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

Chapter 337 The Real Calculation

"Shangguan, Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate."

"Ji Li, Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Stud."

"Lin Ling, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, held the official rank of the third grade."

Zhu Jinzhen stared at the list above, his eyes chillingly cold. The court had tested his bottom line several times, and it involved the Six Ministries, the Censorate, and the Three Temples, even the Hanlin Academy: "Good, very good indeed."

"Your Highness, calm down."

Changsun Wangqing and Yan Yimei spoke at the same time.

"Your Majesty, I have also obtained a list from several people. Please take a look." Yu Huatian said, presenting the confessions and evidence, as well as a list of officials who had not been exposed and who had colluded with Guan Qi, Ji Li and others, which Guan Qi and Ji Li implicated.

"According to Guan Qi and others, their probing of His Majesty's bottom line in the Fengtian Hall was at the behest of various forces, including the Kong family of Shandong, the Zhao family of the capital, the powerful families of Jiangnan, and the Prince of Ning's mansion."

"In order to ensure a smooth career path, rapid advancement, and prosperity for the family."

"They did not hesitate to betray the interests of the Ming Dynasty and collude with many powerful families or princely mansions."

"The tests in the Fengtian Hall, including the appeal for the cabinet, were all attempts to replicate the methods they used against Emperor Zhengde. They were trying to test His Majesty's bottom line time and time again, forcing him to back down or endure for some reason, so that they could further seize power and control the Ming Dynasty to satisfy their own ambitions and desires."

As Yu Huatian interrogated them, many tests in the imperial court and the conspiracies behind them gradually came to light.

There is only one point that differs from Zhu Jinzhen's guess.

Those powerful families and various factions were not unaware of Zhu Jinzhen's strength and terror; it was just that, relatively speaking, the Ming Dynasty and Zhu Houzhao of the past were also unattainable figures for them.

However, their desire for power and profit led them to take the risk.

Zhu Jinzhen was not surprised to hear that a princely residence was involved.

During the Jingnan Campaign, his secret guards uncovered countless scandals in the various princely mansions.

"They are truly masters of manipulating and controlling people's hearts."

"The civil officials whose blood was spilled in Fengtian Hall were just a preliminary test, pawns arranged by various forces. The real test is for the cabinet's defense?" Zhu Jinzhen said, glancing at Yu Huatian, who nodded quickly.

"Your Majesty, according to the confessions of Guan Qi and others, this is indeed the case."

"Heh, trying to use so-called 'evidence' and the fear of public opinion to drag me, the soon-to-be emperor, down to an equal footing with them."

"I don't ask for much, just an explanation from him?"

Zhu Jinzhen sneered. At this point, all his doubts had been cleared up, and he knew what those civil officials and the forces behind them wanted.

That's not an explanation.

But...

concession.

As long as Zhu Jinzhen chooses to make concessions, as long as he chooses to compromise, even if it's just a little, they will push their luck and exert further pressure, constantly tearing at the flesh and blood of his power.

Until Zhu Jinzhen unknowingly became like the emperors of the Ming Dynasty.

"How dare they scheme like this?"

"Your Highness, should we..."

Yan Yimei's eyebrows shot up, her killing intent palpable. She even drew her reverse-blade sword, which had drunk the blood of an immortal. The air in Qianqing Palace suddenly seemed to drop, and frost seemed to condense in it.

Yu Huatian gritted his teeth and endured the pain with a face full of frustration.

The murderous intent of the celestial beings was revealed, pressing down with the force of the collapsing heavens.

The physical pressure he felt was like carrying a mountain on his back, and an inescapable shadow instantly fell over his mind. If Yu Huatian hadn't been relatively good-natured, he would have made a fool of himself on the spot.

Zhu Jinzhen glanced at Yan Yimei and slowly shook his head: "It's not the right time yet."

Upon hearing this, Yan Yimei's eyes lit up.

A cold, faint smile unconsciously crept onto Yu Huatian's lips. It wasn't that he wouldn't kill, it was just not the right time yet.

They naturally understood the implied meaning, and the murderous intent on Yan Yimei quickly dissipated and vanished without a trace.

Changsun Wangqing, who was standing to the side, noticed something amiss and frowned, saying, "They want to play a game with His Highness?"

"Correct!"

Zhu Jinzhen glanced back at her, nodded, and said, "This is their plan. They know that I am invincible on the surface, so they want to fight against me through a power struggle."

"Aren't they afraid?"

Changsun Wangqing's furrowed brows deepened.

Although she doesn't have the same level of understanding of people as those others, she's not an innocent naiveté.

There is an even simpler and easier-to-understand principle.

Zhu Jinzhen, holding a knife, is the most powerful person, standing at the very top.

Aren't those people afraid of angering Zhu Jinzhen and causing him to go on a killing spree?

The swords and shields of Cangyun and the spears of Tiance can easily tear apart all illusions, and their iron hooves can trample all forces and things that intend to resist Zhu Jinzhen into mud.

Changsun Wangqing did not believe that these people could withstand the slaughter by Cangyun and Tiance.

"Of course they're afraid."

"Because they are also gambling..." Zhu Jinzhen suddenly laughed, a very sarcastic laugh: "Since the Jingnan Rebellion, I have tried my best to restrain the various armies. I have also found that you, Chengen, Qin Yiyan and the others have all been strict in managing the army. Even Yang Qingyi's Twelve Guards of Shaanxi have strict military regulations and have not committed many acts of burning, killing and looting."

"We have never disturbed the people along the way."

"And when I become emperor, the status of Cangyun and Tiance will change. They will no longer be the army under the command of Prince Su's mansion, but the army of the Ming Dynasty."

"They gambled, and even if they made a grave mistake, even if I were in a fit of rage, I could no longer act as I always have and do as I please, otherwise I would not be able to appease the people and silence the gossip of the world."

"because……"

"In their eyes, I am now the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the legitimate ruler of the Ming Dynasty, and I must abide by the ironclad laws of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise the prestige of the Ming Dynasty's legal system will plummet."

"And they can exploit loopholes with impunity, taking advantage of the fact that the law does not punish the masses."

Changsun Wangqing, Yan Yimei, Huang Rong, and even Yu Huatian—everyone who knew Zhu Jinzhen's style of doing things—laughed, and a mocking smile appeared on everyone's face.

"Those people are indeed shrewd and have a deep understanding of human nature."

"But they seem to have forgotten as well."

"The sun and moon have changed, and the vision of the old era will eventually be buried in the past as the old era departs."

Although Huang Rong didn't know as much about Zhu Jinzhen as her bedmate Changsun Wangqing and her trusted subordinate Yan Yimei, their time together and Zhu Jinzhen's decisive actions on the Jingnan Road allowed Huang Rong to see what kind of person he really was.

Domineering, forceful, and intolerant of dissent.

They will not hesitate or be timid.

What about the Li family in Taiyuan? What about the five major armies in the border towns?
Zhu Jinzhen just decided to deal with it without hesitation, didn't he?
Changsun Wangqing glanced at Huang Rong with admiration, then slowly shook his head and said, "Their bargaining chip is not their lives."

"It's a gamble, a gamble that His Highness needs to entrust them with important responsibilities and needs them to govern this world."

"As long as this demand remains, even if His Highness kills countless people, it will only be a repeat of what happened during the Hongwu era. After lying low for a few decades, when the true emperor grows old and a new emperor ascends the throne, they can repeat everything they have done in the past and present."

"Even a more violent counterattack."

"Let the Ming Dynasty, like the cycle of history, continue according to their own ideas."

"That's incredibly audacious!"

(End of this chapter)