Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 147: Disrespect the Emperor and kill first and report later!
After Fei Hong said this, Zhang Cong stood up first and said, "These things were actually done by the Nanzhi gentry!"

"They have had selfish motives since the beginning of the discussion on the grand ceremony. Now, they are eager to get Grand Secretary Martin You, which is also due to their selfish motives!"

Zhang Cong continued, "Most people from Nanzhi are in the Imperial Academy in Beijing, so they often ignore the sufferings of the people. In my opinion, they should go to the countryside more often and not stay in the Imperial Academy all the time!"

Gui E was the first to understand Zhang Cong's meaning.

He knew that Zhang Cong's words were certainly based on the interests of the Ming Dynasty, but they were also a way to strike at the Nanzhi gentry.

Allowing a large number of Nanzhi officials to be transferred to local areas and no longer gather in the Hanlin Academy naturally means that more people from other places can enter the Hanlin Academy.

As long as Fei Hong becomes the Prime Minister in the future, more people from Zhejiang and Jiangxi will naturally become Hanlin officials, thereby increasing the probability of people from Zhejiang and Jiangxi becoming the ruling party in the future.

Gui E naturally supported this proposal, which took into account the public interests of the court and was in line with the private interests of his own hometown.

"You are absolutely right!"

"Hanlin has always been called the prime minister in reserve. If he doesn't go to the prefectures and counties to gain experience, how can he be a good assistant?"

Gui E also agreed.

Fei Hong and Wang Yangming smiled at each other when they saw this.

Xia Yan followed up by saying, "Hang Xiong, the former general of Datong, has always been supported by the Nanzhi nobles. Now he is imprisoned. In my opinion, since we, the nobles of Jiangxi and Zhejiang, want to work together, we should use this incident to support Your Majesty in enforcing strict military discipline, and we should also mobilize the nobles of Fujian and Guangdong to support us together."

Everyone nodded.

Because Fei Hong deliberately discussed with Wang Yangming and others in his own study, instead of choosing a secret meeting outside, let alone talking in a hidden place like the courtyard where no one could see him.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong soon learned the content of the talks between Fei Hong, Wang Yangming and Zhang Cong through the Factory Guards.

When Zhu Houcong found out, he smiled happily.

The Jiangxi gentry wanted to unite with the Zhejiang gentry to deal with the Nanzhi gentry, and even intended to unite with the Fujian and Guangdong gentry.

This undoubtedly shows that after the gentry in the world were divided into those who discussed rituals and those who protected rituals, there was a tendency for further division.

This is a good thing for Emperor Zhu Houcong.

He could therefore punish those who did not follow the rules without scruples.

Zhu Houcong immediately ordered: "Send the imperial edict to the cabinet. Hang Xiong disobeyed orders and played bandits. He should be executed immediately and his head should be sent to the nine frontiers. His family should be expelled from the army and their hereditary official positions should be revoked!"

The Minister of Justice Lin Jun was from Fujian.

Zuodu Yushi Wang Zun was from Guangdong.

Dali Temple Minister Jiang Sheng was from Guangxi.

Therefore, when Zhu Houcong demanded that Hang Xiong be beheaded directly, the three of them had no objection.

They were originally in agreement with the Zhejiang gentry on whether to open or close the sea.

Now Fei Hong is also trying to win over Wang Yangming and then the people from Fujian and Guangdong, so they have long intended not to stand with the Nanzhi gentry. Naturally, they will not ask the emperor to show mercy to military generals like Hang Xiong who have defected to the gentry at this time.

Let’s talk.

When Hang Xiong heard the order of his execution, he was stunned on the spot.

Because veteran generals like him, especially those who had good relations with civil officials, would only be dismissed if they committed crimes.

But now...

The emperor not only wanted his head, but also wanted to abolish his family's hereditary official position and change his family's nationality from military to civilian.

This was simply taking away the foundation of his family's wealth for generations.

"Your Majesty! I know I am wrong, please have mercy on me!"

Hang Xiong burst into tears and begged for mercy.

But Zhu Houcong naturally couldn't hear his voice.

Hang Xiong was beheaded shortly afterwards and his head was sent to the nine border areas.

The border generals therefore discovered that even if they had the support of the nobles, they would still end up in trouble if they did not obey orders.

The execution of Hang Xiong also greatly angered officials from Nanzhi.

Because when Hang Xiong was arrested and brought to Beijing for trial, officials from the Southern Zhili region wrote a petition to plead for Hang Xiong, saying that Hang Xiong was a man of integrity, mature and capable, and that the court was in need of steady and experienced generals, so he should be pardoned and only dismissed from his post so that he could be used for meritorious service in the future.

But now that the cabinet had voted to execute Hang Xiong, the three judicial officials did not argue against it. Even the Chief Censor Xiong Jia, who was in charge of the final review of the criminal case, did not strongly advise against it as usual.

and so……

This made the Nanzhi gentry officials quickly realize: when they were attacking the Zhejiang gentry and exposing them as a smuggling family, the Jiangxi gentry, who should have not participated in smuggling and should have supported the maritime ban like them, actually stabbed them in the back at this time!

Even the gentry in Fujian and Guangdong and Guangxi had the intention of stabbing them in the back, or at least had no intention of standing on their side.

in other words……

The big bureaucrats and landlords in Jiangxi, who should have worked together with the big bureaucrats and landlords in Nanzhi to prevent the opening of the sea and strengthen the status of inland landlords, chose to turn against the big bureaucrats and landlords in Zhejiang when the big bureaucrats and landlords in Nanzhi were about to deal with the big bureaucrats and landlords in Zhejiang and wanted to unite with the emperor to monopolize the production and trade of bulk commodities.

These Jiangxi nobles wanted to replace Nanzhi's position, become suppliers to smuggling clans in Zhejiang and other places, and even want to take over Nanzhi's industries.

"Shameless!"

"What has the ancestral rule of sea ban become in their eyes? Has it become a commodity that can be traded?!"

"They actually colluded with the smuggling tycoons for their own personal gain and sabotaged our business!"

Gu Dingchen was very angry about this matter.

Zhu Xizhou, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who was also here, said at this time:

"I have said long ago that the reason why the ceremony has become what it is now is because the scholars have long been divided. Therefore, enforcing the maritime ban and making enemies with the Zhejiang gentry will only benefit the traitors, but you just won't listen!"

"That was Wang Yangming who broke the rule first!"

"He killed my Gu family's people first!"

"He was the one who broke the rule first!"

Gu Dingchen suddenly turned around and looked at Zhu Xizhou, with a ferocious face and gnashing teeth.

Zhu Xizhou knew that Gu Dingchen was very upset about the murder of his nephew Gu Xuezeng, so he stopped blaming him and said:

"But now that things have come to this, it is really not appropriate to continue to entangle, otherwise it will really give them the opportunity to join forces to suppress our Nanzhi gentry. You know, there is no one from our Nanzhi gentry in the cabinet now. In the Ministry of Personnel, the Shangshu is still Shigaocheng!"

"Yes, we know you are eager to avenge your Gu family!"

"But we can't rush this!"

Minister of Rites Mao Cheng also agreed with Zhu Xizhou's statement.

The current situation is indeed not friendly to the Southern Zhili gentry. Although there are many officials from their Southern Zhili in the Hanlin Academy, the Six Departments, and the Censorate, there are not enough of them among the cabinet ministers.

He, the Minister of Rites, is now the highest-ranking official in Nanzhili.

Therefore, Mao Cheng also persuaded Gu Dingchen at this time.

Gu Dingchen was not a completely irrational person, so he said at this time:
"I can get our people to withdraw as soon as possible, and no longer hope to wipe out the Wang family!"

"But Zhejiang is pressing there;"

"As an official of the Ministry of Personnel, it is easier for them to follow our arrangements. Therefore, please send a letter to hint that Yuyao will not be breached, but please wait until our people voluntarily withdraw before sending reinforcements to recapture Yuyao instead of destroying our people."

Zhu Cunzhou nodded.

Forbidden City.

Zhu Houcong also instructed Liang Chu at this time: "Send an urgent message to the governor of Zhejiang, allowing them to make up for their crimes and make sure Yuyao is not lost. Try your best to not let any of the pirates go, let them learn a lesson from raiding the Ming seas, and give an explanation to the suffering people there!"

Liang Chu bowed and said yes.

Let’s talk.

Early April of the first year of Jiajing.

After hearing that more and more pirates were gathering outside Yuyao, the Governor of Zhejiang did not dare to rush to rescue Yuyao immediately, but continued to dispatch additional troops.

But just when Sun Run had mobilized almost all the troops in Zhejiang to Hangzhou, he received a secret letter from Zhu Cunzhou.

"The pirates must retreat on their own initiative!"

Sun Run was relieved by this, and talked to He Yue with a smile, and gave He Yue the secret letter.

He Yue stood up at this time, read the letter, and immediately laughed:

"That's great! I hope they can voluntarily withdraw."

"Zhongcheng, there's an urgent delivery!"

At this time.

The urgent letter from the Cabinet issued by imperial decree also arrived.

Sun Run hurriedly took the urgent delivery.

But after reading the urgent letter, Sun Run's face darkened and he said to He Yue: "The cabinet also asked us to make meritorious service while serving our sentence, but they also asked us to try our best to wipe out these pirates, give an explanation to the people of Zhejiang, and also establish the prestige of the court."

After hearing this, He Yue looked at Sun Run and asked, "What does the Minister of Justice think?"

"It is clear that these pirates were instigated by the Nanzhi nobles, who intended to retaliate against the Zhejiang nobles. Now the Nanzhi nobles want to give up their revenge and try to repair the conflict."

"This is a good thing for us, the Huli, and will also help us, the scholars, to regain harmony and avoid further infighting."

Sun Run analyzed it carefully while speaking, and then continued:

"Although the court asked us to make amends for our crimes and give an explanation to the people of Zhejiang, and for the sake of the court's dignity, we are required to severely punish the pirates, which is understandable."

"But if we really want to delay, they won't be able to tell, not even the Jinyiwei in Yuyao."

"If it doesn't work, we can ask the pirates to keep a few hundred ordinary pirates who don't know much about the inside story to fill in the gaps!"

"So, what I mean is, don't listen to the cabinet!"

He Yue nodded, "That's good! The higher-ups have their own considerations, but we also have our own. We should not offend the noble families in Nanzhi if we can. Besides, the Junior Chancellor will be the Grand Chancellor sooner or later. We have made such a big mistake this time, and we still have to count on him to be reused in the future."

"It's not just that."

Sun Run smiled and said, "The gift mentioned in the letter is quite expensive. When you pass by Nanzhi in the future, you can ask someone to pick it up."

He Yue also laughed: "The court is always more stingy than them. The salary they pay is far less than the Chengyi given by the Nanzhi gentry."

then.

Sun Run and He Yue chose to respond falsely to the imperial edict, and took the instructions of the Nanzhi gentry seriously. They did not take the urgent dispatch from the cabinet representing the imperial order seriously, nor did they take the majesty of the imperial court in Zhejiang and the dignity of the people of Yuyao seriously.

The poor people living outside Yuyao city were slaughtered by the pirates.

The Nanzhi gentry did not take them seriously, nor did they think they would anger the Zhejiang gentry. They only thought that the Zhejiang gentry would be grateful to them. After all, this would make it easier for the Zhejiang gentry to annex land.

Corrupt Zhejiang officials such as Sun Run and He Yue did not take their dignity seriously.

Two flowers bloom, one on each side.

In mid-March of the first year of Jiajing.

When Zhu Houcong asked Liang Chu to ask the cabinet to quickly pass the imperial edict to Sun Run and He Yue, he thought that the bureaucratic group would always compromise when executing the imperial edict, or even pretend to obey but actually disobey, or over-execute it, especially when he, the new emperor, had just ascended the throne and had not yet completely cultivated his own base.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong issued another decree to the Yongwei Camp, which had already returned to Beijing for rest, asking the Imperial Stables to prepare food and fodder for the Yongwei Camp, and asked Zhou Shangwen to lead the Yongwei Camp to prepare to march south to assist the Zhejiang government troops in pacifying the pirates.

Simultaneously.

Zhu Houcong also summoned Zhou Shangwen directly and gave him instructions: "First, secretly send Ye Bu Shou, an experienced and experienced general from the south who is familiar with water, to Nanzhi and Zhejiang to investigate!"

Zhou Shangwen nodded in agreement.

After Zhu Houcong gave these instructions, he sneered and said, "If you carry out the order seriously, I can follow the order and not strictly investigate. But if you really think I am easy to deceive, then I can only set some rules for you local governors!"

Let’s talk.

It was mid-April.

When Zhu Houcong received the report presented by Sun Run and He Yue, and saw that it said more than a hundred pirates were captured alive and more than a thousand pirates were killed, he was quite happy at first.

But within a few days, Zhu Houcong learned through his investigation by the factory guards that none of the officials in Nanzhi showed any signs of panic, and he immediately felt that he had been deceived.

"Okay!"

"As expected, he chose to betray me again! Is this governor of Zhejiang a subject of his Nanzhi noble family, or is he a subject of mine?"

"As the governor of Zhejiang, do you really want my people to die in vain?!"

Zhu Houcong felt as if he was being despised and betrayed, so his eyes turned cold and his face sank, and he spoke with gritted teeth.

He then ordered:
"Hurry and give it to Zhou Shangwen, and ask him where he is and whether the night guards he sent out in advance have found any traces of pirates!"

But at this time, Qin Wen suddenly said: "Your Majesty, I just received a secret report from General Zhou, saying that Ye Bushou has tracked down these pirates and learned that they have now withdrawn from Yuyao and are currently entrenched in Jinshanwei!"

"Jinshanwei?"

"Then let the cabinet send an urgent message and ask him to lead the Yongwei Battalion to pretend to be Zhejiang pirates and go to Jinshanwei. They must wipe out this group of pirates and try to capture as many of them alive as possible to find out who is behind the scenes. I will allow him to act at his own discretion and kill first and report later. He will not listen to anything except my orders!"

(End of this chapter)