Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 424 Chen Ce, do you really think I dare not kill you?

After Chen Ce and Zhu Houzhao left one after another, Emperor Hongzhi sat alone in the warm room, thinking about something.

Soon, Emperor Hongzhi suddenly realized something and his face suddenly turned ugly!
No, Chen Ce said that there are traitors in the southeast, and we must eradicate the traitors before we can attack the Japanese invaders.

These words seem to have no loopholes, but he is Chen Ce!
If you think about it carefully, you will find that after Chen Ce laid out his business, the textile industry in the southeast began to develop. It was after the development of the textile industry that the number of Japanese pirates in the southeast seemed to gradually increase, and smuggling began to spread.

Then Chen Ce started to let Qin Hong talk about opening the sea, but it eventually failed. At first everyone thought that Chen Ce had failed.

But did he really fail?

What if he just passed the news of opening the sea to the southeast?

At that time, the group of smugglers in the southeast would definitely find a way to resist the imperial court in order to prevent the opening of the sea. How to resist? Create a Japanese threat in the southeast. In this way, the people in the imperial court will certainly use the Japanese threat in the southeast as an excuse to prevent the opening of the sea...

This achieved the goal of preventing Japanese pirates from spreading rampantly in the southeast.

When the Japanese pirates in the southeast become uncontrollable and have tasted the sweetness, the people in the southeast inland will inevitably suffer and become the biggest victims.

Only in this way would the imperial court change its policies step by step, until today...attack the Japanese island!

Thinking of this, Emperor Hongzhi's face became gloomy and terrifying.

All these things seem to be accidental, but if you connect them all together, accidental events become inevitability!
What if Chen Ce had already calculated the outcome of all this two years ago, and deduced the process step by step, eventually leading to this situation?
Emperor Hongzhi shuddered!

So many people died in the entire southeast, just to achieve his goal of destroying the Japanese? !
How could Emperor Hongzhi not be furious when thinking this? Chen Ce! You deserve to be killed!

Emperor Hongzhi gritted his teeth. He was tricked by Chen Ce again, and the entire Ming Dynasty was tricked by him!
Do you really think that I dare not kill you?

……

The Ministry of Rites has already drafted a manifesto to attack the Japanese.

And letters were sent to the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

The newspapers in Gyeonggi Province also began to publish the Ministry of Rites' manifesto, and the headlines on the front pages of today's newspapers were all about attacking the Japanese invaders.

【Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the seas have been peaceful and all nations have come to pay tribute, all because of the mighty army of the Ming Dynasty, which has a responsibility to defend the land. However, in recent times, the Japanese island barbarians have repeatedly invaded our southeastern coastal areas, burning, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of evil, disturbing the peace of our people and damaging the dignity of our country. Such behavior is truly intolerable to heaven and earth, and is condemned by both humans and gods!
I have heard the sage say: "Govern the country with justice and use surprise in the military." Now I swear to march east and bring these traitors to justice to show that my dynasty has strict discipline. All my soldiers should bravely move forward to defend our country; all my subjects should work together to face the national crisis. If you, the Japanese pirates, can abandon darkness and surrender to the court, you can be spared death; if you persist and continue to do evil, you will be punished by heaven and will be destroyed!
Don't think I didn't warn you! You should surrender quickly to seek forgiveness, otherwise, wherever the army goes, you will be destroyed together! 】

[In March of the 14th year of the Hongzhi reign, Qingtian Village in Ningbo was looted by Japanese pirates, killing and injuring 36 civilians]

[In April of the 14th year of the Hongzhi reign, 386 civilians were massacred by Japanese pirates in Shaoxing, Haiyan, Xianju, Xiangshan and other places]

[The Ming court sent envoys from the Ministry of Rites to the Japanese islands for negotiation many times, but the Dongyi refused to change despite repeated teachings]

Including manifestos and various announcements, they appeared everywhere in the newspaper headlines, and all kinds of news were flying everywhere.

The entire capital was in an uproar, and the warlike sentiment reached its peak.

The people were extremely excited to drive out the Tartars and annihilate the Eastern Barbarians.

Since the Hongzhi period, the Ming Dynasty has enjoyed peace for a long time and has not started a war for a long time. Now that the Japanese invaders are constantly provoking in the southeast, the anger of the people has already reached its peak.

……

The news that Ming was about to attack the Japanese invaders spread quickly throughout the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

Recently, the Chief Secretary Chen Mao was very angry because the cash cow they pushed to the front had disappeared!
Yes, Fu Yuan disappeared.

They sent many people to investigate, but they couldn't find any trace of Fu Yuan. It was as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth.

Although the Fu family members are still in Zhejiang, it will be useless even if they are arrested. All the things are led by Fu Yuan's organization, and the evidence they hold also belongs to Fu Yuan.

Now hearing that the imperial court was going to attack the Japanese pirates, the three chiefs of Zhejiang couldn't help but become nervous, especially since Fu Yuan had disappeared. No one knew whether Fu Yuan had evidence against them!

The Zhejiang Provincial Surveillance Commissioner pondered for a moment and said, "The imperial court wants to attack the Japanese invaders, so they may not investigate us, right?"

Chen Mao, the governor, frowned and said, "Don't be optimistic... If Fu Yuanzhen reveals the evidence of our collusion with the Japanese, it will be a capital crime punishable by beheading!"

"Cut off all ties with Fu Yuan, and all ties with the Japanese. As for the merchants in the southeast, give up those who can be given up, and kill those who can be killed!"

"We must not leave any hidden dangers for the imperial court to find us!"

Zhejiang Dusi asked, "Why should we be so nervous and lose our composure?"

"If the court really wants to investigate us, is impeachment easy? Those merchants have intricate interests with us, how difficult is it to cut them off in one go?"

"And they are still making money for us. If these cash cows are lost, it will be a huge loss for us."

Chen Mao said angrily: "You really value money over life! What if you find out?"

Zhejiang Dusi said: "How can we investigate? The court will have to send people here. Zhejiang is our territory. We can monitor their every move. Didn't Hong Zhong come here? The Right Deputy Censor of the Censorate didn't find anything. Who else has this ability?"

The Zhejiang Provincial Surveillance Commissioner also said: "Yes, if we lose our composure now, it will just make the court suspicious. Everything is as usual. If an enemy comes, we will fight him. If a flood comes, we will block it. What is there to be afraid of?"

"Zhejiang is an ironclad country run by us. They want to investigate us? They don't have the ability to do so!"

Chen Mao was still a little uneasy. Were all the people in the court really vegetarians? But then he thought, if the high-ranking officials of the Censorate were not able to find out anything, how could others do it?
He gritted his teeth and said, "In short, be careful in everything!"

……

Household Department.

Chen Ce found the Minister of Revenue Qin Hong with his hands behind his back.

When Chen Ce told Qin Hong that he had to get rid of the traitors in the southeastern officialdom first, Qin Hong was very puzzled.

This matter should be investigated by the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice. Even if you, Chen Ce, come to me, I can't be of much help!
Even if we take a step back, Zhejiang is a mess. How easy is it to thoroughly investigate the Zhejiang officialdom?
Qin Hong said to Chen Ce, "Chun Jian, Censor Hong didn't find anything in Zhejiang, how can we find anything in the capital?"

Chen Ce shook his head and asked Qin Hong, "Are there account books for various places in Zhejiang? I want to see them."

Ah? Look at the account book? What's the use of this? Qin Hong was puzzled.

I have something to do today, so I'll take two days off. There will be no update in the evening.

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(End of this chapter)