Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 543 The Emperor's Reward?
Being caught in such a shameful act naturally filled them with fear.

But along with the fear, the anger at being offended was equally intense.

Just then, Zhao Yan, who had been stopped earlier, walked in with the guards.

At this moment, the guards stopped covering his mouth, and Zhao Yan hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs, "My lords, they are the Embroidered Uniform Guards!"

Upon hearing this, the officials in the tent, who had been so imposing, were all startled, as if struck by an invisible thunderbolt.

The name "Jinyiwei" (Imperial Guards) was far more impactful and shocking to them than any other official.

Some officials stumbled on the spot, nearly falling to the ground in a sorry state; others quickly recovered from their shock, immediately bowing and clasping their hands, their voices trembling with barely concealed obsequiousness: "So it is Your Excellency who has arrived! This humble official has failed to greet you properly, please forgive me, please forgive me!"

With that, he knelt down and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, I, Wu Dezhang, the Deputy Commissioner of the Henan Provincial Surveillance Commission, respectfully wish Your Majesty good health!"

The other officials, snapping out of their daze of shock, suddenly remembered this crucial etiquette and knelt down one by one, their voices trembling with nervousness: "Your Majesty, I... respectfully wish you good health!"

When the Embroidered Uniform Guard comes to inspect, it means they are here on imperial orders; they are imperial envoys carrying out the emperor's mandate.

According to etiquette, they had to perform the rituals required for an audience with the imperial envoy.

Just now, Zhao Yan was outside because the incident happened suddenly. He was of low rank and had never received an imperial envoy before. In his haste, he forgot to perform such a grand ceremony.

Seeing all the officials kneeling and bowing, Zhao Yan hurriedly followed suit, afraid of falling behind even slightly and incurring the displeasure of the Imperial Guard official.

Inside the tent, all the officials were kneeling on the ground, each with a different expression.

According to normal etiquette, at this time the "imperial envoy" should have cupped his hands high and said "May Your Majesty be well" before the officials could rise.

However, Zhu Yunwen did not do so.

He strolled leisurely to the main seat on the high platform in front of him, and then slowly sat down.

The officials kneeling on the ground looked at each other, their eyes filled with confusion.

They were just performing the grand ceremony of paying respects to the emperor, not to the "imperial envoy."

Such a grand ceremony was only performed because the "imperial envoy" was on an inspection tour representing the emperor.

But in the end, an imperial envoy is not the emperor.

This set of complicated procedures and etiquette had to be strictly followed according to the regulations of the imperial court, allowing no room for carelessness or error.

But how dare this high-ranking official from the Embroidered Uniform Guard put on such an air?
What exactly gives him such confidence?
Before they could even ask, Xu Miaojin stepped forward and stood beside them, demanding sharply, "What are you paying your respects to? The Emperor is practically dying of anger from you corrupt officials! How dare you even bow to him?!"

Her words were like sharp arrows, piercing straight to the hearts of these officials.

"presumptuous!"

"Be bold!"

"How dare you curse the Emperor like that, woman?! Even if you are a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I... I will definitely impeach you and report you to the court, so you will suffer the consequences!"

……

The angry shouts of the officials inside the tent rose and fell, instantly drowning out Xu Miaojin's voice, and the whole scene became noisy and chaotic.

At this moment, Wu Dezhang stood up from the ground. He scrutinized Xu Miaojin with a suspicious look and asked in a deep voice, "Who exactly are you?"

"How could there be a woman serving in the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

He turned to Zhao Yan beside him and said, "Governor Zhao, have you carefully verified their identity documents? Are they really Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards)?!"

These words instantly cooled down the boiling anger in the tent.

The entire space fell eerily quiet in an instant.

In this era, due to the lag and inconvenience in information transmission, cases of impersonating officials occur frequently.

The most famous of these is the case of Fan Meng impersonating an imperial envoy during the Yuan Dynasty.

He truly killed hundreds of officials, proclaimed himself the Grand Marshal of Henan, and even controlled the entire province of Henan for a time.

Ultimately, he was exposed and discovered because he himself gave himself away.

In view of this, the Ming Dynasty court attached great importance to the matter of impersonating officials and repeatedly issued orders requiring lower-level officials to strictly follow the prescribed procedures and carefully verify the identity of their superiors when receiving them, in order to prevent unscrupulous individuals from infiltrating and causing irreparable losses.

Nevertheless, in recent years, due to Zhu Yunwen's implementation of new policies and the relaxation of restrictions on people's migration, the number of people traveling to various places for business and work has surged.

Correspondingly, various fraudulent gangs have sprung up and grown explosively.

This is one of the "side effects" that rapid economic development inevitably brings.

If people are confined to one place for their entire lives, there will naturally be fewer swindlers, because they will have nowhere to escape after committing fraud.

But once the area is full of outsiders and transient populations, scammers will naturally emerge in droves.

Upon hearing his superior's question, Zhao Yan hurriedly replied, "They just showed me the token, and it is indeed undoubtedly from the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

He then added, "As for the imperial envoy's documents, I have indeed never seen them with my own eyes."

He turned to Zhu Yunwen, cupped his hands and said, “All imperial envoys specially dispatched by the court, or officials sent by government offices at all levels, must carry identification documents. This is the rule of the court system, and we dare not make any mistakes.”

"May I ask if Your Excellency could show me the document so that I may verify your identity?"

Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly, turned his gaze to a guard beside him, and instructed, "Show them the token and identification documents."

The guard immediately took out a waist token and a neatly folded identity document from his pocket.

Wu Dezhang took the token and examined it carefully in his hand.

Other officials also crowded around, craning their necks to see what was going on.

Although they had never seen the Embroidered Uniform Guard's token before, their years of experience in officialdom and their ability to identify artifacts immediately revealed that the token was made of extremely special materials and was crafted with exquisite workmanship. It was clearly made using the latest technology from the Ming Academy of Sciences and a brand-new forging process, and could not be imitated by ordinary folk craftsmen.

As for the identity document, Wu Dezhang carefully unfolded it, and saw that it read: "The Tian Shu Division guards will accompany the emperor to protect him. Officials at all levels must cooperate and act without error. Anyone who refuses to cooperate will be punished for disobeying the imperial decree!"

Wu Dezhang felt a blur before his eyes and could hardly believe his eyes.

As the deputy commissioner of the Henan Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office, he was naturally very familiar with the name Tian Shu Si.

It was a newly established agency personally ordered by the emperor, composed of elites from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Ministry of Justice, and the military's special guard. Its duty was to protect the emperor and even high-ranking officials. The governor and imperial inspector of Henan were each accompanied by guards sent by the Imperial Guard, thus demonstrating the emperor's boundless grace.

However, what truly terrified Wu Dezhang was the four large characters "Escort the Emperor" prominently displayed on the document.

These few words implied that the people in front of him were the emperor's personal guards, close ministers who directly followed the emperor and protected his imperial carriage!
The documents were printed on special paper from the Ming Dynasty printing factory, which was not available elsewhere, and all the seals were correct.

With this document as proof, there is no longer any doubt about the identities of these people.

Wu Dezhang nervously returned the document and asked anxiously, "Could it be... could it be that His Majesty intends to personally inspect this place, and has therefore dispatched these officials ahead of time to make security arrangements in advance?"

This was the only reasonable answer he could think of at that moment.

The officials inside the tent all shared this guess.

In their understanding, whenever the emperor went anywhere, he would first dispatch elites from the Tian Shu Si (Heavenly Pivot Bureau) to guide local officials on how to ensure foolproof security and guarantee that there were no potential security loopholes.

This is a long-standing practice with a strict procedure.

This rule has become even more important since firearms were widely adopted in the military.

After all, no matter how strictly the imperial court controlled firearms, there would always be some that slipped through the net and flowed into the civilian population.

Some items were lost by accident, while others were illegally taken out by certain officials... and so on.

For ordinary people, under the strict control of firearms by the imperial court, the chances of encountering someone with a "private gun" were almost negligible.

But for the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the situation was quite different.

Firearms could be used for precise long-range aiming and firing, which made the logic of the emperor's security completely different from before, and more complex and severe.

No matter how many people local officials assign, they may just be busy doing nothing and wasting their time.

It still requires the personal guidance and coordination of experienced guards from the Tian Shu Division, who have undergone countless drills, to truly ensure the safety of the emperor's travels.

Therefore, when they saw that the guards were from the Tian Shu Division and that the documents clearly stated "escorting the emperor," these local officials naturally assumed that they were advance guards sent by the emperor to prepare for his arrival.

However, this is exactly the effect that Zhu Yunwen wanted to see.

He was in no hurry to reveal his true identity, so he didn't answer Wu Dezhang's question. Instead, he smiled and asked calmly, "Now, do you have any questions?"

"No more, no more!" the officials said in unison, waving their hands repeatedly, afraid that being a step too slow would incur dissatisfaction.

Wu Dezhang's face was plastered with a fawning smile as he said, "So it is the lord of the Tian Shu Division who has arrived. Whatever it is, please give your orders, and I will do my utmost to cooperate, even at the cost of my life."

As he spoke, he gave an awkward laugh and pointed to the wine pot on the table, trying to ease the atmosphere and excuse their current banquet: "We rarely get to drink this 'Jinling Brew' on ordinary days."

He put on a grateful expression and said emphatically, "It is thanks to His Majesty's boundless grace in providing disaster relief that such a large sum of money has been allocated."

"Considering that all of you officials and colleagues have been working hard these past few days to provide disaster relief, properly resettle the victims, and do your best to mitigate the losses caused by the floods, you have endured a lot of hardship and made great contributions. You certainly deserve to be rewarded."

"That's why I specially bought a few jugs of 'Jinling Brew' for everyone to drink and relieve the fatigue of this period."

Wu Dezhang bowed again, his obsequious manner evident: "It is all thanks to His Majesty's boundless grace that we are fortunate enough to drink such a fine wine."

"My brothers from the Heavenly Pivot Division, you have come from afar and are all distinguished guests. Naturally, you will also have a share of this 'Jinling Brew'!"

"I've made the decision. Each of the brothers from the Tian Shu Division will receive a jug to comfort you all after your long journey!"

Wu Dezhang continued to use flattery and ingratiating words to try to win them over: "The disaster area is in a difficult situation, and none of you have had an easy time."

"Look at you all, covered in dust. This is clear proof of your dedication to your duties, your loyalty to His Majesty, and your selfless service to the court!"

He spoke with absolute certainty, as if he were their confidant: "This humble official will certainly submit a memorial to the court, praising your diligence and reporting your achievements to the Emperor!"

His face beamed with a smile as radiant as a peach blossom.

Zhu Yunwen simply looked at him indifferently, his gaze icy.

He then glanced at the other officials in the room, without saying a word.

Xu Miaojin spoke coldly, her tone laced with undisguised sarcasm: "What do you mean?"

Do you think we're beggars who came here to ask for food?

"You think you can fob us off with just a measly jug of 'peach blossom wine'?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Dezhang's face turned deathly pale. He hurriedly explained, "Absolutely not! Absolutely not! This humble official would never dare!"

He hurriedly pulled out a stack of checks from the Great Ming Bank from his pocket, handed them over, and said in a trembling voice, "The brothers from Tian Shu Si have come from afar; it must have been quite a journey for them."

"We, your humble servants, are giving each of you three thousand taels of silver as a token of our appreciation for your hard work. We hope you will not find this meager and will accept it with a smile."

As Wu Dezhang spoke, he turned around guiltily to look at the other officials around him, seeking their opinions: "Colleagues, do you have any objections?"

"Of course, of course!" the officials inside the tent echoed.

They all assumed that Zhu Yunwen and Xu Miaojin thought the "bribe" of a pot of "peach blossom wine" was too little and wanted to ask them for more money.

So they rushed to express their agreement, hoping to curry favor with these "imperial envoys".

"Three thousand taels of silver per person?" Zhu Yunwen's anger burned even brighter, but he did not immediately lash out. Instead, he asked calmly, "How much could a deputy commissioner of the Henan Provincial Surveillance Commission possibly earn in a year?"

"More than thirty of our brothers from the Tian Shu Division have come today."

"Three thousand taels per person, that's close to one hundred thousand taels of silver!"

"Do you have that much money to pay?"

Upon hearing Zhu Yunwen's question, an official chuckled dismissively, "What are you saying, sir?"

"Your Excellency is here to inspect the disaster area on behalf of His Majesty, and we are also here on His Majesty's behalf."

"Isn't all this money a reward from His Majesty the Emperor?"

"Whether it's the adults or us, we're all receiving His Majesty's reward money, hahaha!"

……

(End of this chapter)