The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 44

"As a prison student, you didn't come here to repay the country's kindness and your kindness when the robbers besieged the city. Now that the robbers are defeated, you don't go back to study, but come here to gather. Could it be that some relatives and family members were arrested here to complain?"

Zhu Cilang glanced at the hundreds of supervisors below and said coldly.

"Your Majesty, students are literati. Isn't the imperial examination just to serve the country and the king?"

"As for killing thieves and defending the city, that is the duty of warriors..."

"Your Majesty also saw just now that Li Ruolian, the commander of Jinyiwei, disregarded the king's grace, corrupted the law, and ordered his subordinates to extort and exploit the gentry and merchants from all over the place. Now he allows his subordinates to arrest and mutilate the common people, causing public resentment inside and outside the capital to boil..."

"Students implore His Majesty to punish Li Ruolian severely, to outrage the common people, and to set the record straight!"

"Students are risking their lives to admonish, please Your Majesty punish Li Ruolian, a treacherous villain, so that the common people will be angry and set the record straight!"

After one scholar finished speaking righteously, hundreds of scholars knelt down and worshiped in unison, as if they had rehearsed in advance.

On the other hand, Li Ruolian on the tower was expressionless. He knew that this day would come sooner or later, and those civil servants would never let him go.

"What if I don't agree?"

Zhu Cihong was also expressionless.

"If your majesty insists on kissing a villain, you will be far away from a virtuous minister, and it will chill the hearts of scholars all over the world. I hope your majesty will think twice!"

A group of scholars said in unison, and then bowed to the end.

Although they are not officials yet, His Majesty favors the factory guards so much, indulges the factory guards, makes heavy use of warriors, and treats civil officials like weeds, which is definitely not the blessing of the world's literati.

"Hehe, can you represent the scholars of the world?"

Zhu Cihong sneered, where is the time to chat with them?

Then he shouted loudly: "Come here, beat these traitors who have no king and no father to me!"

"Yes!"

Teams of Jin Yiwei's big Han generals rushed out with sticks in hand, and beat all the prison students who were kneeling on the ground.

For a while, screaming and wailing continued, and the inmates were beaten and crawled, scrambling and fleeing in all directions.

"Foolish Lord..."

"tyrant…"

In the distance, a group of civil servants dressed in disguise, all of them were ashen-faced and trembling.

What they were angry about was not His Majesty beating someone, His Majesty would move the board, and everyone was mentally prepared.

But you have to move a stool according to the rules, let people lie on it, and beat them seriously, right?
How is such a violent beating with sticks different from a woman driving chickens and dogs?
Everyone is not a fool, they obviously understand that His Majesty is deliberately humiliating.

At the same time, he also expressed his attitude, even if he bears the title of the eternal tyrant, he will not compromise in the slightest.

The only thing that can make all the officials feel relieved is that now His Majesty does have a little bit of worry in his heart, and he doesn't dare to arbitrarily fabricate charges and arrest him like before.

On the other side, the nobles who watched secretly also had solemn expressions, and they all saw His Majesty's determination.

Today is just a test. If His Majesty follows the good advice and directly kills Li Ruo, then it means that His Majesty is willing to compromise.

If Li Ruolian was dismissed first, or sent to prison directly, it would mean that there was something to talk about, but the result of the current trial made everyone feel cold.

……

That night.

The British government, in the study.

Dingguo Gong Xu Yunzhen took a sip from his teacup, and said calmly: "Mr. Yingying, you must have heard about what happened outside the palace gate today. I wonder if you have any good ideas?"

"Hehe, for a group of hot-headed Confucian scholars, what's the fuss about His Majesty punishing them a little bit?"

British Duke Zhang Shize laughed.

Seeing that he was still pretending to be stupid, Xu Yunzhen stopped talking too much: "Brother Zhang Xian, there are only you and me in this study, so I will say it bluntly as a brother. His Majesty's character is not a blessing for Ming Dynasty, nor a blessing for civil servants, let alone me. Waiting for the honor of the emperor's relatives."

"Oh, brother, why did you say that? Your Majesty is young, but he has the appearance of becoming an ancestor. If we help you wholeheartedly, we will surely be able to rejuvenate the Ming Dynasty!"

The British Duke frowned, then spoke slowly.

His Majesty's re-use of warriors is a great thing for nobles and generals.

"Hehe, I'm afraid that the minister has a heart and the king has no intention! The [-] surrendered soldiers were all handed over to Zhou Yuji, did you ever give you and me a soldier?
Also, Wu Sangui was awarded the title of Great General, Tang Tong and Wu Xiang also each received a reward, but what about me and other nobles?What else is there besides rewarding some goods? "

"My dear brother, Your Majesty no longer trusts me to wait. I am afraid that when Zhou Yuji completely controls the [-] soldiers and Wu Sangui returns to the capital with Guan Ning's cavalry, it will be the time when we take back the soldiers and horses from our nobles. Without the military power, it is estimated that it will not be far from Jin Yiwei coming to raid the house."

"Brother Shi is probably a little alarmist, if His Majesty wants to take back our military power, it is still possible, but if you say that the house was stolen, I absolutely do not believe it.

At the beginning, Cheng Guogong and others, His Majesty only had to make such a bad move in order to raise money and food and recruit troops to defend the city.

Now that the robbers have been defeated, the crisis has been resolved, and His Majesty is not short of money and food, this will never happen again. "

The British Duke shook his head.

Duke Ding sneered.

He continued: "Your Majesty is indeed not short of money and food now, but His Majesty wants to rejuvenate the Ming Dynasty, raise an army and prepare for war, and is extravagant and frugal, how long will that little money and food last?
And His Majesty has exempted the three rings, abolished the northern taxes, and separated from the civil servants. In the short term, the national treasury can't expect to get a grain and silver supplement.

Once the money and food are exhausted, the first thing His Majesty thinks of is us nobles who are so rich. "

After Ding Guogong finished speaking, Yingying Gong's face became a bit more dignified, and his brows gradually frowned.

Now to say that His Majesty does not know how much property they have, I am afraid that they are deceiving themselves, and the mountain of gold and silver treasures in the Hall of Martial Heroes is the best proof.

Ding Guogong took the opportunity to say: "My dear brother, the cover has been lifted and it can't be covered anymore. Unless we are willing to hand over the family property, sooner or later it will be Shen Wansan's fate."

"Then in the opinion of my brother, how should we protect ourselves?"

Although the British Duke is loyal to Daming, he doesn't want to end up in the end of confiscating his home. It is possible to ask him to hand over his military power, but his family property is impossible.

"Now, only by letting the Supreme Emperor come out to clean up the mess, repair the relationship with the civil servants as soon as possible, restore the tax revenue in the south of the Yangtze River, and have us support the army to assist, can the Ming Dynasty be rejuvenated."

Seeing that he finally let go, Duke Ding also heaved a sigh of relief.

"Hey! Having said that, how easy is it to ask His Majesty to abdicate himself? It is absolutely impossible to force the palace to remonstrate."

The British Duke sighed. To be honest, if it wasn't for the ransacking of the house, he would still agree with His Majesty.

"It's natural, forcing the palace to remonstrate with soldiers, such a treasonous and immoral thing, we, the honorable ones, absolutely cannot do it.

However, during Zhou Yuji's tenure as the city defender, it was a fact that he treated the soldiers harshly and corrupted the army's salaries and rewards. "

Ding Guogong Fuxu said.

"What does brother mean?"

"That's right, those scholars can go to the gate of the palace to petition, asking His Majesty to kill the treacherous official Li Ruolian. Let's follow the gourd and ask the soldiers of the Beijing camp to petition, and ask Your Majesty to kill Zhou Yuji."

Ding Guogong secretly smiled.

In my heart, I have to admire the methods of those civil servants, they are indeed much more elegant and gentle than their generals.

"It's feasible like this. You don't need to bear the notoriety of forcing the palace, and you can use Zhou Yuji to warn other generals."

After thinking about it, the British Duke nodded and thought it was feasible.

As long as His Majesty can be forced to kill Zhou Yuji, the generals in the future must rely on their nobles, and when His Majesty has no generals to use, he can only rely on them.

(PS: I have advanced to the second round today, thank you for your support during this time, whether you can advance or not depends on your follow-up, so once again I beg those friends who like to raise pigs, don’t raise them, I hope you can do it every day Click on the newest chapter please!)
(End of this chapter)