Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 125 Pirates and Treacherous Officials Collude (Part Fourteen)
As expected, wealthy merchants and businessmen from Zhejiang used naval warships to smuggle their own goods.

Zhu Jue was now ready to make his move.

Time flies, and seven days have passed in the blink of an eye.

Around 9 a.m. that day, after Zhu Jue finished reviewing the memorials, he did not disguise himself and leave the palace, because he figured Wang Yingchao should be back by now.

Sure enough, not long after, Fang Zhenghua strode in, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Wang Yingchao has returned."

Zhu Jue nodded without hesitation and said, "Send it."

Soon, Wang Yingchao strode in, took out a thick stack of papers from his pocket, and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, these are the confessions obtained by Lord Xiong during his interrogation."

Zhu Jue took it and nodded in satisfaction.

Those naval officers and soldiers have all confessed that it was Yu Zigao who secretly ordered them to smuggle contraband to the waters around Qiongzhou Prefecture, waiting for the Dutch and the pirate Liu Xiang's ships to make contact.

It seems that the wealthy merchants of Zhejiang have already sent merchant ships without smuggled goods to Southeast Asia to make contact with the Dutch and the pirate Liu Xiang.

After careful consideration, he decisively said, "Ruoyu, draft an imperial edict: Yu Zigao, the naval commander of Zhejiang and Fujian, has been found to have privately traded with pirates. He shall be dismissed from his post immediately and investigated. Zheng Zhihu, the naval commander of Fujian, shall take over as the naval commander of Zhejiang and Fujian."

This imperial edict needs to pass through the outer court, and the Qi-Chu-Zhe faction and even the Donglin Party will definitely obstruct it.

However, it doesn't matter, this is not the point, and it doesn't hurt to have a little chat with the outer court.

This time, what he really wanted to deal with were the local officials and wealthy gentry in the southeast.

He thought about it carefully again, and then instructed, "Go and tell Xiong Wencan to have Zheng Zhibao select 20,000 elite troops and take 500 small boats to Suzhou Prefecture to await Hou Zixian's orders."

When you return, go to Zixian's place again and tell him to wait for Wei Zhongxian. He should leave the matter of dealing with local officials, local tyrants, and gentry to Wei Zhongxian.

He only needs to assign Wei Zhongxian which area to clean up. After Wei Zhongxian finishes, he will check the production of raw silk and tea, and also see how much raw silk and tea is left in the area. Then you can take the money to Tu Wenfu and Li Chaoqin to collect it.”

Should Lord Wei handle this?
Wang Yingchao was taken aback for a moment before nodding repeatedly and saying, "This servant will remember."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then waved his hand.

Wang Yingchao quickly bowed and took his leave.

Zhu Jue then announced loudly, "Summon Wei Zhongxian to come and pay his respects."

Wei Zhongxian was just waiting for him to summon him.

Soon, the man strode in, cupped his hands, and bowed, saying, "This servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then said solemnly, "Zhongxian, Tu Wenfu and Li Chaoqin seem a bit timid and hesitant."

Ah!
Were those two guys being cowardly? It's like you were the one who told them not to make a move, right?
Wei Zhongxian was stunned for a moment before he hurriedly said, "This servant knows his crime. This servant will immediately send someone to tell them to take drastic measures."

Why would you send someone to talk to them?

Who could be more ruthless than you?

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "It seems you need to go to Southern Zhili and give them a good example."

I'm going to Southern Zhili?
That's too far! It would take more than ten days to get there by horse!

With my old arms and legs, can I still run that far?
Wei Zhongxian hesitated for a moment, but still gritted his teeth and nodded, saying, "This servant understands. This servant will gather the Imperial Guards and set off immediately."

Hmm, not bad. You never shirk your responsibilities, no matter what. That's exactly the kind of obedient person I need.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "You don't need to bring all the Imperial Guards. Hong Kui only has about a hundred centipede ships under his command. If they are fully loaded, they won't be able to sail fast. You can take three thousand Imperial Guards with you."

Oh, so you go by boat.

Wei Zhongxian thought for a moment, then cautiously said, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, three thousand imperial guards seem a bit insufficient. Southern Zhili is not a vassal state; its population is probably in the tens of millions. Moreover, I have heard from Wenfu that the local forces there are quite powerful, and they might gather crowds to cause trouble."

I wouldn't have let you go if I wasn't worried about those guys causing trouble.

Tu Wenfu and Li Chaoqin probably wouldn't dare to act in this situation, but you definitely would. Zhu Jue explained carefully, "It's alright. I've already sent Zheng Zhibao with 20,000 elite troops and 500 ships. Just go ahead and do your thing. Go wherever Zizi tells you to deal with the local forces first."

"Anyone who dares to obstruct will be caught, their property confiscated, and they will be executed. Anyone who dares to incite a disturbance will not only have their property confiscated, but their entire family will be executed. Go and slaughter them mercilessly until they become obedient."

This is an absolutely huge accusation!

Fine, I'm not afraid of boiling water, I'll take the blame!
A fierce glint flashed in Wei Zhongxian's eyes, and he bowed with a hint of madness, saying, "This servant obeys the decree."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then waved his hand and said, "Go, go and discuss it with Hong Kui. You should set off first thing tomorrow morning."

Wei Zhongxian quickly bowed and took his leave.

At this moment, Fang Zhenghua hurried over with an imperial edict in his hand, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the Cabinet sent someone to deliver this."

These guys are really asking for trouble!
Zhu Jue took the imperial edict and saw that, sure enough, the cabinet's draft proposal was attached to it.

The cabinet believed that Yu Zigao was the descendant of a meritorious official, and considering Yu Dayou's contributions in suppressing the Japanese pirates, Yu Zigao should not be wronged based on one side's story. Therefore, the cabinet suggested sending an imperial censor to investigate and find out what really happened.

This means they're going to send an imperial inspector to distort the truth!

If the Qi-Chu-Zhe faction were to send an imperial inspector, it would definitely be to do bad things. Xiong Tingbi was the one whose truth was distorted by Yao Zongwen, the imperial inspector of the Zhejiang faction, who dismissed him from his post and investigated him, leading to the successive fall of Shenyang and Liaoyang.

Are you still praising Yu Dayou's achievements now?

Do you think I don't know what you did during the Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli reigns?
The three powerful clans of Puzhou colluded with the northern barbarians and directly transferred Qi Jiguang away from Jizhou Town. He was then transferred to the south, where he was inexplicably dismissed and investigated, and died a tragic death.

The powerful merchant families of Zhejiang colluded with pirates and Japanese pirates to assassinate Yu Dayou, causing his career to rise and fall, ultimately leading to his demotion to a fifth-rank official and his death in despair.

They suffered all kinds of humiliation at your hands when they were alive, and now you are grateful for their merits?
I am truly grateful for Yu Dayou's merits, therefore I have spared Yu Zigao's life.

Otherwise, given the shady dealings Yu Zigao has done, I would have ordered him to be beheaded long ago!

Zhu Jue snorted coldly, tore off the draft, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the wastebasket.

What kind of imperial inspector would I send to you?!

Do you think you can't do anything if you don't approve my request?

When Wang Yingchao returns next time, I will have Xiong Wencan arrest Yu Zigao and interrogate him thoroughly, making him confess so that they can see where they put their faces.

With force at my disposal, I will fight you head-on. What can you do about it?

It seems that the Donglin Party and the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party are now helpless against him, but these guys are quite good at making people disgusted.

The next morning around 7 a.m., Zhu Jue entered the main hall of Yuxi Palace and saw that there were significantly more memorials than usual.

The Donglin Party and the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party actually managed to fool those hotheads in the outer court into submitting a memorial impeaching Xiong Wencan.

Xiong Wencan allegedly accepted bribes and protected pirates.

What about Xiong Wencan, who harmed the descendants of loyal officials for his own selfish reasons?

Claims that Xiong Wencan acted recklessly and lawlessly in Southeast China, etc.

These guys were just like how the Jiajing Emperor dealt with the governors and viceroys who had made great contributions in suppressing the Japanese pirates. Zhu Wan, Zhang Jing, Li Tianchong, and others who devoted themselves to suppressing the Japanese pirates were all killed by them.

If one were like the Jiajing Emperor, only reading the impeachment memorials and unaware of the truth, then one might very well be fooled by them.

Zhu Jue sneered when he saw these impeachment memorials.

These guys are playing the game of spreading rumors and destroying people's reputations. Will he fall for it?
He simply ignored all the impeachment memorials and kept them all in the palace without issuing any notice!

He was too lazy to waste words with these guys right now.

He's waiting to see what happens.

(End of this chapter)