It was not as expected by Queen Mother Sun.
After the arrival of Haman, the envoy of Qi, some subtle changes took place in the direction of the Chen court.
In the first few days, no one dared to persuade the emperor. However, as the emperor did not drive away Haman and other envoys, some officials in the court began to write letters to the court, admonishing the emperor to rest with the people and achieve peace. It’s expensive.
The words are very simple and can be summed up in just four words.
All the people in the world!
As long as you use the words "people of the world", it seems that you have all the truth in the world and stand on the commanding heights of morality. Even the emperor can criticize.
These memorials were originally written to the imperial court by low-ranking officials of the sixth or seventh rank, but were ignored by His Majesty the Emperor and treated coldly.
But as time went on, this trend began to become more and more intense. By mid-April, four officials of third rank or above had already written to the imperial court, requesting the imperial court to put the common people of the world first and the lives of the people first, and stop fighting with the Northern Qi Dynasty. Make peace.
Some people directly wrote to the emperor, requesting that Shen Yi and the Huai'an garrison under Shen Yi be transferred back, and the Huaihe Navy still be stationed in the Huaihe River. In this way, the two countries would stop fighting and make peace, and the country would be forever prosperous.
In the face of these trends, His Majesty the Emperor has remained silent.
However, in late April, as this trend intensified, His Majesty the Emperor lost his good temper. He made an appointment with the old Prime Minister Yang Jingzong in the Manlu Palace.
After Prime Minister Zhang left Jiankang, Yang Jingzong wanted to leave Jiankang and return to his hometown to retire. However, the emperor never allowed him to leave, causing Prime Minister Yang to remain in Jiankang until now.
When the old man Hong De retired in six years, he was already nearly seventy years old. He is already seventy-six years old this year, almost seventy-seven years old. When he walked into the Manna Hall, he still needed Gao Ming to help him in.
After the old man entered the Manna Hall and saw His Majesty the Emperor, he was ready to prostrate himself to the ground and kowtow to the Emperor.
His Majesty the Emperor looked calm, raised his hand and said: "Prime Minister Yang, there is no need to salute. Sit down and talk."
This time, Gao Ming did not bring a small pile over, but brought a chair with a backrest for the old man to sit on.
After Yang Jingzong sat down, the emperor put down his writing brush, looked at Yang Jingzong, coughed, and said slowly: "When Yang Xiang was about to leave Jiankang at the beginning, the reason why I insisted on retaining him was because Yang Xiang had become the ruler of the country. When I handle state affairs, if I have any doubts, I can ask Prime Minister Yang."
The emperor looked calm and said slowly: "Right now, I am hesitant about something in my heart, and I would like to ask Yang Xiang for advice."
At this moment, Old Man Yang was already a little senile, but after hearing the emperor's words, he still tried to raise his head, looked at the emperor, and asked: "Your Majesty is worried, but the trend of persuading peace in the court is getting stronger and stronger. ?”
The emperor nodded slowly.
Seeing this, Yang Xiang slowly closed his eyes. He was silent for a long time, then managed to stand up from the chair, then slowly knelt down on the ground, and said: "Your Majesty, if I put the heads of my father and son on my neck, I can temporarily calm down." This matter..."
No one thinks better than these superiors.
In fact, when the emperor let Zhang Jing leave but did not let Yang Jingzong leave, Prime Minister Yang had already foreseen his future fate.
He would become a flag, a flag for the Emperor's Northern Expedition.
Because Yang Jingzong, who has been in charge of the country for so many years, has focused on the word turtle. Not only himself, most of his disciples and former officials are also descendants of the turtle sect.
Now, although Yang Jingzong has retired for many years, his influence is still still there. If he is beheaded by the emperor, those people in the court will definitely shut up for a long time, and no one will dare to Write a letter to the emperor and ask him to seek peace.
The emperor stared at Yang Jingzong and was silent for a moment.
After a moment, he asked: "Old Prime Minister is quite magnanimous."
"More than seven years."
Yang Jingzong raised his head, looked at the emperor, and smiled with relief: "Seven years ago, on the day I retired from the Imperial College, I thought that such a day would come."
"It's just that for the past seven years, I have always had some delusions in my heart. This delusion is nothing more than that if Your Majesty fails in the Northern Expedition, or suffers a loss from the Qi people, Lao Chen's family may have a way out."
"But now, the kid named Shen is getting good news frequently."
Old Man Yang exhaled a breath and said, "I am already prepared in my heart."
Having said this, he looked up at the emperor and smiled: "However, for more than seven years, I have watched your majesty grow up little by little, and now it seems that Emperor Xianzong is reviving. This old man is very relieved."
"Death at this time has no regrets."
The emperor stood up silently, put his hands in his sleeves, and carefully looked at the old man with white beard and hair in front of him. After a moment, he waved his hand and said: "Gao Ming."
Eunuch Gao immediately held a document and handed it to Yang Jingzong. He lowered his head and said, "Old Prime Minister, please read it."
Yang Jingzong took the document, glanced at it, and then his eyelids jumped.
Because the title of this document is very exciting.
"Impeach the Yang family and his son for the twenty-seven deadly sins!"
Yang Jingzong read it bit by bit and saw the last signature, which was the sixth year of Hongde.
This is the document written six years ago, the sixth year of Hongde, the year when Emperor Hongde first came to power.
After Yang Jingzong read it, he was silent for a while, then looked at the emperor and said with a wry smile: "It's rare for your majesty to preserve it so well."
"I have retained this document but have not yet issued it."
The emperor put his hands behind his back and said calmly: "However, over the years, I have sent internal guards to verify one by one. These twenty-seven major crimes are true and none of them are false."
Yang Jingzong nodded, looked at the emperor, and was somewhat pleased: "If your majesty was a boy, you would have been estranged from my father and my son long ago. Now that your majesty can remain silent for several years, you have really grown up..."
When the old man entered Zhongshu, the current Emperor Hongde had just been born not long ago. Emperor Hongde ascended the throne at the age of ten. It was also at that time that Yang Jingzong officially took charge of the Central Committee.
It is not wrong to say that Emperor Hongde grew up watching him.
Now that Emperor Hongde has truly "grown up", Old Man Yang has a complicated mood.
He knelt on the ground, kowtowed to the emperor and said: "For the twenty-seven deadly sins, my father and son deserved their death, and more than that..."
"I, the Yang family, should also confiscate all their homes and hold them accountable."
The old man's forehead touched the ground and he said: "It's just that the death of my father and son will only make those people afraid to speak for three years. It treats the symptoms but not the root cause. If your Majesty wants to completely change the direction of the court, you should find another person who can cure the root cause." Method."
The emperor gave Eunuch Gao a wink, and Gao Ming immediately understood, stepped forward to help the old man up, and helped him sit down on the chair again.
The emperor closed his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath.
"The old prime minister has held the country for many years, stabilized the government, and assisted the new dynasty. He has made indispensable contributions. I..."
"I won't kill you."
The emperor looked at Yang Jingzong quietly, expressionless.
"It's just that someone needs to take on these serious crimes, otherwise I, Emperor Chen, will no longer be there and the national law will not exist."
Yang Jingzong suddenly collapsed on the ground, with tears streaming down his face: "Your Majesty, I am willing to die for Quanzi..."
The emperor turned his back, expressionless, and said nothing.
………………
The next day, the family of Yang Jingzong, the old prime minister who had been enjoying the treatment of prime ministers in Jiankang, was arrested and questioned by the court. The court posted a notice listing a total of twenty-seven major crimes, each one of which was shocking.
Among them, the most serious crime was Yang Fan, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, who was sentenced to death after being discussed by the Three Laws Division.
The Yang family was fined and confiscated all their property.
Old Prime Minister Yang, because of his meritorious service in holding the country, did not have a sword or ax to add to his career. He was only removed from his position, expelled from Jiankang, and sent back to his hometown for retirement.
Prime Minister Yang, who had been in the imperial court for decades, was reduced to a man, a carriage, and an equally old entourage, returning to his hometown along the official road.
Whether this journey will lead to life or death is yet to be determined.
At the same time that the Yang family's father and son were dismissed, a letter from the inner court was quietly delivered to the imperial envoy's office in Huai'an Prefecture.
At this time, Mr. Shen was in the firearms workshop, working with Western craftsmen and craftsmen from the Dachen Bingzhang Bureau to study the flintlock gun he proposed.
To be precise, it was Mr. Shen who proposed the concept and asked these craftsmen to study it.
However, although Shen Yi has already proposed the concept, it is still unknown when these craftsmen will be able to complete it.
While he was watching these craftsmen drawing the drawings, Jiang Sheng hurried over and handed the palace letters into Shen Yi's hands.
Mr. Shen looked at his hands which were covered in black dust, glanced at Jiang Sheng angrily, washed his hands, and then accepted the letter.
This is a personal letter written by the emperor to him.
After reading it once, Mr. Shen put the letter in his arms and sighed silently.
"Jiang Sheng."
He put the letter away and let out a breath.
"Go and notify Ling Su, Xue Wei, Su Ding..."
"Zhang Meng, Liu Mingyuan, Wan Zhong."
"Go to Huai'an to discuss matters."
(End of chapter)
