usatvline Chapter 68 Dealing with Civil Servants
Chapter 68 Dealing with Civil Servants
The emperor sat upright on the dragon throne, flipping through the thick stacks of secret scrolls on the dragon desk.
The documents submitted by the Embroidered Uniform Guard contained detailed records of the cult's infiltration, a list of officials involved, and the locations of the cult's secret strongholds.
The fact that a cult had grown to such a scale right under the emperor's nose, even daring to attack the Imperial Guards, made the emperor frown deeply and feel extremely alarmed.
The emperor was angry.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and the oppressive aura of imperial power swept across the hall, leaving hundreds of civil and military officials terrified and at a loss.
The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the general commanders of the three major camps in the capital, and the ministers of the eighteen ministries stood respectfully bowed, no one daring to utter a sound, let alone raise their heads to look directly at the raging dragon.
The silence in the hall was broken by the emperor himself, who said:
"I, the Emperor, inherited the five-hundred-year-old foundation of the Ming Dynasty, and as the ruler of the world, I guard the vast land and protect the millions of people. I will never allow evil spirits to ruin the prosperous Ming Dynasty."
"Guards, announce the imperial edict!"
"As you command!"
A senior eunuch emerged from the shadows, unfurled a bright yellow imperial edict, and loudly proclaimed:
"By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:"
"I have heard that evil influences are growing daily, and heretical cults are infiltrating the capital, corrupting my court, bewitching my people, and coveting my empire!"
"Greedy and despicable officials, parasitic petty bureaucrats, who eat the emperor's food but betray him, collude with evil spirits, and wreak havoc on the capital!"
"Ignorant and foolish people, misled by heretical doctrines, abandon the sacred path and worship evil gods; this is tantamount to abandoning themselves to the ancestral temples of the Chinese divine race!"
"Such calamities must be eradicated to restore order to the court! They must be punished to appease the people! They must be destroyed to secure the stability of our land!"
"It is my will!"
"Immediately seal off the capital, impose martial law throughout the city, and lock all nine gates!"
"The Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard took the lead, coordinated the overall operation, purged internal traitors, blocked all evil paths, and wiped out all those within the court!"
"The three major military camps in the capital are preparing for war: the Divine Machine Battalion, the Five Armies Battalion, the Three Thousand Battalion, and the Divine Dragon Battalion, to cooperate with the Embroidered Uniform Guard in eradicating the core stronghold of the cult!"
"I have led my royal army to eradicate all evil! Corrupt officials in the court and wicked villains in the marketplace will be exterminated without exception!"
May the Ming Dynasty's rule last forever!
"So be it!"
The eunuch's voice was high-pitched, but the imperial decree he read was powerful and clear, conveying the emperor's majesty and a fury powerful enough to set the heavens on fire and boil the seas.
Inside the hall, all the civil and military officials bowed in salute.
"Your Majesty, we obey! We swear to serve you to the death, to eradicate evil spirits, and to protect our Great Ming Dynasty!"
The officials' voices were loud and clear, echoing throughout the palace. Everyone had a solemn expression, and their blood was boiling with passion.
For five hundred years, the Ming Dynasty nurtured scholars. If a subject did not demonstrate such integrity, he would be condemned by others.
Emperor Jinghe laughed, but his laughter was filled with a chilling murderous intent, without a trace of genuine joy.
"Lu Qing."
Lu Huan, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and replied, "Your subject, Lu Huan, is here!"
The emperor said coldly, "My ministers are all pledging their loyalty, but I feel that some are not sincere. Do you know who is deceiving me?"
Lu Huan answered loudly, "Your subject understands!"
The emperor closed his eyes and leaned back slightly: "Then take it and interrogate it properly."
"As you command!"
Lu Huan withdrew his fist, turned around, and shouted loudly, "Imperial Guards, where is the General of the Great Han?"
A group of burly men, each over six feet tall (192cm), wearing golden armor and white helmets, and wielding long-handled brass maces, rushed out and surrounded the officials in the hall.
Many officials were so guilty that they trembled, and cold sweat even soaked their backs.
Lu Huan pulled a long list from his sleeve and calmly began to read it aloud:
"Ma Shuo, Chief of the Postal Service and Transportation Department."
Ma Shuo shuddered violently, uttered a meaningless "uh," then rolled his eyes upward and collapsed to the ground unconscious.
His colleagues and superiors from the Bureau of Transportation all turned pale and stepped back, making way for a large open space.
Two burly generals in golden armor entered the circle. Without bending down, they inserted their golden maces into Ma Shuo's left and right armpits and simultaneously lifted him up.
The next moment, everyone showed expressions of disgust.
Ma Shuo, the head of the post station's boat and carriage department, has lost control of his bladder...
The Han generals cursed under their breath, "What bad luck!" and tried to lift the man as high and as far as possible, throwing him out as quickly as possible to the Northern Garrison Command's Imperial Guards waiting outside the door.
The generals of the Han Dynasty were both imperial guards and ceremonial guards, and they had to maintain a dignified appearance at all times.
But the Imperial Guards didn't care about appearances and were used to seeing officials in such a sorry state when they were arrested, so they were mentally prepared for the sight of them covered in excrement and urine.
They pulled out the iron hooks they had prepared beforehand and, without hesitation, hooked them around Ma Shuo's collarbone. The excruciating pain instantly jolted him awake.
Before he could scream, a knotted rope was stuffed into his mouth, silencing him.
Ma Shuo screamed pitifully as he was dragged away by the Imperial Guards.
The bloodstains left along the way were silently wiped away by several eunuchs, leaving no trace.
Just like him, the person in charge, he will never appear again.
Inside the main hall, the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was still reading the list:
"Liu Tang, Chief of the Market and Trade Division of the Ministry of Commerce."
Pei Zhang, Director of the Department of Works and Forestry.
"Chu Xiuge, the clerk of the Censorate's Records Department."
"Zheng Shuyan, Director of the Arsenal Department of the Ministry of War".
With each name read out, one person would collapse on the spot and be forked away by the burly general.
With each official removed from office, the remaining civil officials would become even more fearful.
They huddled together more closely, like quails huddled together and shivering.
Of course, this does not include officials of the fourth rank or above, nor does it include those Confucian scholars who are dignified and composed.
The pillars of these civil officials looked at those lowly officials with disdain and contempt.
At the same time, their gazes toward the Embroidered Uniform Guards were filled with wariness, scheming, and resentment.
What they were wary of was that the Embroidered Uniform Guard still enjoyed the emperor's deep trust. Despite their best efforts and the efforts of two emperors, they still failed to create a crack in the trust.
There must be something wrong here!
Their plan was to use this incident to continue smearing the Embroidered Uniform Guard and ruining their reputation by writing short essays.
What they resented was that the Embroidered Uniform Guard openly targeted civil officials, making them feel embarrassed and ashamed. Why didn't they use the same method to deal with military officials and nobles?
Hmph, it must be because the emperor is wary of the military officers and nobles who hold military power that he dares not punish them openly.
One day, we will recreate the great achievements of Mr. Jie'an (Yu Qian), reorganize the three major battalions into ten regiments, imprison the emperor in the Forbidden City, and make him obediently rule by doing nothing.
In reality, the civil servants are selectively blind.
Cults can certainly infiltrate military officers and nobles, and nobles are even the hardest hit by infiltration.
However, since the civil officials did not hold military power, the emperor was at least patient enough to let them go through a public procedure.
For military officers who held military power, the Embroidered Uniform Guard dealt with them directly according to the principle of "acting first and reporting later, with special permission from the emperor."
After receiving notification from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Xun Gui ordered all the dukes, marquises, and earls to close their doors, causing all those involved in the case to "die of illness" overnight.
They used even more ruthless methods to demonstrate their loyalty to the emperor, which is why they have the respectability they have today.
This is something that civil officials absolutely cannot do.
The power struggles and intrigues within the temporary palace were quite fascinating to Chang Yuan.
At the same time, he began to look forward to the next big operation.
The fact that the imperial court killed so many officials clearly indicates that the problem of cult infiltration is very serious. This means that there are many cult members to kill and many spiritual resources to harvest.
He can't wait to make a big splash!