Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 306: Jinyiwei violent law enforcement

The emperor wants to go boating on the lake.

It is inevitable that it will take some trouble, and the lives of the people in Nanjing will naturally be affected by it.

Officials in Nanjing may not be good at training the army, improving city defenses, benefiting the people and strengthening the country, but they are very good at getting Emperor Zhu Houzhao to see a good snow.

By the time Zhu Houzhao left Yu Garden, the entire city of Nanjing had been completely transformed. The snow-covered roads had been cleared and covered with soft loess.

There was not a single citizen on the road that the imperial carriage had to pass. Officers and soldiers wearing new armor stood neatly on the roadside. The entire city of Nanjing seemed to become quiet all of a sudden, so quiet that only the sound of snowflakes falling to the ground could be heard.

Zhu Houzhao could guess that in order to achieve this effect, the officials in Nanjing must have spent a lot of manpower and financial resources, which also greatly affected the lives of the scholars and people of Nanjing.

But now that Zhu Houzhao has decided to be a tyrant for the time being, he naturally cannot consider these things and cannot take the interests of the people to heart.

You should just enjoy yourself.

This time, Zhu Houzhao naturally did not ride a horse, but sat in a luxurious carriage covered with thick felt and slowly drove towards Xuanwu Lake.

Because Zhu Houzhao did not ride a horse, the officials who accompanied him did not have to ride horses. They even received Zhu Houzhao's permission to come in sedan chairs or carriages.

At this point, all the ministers were naturally grateful to Zhu Houzhao, and they no longer had to worry about being embarrassed because of their lack of riding skills.

The snow scene in Xuanwu Lake was quite nice, with the sky and water the same color, and everything was white. However, Zhu Houzhao did not take a boat. Instead, he changed to a sedan chair and just walked along the shore of Xuanwu Lake, while the officials got off the sedan chair and the cars and followed him.

"Your Majesty, the scenery on the lake is very beautiful, and there are also beautiful plum blossoms standing on the isolated island, which are extremely gorgeous!"

"Your Majesty, I have already ordered a pleasure boat to be prepared. A beautiful lady is already waiting inside to serve tea!"

"Your Majesty, why don't you take a trip on the boat?"

Wang Xianchen suggested something, but Zhu Houzhao just smiled and refused to go down to the lake. He just picked a plum blossom and threw it into the water: "Wang Qing, I heard that you are a great poet, so you can go on a trip for me first, take a boat to the other side and bring me the beauty who is admiring the plum blossoms on the island. Before you come back, write a good poem."

Wang Xianchen was a little surprised and a little nervous: "Your Majesty, I dare not. This lake has not been visited by the emperor first, how dare I be the first to do so!"

"This is an imperial edict!"

Zhu Houzhao said this coldly, and immediately Qi Jingtong and Guo Rong on the side both drew their swords.

Seeing this, Wang Xianchen could only bow and said, "Yes, I obey your order!"

Zhu Houzhao smiled slightly, stood on the shore, and watched Wang Xianchen board the pleasure boat.

Wang Xianchen boarded the pleasure boat trembling with fear and ordered the beauty on the boat, "Don't open the boat stopper, Zhu Houzhao hasn't come up yet!"

After Wang Xianchen finished speaking, he glanced at Zhu Houzhao on the shore.

Zhu Houzhao felt relieved to see that the pleasure boat was fine, thinking to himself that these Nanjing officials and gentry did not dare to stage a scene of him falling into the water.

Not long after, Wang Xianchen brought back the beauty holding the plum blossom. The beauty just asked Wang Xianchen: "Father, what should we do if this tyrant emperor refuses to come to the pleasure boat?"

"Then you should stay on the pleasure boat and don't come out. Just ask His Majesty to come to the boat to meet you! I believe that the tyrant king will not remain indifferent after seeing my daughter's beauty."

As Wang Xianchen said this, he stood at the bow of the pleasure boat and walked towards the shore.

At this time, Wang Xianchen's daughter Wang Yunniang had already unveiled her veil and was holding Mei in her arms as she saluted.

The officials on the shore all started to whisper to each other when they saw this: "She is indeed a beauty of heaven. Who could have thought of this? I'm afraid that your Majesty's soul has been seduced away by her!"

At this time, Wang Xianchen also bowed to Zhu Houzhao and said, "Your Majesty, the poem I just wrote was all in the mouth of this woman. Your Majesty can ask her to read it."

"Okay, let her read it!" Zhu Houzhao nodded.

Wang Yunniang began to read.

Zhu Houzhao looked at the other officials who were all infatuated, and thought that in this era without the profession of voice actor, it was just a nice female voice that made these officials bewitched. However, as a person who had lived in the Internet age, he had seen everything, so he just waved his hand and said, "The poem is too bad, let this woman shut up!"

"Your Majesty has ordered you to shut up immediately. Your poem is terrible!"

The eunuch Fujun shouted.

Wang Xianchen's face immediately turned red with shame, as if he had been slapped in the face.

Wang Yunniang couldn't help but shut her mouth.

Wen Zhengming almost laughed out loud.

At this moment, Jinyiwei Liu Shi came running over and said, "Your Majesty, Lord Wang has arrived in Nandu and is waiting for you outside Hongwu Gate!"

Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "Guo Rong, send some men who are good at swimming to seize the pleasure boat where Censor Wang is! Before taking it away, check the bottom of the boat."

"According to the order!"

After Guo Rong finished speaking, he instructed a few people to go.

Then, several Jinyiwei jumped into Xuanwu Lake and headed towards the pleasure boat.

Wang Xianchen didn't hear clearly what Zhu Houzhao and the Jinyiwei said on the shore. Seeing these Jinyiwei swimming over, he was also a little panicked: "Your Majesty, what are you doing? I don't understand."

"Your Majesty, there is something wrong with this ship!" As soon as a Jinyiwei finished speaking, he felt his throat tighten and suddenly floated on the water, with blood oozing out.

Zhu Houzhao looked back at Xu Pengju and Li Zan and asked, "What do you want to do?"

"Your Majesty, I don't know!"

Xu Pengju and Li Zan were so frightened that they knelt down, and all the other Nanjing officials also knelt down.

"Quick, move away, our plan has been exposed! Quick!"

Wang Xianchen became panicked. As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a chill on the back of his neck. He reached out and touched it, and it was covered in blood. Then he fell to the ground.

Guo Rong was quick-witted and fired a shot, killing the beauty who was trying to attack Wang Yunniang from behind. Then he ordered, "Be careful underwater! And inside the pleasure boat!"

At this time, Qi Jingtong also brought a dozen tall Jinyiwei to protect Zhu Houzhao in the middle, with people sticking together.

The assassin hiding in the dark also knew that it was impossible to assassinate Zhu Houzhao, and he did not plan this step at all. He only hunted the people on the pleasure boat and some officials and gentry on the shore.

They are silencing people!
Zhu Houzhao's first reaction at this time was that he didn't know which of the officials and gentry kneeling in front of him were involved in this incident and who would be killed. The only thing he was sure of was that the beauty holding plum blossoms on the painted boat must have been involved in this incident.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao ordered: "Protect the beautiful lady Baomei. If she is killed, you will commit suicide!"

"Yes!"

Guo Rong immediately jumped up from the shore, turned over, put on his duck-foot shoes, and rushed over the water. It seemed that the assassin in the dark had known his purpose. Four or five sharp arrows were shot at him, but Guo Rong had already fallen into the water, and with a rotation of the blade, he deflected the arrows and only entered the water.

The Jinyiwei on the shore controlled the water surface around the pleasure boats with short crossbows or muskets. All the beauties on the pleasure boats were shot dead or wounded before they could take the next action. Anyone who dared to show up on either side of the pleasure boats would be shot in the head on the spot.

At this time, Guo Rong and the Jinyiwei in the water had already started fighting with the assassin who was trying to launch a sneak attack on the beautiful lady Baomei.

Zhu Houzhao and Lady Baomei both looked at the water surface and saw blood emerging from the water from time to time, and saw the blade stirring up waves in the cold water.

Zhu Houzhao smiled playfully at the beauty.

Ah!
But at this moment, a scream was heard. An official was hit by an arrow and died on the spot!
The Ming Dynasty had strict control over firearms and gunpowder, and they were all numbered. Without professional training, it was difficult to master the use of new firearms. The old-fashioned firearms, the matchlock gun, were not suitable for assassination at all, and it was impossible to assassinate in water. Therefore, the only means of assassination were crossbows.

Zhu Houzhao did not feel any regret when he saw this official being killed, because at this time those who were assassinated were all accomplices.

Ah!
Another scream!
An official also fell to the ground and died on the spot!
The beautiful girl who was still alive in the painting boat was also shot by the assassin in the dark! They died one after another!

"These people are so cruel when they kill their own people!"

Zhu Houzhao thought to himself.

The pleasure boat began to sink.

Only the Jinyiwei were left around the pleasure boat. It was obvious that with the help of the Jinyiwei's firearms on the shore and their heroic fighting in the water, the assassins were no match for them.

The beautiful woman holding the plum blossom was also brought ashore, but she was captured tightly and even her throat was strangled by Guo Rong to prevent her from swallowing poison and committing suicide.

Wen Zhengming consciously stood at the outside, but was not killed by the assassin, which made Zhu Houzhao very relieved.

"How could an assassin sneak into a place as important as Xuanwu Lake? You have a good job!"

Zhu Houzhao scolded the surviving Nanjing officials on the other side of the river, and then returned along the same route under the escort of Qi Jingtong and others.

Looking at the dozen officials and gentry who had been killed on the shore, Zhu Houzhao could only sigh: "I'm sorry to disappoint you! I'm so sorry!"

"Send Wang Shouren to see me! Let him come to Mochou Lake to see me." Zhu Houzhao said, and then he saw Xu Pengju was not beside him. He turned around and saw Xu Pengju behind him, so he hurriedly called him over: "Duke Wei!"

"Your Majesty, yes, what do you want me to do for you?" Xu Pengju ran over trembling.

As Xu Pengju approached, Zhu Houzhao smelled a strong smell of urine and could not help but cover his nose with his hand: "Go to Yuyuan quickly to save people! That is your Xu family's property. It would be a pity if it was burned!"

Xu Pengju didn't quite understand, but he still obeyed the order.

An hour later, when Xu Pengju just arrived at the Qinhuai River, he heard a loud bang. Then he saw a fire appearing in his Yu Garden, which lit up half the sky red.

"This, this, who did this! Put out the fire quickly, find someone to put out the fire quickly!" Xu Pengju hurriedly shouted, stamping his hands and feet.

……

Zhu Houzhao was already on the Shengqi Tower of Mochou Lake at this time, and he said to Wang Shouren: "The water in Jiangnan is really deep. I have become a tyrant, but they still want to get rid of me and replace me with another emperor."

"Your Majesty, this move is just to deceive the Duke of Wei and his ilk. Everyone knows your methods. They are also playing along with you. They know that you are pretending to be a tyrant, so they try their best to please you and lure you into the water, so that you will fall into the water and get sick. Then the officials can only say that it was caused by your playing in the water.
This plan is perfect, and there are beautiful women to tempt you. Your Majesty, you may suspect that the food is poisonous, you may suspect that your close ministers have evil intentions, and you may worry about assassination, but there are only a few beauties on the pleasure boat, and the lake is calm. You should not suspect that there is a trick here, but your majesty is not as smart as them. I believe that your majesty must have seen some flaws!"

Wang Shouren replied.

"I'm not that smart, not even as smart as those who are using tricks behind the scenes. I thought that pretending to be discouraged and learning from Li Longji to turn a wise king into a foolish one would make these people relax their vigilance, but I didn't expect that they would not believe it at all. From this, it can be seen that I am not as cunning as these people. I am just more sensitive about boating! I hate boating! I hate it most when others suggest boating!"

Zhu Houzhao then ordered: "Pass the order, anyone who advises the emperor to go boating in the lake will be killed without mercy!"

Wang Shouren was horrified, thinking that the Emperor hated boating. In the early years of the Zhengde reign, hadn't the Emperor once boated on the lake with Yang Xueshi, but Yang Xueshi fell into the water and died of an illness.

The more Wang Shouren thought about it, the more horrified he became. He thought, "Your Majesty is so sensitive about boating on the lake now. Could it be related to Scholar Yang's boating on the lake?"

Wang Shouren became terrified unconsciously as he thought about it.

……

"Your Highness, the incident at Xuanwu Lake failed, but fortunately, all those involved in the case were killed, except for Wang Yunniang, who was saved by the Imperial Guards!"

On a flower boat on the Qinhuai River, a boatman knelt in front of a curtain. The person behind the curtain kept covering his face with a veil and refused to show his face. He was dressed like a girl and only made a sound like a drake:

"Fortunately, Wang Yunniang was willing to participate in this matter with her father, only because her cousin Gan Yi tempted her to divorce him. Kill Gan Yi, including his entire family, and even those who have contact with Gan Yi. Leave no one alive!"

"Yes!"

The boatman replied, "I thought the emperor would return to Yu Garden after the incident at Xuanwu Lake was exposed, so I used the informant we arranged in the Duke of Wei's Mansion to enter the kitchen in the name of delivering oil and salt, and took the opportunity to break into Yu Garden and burn it down. However, the plan failed. The emperor did not go to Yu Garden, but to Mochou Lake!

The Xu family no longer dared to be careless. At the emperor's request, Xu Pengju transferred all the non-family-born children (please search Baidu for the concept of family-born children, I won't explain it here). Now the area around Mochou Lake is full of the emperor's personal relatives and the elderly of the Xu family who can be traced back to three generations. "

"How reckless! Even if Zhu Houzhao returned to Yu Garden, you might not be able to threaten him by burning Yu Garden. Now it has only increased his vigilance! I have told you countless times not to act rashly, not to act rashly, not to talk about assassination without absolute certainty, why don't you understand!"

The boatman hurriedly bowed his hands to apologize: "Your Highness is right!"

"Go ahead. After you wipe out Gan Yi's entire family, don't come back to Jiangnan within three years!"

After saying this, the man added, "I have to leave Jiangnan for some time! This is the medicine I left for you. There is only enough for three months. Come to the old place to find me within three months!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!" said the boatman and retreated.

……

Zhu Houzhao looked at Wang Yunniang, who was biting her lips tightly and looked lonely and cold. "Tell me, why did you conspire with your father to murder me?"

"Because you are a tyrant!" Wang Yunniang replied.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh: "You can say that I am a tyrant, but if you say that I am a foolish ruler, that's biased!"

"You are the tyrant! My cousin said that as soon as you came to Jiangnan, you slept with other people's wives and daughters, accepted money and property, and occupied the homes of officials as your own brothels, making Nanjing a place where the people live in misery! My father couldn't bear to see the Ming Dynasty fall into the hands of a tyrant, and he also wanted to eliminate the harm to the people, so he asked me to seduce you with sex, but I didn't expect that you, a tyrant, are so vigilant!"

Wang Yunniang spoke loudly.

Zhu Houzhao ordered Guo Rong: "Go check who her cousin is."

However, at this time, Liu Shi came running and said, "Your Majesty, the latest news is that within the day before yesterday, all 57 members of Gan Yi's family were killed!

At the same time, forty-six students of Suzhou Prefecture School were also killed!

Seventeen members of Suzhou Xinde Literary Society died suddenly one after another!
According to the local Jinyiwei, all those killed were related to Gan Yi! It is estimated that the memorial from the Suzhou prefect will be submitted soon. "

"Quiet!"

Guo Rong said something first.

"One hundred and twenty lives! These evil forces are really straightforward in their actions!"

As Zhu Houzhao was speaking, Wang Shouren glanced at Wang Yunniang and said, "Your Majesty, the clue is broken!"

Zhu Houzhao did not answer, but he knew that Wang Shouren was right. Fifty-seven members of a family were killed, which might be a revenge killing, but not only one family but also all those related to them were killed, which means that the murderer really just wanted to silence them.

"cousin!"

Wang Yunniang's cry of grief further proved this point.

But Zhu Houzhao also looked at Wang Yunniang and ordered: "Watch her carefully! When she recovers, ask her about her cousin's condition!"

Zhu Houzhao then asked Wang Shouren: "Have the defense of Nanjing and its surrounding areas been completely taken over by the Imperial Guards?"

"Your Majesty, we have taken complete control," Wang Shouren replied.

"Tomorrow I will summon the officials from Jiangnan to Mochou Lake. This is a prosperous place, but murders happen frequently. Fights, assaults, murders, robberies, thefts, and market bullying are common. The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. The density of road and bridge construction is not as high as that of border towns, and the tax collection is not as high as that of Guangdong and Guangxi. This is the fault of the government!"

Zhu Houzhao gave an order and also stated the purpose of holding the court meeting.

As an emperor, he naturally would not focus his energy on solving the assassination case, but he also realized that no matter whether he was a wise or a foolish ruler, as long as he ruled the empire, there would be people who were ambitious or dissatisfied with the status quo and would be rebellious against him. Instead of this, he might as well follow his own heart and make life difficult for anyone who wanted to make him suffer.

Zhu Houzhao could see that this assassination was a plot set up in advance by the local forces in Jiangnan, who were waiting for him to come to Jiangnan to teach him a lesson. They did this naturally because they were worried that he would come to Jiangnan in person and reform the taxation policy in Jiangnan again as he had done before, and strengthen the court's control over Jiangnan.

However, Zhu Houzhao did not know whether there were other forces involved, because based on his understanding of the gentry in Jiangnan, only the literati in Jiangnan could kill people so easily.

……

"Most of the taxes in the world come from Jiangnan, and look at what Jiangnan has become under your control! Since you can't manage it well, I will manage it myself!"

Zhu Houzhao continued, "Wang Shouren, listen to my order. I have decided to establish a special administrative region in Jiangnan, with Yingtian, Suzhou, Songjiang, Huzhou, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Shaoxing as its jurisdiction. I order Wang Shouren to lead the army in Jiangnan and rectify the military and political affairs in Jiangnan for me!"

"I accept the decree!"

Wang Shouren stepped forward and replied.

In the past few days, Zhu Houzhao had already given him instructions in person, and he also knew what the Emperor wanted him to do. Among them, the most important thing to do was to perform the functions of the court, rectify the commercial order in Jiangnan, eliminate all local forces that hindered the trade in Jiangnan, and concentrate the benefits in the hands of the people and the court.

The officials in Nanjing were all horrified at this moment. They had never expected that the emperor, who had been indulging in sensual pleasures and letting things go their own way in recent days, would suddenly make such a big move and set up the Jiangnan Special Administrative Region, and that it would govern the richest prefectures in the world.

"Wei Guogong Xu Pengju, Pengcheng Bo Zhang Qin, and Fuqiang Bo Mao Rui are in charge of Jiangnan military affairs. The Nanjing Jingjun and the Fourth and Seventh Divisions of the Imperial Guards are temporarily organized into the First, Second, and Third Divisions of the Embroidered Uniform Guards. They are required to wear Embroidered Uniform Guard uniforms and follow Wang Shouren's orders to rectify the public security and commercial order in Jiangnan! Nanjing Minister of War Li Zan is responsible for the political organization and logistics of the Third Division!"

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, all the above officials came forward to receive his orders.

The other officials were fine, but Xu Pengju didn't know what to do for a moment, and asked Li Zan in a low voice with some confusion: "Li Minister, what does your majesty want to do?"

"Your Majesty wants to kill someone, and Your Majesty wants you to be His Majesty's knife!" Li Zan replied.

"kill?"

Xu Pengju was shocked and almost collapsed to the ground: "Your Majesty, you want me to kill someone? But I don't even dare to kill a chicken!"

"You are the representative of Nanjing nobles, and you are from the first aristocratic family in Jiangnan. You are even one of the few dukes since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. If you don't serve as His Majesty's knife and kill people for His Majesty, His Majesty will only kill you! You should know what the fate of Duke Ying and Duke Cheng was," said Li Zan.

"What do you mean?" Xu Pengju asked.

"Duke Ying has been your majesty's sword, killing court officials for your majesty. Now Duke Ying's reputation in the court and the country is as high as that of the most honorable noble in the Ming Dynasty. Duke Chengguo, on the other hand, was exterminated by your majesty because he colluded with the civil officials and refused to be your majesty's sword!"

After Li Zan said this, Xu Pengju suddenly realized what was going on. He broke out in a cold sweat and secretly wondered who the emperor wanted him to kill.

Zhu Houzhao did want to kill people, but he couldn't just kill people now. According to the original intention of governing the country according to laws, he had to make laws first and then kill people.

The constitutional outline stipulates that the legislative power lies in the hands of the emperor.

Therefore, this does not contradict Zhu Houzhao's idea of ​​governing the country according to the law and his desire to rule the world alone.

Zhu Houzhao asked Wang Shouren to draft the most stringent law in history to combat crime and eliminate evil. No matter who it is, as long as they hinder commercial trade, engage in malicious competition, operate maliciously, form cliques, evade taxes, and prevent people from trading freely, they will be executed immediately!

Wang Shouren was a military strategist and was good at military management. He was as strict in enforcing his laws as he was in enforcing military law. Moreover, apart from Xu Pengju's Nanjing Army, the other two of the three armies in Jiangnan that he was now in charge of reorganizing were regular armies.

"Duke Wei, you lead the First Division to rectify the Yingtian and Zhenjiang areas. Earl Pengcheng, you lead the Second Division to rectify the Susong and Changwu areas. Earl Fuqiang, you lead the Third Division to rectify the Hangzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou areas! You are responsible for suppressing the rebellion by force, and Li Butang is responsible for informing in advance! I will inspect at any time!"

After Wang Shouren finished speaking, all the officials took his orders and left.

But at that time, local forces in prefectures above Jiangnan did not take this matter seriously. A few young men still did their own thing and pinned farmers who came into the city to sell cotton yarn privately to the ground and beat them outside Nanjing.

Pengcheng Marquis Zhang Qin happened to be leading his troops out of the city. Without saying a word, his Jinyiwei directly followed orders and hacked these young men to death on the spot!

……

"Robbery!"

In Zhenjiang Prefecture, a merchant pointed at the robbers who were sailing away and shouted. At this time, the Jinyiwei happened to come on a boat and immediately chased after them and shot all the robbers on the boat to death!

Coincidentally, Zhu Houzhao's newly expanded Jinyiwei were playing the role of law enforcers in various places in Jiangnan, using violence to regulate business order and maintain public security!
Yesterday, due to poor network connection and operational failure, chapters were posted repeatedly. Unfortunately, the author did not have the permission to delete VIP chapters, which led to duplicate subscriptions for book friends. It was fixed very late last night. I am really sorry. The number of legitimate readers of this book is decreasing. I hope that this will not cause you to lose your legitimate support for my book! Thank you! Sorry again!

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(End of this chapter)