Returning to the Ming Dynasty as a Corrupt Emperor

Transmigrated to the Great Ming Dynasty, I became Emperor Zhu Youxiao, the Carpenter Emperor. Well then, I'll hide behind the scenes; I'll take the blame, and you all go die.

Chapter 21: Dragon Scales

Sun Chuanting must be used, but how to use him requires careful consideration.

After a moment's silence, Zhu Youxiao tapped the armrest of his wheelchair and then ordered, "Go to the cabinet and convey the order to promote Sun Chuanting to the position of Langzhong of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War."

Although Chen Hong was curious, he didn't dare to ask any more questions at this time. He quickly said, "I will go right away."

The Ministry of War had four Langzhong, who were in charge of the Military Selection Department, the Personnel Department, the Chariot Department and the Arsenal Department respectively.

Among the four departments, the Military Selection Department is the most important. It is responsible for the selection and appointment of military officials and their ranks, and is in charge of the official hats of military generals throughout the world. It corresponds to the Civil Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel.

The remaining Zhifangsi was in charge of the maps of each province.

The Department of Chariots and Horses: in charge of horse-herding policies and postal affairs.

Wu Ku Si: in charge of military registration, weapons, military subjects of provincial examinations, as well as the organization and deployment of troops and garrison matters.

The Langzhong of the Military Selection Office not only held a high position but also had great power. Zhu Youxiao planned to place Sun Chuanting in the Military Selection Office for a transition period.

It was a pity that Sun Chuanting was wasted in his previous life, so Zhu Youxiao naturally wanted to make good use of him in this life. As for how to use him, Zhu Youxiao had not figured it out yet.

Although he had an idea in his mind, Zhu Youxiao wanted to wait until the Liaodong issue came to a conclusion. Now his mind was all on Liaodong, and he didn't know whether Xiong Tingbi would be able to make it in time.

Everything in the palace was peaceful as usual and the emperor did not attend court, but there was a lot of commotion outside because the East Factory started arresting people again.

This time, three people were arrested, namely Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia and Zhang Xiude.

Among these three people, Feng Sanyuan and Zhang Xiude were censors, and Wei Yingjia was a secretary. All three played very disgraceful roles in the Xiong Tingbi incident.

When Xiong Tingbi was impeached, these three people were very happy.

After the Xiong Tingbi incident, the censor Feng Sanyuan impeached Xiong Tingbi for eight acts of lack of strategy and three acts of deceiving the emperor, saying that if Xiong Tingbi was not dismissed, the Liao territory would ultimately be lost.

In history, Emperor Tianqi sent Feng Sanyuan's memorial to the court officials for discussion, which already represented that Emperor Tianqi was dissatisfied with Xiong Tingbi, or that the young emperor was still too naive.

In fact, such behavior will cause misunderstandings among border generals.

Sure enough, when Xiong Tingbi learned that the emperor had acted in this way, he was very angry. He directly wrote a memorial to defend himself and requested to be dismissed from office and return home.

At this time, the censor Zhang Xiu De impeached Xiong Tingbi for destroying Liaoyang.

Xiong Tingbi became even more angry and wrote another memorial to confess, saying, "The Liao land has now turned from danger to safety, but as a minister, I am about to go from life to death."

So he surrendered the imperial sword and tried his best to request his dismissal from office.

Wei Yingjia, the Imperial Censor, took the opportunity to impeach him again. Several people criticized Xiong Tingbi harshly.

But there is one thing that Emperor Tianqi did not know, but Zhu Youxiao now knows it.

Xiong Tingbi was a member of the Chu Party and had previously served as an imperial censor, and he had often attacked members of the Donglin Party. Now that the Donglin Party had come to power, they naturally wanted to retaliate against him.

That’s right, the three people who impeached Xiong Tingbi were from the Donglin Party, so Xiong Tingbi submitted a memorial requesting that someone be sent to investigate.

Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia, Zhang Xiude and others wrote a series of articles to criticize Xiong Tingbi's mistakes, so Xiong Tingbi asked them to send the three of them to verify.

Emperor Tianqi followed Xiong Tingbi's advice.

Censor Wu Yingqi, Imperial Censor Yang Lian and others firmly believed that it was not possible, so they sent Imperial Censor Zhu Tongmeng from the Military Affairs Department instead.

Zhu Tongmeng was also a member of the Donglin Party. After arriving in Liaodong, he witnessed Xiong Tingbi's achievements and wrote a letter to fully describe Xiong Tingbi's achievements. However, he concluded by saying, "When I entered Liao, the people shed tears and praised him, saying that hundreds of thousands of lives were saved because of Tingbi alone. How could he be so easily convicted of guilt?"

"But Tingbi was the most trusted of His Majesty. During the Battle of Puhe, when the enemy attacked Shenyang, he rode to its rescue. What a courageous act! But when he saw the officers and soldiers were cowardly, he suddenly retired and returned home. Where did this put the great favor of His Majesty in his place? Tingbi's merit was in saving Liao, and while this small achievement is commendable, his crime was in failing His Majesty. According to the principle of righteousness between monarch and subject, he cannot escape responsibility. This is the case of his crimes outweighing his merits!"

He acknowledged Xiong Tingbi's contribution, but said that Xiong Tingbi disregarded the emperor's grace and dug up the root of the problem.

Zhu Youxiao actually wanted to ask, what about what you said earlier? Did you treat it as bullshit?

This is also why Yang Lian and others didn't allow Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia, and Zhang Xiude to go to Liaodong. If they had gone, would they have come back and lied with their eyes open? Are you sure the emperor didn't know? If they didn't lie, wouldn't that be a slap in the face? If someone else had gone, they could have said whatever they wanted when they came back. If they had been slapped in the face, the censors would have heard about it and reported it to the emperor.

Zhu Youxiao also realized one thing, that is, Emperor Tianqi was not stupid, but Emperor Tianqi did not expect Yuan Yingtai to be so stupid as to lose Liaoyang and Shenyang.

Emperor Tianqi had just ascended the throne, and perhaps this was a test. It seemed that the Donglin Party had done a good job in this matter and successfully retaliated against Xiong Tingbi.

But what is the reality?

In fact, it made Emperor Tianqi no longer trust them and instead use Wei Zhongxian.

Later, when Wei Zhongxian attacked the Donglin Party, Emperor Tianqi acquiesced and even supported it from behind. It is hard to say that there was no reason for this.

Emperor Tianqi may have seen through this incident the true nature of the Donglin Party. To sum it up in one sentence, "although they have thousands of words in their pens, they have no plan in their hearts." They can talk very well, but when you really ask them to do it, they can't accomplish anything.

Zhu Youxiao knew that although his predecessor was badly slandered and spent all day doing carpentry work, he was actually a bright person at heart.

Now that Wei Zhongxian has arrested Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia and Zhang Xiude, this incident has directly affected the Donglin Party itself.

Yao Zongwen and Liu Guojin might not care about it before, but now Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia and Zhang Xiude are involved. If it continues, who knows who will be implicated. How can the Donglin Party not panic?

So the memorial was submitted again, and the attitude was very firm, directly criticizing Zhu Youxiao, such as favoring powerful eunuchs and not attending court. Anyway, it was not the first time to criticize Long Lin and others.

Throwing the question book aside, Zhu Youxiao leaned on the wheelchair he made with no expression on his face. These question books reminded Zhu Youxiao of those who criticized Emperor Wanli.

In fact, after Zhang Juzheng's downfall, the tendency of factionalism in the court became increasingly serious. The Donglin Party's rhetoric was also formed at that time. They were the ones who criticized Emperor Wanli for not attending court.

Emperor Wanli explained countless times that his legs were inconvenient, but you can never talk to someone who plugs his ears, and now these people are coming to deal with him again.

"Chen Hong, summon the imperial physician to the palace." Zhu Youxiao reached out and knocked on the armrest of the wheelchair, and slowly said, "Have them all come, and make a bigger scene."

After hearing this, Chen Hong bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will do it right away!" After that, he turned around and walked out.

Zhu Youxiao breathed a sigh of relief: "Wei Zhongxian, please don't let me down!"