Chapter 46 The Wrath of Emperor Jiajing
"Tsk tsk!"
Zhu Zaizhen shook his head. "If you can't even use a slingshot properly, what else can we expect you to do?"
Zhu Zaigui calmed down, sat on the steps, and hugged his knees. "Since childhood, you have always seemed smarter than me."
"That's right." Zhu Zaizhen wanted to say that my mother is smarter than your mother, this is a talent, you can never catch up with her. But seeing the confusion in Zhu Zai's eyes, he held back.
"My mother was not favored, so I was also neglected. In fact, I never thought about competing for the throne." Zhu Zai looked at him, "It's not my turn."
"Since ancient times, there have been no brothers in the royal family." Zhu Zaizhen leaned his head back and leaned against the wooden pillar. "My mother said that the poorer the family, the easier it is for brothers to turn against each other over trivial matters. The only thing that can cause brothers to turn against each other in the royal family is that position. There is only one position, and whoever sits on it, the other brothers have to kneel to him. You say, we are all brothers, why should we kneel?"
"When that time comes, I will be a baron outside the country and will not kneel to anyone," said Zhu Zaigui.
"Become a vassal?" Zhu Zaizhen laughed. "How many good places are there in the Ming Dynasty that can be used as vassal for us? Take the Prince Xing's Mansion where my father lived in secret. Is that a good place?"
Anlu is not a good place, and the palace is not well built, but the old Prince Xing, the father of Emperor Jiajing, could only hold his nose and bear it.
"It's always good to be able to make your own decisions." Zhu Zaigui said this with a lack of confidence.
"Be the boss? You can't even leave the city, and you still want to be the boss?" Zhu Zaizhen sneered, "By the way, why did you want to attack Cui Yuan?"
"Don't play dumb." Zhu Zaiqi turned around and looked at his younger brother, "Why are you following me?"
Zhu Zaizhen threw the stone in his hand behind him and clapped his hands, "I'm just here to watch the fun."
The stone was full of edges and corners, extremely sharp.
Zhu Zaigui was stunned. "If this stone hits Cui Yuan, I'm afraid someone will die. Fourth brother, you..."
"You have to be ruthless." Zhu Zaizhen clapped his hands, "If you are not ruthless, you can't stand firm."
"Did your mother teach you this?"
"No, I figured it out myself." Zhu Zaizhen said coldly, "I've liked watching people around me fight since I was a kid, but later I found that the one who laughs last is not the one with the greatest ability."
"He's the one with the cruelest heart."
"I thought you didn't know."
The two brothers smiled at each other.
How could a child of heaven not know this truth? It’s just that the masters want to win people over with virtue, so everyone is pretending to be stupid.
"There's someone here."
A team of guards came running over and were dumbfounded when they saw that it was the two princes.
"What are you doing?" Zhu Zaigui stood up with an unfriendly look.
"Why, are you going to arrest our brothers?" Zhu Zaizhen came over and stood shoulder to shoulder with him, "Does the emperor have a will? Someone come!"
Two eunuchs came over.
"Tie me and my third brother up and send us to the emperor." Zhu Zaizhen asked his elder brother, "Third brother, why do you think the emperor wants to arrest us?"
Zhu Zaigui also extended his hand, with an impassioned look on his face, "There must be a villain behind this. Let's go and see our father."
Whoosh!
A group of guards disappeared in an instant.
The two smiled at each other.
"From now on, just continue as you should." Zhu Zaizhen pointed at his elder brother.
"I'm afraid you won't succeed?"
"But I am a little worried about my uncle." Zhu Zaizhen sighed, "If such an interesting person is exiled, wouldn't I be lonely?"
"Yang Xi."
"I'm here, slave."
"Go find out about my uncle."
"You guys go too!"
……
Jiang Qingzhi was seeking an audience outside the palace.
"Prince Consort Cui was attacked just now."
The guard kindly told him the news.
"Where?"
"In the palace, it was almost..." The guard pointed at his eyes, "My eyeballs were almost blown out."
What the hell!
Who did it?
Jiang Qingzhi smiled and did not try to hide his joy, "It makes people happy!"
……
"His Majesty!"
Cui Yuan knelt down with blood all over his face.
That face, which still looked handsome even in his old age, was now covered in blood.
The shrill sound reminded Emperor Jiajing of a besieged cat that year, and also like the cry of a cuckoo.
"Ok!"
Cui Yuan was his favorite minister after all, so who did it?
Emperor Jiajing's anger rose.
The eunuch who led the way knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, it's a slingshot."
"Has the murderer been caught?" asked Emperor Jiajing.
"Never."
in the palace.
slingshot.
Emperor Jiajing's eyes were deep, "I understand."
"Yes."
"Your Majesty." Cui Yuan thought of the important matter, "The two-day deadline has come. Has Lord Chang Wei found out the affair?"
Emperor Jiajing shook his head.
Cui Yuan sighed.
"Your Majesty, Long Wilbur requests to see you."
"Oh! What a coincidence." Emperor Jiajing seemed unaware of the conflict between his two trusted ministers.
When Jiang Qingzhi saw Cui Yuan with blood all over his face, he was also shocked, and then he said sincerely: "Who did this? It's so...why didn't he die!"
Emperor Jiajing didn't hear the last muttering, but Cui Yuan beside Jiang Qingzhi heard it and was furious, "You bastard!"
"Old dog!"
There was tension between the two.
"Ahem!" Huang Jin coughed dryly, "Your Majesty is here, let's talk business."
Cui Yuan collected his thoughts, looked at Jiang Qingzhi with resentment, and said, "Your Majesty, I heard that the Ministry of Works is quite uneasy. In addition, the civil servants in the capital are also quite... Everyone says that the murderer is still being protected. I wonder who is so bold..."
—Your Majesty! This long Wilbur has offended the people.
Cui Yuan continued, "I suggest that we should cut the Gordian knot and execute Chen Ji to serve as a warning to others. In addition, I..."
Cui Yuan looked at Jiang Qingzhi with envy, "Chang Wei Bo is very talented, and I envy him deeply. However, although Chang Wei Bo is very talented, he lacks experience after all. If he can go to the local area to gain some experience, he will sooner or later become your Majesty's right-hand man."
This was to find a way out for Emperor Jiajing.
——Jiang Qingzhi has angered the public, so let’s put him away for a few years. When the situation calms down and everyone has forgotten about this matter, we can bring him back.
It has to be said that Cui Yuan guessed a lot about Emperor Jiajing's character.
Emperor Jiajing looked at Jiang Qingzhi and sighed in his heart.
You fool, you had to compete with Cui Yuan. Now look what happened.
Jiang Qingzhi looked up and saw the gentle look in Emperor Jiajing's eyes, which warmed his heart. The Taoist was very caring towards his people, but in the end, those people had their own thoughts.
Including Lu Bing.
"Qingzhi." Emperor Jiajing thought of a place where he could accommodate his cousin.
Cui Yuan's mouth curled up slightly and he clenched his fists.
You are too young to fight with me!
"His Majesty."
Jiang Qingzhi took a step forward and said, "I heard a story before."
"Hmm!" Emperor Jiajing was a little anxious because he didn't eat the golden elixir today.
"I have heard that when officials and dignitaries in the capital need help at home, they go to the Five Military Commandery to ask for someone."
"Who do you want?" The eyes of Emperor Jiajing gradually turned cold.
"We need coolies!"
Emperor Jiajing was startled. "Where did the Five Military Commandery get the coolies?"
Cui Yuan was laughing wildly in his heart.
Jiang Qingzhi, Jiang Qingzhi, if you reveal this matter, you will offend countless powerful officials.
You must want to use this incident to avoid your own mistakes, but you don't think about which is more serious, offending countless high-ranking officials or serving as an official in a local area?
Cui Yuan would rather serve as an official in a local area than offend those powerful officials.
Jiang Qingzhi said: "The Five Military Commands Office will draw soldiers from various guards to supply them."
"What are you going to do with it?" Emperor Jiajing's tone calmed down.
It seems as if everything is as light as a breeze.
But Huang Jin shrank his neck, feeling as if a storm was gathering.
"Build houses for those families, and even... farm for them!"
Bah!
The jade bowl in Emperor Jiajing's hand fell to the ground, and his thin face was filled with anger.
"Who?"
"The head of the Ministry of Industry, Wang Xintian!"
Cui Yuan's body shook.
But he immediately lowered his head.
so what?
There are so many powerful and high-ranking officials who have done this. Can Your Majesty really deal with them all?
An emperor who is not supported by powerful officials is a true king who will lose his country.
You, Jiang Qingzhi, want to instigate His Majesty...
This is an opportunity.
Cui Yuan was delighted, "Your Majesty, this is absolutely not possible."
Cui Yuanji then pointed at Jiang Qingzhi and said, "You bastard, you are trying to put Your Majesty in an unjust position! You must be killed!"
Jiang Qingzhi glanced at him with contempt.
Emperor Jiajing suddenly came to his senses and his anger receded like a tide.
The look he gave Jiang Qingzhi was inevitably a little complicated.
"Your Majesty, please let Chang Weibo go to the local area to serve as an official." Seeing this, Cui Yuan knew it was time to strike while the iron was hot.
Jiang Qingzhi sighed, "Your Majesty, the people Wang Xintian wants are from Chen Ji's army."
so what?
Cui Yuan sneered, no matter how eloquent you are, you can't escape the fate of being exiled today.
Emperor Jiajing was already thinking about where to place his cousin so that he could achieve political achievements while avoiding revenge from those people.
After all, friendship is the most important thing in Daoye's heart.
"Wang Xintian ordered Chen Ji's troops to repair his villa, and Chen Ji's troops had no choice but to submit."
This trend spread to the Wanli period, and the border troops were also affected. The soldiers became the generals' private armed forces, and the generals selected the best soldiers as servants to control the army...
By the Chongzhen period, the Ming army had actually completed its warlordization.
For example, the Wu Sangui family firmly controlled the Guanning Army.
Until Wu Sangui surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, until Wu Sangui rebelled again.
"That day, Wang Xintian drank too much and invited his friends to his villa to show off. When he arrived at the villa, Wang Xintian was drunk and scolded the soldiers, and finally vomited..."
"Are you saying this because you want to seek justice for those people?" Cui Yuan handed over a death warrant.
The civil servants will be furious at what you say.
Jiang Qingzhi ignored him. "Wang Xintian felt ashamed, so he beat up the flag officer Shang Congliang. Shang Congliang did not dare to resist and let him step on his face."
This Wang Xintian, who humiliated my soldiers, deserves to die!
A gloomy look flashed across Emperor Jiajing's eyes.
I actually felt that my cousin was becoming more and more handsome, while Cui Yuan, who spoke for Wang Xintian, was hateful.
"Wang Xintian stepped on Shang Congliang's face and made him eat... his own vomit."
Just thinking about that scene made Emperor Jiajing unable to help but dry heave.
Then, anger broke out.
Cui Yuan felt something was wrong, but he didn't know why.
Jiang Qingzhi glanced at him with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.
"Shang Congliang begged desperately, but Wang Xintian became even more arrogant and said... If you don't eat today, I will send you to exile in Liaodong tomorrow."
It was hard enough to join the army in the bitter cold of Liaodong. Being exiled... that was to die.
"Prince Consort Cui, what would you do if it were you?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
Cui Yuan narrowed his eyes and looked at him, his heart sinking.
I hope it's not what I think.
Jiang Qingzhi said angrily: "Shang Congliang killed people out of anger!"
"Hmm!" Cui Yuan was startled, then suddenly laughed, "The murderer is Chen Ji. Is Chang Wei Bo going to find another way to defend him?"
"Do you know Chen Ji's nickname in the army?"
"Don't know? Let me tell you, his nickname is, Righteousness Without Parallel."
Jiang Qingzhi stared at Cui Yuan and spoke word by word, "Shang Congliang killed someone, and Chen Ji was a loyal subordinate. Prince Consort Cui, you are obsessed with confusing right and wrong and just want to kill Chen Ji wrongly, but have you ever thought about what your brothers in the army will think? Where do you want to put the safety of His Majesty?"
The guards in the capital are dissatisfied. Who will be responsible for the safety of Emperor Jiajing from now on?
moment.
Emperor Jiajing, who understood the whole thing, stood up.
Cui Yuan looked up in panic.
"Old dog!"
"Your Majesty!" Cui Yuan knelt down, "This is just what Chang Wei's family said."
Emperor Jiajing's eyes were gloomy.
"Those soldiers were witnesses. Otherwise, why would they risk being exiled to speak for Chen Ji? Cui Yuan, do you think I am as stupid as you?"
Once he was enlightened, Emperor Jiajing was so smart that he figured out the whole thing in an instant.
Bah!
The Taoist's whisk flew down and hit Cui Yuan in the face.
The wound opened again.
Blood flowed.
(End of this chapter)
