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

Chapter 4: Eight Hundred Li Urgent Delivery, Secret Letter Enters the Capital!

Arriving at the small gate of the palace, Ma Wensheng got off his carriage.

He straightened his clothes, took out his identity牌, and handed it to the eunuch guarding the palace gate.

"Ma Wensheng, Minister of War, has important matters to enter the palace to discuss with the Grand Secretaries."

There was an unwritten rule in the Grand Secretariat that one Grand Secretary would stay in the palace every night to handle urgent matters.

Ma Wensheng's entry into the palace this time was to meet with the Grand Secretary and discuss the matter of the Tatar Little Prince entering the pass.

As for Zhu You樘, he completely forgot about this emperor without real power.

In his opinion, this matter only needed to be discussed with the Grand Secretaries of the cabinet, and at most, Empress Dowager Zhou would be notified.

The eunuch guarding the palace gate coldly refused: "His Majesty has ordered that the palace be under martial law tonight, and no one is allowed to enter or leave!"

"Sir, please go back."

"His Majesty?"

Ma Wensheng was stunned, a little confused: "Why did His Majesty issue this order?"

The eunuch guarding the palace gate did not reply.

Ma Wensheng was anxious: "This official really has important matters to discuss with the Grand Secretary. If it delays important matters, ten heads of yours would not be enough to be chopped off!"

The eunuch guarding the palace gate spoke again: "All the Grand Secretaries are not in the palace."

The Grand Secretaries are not in the palace?

Ma Wensheng was stunned, feeling strange in his heart, but the secret letter in his hand was obviously more important.

Without saying anything more, he quickly got back into the carriage.

"Quick, go to Grand Secretary Wan's residence."

"Yes."

Soon, Ma Wensheng arrived at the home of Grand Secretary Wan An.

Without any hindrance, Ma Wensheng met Wan An, who was preparing to go to bed.

"Master Ma, is there an important matter to discuss with you so late?"

"That's right, Grand Secretary Wan, take a look at this first!"

Ma Wensheng handed the secret letter to Wan An, who also looked horrified after reading it.

"How could this be? The Datong army was defeated, and the Tatars actually entered the pass?"

"Yes, Grand Secretary Wan, what should we do now?"

Wan An was also at a loss: "Let the other two Grand Secretaries come and discuss it together?"

"Okay!"

Before long, the other two Grand Secretaries of the cabinet, Liu Xu and Liu Ji, arrived at Wan An's residence one after another.

Now there are only three Grand Secretaries in the cabinet, and they are all gathered together.

But after Liu Xu and Liu Ji read the secret letter, they couldn't say why.

Wan An, Liu Xu, and Liu Ji were all old ministers from the Chenghua period.

The three of them have a resounding name in later generations, known as the Three Paper Grand Secretaries.

It describes these three people who are in high positions but do nothing, without real talent and practical learning.

The three discussed for a long time without any progress.

At this time, Liu Ji suddenly asked: "Should we report this matter to His Majesty?"

The room was silent for a while, and then there was a low laugh.

Ma Wensheng, Minister of War, showed a contemptuous smile.

"Forget it, telling our little emperor about such a serious matter, he might be too scared to sleep."

"That's right, with his ability, even if he knows, what can he do?"

"That's right, I'm confused, since I thought of him." Liu Ji laughed mockingly.

In just a few words, everyone had decided that no one would mention telling His Majesty.

After an hour of intense discussion, the four finally came up with a way.

"Master Ma, why don't you personally lead troops to Datong?"

"You have only been promoted to Minister of War recently, and you need a great achievement to make your position more stable."

Ma Wensheng had previously controlled the three sides and patrolled Liaodong.

He was considered an official who was familiar with the border situation and had personally been on the battlefield.

Now that the situation is urgent, the three Grand Secretaries finally thought of such a way, not a solution.

Ma Wensheng felt it made sense and immediately accepted the order.

"Yes, Grand Secretary, this official will go to allocate food and soldiers and horses, and immediately set off to support Datong."

"Very good."

After Ma Wensheng left, the Three Paper Grand Secretaries yawned and went back to sleep.

After Ma Wensheng returned to his residence, he immediately began to prepare for the expedition.

During the Hongzhi period, an important reason for the Ming Dynasty's military waste was that after Ma Wensheng was promoted to Minister of War, he squeezed out meritorious officials and generals and controlled the money and food in the border towns.

Ma Wensheng was promoted from the Capital Camp Commander to Minister of War during the power vacuum period after Zhu You樘 had just ascended the throne.

In this way, he actually controlled the Capital Camp and the Ministry of War at the same time.

In the second month after Ma Wensheng took charge of the Capital Camp, Li Jin, the Duke of Xiangcheng, who originally managed the Capital Camp, suddenly died violently, and his death was very strange.

After that, Lu Jian, the general officer guarding Yansui, and the deputy general officer guarding Xuanfu, retired and returned home.

Wang Xi, the general officer guarding Gansu, suddenly died violently.

Even Liu Jing, the Duke of Anyuan, who was in charge of Guangdong and Guangxi, was impeached and imprisoned.

Behind this, Ma Wensheng was fueling the flames.

The purpose was to continue to control the border troops after controlling the court's Ministry of War and the capital's Capital Camp.

Historically, Ma Wensheng was highly praised.

In fact, during the ten years that Ma Wensheng was in charge of the Ministry of War, the Ming Dynasty's border town military was wasted and in a mess.

A folk song circulated in the capital: "Sweeping star in the sky, Tatar soldiers on the ground, if you want these two to leave, you must kill Ma Wensheng."

Now, Ma Wensheng will be ordered to go to Datong to resist the invasion of the Tatar Little Prince.

...

Forbidden City.

Cining Palace.

The East Depot eunuch put the tray into Cining Palace and quickly left.

The eunuchs and maids in Cining Palace screamed miserably when they saw this thing.

"What are you all shouting about?"

Empress Dowager Zhou walked out of Cining Palace, her face full of displeasure.

The surrounding eunuchs and maids quickly saluted and shouted for forgiveness.

Empress Dowager Zhou also noticed the tray outside the palace: "What is that thing, bring it to me to see."

A bold eunuch picked up the tray and came to Empress Dowager Zhou.

Seeing the blood stains on the white cloth, Empress Dowager Zhou already felt something was wrong.

She signaled with her eyes, and an eunuch boldly lifted the white cloth on the tray.

Liang Fang's fresh head, with eyes that would not close, stared straight at Empress Dowager Zhou.

"Ah..."

"Ya!"

"Ah ah ah ah!"

"..."

Even Empress Dowager Zhou, who was used to seeing storms, was frightened when she suddenly saw a bloody head.

There was even a burst of exclamations in the palace.

After being frightened, what Empress Dowager Zhou felt was anger!

This head must have been ordered to be beheaded by the little emperor, wanting to use this to warn her.

Liang Fang is her person, how can she let you kill him at will?

Okay, this little emperor's wings have hardened, and he wants to seize power.

I will let him know who has the final say in this harem!

"Come on, go and let 樘儿 come to see me!"

"Yes, Empress."

Empress Dowager Zhou walked into the bedroom with a gloomy face.

She had already made up her mind that she must severely punish Zhu You樘 this time!

With a wave of her hand, Wei Xing, the Supervising Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, automatically leaned close to Empress Dowager Zhou's mouth.

"Go and let Wan Tong bring the Embroidered Uniform Guard into the palace. The East Depot will be temporarily supervised by you. Let all the East Depot spies in the palace come to my Cining Palace."

"Yes, Empress!"

Wei Xing took the order and quickly left Cining Palace to do things according to Empress Dowager Zhou's instructions.