Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 52: Eight Tigers Promoted
Zhu Houzhao looked at the officers and soldiers behind him and smiled: "Very good, you are worthy of being my loyal and brave men! However, tonight, the eunuch Wang Yue and others who hold the seal of the Imperial Household Department are planning to rebel! They want you to kill me tonight. Liu Jin, tell them why I recruited them into the palace to protect me tonight!"

So Liu Jin loudly told the officers and soldiers present that Zhang Zhao had been dismissed from his post and why he suddenly falsely conveyed the imperial edict in an attempt to instigate them to cause trouble.

The officers and soldiers present were all horrified and even a little afraid. After all, rebellion was something they dared not even think about, especially now that they had received their salary. They did not want to accompany the eunuchs in the palace to do a job that might cost them their lives.

Therefore, these officers and soldiers looked at Wang Yue and others with more hatred.

Zhu Houzhao was pleased to see these officers and soldiers act like this, and felt a lot more relaxed, because this showed that he, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty still had the support of the people and the military. At least most people did not want to and dared not rebel.

Zhu Houzhao decided to take this opportunity to make these officers and soldiers further realize whose troops they belonged to, so he loudly asked: "Tell me, are you my soldiers? Are you the army of my great Ming Dynasty?"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

All the officers and soldiers shouted.

Zhu Houzhao pressed his hand, and the well-trained officers and soldiers stopped shouting. At this time, Zhang Zhao started crying: "Your Majesty, please spare my life, Your Majesty, please spare my life!"

Zhu Houzhao said nothing more. Seeing that the person closest to him was the commander-in-chief Xia Ming, he ordered: "Take your officers and soldiers to arrest all these traitors and temporarily detain them in your barracks. If anyone escapes, you will commit suicide!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

The commander-in-chief named Xia Ming hurriedly took his men to take Wang Yue, Lu He and others away.

Zhu Houzhao naturally couldn't wait for the Jinyiwei to come and take him away, and he had to reorganize the Jinyiwei. Seeing that Taiping Hou Zhang Jie was also in the nearest position, he ordered: "Zhang Jie, take your officers and soldiers to immediately surround the Jinyiwei Northern Pacification Division and the Imperial Prison, as well as the residence of Jinyiwei Commander Mou Bin!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Marquis Taiping Zhang Jie also immediately left the Forbidden City with his officers and soldiers.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao walked over to Xu Jin, the Minister of War, and Zhang Mao, the Duke of England, and said, "From now on, the capital is under martial law! Within three days, entry and exit are strictly prohibited, and common people are not allowed to leave the city! The regiments and camps are under your command. Anyone who disobeys will be executed immediately!"

Minister of War Xu Jin and Duke of England Zhang Mao also hurriedly received the order and left.

Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhang Yong at this time: "All the imperial guards are on duty and deployed in the palace. You are in charge of the overall command!"

"I obey your order!"

Zhang Yong hurriedly received the order and immediately mobilized the imperial guards to begin adding troops and horses from the Qianqing Palace to the Duanmen Gate.

After saying that, Zhu Houzhao looked at Guo Rong again: "Come here!"

Guo Rong hurried over and asked, "What do you want, Your Majesty?"

"From now on, you will be promoted to the rank of deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and be in charge of the Pacification Office. Go and gather the officers and soldiers you used to serve as a centurion, and then wait outside the Meridian Gate. I will have someone give you an imperial edict, and you take the edict to take over the Embroidered Uniform Guard Prison! At the same time, you will come to see me alone at the Palace of Heavenly Purity at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow!" Guo Rong also hurriedly accepted the order and left. He was very surprised and delighted at the same time. He thought that being with His Majesty would lead to promotion quickly. He had not been a centurion for half a day, but in the blink of an eye he became the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and was in charge of the Pacification Office. This was a very powerful official!

Then, Zhu Houzhao looked at Liu Jin, Gu Dayong, Ma Yongcheng, Gao Feng, and Wei Bin: "Now you, Zhang Yong, and Qiu Ju are all fine. You should know why this happened today and who saved your lives!"

"The eunuchs understand! It was the traitor Wang Yue and others who wanted to kill us, and it was the emperor who saved our lives. Without the emperor, we are nothing! We would have even seen the King of Hell long ago! The lives of the eunuchs belong to the emperor!"

Liu Jin and others knew that things had developed to this point because Zhu Houzhao wanted to protect them. Otherwise, Zhu Houzhao could have chosen to kill them and ensure safety. Now they were naturally grateful to Zhu Houzhao and also felt relieved.

"I understand. Follow me to the Imperial Household Department!"

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he took Liu Jin and others to the Imperial Household Department.

When Liu Jin and others heard what Zhu Houzhao said, they knew that Zhu Houzhao was going to promote them, and their faces were filled with excitement.

At this time, the Silijian was already empty, with only one eunuch still copying the cabinet's draft. When Zhu Houzhao came in, the eunuch knelt down hurriedly and said, "Eunuch Chu Ke greets His Majesty!"

Zhu Houzhao saw that he was the only one in the entire Silijian who did not follow Wang Yue to force the emperor to abdicate, and that at a time when the situation in the inner court was changing, he could still sit here calmly and do his own thing. Even if he was not really indifferent, he was still a relatively honest and reliable person.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao directly ordered: "From now on, you are the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department. Now you will draft the imperial edict. Liu Jin will be the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, Ma Yongcheng will be the eunuch in charge of the East Factory, Gu Dayong will be the eunuch in charge of the West Factory, Gao Feng will be the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Horse Department, Wei Bin will be the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Farm, Qiu Ju will be the eunuch in charge of the inner court, and Luo Xiang will be the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Treasury!"

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, Liu Jin and others hurriedly accepted the order and expressed their gratitude.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao yawned and said, "Everyone, get up and go about your own business. Ma Yongcheng, go and control the East Factory first, and then go and confiscate Wang Yue's house outside the palace for me. Gu Dayong, take your people and directly set up the West Factory. Go and confiscate Lu He's house outside the palace for me first. Gao Feng, you also go to the Fourth Guard Camp and mobilize a group of people to confiscate Zhang Zhao's house outside the palace!"

Zhu Houzhao then said, "Liu Jin, accompany me back first. Later, you will also take my order to lead a group of troops to clean up the remnants of Wang Yue's rebel party in the inner court! From now on, I will hand over the inner court to you. If you dare to be disloyal to me, I will not forgive you easily!"

Liu Jin and others hurriedly said that they dared not, and they were afraid to look at Zhu Houzhao again. They didn't know since when, they began to become more and more afraid of Zhu Houzhao.

It was nearly the second half of the night and the cold night was so quiet that not a single sound could be heard.

Zhu Houzhao also returned to the Cining Palace and stretched out his hand: "I want to take a bath!"

Soon, a female official who served Empress Dowager Zhang and was called Ruyi came over to take off Zhu Houzhao's outer robe and began to pass on the message: "Quickly boil water! The emperor wants to take a bath!"

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but ask, "Has the Queen Mother fallen asleep?"

"In reply to Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has been asleep for a long time," Ruyi replied.

Zhu Houzhao said nothing more after hearing this. He only heard footsteps outside again. Liu Jin and others had already started cleaning the inner court. He couldn't help but laugh: "Remember to call me later. From dawn on, I will be the real master of the Ming Dynasty!"

Thanks to the book friend 20181116204935102 for the 500 Qidian coins reward

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(End of this chapter)