Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 190 Jiajing kills nobles with one word, and the Prime Minister kills corrupt officials!

After Zhu Houcong said this, Liang Chu was silent for a while.

"Yes!"

"They are in the same party as the Grand Tutor and want Your Majesty to recognize Xiao Miao as the Emperor's father."

"They didn't insist later, firstly because the Grand Tutor was afraid first; secondly, I promised them that as long as they cooperated with me to assist Your Majesty in implementing the new policy, I would let them serve as the ruler and minister of Your Majesty in the future in a peaceful and prosperous era."

But after a while, he chose to admit that what Zhu Houcong said was true.

Serve your king with sincerity.

Besides, he was destined to leave the court, so there was no need for him to cover up for his colleagues.

This time, it was Zhu Houcong who remained silent.

It was so silent that the only sound was the rustling of the spring rain on the caisson.

Zhu Houcong's silence made Liang Chu realize that the emperor might be dissatisfied with these two people, so he instinctively comforted them and said with a smile:
"It is human nature to seek peace and fear difficulties."

"I hate this kind of situation!"

Zhu Houcong suddenly said this in a stern voice.

"I know it's not easy for them to get to where they are now. They had to study hard for ten years, endure the hardships of taking the imperial examinations, and even leave their hometowns and endure humiliation for many years."

"but!"

“There is a lot of giving back to them from all over the world!”

"Not only can many of their family members be exempted from military service, their descendants can also enjoy the grace of the emperor, and they themselves are also treated with courtesy by the emperor and the people of the world. But do they only think that their hard work is hard work, and the rewards from the world are what they deserve?!"

“Wouldn’t it be hard for the people to farm and for the soldiers to guard the border?”

"But the court only treats them with favor. Why? Isn't it because they are smart and want them to prepare for the future?!"

“But in the end, I only think about myself.”

"If everyone is so self-centered, how long will it take for the dynasty to change?!"

Zhu Houcong kept asking the question, and even blurted out the four words "sophisticated selfishness".

Although it was the first time Liang Chu heard these four words, he was surprised but could roughly understand their meaning. He also knew that the emperor was really disappointed and angry, so he quickly prostrated himself on the ground again and said:

"Your Majesty, calm down! Don't hurt your holy body!"

Zhu Houcong waved his hand: "That's all!"

"There is no need for me to lose my temper with you, Yuan Fu."

"I do understand what you just said. In this world, most people always realize that the rise and fall of the world is related to themselves only when they are in dire straits."

"I can assure you that as long as they don't go too far, I will still give them the respect they deserve. But if I find out that they have gone too far, then I can only say what I mean."

Zhu Houcong spoke with a cold face.

Liang Chu also heard the emperor's murderous intent from Zhu Houcong's words, and followed Zhu Houcong's words and replied with a smile:

"I have said that Your Majesty is wise and intelligent. No one dares to do anything excessive in front of Your Majesty. If anyone does, he deserves to die!"

then.

Intent on making Zhu Houcong happy, Liang Chu took out three more notes:
"I know that Your Majesty is worried that you will not be able to adapt to the new Prime Minister, and you will inevitably feel uneasy and worried that many things will not be handled properly, so I have already thought about this for Your Majesty."

"Therefore, I have drafted a letter imitating the advice of Marquis Wu to Your Majesty to be close to virtuous ministers and stay away from villains, and also drafted a letter requesting that the Marquis Baoding be severely punished for conspiracy, and another letter requesting that the corrupt officials who violated the law in the land survey and the return of fire consumption to the public be severely punished."

"I advise Your Majesty to be close to virtuous officials and stay away from villains. This is called advising, but in fact it is recommending and promoting. I will use my identity as a senior official and the first prime minister of the new policy to justify the names of some loyal officials who are not disliked by conservatives and call them virtuous officials. In this way, Your Majesty can use my name to recommend them and even protect them in the future, so as to prevent the conservatives who attack them from succeeding and preserve the vitality of Your Majesty when you really have the opportunity to reform the system in the future. These people include Wang Yangming, Zhang Cong, Gui E, etc."

"As for requesting an imperial decree to severely punish the Marquis of Baoding."

"Your Majesty, it is not easy for you to directly issue an order to severely punish the nobles."

"After all, Your Majesty still needs to rely on the nobles to check the growing civil officials, but the nobles cannot be too indulgent. Therefore, if the Marquis of Baoding is willing to give Your Majesty a decent explanation, I will keep this memorial. If he is not willing to give Your Majesty a decent explanation, Your Majesty can use the fact that I submitted this memorial as an excuse to ask my old party in the court to give him a decent explanation. In this way, the nobles will not be able to say that Your Majesty is ungrateful."

"And severely punishing the corrupt officials who violated the law and returned the land tax to the public is not only to relieve your Majesty's anger, but also to deter all officials and protect the achievements of the new policy."

"In short, I cannot leave the court in vain, so I will leave a few notes as a parting gift to Your Majesty."

Liang Chu smiled with tears in his eyes as he spoke, then raised the three books high above his head.

After Zhu Houcong heard what Liang Chu said, his eyes actually warmed up a little, and he couldn't help thinking: "This Liang Chu is the only minister among the nine ministers of the Zhengde Dynasty who did not accept bribes from Prince Ning, as Li Zhuowu said. His loyalty is indeed different from other ministers."

Therefore, Zhu Houcong couldn't help but look at Liang Chu with a smile:

"Or should Yuan Fu stay in the court?"

"It's just a few vicious dogs barking."

"Tell me, whether it's demotion or exile, I'll do whatever you say!"

Zhu Houcong even took the initiative to say so, and bluntly said that the censors who impeached Liang Chu were like barking dogs.

The desire to retain him is quite strong.

Liang Chu kowtowed and cried, "In this case, I can only ask Your Majesty to spare the lives of my family, young and old, for the sake of my hard work, even though I have no merits!"

Zhu Houcong was slightly stunned.

He immediately understood that Liang Chu was loyal, but he did not have the courage or heart to sacrifice his life for the emperor without caring about his family.

In Zhu Houcong's view, it is human nature to fear death and care about family members.

As an emperor, he could not be too strict with his ministers and ask them to give up everything for the monarch.

What's more, the motivation for loyalty to the emperor and patriotism comes from caring for family.

Moreover, Zhu Houcong also understood that, according to Liang Chu's own words, his departure was already an exchange of political interests with him before the bureaucrats impeached him.

If he leaves now, the conservative bureaucrats will not liquidate him. If he insists on staying in the court and blocking others' way, he will not be able to escape unscathed.

Otherwise, Liang Chu would not have said at this time that he only asked the emperor to spare the lives of his family.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong thought about this and couldn't refuse, so he just smiled and said, "I'm just talking."

"I will grant your request for retirement!" "However, you must not leave Beijing yet. When Tang Yin arrives, I will leave you a portrait before you leave. You can stay with me for a while longer. When you have nothing to do, accompany me to visit Taiye Lake and Jingshan Mountain."

Zhu Houcong said.

Liang Chu hurriedly said that he would obey the order.

in this way.

Zhu Houcong approved Liang Chu's request for leave and allowed him to stay in the capital for a month.

As for the officials, they all tacitly stopped criticizing Liang Chu because he was allowed to retire.

The chief minister of the cabinet was replaced by Jiang Mian.

Mao Ji became the second assistant of the cabinet.

The Minister of Personnel Shi Yan was promoted by the court to the cabinet.

Logically, Zhu Houcong really hoped that Shi Yao could continue to serve as the Minister of Personnel, but he could not always prevent Shi Yao from making progress, nor could he deprive others of the opportunity to advance to the position of Minister of Personnel.

After all, human nature cannot stand the test. It is impossible that after Shi Yao has been the Minister of Personnel for a long time, he will change his character when he sees that even though he works so hard and is so honest and upright, he still cannot get the opportunity to join the cabinet.

After being recommended by the court, Lin Jun, the Minister of Punishments, was appointed by Zhu Houcong as the new Minister of Personnel.

The development of Donglai is what Zhu Houcong is currently paying close attention to.

He hoped that Lin Jun, an official from Fujian, could select more good officials to develop Donglai after becoming the Minister of Personnel, so as to prevent the interests of Donglai from being encroached upon by the wealthy and powerful. After all, the main force of immigrants to Donglai in the future would definitely be his Fujian folks.

The new Minister of Justice became Yan Yishou.

The Right Censor-in-Chief Li Kun replaced Yan Yishou as the Left Censor-in-Chief and took charge of the affairs of the Censorate.

Li Kun's original position as Right Censor-in-Chief was promoted by Jiang Sheng.

Zhang Cong succeeded Jiang Sheng as the new Dali Temple Minister and officially became one of the Nine Ministers.

It was early March in the second year of the Jiajing reign. Zhu Houcong was busy with the palace examination, so after receiving the three reports submitted by Liang Chu, he did not attack Liang Yongfu and the corrupt officials who ruined his new policies.

And at this time in Nandu.

A group of Nanjing nobles, led by Duke of Wei Xu Pengju, have already set up a sacrificial shed on the main street of Nando for Marquis of Baoding Liang Yongfu, and invited monks and Taoists to perform a ritual to pray for the marquis of Baoding's soul.

Even Nanjing nobles such as Xu Pengju went to Liang Yongfu's residence in person to cry and mourn for Liang Yongfu.

Liang Yongfu's clansmen also set up a mourning hall for Liang Yongfu, holding Liang Yongfu's tablet and wailing. Liang Yongfu's children and grandchildren were also asked by his old mother, Yu, to wear mourning clothes to perform Liang Yongfu's funeral and find someone to play funeral music for Liang Yongfu.

Liang Yongfu was very angry about this and shouted loudly: "Do you really want me to die?!"

All the nobles nodded.

Liang Yongfu: “…”

"Marquis Baoding, you are not really going to wait for His Majesty to order your house to be raided and your entire family to be killed, are you?"

"What good will that do you?"

"Why don't you take the opportunity to purge your servants while His Majesty still cares about you as a descendant of meritorious service in founding the country and pacifying the rebellion, and want to save face for the nobles? Then commit suicide and ask for forgiveness from the emperor. Do you really want to force His Majesty to stop being kind to the nobles and stop caring about your Liang family's dignity, and let your Liang family be completely wiped out?!"

Guo Xun, Marquis of Wuding, who had also come to Nanjing to mourn, questioned Liang Yongfu after he spoke.

Xu Pengju also said: "Uncle Liang, what Marquis Wu Ding said makes sense. You know what you did. You can't harm all of us nobles because of what you did!"

Liang Yongfu stood there in a daze, his breathing becoming more and more rapid.

"The old lady is here!"

At this time.

Liang Yongfu's mother, Yu, also came.

Xu Pengju, Guo Xun and others stood up and saluted.

Liang Yongfu also knelt down in front of Yu through the screen: "Mother!"

"You rebellious son, why don't you quickly apologize to His Majesty, go to the underworld to plead guilty to Taizu and Taizong, and ask them to let His Majesty forgive our Liang family in their dreams? What else do you want to do? Are you so disloyal and unfilial that you really want my grandchildren to die with you?!"

Yu said in a deep voice.

"roll!"

"You all get out!"

Liang Yongfu collapsed and shouted loudly because Yu also wanted him to die, and he yelled directly at Yu and Duke of Wei Xu Pengju and others.

After yelling for a while, he sat on the ground and cried, "I really don't want to die. Why do you want me to die just because of a word from His Majesty? Why?"

It was obvious that he really didn't want to die.

But not long after he started crying, he began foaming at the mouth and suddenly felt his neck tighten. He couldn't help but grab his neck, and then he lay on the ground, kicking his legs in agony.

It turned out that the Liang family had calculated the date in advance and thought that today would be the best day to send him off, so they put medicine in his tea in advance.

Therefore, Liang Yongfu was poisoned at this time and died soon after.

"Please report to the court on our behalf. My son knows that he is useless to the court and will only harm the country and the people. He has committed suicide by taking poison out of shame! And I have submitted a petition to apologize."

At this time, Yu's face was solemn and she had someone hand over the pre-prepared letter of apology written in the name of Liang Yongfu to Wuding Hou Guo Xun.

Wuding Hou Guo Xun agreed: "Don't worry, old lady!"

After receiving the memorial from Guo Xun and others, Zhu Houcong was very satisfied: "Very good, then issue an imperial decree to only deprive him of his hereditary position and confiscate his property, but he is still allowed to retain the land and house granted to him."

Soon after Zhu Houcong received the memorial from Guo Xun and others, because the corrupt officials found in the land survey and the return of fire consumption to the public were also escorted to the capital to await punishment, so when the cabinet chief Jiang Mian made a memorial in front of the emperor, he pleaded for these corrupt officials:
"Your Majesty has just gotten married, so you should be kind and benevolent to help you have children. Therefore, I ask for mercy outside the law."

"Before leaving, Elder Liang had submitted a petition requesting that these people be severely punished, saying that if I were to be kind to them, the people killed by these corrupt officials would be the same as being treated coldly by me, which would be disliked by the heavens and detrimental to my descendants."

"Now you are telling me that showing mercy to these corrupt officials is the way of humanity."

Zhu Houcong asked someone to pass the book to Jiang Mian and asked him, "Who is right?"

Jiang Mian was shocked. He pleaded for these corrupt officials. Firstly, someone came to him to plead for mercy, and secondly, he also wanted to test the emperor. However, he did not expect that Liang Chu had predicted that he would do so!
(End of this chapter)