Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 285 The Birth of a Prince Stabilizes the Foundation of the Nation (Part 2)

When the emperor's eldest son, Zhu Cilang, was born, Zhu Jue was filled with boundless energy, as if he had been injected with chicken blood.

Now that he had a successor, he thought about creating an unprecedented golden age to pass on to his son.

The next morning, he was noticeably faster at reviewing memorials, finishing them before 9:00 AM.

However, he did not rush out of the palace to inspect the area as usual.

He sat down in the main hall of the Jade Palace and began to ponder it carefully.

The Ming Dynasty is now stronger than ever before. If you look at the capital city alone, it is a golden age, stronger than ever before.

However, the Ming Dynasty still faces many problems.

The rebels in the Northwest have not yet been wiped out, and the Jurchens in Liaodong still have more than 100,000 troops.

The crucial point is that the outer court is still in chaos, and those factions that form cliques and pursue personal gain are still thinking of seizing control of the court from him and continuing to bleed the Ming Dynasty dry.

More importantly, the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou are still a malignant tumor that has not been eradicated. It can be said that the rebels and the Jurchens are supported by these traitors who collude with the enemy and betray their country.

He wanted the Ming Dynasty to become an unprecedented golden age, and this malignant tumor definitely had to be removed.

The problem is, while Wei Zhongxian was ruthless enough, he was far less shrewd than those from the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou, who were all unscrupulous businessmen.

This guy has been investigating for so long, yet he still hasn't found a single clue about the traitor.

This matter can't be delayed any longer. He must find a way to find the traitor and bring them all down before he can feel at ease.

Some people who are not familiar with history might ask, "Isn't Han Kuang the head of the traitors? He's right there in front of us. Why didn't he just arrest him, execute his entire family, or even exterminate his nine generations of relatives?"
Doing that would only alert the enemy and be completely useless.

It's all clearly and plainly recorded in historical documents.

Historically, during the Jisi Incident in the second year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, the Jurchens invaded the capital region from Jizhou Town. At that time, the Chongzhen Emperor also suspected that Han Kuang had problems.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen directly allowed the treacherous officials Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren to launch a frenzied attack on Han Kuang, and even had Yuan Chonghuan, who was associated with the Donglin Party, executed. Han Kuang was forced to resign from his position as Grand Secretary and return to his hometown to retire. Almost everyone associated with Han Kuang was implicated and dismissed from their posts.

Did it work?

Later, the Jurchens continued to invade as they pleased, even though Han Kuang was not in the capital. The Jurchens treated the capital region as if it were their own backyard.

And the rebels are getting more and more excited, playing the feint attack game with the Jurchens with ease, without any problems at all.

Hong Chengchou inexplicably handed over the last 100,000-plus elite border troops of the Ming Dynasty to Huang Taiji.

Ultimately, no matter how much Chongzhen struggled, the Ming Dynasty still perished.

Therefore, dealing with Han Kuang would only serve to alert the enemy; it would be completely useless.

He must uproot and wipe out all the traitors hidden within the Ming Dynasty.

The problem is, Wei Zhongxian couldn't outmaneuver those unscrupulous merchants. What could he do?

He frowned and pondered for a long time before announcing loudly, "Summon Wei Zhongxian to come and pay his respects."

Wei Zhongxian realized that he was falling out of favor, and that the emperor only thought of him when he was collecting land, otherwise he seemed to have forgotten about him.

However, he was not discouraged by this. Every morning he stayed in the palace waiting to be summoned by the current emperor, and he never slacked off for a single day.

He finally got his chance. He rushed to Yuxi Palace, bowed respectfully, and said, "This servant greets Your Majesty. Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

You can talk.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Zhongxian, how's the investigation into the traitor going?"

Ah!
Why did you suddenly ask about this?
Wei Zhongxian thought carefully for a moment before cautiously saying, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I am incompetent. Those traitors only made a few moves when we first started investigating, but now they have vanished without a trace. I can't find a single clue."

Sure enough, those unscrupulous merchants were very cunning; their investigation revealed that they had alerted the enemy.

If they don't move, how can we investigate?

Or rather, if they don't do anything in the capital, what can they possibly find out in the capital?
Another question is that Wang Chonggu's grandson, Wang Zhiji, once served as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Given the shrewdness of those unscrupulous merchants, wouldn't they have planted spies within the Embroidered Uniform Guard?
Of the three guards in the capital, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was the most useless, and there must have been a reason for that.

When the Ming Dynasty fell, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the imperial family's most trusted personal guard, seemed to have never existed and played no role whatsoever. Could it be that there were no problems within the Embroidered Uniform Guard?

Zhu Jue frowned, then asked, "Do you think there are any traitors within the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

How can I put this?

Wei Zhongxian thought about it carefully again before cautiously saying, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, but I can't tell. They all seem to be extremely loyal to me."

As expected, you're just ruthless enough. Historically, you were also led by the nose, took all the blame, and ultimately met a terrible end, while those who truly benefited didn't suffer a single hair.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then said simply, "You've been investigating for so long and haven't found any trace of the traitor, so there must be a problem within the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

You must order a thorough investigation of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and you must relentlessly investigate the issue of traitors.

There are problems within the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian thought about it carefully for a while, and still said helplessly, "Your Majesty, I can still find a way to investigate the problems within the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but I really have no way to deal with the problem of traitors. They have stopped moving, so how can we investigate?"

All you need to do is attract people's attention.

Zhu Jue carefully instructed, "You should know that Donglin has a lot of problems, and the Grand Secretary Han Kuang has even bigger problems. You can start your investigation by focusing on Han Kuang."

Should I look up Han Kuang?
That's good, at least I have a goal now.

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian nodded repeatedly and said, "This servant understands."

You don't understand anything at all.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Just let them investigate with all their might. Don't be afraid of being exposed. Even if they are exposed, it will serve as a warning to the traitors and make them behave themselves. It won't be completely useless."

Oh, so you don't have to worry about being exposed, right?
Now I must investigate thoroughly and with all my might.

Wei Zhongxian nodded repeatedly and said, "This servant understands."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then waved his hand.

Wei Zhongxian quickly bowed and took his leave.

At this moment, Wang Chengen and Liu Ruoyu, who were standing to the side, were somewhat puzzled.

Investigating the mole like this, isn't that just alerting the enemy?

Zhu Jue suddenly turned his head and asked, "Ruoyu, has Duke Ningguo, Wei Liangqing, ever been to school?"

How am I supposed to explain this?

To be honest, I'm suspected of stabbing Wei Gong in the back.

Liu Ruoyu hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, Duke Ningguo, Wei Liangqing, has never studied."

Zhu Jue continued, "Do you mean he hasn't studied since he was promoted to Duke?"

This guy only knows how to eat, drink, and have fun; he doesn't know how to study at all.

Liu Ruoyu gritted her teeth and nodded, saying, "Yes, Your Majesty, I have never seen Wei Liangqing read a book since he was promoted to Duke."

Zhu Jue continued, "So, you mean he doesn't know a single character?"

I can't say that.

Liu Ruoyu cautiously said, "Your Majesty, the Duke of Ning should still be able to read a few characters; at least he can write his own name."

That's completely useless.

It seems the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard needs to be replaced.

However, changing the person will definitely alert the traitor.

Alternatively, we could use this guy as a scapegoat to attract the attention of the traitors, while secretly cultivating another batch.

The problem is, even if you're secretly training them, you still need someone to be the commander of these secret guards.

Who should he appoint to be in charge of the secret guards?

Wang Chengen's two younger brothers?
Those two guys don't seem to have any education; they're definitely not good enough.

Is he Liu Ruoyu's younger brother?
That guy seems to have some education.

The problem is, that guy is a military commander, he knows too many people, and if he's suddenly transferred to be in charge of the secret guards, it's impossible to hide it from them.

Who should be chosen to be the bodyguard?

Zhu Jue couldn't help but fall into deep thought again.

(End of this chapter)