Chapter 355: The downfall of Xu Jin, the second-in-command of the cabinet
As long as they are human, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not hide anything from themselves. After all, humans are not machines. Humans have consciousness, fear, and what they consider to be the most reasonable choices.
In the West Factory controlled by eunuchs, Zhu Houzhao knew that he could not be absolutely assured that they would not hide anything from him, or even deceive him.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao also had other sources of intelligence.
"Gao Zhong, do you know anything about Yunheng Literary Society and Xichang?" Zhu Houzhao raised his head and glanced at Gao Zhong. The secret report from Qin Jin, Minister of the Ministry of War, made Zhu Houzhao interested in this literary society. Of course, it made him feel more What is interesting is why Gao Zhong, the commander-in-chief of Xichang, did not mention this literary club to him.
Gao Zhong was stunned for a moment, as if someone had placed a piece of ice behind his back. He couldn't help but feel a chill, thinking that His Majesty already knew about Yunheng Literary Society! I was so confused that I forgot that His Majesty didn't say that he could hide it if he wanted to.
Gao Zhong couldn't help but laughed bitterly, and quickly apologized: "Your Majesty, forgive me! I originally wanted to find out before reporting to Your Majesty. I never thought that Your Majesty had already become interested in this Yunheng Literary Society. I failed in my duty and deserved it." It is better to report to Your Majesty as soon as possible. According to reports, this literary society is the same as the Zhongjun Society and has its own social program. The purpose of the social program is to safeguard the rights and interests of the people."
"Your Xichang is my eyes to understand the people. I have to say when to open my eyes and when to close them. Do you understand?"
Zhu Houzhao reminded Gao Zhong and said:
"I will spare you this time, but you must remember that if you hide something like this again and want to save face for others, I will make your end miserable. Don't be afraid of offending others, I will give you a lifetime But if you are not loyal to me, you know the consequences!”
Gao Zhong was so frightened that he knelt down in front of Zhu Houzhao: "I know my crime, I know my crime!"
"Get up, it doesn't have to be like this, you just need to remember that the West Factory belongs to me, not your private property." Zhu Houzhao stood up and clapped his hands as he spoke: "This Yun Heng clerk continues to monitor, but it is interesting, I am Da Ming The dynasty actually began to have bourgeois political groups! Fortunately, they have no intention of overthrowing the regime.”
Zhu Houzhao asked Gao Zhong to retreat as he spoke.
At this time, Gao Zhong was so frightened that he was sweating profusely. He couldn't help but slap him secretly: "Why did I think of hiding it from His Majesty!"
Zhu Houzhao looked at Gao Zhong's remorseful look in front of him and wanted to laugh a little. He also thought in his heart: "These civil servants representing the business class may have been thinking about controlling the power of the government through various methods, but they will never realize that They are actually really weak;
Apart from simply kneeling down to foreign enemies, we really can’t expect them to drive the progress of this country;
If it were not for the emperor himself to force reforms, these bourgeoisie who had risen through business, regardless of whether they were Shanxi merchants or Hui merchants, would not have let Ming Dynasty embark on the road of industrial civilization, and would even take the initiative to serve as a guide for foreign enemies. , just because they only have interests in their eyes;
But now that I have developed Ming Dynasty into an industrialized country, these guys want to seize power, pick peaches, and gain absolute freedom. Is this possible? Will the farmers and workers agree? They may even overthrow themselves as the emperor. If you don't even have the courage, what can you accomplish? ”
……
Xu Jin indeed did not have the courage. Even many Ming merchants who were doing business in Folangji did not have the courage to say that they were from the Ming Dynasty merchant group. Instead, they all said that they were from Japanese merchants. The reason was because the expeditionary force had already The capture of Seville in Franji made the Franji royal family furious and began to drive away the Ming Dynasty's trading houses.
In order to protect their own interests, these trading houses in the Ming Dynasty stated that they were not from the Ming Dynasty, but that they were Japanese trading houses, and even said that they were global trading houses without nationality. Some directly said that they were from the Franchi Trading Company, and even hired a Fo Langjiren pretends to be the "Great Emperor".
Just as these Ming merchants were indifferent when the colonists of Frangi massacred Ming fishermen in the Ceuta area, they forgot that they were from the Ming Dynasty in places where the Ming Dynasty forces did not reach, and were not even willing to admit that they were from the Ming Dynasty.
It is understandable that they were only trying to protect themselves, but it does mean that they have no courage, are cowardly, and are incompetent, just like their behavior in history when they faced the Manchus entering the country.
certainly.
Cowardly merchants may not be able to stand up for their dynasty, but the dynasty's army has this responsibility.
Therefore, when Yu Dayou's expeditionary army entered the territory of Folangji, the method of revenge was not merciful.
Ta-ta!
The expeditionary army stepped on the land of Fo Langji with their heavy leather boots, making a dull sound.
at the same time.
The dull sound of gunfire and the earth-shattering sound of artillery also sounded in the land of Folangji.
All we know is that the plundered Folangji was vulnerable to the imperial army. The imperial expeditionary force quickly occupied the entire territory of Folangji, and captured all the king of Folangji and other nobles back home.
In addition, Wang Zhi and other pirates also captured many Western pirates and dealt with them in accordance with the requirements of the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, after the Ming Dynasty's expeditionary force entered Folangji, these Ming Dynasty trading firms naturally began to recognize themselves as Ming Dynasty's trading firms again and asked the expeditionary force to protect them.
And when the officials sent by the Ming Dynasty to manage Folangji followed the expeditionary force to occupy Folangji and began to establish the Ming government in Folangji, these Ming Dynasty trading houses also asked the Ming Dynasty to send them to Folangji because they were Ming Dynasty's trading houses. Officials who manage Langji are given tax-free treatment.
In any case, when Zhu Houzhao saw Yu Dayou appearing at the Meridian Gate with a large number of prisoners of war from Folangji, he knew that his emperor had not lived his life in vain.
Zhu Houzhao was not polite to these kings and nobles from Folangji, and all were severely sentenced by the Ministry of Punishment. All of them were executed for committing murder and other crimes.
Of course, Yu Dayou's return from the expedition to Folangji could be regarded as completely debunking the rumors that had arisen in the capital about Yu Dayou's founding of the country overseas.
Of course, Xu Jin also knew that the rumors he had created would be exposed by Yu Dayou's triumphant return, but he was not too worried about this, worried that he would fall because of this rumor. After all, no one could provide evidence to prove this rumor. It was he who took the lead and wanted to frame Gao Zhong.
However, it was at this time that Wang Wenbing, the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, impeached Xu Jin for creating rumors and slandering Yu Dayou, and secretly created the illusion that Yu Dayou and Gao Zhong were conspiring to rebel. The evidence is that Xu Jin's eldest son, Xu Yuancheng, had worked at Yunheng Literature Society. Yu said this after drinking. In addition, there is evidence of a secret letter from Xu Jin contacting the pirate Xu Hai with the intention of intercepting and killing the expeditionary general Yu Dayou.
Zhu Houzhao did not expect that the imperial censor Wang Wenbing would come up with such conclusive evidence, but in any case, Xu Jin intended to frame Xichang Admiral Gao Zhong and the military minister Yu Dayou, especially his intention to limit the power of his own emperor, so Zhu Houzhao also decided to take this opportunity Take action against Xu Jin.
"What a deputy minister in the cabinet, but he is so vicious! After drafting the decree, the Dongchang Supervisory Department immediately detained Xu Jin, and at the same time issued an order to the Ministry of Personnel to revoke all Xu Jin's titles!"
Zhu Houzhao said this after receiving Wang Wenbing's impeachment memorial. This also means that Xu Jin's career has come to an end.
However, Zhu Houzhao didn't understand why Xu Jin thought of colluding with pirates to intercept and kill Yu Dayou, the general of the expeditionary force.
In fact, Yan Song knew all this, because he and Xia Yan directed all of this.
Yu Dayou did encounter pirates, but they were not contacted by Xu Jin who was far away in the capital. Xu Jin would not be stupid enough to take the risk to kill Yu Dayou. It was just that Xia Yan and Yan Song had been paying attention to Yu Dayou's whereabouts and waited until they learned about Yu Dayou. Been there After hearing the news about the pirate encounter in the old port, Xia Yan and Yan Song worked together to forge Xu Jin's letter to contact the pirates. At the same time, they also used their undercover at Yunheng Literary Society to find out from Xu Yuancheng how Xu Jin wanted to deal with Xichang to create rumors. Secret.
Zhu Houzhao was naturally too lazy to pursue the truth of all this. Xu Jin wanted to move the West Factory, which undoubtedly touched the emperor's rebellion. Therefore, as long as there is evidence, he will naturally push forward and deal with Xu Jin severely. .
At this time, Xu Jin had not thought that Xia Yan, Yan Song and other officials representing the interests of the nobility and common people had helped the emperor find an excuse to deal with him.
Now he is still waiting for news from the south, waiting for news of the chaos in the south, because Zhu Wan's move south to crack down on smuggling will definitely arouse resistance from many nobles in the south. Xu Jin believes that it will be his civil servants who represent the merchant class who fight back again. Chance.
"What's going on in the south now? Have you told Zhu Wan about Shuangyu Island?"
Xu Jin was asking Ni Yuanlin when Zhao Zhi from the Dongchang Inspectorate Department came over with people from the Dongchang Inspectorate Department.
Seeing this, Xu Jin couldn't help but glance at Ni Yuanlin. At first, he thought that the Dongchang Inspector was here to find Ni Yuanlin, so he told him: "Yuan Lin, commit suicide, so as not to suffer! This is good for you and good for everyone!" ”
Ni Yuanlin nodded. He has now joined the Yunheng Literary Society, and he does not want to expose too many like-minded people. Now when he saw the Dongchang Inspector coming, he knew it was not a good thing, so he immediately took a poison.
For a moment, Ni Yuanlin couldn't help but cover his throat in pain, and sat down on the ground, but he still had a smile on his face, because in the past, when Dongchang and Jinyiwei arrested people, they rarely committed suicide successfully.
Now that he could successfully commit suicide before being caught, it had to be said to be a victory. He believed that the emperor's minions would be very angry and find it difficult to deal with them.
Although Ni Yuanlin was in pain, he was also very proud and looked at these people from the Dongchang Inspectorate with pride.
The people from the Dongchang Inspectorate did not pay first attention to Ni Yuanlin from the beginning, so they did not stop Ni Yuanlin from committing suicide. When they quickly grabbed Xu Jin's arm, someone from the Dongchang Inspectorate helped him up. Ni Yuanlin asked: "You are Ni Yuanlin, Secretary of the Cabinet, right? What's the matter with you? Do I need to send you to a hospital?"
At the same time, Zhao Zhi said to Xu Jin, who was already under the control of his own people: "Mr. Xu Ge, please come with us. We need you to explain some issues."
"What, what's going on, aren't you arresting me? Are you arresting Mr. Xu Ge?! I, I committed suicide in vain?!"
Ni Yuanlin was horrified and extremely regretful, but he was so poisoned that he couldn't speak, so he could only point desperately in the direction of the medical center.
Xu Jin was also surprised at first, wondering why the people from the Dongchang Inspectorate suddenly came to arrest him. He wondered if he had allowed these people to catch something. But when he saw Ni Yuanlin struggling in pain, he quickly realized When he reached something, he immediately shouted:
"Hurry, hurry, take him to the hospital, he, he accidentally took the medicine!"
Ni Yuanlin died of poisoning before he could be sent to the hospital.
"Tell me, Mr. Xu Ge, why did you slander General Yu, why did you frame Xichang Admiral Eunuch Gao, and why did you murder Ni Yuanlin, secretary of the cabinet, and force him to commit suicide."
Zhao Zhi from the Dongchang Inspectorate Department asked Xu Jin, and what was unexpected was that Zhao Zhi also attributed Ni Yuanlin's suicide to Xu Jin, mistakenly believing that Ni Yuanlin was forced to commit suicide by Xu Jin.
Xu Jin finally confessed to conspiring to spread rumors and slander Yu Dayou and Gao Zhong, but he was naturally unwilling to admit that he forced Ni Yuanlin to commit suicide.
In addition, he was unwilling to admit his alleged crime of colluding with pirates to kill Yu Dayou.
But despite this, because Wang Wenbing provided conclusive evidence, and Xu Yuancheng's interrogation confession also confirmed that his father Xu Jin had done many evil things. It could be traced back to the time when water pipes were installed in Shuntian Mansion. It was already known that Pan En and his Xu family had conspired to embezzle the country. The assets and the deaths of Wei Ying and Yun Ji were also unearthed one by one.
final.
Zhu Houzhao agreed with the judgment of the Ministry of Punishment and sentenced Xu Jin to the crime of showing his head to the public, and he failed to register all his family property.
Even Paine was not spared. He was caught, his house ransacked and executed!
What is shocking is that Jin Yiwei actually confiscated property worth more than 20 million silver dollars from the Xu family!
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao had to admit that since the Ming Dynasty opened the sea, many gentry did not become poor because of the increase in business taxes imposed by the court. On the contrary, these gentry gradually became larger plutocrats because of the benefits of opening the sea.
"Xia Yan, it must be Xia Yan, it must be the old man he framed!"
Xu Jin couldn't help shouting like this before he died. He believed that Gao Zhong, the admiral of the West Factory, was not brave enough to dare and would not contact the censor to criticize him like this. Only Xia Yan, who was in charge of the empire's internal affairs, could make such a thorough decision. arrangement.
Therefore, he couldn't help but think that Xia Yan had harmed him. Of course, by shouting like this, he also meant that his comrades would regard Xia Yan as his enemy in the future.
"You're a national thief who brought it all upon himself! If he really had a clean slate, how could I have framed him! What he did was just wanting to hurt me before he died! I won't be like him. Even if I die miserably in the future, I will never He died because of his guilt! He must have been killed by hypocrites like Xu Jin!”
When Xia Yan said this, Yan Song couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart. For a moment, he thought Xia Yan was talking about him, so he smiled awkwardly and said: "Yuan Fu is highly regarded by your majesty and has made great contributions to the country. How could he die miserably? Even your majesty also said, In the future, court officials will not be killed for unfounded crimes!”
Xia Yan nodded, and then said: "That is just wishful thinking of your Majesty. When the monarch and his ministers disagree, they will still do it unnecessarily. However, it is far from saying this now. At the moment, important things must be done quickly. Your Majesty has appointed the crown prince!”
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(End of chapter)