nycdaug Chapter 133
Chapter 133
Zhou Chu had no intention of harming the Empress Dowager, at least not in the short term. (After checking the records, it is indeed the Empress Dowager, not the Grand Empress Dowager; the previous information has been corrected.)
The Empress Dowager's two younger brothers, one recently granted the title of Duke and the other Marquis of Jianchang, would certainly not sit idly by if the Empress Dowager were to be harmed at this time, and would likely launch a rebellion.
They and these civil officials were intertwined, so once they raised an army, most of the civil officials in the court would secretly help them.
After all, it was obvious to everyone that neither the newly enthroned emperor nor Zhou Chu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, were easy to deal with.
They themselves certainly wouldn't have the guts to overturn the table, but if others had that intention, they would definitely be happy to lend a hand.
Just like before the Ning Prince's rebellion broke out, many officials in the court had colluded with the Ning Prince.
Let alone internal rebellions within the Ming Dynasty, they would be eager to help even if the Mongols or Jurchens attacked.
Zhou Chu only wanted to solve the problem, not to completely escalate it.
The Empress Dowager is not important; what matters are the Duke of Changguo and the Marquis of Jianchang. Once these two are dealt with, the Empress Dowager will become a toothless tiger, and we can kill her whenever we want.
At this stage, as long as the palace maids are cleared out, the remaining eunuchs will naturally know what's good for them. Without the palace maids and eunuchs, the Empress Dowager will be at the mercy of the Emperor and herself.
As for his two younger brothers, they were not in the capital and were out of reach. Civil officials were even less allowed to participate in the affairs of the inner palace, so even if they wanted to speak on behalf of the Empress Dowager, they would not have the proper authority to do so.
Xiao Dao returned to the capital, bringing back a letter written by Chu Li. The letter used extremely concise language to summarize the important events in Jiangnan.
For example, the entire Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce is now a huge alliance of interests. They are not flying anyone else's flag, but the flags of the Duke of Changguo and the Marquis of Jianchang. In many cases, they can even openly cross the border.
Zhou Chu was not surprised by this.
With the three siblings from the Zhang family acquiring such substantial benefits and resources, these civil officials and smuggling groups naturally wanted to exploit them to the fullest extent.
The title of Duke is quite useful; at least it's a passport to many places. With money to pave the way, everything goes smoothly. Anyway, if anything goes wrong, the Duke of Changguo and the Marquis of Jianchang will always take the blame.
If Zhou Chu remembered correctly, in the original history, the Jiajing Emperor had always wanted to strip these two of their titles, but even so, it took more than ten years to finally dismiss them from their posts and strip them of their titles.
The crimes committed by these two were too numerous to list. Originally, Jiajing wanted to execute them directly, but he was obstructed by the officials. In addition, Empress Zhang was still the Empress Dowager at the time, so Jiajing had to compromise and keep them in prison until Empress Dowager Zhang died. Only then did Jiajing order them to be cut in half at the waist in the marketplace.
"Brother Hengqi, please ask the embroiderers in the shop to use these pigments to make two sets of clothes for me and my mother."
Zhou Chu was riding his horse at the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) station when he saw Lin Yao and Lin Zhi walking over.
Lin Yao was still holding a few small porcelain bottles in her hand.
Zhou Chu was somewhat surprised to hear Lin Yao's words.
What kind of pigments are these?
"These are all top-grade pigments from Southeast Asia that were presented to the imperial palace. My brother, the emperor, gave some to my mother."
As Lin Yao spoke, she handed the porcelain bottles in her hand to Zhou Chu.
Yun Gui Fang has always been led and managed by Zhou Chu, so even if Princess Deqing wants the embroiderers in the shop to make clothes, she has to let Zhou Chu do it, rather than bypassing Zhou Chu. Both the princess and Lin Yao are very clear about this.
Zhou Chu took the porcelain bottle and found that the contents of the several bottles were not quite the same. One of them contained some sky-blue crushed minerals, another contained a very special red pigment, and the others were similar, mostly minerals, which should all be top-grade mineral pigments.