The punishment department acted very quickly.
Because there is nothing to try. In such a big case, the Ministry of Punishment only has the power to interrogate, but not to judge.
Therefore, after several days of interrogation, the Ministry of Punishment sent the trial situation and some evidence to the emperor.
In the Wenhua Hall, Zhu Qiyu was sitting at the top, and several ministers were sitting below him, including Chen Mian, the newly appointed Minister of Dali Temple, Jin Lian, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, Chen Yi, the Yushi of Zuodu, Jiang Yuan, the cabinet scholar, and Lu Zhong, the commander of the Jinyi Guards. .
In addition to these civil servants in charge of judicial affairs, because the matter involves nobles and nobles, Feng Guogong Li Xian and Ningyuan Hou Renli are also among them.
Li Xian can come because he is the person with the most seniority and the highest title among the nobles today.
As for Ren Li, it was because Zhu Qiyu received a joint petition from several noble houses.
It was said that the case of Marquis Ningyang was of great importance and required nobles to participate in the trial, so they recommended Marquis Ningyuan Renli to come forward.
In this petition, there are not only nobles from the British family, but also many mansions from the Yanwang family and the Jiangjiang family.
It should be said that the imprisonment of Chen Mao and Guo Sheng was a great shock to the relatives.
The circle of nobles and nobles in the capital is just that big.
Although each has its own faction, in general, they are all related by kinship.
In addition, the nobles are currently weak, and Marquis Ningyang and Cheng'an are among the few who can still take advantage of them.
Therefore, most nobles still hope to fight for them as much as possible.
In addition, although most of the clans have now left Beijing in batches.
However, because they were ordered to take charge of the clan mansion, both King Min and King Xiang also appeared in the palace.
So in fact, although this is just a small judicial collegial meeting, the lineup is quite strong.
When everyone arrived, Jin Lian, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice who was in charge of the trial, stood up and started playing.
"Your Majesty, the situation of this case is now basically clear. The testimonies of King Guangtong and King Yangzong are basically in contrast with Xue Xuan's testimony, and the details are consistent. There is no evidence that they had colluded in advance to confess."
"Regarding the identification of King Guangtong, Marquis Ningyang and Marquis Cheng'an admitted that they had met King Guangtong in advance, but they insisted that they had never made friends with the clan in private. They only agreed to serve as King Guangtong's second son after learning the truth out of duty. Justice for people.”
"As for those identified by Xue Xuan, they want to use this case to alienate the Tian family and damage the saint's morality. Ningyang Hou and others firmly deny it."
At this point, Jin Lian paused for a moment, glanced at Ren Li casually, and continued to speak.
"In addition, the testimony of King Guangtong and others also mentioned the Prince Consort Xue Heng and Huichang Bo Sun Zhong. It was said that they were the matchmakers who made King Guangtong and others befriend Ningyang Hou. Waiting for someone.”
"However, these two people have special status, and the Ministry of Punishment does not dare to specialize in them, so we can only ask Your Majesty to make the decision personally."
After finishing speaking, Jin Lian remained silent.
This matter is of great importance, and the Ministry of Punishment is only responsible for the trial and will not say a word about anything else.
As for Xue Heng and Sun Zhong, everyone present knew their special status.
One of them is the consort of the eldest princess of Changde, and the other is from the mother clan of the empress dowager in the palace. They are not easy to mess with.
Zhu Qiyu nodded and said.
"Now that the facts of the case are clear, what do you think the Lords should do with Marquis Ningyang and others?"
Logically speaking, when it comes to criminal punishment cases, Dali Temple is the most authoritative.
But in recent days, the chief officials of Dali Temple have been replaced quite frequently.
Originally, when Yu Shiyue was appointed minister of Dali Temple, Xue Xuan was appointed right minister of Dali Temple. Later, Yu Shiyue was promoted to the cabinet.
As a result, within a few months, Xue Xuan was sent to prison again.
With no choice, the imperial court could only seize the opportunity to revive Chen Mian, the former minister of Dali Temple, who had returned to his hometown to observe mourning due to the death of his mother the year before.
Mr. Chen, who has a long career, just rushed back to the capital yesterday to take up his post. At this moment, his face still looked a little tired. Hearing this, he could only speak cautiously.
"Your Majesty, I have just entered the capital, and I don't know much about the case. I dare not draw any conclusions. However, if the case is true, then Ningyang Marquis and others secretly befriended the clan first, and used the case of Zhennan King to slander the saintly virtues later. According to law, He should be stripped of his title and exiled to guard the border."
The other ministers did not speak, but they did not object.
It should be said that this was the result that everyone had already prepared for during the trial.
However, at this time, Ning Yuanbo Renli said.
"Your Majesty, this case is of great importance. I have some doubts. I wonder if your Majesty would allow me to ask."
Everyone knew that Ren Li was introduced by his relatives in the hope of saving Ningyang Hou and others, so they were not surprised.
Zhu Qiyu's expression did not change, he nodded slightly and said.
"allow!"
So Ren Li stood up and asked Jin Lian.
"I would like to ask Jin Shangshu, if you can elaborate on what I just said, Prince Consort Xue Heng and Huichang Bo Sun Zhong are involved."
Jin Lian didn't expect Ren Li to ask this, but after a moment's hesitation, he turned his gaze to Lu Zhong, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, and spoke.
"This is stated in the confessions of King Guangtong and King Yangzong. The interrogation of these two people was completed by Jin Yiwei. Therefore, let Commander Lu speak."
When his name was called, Lu Zhong frowned, stepped forward, saluted, and said.
"As for returning to Renhou, according to the confessions of King Guangtong and others, the two of them were deceived by the Su family and firmly believed that the former Min King's son was wronged. Therefore, in order to avenge their mother, they had early contact with the capital. "
"They first contacted Huichang Bo and bribed Huichang Bo with gold and silver, hoping that through Huichang Bo they could report the matter directly to Heaven. Unexpectedly, His Majesty summoned the clan to Beijing, so the two of them decided to report it personally."
"So, after they entered the capital, they first visited Huichang Bo Sunzhong, and then visited the Prince Consort Xue Heng. Under their recommendation, they found the Ningyang Marquis who was in charge of the clan affairs. Why not? Is it appropriate?"
Ren Li nodded, but said nothing, and asked further.
"Okay, in that case, I have a question. You just said that King Guangtong and others bribed Uncle Huichang, so Uncle Huichang helped them find the Marquis of Ningyang. How dare you ask Commander Lu, Marquis of Ningyang and others? Why do people try so hard to help King Guangtong and others? Is it possible that they also accepted bribes? "
this……
Lu Zhong was speechless for a moment. He never thought that Ren Li would question it from this perspective. After thinking about it for a while, he answered.
"The testimony of King Guangtong and others did not include bribery to Marquis Ningyang and others, but they were friends in private, and there are both testimonies and witnesses. This cannot be evaded."
Ren Li shook his head and turned around.
"Your Majesty, Commander Lu just said that King Guangtong himself was also deceived by the Su family and did not know the truth."
"So this case was relayed to Marquis Ningyang through their mouths, so Marquis Ningyang and others were naturally deceived. What's more, since Ningyang Marquis and others did not accept bribes, they just wanted to get rid of injustice out of public conscience. Snow."
"It's just that due to an accidental oversight, the case was inadvertently misjudged. Therefore, I think it can only be regarded as dereliction of duty. They have absolutely no intention of alienating the Tian family."
"As for the idea of making friends with the clan in private, I think it is inappropriate. King Guangtong and others once said that before entering the capital, they made friends with Uncle Huichang instead of Marquis Ningyang."
"After entering the capital, they only went to Ningyang Hou on the recommendation of Huichang Bo. Our court did not prohibit normal visits between ministers and clan members. Ningyang Hou was in charge of the clan mansion at the time. They went to Ningyang to express their feelings. There is nothing wrong with Hou Chenqing. Since no bribery or collusion has been found, naturally it cannot be regarded as a personal relationship with the clan."
