I'm really not the carpenter emperor

Seeing the emperor's interest, Cui Zhi, the governor of Shaanxi Province, seemed to grasp at the last straw, and said repeatedly: "It's absolutely true!"

"If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can go and check the military pay of each guard in the capital of Shaanxi over the years since the Tianqi Dynasty. You can also ask those soldiers, they all know."

"I know, why didn't you report it?" Zhu Youxiao asked subconsciously, and then realized that he asked the wrong person, and before Cui Zhi could react, he winked at Chen Ce.

Chen Ce raised his feet a few steps, and came to the hesitant-looking commander of the Shaanxi capital, Li Hong, who was ranked second, and the latter was only full of fear in front of the governor of the Yongwei Battalion.

The authority of Li Hong and Cui Zhi is similar to that of the military commanders of later generations.

But in front of the emperor Zhu Youxiao, they were still like ants, they could be easily trampled to death.

"You are bloody!"

Li Hong naturally knew that at this moment, surrendering and pleading guilty would be a dead end. If he gritted his teeth and held on, there would still be a glimmer of life.

"I, Li Hong, work hard for the imperial court and guard Shaanxi. Has there ever been any news of embezzlement of military salaries and embezzlement of the military camps of the guards?"

"Your Majesty, don't listen to the words of Cui Zhi's family. Your loyalty to Daming and His Majesty can be learned from the sun and the moon. There is absolutely no such thing!"

"Cui Zhi sees that death is approaching, biting everywhere!"

Zhu Youxiao laughed, feeling that this matter was getting more and more interesting, but at present, Cui Zhi might know more, but he didn't plan to kill him for the time being.

"Whether it's true or not, I have my own decision, I'll take Cui Zhi into custody for now, as for you, Li Hong, come here, I have something to tell you."

Hearing the words, the latter stepped forward quickly, with a look of eagerness to listen, "Your Majesty, please tell me, and all the ministers will do it!"

"If Cui Zhi really lied, I will punish him severely, but if what he just said is true, Li Hong, your fate will be several times worse than his."

Hearing this, Li Hong trembled all over and almost fell down. He said hastily, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I have never embezzled the salaries and military garrison of Shaanxi officials and soldiers."

"Don't do bad things, don't be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door!"

Cui Zhi sneered: "Your surname is Li, you are dying, and you are still gritting your teeth! Is there anything in the world that the factory guards can't find out?"

"Hmph, wait to die!"

……

Emperor Tianqi came in menacingly. During a meeting, another high official fell from his horse, biting like a mad dog before dying, and confessed another important person, all commanding Li Hong.

With the arrival of the emperor, the officialdom in Shaanxi suddenly became bloody.

Within a few days, Qiao Yingjia, the governor of Shaanxi, and Cui Zhi, the governor of Shaanxi, were dropped one after another, two high-ranking officials in Shaanxi.

Although the local government deliberately concealed it, there is no impenetrable wall in the world, and the news spread like wildfire.

"Boom!" The commander of the capital, Li Hong, slammed his fist on the table in the capital's yamen, and even the tea bowl flew high.

This time he escaped by chance, not because the emperor felt benevolent, but because of bad influence.

In fact, Zhu Youxiao was like this. Too many court officials were dealt with in a few days, and the place would inevitably shake. After all, military and political affairs in Shaanxi province still needed someone to handle them.

The tea bowl jumped on the table a few times, and finally fell to the ground, splashing the tea on the two conductors standing in front of them.

One of them, with the veins on his forehead and neck popping up, shouted loudly: "What? Your Majesty wants to check the military field records and previous salaries in the guards? Damn it!"

With his hands behind his back, Li Hong strode up and down the central hall.

"Dare to touch the legacy of our ancestors?...Your Majesty has drunk the ecstasy soup of Wei Zhongxian's eunuchs!"

A fellow commander named Li Zheng said: "Your Majesty has long wanted to mobilize the army of the guards. A few years ago, two old men, Hu Shiguang and Xu Weijing, suddenly came to Shaanxi to set up Shanxi merchants. I felt something was wrong! "

"Thinking about it now, the lips are dead and the teeth are cold!" The other conductor named Shao Shiyan said with fear on his face:

"It can't be said that from then on, His Majesty intends to clean up the Shanxi merchants and then clean up the guards in Shaanxi. Now we are isolated and helpless, what should we do?"

After hearing the words of the two confidants, Li Hong stopped suddenly:

"I still need to find someone to persuade His Majesty. Wen Tiren of the Zhejiang Party is more favored after joining the cabinet. Do you want to send someone to Beijing on a flying horse and give him a generous gift?"

That's right, Wei Zhongxian took the blame again.

Even in the current situation, no one would be so stupid as to directly say that the emperor is wrong, isn't there a notorious eunuch leader beside the emperor?

Therefore, he is the best shield.

The two commanders, Li Zheng and Shao Shiyan, also had positions in the army and led the soldiers. They stood on both sides with strict and upright faces, as if they represented the side of justice.

"Looking at the humble position, it won't work." Shao Shiyan said: "Your Majesty, I know that once you make up your mind, eight horses can't pull it back!"

"When he first came to the throne in the early years, he protected the eunuchs, punished Donglin, and even let the shotgun team of the Yongwei Battalion shoot the King of Luoyang to death on the way to his own conquest!"

"How can we people be better than the King of Luoyang and Minister Donglin?"

Li Hong's face was full of anger, and he added:

"Then you can't wait to die like this! Your Majesty's inspection of the guards will start in Shaanxi. This is the established law set by the ancestors. If you say it, do it. Where will we be put?"

The eyes of the two Dusi lit up at the same time.

Li Zheng smiled viciously, "The Du Si just said that this is the law of the ancestors. If your Majesty wants to manage Shaanxi today, he will manage Shanxi and Shandong tomorrow!"

"Sooner or later, the guards all over the country will follow in our footsteps. Now we have to make a big fuss and bring the matter to the forefathers, so as to win the support of the civil servants and the guards all over the country!"

Shao Shiyan also said: "That's right, not to mention that His Majesty only has such an idea now, maybe he didn't expect that Cui Zhi would bite at the end of his death, and asked a few casually, otherwise it would be difficult to step down."

"Perhaps, they didn't mean to really investigate the guards' administration. As long as the governor refuses to admit it, and the matter can't be investigated, it's fine."

"You are the capital of Shaanxi. If you are executed, what will the other twelve chief ministers think? Where is the imperial court going to put them?"

Li Hong complained, "You guys reminded me that the commander of the capital of Shanxi is my old friend, and he also knows the commander of the capital of Huguang."

"This matter can be said to be small, but it can also make a big fuss!"

"An accident happened to me in the capital of Shaanxi, and other capitals will investigate sooner or later. Li Zheng, you go to Shanxi yourself. Shao Shiyan, you go to Huguang. The worse the story, the better."

"What is Dusi going to do?" Seeing Li Hong's appearance, Shao Shiyan had a bad feeling in his heart and said quickly.

Chapter 843 Eight Provinces Force the Palace

Both Taiyuan and Shanxi command envoys.

"Well, I've heard that the emperor beat Qiao Futai eighty times as soon as he arrived in Shaanxi, and now even the official uniform of Cui Zhi, who has been in Shaanxi for many years, has been stripped of his official uniform..."

As soon as Yin Kuan, the commander of the capital, finished speaking, a commander in Shanxi, Tongzhi, said from the side:

"Master Du Si, the way of heaven has changed, and all the real dragons have gone down to the ground. I'm afraid we local snakes won't be able to survive."

"Nonsense, you understand the truth, I don't know?" Yin Kuan sneered, and asked back: "Li Tongzhi, Brother Hong sent you, what do you want me to do?"

"After all, the system of guards is the foundation of the world, and it is my duty to rectify the government."

Hearing this, Li Zheng clasped his hands and said with a smile:

"With Master Yin's words, you can feel relieved when you are humble. This is a letter from Li Dusi to Master Yin. Remember to burn it after reading it."

Yin Kuan hummed, and the more he looked at his face, the more strange it became.

"This... This is too radical. To act like this is not equivalent to uniting the capitals of the thirteen provinces to force the palace into admonishment?"

It is normal for Yin Kuan to be afraid, after all Shanxi is different from the capitals of other provinces.

The commanders of the capitals in Shaanxi, Huguang and other places still hold more or less real power, such as the Liaodong capital, Wanquan capital, Shaanxi capital, and even Shitu capital.

The so-called real chieftains have more power than ordinary capitals, and they are mostly stored in the border areas, and they can also manage civil and military prisons in the guards.

Normally speaking, the commander of the real Tudu division has more guard troops in his hands than the general Dusi like Shanxi Dusi.

Shanxi Dusi was originally the real Tudu Division, but now it is the only case of the two capitals and the thirteen chief divisions.

Because Shanxi is close to Jifu and close to Monan, it has always been the pioneer station of Zhu Youxiao's various reform policy pilot work.

After the previous incidents, the reform of the five-army governor's mansion and guards has been quite thorough in Shanxi.

The capital of Shanxi has been completely evacuated by the military governor's mansion of Chen Yanzuo, the Marquis of Taining, and the commander Yin Kuan is just a puppet with a famous name.

The ones who really hold the real power are the noble faction who have been re-appointed by Emperor Tianqi in recent years.

Then how did the Shanxi Dusi gradually change from the real Tudusi with real power to the current military establishment that is completely empty-handed?

In fact, after the reform of the guard post twice and the reform of the guard post of the Governor’s Mansion of the Five Armies, all the military settlements belonging to the Shanxi Dusi had been thoroughly investigated in the fifth year of Tianqi.

All the military settlements of the Shanxi Capital Division and the Shanxi Xingdu Division at that time were all placed under the jurisdiction of the Rear Military Commander's Mansion within five years of the Apocalypse.

The rest of the military settlements were also forcibly taken back by the post-military governor's office from the hands of the plutocrats and tyrants by means of redemption or conviction.

It can be said that Yin Kuan, the current commander of the capital, neither has any troops to garrison land, nor can he command the troops of the guards.

All the soldiers and horses of the imperial court in Shanxi were under the control of Taining Marquis Chen Yanzuo's Rear Army Governor's Mansion.

In addition, because Datong Town, one of the nine borders, is also within the territory of Shanxi, and the absolute loyalty of the border troops to the imperial court is also the reason why Shanxi reformed so thoroughly.

Shanxi's Datong Army, under the command of Shanxi Deputy General Zhang Wanbang, is a well-known strong army in the world. It prepares for the Western captives and fights in Liaodong. It is even more loyal to the court.

A few years ago, Zhang Wanbang was promoted to the deputy commander-in-chief of Shanxi by virtue of his military exploits, and he had the right to govern all the officers and troops in Shanxi. This is one of the reasons why the reform of the guards was more effective in Shanxi.

All in all, it is not easy for Yin Kuan to follow the Shaanxi capital to fight against the court. It is okay to talk about it, but he can't do anything substantive at all.

Yin Kuan looked at the letter sent from Xi'an, and was silent for a long time, then slowly got up, "Actually, if you want me to say, it's no wonder Your Majesty."

The smile on Li Zheng's face disappeared immediately, "What did Master Yin say?"

Yin Kuan said with a smile: "In these years, there have been natural disasters inside the imperial court and captives outside, and hundreds of officials in the court are fighting every day, and the world is not peaceful! It has almost endangered the country of the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, how could His Majesty be so eager? Woolen cloth?"

"Oh?" Li Zheng said: "According to Commander Yin's intention, His Majesty still has unspeakable difficulties in checking the salaries of the troops stationed in the guards of the whole country?"

Yin Kuan laughed and said, "Li Tongzhi's words are off the mark. In my opinion, this matter is not difficult to solve, but it is absolutely impossible to unite with the thirteen capitals to force the palace to remonstrate."

Li Zheng had understood by now, with a sneer on his face.

"Every commander has a good opinion, the humble post will listen to the respect!"

The smile on Yin Kuan's face was bright, "Brother Hong has been sitting in the Shaanxi capital for so many years. Everyone knows what he has done and what he has not done."

"Your Majesty wants to investigate, so let him do the investigation freely. If there are any unfounded charges found, I will definitely speak out to the government."

"It's not speculative, it's more than half a sentence, goodbye!" Li Zheng heard that the other party had no intention of cooperating at all. In short, Yin Kuan was scared.

He turned around and walked a few steps, seeing no one to stay, he turned around and said, "Commander, sit in your seat and see how long you can sit."

"I don't need to bother you to care about it." Yin Kuan was already smiling.

……

Few of the civil servants and military generals in Shanxi's capital guards are willing to take this muddy water, because they know in their hearts who owns the knife.

The reform of the guards in Shanxi was coming to an end, and the emperor's prestige in Shanxi was already quite high, but anyone who served as a soldier would not disobey the imperial court's orders.

How much trouble can there be in such a place?

However, the capitals of the four provinces of Huguang, Shandong, Shaanxi, and Henan are different. The reforms of the imperial court in these provinces are very limited.

Of these four provinces, only Shandong and Shaanxi have undergone preliminary reforms, while Huguang and Henan have basically developed as they have in history.

Since Zhu Youxiao succeeded to the throne, he has neither intervened nor asked much.

The reason is naturally that Huguang and Henan are located in the hinterland, and the combat effectiveness of the officers and soldiers is the weakest among the five northern provinces, and they are far away from the center of the imperial court.

Although Zhu Youxiao's personal prestige in the army is quite high, after all, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, so the sense of belonging of the officers and soldiers is not very good.

There is no need to reform first. Zhu Youxiao only symbolically exempted these provinces from the three salary increases and exorbitant miscellaneous taxes.

The officers and soldiers in these places did not receive the benefits of upgrading their armor and armaments. Some of their salaries were reissued, but considering that most of them would be embezzled, they did not pay too much.

In short, the two provinces of Huguang and Henan hardly had any sense of existence in the first eight years of Zhu Youxiao's administration, and the presence of Shandong and Shaanxi was not as good as that of Shanxi and Jifu.

Li Hong, the commander of the Shaanxi capital, was to unite with the other commanders who opposed the imperial court's rectification of the guards to force the palace.

The commanders of the capitals of the other four northern provinces, as well as the commanders of the four capitals in the south of the Yangtze River, all signed this memorial.

The content of the memorandum is very simple. The Weisuo is the ancestral system established by Emperor Hongwu, which cannot be changed, let alone deprived of the local rights of the civil servants and generals of the Weisuo.

If the imperial court does not immediately stop the policy of checking the military settlements of the guards and the military pay over the years, the commanders of the capitals of the eight provinces who signed the name will collectively resign.

A large number of court officials and local officials also resigned together.

When this news came out, it shocked the entire Daming officialdom.

The collective resignation of so many local officials will obviously shake the local rule of the entire imperial court.

Since Zhu Youxiao succeeded to the throne in the 47th year of Wanli, this is the first time that a policy has been collectively resisted by civil and military forces across the country.

This kind of fluctuation is no less than a major earthquake in the officialdom. Even the White Lotus Sect in Shaanxi and Jiangnan Fushe began to publicize it on the streets, and there were signs of a revival for a while.