Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 329 Everyone is fooling the Emperor

"The mutiny in Southern Zhili..."

Haiyue looked at the handwritten letter from Xu Jie in her hand.

The letter conveyed two key pieces of information.

At the same time, it also frankly described the current predicament in Southern Zhili.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty had a system of two capitals, with each of the Northern and Southern Zhili provinces having its own set of officials, which involved a great deal of checks and balances, power struggles, and confrontations.

The North-South divide has been going on for a long time.

The reason why we were able to work together to eliminate the Japanese pirates in the past was because the attitude towards the Japanese pirates in the southeast was not unified.

Behind the Japanese pirates, there was undoubtedly considerable support from wealthy gentry and merchants. However, many gentry and noble families were also unwilling to see the Japanese pirates run rampant and ruin the countryside.

Therefore, this group of people worked together with one heart and one mind to assist the imperial court in suppressing the bandits.

Once the pirate leaders were almost completely wiped out on Shuangyu Island, Yuegang in Fujian was opened up, and people were no longer prohibited from going to sea. The Japanese pirates no longer had any reinforcements, and the remaining ones who were used to robbing and looting were no longer a threat.

Without external enemies, the conflict naturally turns to internal strife.

Even Xu Jie, who originally came from Songjiang Prefecture, was not one of their own and was excluded.

Who told you not to wholeheartedly work for the well-being of the family?

They actually still think about fairness and morality?

If not you, then who are we targeting?
So even though Xu Jie has been in Yingtian for several years and his term as governor is about to end, his power is not as secure as one might imagine.

The fact that Xu Jie was able to find these things in such a short time and have Gong Hao deliver them proves his outstanding personal abilities, which are probably second only to Hai Rui.

For most people, being completely in the dark would be the norm.

"Xu Jie has reached his limit..."

"If a mutiny were to occur, he would find it difficult to prevent it in advance and could only try to make amends after it happened."

Haiyue murmured, "Mutiny... mutiny..."

He thought of the Zhenwu Camp mutiny at the end of the Jiajing reign in history.

The so-called Zhenwu Camp was a force recruited at the time to defend against Japanese pirates, composed of local strongmen.

According to the old system, soldiers in Nanjing with wives received one shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain per month, while those without wives received six dou (another unit of dry measure).

As a result, two talented individuals emerged in Nanjing. First, the Minister of Revenue petitioned to reduce the silver equivalent of each shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain. Then, the Vice Minister in charge of grain storage petitioned to abolish the monthly rations for the wives and children of recruited soldiers. This immediately aroused strong dissatisfaction and resentment among the soldiers, eventually leading to a mutiny.

Two thousand soldiers of the Zhenwu Battalion surrounded the residence of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing. The next morning, the body of this Vice Minister of Revenue was hung on a stone tablet outside the North Gate of Nanjing, and "dismembered outside the Shence Gate, with his liver and brains splattered on the ground."

Duke Xu Pengju of Wei fled in disarray, and was called a good-for-nothing by the rioting soldiers. Later, he was rewarded with 10,000 gold pieces and promised to restore his original rations and benefits, which temporarily appeased the rioting soldiers. In the end, he secretly arrested the 25 ringleaders and imprisoned them. Three of them were killed, and the rest were sent to guard the border. The riot was then quelled.

This incident caused quite a stir and had far-reaching consequences. Afterward, the Nanjing garrison "rebelled several times a year, becoming like bandits."

Of course, there were quite a few local military mutinies in the Ming Dynasty, such as the famous Jizhou Mutiny. It is said that the killing of three thousand elite soldiers of Qi Jiguang's army was self-destruction. There are both refutations and counter-refutations, and each has its own arguments.

Other notable mutinies include the Datong Mutiny, the Ningxia Mutiny, the Wuqiao Mutiny, the Ningyuan Mutiny, and the Ganzhou Mutiny.

In the 120 years, there were 59 recorded mutinies, averaging one every two years. The causes were varied, but in essence, they were all due to corruption, embezzlement, systemic wage arrears, and the instigation of others.

The potential mutiny in Southern Zhili, combined with the changes in Sun Weixian's life, clearly indicates that someone is behind it all.

"A mutiny may just be the appetizer."

What is the real impact?

"A vassal king?"

After a moment's thought, Haiyue made an association in her mind.

It's no wonder he thought that way; this era was not like the late Ming Dynasty, when the whole country was in rebellion.

Participating in a mutiny is tantamount to treason.

Those who dare to rebel must have a powerful foundation.

The most likely candidate is the Zhu family prince who was inspired by Emperor Yongle.

During the Ming Dynasty, the fiefdoms of princes often relied on waterways such as the Yangtze River, the Huai River, and the Grand Canal to facilitate communication with Southern Zhili.

For example, the King of Chu in Wuchang Prefecture, the King of Jing in Qizhou, Hubei, the King of Zhou in Kaifeng Prefecture, and the King of Lu in Weihui Prefecture.

However, Zhu Di later moved the princes to places like Henan and Huguang to avoid them being too close to the wealthy Southern Zhili.

If we're really talking about getting close, Prince Ning is one of the closest.

Back then, Prince Ning raised an army in Nanchang, led his naval forces down the Yangtze River, captured Jiujiang and Nankang, then left Jiangxi, led his naval forces down the river to attack Anqing, intending to take Nanjing.

The strategy was correct.

Entering Nanjing was the necessary foundation for the rebellion of the vassal kings.

Only by occupying Nanjing and developing its strength can it truly contend with the northern capital and seize the country.

Of course, let alone that step, Prince Ning didn't even get close to the edge of Jinling City.

His failure was due to a variety of reasons, including insufficient accumulated strength, isolation, and lack of popular support.

Most importantly, there were fatal mistakes in military matters.

First they launched a fierce attack on Anqing along the river, then they turned back to relieve Nanchang. They were only concerned with one end and not the other, and were being led by the nose. It would be a miracle if they could succeed under such circumstances.

Two wrong moves led to their immense power, but they were quelled in the shortest possible time.

It was over in forty-three days.

"However, from the moment Prince Ning conceived the idea of ​​rebellion to the time he issued proclamations to various regions, denounced the court, and completely rebelled, there were actually twelve years of preparation in between."

According to historical records, Prince Ning bribed eunuch Liu Jin and sycophantic officials Qian Ning and actor Zang Xian to reinstate the disbanded guards, harbor fugitives, imprison local civil and military officials, massacre innocent civilians, seize tens of thousands of acres of land from officials and civilians, rob merchants, harbor thieves, and plot to start a rebellion.

From the second year of the Zhengde reign to the fourteenth year of the Zhengde reign, when the rebellion broke out.

During this period, he constantly amassed wealth and amassed a private army.

All of this did not actually alarm the central government.

Many officials reported this, but Emperor Zhengde was quite absurd in some ways and didn't take it seriously at all. He simply issued an edict ordering Prince Ning to dismiss his guards and return the land that had been seized. For the local princes, this was hardly a big deal.

“When Prince Ning was accumulating power, Emperor Zhengde didn’t care. But now that Emperor Jiajing is on the throne, if local princes clearly have any rebellious behavior, he will absolutely not let it go.”

"However, things remained calm in the local area."

"Where are the bodyguards?"

"Where did the secret guards go?"

Now that we are no longer in the early days of the dynasty, the intelligence and surveillance capabilities of the Embroidered Uniform Guard are basically useless outside the capital.

This is why Zhu Houcong accepted the Liyuan Society and transformed it into a secret guard, as he needed the eyes and ears of this secret society to learn more about local news.

But now, even if a local warlord is plotting something sinister and secretly accumulating wealth, the secret guards remain indifferent...

"really!"

"It's alright in the capital, but once we leave the capital, who cares about the political maneuvering of this emperor?"

Haiyue gave a cold laugh.

To put it bluntly, political maneuvering is about firmly grasping the personnel arrangements that hold important power in one's own hands.

To put it bluntly, they are very good at manipulating people and controlling their hearts by changing personnel.

However, some problems cannot be solved by personnel arrangements and manipulating people's hearts.

Therefore, the secret guards did not become a resurrection of the Liyuan Society under a different guise, as Zhou Xuan had worried. However, they also lost the function that Jiajing expected and could not obediently monitor the four directions for him.

With the basic outline clear, Haiyue made her decision and said to Gong Hao, who was waiting for orders beside her, "Remind the Imperial Guards of the capital that if they continue to do nothing, they will be completely abandoned by the Emperor. It's time to report some information!"

……

Ouchi.

Incense smoke swirled within the alchemy room, the bitter scent of ambergris mingling with the cinnabar.

Zhu Houcong sat cross-legged on a futon, his eyes slightly closed, a jade-handled whisk draped casually over his arm, as if he had already wandered into the void.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by hurried footsteps.

Zhang Zuo, the leader of the secret guards, knelt outside the curtain, sweat beading on his forehead, but dared not disturb the emperor, and simply held the secret memorial high above his head.

After a long while, Zhu Houcong, without lifting his eyelids, said indifferently, "Speak."

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Chu's Imperial Guard, Shen Bao, has a secret letter stating that Prince Zhu Xianrong of Chu is staging a water show to train his navy and is privately manufacturing weapons and armor. Furthermore, the sorcerers in his household are making false claims… false claims that the celestial phenomena have changed…"

"Ok?"

The jade handle of the whisk suddenly emitted a faint cracking sound.

Zhu Houcong slowly opened his eyes, his gaze seemingly reflecting the incense offerings in a cold pool: "These nephews of mine seem to care more about celestial phenomena than I do. What are they planning to do?"

Zhang Zuo's throat bobbed slightly as he lay prone on the ground, barely daring to breathe.

Ever since his companion Gao Zhong was beaten to death by the Hanlin scholars for beating Xue Kan to death, he became cautious and timid, never daring to stand out in anything.

But a few days ago, a subordinate casually mentioned while drinking that things couldn't continue like this.

If you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet. Some things you can't avoid, and eventually you have to prove your worth.

Therefore, after summarizing the situation in various places, this report was submitted.

Zhu Xianrong, the seventh King of Chu, was enfeoffed as the Prince of Changle in the sixth year of the Jiajing reign, and later promoted to King of Chu in the fifteenth year of the Jiajing reign.

The central government's assessment of this individual was summed up in four words: "Extremely greedy and cruel."

Such a person is unpopular with the people and disliked by local officials.

His existence unnecessarily increased the difficulty of governance, and few local officials could tolerate such a vassal king, leading to frequent conflicts.

Of course, the result was almost always that the officials suffered a great loss. After all, the status and position of the princes were extremely noble, and reasoning with them was futile. So let the most unreasonable person in the world deal with them...

Even if the news is false, surely no one will stand up for the King of Chu, right?

Zhu Houcong has been feeling uneasy lately, as if shrouded in dark clouds, yet he can't quite grasp the reason.

Hearing the secret report from his bodyguard, he felt a weight lifted from his heart.

That's it!

"A rebellion by a vassal king?"

"Seeing that I have not attended court for a long time, you want to follow the example of Prince Ning?"

As he spoke, his tone softened: "There's no need to alert them. Keep a close eye on everyone in the Chu Prince's residence. Intercept and investigate all correspondence!"

Zhu Houcong's gaze swept over the kneeling leader of the secret guards, and a slight smile appeared on his lips: "You... did a good job!"

These words were spoken very softly, yet they immediately eased the atmosphere in the hall.

Zhang Zuo's tense shoulders and back visibly relaxed, and he kowtowed heavily: "We are willing to die ten thousand deaths to serve Your Majesty!"

Zhu Houcong nodded in satisfaction and turned to look at the deepening twilight outside the window.

The secret guards are quite capable. They can't be rewarded openly or secretly, so this affirmation is the best reassurance.

The entire Ming Dynasty, encompassing all of China, was indeed still under his control!

(End of this chapter)