Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 82: Deal with the eunuch by beheading him and dismembering his body!

After hearing this, Wang Jing hurried out, but saw Shi Bao, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and an old acquaintance of the palace, coming to deliver the order, so he quickly knelt down.

Shi Baoze whispered, "This is a secret decree. Please come over here and listen to it."

Wang Jing stood up and followed Liu Da to a distance.

then.

Shi Baocai said: "The emperor has ordered Wang Jing to behead the traitorous slave Qiu Ju. I want to use his head to establish my authority, and then I will smash his body, grind his bones, and scatter his ashes."

The decree that Zhu Houcong gave to Wang Jing was an imperial decree.

That is the emperor's handwritten order.

It is more colloquial.

Wang Jing was a close minister of the emperor and had to obey the emperor's orders.

"I accept the decree."

Wang Jing also accepted the order.

Subsequently.

Wang Jing waved to Captain Liu Da and General Shen Dajing, his two most courageous and powerful subordinates.

Liu Da and Shen Dajing followed him towards Qiu Ju.

When Qiu Ju suddenly heard that there was an imperial decree, he already felt something was wrong.

then.

He became even more uneasy when he saw the visitor call Wang Jing to a distant place to announce the decree.

just now.

Wang Jing came in with two Jinyiwei men who were as strong as iron towers, and asked fearfully: "Commander Wang, why did you bring two Jinyiwei here?"

Jiang was also startled and asked, "What's going on?"

"Our Lady of Mercy."

"I will explain and plead guilty for the Holy Mother later."

Wang Jing first bowed to Jiang.

then.

Wang Jing looked at Qiu Ju and gave orders in a deep voice at this time.

"There is a will!"

"Catch Qiu Ju, the traitorous slave boy!"

Qiu Ju was shocked.

His face suddenly lost color.

Like applying white paint.

"Yes!"

Liu Da and Shen Dajing had quickly captured Qiu Ju.

"Forged an imperial decree!"

"This is absolutely a forgery!"

Qiu Ju couldn't help but argue and looked at Jiang: "Please, Princess, make the decision for me!"

"This is the emperor's personal order."

"How can I admit my mistake?"

After Wang Jing said this, he picked up the imperial edict in his hand.

Jiang also took a look and smiled, saying, "It is indeed my son's handwriting! And he has made a lot of progress."

"The Emperor's order is to use Qiu Ju's head to establish his authority!"

"It is not appropriate to use a knife before the Virgin Mary."

"Take him out and choose a secluded place."

After Wang Jing said this.

Liu Da and Shen Dajing dragged Qiu Ju out.

Qiu Ju's legs were already unsteady at this point.

"how so!"

"Why didn't anyone come to inform me of the news?"

"Did Su Rui and his people betray our family?"

"Where are the Earl of Zhenping and the others?"

"Where are Da Sikou and the others?!"

Qiu Ju was very puzzled.

Swish!
But he didn't think about it for long.

Wang Jing drew his knife.

Qiu Ju was so scared that he could not help but close his eyes and said, "Wei Bin and Zhang Yong know better than me!"

Click!

As soon as Qiu Ju finished speaking.

His bloody head rolled into the ditch.

then.

Sprinkle ashes.

Into boxes.

His head was brought back to the capital by Shi Bao.

The body was also chopped up and burned to ashes, then scattered into the canal.

after this.

Supervisor of Ceremonies.

All eunuchs above the rank of Shaojian and female officials above the rank of Nüshi were summoned here by Zhu Houcong to observe the torture of the palace spies and Qiu Ju's heads.

Looking at Qiu Ju's head and the eunuchs Su Rui and others who were taken aside and strangled to death one by one.

Everyone was trembling with fear.

I truly felt what it means to have great imperial power and strict family rules.

Eunuchs Gu Dayong and Qin Wen could not help but feel fortunate that they had chosen the right side.

Qin Wen was even more grateful to his godfather Wei Bin for his foresight, which enabled him and his people to cooperate with all of His Majesty's new policies and not care about the loss of interests. He knew that he was dependent on the imperial power, and if he was abandoned by the emperor, he would be nothing.

"The Emperor has issued an order."

"Qiu Ju and the others are disloyal and do not abide by the family rules. Even lingchi is not too much. However, considering their meritorious service to the late emperor, me, and the noble ladies in the harem, Qiu Ju will be beheaded instead. The rest will be given intact bodies and buried in coffins. They will not be cremated!"

As example.

Palace inmates who committed crimes were usually cremated directly without being buried in a coffin.

People of this era care a lot about how they are treated after death.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong's move was indeed a great favor.

"Your Majesty is as benevolent as the heaven!" Qin Wen and others bowed their heads and said this sincerely when Gu Dayong announced the decree.

"Those who have committed mistakes should be punished, and those who have made contributions should be rewarded."

"Although family rules are strict, family gratitude is also heavy."

"Then Gu Dayong, Qin Wen, Huang Jin... were awarded 1,000 taels of silver and given dragon robes."

"Mai Fu, Bao Zhong... a reward of five hundred taels of silver."

"Luo An, Zhang Tong, Lu Song... are promoted to the next level, given fighting bull uniforms, and rewarded with 500 taels of silver."

"There are others whose names should not be revealed. They will all receive special rewards and will not be announced here."

After Gu Dayong said this, all the palace servants bowed to express their gratitude.

Deal with the people in the inner court.

The disloyal military heroes and disloyal civil servants in the outer court should be punished.

The three nobles, Lu Yong, Ma Shan and Liu Zhao, were beheaded and their property confiscated after deceiving the emperor and plotting evil.

Zhu Houcong agreed.

However, Zhu Gang, Liu Zhen and other generals who followed the orders of Lu Yong and other nobles and attempted to make military rebellion surrendered in time, thus avoiding the killing of innocent soldiers among them. After the three judicial officials discussed the matter, they requested for lenient treatment and were only allowed to commit suicide, leaving their bodies intact.

Zhu Houcong also agreed.

However, as for the former Minister of Punishments Zhao Jian, Imperial Censor Zhang Chong and others who plotted to murder Zhang Cong and attempted a military coup.

The three judicial officials, on the other hand, believed that civil officials should be treated leniently, and requested that Zhao Jian be demoted to a commoner and Zhang Chong be sent to guard the border, but that they be exempted from the death penalty.

Although Liang Chu was the chief minister and was the one who welcomed the elders, he did not plan to make the decision first, but intended to return the power to the emperor.

Therefore, Liang Chu asked to see Zhu Houcong for this purpose.

"What does the Prime Minister think?"

Zhu Houcong actually consulted Liang Chu first.

Liang Chu replied, "I humbly believe that we should be lenient to the scholars and officials, and not kill them if we can. This is the way for the country to nurture scholars and cultivate talents."

Zhu Houcong knew that the literati all hoped that the Ming Dynasty would be like the Song Dynasty and not kill literati.

Liang Chu himself was no exception.

Besides, he never liked to use strict laws.

But Zhu Houcong had his own opinion on this.

then.

Zhu Houcong then said: "Not appropriate!"

Very serious.

"I know!"

"The Yuanfu has always advocated that the monarch and his subjects, and the ministers themselves, should try their best to be harmonious and united. For this reason, I am willing to make appropriate concessions, even if I am criticized and wronged."

“It’s important to be consistent from top to bottom.”

Zhu Houcong said this, and then said: "But I think..."

"Those who deserve to be killed must be killed!"

"I cannot be afraid to kill those who deserve to be killed because I am afraid that they will turn against me!"

"I am not saying that I cannot accept my subjects opposing me, but they must oppose me in a disciplined manner."

"For such a minister, not only will I not kill him, I will even use him and give him generous rewards!"

"But those who disobey the rules and oppose me will be killed or arrested!"

"To balance yin and yang, we should not just try to smooth things over, but also from time to time we should clean up the atmosphere that undermines unity and expose it to the sun."

When Zhu Houcong said this, he glanced at Liang Chu.

“Unity exists through struggle.”

"If you seek unity through compromise, unity will die."

Zhu Houcong then added.

And these words.

For someone like Liang Chu who has experienced the ups and downs of officialdom for many years, he can naturally quickly grasp the subtleties of it, and suddenly feel like he has been enlightened.

Simultaneously.

Liang Chu was also quite surprised, thinking to himself: "Your Majesty has seen through politics so thoroughly. Is he really born with talent, or is his teacher Yuan Zonggao really a master in statecraft?"

Liang Chu decided to take some time to seek advice from Yuan Zonggao again, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for Yuan Zonggao. He thought that if Yuan Zonggao had not gone to Prince Xing's Palace, but stayed in the Hanlin Academy and eventually joined the cabinet, perhaps his achievements would have surpassed his own.

After thinking so.

Liang Chu hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty is indeed wise and enlightened. I am old and ignorant, and I don't fully understand the affairs of the world."

Liang Chu then drafted the bill, and after it was approved by the Imperial Household Department, it was sent to the Three Judicial Departments.

The officials from the Three Judicial Departments had no choice but to come find Liang Chu.

Liang Chu said: "Unity can survive if it is achieved through struggle, but it will die if it is achieved through compromise. Those who should be killed should still be killed! There is no need to discuss this further."

The officials from the three judicial departments were all stunned after hearing this, and then they stopped arguing.

But when the Three Judicial Departments announced the decree, declaring that Zhao Jian, Zhang Chong and others would be executed, there was an uproar in the court and the country.

"How can you kill the scholars?"

"Is this the way to treat Confucianism?"

Deputy Chief Censor Zhang Lun stood up in the Censorate to protest this.

"Putting aside what Zhao, Zhang and others did, are the nine ministers in the cabinet not at all wrong?!"

"If they hadn't been afraid to uphold justice, we wouldn't have ended up in this situation today, preventing Your Majesty from showing your kindness!"

Gu Ji, the Censor of the Criminal Department, was also furious in the Six Departments Corridor.

"Zhao, Zhang and the others were just being a little willful when arguing about etiquette. What's wrong with that?"

"Although what Zhao, Zhang and others did was a bit excessive, they were also loyal to the core. Shouldn't the court show them some leniency?"

Xu Shaohua, a doctor in the Ministry of Works, also expressed his views in the Ministry of Works.

And then.

These three people submitted petitions one after another, citing the precedent of not killing Confucian scholars in the Temple of Filial Piety, and requested that Zhao Jian, Zhang Chong and others be pardoned from the death penalty!
When these were brought to the cabinet, Liang Chu, knowing the emperor's intention, directly refused to approve them. He also, in the name of the emperor, reprimanded the three people for not being able to distinguish right from wrong and for holding unrighteous views when drafting the bill.

The three were very angry.

Seeing.

The Ministry of Rites has already followed the agreed ceremony and requested that Zhu Houcong's biological father, King Xingxian, be posthumously honored as Emperor Xingxian, and his biological mother, Jiang, as Empress Xingxian. Empress Xingxian has also arrived in Tongzhou.

When ministers of the fifth rank and above and officials of the Imperial Academy were supposed to gather in the suburbs to welcome Empress Xingxian according to the etiquette, these three ministers simply did not go to the palace to prepare for the ceremony.

Because they were already dissatisfied with the fact that the grand ceremony was based on the fact that the emperor did not recognize Xiaozong as his father, now they simply refused to attend the ceremony on the grounds that they were guilty of pleading for a traitor.

"We shouldn't go either!"

After learning about this, more than a dozen civil servants including Jieshi Zhong Xing Huan decided to follow suit to express their dissatisfaction with the emperor's failure to recognize Xiaozong as his father!
When the Imperial Censor Xiao Huai named the names before departure, he was so shocked that he could not help but report the matter immediately.

Volume 4 of the Ming Tongjian records: On the second day after the Zuo Shunmen Incident, after Emperor Jiajing presented the title of Zhangsheng Empress Dowager, Shangshu Jin Xianmin, Zhao Jian, Shilang He Mengchun, Zhu Xizhou, Du Yushi Wang Shizhong, Dali Temple Shaoqing Zhang Jin, Xu Wenhua, all failed to attend the ceremony. The emperor was furious and reprimanded them. Xizhou and others confessed their crimes and were severely reprimanded.

It can be seen that in history, after Jiajing killed more than a dozen officials in the Zuoshunmen Incident, there were still some officials who protected rituals and dared to challenge Jiajing and express their attitudes. Therefore, when the title of honor was given to Jiajing's biological mother, they did not perform the ceremony.

This chapter also cites this story. However, in history, Jiajing did not punish these ministers, but only issued severe orders and reprimanded them. The protagonist would not just issue severe orders and reprimand them, after all, during this period in history, the Prime Minister was not Liang Chu.

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(End of this chapter)