Zheng Zhongfu is thirty-six years old this year, but has been in the army for twenty years.
When he succeeded to the throne, the Forbidden Army needed to make adjustments, and the family members took the opportunity to stuff people into it, so Cui sent Zheng Zhongfu to the Forbidden Army as a soldier.
Logically speaking, he should belong to the Cui family.
However, because he beat Jin Fushi's son, he became a fugitive and hid in the Ren family. From then on, he was promoted to all official positions by the Ren family.
From another perspective, Zheng Zhongfu is the product of the compromise between the Ren family and the Cui family.
At that time, there was still a Jin family raising troops to "Shangluo". After everyone joined forces to kill Jin Fushi, another Jin family controlled the military power in the capital. The Ren family and the Cui family supported Zheng Zhongfu to rise to power and jointly took back the military power in the capital.
Such a man with such a large army was not taken seriously after helping a clan to seize power. Instead, he was treated like an ox and a horse.
Are all the aristocratic families fools?
They just don’t treat military ministers as human beings!
From the founding of Goryeo to the present, the clan has always had the final say, and no matter how many warriors there are, they must obey orders.
Zheng Zhongfu in history suffered all kinds of humiliation from civil servants, and was forced to rebel when he was over sixty years old. If there was no way out, why would an old man take such a big risk?
Dragon Boat Festival.
The kings and ministers of Goryeo had a banquet at Puxianwon. The king was put under house arrest here twice. Arriving at Puxianwon was like going home.
The king and the civil servants were eating and drinking inside, enjoying singing, dancing, opera, reciting poems and writing poems, while the military officials were all working as security guards outside.
The military ministers of Goryeo were not allowed to go to the palace to discuss state affairs, and they were not even allowed to participate in banquets given by the king!
The first time Zheng Zhongfu had his beard burned off was at a New Year's Eve banquet. The king and the civil servants were eating and drinking, and he stood nearby as a security guard. The civil servants got drunk and became even crazier, and Jin Dunzhong actually lit his beard on fire in public for fun.
The other civil servants did not stop him when they saw it, but were made to laugh.
At this moment, Wang Gou pointed to the kimchi soup without cabbage and said: "The Chinese cabbage passed down from the Ming Dynasty is very delicious for making kimchi, but it is a pity that winter has passed. This year, farmers should be asked to grow more cabbage, so that all officials can eat it."
It tastes so delicious.”
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
Ren Yuanhou immediately led the civil servants to flatter him.
As early as the Tang Dynasty, pickle technology had been passed down, and at that time bamboo shoots, bracken, and radish were the main ingredients.
During the Goryeo Dynasty, leeks, water celery, etc. were added to kimchi, and kimchi soup was used to mix rice.
Now, there is Chinese cabbage kimchi!
This stuff was brought to Pyongyang by agricultural officials so that the people there could eat cheap vegetables in winter. Gradually it spread southward and was also grown in the Goryeo Gyeonggi region, and was loved by kings and dignitaries.
Cui Yunyi pointed to the wine jar and said: "This is corn wine shipped from the Ming Dynasty. It is very strong and should not be drunk by non-strong men. Please give it a try and see if you can get used to it."
Immediately, two guards were called in, each holding a jar of white wine, and filled half a bowl for each civil servant.
There is also wine here in Korea, which is called Shili.
After steaming the rice, then adding malt yeast water, the taste is similar to that of mash, and it can even be said to be a kind of mash.
The kings and ministers of Goryeo, who were accustomed to drinking glutinous rice wine, would drink liquor fiercely whenever they could.
Cui Yunyi quickly said: "Everyone, please drink slowly, this wine is very strong!"
Everyone just took a small sip and felt their mouths and tongues burning. It was not the first time they drank liquor.
But since it came from the Ming Dynasty, it is naturally a good thing. If you don’t get used to it, it must be your own problem.
Ren Yuanhou tasted the two mouthfuls carefully, and said: "The first taste is strong, and the later taste is sweet. Is this a non-human being born in this world? Only after suffering many hardships and setbacks can he taste the sweetness."
"What Duke Ding'an said is absolutely true!" All the ministers praised him one after another.
After all, it is a banquet given by the king. No matter how shabby it is, it cannot be completely vegetarian. It includes meat, fish, and shrimp.
Wang Gou took a mouthful of pork belly, took another sip of white wine and said, "This wine goes very well with meat. I think the Emperor of Heaven would eat it this way."
The ministers immediately agreed.
The ministers who had been on diplomatic missions to Kaifeng or Luoyang were all silent at this moment.
They dare not reveal their meals in Daming, for fear of arousing jealousy and gossip from others.
The current economy of Goryeo is very deformed. The influx of a large amount of cheap cloth has solved the clothing problem of the Goryeo people. However, the Ming Dynasty banned the export of grain, and there is still a shortage of food in Goryeo.
The trade between the two parties is as follows -
Exports of the Ming Dynasty: cloth, ironware, books, coins, daily necessities, and luxury goods.
Since furs, ginseng and pearls were valuable, the noble families of Goryeo specially arranged manpower to hunt, collect ginseng and pearls.
Especially mink skins, leopard skins, otter skins, and green mouse skins. These things can be sold at high prices. More and more mountain people make a living by hunting. By the way, see if you can encounter ginseng.
Goryeo paper is a special paper for calligraphy and painting. It is made of mulberry bark and cotton cocoons (low-quality silkworm cocoons). It was probably invented during the Northern Song Dynasty. The output was low and the price was expensive. It was very popular among the literati and poets of the Ming Dynasty.
Due to the large quantity of goods in the Ming Dynasty and the high overall added value, Goryeo simply could not exchange enough goods.
So all kinds of seafood are also used to top up the sales, especially dried sea cucumbers and dried abalone.
The Goryeo fishermen risked their lives and worked hard and tired day and night, but they themselves had neither enough food nor clothing to keep them warm, and all their profits were taken away by Goryeo nobles and Ming merchants.
After half a bowl of white wine, Wang Gou was a little drunk and asked: "The Cui family is in Haizhou and mostly trades with the Ming Dynasty. Is there any strange news about the Ming Dynasty recently?"
Cui Hongzai immediately took out several newspapers, presented them and said: "The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty turned Di Bao into the "Da Ming Yue Bao", and even ordinary people can buy and read it. These "Da Ming Yue Bao" are the names of the Ming Dynasty maritime merchants."
From now on, there is no need to waste money on sending envoys. You can find out the reality of the Ming Dynasty by reading the "Da Ming Yue Bao"."
Wang Gou drunkenly began to read the newspaper. After reading a few lines, he discovered that Min Zishun, the general official of the Ming Dynasty, was hanged for corruption. There was also a list at the end. More than ten officials involved in the case were executed and more than fifty were exiled.
More than 100 people were imprisoned.
He quickly read the second newspaper. The result was that Qin Hui, the Minister of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty, was executed, as well as Qin Hui and his wife's family.
After reading several copies in a row, the first version was all about killing corrupt officials!
Wang Gou was horrified when he saw it: "The Emperor of Heaven has killed so many corrupt officials, isn't he afraid that the big families in the country will cause chaos?"
In fact, the important ministers of Goryeo had already read the newspapers, because the Kaiju Port outside the capital was the first port of Goryeo for trade with the Ming Dynasty.
Not only officials have read it, but also some poor people.
Those poor scholars were greatly shocked and yearned for the Ming Dynasty even more. It turned out that those high-ranking officials who were eating away at the country could really be executed according to the law!
No wonder the Ming Dynasty was extremely powerful and could easily destroy the Jin Kingdom. This was because the civil servants and military generals of the Ming Dynasty did not dare to corrupt.
Whoever dares to commit corruption will be executed by the emperor!
Civil officials are not greedy, so the people are rich. Military generals are not greedy, so the soldiers are brave.
The poor scholars of Goryeo, who had no future, copied the "Da Ming Yue Bao" word for word, and read it from time to time. They also talked about it at gatherings. While cursing the officials of Goryeo, they praised the Great Ming Dynasty.
Daming is regarded as his spiritual home.
Ju Ming never expected that "Da Ming Yue Bao" would spread to Goryeo and become a foreign propaganda publication.
At this moment, many Goryeo ministers looked at Cui Hongzai angrily.
Why are you showing this to the king?
Do you still want to kill corrupt officials in Goryeo?
Cui Hongzai was smiling, he knew what would happen today.
Outside the palace, Zheng Zhongfu was already ready to take action.
However, the composition of the troops of the Crane Control Army is complicated. The soldiers come from all over the country and are sent by the noble families, representing the interests of different families.
Not to mention that he, the number one military minister, could not control him. Even the powerful minister Ren Yuanhou could not completely command him.
Zheng Zhongfu nodded secretly to Li Yifang, and Li Yifang walked towards a young general.
The young general was Ren Yuanhou's confidant and the commander of the imperial guards of the Goryeo Palace. He immediately scolded: "Don't take another step forward, don't disturb the nobles in the palace!"
Li Yifang smiled and said: "The nobles are eating and drinking in the palace, but we are hungry. General Hong, do you want to eat something? I will send someone to get it right now."
The young general lowered his guard and swallowed: "Let's have a bowl of pine nut porridge."
"good."
Li Yifang was still walking forward and continued to ask: "General, do you want any more cakes or preserved fruits?"
"I want a pastry." The young general turned his head and looked into the palace, thinking of an excuse to escape and go to Meimei outside to have a bowl of pine nut porridge.
Clang!
Li Yifang suddenly drew his sword and struck the neck with great precision.
The young general was unprepared. He covered his neck and tried to struggle, but was pushed to the ground by Li Yifang and slapped hard.
At the same time, Zheng Zhongfu and several of his accomplices also drew their swords and started killing, and unexpectedly eliminated the trusted generals of the Cui family, the Li family, the Jin family, the Liu family and other clans who had been deployed in the Control He Army.
Seven or eight of the leaders were killed, and the rest were so frightened that they fled randomly.
Li Gao led his troops in from outside, blocked the escape route, and shouted: "If you don't want to die, just be obedient!"
Facing the rebels who were blocking the passage and wearing strong armor, the Imperial Guards soldiers who had lost their leaders were so frightened that they dropped their weapons and chose to surrender.
A chamberlain came out of the palace and yelled before he could see the situation clearly: "What's the noise? All the nobles inside heard it!"
Zheng Zhongfu raised his arms and shouted: "Those aristocratic families are well-off and well-off, but we warriors are in poverty. What kind of world is this? Today I want to eradicate evil spirits. If you are brave, come with me. The civil servants in the palace usually bully you.
You can all go and take revenge and kill them with a knife. Kill them with me!"
"kill!"
Under the threat of Li Gao's soldiers, the forbidden soldiers picked up their weapons and rushed into the palace bravely.
Before the officials could react, the King of Goryeo ran away. This king had been under house arrest twice and was very familiar with mutinies and coups. He immediately ran out of the side door of the palace.
The officials fled in fear, and the warriors slaughtered them wildly.
Even the initiators Cui Hongzai and Cui Yunyi's uncle and nephew finally felt that something was wrong. Their original plan was to use military men to control the officials and arrest Ren Yuanhou's party, but they did not let the military men kill wantonly.
"Don't kill poor families, only kill noble families!"
As the warriors shouted one after another, a few low-ranking civil servants hid aside and showed their identities: "I am from a humble family, I am from a humble family!"
Sure enough, they managed to save their lives, and the military men specifically caught and killed high-ranking officials.
You can tell who is a high-ranking official from their hats and costumes. The warriors usually have enough resentment, and today they can finally vent their anger.
The civil servant rushed to the two side doors, and when he ran out, he found that the outside was blocked.
Wang Gou, the leader of Goryeo, was also blocked there, begging for mercy: "If you have something to say, if you have something to say..."
Cui Yunyi angrily scolded Zheng Zhongfu: "You are causing trouble and will be punished by the clan! If you put down your weapons early, you can spare your life if you know how to return."
Zheng Zhongfu laughed loudly: "Why are you pretending to be a good person? You are the one who instigated me to cause chaos. If you use me as a spearman, I can also attack you. Except for Your Majesty, everyone who fled here will be killed!"
Ren Yuanhou said in horror: "Put down your weapons, I can give you a civil service, and you will no longer be a military man from now on."
"kill!"
Under the leadership of Zheng Zhongfu, a group of warriors rushed forward and hacked at the defenseless civilian officials.
Wang Gou was so frightened that he squatted in the corner of the courtyard, protected by several eunuchs.
Cui Yunyi ran away in panic, but was overtaken by a soldier from the He Controlling Unit, who shot him in the back and knocked him down. Another soldier from the Dragon Leading Team slashed Cui Yunyi in the back of the neck with a knife.
The powerful minister Ren Yuanhou was killed by Li Yifang with a knife, slashing him with more than ten knives.
However, Zheng Zhongfu found his old enemy. He grabbed Jin Dunzhong by the collar and said, "You burned my beard for fun and then hunted me down. What did I do wrong?"
Jin Dunzhong cried and said: "General, spare your life, I am young and ignorant. If I can live today, I am willing to marry my niece to the general. The general only needs to divorce his first wife and marry my niece. From now on, he will be Jin's son-in-law."
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Zheng Zhongfu laughed angrily: "At this time, you still want me to be a dog for the Jin family? After becoming your Jin family's son-in-law, will I obey your Jin family's orders in everything from now on?"
Zheng Zhongfu slashed Jin Dunzhong's legs with a knife and watched him crawl on the ground in fear.
While crawling, he slashed again.
Jin Dunzhong cried and screamed, and under the control of fear, he continued to crawl out involuntarily.
Climbing to the door, Zheng Zhongfu dragged the man back with a smile and slashed him with a knife.
After being slashed seven times, Jin Dunzhong was still not dead, but he had given up running for his life and lay there crying, waiting to die.
Many civil servants were tortured to death because they bullied military officials too harshly.
Finally, Zheng Zhongfu went to Wang Gou and killed all the eunuchs who were protecting the king.
Wang Gou looked at the corpses on the ground and fell into despair like never before. Although he was under house arrest twice, those coups were relatively civilized. Not to mention the indiscriminate killing of civil servants, even powerful officials were only exiled.
How could it be as bloody as now?
Zheng Zhongfu sighed and said, "Your Majesty treats me well. When the Jin family wanted to hunt me down, it was your Majesty who sent someone to inform me."
Wang Gou saw the hope of survival and quickly asked: "What does the general want? I will definitely satisfy you."
Zheng Zhongfu said: "Every time Your Majesty is imprisoned, someone will rescue you. Look at these eunuchs who would rather die to protect Your Majesty. If Your Majesty does not abdicate, I will really not worry."
Wang Gou said: "General, don't worry, I will abdicate immediately and pass the throne to the prince!"
Zheng Zhongfu added: "My daughter is about the same age as the prince."
Wang Gou said: "Please ask the general to marry his daughter to be the princess... No, I am asking the general to marry his daughter to be the queen!"
Zheng Zhongfu said with satisfaction: "Very good, Your Majesty will go and write the imperial edict of succession."
