Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 188 Questioning the Civil Officials
"My dear, please get up!"

Zhu Houzhao personally helped Xu Jin up, and at the same time looked at the blood-stained official uniform in the hands of the officials.

Minister of Rites Mao Cheng.

Zhu Houzhao was not impressed by this man. There were many officials in the Ming Dynasty and he could not get to know all of them.

He only knew that the Minister of Rites Mao Cheng was promoted by the court after the Minister of Rites Zhang Sheng was executed.

Zhu Houzhao didn't know whether Mao Cheng was qualified to be the Minister of Rites.

But he knew that in the eyes of the six ministries and nine officials, he, Mao Cheng, must be qualified, otherwise he would not have been recommended by the court as the Minister of Rites.

The Ming Dynasty's system of appointment and selection seemed democratic, but it was not.

The emperor decides whether an official should be promoted or demoted.

However, according to the requirements of the so-called sage monarch, in order to select suitable officials, especially senior officials in the court, they must be recommended by the court.

However, all the participants in the court recommendation were civil servants, and they were civil servants with great power.

you could put it that way.

High-ranking officials of the court above the rank of vice minister of the third rank and governors above the rank of fourth rank were all democratically elected within the civil service group.

This is also the reason why the civil service group can become so large. The officials elected by the civil service group are naturally officials who are in line with their own interests.

Naturally, this is also the reason why civil servants, especially high-ranking civil servants, often fight for power with the emperor, because they are selected by the civil service group and therefore represent the interests of the civil service group.

Zhu Houzhao could guess why the Minister of Rites Mao Cheng was killed by Xu Jin. The reason was probably very simple. It was nothing more than that Mao Cheng wanted to be the leader of the civil service group and lead the entire civil service group to accomplish a major event that would turn the tide!
Zhu Houzhao ignored the civil servants who were still crawling in front of him and trembling with fear because of the beheading of Li Tianfu and He Tai. He only took Xu Jin into the city.

Zhu Houzhao believed that the deaths of Li Tianfu and He Tai would let these civil servants know the consequences of asking him to kill Xu Jin at this time!
This will also make these people restrain themselves.

just now.

Zhu Houzhao just wanted to enter the city and return to the palace!

Firstly, he also missed his family members in this era, Empress Dowager Zhang and Empress Xia, and was worried about whether they were affected by the political turmoil. After all, even Xu Jin had killed the Minister of Rites on the spot. Zhu Houzhao could guess that the political turmoil in the capital was not small.

Second, he must immediately return to the center of the empire and take control of everything, because he is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty! All those with ill intentions must stop from now on!

Xu Jin followed Zhu Houzhao, still not wearing the Liang crown of a first-rank official, because he knew that the emperor not killing him now did not mean that he would be forgiven by the civil service group.

But Xu Jin was obviously much more at ease at this time. He knew that Emperor Zhengde had returned, which meant that all the villains could be deterred and the Ming Dynasty would not change!

The Royal Guards entered the inner city and the imperial city one after another, strengthened the defense of the capital, and officially announced to the capital and the empire that the Ming Emperor was still the ruler of the world!

The capital city was very quiet at this time. The spring sunshine shone on the blue bricks and tiles, as well as on people's bodies, reflecting only swaying shadows.

Nothing seemed to have happened.

The city gates were suddenly opened wide, and the officials in brocade robes saluted their emperor Zhengde very gracefully: "Congratulations to our emperor on his great victory and return to the court!"

Zhu Houzhao did not say anything, nor did he show any smug look. He just walked hurriedly onto the Jinshui River Bridge.

The clear blue Jinshui River reflected the blue sky and white clouds, as well as the surprised faces of the officials. They were not surprised that Zhu Houzhao had returned, but that Xu Jin was still following Zhu Houzhao.

The Minister of Rites was one of the Nine Ministers, and his status among the civil officials in the court was second only to the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and the Minister of Personnel.

But Xu Jin was not the emperor, but he killed him with his own hands. In the eyes of the civil officials, this was a crime punishable by death!
They could not tolerate the existence of such powerful ministers, just as they could not tolerate the emperor who killed court officials at will, and the ones killed were important ministers who represented the will of their civil service group!

but.

These officials who were able to wait for Zhu Houzhao outside the Meridian Gate were all of high rank and had become much more timid. Naturally, they did not dare to ask the civil servants outside the city gate why Zhu Houzhao did not kill Xu Jin.

Zhu Houzhao brought Xu Jin into the palace.

The palace gates were closed.

Because Wang Hua, Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, was in Tongzhou to supervise grain and manage Taicang.

Therefore, in the entire capital, Xu Jin was the only civil official who could meet Zhu Houzhao within the palace.

All the officials were very jealous of Xu Jin.

Even the imperial concubine's son-in-law Cai Zhen couldn't stand this. He was a noble relative, but he was a noble relative who loved to read the books of sages and was concerned about the country. He didn't want the Ming Dynasty to have a civil official like Xu Jin, who would only suppress noble relatives like him.

"We can't just let the death of the prince go like this! Xu Jin is just a minister of the emperor. How can he kill important officials of the court without permission? If Xu Jin kills the Minister of Rites and is not punished, then won't all the officials in the world be intimidated by the power of the cabinet in the future? Where will we be in this situation? In the future, we civil officials will be controlled by the cabinet. I am afraid that the nobles, military generals, etc. will also be controlled by the cabinet!"

Liang Chu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, saw what the emperor was thinking, so he took the opportunity to bring up the matter first, and directly stated that this would make civil officials like himself subject to the powerful ministers of the cabinet, and would also make the nobles and generals subject to the cabinet. The emperor's son-in-law, the emperor's son-in-law, Cai Zhen naturally resonated with him. He was really worried that the cabinet would become too powerful, especially if someone like Xu Jin controlled the cabinet. In that case, the world would only continue to reform according to the emperor's wishes. Today, the little prince would be exterminated, and tomorrow the salt administration would be investigated and pirates would be eliminated. The interests of the powerful people like him who relied on their royal status to do business would be greatly damaged.

The imperial concubine's son-in-law Cai Zhen was not afraid of civil servants ruling the country. He even liked clean civil servants ruling the country, because clean civil servants would only criticize the emperor for being a sage monarch, following the laws of his ancestors, emphasizing etiquette and ethical order, but would not reform or touch their own interests.

But he was afraid that powerful officials like Xu Jin would control the cabinet and act as the emperor's lackeys, making the subsequent new policy reforms more and more drastic and even affecting the interests of his own nobles.

"The emperor is young, ambitious, and eager to achieve success, which has led to the cruel officials gaining the emperor's trust with their so-called severity and becoming powerful officials for a time. First there was Ma Wensheng, and now Jiao Xu is in power. Tai'a has moved down, and the Ming Dynasty is still dark and dim!"

The imperial concubine's son-in-law, Commandant Cai Zhen, could not help but sigh.

The other civil servants also sighed. When they thought that only Xu Jin could see the emperor, while they themselves could not even enter the palace, they naturally became even more angry.

At this time, the Chancellor Jiang Mian came over and said, "Everyone! Jiang and several colleagues decided to go outside the city to advise Your Majesty to execute Xu Jin. However, Xu Jin and his ilk pretended to apologize but actually played the victim. They slandered Your Majesty, and Your Majesty believed their words and directly ordered the execution of Li Tianfu and He Tai!"

"What! Your Majesty is so protective of Xu Jin!"

Jiang Mian's words shocked all the officials present, even though they had already seen that Zhu Houzhao still favored Xu Jin.

But for now, these officials could only feel angry in their hearts. Naturally, they could not do anything to Zhu Houzhao, nor could they do anything to Xu Jin for the time being.

……

At this time, Zhu Houzhao had just finished listening to Xu Jin's report on what had happened in the capital in the past few days.

Zhu Houzhao nodded after hearing this. He had to admit that Jiao Fang was indeed an experienced and shrewd old minister. He actually guessed the changes that might happen in the capital based on a rumor.

But what made Zhu Houzhao even more gratified was Xu Jin's behavior, because if Xu Jin had not dared to kill the Minister of Rites at the critical moment and if he had been a timid person who compromised and gave in, then more than one Minister of Rites would have died in the capital.

"Call all the ministers, and let my uncle come to court as well. I didn't expect that a noble relative like him would actually come out to criticize the government. What is the purpose of the Censorate? Even the son-in-law of the emperor dares not to participate?"

The uncle Zhu Houzhao mentioned was naturally the son-in-law of the emperor, Cai Zhen.

The imperial concubine's son-in-law Cai Zhen did not expect that the emperor would call him to the first imperial court meeting after his return to Beijing, but he was not worried that Zhu Houzhao would punish him, because he was a royal relative after all.

The son-in-law of the emperor, Commandant Cai Zhen, and a group of civil and military officials all walked into the hall and saluted Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao got straight to the point and asked, "Do you really want me to be captured alive and die soon?"

The officials remained silent.

Zhu Houzhao smiled coldly when he saw this. Sometimes he really wanted to kill all these people!
But he also found it very interesting to see these officials looking disappointed but helpless.

but.

Those who should be punished must be punished. Since some people have jumped out, they must pay the price for it.

"Liang Chu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites!"

"The Prince Consort Commander Cai Zhen!"

"Zhanshi Jiang Mian!"

……

Based on Xu Jin's narration, Zhu Houzhao called out one by one the civil servants and relatives who had caused trouble after he left Beijing.

Liang Chu, the Left Vice Minister of Rites, and Cai Zhen, the Royal Guardsman, all stood up. They looked at Xu Jin with hatred in their eyes. They knew that this failure was all due to Xu Jin's stubbornness!

"Tell me, why are you so anxious to establish a new emperor?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

Liang Chu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, replied first: "Your Majesty! We heard rumors that Your Majesty was defeated in the frontier and has not returned from the northern expedition. You have no choice but to do this for the sake of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Rumors? Just one or two rumors make you, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, restless! You can't wait to re-establish a new emperor! How much do you hate me!"

Zhu Houzhao suddenly slapped the back of his chair, stood up, pointed at Liang Chu and scolded him.

Liang Chu prostrated himself on the ground, trembling, and said, "I dare not, I dare not!"

"Why don't you dare? You dare to force the cabinet to depose and enthrone, and you still say you don't dare!"

Zhu Houzhao pointed to the imperial son-in-law, Commandant Cai Zhen:

"And you! As a noble relative of the court, you should have kept to yourself. Who gave you the power to speak out in the court? You are the son-in-law of the emperor, not the minister of the six ministries and nine departments! Do you also want me to not be the emperor? Unfortunately, I can't fulfill your wish, my dear uncle! I am the eldest son of Emperor Hongzhi of the Ming Dynasty, the orthodox of the Ming Dynasty, and I am granted the mandate of heaven. Do you think you and these civil servants can prevent me from becoming the emperor? It's really simple!"

Thanks to the book friend 201709140942129063 for the 100 Qidian coins reward

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(End of this chapter)