mtlumby2d Chapter 148
Chapter 148
The worst thing a eunuch could do was disobey the emperor's orders. Otherwise, with just one word from the emperor, Zhang Yong would be dead. No matter how high Zhang Yong's position was, no official would submit a memorial on his behalf after his death.
There was a natural antagonism between eunuchs and civil and military officials.
Any official who dares to speak up for a eunuch is simply not interested in working in the officialdom.
"What does Eunuch Zhang intend to do?"
Yang Yiqing raised an eyebrow and said.
"His Majesty has decreed that the True Man Baoyi Shouzheng is performing rituals in the palace to help the souls of the deceased to find peace. The rituals will last for seven days. During these seven days, no one outside the palace is allowed to disturb the process, and court sessions will be suspended for the next seven days."
As soon as Zhang Yong said this, the officials at the Meridian Gate were in an uproar. They had come here to see the emperor, but now they couldn't even get in. What should they do?
Yang Ting and Yang Yiqing, those two old foxes, instantly realized that the emperor probably already knew what Zhou Chu was going to do, otherwise he wouldn't have made Zhang Yong wait here.
But even though they understood, they were helpless. Force their way into the palace? Only someone who didn't want to die would do that.
Forcibly storming the palace would be tantamount to a coup, and the emperor would likely accuse them of treason. Coupled with Zhou Chu's ruthless nature, none of them would survive.
"Gentlemen, what are you all standing there for? Let's go back."
Xia Yan said irritably.
If we were to ask who is most satisfied with the current situation, it would undoubtedly be Xia Yan.
If something makes both Yang Yiqing and Yang Tinghe extremely anxious, then the beneficiary of that matter will definitely be the emperor, followed by Xia Yan.
Xia Yan didn't care about Zhou Chu's madness. In Xia Yan's eyes, Zhou Chu wouldn't be able to cause trouble for long. So, no matter how crazy this commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was, as long as he didn't provoke Xia Yan, it wouldn't be a big problem.
As for the officials who were arrested? Xia Yan didn't care at all. Most of them were Yang Tinghe's men, and a small number were Yang Yiqing's men. Zhou Chu had eliminated 80% of their cronies, so it would be much easier for Xia Yan to take action against Yang Yiqing.
After all, Xia Yan had the entire Jiangnan Group behind him. He didn't dare to openly oppose Yang Tinghe, but he felt that dealing with Yang Yiqing was more than enough.
As soon as Xia Yan said this, all the officials dispersed.
Yang Yiqing and Yang Tinghe were also helpless, but they also knew that Zhou Chu was just going through a last-ditch effort. Since they couldn't stop him, they would just let him do as he pleased, since Zhou Chu had captured more than just their own people anyway.
For a time, the capital was plunged into an extremely strange atmosphere. The Northern Garrison Command kept borrowing troops from other garrisons, and every day they were either arresting people or confiscating property. For a while, the entire capital seemed to be shrouded in dark clouds.
And this dark cloud is none other than Zhou Chu.
This time, Zhou Chu even skipped the process of proposing crimes and directly sentenced these officials. Most were exiled, a few were sentenced to be executed in the autumn, and a very few died in the imperial prison.
This was something Zhou Chu had discussed with Jiajing long ago, in order to prevent any unforeseen complications. Once it came to the stage of determining guilt, as the saying goes, "the law does not punish the masses." Even if Zhu Houcong was the emperor, he could not convict so many people at once, and in the end, most of them would probably escape unscathed.
Since that's the case, Zhou Chu simply took the blame. At this point, Zhou Chu was completely unconcerned and fearless.
In just three days, the Northern Garrison Command arrested a thousand officials, filling the prison to capacity. The jailers and guards had never seen anything like it before, and they huddled to the side, trembling with fear, not daring to ask a single question for fear of being implicated.
On the sixth day, Zhou Chu had dealt with all the corrupt officials and confiscated their residences in the capital. In the capital alone, more than 30 million taels of silver and more than 600 million strings of copper coins were confiscated, and the warehouses of the Northern Garrison were filled with jewelry and antiques.
At the same time, Zhou Chu dispatched 10,000 Imperial Guards, in teams of ten, to raid the homes of these officials.
In an instant, almost half of the Imperial Guards were mobilized by Zhou Chu.
Zhou Chu was not stingy. He waved his hand and took out one million strings of copper coins, which he had his commanders distribute to their subordinates. Each member of the Imperial Guard received forty or fifty strings of coins, which was a considerable sum of money.
On the seventh day, Zhou Chu went to the palace with the documents for confiscating his property.
"Your Majesty, this is the money obtained from confiscating property."
As Zhou Chu spoke, he handed the document to Huang Jin, who then presented it to Jiajing.
When Jiajing opened the document, he was so excited that he almost dropped it on the ground.
"Six hundred million strings of copper coins?"
Emperor Jiajing stared wide-eyed at the astronomical figure with disbelief.
The annual fiscal expenditure of the Ming Dynasty was only about 50 to 60 million taels of silver, roughly equivalent to 50 million strings of copper coins. The money confiscated from the house this time was equivalent to more than ten years of the Ming Dynasty's fiscal expenditure. For a moment, Jiajing was so excited that he forgot himself.
This means that he won't have to worry about money for at least ten years, not even counting the money these officials have back in their hometowns.
But thinking about it, it makes sense. Back then, Emperor Taizu killed so many officials, firstly to eliminate the former officials of the Yuan Dynasty, and secondly to confiscate their property, which provided funds for the military.
Throughout the Hongwu reign, despite years of war, the national treasury was never empty, and the Ming Dynasty was never short of money.
In an instant, Jiajing felt as if he had been enlightened. It turned out that his ancestors had already demonstrated this method, but later generations had not learned its essence.
Come to think of it, normally, let alone moving a thousand officials at once, even moving four or five would be met with various excuses from the civil officials. Even when the powerful eunuchs held sway, they never dared to move too many people at once.
Moreover, those eunuchs held absolute power and always lined their own pockets when confiscating property, unlike the Embroidered Uniform Guard who were so dedicated.
"Weighing instrument, you have done a great service, an incredible service."
Jiajing's voice trembled.
"I will now draft an edict to grant you the title of Marquis of Changping."
After Jiajing finished speaking, he picked up his pen and began to draft the imperial edict.
"Your Majesty, you mustn't do that. If you confer titles at this time, the civil and military officials will surely cause an uproar."
Zhou Chu hurriedly said.
"It's alright. I drafted a secret edict. The matter of bestowing titles will remain a secret for now. We will announce it to the world when the time is right."
As Jiajing spoke, he continued to draft the imperial edict.
Time flies, and soon it was the eighth day. The officials finally had the day to attend court. The first thing they did was surprisingly unanimous: they all submitted memorials to impeach Zhou Chu.
Especially those upright officials listed more than a dozen crimes against Zhou Chu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, as if to proclaim to the world that this commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was unforgivable and his crimes were too numerous to count.
Yang Ting and Yang Yiqing joined forces again to impeach Zhou Chu, and Xia Yan naturally had to cooperate with them, also presenting his own memorial.
With very few exceptions, over 90% of the officials who attended court participated in the impeachment proceedings.
Do you all believe Zhou Hengqi is guilty?
Looking down at the civil and military officials below, Jiajing felt extremely disappointed.
"Your Majesty, I believe Commander Zhou is innocent."
A voice rang out, surprising everyone.
Yang Shen resolutely stood up and spoke up for Zhou Chu.
Yang Tinghe suddenly turned to look at his son, as if he had seen a ghost.