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

The civil and military officials lowered their heads and prostrated themselves on the stone street, not daring to look up.

"Your subject is guilty, please punish me, Your Majesty!"

Zhu You樘 pointed at the officials, his tone cold and stern.

"The late Emperor has only just passed away, his body not yet cold, and the Grand Secretariat dares to order the dismissal of more than five hundred officials appointed by the late Emperor, replacing them with people chosen by the Grand Secretariat itself."

"Without my permission, do you think you can continue to hold your positions?"

"Huai En!"

"This old servant is here!"

Huai En, who was attending by the side, quickly took two steps forward.

"Order the Eastern Depot to bring out all the promoted officials appointed by the Grand Secretariat!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After receiving the order, Huai En immediately ordered Li Guang to lead his men to arrest the promoted officials.

After receiving the order, Li Guang immediately led dozens of Eastern Depot agents, entering the Meridian Gate Square from the Right Temple Gate.

Li Guang had already arrested dozens of promoted officials last night, but at that time, he had to go door-to-door, which was too inefficient.

But now, all the officials are in the Meridian Gate Square, making it much more convenient to arrest them.

"You!"

"You!"

"And you!"

Li Guang shuttled through the officials, pointing his finger at certain individuals.

"Take them all away!"

"Yes!"

Under Li Guang's leadership, the Eastern Depot agents ran back and forth, constantly escorting the officials pointed out by Li Guang to Zhu You樘.

The faces of the officials who were pointed out instantly lost all color, turning pale, and they trembled with fear.

Some even rolled their eyes and fainted on the spot.

But even if they fainted, they could not escape death.

The number of officials in front of Zhu You樘 increased, becoming more and more crowded.

Xu Pu, Wang Shu, and others had no choice but to lead the civil and military officials back a few steps, making space for the Eastern Depot.

Li Guang brought out more than five hundred promoted officials in one breath, adding to the dozens he had arrested last night.

The 564 promoted officials appointed by the Grand Secretariat without Zhu You樘's knowledge had all been brought before Zhu You樘.

After capturing all the promoted officials appointed by the Grand Secretariat, Li Guang quietly led the Eastern Depot agents back to the Imperial Ancestral Temple from the Right Temple Gate.

It is worth mentioning that nearly two hundred of these five hundred promoted officials were officials who had feigned illness and skipped court today.

When these officials were first arrested, they were filled with fear and anxiety.

The attendants who had previously been flogged by Zhu You樘 were terrified.

After being flogged and discovering that they were still alive, they were filled with joy after surviving a disaster.

But now, when they were dragged back to Zhu You樘 by the Western Depot agents again,

The hearts that had been hanging in their throats finally died.

"Your Majesty, I am wronged! I was only ordered to take office and have absolutely no connection with the Grand Secretariat!"

"Your Majesty, have mercy! I am loyal to Your Majesty, I had no idea that this was a unilateral appointment by the Grand Secretariat!"

"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!"

"…"

These officials, whether intentionally or unintentionally, were caught in the power struggle between the emperor and the Grand Secretariat, and Zhu You樘 would not let them go.

Zhu You樘 would never allow a second voice in the court.

He had just cleaned out all the members of the previous Grand Secretariat, and now he could take this opportunity to completely eliminate the remaining poison left by the previous Grand Secretariat!

Zhu You樘 looked at the hundreds of officials below, the anger in his heart growing deeper and deeper.

He knew that the court was treacherous, but he never knew that there were so many enemies threatening the imperial power.

There were so many who had already been caught.

How many more were there who had not been caught?

Zhu You樘 looked at the court officials behind him, his face extremely gloomy.

"I will continue to investigate the matter of the late Emperor's death!"

"I will not let go of any officials involved in this case!"

"From now on, all military generals and soldiers in the capital will be suspended from their duties and disarmed, and will be subject to review by the Western Depot."

"They shall not step out of their homes without my permission."

Some of the military generals present had already been reviewed by the Western Depot last night.

And some had not received any news.

Now, when Zhu You樘 personally issued the order, the military generals realized how serious this matter was.

The court's military generals quickly accepted the order: "Yes, Your Majesty, your humble subjects obey the order."

"As for these officials involved in the case, Zhang Ying, strip him of his posthumous title, exhume his coffin and mutilate his corpse, and execute his nine generations!"

"Liu Ji, Liu Wentai, execute their nine generations."

"Min Gui, Wang Ji, Yang Qiao, Shi Qin, Zhong Lan, exterminate their three generations!"

"As for the remaining officials, those above the fifth rank will have their entire families executed!"

"Those below the fifth rank will have their homes confiscated and their heads displayed to the public, their female relatives will be sent to the Jiaofang Division, and their male relatives will be exiled three thousand miles away to serve in the military and guard the borders!"

As soon as Zhu You樘's order was issued, the entire Meridian Gate Square was filled with desperate cries for mercy.

Such severe punishment shocked the civil and military officials.

The most terrifying thing was that Zhu You樘 was going to execute the nine generations of three people in one breath.

It should be known that the last time Qiu Yue privately communicated with the enemy, bribed the Tatar prince, and arbitrarily opened the gate to let the Tatars into the pass,

Even with such acts of treason and selling out the country, only he alone had his nine generations executed.

And this time, there were three people!

At the same time, the number of people whose three generations were exterminated was as high as five.

It should be known that the last time, only Zhou Shi's plot of great treason led to the extermination of the three generations of the Zhou brothers.

And Ma Wensheng, the Minister of War who was primarily responsible for Qiu Yue's treason and selling out the country, only had his three generations exterminated.

And this time, there were five people whose three generations were exterminated!

Zhu You樘 was truly going mad with killing!

This was enough to show Zhu You樘's hatred for those who poisoned the late Emperor.

If he didn't kill them severely, he wouldn't be able to suppress these officials!

They dared to poison the late Emperor, if he didn't scare them, they might even dare to attack him!

In the Meridian Gate Square, hundreds of officials knelt and rushed towards the Meridian Gate, crying hoarsely.

"Your Majesty, I am wronged! Your Majesty, I am wronged!"

"Your Majesty, I never knew that there were such secrets surrounding the late Emperor's death, your humble subject is wronged!"

"Your humble subject is loyal to the Great Ming, to the late Emperor, and to Your Majesty, I beg Your Majesty to investigate and clear my name!"

"Your Majesty, I am wronged! I beg Your Majesty to investigate! I beg Your Majesty to investigate!"

"…"

The officials' cries of injustice were endless.

As for whether there were any injustices, no one knew.

But with so many officials involved in this case, it would not be surprising even if there were wrongful convictions.

But the current Zhu You樘 no longer cares about who deserves to be punished and who is being wronged.

Zhu You樘 patted the railing, filled with grief and indignation.

"The late Emperor's death was unclear, my heart is filled with sorrow, and I no longer have the heart to distinguish between truth and falsehood, right and wrong."

Zhu You樘 turned around and slowly walked back to the dragon throne and sat down.

"Issue an edict, open the Duan Gate and summon the Camp Destroyer into the palace."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial left to receive the order, and not long after, the Duan Gate behind the Meridian Gate Square slowly opened.

Dozens or hundreds of Camp Destroyer soldiers in black armor and long sabers slowly walked into the Meridian Gate Square from the Duan Gate.

Seeing this group of killing gods, the officials on the Meridian Gate Square, whether those already sentenced to death or the innocent ones waiting nearby, were nearly scared out of their minds.

After all, the scene of the Assault Battalion's massacre of officials was still deeply imprinted in their hearts.

The last time, they had watched the execution from the city walls, which, although grand, was still at a distance.

But this time, these Assault Battalion soldiers were right in front of them, close enough to touch.

Facing the Assault Battalion at such close range, the civil and military officials seemed to be able to smell the blood on their bodies.

"The… the Assault Battalion!"

"Why did His Majesty let the Assault Battalion in? This… this group of killers… what should we do?"

"No wonder His Majesty changed the court session to be held in front of the Meridian Gate today. These four sides are all high walls, we have nowhere to hide!"

"Heavens! What is His Majesty trying to do?! What is he trying to do?!"

"…"

The civil and military officials looked at the towering palace walls around them, their hearts collapsing!

The towering palace walls on all sides trapped them firmly in the square, like turtles in a jar, with nowhere to escape.

Only at this moment did the court officials finally understand the true intention behind Zhu You樘's decision to move today's court session to this location.

At this moment, the Assault Battalion soldiers who had entered the Meridian Gate Square were slowly approaching them!

Zhu You樘 looked at the Assault Battalion and coldly issued an order.

"Assault Battalion, listen to my command!"

Zou Yi, the personal guard general of Gao Shun, led hundreds of Assault Battalion soldiers behind him, quickly took two steps forward, knelt down, and waited for the imperial decree.

"Immediately execute this group of traitorous officials in front of the Meridian Gate who are without ruler or father, who have abandoned their country and their families!"

"Execute them all, leave not a single one!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"The Assault Battalion respectfully obeys the imperial decree!"

Hundreds of Assault Battalion soldiers stood up and drew their long sabers.

"Kill!"

With a furious roar, Zou Yi brandished his saber and charged straight at the guilty officials kneeling in front of the Meridian Gate.

The Assault Battalion soldiers behind him followed closely, unleashing a strong killing intent.

The guilty officials in front of the Meridian Gate were scared out of their souls upon seeing this scene.

They all rushed to the Meridian Gate, begging for mercy with all their might.

"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!"

"Your Majesty, I was only acting under orders! I will never dare to do it again! From now on, I will only listen to Your Majesty and never listen to the cabinet again!"

"Your Majesty, spare my life, I beg you, Your Majesty!"

"…"

They were afraid, they were truly afraid this time!

They regretted it, they truly regretted it this time!

But they didn't sincerely regret participating in the late Emperor's poisoning case, but rather they knew they were really going to die this time!

The Assault Battalion passed through the horrified civil and military officials, and killed the guilty officials in front of the Meridian Gate.

As the saber fell, so did a head with a terrified expression.

Heads rolled on the ground, and blood flowed freely!

"Ahhhhh!!!!"

"No! Please don't kill me!!!"

"I am innocent! Don't kill me! I am innocent!!!"

"I was just following orders, I am innocent!!!"

"Your Majesty, spare me!!!"

"…"

The panicked guilty officials began to flee in all directions, some even hiding behind the innocent officials behind them.

The relentless Assault Battalion soldiers, like wolves among sheep, also wielded their sabers and killed towards the group of officials behind the Meridian Gate Square.

This also frightened the innocent officials out of their wits.

They didn't bother to continue kneeling on the ground, and quickly stood up and dodged the guilty officials.

"Don't come over here!!! It is you that His Majesty wants to kill, why are you running over here to harm me?!"

"Don't kill me, I am innocent, the person you want to kill is over there!"

"Ahhh! Get away from me, don't come and harm me!"

"…"

The Meridian Gate Square was in chaos.

The guilty officials, who had been ordered to be executed by Zhu You樘, fled like startled birds, holding their heads and scurrying around.

They specifically hid behind innocent officials, some even hiding behind Xu Pu, Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Li Dongyang and others.

The officials who were implicated by the guilty officials were also terrified and desperately dodged the guilty officials and the Assault Battalion soldiers.

This time, it was a different feeling from when they watched the execution on the city wall before.

The last time they watched the execution, they were far away on the city wall, as spectators.

They were separated from the execution ground by a safe city wall.

This time, they were in the execution ground, as participants.

The whistling sabers, the wailing guilty officials, the spraying blood and the falling heads.

Were all around them, right in front of their eyes.

The tragic reality stimulated their nerves, bringing them unparalleled fear.

They wanted to run, but the palace walls surrounded them.

They had nowhere to hide, they could only press their bodies tightly against the palace walls, begging not to be accidentally injured by the Assault Battalion.

There were countless officials who were frightened into incontinence, officials who collapsed from fright, and officials who fainted from fright.

Screams and cries rang out from all directions.

On the Meridian Gate Square, the three parties were like cats and mice, fleeing and hunting everywhere, the scene was in chaos.

Zhu You樘 watched the scene in front of him with cold eyes, and the anger in his heart subsided slightly.

If you dare to murder the emperor, you must be prepared to have your family confiscated and exterminated!

Zhu You樘 was going to kill all the civil and military officials who dared to murder the emperor for the late Emperor and the later Emperor!

The Qing emperors reigned for so long because the Qing Dynasty killed the civil officials until they knelt upon seeing the Manchus, killed the civil officials until they called themselves slaves, and killed the civil officials until they shaved their heads and changed their clothes!

Breaking their courage completely settled them down!

And the Qing Dynasty also engaged in literary inquisitions from time to time, periodically killing a batch of civil officials, directly breaking their backbones!

From then on, the civil officials only dared to kowtow and shout 'Long live' in front of the Qing emperor, and did not dare to raise their heads and scold the clear sky!

The Manchu 'wild boar skins' could slaughter civil officials, why couldn't I?

After watching the scene in front of him for a while, which was like a living hell, Zhu You樘 turned his head expressionlessly to look at Huai En.

"What about the families of these officials?"

"Your Majesty, those family members who were captured are still kneeling in front of the Imperial Ancestral Temple."

"There are also some family members who have not been captured, they should still be in their respective homes."

"As for the nine generations of Liu Ji, Zhang Ying, and Liu Wentai, and the three generations of Min Gui, Wang Ji, Shi Qin, and others."

"They are still in their respective places of origin, and the East Depot has not yet freed up their hands to go and capture them."

Zhu You樘 nodded: "Those family members should still be dragged to the vegetable market for a centralized execution."

"It will not be too late to clean up those relatives in various places after the capital is cleaned up."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After Huai En respectfully accepted the decree, he asked again: "Your Majesty, do you need to escort the relatives of these guilty officials to the capital for execution?"

"No need, execute them on the spot."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Chapter Five is on the shelves!