Chapter 359: Big Rectification
This is about their own interests, and the interests are huge. This time, the core figures of the Donglin Party stopped arguing and reached a consensus to make a collective death remonstration!
They didn't believe that the dog tyrant would really risk the turmoil caused by the paralysis of various departments and the inability of the court institutions to operate.
Of course, they also made the worst plan. If the tyrant Chongzhen did not listen to the advice and insisted on his own way, then they could only use military remonstration to replace an obedient puppet emperor.
With the end of the public trial, more than 3,000 heads fell to the ground, and the matter came to an end. But for Zhu Youjian, this is just the beginning, and it is far from the end. It is rare to get such an opportunity. He will not stop until he has figured out the 100,000 Beijing troops.
As the middle-level officers were invited to drink tea by the Jinyiwei, and enjoyed the eighteen kinds of skills that made people feel comfortable and ecstatic, they cried and yelled about all the ugly things done by their eighteen generations of ancestors.
The dark things in the army are nothing more than eating empty salaries, deducting soldiers' salaries, secretly selling weapons and equipment, etc., and then being bought by certain forces and becoming their lackeys.
Eating empty salaries and sucking soldiers' blood have long been a semi-open secret in the Ming army. The upper echelons are well aware of it. As long as it does not cause a mutiny, they will turn a blind eye and pretend not to know. But Zhu Youjian wants to make trouble, not to mention small things, he will make trouble even if there is nothing.
With a large amount of evidence collected, a large number of high-level officers and even generals in charge of military power were invited to the Jinyiwei prison. Even those generals who were not affected, although they still retained their military positions, their military power was deprived. No one except Zhu Youjian had the right to mobilize the 100,000 elite Beijing troops.
Such a big commotion, let alone the official, even ordinary people knew that although the Donglin Party members were a little nervous, they were not very nervous. They even hoped that Zhu Youjian would make a big fuss, the more chaotic the better.
Those officers they bribed were just lackeys who followed orders. These cannon fodders were useless, so they just bribed other cannon fodders.
If things got out of hand, people would be panicked and uneasy. The more this happened, the more chances they had to die in protest, which would put more pressure on Chongzhen, the incompetent emperor.
As stacks of interrogation reports were submitted to the palace, Zhu Youjian reviewed them overnight. Although he read the reports at night and made his review immediately, he was sitting on a lazy chair. Li Xiangjun stood behind him and gently massaged his swollen temples. Chen Yuanyuan sat in front of the dragon case and read the reports softly.
All night long, Zhu Youjian's review was just a few words, "shoot" and "put aside for now."
Generally, those who eat empty salaries and drink the blood of soldiers should be put aside for now and wait for processing. The silver they eat must be vomited out several times, otherwise, they will have to eat peanuts or even have their homes confiscated.
Those officers who were bought by various forces and became lackeys, regardless of their identity and background, were all shot, and their property was confiscated after death.
If he wanted to stabilize the situation as soon as possible, he had to use iron-blooded means with thunder and lightning, otherwise he would live up to the reputation of "tyrant" given to him by the Donglin Party.
Zhu Youjian was busy as a dog, the Jinyiwei was busy as a chicken and dog, and the commander of the Royal First Division, Xu Yu, was also busy and exhausted.
The emperor gave him the important task of rectifying the 100,000 Beijing troops. He immediately led the soldiers of the entire division to surround the four military camps of the Beijing Army, prohibiting entry and exit, and those who violated the rules were shot on the spot.
These days, the 100,000 Beijing troops have been tossed around in panic. Many officers were captured by the wolf-like Jinyiwei. Most of the remaining ones were grassroots officers. No one dared to make trouble. They all stayed in the barracks anxiously, waiting for an unknown fate.
There were also some grassroots officers and soldiers who were timid and afraid of death who took off their uniforms and ran away secretly a few days ago. The Jinyiwei who were secretly monitoring them did not arrest them, but let them go.
They were all small fry. It was useless to arrest them. It could also save some military expenses. This was also what Zhu Youjian meant.
After Xu Yu sent troops to control the four major military camps in the east, west, south and north, he took the roster and called out the names. For example, the East Camp nominally had more than 41,300 soldiers stationed there. In addition to the more than 200 officers who were captured and the more than 100 low-level officers and soldiers who secretly ran away, there were actually only more than 18,300 soldiers.
Among the more than 18,000 soldiers, there were only more than 5,000 young and strong soldiers. The rest were all old, weak, sick and disabled. There were more than 2,000 underage boy soldiers, and hundreds of playboys with names.
When the other three military camps counted the roster and reported the results, Xu Yu and his three brigade commanders were dumbfounded.
The Beijing Army had a total of four battalions with more than 121,300 soldiers. Including the old, weak, sick, underage boy soldiers, and dude-like young men, there were actually more than 63,000 people. The remaining nearly 60,000 people did not exist at all.
When the report was presented to the dragon case, Zhu Youjian's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.