Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 151: Taking in Chen Yuanyuan
"Your Majesty has been poisoned?"

"Look, someone is going to be in trouble again..."

"Whoever dared to murder your majesty must be skinned alive."

"..."

Everyone in the Jinyiwei Yamen was whispering and discussing, but suddenly the whole place fell silent because the deputy commander Ma Shiwei came in from outside.

"Don't just stand there, get moving. The East Factory has already found three spies, and we can't fall behind."

"Yes!"

The Jinyiwei quickly dispersed and went about their business.

After the emperor was poisoned, the East Factory was responsible for examining the eunuchs and maids in the palace, while the Embroidered Uniform Guard was responsible for examining the officials outside the palace.

Although the maid mentioned several names before she died, the emperor did not want a few names but hard evidence, so they were busy.

……

In the Jinyiwei prison cell,

"Zhao Wenyu? Do you know why I called you here?"

"I...how could I know?" Zhao Wenyu was the head of the Ministry of Personnel. He was suddenly grabbed by someone. He was completely confused, and the trembling of his fingers showed his inner unrest.

"Don't worry, San'er, recall the past for this Lord Zhao."

A burly man gritted his teeth and pulled out a red-hot iron from the stove. He walked up to Zhao Wenyu and said, "Master Zhao, I'm sorry."

"Hmm..." Zhao Wenyu's eyes suddenly widened. "Doctors cannot be punished. I am an official appointed by the court. What rights do you have to punish me?"

But the burly man did not pause at all. The burning breath from the branding iron scared Zhao Wenyu so much that he leaned his back against the chair and kicked the ground hard with his feet, trying to step back. Unfortunately, the execution chair was nailed to the ground, and no matter how he struggled, he could not move at all.

"Sir Zhao, I'll ask you one last time. Will you tell me or not?" Ma Shiwei asked him with his hands covering his nose and a cold gaze.

"I don't even know what you want to ask me. What do you want me to say?"

"The maid who poisoned His Majesty said your name before she died..."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Zhao Wenyu denied it in horror. Poisoning His Majesty was tantamount to treason, and the nine generations of his clan should be exterminated.

Not to mention that you didn't do it, even if you were involved, you can't admit it.

"Ah~" Then a scream suddenly tore through the tranquility of the imperial prison. A burnt smell filled the entire prison and penetrated into the lungs of all the prisoners. Suddenly, many people began to tremble.

An incense stick later, Zhao Wenyu was taken away. Ma Shiwei clenched his fingers, thinking, "If it's not him? Then who could it be?"

After a while, he took a deep breath and asked, "Have you found evidence of Zhao Wenyu's corruption and abuse of power?"

"My Lord, it has been confirmed that he had accepted a total of 100,000 taels from the Nanzhili gentry Feng Shoujin and others, and helped these people destroy dikes and flood fields, swallowing up countless acres of land from the people..."

Ma Shiwei nodded, "Wait until he wakes up and continue the interrogation. Try to make him bite out a few."

The Jinyiwei were not fools. Since they tortured Zhao Wenyu, they must have evidence of his crimes and knew that he could not possibly make a comeback, so they were so unscrupulous.

"who is the next?"

"Marquis of Linhuai, Li Hongji."

"This old guy?"

Linhuai Marquis Li Hongji was the tenth-generation grandson of Li Wenzhong. Li Wenzhong followed Zhu Yuanzhang in conquering the world and was granted the title of Duke of Cao. After Li Wenzhong's death, his son Li Jinglong inherited the title. During the Jingnan Campaign, Li Jinglong took the initiative to open the Jinchuan Gate, resulting in the fall of Nanjing. Zhu Di marched straight in and ascended the throne.

He was able to retain the title of Duke of Cao, but after Li Jinglong's death, the title of Duke of Cao was downgraded to Marquis of Linhuai.

"Hey, is Yang Wuhou still on the personnel list?"

The man took a look and said, "Your Excellency, the next one is Yang Wu Hou."

Ma Shiwei spat on the ground and said, "I guessed it right."

Linhuai Hou Li Hongji and Yangwu Hou Xue Lian both have a terrible reputation in the capital. They bully men and women, force good women to have their favors, and have committed many illegal acts over the years.

The cleverness of these two people lies in that they always investigate each other's background and bully those small and poor families, usually just giving them some money to settle the matter.

Ma Shiwei frowned. These nobles were the most difficult to deal with. They had titles and many shops and properties at home, so they didn't need to be corrupt or break the law.

As for those families who had been bullied before, they had already been silenced by the other party with money. Even if they were to find the other party, they dared not stand up, because they knew that once they stood up and pointed the finger, they would inevitably encounter more fierce retaliation.

There is no way to hit them, so what about asking...they are used to being spoiled, how can we expect them to speak for themselves?
Sure enough, after Linhuai Marquis Li Hongji came in, he sat down on the chair and said, "Come, punish me. Whips, branding irons, and anything else? Bring them all to me. This Ming dynasty was built by my ancestors following our great grandfather. Why... are you going to kill me now?"

"I also told you, my Lord..."

Linhuai Marquis Li Hongji was halfway through his speech when he suddenly got stuck. The muscles on his face twitched a few times, and he sat up straight. Following his gaze, a person walked in.

The man was wearing a dragon robe.

"Your Majesty, long live His Majesty, long live His Majesty!"

"Everyone, get up." Zhu Changgan waved his hand and turned to look at Linhuai Marquis Li Hongji. "Hey, who is this? I heard someone boasting about the merits of their ancestors from afar. From what you mean, my Zhu family has let you down, Li Hongji. Should I die to apologize for your sin?"

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty dare not!"

"You dare, you dare too much, you dare to poison the emperor, what dare you not?" Zhu Changgan stepped forward, staring at the other person's eyes like a nail, "Jinyiwei found the same poison in your cellar as in the palace. There are no more than two people in the whole capital who have this poison, and you still say you are not a suspect?"

"Impossible, I clearly threw them all in..." Li Hongji had just said a few words when he suddenly realized that he had lost his composure and immediately shut up, only to find that the emperor was staring at him.

Zhu Changgan looked at Li Hongji and recalled several historical comments about him: "Marquis of Linhuai, ordered to guard the gate, the city fell and the king died, he escaped to the south and surrendered to the Qing in the Southern Capital."

He looked at Ma Shiwei and said, "I will give you the imperial gold medal. You can use it to punish anyone, no matter if they are princes or nobles."

Before leaving, Zhu Changgan saw another person slumped on the ground, Yangwu Hou Xue Lian, who stood in front of him for a second. This person also left a few words in the history books: "He was a lawless person, and he occupied the capital. He tortured and plundered cruelly, and died soon after. Everyone who heard about it was pleased."

With the emperor's order and the imperial gold medal, Ma Shiwei's progress suddenly accelerated, and he made a breakthrough in just half a day.

……

On the Dongchang side, Gao Yushun interrogated the palace maids and eunuchs like a comb. Anyone who was a little suspicious would be pulled over and interrogated over and over again.

He actually found a few problems during the interrogation. The cause was a new palace maid who was exposed under high pressure. After interrogation, it was discovered that this person was actually a spy sent into the palace by the Later Jin Dynasty.

Mouse pulling a shovel - the big head is at the back
Once a leader was found, the next step was to identify the leader of a larger spy network.

This person entered the palace in the 34th year of Wanli. Now, thirty years have passed, and he has become a sixth-rank secretary in the Shanggong Bureau.

The Shang Gong Bureau was responsible for guiding the Empress Dowager, managing documents, conveying the Empress' or Empress Dowager's orders, and taking charge of various harem celebrations. The next step up was the Shang Gong of the fifth rank, the highest position a court lady could climb to.

It is hard to imagine how many secrets have been leaked from the palace to the Later Jin over the years.

"Investigate, continue investigating. It is better to kill someone by mistake than to let him go."

Take advantage of this opportunity to conduct a thorough cleansing of the palace.

Emperor Chongzhen was a sieve after all. In the past, he was afraid that a single move would affect the entire body, but now that he had the four major camps in his hands, he was not afraid at all.

……

All of a sudden, a large number of nobles, officials, eunuchs, and palace maids were summoned.

"Huang Yandu, you and Li Siji have been eating together for thirty years. Do you dare to say that you don't know each other's identity?"

"I...I really don't know."

"You don't know? But we found out that you have two courtyards in the capital, and your home has more than ten thousand taels of gold and silver. Your monthly salary is only ten taels. Where did you get so much money? Do you still want to get away with it?"

Then a shrill scream was heard, thick smoke rose, and the smell of burnt protein filled the entire space.

"Even if you beat me to death, I still don't know. However, I know someone who has been looking for Li Lanzhi a lot."

"Who?"

"He... is from the Imperial Household Department."

The captain of the East Depot narrowed his eyes suddenly and said, "Just tell me. If you don't tell me, you will die. If you tell me, maybe you can live."

"The great eunuch Gao Qiqian."

"Gao..." The captain of the East Depot stood up suddenly, "Are you talking about Gao Qiqian, who is knowledgeable about military affairs and good at fighting?"

"Let him sign and seal, I'll go find the governor."

……

In the torture room next door, a palace maid in her forties had her clothes torn to tatters after being beaten, but she still refused to confess.

Gao Yushun looked at her and ordered a eunuch from the East Factory, "Go to the ice cellar and get some ice."

The methods of the Eastern Depot were no worse than those of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, especially when facing the Later Jin's traitors. The so-called "sitting on ice" punishment was to tie people up and make them sit on ice and endure the cold.

This punishment can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty.

When Su Wu was herding sheep, the Xiongnu people implemented this punishment on him in order to make him submit to them. However, it was not an ice bench but a large ice block. Su Wu did not sit on it but lie on it, so it was also called "lying on ice punishment".

It doesn't sound very painful, but as the cold slowly invades the interrogator's body, the body temperature slowly drops. The cold air is like needles, penetrating into the bone marrow, making people feel excruciating pain.

It didn't take long before the old maid named Li Lanzhi couldn't bear it anymore and started to scream, "I say, I say..."

In less than an incense stick of time, several more people were captured in the palace.

The entire Ming court was shocked. Those who were able to get out of prison kept it a secret and would wake up again in the middle of the night many years later.

The families of Linhuai Marquis Li Hongji and Yangwu Marquis Xue Lian were surrounded by the Jinyiwei and Wucheng Bingmasi and were forbidden to contact anyone outside.

As for the two old guys, Li Hongji, Marquis of Linhuai, and Xue Lian, Marquis of Yangwu, Li Hongji managed to hold on under the interrogation of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, but Xue Lian died without much torture.

Xue Lian lay on Ma Shiwei's feet, "Master Ma, please, stop beating me. I'll tell you... I'll tell you everything. The medicine was bought by Li Hongji, and the child is my adopted son. I sent him to the palace in the first year of Chongzhen..."

He told everything in one go.

Ma Shiwei was holding the maid's confession in his hand. He looked up at the other party and said, "That's not right, Lord Xue. This woman said that you raped her twice and gave birth to your child. Why didn't you mention this at all?"

Xue Lian's eyes suddenly widened, the hair on his back stood up, and he suddenly collapsed to the ground.

I originally thought I could keep a little bit of incense, but I didn't expect that the Jinyiwei had already found out everything, and the color in my eyes was extinguished like a flame.

He murmured, "Your Majesty, why must you kill them all?"

The next moment, he stood up suddenly and tried to grab the knife at Ma Shiwei's waist, but Ma Shiwei grabbed it and punched him in the stomach. The pain rushed into his body like a knife and he began to twitch.

"No sharp objects can be placed in his cell. He must be watched twelve hours a day. If anything happens to him, the guards will bring his head to me."

"Yes!"

Ma Shiwei looked at the confessions in his hand and flipped through them. There was a list on it. "Your Majesty has been a little picky about people in Nanzhili, Jiangsu and Zhejiang recently..."

He has already understood His Majesty's intention. In addition to the people in front of him, he needs to do more work to eliminate those officials who have been clamoring the loudest in the court recently.

……

The Jinyiwei and Dongchang in the capital were in full swing.

Zhu Changgan came to Chenghua Palace, but at this moment he came to Chenghua Palace.

State affairs are state affairs, and life is life. We cannot let state affairs affect our own lives, especially at this time of life and death. We must learn to enjoy life and relax ourselves.

"Your Majesty!" Concubine Chen first carefully greeted the emperor, and then stood there not daring to move.

So many people were captured from the palace, how could she not know?

Zhu Changgan glanced at her, so cautious, "What's the point of you doing this?"

Suddenly he glanced at the figure next to Chenghua Palace and said calmly, "The time is almost right. It's better to do it today than to wait for a better day."

After saying that, she stood up and walked to the next room. Concubine Chen swallowed her saliva, watched the emperor go to the next room, opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.

When Zhu Changgan stepped in, the palace maid turned pale with fear, but Chen Yuanyuan sat there holding a teacup and fiddling with the tea. It was not until the emperor came close that she greeted him leisurely and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"

Her dark eyebrows are tenderer than willows in March, and her eyes shine brightly under her eyebrows like a fire in a bush of thorns.

Her hands were as white as jade, and a pair of slender and plump legs were exposed. Even her beautiful lotus feet moved slightly, as if she was silently charming.

Even with clothes on, one can still feel the vastness beneath the towering building.

"Your Majesty, please have some tea!" Chen Yuanyuan opened her cherry-like lips and placed a cup of tea in front of the emperor.

Zhu Changgan's eyes narrowed. Wow~ vacuum?

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(End of this chapter)