Huangming

Chapter 77: The Four Guards are Corrupt, Using One Tiger to Devour Another (Please continue reading!!!)

The Imperial Horse Stables were within the sphere of influence of the Wei Dynasty.

If Wei Zhongxian wanted to weaken the Wei Dynasty, he would naturally have to target its sphere of influence.

Wei Zhongxian aspired to become the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs; how could he allow himself to have another ancestor above him?
Zhu Youxiao was already well aware of the issue of the four guards under the Imperial Horse Administration.

The reason they haven't taken action yet is because the four guards under the Imperial Horse Administration are responsible for protecting the Forbidden City and the palace, and their positions are extremely important.

Compared to the Beijing Garrison, this was a military force directly under the emperor's command.

He is still to be employed, so naturally people will turn a blind eye to his problems.

"Tell me about it."

Zhu Youxiao was happy to see the people and dogs fighting each other below.

If the people below him were a united front, how could Wang An have taken so much embezzled money?

How could he possibly know about the various sordid things happening underneath?

Let's fight!

Only when you fight amongst yourselves can I feel at ease.

Wei Zhongxian immediately took out a small booklet from his hand, held it above his head, and slowly said, "This is the evidence that I have found. It is absolutely true. I urge Your Majesty to take a look."

Zhu Youxiao took the booklet, opened it, and examined it carefully. The contents of the booklet shocked him.

Wei Zhongxian then spoke sternly from the side:
"The Yellow Register of the Warriors Battalion lists 12,000 men. However, only 7,000 actually exist, and at least 5,000 are fictitious soldiers: 3,000 of them are deceased military households who are still receiving pay without working, such as Zhang Dechang, a centurion, who privately kept the list of those who died in battle in the 38th year of the Wanli reign and embezzled military pay for nine years; the remaining 2,000 are hooligans from the outskirts of Beijing who are nominally soldiers, such as Wang Erhu, the "Iron-Headed Dragon" of the South City, and 83 others, who are actually gambling den henchmen who receive monthly pay but never show up for duty."

The flag bearer guards the imperial ceremonial mace, but the smuggling of military equipment is appalling: ten days ago, someone privately sold two hundred newly cast three-barreled guns to bandits in Shanxi, each gun worth thirty taels of silver; the garrison currently has seven hundred sets of iron armor made during the Yongle era, but they are actually rotten and unusable due to insect infestation, and the new armor has all been resold, so the soldiers are actually using paper armor to make up the numbers during training.

The military farmland of the Jinwu Vanguard was completely encroached upon. Of the 6,400 mu of military farmland in Tongzhou, the deputy commander forcibly occupied 3,000 mu to plant peonies as tribute to the Wei government; the rent from the remaining land was all pocketed.

kingo defender
"Iron evidence is attached at the end of the book."

When Zhu Youxiao first read it, he frowned, but the more he read, the clearer his understanding became.

This is indeed a problem with the Fourth Guard Battalion.

The Fourth Guard Battalion is rotten to the core, just like the Beijing Garrison.

However, it is likely that not all of the evidence against the Wei Dynasty mentioned above was committed by the Wei Dynasty.

How long did Wei Chao hold the position of Imperial Horse Supervisor?
They were both encroaching on farmland and smuggling weapons.

The Wei Dynasty was not a superman.

How could someone do so many despicable things in just one month?

There are many problems here, all from previous messes, but Wei Zhongxian simply pinned all the blame on the Wei dynasty.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao took a deep breath and said, "The corruption of the Four Guards far exceeds my expectations. Wei Zhongxian, you must thoroughly investigate this matter."

He said meaningfully, "When the time comes, I will entrust the task of rectifying the Four Guards to you. The Wei Dynasty is muddleheaded and senile. I need capable and courageous people under my command."

As if receiving some kind of signal, Wei Zhongxian immediately became excited.

"This servant, Zhongxian, will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and not let any guilty person go unpunished!"

Wei Zhongxian had been waiting for this opportunity to rise to power for many days.

finally come!

"Go down."

"The slaves retire."

Wei Zhongxian respectfully withdrew from the East Warm Pavilion.

As Zhu Youxiao watched Wei Zhongxian's departing figure, his eyes narrowed slightly.

Wei Chao is indeed somewhat incompetent, but it's not urgent for him to fall now.

He was a pawn in Zhu Youxiao's hands, someone who could be exchanged for another pawn at crucial moments.

Therefore
Now, not only will he not reprimand Wei Chao, but he will also give him an important position.

Whom the gods would destroy, they first drive mad.

If you don't amass more wealth, where will the silver come from when I confiscate your property?
Zhu Youxiao immediately summoned Wei Chao.

Wei Chao soon arrived at the East Warm Pavilion to pay his respects.

In fact, while he was in the Directorate of Ceremonial, he had already received news from his subordinates that Wei Zhongxian had met with the emperor.

Therefore, the Wei dynasty remained uneasy and waited outside the Qianqing Palace.

What good could come from Wei Zhongxian going to see His Majesty?
He must have spoken ill of him to the Emperor again!

The air in the East Warm Pavilion was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood, a scent believed to calm the mind. However, Wei Chao's right eyelid twitched violently, as if something bad was about to happen.

"This servant, Wei Chao, greets Your Majesty."

Wei Chao knelt down, not daring to raise his head too high.

Unexpectedly, laughter came from the throne.

"Wei Chao, rise."

Wei Chao was stunned for a moment, looking at the emperor on the throne, whose face was actually filled with joy.

The emperor laughed, which means he's alright.

Wei Chao felt a sense of relief.

"Your Majesty, the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs has sent twenty memorials."

Behind Wei Chao, a young eunuch placed the memorial on the imperial desk and then took away the reviewed memorial.

Zhu Youxiao frowned slightly after reading the twenty memorials.

Okay~
No normal person thinks about work all day long.

Now the cabinet is sending almost all memorials to the Directorate of Ceremonial.

There was a screening process before.

Wei Chao, naturally, dared not keep the memorials in the capital, so he sent them to the Qianqing Palace for review.

Zhu Youxiao of today truly understands what Zhu Yuanzhang felt back then.

He reviews more than a hundred political matters a day.

These officials, though not daring to openly oppose him, were trying to wear down the emperor and diminish his enthusiasm through such subtle means.

Who would rather bury themselves in books and memorials every day than eat, drink, play, and have fun every day, even playing games like counting goldfish with the palace maids?

These officials are probably counting down the days, waiting to see when he will neglect his duties.

However.
Those with great ambitions can endure what ordinary people cannot.

You can send all your memorials here, and I'll review them. Let's see who can outlast whom in the end.

The power lost by the previous emperor due to his laziness in governance.

I will now reclaim my power through diligent governance!
"Go and take a look at this booklet."

Zhu Youxiao threw the register of Wei Zhongxian's search of Wang An's mansion at Wei Chao's feet.

Wei Chao bent down to pick it up and examined it closely, only to find that the numbers inside were completely different from what Wei Zhongxian had told him.

There are far more than 500,000 taels of silver involved.
hateful!

That scoundrel wants him to share the risks, yet he's trying to deceive him?

Wei Chao was furious. If thoughts could kill, he would have killed Wei Zhongxian dozens of times over.

"Your Majesty, I deserve to die a thousand deaths! I had no idea there was such a large sum of money. It must be that Wei Zhongxian who has been hiding embezzled funds!"

Wei Chao knelt on the ground and kowtowed to beg for forgiveness.

Zhu Youxiao chuckled and said, "How could I blame you? It's all thanks to you. If you hadn't exposed this matter, Wei Zhongxian wouldn't have reported the numbers truthfully."

The emperor sighed, drawing out the last syllable of his words, "Wei Dynasty, you have rendered meritorious service!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Chao completely missed the implied meaning. His round, plump face lit up with such joy that his eyes almost disappeared; he was overjoyed.

"It is my greatest honor to be able to share the Emperor's burdens, and I dare not take credit for it."

Zhu Youxiao said softly, "I am fair in rewarding and punishing, and those who have made contributions will be rewarded. Wei Chao, please accept my reward!"

Wei Chao immediately kowtowed.

"The servant is here."

Zhu Youxiao said in a lazy voice: "Wei Chao, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, has made contributions in sharing my worries. He is hereby promoted to Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and is hereby granted a python robe, a jade belt with bull and ox patterns, and one hundred taels of silver."

Wei Chao was overjoyed and kowtowed repeatedly, saying excitedly, "This servant thanks Your Majesty for your grace. I will certainly serve Your Majesty even more in the future and share Your Majesty's burdens."

Zhu Youxiao remained expressionless, but said meaningfully, "Wei Zhongxian holds great power in the Imperial Guard and the Secret Service. If there is anything corrupt under his command, you must report it to me immediately, understand?"

Why would Your Majesty need to tell me this?

That beast treated me like that. If I, Wei Chao, were to catch him red-handed, I would surely sue him severely!
Therefore, Wei Chao said fiercely, "This servant obeys!"

Zhu Youxiao squinted, stretched, yawned, and cast his complicated thoughts away.

Let heroes investigate heroes, let good men investigate good men!
This is a classic case of using one tiger to devour another—a classic imperial power tactic!
(End of this chapter)