Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 139: The Obedient Southern Clan and Northern Zhili Officials and Gentry
After Wang Yangming said this, Zhu Houcong rubbed his forehead and fell into deep thought.

He had already used the Yebushou troop, which he had financed with a large sum of money, to gain a thorough understanding of the various Mongolian tribes near the capital.

As far as he knew, the Mongolian tribes were still in a state of fragmentation.

The most powerful Mongolian tribe is the one led by Jinang and his younger brother Altan. They are now about the same age as him and are still in the process of rectifying their internal affairs and unifying the Mongolian tribes.

Therefore, it is impossible for the two of them to dare to send a large army south at this time. At most, they can only intimidate themselves.

But now, General Hang Xiong and Deputy General Liu Zhen said that bandits had sneaked into the pass and requested to come to the king's aid. There was no doubt that they were bullying him as the emperor was in the capital and did not have much information, and they were suspected of deliberately deceiving him.

Zhu Houcong also asked the Jinyiwei to investigate Hang Xiong and Liu Zhen.

As far as he knew, these two people had a good reputation among the civil servants and literati in the capital, and they all praised them for being honest and frugal.

But paradoxically, after Jiang Bin was imprisoned, Hang Xiong was impeached by the then governor for arbitrarily taking 2,000 taels of official silver intended for soldiers and giving it to Jiang Bin.

Therefore, the civil servants in the capital city said that Hang Xiongqingjie was totally untenable.

This made Zhu Houcong less trusting of Hang Xiong himself.

but.

In Zhu Houcong's view, the two generals probably did not dare to fully guarantee that the emperor was unaware of the details of the enemy, so they honestly delivered military reports requesting assistance instead of rashly leading troops to the capital.

Moreover, what made him suspicious was why there were only reports from two generals in this report.

Why were there no reports from officials such as Wang Xian, the General Administrator of the Three Borders, and Yang Shangzhi, the Governor?
This made Zhu Houcong smell something else.

That's why Zhu Houcong asked Wang Yangming this question.

Wang Yangming's judgment was consistent with his.

This gave Zhu Houcong a little more confidence.

Zhu Houcong nodded and asked Wang Yangming: "Do you think this means that the officials and gentry in Northern Zhili are unwilling to give in?"

"As your majesty has said."

"They can stop making trouble in order to avoid military service and get official positions."

"But if they are asked to admit that the actions of the two uncles and Marquis Wuding and other nobles are beneficial to the people, they will probably be unwilling to do so."

After Wang Yangming answered, he added: "At least they will not easily admit that the nobles and their relatives can also do things that benefit the people. This will make it difficult for them to curb the nobles and their relatives in the name of upholding the people."

"So you asked Datong to send me a copy of the Tang newspaper to threaten me?"

Zhu Houcong asked.

Wang Yangming said: "This report may have been prepared by them long ago after they bribed the border officials, and they are waiting for Your Majesty to make a choice before showing it to him."

"Then reply according to your Ministry of War's ideas."

Zhu Houcong said without hesitation.

Wang Yangming bowed and said yes.

Next.

Wang Yangming left Qingning Palace.

But when Wang Yangming came out, Zheng Kui, the Left Censor of the Military Department, was already waiting for him.

The Tangbao is first received by the six departments and then reported to the six ministries.

Therefore, Zheng Kui already knew the contents of the newspaper.

Zheng Kui was from Wanping County, so naturally he was one of the officials and gentry in Beizhi.

natural.

He hoped that the emperor would become uneasy after seeing the news of the invasion of the enemy and would issue an edict to assist the emperor.

Unlike the last time, because the enemy invaders were only on the border, they did not scare the emperor, and the emperor dealt with the Northern Sect Kong clan without fear.

Zheng Kui paced outside the Sixth Department Corridor with great anticipation in his heart.

The chill of February made him pace faster and faster. He rubbed his hands from time to time, and his eyes continued to look into the palace.

When he saw Wang Yangming.

He stopped pacing and rubbing his hands, and walked towards Wang Yangming with anticipation.

He hoped that the fifteen-year-old emperor would be frightened or enraged by the successful invasion of the enemy.

"Da Sima!"

"I wonder what instructions your majesty will give after reading the Tang newspaper?"

After meeting Wang Yangming, Zheng Kui immediately asked about Wang Yangming with concern.

Wang Yangming said: "Your Majesty did not lose his composure after hearing my analysis and decided not to approve the king's request for the time being."

Wang Yangming knew what answer Zheng Kui wanted to know.

But Wang Yangming did not give Zheng Kui the answer he wanted.

He didn't even give Zheng Kui an objective answer about the emperor's performance. He just said that the emperor listened to his analysis and was not confused.

This was naturally what Wang Yangming intended.

He knew that the invasion of the enemy into the pass was related to these Northern Zhili gentry.

Therefore, he would not let these Northern Zhili gentry have a clearer understanding of the emperor.

Zheng Kui was very disappointed after hearing this.

But on the surface.

Zheng Kui could not show his disappointment, he just smiled and said: "It's rare! Your Majesty is indeed a prudent, steady and wise king!"

"The queen is in power."

"A wise ruler is in power."

"A few bandits will not ruin the overall situation."

Wang Yangming just smiled, said a few words, and then left.

Zheng Kui smiled and said yes.

He showed his great agreement with what Wang Yangming said.

Zheng Kui stopped smiling only after Wang Yangming left.

"Your Majesty, aren't you panicking?!"

Zhou Yixiao, the former right vice minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Works, was also disappointed and shocked after learning from his nephew Zheng Kui about the emperor's reaction to the invasion of the enemy.

Zheng Kui also said with a frustrated look: "Don't panic! After all, the Minister of War Wang Yangming gave him a reassurance!"

"Hey!"

Zhou Yixiao slammed the table in frustration.

then.

Zhou Yixiao said to the Northern Zhili gentry who had gathered with Zheng Kui in his family courtyard: "It seems that we have no choice but to give in and participate in the court discussion to vindicate the foreign relatives and nobles who are competing with us for benefits and admit that they are not taking away the benefits of the people!"

Saying.

The officials and gentry of Northern Zhili were not unprepared for the emperor's reshaping of the currency system. They had long been prepared. If the emperor really insisted on reshaping the currency system and did not change his mind because of his personal grudge against Yang Shen, they would let the border officials with their background prepare to use the invasion of the enemy to intimidate the emperor.

although.

Last time, these Northern Zhili officials and gentry also used the invaders to intimidate the emperor.

But last time, they just said that the enemy was attacking the border.

This time, they really let their people let a small number of bandits enter the pass, but they told outsiders that the bandits had sneaked in.

But the emperor was not scared.

This left the officials and gentry in Northern Zhili at their wits' end.

Because they couldn't really start a rebellion, nor could they really let their people in the border towns disobey the imperial order and lead troops into the capital to really purge the emperor's side.

After hearing what Zhou Yixiao said.

Zheng Kui said sullenly, "Your Majesty, why are you forcing me so hard?"

"He let those nobles and relatives induce the people to become unruly, and then bloodily suppressed our children, that's all!"

"Now, he wants us to clear the names of those nobles and relatives. Isn't this embarrassing?!
Zheng Kui was now very angry and could not help but complain.

"But we have no other choice!"

Zhou Yixiao said sternly.

"Zhou Gong is right!"

"When you need to be patient, be patient. Don't be short-tempered. When you need to be ruthless, be ruthless. Don't be soft-hearted!"

"Now is the time for us to be patient!"

At this time.

Another Beizhi official said something.

"Yes, now that we have encountered such a powerful emperor, we can only endure it for now!"

"You can't really give up our official positions, right?"

"There are originally few Jinshi candidates from the north, and Shandong, Henan and Shanxi will take up a lot of places."

"Just bear with it for now! Who asked your Majesty to join forces with the nobles and relatives to use us as a price? Besides, the capital is full of Jinyiwei, and we can't really make a big fuss. We can only follow the emperor's will for now! Be obedient and be slaughtered!"

"That's right! At worst, the worst case scenario is that the emperor will really start a new era of prosperity. In the long run, this is also a good thing. It will prevent more and more refugees from entering the capital, and prevent the problem of bandits from becoming more rampant!"

Other Beizhi officials and gentry also started talking about it.

Because Zhu Houcong was not frightened by the invasion of the enemy, the officials and gentry of Northern Zhili chose to endure it.

The court debate on whether the low-interest loans by foreign relatives and nobles such as Marquis Jianchang, Marquis Shouning, and Marquis Wuding were harmful to the people was successfully held.

All the officials and gentry of the Northern Zhili rank and above arrived at the Wenhua Hall on time to attend the court meeting as ordered.

Kong Chengxian, the head of the Southern Kong family who had already arrived in Beijing, also participated in the court meeting.

"The greatest virtue in the world is loyalty."

"The Northern Kong Clan ended up like this because of their disloyalty. Of course, they have never been the orthodox Confucian family. It was only because Taizu had to win over the north that he temporarily allowed them to represent the orthodox Kong Clan."

"And this time, I also investigated the lending business of Jianchang Hou and others. It is indeed not harming the people. On the contrary, it is benefiting the people. It is helping them to overcome the spring famine with lower interest rates."

"Since we must be loyal, we must be honest, so we cannot lie. The former Imperial College Director Yang He's false accusation of Yang Dianshi for his own death is obviously dishonest and not an act of loyalty to the emperor. It can be said to be a loss of virtue!"

"As for those scholars who caused trouble, they confused right and wrong and surrounded the Marquis of Jianchang's mansion. It is obvious that they are not loyal to the emperor, so they can also be regarded as traitors and it is not excessive to kill them."

Kong Chengxian also expressed his own views first.

Zhou Yixiao said after Kong Chengxian said, "You are right. The scholars who caused the riot this time are disobedient, disloyal, and unfilial! They are a disgrace to the scholars of Northern Zhili! Yang He is also old and confused. I think it is because of his own carelessness that he ordered his clan members to kill the people without authorization."

"We, the gentry of Northern Zhili, all agree that this incident is not the fault of the two uncles of Marquis Jianchang and Marquis Shouning, or the nobles such as Marquis Wuding. On the contrary, they are indeed lending money at low interest rates to help the villagers. It is us, the scholars, who are raising interest rates while taking advantage of the famine, which has made the villagers quite dissatisfied."

"And because of this, many of the gentry in my hometown have lost their morals for the sake of profit. They even prevented the villagers from lending money to him at interest, and even made a scene in the county government and the Censorate, and even surrounded the mansion of the Marquis of Jianchang, making us ashamed to be from the same hometown as them."

Boom!
After hearing the opinions of these Northern Zhili officials and gentry, Zhu Houcong rang the bell and walked out, waving his sleeves.

"well said!"

Zhu Houcong said with a smile.

Seeing this, everyone knelt down.

then.

Zhu Houcong turned around and looked at these people: "It can be seen that there are still many people who understand the greater good."

"I am not the kind of person who will hold on to problems."

"Publish everything you said in court in the newspaper."

"Then, Zhou Butang."

Zhu Houcong called Zhou Yixiao at this time.

Zhou Yixiao hurriedly said, "I'm here!"

"You gentry have always mobilized the people to send the officials who benefit the people with umbrellas or plaques or something like that."

"The two uncles of the emperor and the nobles have done such a great deed this time. Shouldn't you also organize the people to send them an umbrella or a plaque, or carve a monument to commemorate the event, or even invite them to the local shrine?"

Zhu Houcong asked about Zhou Yixiao.

Zhou Yixiao and the Northern Zhili gentry present were all stunned for a moment.

If we organize the people to give umbrellas or plaques, and also engrave monuments to commemorate the nobles and relatives who helped the people at low interest rates, and even invite them to enter the local shrine of local celebrities, then in the future won't these people have to lower the interest rates even further before they can say that they love the people?

His Majesty is finding ways to make things difficult for these gentry!

But Zhou Yixiao knew that he couldn't object at this time, so he replied: "Your Majesty, it's natural!"

"Then let's do it."

"Yes!"

then.

Zhu Houcong looked at Kong Chengxian again and said, "If everyone in the Kong family was as loyal as you, Kong Chengxian, I would not treat the Northern Kong family this way."

"From now on, you will inherit the position of Yansheng Duke."

After Zhu Houcong said this, Kong Chengxian was overjoyed. He kowtowed heavily with a bang and choked up, saying, "I thank your majesty for your grace! Thank you for not abandoning my Kong family!"

"We must learn from Qufu and never bring shame to our master again!"

Zhu Houcong instructed.

"I will remember this! When I return home, I will teach my children strictly, help those in need, and swear to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty until death!"

Kong Chengxian replied.

At this time.

Liang Chu suddenly suggested, "Your Majesty, the Confucius Temple in Qufu cannot be left unattended. I think we should order the newly-inherited Duke Yansheng to lead his family to move from Quzhou to Qufu, leaving only his family in Quzhou to serve as a doctoral student in the family temple!"

Kong Chengxian was furious after hearing this and hated Liang Chu in his heart.

(End of this chapter)