Public opinion is public opinion, and court affairs are court affairs.
The punishment for Ren Li was led by the Ministry of Punishment and jointly approved by the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dali Temple.
Now that Jin Lian, the chief officer of the Criminal Department, is not in Beijing, it is natural that the Metropolitan Procuratorate will take the lead.
Seeing Chen Yi objecting, Zhu Yi finally stood up and spoke.
"Your Majesty, Ren Li has certainly committed a serious crime, but when is the so-called retribution for injustice? On the execution ground that day, Ren Hongzhi sacrificed the lives of the Ren family to atone for Ren Li's crime. However, General Asu understands the righteousness and is unwilling to continue the grudge. , it is also a righteous act to put an end to this crime to just one person."
"Pardoning the Ren family is not only to show the purity of Ren Hong's filial piety, but also to ensure that General Asu will not let down his heart and turn conflicts into friendship. This is a sincere story that will last forever."
As soon as these words came out, there was a lot of discussion below.
From this point of view, it actually makes sense. The Seven Guards of Guanxi were the victims of the killing of the tribute envoy. Nowadays, the victims are willing to be generous and understanding, and forgiveness is naturally not out of the question.
However, despite this, Zhu Yi's face did not look relaxed at all, because he knew that the matter was far from being so simple to solve.
Ren Hong's behavior on the execution ground really surprised him, and he also knew very well what the young man's intention was in not wanting to show the Holy Mother's decree, but to risk his own life.
However, he had to say that Ren Hong was still too young, and Ren Li was extremely complicated. If he wanted to save the Ren family, just relying on this bargaining chip was far from enough.
As expected, Chen Yi saw a commotion in the court, followed closely by Chen Yi.
"What the Duke said is wrong. Ren Li's crime is of great significance. Let alone whether General Asu no longer cares about intercepting and killing the tribute envoy, whether it can be a reason for clemency. Let's not talk about this crime. Ren Li's body is , as well as the two major crimes of plotting to assassinate important officials of the imperial court and occupying military camps."
"Any one of these three major crimes is enough to confiscate the family and exterminate the whole family. The fact that the Ren family can be saved now is due to His Majesty's mercy. Remembering that Ren Li has made countless contributions to the country, he dealt with it with mercy. However, although God's grace is great, , how can it be done again and again, and again and again?”
Therefore, when it comes to court, one should not even think that one can get away with it.
Ren Li's case is extremely complicated, although the most important thing the court is paying attention to now is the grave crime of intercepting and killing tribute envoys without authorization.
However, don't forget that Ren Li was imprisoned in the first place because Yang Hong exposed his felony of assassinating Yu Qian at the border, which in turn implicated Ren Li's crime of wantonly occupying military villages while he was in Gansu.
Although the existence of these two was concealed by the interception and killing of tribute envoys, it does not mean that it is not serious.
Especially the assassination of important court officials, this is an issue that touches the bottom line of the court. If such crimes are not severely punished, the court will definitely lose its integrity in the future.
Sure enough, with Chen Yi's reminder, the direction of public opinion in the court suddenly changed. Many ministers who originally wanted to intercede for the Ren family returned to their original positions after hesitating.
Seeing this situation, Zhu Yi sighed and shook his head imperceptibly.
He really tried his best!
If you want to blame, you can only blame Ren Li for being too cruel...
He silently retreated to his original position and winked at Chen Mao who was beside him, so Chen Mao stepped forward and said.
"Your Majesty, what Lord General Xian said is indeed true. However, I believe that what Duke Cheng Guo said also has merit. What Ren Hong did on the execution ground was pure filial piety, which made the people praise it and all the people wrote to him. If His Majesty ignores his plea for mercy, it will inevitably lead to people talking about Your Majesty's cruelty and disregard for public opinion."
"However, if you forgive Ren's family, it will be difficult to bring order to the imperial court. Therefore, I believe that your majesty can grant Ren a special pardon and allow him to stay in the capital to serve in order to show his filial piety. This is also in line with public opinion."
Many times in the court, it is actually just constant pulling.
Zhu Yi did not argue anymore. Chen Mao came up instead and gave a new plan. It was a big step forward, but there were still officials who were dissatisfied and said.
"Your Majesty, the ceremony is subject to the joint review of the three departments. Your Majesty personally performed the ceremony. The circumstances are serious and the circumstances are egregious. Now that the imperial edict has been issued, how can we change it at will?"
"Ren Hong's actions are indeed in line with filial piety, but if the order is changed overnight, where will the majesty of the court be?"
As soon as these words came out, there was a tendency to start a quarrel in the court again.
It should be said that there are still many ministers in the palace who approve of Ren Hong's actions. There are hundreds of people in the Ren family, and there is actually no difference between one more Ren Hong and one less Ren Hong.
What the imperial court wants is to kill one person to serve as a warning to others, and what the imperial court wants is to severely punish such things. It does not necessarily mean that everyone in the Ren family must be exiled.
Therefore, it is impossible to pardon the Ren family, but in the eyes of many people, pardoning a young man with the most pure filial piety is nothing.
What's more, what Chen Mao said is not unreasonable. People's sentiments and opinions cannot be ignored. All the people's letters have been handed over. If the imperial court does not respond, it will inevitably disappoint the people.
At this time, Zhu Jian from the cabinet stood up and said.
"Your Majesty, I believe that what you all said is reasonable. The etiquette has been concluded and your Majesty has issued an imperial edict to deal with it. If you do it casually, it may damage your Majesty's majesty. However, it is also inappropriate to ignore the people's sentiments and public opinion."
"Therefore, I feel that we can adopt a compromise method. When Your Majesty was hearing this case earlier, he was kind-hearted and allowed all the elderly people over 60 in the Ren family to stay in the capital to take care of themselves. He also allowed one son of the Ren family to stay in the capital to take care of him. Now, the descendants of the Ren family Among our generation, since there is such a person who possesses both filial piety and righteousness, why not stay in the capital to support the elders? The court can commend him for his filial piety and deeds."
"In this way, it does not harm the dignity of the court, but also takes into account public opinion and commends filial piety. It is the best of both worlds. Please give me your Majesty's sanction!"
After saying this, many ministers present nodded their heads.
It seems that this time, Mr. Zhu Ge is finally reliable!
As a result, the ministers below agreed one after another. However, the ministers at the front looked at Zhu Jian's figure with a little more suspicion in their eyes.
Of course, suspicion is suspicion, and this result is still an acceptable result.
Therefore, no one stood up to oppose it.
On the throne, Zhu Qiyu glanced at it, but he didn't have any special reaction, he just said calmly.
"Since the ministers have no objections, let's proceed accordingly."
The court meeting ended here, but all the important ministers always felt that something was not quite right, but if they were to say what was really wrong, they could not explain it. Everything seemed to be...
"It's so normal!"
After leaving the court, Du Ning, the minister of Dali Temple, followed his teacher Chen Xun outside the palace as usual, and raised his doubts as he walked.
It should be said that Chen Xun is indeed Chen Xun. In just one sentence, he pointed out the key point!
Today's court meeting was too normal.
You know, the relationship between Ren Li and Ren Li is very important, attracting attention from both the government and the public. Ren Hong's incident has also caused quite a stir, with the whole capital being agitated. Today, at the court meeting, the Book of Ten Thousand People was presented at the same time by nobles from thirteen families. None of this step is like It looks like it can make little noise.
But this time the court meeting seemed to be discussing an ordinary government matter, and it ended just like that.
This in itself is the most abnormal thing.
This is not to say that conflicts cannot be resolved peacefully in the handling of government affairs, but the traces of this court meeting are a bit too obvious.
Perhaps, in the eyes of ordinary ministers, nothing can be seen, but in the eyes of ministers like Chen Xun, it is not difficult to find flaws in it as long as you review it carefully.
The reason why this case is complex and important is that any point in it may cause serious conflicts.
Whether it is a letter jointly signed by nobles, or the appointment of rituals to assassinate important ministers, or even whether it is lenient or not, the impact on the court's order and discipline are all topics that can easily lead to quarrels.
However, if you think back carefully, you will find that almost every time a conflict is about to break out, someone in the court will bring the topic back.
Chen Xun's calculations were clear-sighted. Although he didn't react at the time, after going to court and thinking about it carefully, he discovered that there were three important turning points in the debate among the courtiers.
One time was after Zhu Yi presented the memorial, some officials came forward to object. At this time, Zhu Yi did not come forward. Instead, a censor came forward to refute.
This time, the possible civil and military confrontation was eliminated invisible, and this censor happened to have an old relationship with the Duke of Chengguo. This is probably not a coincidence.
After that, the matter was put aside as a matter of position and became a government issue with different opinions. Perhaps aware of this, the emperor directly asked the ministers and cabinet ministers who could not be influenced by the Chengguo government to come forward.
Yu Shiyue had always been in the middle, so it was not a surprise, but Chen Yi firmly opposed it. It was a bit of a surprise to Chen Xun at the time, but now that I think about it, I am afraid that Chen Yi also noticed that there was a shadow of manipulation behind this court meeting. That’s why I went out for interviews in person.
It was precisely at that time that Chen Xun noticed something was wrong.
Normally, although Chen Yi is upright, he would not speak so rudely and express his firm opposition directly.
Chen Xun still knew Chen Yi well. He was not the type to kill people, but if he did, it could only mean that he was testing.
As expected, immediately afterwards, Zhu Yi gave a reason that Asu already understood.
At this time, the atmosphere was already a little tense. Chen Yi directly added fuel to the fire, brought up the most sensitive topic, and asked Ren Li to assassinate important officials in the court.
Once this topic is brought up in the court, it will inevitably cause a lot of discussion and turmoil. It can be said to be a surefire way to kill the Ren family.
It is easy for Duke Cheng Guo to confront the censor of Zuodu. It is easy to be at odds with each other. What's more, if Chen Yi raised such a topic, it would inevitably cause an overwhelming reversal of public opinion in the court.
But at this moment, Zhu Yi retreated again. Immediately afterwards, Chen Mao came forward and directly skipped the section discussing Ren Li's crimes. He mentioned the book of people, the Duke and the Marquis, and they retreated and advanced. In the meantime, the brewing turmoil in the court was once again eliminated.
Then at the end, Zhu Jian came forward and proposed that Ren Hong stay in Beijing to support his elders. Everything seemed logical, as if this was a result that everyone could accept after a game between all parties.
But when I think about it carefully, I feel that there are signs of someone controlling these key nodes behind the scenes.
Watching the carriage of Duke Cheng's Mansion leave from a distance, Chen Xun sighed and said with a somewhat complicated expression.
"If I'm not wrong, the Duke of the State had no intention of seeking amnesty for the entire Ren family from the very beginning. I'm afraid it was his purpose to keep Ren Hong in the capital and replace the original heirs of the Ren family. …”
The Ren family building has collapsed. It is not important to Chen Xun who remains in the capital. What he values more is that Zhu Yi, the Duke of Chengguo, showed such strength in his first appearance in the court after his restoration. The means and skills almost control the development direction of the entire court discussion.
This ability, for the future court, I'm afraid... is not a good thing!
Shaking his head, Chen Xun turned to Du Ning and asked.
"This matter has been settled. There is no need to think about it anymore. How is the investigation going on with the case in your hand?"
After hearing this, Du Ning immediately became solemn and said.
"Don't worry, Master Chen. Many details have been revealed. If it weren't for the fact that during this period, the entire court's attention was focused on Ren Li's case, the student would have wanted to reveal it."
What they are talking about is naturally a case of fraud in the imperial examination.
This case has been delayed for a long time and there has been no progress. The last time, Du Ning wanted to bring it up, but was blocked by the cabinet.
After that, Ren Li's incident attracted everyone's attention. Now that the dust has settled, some accounts should indeed be settled!
"That's all. If you're ready, just submit it tomorrow to avoid a long night of dreams!"
Chen Xun nodded lightly, put down a word, turned and left. Du Ning took a long breath, glanced at Miyagi, and then followed suit.
…………
Night, British Government House.
Although Zhu Yi has been reinstated, he will still come to the British government if there is anything to discuss. At least, even on the surface, Zhu Yi did not forget about himself as soon as he gained power, like Ren Li did. who is it.
This has always made Zhang Mi very satisfied.
"What you have to do is, I have already done it for you. Today's court meeting has really opened my eyes. These civil servants may feel that they have won again, but they will not think that from the beginning, we The only one who wants to stay is Ren Hong!"
In the flower hall, Zhang Min sat on the main seat, took a sip of tea, and spoke.
Today's court meeting was indeed within their expectations. Of course, this was not accomplished by Zhu Yi alone. The British government also contributed a lot to it.
"The Sword Comes"
Especially the cooperation with Chen Mao was discussed by Zhang Shi. From the bottom of his heart, Zhang Shi was not willing to keep the young man Ren Hong, but since Zhu Yi insisted, he cooperated.
After all, the Ren family is in such a state of ruin. He is just a half-grown child of fifteen or sixteen years old. No matter how powerful he is, he can't rise to the top, and he won't get into trouble with Zhu Yi because of this.
What's more, he really wanted to see how capable Zhu Yi was. Today's look was indeed an eye-opener for him.
Whether it was the insight and deduction of the court situation or the influence of the Duke of Chengguo among many ministers, Zhang Shi had not expected it.
As far as Zhang Shi knew, among the civil servants who stood up this time, whether they were in favor or against, there were at least a few who had received the word from Zhu Yi.
After hearing this, Zhu Yi didn't feel proud, but sighed and said.
"It's not that I don't have that idea. The Holy Mother has given instructions. If I can fight for the Ren family, I will naturally fight for it. I really want to try my best today to see if I can save the Ren family. But what Ren Li did , it’s really...so in the end, you can only choose the best one."
"However, this is the best result, whether it is for us, the Holy Mother, or even the Ren family."
