Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 9 Should we give face to the emperor?

Duke of Wei's Mansion,

The first Duke of Wei was Xu Da, the first meritorious minister of the Ming Dynasty, and also the leader of the "Six Kings" of the founding of the country.

The current Duke of Wei is Xu Da’s tenth-generation grandson, Xu Hongji.

When Qiao Yan led his men to the place, Xu Wenjue, the second-generation rich man in the mansion, happened to come back from drinking outside. When he saw that they were the men from the Eastern Depot, he was immediately furious.

He started cursing and was hit in the face with a horsewhip from the Eastern Depot. Blood flowed down his cheek.

After posting the [Payment Collection Notice], he left.

The whip sobered Xu Wenjue up from the alcohol. "Fuck your grandma. We haven't killed the eunuchs for decades. If they were afraid of death, my ancestors wouldn't have fought with my great grandfather to establish the country."

"Everyone in the mansion who can breathe, get up."

During the Chongzhen period, although there were few nobles leading troops outside and had a say in military affairs, they could not intervene in specific affairs and were reduced to being just a bystander or talking nonsense.

Basically, it exists like a mascot. Its daily work is to offer sacrifices on behalf of the emperor and undertake various royal ceremonial tasks.

But face is still important. The reason why nobles and relatives of the emperor could enjoy a good life in the Ming Dynasty was because of the titles they held, wasn't it?

Now, not only were they beaten, but they were also posted with a "Notice of Payment Collection". How could they bear this shame?

"He doesn't even have an egg, what the hell does he think he is? And he dares to show off."

Xu Wenjue's face was twisted into a knot of anger, and he led his men towards Wang Zhixin's residence.

……

Above the imperial city,

Several eunuch guards supported the stool, and Wang Chengen supported the emperor.

Zhu Changgan looked into the distance with a telescope and a smile appeared on his lips.

"Wang Chengen, come, you want to take a look too?"

"The eunuch still doesn't want to watch it."

Zhu Changgan smiled and said, "If you miss this village, you won't have this store anymore."

People and horses were running on the streets of the capital.

The people from the East Factory are still continuing.

There were also nobles such as those led by Zhang Zhiji, as well as other nobles, who began to gather outside Wang Zhixin's mansion.

In sight, there are people coming towards the palace.

There were constant reports from eunuchs.

"Your Majesty, the steward of Duke Chengguo Zhu Chunchen was slapped in the face."

"Your Majesty, the retainers of Wuding Hou Xu Xideng were chopped to the ground."

"Taining Marquis Chen Yanzuo personally argued with the East Factory, but ended up breaking his arms and legs and his waist..."

Wang Chengen's mouth twitched, and he knelt down quickly, "Your Majesty, this... is too much."

A eunuch ran up from below, panting, and knelt on the ground, "Your Majesty, the civil officials are outside the palace gates asking for an audience."

"Have you seen Lord Wen?"

The eunuch recalled and shook his head, "No."

Zhu Changgan handed the telescope to a eunuch, "Then there's no rush."

"Let them wait and let the bullets fly for a while."

Wang Chengen was stunned. This word again?
Zhu Changgan thought for a moment and instructed Wang Chengen, "Find someone to tell Qiao Yan to hide somewhere else for a while so that no one can recognize him."

"You probably can't recognize him. We told him to wear a mask when we did the job."

"Then go out and hide for a while."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

……

King's Heart Mansion,
He hugged his concubine, even though it couldn't be used, it could still warm his body.

"Master, disaster has occurred."

When he heard Zhang Zhiji chop his butler to the ground with a sword, he was completely stunned.

He ran out without even putting on his shoes, pointing at Zhang Zhiji's nose and saying, "Zhang Zhiji, even if you are the Duke, you can't be so overbearing, right?"

"Domineering? I really am being domineering today."

Zhang Zhiji looked at Wang Zhixin and became furious. Before he could make a move, a jerk next to him rushed over.

"Pfft~"

A knife was stabbed into Wang Zhixin's heart and then pulled out suddenly.

Blood plasma shot up into the sky, splashed out, and spurted onto the ground. Blood flowed on the ground and gathered into small pits.

Wang Zhixin's face was filled with fear. He tried to cover the wound, but he couldn't. His teeth were trembling, "You...you..."

Fell to the ground.

Zhang Zhiji turned his head and looked at the person in astonishment, "You...how did you kill him?"

It was Xu Wenjue from the Duke of Wei.

The guy's face was red, and it was obvious that he had just drunk some wine. There was a mark of a whip on his face. "What? He can beat me? I can't kill him?"

Zhang Zhiji was so angry that his lungs ached, "Idiot!"

Beat them up, even seriously injure them, as long as they don't die, they are right.

In terms of status and position, both in terms of title and rank, nobles are higher than civil officials.

And civil officials are higher than eunuchs.

You, the East Factory's thugs, trampled upon the Duke's Mansion, which is an act of insubordination.

Even if I beat you up, it would be in vain.

But if he is beaten to death, the nature of the matter changes.

Besides,

This time, Wang Zhixin was doing errands for the emperor.

If you kill him, it will be unreasonable.

"Hey~" Zhang Zhiji took a look at Wang Zhixin's body on the ground and left angrily, swinging his sleeves.

……

In the western sky, as the sun was setting, patches of fiery clouds appeared one after another, some were bright red, some were bright golden, so fiery.

In the capital,

But it was a complete mess, and the atmosphere was noisy and chaotic.

Zhu Changgan sat calmly in the Fengtian Hall, eating snacks and drinking tea.

There is no way, Chongzhen just has these conditions.

Hundreds of civil servants knelt outside the palace, and their voices were like thunderous thunder.

"Your Highness, I wish to see you."

"Please allow me to see you, my emperor."

"My lord, wait..."

The eunuch stumbled in from outside, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty... Wang Zhixin is dead, killed by Xu Wenjue, the son of Duke Wei."

"Oh?"

Zhu Changgan stood up suddenly, his eyes narrowed slightly, "It's almost time."

"Has the person been arrested?"

Wang Chengen replied: "Your Majesty, he has been arrested."

"Okay, go and invite Duke Wei."

Soon, the Duke of Wei arrived.

Because Duke Wei Xu Hongji was already on the way.

He has to come.
When he heard that Xu Wenjue had killed Wang Zhixin, he headed towards the palace.

As soon as Xu Hongji met him, he knelt down on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. It is the fault of the father that the son is not well-educated. It is my fault that my son has committed such a serious crime."

Zhu Changgan helped Xu Hongji up and asked Wang Chengen to move a seat for him.

"Old Duke, how are you these days?"

"It's okay, it's okay!" Xu Hongji couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he heard "Chongzhen" asking about his health. It seemed that things could still be alleviated.

But with the next sentence, Xu Hongji almost slipped off the stool.

"I just heard about the incident. The prince was drunk and committed the crime. I can understand that he is a young man with a bad temper, but he should never have killed Wang Zhixin."

To commit murder?

What should you never do?

Is this... directly defining Xu Wenjue's nature?
"Your Majesty..." Xu Hongji knelt on the ground again, "This old minister has only one legitimate son. Please forgive me for my sake."

"Old Duke, why are you kneeling down again?" Chongzhen came close to him and helped him up again. "Oh, by the way, here is the payment notice, has the old Duke seen it?"

Xu Hongji was stunned for a moment, then he reacted, "Your Majesty, this old minister... has already seen it."

"Does the old Duke think there is anything wrong with this list?"

"No...no, this old minister is willing to donate."

Compared to the safety of the legitimate son, everything else is trivial.

Therefore, he had never thought about donating money at all. Now that "Chongzhen" suddenly asked him, he couldn't help but be stuck.

"I wonder how much the old Duke is willing to donate?"

Xu Hongji was about to speak when he heard the emperor and Wang Chengen beside him say, "Wang Chengen, have you given the 200,000 taels from the Jiading Earl's family?" "Yes, Zhou An sent it over this afternoon."

"That's fine."

Zhu Changgan turned his head and looked at Xu Hongji again, "Old Duke, what did you want to say just now?"

Xu Hongji opened his mouth and gritted his teeth and said, "This old minister is willing to donate... 300,000 taels."

"Three hundred thousand taels?" Zhu Changgan touched his forehead, a smile appeared on his face, "I heard that the cause is not the prince, but the king's heart, who condoned the arrogance of the East Factory, trampled on the Duke's Mansion, and oppressed the meritorious officials and dignitaries."

"Old Duke, how about letting the prince stay at the border for a few years?" Zhu Changgan looked embarrassed. "After all, he killed someone, and he was the supervisor of the East Factory."

The beard on Xu Hongji's face twitched a few times and he swallowed.

It can be said that Chongzhen's opinion was quite pertinent. The chief eunuch of the East Factory and the second-ranking eunuch in the Imperial Household Department was killed. He was only sent to the border for training for a few years. After he came back, he was transformed into a nobleman of the dynasty.

But...his health is getting worse day by day, and he only has this one legitimate son.

"Six hundred thousand. This old minister is willing to donate six hundred thousand taels."

Zhu Changgan stood up at once and grabbed Xu Hongji's hand, "Old Duke, you are a man of great integrity and high moral character!"

Then he gritted his teeth and said, "This Wang Zhixin, I have long seen that he is not a good person. He harbors evil intentions and wants to imitate Wei Zhongxian and restore the glory of the East Factory under the pretext of my will so that he can become the Ninth Prince."

"He deserves to be punished for his crime!"

"Now that he has been executed, how can I bear to punish the prince?"

"Old Duke, you can go back without any worries. Let the family come to pick up the prince at noon tomorrow."

Tomorrow noon?

The muscles on Xu Hongji's face twitched, and he understood that Chongzhen was trying to point his finger at him.

Ask him to send the money as soon as possible.

"On behalf of my son, I would like to thank Your Majesty for not killing me." Xu Hongji sighed.

When Chongzhen was still Prince Xin, it was with the help of myself and several dukes that Chongzhen ascended the throne!

Over the years, he thought he had a thorough understanding of Chongzhen's character.

Before coming here, he thought that he would be able to win the battle by using his merits in exchange for his son staying in Kyoto.

But what happened just now made him feel like he realized for the first time that he seemed to have never known him.

So strange.

……

After Xu Hongji left, Zhu Changgan was stunned for a moment.
"Name: Zhu Changgan"

"Main quest: Save the Ming Dynasty Completion: 1/10000"

"The National Fortune of the Ming Dynasty: -10086. (The National Fortune is directly proportional to whether the people can live and work in peace and contentment. If the National Fortune is negative, natural disasters and man-made calamities will continue.)"

"The Ming Dynasty has lasted for 1 days"

「Life bonus: 1 day」

「Funding reward: 27397.26 yuan」

Zhu Changgan couldn't help but feel a little ecstatic, the main line progress bar finally started to move.

Although it was only a small step forward, it showed that the gears of the Ming Dynasty had begun to turn.

He could not help but wave his hand at Wang Chengen and said, "Call those civil officials to meet with the emperor."

Seeing the emperor summoned,

The civil servants stood up one by one, patted their numb legs, and rushed into the Fengtian Hall.

"Your Majesty, are you going to trust the eunuchs again?" Kong Zhenyun, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, knelt on the ground and cried before he even came in.

"The king's way is fair and impartial. We, as your subjects, cannot just stand by and watch your majesty being confused!"

Counselor Fan Jingwen held the memorial in his hands and knelt on the ground, "I want to criticize the king for his corruption and abuse of power. If your majesty insists on doing so, we are willing to die to prove our will and crash into the Fengtian Palace to die."

"Your Majesty, the eunuch party has gained power through flattery and sycophancy. We can clearly remember what Wei Zhongxian did in the past. If the eunuch party prevails, the whole world will be in danger!" The Minister of Rites Huang Shijun knelt on the ground, raised his hands, and shouted to the sky.

Other civil officials held up memorials one by one,

"Your Majesty, the eunuch party is so ambitious that they even dared to change the will of Emperor Tianqi. Are you still afraid?"

"The Emperor Tianqi trusted the eunuch party, and even Wei Zhongxian and his ilk dared to kill tax collectors and ministers indiscriminately."

"His Majesty……"

A group of court officials knelt on the ground, talking about benevolence, righteousness, and morality, and the eunuch party was harming the country.

Zhu Changgan just watched them perform.

In their words, Wang Zhixin is a bad person who is corrupt, perverts the law, makes false judgments, forms cliques for personal gain, sells official positions and does all kinds of evil.

Why didn't you send me a memorial before?
Now you are speaking with certainty. If you say that you have no relationship with Wang Zhixin, no one will believe you.

When they had almost finished speaking, Zhu Changgan asked, "Who said I want to support the eunuch party?"

"Today, I will let you see whether I really want to support the eunuch party."

"Uh……"

All the civil officials on the ground were stunned and looked at each other.

Not sure why.

Zhu Changgan's eyes narrowed suddenly, and he said sternly: "Wang Chengen"

"The eunuch is here!"

"Collect the memorials of the ministers, and then take the ministers with me to see whether I want to support the eunuch party."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Chengen shouted to the ministers in Fengtian Hall, "My ministers, please follow me."

……

On the streets of the capital, a eunuch led hundreds of civil and military officials in a grand procession, which was a spectacular sight.

Behind them were eunuchs who were tied up, had their heads covered and their mouths gagged.

One of the fat men was Liu Gang, who called Wang Zhixin uncle.

The first station,
The residence of British Duke Zhang Zhiji.

Wang Chengen went forward and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" The doorman inside opened the door slightly and looked outside.

After the last experience, they didn't dare to open the door directly.

"Wang Chengen brought all the ministers to visit the Duke of England."

When the gatekeeper saw Wang Chengen and the crowd of civil and military officials behind him, he quickly sent someone to notify the Duke of England.

Zhang Zhiji came out very quickly. He couldn't help but feel a little scared when he saw so many people. Although Wang Zhixin was killed by Xu Wenjue, he was also somewhat related to it.

"Eunuch Wang, what are you doing?"

Wang Chengen raised his hand and bowed in the direction of the palace:
"In compliance with your majesty's order, you harbor evil intentions and, under the guise of my order, want to imitate Wei Zhongxian and recreate the glory of the past. You condone the arrogance of the East Factory, trample on the Duke's Mansion, and oppress meritorious officials and dignitaries. You deserve to be killed for your crime."

"Come on, bring the person up."

Liu Gang was dragged in front of the Duke of Yingguo. Wang Chengen pointed at him and said, "We have found out that it was this man, a captain under Wang Zhixin, who invaded the Duke of Yingguo's mansion and killed the steward of the Duke of Yingguo's family."

"Wuwuwu~" Liu Gang's eyes bulged out and his face was full of fear.

He wanted to protest.

It was not me who did the shouting, it was Qiao Yan, it was all Qiao Yan who did it, it had nothing to do with me...

But with something stuffed in his mouth, he couldn't make a sound.

"Pfft~"

Blood rushed into the sky.

The big head fell down, with Liu Gang's eyes still wide open, and rolled to the British man's feet and then rolled down again.

"Duke Ying, are you satisfied?" Wang Chengen bowed to Zhang Zhiji, and without waiting for Zhang Zhiji to reply, he turned to the officials behind him and said:
"Let's go to the next one."

Zhang Zhiji looked at the blood stains on his feet with his mouth wide open.

"This……"

It’s not that he was dissatisfied with the explanation given by the emperor, but that he was too satisfied with the explanation given by the emperor. To be precise... it was too much.

The emperor assigned the task to the East Factory, and the East Factory was indeed at fault first, but the nobles were also at fault.

Wang Zhixin is already dead, but now the emperor directly asked Wang Chengen to bring the culprit to apologize to him.

He simply beheaded a captain of the Eastern Depot as an apology for an old slave in his family.

Moreover, he was chopped off in front of all the civil and military officials in the court.

This gives enough face to the nobles.

But… he understood that his old slave was not worth that much.

But Chongzhen did just that.

Zhang Zhiji only felt that all the blood in his body was squeezed into his heart, and his heart could not bear the burden and was squeezed in and out again.

Until this moment,

Only then did he realize how terrible the matter was.

The East Factory did something wrong and people died, but the emperor did not blame you. Instead, he came to you and gave you a lot of face.

What about me? I was also wrong... Should I give face to the emperor?
How to give?
He looked towards the door.
The glue used to paste the [Notice of Collection of Donations] has not dried yet.

Zhang Zhiji's chest heaved and his throat was very dry.

……

ps: Xu Hongji, Duke of Wei, was the secretary of the Nanjing Military Government and the governor of Caojiang. He resigned due to illness in the early years of Chongzhen and returned to Beijing. In the 14th year of Chongzhen, he guarded Nanjing again and was promoted to Taifu.

　The telescope was introduced to China during the Tianqi period. In the second year of Chongzhen (1628), Xu Guangqi requested to equip three telescopes for astronomical observation. In the seventh year of Chongzhen (1634), a telescope supervised by Johann Adam Schall von Bell (a German missionary) was built for China's own use.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)