The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 195: Dog-eat-dog
In the winter of the 13th year of Wanli's reign, the capital was very cold.

After the heavy snow fell, it became freezing cold outside.

The power of the Little Ice Age gradually became apparent, and the temperature in the capital was significantly lower than in previous years.

However, the capital was quite lively at this time.

It was quite lively inside and outside the palace, in the court and the country.

The reason why the people are so lively is that most of the people in the capital are rich.

Now that they have money, they can buy a lot of New Year goods, and most people can have a lively New Year's Day.

As for why they are rich, it has a lot to do with the composition of the people in the capital.

There are only a few types of people in the capital.

In terms of numbers, the largest number are family members and relatives of the Beijing Camp, the Imperial Guards, and the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

There are also the families and relatives of princes, nobles and court officials.

The lowest level is mostly composed of merchants and craftsmen.

At this time, the soldiers in the Beijing camp were very wealthy. Not only did each family have 30 acres of land, but they also had food and wages for regular soldiers who participated in the war, military rewards for their military merits, income from weaving for women and children, and so on.

They basically have enough food and clothing, so it is no problem for each household to spend more than ten taels to buy New Year's goods during the Spring Festival.

Not to mention the dukes and nobles, anyone who did business with Wanli would earn tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Officials already have money, and the amount of money embezzled secretly by officials in the capital is even more than that of dukes and nobles.

As for the merchants and craftsmen at the bottom, they also have money.

Most of the merchants made a small fortune because everyone had money to buy their goods.

The wages of craftsmen were also rising rapidly, and many people could earn five taels of silver a month.

As for other lower-class people, they can also go to the weaving workshop opened by Duke Ying and his father-in-law Zheng Danian to weave cloth, or find some odd jobs to do.

At the very least, they could work as servants in the homes of dukes, nobles, and court officials. Their masters had money to feed them lavishly, so it was unlikely that they would go hungry.

Everyone has money now, and more people are buying fireworks and firecrackers, so the atmosphere among the people is naturally very lively.

As for the court, it was even more lively than among the people.

Because Shen Yikuan and Qingliu started fighting.

Chen Yujiao impeached Xin Zixiu, and Xin Zixiu was furious.

Zhao Zhigao protected Chen Yujiao, and the entire Qingliu was in chaos.

The result of the Qingliu explosion was that they frantically submitted memorials to impeach Zhao Zhigao and Chen Yujiao.

Wanli seemed not to want to make a big deal out of it. After calling Shen Yikuan and asking him some questions, he handed all the impeachment memorials to Zhao Zhigao to handle.

In fact, he was telling Shen Yikuan that Qingliu had started biting, so he should quickly take his men to bite him.

Shen Yikuan was also very clear about that, and the next day he submitted a large number of memorials impeaching Xin Zixiu.

Yu Youcai didn't know what to do, so he could only come to Wanli with a pile of memorials.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, he handed over the memorial, and said in a panic, "Your Majesty, what should I do?"

You are just a coward.

What's there to be afraid of? Just watch them bite you. You don't have to do anything.

When Wanli took the memorial and looked at it, he couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth and smiled evilly to himself.

Good bite.

He chuckled to himself and then asked, "Bingzhong, how about handing these memorials over to Wang Xijue to handle? Would he dare to punish Xin Zixiu?"

Of course he wouldn't dare. At this moment, Wang Xijue doesn't even have enough time to win over Zhang Juzheng's old party.

Yu Youcai suddenly realized what was happening, "Wang Xijue definitely wouldn't dare punish Xin Zixiu. He'll only protect him right now."

Then let Wang Xijue take a look and see if this guy can understand it.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Alright then, let Wang Xijue draft these memorials."

What did he want Wang Xijue to understand?

When Wang Xijue saw the large number of memorials impeaching Xin Zixiu, he seemed to understand.

On the third day, there were even more impeachment memorials, including those impeaching Xin Zixiu, Zhao Zhigao, and Chen Yujiao, as well as those impeaching Shen Yikuan.

What Wanli meant was actually to tell Wang Xijue that it was okay to impeach anyone, but he just didn't need to submit a petition to establish a crown prince or even to persuade him, the emperor, to be obedient.

Shen Yi Guan asked someone to impeach the Qingliu people you are trying to win over. You can also help Qingliu impeach them.

Wang Xijue really understood.

They actually wanted to impeach Shen Yikuan and his gang for a long time, but the problem was that these guys were difficult to impeach.

Zhao Zhigao seemed to be impeccable. Lu Guangzu was a well-known good guy in the officialdom.

Sun Yu is even more serious. He is the descendant of a famous loyal and righteous person. His grandfather was a loyal and righteous person who died in the Ning Wang Rebellion. His posthumous title is "Zhonglie". Impeaching this guy for no reason will bring him a bad reputation.

As for Shen Yikuan, this guy is trying his best to climb up the ladder, and his performance is extraordinary. Historically, this guy didn't seem to have any bad deeds before he took control of the court.

They really couldn't find any fault with these people, so they didn't dare to impeach them based on random suspicions.

Now that people can impeach them at random, they will naturally rush in.

Someone impeached Zhao Zhigao, so they impeached Shen Yikuan, Lu Guangzu and Sun Yu.

Yu Youcai was overwhelmed by what they did.

There are so many impeachment memorials every day that he can hardly handle them all by himself.

However, he still came to Wanli with a bunch of impeachment memorials.

He didn't dare to deal with such a matter himself, nor did he have the courage to deal with such a vicious fight in the court.

After reading the memorial, Wanli couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth and smile evilly to himself.

Very good, almost all the civil servants who formed gangs have joined in.

He glanced at the memorial and then smiled slightly, saying, "It's okay. Let them impeach. From now on, the impeachment of Shen Yiguan and his gang will be handled by Zhao Zhigao, and the impeachment of Xin Zixiu will be handled by Wang Xijue."

Okay, as long as I don't have to deal with it.

Yu Youcai nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

However, this is not enough. Impeaching these people alone will not produce any results. After a while, these guys will get tired of impeachment and stop playing.

Wanli pondered, "Go tell Zhao Zhigao that it's useless to just impeach Xin Zixiu. There's nothing wrong with Xin Zixiu. They need to find someone who actually has problems to impeach."

You still feel it’s not enough!
Yu Youcai was stunned for a moment, then nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

This stirred up a hornet's nest, and several officials from Shen Shixing's party, Zhang Siwei's old party, and Zhang Juzheng's old party were impeached.

Yu Youcai was in a dilemma again, and he could only take the memorial to Wanli to ask for advice.

Wanli looked at the memorials impeaching other officials and then gave detailed instructions: "You should still hand these memorials over to Wang Xijue to handle. However, when you divide the memorials, please write down the names and charges of these officials and then hand them over to me."

Yu Youcai seemed to understand.

His Majesty thinks it's not lively enough.

Sure enough, after Wang Xijue discovered that Shen Yikuan was randomly impeaching people on their side, he immediately launched a counterattack.

The next day, several officials related to Shen Yikuan were impeached.

What happens next is even more exciting.

Shen Yikuan's gang, Shen Shixing's party, Zhang Siwei's old party, and Zhang Juzheng's old party would bite anyone they could get their hands on.

They are even more responsible than the censors of the Inspectorate. Once they find any problem with the other party, they will try their best to impeach them.

Wanli didn't say anything on the surface, but secretly asked Luo Sigong to take the list and charges copied by Yu Youcai to follow the clues and investigate thoroughly to see if these guys had any problems.

Early in the morning at about noon that day, Yu Youcai came to Wanli again with a copied list of charges and important memorials.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli actually handed him a list of names and charges.

He took it and looked at it. It was what he had copied a few days ago, but there were a few more red circles on it.

Wanli explained in detail: "Anyone marked with a red circle will be dismissed from his post and investigated, and handed over to the three judicial departments for trial."

Well, just dismissal and investigation would be fine.

Hand it over to the three judicial departments for joint trial?
The three judicial departments are all controlled by Zhang Juzheng's old party and the upright officials.

Isn't this unfair to Shen Yiquan's side?
When Yu Youcai heard this, he was stunned again.

He thought about it carefully, and then asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, it seems that Shen Yiguan and the others will suffer in this way."

Wanli smiled wickedly and said, "Bingzhong, bending the law for personal gain is a serious crime. Do you think they dare to do that?"

Oh, if Zhang Juzheng's old party and the upright officials dare to abuse their power and bend the law, Shen Yikuan will find a handle to hold them accountable.

In this way, it was Zhang Juzheng's old party and the upright officials who suffered.

If they dare to bend the law for personal gain, they will definitely be impeached by Shen Yikuan. If they do not bend the law for personal gain, not only will the officials on Shen Yikuan's side be dealt with, but also Shen Shixing's party and Zhang Siwei's party. They will even have to deal with their own people who have committed crimes.

Your Majesty thinks it's not lively enough.

After the three judicial officials conducted such a trial, conflicts would arise among Shen Shixing's party, Zhang Siwei's old party, and Zhang Juzheng's old party.

This time, the court was about to get heated.

Yu Youcai couldn't help but shrink his neck when he thought of that scene.

(End of this chapter)