gentle demeanor in front of Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao was quite surprised and even a little angry when he saw this, because Jiao Fang's behavior now obviously disregarded the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects, and he was too excited: "My dear Jiao, what are you doing?"

"Your Majesty! The most important thing right now is not to let Qiu Yue lead the Imperial Guards to look for Zhang Lun, but to gather the Imperial Guards and return to the capital immediately! Your Majesty!"

Jiao Fang was a civil servant, so he naturally understood the thoughts of the civil servant group better than Zhu Houzhao. When he heard the Jinyiwei report that His Majesty's personal expedition had suffered a great defeat inside the pass, he felt something was wrong. He was aware of the possible changes at this time, so he went against his usual behavior and shouted loudly, trying to forcibly stop Zhu Houzhao.

……

Beijing.

Xu Jin never thought that one day he would be so threatened by these civil servants. At this moment, he truly felt the situation that his majesty had once faced, but he knew that he was not the emperor after all, and he could not be as reckless as the emperor. He was just a deputy assistant.

The 13th Imperial Censor Li Tianfu and the Imperial Examination Official He Tai threatened Xu Jin, which gave the Minister of Rites Mao Cheng courage again, and he continued to speak directly to Xu Jin:
"Mr. Xu! Now that the officials have asked you to obey public opinion, you have to agree. Do you really want to disregard the country and people of the Ming Dynasty? Where is your decisiveness in helping His Majesty to kill the traitors in the past? If you are unwilling, then let Mao ask to see the Queen Mother!"

Mao Cheng said this and turned and left.

"stop!"

Xu Jin shouted and warned, "Grand Master, I have already made it clear to you. If you dare to act without authorization again, I will kill you first and then report to you!"

As he spoke, Xu Jin shouted to the other civil servants: "The same goes for you. Without the Cabinet's order, you are not allowed to act rashly!"

"Humph! I am the Minister of Rites, one of the Nine Ministers of the Imperial Court, and not a member of your cabinet. Even if you are the Deputy Minister of the Cabinet, what can you do to me? Do you really dare to kill me? Don't say that I am innocent. Even if I am guilty, it is not your cabinet that can punish me!"

Mao Cheng walked out first and shouted, "Everyone, have the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty lost their backbone since you? Now that the foreign invaders are approaching, Your Majesty is hunting in the north. You must ask the Queen Mother to establish a new king and punish the eunuchs and corrupt officials!"

Pfft!

Xu Jin stabbed the Minister of Rites Mao Cheng in the back with a sword. He knew that if he didn't kill Mao Cheng now, Mao Cheng would really make things worse. Although he didn't know the whereabouts of the emperor, he had to obey the emperor's orders, keep everything stable, and not let the capital city get into chaos!
Mao Cheng never thought that Xu Jin would dare to stab him! He looked at Xu Jin in astonishment: "You, you, you dare to kill me!"

The other civil servants present were also speechless, and those who had wanted to respond to the Minister of Rites Mao Cheng instinctively retreated.

Xu Jin drew out the imperial sword, and immediately, the blood on Mao Cheng's body splattered on his official uniform. The imperial python robe was stained with blood, making it look more majestic; and there were still bloodstains on the sword blade, dripping drop by drop into the hall.

It seemed that at this time Xu Jin was not the second-in-command of the cabinet, nor a civil servant, but a warrior defending the imperial order.

Xu Jin turned around holding the bloody sword and asked coldly, "Who dares to take advantage of this opportunity to cause trouble?!"

The civil servants who wanted to cause trouble did not expect Xu Jin to be so arrogant that he would dare to kill the Minister of Rites directly. They all became timid all of a sudden and dared not make any more comments.

The civil officials never expected that Xu Jin, who was now in charge of the government, would be so cruel!

I didn't expect Xu Jin to be so unwilling to cooperate with us!
But because of this, these civil servants knew that they had to get rid of Xu Jin first!
Seeing this, the imperial concubine's lieutenant, Cai Zhen, could not help but shout, "Xu Ci Fu! You are so good at killing ministers! If your majesty is defeated and captured, and the new emperor ascends the throne, aren't you afraid of being punished?!"

After the imperial son-in-law, the imperial lieutenant, Cai Zhen, shouted, the 13th imperial censor, Li Tianfu, also gained some courage and quickly echoed him: "That's right, if your majesty is really defeated and captured, and the new emperor ascends the throne! You killed the ministers without authorization! Aren't you afraid of being punished in the future?!"

"If that is the case, I will confess my crime and you will not need to ask any more questions! But now, if anyone dares to step into the Cining Palace and threaten the Queen Mother to depose or enthrone, I will make him bleed! Even if he is a minister or a noble, so what! Who is greater than His Majesty the Emperor!"

Xu Jin held the Imperial Sword in his hand, and without sheathing it, he walked towards the imperial concubine Cai Zhen and Li Tianfu step by step. Every step he took left a trail of bloody footprints, making the entire hall look even more solemn and murderous. The imperial concubine Cai Zhen and Li Tianfu, who had just summoned the courage to scold him, could only retreat and stammered:

"We are only, just reminding you. You are so stubborn. When we hear the news that His Majesty was defeated and captured, you'd better confess your crime as you said!"

"Eight hundred miles in a hurry!" "Eight hundred miles in a hurry!"

"Eight hundred miles urgent!"

At this time, the sound of hurried horse hooves was heard, and a messenger rushed in: "Report! Urgent message from the commander-in-chief!"

"It must be the news that His Majesty was defeated and captured during the expedition! This is the news that Ma Wensheng and Cai Kuan confirmed, otherwise they wouldn't have rushed it for 800 miles!"

"That's right! Your Majesty's capture is indeed a misfortune for the country, but Xu Jin killed the ministers without authorization and seized Tai'a, which makes him a traitor to the country!"

Li Tianfu, the 13th Imperial Censor, and He Tai, the Imperial Censor, said this.

Xu Jin glared at the two men, and they dared not say anything. Immediately, Xu Jin said to Liu Yu, the Minister of War: "Grand Marshal, this is an urgent message from the Ministry of War. Come and ask."

So, as soon as the messenger came in, Liu Yu asked, "Is it an urgent message from the border?"

"Your Excellency, that's right. Commander-in-Chief Ma and Commander-in-Chief Cai jointly sent an urgent letter to the Ministry of War, saying that it was a rumor that Your Majesty was defeated and captured. It was a misconception. This battle was a great victory! The little prince was captured by Zhang Lun! The little prince's 50,000 cavalry were almost wiped out! Your Majesty did not lead the battle in person, but this battle is still enough to be another great victory for the Ming Dynasty since the recovery of Hami Guard! Now the commander-in-chief and the commander-in-chief have petitioned Your Majesty to prepare to send troops to Hetao today to recover Hetao!"

The messenger replied.

Big win?

How can it be?

The imperial concubine's son-in-law, Commandant Cai Zhen, almost fell to the ground because he couldn't stand firmly.

The Thirteenth Imperial Censor Li Tianfu was also stunned.

He Tai, the official of the Ministry of Education, even murmured: "How could this happen?"

Liang Chu secretly sighed and thought, "Is he really favored by God because he is the Son of Heaven?"

Xu Jin burst into laughter at this time, but then his face turned grim again, and he loudly questioned the civil servant in front of him:
"You all heard it, didn't you? Your Majesty was not captured. It was a great victory! A great victory! You are a bunch of traitors! You still want to establish a new emperor and make Your Majesty the second Emperor Yingzong. Do you still want to lock Your Majesty up in the Nan Palace?"

The civil servants were silent.

At this time, Zuodu Yushi Tu Yu saw this and knew that the situation was clear and there was no need for him to remain neutral, so he stepped out decisively and bowed to Xu Jin and said, "Second Assistant! Now that His Majesty is fine and has won a great victory, you should be in charge of the situation in the capital!"

"You should be in charge of the situation in the capital!"

At this time, the Minister of Punishments Min Gui and the Minister of Works Ye Heng both stood up to express their support for Xu Jin. Even the Duke of England Zhang Mao stood up with a smile on his face. After all, the urgent message just now said that it was his grandson who captured the little prince alive.

Next.

No one dared to listen to Xu Jin's words anymore. The capital was still under martial law, but no one mentioned the issue of establishing a new monarch.

A month later, Zhu Houzhao rode a horse to the capital, only to find that the city was still in good order as usual. However, he found through observation of the city defense that it was obviously loose on the outside but tight on the inside. He couldn't help but think to himself:
"Jiao Fang is worried that someone might take advantage of the situation to spread rumors or use the rumors to create trouble and establish a new ruler. This is not unreasonable. I wonder if Xu Jin can stabilize the situation."

"Pass the order! If the gates of the capital are closed, attack the city. If they have already established a new king, kill him!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, tens of thousands of guards responded in unison: "As ordered!"

Zhu Houzhao rode over first, wondering in his heart whether Xu Jin, Wang Hua and others would really betray him as Jiao Fang said, or be forced to betray him. If it was the latter, Jiao Fang said that Xu Jin would definitely apologize when he learned that he had come to Beijing.

While thinking this, Zhu Houzhao saw an old man kneeling in the middle of the city gate. He had silver hair and white spots on his temples. His forehead was touching the ground. His face could not be seen, but his voice was very loud. He only heard him shouting:
"Your Majesty, I, Xu Jin, have killed a noble without authorization. I am here to apologize to Your Majesty outside the city gate!"

Zhu Houzhao recognized it was Xu Jin's voice and felt relieved. He smiled and thought to himself that there were still loyal ministers in the Ming Dynasty after Yu Qian's death.

The guards came over in rows, and Zhu Houzhao also rode his horse closer to Xu Jin.

At this time, several officials appeared, holding the blood-stained official uniform of the Minister of Rites Mao Cheng, and prostrated themselves in front of Zhu Houzhao.

Among them were Li Tianfu, the 13th Imperial Censor, and He Tai, the Imperial Censor. They shouted:
"I, Li Tianfu/He Tai, request that Your Majesty punish the Second Assistant Xu Jin for the crime of killing ministers without authorization! The Minister of Rites Mao Cheng is an important minister of the country, but Xu Jin stole the throne and killed him in the hall in front of all the officials. He is a great traitor of the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Houzhao was in a hurry to return to the capital, so he only brought his guards with him. The cabinet chief Jiao Fang and the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department Liu Jin did not follow him. In order to save time, he only had military generals and no civil officials around him. Therefore, he did it straightforwardly and shouted, "Chop him off!"

Xu Jin's eyes were filled with tears as he kowtowed again: "I thank your majesty and will be a minister of the Ming Dynasty again in my next life!"

Li Tianfu and He Tai were secretly delighted, thinking that Xu Jin was definitely going to die!
But the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Guard followed Zhu Houzhao's gesture and walked up to Li Tianfu and He Tai, and mentioned the two of them directly.

Li Tianfu and He Tai were very surprised!

"Your Majesty! This, this, we are not guilty! Your Majesty!" the two men shouted hurriedly.

"I have long known about what happened in the capital. You two were the ones who started it all. Today you dare to slander a loyal minister and stop me to complain. This is outrageous. Are you trying to deceive me?! Take him away and chop him off!"

Zhu Houzhao had already speculated with the cabinet chief Jiao Fang that whether Xu Jin would be killed or rewarded depended on whether Xu Jin refused to enter the city and refused to plead guilty or was willing to plead guilty. Obviously Xu Jin did the latter, so Zhu Houzhao didn't need to ask much to know what kind of people Li Tianfu and He Tai were.

"Your Majesty, please spare my life!"

Click!
Both of them were covered in blood!
Xu Jin himself was bewildered, thinking, Your Majesty didn't kill him to appease the anger of the ministers? Instead, he killed the villains to rectify the government?
But when he thought that His Majesty was so willing to understand him and not to use his own life to appease the civil servants, he was even more moved. He bowed to the ground again and cried out, "Your Majesty, I thank you for not killing me. Long live the emperor!"

Thanks to my friend Youdangmo for giving me 500 Qidian coins. I updated two chapters in one go tonight and posted them together. Please read enough for all the book friends.



(End of this chapter)