Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 81: Kill all traitors, and don’t know the suffering!
Exterminate all nine clans!

During the 40th year of the Jiajing reign, Zhu Houcong killed tens of thousands of people, including tens of thousands of officials, and executed thousands of people, including clans and ancestors.

The only two people who were actually ordered to execute their nine clans were Zheng Michang and He Maocai, which shows Zhu Houcong's hatred for officials who colluded with the Japanese.

Zhang Juzheng was horrified, but he had no choice but to obey the order.

Regardless of the ancestral system or the Ming Dynasty law, collusion with the Japanese pirates was a serious crime punishable by the execution of nine generations of the clan. Since the time of Emperor Taizu Gao, the Japanese pirates were deeply hated, and all emperors of the Ming Dynasty were the same.

But this also made Zhang Juzheng's subsequent report awkward. He opened his mouth several times but no sound came out.

"Tell me, what is so difficult for you?" Zhu Houcong looked at him.

Zhang Juzheng then said, "Your Majesty, the Japanese pirates killed and captured in the Taozhu battle were not all real Japanese. According to reports from the southeast, there were only more than 6,000 real Japanese from the Japanese islands, and the rest were Japanese slaves. The dead are not counted, but among the nearly 10,000 captives, only less than 2,000 were real Japanese, and the rest were all civilians from the Central Plains."

Japanese pirates.

Divide the Japanese and divide the bandits.

Those who came from the Wa Island are the real Japanese pirates.

The Japanese slaves who fled from the Central Plains to the sea and joined the Japanese pirates were, more precisely, bandits.

"Your Majesty, the Japanese really deserve to die, but most of our people have gone to sea because they could not survive. If we kill them all, it may hurt the people in the southeast." Zhang Juzheng said truthfully.

Let’s not talk about the deaths in Taozhu City. No matter how many people died, no one could say anything. We can just count them as the real Japanese.

But among the captives, eight thousand were former residents of the southeast. If each of them brought their families with them, that would be eight thousand households. If they were killed, even a few could affect tens of thousands of people.

The population of the Ming Dynasty was tens of millions. Although one in ten thousand was insignificant and the life and death of tens of thousands of people could not change anything about the Ming Dynasty, they were still the people of the Ming Dynasty after all.

No matter how many foreigners were killed, Zhang Juzheng would not be moved, but if one of his own people was killed, Zhang Juzheng would feel sad.

The Southeast Army's report had long been submitted to the Cabinet, asking about how to deal with the captured real Japanese and Japanese slaves, but the Cabinet had been slow to make a decision.

Zhu Houcong was silent.

Japanese slaves.

It's better to say he is a traitor.

Zhang Juzheng's cabinet was concerned that killing these 8,000 traitors would affect 8,000 households in the southeast, but they completely forgot about the millions of households in the southeast who hated the traitors even more than the real Japanese pirates.

Without these traitors who led the way and gave advice to the Japanese pirates behind the scenes, the Japanese invasion in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty would not have been so serious.

Just as Zhang Juzheng said, among these 8,000 traitors, many became Japanese slaves because they could not survive, but at that time, these traitors made up their minds to keep themselves alive regardless of whether others lived or died.

That's the idea, right?

Of course not!

But if you want to say they were wrong, when it comes to life and death, there is no right or wrong. Even Emperor Taizu Gaozu joined the Red Turban Army and rebelled against the Yuan court because he could not survive.

If we put aside the issue of right and wrong, the actions of these 8,000 people can be seen as a gamble.

A huge gamble with the Ming Dynasty court.

He won the bet and left leisurely, following the Japanese pirates to plunder countless people in the southeast.

He lost the bet, failed to plunder any property, and was killed by the Southeast Army.

Since it is a gamble, then you should admit defeat. Those 8,000 people were just lucky to be captured by the Southeast Army. How can you expect to leave safely without paying anything after losing the gamble?
Zhu Houcong said after a long while: "Has the cabinet figured out how to explain to the people in the southeast who have suffered so much from the Japanese invasion over the past two hundred years?"

Before Emperor Taizu Gao established the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese pirates were there. Since then, the people in the southeast have been plundered by the Yuan Dynasty, the Japanese pirates, and the traitors. At that time, the people in the southeast could not survive under the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. There were more than a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand people who could not survive. Everyone was in dire straits and could not survive. However, the traitors survived by killing their own people who could not survive.

Perhaps some people would say that the Japanese invaders today are not the same traitors as those two hundred years ago, and should not be lumped together.

But in Zhu Houcong's eyes, they were all beasts.

For animals in the wild, the law of the jungle prevails. In the past, the southeastern army of the Ming Dynasty was weak, and the real Japanese and the Japanese slaves could ruthlessly exploit the Ming Dynasty court and the people of the southeastern Ming Dynasty. Why is it that now that the southeastern army of the Ming Dynasty has stood up, it has to show kindness and righteousness to the real Japanese and the Japanese slaves?

Then wouldn’t my Ming Dynasty’s southeastern army have stood up in vain?

Then wouldn’t the blood of the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty’s southeastern army have been shed in vain?

Then wouldn’t the increase in military pay that the Ming Dynasty court gave to the southeastern army be in vain?
Zhang Juzheng was filled with shame and lowered his head, "Your Majesty, there are innocent people among those 8,000 people."

It is impossible for all of these traitors to lead the Japanese pirates, and it is impossible for all of them to have their hands stained with the blood of the people in the southeast. Some of them simply followed the Japanese pirates and rushed into the homes of the people in the southeast to rob some money, food, and women.

"The people in the southeast have no money or food to eat. If they die of hunger, aren't they innocent?"

"My people in the southeast lost their mothers when they were young, and their wives and daughters were abducted and insulted when they grew up. Aren't they innocent?"

"Zhang Juzheng, this is what you call 'only'!"

Zhu Houcong was moved and laughed instead of being angry.

For example, Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, Li Chunfang, Chen Yiqin, and most of the court officials grew up in inland areas or in wealthy families.

He had never seen Japanese pirates since he was a child. Even if the pirates attacked, he could rely on the fortress built at home or the slaves he raised to guard them. He had no idea how desperate the people in the southeast were who lived under the shadow of Japanese swords.

If we kill all of those 8,000 traitors, there might be some innocent ones. But if we kill ten and miss one, or kill a hundred and miss one, or kill a thousand and miss one, there will definitely be some who slip through the net.

In the interests of the country and the nation, killing a thousand people by mistake would have a worse impact than letting one go.

That will breed "luck" in people's hearts. Even if the chance is one in ten thousand, people will think that if they survive, they will definitely be the ones who are spared, and they will do evil at will.

Haven’t you seen the welfare tickets in later generations, everyone thinks that they will be the one who wins five million?

But they didn't know that the five million was only possible because there was a winner first, and then there was the ticket.

Therefore, eradicate all evil.

Zhang Juzheng's cabinet submitted a petition to pardon the 8,000 traitors, out of generosity for the benefit of millions of ordinary people in the southeast, in order to preserve his own reputation.

Zhang Juzheng knelt down, sweat dripped down his forehead, and his face immediately turned pale.

"I, the cabinet, and the imperial court have not let go of the power of the eight thousand Japanese slaves."

Zhu Houcong knew that Zhang Juzheng's cabinet was not seeking fame and reputation, and had done its best in state affairs, but he still felt uneasy. "Why not give the power to kill or release the Japanese slaves to the people of the prefectures and counties in the southeastern provinces? The Japanese slaves can be escorted to the people. If the people want to kill them, they can be killed; if the people want to release them, they can be released."

Zhang Juzheng almost fainted. If he were in his shoes, having suffered endless hardships himself, how could he let go of the person who caused him suffering?
The people in the southeast will surely kill all the traitors to comfort their ancestors and relatives.

Public trial of traitors.

It will not let the emperor be infamous for slaughtering his subjects who cannot survive, and it will also allow the people in the southeast to praise the emperor for his wisdom.

Zhang Juzheng bowed in admiration and said, "No one is more wise and intelligent than the emperor!"

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Killing a dragon in the river
2024.8.15
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(End of this chapter)