Three Days and Nights of Missing Superintendent Wang!

When the news of the complete annihilation of the Jianzhou Jurchens reached the four Hulan tribes of the Haixi Jurchens, two days had already passed.

Hada Tribe.

Gales roared, and sand and stones blew across the desolate land.

Hanu, the leader of the Haixi Jurchens, was completely dumbfounded. The hand that had been raised to order an attack on the Ming border passes fell limply to his side.

Hanu swallowed hard and asked, "The two Jianzhou Guards have been utterly wiped out?"

"Yes, Great King! A hunting party from the Jianzhou Left Guard returned home only to find their settlement razed to the ground!"

"They said that when they went to the Right Guard for help, they witnessed with their own eyes the Ming army brutally slaughtering everyone within the stockade. Daring not even to approach, they fled straight to our tribe for rescue!"

"They slaughtered two guards in two days! I have never seen cavalry move so fast, and there were tens of thousands of them! What are we to do?"

The faces of the Haixi Jurchen chieftains were filled with anxiety and panic, their unease clearly visible for all to see.

"Great King, say something, please! Should our Hada Tribe send reinforcements or not?"

"If we don't, I fear the Ming army will come and attack us!"

Hanu pondered for a moment and said, "It's fine."

It's... it's fine?

The Jurchen chieftain stood there in a daze, anxiously blurting out, "Great King, how can this possibly be fine? Those are tens of thousands of Ming cavalrymen, more than the entire population of our tribe!"

"What are you panicking for? When this king says it's fine, it's fine!"

Hanu scolded him sharply, then said in a deep voice, "With tens of thousands of Ming cavalry marching north, our tribe will certainly be fine... and even if something were to happen, there's nothing we could do anyway."

The Haixi Jurchen chieftain opened his mouth, utterly unable to utter a single syllable. If tens of thousands of Ming cavalry really set out to flatten the Haixi Hada Tribe, there truly was nothing they could do.

Silence hung heavy in the tent for a long time.

The Jurchen chieftain asked, "Then should we still go and gather supplies? Our tribe is short on grain, cloth, salt, and iron implements, all of which need replenishing. The men from the Huligai Tribe are also waiting outside."

Hanu laughed out of sheer anger and retorted, "Are you worried our Hada Tribe's history isn't long enough? Tell the tribe to hold on a little longer. As for those small fry from the Huligai Tribe, pay them no mind!"

"How many people are in this Jianzhou hunting party?"

The Jurchen chieftain answered honestly, "More than seventy."

Hanu issued his order: "Kill them all and send their heads to the Emperor of Ming. Pass down the word: forbid our clansmen from making any trouble. This king will go and personally petition the Ming Emperor to open the horse markets once more so we can trade for some goods."

"Understood!"

The Haixi Jurchen chieftain pulled his waist saber from its scabbard, stormed out with a menacing aura, gathered a squad of men, and bolted straight toward the remnants of the Jianzhou Jurchens.

If we can't deal with the Ming people, can't we even butcher you?

...

Zhu Yuanzhang rose to his feet and instructed, "Grandson, let's go. First, let's send young Jianshen back to the capital."

I want to go too!

"Very well, sorry to trouble you, Youjian."

Emperor Chenghua, Zhu Jianshen, wore a look of envy, but ultimately sighed. If he was not in the capital, it would provide the gentry and scholars in the Jiangnan region with an excuse to launch scathing verbal attacks against him.

For the sake of this alibi, he had no choice but to feel slightly aggrieved and let his ancestors fight his battles for him.

Fortunately, the final reward belonged to him.

There's no need for such courtesy; we are all family.

Zhu Jianshen smiled. "Let's go."

The various emperors and crown princes of the Ming dynasty vanished from the spot, and wave after wave of Ming soldiers disappeared along with them.

Moments later, nothing was left upon that land save for a scarred and desolate Jurchen stockade.

In the capital.

Zhu Qizhen, who had spent three whole days and nights on a killing spree, was currently dozing off on the dragon throne, a blood-stained embroidered spring saber resting beside him.

Surrounding him were a hundred guards of the Brocade Uniform Guard, standing in silent anticipation. As soon as the former emperor woke up, they would accompany him once more to kill and confiscate estates.

Over the past few days, wild rumors had spread frantically through the capital.

Some said that Shang Lu and other grand secretaries and high ministers had insulted the former emperor, infuriating him so much that he lifted his coffin lid, crawled out, and hacked them all to death.

Others claimed that Empress Dowager Zhou had done unspeakable things behind the former emperor's back, and overcome with shame, had committed suicide, and so on.

In short, the former emperor was furious, and the consequences were catastrophic!

So much so that the residences of the various officials were a horrifying sight to behold!

The streets of heaven were trodden with the bones of dukes and ministers!

The gates were hung high with the heads of nobles!

Such was the current state of the capital. Dozens of dukes and ministers had their estates confiscated, the maternal clan of the reigning empress dowager had their entire lineage exterminated, and the officials of the Six Ministries wished to offer remonstrance, but the emperor was nowhere to be found.

As for the former emperor, he didn't reason with you at all. After randomly executing a few lucky ministers, none of the officials dared to provoke this baleful star.

The Ministers of the Six Ministries collectively claimed illness and went into hiding within the capital, where no one could find them. They dared not show their faces, for showing their faces meant a swift death.

When the news of Zhu Jianshen's return to the imperial palace spread, civil and military officials swarmed toward the palace in a chaotic rush, weeping bitterly and crying until they were completely unpresentable.

"Y-Your Majesty! Please make the decisions for us! The former emperor has... he has already slaughtered forty-seven high-ranking officials of the third rank and above! Officials in the imperial court cannot live in peace, Your Majesty!"

"We all consent to the opening of the Western Depot! We implore Your Majesty to let Lord Wang Zhi supervise the officials!"

That scene—stretching all the way from the Meridian Gate to the Gate of Heavenly Purity—was filled with officials crying their eyes out. Their tears were genuine, entirely devoid of pretense, and their plea for Wang Zhi to supervise them was equally heartfelt!

No matter how brutally Wang Zhi persecuted the officials, he at least fabricated charges first and searched for evidence. If your hands weren't clean and your family customs weren't upright, you gave him the opening to take you down.

As for Emperor Yingzong, he didn't care about evidence at all; he would just walk up and slash you to death without any reasoning!

And he killed strictly by rank. Aside from a few cabinet ministers like Wan An who managed to escape by sheer luck, the high-ranking ministers of the court above the third rank had either fled or died.

Not only were cries of sorrow heard everywhere, but good lord, corpses littered the fields as well!

The officials simply could not withstand this level of devastation!

They even began to yearn for the days when Wang Zhi was around. Back then, Director Wang was still lean, and when he struck, he at least provided evidence. During the four months he commanded the Western Depot, he only executed a single official of the third rank.

Compared to Emperor Yingzong, he was practically the embodiment of mercy!

These three days and nights were three days and nights during which all the officials deeply cherished Director Wang!

"Since ancient times, the imperial family has governed the world through filial piety. How can there be such an unfilial and rebellious act of a son defying his father!"

Zhu Jianshen spoke softly. The remonstrances previously used by civil officials—armed with filial piety and dynastic precedents—to stop him were things he had long since memorized backward. Using their own methods against them felt truly wonderful.

The weeping of the officials paused for a fraction of a second.

Then they cried even louder.

Damn it!

Everything you just said was our line!

Emperor Fortress snored like thunder, rolling over on the dragon throne, smacking his lips, and continuing his slumber.

The earth-shaking wails outside had not the slightest impact on Emperor Fortress.

Zhu Jianshen was utterly helpless.

On one side was his dear father sleeping like a log, and on the other were officials crying as if their own fathers had died. The crucial part was that their crying was giving him a headache.

These people all had a history. Back then, they had cried so annoyingly loud for Empress Dowager Zhou that he had relented and permitted Empress Qian to be buried alongside the former emperor.

Their crying prowess far surpassed that of young maidens and brides in the countryside; even when verbally sparring with his great-grandmother, they remained undefeated. This showed just how profound the skills of these officials truly were.

Zhu Jianshen walked in front of his imperial father's dragon throne, pondered for a moment, and said, "Dad, the ancestors have brought their swords."

Emperor Fortress's snoring suddenly softened. He shivered a few times, slowly drifted back to consciousness, opened his drowsy eyes, and rasped, "They're here."

"Mn." Zhu Jianshen nodded.

"Grand Ancestor, Yongle Emperor, where are my father and the Grand Emperor?" Emperor Fortress peered around stealthily, observing on the sly while completely ignoring the officials below the dais.

These were the very people who had wept for Empress Qian; he had investigated them thoroughly, so naturally, he would not swing his butcher's knife at them.

The people he had killed over the past three days were either arrogant and lawless noble parasites or veteran civil ministers whose disciples and former subordinates filled the empire.

Not only had he avenged Empress Qian, but he had also weeded out these stubborn veterans whom his son would have found difficult to handle.

Emperor Fortress might have been a bit reckless and a bit foolish.

But he wasn't stupid.