Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Time has quietly arrived in May, and a heavy rain suddenly descended on Beijing.

The sky was clear just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, dark clouds rolled in. It seemed that there was no time for the people to breathe, and the rain swept over the entire capital like a torrent.

The workers in several dyehouses outside Zhengyangmen had just pulled the cloth, and violent rain had already fallen. The soybean-like rain made it difficult to open one's eyes.

"The rain is coming! The rain is coming!"

Some experienced people realized that a heavy rain was coming when they saw the dark clouds rolling in the east, and many enthusiastic children shouted to help.

Such shouting is commonplace in this era. It may be regarded as the "weather forecast" of this era, and the way of dissemination is word of mouth after seeing it.

It's just like the sudden appearance of lightning in the sky. Although you can see the traces of lightning in advance, the propagation speed of thunder is unmatched.

Crackling...

This heavy rain was like a descending tyrant, and the raindrops as big as soybeans were like dense bullets, attacking this century-old city without hesitation.

People in Beijing have clothes and other things to dry in their homes. Although some people responded promptly, the vast majority of residents could only take the things away in the rain.

Since Liu Ying became the leader of the cooperative female worker team of the Royal Cloth Company, she has stayed at home and worked hard at weaving almost every day, but it is still a little late to run out to collect clothes.

The remaining clouds bring away the summer heat, and the new rain brings the autumn hills.

As if in an instant, this heavy rain had already taken over this ancient city. The raindrops as big as soybeans hit the green bricks or stones that still had residual heat, and soon clouds of light blue mist appeared.

This is the case in this era. Even in the face of a very ordinary rainstorm, if the response is not timely, the things to be dried at home will be baptized by the rainstorm, and even cause certain property losses.

In the face of the unpredictable climate, especially before there was a weather forecast system, even if it was an ordinary heavy rain, human beings seemed so insignificant.

"kill!"

Suddenly, the four gates of the Forbidden City were filled with shouts of killing. A group of men in armor took advantage of the heavy rain and came through the water. They were just less than ten meters away from the open gate, and the shouts of killing continued.

Zhu Xizhe, the commander of Jinwu Guards in charge of Donghua Gate, learned that there were traitors attacking Donghua Gate. He immediately fell to the ground, and his crotch became wet in an instant.

The same situation happened at Bei'anmen. Faced with the sudden appearance of the rebels, when he learned that the rebels had entered the palace gate, the top official who was guarding the gate was so frightened that he was at a loss.

Although Wu Xun was born with a high level of loyalty, he is still a coward who has never been on the battlefield. The sudden mutiny exposed his attributes of crowdsourcing.

Boom!

A bolt of lightning appeared in the sky, and a loud noise came from the billowing dark clouds.

At this moment, the downpour seemed to drown everything, and the shouts of death were also drowned in the rolling thunder.

It's just that when raindrops as big as soybeans fell on the 700 acres of water, even though the raindrops fell roughly, the surface of the lake was soft and overcame the hardness, absorbing all the violent raindrops.

Xiyuan, Yangxin Hall.

Although the heavy rain outside was pouring down, it only made the place a little darker, and the sandalwood stove next to it still gave rise to curls of green smoke.

Zhu Youtang was not affected by the heavy downpour outside. He had been reviewing memorials here, but when three young people came here to report in the rain, his face suddenly turned grim.

His eyes were bright and clear, and his whole person became more and more mature. Through this bloodbath of the powerful people in the capital, his prestige rose to a higher level.

It's just that this killing did not involve selfishness. He actually never minded the powerful people in the capital making a lot of money, but if the way to make money was to squeeze or even force his own compatriots to death, then the matter would be different.

For powerful people who have no bottom line, and beasts who do not care about the life and death of their compatriots, he will naturally make them feel the pain of being cut in half or beheaded.

However, this bloodbath eventually had a negative effect. Some powerful people chose to stand on their opposite side. The last eight words left by Sun Ming illustrate the aspirations of some powerful people.

It would not be inconceivable if someone in this group of powerful people wanted to overthrow him.

Perhaps in their eyes, killing some of their compatriots was not considered a fault, but that Zhu Youtang was no longer worthy of sitting on the dragon throne.

Seizing the door is actually a false proposition.

It was justifiable for Yingzong to seize the throne. After all, as the Supreme Emperor, Yingzong took advantage of Emperor Jingtai's critical illness to return to the throne.

It's just that as the only emperor in the world now, no one can replace him openly. Even if King Xing replaces him, it is just usurping the throne.

Although there is no such thing as seizing the throne, it is still necessary to prevent treacherous ministers from seeking power and usurping the throne. It is difficult to prevent conspirators who want to support King Xing to replace him.

Since the development of the country, the powerful people in the capital have indeed formed a huge network of relationships through marriage and other methods, but they may not unite to deal with themselves.

In view of the lessons learned from the incident of seizing the gate, in addition to being careful about one's own diet, the guards of the imperial city need to pay more attention to it.

"Your Majesty, there was indeed a problem in the drills at Donghua Gate and Bei'an Gate just now. The two generals guarding the gates became lax in the heavy rain. Not only did they not wear armor, but they were also very afraid of fighting! However, the generals at the bottom and the Jinwu Guards responded very quickly, and the drill The soldiers only rushed to the palace gate, but they were surrounded by them in the heavy rain!" Wang Xiang knelt in the palace with Chang Jing and Chang Feng, and reported the report full of guilt.

Zhu Youtang sighed deeply and said calmly: "What now?"

"All the gatekeepers are wearing armor and standing at their posts. The two gatekeepers have been arrested and are at your Majesty's disposal!" Chang Jing and Chang Feng exchanged a look and reported seriously.

Zhu Youtang put his left hand on the table and tapped his fingers gently. At this time, the sound of needle dropping could be heard in the hall.

There were originally twenty-six personal guards under the emperor's personal guard, and the one responsible for guarding the imperial city was the Jinwu Guard. However, after the Tumubao Incident, most of the elite troops of the Twenty-Six Guards were lost, and they were completely in decline.

Different from the three major battalions, the twenty-sixth Guards after heavy damage were not rebuilt. Except for Tengxiang Left Guard, Tengxiang Right Guard, Wu Xiang Left Guard and Wu Xiang Right Guard, they were under the command of the Royal Horse Supervisor. The remaining personnel Put it under the control of the Ministry of War.

In the past, Zhu Youtang could only focus on the background of the top general guarding the gate, but now the situation has changed a lot, so he knows that the guards of his palace need to be loyal in action.

The borrowing of later exercise methods this time undoubtedly exposed a big problem.

Zhu Youtang knew it was time to make a change, so he said calmly: "Those two people are about to be dismissed from their posts, and the generals who were the first to lead the siege will be promoted! Chang Jing, Chang Feng, you two brothers still need to gain experience, and you cannot insult King Kaiping." and the prestige of the founding father, so although you two are responsible for the Jinwu Guard, you should take turns going to the border areas to take turns!"

"Thank you for your support, Your Majesty!" Chang Jing and Chang Feng's eyes lit up slightly, and they immediately expressed their stance respectfully.

Zhu Youtang knew that maternal relatives were harmful, and Wang Mang of the Han Dynasty was a maternal relative who usurped the throne. However, in this power game, whoever was in power was actually a threat to the imperial power.

In the original history, one of the biggest reasons for the destruction of the Ming Dynasty was that the civil servant group was so powerful that in the end the court was unable to collect taxes at all.

As a qualified emperor, he cannot completely deny any party. Instead, he needs the forces of all parties to restrain each other to ensure that everyone holds their own thick thighs.

Zhu Youtang's financial liquidation has damaged the interests of Wuxun Group, so he decided to reuse his relatives. He turned to the Prime Minister and said, "Wang Qing, the first screening of Jinyiwei's redundant personnel was done well. The second time Focus on the riding skills of the Jinyiwei! The Jinyiwei are mainly responsible for collecting and transmitting intelligence. I hope they can send it to the capital immediately after receiving the information. Otherwise, they will not even have the ability to ride a horse. What is the use of such mediocre people?"

"I accept the decree!" After taking over Zhu Ji's position, Wang Xiang followed the emperor's wishes and carried out an epic purge within Jinyiwei, appearing to express his attitude respectfully.

Zhu Youtang gently raised his hand to signal the three of them to leave.

It is difficult for any department to avoid decline. The Jinyiwei was originally the sharpest sword of the Ming Emperor, but it had to be abandoned during the Chongzhen period.

In addition to the hereditary Jin Yiwei children, the children of Wu Xun, the children of foreign relatives, the children of the emperor, the children of officials and the relatives of eunuchs all crowded into this place, making it a waste shelter.

The Ming army was not satisfied with its pay, but was invincible if it was fully paid.

Although this is an exaggeration, it also has a certain truth, and the biggest root cause in the late Ming Dynasty was dissatisfaction with pay.

Why did the later Ming Dynasty continue to collect Liao pay, suppression pay, and training pay from the people despite natural disasters? Wasn't it because raising troops required huge expenditures?

Zhu Youtang didn't want to raise tens of thousands of rubbish. If he had a little money, he might as well expand Camp Aegis.

Fortunately, Zhu Ji's evil deeds were exposed, and he could use Zhu Ji's incident to clean up Jin Yiwei.

In fact, finding the moth in Jinyiwei is not the ultimate goal, but to take this opportunity to clean out all the related households of Jinyiwei so that Jinyiwei can regain its vitality.

That's why the number of Jin Yiwei should be reduced to ten thousand, and at the same time, all the thousands and hundreds of related households should be eliminated as much as possible, and replaced with some capable Jin Yiwei like Lu Song, Mou Bin and Zhang Cai.

Wang Xiang and the other three bowed respectfully and then left cautiously.

The summer rainstorms always come and go, and the sky outside has cleared up.

When the three kings and prime ministers left, two middle-aged men wearing fifth-grade official uniforms came towards them.

The Baijia Academy in charge of Zhang Sheng and Xie Qian can be said to be prosperous. Zhang Sheng has established branches in two capitals and thirteen provinces, while the "Ming" magazine in charge of Xie Qian is booming.

The two people followed the young eunuch into the palace, appeared polite and polite, and then presented the latest issue of "Ming" through Liu Jin.

Zhu Youtang took the "Ming" magazine from Liu Jin's hand and began to read it.

In the latest issue, the content involves medicine and breeding, which undoubtedly greatly improves the practical value. It's just that practical communication has to take a back seat, and now he mainly wants to control public opinion in his own hands.

Although Chongzhen had character flaws such as being suspicious, the biggest problem was that public opinion was not in the hands of the emperor, but in the hands of the scholar-bureaucrats in the civil service group.

Under this situation, many people don't know what Zhu Chongzhen is thinking, let alone an emperor who "the emperor guards the country, and the king dies for the country".

Zhu Youtang doesn't mind the history books labeling him a tyrant, but he knows the importance of public opinion now.

Like this time, the new policies related to national finance were passed to the local areas through the "Ming" magazine, so that scholars and people all over the world knew what the court was doing and why so many powerful people were killed.

As for the earlier Liu Daxia incident, if the whole story had not been made public through the "Ming" magazine, I am afraid that all the people in the world would only think that they had killed a moral gentleman indiscriminately.

Just like this, Ming magazine is like its own self-media. No matter how the literati group below arranges itself, it can announce the truth of the matter through its own mouthpiece.

Zhu Youtang read it quickly and found that Xie Qian had used a large amount of space to create characters for Wang Yue and Song Cheng, so he nodded gently and said: "This issue has been done well! How is the current sales situation?"

"Your Majesty, the last issue sold 50,000 copies!" Zhang Sheng stopped intervening in the editing work and turned to be responsible for the sales of the publication, and he immediately seemed delighted.

Zhu Youtang frowned slightly, but shook his head gently: "This sales volume is still too low! As soon as possible, we will start the three-level agency method of province, prefecture and county, and cooperate with local law-abiding merchants. I will reach the target before the end of the year. A single issue sold 300,000 copies!”

Although the sales volume of "Ming" magazine is very high now, since the price is two yuan per copy, the amount of a single issue reaches ten thousand taels. Just to achieve the best printing results, it cost 200,000 taels to build two sets of copper movable type printing plates, and sending the printed "Ming" magazine from Beijing and Nanjing to other places also required a transportation fee.

Of course, in this era when publications are not very developed, the publication industry is in its infancy. It is something to be proud of to have a revenue of 240,000 taels in the initial stage.

Zhu Youtang decided to learn from the methods of later generations and change the local promotion of "Ming" magazine, not to make money from the literati group, but to completely control the public opinion of the country.

"Your Majesty, is this 82 points too high?" Zhang Sheng hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn't help but ask.

Zhu Youtang waved his hand lightly and said firmly: "If the provincial general agent can reach 20,000 copies per phase, not to mention your Baijiayuan, it will actually generate a lot of revenue, and it is only natural that they work so hard to get this share! Master Zhang, please broaden your horizons. What we want is for "Ming" magazine to become a must-read for scholars all over the world. After the sales volume of a single issue reaches 300,000, not only will the influence increase, but the economic benefits will be greater than you imagined. I am afraid!"

In fact, Zhang Sheng had no way of knowing that the advertising value contained here was far beyond imagination.

"Follow the order!" Zhang Sheng knew that although Zhu Youtang's promotion method would benefit many businessmen, it was indeed the best way to promote "Ming" magazine nationwide.

After Zhu Youtang sent Zhang Sheng and Xie Qian away, he saw that it was already late and had no intention of fishing, so he took the dragon chariot back to the Forbidden City.

Perhaps it was because the heavy rain had gone through a drill, but the Jinwu guards at Xiyuanmen and Xihuamen seemed to be in high spirits and did not show any signs of slacking off.

Zhu Youtang knew that there were not so many rebellious people in China. As long as he was not the kind of emperor who did bad things, the people below him would still be firmly loyal to him.

Like earlier, there were still people who dared to label themselves as tyrants, but after the financial rectification incident, there were several cases in the capital where they were beaten up for orchestrating it.

He may have gradually distanced himself from the elite, but whether they are ordinary people at the bottom or soldiers in the army, there are actually more and more people who are sincerely loyal to him.

After the heavy rain, the sky was filled with stars, and the Qianqing Palace was brightly lit.

Zhu Youtang turned over the cards tonight and found the Lotus Beauty. When he saw Liu Jin leaving, he said lightly: "Call the Moon Beauty over too!"