Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 69: Come out to clean the floor

The smell of blood, darkness, the sound of hacking, the sound of wind blowing through the treetops... all intertwined at the intersection of Qipan Street, and blood was flowing on the ground.

Like dark red flowing silk, it continues to lengthen and spread.

When people stepped on the sticky 'satin', it rippled violently, and when they stepped on other places, it was like dipping it in red ink, and then a dark red mark was painted on the next place.

The sign of death...

Thousands of soldiers from the Wucheng Army, who usually showed off their might, lay on the ground.

"Ah~"

"pain!"

From time to time, someone would still be alive and groan a few times, but would soon be killed.

"You... who are you?" A man from the Five Cities Army, his head covered in blood, was breathing in faster than he was breathing out, and was looking at the people in front of him in horror.

"Idiot, you still don't know who we are?" A lieutenant general from the Yongwei Battalion slashed at his neck with a knife.

The man murmured and fell to the ground again. Apart from the blood gushing out of his body, there was no other movement.

At this moment, all the residents living on the street closed their doors, turned off the lights in their rooms, and dared not make any sound.

Sun Yingyuan walked steadily, gritted his teeth and looked at the scene in front of him. After a long while, he said:

"Take the body and have someone clean it up!"

Upon hearing this, a captain from the Yongwei Battalion quickly ran to the gate of the Wucheng Bingmasi and knocked on the gate vigorously a few times, "The Wucheng Bingmasi... are here to clean up the mess."

But no one from the Five Cities Army dared to come out at this moment. They waited until there was no movement outside before someone from the Five Cities Army poked his head out.

The strong smell of blood poured directly into his nose, making him gag and almost vomit.

The Wucheng Bingma Division was under the Ministry of War. The chief commander and three deputy commanders had died outside.

Now there is only one deputy military commander left, who is of the seventh rank and his name is He Renzu.

He asked the guy who had just come out to peek: "What's going on? Tell me, you bastard!"

"Dead, all dead..."

“Plop!” He Rengzu’s legs went limp and he collapsed to the ground. “All…all dead? Oh my god!”

“That’s a thousand people…”

The clerk who had just stuck his head out asked with trembling teeth: "Sir, what should we do now?"

He Renzu swallowed his saliva with his Adam's apple rolling, "My calf is cramping, you take people out to clean the floor..."

"Ah? Sir, you killed our people and you want us to clean them up?"

He Renzu cursed: "Did a donkey kick your brain?"

"The chief and deputy commanders are both finished, what does this mean? If you are still stubborn, get out and die by yourself, don't take me with you... If I don't express my opinion now, we will be the ones to die tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, the clerk was horrified, his breathing held for a few seconds, and he quickly shouted to the people behind him, "Get your things and go out and clean the floor!"

The duties of the Wucheng Bingmasi are firefighting and night patrol, so it is very easy for them to call upon the water-drawing device.

This is also the reason why the Yongwei Battalion asked them to come out and clean up the mess.

……

"Will it be too harsh? What if it causes other reactions?"

"Don't let anything happen to you."

In the Qianqing Palace, Chongzhen looked at the torches lit up in the distance, but he began to hesitate again, clenching his fingers. He had actually heard of the Shanxi merchants and knew that they were transporting food and ironware to the Jiannu.

This is evident from the fact that the economic and material blockade imposed by the Ming Dynasty on the Jiannu in recent years has not been effective.

Knowing them is one thing, but if we take action against them now, what kind of reaction will the Jiannu provoke? How much connection is there between the officials in the court and the Shanxi merchants?
And what will be the reaction of the border generals supported by the Shanxi merchants?
The more Chongzhen thought about it, the more confused he felt. The sweat on his forehead flowed down his chin. "Wang Chengen, bring me a pen, ink, paper, and the Four Books and Five Classics."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Soon, Wang Chengen spread out the paper, ground the ink, and handed the brush to the emperor.

"Hu~" Chongzhen took a deep breath, then took the brush and wrote quickly on the paper. It was an eight-part essay.

Then, under Wang Chengen's astonished eyes, the emperor's pen moved like a dragon and a snake, but his whole body slowly calmed down.

After finishing an article, Chongzhen took it and read it. He was dissatisfied and said: "If your mind is not calm enough, how can you write a good article?"

Then he took out the Doctrine of the Mean and found an article, "A gentleman is harmonious but not swayed; he is strong and upright. He is neutral but not biased; he is strong and upright. When a country has the right way, he does not change; he is strong and upright. When a country has no right way, he does not change until his death; he is strong and upright..."

Wang Chengen quietly retreated and gently closed the door of the Qianqing Palace.

After walking a long way, he shook his head and murmured, "The emperor's illness seems to have recurred, but... it seems that the emperor has found a way to regulate himself?!"

"What a strange thing!"

He had followed Chongzhen for more than 20 years, since the time when he was still in Prince Xin's Palace. He had never seen that reading and writing could cure diseases?
……

That night, the mansion of the Shanxi Merchants Group, headed by the eight major Shanxi merchants, was filled with blood.

Apart from keeping a low profile at the beginning, the Jinyiwei no longer concealed their whereabouts after getting what they wanted, so that exclamations, screams, and cries echoed throughout the city.

The strong smell of blood lingered over the capital for a long time.

The Jinyiwei were responsible for detaining and interrogating important members of the Shanxi merchants, as well as collecting the proceeds from the confiscation of the merchants' homes into the emperor's treasury.

The harvest was so great that it took until dawn to finish moving everything.

During this period, apart from a few short-sighted officials who were hacked to death by the Jinyiwei and Yongweiying people, no one else came out.

Not until the fifth watch drum sounded throughout the capital did some people dare to tiptoe out of their homes and take a first look outside.

However, the streets are clean at this moment.

It gives the illusion that nothing ever happened.

……

at the same time,

Outside the palace, there were already many officials waiting to attend court. Each of these court officials had a pale face and bloodshot eyes.

Most of them didn't sleep last night, not because they didn't want to sleep, but because they couldn't sleep.

In the first half of the night, the Jinyiwei killed people, and the Yongwei Battalion suppressed the Wucheng Bingmasi.

In the second half of the night, the sounds of the Jinyiwei arresting people and moving things never stopped.

Before he could rest here, it was already the Yin hour. He had just dozed off when he was woken up by his wife and concubine, telling him that it was time to attend the morning court.

"Minister Huang, Minister Liu, you must have heard about what happened last night. What...what should we do?" Tian Weijia, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, took this opportunity to come together and asked hurriedly.

At this point his mentality was completely messed up.

The Minister of Rites Huang Shijun, the Minister of Punishments Zheng Sanjun, the Left Vice Minister of Rites Xue Guoguan and others all had gloomy expressions.

The Jinyiwei killed more than 800 Shanxi merchants' families, guards, and servants in one night, among which more than 300 family heads and important members were imprisoned.

More than 1100 soldiers from the Wucheng Army were killed...

How could they not know about such a big thing?
These court officials not only knew about it, but also knew it in great detail.

Tian Weijia, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, looked at Xue Guoguan, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, and said, "Sir Xue, please speak up. It was you who suggested that the Shanxi merchants take action."

"Now that things have come to this, what should we do? Should we protect them?"

"This... I didn't expect His Majesty to be so radical!" Xue Guoguan's eyes were almost bloodshot, and he didn't even close his eyes last night. It was his idea to get the Shanxi merchants to cooperate, and he was also deeply involved with Fan Yongdou and others.

When the incident happened, he was completely stunned. He was confused and couldn't make up his mind.

Zheng Sanjun, the Minister of Justice, twisted his brows into a huge "川" character and shook his head, "Protect them? How? Can't you see that His Majesty has acted so many times? If he is not absolutely sure, will he take action?"

As the Minister of Justice, he was more sensitive to the emperor's actions than anyone else.

Whether it was Wang Zhixin, the supervisor of the East Factory, Luo Yangxing, the exiled commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, or Zhang Zhifa, the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion who was slapped later, at every step the emperor produced evidence that made it impossible for the court officials to find any fault.

Well-reasoned and impeccable.

"Minister Zheng means... not to protect him?" Xue Guoguan, the Left Vice Minister of Rites, said with a flickering look in his eyes.

"It's not that we won't protect them, but we can't force them to protect us." Zheng Sanjun said in a low voice, "It depends on how much evidence Your Majesty has of their crimes. If the crime is minor, we can still protect them, but if the crime is serious, it's better to protect yourself."

"But over the years, there are more than just you and me in the court who have connections with Shanxi merchants. What if they start to make random accusations at that time? What should we do?"

"They don't dare, unless they want to confiscate the family and exterminate the clan. This is only in the capital. They still have clan members in Shanxi... unless they don't want to leave any descendants."

“Besides, even if they make groundless accusations, with their lowly status as merchants, they cannot be used as evidence to identify high-ranking officials of the imperial court unless there is solid evidence.” Zheng Sanjun, the Minister of Justice, said with a cold look in his eyes.

At this time, the bell rang and the palace gate slowly opened.

Everyone kept silent, and all the officials entered one by one, crossed the Jinshui Bridge, and lined up again in the square, ready to go to court.

"Pfft!"

Someone fell down, and everyone looked at him sideways.

In the past, if an official coughed, spat, or walked unsteadily, the censor in charge of inspection would record it and report it to the higher authorities for further action.

"Who is this?"

Xue Guoguan's eyes narrowed slightly, because he recognized that the person who fell was none other than the censor who was in charge of recording today.

I have met this censor many times in Fan Yongdou's house. He has a close personal relationship with Fan Yongdou. Fan Yongdou once gave him three concubines. Last night Fan Yongdou married a concubine, and I heard that this censor also went.

The fact that I can stand here now must have meant that I returned home before curfew and thus escaped this disaster.

At this moment, the censor had a broken head, with blood flowing down his forehead, but he didn't even cover it. He crawled up as if he had lost his mind, but didn't know what to do. It was only when another censor replaced him that this farce ended.

Today, as an imperial censor, he behaved so improperly during the court session. A caning is inevitable, and he may even lose his position as imperial censor.

"Go up!"

Officials from the Honglu Temple "sang" to enter the class, while the civil and military ministers were divided into two groups and walked in parallel into the left and right side gates, performing the ceremony of kneeling once and kowtowed three times, and the morning court officially began.

……

The day will dawn,

Sun Yingyuan brought the soldiers of the Yongwei Camp back to the tent. However, there was no sign of fatigue in the eyes of any of them. Instead, they were all very happy because they had all gained credit.

Especially Sun Yingyuan, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, after all, merit is the most important thing.

The important thing is that I have shown my loyalty to His Majesty. Next time His Majesty has a mission, he will not only remember the reckless Huang Degong, but also remember me.

As long as you let yourself go into battle, you will have the opportunity to make meritorious service.

If you fail to be promoted to general once, what about twice? Three times?

In this way, the title of general was easily obtained. However, when they arrived at the gate of the Yongwei Camp, they suddenly found a black tower standing there.

Huang Degong.

Huang Degong's face was extremely ugly at this moment. His Majesty dispatched the Yongwei Camp, and it was obviously him he was looking for. Why did you, Sun Yingyuan, go?
When Wang Chengen came here yesterday, he had just led his 3,000 soldiers out of the barracks for an armed cross-country trip. In less than a cup of tea, they could catch up quickly by sending someone on horseback.

But that bastard Sun Yingyuan actually said that he couldn't come back, so Sun Yingyuan took all the credit.

Moreover, it happened within the Imperial City, cooperating with the Jinyiwei. Such a big operation, such an opportunity to show one's face, yet he missed it.

How could he swallow this anger? "Sun Yingyuan, let's meet at the martial arts arena."

"The martial arts arena is the martial arts arena. Am I afraid of you?"

Sun Yingyuan raised his eyebrows and grinned, "It's fate. Last time you trained the troops and were noticed by His Majesty, and then you led the troops to suppress the mutiny in the Beijing camp. This time, you were out of the barracks because of the training and didn't catch up with the credit. Are you too lazy to come to me?"

"I'm not used to your bad habits."

"Come!"

The martial spirit is fully displayed in the Yongwei Camp. From the general to the soldiers, if there is any conflict, they will fight in the arena with their bare hands.

Whoever loses shuts up.

There is nothing that can't be solved by a fight, and after the fight both of them will laugh it off and forget their grudges.

When everyone in the barracks heard that the two generals were going to fight in the training ground, they immediately became excited.

With people running around and shouting, the martial arts arena was soon surrounded by a crowd.

"Oh, really? Let's go and take a look." After hearing the news, Cao Huachun also rushed over and asked someone to bring a bench over. He smiled and watched the two people bump into each other on the stands.

Huang Degong was tall, strong, and extremely brave, so his moves were very powerful.

Sun Yingyuan, on the other hand, was of medium build, but had amazing strength, was highly skilled in martial arts, and was as agile as a monkey. He could use his strengths to attack the opponent's weaknesses.

For a while, the two men fought evenly, and both were very powerful.

……

When Zhu Changgan came to his senses, he found himself sitting on the throne. The officials below were indignant and accused the Jinyiwei of arbitrarily mobilizing troops to kill people and disregarding the law of the country.

"Your Majesty, Emperor Taizu treated the gentry well. The merchants of Shanxi Kaizhong transported food and grass to the border of the Ming Dynasty. They are meritorious officials of the Ming Dynasty. Why are they being killed?"

"Your Majesty is so cruel, isn't it causing panic among the people of the world? Merchants will not dare to trade with each other, and the people will not be able to buy..."

In the hall, an old minister who had served three dynasties cried bitterly, "Your Majesty was loyal, kind and lenient to the people in the past, how come you have become so heartless and disloyal today..."

In the court, some of these civil servants stood up and made direct criticisms with anger, some, like the old minister, played the emotional card, trying to make the emperor "repent and return to the right path", and some used the teachings of saints and the laws of ancestors to persuade and admonish.

But Zhu Changgan just watched them perform calmly.

He was not afraid of his ministers chanting scriptures at all, and he didn't even care if someone got angry and made a death-defying remonstration. To be honest, he even wanted to see what the scene of a death-defying remonstration would be like.
Zhu Changgan turned around and whispered to Wang Chengen, "Where is the amount of money and evidence that was confiscated? Has Li Ruolian handed it over?"

There were a few officials who were really a bit off the mark, and he didn't like them, so he wanted to see if they were on the list of people who had received bribes...

"Your Majesty, the amount and types of items seized are too large. Up to now, the Royal Guards and the Eastern Depot have not yet figured it out. I'm afraid... it will take a while."

"Oh?" Zhu Changgan's eyes suddenly brightened, "Don't worry... Don't worry, I can wait."

The last time we searched Wang Zhixin and Luo Yangxing, it only took an hour. But now, it has taken an entire night to search the Shanxi merchants and we still haven't found out everything. Doesn't this mean... that the harvest this time is far more fruitful than I imagined?

The sun rose slowly, and thousands of golden rays shone into the Hall of Supreme Harmony. While the officials in the court were still giving their passionate speeches, a eunuch was walking towards the hall as fast as the wind.

Zhu Changgan's eyes fixed, and he could not help but sit up straight, "Wang Chengen, read!"

Wang Chengen took it and read aloud: "Li Ruolian, commander of the Jinyiwei, reported: The Shanxi merchant group headed by Fan Yongdou betrayed the country and collaborated with the enemy, stole and sold military weapons, and leaked military intelligence. The evidence is solid, and the number of officials involved is shocking..."

The expressions of the ministers below, who had just been passionately defending the Shanxi merchants, suddenly froze on their faces.

Then it turned into horror!

Treason, collaborating with the enemy, stealing and selling military weapons, leaking military intelligence... other charges can be washed away, but these charges are directly a knife to them.

……

ps: I counted everyone’s messages yesterday, and the number of people who chose 1 and 2 was exactly half and half. Thank you all.

(End of this chapter)