Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 245: Wang Qiong, the Second Assistant, Confessed to the Emperor
Zhu Houzhao was not worried about the rebellion of Prince Ning, but he had to be cautious about how to deal with some officials and gentry caused by the rebellion of Prince Ning.

After all, what Zhu Houzhao could be sure of was that from the time when Prince Ning planned to rebel to the time when he actually launched the rebellion and was finally suppressed, there must have been many officials and gentry who had secretly accepted bribes from Prince Ning and even did some things for him.

What's more, even he, the emperor, had received benefits from Prince Ning.

In addition, Zhu Houzhao was certain that after Prince Ning launched his rebellion, there would definitely be some officials and gentry who were dissatisfied with the government but did not realize that this was an era in which the people wanted peace and would respond to Prince Ning and join him.

After all, he, the emperor, and the reformist officials behind him had dealt a heavy blow to the gentry in the south. First, they recovered the unpaid taxes, then they surveyed the land and prohibited the donation of slaves, etc. All of these actions were cutting into the gentry's flesh.

Moreover, he is now using public opinion to manipulate public opinion to monitor the gentry, and using the East Factory to monitor civil servants. Naturally, this will further intensify the hatred of the court among these landlords who only want to freely exploit the common people.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao still had to think about how to deal with those officials and gentry who followed Ning Wang in rebelling because they were dissatisfied with the court after the Ning Wang Rebellion was quelled. Should he kill them directly or show them some leniency?
Zhu Houzhao actually hadn't made up his mind yet.

After all, there were quite a few officials and gentry who had followed Prince Ning in the rebellion or had secretly accepted bribes from him. If he simply killed them all, it might force these officials and gentry into desperate measures.

But if he didn't kill them, wouldn't it be too much of an appearance that he was too merciful as an emperor? He could even tell the gentry that he was also afraid of them, so even if they joined the rebels and rebelled together, nothing would happen to them?
It is obvious that Zhu Houzhao would rather choose the former. He would rather use the butcher knife and blood to let the reactionary gentry know the consequences of rebelling against him and defying national interests, rather than let these reactionary gentry mistakenly believe that he, the emperor, would really be a coward.

However, Zhu Houzhao would no longer be the young emperor who was so impulsive and reckless as to kill indiscriminately when he first ascended the throne. He had to take advantage of the existing conditions and execute the civil servants and gentry with their own hands instead of doing it himself, lest these civil servants and gentry think that they suffered a tragic end because of their cruelty as an emperor, not knowing that they suffered such an end because they had gone against the people of the entire Ming Dynasty.

When the enemy finds out that people of the same class as themselves are also punishing them severely, it will undoubtedly make it easier for the enemy to collapse and be more conducive to ruling.

……

At this time, the civil servants in the central court all had mixed feelings after learning that Prince Ning had rebelled.

The civil servants in the central court were more worried. They were worried that after Prince Ning rebelled, their bribes from Prince Ning would be exposed.

Of course, after learning that Prince Ning's manifesto contained content about respecting the gentry, some civil servants in the central court also secretly hoped that if Prince Ning really succeeded, it would be a good thing for the gentry all over the world.

In addition, some civil servants were extremely angry about Prince Ning's rebellion.

"Dehua, in your opinion, will anything happen in the south?"

On this day, Liu Yu couldn't help but ask about Wang Qiong.

Wang Qiong smiled and shook his head: "To be honest with you, Prime Minister, I have been prepared for this several years ago. No, it should not be me who has been prepared, but Your Majesty. Moreover, the people's hearts are still on Your Majesty's side. What is happening in the South is just a joke!"

"That's good. Right now, the world should be stable rather than in chaos. The Uriankhai in the north are ready to make a move, and the Japanese in the south are becoming more and more rampant. If the court really starts a civil strife again at this time, I am really worried that the people of the world will suffer in the end!"

Liu Yu couldn't help but sigh.

Wang Qiong couldn't help but smile secretly, and said with disdain in his heart: "You are not worried about the people of the world, but actually worried about the civil unrest in the world. If anything happens to His Majesty, the wealth of your Liu family will end from now on!"

It is true that Liu Yu became a participant in the royal industry because he chose to serve the Emperor when he was an official in the Censorate. Because of this, he turned from an honest official into a rare wealthy man in the world. Moreover, because of the contract he signed with the Emperor, his property could not be used to buy land or bury it underground. But he did not know how to invest and was somewhat resistant to doing business, so he could only use it to enjoy himself, making his life more and more luxurious. He also became more and more worried that the Emperor's industry would be lost and he would suffer as a result.

Because of this, Liu Yu was one of the few people in the court who had no dealings with Prince Ning, because he was afraid that if Prince Ning really rebelled, he would be implicated and would lose his benefits in the royal industry like Zhang Yong.

Wang Qiong sometimes really envied officials like Liu Yu, who enjoyed a lifetime of wealth and honor because of his "merit to the emperor". He did not have to make money in officialdom or do things against his conscience. He could still have a generous income as an honest official, and he could also openly increase the income of the court and seek benefits for the people, because doing so would also benefit his own family. However, Wang Qiong also knew that officials like Liu Yu could not last long, because not every emperor was as greedy as the current one. If the King of Ning really succeeded or waited until the new emperor ascended the throne, the new emperor would definitely not let officials like Liu Yu get any benefits. After all, the new emperor could say that it was your duty to let you govern the world well, and it was naturally impossible to get the benefits after successfully governing the world.

However, officials like Liu Yu, whose interests were tied together with those of Emperor Zhu Houzhao, naturally did not have to worry about being implicated if Prince Ning's rebellion failed. They were even extremely angry and suggested to the emperor that he severely punish Prince Ning and those who followed him in the rebellion, and even to immediately search and arrest all the civil and military officials who had had contact with Prince Ning.

Although Liu Yu only expressed his concern about the possibility of the people of the world being caught in war when he was alone with Wang Qiong, he directly and firmly advised Zhu Houzhao after meeting him:

"Your Majesty, Prince Ning has committed atrocities, disregarded the Emperor's grace, and intended to bring chaos to the world. This is an unforgivable crime! I think we should immediately dispatch elite troops to the south to quell the rebellion, and immediately order the Western Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to immediately arrest and interrogate the officials in the court who have had contact with Prince Ning. It is better to kill three thousand people by mistake than to let one person go! Otherwise, the world will not be stable!"

Zhu Houzhao knew that the reason why Liu Yu had such a tough attitude was that Liu Yu himself had no dealings with Prince Ning, and like Ma Wensheng, Jiao Fang and other civil servants before him, his interests were tied to those of the emperor from the very beginning. That's why he was so eager to suppress Prince Ning, and his performance was exactly the same as that of Liu Jin and other eunuchs. Just as they had followed him to reform the government, they were also very active in dealing with Prince Ning.

Otherwise, they would not have been called the eunuch party behind their backs by some civil servants and gentry who opposed them.

Even when the imperial court just received the news of Prince Ning's rebellion, Liu Yu drafted a memorial that very evening to remove Prince Ning from the imperial court and denounce him as a traitor.

Zhu Houzhao could understand the feelings and intentions of people like Liu Yu who belonged to the big bureaucratic and capitalist class.

But as an emperor, Zhu Houzhao also had to consider the feelings of officials from other backgrounds in the court. For example, Wang Qiong, who was looking depressed, Zhu Houzhao could guess that Wang Qiong must have received benefits from Prince Ning like himself, otherwise he would not have frowned when Liu Yu suggested using the factory guards to arrest officials who had dealings with Prince Ning.

Zhu Houzhao did not immediately agree to Liu Yu's proposal, nor did he reject it. He only asked Wang Qiong. He really wanted to know what solutions Wang Qiong, who represented the vast majority of officials in the court, would propose to deal with the crisis caused by Prince Ning's rebellion.

"What do you think about Prince Ning's rebellion?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

Wang Qiong himself had actually been thinking about it. He could guess that Ning Wang's rebellion might have prompted officials like Liu Yu from the Loyalty Society to want to take the opportunity of punishing Ning Wang's rebel forces to further fight for power in the court. And His Majesty's asking himself this question at this time was naturally giving those of him who were not officials from the Loyalty Society a chance to save himself.

Wang Qiong thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, I think that the matter of Prince Ning's rebellion should be planned by the General Staff of the Imperial Guards, and the punishment of the rebels and the conviction should be the responsibility of the three judicial departments. The cabinet and the six ministries have no right to interfere. The dismissal of officials is also the responsibility of the Ministry of Personnel."

When Zhu Houzhao saw Wang Qiong, he explained a procedure, implying that he had no way to change the fact that his officials had received benefits from Prince Ning. Naturally, everything still depended on Your Majesty the Emperor. If Your Majesty the Emperor wanted to deal with it according to the rules, you could do so. If you cannot deal with it according to the rules, you do not have to deal with it according to the rules. Anyway, the people of the world are on your side, so you can do whatever you want.

"In fact, I have also received a lot of benefits from the Ning Wang. According to Liu Qing's words, I will also be arrested. However, in my opinion, no one can predict that the Ning Wang will rebel, so it is normal to receive some gifts. There will be no fish in clear water. But the Ning Wang has become a rebel now. The gifts we received from the Ning Wang can no longer be called gifts, but ill-gotten gains, which are the blood and sweat of the people plundered by the Ning Wang! The Ning Wang's rebellion must have harmed the people and poisoned the people. Poor Jiangxi people! Therefore, I think these ill-gotten gains should not be kept by ourselves. We are all people who love the people, and we should return these blood and sweat of the people plundered by the Ning Wang to the people!"

"But, what should we do? I have an idea. In order to prevent these people from falling into laziness after directly receiving these wealth, I think we can let the court take care of them first and do something meaningful for the people of the world!"

Zhu Houzhao then continued, "As far as I know, the Ministry of Works currently lacks sufficient money and grain to repair the city walls, build water conservancy projects, and build roads and bridges. But in fact, whether the people can get rich depends on how many roads and bridges are built. So I propose that you and I take out this ill-gotten wealth and invest it in the court. Let the court set up an infrastructure bureau, and the infrastructure bureau will use this money to build infrastructure, that is, to build roads and bridges for the people! What do you think?"

Liu Yu was still confused, thinking that he was asked to pay money, but he had not received any benefits from King Ning.

But just as Liu Yu was stunned, Wang Qiong could not wait to reply: "Very good! Your Majesty is wise! The money taken from Prince Ning is of course ill-gotten gains, but if we invest it to form an infrastructure bureau, it will benefit the people of the world, increase food production, and reduce disasters. In addition, this will allow the court to replace the gentry in building roads and bridges, and it will benefit the people of the world even more by putting the power in the hands of the court!"

"I dare not deceive your majesty. I received more than 300,000 taels from Prince Ning. I have decided to present all of it to the court. I hope your majesty will approve it. In addition, I ask your majesty to punish me for corruption!"

Wang Qiong confessed without being asked.

Liu Yu was confused, thinking, "When did you, Wang Qiong, accept so many bribes? Although I believe you may have accepted benefits from King Ning, it is impossible for you to accept more than 300,000 taels! Even if King Ning is the richest man in the world, it is impossible for him to bribe an official with hundreds of thousands of taels! And he confessed it himself! It's unbelievable!"
Sorry, I am not in a good state. Although I wrote it according to the established ideas, I did not think specifically about how to write it better, so please forgive me. In addition, there is a reason why Wang Qiong did not confess and took the initiative to admit how much benefit he received from King Ning. I will explain it later, and book friends can guess. Wang Qiong must not only want to protect himself, but also see other opportunities, otherwise I would not write about his psychological activities of envying Liu Yu. Thank you to the book friend My name is Zhuanghu, not Fat Tiger for the 1000 starting coins reward

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(End of this chapter)