Chapter 4228 4230 [Plotting to Usurp the Throne]

Xiang Nan then led eight Tian Gang and twelve Di Sha to the south to eliminate the eunuchs guarding the East Factory.

However, after leaving the capital, he cast the Soul-stealing Curse to control all eight Tian Gang and twelve Di Sha.

As soon as he asked them, he knew that they had indeed secretly followed the orders of the Godly Marquis and had the responsibility of secretly monitoring the four major spies.

Once they were found to have the idea of ​​opposing the Godly Marquis, they would be eliminated immediately.

"As expected." Xiang Nan nodded, then branded the hand of the Tian Gang who was in the lead, and gave him a two-sided mirror so that he could keep in touch with him anytime and anywhere.

Then, Xiang Nan left the team and let them go to the south to eliminate the eunuchs guarding the East Factory, while he quietly followed Haitang.

Haitang was responsible for leading a team to the west. She was loyal to the Godly Marquis and would not be wary of the Tian Gang and Di Sha she led.

Therefore, if they wanted to kill her, she would hardly have any defense. With her intentional plan, she would probably die, so Xiang Nan had to follow and be ready to protect her at any time.

…

Three days later, Xiang Nan contacted Yagyu Tajima through a two-way mirror.

At this time, Yagyu Tajima received a pigeon message from Shen Hou and was rushing back to the capital, ready to assist him in usurping the throne and ascending the throne.

It turned out that Shen Hou had made a deal with the Tokugawa general of Fuso, asking the Tokugawa general to help him usurp the throne. He promised that after ascending the throne, he would cede Izumo to the Tokugawa general.

It turned out that Izumo was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. Fuso was ambitious and had long coveted Izumo. But the Ming Dynasty, as the suzerain, naturally did not allow it.

Although Fuso was stronger than Izumo, it was weaker than the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, with the Ming Dynasty blocking it, it naturally did not dare to send troops easily. But if the Ming Dynasty acquiesced, Fuso could annex it.

In this way, Fuso's territory would be greatly expanded. The population, wealth and strength will also be greatly enhanced.

More importantly, Izumo is located on the continent. After Fuso occupies it, it can further interfere with the northeast and grasslands, and may even threaten the interior of the country.

Therefore, the move of Tiedan Shenhou is tantamount to cutting meat to feed the tiger, seeking skin from the tiger, collaborating with the enemy and selling the country, and causing endless harm.

Of course, because the two sides had already made a deal, Yagyu Tajima Shou had long known that Shenhou was going to usurp the throne.

Now that Cao Zhengchun is dead, Shenhou's last stumbling block has been removed, and he has begun to plan to force the palace and usurp the throne.

At this time, Shenhou recalled Yagyu Tajima Shou to ask him to help assassinate those officials who were unwilling to be loyal to him and completely clear the obstacles for him to ascend the throne.

…

With the information of Yagyu Tajima Shou, Xiang Nan knew Shenhou's every move more clearly.

It turned out that since Shenhou successfully eliminated Cao Zhengchun, he went to the palace to meet the emperor that morning and presented the seventy major crimes of Cao Zhengchun that he had collected.

Among them, there are conspiracy to usurp the throne, usurpation, rebellion, rudeness, forming a clique for personal gain, corruption, plundering, etc., all of which deserve death by slow slicing.

After seeing the evidence of Cao Zhengchun's crimes collected by Shen Hou, all the civil and military officials in the court said in unison, "Cao Zhengchun can be killed, he should be killed, he should have died long ago!"

Emperor Zhengde was naturally very dissatisfied when Shen Hou killed Cao Zhengchun without authorization.

Because he originally used Cao Zhengchun to check and balance Shen Hou, and then used Shen Hou to check and balance Cao Zhengchun, which has achieved the purpose of political balance.

Now Shen Hou killed the third-rank official of the court in the street without asking for permission, which can be said to be simply not taking him, the emperor, seriously.

What's more troublesome is that without the check and balance of Cao Zhengchun, Shen Hou is the only one in the court, and he has no way to check and balance. Therefore, Emperor Zhengde was very annoyed and angry.

But all the civil and military officials in the court said "he should be killed", even if he was the emperor, he could not override the public opinion.

Besides, Cao Zhengchun is dead now, and he has no decent helper around him. Under such circumstances, he can only swallow his anger and not only praise Shen Hou for eliminating traitors for the country, but also reward Shen Hou generously.

…

Shen Hou became more and more proud when he saw this. Then he advised Emperor Zhengde to issue a self-criticism edict, stating that he should not turn a blind eye to Cao Zhengchun's many acts of rebellion, corruption and abuse of power, and issued an order to permanently dismiss the East Factory.

Cao Zhengchun has controlled the East Factory and Jinyiwei for many years, holding power, forming a clique for personal gain, corruption and abuse of power, and persecuting loyal officials. The civil and military officials in the court have basically been bullied by him, so they are naturally dissatisfied.

Now Shen Hou is in the right position, and he persuades the emperor to issue a self-criticism edict. In their opinion, it is a bit too much and a bit presumptuous.

But for so many years, they have suffered so much injustice from Cao Zhengchun. Now the emperor issues a self-criticism edict, in their opinion, it is also right.

Emperor Zhengde knew that if he issued a self-criticism edict, the people of the world would call him a tyrant and a tyrant.

After all, for so many years, Cao Zhengchun and his eunuch party had been arrogant and domineering, rampant, corrupt and perverted the law, and bullied the people, which had already offended the public.

But the people generally only blame these eunuchs, not the emperor.

Because since ancient times, China has emphasized "Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents, and Teachers". The emperor is the true dragon and the Son of Heaven, and he will never make mistakes.

Even a tyrant like Song Huizong, "Water Margin" described him as "the most holy and wise", but he was deceived by the four treacherous ministers Gao Qiu, Tong Guan, Cai Jing, and Yang Jian.

And if this self-criticism edict was issued, the people of the world would know that Cao Zhengchun was favored by Emperor Zhengde. The reason why Cao Zhengchun was so bad was that Emperor Zhengde let him go.

In this way, if the people didn't scold him, he would also be notorious and infamous for thousands of years.

What’s more troublesome is that if he issues the self-criticism edict, he will “not look like a monarch”. In this way, Shen Hou can replace him.

However, he didn’t want to write it, but Shen Hou and the civil and military officials put pressure on him, forcing Emperor Zhengde to write it.

Therefore, he had no choice but to issue the self-criticism edict, apologizing to the people of the world for favoring Cao Zhengchun, allowing him to monopolize power, embezzle and pervert the law, and harm loyal officials.

After the self-criticism edict was issued, Emperor Zhengde was cursed by the people of the country as expected, and public opinion was boiling and the sky was boiling.

In contrast, Shen Hou, who killed the eunuch party, became the savior of the people, a great hero, a great hero, and a great loyal minister. His image in the minds of the people was unparalleled.

…

Seeing that public opinion had been formed, Shen Hou officially launched a palace coup.

Now he has the support of the ten generals, and more than half of the civil and military officials in the court also support him.

More importantly, he also received the full support of Wan Sanqian, the richest man in the world.

Wan Sanqian provided him with food, weapons and military equipment for his 800,000-man army, allowing him to completely control the military power. In this way, Shenhou was in power and naturally fearless.

He also promised Wan Sanqian that after he ascended the throne, he would not only strongly support him in making money, but also let him do the salt and iron business, and even promised to marry Haitang to him.

After learning the news, Xiang Nan was naturally very angry. Shenhou's move was simply despicable and shameless, and extremely dirty.