Emperor Zhengde of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 191 Confrontation
Shen Lian planned to go to Yangxin Hall to apologize to the emperor Zhu Houzhao in person.

However, as soon as he walked out of the Beizhen government office, the eunuchs and eunuchs beside the emperor hurried over.

"Master Commander, Your Majesty declares that the commander of the Imperial Guards can enter the palace to meet the Holy Spirit."

Shen Lian had goosebumps all over his body. What he was most afraid of was that his subordinates would do something outrageous behind his back, and now it really happened.

Before long, Shen Lian came to the Hall of Mental Cultivation and knelt down in front of Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao, who was sitting on the dragon chair, picked up a letter casually, threw it in front of Shen Lian, and said in a cold voice, "Read it for me!"

Shen Lian took the letter paper, spread it out with trembling hands, glanced at the letter first, and then knocked on the ground in fear.

"The sinner dare not!"

Seeing that Shen Lian was trembling badly, Zhu Houzhao shouted even more sharply: "Read it for me!"

"Minister, I obey the order!"

Shen Lian held the letter in both hands, and read in a trembling voice: "On the night of Zhengde's April [-]th, the Jinwu Guards were on duty to guard the Forbidden City, and the emperor slept in the Hall of Mental Cultivation."

In the middle of the reading, Shen Lian could no longer bear the pressure in his heart, and cried out, "Your Majesty, it's my fault for lax management and pampering my subordinates."

Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "Hmph, my right-hand man, instead of monitoring my people, is here to monitor me. You are all my good helpers?"

Zhu Houzhao sneered several times, like a sharp sword piercing into Shen Lian's heart.

Shen Lian really didn't know how to justify such a big incident in Jinyiwei.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to apologize with death, and please appease Your Majesty!" Shen Lian, who bowed his head on the ground, said apologetically.

Zhu Hou, with murderous intent in his eyes, said without changing his face: "You really deserve to die, but it's not the time for you to die. I have kept this head of yours for you. If I use it in the future, I can get it back at any time."

"Come here, pull out the staff and punish the Eighty Army Sticks! Let me thoroughly investigate the interior of Jinyiwei."

Li Dongyang on the side, with a gloomy complexion, leaned down and pleaded with Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, please think twice and bypass Commander Shen!"

Before Zhu Houzhao could speak, Shen Lian interrupted Li Dongyang, and said, "Thank you Lord Li for pleading for mercy, but this is what I deserve. I failed to be your majesty's helper, and I should be punished by your majesty."

"I thank you, Your Majesty." Shen Lian put his hands on the ground and kowtowed, then slowly walked out of the Yangxin Hall.

For a layman, isn't stick duty eighty the same as hitting eighty boards?In fact, it is not the case, there is a lot of knowledge in it.

Most of this court stick is made of chestnut wood, the part that goes in and out is cut, and the other part is wrapped with iron sheet, and there are many spikes on the iron sheet. If you hit it continuously, you will be a complete person, and your bones will be smashed.

If the executioner is merciless, even a forty staff, let alone an eighty-court staff, will kill someone.

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Zhu Houzhao's expression softened, he waved his hands and said to them, "You all step back!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Yu Huatian glanced at Zhu Houzhao, not knowing what to do, but Zhu Houzhao said to him: "Eunuch Yu, stay here, I have something to ask you."

After Li Dongyang and Shen Lian left the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Zhu Houzhao asked in a solemn voice: "Has the result of the interrogation in Xichang come out? Execute the principal criminal and all participants, leaving no one behind!"

"King Lu and the rebels wiped out all three clans!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

After Yuhuatian said goodbye and left, he immediately ordered the people in Xichang to arrest the rebels.

In fact, when Yuhuatian was secretly arrested, he had already arranged for people to start the attack, and now many people have been imprisoned in the prison of Xichang.

Needless to say, the consequences of seeking power and usurping the throne!
For a moment, people in the entire capital panicked, fearing that they would be blamed by the rebels, and what they all feared was that the imperial court did not know why they wanted to arrest people on such a large scale.

I only know that someone rebelled, but I don't know who it is?

Zhu Houzhao drove to Cining Palace.

Inside the Cining Palace.

The queen mother, the second mother, and the third mother were chatting, and when they saw Zhu Houzhao coming, strange smiles appeared on their happy faces.

However, Zhu Houzhao looked at Queen Mother Zhang as if he had something to say.

"Queen, do you have something important to tell me?"

Mrs. Zhang was taken aback for a moment, she didn't expect his son to be able to read people's thoughts after more than a year of experience.

"Ugh!"

Queen Mother Zhang sighed heavily, and stood up slowly with the support of Er Niang and Sanniang.

"Zhao'er, the Ai family shouldn't be involved in court affairs, but there are some things that the Ai family should ask about."

Zhu Houzhao vaguely guessed something in his heart, and he asked modestly: "Mother, please tell me."

Empress Dowager Zhang paused, and said: "The Ai family heard that King Lu rebelled. Since ancient times, rebellion has only one end. This is an eternal truth."

"No, for the sake of your uncle's blood flowing in our Zhu family, you should send him lightly!"

If someone else said this to Zhu Houzhao, there might be consequences, but now that the words are said from the mouth of Queen Mother Zhang, the effect may be different.

However, Empress Dowager Zhang only talked about this matter in a questioning tone, she knew her identity, even if she was the mother of today's son, even if a mother regards her son as the most important thing, she should not mess with the rules of Ming Dynasty.

The state owns the state law, and the family has family rules. This is a matter of rules.

After Zhu Houzhao heard it, he looked calm and paused for a moment. He looked at Queen Mother Zhang and asked, "Queen Mother, if King Lu succeeds in rebelling, can he let us live?"

With a simple sentence, Queen Mother Zhang was speechless.

It's not that Zhu Houzhao is not generous, there are too many people who want to premeditate the Ming Dynasty's throne, why should they be lenient to those who killed themselves?
"Mother, I will take care of this matter properly."

At this time, Empress Dowager Zhang felt that Zhu Houzhao was no longer the brat he was back then. He had grown into an adult now and was the pillar of Ming Dynasty.

After listening to the Queen Mother, she was very relieved, nodded and said: "Since you know what's in your heart, the Ai family can feel relieved."

"Oh, there is one more thing. Your cousin has been in the palace recently. You should spend more time with her when you have time."

"Sometimes you have to let go of this important national matter. After all, you are the emperor now, and the Ai family still has to wait to repay the grandson. You can't keep tightening the strings."

There is inevitably another layer of meaning in Queen Mother Zhang's words, but more of it is the deep love for Zhu Houzhao.

Erniang and Sanniang continued to speak, "Zhao'er, take care of yourself!"

Zhu Houzhao knew what they meant, so he could only nod in agreement.

After leaving the Palace of Compassion and Ning, Zhu Houzhao did not go to see her cousin, but went directly to the Imperial Garden.

For his cousin, he has too much helplessness. Even if the queen mother really wants to match the two of them, at least you have to be willing to do it. This is a burden imposed by the queen mother on herself.

Looking at the yellow flowers on the ground, Zhu Houzhao seemed very depressed.

Empress Dowager Zhang is right, her body is hers, and if it collapses from exhaustion, she will lose more than she gains.

One must know that his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were at least short-lived for more than three generations. Such a good Ming Dynasty is not blessed to enjoy it.
If you want the Ming Dynasty to have long-term stability, hard work in the early stage must be indispensable. Just for the matter of the vassal king's rebellion, the early stage is not that simple.

There are no less than a thousand vassal kings, large and small, in the Ming Dynasty. Even if you want to reduce the vassal now, it is not that easy.

If it is not handled well, it will be self-defeating and counterproductive, and then it will be difficult to suppress it.

Thinking of this, Zhu Houzhao had a headache.

"Your Majesty, Eunuch Cao is waiting outside the imperial garden!" Xiao Fangzi said to Zhu Houzhao respectfully.

"Well, let him come in and talk!"

"According to the order!"

This imperial garden is an important place for the royal family, outsiders are not allowed to enter without the emperor's summoning, even if Cao Zhengchun was summoned by the emperor, he would stand outside and wait for the call.

After the dusty Cao Zhengchun came in, he knelt down and bowed like Zhu Houzhao.

"Can there be any news from King Lu?" Zhu Houzhao asked calmly and confidently.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, according to the report from the factory guard, one day, Lord Wang will be able to conquer Xifengkou with the army."

"At present, King Lu Zhu Chengwen's back cover has been standing still, because His Majesty has cleared his eyes and ears before, so that he still doesn't know what is going to happen."

A cold smile appeared on Zhu Houzhao's cheeks, and he said to Cao Zhengchun in a solemn voice: "Let Wang Shouren's soldiers directly attack Xifengkou as soon as they arrive, and don't give them a chance to take down King Lu in one fell swoop."

"In addition, we are sending more manpower to keep an eye on the forces of other vassal kings to prevent the vassal kings from causing rebellion in other places."

After Cao Zhengchun listened intently, he immediately bowed his hands and said yes.

At the same time, in the palace of Prince Lu of Xifengkou.

Lu Wang Zhu Wencheng's face was gloomy, his brows were tightly frowned, and he was panicked for a long time. After a few days, there was no reliable news from the palace, and it seemed that none of the people who had been placed inside had come out.

This made his plan of rebellion undoubtedly plunged into unprecedented tension.

"My lord, there has been no news from the capital for so long. Could it be that the emperor knows about us?"

The chief staff officer asked.

"Hmph, impossible!"

Lu Wang Zhu Chengwen snorted coldly, secretly cheering himself up.

"How much trouble can a fifteen or sixteen-year-old brat cause? He thinks he can do a few things and it's amazing. The emperor really doesn't know who it is in the end?"

"There are also those old and immortal people in the court who thought they met some wise emperor, and didn't look at how many criticisms have been made after this year's reform? How blind!"

"Immediately send the order down, and make preparations immediately. If it is too late, there will be changes!"

"Yes, my lord!"

The next morning.

Outside the mouth of Xifeng, Wang Shouren led an army of [-] to King Lu's fief.

Inside and outside, the darkness was full of human heads, and the tail could not be seen before.

The sun was shining brightly, the sergeants armed with weapons and firecrackers had a murderous look on their faces,

Although the Shenwu cannon has not been popularized in the Ming army, but a small number of large-scale ones are still equipped.

This time, in addition to the previous hundred tiger squatting cannons, there are more than 30 newly developed Shenwu cannons.

With an army of [-] and new cannons, Zhu Houzhao's other meaning was to deter the local vassals.

On the other side, Lu Wang Zhu Chengwen, who personally led an army of [-], also rode majestically on a yellow pussy horse.

He was extremely shocked. He never dreamed that the capital would act so quickly.

He really wanted to take down a few cities before the emperor noticed, but he never expected that they would raise troops to fight at the gate, which made him feel unprecedented pressure.

However, the banner of rebellion has already been played, and as the commander of the army, others can retreat, but he cannot.

Because since ancient times, there is only one way to rebel, and if you fail, you will become benevolent.

A strange look flashed in Lu Wang Zhu Chengwen's eyes, and he raised his whip and shouted to his subordinates: "Brothers, Emperor Zhengde of Ming Dynasty was licentious and cruel to Zhongliang. I am greedy for pleasure, and this king complies with the will of God, and does not want to see the century-old foundation of the Ming Dynasty destroyed by the hands of children, so I personally led the army for a few days to quarrel."

The loud voice spread to the ears of every soldier.

On the other side, Wang Shouren also delivered the same speech.

"Spread the word and tell His Majesty's will that anyone who surrenders will be given a lighter punishment, but whoever raises a weapon to resist will be killed without pardon, and the three clans of the pearl chain will also be ordered!"

Soon, some soldiers spread Wang Shouren's words to the opposing camp, and soon, it was as if a heavy bomb had been dropped in the enemy camp.

As far as the rebel soldiers are concerned, they don't even talk about rebellion, they just do whatever their superiors ask them to do.

However, soon, some people in King Lu's barracks began to withdraw.

"King Lu, in my opinion, let's surrender, the Ming army is formidable!" The former staff officer put forward his own suggestion to King Lu.

Swish!
Lu Wang Zhu Wencheng raised his knife and fell, and before the staff officer finished speaking, he chopped off his horse.

However, his move did not deter the soldiers, and some people started to retreat.

The emperor has decreed that anyone who gives up resistance can be given a lighter punishment, otherwise it is not worthwhile to kill the clansmen.

God knows whether King Lu's rebellion will succeed?
Is rebellion worth it?
Not to mention the settling expenses, once you die in battle, your family members will suffer accordingly, even if you have money, you don't have it, mainly because you don't use that life flower.

Even if the rebellion is successful, the most they can do is to give them money, or to seal them as petty officials. After all, it's not worth it!

For a while, there was a lot of chatter among the King Lu, and the morale of the army was shaken, and King Lu Zhu Wencheng's expression turned extremely ugly.

Soon, however, some of the rebels put down their weapons and began shouting to surrender.

Seeing the soldiers scrambling to come over, Lu Wang Zhu Wencheng shouted loudly: "Fire gunner, shoot!"

Immediately, crackling sounds like firecrackers sounded in their camp.

At this moment, the soldiers who were planning to escape immediately stopped, and the people who were shot could only be regarded as their own lives.

"Run away, kill without mercy!"

King Lu managed to stop the deserters, only to see that the Ming army on the opposite side had aimed their cannons at them.

Being on the high ground, Wang Shouren has an innate advantage.

Bang bang bang!
Under Wang Shouren's unified command, hundreds of tiger squatting cannons fired at the same time. In an instant, the cannonballs fell from the sky like a rain of black bullets.

The speed of the new firearms was astonishingly fast, whether it was filling or reloading the ammunition. After one round of shooting, the second round of shooting was done in succession.

The continuous sound of cannons was like thunder and thunder. Many soldiers were scared out of their wits and rushed to escape in all directions.

Rumble.

Zhu Wencheng couldn't believe his eyes. He never dreamed that the firearms of the Ming court would be so powerful.

He did get news before that the capital was sending more people to develop new firearms, but even if a new firearm was developed, how could it be so powerful?
However, didn't everything in front of him make him dumbfounded?

To fight in haste, he lost the opportunity in the first place.

Being disturbed by the other side intensified the speed of his failure.

Although he wanted to imitate Ming Chengzu, could he imitate him? .
(End of this chapter)