As the saying goes, cutting off someone's wealth is like killing one's parents. This selfish guy must hate himself from the bottom of his heart.
If Zhu Youxiao hadn't shown some skill and cruelty in the more than a year since he took the throne, he would have taken action long ago.
"Back to the Emperor, it is said that after the last court meeting, Zhu Chunchen complained to others on the way out of the palace."
"He is a hereditary military general in the line of Cheng Guogong, who is in charge of the military power in the capital. Moreover, Prince Dongping followed Chengmiao's grandfather in the north and south, and was a hero of Jingnan who conquered the country. He is actually inferior to relying on nepotism to become an uncle.
of soft-footed shrimp.”
Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao felt sick. He had the nerve to call others soft-footed shrimps.
"Then what was the reaction of the concubine after that?"
Zhu Youxiao was also curious at this time. Concubine Liu had stayed in this palace for decades and never asked about outside affairs.
Back then, whether it was the national dispute or the three major cases, he pretended not to know and remained silent like a normal person.
This time at the dinner table, he actually wanted to speak for Xungui, and he really wanted to know the whole story.
"The concubine asked the eunuchs and maids of Cining Palace about the state affairs and personnel arrangements of the imperial court during this period."
"As well as the situation of the nobles, the most important thing is that the concubine asked His Majesty if he has any objections to the nobles."
"The eunuchs and maids in the Cining Palace all answered based on the facts. What they knew was what they knew. There was no fraud or exaggeration."
Zhu Youxiao was quite satisfied with this point. He cleaned the palace twice and made a large number of substitutions, which was still effective.
But this honor really put Zhu Youxiao in trouble, who was unprepared. It was a critical moment for him to compete with the civil servants, and he didn't want them to stand on the opposite side and cause trouble for him.
After Liu Ruoyu retreated, Zhu Youxiao summoned Xu Xianchun overnight and asked him to select capable people from Tiqi who were good at tracking and investigating, and keep a close eye on those nobles.
He also asked Yang Huan to go to the private sector to recruit young people into the Imperial Guard, train them strictly according to his methods, and specialize in investigating and monitoring these noble officials.
He learned this trick from Zhu Yuanzhang and Jin Yiwei in Hongwu years. It was really powerful. They all knew how much food the ministers ate in a day and how many times they went to the toilet.
The current Jinyiwei is far from being able to match that. Although it has been rectified, it has not yet reached the standard he wants.
In this political battle with civilian interests, the winner may be decided in a short period of time, but it cannot truly eliminate the root cause.
The two generations of heroes, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, have been suppressing the situation for more than half a century. The civil servants have been able to endure it and can finally turn around and rebound, let alone now.
In order to prevent these people from jumping over the wall, Zhu Youxiao summoned Ma Xianglin, the commander of the Royal Forest Army, and Wang Tiqian, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Horse Guards.
The two of them are responsible for the defense of the inner city and the palace. In this situation, there are some things that he must arrange properly.
There must be no problems in the palace, especially when the queen is about to give birth. He does not want his children to have problems.
Zhu Youxiao summoned the two of them and announced only two things. One was to select 5,000 more people from the Yulin Army to join the Yulin Army to strengthen patrols and guards in the inner city.
The second is to separate the four guards of Tengxiang from the Royal Horse Prison. They no longer belong to the eunuch Yamen of the imperial court and the palace, but directly belong to him.
The Yuma Prison is the only yamen with an army among the twenty-four prisons in the inner palace. In addition to the Tengxiang Four Guards, there is also the famous "Pure Army".
The Jingjun was not established during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, but had existed since the reign of Emperor Xuanzong.
It was only during the Chongzhen period that the scale of the armed forces was expanded.
However, the defense of the palace was mainly responsible for the four guards of Tengxiang. As for the so-called Pure Army, Zhu Youxiao did not like it at all.
Later facts also proved that although these eunuchs were loyal enough, their fighting ability was really not very good.
Not to mention they were defeated in one blow, but they were quickly annihilated by the intruders, and they were basically unable to fight back.
Of course it also has something to do with their training and weapons and equipment.
Even the Jinyi Guards are just supporting from the side, let alone the Jingjun, so these five thousand personal guards are extremely important.
What's more, Wang Tiqian is not his confidant. If the Tengxiang Four Guards are not separated, it is no exaggeration to say that his life is still in the hands of others.
"Whatever you did wrong, my slave, please punish me, Your Majesty."
When he learned of the emperor's decision, Wang Tiqian knelt on the ground and cried with grievance.
For him, such a decision was a dangerous signal, a signal that the emperor did not trust him.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to weaken the military power in his hands, and it would be too fatal for the eunuchs who relied on the emperor to maintain their status.
"You didn't do a bad job, there's no need to panic, it's just that these are extraordinary times, and I have to make sure nothing goes wrong."
How could Zhu Youxiao not know what he was really thinking, so he took the trouble to explain a few words to prevent him from being unable to sleep when he went back.
But even though the emperor had explained it, Wang Tiqian still thought that the matter was not that simple. In his opinion, this was just to appease him.
But since this decision has been made, it is already a fact and cannot be changed, so he can only express his sorrow.
After the two men retreated, Zhu Youxiao immediately wrote two edicts himself, one to Nanjing and the other to the British Duke Zhang Mao.
The nobles in Beijing had decided to confront him as the emperor, which was indeed beyond his expectation.
But now is not the time to find the root cause, or how to deal with them.
The most urgent task now is to inform Li Zhicai and Zhang Shize and watch the nobles in Nanjing stabilize Jiangnan with the help of the army.
There was a bizarre law in the Ming Dynasty. If Beijing made a big move, whether it was from nobles or civil servants, Nanjing would definitely bear the brunt of the attack.
…
…
"Dong, dong, dong..."
midnight
There was a knock on the door of the British government palace, and the servant on duty was woken up and cursed.
Even though the guards were standing outside the door, they could clearly hear the servant's yelling.
"Who is not smart enough to knock on the door in the middle of the night and disturb your grandpa's dream?"
After a burst of curses, the door of the Duke's Mansion slowly opened.
The servant was about to get angry when his sleepy eyes saw a big man in fine armor, holding a knife in both hands and looking at him coldly.
This frightened him so much that he took a few steps back and was about to close the door, but was blocked by the big man.
The servant was about to call for help, but was caught covering his mouth and unable to speak.
Then he heard:
"If you dare to speak out, your head will be on the ground."
After hearing these words, the servant finally woke up. After he saw clearly, he realized that the man in front of him was a soldier.
"Your Majesty has a decree. Please hurry up and notify the British Duke to come and receive the decree."
"Yes, yes, I will go right away."
As soon as the servant heard that the imperial edict had been conveyed, he immediately ran into the lobby to report the message.