Jingtai Fengyun: The First Absurd Emperor of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 489
On the second day, Zhu Qiyu received the five kings of Zhou, Shen, Shu, Xiwu and Jingjiang one by one.

In the next half month, the capital once again entered a quiet period.Zhu Qiyu didn't go out anymore, and spent every day at home researching on the establishment of newspapers, currency issuance, and the construction plan of Dengzhou City.

During this period, Chen Xun became an official and left the capital.

Cheng Zhen, Annan's envoy, left the capital and returned to the country to report.

The seven kings of Su, Lu, Zhou, Shen, Shu, Xiwu, and Jingjiang returned to the feudal state.

The four kings of Qin, Huai, Qing, and Zhao were sent to Fengyang for house arrest by Zhu Qiyu in the name of supervising the construction of the Central Capital.

The three kings of Xiang, Jin, and Han were demoted to the county kings, and the king of Tang was reported by the censor for his various misdeeds in the fief, and he stayed in the capital temporarily for questioning.

The seven kings of Chu, Liao, Ning, Yi, Zheng, Dai, and Jing rebelled and died in the mutiny. Their surviving sons and nephews, a total of 11 county kings, lived in secluded palaces temporarily.

Zhu Qiyu gave birth to three more concubines, giving birth to two sons and a daughter.

Wang Cheng and Wang Qin completed the inspection of Yang Shiqi and Yang Pu's family and returned to the capital.

Heavy rains fell continuously in Henan and Shandong, causing floods.

……

On July [-]th, the sky was cloudy and rainy, with strong wind and thunder.

At night, the trees and houses were struck by lightning, a fire broke out in Beijing, and Mingzhaofang, Chengjifang, and Nanxunfang were hit.

The Zhuwang Pavilion, Shiwangfu, Huitong Beiguan, and Laoqiwangfu were all caught in the fire.

On August [-]st, it was just dawn.

Zhu Qiyu was soundly asleep when he heard the bell strike three times outside his palace gate, which woke everyone up.

Except for himself and his favorite concubine, Zhu Qiyu did not allow anyone to enter the Lingyu Palace without an edict, so a bronze bell was placed at the east and south palace gates.

If you really need something urgent, you can ring the bell outside.

But the bell may not be heard once a year.

Qianxue and Suxi hurriedly got up and went out to investigate. After half an hour, they came in with a secret report:

"Husband, take a look, the fire yesterday, the king of Tang, the former king of Jin, the former king of Han, and 24 county kings unfortunately died in the fire.

There is only one original King Xiang left, who is the current King Lecheng because he was seriously injured in the mutiny and was moved to Xiyuan for treatment, and he survived by luck.

Jin Yiwei commanded Lu Zhong to neglect his duties and failed to rescue him, so he wrote a letter to plead guilty.

And our old palace was also set on fire, part of it was burnt during the last mutiny, plus this fire, it has been almost burnt to waste. "

Zhu Qiyu nodded: "Punish Lu Zhong for one year, that's enough, go on to sleep."

"Just fine the salary for one year, and it's over?"

"Hmm, otherwise, what should I do, I asked Lu Zhong to set the fire, so I can't kill him.

Think about it, so many feudal lords participated in the mutiny, I can't just pat my butt and let it go.

Not dragging them to the Meridian Gate and beheading them is already showing them face, isn't it enough?
Instead of letting them go back and continue to harm the common people, I'd rather be a bad person and settle it once and for all. "

Qianxue asked curiously: "Just in this way, isn't my husband afraid that all the officials will have opinions?"

Zhu Qiyu explained: "Hundred officials will not have any objections. First, these vassal kings are real rebels, and they deserve to die.

Second, do you think civil and military officials like vassal kings very much?
Put yourself in your shoes and think about it, you are a gifted and talented scholar, a high school Jinshi in your early 20s, and after 50 years of hard work, you finally made it to the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, your annual salary is one thousand stones.This means that before I raised the salaries of all the officials, the highest civil servants were paid a thousand shi a year, and it was not paid in real time, and part of it was waste paper and treasure.

Look at the vassal king, a better prince, you don't have to do anything when you are born, and the yearly salary is ten thousand stones.

The king of the county does nothing when he is born, and his annual salary is also one thousand stones, two thousand stones.

You have worked so hard for decades, and you have survived to the first assistant, but you are still no match for the feudal king who was born without doing anything.

The key point is that these vassals also murdered and set fire, doing all kinds of evil.Then when you, the first assistant, see the prince, you have to kneel on the ground and kowtow to him.

Do you think you'll like these princes?

This is also talking about the first assistant, if he is an ordinary civil servant, and the gap between him and the vassal kings is even greater, do you think he can be happy in his heart?

On other issues, there may be differences between me and the officials, but when I cut down the vassal, the officials will never jump out to oppose me.

Even if a civil servant with a brain full of water jumps out, other civil servants will take care of him without me talking. "

Qianxue nodded, then climbed into bed and continued to sleep.

It wasn't until almost noon that Zhu Qiyu came to Qingyun Pavilion slowly.

As expected, the important ministers were already waiting in the pavilion.

Zhu Qiyu leaned back on the soft couch, waiting for the ministers to speak.But the ministers all pleaded guilty, and no one questioned the emperor.

Looking at the ministers, Zhu Qiyu also felt very embarrassed.Unknowingly, Xiao Chao will be made into a monologue by himself.The opposition has been wiped out, and the rest are those who want to follow themselves to create a prosperous world.

Being an official to this point, most of the people present are pursuing more power and reputation before and after their lives.

ZTE's prosperous age and its famous name go down in history, which is very attractive to these people.

Zhu Qiyu glanced at He Yi.

He Yi then took out an edict of guilt and read it out on his own.

This is Zhu Qiyu's third and last edict of guilt after he ascended the throne.

There are only three things. After pleading guilty this time, reforms have been fully launched, but there will be no next plea.

Also, this is the last time we will engage in 'Thunder and Fire from the Sky'.

As for why Zhu Qiyu dared to do "thunder and fire from the sky" several times, it was because the people of later generations were so kind and innocent, as long as it was not clearly written in the history books, they would not think of bad things.

The most obvious example is how many times our Daoist Emperor Jiajing was burned. Every time, nowhere was caught on fire, only Jiajing's residence was on fire.

But people of later generations believe that these fires are all natural.

Occasionally, someone would jump out and express the view that Jiajing was deliberately set on fire, and he would be labeled as a conspiracy theory by a group of people and criticized bloody.

Therefore, as long as it is not really hammered, the "thunder and fire from the sky" must have fallen from the sky, and it can only fall from the sky.

In this Edict of Guilt, Zhu Qiyu admitted three charges:
First, I did not return the throne in time.

Eldest brother returned to Beijing in April of this year, and I want to return the throne, but my elder brother insists that I will not accept it because I have committed a crime against the country.

I wanted to ask for my return later, but my elder brother and I became seriously ill one after another.

During my serious illness, I have handed over the power of the military and government to my elder brother, and summoned all relatives and vassal kings to Beijing, preparing to formally abdicate and return to power when I recover from my illness.

Unexpectedly, it was only the first day of July, and it was less than a hundred days since the eldest brother returned to Beijing. Some vassal kings, nobles, military generals, and civil servants launched a coup to seize the door and supported the restoration of the eldest brother by force.

My elder brother and I both suffered from it, just because I failed to return the throne in time, this is also a crime.

Second, I failed to abide by the Taizu's established law, abolished the Ming Dynasty's treasure banknotes without authorization, and minted copper coins and silver dollars as the legal currency of the Ming Dynasty without authorization. This is also a serious crime.

Thirdly, I changed the Prosperity and Formation of the Xuan Temple without authorization, from using the way of saints to enlighten Wala, to killing them by force.This move is against the integrity of the Ming Dynasty and the way of loyalty, forgiveness and benevolence of Xuanmiao.

As a result, the Oirat mission violently wounded people, and the important minister Hu Wei and others died because of this. The three crimes were also.

If you have these three crimes, you should tell the world and reflect on your own mistakes.

All the ministers, officials and people who want to speak out can write a letter to remonstrate.

The important ministers present couldn't laugh or cry at the emperor's sinful edict.

Article [-] Is that a sin?The common people hated the Daming banknotes so much that their teeth itch. The Jingtai Dynasty abolished the banknotes and replaced them with copper coins and silver coins. This is definitely good governance.

Article [-] Is that a sin?It is indeed a fact that Xuanmiao used the sage's way of loyalty and forgiveness to educate Oirat, but Oirat's army has all reached the city of Beijing, so what are you waiting for if you don't wipe it out?
This edict of guilt is said to be an admission of guilt, but in fact Zhu Qiyu is selling his misery to win sympathy and win the hearts of the people by showing his merits.

After speaking about the edict of guilt, Wang Wen asked for instructions: "My lord, now the Ministry of Rites is almost completely vacant from the minister to the head. How to make up for the official, please show me?"

Zhu Qiyu replied: "Let me think about it again. Before you fill in the official position, you should also take care of the Ministry of Rites. In addition, I have four sons now, and the elder brother Gong asked the emperor to have another son in Wala.

I want to make all five of them princes.

Eldest brother's son is Feng Yiwang. As for the name, you can ask elder brother for instructions.

The names of my four sons have already been chosen, you can follow the plan. "

(End of this chapter)