Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 321 The Beginning of the Alternate Universe
The Hanlin scholar entered the palace.

The emperor was furious and ordered a thorough investigation.

The thief Zhang Zuo fled, but Gao Zhong was a step too slow and was caught up by the crowd, who beat him to death.

After eliminating traitors for the country, the Hanlin scholar returned victorious.

Grand Secretary Yan Song and Second Grand Secretary Xia Yan sent memorial texts one after the other.

The cries were deafening, and everyone joined together to comfort Xue Kan's spirit in heaven.

The entire process was completed smoothly.

It had a deterrent effect on the officials.

The explanation to Shihlin has also been given.

The subsequent investigation into the palace coup went much more smoothly.

as predicted.

The Imperial Guards presented evidence of Qiu Luan's crimes and searched the Marquis's residence, finding one hundred sets of armor and two hundred crossbows.

Seven secret letters exchanged between the letter sender and a general from another region were found in the secret room; all of them were written in coded language.

The cellar contained 200,000 taels of silver, mostly unmarked silver ingots cast from melted metal.

The most terrifying thing was that a jade belt, dragon robe, imperial robe, and counterfeit seal were found during the search, which led to a major case of treason.

Without a doubt, the charge of supporting the prince is not suitable to be discussed in public; the only option is to fabricate a rebellion charge.

Judging from the patina on that fake seal, it's probably the same one as the one Liu Jin and the two Zhangs made.

In any case, with this reason, the basis for extensive entanglement is established.

Thirty-seven officers, including the deputy commander of the Beijing Garrison, were imprisoned on the same day.

Twenty-three officials from six ministries, including the Director of the Military Affairs Department and the Chief of the Arsenal Department, were arrested.

The imperial prison was overcrowded, and the Ministry of Justice had no choice but to open the long-abandoned western prison.

The three judicial departments jointly reviewed and approved the verdict.

Qiu Luan's crime of treason was proven beyond redemption; he was stripped of his title of Marquis of Xianning and sentenced to death by a thousand cuts.

More than 140 people, including relatives by marriage, students, and old friends, were implicated and were either beheaded or exiled.

The reform of the Ministry of War was put back on the agenda, and the "Regulations on the Drills of the Beijing Garrison" were revised. More censors were dispatched to supervise the army, and all weapons in the armory were re-registered and inspected every ten days.

This incident...

Yixin Hui, under the guidance of Haiyue and Wang Shenzhong, did not participate in the calls for establishing an heir.

Having experienced a fright last time, Xia Yan also instructed his disciples to be careful and not to speak recklessly.

Many key members of Yan's faction who proposed establishing an heir were implicated, demoted, and sent to remote areas, but all of them managed to save their lives.

All of these things, from different perspectives, proved their loyalty to the emperor.

The fear that Zhu Houcong felt due to the palace coup finally dissipated considerably.

The imperial court was once again under absolute control.

The emperor was very pleased.

The truth is...

On the very day the mass imprisonment began, Yan Shifan's page, Alu, secretly passed a letter to Haiyue.

The letter was written in a rather cryptic manner, but as a former classmate, Haiyue understood its deeper meaning.

"The emperor's increasingly unscrupulous behavior has indeed caused unease among his ministers."

"The Yan family father and son could no longer sit still."

Fear and unease are always two-way streets.

If a ruler treats his ministers like his own hands and feet, then the ministers will treat the ruler like their own heart and soul; if a ruler treats his ministers like dogs and horses, then the ministers will treat the ruler like a fellow countryman; if a ruler treats his ministers like dirt and weeds, then the ministers will treat the ruler like an enemy.

This reflects Mencius's emphasis on the equality of the relationship between ruler and subject, opposing one-way absolute obedience. If the ruler is not benevolent, the subject does not need to be blindly loyal and can completely resist.

However, as imperial power became more centralized in successive dynasties, the tendency towards Confucianism on the outside and Legalism on the inside became increasingly apparent, and the concept gradually transformed into "if the emperor wants his subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die."

In reality, even ants struggle to survive, let alone these high-ranking officials in the imperial court who are usually in a high position.
However, even among the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers, most people could hardly resist.

The one most qualified to respond was undoubtedly Yan Song, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, who held the title of Prime Minister but had the power of one.

Yan Shifan undoubtedly played a significant role in this.

Since this person returned to the capital from Taiyuan, the two sides have had no further contact, and even had several apparent conflicts.

Based on Haiyue's understanding of him, this young Grand Secretary was deliberately hiding his talents, pretending to be a playboy to lower His Majesty's guard, so that Yan Song could sit more securely in the position of Grand Secretary.

It now seems that the other party is going to take another step.

"Is it fictional...?"

Haiyue actually had a plan deep down.

However, his goal may be slightly different from that of everyone else, including the Yan family.

Moreover, when facing an opponent like Jiajing, he never revealed his secrets lightly and always had a plan for any eventuality.

As for undermining imperial power.

It's definitely not something that a few high-ranking officials can implement simply by having a few words of discussion.

To achieve great things, in addition to beliefs and goals, one must also have shared interests.

Yan's faction was closely linked to the new policies and found it difficult to change course. They were afraid of the emperor's change of heart, which was a matter of vital interest.

Therefore, the Yan faction can be united.

Allies, however, are not an option.

Moreover, there are many people both inside and outside the government who oppose the Yan Party, either because they want to benefit from the new policies or simply because they disagree with each other politically. These people are very difficult to buy off.

Moreover, while the central government could deeply sense the emperor's changes, local officials did not feel this threat and many were willing to be loyal to the emperor.

Such examples are not uncommon in Yixin Hui.

Therefore, on the surface, it seems that if he and the Yan family father and son join forces, the power they can mobilize is extremely large.

In reality, things are not as optimistic as one might imagine.

Haiyue was waiting for news. News from the southeast.

at last.

When the battle report from the southeast was presented to the Ministry of War, Sun Weixian's private letter arrived at his home at the same time. Haiyue opened the letter and revealed a look of joy.

"It's done!"

Wang Zhi, under the guise of being the manager of Shuangyu Island, proposed a grand gathering of martial arts masters. The bandit leader Xu Dong agreed and sent out notices to all directions, intending to select seven pirate kings from the Japanese pirate forces along the coast, gather them on Shuangyu Island, and then elect the true king of the sea to command all heroes.

The Japanese pirate forces, large and small, numbered in the hundreds. Among them, there were eight or nine recognized major forces. Upon hearing that the Seven Great Pirate Kings were to be selected, they either came in person or sent their trusted confidants to the island to participate in this grand event.

There was no other way; Shuangyu Island was the top choice for trading stolen goods, and the strength and reputation of the Japanese pirates were closely related to their power.

Once you become a great pirate, people will flock to you every day; otherwise, you will be quickly swallowed up.

So even if they were dissatisfied with the call for Shuangyu Island, they dared not refuse to join in the fun.

Otherwise, they will become small fish and shrimp, swallowed whole by big fish.

thus.

The island was inhabited by Japanese pirates, sea pirates, and Portuguese. Xu Dong was stationed in the central command tent, while the four Xu brothers guarded the four villages.

Wang Zhi navigated the situation, secretly noting the locations of waterways, troop strength, and gunpowder depots, and sending secret messages via fishing boats.

The message was passed on to the Ming army in Zhejiang, commanded by Hai Rui, and the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) of the Southern Garrison Command, commanded by Sun Weixian.

Everything is ready; we can work together from the inside and outside.

The navy launched a surprise attack, and the fire ships sealed off the port.

The Japanese pirates were thrown into chaos. Xu Dong resisted with a knife, but was shot by an arrow and fell into the sea. His body surfaced three days later.

The Xu brothers either died in battle or committed suicide by fire; none of them escaped.

More than thirty groups of Japanese chieftains, large and small, gathered on the island, and most of them were surrounded and annihilated.

Post-war inventory:

More than 800 ships were burned, 220 cannons were captured, and countless amounts of sulfur and saltpeter were seized.

The war dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese pirate forces along the southeastern coast.

The good news was immediately sent to the Ministry of War, and at this point, the entire court was probably alarmed.

Haiyue was very happy.

The Japanese pirate raids were a major source of pain for the Jiajing Emperor.

While history seems to have produced a large number of capable ministers and generals such as Hu Zongxian and Qi Jiguang, the sacrifices and regional corruption behind the scenes are even more shocking.

Now, having started making arrangements ten years ago, he has finally minimized the losses.

Of course, it would be an oversimplification to say that the threat of Japanese pirates in the southeast was quelled just like that.

The root cause of the Japanese pirate problem was the Ming Dynasty's absurd maritime ban policy.

People live off the land and the water. If you prevent coastal residents from going to sea and ban civilian boats from going out to sea while allowing government ships to do so, aren't you cutting off their livelihoods?

Let alone now that the country has been established for more than a hundred years, even during the Hongwu era, when the country was at its peak and the army was strong, Zhu Yuanzhang's policy of prohibiting maritime trade could not be implemented.

In later dynasties, it became a dead letter, but during the Jiajing era, it was strictly enforced again, which led to the rapid expansion of the Japanese pirates and created a vicious cycle.

It seems that a large number of pirate leaders have been eliminated and the coastal pirates have been severely damaged, but in a few years, the coastal pirate organizations will expand again, and a new batch of leaders will emerge and start burning, killing and looting again.

It only treats the symptoms but not the root cause.

Therefore, the real disappearance of Japanese pirates in history was not due to the great benefits gained by generals such as Hu Zongxian and Qi Jiguang in eliminating them, but rather because the maritime ban was later lifted.

The imperial court returned to a period of turning a blind eye, no longer restricting coastal fishermen from going to sea, nor prohibiting trade among the people.

The Japanese pirates disappeared on their own.

The same principle applies now.

While the Japanese pirates were being eliminated, Xu Jie, the governor of Yingtian, Hai Rui, the left councilor of the Zhejiang Provincial Administration Commission, and Hu Zongxian, the censor of Zhejiang, along with thirty-five other officials from the southeast, jointly submitted a memorial entitled "Request to Restore Maritime Trade".

The memorial requested the reopening of the Zhejiang-Fujian Maritime Trade Office on the grounds of "relieving the people's suffering and eliminating the source of the bandits".

The memorial does not explicitly mention "opening up the sea," but it presents concrete evidence—that among the poor coastal households, "nine out of ten fishermen" became "nine out of ten fishermen who were thieves" after the sea ban was imposed.

It is also estimated that Zhejiang and Fujian provinces lose 700,000 taels of silver in taxes annually, all due to rampant smuggling.

Finally, citing the old precedent of the Yongle era, it states that the Maritime Trade Office was originally established to "pacify distant peoples".

The text makes no mention of ancestral rules, yet every word it touches points to the drawbacks of the maritime ban.

These officials were not all members of the Yixin Society, but rather members of various factions. They all recognized the potential harm of continuing down this path, which is why they jointly submitted this petition.

This is what Haiyue has been waiting for.

Driven by the desire to lift the maritime ban, this created room for manipulation.

The key is that he can make that judgment.

That one would never admit his mistake.

"What a wonderful phrase, 'to alleviate the people's suffering and eradicate the source of the bandits'!"

"The Japanese pirates of Shuangyu are so eager to advocate for the maritime merchants?"

"Snapped--!!"

Zhu Houcong threw the memorial on the table, staring at the cover that gleamed dimly in the candlelight, his eyes filled with an indescribable coldness.

The Yongle-era "Regulations for Maritime Trade" presented along with the document was quickly overturned, and the entire hall fell to the ground, holding their breath, while those around remained silent as if trembling with fear.

Lately, His Majesty has become increasingly harsh on his servants and his temper has become more and more irritable.

"Using your ancestors to control me?"

"During the turmoil of the Ningbo tribute dispute, Japanese swords were even pointed at the walls of Nanjing. It was only after I banned the Maritime Trade Office that peace was restored throughout the land!"

"Now they actually dare to say that the stricter the maritime ban, the more profitable the trade with other countries will be..."

Zhu Houcong grew angrier the more he thought about it, wishing he could grab the memorial, tear it in half, and let the shredded paper drift into the charcoal brazier, the smoke twisting like snakes.

But such behavior seems to further prove that he is unable to refute it.

Taking a deep breath, he chose to remain silent, but coldly said, "Tell Yan Weizhong not to be so muddle-headed all day. Such memorials should be rejected as soon as possible, lest they offend my eyes again!"

(End of this chapter)