novelSusiti Chapter 10 I really want to be a Grand Secretary!
Chapter 10 I really want to be a Grand Secretary!
The loud noise at Wanggongchang was not a natural disaster, but was caused by the Later Jin people.
Zhu Ming looked at Luo Sigong, who came from a family of imperial guards with a history spanning over a century, and was speechless.
How could a shrewd intelligence chief, who managed to escape unscathed from Wei Zhongxian's machinations, feign weakness and ignorance in front of him?
Was this a bit too much? Or was the Apocalypse Explosion so bizarre and strange that it made him lose his mind?
These are all ancient ghost stories, why are you playing with foxes?!
"Hoo!" Zhu Ming picked up his teacup, blew away the foam, took a sip, and said, "Well? My Commander, have you figured it out?"
Luo Sigong raised his head, his face drained of color, and seemed to have come to some understanding. "Your Majesty, these things? Could it be that you intend to...?"
Based on Zhu Mingdi's personality and his performance over the past year, the eunuch faction hasn't carried out any mass killings of civil and military officials for half a year. So, it seems they have no target to use these "evidence" to eliminate dissidents.
Since there are no suitable partners in the imperial court!
The only one they could deal with was the Later Jin Jurchens!
Is His Majesty trying to frame us for the Wanggongchang Tianqi Explosion? No, this explosion was actually carried out by spies from the Later Jin Jurchens!
That's right! The Later Jin Jurchens committed heinous crimes against the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and they are unforgivable!
Yes! At this moment, Luo Sigong had already secretly vowed in his heart: he would never forgive this evil!
"That's right!" Seeing that Luo Sigong had already figured it out, Zhu Ming finished the sentence for him, "The explosion at Wanggongchang was not caused by gunpowder spontaneously combusting, but by the Later Jin sending people to secretly bomb my arsenal, the most important arsenal of the Ming Dynasty, while the capital was holding a military parade and the defenses were weak."
"My arsenals have suffered a total loss of 400 million tons of gunpowder, over a million shells, and hundreds of thousands of cannons. A vast amount of research data and samples of advanced firearms have also been lost, in addition to the deaths of tens of thousands of craftsmen!"
"My people have suffered over 200,000 casualties; in my capital, over 100,930 houses have been destroyed, and 90% of the palaces in the Forbidden City have been damaged!"
Upon hearing this, Luo Sigong was stunned.
Depend on!
How could this Emperor of the Ming Dynasty be so good at making things up!
Luo Sigong has investigated these past few days and the actual figures differ significantly from those reported by Zhu Ming.
Wanggongchang clearly only had a little over a thousand catties of black powder left, so where did the other 400 million tons come from? It must have been used to settle accounts!
Putting aside whether 400 million tons of gunpowder could fit, just the more than one million shells and hundreds of thousands of cannons alone would fill half of Beijing!
There were also houses affected by the explosion, but in reality there were only 10,930 houses. How was the number of houses over 100,000 calculated?
Is this honest? No, it's clearly multiplied by ten!
The death toll is even more outrageous.
On the day of the grand military parade, almost all the people of Beijing went to watch the ceremony, and the city was deserted.
Moreover, the number of people who were accidentally caught in the blast and ascended to heaven on the day of the explosion, as well as those who were naturally lifted into the air, did not exceed one or two hundred!
Where did the more than 200,000 casualties come from?
Casualties? 199,900 minor injuries, and one or two hundred dead? Is this how emotional figures are pieced together?
However, such casualty and loss figures, coupled with the characterization of "the work of the Later Jin Jurchens," will inevitably cause a huge shock among the people!
What impact will this have on the imperial court? If the imperial court actively provides disaster relief and its officials donate money and supplies, will the people turn a blind eye?
What impact will this have on the emperor? The Tianqi Emperor Zhu Ming is about to issue an edict of self-reproach, making his attitude very clear. Wouldn't the people praise His Majesty's wisdom?
No matter how wide the explosion range, how many casualties, or how bizarre the explosion, what does it matter?
Natural disaster? Man-made disaster? It doesn't matter anymore!
There is now a target with both witnesses and physical evidence—the Later Jin Jurchens!
Once this investigation report is released, the Later Jin Jurchens will surely be scorned by the people and condemned by scholars!
His Majesty the Emperor is determined to destroy the Later Jin and the Jurchens!
Thinking of this, Luo Sigong's CPU, which had been running for over sixty years, was now overloaded. He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.
"You submit a report!" Zhu Ming's voice wasn't loud, but every word carried immense weight. "I approve memorials! Understood!"
"Yes!" Luo Sigong broke out in a cold sweat; Zhu Ming in front of him was truly terrifying!
terrible!
This young emperor's cunning is truly terrifying!
Just a few days ago, he intimidated the officials in the court and suppressed the so-called "natural disaster attack," which seems to have been intentional.
Now, they have secretly laid the groundwork in advance, using the explosion to drag the Later Jin and Jianzhou Jurchens into the mess.
The situation in Liaodong is currently very favorable. The great victory at Ningyuan in the first month boosted morale. With this additional move, the morale of the army and the people will likely be united as one, and there is a strong momentum to conquer Liaodong!
What a brilliant strategy!
It turns out that His Majesty is making a grand strategic move for Liaodong!
In the eastern part of the capital, there was an inconspicuous private room in a teahouse.
Gao Panlong sat in the main seat, while Zhou Qiyuan and the others sat opposite him. The tea smoke curled around them, and their expressions were not very good.
"What a brilliant strategy! What a brilliant move!" Zhou Qiyuan said, holding a copy of the official gazette issued by the court, which neatly listed the details of donations.
It was a habit of ministers to peruse copies of the official gazette every day, reading the gazettes circulated from various government offices to glean insights into the political climate of the court.
Among them, Gao Panlong received 10,000 taels of silver and 50,000 mu of fertile land; Li Yingsheng received 4,000 taels of silver and 20,000 mu of fertile land; Zhou Qiyuan received 1,200 taels of silver…
"Brother Cunzhi, what are you trying to do? How could someone as calm as you be so blinded by such a scheme!" Zhou Qiyuan looked at his colleague, unsure how to comment.
"Zhongxian, I'm getting on in years, and I'm not satisfied with just this position. Now that I have another chance, I really want to go further!" Gao Panlong's expression was not calm, and his voice trembled slightly.
"I really, really want to be a Grand Secretary, I dream about it all the time!"
When Gao Panlong uttered the last few words, his expression was one of gritted teeth and tears streaming down his face.
Zhou Qiyuan, sitting opposite him, opened his mouth, then closed it again.
He understands Gao Panlong.
In the 22nd year of the Wanli reign, Gao Panlong was only 32 years old and full of vigor. He was a minor official in the Ministry of Personnel, but he dared to impeach the Grand Secretary Wang Xijue. He offended powerful figures and was demoted to Jieyang, Guangdong, as a clerk. Later, he simply resigned and returned home, where he stayed at the Donglin Academy for more than 20 years.
More than twenty years! By the time he was reinstated, Gao Panlong was already a 59-year-old veteran.
At this age, only recently rising to the position of Left Censor-in-Chief, it would be a lie to say he wasn't anxious.
Last year, when Gao Panlong was summoned back to the capital by Emperor Tianqi (Zhu Ming), he thought he had finally gained the emperor's favor and his opportunity was coming!
Gao Panlong believed that he had already taken control of the Donglin Party and was its spiritual leader, so as the party leader, it was only a matter of time before he entered the cabinet.
For the past six months, Zhu Ming has ignored him and remained indifferent.
Gao Panlong has reflected on his behavior:
During the victory at Ningyuan, he submitted a memorial arguing that we should not forget the worries of a hundred years because of the victory of one battle, and hoped that the emperor would reflect on his actions.
During the Tianqi Emperor's grand military review, he submitted a memorial urging the emperor to reflect on the fact that displaying military might under the city walls was wasteful of resources and manpower.
During the Tianqi Explosion, he wrote a memorial warning of natural disaster, hoping the emperor would reflect on his actions.
....
He stepped precisely on the emperor's sore spots with every step, which may be why the emperor did not value him.
The reprimand Zhu Ming gave him in the palace a few days ago, and the provocation from Wei Zhongxian, caused him to lose his head due to a moment of rebelliousness.
In addition, they were tricked by Sun Chengzong's "five thousand hectares of fertile land" at the time; then they were completely defeated by the "donation to erect a merit monument".
Zhou Panlong's CPU, which had been running for over sixty years, was completely burned out. In that instant, all he could think of was "spending money and effort to win back the Emperor's favor," and he went all in with ten thousand taels of silver.
Of course, this amount of silver and land was not much to them; but for a civil official who considered himself to be of high moral character, it was an exceptionally large sum.
And then there are a full 50,000 mu of fertile land!
Zhou Qiyuan felt a headache coming on just thinking about this.
As is widely known, in the Ming Dynasty, embezzling sixty taels (approximately sixty strings of cash) could result in execution!
Those familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty also know that in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen's reign, he called on all officials to donate money, but most of the civil and military officials only donated tens to hundreds of taels, just to get by.
After Li Zicheng captured Beijing, he seized approximately 7000 million taels of silver from the Ming Dynasty bureaucracy through the "recovery of stolen goods to aid the army," of which officials accounted for 20%, or 1400 million taels!
So, in the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, what does 10,000 taels of silver mean? What does 10,000 mu of fertile land mean?
That goes without saying!
Hey!
"Brother Cunzhi, you acted too hastily!" Zhou Qiyuan sighed and continued, "The eunuch faction is currently at its peak. If we show even the slightest unusual behavior, they will seize upon it! Otherwise, Lord Yang Lian and the others wouldn't be imprisoned in the imperial prison and still haven't been released!"
Gao Panlong quickly did some mental calculations: nowadays, a mu of the best farmland around Taihu Lake is worth at least twelve taels of silver, so fifty thousand mu would be worth more than six hundred thousand taels of silver.
Now that they've suddenly amassed over 600,000 taels of land and wealth, if someone were to investigate this, they'd find out that their entire family could go farm in Lingnan.
"Yes! Embezzlement and bribery!" Gao Panlong slumped into his chair. "That's a common tactic used by the eunuch faction!"