Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 47 undermined the prestige of the cabinet ministers!

Zhu Houzhao walked up to the cabinet chief Liu Jian and asked, "Prime Minister, why are you just here to pay your respects to His Majesty without explaining why you lost your manners in front of the emperor just now? I'll give you a chance to explain, otherwise, I'll punish you for your disrespect for the emperor!"

The chief minister of the cabinet, Liu Jian, was trembling all over and he pressed his hands hard against the ground, but he could do nothing to Zhu Houzhao at this time, because Zhu Houzhao was the emperor, and no matter how high his official position was, he was still a subject. He could only do things behind the scenes or show off his power when the emperor was in a good mood.

"I am old and confused. I was so emotional that I lost my manners in front of you. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me!"

The chief minister of the cabinet, Liu Jian, reluctantly knocked his head to the ground.

Zhu Houzhao just smiled and said, "Except for the three cabinet ministers, all other officials please stand up. It is not raining today and the weather is not too cold. It is not like the day when the late emperor's coffin was set out. You three should kneel for a while longer. You are not so unwilling to kneel to the late emperor that you are unwilling to kneel even in front of me."

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, the other officials thanked him, stood up and stood respectfully by his side.

However, the three cabinet elders had mixed feelings. They understood that His Majesty the Emperor Zhu Houzhao still remembered their request to be exempted from kneeling that day, but at that time they just wanted to test His Majesty Zhu Houzhao's temper and also intended to prove to all the officials that they, the three cabinet elders, were still prestigious and respected by the emperor. Only by showing that they still had a special political status could they control all the officials.

However, the third cabinet minister did not expect that His Majesty the Emperor Zhu Houzhao would eventually remember this matter.

Without being reminded by others, the Third Elder knew that he had to start looking at Zhu Houzhao in a new light from today on.

Zhu Houzhao knew that the three cabinet elders had repeatedly requested special treatment in order to demonstrate their status among the officials and gain their respect, but Zhu Houzhao was not going to let them get their wish!
When Zhu Houzhao saw the head of Sun Meiling, the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, he kicked it directly in front of Xie Qian, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet.

When Cabinet Grand Secretary Xie Qian saw the bloody head, he vomited in disgust and spat a lot of filth on the ground.

Zhu Houzhao kicked Xie Qian directly: "How dare you! This is the Cining Palace, the Queen Mother's bedroom. Are you deliberately offending the Queen Mother and bullying my widowed mother by doing this?!"

Xie Qian, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, could not help but clench his fists, his eyes spitting fire, and while enduring the discomfort in his stomach, he gritted his teeth and replied: "Old minister, this is not my intention, I just couldn't help it at the moment, I hope Your Majesty will forgive me!"

"Then you lick it clean for me and eat it back! Otherwise, I will punish you severely for offending the Queen Mother!"

Zhu Houzhao shouted loudly.

Xie Qian wanted to stand up and fight back, but Zhu Houzhao shouted, "Guo Rong!"

"The general is here!"

Guo Rong immediately responded with a bloody knife.

Seeing this, Xie Qian knew that if he did not obey Zhu Houzhao's order, he would be beheaded immediately, so he knelt down again and buried his head: "I will obey your order!"

For a moment, Xie Qian licked the ground clean like a dog.

The majesty of the three ministers of the cabinet was instantly shattered!
This was exactly the effect Zhu Houzhao wanted. He wanted to let all officials know that the prestige of these three cabinet ministers during the Hongzhi Dynasty would be gone forever.

After a while, Zhu Houzhao began to ask: "Tell me, what do you want to report today?"

The three cabinet elders saw that the Emperor Zhu Houzhao's temperament was very different from before, and they also knew that if they asked His Majesty to do anything now, the hope would be slim, but they were unwilling to fail at the last hurdle, so the cabinet chief Liu Jian spoke first:

"Your Majesty! We are here today because the Qianqing Palace has been renovated. We advise Your Majesty to move to the main palace and stabilize the Ming Dynasty! Do not go out of the palace to have fun! At the same time, Liu Jin and other eunuchs have seduced Your Majesty to have fun and not do your job, causing the government to be neglected. Today, I am risking my life to impeach Liu Jin and others. Please execute Liu Jin and others to rectify the government!"

Li Dongyang, the deputy minister of the cabinet, also echoed: "I second your proposal. Your Majesty has promised to return to the palace in three months. Please keep your promise. In addition, Liu Jin and other eunuchs are vicious and greedy. They are really villains. I hope Your Majesty will be close to virtuous officials and stay away from villains. Kill them to correct your virtue!"

Xie Qian, the Third Assistant, also regained some calm at this time, but his inner anger was getting more and more intense, and he threatened directly: "If Your Majesty does not kill Liu Jin and other eunuchs, we will kneel here forever!"

"If Your Majesty does not execute Liu Jin and other eunuchs and move to the Qianqing Palace, we will kneel here forever!" All the officials knelt down.

Zhu Houzhao could see that these civil servants were united in demanding the execution of Liu Jin and his return to the Qianqing Palace, and they had strong positions, and it was clear that they would not give up until he got their orders.

"Are you forcing me?" Zhu Houzhao asked coldly.

"We dare not do so. We are disobeying the late emperor's will and cannot bear to see Your Majesty delay the Ming Dynasty. We are trying to persuade You!" replied Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet.

"We are here to advise you!" the other civil servants also responded.

"Very good, you have even brought out the late emperor's will. What if I don't agree?" Zhu Houzhao asked with a smile.

"If Your Majesty does not agree, we can only ask the Queen Mother to execute the eunuch Liu Jin and others!"

The chief minister of the cabinet, Liu Jian, replied at this time.

Zhu Houzhao could not help but sneer inwardly, thinking that these ministers knew to bring up his mother at this time, and it was obvious that they wanted his mother to learn from the example of Empress Dowager Zhang of the Zhengtong Dynasty who asked Emperor Yingzong to kill Wang Zhen, and to ask his mother to do the same.

Zhu Houzhao was not afraid of these civil servants, but he knew that his mother's personality was as gentle as that of Emperor Hongzhi. As long as he came out, he might be forced by these civil servants to kill Liu Jin himself.

How could Zhu Houzhao be willing to kill Liu Jin?

Zhu Houzhao knew that if he killed Liu Jin, no one would dare to follow him in the future.

Liu Jin and others are his arms and the knives in his hands. Zhu Houzhao would never give his arms and knives to civil servants.

Originally in history, Zhu Houzhao was fine before he killed Liu Jin, but he fell into the water and died not long after killing Liu Jin. It can be seen that the hidden danger of Liu Jin's death was indeed very large, which made many eunuchs dare not swear allegiance to him anymore, and instead turned to the civil service group.

Zhu Houzhao was determined to protect his people, but he could not push these civil servants too hard and force them to ask for his mother to come out.

Before his army showed up, Zhu Houzhao decided to use a delaying tactic for the time being, and said, "You can move to the Qianqing Palace, but I need to consider the matter of killing Liu Jin. It's getting late today, so go back. I will discuss it with you in the court tomorrow!"

"Your Majesty! As long as Liu Jin and other traitors stay with you, the country will not be stable. Please issue an order to execute Liu Jin and others to restore order!"

Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, knew that some things could not be delayed, and if delayed, unexpected events would definitely occur. For this reason, he was now quite bold and asked Zhu Houzhao again to immediately kill Liu Jin and others.

"Why, do you really want to disobey my order? I didn't say that I would not execute Liu Jin and others. I just said that we will discuss it tomorrow. Didn't you hear me, Guo Rong?"

Zhu Houzhao shouted loudly.

Guo Rong stood up again: "I am here!"

As soon as Guo Rong finished his response, Li Dongyang stood up first: "I, your old minister, take my leave!" Then he pulled Liu Jian up as well and whispered back: "Prime Minister, there is no point in being deadlocked now. When Zhang Zhao arrives with his soldiers, your Majesty will naturally compromise under the coercion of Wang Yue and others!"

When Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, heard what Li Dongyang said, he also agreed with it. He was also really afraid that Zhu Houzhao would be unreasonable and let Guo Rong chop him, so he had no choice but to bow and say, "I'll take my leave!"

Xie Qian endured the discomfort in his stomach and bowed his hands, saying, "I, your old minister, shall take my leave!"

The three elders of the cabinet resigned one after another, and other civil servants also resigned one after another.

(End of this chapter)