Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 189 Even the royal family cannot be forgiven
The imperial concubine Cai Zhen never thought that the emperor would come back alive, nor did he think that before the emperor came back, his people would not be able to deal with Xu Jin. However, he still had confidence. After all, he was the emperor's uncle and an elder in the royal family. He believed that the emperor Zhu Houzhao would not do anything to him, so he explained like Liang Chu:

"I am also concerned and confused, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty!"

"For the sake of the Ming Dynasty, you can abandon me."

Zhu Houzhao laughed secretly in his heart.

Immediately, Zhu Houzhao looked at Jiang Mian again and asked, "Are you also doing this for the Ming Dynasty?"

Jiang Mian replied calmly, "I am the same. We all acted unwisely because we misheard rumors. We were careless for a moment. Please punish us, Your Majesty."

"What a great thing you say about the Ming Dynasty. In the final analysis, you care more about the Ming Dynasty. You don't care about me as your father, right? If I were really captured alive, you would definitely abandon me without hesitation and choose to become a new emperor! Isn't that right!"

Zhu Houzhao, with a hint of anger, shouted at the people in front of him.

These people did not answer.

Zhu Houzhao knew that they had acquiesced. He realized the ruthlessness of these people, but he had to admit that no matter how loyal these people usually appeared to him, they would still abandon them as a king without hesitation when it was time.

"Since you don't regard me as your king and father, why should I regard you as my subjects! Pass the order! Charge Jiang Mian and Liang Chu with treason! Sentence them to death! Confiscate the property of the three clans and make them officials! Their families will be exiled to the border and serve for ten years! This includes the families of Li Tianfu and He Tai, and all the people of the three clans! Anyone who violates this will be killed without mercy!"

Zhu Houzhao ordered coldly.

Immediately, Zhu Houzhao looked at the son-in-law of the emperor, Cai Zhen, a royal relative!
Thinking of the historical incident in which Zhou Kui, a relative of Emperor Chongzhen, surrendered his own grandson to the enemy without hesitation after Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide, Zhu Houzhao made up his mind: "Sentence the son-in-law of Emperor Chongzhen, Duwei Cai Zhen, to death for conspiracy to rebel!"

Although Liang Chu, the Left Vice Minister of Rites, Cai Zhen, the Royal Highness, and Jiang Mian, the Minister of State Affairs, already knew that the emperor was cruel and ruthless, they still found it difficult to face the fact when they heard that they were going to be executed.

Liang Chu, the Left Vice Minister of Rites, fainted.

Zhanshi Jiang Mian kowtowed directly: "Your Majesty! I know my crime! I was wrong! I shouldn't have misinterpreted the words of the saints and despised my king and father. I shouldn't have the intention to abandon Your Majesty! Please forgive me, Your Majesty, and forgive my family, wuwu!"

"beg for mercy?"

"Is begging for mercy useful?"

"I believe that if I were really captured alive, no matter how much I begged for mercy, you would definitely not save me! In that case, why should I have mercy on you! I am not a heartless person, otherwise you would not have been promoted to higher positions; I am not an inconsiderate person, otherwise I would not have increased your salary income; but you are so eager to abandon me! You have no loyalty to me as a monarch and a subject, how can I forgive you!"

Zhu Houzhao sneered and then shouted loudly.

At this time, the imperial concubine's son-in-law, Commandant Cai Zhen, looked at Zhu Houzhao in astonishment: "Your Majesty, are you going to sentence me to death too? I am your uncle!"

"You still remember that you are my uncle, then you should not be so eager to abandon me and think of establishing a new king when you heard that I might be defeated and captured! Have you ever had the slightest affection for my family? Princess Chun'an has passed away, and you can just go down and keep her company!"

Zhu Houzhao waved his long sleeves and sighed, "No wonder the kings all claim to be alone. Now I think it makes sense!"

Cai Zhen did not expect that Zhu Houzhao would also execute him. He suddenly couldn't help but shout:
"Zhu Houzhao! Why are you so cruel? Do you know that what you did is against the will of heaven? It's against human ethics! It's because of your excessive killing that you have no offspring! A tyrant like you, even if you kill everyone in the world, it doesn't matter! But your throne will end here! From the first year of Zhengde to now, does the empress have a child? Does the imperial concubine have a child? It's all because you have angered heaven and people, and you are punished by heaven! Hahaha!"

Cai Zhen laughed, laughed wildly.

……

And this time.

An eunuch came running over in a hurry. Seeing this, Gu Dayong hurriedly left Zhu Houzhao and went to ask him about it. Then he ran over excitedly:
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! The Queen has given birth to a son!"

At this time, another eunuch came running over in a hurry. Seeing this, Gu Dayong left Zhu Houzhao again, went to ask a question, and then ran over again with excitement:
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Concubine Su has given birth to a son!"

Then, another eunuch came running over in a hurry. Seeing this, Gu Dayong left Zhu Houzhao again and went to ask him something. Then he ran over again with excitement:
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Concubine Liu has given birth to a son!"

Then, at this moment, Liu Jin suddenly rushed into the hall in person:
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! The lady-in-waiting is pregnant!"

Not long after leaving Beijing, Zhu Houzhao received a report about the empress and the two concubines being pregnant. However, in order to avoid being taken advantage of by villains, he reported to Xu Jin, Gu Dayong and others who stayed in Beijing, asking them to block the news and not let too many people know about the empress and the two concubines being pregnant too early. Because of this, the son-in-law, the lieutenant Cai Zhen, did not know about the empress and the two concubines being pregnant, and now he directly accused Zhu Houzhao of being cruel because he had no children.

However, Zhu Houzhao did not expect that his queen and two concubines gave birth to a son at this time, just when the son-in-law Cai Zhen said that no women in his harem were pregnant and heirs might be because of his cruelty.

The imperial concubine Cai Zhen did not expect that just when he had just rebuked Zhu Houzhao for being cruel and having no offspring because he knew that Zhu Houzhao would not forgive him, there was suddenly news that the emperor had offspring! And there were three offspring, or even four!
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but burst into laughter, pointing at his son-in-law, the Duwei Cai Zhen: "Didn't you say that I have violated the will of heaven, angered heaven and people, and therefore have no offspring? Listen to this! Listen to this!"

As he said this, Zhu Houzhao kicked the imperial concubine's captain Cai Zhen and started to scold him loudly.

Zhu Houzhao knew that people in this era valued the Mandate of Heaven, so he continued to scold the imperial concubines, including Cai Zhen and Liang Chu, and also let other officials listen: "I am the Son of Heaven! I am the Son of Heaven! Everything I do is right! It is correct! It is in line with the laws of nature! But you, you are all selfish treacherous officials! You are traitors! That's why I am favored by Heaven! I didn't lose to the little prince! I didn't lose to you! I will have an heir! And you treacherous officials will be defeated because of your betrayal, and you will be defeated miserably!"

The imperial son-in-law, Commandant Cai Zhen, could not help but burst into tears at this moment: "Oh, God! Why are you like this! Why are you like this!"

Zhu Houzhao ordered the imperial concubine Cai Zhen and other civil officials including Liang Chu to be dragged away.

The civil servants present at the scene did not dare to say anything at this time. They had to start thinking, is there really such a thing as destiny? Although they, the civil officials, often used this to fool the people and the emperor, they had never thought that the emperor would really be the one chosen by destiny.

But at least now these civil servants have some god-like awe for Zhu Houzhao.

These officials began to understand that the emperor in front of them should not be easily offended.

Zhu Houzhao announced the adjournment of the court and did not keep Xu Jin to continue the meeting. He only asked Xu Jin to go back and rest, while he prepared to go see the queen and the two imperial concubines.

At the same time, Liu Jin came to report that Ruyi was pregnant, which naturally also meant that Ruyi and the chief minister of the cabinet, Jiao Fang, had also come to Beijing. As for Ruyi's pregnancy, it was of course due to his hard work along the way.

Zhu Houzhao also issued an imperial decree to bestow a sedan chair upon Yu Ruyi, and ordered people to carry it back to the palace.

Zhu Houzhao was still a little surprised that he suddenly had three children, although he had already prepared himself mentally.

In particular, when he looked at the three babies lying crying beside their mothers, he never thought that he would have his own bloodline in the Ming Dynasty.

And because of his possession, Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty actually had children in this era!

Zhu Houzhao knew that this not only meant that history might undergo tremendous changes, for example, emperors in history such as Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli might not appear again.

It also means that he will not be able to control the situation based on his understanding of Ming Dynasty history, because the trajectory of history has changed greatly because of his appearance.

Next, Zhu Houzhao didn't know how to deal with the gentry group that was still secretly resisting his efforts to reform the Ming Dynasty, and he couldn't even predict what tactics they would use.

This is not like before, when he could know in advance that Yang Tinghe was a treacherous person who appeared loyal, and thus he could arrange spies to deal with him in advance.

However, Zhu Houzhao had to admit that having an heir would strengthen the confidence of the reformers. The fact that the emperor had an heir showed that God still favored the emperor and meant that the country's destiny could continue.

For the civil servants who were deeply influenced by Confucianism, this was a symbol of prosperity.

Therefore, Xu Jin was smiling all the way after returning to the cabinet, and he was even happier than when he heard that the Ming Dynasty defeated the little prince and even captured the little prince alive.

The emperor had a son and had achieved extraordinary martial arts feats, which meant that the emperor's majesty was once again consolidated and the hearts of the people all over the world were more at ease. The behavior of Cai Zhen, Liang Chu and others seemed even more absurd and ridiculous.

Therefore, no one dared to sympathize with Cai Zhen, Liang Chu and others at this time.

Cai Zhen, Liang Chu and others were successfully executed, and all the officials applauded this, seeking Zhu Houzhao's understanding and forgiveness.

Zhu Houzhao now realized the hypocrisy of these people and was not easily deceived by them. He knew that as long as there was a chance, these gentry who did not want their interests to be deprived would still spare no effort to oppose him and stop him from reforming the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, he did not be careless because of the flattery of these officials.

However, after Zhu Houzhao returned to Beijing and killed a group of more rebellious civil servants, the civil servants did become much more honest. No one dared to stand up and accuse Xu Jin of wrongdoing, let alone accuse Zhu Houzhao.

Thanks to my friend Gui Hong for his 30 Qidian coins reward for his 100 years of professional lurking. Sorry, I was too busy at work yesterday and didn’t have time to update. I resumed updating today, but I was a little late because of some writer’s block. I am not very satisfied with the writing of these two chapters, but I have tried my best. I will continue tomorrow! Thank you to all the book friends who are still subscribing.

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(End of this chapter)