Chapter 164: Great Purge, Rivers of Blood!

Jiao Fang, Xu Jin and other reformist officials are really scared now!

Because they discovered through this incident that if His Majesty the Emperor dies, reformist officials like themselves will really be punished to death by those who oppose them, and they will not be kind to people like themselves!

Even now, as reformist officials, not only are their political ideas not tolerated by these gentry, they will also be deprived of the benefits that their own families have gained through cooperation with the royal family.

Reformist officials such as Jiao Fang and Xu Jin now realize that even for the benefit of their own families, they cannot tolerate these political opponents! Otherwise, Royal Bank’s shares will also be taken away! I am afraid that more benefits will be taken away in the future.

Not only do these reformist officials know that these political opponents must not be tolerated, they are also more certain that the emperor is important to people like them. Not only is the emperor important, but the future crown prince is also important!

Not only did Jiao Fang and others feel that opponents should be severely punished, but even Ma Wensheng, who always emphasized moderation in political struggles, expressed his support in silence.

The situation Zhu Houzhao set up this time made these reformist officials feel more strongly about the cruelty and non-negotiable nature of the struggle. At the same time, Zhu Houzhao also used this incident to give these reformist officials a solution to sudden crises. In this way, if the emperor is killed next time, the reformist officials can use the excuse that the emperor faked his death!

The civil servants and gentry who opposed the reform could no longer imagine that they could easily stop the reform process of the Ming Empire by solving the problem of the emperor.

Of course, Zhu Houzhao had to give these civil servants who had committed crimes a harsh lesson, and he had to teach them another lesson to let them see again the consequences of killing the king and trying to obstruct reforms!

Zhu Houzhao put Jiao Fang in charge of the trial of Zeng Jian, the Minister of Industry, Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Rites, and Zhu Feng, Duke of Cheng. Jiao Fang's methods were harsher and tougher than Ma Wensheng's, and he was not merciless in executions.

"Zhang Sheng! You lied about His Majesty's death and colluded with Duke Zhu Feng, Royal Horse Eunuch Zhang Yong, Ministry of Industry Minister Zeng Jian and others to commit rebellion. You can plead guilty!"

At this time, Jiao Fang began to interrogate Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Rites!

"I do not plead guilty! I did not conspire against you! I was deceived by a traitor! If the minister of the Ministry of Industry had not falsely reported that your majesty had been killed by a bomb, Zhang Sheng would never have done such a thing!"

Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Rites, still defended himself.

"How presumptuous! Your rebellious intentions have been exposed for a long time. Even Zeng Jian himself has admitted that he is your mastermind and intends to kill the king and seize the throne. How dare you make sophistry!"

After Jiao Fang gave the order, she asked Zeng Jian: "Zeng Jian, tell me again, is Zhang Sheng the mastermind of this rebellion?"

"Back to the Second Assistant! It was Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Rites, who colluded with others to blow up His Majesty and seize the throne. Otherwise, he would not have murdered the Queen, causing the Queen to be injured and the Queen Mother to be frightened!"

Zeng Jian now knew that only by cooperating with the court to convict Zhang Sheng and others of the crime of rebellion could he save one clan from being wiped out and receive a lighter punishment, so he admitted it honestly.

"Zeng Jian has already admitted, and Zhang Yong and others have also admitted that they are your mastermind. The evidence has long been conclusive! Zhang Sheng, no matter you plead guilty or not, you are guilty of treason! Come on, hold on, I am going to report to His Majesty Lingchi You, a rebel, can kill ten tribes with five thousand two hundred swords!”

Jiao Fang said:

"In addition, Zhang Yong, Zhu Feng, Du Long and others also killed ten clans, with a total of 3,600 knives! They also ransacked their homes!

Especially Zhang Yong, as an internal minister, plotted against His Majesty, he should be severely punished and his meat should be eaten by the internal ministers! His shares in Royal Bank and Royal Industries were regained!

In addition, Duke Chengguo ignored the emperor's favor! Cut off his hereditary title! ”

Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Rites, now knows that he can't change the outcome of the matter. Now he only hates Zeng Jian!

He hates Zeng Jian so much now! Because if it weren’t for Zeng Jian! He didn't need to be in such a hurry to show off his flaws. He would stay dormant for a long time, at least until he entered the cabinet.

But now, because Zeng Jian lied about the news that Zhu Houzhao had been killed, he was exposed in advance, and it also caused the two heavyweight allies with whom he had finally established a relationship, namely the eunuch Zhang Yong and the Duke of Cheng Guo Zhu. Feng also lost money!

Therefore, Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Rites, wanted to eat Zeng Jian alive, and rushed towards Zeng Jian: "Zeng Jian! You are so mean! You bitch! Damn you! It was you who harmed me! It was you who framed me, yes You ruined my career and career. You caused me to be punished by the Ten Clan. I can’t spare you in the underworld!”

Seeing this, Jiao Fang hurriedly asked the official to tie up the furious Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Rites, with a chain.

"Your Majesty, have mercy! Your Majesty, have mercy! I really didn't expect that they falsely reported your death! I really didn't want to murder you. I am loyal. I just can't stand Liu Jin. I just want to be the Chief of Ceremonies’ Palm Seal!”

At this time, Zhang Yong also begged and suddenly pounced on Zeng Jian:

"It's you! It's you who hurt me! It's you who made me lose all my wealth in life! I'm going to eat you!"

This piece of Yongzhi bit off one of Zeng Jian's ears alive, causing Zeng Jian to scream in pain.

At this time, Duke Cheng Guo was also begging for mercy and furiously wanted to come over and kill Zeng Jian. Fortunately, an official held him tightly, otherwise Zeng Jian would have died on the spot.

Seeing that the scene was a little quieter, Jiao Fang said: "Zeng Jian reported meritorious service and actively cooperated with the court, so the punishment can be reduced, but his crime of regicide cannot be spared. I am prepared to sentence you to Lingchi 1,500 knives! Exterminate the nine tribes. ! ”

"Ah! Sir! Your Majesty said you should be spared, but can you change Ling Chi to beheaded in half?" Zeng Jian said.

"Don't argue! Even though Your Majesty said you will be spared lightly! But I still want to eat the flesh of traitors like you and drink the blood of traitors like you. If I don't punish you, I will spare you lightly!"

With that, Jiao Fang announced her resignation, and then presented the verdict memorial to Zhu Houzhao. Zhu Houzhao immediately asked the Supervisor of Ceremonies to approve it.

then.

A great purge begins again.

A few days later, at the execution ground in the capital, a group of civil servants were brought up and pressed directly on the wooden stakes. However, each one of them was still shaking and shouted: "It's wrong! It's wrong! We really didn't expect your majesty. We’re not dead! We’re just being coerced! We really don’t want to force him to die!”

Jiao Fang, the supervisor and beheading officer, showed no mercy at all. No matter how the offending civil servants complained, he waved his hand directly: "Behead!"

Click!

Suddenly, heads fell to the ground!

Rivers of blood!

"Cut!"

Jiao Fang fell with a sound, and the heads of civil servants and gentry fell to the ground one after another!

When Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Rites, saw his relatives and friends being chopped down to the ground one after another in front of him, he was also very painful and couldn't help but cursed Jiao Fang:

"Jiao Fang! You are also a civil servant, why are you so cruel!"

Jiao Fang replied loudly: "Because if you were in my place today, and I were in your place today, you would not let me off lightly! Moreover, I will use your blood to scare other officials who oppose the New Deal! We are all civil servants, That day in the palace, you showed no mercy when you were aggressive!

Rebel! This is the sin you deserve. Are you very angry and helpless? Hahaha! But you can't do anything to me now, because you are a rebel, and after thousands of generations, you will still be a rebel, and I will help His Majesty to make you infamy forever! Let future generations only remember you as a rebel! ”

Zhang Sheng and others were very angry, angrily watching Jiao Fang being rampant in front of him, but they had no choice but to shout: "Oh my God! Why is this happening? How did we become rebels! Is your Majesty really the traitor?" God, can’t you really blaspheme and deceive?”

"Yes, your Majesty is God, the Son of Heaven, the king favored by God, and your ancestor! If you want His Majesty to die, you are blaspheming your ancestors! Therefore, you deserve death!"

As Jiao Fang spoke, she shouted loudly: "Cut it, chop it for me, no tolerance! No forgiveness!"

Click!

One by one, one by one, Jiao Fang used the toughest attitude to express the anger of reformist officials like herself.

However, Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Rites, Zhu Feng, the Duke of Chengguo, and Zhang Yong, the eunuch of the Royal Horse, could only look at helplessly: "No! No!"

Immediately afterwards, these principal criminals were executed by Ling Chi one after another, and their families were naturally confiscated!

The Ming Dynasty lost a group of high-ranking officials and nobles who only took advantage of the people's anointing, and the power of the gentry class was weakened!

……

Many days later, Jiao Fang came to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, we have all been executed, and no one has been spared!"

"Very good! You are indeed my Jiao Aiqing, with an iron fist!" Zhu Houzhao nodded.

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(End of chapter)