Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 157: The Duke's Complaint
With a loud bang, an explosion occurred in a restaurant at Chongwenmen in Beijing!

However, Xu Yanqing, the eldest son of Duke Dingguo, was also killed in the explosion.

Also killed in the explosion were four civilians who had just rushed into the restaurant. Many passers-by saw that these four civilians were holding thunder bombs made in the palace.

The strong smell of gunpowder also made people more convinced that it was the people who made firearms and gunpowder in the palace who killed the young master Xu Yanqing.

As soon as the Five Cities Military Department learned of the situation, they rushed over immediately, and people from Shuntian Prefecture also hurried over, and naturally the people from the East Depot were not far behind.

No one knew who was stirring up trouble, but soon someone directly said that the murderers of Xu Yanqing were the craftsmen who had just been released. This was because this case was the same as the case of the killing of three imperial officials, involving firearms and gunpowder. In addition, someone was instigating behind the scenes, so the officials and people in the capital had to believe that it was the craftsmen who did it.

At this time, Duke Dingguo Xu Guangzuo also knelt directly in front of Zhu Houzhao, crying bitterly: "Your Majesty! I have been a noble for generations, and I have always served you diligently and loyally to the Ming Dynasty. I have never bullied the people by taking advantage of my power. But now, I didn't expect my son to be so cruelly harmed by these craftsmen! Your Majesty, please help me!"

At this time, Zhu Houzhao also learned that Xu Yanqing, the eldest son of Duke Dingguo Xu Guangzuo, had been killed in a bombing. He was also very troubled and angry about this. Not to mention that Duke Dingguo was a descendant of Xu Da, a family that ranked among the top nobles in the Ming Dynasty, even Xu Yanqing himself, as the eldest son of the Duke's Mansion, had a very special identity.

And now, Xu Yanqing was killed in the explosion. If it is not handled properly, the entire noble group will be dragged into the issue of whether the craftsman system should be abolished.

"I have arranged for the East Factory to conduct a thorough investigation and will give you an explanation! Get up first and go home to wait for news!"

Seeing Duke Dingguo Xu Guangzuo's tearful face, Zhu Houzhao could only persuade him kindly.

"Your Majesty! I want to ask, how long will it take for the East Depot to find out? Last time, those unruly people killed an official appointed by the imperial court, and they also asked the East Depot to investigate, but there is still no result, and the East Depot even killed someone!

Now, these murderers died on the spot, how can we investigate! I came to ask Your Majesty today, not to ask Your Majesty to redress my injustice, I don’t care what hatred or grudge my son has with them! I just want Your Majesty to let me avenge my son’s murder for the sake of the Xu family’s long-term contributions to the Ming Dynasty! Woo woo! "

As Xu Guangzuo spoke, he began to sob and clenched his fists tightly.

Zhu Houzhao was no longer angry and asked coldly, "What do you want?"

"I want all those craftsmen to be buried with my son! They are the ones who killed my son!"

Xu Guangzuo said this with gritted teeth.

"Ridiculous! No! They are not the murderers of Xu Yanqing. They are all civilians. How can we kill them indiscriminately?"

Zhu Houzhao scolded.

"Your Majesty! My son cannot die in vain! He is the eldest son of our Xu family!"

Xu Yanqing kowtowed and said, "No matter what, Your Majesty, please severely punish these unruly people! Do not let them go!"

"You keep saying that it was these craftsmen who killed Xu Yanqing. Now the people from the East Factory have taken control of the scene. According to them, the identities of the people who killed Xu Yanqing are clear.

In this case, I will now ask all the craftsmen to identify them. If the craftsmen can identify them, we can naturally check their names and confirm who killed Xu Yanqing so that we can punish their families. If not, it means there is another conspiracy and someone deliberately framed these craftsmen. Otherwise, how could they kill the court officials first and then the eldest son of Dingguo Mansion!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Duke Dingguo Xu Guangzuo knew that if he continued to insist, it would only displease the emperor. Now that Zhu Houzhao said that they had to first identify whether the murderer was really these craftsmen, he could not continue to insist.

At this time, the Chongwenmen area had been blocked off, and the craftsmen from the Ministry of Works and the Armory were also gathered here.

These craftsmen thought that the court was really going to give them freedom, but they did not expect that they would be summoned by the court again. Therefore, they were all worried that the court had regretted its decision and wanted to go back on its word and not abolish their status as craftsmen, and continue to force them to be exploited by officials in the Ministry of Works and the Armory.

Zhu Houzhao also came here in person, and asked the people of the East Factory to bring the bodies of several other craftsmen suspected of murdering court officials, so that these craftsmen could identify them. Until now, Zhu Houzhao still didn't believe from the bottom of his heart that these craftsmen would be violent murderers! He also didn't believe that these craftsmen really dared to kill the court officials first and then kill the eldest son of the Duke's Mansion. If these craftsmen really dared to do so, then the officials of the Ministry of Works and the Armory Bureau would not be able to control them.

The cabinet ministers, as well as officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Works, Shuntian Prefecture, the Five Military Commandery, and the Wucheng Military Command also arrived here. At this time, Zhu Houzhao also directly asked these registered craftsmen and civilians loudly:
"I let you be civilians and make your own livings in order to make you good people. But now the government has reported two cases to me. Both cases are said to be done by you craftsmen. First, three officials of the court were killed, and now the young master of the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion was blown to death!
Therefore, many ministers advised me not to abolish your craftsmanship, and even to strictly discipline you! They called you unruly people! Dissatisfied with the court! Duke Dingguo even asked you to be buried with his son! Tell me! Do you really have the courage to murder court officials and kill the children of nobles? Are you really so lawless! "

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he asked his people to repeat his words loudly. At this time, these craftsmen who had just been released as civilians realized that they were misunderstood by the court, and even realized that they were regarded as unruly people who dared to kill court officials. After knowing that their status as free citizens might be deprived, and even their lives might be in danger, these craftsmen became anxious, knelt down one by one, and denied it all at once.

"It's unfair! Your Majesty, how dare we kill the official!"

"It's really unfair! We are lower than the people, how dare we do this! Your Majesty, please see clearly!"

"Your Majesty, I am their village head. Since I took them back to the neighborhood after collecting their salary, they have always behaved themselves. No one has ever been missing. Even when they went out, they always reported it. And they are all here now. They definitely didn't kill anyone!"

"Yes! Your Majesty! I am also the head of the village, and I can testify. There are many people in our neighborhood!"

……

Zhu Houzhao knew that his abolition of the craftsman registration system had completely angered the interest groups behind him, forcing these interest groups to create incidents to provoke him and the Ming court.

Now even the court nobles have been used by them. If he wants to win this reform war, he can no longer rely solely on a few reformist officials around him. He must also mobilize those craftsmen who have truly benefited from it, let them fight for their own rights, and let them know that if they do not support him as the emperor now, their interests will be harmed.

In this way, Zhu Houzhao would have more supporters and would no longer have to worry about the interest groups behind them!
Now, after hearing Zhu Houzhao's explanation of the situation, these craftsmen became indeed anxious.

Moreover, although everyone spoke in a chaotic manner and made excuses, some said that they did not have the courage, some said that they had never seen anyone around them kill anyone, and some said that it was impossible for them to have conflicts with court officials and nobles, and even if there were conflicts they would have to endure them, but this also gave Zhu Houzhao a new solution.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao ordered at this time:
"In that case, all of you, the chiefs of each barrack, please come out and identify the murderers who killed the imperial officials and the eldest son of the Duke's Mansion. See if they are craftsmen from your barracks. Also, have the people from the Ministry of Works and the Armory Bureau call out names based on the currently registered craftsmen! When you call out one, have him stand over here!"

Zhu Houzhao said this and pointed to the street on the right.

Therefore, the village heads of each neighborhood, led by the people from the East Factory, began to identify the murderers. In ancient times, common people lived together in one neighborhood as a clan, so as long as the murderers were craftsmen, these village heads would be able to identify them. Of course, they could not deny it, because the Ministry of Works would name them. Once they denied it, the number of people would be different from the number on the list, which would be wrong.

"Your Majesty! After we have identified them all, the village heads all said that they are not from their neighborhood!"

After a long time, all the village heads had finished identifying themselves, and the people from the East Factory also came to Zhu Houzhao to report the situation.

"Call the name!" said Zhu Houzhao.

Then, people from the Ministry of Works and the Armory Bureau began to call out names according to the roster. The Junior Supervisor Chi Zong, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Your Majesty! The number of people named matches the number of craftsmen present!"

As it was getting dark, Ye Heng, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Works, and Chi Zong, the junior supervisor, reported the situation, and Ma Yongcheng, the governor of the East Factory who was supervising from the side, also nodded.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but shout, "If they are consistent, then why did your Ministry of Works and the Armory Bureau say that the murderers of the court officials were all registered craftsmen, and their names even matched the records in the roster!"

"Your Majesty, please spare our lives! We don't know why this happened. The murderer's name was reported by Shuntian Prefecture. I guess something went wrong there."

Ye Heng, the Left Vice Minister of Works, and Chi Zongxian, the Junior Eunuch, quickly put the blame on Shuntian Prefecture. Chi Zong's heart was beating fast. He did not expect that His Majesty would let these craftsmen identify the culprit himself, and he did not expect that His Majesty would continue to protect these craftsmen and even wanted to find out the mastermind behind the scenes and refused to give up. As a result, he began to fear that his conspiracy with Zeng Jian, the Minister of Works, would really be completely exposed by Zhu Houzhao.

"Go and call Shuntian Prefecture Chancellor Dang Haiwu!" Zhu Houzhao ordered in a cold voice.

But at this time, Qin Yu, the imperial inspector standing next to Shuntian Prefecture Minister Dang Haiwu, saw that Shuntian Prefecture Minister Dang Haiwu's eyes suddenly widened and his whole body twitched violently. Qin Yu hurriedly supported Shuntian Prefecture Minister Dang Haiwu and said, "Your Majesty! Minister Dang seems to have committed suicide!"

As soon as Qin Yu finished speaking, Ma Yongcheng, the governor of the East Factory, bowed to Zhu Houzhao, then ran over and wiped the breath of Dang Haiwu, the chancellor of Shuntian Prefecture. He then came back and said to Zhu Houzhao, "Your Majesty! He's dead! He committed suicide by taking poison!"

(End of this chapter)