Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1038 Thunderous Means
There was chaos outside that day, and the palace was not at peace either.

Because of Wang Chengen, Lu Jiude directly seized many people in the palace, including eunuchs, palace maids, and even palace guards. Of course, Lu Jiude had no power to take the latter, but with the assistance of Xu Xiancheng, the Minister of the Imperial Guards, none of these people escaped.

Wang Chengen confessed to seventeen people, and they were quickly punished after they were captured. They followed the clues to find out the people who were connected with them. After the implicated people were also captured, a total of forty-three people in the palace were involved in this incident, which was not a small number.

When Zhu Shenzhui received this number, he was also secretly surprised. He never thought that so many people would be involved. For this reason, Zhu Shenzhui also asked Lu Jiude and Xu Xiancheng whether they had arrested the wrong people. Their answer was that the people they arrested were real, with solid evidence and witnesses, and they definitely did not deliberately expand the case.

After reading the case files of some of them, Zhu Shenzhui approved of their actions and asked them to hand over the files directly to the Jinyiwei for subsequent disposal. As for the people who were arrested, except for keeping some of them, Lu Jiude would directly deal with the rest.

Lu Jiude and Xu Xiancheng took the order and left. After they left, Crown Prince Zhu Minlan couldn't help but ask, "Dad, are you going to deal with these people now? Why don't they stay for a while? After all, the affairs of the outer court have not been resolved yet."

"That's not necessary." Zhu Shenzhui said calmly, "It's enough to leave a few people behind. It's better to deal with those palace servants. If we don't deal with them now, it will cause trouble."

"Dad, are you worried that this matter might get out and be detrimental to the palace?" the prince asked thoughtfully.

"That's one thing. The affairs of the inner court belong to the inner court, and it's inconvenient for the outer court to interfere. In addition, with so many people in trouble, the people in the palace are also in a panic. If we deal with them now, we can also stabilize the palace. No matter how chaotic the outside world is, the palace must not be in chaos. To fight against foreign enemies, we must first stabilize the inside. You must understand this principle."

"I understand, son." The prince suddenly realized that Zhu Shenzhui's consideration was correct. He had only considered other things before and not this. Such a big thing happened in the palace. Since the person has been verified, there is no need to continue to expand it. It is better to deal with it directly than to deal with it later.

Most of the palace servants in the Ming Dynasty were old people. Although Zhu Shenzhu took control of the government after entering Beijing and cleansed the palace, such a cleansing could not be perfect. After all, there were many people in the entire palace, and the relationship between these people was intricate. Moreover, whether it was eunuchs or palace maids, there was a bond between this special group. No matter how strict the defense was, there would be no loopholes.

Just like this time, the reason why Wang Chengen was able to collude with outsiders and plot secretly while in Changchun Palace was because of Wang Chengen's many years of connections in the palace. Even though he had lost his freedom, his connections and relationships from his early years were still there. Although many people on the surface had been marginalized or even sent to places like the imperial mausoleum, there were still some people who stayed behind and thought of Wang Chengen's kindness and were willing to do something for him.

For example, Wang Chengen had adopted many godchildren and grandchildren when he was the chief eunuch, as well as some palace servants promoted by them. On the surface, they were not closely related, but in fact, they were still involved. Moreover, among the people who were found and arrested this time, except for the few people Wang Chengen had confessed, the others did not know what they were doing in this matter. They just passed on a few words appropriately out of their previous friendship, or helped do some insignificant things.

Their actions did not seem serious, but the nature of the matter was different when there were more people. It was precisely because they were lenient because of their old relationship and violated the palace rules that Wang Chengen had the opportunity to contact the outside world while staying in Changchun Palace and carry out this plan.

From this point of view, Zhu Shenzhui's treatment of these people was not excessive. As the saying goes, a thousand-mile dam collapses because of an ant nest, and no snowflake is innocent in an avalanche. This is exactly what these people did, and their fate today was caused by their own lapse of thought.

As for the guards involved, Zhu Shenzhui did not deal with them directly. After all, the status of these guards is different from that of the palace servants. Currently, the guards in the palace are all sons of nobles. Since these guards did such things as sons of nobles, they must bear the consequences.

Not only they, but also their families could not escape punishment. The final decision would have to wait until the matter outside the court was resolved before they could be formally convicted. How to convict would depend on the final situation. The lighter one would lose his title, and the heavier one would implicate three clans. It was not that Zhu Shen was cruel. As an emperor, this was inevitable. Otherwise, how could he make his subjects fear him? Not to mention ruling the world.

That night, Zhu Shenzhu did not return to the Qianqing Palace, but stayed in the Yangxin Palace directly. Crown Prince Zhu Minlan went back to the harem, met his mother, the Crown Princess, and Queen Song, briefly explained the arrangements for the harem, and then returned to the Yangxin Palace to continue to accompany Zhu Shenzhu.

A short yet long night passed, and when the next morning dawned, no one expected that a storm was about to break out in the capital.

The next day, all the Jinyiwei in the capital went out to search the capital with great force, and captured more than a dozen officials and nobles in one fell swoop. Not only that, the Jinyiwei also sent people out of the capital to other provinces and prefectures to catch those who had slipped through the net, including local officials and several retired officials, as well as gentry and businessmen involved. Not to mention those outside the capital, there were many people arrested in the capital alone, including their family members, there were thousands of people, when the news came out, there was a great uproar, many officials, students and students who were unaware of the situation were excited, just when they were about to knock on the door of the Meridian Gate again, wanting to ask the emperor for clarification, the Jinyiwei and the police department took decisive action, directly dispersed them by force, and arrested several leaders.

When the state machine started to operate, these people had no ability to resist at all, and no one expected Zhu Shenzui to take such an action. This was unprecedented, and many older people could not help but think of the era when Wei Zhongxian covered the sky with one hand during the Tianqi period, and they could not help but feel uneasy.

"Your Majesty, several cabinet elders, Lord Zhang from the Censorate, Lord Qian from the Ministry of Rites and several other nobles request to see you." In the Yangxin Palace, Zhu Shenzhu was looking through the reports sent by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, including some verified confessions and evidence. At this moment, Lu Jiude's voice sounded outside the door.

"Let them in." Zhu Shenzhui was not surprised. He had expected these people to come. His actions were so big that the Jinyiwei arrested so many people. It would be strange if the cabinet and the important officials did not react. Calculating the time, now is the time for them to come.

Soon, the five cabinet elders headed by Wen Tihen, the Censorate Zhang Ruitu, the Minister of Rites Qian Qianyi, the Minister of War Chen Qiuyu, the Minister of Personnel Xu Shiqi, the Minister of Revenue Yang Sichang, the Minister of Punishments Fan Jingwen, the Minister of Works Wang Mingxuan and others walked in one after another.

The Hall of Mental Cultivation is not large in area, but because it was where Jiajing practiced Taoism before, Jiajing often summoned cabinet ministers to discuss state affairs in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Therefore, the layout of the interior of the Hall of Mental Cultivation is somewhat similar to the side halls of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, with a special place for receiving ministers.

After these ministers came in, Zhu Shenzhui sat upright in the main seat, and slightly to his left was the seat of Crown Prince Zhu Minlan.

When the ministers met the emperor and the crown prince, they first stepped forward to pay their respects. Zhu Shenzhui waved his hand and offered them seats. Everyone took their seats one by one. Before they sat down, Zhu Shenzhui had time to speak, but the Minister of Works Wang Mingxuan asked the emperor why he had used the Jinyiwei to arrest so many people in one day. Was it just because of Gu Guoen's impeachment? Or was there another reason?
Wang Mingxuan was a man of upright character. He served as the Minister of Punishment in his early years and was a well-known tough guy in the court. Later, he lost his official position in the Chongzhen period because he offended someone and was sent back to his hometown to retire. After Zhu Shenzhu became the regent, he reinstated many officials, including Wang Mingxuan. However, after Wang Mingxuan returned to Beijing, he did not resume his position as the Minister of Punishment, but was transferred to the Minister of Works.

Zhu Shencui appointed Wang Mingxuan as the Minister of Works because he valued his strong character and loyal and upright character. Moreover, the Ministry of Works of the Yongming Dynasty was different from the previous one. Due to the new army and the advancement of Ming Dynasty's firearms, Zhu Shencui paid special attention to the Ministry of Works. Not only did he transfer Sun Yuanhua to the Ministry of Works, he also specially placed Wang Mingxuan in the position of Minister of Works. The purpose was to improve the work efficiency of the Ministry of Works, change the previous situation of the Ministry of Works being a mere figure, and assist in the reform of the military system and military tactics.

Wang Mingxuan lived up to expectations and worked diligently in this position, turning around the poor situation in the Ministry of Works and achieving outstanding results.

Before coming to the Yangxin Palace today, Wang Mingxuan was holding his breath. The emperor suddenly used the Jinyiwei to search for so many officials and civilians. This was a major event that had never happened in decades. In particular, the army was used to disperse the students and arrested many of them. This made Wang Mingxuan even more worried. In his opinion, the emperor's behavior was simply unimaginable. Such unscrupulous use of the factory guards had never happened since Wei Zhongxian. Could it be that the current emperor wanted to use the factory guards to replace the court to govern the country? The Ming Dynasty had just recovered its vitality, and all this was hard-won. The emperor was so perverse, wouldn't the Ming Dynasty be in danger again?
Faced with Wang Mingxuan's blunt rebuke, Zhu Shenzui did not get angry, but sat firmly.

He looked at the crowd and asked, "Gentlemen, you all came to see me today. I'm afraid you all have the same idea as Mr. Wang? Are you here to advise me?"

"Your Majesty, the Jinyiwei have been conducting a massive search in the capital, and the people of the capital are in a panic. They have even used force to expel students and scholars and arrested many people. Such behavior is even more incredible. Although Your Majesty is the ruler of the Ming Dynasty, you cannot act so recklessly. We have come to the palace to ask for an audience with Your Majesty, and we are risking our lives to advise you, and we beg Your Majesty to revoke your order."

"I second the proposal!"

"I also second the proposal!"

"We beg Your Majesty to revoke the order, use the imperial guards with caution, and enforce the national laws. This is the way to govern the country!" Several ministers stood up and said to the emperor earnestly. Among them were not only the Prime Minister Wen Tihen, but also Zhang Ruitu, Yang Sichang, Qian Qianyi and others. Even Wang Jinwu pretended to echo in the crowd, but his eyes were different from those of the others who were worried, and he looked perfunctory.

Wang Jinwu came here today just to join in the fun. After all, he is the third-ranked cabinet elder. All the cabinet members are here, so he can't not come, right? Seeing his appearance, Zhu Shenzhu couldn't help but laugh secretly. If there were no outsiders around, he might have kicked him directly and scolded him for joining in the fun.

(End of this chapter)