Chapter 4 Stand Up
As Zhu Yuhuan had guessed, what alarmed Empress Dowager Zhang was nothing else but the uprising in Guangping Prefecture.
However, this uprising was different from ordinary refugee uprisings and was closely related to the White Lotus Sect.
The leader of the uprising was named Zhang Puxiang, who originally belonged to the Zhending Guard. He started the uprising in the name of the White Lotus Sect and borrowed the "Heavenly Book". He called himself the "Master of Seven Buddhas". As early as the beginning of the ninth year of Xuande, he had been converting people to become his followers in Henan, Shandong and Shanxi. Now he is so powerful that he even captured Zhangde and plans to continue to capture other cities.
The new emperor had just ascended the throne and had not even changed the reign title when such a thing happened. It was inevitable that people were in panic, so Empress Dowager Zhang was particularly anxious.
Fortunately, this incident did not occur during the reign of his deceased son. The bad thing was that the new emperor had just ascended the throne, and Zhu Qizhen was very young. Now this group of villains was just using the name of the White Lotus Sect, saying something about "the Book of Heaven granting the throne." If a few days later, one of them was smart enough to say that the emperor was young and unfit to rule, that would be a real problem.
There had been many rumors about Zhu Qizhen's ascension to the throne, and the emperor's legitimacy was constantly questioned. Not to mention the royal family, even Zhu Qizhen's reign title became a joke.
Zhang Fu was a man who had been on the march and fought in battles. He said, "The most urgent task now is to quell the rebellion. I can personally lead the troops to quell the rebellion..."
Empress Dowager Zhang waved her hand and said, "Duke Ying is old and the Emperor's husband. It would be inappropriate for you to go in person."
Zhang Fu pondered for a long time before recommending, "Eunuch Liu Yongcheng, the Imperial Horse Supervisor, has led troops for many years and is a skilled warrior. He is also highly favored by Emperor Taizong, Renzong, Xuanzong, and Your Majesty. He is the most suitable commander to suppress the rebellion."
Empress Dowager Zhang nodded slightly upon hearing this and said, "That makes sense. Appoint him as the commander-in-chief and send the troops to show our virtue."
Yang Rong already had a plan in mind and took the initiative to speak, "Zhang Puxiang has no plans. He simply relies on the so-called 'Heavenly Book' to deceive the people. He can only gather a few poor people, so it is difficult for him to achieve anything. In addition to sending troops to suppress the rebellion, the court also needs officials to accompany the commander to Zhangde to appease the people after the rebellion is quelled."
After hearing Yang Rong's words, Yang Pu pondered for a moment and said, "Especially those people who foolishly followed Zhang Puxiang in the rebellion and have been deeply harmed by the so-called 'Heavenly Book'. They need someone to make them understand the emperor's great grace and that the so-called 'Seven Buddha Masters' are nothing but evildoers who have defrauded them of their money, enslaved them, and committed the serious crime of treason."
Yang Rong nodded repeatedly after hearing this, agreeing deeply. He said, "That's right. Otherwise, the evil White Lotus Sect will surely rise again in the future."
Yang Shiqi was initially a little surprised to hear Yang Pu suddenly skip the topic of suppressing the rebellion and mention the emperor's grace and the suppression of the White Lotus Sect, but Yang Rong echoed him, so he said, "Dan'an and Mianren are right."
Empress Dowager Zhang turned to look at Hu Yi and asked, "What do you think, Minister Hu?"
Hu Yi bowed and said, "Please ask the Empress Dowager to defer to the decision of the other four ministers."
After listening to the five people, Empress Dowager Zhang knew that this arrangement was the most appropriate. After thinking for a moment, she said, "The officials accompanying Liu Yongcheng..."
Yang Shiqi recommended: "Wang Qiang, the Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate, has a righteous character. With him accompanying us, we will surely be able to thoroughly investigate the Zhang Puxiang incident. As for pacifying the people..."
Before Empress Dowager Zhang finished speaking, Zhu Qizhen said, "Since you want to show your imperial grace, you should send the royal family..."
When Zhu Qizhen first heard the word "rebellion", his heart skipped a beat, but then he felt a little excited.
Of course he knew that the country had countless soldiers. Not to mention that Zhang Puxiang had not yet captured Zhangde when the news came. Even if Zhang Puxiang captured another city, the Ming army, even if equipped with only the simplest weapons, would be enough to easily annihilate these rebels. When the emperor was alive, he led only 3,000 light cavalry to defeat the Uriankhai. Naturally, he could also achieve such a feat!
However, Zhang Fu had already recommended Liu Yongcheng to quell the rebellion, so Zhu Qizhen could only "settle for the second best". Anyway, there was no need for him to go into battle in person, so he could just "supervise the battle" from behind.
Empress Dowager Zhang, sensing something was amiss, interrupted immediately, "That's excellent. What do you all think of Princess Shunde? When the late Emperor was still alive, he had her practice Taoism with Master Liu Yuanran, and she became quite adept at it. The White Lotus Sect is a heretical Buddhist cult, and it needs to be suppressed by the righteous Daoists."
Zhu Qizhen originally wanted to go by himself, but Empress Dowager Zhang had already mentioned Zhu Yuhuan. He opened his mouth but in the end said nothing.
When Yang Pu heard Empress Dowager Zhang mention Princess Shunde, he understood her thoughts.
At this time, the only vassal kings still in the capital were King Yue and King Wei. King Yue was Empress Dowager Zhang's biological son, but he was in poor health, and the same was true for King Wei. More importantly, King Wei was the son of Concubine Guo, and Empress Dowager Zhang did not want Concubine Guo's son to come to prominence.
With rumors of establishing another King Xiang, Empress Dowager Zhang did not have many royal family members she could mobilize.
It's not that the princes-in-law can't be appointed, but there's no need to use the older generation of princes-in-law for such a small matter. However, the new generation of princes-in-law have never really been trained, and they lack experience and are difficult to convince the public.
As for why it was Princess Shunde - Princess Shunde did have some fame among the people, and even because of her identity as a woman, she was more popular among the people than the princes.
She also held the title of Quanzhen Taoist priest. She had donated grain from the imperial farm to the Chaotian Palace and had also run a charity with Empress Dowager Cihui, earning her a strong reputation in both northern and southern Zhili. She was a natural opponent of the White Lotus sect's demonic monks like Zhang Puxiang, and she held the dual identities of both royalty and a member of the state religion.
Compared with the "Heavenly Book" preached by Zhang Puxiang, Zhu Yuhuan's "kindness" was much more reasonable and practical. Allowing her to promote Taoism in Guangping Prefecture could also suppress the White Lotus Sect to a certain extent.
Zhang Fu naturally had no objection. If he wanted to see someone, he could only look at the remaining four.
Yang Pu had this intention and would never deny it. Hu Yi would not object to this decision that would not affect the overall situation. Only Yang Rong and Yang Shiqi were left.
After seeing Zhu Qizhen silently swallow his rebuttal, Yang Rong and Yang Shiqi understood that since the emperor himself had no objection to Princess Shunde, there was no need for them, the foreign ministers, to say anything more.
Seeing this, Empress Dowager Zhang ordered the female officials around her, "Go and fetch Princess Shunde immediately, and summon the eunuch Liu Yongcheng from the Imperial Stables."
"yes."
Zhu Yuhuan had just taken Zhu Qiyu to meet Hu Shanxiang and Wu Miaosu, and they had just sat down and talked for a few words when they heard that the female official of Empress Dowager Zhang had arrived and wanted to ask her to discuss matters.
Hu Shanxiang and Wu Miaosu were very surprised when they heard this, especially since they had learned from Zhu Yuhuan that Zhu Zhanji had issued the imperial edict, and understood that Empress Dowager Zhang actually did not want Zhu Yuhuan to participate in political affairs.
But now Zhu Yuhuan is asked to go, and with the minister of state present...
One can't help but worry about Zhu Yuhuan.
Zhu Yuhuan did not hesitate. He stood up and said goodbye to the two of them, then followed the female official.
The hall was quite lively. In addition to the grandfather and grandson and the five regents, there was also the non-staff member Liu Yongcheng.
After Zhu Yuhuan paid his respects, Empress Dowager Zhang explained everything clearly. She then told Liu Yongcheng and Zhu Yuhuan, the master and apprentice, "It's getting late today, so we'll have to postpone the army's assembly and departure until tomorrow. Local troops are being consolidated, so the Beijing camp won't need to mobilize too many soldiers. We can select some Tartar officers from the Jinyiwei to accompany us."
Empress Dowager Zhang looked at Zhu Yuhuan and instructed him, "Tell Liu Mian to gather your guards and accompany you to Zhangde. No accidents must happen. As for the specifics of what to do, the accompanying Imperial Censor Wang Qiang will explain it to you."
Her eyes were somewhat complicated. Empress Dowager Zhang naturally understood that Zhu Yuhuan was a smart man and must have guessed what she was going to do there. She also understood that even if Zhu Yuhuan did not leave his name in history, he would at least leave his mark in the history books.
The opportunity to stand upright in this world, completely different from the empresses dowagers, fell on Zhu Yuhuan.
No matter how much Empress Dowager Zhang refused to believe in fate, she had to admit that her granddaughter had both ability and opportunity.
Zhu Yuhuan had no idea what Empress Dowager Zhang was thinking. He simply bowed with Liu Yongcheng and said, "I obey your order."
If she knew, she would only laugh at Empress Dowager Zhang in her heart. The White Lotus Rebellion outside was not a matter of one day or one night. It was just that Zhu Zhanji was there before, so it did not cause any big waves. Now it is just a large-scale outbreak.
This opportunity was brought to Zhu Yuhuan by people from all walks of life in the Ming Dynasty.
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