Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 80: All thrown into prison
As soon as Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, four Jinyiwei arrested Chen Yuanren and Censor Zheng and dragged them to an open space nearby.

Chen Yuanren panicked on the spot. He did not expect that Emperor Zhu Houzhao would be so ruthless. He continued to shout, "Your Majesty, please spare my life! I really did not say anything disrespectful to Ma Gefu. I did not!"

Zhu Houzhao was too lazy to pay attention to Chen Yuanren.

Zheng Yushi also felt very wronged and shouted: "Your Majesty, I am really wronged! I did not insult Ma Gefu! Ma Gefu, please testify and plead for us to Your Majesty!"

Ma Wensheng actually turned around and saluted Zhu Houzhao. However, before he could say anything, Zhu Houzhao waved his hand to stop Ma Wensheng: "Don't say anything. I will never let them off lightly for what happened today. Otherwise, won't all my subjects think my words are a joke in the future? Anyone who dares to plead for them will be punished for treason! Beat them! Beat them hard!"

Ma Wensheng did not try to persuade him again. After all, he was pointed at in the nose and called a traitor and was spat on. Anyone who was not a clay Buddha would be angry. Therefore, he had already done his best when Zhu Houzhao ordered Chen Yuanren and others to be beaten to death. Now that Zhu Houzhao had clearly stopped him from asking for mercy and issued a warning, he naturally would not risk offending Zhu Houzhao and plead for these people who humiliated him.

Even though Zhu Houzhao's behavior was rude and cruel, Ma Wensheng, as a civil servant, had to show helplessness and pain, but he was still very satisfied and grateful for the emperor's support for him. Therefore, Ma Wensheng no longer cared about Chen Yuanren who was beaten with a stick and the Censor Zheng.

Jiao Fang and Xu Jin also remained silent. Although they did not dare to say that Your Majesty the Emperor beat the officials well on the surface, they were very willing to see Your Majesty the Emperor beating the officials who dared to disobey him for their own sake. This would undoubtedly increase their face.

Snapped!
Snapped!
Snapped!
The heavy sticks hit Chen Yuanren and Zheng Yushi one after another, causing their flesh and blood to fly everywhere and they screamed in pain!

Every time a stick hit Chen Yuanren and Censor Zheng, the clean civil servants kneeling before Zhu Houzhao could not help but tremble.

At this moment, they were all extremely scared!
At this time, they didn't dare to speak anymore!

At this moment, they all just wanted to leave here quickly, leave this cold and scary place!

At this time, Chen Yuanren and Zheng Yushi were both beaten to death on the spot.

The three bodies lay there in the snow and ice, in front of a group of clean civil servants, in front of Ma Wensheng, Jiao Fang and Xu Jin.

Zhu Houzhao walked up to Ma Wensheng and the others and said, "There's no need to be polite to those who gather outside the palace to cause trouble and humiliate you. Just order the guards to beat them. This is not inside the palace. It doesn't matter if they kill them outside the palace gate. Remember not to be so cowardly next time. I am behind you, and I am behind the people of the world. What are you afraid of? You are my ministers, not theirs. If you want to be a powerful minister, you have to be ruthless!"

Zhu Houzhao's words were obviously intended to favor Ma Wensheng and others. A group of upright civil servants were shocked when they heard this. They all knew that Ma Wensheng and others were indeed favored by the emperor and they could not afford to offend them. Naturally, their hatred and jealousy towards Ma Wensheng and others became deeper. However, these upright civil servants did not dare to show it at this time.

Ma Wensheng and others knew that they were being put on the spot by His Majesty, who wanted to force them to completely break with the clean-liu civil servants. However, they were in a difficult situation and could only let Zhu Houzhao arrange it this way. After all, they had already been disliked by the clean-liu civil servant group and could only unite around His Majesty the Emperor.

At this time, Ma Wensheng and others were quite moved by the attitude expressed by Zhu Houzhao, and they were more confident to work with Zhu Houzhao. As for the resentment of the upright civil officials, they could not care much. Since ancient times, the strong have been respected. If they did not unite around His Majesty, would they really become the mouthpiece of all officials?

The upright civil servants knew that it was impossible to plead for Li Dongyang now. After all, three of them had been beaten to death. How could they dare to offend the emperor?

"If your majesty has no other instructions, I will take my leave!"

At this time, a clean civil servant first bowed to Zhu Houzhao.

"I resign!"

Soon after, other upright civil servants also bowed and left.

Zhu Houzhao immediately shouted: "Stop!"

A group of upright civil servants who had already been frightened stopped in their tracks, each feeling uneasy, wondering if they couldn't even leave.
"How can we just walk away from a crowd that is causing trouble outside the palace?" Zhu Houzhao said, and then he looked at Jiao Fang: "Why are they gathering here?"

"Your Majesty, they are here to plead for Li Dongyang," Jiao Fang replied truthfully.

Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "That's Li Dongyang's accomplices. Li Dongyang was involved in treason and regicide, so his accomplices should not be forgiven lightly. They even dared to gather a crowd to cause trouble. All of them should be thrown into the imperial prison and dealt with after interrogation!"

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, all the upright civil servants present were greatly surprised. They had not expected that they would be thrown into the imperial prison. They almost could not hold back and knelt down and kowtowed for mercy!
This is really incredible for them!
They thought that if they did not gather to cause trouble outside the palace gate and just left, the matter would be over. However, they did not expect that they could not leave now. As long as they gathered to cause trouble and plead for Li Dongyang, they would be thrown into prison and regarded as Li Dongyang's accomplices in the case of regicide and treason!
Your Majesty, what is this going to do? Isn't this going to create a big case?

The clean-minded civil servants were completely dumbfounded. They had never expected that Emperor Zhu Houzhao would play like this, be so cruel and ruthless!
But at this moment, they could only shout that they were innocent and beg for mercy loudly!

"Your Majesty! I have no intention of offending you, why did you arrest me?"

"Your Majesty! Are you going to be cursed for eternity?"

"Your Majesty! Are you going to be a tyrant?!"

……

but.

Zhu Houzhao would not listen to these words at this time. He just wanted to teach these civil officials a lesson, to let them know that the emperor was not as gentle and gullible as they thought. The emperor was essentially a butcher! He was a dictator who held the power of life and death!
On the contrary, Ma Wensheng, Jiao Fang and Xu Jin all looked panicked at this moment.

Ma Wensheng said directly: "Your Majesty, please calm down! Such a large-scale arrest of officials will surely cause a stir in the court and the country! All officials will not accept it! If the world is in chaos because of this, it will be even worse for the Ming Dynasty! I risk my life to beg Your Majesty to revoke your order and let them go back!"

"Your Majesty, what Ma Gefu said is absolutely right. Now there is no clear evidence that Li Dongyang and others killed the king. If we rashly open a major case, it may cause a big chaos. After all, this is not the Hongwu period. Please think twice!"

Jiao Fang also hurried to persuade them. He thought that His Majesty would at most kill a few civil officials to scare them, but he did not expect that His Majesty would not only kill a few civil officials but also arrest all those who caused trouble and send them to the Jinyiwei. Although the military power is now in the hands of His Majesty, there is no guarantee that these officials will not go to some vassal kings or even the Tartars outside the Great Wall to cause chaos when they are forced into a corner.

"Your Majesty, these people are indeed hateful, but if we rashly throw them all into the Imperial Prison at this moment, it will indeed cause chaos. I also implore Your Majesty to be tolerant for the time being and not destroy the friendship between the monarch and his subjects!"

Xu Jin also hurried to persuade him.

Zhu Houzhao knew that what they said was all right, but he did not say anything. He just wanted to give it a try and delay some time, so he went to the Qianqing Palace without looking back.

At this time, Ma Wensheng seemed to be anxious and shouted: "Your Majesty, if you don't take back your order, I can only kneel here forever!"

Having said that, Ma Wensheng really knelt down on his knees.

Jiao Fang and Xu Jin sighed and knelt down.

Thanks to the book friend Kan Han Tang Fu for 100 starting coins. Thank you to the book friend Huai You Buyi Zhao for 500 starting coins. Thank you to the book friend 160624151158792 for 100 starting coins.

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(End of this chapter)