Chapter 642: Chen Ce’s Deadline
After Gao Zhongshun and his group were brutally killed by Chen Ce, the entire court was shocked.

It was not because Gao Zhongshun and others were executed, but because the power of the Censorate and the Guards began to develop again.

However, the Newspaper and Publication Bureau did not wait for the civil officials to plot impeachment against Chen Ce for his atrocities, and immediately published reports in newspapers about the atrocities committed by several envoys to the Western Regions.

After exposing the atrocities committed by Gao Zhongshun and his gang, the Newspaper and Publication Bureau published the court’s measures to deal with these people, all of which were the most severe form of extermination of the entire clan.

In this way, not only an explanation was given to the Tibetans in the Western Regions, but also officials from other places were intimidated. With the precedent of Gao Zhongshun and others, local officials who wanted to enslave the people of the Ming Dynasty had to consider whether their family members were large enough.

After reading the newspapers, the people of the Ming Dynasty denounced the envoys from the Western Regions. People of all kinds could be heard everywhere accusing and scolding these brutal officials from the Western Regions, while applauding the court’s way of handling the matter.

The civil officials had originally planned to impeach Chen Ce and the factory guards for this matter, and many impeachment memorials had been written, but now they absolutely did not dare to submit them.

Nonsense! Anyone who really dares to say that the court’s methods of dealing with the Western Regions are too cruel will probably be labeled by the common people the next moment, and people will think that this group of civil servants are in cahoots with the officials in the Western Regions.

Now the civil servants are increasingly aware of the power of the Newspaper and Publication Bureau. If it were in the past, they would definitely make use of this incident to make a fuss, not to mention attacking Chen Ce, because they don’t take Chen Ce very seriously now. No matter how powerful or ruthless Chen Ce is, he is a dying man and can’t cause any trouble in the court.

But the Factory Guards are different. In the future, they will always face strong threats from the Factory Guards. Moreover, the power of the Factory Guards is growing, which means that the power of the emperor will also grow.

This is something they don’t want to see at all.

Ever since Emperor Zhengde Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne, the civil officials felt the difference between Emperor Zhengde and Emperor Hongzhi. At least in the early days, Emperor Hongzhi was more moderate in his governance, and Emperor Zhengde didn’t care about these things at all!
……

The Ministry of Rites sent people to Hami and went to the Western Regions with Yang Yiqing and his party. After handing over the bodies of Gao Zhongshun and others to the people of the Western Regions, they informed the living Buddhas of the Western Regions of the Ming Dynasty’s newspapers and the way in which this group of people were dealt with. The riots and rebellion in the Western Regions ended immediately.

This group of people from the Western Regions are not that scary. Like the people of the Ming Dynasty, they just want to live a peaceful life.

After the U-Tsang Regional Administration closed the trade market with the Ming Dynasty, the people who suffered the most were actually the people in the Western Regions.

The Western Regions had too high a demand for Ming Dynasty products such as tea, so they certainly didn’t want to remain closed.

The gate was initially closed because the people could not tolerate the tyranny of Gao Zhongshun and his gang, but Gao Zhongshun is dead now. If the gate continues to be closed, I am afraid that the people in the Western Regions will rebel internally.

After this negotiation, the Western Regions returned to its former state. At the same time, the imperial court dispatched several envoys to the Western Regions and strengthened the inspection work of the imperial censors in the Western Regions.

This ensures that similar incidents will not happen in the Western Region in the future. At the same time, they also set up express delivery stations in the Western Region, so that letters from the Western Region can be easily sent out. If the people in the Western Region are oppressed, they can report it by sending letters directly to Peking.

The entire rebellion in the Western Regions was resolved in such an orderly manner.

But Fu Yuan could never be resurrected.

……

At this time, Xu Jing had already rushed to Beijing from Ningbo, exhausted.

Upon learning of Fu Yuan’s death, he went to find Chen Ce immediately.

“teacher.”

After not seeing each other for many days, Chen Ce looked like he was dying and looked haggard. Xu Jing felt as if he was being stabbed by needles and was so heartbroken that he could hardly breathe.

“Why are you crying?” Chen Ce said to Xu Jing with a smile, “Am I not still alive?”

Xu Jing wiped his tears, nodded heavily, and then said to Chen Ce: “Teacher, I brought a lot of sea cucumbers from eastern Zhejiang, saying that they are good for the body, and some deer antlers, ginseng and so on.”

“I asked Fu Yuan for the ginseng. He was still in Liaodong at that time.”

Chen Ce was stunned.

Xu Jing hurriedly said, “Teacher, Fu Yuan…don’t be too sad. I’ve heard everything. Don’t blame yourself too much.”

Chen Ce shook his head and said softly, “Yeah.”

“Father Heng, among all the people I know and my students, the one I value most is Fu Yuan. I originally planned to die. If you have any questions, you can ask Fu Yuan.”

“But now that Fu Yuan is gone, you are the one I value most among all my students.”

Xu Jing was stunned. Chen Ce had seen all the little tricks he had in the past. Although he begged Chen Ce to be his disciple, he knew in his heart that his position in his teacher’s heart was definitely not as important as Tang Yin and others.

He never expected that Chen Ce actually valued him the most.

He knew that his teacher would not say polite words. He would not say such words to himself after saying them to Tang Yin and the others. This was not Chen Ce’s character.

But Xu Jing was very confused. Why was it him?

Chen Ce smiled and said, “You care more about the results than Tang Yin and the others. You can do whatever it takes to achieve your goal. This is a good thing.”

“The officialdom in East Zhejiang is complicated. That’s why I transferred you there at the time. It was to hide your edge and learn more about the survival methods in the officialdom. You did very well and handled it easily. And you did better in East Zhejiang than I expected.”

“You all have a long way to go in the future. Zhu Zhishan is honest and simple, Tang Yin is moderate, but you are the only one who is very malleable. However, I can no longer teach you anything.”

“You are my first student and their elder brother. You must take good care of them in the future.”

Xu Jing took a deep breath and shook his head, “Teacher, there’s no need to say these. We are all from the same school, so how can I not take extra care of them?”

Chen Ce hummed and said with a smile: “I am too long-winded.”

“After Fu Yuan’s death, the emperor lost a strong arm he could rely on. This time he transferred you to the Ministry of Rites. It is obvious that he wants you to join the cabinet in the future.”

“Support the emperor well and think more about many things. Although the Ming Dynasty is peaceful now, the civil officials are still eyeing it covetously.”

“The rise of the Imperial Guards represents the gradual increase in the power of the emperor, which is definitely something they don’t want to see.”

“There will be many struggles in the future. You must protect the emperor for your master.”

“The future of the Ming Dynasty is still long. This prosperous era was not easy to come by. If the master is gone, you must protect him well!”

Xu Jing’s nose was sore, and tears fell down. He choked and said to Chen Ce: “Teacher, don’t say such discouraging words. I just returned to the capital. I will come to accompany you more in the future. The teacher will not be gone. Without you, how can I deal with the crisis in the future!”

(End of this chapter)