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

Chapter 237 Courage is commendable
No one is stupid.

Knowing that Zhu Jinzhen now represents the absolute power, who would be foolish enough to jump out and seek their own death?

For those vassal kings, it didn't matter who was emperor.

It doesn't really concern me much.

He had absolutely no intention of risking his life for Emperor Zhengde.

Zhu Jinzhen naturally understood the mentality of many princes, but he only instructed his secret guards to keep a close eye on the residences of Prince Ning, Prince Taiping, Prince Nanping, and Prince Xingxian, and then temporarily ignored them.

"What's going on with the four families in Yan'an Prefecture and the Longmen Escort Agency?"

"Your Highness, according to the information gathered by the secret guards, the Xia and Ning families seem to have reservations about Your Highness's campaign against the enemy. They have even proposed to manipulate public opinion to force Your Highness to withdraw your troops, or to incite public opinion to label Your Highness as a traitor or rebel." Yan Yimei's pupils flashed with murderous intent as she reported.

Clearly, as soon as Zhu Jinzhen gave the order, she would immediately command her secret guards to take action and uproot both families.

"Did I threaten their interests?" Zhu Jinzhen's reaction was very calm. Before embarking on the path of Jingnan and becoming emperor, he had already considered all the possibilities, including the possibility of the world's forces joining forces to resist him.

The world is hilarious, all come for profit.

Everyone in the world is benefiting.

The Ning and Xia families' ideas and actions were simply because Zhu Jinzhen had somehow threatened their interests. Otherwise, given the current situation, they would certainly not dare to make a move unless they wanted their families to be raided and their clans wiped out.

"Your Highness, it is military equipment, salt and iron."

"And...the Mongol Yuan dynasty."

Mongol Yuan Dynasty?

Zhu Jinzhen was slightly moved. "Are they colluding with the Mongol Yuan dynasty?"

Ningxia Town was one of the nine important border towns of the Ming Dynasty and the most important barrier for the Ming Dynasty.

Two or three of the four families in Ningxia rose to prominence because their ancestors had made contributions in resisting the Mongol Yuan dynasty.

Unexpectedly, in just over a hundred years, they have already put aside their past national and personal grievances.

"Your Highness, the secret guards have thoroughly investigated the income and expenditure of the four great families of Ningxia and found that they had been in contact with the Mongol Yuan dynasty since the third year of the Hongzhi reign. At first, they were just exchanging goods and smuggling some tea and refined salt. Later, they gradually began to dump military equipment and forging products on the Mongol Yuan."

"Previously, troops from all four sides were stationed in Yinchuan. The two powerful families of Ningxia provided strong support and a lot of grain and fodder."

"But in private, the Xia family and his behind-the-scenes man leaked the news of the Ming Dynasty's weak border defenses to the Mongol Yuan through private transactions, and even gave the Mongol Yuan the defense map of Yinchuan."

At first, Zhu Jinzhen was somewhat dismissive, but the more he heard, the darker his face became.

They privately sold weapons and forging techniques, not to mention that.

Did they even collude with foreign enemies and betray their country?

"Is the news reliable?" Zhu Jinzhen's voice was cold and filled with murderous intent. The fact that those local powerful families were seizing land, plundering the people, and oppressing the common people had already made him want to kill them all.

Not to mention colluding with the enemy and betraying the country.

If this one rule is verified, the entire family, including nine generations of relatives, will be implicated.

"Your Highness, we have obtained some evidence. Please grant the secret guards a few days."

"Three days."

Zhu Jinzhen extended his palm, raised three fingers, and said, "I will give you three days. Before you arrive in the capital, I want to see the results. You are permitted to act as you see fit."

"Yes, Your Highness, the secret guards will certainly live up to your expectations."

Normally, three days is definitely not enough for verification. After all, the Secret Service is just an intelligence organization, not a god.

But if it's cheap, let alone three days.

Just one day... As long as Yan Yimei is ruthless enough to go on a killing spree, she can find all the evidence and completely destroy the so-called century-old Xia family.

After a moment of contemplation, Yan Yimei continued her report:
"The Wang and Zhang families were dragged into this mess by the Ning family."

"No concrete evidence has yet been found that they colluded with the Mongol Yuan dynasty or betrayed the country."

"But their behavior has been abnormal since His Highness's rebellion, and it's not just about spreading rumors. They have also contacted many experts from the Ming Dynasty in private, including the Divine Sword Yan Nantian, who has disappeared from the martial arts world for many years, the Ten Evils of Evil Valley, as well as Shangguan Jin Hong, Jing Wuming, Xue Wanshan, the leader of the Tianshan Sect, Tianji Laoren, Xue Yiren, and others, with ulterior motives."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jinzhen was even more surprised.

Zhu Jinzhen wasn't surprised by those names; what surprised him was that there were still people so reckless and ignorant of their own mortality.
He, Prince Su, Zhu Jinzhen, the number one swordsman of the Ming Dynasty, commands a million mighty warriors, and the strength of Tian Ce and Cang Yun has been almost completely exposed. Under such circumstances, who would dare to provoke him?

This is simply... incredibly brave (and foolish).

But it also piqued Zhu Jinzhen's interest somewhat.

"Have you gathered so many experts in preparation for dealing with me?"

“Yes, Your Highness.” Yan Yimei nodded and said, “The secret guards suspect that they may be colluding with the former Demonic Sect, or they may have ties to the Azure Dragon Society.”

"reason."

"Your Highness, the secret guards have thoroughly investigated most of the networks of the Ning, Wang, and Zhang families. Although they have a large and deep-rooted influence in Ningxia, Hetao, and Shaanxi, most of their connections come from civil officials in the court or the Six Ministries, with a small portion coming from various martial arts factions. Even if they spend all their wealth, they can only hire ordinary Zhixuan masters."

"It is absolutely impossible to invite even experts like Yan Nantian, Shangguan Jin Hong, and Tianji Laoren."

This is the result of meticulous analysis by the secret guards and the analysis of all intelligence data.

The chance of error is no more than 20%.

Zhu Jinzhen agreed with this statement, raising an eyebrow slightly: "But you missed one point."

"Please enlighten me, Your Highness," Yan Yimei said, bowing.

"Back then, I slaughtered the Demonic Sect and wiped out more than ten branches of the Azure Dragon Society. I also had a glorious record when I fought against the invaders in Mongolia and Liaodong. As for the people you just mentioned, I could easily wipe them all out with just my sword."

"They can't be unaware of this."

"Besides, I am leading a large army with me during this campaign to quell the rebellion. Those rotten fish and shrimps couldn't even get past my Cangyun Army. How could they possibly plot anything?"

It wasn't that Zhu Jinzhen was arrogant, but even if he only had the cultivation level of a Land Immortal from back then, he could still make the world tremble with fear and all heroes bow down. Without five Land Immortals, it would be suicide in front of him.

Among the people Yan Yimei just mentioned, there was Yan Nantian, who had entered the Land Immortal Realm, Tianji Laoren, who was suspected to be a Land Immortal, as well as Shangguan Jin Hong, the head of the Tianshan Sect, and Xue Yiren, who were all at the Celestial Phenomenon Realm.

Even if these people joined forces, they might not be able to defeat Phagpa.

It was almost a close call to deal with Zhu Jinzhenhai.

"Your Highness suspects they have a backup plan!" Although Yan Yimei was asking a question, her tone was already quite certain.

“A backup plan is inevitable.” Zhu Jinzhen nodded, looking at the incense burner in the room that emitted a faint sandalwood fragrance, and said with some curiosity, “But I am more curious that although they have prepared quite a few experts, as long as they are not stupid, they will know that I will not give them the opportunity to face me alone.”

"Unless they are confident that they can get me to leave the army and go alone."

To reiterate, Zhu Jinzhen is a prince with numerous powerful subordinates, and he will not personally take action unless absolutely necessary.

These are the martial arts masters gathered by the Ning family, or rather, by the hidden forces behind them.

Whatever their intentions, their primary concern was not just whether they could defeat Zhu Jinzhen, but how to create an opportunity for those experts to surround and eliminate him.

After all, Zhu Jinzhen was currently engaged in the Jingnan Campaign and fighting battles, and under normal circumstances, he would not leave the central command.

The first and greatest challenge they faced was the 100,000 Cangyun Iron Cavalry accompanying them, as well as Zhu Jinzhen's personal guards and secret guards.

(End of this chapter)