Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 218 You Play Me, I Play You (Part 2)

Sometimes, people can really drive you crazy.

Emperor Chongzhen in history was so enraged that he eventually hanged himself from a tree.

Zhu Jue was now giving them a taste of their own medicine, deliberately provoking those traitorous civil officials in the outer court.

Han Kuang and Feng Quan were so angry they went crazy.

The draft proposal attached to the memorial was a long and rambling mess, as if the author was racking his brains to prove something.

What are they trying to prove?

It's nothing more than the argument that Hong Chengchou and Zhang Liwei didn't have enough troops to suppress the bandits, that Governor Hong Chengchou was innocent, and that the idea of ​​executing General Zhang Liwei and his entire family was not the act of a wise ruler.

These guys aren't going to issue any self-reproach edicts now; they're just so angry they've forgotten what they're supposed to be doing.

Very well, continue. This time, he's going to make these guys so angry they have nowhere to vent their frustrations, so that Chongzhen can at least get some interest back.

Yesterday, his seemingly unreasonable insistence on executing Hong Chengchou and Zhang Liwei's entire family was not only out of anger, but also a trap.

His decision to execute Hong Chengchou and Zhang Liwei's entire families was certainly justified.

He deliberately didn't say anything yesterday, just to annoy people.

Today he was going to have a good talk with them. He was going to make these guys swallow their words and not dare to utter a sound, making them feel suffocated!
Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then said expressionlessly, "Ruoyu, approve. When Wang Jiayin had more than 30,000 troops, Hong Chengchou only had 20,000. Yet they were able to chase and suppress the enemy as easily as cutting melons and vegetables, and they made gains every day."

After Wang Ziyong died, the rebels were reduced to just over 20,000, and they had already disintegrated, with each group numbering less than 10,000. Hong Chengchou no longer bothered to suppress them or pursue them.

Why is that? The same rebels, when they were all together, Hong Chengchou could easily defeat them, but when they were scattered, he couldn't win?

At that time, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong only had a few thousand men under their command, which could have been easily wiped out. Why didn't Hong Chengchou pursue and suppress them?

We still don't have enough men. Is this really a problem of not having enough men?

He didn't even bother to pursue Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong, who only had a few thousand men, even with 20,000 troops. If Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong had tens of thousands of troops, would he still pursue them even if I gave him 200,000 troops? If Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong had hundreds of thousands of troops, would he still pursue them even if I gave him 2 million troops?

Why was Hong Chengchou able to pursue and suppress Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong with divine assistance, but when it came to Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong, it was as if they didn't know how to lead troops into battle?
What's going on with this obviously inconsistent behavior? Should we arrest Hong Chengchou and torture him severely to find out who instigated him?

Furthermore, when Zhang Liwei killed Wang Jiayin, it was as easy as taking the head of a bandit chief from among ten thousand troops. Why didn't he kill Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong when they only had a few thousand men left?
What's going on with this blatant inconsistency? Should we arrest Zhang Liwei and torture him to find out what really happened?

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruoyu couldn't help but reveal a strange expression on his face.

His Majesty is truly infuriating! The cabinet goes on and on, and His Majesty goes on and on too!

Upon hearing this, the brothers Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Hongkui couldn't help but show a look of realization on their faces.

No wonder His Majesty refuses to allow Hong Chengchou to recruit troops.

It turns out that Hong Chengchou himself had problems.

When Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong had 30,000 men under their command, this guy could chase after them and kill them.

When Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong each had only a few thousand men, this guy didn't pursue them!

This is obviously problematic.

Hong Chengchou may have conspired with Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong to kill Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong, and put Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong in power to control the rebels!

How do you explain this cabinet?

When Han Kuang saw the memorial sent back by the eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial, his expression changed slightly.

It turns out that Hong Chengchou was exposed!
The young emperor actually figured out the trick!
Hong Chengchou's behavior before and after was really too strange. Such things cannot withstand close scrutiny. Once you do, you can tell that something is wrong.

They initially thought the young emperor hadn't thought things through carefully and simply didn't want to issue an edict of self-reproach.

Little did anyone know, the young emperor had already carefully considered the matter, and the boy had long since noticed something was amiss!
How to do?
If the young emperor really subjected Hong Chengchou and Zhang Liwei to severe torture, could those two guys withstand it?
If these two guys can't hold on, then we'll be in big trouble. He sat there pondering for a while with an uncertain expression, then gritted his teeth, got up, and went to Feng Quan. He handed over the memorial and solemnly said, "Zhenlu, approve it. Immediately send urgent documents to Fujian and Shaanxi, ordering the Fujian Provincial Judicial Commissioner and the Shaanxi Provincial Judicial Commissioner to escort Hong Chengchou, Zhang Liwei, and their families back to the capital."

Ah!
what happened?

Why aren't you protecting Hong Chengchou and Zhang Liwei?

Feng Quan took the memorial and read it carefully. He understood that Hong Chengchou and Zhang Liwei were clearly problematic. These two guys must have been trained by the three powerful families of Puzhou.

If the young emperor were to catch these two and give them a good beating, the losses for the three powerful clans of Puzhou would be enormous.

Therefore, these two guys must die, and they need to die quickly!
If you can't take action yourself, then make me play the villain?

So be it, so be it. If the three powerful clans of Puzhou perish, he will perish as well.

After careful consideration, Feng Quan approved the memorial and issued an official document, which was sent by express courier to the Fujian Provincial Judicial Commissioner's Office and the Shaanxi Provincial Judicial Commissioner's Office.

Zhu Jue's move almost made Han Kuang suffer internal injuries from holding his breath.

The three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou spent countless efforts and resources to create such a chaotic situation in the Central Plains.

They originally thought they could infuriate the young emperor to the point of madness, causing him to act recklessly and send the capital garrison and even the Liaodong army to suppress the rebels.

Unexpectedly, the young emperor not only remained unmoved, but also pinned the blame on Hong Chengchou and Zhang Liwei, ordering the execution of their entire families.

They would naturally do everything in their power to protect these two of their own people.

The problem was that the emperor's subsequent imperial edict forced them to quickly kill these two of their own men!
The young emperor had already seen through the trickery, and if they didn't kill the two men quickly, the consequences would be unimaginable.

They had gone to great lengths and invested a lot of money, hoping to make a good plan to become emperor.

Who would have thought that the final result would be that they would have to kill one of their own people to take the blame!

Let's not even talk about how frustrating this is.

Why didn't Zhu Jue arrest Hong Chengchou and Zhang Liwei and give them a severe beating?

While this might not completely eradicate the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou, it would at least severely weaken them.

The reason he didn't take the opportunity to deal with the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants in Puzhou was the same as why Gao Yingxiang didn't immediately deal with the princes of Shanxi.

This is because the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou still have value to be exploited.

He also wanted to take advantage of the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou to have some fun with Huang Taiji.

If he were to take action now, at most he could only force the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou to hide and continue to support the enemy. For Huang Taiji, that would have no impact whatsoever.

Is it useful for him to rush to deal with the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou?

His target was the Jurchens, specifically Huang Taiji!

At this time, Huang Taiji relied on the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou to sell out internal information of the Ming Dynasty.

If he were to deal with the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou, and eliminate all their visible influence—that is, the officials in the imperial court—it would be very difficult to get them to spread false information.

Could he possibly order people to deliberately spread the military secrets of the Ming Dynasty among the common people?
If he doesn't order people to spread the word, the three major clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou will have no one left in the court, so how will they find out?

If he deliberately ordered people to spread it, then it would be too obvious, and people could tell at a glance that it was fake news.

Therefore, there is no need to rush to deal with the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou.

This time, we just need to deal with Hong Chengchou and Zhang Liwei, and let those two take the blame for the deaths of the princes and royal family.

(End of this chapter)