Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 79 Beaten to death with sticks
In fact, there was no need to wait three days. On the day when Li Dongyang was arrested and taken to the Jinyiwei prison, countless officials had blocked the way of Ma Wensheng and others and began to demand that Ma Wensheng and others beg Emperor Zhu Houzhao to release Li Dongyang. It was actually coercion, as the entire civil service group was forcing Ma Wensheng and others to ask Zhu Houzhao to release Li Dongyang.

This phenomenon was very common in the late Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty in the original history. The Donglin Party used this trick:
That is, forcing the cabinet ministers to put pressure on the emperor. However, in many cases, the cabinet ministers cannot please either side. If they please the emperor, they will naturally be attacked by the entire civil service group, and if they please the civil service group, the emperor will naturally be dissatisfied. In this way, the emperor can only rely on eunuchs.

But many times, cabinet ministers are still willing to choose to please the entire civil service group.

First, they themselves were civil servants and were therefore on the side of the civil servants. Second, if they offended the emperor they would at most be dismissed from office, but if they offended the entire civil service group the consequences would be even more serious. Zhang Juzheng was an example.

Of course, at this time, Ma Wensheng and others naturally did not know who Zhang Juzheng was, nor did they know that Zhang Juzheng offended the civil service group and was forced to starve to death with his entire family. However, seeing so many officials denounce him and Jiao Fang and others as eunuchs and treacherous ministers, he also realized the power of the clean civil service group.

Ma Wensheng had never thought of breaking with the entire civil service group. Being slandered for colluding with eunuchs even made him feel wronged, but he knew that it was meaningless for him to say anything now, and he could only let the officials point at him and scold him.

I don't know if it's because the muddy civil servants are inherently inferior in front of the clean civil servants, just like ordinary college students in later generations are inferior to key college students. Even though Ma Wensheng is now a first-rank official, and even though he was impartial, decisive and ruthless in disciplining military officers and the army in the past, he doesn't know how to control these so-called Hanlin Censors and Imperial Censors.

Jiao Fang, who was born in the Hanlin Academy, did not have such a mentality. He could not help but want to go and angrily rebuke these clean officials who did not take him and Ma Wensheng seriously, but was pulled back by Ma Wensheng:

"Stop, Meng Yang! These people are all upright people, either in the Imperial Academy or in the Imperial Examination Yuan. You will be the one to lead the reform in the future. If you offend them now, it will be detrimental to the new policy and will not benefit your personal career!"

Jiao Fang retreated helplessly.

Xu Jin also stepped forward and asked, "What should we do now? It's not a big deal that these people call us traitors, but it's not fair that they have been blocking the palace gates. If His Majesty knew about this, he would not show mercy!"

After the nitroglycerin tablet dissolved completely, Ma Wensheng gritted his teeth and stood up resolutely, shouting, "Everyone please go back first. His Majesty only threw the Prime Minister into prison in a fit of rage. We will go to the palace again and convey your request to the emperor and plead for the Prime Minister. Please do not stay here, lest the situation escalates to the disadvantage of the Prime Minister and you!"

"Bah! You want to pretend to persuade us to leave and then seek credit from the emperor. Don't think that we can't see through your tricks, Ma Wensheng. If the Jinyiwei don't let the Prime Minister go today, we will kneel down and get up!"

An official named Xin Yi spat at Ma Wensheng and then shouted loudly.

Then, all the officials responded and knelt on the ground.

"If the Imperial Guards don't release the Prime Minister, we will kneel down and not get up!"

"If the Imperial Guards don't release the Prime Minister, we will kneel down and not get up!"

"If the Imperial Guards don't release the Prime Minister, we will kneel down and not get up!"

……

Ma Wensheng could only swallow his anger and said nothing more.

Jiao Fang and Xu Jin were very angry when they saw this, but it was not easy for them to blame anyone now.

At this time, Gao Feng appeared with a large group of imperial guards and surrounded the palace inside and outside.

Ma Wensheng was shocked when he saw this, and asked Gao Feng: "Eunuch Gao, what are you doing?"

Gao Feng did not answer Ma Wensheng's words, but quickly stood on the right side of Ma Wensheng and others.

At this time, accompanied by Guo Rong, Liu Jin and others, Zhu Houzhao appeared in front of Chen Liren, Xin Yi and other officials who pleaded for Li Dongyang.

Zhu Houzhao asked directly: "Who was the one who spat in Ma Gefu's face just now? Stand up!"

Seeing so many soldiers appear, and the fact that Zhu Houzhao's notoriety of killing censors had already spread throughout the court, these clean officials consciously fell silent when they saw Zhu Houzhao appear. Now that Zhu Houzhao asked this question, they did not answer. Zhu Houzhao glanced at Guo Rong and said, "If you dare to spit, you dare to take responsibility!"

Guo Rong commanded two Jinyiwei to drag out Xin Yi, the chief censor of the Ministry of Rites.

It was impossible for Zhu Houzhao to hide the fact that these clean officials gathered outside the palace gate. As soon as Zhu Houzhao learned about it from Gao Feng, he hurried over and happened to see these clean officials humiliating Ma Wensheng and others.

Zhu Houzhao was in a bad mood to begin with, so naturally he would not give these people an easy time. Moreover, for the sake of future new policy reforms, he had to support the civil servants who obeyed him. This would ensure that some civil servants who were keen on reform would not completely turn to the civil service group as they did during the Wanli period.

So, when Xin Yi was dragged out, Zhu Houzhao directly ordered: "Beat him to death with sticks, right here!"

"Yes!"

Guo Rong hurriedly ordered his men to pin Xin Yi to the ground, and began to beat him with sticks by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

Xin Yi, the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, was already panicking when he was dragged out. He never expected that he was discovered by the emperor just for spitting at Ma Wensheng, and it seemed that he would be severely punished by the emperor.

Therefore, when Xin Yi heard that Zhu Houzhao was going to beat him to death, he shouted: "Your Majesty! Although my behavior just now was reckless, it was also because I hated the treacherous ministers in power. Your Majesty cannot punish me for this!"

"Your Majesty, although Xin Yi's behavior is eccentric, he is young after all, and he has no intention of offending the king. I hope Your Majesty will forgive his death penalty!"

Seeing this, Ma Wensheng also hurriedly pleaded for mercy.

Zhu Houzhao ignored Ma Wensheng and said, "I have already issued a clear order. Anyone who does not respect Ma Gefu is disrespecting me! Anyone who humiliates Ma Gefu is humiliating me! It has been less than two months since I issued this order, and you are still breaking the rules knowingly! You can see how evil you are! Beat them to death!"

As soon as Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, the Jinyiwei hit Xin Yi with the sticks in their hands!
Snapped!
Ah!
Xin Yi screamed: "Your Majesty, please spare my life! I know my crime!"

The stick naturally didn't stop.

One stick after another hit Xin Yi, and his skin was torn and he regretted it very much. Only then did he realize the consequences of offending Ma Wensheng.

Not long after, Xin Yi's femur was broken and he died from excessive blood loss.

And at this time.

Zhu Houzhao had no intention of stopping, and continued to ask: "Who called Ma Gefu and others treacherous ministers? Stand up!"

The upright civil servants present had lost half of their courage when they saw Zhu Houzhao appear. Now seeing Xin Yi being beaten to death, they suddenly lost their courage. How could they dare to admit that they had called Ma Wensheng and others treacherous ministers? The leader, Chen Yuanren, even buried his head lower.

Zhu Houzhao had already discovered him. After giving Guo Rong a wink, two Jinyiwei came up to Chen Yuanren.

But Chen Yuanren immediately waved his hands and said, "It wasn't me! It wasn't you! I didn't curse him, it was him, Censor Zheng, who cursed him first!"

The censor Zheng directly replied: "You are slandering me! It was obviously you! Your Majesty, I can testify that it was Chen Yuanren who cursed first, and he was the first to know that the Prime Minister was arrested, and then he called on us to come and beg for mercy from the Prime Minister!"

Zhu Houzhao rolled his eyes helplessly: "Drag them all away and beat them to death. I don't bother to tell who cursed first!"

Thank you for your reward of 100 starting coins from Gold. Thank you for your reward of 200 starting coins from Qinghai Jinhu.

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(End of this chapter)