Ming Dynasty: Is a mere unruly commoner rebelling against heaven?

Chapter 1: The Boy Emperor!

In 1488, the Ming Dynasty welcomed its ninth emperor, with the reign title Hongzhi.

Datong Prefecture.

Countless soldiers assaulted the city walls of Datong Prefecture, the defending officers and soldiers desperately guarding this fragile line of defense.

The sounds of fighting and shouting echoed deafeningly.

The Tatar Little Prince personally led an army of 100,000, arriving at the city of Datong.

As the city gates were breached, countless Tatars poured into Datong Prefecture!

Datong Prefecture had fallen!

Several fast horses burst out from a small gate, an urgent dispatch at 800 li per day, heading straight for the capital!

Urgent! Urgent! Urgent!

Danger! Danger! Danger!

The Tatars have breached the border!

The Ming Dynasty is on the verge of collapse!

…

The Imperial Palace, Forbidden City.

Inside the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youtang looked at the extremely luxurious decorations around him, still feeling incredulous.

"I've transmigrated... and transmigrated into Emperor Hongzhi, Zhu Youtang, who has just ascended the throne..."

"The boy emperor, only seventeen years old..."

Zhu Youtang looked at the dragon robe on his body, his heart surging.

"Your Majesty, this is a memorial newly drafted by the Grand Secretariat, please review it."

At this moment, Huai'en, with a head full of white hair, arrived before Zhu Youtang, holding a memorial in his hands.

Zhu Youtang restrained his emotions and calmed down.

"Yes, let me see."

Zhu Youtang nodded and picked up the letter to read, but the more he read, the darker his face became, and finally, he slammed the memorial on the ground in anger.

"How outrageous! This is simply outrageous!"

"They want to blatantly embezzle my silver!"

"I won't allow it! I absolutely won't allow it!"

The content of this memorial was that the Grand Secretariat, after deliberation, decided to abolish the Grain Tribute for Salt Certificates system established by Emperor Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang, during the Hongwu era, and replace it with the Silver Conversion system.

Grain Tribute for Salt Certificates refers to merchants transporting grain to the border towns and then exchanging it with the imperial court for salt certificates of equal value.

This system was not very efficient and had many problems.

But its greatest advantage was that it could effectively prevent corruption.

Because the entire transaction process was barter, without involving cash.

Even if the Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat and the General Commander of the border town colluded privately and embezzled military provisions, they could only obtain grain or salt.

No cash!

If they wanted cash, they would have to convert it.

It would not be dignified for the General Commander's family to open a grain store, or for the Grand Secretary's family to sell salt, for people to see.

Therefore, in order to engage in corruption, Grand Secretary Wan An and Minister of Revenue Ye Qi sang in harmony and abolished the Salt Certificate system that had been in use for more than a hundred years, replacing it with the Silver Conversion system.

The salt certificate and military grain were marketized and could be freely traded with cash.

The beautiful name was that this could increase the court's income, but the actual result was that the court's income not only did not increase, but also problems arose with the military provisions in the border towns.

Because conversion was easier, corruption in the border towns was completely out of control, and military pay was chronically insufficient.

And this phenomenon continued until the end of the Ming Dynasty!

The marketization of salt certificates through the Silver Conversion system was fatal to the Ming Dynasty!

Because Zhu Youtang knew the harm of the Silver Conversion system to the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youtang would never allow this resolution.

But Huai'en stood in front of Zhu Youtang and opened his mouth tremblingly.

"Your Majesty, the Cining Palace has already agreed to this memorial, and the vermilion endorsement and seal are all present..."

"What?!"

Zhu Youtang sneered repeatedly: "Good, a Grand Secretariat, a harem, and a Directorate of Ceremonial, they are seizing my power!"

"Since my decision is useless, why did the Cining Palace send the memorial to my Qianqing Palace?"

The Cining Palace was the residence of the Grand Empress Dowager Zhou, and the vermilion endorsement and seal were the exclusive power of the two great eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

The Ming Dynasty's Grand Secretariat had a special endorsement system, that is, the Grand Secretariat would first draft opinions on major and minor matters in the court, write them on the ticket, and then submit them to the emperor for decision.

Under this system, the Grand Secretariat held certain advisory powers, the Six Ministries held executive powers, and the decision-making power was firmly held by the emperor.

The decision-making power was divided into two parts: first, the imperial vermilion endorsement, making the final decision.

Second, affixing the imperial seal, so that the memorial would have legal effect.

These two powers were originally in the hands of the emperor, but Emperor Xuanzong, in order to reduce his workload, established the Writing Eunuch and the Seal-Holding Eunuch in the Directorate of Ceremonial, allowing eunuchs to assist him in handling official duties.

But now, the memorials drafted by the Grand Secretariat, Zhu Youtang had not even seen them, and the Cining Palace had already passed the Writing Eunuch and the Seal-Holding Eunuch, bypassing Zhu Youtang, and directly agreed.

The Grand Secretariat and the harem were directly sidelining Zhu Youtang!

"Your Majesty, the Cining Palace has sent memorials before, and you, Your Majesty, did not have any other opinions, and this memorial must come from the Qianqing Palace to be in accordance with the rules..."

Huai'en observed Zhu Youtang's expression and said cautiously.

Zhu Youtang's face was uncertain, and his heart was filled with anger.

It turned out that the harem's interference in politics was already so serious, to the point of being肆意妄为.

But when he thought of the power of the Grand Empress Dowager Zhou, Zhu Youtang couldn't help but feel a sense of despair.

The Zhu Youtang who had just ascended the throne was facing the strongest maternal relatives in history.

The relationship between the Zhou family and the Grand Secretariat was extraordinary. Emperor Yingzong's death was very strange that year, and it was very likely that the Zhou family was responsible.

Before Emperor Yingzong's death, he specifically left a posthumous edict, not allowing the Zhou family to be buried with him.

However, later, when the Zhou family died in the seventeenth year of Hongzhi, under the operation of the Grand Secretariat, she was replaced by the noble concubine, and buried with Emperor Yingzong, replacing Empress Qian.

This one thing alone can show the influence of the Grand Empress Dowager Zhou in the harem and the Grand Secretariat.

Moreover, the real master of the entire imperial palace was also the Grand Empress Dowager Zhou.

Zhu Youtang's three maternal uncles, two maternal granduncles, and a series of relatives of the Zhou family were all granted titles.

These people either held positions in the Embroidered Uniform Guard or in the Five Armies Commander-in-chief, tightly controlling Zhu Youtang's palace.

Zhu Youtang was unable to resist!

And there was one more thing that made Zhu Youtang extremely afraid.

That was that Zhu Youtang's death in history was also extremely suspicious.

In history, around the sixteenth year of Hongzhi, Zhu Youtang was jointly deprived of power by the Grand Empress Dowager Zhou of the harem and the Grand Secretariat.

First, a fire broke out inexplicably in the harem, and Zhu Youtang's confidant eunuch, Li Guang, the then Director of the Eastern Depot, was charged by the Grand Empress Dowager Zhou and committed suicide.

Then, the Grand Secretariat found a list from the Eastern Depot, which recorded several high-ranking officials who had bribed Li Guang.

The list included the ministers of the Six Ministries in the court, as well as the generals of the Nine Border Garrisons, all of whom were from Zhu Youtang's imperial faction.

The Grand Secretariat jointly submitted a letter, and a total of more than fifty high-ranking officials were impeached and dismissed by the Grand Secretariat.

Zhu Youtang's direct confidants, from the ministers of the Six Ministries to the generals of the Nine Border Garrisons, were all removed, and Zhu Youtang completely lost power.

A year later, in the seventeenth year of Hongzhi, the Grand Empress Dowager Zhou died.

The tight hoop that had been on Zhu Youtang's head for seventeen years was finally gone, and Zhu Youtang began to seize power.

From the inner palace to the court and the borderlands, Zhu Youtang carried out a series of personnel transfers.

But the result of the two-pronged approach was that, a few months later, Zhu Youtang was sent away by a bowl of soup from the Imperial Hospital.

In the eighteenth year of Hongzhi, Zhu Youtang died!

Thinking of the situation he was about to face, Zhu Youtang clenched his fists, his heart filled with extreme anger.

At this moment, a heavenly sound rang out.

"Ding! A sign-in location has been detected, do you want to sign in?"

Zhu Youtang was overjoyed and immediately said silently in his heart: "Sign in!"

"Ding! Sign-in successful, reward: Emperor's Divinity Technique!"

"You have learned the first level of the Son of Heaven's Book of Deification: Strengthening Muscles and Bones."

"Ding! Rewarded with ten thousand Eastern Depot guards, stationed in the Eastern Depot, loyalty maxed out!"

"Ding! Rewarded with ten thousand Western Depot guards, stationed in the Western Depot, loyalty maxed out!"

"Ding! Rewarded with ten thousand Embroidered Uniform Guards, stationed in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, loyalty maxed out!"

A warm current flowed through Zhu Youcheng's limbs, and he immediately felt his whole body filled with power, as if there was inexhaustible energy within him.

And these thirty thousand Depot guards and Embroidered Uniform Guards were Zhu Youcheng's reliance to reverse the situation and regain control of the military and political power!

Zhu Youcheng sat back on the dragon throne, closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Huai En.

Zhu Youcheng was able to live safely until he inherited the throne thanks to the indispensable contributions of two eunuchs.

One was Huai En, and the other was Zhang Min.

Unfortunately, Zhang Min had already been forced to commit suicide by swallowing gold by Consort Wan, and Huai En was currently the person Zhu Youcheng trusted the most.

Back then, Emperor Xianzong, under the influence of Consort Wan, repeatedly wanted to establish another heir to the throne.

The last time, Emperor Xianzong summoned Huai En, who was already the Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and issued an edict to abolish Zhu Youcheng's position as Crown Prince.

Huai En was immediately so frightened that he dared not accept the edict, and knelt before Emperor Xianzong, shouting: "This servant dares not accept the order, I would rather Your Majesty kill this servant than have the people of the world kill this servant!"

Meaning that Zhu Youcheng's position as Crown Prince could not be abolished, and if it was to be abolished, he should be killed first.

Emperor Xianzong was furious and immediately demoted Huai En to Fengyang to guard the imperial tombs.

It wasn't until last year that Huai En returned to the palace and became a decree-announcing eunuch in the Directorate of Ceremonial.

"Huai En, from today onwards, I order you to oversee the Eastern Depot!"

Huai En's eyes widened instantly, and he trembled with excitement, hurriedly kneeling down to thank the Emperor.

"This old servant thanks Your Majesty for your grace!"

Huai En never expected that he, at his old age, would actually be able to return to the pinnacle of power in the Great Ming Dynasty.

In his excitement, tears streamed down his face.

But after wiping away his tears, recalling the current situation in the court and palace, he couldn't help but feel a little沮丧.

He raised his head and cautiously glanced at Zhu Youcheng sitting on the dragon throne.

"But Your Majesty, the current Director of the Eastern Depot, Liang Fang, is a man of the Empress Dowager Zhou, I'm afraid..."

A sneer appeared on Zhu Youcheng's face: "You're afraid that my orders won't be followed, aren't you?"

Huai En was so frightened that he hurriedly kowtowed: "This old servant dares not!"

Zhu Youcheng picked up the teacup beside him and gently moistened his lips.

"Go to the Eastern Depot and take a look, there is a gift I prepared for you."

"After taking charge of the Eastern Depot, secretly bring people into the palace and await my dispatch."

"Step back, and have Mou Bin, the Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, come to see me."

"Yes, Your Majesty, this old servant takes his leave."

Huai En slowly got up, bowed, and slowly retreated from the Qianqing Palace.

Not long after, a young and strong man wearing a flying fish suit and holding an Embroidered Spring Blade came to the Qianqing Palace.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Mou Bin, the Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, requests an audience!"

"Summon him."

Mou Bin lowered his head and strode into the Qianqing Palace, kneeling directly to pay his respects: "This subject, Mou Bin, greets Your Majesty."

When he first learned that he was summoned by the Emperor, Mou Bin's mood was excited and excited.

But now kneeling in front of the Emperor, Mou Bin only felt an invisible pressure, so much so that he could hardly breathe.

"Rise, raise your head."

A dignified voice sounded, and Mou Bin dared to cautiously raise his head and secretly look at the figure sitting on the dragon throne.

The emperor on the dragon throne was very young, but the nobility and domineering aura on his body made Mou Bin dare not look directly at him.

"Mou Bin, if I were to let you take charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, what would you do?"

Ah?!

Mou Bin's face was full of shock, then his face was full of solemnity, and he bowed and saluted.

"This subject will definitely do my utmost for Your Majesty, supervise all officials for Your Majesty, and be the sharpest knife in Your Majesty's hand!"

"Very good!"

Zhu Youcheng showed a smile: "Mou Bin, I appoint you as the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"Immediately investigate the internal affairs of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and eliminate all disharmonious voices!"

"Find those in the palace, in the court, and in the Embroidered Uniform Guard who do not listen to my orders!"

Mou Bin's mood was the same as Huai En's, first ecstasy, then worry.

The current commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is Wan Tong, the younger brother of Consort Wan.

Although Consort Wan has already passed away, the Wan family is now closely related to the Empress Dowager Zhou...

A trace of worry flashed across Mou Bin's face, which was all seen by Zhu Youcheng.

He didn't explain much, just waved his hand: "Go to the Embroidered Uniform Guard office and take a look, you will know what to do next."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After Mou Bin respectfully left the Qianqing Palace, he hurried to the Embroidered Uniform Guard with a heavy heart.

Huai En and Mou Bin were both very famous upright officials during the Hongzhi reign.

With these two people assisting him, Zhu Youcheng was very relieved about them.

...

The sky was full of dark clouds, and a storm was about to come.

After Huai En walked out of the palace gate, he glanced at the already discolored sky and sat on his soft couch.

"Go to the Eastern Depot, quickly!"

"Yes, Eunuch."

Four young eunuchs carried Huai En out of the palace quickly, heading to the Eastern Depot yamen located in Dongzhimen.

Huai En was uneasy, wondering what the so-called gift Zhu Youcheng mentioned was.

"Eunuch, the Eastern Depot has arrived."

Huai En got off the soft couch and saw the plaque of "Eastern Depot Investigation Bureau" exuding a chilling aura.

He steadily walked into the Eastern Depot and pushed open the gate.

"Greetings, Director!"

A dense crowd crowded in the Eastern Depot yamen, sending out mountain-like and tsunami-like greetings to Huai En.

These people had a unified Eastern Depot attire, holding gleaming steel knives in their hands.

At this moment, after the initial shock, Huai En felt deeply grateful to Zhu Youcheng.

Your Majesty actually has such a powerful force, and has handed this force into my hands.

Bearing the Emperor's grace, Huai En has nothing to repay, only death!

"Children, all follow this old one into the palace!"

"Yes!"

Ten thousand Eastern Depot guards took their orders and immediately followed Huai En into the palace!

The same scene was also being staged in the Embroidered Uniform Guard yamen.

When Mou Bin came to the Embroidered Uniform Guard yamen, tens of thousands of Embroidered Uniform Guards wearing flying fish suits and wearing Embroidered Spring Blades had been waiting for a long time.

"Greetings, Commander!"

Mou Bin stood there dumbfounded.

After recovering from the shock, remembering the last sentence of His Majesty, Mou Bin couldn't help but feel a fear that went deep into his bones.

Mou Bin glanced around and said solemnly: "Where is Qinglong?"

"This subordinate is here!"

Qinglong, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's commander, together with Baihu, Zhuque, and Xuanwu, walked up to Mou Bin.

These four people were the confidants that Mou Bin had personally cultivated, each of them was a good hand, known as the Four Great Guards of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Count the men and horses, and follow this official to arrest the rebellious traitors!"

"Yes!"

Ten thousand Embroidered Uniform Guards came out in full force, hiding in the streets and alleys of the capital under the cover of dark clouds.

At this time, the Embroidered Uniform Guards of the Empress Dowager Zhou's faction were still having fun in the brothels of the capital.

They didn't know what was about to await them.

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