Chapter 15 Section 15 "This is the fate of the superior, but how can I kill the minister!"

The image needs to be built, but the whip of deterrence must be hung high from time to time so that the people will not get carried away. It has been said that the first condition for being a leader is to be a good butcher.If you can't be a good butcher yourself, you need someone around you who can be a good butcher.Zhu Di is an outstanding butcher, but he never does it easily.Therefore, he consciously appointed a large number of cruel and cruel officials as his own eagle dogs to kill for him. "A monarch should bestow favors on his own, and let others receive them on his behalf." Machiavelli's famous saying was used brilliantly by Zhu Di.

The Yongle period was an era in Chinese history where cruel officials were rampant. Ji Gang, Chen Ying, and Zheng Ci all became typical examples of cruel officials in the Twenty-Four Histories.Zhu Di used them to get rid of some potential political enemies and ministers he didn't like, without leaving any traces.Whenever this cruel official made too many enemies and did too much evil, he would eliminate them without hesitation, which could be regarded as "removing harm for the people".Of the above-mentioned cruel officials who Zhu Di sold his life the most, except for Zheng Ci who died of fear, the other two were killed by Zhu Di.

Mei Yin is the son-in-law of Ming Taizu and Zhu Di's brother-in-law.When Zhu Yuanzhang died, Mei Yin was one of the Tuogu ministers.Although he reluctantly surrendered to Zhu Di, he was not convinced in his heart and complained from time to time.Zhu Di has always been jealous of this.One day in October of the first year of Yongle (AD 1403), when Mei Yin went to court in the morning, she had a "traffic accident" and was squeezed under the Jinshui Bridge and drowned.The younger sister, Princess Ningguo, grabbed Zhu Di's sleeve and cried loudly. Zhu Di ordered people to investigate strictly, and then arrested the two Jinyiwei officers who deliberately jostled the son-in-law and wanted to execute them.The two officers did not expect such a result of working hard for Zhu Di. They quarreled and said, "This is the fate, but how can I kill the minister!" Then, Mei Yin was buried with grand etiquette and mourned in person.The ministers of the Manchu Dynasty and Zhu Di had a tacit understanding, but everyone saluted like a ceremonial, with sad expressions, and jointly staged another classic sketch in the history of Chinese politics.

In order to create a situation where everyone is in danger, Zhu Di carried forward the survivors of Zhu Yuanzhang, established the East Factory, restored the Jinyiwei, and carried out secret agent rule.The spies are spread all over the capital, from the crown prince, the princess consort, down to ordinary officials and ordinary people, all under the strict surveillance of the spies.Even the spies are under the supervision of other spies.Zhu Di also encouraged the people to inform the people. Many people gained benefits by exposing others. All levels of the empire were in an atmosphere of terror.

Zhu Di's world is thus as safe as a rock.