The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 571 Chu Fan Chaos

Wanli and his third son Zhu Changxun returned to Beijing after a nearly one-month tour of Nurgandusi.

At this time, the Zhejiang Party had been eliminated from the court, and the Qingliu had also been suppressed. The Donglin Party seemed helpless and could only lie dormant, while the Ministry of Justice was still in full swing in punishing corrupt officials.

The Ming Dynasty officialdom seems to be about to be completely renewed, and a prosperous and peaceful era seems to be not far away.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, something big happened suddenly.

At about 9:00 a.m. that day, Wanli was teaching the young Zhu Changxun in the imperial study when the chief minister of the cabinet, Shen Li, suddenly came to ask for a meeting with the Minister of Rites, Lu Kun.

There seemed to be anxiety on the faces of both of them.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, the Minister of Rites, Lü Kun, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, an urgent report has arrived from Huguang, eight hundred miles away: the royal family of the Chu vassal state has robbed 20,000 taels of tribute silver.

Hanyang Prefecture was ordered to arrest members of the royal family who had robbed tribute, but this led to the Chu vassal royal family gathering over 3,000 people and storming the prefectural government, injuring countless officials.

The Chu royal family robbed the tribute silver!
Hanyang Prefecture arrested royal family members for robbing tribute?
The Chu clan gathered together and broke into the government office!

What is all this mess?

When Wanli took the urgent report, he found it was a mess, with no beginning or end, and no final result.

Do these princes and royal family members want to rebel?
He frowned and pondered for a moment, then asked, "Why is there no result? Why did the Chu clan rob the tribute silver? What is happening in Hanyang City right now? How many government officials have been injured by the Chu clan? No one knows these things."

How do you say this?

Lu Kun thought for a moment, then said cautiously, "Your Majesty, the Chu clan has gathered over 3,000 men. Without a thousand-strong army, I'm afraid we won't be able to suppress them.

This kind of thing is usually handled by the Judicial Commissioner's Office. They do not have the authority to mobilize thousands of troops, so they have no way to deal with it.

I estimate that the royal family is running rampant in Hanyang City right now, and court officials have to stay away, otherwise they might be beaten up.

The officials in Hanyang Prefecture were probably so frightened that they hid away, so naturally no one reported the incident to the capital."

This bunch of princes and royal family members are lawless!

Why did the Chu royal family suddenly go crazy?

There is something fishy about this matter.

Upon hearing this, Wanli frowned and pondered for a while, then asked, "What's going on with the Chu clan? Why are they suddenly robbing the tribute silver? I didn't ask the Chu clan to pay tribute, so what tribute silver are they robbing?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Kun seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then looked at Shen Li.

This means that he is a little unclear about it.

Shen Li quickly explained in detail: "Your Majesty, I am not quite sure why the Chu clan suddenly offered tribute to me.

However, I can still speculate on the reasons why the Chu vassal royal family robbed the tribute silver.

This incident should have originated from the case of Zhu Yingyao, the prince of Chu, who murdered his father in the 24th year of Jiajing.

Zhu Xianrong, the King of Chu, wanted to depose the Crown Prince Zhu Yingyao because of his evil character, but was murdered by the Crown Prince Zhu Yingyao.

As a result, the crown prince Zhu Yingyao was beheaded, and the concubine's son Zhu Ying was able to inherit the throne of King of Chu.

Prince Gong of Chu, Zhu Ying, died in the fifth year of Longqing's reign, and it was rumored that there was a problem with his offspring.

His eldest illegitimate son Zhu Huakui was not named the crown prince until the sixth year of the Wanli reign, and he inherited the throne of King of Chu in the eighth year of the Wanli reign.

At that time, someone from the Chu royal family submitted a memorial stating that Zhu Huakui was not the son of Prince Gong of Chu.

In order to avoid chaos caused by the Chu vassal clan fighting for the throne, the imperial court had never sent anyone to investigate King Zhu Huakui of Chu as the Chu vassal clan wished.

The Chu clan was dissatisfied with this and had strong opinions about the Chu King Zhu Huakui."

The eighth year of Wanli?

That was the year he least wanted to remember. At that time, he was really badly punished by Empress Dowager Li.

It’s hard to look back on the past.

Wanli shook his head slightly and pondered, "Even if the Chu clan has a problem with Prince Zhu Huakui, they wouldn't go so far as to rob the tribute silver, right?"

Alas, some things are really hard to say.

Shen Li hesitated for a moment, then said carefully, "Your Majesty, if this matter had been dragged on like this, it wouldn't have come to this.

The key point was that Lord Yu listened to Shen Yiquan at that time. In order to calm the situation, he demoted the Chu vassal's general Zhu Huaqian to a commoner to serve as a warning to others.

Shen Yikuan did some other things later that completely angered the Chu royal family.

At this moment, the Chu clan and the Chu King Zhu Huakui are at loggerheads, and they probably robbed the tribute silver because of this."

Shen Yikuan!
Am I talented?
Why does this Chu Fan case always involve things I don’t want to recall?

If Yu Youcai were still alive, the Ming Dynasty officialdom would not have become so rotten.

Alas, what a pity.

Upon hearing this, Wanli sighed slightly, then said solemnly: "Zhonghua, what exactly is going on? Please explain it clearly."

This is really hard to say.

Shen Li thought about it carefully, and then said carefully: "Your Majesty, you were on your way to Taozhouwei at that time.

Zhu Huaqian, the general defending the country of the Chu vassal state, reported the matter again, saying that Zhu Huakui was not the son of King Gong of Chu, and requested the court to thoroughly investigate the matter.

Lord Yu even consulted with me at that time. He said that Shen Yiquan proposed to demote Zhu Huaqian, the general of the Chu vassal state, to a commoner, so that the royal family of the Chu vassal state would not dare to make trouble again.

I was quite puzzled at that time. The affairs of the vassal states were originally under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites. The then Minister of Rites, Sun Yu, did not say a word. Why did Shen Yikuan go to Lord Yu for advice?

Later, I specifically inquired about this matter. There was a rumor in the court at the time that the King of Chu, Zhu Huakui, had sent someone to the capital to look for Shen Yiguan.

King Chu Zhu Huakui actually sent someone to look for Shen Yikuan?
Shen Yikuan threatened me before he died!

This matter is probably not that simple. Upon hearing this, Wanli said solemnly, "Do you mean that Prince Zhu Huakui of Chu bribed Shen Yiguan?"

How do you say this?

I seem to have become a slanderer who speaks ill of others behind their backs.

Yu Youcai and Shen Yikuan are both gone. Death is the greatest thing. How can you still say bad things about them at this time?

The problem is, if I don’t tell him, His Majesty won’t understand the situation.

Shen Li thought about it carefully, then gritted his teeth and said, "At that time, there was a rumor in the court that King Zhu Huakui of Chu had bribed Shen Yiguan heavily, asking him to help him suppress the Chu clan.

Your Majesty, this is just a rumor and has not been confirmed. Moreover, Lord Yu was already in poor health at the time.

I am worried that you think I want to seize the position of Prime Minister, so I have not verified this matter and have never mentioned it to Your Majesty. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me.

Later, Master Yu unexpectedly passed away. It is even more difficult for me to mention this matter to you."

You.

You didn't tell me such an important thing!

Wanli shook his head slightly and then asked, "How did Shen Yiguan help the Chu prince Zhu Huakui suppress the Chu royal family? It seems that simply demoting the Chu vassal's general Zhu Huaqian to a commoner is not enough?"

Yes.

Shen Yikuan not only demoted Zhu Huaqian, the general of the Chu vassal state, to a commoner.

This guy most likely accepted a huge bribe from King Zhu Huakui of Chu.

Shen Li explained in detail, "Shen Yiguan not only recommended that Zhu Huaqian, the general defending the Chu vassal state, be demoted to a commoner, but he also had the Ministry of Personnel replace several officials in Wuchang Prefecture, Hanyang Prefecture, and even the Huguang Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office and the Huguang Provincial Criminal Investigation Commissioner's Office."

Sure enough, this is the backup plan left by Shen Yiquan!

Before his death, this guy probably told his cronies hiding in Huguang to take advantage of the discord between King Zhu Huakui of Chu and the royal family of the Chu vassal state to instigate a rebellion within the Chu vassal state.

If the Chu vassal state is in chaos, other vassal kings and royal families will probably also be eyeing it covetously.

If this matter is not handled properly, other vassal states will probably be in chaos!
They are currently purging corrupt officials.

Those corrupt officials certainly don't want to sit and wait for death.

Those guys will definitely not miss such a good opportunity.

If the princes and vassals were in chaos, the whole country would probably be in chaos.

Upon hearing this, Wanli frowned and thought for a while, then asked, "Do you still remember the official that Shen Yiguan replaced at that time?"

It's been several years, how can I remember it clearly?

Shen Li thought about it for a while, then shook his head helplessly and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. This matter was arranged by Shen Yiguan alone, and the memorial submitted to the Ministry of Personnel at that time was also written by him.

I just glanced at it on the pretext of something, I didn't see it clearly, and now I really can't remember it."

If you can't remember it, I can't remember it even more.

There are not just one or two officials in the court, but tens of thousands. I can't even remember all the officials in the court in the capital, let alone the officials in the local areas.

The problem is that the people left behind by Shen Yikuan must be found out, otherwise the Chu vassal rebellion will probably never end.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then said decisively: "Zhonghua, go to the cabinet treasury in person and find the memorial written by Shen Yiguan.

Xinwu, go to the Ministry of Personnel and bring me the names of the current officials of Hanyang Prefecture, Wuchang Prefecture, and the Huguang Judicial and Administrative Offices."

Upon hearing this, Shen Li and Lu Kun hurriedly bowed and took their leave.

Seeing this, little Zhu Changxun couldn't help but ask curiously, "Father, isn't this the Chu royal family robbing the tribute silver from the royal family? Why are you investigating the officials of Hanyang Prefecture, Wuchang Prefecture, and the Huguang Judicial Inspection Office?"

Haven't you seen it yet?
Wanli shook his head slightly, then patiently explained: "It is not normal for the Chu clan to rob their own clansmen of tribute silver.

They also gathered more than 3,000 people and rushed into the Hanyang government office. This is even more abnormal. Aren’t they afraid that I will punish them for the crime of gathering a crowd to rebel?
It was obvious that someone was instigating this matter, otherwise the Chu royal family would not be so brainless. Robbing tribute silver was lawless in itself, and gathering a crowd to rush into the government office was a violation of the royal family's taboo, and was suspected of gathering a crowd for rebellion.

It would be unlikely for the Chu clan to do such a thing without someone instigating them, and the person who instigated it was most likely the official arranged by Shen Yikuan at that time.

Father, you must find these people, otherwise, the Chu clan rebellion will be difficult to quell."

Oh, it turns out someone was instigating this.

Little Zhu Changxun nodded slowly, then asked, "Father, how are you going to handle this matter?"

You will definitely have to face the problem of vassal kings in the future, and those vassal kings are most likely your brothers or nephews.

Wanli thought about it carefully, and then patiently explained: "How to deal with the issue of vassal states depends on the specific circumstances.

It is said that it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. It turned out that these vassal states were already accustomed to extravagance. It was almost impossible for my father to ask them to voluntarily hand over the land they had donated and even to enslave the civilians.

In this situation, the emperor has no choice but to deal with them and put an end to it all, so as not to leave this big trouble to you.

However, we are currently purging corrupt officials, and the government is already in turmoil.

If we start to deal with the vassal states at this time, it will probably lead to chaos in the world, and those vassal kings may even rise up in rebellion.

Therefore, we have to wait and see about the issue of vassalage until the corrupt officials are purged.

As for the Chu vassal rebellion this time, we must put it down completely. If we fail to do so, the other vassal states will surely become restless.

The key to the Chu Fan Rebellion lies in the officials arranged by Shen Yi Guan, so we must first find out the officials arranged by Shen Yi Guan.

How to deal with it later depends on the situation.

We don't even know what kind of mess the Chu Clan is in right now, so we definitely can't just deal with it carelessly."

(End of this chapter)