Chapter 491 The Emperor Provoked Fire
The fire in Xiyuan burned all night long.

The palace servants were busy all night, but the results were obviously not very good.

Summer in the north is different from that in the south. It is equally hot, but without as much moisture as in the south. Although there are water storages everywhere in the palace, there is also a large area of ​​Taiye Pond water available in the Western Garden.

But in the face of the sudden fire in the dark night, everyone was in a hurry and at a loss.

Although this is not the first time that the Holy Chariot has been invaded by Zhurong.

But this happened for the first time in the Forbidden City.

The last time the emperor encountered Zhurong was in the spring of the eighteenth year of the Jiajing reign, twenty-seven years ago. The emperor left Beijing and the north for the first time and headed south like his brother. He was then attacked by Zhurong in the Weihui Palace in Henan Province.

Emperor Wuzong traveled south on the pretext of going south to quell the rebellion of Prince Ning.

Today, his biological mother, Empress Dowager Jiang, passed away in the 17th year of Jiajing, and he decided to tour the south for the purpose of burying his parents together.

"What caused the fire this time?"

Changping Public Security Office.

Xiao Junpeng frowned and asked with a slightly uneasy look.

Although he was only a minor official in the capital, he was close to the center of government. Whenever something happened in the court, the officials in the capital were the most likely to be affected.

Now that Xiyuan has caught fire, if the cause is not understood, no one knows what will happen in the officialdom.

Especially now that the emperor is determined to implement new policies, a few days ago there was an incident where all the officials knelt down to make a protest and the emperor deposed all of them.

Just like today.

A fire broke out in Xiyuan last night, and today the Cabinet has sent a letter to all government offices in the capital area, requiring everyone not to move without permission.

Now it’s almost the double harvest season.

The summer crops are about to be harvested, and people are rushing to plant autumn crops.

It is the time of harvest and planting, and government offices everywhere are also at their busiest.

Isn't this just causing trouble for yourself?

Zhou Yunyi, the director of the Imperial Observatory and the junior minister of the Ministry of Rites, shook his head and looked at Xu Wei, who was sitting in the position of director of the Changping Public Security Bureau.

However, Xu Wei kept flipping through books on the table.

These books record the words and deeds of the court and the emperor as well as the government decrees of the time twenty-seven years ago, that is, in the eighteenth year of Jiajing.

Seeing that neither of them spoke, Xiao Junpeng couldn't help but whisper, "Could it be that His Majesty lit the fire himself?"

The possibility of this happening is simply too great.

Xiao Junpeng felt that the emperor himself had a strong motive for setting the fire.

After all, the court is now introducing new policies and there are many people who oppose it. If the emperor lights a fire himself, he will naturally be able to suppress those rebellious hearts.

This can be regarded as the emperor himself entering the game.

Xu Wei, who had been silent, finally looked away from the book in front of him and looked at Xiao Junpeng: "No one knows how the fire started this time. But the fire 27 years ago was definitely not set by the emperor himself."

Zhou Yunyi raised his eyebrows: "Did the emperor go on a southern tour in the 18th year of Jiajing? Wasn't it that the emperor was in the Weihui Palace and a fire broke out in the palace because of a candle left behind by a palace maid?"

This was the official explanation given by the court twenty-seven years ago when the emperor visited the Weihui Palace and was attacked by Zhurong.

However, Xu Wei looked at Zhou Yunyi indifferently.

He sneered and held up a book that was now very old.

"These are all the decrees and orders issued by the Emperor since he decided on the southern tour in February of the eighteenth year of Jiajing..."

Zhou Yunyi immediately stepped forward to take it and began to read it.

Xu Wei frowned slightly and explained in a low voice: "The emperor issued an order to tour the south because of the Empress Dowager's incident, in preparation for the joint burial of the emperor's father. However, before he set out in February, the emperor ordered the Grand Secretary Zhai Luan to be appointed as the Minister of War and the Right Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and to serve as the Border Envoy and Governor of the Nine Frontiers."

"Then the emperor issued an order to distribute 500,000 taels of silver from Taicang to Liaodong, Jizhou, Xuanfu, Datong, Piantouguan, Yanmenguan, Ningwuguan, Yansui, Ningxia, Guyuan, Gansu and other places to reward officers and soldiers."

"He also ordered the Minister of War Mao Bowen to supervise the military affairs in Xuanfu, Datong, and the three passes of Shanxi. The Left Vice Minister Fan Jizu was ordered to supervise the border defenses in Jizhou, Shanhaiguan, and other places."

"Mao Bowen, Fan Jizu and others all used the silver from Taicang and the stored salt in Lianghuai and Liangzhe to reward the border troops."

Xu Wei, who had already read the events before and after the emperor's southern tour in the 27th year, recited to himself in a low voice.

Xiao Junpeng glanced sideways and said, "The emperor is on a southern tour and has left the capital. According to the rules, the nine frontiers must strengthen their border defenses to prevent the capital from being empty and attacked by foreign invaders. This... doesn't seem to be a problem."

After all, since Emperor Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing, the Ming Dynasty has relied on the emperor to guard the country's borders. It is reasonable for the emperor to send people to inspect the nine frontiers when he leaves Beijing for a southern tour.

But Xu Wei smiled and shook his head: "The emperor was buried together with his father, and the southern tour was only for three or two months. It was to strengthen the border defense. He issued an imperial decree to strictly guard the nine borders, and then sent eunuchs to patrol the borders and issued imperial decrees to the governors of the nine borders to patrol. Why do we need to appoint ministers to patrol the borders with silver to reward the soldiers of the nine borders?"

It was reasonable for the emperor to leave Beijing for a southern tour and strengthen border defenses.

But sending people from the capital to patrol the border and giving them silver as rewards seemed too cautious.

Or.

It's nervousness.

The emperor was worried about certain things at that time, so what only required a few imperial decrees and the dispatch of a few eunuchs to the nine borders was made into such a fuss and he sent people and paid money.

"The emperor's southern tour wasn't just for the purpose of burying his father..."

After reading the book given by Xu Wei, Zhou Yunyi suddenly exclaimed: "The emperor must have wanted to rectify the affairs of the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River!"

"what?"

Xiao Junpeng opened his mouth wide and let out a long sound.

He blinked, not quite understanding why the fire in 1927 suddenly became a conspiracy theory.

Zhou Yunyi took over Xu Wei's words and began to explain: "In the 18th year of Jiajing, the emperor was on a southern tour and stayed at the Weihui Palace, where he was attacked by Zhurong. This happened on the night of February 28th. However, a few days before, that is, before the 26th, the two palaces in Zhaozhou and Linming, Hebei, where the emperor stayed, also reported fires on the 26th."

Xiao Junpeng is no longer calm.

I used to be just a small clerk, not to mention that I was just a child twenty-seven years ago.

How would I know the specific things that happened at that time?

Xu Wei then asked, "Do you know what the court's reaction was when the emperor decided to tour the south? How did the emperor deal with it?"

Xiao Junpeng shook his head.

Zhou Yunyi explained, "In the spring of that year, the emperor decided to go south. Xu Zan, the Minister of Personnel, and others submitted a petition to the emperor, asking him to stop the trip, but the emperor kept it in his pocket and did not send it out. Yue Lun, a doctor in the Ministry of Works, also submitted a petition, which angered the emperor, who ordered the Jinyiwei to arrest him, dismiss him from his post and never employ him again. After the emperor left, Yang Lei, a censor in the six departments of Nanjing, and others jointly submitted a petition to stop the trip. Hu Bin, the censor of the thirteenth Nanjing Circuit, and others also jointly submitted a petition to stop the trip."

After saying this, Zhou Yunyi looked at Xiao Junpeng with a profound gaze.

The look was very clear.

Now you should understand.

Xiao Junpeng couldn't help but nodded.

He really understood.

Back then, the emperor didn't just go south to Anlu to bury his father.

This is clearly aimed at the provinces south of the Yangtze River.

It was only for this reason that the emperor sent ministers from the court to patrol the border with silver and reward them before going south. Strengthening border defense was just a common excuse. The real purpose was to use silver to stabilize the soldiers of the nine borders and avoid chaos in the nine borders when the emperor went south to investigate the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.

At this time, Xiao Junpeng had already naturally described the causes of several fires in the imperial palaces that the emperor had encountered when he went south.

It must be that these court officials deliberately set the fire after their persuasion failed.

The first two fires occurred after the emperor left his palace.

Perhaps this was done to make the emperor feel a sense of crisis, so as to force him to stop going south and return to the capital.

But these people's plan miscalculated.

The emperor continued to march south under the escort of thousands of soldiers and horses.

So this time, those people no longer concealed it.

On February 28, the 18th year of the Jiajing reign, when the emperor was staying at the Weihui Palace, a fire was set.

Perhaps they wanted the emperor to personally experience the power of Zhurong so as to force him to return to Nanjing, or perhaps they wanted to...

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Xiao Junpeng didn't dare to think further.

He quickly said, "So the emperor must have severely punished a group of officials back then, but he must have used the fire in Weihui Palace to punish them!"

After saying this, he stared at Zhou Yunyi who was sitting opposite him.

Zhou Yunyi nodded, agreeing with his speculation.

"There was a fire in Zhaozhou and Linming Palace. The emperor ordered the arrest of the officials responsible and the deprivation of half a year's salary of the prefect Fan Xin."

"However, when the fire in Weihui Palace occurred, although the court gave the reason that it was caused by a candle left behind by a palace maid, the emperor was furious and ordered officials from Henan Province and Weihui Prefecture to be punished. Wang Geng, the prefect of Weihui, and others were put in shackles and forced to lead the way in front of the emperor. They were paraded through the streets and then sent to the border to serve the people."

"Afterwards, Henan Governor Right Vice-Chief Censor Yi Zan, Provincial Censor Feng Zhen, Left Provincial Government Envoy Yao Wenqing, Provincial Procurator Pang Hao, Left Vice-Chancellor Le Yi, and Assistant Official Wang Ge were all interrogated by the Pacification Office and sent to the Judicial Office. The three Judicial Offices are planning to redeem themselves and return to their posts. The Emperor has issued an edict that all officials who disrespect the Emperor's affairs and violate the rules will be dismissed and demoted to civilians."

In the government office, Xiao Junpeng blinked repeatedly.

The fires in Zhaozhou and Linming Palaces should have been a warning or a wake-up call to the emperor. Therefore, the governor Fan Xin was only fined half a year's salary.

But when they arrived at the Weihui Palace, the fire broke out right under the emperor's nose. Emperor Yan was furious and severely punished the Weihui prefect and others by putting them in shackles and parading them through the streets, and then sent them to the border as civilians.

This is already a very severe punishment.

However, the fire in the palace occurred in Weihui Prefecture.

It stands to reason that since the prefect was punished in this way, the officials above him in the government offices would naturally have to bear less responsibility.

This is also clearly illustrated by the convictions and penalties given by the three judges.

What does it mean to redeem the stick and return the position?

This is actually the way the imperial court has always punished officials who made mistakes.

He was fined as a penalty for his crime and continued to hold his original official position.

If things were really that simple, this approach would actually be very common.

However, the emperor did not use the solution proposed by the Three Judicial Departments, but instead dismissed almost all officials of the Three Judicial Departments in Henan Province and made them commoners.

This seems to be too severe a punishment.

But this is exactly the case, which makes Xiao Junpeng feel that the possibility that the emperor went south 27 years ago was actually to investigate the provinces south of the Yangtze River on the pretext of burying his father together.

So let’s return to the present moment.

The fire in Xiyuan last night seemed very logical.

Twenty-seven years ago, the emperor went south to investigate and rectify the south of the Yangtze River, so before he reached Huguang, he encountered a fire in Weihui Prefecture, Henan.

This time, the emperor wanted to implement a new policy and dismissed a large number of officials in the capital. So a fire suddenly broke out in the West Garden and burned all night.

It all makes so much sense.

After all, I have experience in these things and can even talk about them.

Who made the current emperor invite fire?
"Are they going to fight so fiercely? How did they set the West Garden on fire?"

There was a look of fear on Xiao Junpeng's face and confusion in his eyes.

He was horrified because the struggle in the court was so fierce. If he had not been an official in the court, how could he have access to such detailed inside information?

As for the confusion, it was because the fire occurred in the West Garden.

You know, let's not talk about the 3,000 close imperial troops led by General Guo Yuchuang of the Beijing Camp in the Western Garden, and the 3,000 elite cavalry of the Dragon and Tiger Army who just entered the city and stationed at the Xi'an Gate. Just a while ago, the Western Garden and the palace were severely punished and expelled by the eunuch Lu Fang, who was in charge of the seal of the Imperial Household Department, because the emperor's Taoist robe was missing.

So how did this fire get started after the inner court palace servants had been purged and with so many soldiers and guards?
This has become the thing that Xiao Junpeng doesn't understand the most now.

Xu Wei snorted coldly, "When the emperor went on a southern tour, he was accompanied by 6,000 soldiers and horses. Xianning Marquis Qiu Luan was appointed as the left deputy general, Dongning Earl Jiao Dong was appointed as the right deputy general, Yiguo Duke took charge of the central army, and Chengguo Duke was the deputy. Didn't that lead to the fire in Weihui's palace?"

Xiao Junpeng exclaimed: "How dare they do this! Are they trying to save their lives?"

Zhou Yunyi shook his head.

He was a serious and upright person in his time.

But at this moment, Zhou Yunyi's face was full of sarcasm: "These people have long lost their shame. Now the court wants to implement a new policy. It's time to fight to the death. If they succeed, they can continue to enjoy everything. If they lose, they will only lose their lives. What's wrong with that?"

Ever since the imperial court dealt with Xu Jie and confiscated the Xu family in Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture, Zhou Yunyi realized how naive and ridiculous he was at the time.

He actually thought that people like Xu Jie were the ones in the court who could truly save the country and govern the country.

What now?
The property seized from Xu Jiaguang in Beijing was worth several million taels of silver. The investigation in Huating County had not yet been thorough, and it had been several months since the incident. It was conceivable how much property the Xu family had in Huating County, so much so that the court still did not know how much property the Xu family had.

But I've heard about it recently.

It seems that the Xu family’s assets in Huating County are probably equivalent to the income from the imperial court’s silk trade for a whole year.

That would be a fortune of tens of millions of taels.

However, Zhou Yunyi felt that this might be a rumor, but the Xu family must have a fortune of several million in Songjiang Prefecture.

Think of this.

Zhou Yunyi felt more and more that when Yan Binke broke one of his legs in front of the Meridian Gate, he was not beating him at all, but clearly saving him.

Sir, you are so righteous!
Think of this.

Zhou Yunyi raised his eyebrows and looked at Xu Wei: "Then this time, I'm afraid the emperor is going to kill a group of people..."

…………

Monthly PassMonthly Pass
"History of Ming Dynasty - Records of the Five Elements" records that both the palaces in Zhaozhou and Linming Town were burned by fire.

"The Veritable Records of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty" records that officials were arrested for crimes and the prefect Fan Xin was deprived of his salary for half a year.

"Ming History·Five Elements" records that on Dingmao, the emperor went to Weihui. At four o'clock in the morning, a fire broke out in the temporary palace. Lu Bing carried the emperor out, and some of the concubines and eunuchs died in the fire.

The Veritable Records of Emperor Shizong of Ming Dynasty issued an edict to the Jinyiwei: I only traveled to Jingchu for the two emperors. All the places and matters along the way should be handled by officials. The officials were not respectful and diligent. Yesterday, when the Weihui Palace was in danger, no officials came, and there was no preparation. Zhang Yanqing did not guard it either, which was very arrogant. I will immediately send officials to check the prefects and other officials of the prefectures and leave only one person to guard the seal. The rest will be tied up and sent to the gate of the Protectorate Army. The front driver will be sent to the guards to show the public. The guards and patrols will arrest the officials holding the seals of the two departments and take them to the Zhenfu Division for interrogation. If there are vacancies, the Ministry of Personnel will select and fill them nearby. So the prefect of Weihui Prefecture, Wang Pin, the county magistrate of Ji County, and Hou Jun were arrested and tied in front of the emperor. They were beaten in Chengtian Court and sent to the border to be civilians. Yanqing, the governor of Henan, the Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief Yi Zan, the Censor-in-Chief Feng Zhen, the Left Provincial Governor Yao Wenqing, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Pang Hao, the Left Counselor Le Yi, and the Assistant Secretary Wang Ge were all arrested and taken to the Pacification Department, interrogated and sent to the Judicial Department, and it was planned to redeem them and return them to their posts. The imperial edict was issued: all officials who were disrespectful to the king and disobeyed the king were dismissed from their posts and demoted to civilians.

　Today there is more! And there is more!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)