My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 86 [Afterwards Album]

Su Ze frowned, and then the scene changed again and he came to the military camp.

A general who had just plotted was sitting on the platform in the military camp. Below the platform was a strong man with his upper body bare. He was forced to kneel on the ground by his personal guards on both sides, glaring at the generals on the platform.

Then the strong man was thrown into jail, and the scene shifted to the village, where a group of armed villagers gathered together and rushed out of the village waving their weapons.

The whole album is vivid and lifelike. The following scene shows the strong man in the cell being rescued by the villagers. He looks at the villagers who rescued him with wounds all over his body, and waved his weapons helplessly.

Needless to say, this strong man should be Zhao Dazhu, the protagonist of the Datong mutiny.

As expected, his guess was correct. The Datong mutiny was a conspiracy planned by someone with ulterior motives, and Zhao Dazhui rebelled under the manipulation of these conspirators.

The album then shows Zhao Dazhu leading the villagers to defeat the government troops who came to encircle and suppress the rebellion. The album depicts the situation very vividly. The government troops who came to quell the rebellion were just pretending, and some even threw their weapons on the ground and ran away.

Then there was a scene of a group of people plotting, including the scholars and generals who had just appeared. Su Ze also saw a man dressed in the clothes of a vassal king, and some people dressed in the clothes of gentry, each plotting their own plans.

Seeing this, Su Ze was completely relieved.

Zhao Dazhu's mutiny was a conspiracy by the officials to force the people to rebel, and the masterminds behind it did not have the courage to make the mutiny too big.

This is normal. The Longqing era was not the end of the Ming Dynasty. The imperial court still had strong control over the nine borders. It was impossible for these conspirators to cause the entire Datong to rebel.

Therefore, Zhao Dazhu's mutiny was just a target set up by a group of people, whose purpose was to attack the "Plan to Pacify the Enemy" that he had submitted.

Wasn't this a common tactic used in the late Ming Dynasty? Using civil and military rebellions to coerce the people into opposing government policies.

The planners should be the two people at the beginning of the album. It can only be said that this plan was very clever. They took advantage of the Datong border troops and local tyrants' resistance to the southern troops moving north, and used them to set up the mutiny.

Su Ze thought again of the incident a few days ago when the Censorate reported to the court about the Qing army clearing the land. This should also be part of the conspiracy. They used the Qing army clearing the land to create public opinion and put pressure on the local forces in Datong, so that they would jump out and cause chaos.

And the person in the picture wearing the clothes of a vassal king should be the King of Dai who was enthroned in Datong, right?

Having understood the whole story through the [Aftermath Album], Su Ze felt relieved.

For the conspirators, Zhao Dazhu's rebellion was just a prelude to the fatal attack.

But for Su Ze, what he was worried about was the rebellion at the border, and he was not afraid of the attacks from these censors.

Looking at the system's [Number of Simulations +1], there is one more opportunity to submit a petition this month.

But Su Ze was not ready to submit a petition now. He needed to wait for the most influential person to jump out before he could fight back!
By that time, perhaps we can solve Datong’s problem in one fell swoop.

Su Ze calmed down and decided to watch these conspirators perform.
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As expected, on September 20th, the Datong Garrison collectively submitted a petition to the court, requesting the court to withdraw the southern troops and settle the outstanding border pay, so that "the enemy troops will retreat on their own and the border will be safe."

Immediately afterwards, 32 officials, both in office and retired, including the prefect of Datong, also wrote a letter to the court, requesting it to "carefully discuss border affairs."

When these memorials were sent to the capital, the cabinet urgently cancelled its ten-day holiday. Then, under the leadership of the six departments and thirteen offices, the censors began to launch a frenzied attack on "The Plan to Pacify the Rong Army."

First, the Censor Luo Zun wrote a letter to the court, attributing Zhao Dazhu's rebellion to Su Ze's "arbitrary change of national policy and causing border chaos", and wrote to the court to punish Su Ze.

Luo Zun also claimed that transferring troops from the south to the north was against ancestral rules and requested the emperor to abolish the "Plan for Subduing the Rong." He also argued that if the 300,000 taels of silver owed to Xuan Da were paid out, "peace would naturally settle at the border." Several censors from the six departments and thirteen provinces also submitted petitions to echo this sentiment, and calls for Su Ze's death spread throughout the court and the country.

Shen Yiguan rushed into the History Museum early in the morning and saw Su Ze leisurely copying a portrait. He rushed over and said:
"Brother Zilin, everyone in the government and the public is attacking your "Strategy for Subduing the Rong." How can you still be here painting?"

Su Ze put down his paintbrush and said:

"How can you say it's my 'Plan to Subdue the Rong'? 'Plan to Subdue the Rong' was approved by Your Majesty and discussed by the Cabinet. The court and the public are not just attacking me, they're attacking the Cabinet's discussion."

Shen Yiguan was stunned for a moment, then said:
"If the cabinet can't withstand the pressure, it will eventually affect Brother Zilin."

Su Ze shook his head indifferently. He pulled Shen Yi Guan and said:
"Brother Jianwu, you have a wide circle of friends. Do you know this person?"

Shen Yi Guan looked at the portrait copied by Su Ze and nodded and said:

"Isn't this the same Censor Luo Zun who took the lead in impeaching you?"

As expected, treacherous ministers will reveal themselves! Luo Zun is one of them!
Su Ze remembered this name in his mind. These were the two people who first conspired in the [Afterwards Album].

Su Ze showed Shen Yi Guan another copied portrait, and Shen Yi Guan immediately said:
"Brother Su, don't you remember? This is our classmate Shen Sixiao. That's right, since you didn't attend the gathering of newly minted scholars, it's normal that you don't have any impression of him."

When the name was mentioned, Su Ze remembered that it was Shen Sixiao!
Su Ze wrote down the name. The conspirator of this conspiracy was now clear, and it was worth it for him to use the opportunity of the [Afterwards Album].

Seeing that Su Ze still looked indifferent, Shen Yikuan had no choice but to leave the History Museum and continue to pay attention to the developments in the court.

As expected, the cabinet took the first step.

Cao Bangfu, the former governor of Ji and Liao and current vice minister of the Ministry of War, arrived in Xuanfu and met with Wang Chonggu, the governor of Xuanda, and quickly investigated the matter.

The rebellious Zhao Dazhu was arrested by the centurion Zhao Cheng for smuggling. Zhao Dazhu's fellow villagers were so angry that they broke into the prison. Zhao Dazhu was very prestigious among the lower-level garrison soldiers in Datong, so everyone recommended him to start a rebellion.

However, Zhao Dazhu also knew that the situation was hopeless, so after repelling a siege by the government troops, he led his troops to escape to the grassland.

Cao Bangfu wrote a letter saying that the situation in Datong was not that serious, and even if Zhao Dazhu's rebellion expanded, Xuanfu could lead troops to suppress it.

The cabinet also took a firm stand, saying that the four cabinet ministers had all voted on the "Plan for Pacificating the Enemy" in the memorials submitted by the censors. The "Plan for Pacificating the Enemy" was a national policy that had been discussed by the cabinet. How could it be abolished because of such a small issue?

After the cabinet took action, the censors calmed down a bit.

Just when Shen Yikuan thought that the storm was about to pass, the King of Datong submitted a letter to the Ministry of Public Administration.

Prince Dai Zhu Tingqi wrote a letter expressing his sorrow and lamenting that the nine frontiers were in turmoil because of the "Plan to Pacify the Rong".

Because he was a vassal king, Zhu Tingzaki did not participate in politics. Instead, he requested the emperor as a clan member to move the Dai Wang vassal state in Datong inland for the sake of clan ties.

The memorial from King Dai once again broke the original balance. This time, the censors not only impeached Su Ze, but also pointed the finger directly at the cabinet.

(End of this chapter)