One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, countless letters flew into the West Garden and piled up.
There were many memorials impeaching Zhu Ping'an, but Xu Jie, the second assistant minister sitting in the cabinet, did not shield his student Zhu Ping'an at all, and did not use his power to block these memorials. Instead, he was happy to see them succeed and gave them various conveniences, so that these impeachment memorials soon piled up on the desk in front of Emperor Jiajing.
The Yan Party in Wuyi Hall highly praised and affirmed Xu Jie's knowledge of taste.
At first, the Yan Party in Wuyi Hall was a little worried. Because today, Yan Ge Lao was sick and recuperating at home, and Xu Jie was in charge of the cabinet. Xu Jie was Zhu Ping'an's teacher, and they were worried that Xu Jie would protect his student Zhu Ping'an. Unexpectedly, Xu Jie was so sensible and completely sided with us.
Yes, yes, just as everyone said, Lord Yan has completely tamed Xu Jie.
Also, since Xu Jie entered the cabinet, he has been trembling with fear and treading on thin ice for more than a year. He dared not sit with Yan Ge Lao, and almost followed Yan Ge Lao's lead in all matters, big or small. He dared only to "follow" Yan Ge Lao, not to "show respect". He also said to people many times: Without Yan Ge Lao's support and guidance, there would be no Xu Jie today.
Xu Jie is one of our own, but we were just being too suspicious.
Thanks to Xu Jie's connivance, memorials impeaching Zhu Ping'an soon piled up on the desk in front of Emperor Jiajing.
After finishing his daily meditation practice, Emperor Jiajing took a freshly baked elixir in the morning dew and began to read the memorials piled on the table. On one hand, he cultivated to become an immortal, and on the other hand, he seized the power of the government. He had to grasp both hands and do both well. This was the principle that Emperor Jiajing had always followed.
The Holy Lord is arbitrary and has great power. And once you get power, it seems like you will keep it forever.
In fact, rather than saying that Emperor Jiajing was obsessed with cultivating immortals, it would be better to say that he was obsessed with power.
The purpose of Emperor Jiajing's cultivation was to achieve immortality and sit on the dragon throne forever.
"Hmm? There are a lot more memorials today than in the past few days, but what major events have happened in the court and the public?"
Emperor Jiajing frowned when he saw that there were many more memorials on the desk than usual. There had just been a flood in the south of the Yangtze River a few days ago, and there must be some bad news from down there. Why is it so difficult for me
"Your Majesty. Thanks to your Majesty's great blessing, everything has been going well in the past few days, both in the government and in various places."
Huang Jin, who was serving on the side, stepped forward with a tactful look, lowered his head, and replied respectfully.
Huang Jin was not only the seal-holder of the Imperial Household Department, but also the seal-holder of the Eastern Depot. The Eastern Depot was the Ming Dynasty's supervisory agency, spy agency, and secret police agency. It was equivalent to the emperor's watchdog, responsible for monitoring the court and the country and guarding the emperor's house.
"Is everything fine? Why are there so many memorials?" Emperor Jiajing shook his head and said expressionlessly.
"Your Majesty, I know something. These memorials may be impeaching Lord Zhu." Huang Jin replied with his head lowered.
"Zhu Ping'an?" Emperor Jiajing was slightly surprised.
"Your Majesty is wise." Huang Jin complimented with his head lowered.
"This is weird. In the past, it was Zhu who impeached others. I heard that someone even gave Zhu the nickname 'The First Music God of Ming Dynasty'. Why is he being impeached today?"
Emperor Jiajing was deeply impressed by Zhu Ping'an. When he heard that it was a memorial impeaching Zhu Ping'an, he couldn't help but become very interested.
In the past, Zhu Ping'an was the one who impeached others, but why was he impeached today, and by so many people? Didn't Zhu Ping'an make great contributions to the anti-Japanese war some time ago, and was rewarded according to his merits? !
It’s only been a few days, and he has been impeached by so many people
This made Emperor Jiajing very interested.
As Emperor Jiajing spoke, he flipped through the memorials. The first memorial was one from Xu Zonglu requesting to retire. Xu Zonglu pacified Liaodong and the Liao people relied on him and he had made great contributions. However, he was impeached some time ago. Now he requested to retire and return to his hometown due to old age and illness. Emperor Jiajing paused for a moment and approved the request.
When Emperor Jiajing was reading the memorials, Huang Jin stood respectfully by his side, as quiet as a statue.
After Emperor Jiajing reviewed the first memorial, he opened the second one. Sure enough, this one was a memorial impeaching Zhu Ping'an. It was the first impeachment memorial jointly submitted by Liu Wannian and the magistrate of Taiping.
Emperor Jiajing looked through it with great interest, wanting to see what Zhu Ping'an had done that was so outrageous that so many people impeached him.
"What? During the flood, Zhu Ping'an raised the grain price without caring about the lives of the people and accepted a bribe of 80,000 from the grain merchant?"
The content of this memorial was very sharp, and it was well-founded and logical. Emperor Jiajing couldn't help but frown after reading it.
Turning to the back of the memorial, Emperor Jiajing also saw the original official document that defined grain prices in Jingnan attached to the memorial.
This is very convincing.
After reading it, Emperor Jiajing put the memorial aside with an expressionless face and flipped through the next memorial. Sure enough, it was another memorial impeaching Zhu Ping'an. The content was similar to the previous one, both impeaching Zhu Ping'an for colluding with grain merchants during the flood, raising grain prices, and accepting huge bribes.
Another letter, still one impeaching Zhu Ping'an.
The content of this letter was different. This impeachment memorial focused on character, impeaching Zhu Ping'an for his moral degradation, disrespect for superiors, and lack of love for the people. It described Zhu Ping'an as a villain with no character.
Next, several memorials impeaching Zhu Ping'an were read one after another. Most of them were based on the fact that Zhu Ping'an colluded with grain merchants and drove up grain prices. However, there were also a few impeachments from other angles. For example, Zhu Ping'an opened a restaurant called "Zhu's Fast Food" in the capital, openly using dirty pig offal as raw materials to cook meat, harming the people and competing with them for profits.
"Huang Ban, what do you think?" After reading the memorial, Emperor Jiajing asked Huang Jin beside him indifferently.
"Your Majesty, Master Zhu is far away in Jingnan. I have not investigated his actions, so I dare not speak out. However, I do know what happened in the capital. Master Zhu opened this 'Zhu's Fast Food' restaurant after he inspected Taicang. He borrowed his wife's dowry to pay the Taicang fine. Master Zhu opened this restaurant. The main dish is braised pig offal. The price is cheap and the taste is good. Many laborers and civilians around support it, and the business is very prosperous. I passed by here on this errand and tried it once. Three dishes, two meat dishes and one vegetable dish, only cost ten cents, and the taste is really good."
Huang Jin bowed and replied.
"Oh? There is such a thing. If Huang Ban can say that the taste is really good, I am also interested."
Emperor Jiajing seemed interested.
"Your Majesty, all the meat dishes at Zhuji are made of inferior materials, and some of them are not presentable..." Huang Jin advised tactfully.
"Then forget it."
Emperor Jiajing was just talking. As the emperor, how could he eat something as indecent as pig offal
"Huang Ban, have the cabinet discuss and send someone to Jingnan to investigate what Zhu did for me, and then punish him when he comes back. Well, send two people from the East Factory to go with him."
Finally, Emperor Jiajing gave an indifferent instruction.