Huangji Palace.
Seeing that all the ministers, without exception, stood against him, Emperor Wanli was completely dumbfounded.
"I'll give you one more chance," Wanli drew his sword and said viciously, "The rebels will be exterminated along with their entire clans! I promise I will not show any mercy!"
As he said this, he struck hard with his sword and smashed the elephant-carrying treasure vase on his right hand side, which symbolized peace and prosperity, into pieces!
The ministers remained motionless.
In the final analysis, Wanli was too arrogant. He didn't know how much he had ruined the righteousness by overthrowing Zhang and fighting for the country. He didn't know what Hai Rui meant. How could he rob the head of the door god? Killing Hai Rui would lose the righteousness, and no one would be able to stand on his side.
“Great!” Wanli was furious and brandished his sword in the Golden Palace, roaring, “Today really opened my eyes. This is the first time in the past 200 years that a person has been so disrespectful to his ruler and father. No, even in the entire history of the 21st century, this is the first time!”
"Your Majesty, don't be fooled..." Zhang Hong quickly reminded in a low voice.
"Don't think I don't know what you are up to!" Wanli suddenly realized, pointed his sword at Xu Guo and said, "You are from She County, Huizhou, and are from a neighboring county to Zhao Hao, so you are his die-hard supporter! You incited all officials to oppose me, and tried to protect your accomplices by not punishing the masses, right?!"
"I am not a member of Zhao Hao's party. I am a minister of the Ming Dynasty." Xu Guo said proudly, "But my emperor is Emperor Gao, Emperor Muzong, not a tyrant like you!"
"Emperor Muzong..." All the officials burst into tears and said, "Open your eyes and see what evil creature you have borne!"
"Rebellion, rebellion, rebellion!" All the officials pointed at him and called him an "evil creature". If Wanli thought about taking it back now, he would be completely inhuman. He made up his mind and said viciously:
"Catch all these bastards who bully the emperor and father and put them in the imperial prison. Interrogate them strictly! We must dig out all the rebels!"
"Yes!" The Jingjun rushed forward with a cry. Although they had been castrated, they were all strong and healthy people carefully selected by Wanli and trained strictly for several years.
They rushed forward and knocked the crying civil servants to the ground with the barrels of their guns and the butts of their swords, and beat and kicked them mercilessly. Many of them were immediately covered in blood.
The Huangji Hall was in chaos. The last time the three halls were in such chaos was when Bao Zong was captured by Yesen, and the civil officials beat up Wang Zhen's minions and killed three of them on the spot.
How many years did the eunuch group suffer from the oppression of the civil officials group? And Zhang Jing, the factory owner who was beaten all day, always blamed the civil officials group for everything.
Today I can finally take revenge for my grudges and complain about my grievances!
"Stop it! Don't hit people!" Shen Shixing and several other university secretaries wanted to stop them, but the people from the East Factory picked them up like chickens and took them out first.
On the Golden Platform, Emperor Wanli leaned on his sword with both hands and watched with a cold face as more than 200 ministers were arrested one by one and thrown into the East Factory Prison.
Do you really think that without Zhang the butcher, we can still eat the hairy pigs? When Emperor Taizu killed all the people in the imperial court, wasn't there always someone to fill the vacancy?
In the more recent Zuo Shunmen case, his grandfather, Emperor Jiajing, also arrested so many people, beat more than 180 people with the cane, and killed 17 people on the spot! For a time, the court was empty.
As a result, the heated debate on the grand ceremony came to an end. All the officials who were appointed later were scared. Throughout the life of Emperor Shizong, no one dared to challenge his authority. Well, there was one person who did.
"But that man has been killed by me!" Wanli's neurotic laughter echoed in the messy and blood-stained Huangji Palace.
"Kill them and we can have peace for a few decades again, hahahaha!"
"The emperor wants to execute them all?" Zhang Jing licked his lips excitedly. He was the kind of person who was afraid of chaos in the world.
Although the emperor would have to completely rely on the eunuchs if all the civil officials were killed, Zhang Hong still knew the importance of this matter and whispered, "Your Majesty, please think twice! That would make the local civil and military officials feel grief-stricken and turn to Zhao Hao to protect themselves!"
"Humph." Wanli didn't have that much courage, so he said in a muffled voice: "I have already said it once - first interrogate them strictly! We must dig out all the rebels!"
"Well, not killing..." Zhang Jing felt a little regretful.
"Your Majesty is wise. At the beginning, your majesty arrested 134 officials below the fifth rank, including Yang Shen, and tortured them in the imperial prison, while 86 officials above the fourth rank were ordered to wait for punishment." Zhang Hong said hurriedly, listing all the treasures:
"In the end, those above the fourth rank were stripped of their salaries, and those below the fifth rank were caned. More than 180 people were caned, 17 of whom died from their injuries, and another 8 were drafted into the army. There was still discrimination in treatment."
"The nature of this case is a hundred times more serious than the Zuo Shunmen case! It cannot be as simple as a simple beating in court!" Wanli said in a sinister voice: "First, pick out ten or eight of the main culprits and execute them! If they don't repent, kill another group. I want to see how long they can hold on!"
"Yes!" Zhang Jing responded excitedly. Now he could give those hateful civil servants a good beating.
Wanli exhaled a long breath and asked, "Have all the mine supervisors and tax collectors been sent out?"
"Your Majesty, we should all set off today." Zhang Cheng replied hurriedly.
"There is no need to hide it now. Give them all the imperial edicts and the royal flags! Order the governors, generals and other civil and military officials to be under temporary control! Anyone who disobeys will be charged with treason and executed first and then reported to the emperor! At the same time, immediately seal off all the stores, factories and farms of the Jiangnan Group! Arrest all members, and kill anyone who resists arrest!"
"Your Majesty, there are not so many flags..." Zhang Cheng reminded in a low voice.
"Don't you think you can make one now?" Wanli angrily kicked down the 'Taiping Youxiang' on the other side!
Well, this time there is no peace at all...
But arresting people and confiscating stores is far from enough. According to the high-quality report from the East Factory, the Jiangnan Group not only possesses a very powerful armed force, but may have also dragged many generals into the water.
Therefore, we must strengthen our control over the military in order to be invincible!
So Wanli began to mobilize troops again. He ordered Zhang Hongdao: "You go to the Imperial Horse Administration in person, first clean up the Warrior Battalion and the Four Guards Battalion, and then send people to take over the gates of the capital!"
Then he said to Wei Chao: "Take a thousand clean soldiers and my Emperor's Sword and take over the three camps!"
The armed forces of the Ming Dynasty capital were divided into two parts. One was the three major camps, which were considered the imperial guards directly under the emperor and were known as the elite troops of the Ming Dynasty.
During the reign of Emperor Yongle, it was no exaggeration to say that the three camps were the strongest army in the world. By February of the 14th year of Zhengtong, the total strength of the three camps reached 170,000. Unfortunately, they encountered a loser like Baozong, and their main force was almost completely lost in the Tumu Incident.
Afterwards, the civil service group reformed the Beijing Camp system and abolished the three major camps for a time. It was not until the Jiajing period that the old system of the three major camps during the Yongle period was restored, except that the Sanqian Camp was renamed the Shenshu Camp. Later, during the reign of Gao Gong, all the eunuchs and internal officials in the camp were dismissed, and a general was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp Military Affairs. A civil official was appointed as the assistant to the Beijing Camp Military Affairs, and drastic reforms were carried out.
After that, Zhang Juzheng continued to make unremitting efforts to rectify the camp affairs and military equipment, and the number of troops reached 120,000. Therefore, the combat effectiveness of the three camps was not restored to its peak, but it was at its strongest period since the Battle of Tumu.
In addition, there are the Yulin Army guarding the Forbidden City - the Warrior Battalion and the Four Guards Battalion, which also have tens of thousands of soldiers. They are all young, strong and tall men selected from guards across the country. They are the best in the world in terms of appearance.
Moreover, the Warrior Battalion and the Four Guard Battalions have always been under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Horse Supervisor, and can be said to be the most trusted force of the emperor. Although they were polluted by Feng Bao, they are still trustworthy after more than three years of purification.
Of course, the most trustworthy ones are the 3,000 Jingjun soldiers selected and trained by Wanli himself. Only with them guarding the palace can he sleep peacefully.
Therefore, the emperor in the Forbidden City was protected by the Jingjun, Yulinjun, and Jinjun, a total of more than 100,000 troops. How could Wanli admit defeat without fighting?
Besides, he still had millions of troops in the nine borders and provinces! Last night he calculated that even if he removed those garrison troops that were already in name only, he still had two million troops available!
And thanks to Zhang Juzheng, these troops have few vacancies, and the troops in the capital are even in excess, so their combat effectiveness is guaranteed...
For example, in the capital area, there were 30,000 troops in Jizhou, 30,000 in Miyun, 40,000 in Yongping, and 20,000 in Changping, totaling 120,000 troops. However, the official army had only 90,000 troops... These were all measures taken by Zhang Juzheng to strengthen the defense of the capital area.
Although Wanli hated Zhang Juzheng to death, when he really looked into his family's financial situation, he realized that everything was thanks to Mr. Zhang.
In addition, there are more than 80,000 troops in Liaodong. However, Li Chengliang was deliberately plotted against by Zhao Hao and replaced by Qi Jiguang, so this army cannot be relied upon.
He could only order Yang Siwei, the general of Jizhen, to guard Shanhaiguan.
Fortunately, there are still 34,000 troops in Baoding, and the general Wang Xuan is also trustworthy.
In addition, Xuanda has 55,000 troops led by Li Rusong, and can be transferred to the capital at critical moments.
With so many generals and so many soldiers defending the capital, how could they be defeated by a bunch of peasants?
There was no need to be afraid of the local forces, as there were Ma Gui, Dong Yiyuan, and Dong Yikui in the three frontiers, and Liu Jing and Deng Zilong in Yunnan and Sichuan. These famous generals led large troops and were loyal and brave.
Moreover, they are all from the upper class for generations, and they will definitely not be as cold-hearted as the civil servants.
What made him uneasy were Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Huguang, and Jiangxi. Because these provinces were inland, Zhang Juzheng did not invest much energy in them, and they were all occupied by people from Zhao Hao and Qi Jiguang's faction. For example, the generals of Shandong Wu Weizhong, Guangdong Lin Daoqian, and Fujian Hu Shouren were all untrustworthy.
So Wanli issued another decree to Chen Lin, who was dismissed from his post and stayed at home, appointing him as the commander-in-chief of Jiangnan and the commander-in-chief of Zhejiang military affairs, in order to test the strength of the Jiangnan Group first and see if they were really that powerful.
Wanli also issued an edict to all the generals and deputy generals, ordering them to obey the control of the eunuchs supervising the army, and warned that anyone who colluded with the Jiangnan group would be executed without mercy!
The general is colluding, kill him! Replace him with the deputy general! The deputy general is colluding, kill him! Replace him with a lieutenant general!
At the same time, he promised that after the rebellion was quelled, he would reward people with heavy rewards, at least starting with the title of earl, and he would not be stingy even if it meant becoming a duke or a marquis!
After thinking it over, Wanli added another point: "The princes can assist the imperial eunuchs in eliminating the Jiangnan group in the territory, and all the population, land and houses will belong to them!"
Therefore, Wanli couldn't figure it out. Tell me, with such a huge advantage, how could I lose?
How can Zhao Hao defeat me?