Not long after, following the summons from the chamberlains, a group of young ministers dressed in scarlet robes appeared outside the Wenhua Palace.
These people all have Qilin and Baize embroidered on their chests, which symbolize their status and look very luxurious.
"I bow to your Majesty, long live my emperor."
Zhu Qiyu looked down at the team that accounted for almost half of the nobles in the capital, and once again realized what a heavy blow the civil changes had brought to the noble military officials of the Ming Dynasty.
The honorable men of the Ming Dynasty are not too many even if they say they are many, and they are not too many even if they are few.
The morning court is a place for discussion, so nobles who have no errands generally cannot go to the morning court unless authorized.
As for the regular court, although they were all present, there were so many people in the regular court that they couldn't tell anything.
But this time, so many nobles appeared in the morning court at once, and the impact was particularly strong.
The Civil War also had a serious impact on civil servants. Among the entire imperial court, the age of important ministers dropped by an average of five to seven years.
But even so, except for the censor in charge and the six subjects, most of the people Zhu Qiyu saw in the morning were all adults over fifty years old.
There are a few forty-year-olds who can be counted in two slaps, but there are basically no thirty-year-olds.
But looking at Xungui's side.
Looking around, there were more than a dozen honorable ministers kneeling below.
Either they are veterans like Ren Li and Chen Mao who are over sixty years old, or they are young people in their twenties.
There are only two or three nobles who are really in their prime in their forties or fifties, and they are still known as playboys.
Even among these people, there are nobles like the newly appointed British Duke Zhang Mao, who are not even adults.
As the top force of the military ministers of the Ming Dynasty, the succession of nobles and nobles is really serious. No wonder they are pressed by the civil servants step by step.
Of course, there are still many middle-level military ministers, but often when it comes to civil and military conflicts, these people are speechless.
Put these thoughts behind your head for now, Zhu Qiyu said.
"Excuse me. So many of your princes, lords, and uncles gathered outside the palace and beat the Dengwen drum. Are you demonstrating against me and the court?"
Many of the nobles present had their fathers killed in civil war, so the young men who had just ascended to the throne had very little experience in palace prelude.
As soon as I stood up from the ground, I heard the emperor's majestic voice coming down from the high imperial steps with a questioning tone. I immediately became confused and almost knelt down again.
Fortunately, at this time, Ning Yuan Hou Renli stood up and said.
"Your Majesty, I have no intention of disrespecting the imperial court. The fact that I gathered in front of the hearing drum today is actually out of righteous indignation."
"The Jinyiwei arrested the envoy without permission for many days without any explanation and refused to allow family members to visit. Rumors are spreading in the court and the public, causing turmoil. I and others are worried, fearing that the Jinyiwei will cause unprovoked acts and damage His Majesty's sanctity."
"Therefore, I am asking for an audience outside the palace, and I beg your Majesty to punish the Jinyi Guards and others. As for the matter of going up to hear the drum, it just happened to be a meeting, and it is not a demonstration. Please be clear to your Majesty."
At this time, the nobles finally found their backbone and nodded in agreement.
Then, Ningyang Bo Chen Mao also stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, what Marquis Ren said is true. Under the banner of Your Majesty, the Imperial Guards are good at arresting court ministers. To this day, even the charges are vague."
"The envoy of the mission, Xu Bin, is the second-rank censor of the right capital, and the deputy envoy Zhang Fu is the first-rank governor of the right capital. These important officials are dared to be arrested without being announced."
"If things go on like this, everyone in the court will be in danger. The Jin Yiwei relies on his power and acts recklessly, ruining His Majesty's reputation. How is it different from Wang Zhen?"
"As honorable ministers of the country, I dare not sit back and watch these thieves wreak havoc in the court. Therefore, I gathered outside the palace today to meet with you. It is for the sake of the country and your Majesty's warning."
Looking at the two people speaking righteously below, Zhu Qiyu pressed forward and asked.
"So, the fact that you all gathered outside the palace today and the British Duke beating the drum has nothing to do with it. It is just a coincidence?"
Ren Li and Chen Mao looked at each other, and they instinctively felt that there was something wrong in this sentence.
After thinking about it, Chen Mao quietly took half a step back and signaled Ren Li to speak.
Seeing the other party's actions, Marquis Ren secretly cursed the old fox, but now that the matter was at this point, Chen Mao could retreat temporarily, but he could not.
At this moment, so many dignitaries from the British government were watching, and Zhang Shi was standing nearby.
Since he wanted to win the trust of these people, he couldn't retreat.
Bite the bullet, Ren Li considered the words and said.
"Your Majesty, it is true that I and the British Duke met at the same time, but it cannot be said that they are unrelated. After all, what I want to impeach is the case of the mission, and the British Duke and I also want to avenge Zhang Fu, the governor. .”
"Although it is a coincidence, it is for the same thing. From this, it can be seen that the dissatisfaction of the imperial court with the behavior of Jin Yiwei is not unique to the ministers."
The words were vague and full of temptation.
Zhu Qiyu sat at the top, but refused to let him go and continued to ask.
"So, Marquis Ren means that your trip has nothing to do with the British Lord beating the drum to express his grievances. It is just to persuade me and impeach the Jin Yiwei, is that right?"
Ren Li didn't understand for a moment what the meaning of the emperor's entanglement was.
However, it would be disrespectful for the emperor not to answer questions when the court was right. Therefore, after hesitating briefly, he nodded and said: "Your Majesty is wise!"
After speaking, Ren Li glanced at his superiors and clearly saw the emperor's face darken, but his voice remained calm and he asked the other nobles.
"You all came with Marquis Ning Yuan to advise me, right?"
These young nobles had been instructed before coming to cooperate with Ren Li as much as possible, so after hesitating for a moment, they each nodded.
"presumptuous!"
With a "bang" sound, the ministers followed the sound, and the emperor slapped the imperial case heavily, his face was livid, and his voice was furious.
As a result, all the ministers in the palace, both civil and military, knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down."
After a moment of silence, there was a sound of searching for documents on the imperial steps, and then, a copy of this chapter was thrown in front of Ren Li through the air.
Then, the emperor's angry voice sounded.
"Marquis Ningyuan, please see clearly. This is the leave petition you just submitted yesterday. You want to impeach Jin Yiwei, and I won't stop you. But if you don't hand the memorial to the General Affairs Department, and don't express your remonstrance to the court in the morning, why don't you give it to me? Do you dare to say that it is for the imperial court?"
"I would like to ask you, is it because the imperial guards stopped you from submitting the impeachment memorial, or because you had no way to see me, so that you entangled more than ten family ministers, gathered outside the palace, and made noise and trouble during the morning court. Do you want to see the emperor?"
Ren Li knelt on the ground, a trace of cold sweat breaking out on his head.
He finally understood why the emperor was obsessed with that issue.
If we say that they came with the British prince to beat the drums and redress the grievances of the mission, then it can barely be interpreted as following the rules.
After all, the Dengwen Drum system was also written into the Ming Dynasty Law.
The nobles have passed down the tradition for so many years, and everyone can be more or less related to each other. It is said that they are together to vindicate Zhang Fu. Even if it is ridiculous, it still counts as a reason.
But if they are not here to beat the Dengwen drum, but are here to remonstrate, then there will be a problem.
The imperial court has its own way of saying things.
If a minister wants to remonstrate, he can write a memorial and send it to the General Secretary, or he can raise it directly in the morning. However, there is no such thing as a large number of people collectively remonstrating outside the palace.
This is against the rules.
Generally speaking, there is a proper name for civil servants to do this, which is called knocking. As for noble generals, well, there is no precedent.
In fact, Ren Li didn't even think about it. Although he denied it repeatedly, it didn't matter to him or to outsiders.
When they came here, they actually followed the British father here to beat the drum and build momentum.
It's just that he was suddenly asked by the emperor and didn't dare to admit it directly.
But I never thought that the consequences of denial would be even more serious.
"Somebody come!"
Just when Ren Li was thinking about how to explain, the emperor spoke again.
So, in just a short moment, dozens of Jin Yiwei and Han generals armed with ceremonial swords poured in from outside the hall, filling the entire Wenhua Hall to the brim.
"Marquis Ningyuan was appointed to the ceremony, but he did not attend the court without any reason. He gathered a crowd and threatened the court. He really failed me. He was pulled out of the palace and given fifty sticks. The rest of the people who followed him, without any explanation, made random remarks, made noises and made trouble, were all given thirty sticks. .”
Immediately afterwards, under the astonished gazes of everyone, the emperor looked cold, turned sideways, and said to Cheng Jing who was standing aside.
"Cheng Jing, go summon Shu Liang and ask him to imprison him!"
The ministers present swallowed their saliva and looked at Ren Li and others with a bit of pity in their eyes...
