Ming Dynasty: pacifying the rebellion and defending the border, dominating the world

Chapter 186 The Truth Revealed, Zhu Houzhao's Slacking Off

The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern and Western Depots.

The secret guards were incredibly fast, so fast it was almost despair-inducing.

In less than half a day, they had completely taken control of the Forbidden City, accepting everyone from the eunuchs to the Imperial Guards and the Embroidered Uniform Guards without exception.

Meanwhile, the 12th Regiment was stationed outside the capital.

The 12th Regiment was divided into four battalions: the Four Martial Battalions, the Four Brave Battalions, and the Four Mighty Battalions.

These are the four military camps: Fenwu, Yaowu, Lianwu, and Xianwu;
The four brave battalions are: the courageous, the decisive, the drumming, and the valiant.
The Four Power Camps are: Establishing Power, Extending Power, Displaying Power, and Shaking Power.

Song Nantian, Yuchi Bin, and Li Weiguo, who were under Yang Ning's command, took over the Four Martial Battalions, the Four Brave Battalions, and the Four Mighty Battalions respectively. They also sent people to take over the East Office and the West Office established by Emperor Zhengde, Zhu Houzhao.

At this point, everything inside and outside the capital was under Zhu Jinzhen's control.

The inner palace, Renshou Palace.

The Empress Dowager was lying on the bed, sobbing and convulsing.

Yang Ning carried out Zhu Jinzhen's orders meticulously. He said he would knock out all of the Empress Dowager's teeth, and he really did. The poor Empress Dowager had lived a life of luxury and ease all her life. When had she ever been treated like this?

He kept muttering incoherently, "This is deceiving Heaven, this is deceiving Heaven," and other unclear words.

"Brother, step aside, I'm going to settle accounts with those bastards outside."

Yunlu shouted angrily.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao glanced at the Empress Dowager and said coldly, "She has only herself to blame; she has no one else to blame but herself."

"Brother, what...what did you say?"

Princess Yunluo couldn't understand why the person lying on the bed was her brother's biological mother, the Empress Dowager, who had been bullied by outsiders. Instead of seeking revenge for her, her brother said that she had only herself to blame.

"Hmph, ask our mother what she did?"

Zhu Houzhao snorted coldly, his resentment completely undisguised. Zhu Wushi's usurpation of power was within Zhu Houzhao's expectations, but the betrayal by his own mother was a blow that he could not forgive even if he had died several times over.

After all, the former was after power and the throne.

But what Zhu Houzhao couldn't understand was why his mother was doing this.
Yunluo looked around, her gaze shifting back and forth between Zhu Houzhao and the wailing Empress Dowager. Finally, she stamped her foot and said, "If you, my brother, won't take care of it, I will."

"Yunluo!"

Zhu Houzhao quickly stopped Princess Yunluo, his expression serious: "Don't be unreasonable."

"I'm being unreasonable?" Yunluo pointed at herself, looking doubtful. Her mother was beaten and bedridden, and she went to take revenge. In her brother's eyes, this was being unreasonable.
Although Yunluo didn't know what her mother had done to cause her usually filial brother to harbor such resentment, the one lying on the bed was still his mother.

In this era where filial piety is of paramount importance, Yunluo simply couldn't understand why her imperial brother was so heartless!

Zhu Houzhao saw the disappointment in Yunluo's eyes, but instead of explaining, he looked at the Empress Dowager who was still pretending to be pitiful and sobbing on the bed, and warned her: "If you don't want Yunluo to die young, you'd better shut up."

This statement carries considerable weight.

The Empress Dowager, who had originally planned to have the Emperor's son avenge her, immediately shut her mouth upon hearing this.

Zhu Houzhao sighed inwardly, then turned to look at Yunluo: "Yunluo, now is not the time for you to be willful. Zhu Wushi, in collusion with the cabinet and the Empress Dowager, plotted to seize power, attempting to deceive the emperor and frame others, but was exposed by Prince Su. Now the entire capital is under Prince Su's control."

"The Imperial Depot, the Eastern Depot, the Western Depot, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Imperial Guard are all under their control." "If you leave Renshou Palace, even I cannot protect you."

"Brother, what did you say?" Princess Yunlu thought she was hallucinating. Otherwise, how could it be so bizarre? She had only been in seclusion for a few days, how could someone suddenly be forcing her to abdicate and usurp the throne?
"Yes, you heard me right." Zhu Houzhao thought Yunluo was shocked to hear that her mother had been involved in a treason, so he patiently explained, suppressing his anger and disappointment.

The imperial uncle Zhu ignored the plot to seize power and attempted to deceive the emperor by deposing his own elder brother and installing a fake emperor on the throne. Not only was his own mother involved, but she also tacitly approved of it.

Yunluo looked at the Empress Dowager on the bed in disbelief and asked in a trembling voice, "Mother, is what my brother said true?"

"Alas, what an injustice!"

The Empress Dowager let out a painful sound.

Yunluo staggered a few steps in disbelief, finally understanding why her brother was so disappointed, his whole being radiating despondency.

After a moment, Yunluo calmed down a bit, suppressing the surging emotions in her heart and the heartache for her brother, and said, "Brother, is there really no other way? The eunuchs of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern and Western Depots are useless, as are the Beijing Garrison and the Eastern and Western Offices that you established."

"If we transfer troops from the Beijing Garrison, a swift and decisive battle should be able to suppress the Imperial Uncle, no, Zhu Wushi and that group of traitors, right?"

Zhu Houzhao smiled awkwardly and helplessly: "Do you think I wouldn't think of what you can think of? But the military tally is not in my hands. It was stolen by Zhu Wushi before, and then fell into the hands of Prince Su. At this time, the capital garrison has also fallen into the control of Prince Su's mansion."

As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao turned around and glared at his own Empress Dowager, who was more trouble than she was worth.

If she hadn't agreed to Zhu Wushi taking over the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commissions, why would Zhu Houzhao be in such a passive position this time? What was the purpose of him drawing the most elite soldiers from the twelve battalions in the capital to form the East Office and the West Office in his early years?
It's all to prevent someone from forcing a coup or usurping the throne; some people are desperate and resorting to extreme measures.

Unexpectedly, after he returned to the capital, the Empress Dowager and Zhu Wushi gave him such a big surprise, completely disrupting Zhu Houzhao's entire plan.

Seeing that this approach wouldn't work, Yunluo suddenly had a flash of inspiration and exclaimed, "Serving the King! Yes, Your Majesty, we can also rally the troops of the entire realm to serve the King!"

"Not to mention that not even a carrier pigeon can fly out of the Forbidden City now, let alone call on the troops of the whole country to come to the aid of the emperor, even imperial edicts cannot leave the palace. Even if they could do it, it would be nothing more than a dying struggle."

Zhu Houzhao slowly shook his head. As the saying goes, those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly.

Now that he's imprisoned, he sees things more clearly.

Yunluo's suggestion to mobilize all the troops in the country to defend the emperor against Zhu Wushi was effective, but in the face of Zhu Jinzhen's absolute power, even if his imperial edict was issued, it would either be lost without a trace or only cause more people to jump out and die.

If he truly had the strength to fight back, how could Zhu Houzhao have willingly accepted his fate?
It's because he knows that no matter how much he struggles, he can't change anything in the end.

That's why Zhu Houzhao wanted to give up and let fate, or rather, Zhu Jinzhen, dictate his actions.

"How could it be useless?"

Yunluo was very puzzled and did not understand why her brother was so disheartened and self-destructive. However, she still tried her best to persuade him: "Brother, didn't the Taizu leave behind an ancestral instruction that if there are treacherous officials causing trouble in the court, the princes of various regions can lead their troops into the capital to defend the emperor and eliminate the traitors, so as to ensure that our Ming Dynasty will last for thousands of generations?"

“Once your imperial edict is issued, the vassal kings in various regions will surely obey.”

"No matter how powerful Prince Su is, or how powerful that traitor Zhu Wushi is, they can't stop so many princes of our Great Ming from joining forces, can they?"

Listening to Yunluo's incessant suggestions, Zhu Houzhao could only manage a wry smile.

In the end, he told Yunluo and the Empress Dowager, who was eavesdropping, the cruelest truth.

It wasn't that he didn't want to resist, it was just that... he was powerless to do so!

(End of this chapter)