If not abolished

Zhu Zhanji was extremely excited as he watched Yu Qian plan step by step to defend Beijing for the Zhu family. He felt that Yu Qian was indeed the person he had chosen at first sight and he did not expect that he had actually saved the Ming Dynasty, otherwise the dynasty would have been destroyed.

After Yu Qian dealt with external troubles, the ministers began to suggest how to deal with internal troubles.

Everyone unanimously blamed Wang Zhen for all this, but he had already died in the Battle of Tumu Fortress, but there were still many of his followers and godsons in the capital.

So here Zhu Qiyu is discussing matters with his ministers at the Meridian Gate.

The Right Censor-in-Chief immediately submitted a petition to execute Wang Zhen's entire family. "Your Highness, the culprit of this incident is Wang Zhen. I implore Your Highness to order the execution of Wang Zhen's entire family to appease the public anger. I have listed a total of one hundred crimes committed by Wang Zhen during his reign..."

"Let's talk about this matter later." Zhu Qiyu interrupted the minister before he finished reading the memorial.

Other ministers also responded, "Yes, we must kill Wang Zhen's entire family to appease the public anger."

"Your Highness, please issue an order." The ministers knelt down and requested.

"This... this matter still needs to be carefully considered. This king is not in a good position..."

"Your Highness, what else do you have to consider about this matter?"

"Is Your Highness still planning to protect them?"

"What are you talking about, Lord Chen? When did I ever say that I would shield them? What I meant was that this matter is of great importance and we should discuss it another day. Everyone, please leave first." Zhu Qiyu was annoyed by the noise and wanted them to leave and have some peace and quiet.

Upon hearing this, the ministers refused to agree. "Let's choose a day. Today is the day. Your Highness must come up with a set of rules today, or I will not leave."

"So is I."

"So is I."

...Others also echoed.

Some even knelt on the ground and cried bitterly, "Your Highness, how can you be worthy of the 200,000 troops lost in Tumu Fort? Your Highness, you can't do this..." For a moment, all the ministers started crying too.

Zhu Qiyu was just a vassal king before, and had never seen such a scene. The court was like a vegetable market, and people would act like spoiled brats if they disagreed with each other. The quarrels were so intense that it was a headache. If you told others about it, no one would believe that these were the officials of the dynasty.

Zhu Qiyu was speechless because of their constant barrage. At this time, Wang Zhen's party, Jinyiwei Commander Ma Shun suddenly stood up and pointed at the officials and scolded them, "You bunch of people, why are you still so stubborn? His Royal Highness Prince Qin said that we will discuss it another day, but you are still making trouble. You have no respect at all, what kind of behavior... why don't you all leave now?"

He was still yelling at the ministers to get out when he was suddenly hit on the head by a tablet. Before he could react, someone grabbed his hair. He looked up and saw that it was Wang Hong, the Censor of the Household Department. He grabbed Ma Shun's hair and said, "You are a bunch of traitors and rebellious officials. You deserve to be cut into pieces. How dare you yell at the officials here? I'll beat you to death." As he spoke, he opened his mouth and bit Ma Shun's face.

When other people saw him like this, they were stunned at first, but then they reacted and went over to hit Ma Shun. Some people didn't get a good position and there was all kinds of pulling. In an instant, the Meridian Gate turned into a scene of fighting, and Wang Zhen's followers and officials started fighting.

No one gave way to anyone else. Their official uniforms were torn, their official hats were knocked somewhere, their hair was disheveled, and some people were injured. But no one cared at this time and they all wanted to kill Ma Shun and the others.

After a while, Ma Shun was beaten to death by the ministers and turned into a corpse.

Zhu Qiyu was very frightened and immediately stood up to run back to the palace. Wang Hong led the ministers to follow him and refused to let him go. Zhu Qiyu could only ask them in a trembling voice: "What else do you want to do? You have beaten all the people to death."

Wang Hong said, "Eunuchs Mao Gui and Wang Changsui are also Wang Zhen's followers. Your Highness, please punish them according to the law."

Zhu Qiyu ordered his men to pull out the two men. When they were pulled out, their bodies were shaking like sieves. When the ministers saw the two men, their eyes glowed green, and they stared at them intently, as if they were going to skin them alive.

Their guess was correct, because the ministers immediately started beating them both to death like they did Ma Shun, and the steps in front of the Meridian Gate were soaked with blood.

Zhu Qiyu looked at the ministers who had gone crazy and was about to take advantage of the chaos to escape, but was stopped by Yu Qian who came over. Yu Qian did not join in the fight among the ministers. He kept staring at Zhu Qiyu, and when he saw that Zhu Qiyu was about to leave, he desperately squeezed out from among the officials, and his sleeves were already torn.

Yu Qian pulled Zhu Qiyu's arm and said, "Your Highness, you can't leave. What will happen to the officials if you leave?"

"I, the king, they have all been beaten to death, what else can I do?" Zhu Qiyu was so frightened that he could no longer think. He didn't understand why Yu Qian pulled him?

Yu Qian looked back at the officials who were exhausted and out of breath. After beating people, they collapsed on the ground like crazy people.

"Your Highness, please forgive all the officials. Ma Shun and others deserve to be put to death. As for beating them to death, please order that all the officials were just following orders and are not guilty." Yu Qian bowed and pleaded.

The ministers then realized that they were simply outrageous. They beat someone to death in front of Zhu Qiyu. If Zhu Qiyu passed away and they were held accountable afterwards, they would all be guilty of the heinous crime of extermination of their clan.

Zhu Qiyu looked at the ministers at the steps. Some of them were still looking at each other. Zhu Qiyu looked at Yu Qian, who nodded to him. Zhu Qiyu swallowed and said, "Ma Shun and others are Wang Zhen's followers. They are guilty of all kinds of crimes and deserve death. You have helped me to eliminate the traitors. Your merits and demerits offset each other. I will pardon you all and let you go back."

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your forgiveness." Yu Qian took the lead.

All the ministers responded.

"Can I leave now?" Zhu Qiyu looked at Yu Qian and asked, his voice still a little trembling.

"I will take Your Highness back." Yu Qian supported Zhu Qiyu and walked away.

After walking for a while, Zhu Qiyu said, "This throne is not for human beings. Judging from what happened just now, I feel that they will come up and beat me up at any time."

"Your Highness, you are worrying too much. Today, the officials were too excited and angry for a moment."

"I'd better go to my fiefdom, and give this position to the prince."

"The prince is only two years old. I'm afraid there is no way..."

"Master Yu, what do you mean? I still want to stay here. No, the prince is young, and the queen mother can be regent. Anyway, I want to go back."

"Your Majesty, this is a time of crisis, how can you give up?"

"No, look at the state of the ministers today. I am afraid. I will not attend this court session." Zhu Qiyu refused repeatedly.

Zhu Zhanji listened and kicked him a few times. What a coward! Why did he always give birth to such useless people?