The Ming Dynasty 1626 Enlightenment

Chapter 12 The Great Ming Dynasty Revelation Monthly Report

Once rumors are spread, they're like wild horses that can't be pulled back.

When Luo Sigong left the Imperial Study, his mind was filled with his Emperor's words, "Let the rumors fly for a while longer," and he couldn't figure it out no matter how long he pondered them.

Having served as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for most of his life, he had seen too many ministers react to rumors from the common people as if they were facing a major crisis. He had never seen anyone as calm and collected as Zhu Ming.

"Oh! Commander, don't you understand His Majesty's meaning?" A sinister voice drifted out from behind the pillars.

Tian Ergeng had been waiting there for some time now. His dark brocade robe gleamed in the setting sun. He watched Luo Sigong's discomfiture, a slight smile playing on his lips. He felt quite pleased with himself!

"How can His Majesty's meaning be so easily guessed!" When Luo Sigong saw Tian Ergeng walking over, he immediately bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

He stopped in his tracks, stared coldly at his old rival, and immediately retorted.

"Ha! If you don't even understand His Majesty's will, how can you be a good savior in His Majesty's hands!" Tian Ergeng was not annoyed and slowly strolled over to Luo Sigong.

"You~", Luo Sigong's hand unconsciously pressed on the hilt of the Embroidered Spring Knife at his waist.

This action was almost a conditioned reflex; after all, years of open and covert struggles had made him want to draw his sword whenever he saw Tian Ergeng's face.

Tian Ergeng didn't even glance at him, his gaze passing over Luo Sigong's shoulder and looking towards the direction of the Imperial Study.

"Commander, why do you think His Majesty doesn't allow your Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate those who spread rumors and cause trouble?" Tian Ergeng suddenly changed to a serious tone. "Isn't apprehending spies and suppressing popular uprisings precisely what the Embroidered Uniform Guard is good at?"

Luo Sigong loosened his grip on the hilt of the knife, his brow furrowed.

This is indeed something he can't understand.

The Donglin Party members spread rumors through the imperial edicts. He had read the contents of the edicts, and every word was aimed at the eunuch faction. However, the underlying sense of "the emperor losing his virtue" between the lines could deceive others, but it could not deceive him, an old minister who had served two emperors.

In previous years, the mere mention of "the emperor's loss of virtue" would have been enough to fill several more prison cells in the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

But Zhu Ming said: No need.

"What exactly do you want to say?" Luo Sigong's tone carried a hint of impatience, but more so an instinctive alertness.

He's been fighting with Tian Ergeng for so many years, he knows this man too well!

Tian Ergeng never appears anywhere without a reason, nor does he say anything without a reason.

"What I'm trying to say is, His Majesty is fishing, do you believe me?" Tian Ergeng smiled, a smile that looked somewhat eerie in the setting sun.

Luo Sigong's pupils contracted slightly.

"Those scholars from Donglin think their methods are flawless. With the imperial edicts spreading throughout the land and public opinion raging, they can force His Majesty to bow his head." Tian Ergeng's sharp eyes stared intently at Luo Sigong's somewhat naive face.

"But what they don't know is that His Majesty is waiting for them to muddy the waters. Only when the waters are muddy can he fish for fish."

"You mean..." Luo Sigong suddenly gasped, "His Majesty deliberately allowed them to spread rumors? And then..."

"I didn't say that," Tian Ergeng took a step back, his smile completely vanished. "I'm just a commander of the secret guards, carrying out His Majesty's orders. How dare I presume to know His Majesty's will? However, His Majesty doesn't want to get his hands dirty, so he has no choice but to..."

"You!" Luo Sigong stood there, stunned for a moment. Did His Majesty want to use someone else to do his dirty work?

Although the Donglin scholars went a bit too far with their methods, it was all in an effort to eliminate the eunuch faction!

This is a good thing!

But Zhu Ming, also known as the Tianqi Emperor, wanted to take drastic measures and use the Embroidered Uniform Guard, that is, his own hands, to get rid of the civil officials of the Donglin Party.

It's so dark!

That's too brutal!

No wonder Zhu Ming said, "Let the rumors fly for a while longer." When the rumors get out of control, let the Embroidered Uniform Guard take some measures, just like Yang Lian and his group did last year, to directly arrest and imprison them.

The eunuch faction is about to unleash another bloody storm!

No, it's myself, the current Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

Emperor Wanli did try something similar, but not in this way!

"You Jinyiwei are truly heartless!" Luo Sigong suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. It turned out that Zhu Ming had brought him up to take the blame.

I should have waited until the eunuch faction was ousted and the Donglin faction was in power before returning to command the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

But there's no other way now. He has to dig deep into the dirt on those Donglin Party literati in order to secure his position as Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Otherwise, when Zhu Ming wants to take action, it will be troublesome if his blade isn't sharp enough!

"You talk as if you're not a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Commander!" Tian Ergeng said sarcastically. "After being a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for so many years, you still haven't grasped the essence? No wonder His Majesty created a separate Embroidered Uniform Guard secret police unit."

Tian Ergeng paused, then suddenly leaned closer and lowered his voice, "If you can't do it, our bodyguards can do it for you!"

“…!” Luo Sigong stood there, pondered for a moment, and then said firmly, “Don’t worry! His Majesty’s wishes can be fulfilled by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. You don’t need to trouble yourself.”

Before Tian Ergeng could answer, Luo Sigong had already turned and left, leaving behind the words, "Tian Ergeng, you will die a horrible death!"

Tian Ergeng stood there, watching the departing figure, and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

It wasn't because he was afraid of Luo Sigong.

Rather, it's because Luo Sigong is right; he's bound to meet a terrible end.

This was what Zhu Ming had told him before he was stripped of his position as commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and became a secret guard.

In the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, Zhu Ming emerged from prison with a stack of papers in his hand.

"Interrogation, isn't it quite simple?" Zhu Ming tossed the confession paper in his hand to Tian Ergeng, who was still the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The text above is filled with Yang Lian and his family's admission that someone in their family had embezzled their land.

In this way, the evidence that the eunuch faction presented to Yang Lian and his associates for alleged embezzlement and bribery can be considered as evidence.

However, the key point is not the confession itself, but the way Zhu Ming made them confess.

That method uses "information asymmetry" to create misjudgment and exert psychological pressure on people to make them choose to confess.

In psychology, this is known as psychological coercion.

Even if Tian Ergeng and the others knew about this method, their instincts told them that they couldn't withstand such psychological interrogation: it was just too torturous!

It was even more devastating than the so-called tortures in the imperial prison.

After all, Zhu Ming was a time traveler, so he had some knowledge of modern interrogation methods.

Moreover, how could people in ancient times withstand the psychological attacks of Zhu Ming's division of the masses? It only took a few days to make Yang Lian and his group attack each other, and then he harvested their evidence of crimes.

Therefore, even a psychopath like Tian Ergeng would tremble in the face of such psychological warfare. After all, he is not afraid of any torture; if he has any backbone, he can just endure it and his life will pass. What he fears most is that the people around him will expose his dirty secrets and get him killed!

That's right!

Tian Ergeng was betrayed by those around him in this way. Xu Xianchun, Sun Yunhe, and others couldn't resist Zhu Ming's psychological tactics and immediately pledged their loyalty.

Of course, Zhu Ming, who had all the dirt on Tian Ergeng, had long considered him a "dead man"!

He's still alive and has even become the commander of the secret guards, which means Zhu Ming knows that Tian Ergeng is still useful!

Therefore, Tian Ergeng already knew that he would meet a terrible end.

When Zhu Ming asked him whether he should die sooner or later, he chose to drag others down to hell with him.

This was exactly what Zhu Ming wanted to do.

Therefore, a special secret guard was established, distinct from the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

The emperor's personal guards.

Upon receiving this appointment, Tian Ergeng knew he had to prove himself exceptionally useful, as that would prolong his life.

Thinking of this, Tian Ergeng strode into the Imperial Study.

"Your Majesty, Yang Lian and the others are ready!" Tian Ergeng handed over a roll of paper and reported in a low voice, "The first issue of the Ming Dynasty's Tianqi Monthly Report has been compiled according to Your Majesty's wishes!"

"Very good!" Zhu Ming took the Ming Dynasty Monthly Report from Tian Ergeng, glanced at it, and said, "Not bad! Their writing is quite good; it can be printed!"

"Yes!" Tian Ergeng replied, bowing.

"Don't do anything unnecessary!" Zhu Ming looked at Tian Ergeng and smiled. "Luo Sigong has his uses, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard has its duties! Understand?"

As soon as Zhu Ming finished speaking, beads of sweat immediately appeared on Tian Ergeng's forehead.

Now that the Ming Dynasty's monthly report has been published, all the false information in the privately circulated manuscripts will surely be swept away, and the rumors spread will eventually be exposed.

In other words, even without the Embroidered Uniform Guard taking action, those literati who copied the official gazette and spread rumors would definitely be drowned in the people's spittle. As a result, those people from the Donglin Party would be severely punished, if not killed.

so horrible!

The Tianqi Emperor had long anticipated ways to ruin the reputation of the Donglin Party members, but he was simply waiting for them to make their move.

He suddenly realized something: the emperor might have put Luo Sigong in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard simply to deal with the Donglin Party; and the emperor kept Tian Ergeng around not to check the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Whether it was the Donglin Party, the eunuch faction, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, or the secret guards, they were all just pawns on Emperor Zhu Ming's chessboard.

Seeing Tian Ergeng standing there dumbfounded, Zhu Ming knew that this arrogant and domineering eunuch executioner had completely become a knife in his hands.

"Go," Zhu Ming said, sitting at his desk, fiddling with a Shangtong inkstone, his tone still indifferent. "Get the Ministry of Works to start work. Let those Donglin Party members feel the even stronger tide of public opinion!"

"Yes," Tian Ergeng bowed deeply and turned to leave.

The night wind blew along the long palace road, carrying the sound of string and wind instruments from some distant palace.

Zhu Ming went to the window, stood in the moonlight, and took a deep breath.

The moon is beautiful tonight, and the sky over the capital city will soon take the shape he desires!