Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 196: Exterminate ten clans and beat the prince to death!

The princes, ministers, civil and military officials had never seen the emperor so furious. They were all stunned and terrified. Some of them stood still and forgot to kowtow. An official from some ministry suddenly felt dizzy and fainted outside the palace.

Zhu Zaihou's eyes were filled with tears. He looked at Zhu Houcong timidly and grieved, then kowtowed and said in tears, "Yes."

He got up and walked out slowly.

Under Zhu Houcong's gaze, no one dared to say a word for a long time. Zhu Zaihou left the hall and left Yuxi Palace.

Outside the Forbidden Gate, Zhu Qi, one of the Thirteen Guards of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was waiting for Zhu Zaihou. Zhu Zaihou had no fiefdom and no residence, so he did not need to go through the process of abolishing the fiefdom and was directly sent out of the country by imperial decree.

As for Prince Yu and Concubine Li, as long as Zhu Zaihou had not lost his mind, he would not ask his wife and children to leave the country with him.

Zhu Zaihou was deposed from his royal title, and Prince Jing Zhu Zaizhen was fighting with monkeys for bananas in the southeast peninsula. As the only grandson of the dragon in the Ming Dynasty, to some extent, his status was more stable than that of Zhu Zaihou and Zhu Zaizhen at the beginning.

The emperor's grandson, a good emperor's grandson, this has been a long-standing tradition of the Ming Dynasty.

"Where is Uncle Lu?" Zhu Zaihou looked at Zhu Qi and said in a sad voice.

The corner of Zhu Qi's mouth twitched. How could the deposed prince have the nerve to mention the commander-in-chief at this time? In the plan of the deposed prince and Zhao Zhigao and others, Lu Bing was to be eliminated as a traitor together with the chief minister Zhang Juzheng and the second minister Gao Gong.

At that time, the deposed prince no longer wanted to think of Uncle Lu, who was closer to him than his father.

When I was in trouble, I thought of my powerful Uncle Lu.

How can a person be so shameless?

Zhu Qi remained silent.

Zhu Zaihou couldn't help but shed tears, and walked forward, muttering "Uncle Lu doesn't want me anymore".

The Jinyiwei guarded carefully, fearing that the deposed prince would become depressed and die by banging his head against a wall or stairs.

At the end of the long street, Lu Bing looked at Zhu Zaihou, sighed deeply, and ordered someone to deliver some things.

The family was poor but the road was rich. All the wealth that Lu Bing had accumulated before was given away when King Jing left the country. This time, he used his family wealth.

Lu Bing couldn't help but sigh. He had followed the emperor for fifty years, and not only had he not earned much money, but he had also lost a lot for the emperor's two sons.

As for King Jing, Lu Bing also hoped that King Jing could establish some achievements in the southwest peninsula and return as a king.

Regarding Zhu Zaihou, Lu Bing could only say, it's good as long as he's alive.

Yuxi Palace, inside and outside the main hall, fell into a brief peace, but everyone knew that things were far from over.

The fact that the deposed prince could emerge and had the ability to rebel may be related to those in the court who opposed the new policies.

Zhu Houcong looked at the person so close to him and smiled grimly, "Zhao Zhigao!"

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty is here." Zhao Zhigao felt weak all over, but he still mustered up his strength and knelt up straight.

"You are a disciple of the saint, you should know that the righteousness between the ruler and the minister is the first of the three cardinal guides. You are all scholars, but you are as stupid as a deer, tempting a prince to seize power and usurp the throne!"

Zhu Houcong was filled with murderous intent and laughed, "Mr. Longxi Wang Ji is the saint's favorite student and also your teacher. He has read all kinds of books and taught you all kinds of books. Or did he only teach you the skill of palace coup?
I am honored to be a disciple of the saint!

High Arch! "

"I'm here." Gao Gong knelt down in response.

"A horizontal plaque with the words 'The First Sinner' inscribed on it will be given to Wang Ji by the Ministry of Rites and hung on the front door of Wang's house. The prefect of Shaoxing and the magistrate of Shanyin will go to Wang's house on the first and fifteenth day of every month to check on the hanging of the plaque. If it is not hung, they will report it to the governor of Zhejiang and I will naturally take other measures.

Jiangnan is a place with rich culture and talent, yet a scum like Zhao Zhigao has emerged. He should reflect on himself, think about his shame and know his mistakes. I order Jiangnan to suspend official elections for one year to serve as a warning to future generations!"

Wang Ji, a favorite student of Wang Yangming, the sage of the School of Mind, was a native of Shanyin, Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. In the 13th year of the Jiajing reign, he passed the imperial examination and served as the head of the Nanjing Ministry of War. He once served as the Nanjing Wuxuan Langzhong, but was dismissed because his ideas were disliked by Xia Yan, the chief minister of the cabinet at that time.

After being dismissed from office, he traveled to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Vietnam and other places to give lectures for more than 40 years. He founded the "Zhejiang School", one of the schools of Wang's studies. Wherever he went, he was crowded with listeners.

Even though he is over sixty years old, he is still traveling tirelessly.

The horizontal plaque with the words "The First Sinner" hung on the door lintel is not very lethal, but extremely insulting.

From now on, Wang Ji would not even be able to go out, let alone give lectures.

Zhao Zhigao was from Lanxi County, Jinhua Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. His crime of rebellion was so heinous that the emperor was wrathful and, for the next year, would not allow any more people from Jiangnan to enter the officialdom.

The imperial examination had always been popular in Jiangnan. The previous suspension of the examination was a major blow to the literati in Jiangnan. Now he was suspended for another year. Even if Zhao Zhigao didn't think about the resentment of the Jiangnan scholars, he could feel countless fingers poking at his spine!
If this continues, the ancestral tombs of the Wang and Zhao families will be in danger.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhao Zhigao howled and crawled forward on his knees, but was kicked in the chest by Zhu Houcong. Zhao Zhigao fell on his back and recovered after a long while. He coughed up blood and lay on the ground, saying, "Even if there are thousands of sins, they are only committed by me. My teacher has always been cautious in his words and deeds, and has established his roots in the 'Xiantian Zhengxin Learning'. Your Majesty is accusing me of this crime. Isn't it absurd?"

"absurd?"

Zhu Houcong's murderous aura exploded, covering the inside and outside of the hall, and he said: "What kind of crime do you think you have committed? What do you think the laws of the Ming Dynasty can punish you for?
In the past twenty-one dynasties, only nine clans were executed, but in our Ming Dynasty, ten clans can be executed!
I bestowed the plaque of Wang Ji on him in order to spare his life for the crime of not teaching, but you thought it was ridiculous, so I might as well do as you wish.

Lu Fang! "

"I'm here." Lu Fang knelt down in response.

"Execute all ten clans of Zhao Zhigao immediately, and order the East Factory and the Ministry of Justice to go to Jiangnan to carry out the execution!"

"The slaves obey the order."

The father’s four clans: his own clan, the clan of his married aunt, the clan of his married sisters, and the clan of his married daughter.

These are all clansmen who have direct blood relations with the prisoners.

The three maternal clans include the maternal grandfather’s clan, the maternal grandmother’s clan, and the aunt’s clan.

Wife’s second family: refers to the father-in-law’s family and the mother-in-law’s family.

The above are the nine clans.

The tenth clan is the master clan.

There are five things in life that people respect: Heaven, Earth, the Emperor, parents and teachers. A teacher and his students are like father and son. If a child is raised but not taught, it is the father's fault. If the child is not taught strictly, it is the teacher's laziness.

Zhao Zhigao was guilty of treason, so Wang Ji could not escape.

Zhao Zhigao felt a salty taste in his throat and fell to the ground again, spurting out a mouthful of blood and fainting heavily on the ground.

The holy order has been issued.

Lu Fang led his men to drag the unconscious Zhao Zhigao away and transported him to Jiangnan, where he was executed.

The only ones who colluded with the Beijing army to rebel were Prince Yu and several vice ministers of the six ministries. Prince Yu had been exiled, and those vice ministers followed Zhao Zhigao's footsteps and were executed along with their entire clans.

"The rest of those who formed cliques for personal gain will be handed over to the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Dali Temple for trial!"

Among the thousands of civil and military officials, nearly two hundred were dragged away by the Imperial Guards. The meeting hall, which had been a little crowded before, suddenly became a little more spacious.

The kings, court officials, and the imperial army conspired to rebel, and the kings sat there watching the event with amusement. Zhu Houcong's face turned from ashen blue to blood red, and his tiny white teeth were clenched tightly.

Zhu Houcong walked up to the King of Liao and the King of Chu. The two kings were immediately frightened and turned pale. They snorted in anger, turned around and walked to the imperial desk, picked up the pen, as if they were going to write something.

But the cinnabar was dipped too full, and two drops fell on the rice paper used specially for issuing imperial edicts before the brush even touched the paper.

Perhaps it was this blood-red cinnabar that pricked the kings, and the hearts of the princes such as the King of Liao and the King of Chu immediately became nervous.

Gao Gong, the Second Assistant Minister of the Cabinet, knew that the emperor was considering how to deal with these dozens of princes.

Because he also hated the prince's usual arrogance and indulgence, he was willing to let the emperor punish one or two of them to suppress the arrogance of the princes, so he lowered his head and pretended not to see it.

Hu Zongxian and Chen Yiqin were well aware of the seriousness of the matter. Given what the kings had done in their vassal states, if they were to be punished in full, they would at least be sentenced to "execution under supervision."

If it were any other emperor, out of consideration for clan sentiments, they might have raised it high and then put it down gently, but who is the current emperor?

The two sons said that the country should be expelled, and the ten clans of the rebellious ministers should be executed!
In the eyes of His Majesty, relatives are just that.

The emperor has no offspring, and these princes are the foundation of the country. If they are all killed, the Ming Dynasty will be in danger.

Chen Yiqin was anxious, so he stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to say: In the sixth year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu Gao and the other kings burned incense and prayed together to the sky: Gods above and below, even if there are bad people among my descendants, God will destroy them. Do not punish them and start the killing. I respectfully ask Your Majesty to pay attention!"

"Ok?"

Zhu Houcong didn't expect Chen Yiqin to dare to speak at this time, but when he thought of Emperor Taizu Gao, the blue veins on his forehead gradually disappeared.

The rage that had arisen from all these events also subsided. He sighed softly and looked at the princes on his left for a long time before asking, "Do you know your guilt?"

"Your Majesty acknowledges your guilt!" The King of Liao, the King of Chu and all the princes stood up and knelt.

After the kings were crowned and granted fiefdoms, they oppressed the people, bullied the market, raped women, and committed all kinds of evil in the country.

Outside the imperial court, they smuggled silk, tea, porcelain and other items, competing with the imperial merchant ships.

In short, he has not done many things that are permitted by morality and the law, and has done everything that is not permitted.

"You are the princes of my dynasty. Since you have admitted your guilt, I will give you two choices: one, I will convict you, and two, you will be punished according to the law."

Zhu Houcong looked at these princes who had never defecated in their lives and made a choice.

It is impossible to forgive. Just a glance at the crimes of the kings counted by the Embroidered Uniform Guards makes his heart filled with anger.

The King of Liao and the King of Chu blinked their eyes. The situation took a sudden turn for the worse, which was beyond their expectation. According to the ancestral rules, they really didn't believe that the King would start a massacre. The fish that was killed by the knife would still jump a few more times. Thinking about it, the King of Liao pretended to be confused and said, "Your Majesty, I don't understand what you said, and I don't know what to choose."

"According to the ancestral system of Emperor Taizu Gao, even if we, the princes, have committed a serious crime, we can only be imprisoned in a high wall, and we can't even lock the door."

"Let's take a step back. Even if we are wrong, even big wrong, we still hope that Your Majesty will take into account the family ties and the ancestral rules of Emperor Taizu Gaohuang and forgive us a little." Chen Yiqin's words just now calmed the emperor down. The King of Liao thought that it was the ancestral rules of Emperor Taizu Gaohuang that worked, and he tried to get away with it by mentioning the ancestral rules of Emperor Taizu Gaohuang one after another.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yiqin couldn't help but close his eyes. He had even thought about how the King of Liao would die, where he would be buried after his death, and how the Ministry of Rites would organize the prince's funeral.

Zhu Houcong laughed out loud. Under the system of Emperor Taizu Gao, the imperial family of the Ming Dynasty had become a huge pigsty, and they actually raised such a pig. He shouted outside the palace, "Lu Bing!"

"I'm here!" Lu Bingcai walked into Yuxi Palace, stood under the eaves outside the palace, stepped in and responded.

"Beat it to death!"

The holy sound of iron and blood.

All the princes, ministers, civil and military officials were stunned.

The Liao King Zhu Xian was also frightened and cried out: "Your Majesty, I am innocent, I will not accept it!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Lu Bing waved his hand outside, and four captains of the Jinyiwei came in, carrying the pig's limbs and walking away as if they were carrying a pig.

King Zhu Xian of Liao was struggling hard, and the scene was really like slaughtering a pig.

Just as the King of Liao was about to be carried out of the hall, the King of Chu knelt down and stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, what crime has the King of Liao committed..."

Before the King of Chu could finish his words, Zhu Houcong interrupted him, "Lu Bing, tell them!"

"Yes."

Lu Bing took the order and said slowly: "The King of Liao likes evil magic, especially the heads of people with "life". In the 16th year of Jiajing, he ordered the lieutenant Shi Youyi to cut off the heads of drunk people lying on the streets, which shocked the whole city of Jingzhou.

Whenever the King of Liao went out, he never had a royal carriage. He liked to travel around Jingzhou City with dozens of followers. Whenever he met beautiful young men and women, he would take them into his palace and rape them.

Later, he forcibly abducted more and more women from the people. In the 24th year of Jiajing, he built three palaces. The eastern one was called Shuanglian Palace, ruled by the musician Chen Wuer; the western one was called Fanghua Palace, ruled by Yangzhou's Gu family; and the third one was called Yukun Palace, ruled by Wang Anran. Silver seals were cast for each palace.

When King Kangxi of Guangyuan in Liaofu died, his beautiful concubines Yue'e, Cui'er, Lanxiang and others were all taken into the palace.

King Kangxi's mother, Huang (Zhu Xian's grandmother), was lured into a secret room by the King of Liao and forced to be raped. When she refused, the King deprived her of food and drink. After six days, she did not die. So the King put Huang alive in a coffin and burned her outside the gate.

The wife of Yibin Zhao Ru was the Lady of Yuanling County, the great-aunt of the King of Liao. She was also lured into the palace and raped.

The King of Liao had many concubines, such as Wang Chaoyan, the commander of the Jingzhou Guard, Zhong Yingdou, the student of the Imperial Academy, Song Zhangfu, the student of Hangzhou, Gu Tongcheng, the alchemists, Liu Dongxuan, and Li Yishan. Shen Guanguang, a musician from Wujiang, was charming and was especially favored by the King of Liao.

In the 30th year of Jiajing, he married a prostitute named Zhang Daer and gave birth to a son named Chuan'er. When he grew up and asked for a name, the royal palace's etiquette guests Li Shirong, Zhang Dong, Guo Xingjue and others wanted to report that he was born to a prostitute (the Ming Dynasty's ancestral precepts and the Ming Dynasty's regulations prohibited the sons of prostitutes "Huasheng" from inheriting the title of king). The Liao king dragged Li Shirong to the Baoxun Hall of the royal palace and beat him to death. Chuan'er asked for the name Zhu Shuxi..."

Killing the people, being licentious and immoral, forcing my grandmother to rape, seducing my great-aunt, raising my aunt, taking in prostitutes, violating ancestral rules...

Every single thing is inhuman.

The kings were silent.

Some things are done, but they cannot be found out, and they must not be said in public. Once they are put on the scale, they deserve to be put to death.

Zhu Houcong's murderous intent resurfaced, and he slowly said, "I am going to say something that will hit you hard. You are just 'fearing punishment' now, and you don't really know your guilt.

There are actually only two words when I rule the world: loyalty and filial piety.

Towards heaven and earth, to his father and brothers, to his ministers, and to all the people, he acted naturally without any hypocrisy or affectation.

I treat people in the world like the bright sunshine and clear moon, and my grace is equal to all.

Whether it's blood relatives, officials, gentry, farmers, workers, or businessmen, there is no distinction between insiders and outsiders, do you understand?"

"Your Majesty, I understand!" The kings kowtowed repeatedly, and their foreheads were bruised.

"You don't understand!"

Zhu Houcong's anger could no longer be suppressed and he shouted angrily, "If you understood, you wouldn't commit crimes and do all kinds of evil in the mansion!"

Zhu Houcong waved his hands and regained his senses: "In essence, what you did was due to the connivance of the previous emperors, but since this vast land has been handed over to me, I will govern it as solid as a rock! Whoever hinders my ambition will be treated with no mercy! Choose."

"Your Majesty, please punish me!" said the King of Chu dejectedly.

Following the example of the King of Liao, the other kings did not want the scandals of their palaces to be made public and then be punished by the emperor.

When it comes to the law, even accumulated crimes will be punished with “punishment”.

So the people shouted: "Your Majesty, I beg you to punish me!"

"The disadvantages of the kings' secession are too numerous to mention!"

As soon as these words came out.

The surviving princes, ministers, civil and military officials all changed color.

It was not difficult to hear that the emperor was going to take the opportunity to reduce the power of the princes. The King of Chu subconsciously wanted to bring up the ancestral system of Emperor Taizu Gao, but the emperor's majesty was too great and the princes had all committed heinous mistakes. He really did not have the confidence and courage to argue in the Dragon Court. The words came to his lips, but he swallowed them back.

Zhu Houcong looked at the kings who were gradually getting agitated, and continued in a cold tone: "Considering the feelings of our family, I do not intend to punish you."

The King of Chu and all the other kings felt the cold murderous intent. They all felt a chill in their hearts and fell to the ground, praising the emperor: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"

"No thanks."

Zhu Houcong looked at his relatives, most of whom were five generations away from the fifth mourning period, and said with murderous intent: "From now on, all royal titles will be abolished, the common people's occupations will be cancelled, and the clan's occupations will also be cancelled from now on. No more labor, no more farming, no more business, never again!"

He was stripped of his royal title and demoted to a commoner.

Moreover, the imperial court will no longer provide tributes to the royal family.

The children of the royal family can choose the best job among scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants and support themselves.

In the ninth year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu Gaohuangdi determined the annual salaries of the royal family and vassal states, stipulating that the princes would receive 50,000 dan of rice and 25,000 guan of cash per year, and the county princes would receive 6,000 dan of rice and 2,800 guan of cash per year.

Therefore, "each of the sons of the prince of a county who reaches the age of fifteen is granted 60 hectares of land as a perpetual property, and is exempted from rent and taxes. The sons born to the sons are responsible for inheriting the perpetual property for generations."

In the 28th year of the Hongwu reign, Emperor Taizu Gaohuangdi felt that the annual salaries of the royal family and vassal states were too high, so he made adjustments, stipulating that the princes should receive 10,000 dan, the dukes should receive 2,000 dan, the generals guarding the country should receive 1,000 dan, the generals supporting the country should receive 800 dan, the generals serving the country should receive 600 dan, the lieutenants guarding the country should receive 400 dan, the lieutenants supporting the country should receive 300 dan, and the lieutenants serving the country should receive 200 dan.

A princess had 2,000 shi of rice, a county lady had 800 shi of rice, a county lady had 600 shi of rice, and the lowest-ranking county lady had 200 shi of rice.

This system of Taizu was inherited by later emperors of the Ming Dynasty. For two hundred years, the royal family and vassal states had been receiving annual salaries based on it.

But during the Hongwu period, there were 58 men and women in the Ming Dynasty royal family, and the court was fully able to support them.

However, after more than a hundred years of development, the number of royal family members in the Ming Dynasty increased dramatically. By the Jiajing period, the number of registered royal family members reached more than 129,600.

The ancestral rule of Emperor Taizu Gaozu stipulated that these vassals "would receive a salary throughout their lives, and their funeral expenses would be provided." They were a group of people who were all supported by the financial income of the court.

In order to feed these hundreds of thousands of royal family members, the Ming Dynasty exhausted its national strength and the court was in deficit for years.

Taking Shanxi as an example, the amount of rice and wheat retained in one year was 1.52 million dan, but the salary rice for the royal families in Shanxi was as high as 3.21 million dan. The rice and wheat in the whole province was not enough to cover the expenses of these royal families.

Among the two capitals and thirteen provinces, Henan had the most serious problem. The annual reserve of rice and wheat was 843,000 dan, while the demand for rice as an annual stipend for the royal family in Henan was as high as 1.92 million dan.

In the 39th year of Jiajing, the Ming Dynasty's annual land tax revenue was 28.36 million dan, while the royal family's required rice salary was 37.5 million dan.

It is hard to imagine that the huge land tax of the Ming Dynasty could not even support more than 100,000 royal family members, and as the Ming Dynasty lasted longer, this gap would become larger and larger.

While eating the rice subsidies issued by the court, he oppressed the people of the Ming Dynasty and emptied the Ming Dynasty treasury. After withdrawing the fiefdom of Prince Jing and expelling his two sons, Zhu Houcong's patience with his relatives reached its limit.

The ministers and court officials stared at the emperor in amazement. They never expected that the emperor would bury the royal family who vowed to bring down the Ming Dynasty tonight.

The King of Chu gradually calmed down, and he was shocked and angry. His lips and teeth trembled as he asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to bury hundreds of thousands of people in my clan?"

"Besides you, there are a few more people in the clan who are willing to guard the clan. I am doing this to save our clan!" Zhu Houcong tore through the hypocrisy of the kings.

Under the ancestral system of Emperor Taizu Gao.

The clan members of the Ming Dynasty could do nothing and could only live on the salaries from the court.

During the Hongwu, Yongle, Hongxi and Xuande periods, the imperial court was able to pay the royal family members the full amount of rice and the clan members lived a very comfortable life.

After the Battle of Tumu, the Ming Dynasty fell from its position as the supreme overlord of the Eastern world, and its economy also fell along with it.

With the arrival of the Little Ice Age, the imperial court could no longer provide enough money and food to support the clans as their numbers increased.

The limited money and grain could only be given to the kings and the clan members who were closer in blood. However, the branches of the kings who survived the Hongwu period lived an increasingly miserable life under the regulations of the ancestral system. Since the Chenghua period, local government offices have often reported cases of clan members starving to death.

The wealth of the world is in the hands of a few people, and the wealth of the clan is also in the hands of a few princes.

The direct line and the main vein occupied tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions, or even tens of millions of pieces of land, and enjoyed thousands or tens of thousands of stones of rice as salary issued by the court, but they did not give a single cent to the side lines and branches.

Sometimes, your relatives hope that you will have a bad life and die early even more than irrelevant outsiders.

Especially when it comes to money and food, brothers are more enemies than enemies themselves.

Most of the royal family members were extremely happy to lift the restrictions imposed on them by Emperor Taizu Gao. The only ones they didn't want were the princes kneeling in this hall.

The King of Chu opened his mouth several times but no sound came out. He did not dare to make sophistry and deceive the emperor in the Dragon Court.

The same was true for the kings. When they were in their fiefdoms, clan members who could not survive and were about to starve to death often came to them and begged them to give them some money and food as a token of their fellow clan. However, they were all beaten away by the palace's servants and guards.

Zhu Houcong felt disgusted when he looked at the kings: "You, too, get out of the Ming Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)