Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 305: Being a Tyrant

Yu Garden.

This place was originally the property of Duke Wei, but now it has been temporarily requisitioned as Zhu Houzhao's residence.

The Forbidden City in Nanjing had fallen into disrepair after years of neglect. Apart from a few eunuchs who stayed behind, it was basically unpopular. Zhu Houzhao was unwilling to spend manpower and financial resources to renovate the Forbidden City in Nanjing, so he temporarily stayed in Yuyuan.

At that time, Li Zan, the Nanjing Minister of War who held the military power in Nanjing, Yu Jing, the eunuch guarding Nanjing, and Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, all gathered here.

The governor Wu Wendi, who was directly in charge of the local affairs of Southern Zhili, and the inspector Dai Jin also rushed to Nanjing to wait for Zhu Houzhao to summon them.

For the officials in Nanjing, Zhu Houzhao's sudden appearance really scared them.

Frankly speaking, the emperor had been away in the capital for more than ten years, so the officials in Nanjing had lived a very carefree life. Moreover, with the opening of the empire to the sea in recent years, those powerful people in Nanjing naturally made a lot of money, and each of them was very rich.

The decoration of Yu Garden, where Zhu Houzhao suddenly went down, was far better than that of his own Royal West Garden, which made Zhu Houzhao laugh at Xu Pengju, Duke of Wei, who was the real rich man. Naturally, Xu Pengju could only say that it was all bestowed by the emperor, and he was afraid that Zhu Houzhao would confiscate his property if he was unhappy.

"This platinum and diamond-studded toilet is really hard to get used to. And this silver-gilt agate comb and emerald white jade bowl, Duke Wei, Duke Wei, you have to be thankful that the Ming Dynasty is still strong and prosperous. Otherwise, your Yu Garden, which is made of gold and jade, would become a place full of spider webs!"

Zhu Houzhao was waiting for other officials to arrive in Nanjing one after another, and he was only resting in Yuyuan during these days, so he started chatting with Xu Pengju.

Zhu Houzhao did not know much about Xu Pengju. He only knew that in the 24th year of Jiajing's reign in history, there was a mutiny in the Zhenwu Camp in Nanjing, and Xu Pengju, the military commander in charge of the Nanjing Central Army Governor's Office, escaped. He was called a fool by people at that time and was considered a coward.

And now, Xu Pengju was in the same situation when he came before Zhu Houzhao. Hearing what Zhu Houzhao said, he was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. Although he was in Nanjing, he knew that the current Emperor Zhu Houzhao was a notorious killer. Several nobles had ended up with their entire families being executed. He was really worried that Emperor Zhu Houzhao would execute him if he was dissatisfied with his extravagant life.

Therefore, Xu Pengju could only hurriedly say in a submissive manner: "Your Majesty is right. I am able to do this because of your Majesty's hard work and dedication to the governance, which has ushered in this rare prosperity in history! Otherwise, even if I were from a noble family, I would not be able to maintain my wealth forever."

"It's good that you understand. However, don't worry. I will not take away any of the wealth that belongs to your Xu family. However, your Xu family cannot take advantage of your power and wealth to seize the land that belongs to the court and the people. When your father was alive, he seized the people's land, but after a lecture from me, he was conscious and returned the land to the people. I don't want you to do the same. You should learn from your ancestors! The King of Zhongshan and Taizu also suffered hardships. We, the descendants who are enjoying the benefits of our ancestors' merits, must not ruin the country they built."

Zhu Houzhao said a few words casually. He didn't know whether Xu Pengju could listen to him, but it was always necessary to say something. In any dynasty, it is inevitable that there will be some meritorious officials and nobles left behind. When the dynasty was established, they were naturally heroes of the dynasty, but now when it comes to defending the dynasty, they are often a burden to the empire.

In order to support these meritorious officials and their descendants, the imperial court would have to increase its expenses significantly, just like the royal family members.

Zhu Houzhao's current status determined that he could not eliminate all these princes and nobles without asking reasons like Li Zicheng did. It was not only from an emotional point of view, but also from the perspective of his own imperial interests, these princes and nobles were his powerful group against the civil service group.

Xu Pengju naturally understood all these principles. After listening to what Zhu Houzhao said, he did not feel that there was anything wrong. Moreover, he was relieved when he saw that the emperor said with his own mouth that he would not take away a penny of his family property. He only thought about how to curry favor with Zhu Houzhao and began to wish that Zhu Houzhao would visit one or two women from the Xu family in his Yuyuan.

Zhu Houzhao naturally did not come to the Xu family to look for prostitutes. He came naturally to rectify Jiangnan, and rectifying Jiangnan would naturally lead to conflicts with the powerful local families in Jiangnan. The Duke of Wei was the most powerful in Jiangnan. If the Duke of Wei's Mansion could be suppressed, naturally other powerful families in Jiangnan would not cause trouble.

This is also the reason why Zhu Houzhao decided to stay at the Duke of Wei's Mansion.

However, through his contacts with Duke of Wei Xu Pengju in the past few days, Zhu Houzhao discovered that Xu Pengju was not a courageous and capable person, and he felt relieved. But he could also see that Xu Pengju was not a person who cared about the country and the people. After enjoying wealth and luxury for too long, he ignored the power of the common people.

Zhu Houzhao hoped that Duke of Wei Xu Pengju would be aware of this under his guidance and realize that easing class contradictions would be of long-term benefit to his Xu family.

Before Wang Shouren arrived in Nanjing, Zhu Houzhao was unable to reveal his true purpose directly, so he took the opportunity to inspect the entire military and political situation in Nanjing.

Nanjing is different from Beijing. Nanjing still uses the system before the Zhengde Dynasty. It still has the Beijing Camp. Moreover, the Beijing Camp in Nanjing can only be described in one word, that is, weak!
As for the civil and military officials, most of them are naturally not as energetic as those in Beijing. After all, most of these officials are retired. In addition, Nanjing is located in the south of the Yangtze River, a gentle and wealthy place, where civil and military officials are at ease and playful.

When Zhu Houzhao was going to inspect the Nanjing military on horseback, many of the Nanjing escort officials were unable to ride and had to follow him on foot. After walking less than a mile, not only the civil officials but also some military officers were out of breath.

This is exactly what Xu Pengju is feeling now. He feels like his heart is about to jump out and his heels feel like they are filled with lead. However, the emperor on his horse is still in high spirits. As the garrison commander of Nanjing and the commander of the Beijing camp, he cannot fall behind and can only continue to follow with gritted teeth. For a moment, he actually fell to the ground and fainted.

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao hurriedly had someone wake Xu Pengju up and couldn't help but say, "Duke of Wei, Xu Pengju, you are also the garrison commander of Nanjing, in charge of the military power of the Southern Capital, and you are also the descendant of the King of Zhongshan. But look at you now, do you still look like a military commander? You can't ride a horse, and now you fainted after walking less than five miles. With your physical strength, how can you lead troops to resist the enemy in the future?"

"I, I am guilty!"

Xu Pengju said breathlessly.

Zhu Houzhao was not in the mood to dismiss Xu Pengju, and he could not find anyone suitable for this position, so he just snorted and threw the whip: "Jinyiwei Liu Shi, you drive the Duke of Wei to the parade ground! The rest of you, follow me first!"

Zhu Houzhao then went to the parade ground first.

Here, before the Duke of Wei was put on a carriage by Jinyiwei Liu Shi, and before Xu Pengju could thank Zhu Houzhao, Dai Jin, the imperial censor of Nanzhili, who had just entered the officialdom, shouted out loudly at an inappropriate time:
"Wait a minute! The emperor rides a horse, how can the Duke of Wei, as a minister, drive away? Your Majesty's grace is really against the way of the monarch and his ministers! If the Duke of Wei dares to ride away, I will impeach him for the crime of usurpation!"

Xu Pengju had no choice but to get out of the car and continued walking forward with gritted teeth.

And this time.

The Beijing troops on the Nanjing parade ground had indeed been assembled. Fearing that Zhu Houzhao would be too disappointed, Nanjing War Minister Li Zan and Xu Pengju had already searched the surrounding areas for peasants to serve as Beijing troops overnight. However, it was difficult to gather new cotton armor and new firearms at the moment. After all, Zhu Houzhao came to Nanjing too suddenly, so the Beijing troops in Nanjing looked like a group of bandits and their morale was very low.

When Zhu Houzhao rode his horse with a team of Jinyiwei behind him, these Beijing soldiers were so frightened that they knelt down in panic, just like a group of ordinary people meeting an official.

"Fortunately, Prince Ning did not attack Anqing Prefecture back then!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but say something, and then asked, "Where is Li Zan, the Minister of War in Nanjing?"

"Reporting to your majesty, Li Butang, like Duke Wei, is physically exhausted and has not been able to catch up for a while," said Wu Wendi, the governor of Nanzhili who was following behind Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao was speechless after hearing this and said with a smile:

"It is ridiculous that the person in charge of the army cannot ride a horse, and cannot ride off-road. From now on, all officials in Nanjing must do morning exercises and learn to ride horses for three months. Wu Wending, you will teach. Officials of the Ming Dynasty, whether civil or military, are responsible for defending the territory and governing the country. They cannot fail to meet the basic physical fitness standards! Have you forgotten the six arts of a gentleman?"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Wu Wendi accepted the order.

About half an hour later, when the sun was already high in the sky, Xu Pengju and other officials arrived.

Normally they could only travel around in sedan chairs, but now they were all too tired to walk, so when they saw Zhu Houzhao they could only apologize.

"Alright, apologize to the soldiers, especially Duke Wei and Nanjing Minister of War Li Zan! If this happened during wartime, you would be the ones who delayed the military operation!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Xu Pengju and Li Zan were both very surprised. Usually they were too lazy to even look at these officers and soldiers from the capital. Now, if His Majesty the Emperor did not want to inspect, they would have to follow. How could they apologize to these officers and soldiers? Therefore, they found it difficult to accept it.

"What? Do you really think you are a superior and care about your own face?" Zhu Houzhao asked coldly.

"I dare not!"

Xu Pengju and Li Zan responded with something, and then had to quickly apologize to the Beijing troops.

The officers and soldiers of the Beijing army in Nanjing were also confused, but when they saw the two high-ranking officials apologize to them, they were indeed less complaining and had some good feelings towards the emperor standing on the horse.

After Xu Pengju and Li Zan apologized, Zhu Houzhao looked at Li Zan and said, "It's time to start!"

Nanjing Minister of War Li Zan nodded and began to preside over the event, while Xu Pengju was responsible for leading the Beijing troops to complete the corresponding military exercises.

But the entire rehearsal process was a mess. The commander Xu Pengju was unable to wield his sword, and the officers and soldiers were in disarray. Not to mention Zhu Houzhao, even the accompanying Jinyiwei could hardly hold back their laughter, and Nanjing Minister of War Li Zan wished he could find a rat hole to hide in.

Zhu Houzhao was not in a good mood, but he did not say anything. The disarray of Nanjing's military was not unexpected, and he was not disappointed. He just felt that it was more difficult for him to rectify Jiangnan. The disarray of Nanjing's military meant that it would be difficult to suppress local forces by force. Zhu Houzhao was secretly glad that he had made plans in advance and asked Wang Shouren to bring two divisions of the Guards. Otherwise, he was not sure what he could do in Jiangnan with the Nanjing army.

"In the 15th year of Zhengde, the cabinet reported that the Nanjing Military Department had completed the replacement of weapons as scheduled. Why are there still soldiers using muskets with matchlocks?" Zhu Houzhao asked at this time. Li Zan, whose forehead was already sweating, had to apologize and said, "I don't know. I was in charge of the southern troops in the 17th year of Zhengde."

"Then why didn't you report it?" Zhu Houzhao asked coldly.

"I am not a censor and I have no right to impeach others," Li Zan replied.

Zhu Houzhao smiled coldly, said nothing more, and rode away: "Go back! Officials can leave on their own, no need to follow!"

Zhu Houzhao returned to Yuyuan. Frankly speaking, he was very disappointed with the military affairs in Nanjing. He could even guess what kind of malpractices might exist in the army, such as eating empty salaries, embezzlement, and lax management. Nanjing must have them.

However, Zhu Houzhao did not want to ask any more questions. He was tired and accustomed to it. He did not even find it strange. In a peaceful and prosperous era without military threats, it was difficult for officials in Nanjing, located in the south of the Yangtze River, to face any military crisis. They did not even have much motivation to ask the central court for money, and it was difficult to expect them to have any enterprising spirit.

But Zhu Houzhao still wanted to know to what extent the officials in the imperial Nanjing had fallen.

Before Wang Shouren and his guards arrived in Nanjing, Zhu Houzhao decided to let the officials in Nanjing relax and show their true selves to him.

On this day, Zhu Houzhao summoned Xu Pengju and Li Zan again.

In fact, Xu Pengju and Li Zan were both a little nervous and afraid of being punished by Zhu Houzhao. Now they were summoned by Zhu Houzhao again and were trembling with fear.

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao just said, "You don't have to be afraid. I know you all have your own difficulties. The money allocated to you by the Ministry of War is too little. The officers and soldiers in the garrison are not useful. Even if they use good firearms, it will be useless. I came to Nanjing not to deal with you. I just came to take a look. Now I have also seen that at least you have not caused any trouble in Nanjing. It can be said that you have neither merit nor fault. I came to summon you today just to ask if there are any fun places in Nanjing and delicious dishes. Since you are in Jiangnan, I must taste them well!"

Xu Pengju and Li Zan were quite surprised for a moment. They didn't expect that His Majesty would suddenly be so easy to talk to, and it seemed that he wanted to travel around. Suddenly, both of them felt a lot more relaxed. Among them, Xu Pengju replied: "Jinling has many unique scenery. I am willing to introduce them to Your Majesty."

"I can also recommend some delicious food to Your Majesty," Li Zan replied.

Zhu Houzhao nodded, then stood up and took a maid from the Xu residence into his arms, and began to touch her: "Where is the beauty?"

Xu Pengju showed some smile on his face. If Zhu Houzhao asked him about military and political affairs, he would be completely unable to answer. However, when it came to pleasures such as wine and sex, he was very confident and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, if you are not satisfied with the servants in Yuyuan, I will go and change a more beautiful maid now!"

"Don't rob women! Don't use this opportunity to make money!"

Zhu Houzhao said this and carried the maid into the inner room, while Xu Pengju and Li Zan also retreated. After Xu Pengju and Li Zan retreated, Zhu Houzhao came out again and instructed Gu Dayong: "Send someone to find them, and let them mistakenly think that I have begun to indulge myself and become a tyrant."

"I understand, eunuch!" Gu Dayong stepped back.

Zhu Houzhao nodded and continued to walk to the inner room. Seeing the maid he had just touched and hugged still lying on the couch, he sat over and asked, "What's your name?"

"Your Majesty, my name is Su Yue," the maid replied.

Zhu Houzhao leaned over and ruffled the black hair at Su Yue's temples: "Why do you still call yourself a slave? The people of the Ming Dynasty are no longer allowed to be slaves!"

"It was the Duke's order. He said that although there are no slaves in the Ming Dynasty, we are slaves, playthings serving His Majesty. We can be disrespectful in the mansion at ordinary times, but we must have some rules in front of His Majesty," the maid Su Yue couldn't help but close her eyes as she spoke. Zhu Houzhao's heavy breathing made her a little nervous. She clenched her fists tightly. She knew what might happen next.

"You don't have to listen to Xu Pengju. You are a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. You should have your own ideas. I ask you, do you like me? Then..." Zhu Houzhao carefully described what might happen next, and Su Yue became more and more nervous: "Your servant, I don't know!"

Zhu Houzhao stopped what he was doing and said, "You call yourself a slave again!"

"Your Majesty, please spare my life. I, I, I don't know," Su Yue replied tremblingly.

"Are you afraid of me?" Zhu Houzhao asked with a smile.

Su Yue nodded.

"You are quite honest," Zhu Houzhao laughed.

"Don't be in a hurry to tell me the answer. You have to learn to use your own reason to think about the consequences of saying this. If you don't want to like me, I can let you go. But you can think about it yourself. If I let you go and I return to the capital, what will you do?"

Zhu Houzhao asked.

"I, I have been in Yu Garden, I have served Your Majesty, and I am already Your Majesty's maid. If Your Majesty does not grant me to someone else, no one will dare to marry me, because Your Majesty's things are not something that anyone can touch."

Zhu Houzhao's powerful aura made Su Yue speak completely in accordance with Zhu Houzhao's psychological techniques.

"What if you tell me what you want and have sex with me?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

"I will be your Majesty's concubine. I will follow your Majesty to the palace and I will be the queen," Su Yue's eyes flashed with excitement.

"But, it is possible that you will die of old age in the palace, and I will never see you again," Zhu Houzhao said.

"But if I don't do that with Your Majesty, I will also die of old age in Yu Garden, unless Your Majesty is willing to give me to someone else," Su Yue said.

"I will not give you to anyone, because in my eyes, you are a person, not a random cat or dog that can be given at will. You know, people are independent and not attached to anyone. People have the right to life, property, and freedom. People must learn to make decisions for themselves. You can't expect me to bring you happiness, you have to do it yourself!"

As Zhu Houzhao was speaking, Su Yue suddenly came over.

Zhu Houzhao also became indulged and had another extramarital affair in Yuyuan without any scruples.

But the civilization of that era would not think that there was anything wrong with Zhu Houzhao's behavior, and Zhu Houzhao himself no longer had any moral pressure from betraying his wife.

Zhu Houzhao rejected Su Yue's impulse to do it again.

For a moment, Zhu Houzhao felt a little heavy-hearted. In order to be restrained, he also wanted to let Su Yue understand that he was the emperor and a human being, and he could not get what he wanted whenever he wanted.

Su Yue was indeed a little disappointed, but she also knew that she could not control the emperor, let alone ask him for anything. When she saw Emperor Zhu Houzhao making love with another maid named Xi Ling in the same way, she even had to suppress her jealousy and face the reality calmly. Because even though the emperor said that he was independent, everyone else felt that they belonged to the emperor, even she felt so. She could not blame the emperor for anything, but could only think of ways to regain his favor. She wore more revealing clothes, learned to flirt, and found ways to buy better perfume, which were all ways to attract the emperor.

In the following months, Zhu Houzhao completely turned Yu Garden into his own garden of desire and his own den of lust, and the maids in Yu Garden began to become charming and unbridled. When Zhu Houzhao was not so serious, they were no longer serious either, and only thought of using various methods to attract Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao also began to indulge himself and started accepting various benefits from Nanjing officials and gentry, including gold, silver, treasures, calligraphy and paintings, and beauties. He found that once he used his status as emperor to only ask for benefits without fulfilling his obligations, all the benefits would come to him.

Zhu Houzhao discovered that Nanjing officials such as Xu Pengju liked such an emperor. When he deliberately behaved unrestrainedly, these officials were obviously no longer just afraid of him, but also felt a sense of intimacy as a fellow traveler. Even their smiles when they saluted became more natural.

"Your Majesty, it snowed last night. The snow scenery around Xuanwu Lake is extremely beautiful. It is a rare opportunity for Your Majesty to visit the Southern Capital, so why not take this opportunity to take a boat trip."

While indulging in sensual pleasures, Zhu Houzhao also got to know some famous officials in Jiangnan. At this time, Wang Xianchen, who was renovating the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou, came to Nanjing to meet Zhu Houzhao because of Wen Zhengming's relationship. He also suggested that Zhu Houzhao go to Xuanwu Lake to enjoy the snow.

"Xuanwu Lake?"

Zhu Houzhao instinctively felt a pang in his heart, thinking that Yang Tinghe had fallen into the Taiye Lake many years ago, yet there were still people who wanted to let him, the emperor, go boating in the lake.

Thanks to the book friend Tian Jue Zhang for the reward of 100 Qidian coins

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(End of this chapter)