Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 487 Old Zhu: Let's give them another hand, I'll personally take command!
With this thought, Zhou Cangshi immediately felt much lighter in his chest, and the cold sweat on his forehead gradually stopped seeping out.

"Good, good... I understand!" Zhou Cangshi nodded repeatedly, secretly determined to do his duty and handle the affairs of the county well, and not to make any more mistakes.

Old Zhu didn't say anything more, just nodded slightly, and then left the county government office with Jiang Huan and the others without looking back.

Before long, they arrived at the military camp closest to Jiayu Pass.

After showing their Embroidered Uniform Guard badges, the group successfully met with Sha Qiyang, the commander of the garrison.

After a serious interrogation, Sha Qiyang finally revealed the truth: "They possess a secret edict from His Majesty, ordering me to secretly mobilize troops to provide support."

“This humble general dared not disobey Your Majesty’s command, so he drew five hundred soldiers from the camp, disguised them as attendants of the mission, and went with them to Beshbali.”

Old Zhu's expression darkened, and his voice turned cold: "Where is the secret edict now?"

“A secret edict…” Sha Qiyang hesitated slightly, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes. In the end, he took out the secret edict from his bosom and said, “This secret edict has been examined repeatedly by me. The handwriting and seal are no different from those used in imperial edicts issued by the court. It does not seem to be a forgery.”

Old Zhu took the secret edict, glanced at it, and immediately asserted, "This is a forged edict!"

"Ah?" Sha Qiyang's expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed, "This is impossible!"

"I have seen the imperial edict several times before, and this one is exactly the same as the original; it cannot be fake!"

Old Zhu snorted coldly, his tone sharp: "Chen Cheng served in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices in his early years and was ordered to convey countless imperial edicts."

"He knew every detail of the imperial edict, including the wording, seal, and paper."

"If he forged it himself, how could an ordinary person tell the difference between the real and the fake?"

Sha Qiyang was shaken, but he forced himself to remain calm and asked, "Then how did you see through it?"

Jiang Huan interjected, "Although this message is very similar, upon closer inspection, there are still clues to be found."

"His Majesty is exceptionally gifted. Several years ago, he ordered the Ming Academy of Sciences to develop a variety of anti-counterfeiting measures."

"Nowadays, official documents from the government affairs department and the military affairs department all use sophisticated anti-counterfeiting technology, and imperial edicts are even more heavily guarded."

"The paper used is specially made secret paper, which is ten times rarer and more expensive than the paper used in the Ming Dynasty. Not only is the material unique, but it is also under strict supervision, and outsiders have no way to access it."

"In addition, there are seals and sealing techniques, all of which are unique."

"A single imperial edict contains as many as thirty or forty anti-counterfeiting measures."

"If it's a secret decree, then we need even more."

"Although this forged edict is cleverly made, it has at least seven or eight flaws," Jiang Huan said calmly. "It's only because your official rank is limited and you rarely see imperial edicts that you were so easily deceived."

Sha Qiyang was horrified and speechless for a moment.

Upon closer reflection, that is indeed the case.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard was the emperor's direct subordinate, under his direct command, and had access to countless imperial edicts, far exceeding what he, who had spent many years guarding the border and living in a remote corner, could ever hope to achieve.

Looking at the fake imperial edict, Old Zhu said, "The most crucial point is that since it is a 'secret edict,' it bypasses the Military Affairs Department and the Political Affairs Department, and does not go through any normal transmission procedures. Instead, it is issued directly by the emperor and delivered to you by the envoys of the mission."

His gaze was steady, and his tone gradually lowered: "No other officials were involved in this process, it was not read aloud, it was not copied, and it was kept completely sealed."

"In order to ensure that the secret was not leaked, and also to make the recipient believe it without doubt, the form of the secret edict was completely different from that of the general edict."

“Most imperial edicts issued on a regular basis were drafted by ministers of state affairs, ministers of military affairs, or eunuchs in the palace, and then submitted to the emperor for review and approval before being promulgated.”

“The imperial edicts you receive may have been written by different people each time.”

"But secret edicts are different. Secret edicts must be written by His Majesty himself and no one else is allowed to interfere."

“And this ‘secret edict’ in your hand is not in His Majesty the Emperor’s handwriting at all.”

These words struck like a thunderbolt, startling Sha Qiyang.

Others might not be able to recognize Zhu Yunwen's handwriting, but Old Zhu was very familiar with it.

Zhu Yunwen was exceptionally talented and intelligent, but his calligraphy was utterly terrible, messy and ugly, far from the imperial style that others expected.

Therefore, he rarely uses a brush pen and avoids writing by hand whenever possible.

When he occasionally had to review or write instructions by hand, he usually preferred to use his favorite special hard pen.

Surprisingly, in an era when few people practiced calligraphy with a pen, Zhu Yunwen's calligraphy was actually quite good.

Therefore, if he were to write a secret edict in his own hand, he would most likely use a pen to write small characters, rather than a brush to wield ink.

However, the "secret edict" in front of them was written entirely with a brush, with neat and fluent handwriting and an elegant and dignified style, which was clearly not the handwriting of Zhu Yunwen.

Even with just a glance, Old Zhu could see it very clearly.

This fake is so obviously fake it couldn't be more so.

But for Sha Qiyang, how could a general guarding the frontier possibly have the opportunity to see the emperor's handwriting?

The imperial edicts I've seen before were all written by others!

He had never come into contact with it before, so naturally he had no way of knowing whether it was real or fake.

Chen Cheng was clearly aware of this, so he paid no attention to it at all.

Upon hearing that the secret decree was a forgery, Sha Qiyang panicked, his heart sinking into an icy abyss.

“Falsely claiming imperial orders and arbitrarily mobilizing troops…” he murmured, “What exactly are Chen Cheng and Huo Liancheng trying to do?”

Sha Qiyang asked in a voice filled with fear and trembling, as if talking to himself.

Jiang Huan frowned and said in a deep voice, "Is it possible that they are not Chen Cheng and Huo Liancheng at all, but other people impersonating them?"

Jiang Huan's association was not without reason.

During the Yuan Dynasty, an unbelievable and shocking case occurred.

At that time, there was an unknown minor official named Fan Meng. This man was incredibly audacious. He impersonated an imperial envoy and proclaimed himself "Marshal of Henan," ordering the entire Henan province.

He first forcibly seized control of the Henan local government by falsely issuing imperial edicts, and then went on a killing spree, executing many high-ranking civil and military officials in Henan Province, including the Pingzhang, Zuocheng, and Zongguan, bringing the entire Henan under his control. He controlled both the military and the government, making him a veritable local emperor.

What's even more shocking is that not a single official or soldier in the entire Henan province, from top to bottom, saw through the deception; instead, they all believed it without a doubt.

They really thought he was an imperial envoy sent by imperial decree.

Even the high-ranking officials who were killed believed that it was truly an imperial decree ordering their execution.

One day, Fan Meng, drunk, blurted out the truth in his drunken dream, and the deception was finally exposed.

If this matter had not been recorded in history, anyone who heard it would have thought it was utterly absurd.

Yet it truly happened in the real course of history.

It is evident that the absurdity of the world often far exceeds people's common sense and imagination.

Having learned from past mistakes, Jiang Huan naturally had similar thoughts in mind.

Old Zhu frowned, as if recalling another detail, and then asked Sha Qiyang, "Those people borrowed troops from you, but they also brought a large number of gifts to present to the nobles of the Beshbalik tribe. Where did these come from?"

Without hesitation, Sha Qiyang immediately replied, "They sent people to secretly purchase the goods at the Jiayuguan market."

"Jiayuguan has always been a prosperous trading center, with a wide variety of goods from both the north and south, and rare and precious items from all over the world are not uncommon. It is not difficult to acquire some decent gifts."

He paused, then added, "As for the money used, they did not tell me explicitly, but I suspect it was most likely transferred from the Ming Bank at Jiayuguan."

"Jiayu Pass is an important border town, with a constant stream of merchants and a wide flow of goods."

"Merchants deposit or lend money, and funds circulate frequently. Therefore, the local Daming Bank has very strong capital, and it is not difficult for them to transfer millions of strings of cash."

In this context, before the advent of the electronic network era, even within the same Ming Dynasty banking system, the amount of funds available for immediate use varied greatly between branches in different regions. A branch in an ordinary county town might only be able to allocate tens of thousands of strings of cash at any given time.

Only the major cities where the provincial capital is located can readily withdraw hundreds of thousands or even millions of strings of cash.

Of course, if there are special needs, county-level branches can also report to the provincial capital or head office for approval in advance. After obtaining approval from the higher authorities, funds will be allocated by the higher authorities, and this amount is almost unlimited.

However, all of this will take time.

The mission members were in a hurry to leave in case of unforeseen circumstances, so they didn't have time to go through the complicated procedures.

Clearly, they cannot wait for a lengthy adjustment period.

However, Jiayuguan was no ordinary county town. It was an important pass connecting the north and south, and linking the inside and outside, and it was also the most prosperous town in the border area.

As a result, the Daming Bank branches handle a huge amount of funds every day, have extremely high liquidity, and are no less capable than those of general provincial capitals in terms of allocating their own funds, and may even be better.

"Fine!" Jiang Huan laughed in fury, his voice carrying a chilling murderous intent: "They dared to embezzle funds from the Great Ming Bank to purchase supplies, and even used false orders to secretly transport them to foreign countries! These traitors who betray their own country and collude with enemy nations deserve to be torn to pieces and tortured to death!"

He has always been driven by profit, and the lives of others are nothing but grass in his eyes.

But what happened today made him extremely angry.

Old Zhu gently shook his head and said, "It may not be a fake."

“They set out from Nanjing, and their journey was traceable along the way.”

"The entourage was large, and there were frequent exchanges of documents with the post stations along the way. Local governments provided assistance, and all the documents and notices that were delivered were recorded."

"If someone is impersonating someone, it's impossible to hide it from them; they would have already given themselves away along the way."

Thanks to the efficient communication system established by Zhu Yunwen, all provinces, prefectures and counties of the Ming Dynasty had postal and express systems, which not only made life more convenient for the people, but also made the correspondence between the court and local authorities more frequent and closer.

The strengthening of vertical management in various departments of the imperial court was precisely due to this system.

Otherwise, given the previous efficiency in information transmission, it would have been almost impossible to separate the various departments and have them directly managed by the superior departments in the capital.

According to custom, all officials who are ordered to leave the capital on official business must report their itinerary and movements to the court by letter every day.

Although these letters are ordinary official documents and do not require expedited delivery, they should not be neglected and should be treated as registered mail to ensure reliable delivery.

Because of its rigorous system, low cost, and large volume of letters, this mechanism greatly limits the possibility of counterfeiting.

If it were truly an impersonation, there would be no way to conduct regular reports.

Not to mention the other layers of measures.

From the route to the seal, from the reception to the expenses, every step is traceable.

Old Zhu's tone became increasingly calm and certain: "Either someone is impersonating him, or it was done intentionally by the members of the mission."

"Are they crazy?" Jiang Huan's eyebrows twitched, and she blurted out.

Sha Qiyang echoed the sentiment.

Both of them looked bewildered.

After a brief silence, Jiang Huan gritted his teeth and continued, "Chen Cheng was recommended by Minister of State Affairs Yang Rong, while Huo Liancheng is from the Duke of Liang's household and is highly regarded by the Duke of Liang."

"One is the chief envoy and the other is the deputy envoy. Although their official ranks are not high, they have long been favored by the emperor. They are just waiting for their mission to be successful so that they can be promoted rapidly."

"With such a background and promising future, why would you ruin it?"

Sha Qiyang nodded repeatedly, his face full of unresolved doubts.

Being recommended by two powerful ministers, Yang Rong and Lan Yu, was already a rare honor in the court.

Their high regard for Chen Cheng and Huo Liancheng demonstrates their exceptional talent and promising future.

Logically speaking, with such support and the merits of his diplomatic mission, he should be able to rise rapidly in rank upon his return.

Why take such a risk and do something so unwise, even bordering on madness?
"Because they want to achieve merit, great merit, and a legendary achievement that will be remembered for all time!" Old Zhu's voice, like the tolling of a bell piercing through the wind and sand, lingered for a long time.

"If our speculation is correct, the mastermind behind all this should be Li Boyue, the magistrate of Jiayu County."

"Li Boyue originally held the fifth rank and served in the capital region. He was young and ambitious, and his career could have been smooth sailing."

"Unfortunately, fate is unpredictable. He was demoted and transferred to this remote place because of the prince's rebellion. Since then, he has been resentful and his ambitions have been hard to fulfill."

"An ambitious person will not be content with mediocrity."

"Although Jiayu is a strategically important location, it is not a place for promotion."

"If he wants to return to the capital, or even go further, there is no hope of him doing so by simply being law-abiding."

"Therefore, taking advantage of the mission's westward journey, Li Boyue orchestrated and persuaded Chen Cheng and Huo Liancheng."

"The three of them conspired to forge an imperial edict, tricked the soldiers into giving them troops, and then embezzled bank funds, using the pretext of giving gifts to secretly mobilize troops."

"Their real goal was to destroy Beshbaliq in one battle and bring the vast Western Regions back into the territory of the Ming Dynasty."

Old Zhu slowly exhaled, his emotions complex: "If this succeeds, what does it matter if it's a false imperial edict?"

Jiang Huan was stunned into silence.

indeed.

Li Jing, a famous general during the Tang Dynasty, defied Emperor Taizong's decree to negotiate peace with the Eastern Turks and launched an unauthorized military campaign, which resulted in the annihilation of the Eastern Turks in a single battle.

Li Shimin not only did not punish him, but also rewarded him handsomely.

His merits far outweighed his crimes.

Similarly, if this mission can truly bring the entire Western Regions back under the Ming Dynasty's control, its achievement will be unparalleled.

Even if the methods used violate the rules and regulations, they will be regarded as "extraordinary measures are needed for extraordinary matters".

“They’re gambling! It’s too risky!” Jiang Huan shook his head: “A mere few hundred men, though they have muskets, cannons can’t be brought along, and ammunition is limited.”

"Without logistical support, what do they plan to do when the war drags on and they run out of ammunition?"

"To think that you can pacify the Western Regions with such a small force is utterly delusional!"

Old Zhu remained unmoved and sighed softly: "Back then, Ban Chao had only thirty-six men, yet he dared to venture into the Western Regions and pacify the various kingdoms. Although this act was audacious, it was not without precedent."

“They certainly have guts.” A complex look appeared in Old Zhu’s eyes.

The officials of the Ming Dynasty were so courageous in taking responsibility.

"What if they lose?" Sha Qiyang's expression changed slightly, and a strange chill rose in his heart.

Those are five hundred elite troops.

If they fail, these people will surely die without a burial place.

But he had personally allowed this army to pass.

If the imperial court investigates, how will Sha Qiyang explain himself?
As a border guard, he was implicated by a fake imperial edict and could not escape the crime of dereliction of duty.

"Since it's already done, there's no turning back." Old Zhu's eyes sharpened, and he suddenly said solemnly, "Let's give them one last push!"

"Dispatch more troops, disguised as a caravan, and disperse them into small groups to go to Beshbali to provide support."

"We'll personally command the operation."

……

(End of this chapter)