28: Li Dai Tao Jiang (Please collect and read)

Chapter 28: Plum Substituted for Peach (Seeking Collections, Seeking Follow-ups)

Fourth year of zhengyong, March 2nd.

Prime Minister Yang rebelled.

Fourth year of zhengyong, March 3rd.

Xu Mujun, commander of the Longxiang Army, acting on a secret decree from Your Majesty, penetrated deep into the imperial palace, led the Longxiang Army to rout the rebel forces, and personally captured the rebel leader Yang Xuansu alive!

Yang Xuansu's family members and their faction were all captured and thrown into prison!

Fourth year of zhengyong, March 8th.

Among the one hundred and fifty-six imperial guard officers of the sixth rank and above, one hundred and thirteen were captured and thrown into prison.

Fourth year of zhengyong, March 10th.

The Minister of Personnel, the Left Vice Minister of Personnel, and twenty-two officials of the sixth rank and above were captured and thrown into prison.

Fourth year of zhengyong, March 15th.

The Minister of Revenue, the Left Vice Minister of Revenue, the Right Vice Minister of Revenue, and thirty-six officials of the sixth rank and above were captured and thrown into prison.

Fourth year of zhengyong, March 28th.

The Minister of Ministry of Rites, the Right Vice Minister of Ministry of Rites, and seventeen officials of the sixth rank and above were captured and thrown into prison.

Fourth year of zhengyong, April 4th.

Thirty-six officials of the seventh rank and above, including the Chief Justice of Dali Temple, the Junior Justice of Dali Temple, and the Temple Rectors, were captured and thrown into prison.

Fourth year of zhengyong, April 16th...

Prime Minister Yang's rebellion had implicated almost all departments across the Six Ministries, Nine Ministers, Five Temples, Two Directorates, Two Academies, and One Prefecture.

Over two hundred officials of the seventh rank and above were imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison.

For a time, everyone in the Great Yu Dynasty court felt a sense of impending crisis, and the central administrative organs almost fell into a state of paralysis.

"Esteemed ministers."

Fourth year of zhengyong, April 20th.

Emperor Zhengyong, who had suspended court for nearly two months, finally held a grand court assembly.

The usually noisy imperial court was as silent as a graveyard today.

Every official was extremely cautious, continually casting covert glances at Emperor Zhengyong on the dragon throne and a person standing at the very front of all the ministers.

Xu Mujun!

With Prime Minister Yang's downfall, the most powerful person in the entire Great Yu Dynasty now was undoubtedly Xu Mujun!

At this moment, Zheng Yi also slowly stepped onto the dragon throne. Over the past month or so, he had finally sorted out his identity and his current environment.

Emperor.

He had become the emperor of the Great Yu Dynasty!

After the substitution, the first thing he did was to order the execution of all Shadow Guards!

As Emperor Zhengyong's death-sworn guards, one could well imagine the loyalty of the Shadow Guard to Emperor Zhengyong.

But these Shadow Guards could absolutely not be left alive.

Heaven knew if there was anyone inside who knew his true identity!

Including Little Chengzi, a total of thirty-six death-sworn guards of the Shadow Guard either died in battle or were ordered to be executed by Zheng Yi.

Aside from the Shadow Guard, there were also the eunuchs and palace maids who usually tended to Emperor Zhengyong's daily life.

They were either exiled or stripped of all status under the pretext of minor matters, and sent off to work in remote palaces within the imperial palace.

As for a few others, they were directly ordered to be executed.

There was no other way if he wanted to guarantee his identity.

Everyone familiar with Emperor Zhengyong had to die!

Of course, several imperial concubines in the harem did not need to be dealt with.

After all, they were not even close with Emperor Zhengyong; the one they were close with was him, Zheng Yi.

As for the Empress Dowager...

Zheng Yi truly had no choice and could only make up his mind to visit the Yongshou Palace less often in the future.

"If there are matters to report, step forward; if not, adjourn the court!"

A eunuch stepped out and shouted in a shrill voice.

Liu Chengen.

An old eunuch who had been suppressed by Wang Zhongyi for over a decade, he was valued by Zheng Yi, who handed the position of chief eunuch over to him.

Deeply grateful for this appreciation, Liu Chengen immediately showed immense loyalty to Zheng Yi.

Under his management, the entire imperial palace also quickly returned to peace.

An official stepped out and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, this subject has a memorial to present."

Zheng Yi glanced at him and nodded slightly.

The Minister of Works, Jia Yongshao.

"Your Majesty, a month ago, Yang Reverse rebelled and destroyed a total of twelve halls in the palace, with the Jiaotai Hall being destroyed the most severely."

"After calculation by this subject and others, this reconstruction will cost one million two hundred thousand taels of silver."

Zheng Yi said: "Why must so much silver be spent?"

"Replying to Your Majesty, the Jiaotai Hall is Your Majesty's sleeping quarters, and its roof beams consist of twenty-two oak trees that are a thousand years old."

"There are no such trees in the Central Plains region; they must be transported from Yunzhou or Nanyue County, hence the enormous expense."

"I see. Granted."

"Your Majesty..."

Jia Yongshao hesitated and said: "The Ministry of Revenue..."

The corners of Zheng Yi's mouth also twitched slightly. Among the Six Ministries, the ones most deeply infiltrated by Prime Minister Yang were undoubtedly the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel.

Right now, over eighty percent of the officials in the entire Ministry of Revenue were locked up in the Heavenly Prison, leaving only a dozen or so unlucky fellows guarding the storehouses and document archives.

Asking them to produce money now was inevitably asking the impossible.

Zheng Yi looked toward Xu Mujun, and the other officials of all ranks also subconsciously looked over.

Xu Mujun stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, this subject has a memorial to present."

"My beloved minister, please speak."

"Replying to Your Majesty, from the confiscation of Yang Reverse's estate, the total silver obtained amounts to over eighty-five million six hundred thousand taels, and over sixteen million taels of gold."

"There are six hundred and thirty-five properties, covering approximately over twelve thousand qing of land."

"There are over three hundred shops, manors, and silver banks under his name."

"The fields, manors, and gardens in the suburbs of the capital have not yet been fully tallied, but a preliminary count shows just the farmland alone exceeds fifty thousand qing..."

"Antiques, calligraphy, paintings, pearls, and gems are countless, with a preliminary valuation of about two hundred million taels of silver..."

Xu Mujun's voice was not loud, but the content of what he said made many of the ministers present panic with fright.

This was only from the preliminary confiscation, and it already amounted to around one billion taels of silver.

One must know that the annual revenue of the Great Yu Dynasty was only around forty million taels of silver.

With Yang Reverse's downfall, he had unexpectedly contributed over a decade's worth of fiscal revenue to the Great Yu Dynasty!

Listening to Xu Mujun's recount, Zheng Yi also inwardly marveled.

This Prime Minister Yang was truly terrifying to this extent.

And this was only what was uncovered in the capital!

The wealth, lands, and estates belonging to Prime Minister Yang in other counties and prefectures had not yet been tallied, and they would presumably be even more.

Xu Mujun continued: "Your Majesty, Yang Reverse's confiscated estate is massive. This subject requests Your Majesty to issue an imperial decree to reduce or exempt the taxes in places like Bin Province and Qing Province, and announce it to the world so that the rebellious mobs may learn of it, thereby pacifying the hearts of the common people and depriving the rebels of usable followers."

"Given time, the rebellious mobs in Qing Province will surely be quelled."

"Granted."

Zheng Yi said concisely: "Aside from Bin Province and Qing Province, the taxes of Youzhou, Jizhou, and Hai Province shall also be exempted together... for three years!"

"Many thanks, Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty is benevolent; this is the blessing of all people!"

"Your Majesty is benevolent; this is the blessing of all people!"

Numerous officials all knelt down, shouting long live in unison.

Only Xu Mujun lowered his head slightly to show respect.

Zheng Yi spoke again: "My lords, now that Yang Reverse has been eliminated, the imperial court is waiting to be revived. The Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Personnel, Dali Temple, and other departments urgently lack officials to fill vacancies."

"You may submit memorials privately and respective recommend officials to... Minister Xu's place. After Minister Xu reviews them, they shall be submitted to Us for approval. How does that sound?"

As soon as these words fell, the expressions of the officials below all changed.

The power to appoint officials handed over to Xu Mujun?

This...

Immediately, someone respectfully said: "Your Majesty! This matter must absolutely not..."

"General Xu is merely the commander of the Longxiang Army; how can he handle... the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel?"

Zheng Yi took a look and saw it was Lu Xiangqing, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

Lu Xiangqing was from the Fanyang Lu clan, as well as the maternal cousin of the Empress Dowager, and the spokesman of the Lu clan within the imperial court.

Xu Mujun also said: "Your Majesty, this subject is an external minister and does not understand matters within the court very well. I fear I might bungle Your Majesty's important affairs, so I beg Your Majesty to select someone else."

"Alas~ Minister Xu, you have rendered meritorious service through hard work, why must you... be like this."

Zheng Yi spoke again: "Transmit the decree: Xu Mujun has rendered great service through hard work, has the merit of annihilating Yang Reverse, and also has the merit of saving the sovereign. He is specially promoted to Grand Commander of the Five Chief Military Commissions, Grand General, and concurrently serves as the Minister of Personnel!"

"Order him to command all troops in the four prefectures of Qing, Jizhou, Hai Province, and Bin Province, to suppress the rebellious mobs and resist the five nations!"

"This subject... receives the decree and thanks you for the grace!"

The officials present were deeply shaken. This official title was enough to make him the supreme head of the Great Yu Dynasty's military department.

That is to say, among the hundreds of thousands of troops across the entire Great Yu Dynasty, apart from Emperor Zhengyong, Xu Mujun was the supreme commander.

"With this official post, my beloved minister can participate in matters of official appointments and dismissals. You must not disappoint Us."

"This..."

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Mujun said: "Your Majesty, this subject obeys the decree and thanks you for the grace."

"Additionally..."

Zheng Yi continued: "How should Yang Reverse and his clique be dealt with?"

"My lords, have you discussed and come up with a suitable resolution?"