Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Substituting the Plum for the Peach (Asking for Favorites and Follows)

4th Year of Zhengyong, the second day of the third month.

Prime Minister Yang rebelled.

4th Year of Zhengyong, the third day of the third month.

Xu Mujun, Commander of the Dragon-soaring Army, received secret orders from Your Majesty to infiltrate the Imperial Palace, lead the Dragon-soaring Army to defeat the rebels, and personally capture the rebel leader Yang Xuansu alive!

The family and followers of Yang Xuansu were all captured and imprisoned!

4th Year of Zhengyong, the eighth day of the third month.

Of the 156 officers of the Imperial Guard above the sixth rank, 113 were captured and imprisoned.

4th Year of Zhengyong, the tenth day of the third month.

The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and twenty-two officials above the sixth rank were captured and imprisoned.

4th Year of Zhengyong, the fifteenth day of the third month.

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

4th Year of Zhengyong, the twenty-eighth day of the third month.

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and seventeen officials above the sixth rank were captured and imprisoned.

4th Year of Zhengyong, the fourth day of the fourth month.

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice, the Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice, the temple director, and thirty-six officials above the seventh rank were captured and imprisoned.

4th Year of Zhengyong, the sixteenth day of the fourth month…

Prime Minister Yang’s rebellion nearly implicated all departments of the Nine Ministers of the Six Ministries, five temples, two bureaus, two institutes, and one office.

Over two hundred officials above the seventh rank were captured and imprisoned in the Celestial Prison.

The entire Great Yu Court was in a state of panic, and the central administrative institutions were almost brought to a halt.

“Ministers.”

4th Year of Zhengyong, the twentieth day of the fourth month.

After nearly two months of suspended court sessions, Emperor Zhengyong finally held a Great Court session.

The once bustling Imperial Court was now silent.

Officials were all cautious, secretly glancing at Emperor Zhengyong on the Dragon Throne and the person standing at the forefront of the ministers.

Xu Mujun!

With the fall of Prime Minister Yang, Xu Mujun now held the greatest power in the entire Great Yu Dynasty!

At this time Zheng Yi also slowly stepped onto the Dragon Throne, coming to terms with his identity and the current environment over the past month.

Emperor.

He had become the Emperor of the Great Yu Dynasty!

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

As Emperor Zhengyong’s death warriors, the Shadow Guards’ loyalty to him was unquestionable.

But these Shadow Guards could not be allowed to remain.

Who knows if any of them were aware of his identity?

Including Xiaochengzi, a total of thirty-six death warriors from the Shadow Guard were either killed in battle or executed on Zheng Yi’s orders.

In addition to the Shadow Guards, the eunuchs, palace maids, and others who served Emperor Zhengyong were either exiled or stripped of their positions over minor offenses and sent to work in remote palaces.

A few were directly ordered to be executed.

It couldn’t be helped, he had to ensure his identity was safe.

All who were familiar with Emperor Zhengyong had to die!

Of course, the consorts in the harem did not need to be dealt with.

After all, they were not very familiar with Emperor Zhengyong, but were familiar with him, Zheng Yi.

As for the Empress Dowager…

Zheng Yi really had no choice but to resolve to visit Yongshou Palace less often in the future.

“Report matters, or the court is adjourned!”

An eunuch stepped out and called out.

Liu Cheng’en.

An old eunuch oppressed by Wang Zhongyi for over ten years, Liu Cheng’en was trusted by Zheng Yi and given the position of the chief eunuch.

Out of gratitude, Liu Cheng’en immediately demonstrated great loyalty to Zheng Yi.

Under his management, the Imperial Palace quickly returned to peace.

An official stepped forward and spoke in a deep voice:

“Your Majesty, this minister has a report.”

Zheng Yi glanced over and nodded slightly.

The Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Jia Yongshao.

“Your Majesty, last month, when Yang Ni rebelled, a total of twelve palaces in the imperial compound were damaged, especially Jiaotai Hall, which was the most severely damaged.”

“After estimation, the reconstruction will require an expenditure of 1.2 million silver coins.”

Zheng Yi said, “Why does it cost so much silver taels?”

“In response to Your Majesty, Jiaotai Hall is Your Majesty’s sleeping palace, with twenty-two ancient oak beams each over a thousand years old.”

“There are no such trees in the Central Plains Region; they must be transported from Yunzhou or Nanyue County, which incurs great cost.”

“I see, approved.”

“Your Majesty…”

Jia Yongshao hesitated and said, “The Ministry of Revenue…”

Zheng Yi’s mouth twitched as well; the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel were the departments most infiltrated by Prime Minister Yang.

Currently, over eighty percent of the Ministry of Revenue’s officials are imprisoned in the Celestial Prison, leaving only a few unfortunate souls managing the warehouses and archives.

Asking them to produce money now is undoubtedly difficult.

Zheng Yi looked towards Xu Mujun, and instinctively, other officials also looked over.

Xu Mujun stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, this minister has a report.”

“Please speak, dear minister.”

“In response to Your Majesty, after confiscating the assets of Yang Ni, a total of more than 8.56 million silver taels and more than 1.6 million gold taels were obtained.”

“There are a total of 635 properties, approximately more than 12,000 acres.”

“There are about 300 shops, manors, and silver houses under his name.”

“The fields, manors, and gardens in the suburbs of the Capital City have not been fully counted, but the preliminary count shows that there are more than 50,000 acres of land…”

“Countless antiques, calligraphy and paintings, pearls, and gems, with a preliminary estimation of about 200 million silver taels…”

Xu Mujun’s voice was not loud, but the content of what he said caused many ministers present to be astonished and fearful.

This was just the preliminary confiscation, amounting to roughly 1 billion silver taels.

It should be known that the annual revenue of the Great Yu Dynasty was only about 40 million silver taels.

The fall of Yang Xuansu unexpectedly offered the Great Yu Dynasty more than ten years’ worth of fiscal revenue!

Hearing Xu Mujun’s report, Zheng Yi secretly marveled in his heart.

This Prime Minister Yang was indeed terrifying.

This was only what was discovered in the Capital City!

The assets and land belonging to Prime Minister Yang in other counties had yet to be counted, and there was likely even more.

Xu Mujun continued, “Your Majesty, with Yang Ni’s confiscated wealth, I request Your Majesty to decree a tax relief in Binzhou, Qingzhou, and other areas, announcing it to the world to reassure the common people, ensuring they cannot be used by rebels.”

“In due time, the Qingzhou unrest will undoubtedly subside.”

“Approved.”

Zheng Yi concisely said, “Besides Binzhou and Qingzhou, tax relief will also apply to Youzhou, Jizhou, and Haizhou… for three years!”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty is benevolent, a blessing to all people!”

“Your Majesty is benevolent, a blessing to all people!”

Many officials all knelt down and shouted long live.

Only Xu Mujun slightly bowed his head to show respect.

Zheng Yi continued, “Gentlemen, now that Yang Ni has been removed, the Great Yu Court is in need of revival. The Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Justice, and other departments urgently need officials to fill positions.”

“You may privately submit memorials, each recommending officials to… Xu Qing for review, who will then submit them to me. Are you all agreeable to this?”

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

The power to appoint officials was given to Xu Mujun?

This…

Immediately someone respectfully said, “Your Majesty! This must not happen…”

“General Xu is merely the Commander of the Dragon-soaring Army; how can he handle… Ministry of Personnel affairs?”

Zheng Yi looked and realized it was Lu Xiangqing, the Left Imperial Censor of the Inspectorate.

Lu Xiangqing, from the Fan Yang Lu Clan, and also the Empress Dowager’s cousin, acted as the Lu Clan’s spokesperson in court.

Xu Mujun also said, “Your Majesty, I am an external minister and am not well-versed in court affairs, for fear of mishandling Your Majesty’s important matters. I kindly ask Your Majesty to select others.”

“Ah~ Xu Qing, you have worked hard and merited greatly, so there is no need for… this.”

Zheng Yi continued, “Announce, Xu Mujun has labored meritoriously, successfully quelling Yang Ni, and saved the emperor, hence is specially promoted to Grand Governor and Grand General of the Five Armies Commander’s Office, concurrently Minister of the Ministry of Personnel!”

“Order him to command all the armies in Qingzhou, Jizhou, Haizhou, and Binzhou, suppress rebels, and defend against the Five Nations!”

“I… accept the decree and express gratitude!”

The officials present were shocked, as this position was sufficient to make Xu Mujun the highest in the Great Yu Dynasty’s Military Department.

This meant that of the hundreds of thousands of troops in the Great Yu Dynasty, apart from Emperor Zhengyong, Xu Mujun was the highest Commander-in-Chief.

“With this position, dear minister, you will be involved in the appointment and removal of officials. Do not disappoint me.”

“This…”

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Mujun said, “Your Majesty, I comply with and express gratitude for the decree.”

“Additionally…”

Zheng Yi continued, “How should Yang Ni and his followers be dealt with?”

“Ministers, have you come up with an appropriate resolution?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep