Two more ministers knelt and crawled out of the column to plead guilty to Emperor Wu of Zhou. They are the Xun family and the Yuan family respectively.
When the ministers saw this, they exclaimed in their hearts: Are the Xun family and Yuan family also involved in the affairs in Yangzhou? !
Emperor Zhou Wu was not surprised at all by the three people who came out.
The ministers looked at Duke Zhenguo and Marquis Xuanping, and guessed in their hearts: The Xie family and the Yu family would also be involved, right?
Duke Zhen Guo knelt on the ground with a normal expression, showing no signs of guilt or panic. Marquis Xuanping was a little uneasy. When the people from Yangzhou came to him for cooperation, he almost agreed. Fortunately, he was smart and went into the palace to ask Concubine Rong for her opinion.
Concubine Rong Gui told Marquis Xuanping that she must not get involved with the aristocratic family in Yangzhou. No matter how much money Yangzhou gives, we will never agree to cooperate with them.
Marquis Xuanping felt a little pity at the time, after all, the money given by Yangzhou was too much. Now he is very lucky that he listened to Concubine Rong and did not agree to cooperate with the aristocratic family in Yangzhou, otherwise their Yu family would be doomed.
Emperor Wu of Zhou asked the three people who came out to plead guilty to tell them what they had done.
These three people did not dare to be clever in front of Emperor Wu of Zhou and hide something. With pale faces and trembling bodies, they told everything about their cooperation with the aristocratic family in Yangzhou.
When the aristocratic family from Yangzhou came to ask for cooperation. The Wang family, the Xun family, and the Yuan family were cautious and did not send people from their direct lineage to cooperate with them, but sent people from the side lineage to cooperate with them. These three people are the Wang family, the Xun family, and branches of the Yuan family. Their official positions in the court are not high, they are all fifth rank.
The reason why the Wang family, Xun family and Yuan family did not refuse to cooperate with the Yangzhou family was that the money offered by Yangzhou was too much for them to refuse.
There are not many things that the Yangzhou family cooperates with the Wang family, but the things they cooperate with are very important, such as water transportation, ore, salt, grain, medicinal materials, etc.
By the way, they are even married to a family from Yangzhou.
After hearing what the Wang family and the three of them said, the ministers were so shocked that they gasped.
Do they not want to live anymore? !
After the three of them finished speaking, they kept kowtowing and begging Emperor Wu of Zhou for forgiveness.
Emperor Wu of Zhou glanced at Sun Kui. Sun Kui understood and called out to the guard at the door.
Several guards came in and dragged the three of them out.
When these three people were dragged out, they shouted that they were guilty and begged the emperor for mercy.
At this time, Marquis Anyang knelt and climbed out of the queue, kowtowed hard to Emperor Wu of Zhou, and immediately apologized to Emperor Wu of Zhou, saying that he was not strict in his rule.
Then Wupinghou and Yingchuanhou went out to plead guilty to Emperor Wu of Zhou.
Anyanghou is the elder brother of Concubine Shu and the head of the Wang family.
Wu Pinghou is the elder brother of Concubine De and the head of the Xun family.
Marquis Yingchuan is the elder brother of Liang Fei and the head of the Yuan family.
The three people just now were members of their family, and as the head of the family, they naturally wanted to apologize.
However, Marquis Anyang said that they were lax in their rule. The ministers didn't believe that they didn't know what the three people they had just dragged out were doing. Without the nod from the head of the family, the people from the side clan would not have the guts to agree to cooperate with the family in Yangzhou.
After hearing what Anyang Marquis and others said, Emperor Wu of Zhou asked them with a smile: "Do you think I am a fool?"
Hearing Emperor Zhou Wu's words, Marquis Anyang and the others felt their hearts tighten, and then fear surged into their hearts.
"Chen... no, I don't dare..."
"I think you are quite brave."
Anyang Hou and the other three had no color on their faces at this time, and their eyes were filled with fear. The cold sweat on their foreheads and faces fell to the ground drop by drop. Their bodies were shaking uncontrollably.
Emperor Wu of Zhou touched his chin and said, "Is my temper too good recently?"
All the ministers who said this were filled with horror. Their foreheads were pressed to the ground and they said with trembling voices: "I am guilty, please forgive me!"
Emperor Wu of Zhou changed his posture. He rested his elbows on his legs, crossed his hands and supported his chin, squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "What a lax rule."
"I am guilty!"
"Oh, I told you before, please don't act clever in front of me..." At this point, Emperor Zhou Wu clicked his tongue, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, I didn't expect you to learn a lesson. In that case, then don't No wonder I'm so heartless." After saying that, he patted his thigh and stood up immediately.
"Your Majesty, I am aware of my guilt!" Marquis Anyang said, and kowtowed heavily.
Marquis Wuping and Marquis Yingchuan hurriedly followed suit and confessed their guilt.
Marquis Anyang and the three of them knew in their hearts that if they continued not to plead guilty, they would not be able to bear the consequences.
Emperor Wu of Zhou stood on the steps, looked down at the ministers kneeling on the ground, and said with a smile: "That's right." After saying that, he seemed to have remembered something, and he said to the ministers kneeling on the ground with a smile. , "I forgot to tell you that I killed all those people in Yangzhou."
Kill them all? ! ! !
Many ministers were so frightened that they swallowed their saliva when they heard this.
There are also some ministers whose clothes have long been soaked with cold sweat.
There was a pool of water in front of them, which was the cold sweat falling from their foreheads and faces.
"There are still more than a dozen people who are being escorted back to the capital. They should arrive in the capital in two days. At that time, they will be taken to Caishikou and beheaded." Emperor Wu of Zhou folded his arms and said softly, "Let the common people take a look. What happens to these people who commit crimes?”
The ministers thought of the news they had heard before, saying that the head of the family in Yangzhou was being escorted to the capital for execution. I didn't expect it to be true.
The emperor wants to completely clean up Yangzhou this time.
The situation in Yangzhou is no simpler than that in the capital. The emperor actually took over the Yangzhou side. I am afraid that the emperor has been planning for a long time to clean up the Yangzhou side.
And Dong Jin’s rebel.
The emperor may have known for a long time that Dong Jin was cooperating with the Yangzhou family, and also knew that the Yangzhou family had been protecting Dong Jin.
Wait, was the previous rebellion in Yangzhou caused by... the emperor?
The emperor sent the youngest son of Zhen Guogong to Yangzhou to quell the rebellion, but he failed. Could it be that the emperor did it on purpose?
Did Duke Zhen Guo know that the emperor wanted to deal with the aristocratic family in Yangzhou?
If the aristocratic family in Yangzhou cooperates with the aristocratic family in Beijing, it is impossible not to turn to the Xie family.
The Xie family did not participate in this matter, which means that the Xie family refused to cooperate with the family in Yangzhou. Duke Zhen Guo must have known that the emperor wanted to eradicate the powerful families in Yangzhou, so he refused to cooperate.
It was impossible for the emperor to tell Duke Zhen that he planned to eradicate the aristocratic family in Yangzhou.
Zhen Guogong, an old fox, might have guessed something through the emperor sending his youngest son to Yangzhou to quell the chaos.
Sure enough, ginger is still spicy!
They didn't even hear about the emperor's plan to eradicate the aristocratic family in Yangzhou. The emperor is really good at planning!
Sure enough, the emperor is still as scary as ever!
The ministers didn't know how they came out of Chengguang Hall.
When Concubine Shu in the Fuyang Palace learned that her brother had been fined a hundred cents by the emperor, and was also fined three years' salary and grounded for three months, she felt both happy and frightened.
Fortunately, the emperor was merciful and did not deprive his brother of his title, but his Zhongshu Ling was gone.
What I was afraid of was that the emperor even knew about the secret cooperation between the Wang family and the aristocratic family in Yangzhou. Fortunately, she advised her brother not to come forward directly.
The brothers of Concubine De and Concubine Liang were punished in the same way as Marquis Anyang. However, Wu Pinghou's grand minister was gone. The hussar general of Marquis Yingchuan is gone.
In other words, the three of them only have the title of marquis and no important positions.
Not only that, most of the officials arranged by the three families in the DPRK were also eliminated.
This time, the Wang family, Xun family, and Yuan family suffered heavy losses. But fortunately they did not end up like the aristocratic family in Yangzhou.
Other aristocratic families that cooperated with the aristocratic families in Yangzhou were punished, and no one was spared. Beheadings should be beheaded, exiles should be exiled, and jails should be jailed.
In the East Palace, the prince and Zhenguo Zheng were talking about Yangzhou.
"Uncle, you were smart and refused to cooperate with the Yangzhou family." The prince did not agree with cooperating with the Yangzhou family. He originally thought that his uncle would agree, but he didn't expect that his uncle would refuse without hesitation.
"Those people in Yangzhou are just a mob." Zhen Guogong looked down on the aristocratic families in Yangzhou and disdained to cooperate with them, even if they offered a huge price. "They thought they could compete with the Emperor and did not take the Emperor seriously, but in the end, they were played by the Emperor."
The prince exclaimed: "My father is really unfathomable."
"The emperor's move killed two birds with one stone. It not only eliminated the aristocratic families in Yangzhou, but also shocked the aristocratic families in the capital." Zhen Guogong said seriously, "The emperor is warning us to be honest."
"The aristocratic families in Yangzhou are indeed too rampant. It's not surprising that my father planned to eliminate them."
"Although there is a mob in Yangzhou, it is not easy to get rid of them all at once." Zhen Guogong said with emotion, "The emperor's methods are really high."
"It's a pity that the Yu family did not participate." The prince's tone was full of regret, "I didn't expect that Marquis Xuanping could resist the temptation and refused to cooperate with the family in Yangzhou."
"Marquis Xuanping is a fool, but Concubine Rong is not." Duke Zhenguo said coldly, "Concubine Rong has not been favored for more than ten years based on her appearance."
"Although there is no Yu family, the Wang family, the Xun family, and the Yuan family have been punished, which is also a good thing for us." The three Wang families are also a threat. Now that they are punished by their father, they will not have to deal with them.
Mentioning the Wang family and others, the Duke of Zhenguo showed a contemptuous smile: "Wang Yongnian wants the Wang family to replace the Xie family. It is really ridiculous."
"Next, the Wang family will be honest for a while." The prince said, "Father has demoted many people from the Wang family, Xun family, and Yuan family today. We must quickly arrange for our people to fill the vacant positions."
The Duke of Zhen Guo nodded slightly and said, "I will arrange this."
"We must at least grab one of the two important positions of Zhongshu Ling and Grand Minister." The prince said, "We must not let the people who act on behalf of the king grab them."
For fear of being blocked, I didn’t write about the Yangzhou family. If you expand it and write it, it will definitely be blocked.
Emperor Wu of Zhou: My temper has improved recently, and you are no longer afraid of me.
Ministers: We are all scared to death, okay?
Finally, please vote for me!
(End of chapter)
