The palace suddenly became quiet. Several junior vassal princes stood aside in dismay and stopped saying anything. The leader, King Yi, hesitated for a moment and finally bowed his hands.
"I was so excited that I lost my manners in front of the palace. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
It should be said that King Zhou's words still have weight, or in other words, they are simply playing a double act. After knowing that they had met and discussed in the Ten Princes' Mansion beforehand, Yu Shiyue found it hard to believe that this was not an act.
The King of Yi and others were rolling around and crying and complaining about their grievances, while the King of Zhou and others stayed aside, waiting for the right moment to come out to make peace with the situation.
Their purpose is nothing more than to let the emperor "make the decision" for them!
This move is very clever.
You must know that under normal circumstances, throwing tantrums in front of the emperor is of little use. On the contrary, it may annoy the emperor and lead to accusations of misconduct in front of the emperor.
Even if the emperor didn't get angry at the time, it would not be impossible to settle the score later after he calmed down.
But now, these vassal kings are not all united to play tricks, but one is playing the good side and the other is playing the bad side. The situation is different.
No matter whether King Min, King Zhou, and King Lu were pretending, at least in this palace, they did not follow King Yi and others to fool around, they just sat aside and listened.
As a result, the emperor had much less space to move around. Even though King Zhou and others just said nothing, once the emperor put on airs and reprimanded King Yi and others for messing around in front of the palace and losing the dignity of a vassal king, then Zhou Wang and others will definitely intervene.
Between the clans, the emphasis is on intimacy. On this occasion, the emperor has dual identities, that is, the patriarch of the Zhu family and the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
Although King Yi and others were making nonsense, after all, they were 'wronged' and came to the emperor, the 'patriarch', to cry and complain. At this time, if the emperor did not 'justice' for them, he would instead accuse them of causing trouble.
Then, the "tribe elders" like the King of Zhou would inevitably speak immediately, saying that the emperor did not protect his family, turned his elbows outward, and his family members came to cry when they were wronged. As the leader of the clan, the emperor not only did not comfort and defend them, but also cared about them. His attitude is quite chilling.
In fact, this is also the biggest reason why the emperor just lowered his posture.
If it was just King Yi and others who came over, or these vassal kings put pressure together, then the emperor would scold them. After all, they were the first to cause trouble, and he himself was at fault.
However, King Zhou and others were watching. They were elders and did not join in. If the emperor had a tough attitude, they would definitely come out to interfere.
Moreover, the biggest problem is that they did not join in, so the emperor had no position to rebuke them like he did to King Yi and others. But if he wanted to be reasonable, King Zhou and others would not let go of the kiss. The emperor's position would become very awkward.
Therefore, in this case, the emperor could only ask King Zhou and others to come forward to stop it. However, when they came forward, their attitude must be biased towards King Yi and others.
As expected, when the situation gradually came under control, King Zhou continued.
"Your Majesty clearly knows that although King Yi and others just spoke inappropriately, the root cause is that they have been wronged. Your Majesty is the head of the clan and the father of all peoples. When we see your Majesty, we are meeting relatives connected by blood. It is inevitable to lose control of your emotions, and I hope your majesty will forgive me."
These words seem to be spoken humbly, but in fact, they have the same effect as the cry just now by King Yi and others. Both inside and outside the words are emphasizing one point, that is, the clan kings in this palace , it is because I have been 'wronged', and I am not messing around for no reason.
Yu Shiyue looked on, feeling a little troubled in his heart.
Although he had already anticipated the situation he might face before coming here, when he actually arrived in this palace, he still found that he had underestimated these vassal kings.
In the face of the seriousness of many court ministers, these vassal kings were arrogant, domineering, reckless, and unscrupulous. They would only rely on the protection given by the emperor's ancestors to dominate and bully others.
The most typical one is King Yi, who is the most noisy in the palace. He has so many evil deeds that it is difficult to describe them. The other kings are not so egregious, but they are not much better.
Because of this, although many ministers in the court were wary of the status and power of the kings, if these were stripped away, they actually had little fear of the kings.
But the scene in front of him clearly made Yu Shiyue realize that they had underestimated these vassal kings when they passed by.
The reason why these people dominate the local area and bully others is because of their noble status. They don't need to reason or use any tricks at all. Even if they are arrogant and domineering and do whatever they want, no one can do anything to them. Therefore, there is no need for them to bother with this at all.
However, just because it’s not necessary doesn’t mean they don’t understand.
Just like now, when facing the emperor, these people's tacit cooperation and proper control of the situation will make even a minister like Yu Shiyue, who has been in the court for a long time, look up to him with admiration.
Looking at Wang Ao on the side, they both saw the fear in the other's eyes. Obviously, at this time, the more difficult these feudal kings are, the more troublesome it will be for the next thing.
Having said this, the emperor naturally had no choice but to follow King Zhou's words.
"Uncle, what are you saying? All kings and I are blood relatives, but I lost my temper for a moment, how can I blame you? Don't worry, uncle, I will definitely give you an explanation for what happened today."
As soon as these words came out, Yu Shiyue's heart suddenly sank.
Although the emperor was obviously trying to appease the kings, in this situation, even if he made a promise just to appease him, it was still gold-plated words.
It seems that today is destined to be difficult...
At this moment, a chamberlain came in to report, saying.
"Your Majesty, Duke Li Xian of the Kingdom of Feng, Bo Fan Guang of Jing'an, Hu Hui, the Minister of Rites, and Yu Qianfeng, the Minister of the Ministry of War, are here to meet you outside the palace."
As a result, the palace suddenly became very quiet, and everyone's eyes were focused on the palace door.
Seeing this situation, the emperor had no choice but to follow the path.
"Call in!"
The chamberlain followed the order and left, and not long after, several ministers in scarlet robes came in.
"I'm going to pay homage to Your Majesty!"
Under the gaze of everyone in the hall, Yu Qian and others came to the hall and bowed to the ground respectfully.
"Let's get married for free!"
The emperor's calm voice came down, so everyone stood up from the ground and stood aside. Like Yu Shiyue and others, after these people entered the palace, they immediately took stock of the situation in the palace.
At this moment, in the palace, all the kings were seated. King Min, King Zhou, and King Lu returned to their original expressionless expressions. They just looked at the ministers present indifferently. Among the kings, only the one sitting The King Dai in the corner nodded slightly to them as a greeting.
As for the other King Yi, King Xiang, King Ning, King Zheng, etc., let alone saying hello, they did not pay attention to others at all. As soon as Yu Qian entered the palace, their eyes were firmly fixed on Yu Qian. The hostility on his face was not concealed at all.
Looking back, there are Yu Shiyue and Wang Ao who are also standing beside them.
The kings are sitting, and the officials are standing.
The status and situation are clear at a glance.
Everyone was here, so it was time to get down to business. After the ministers stood up and stood, King Min and others turned their attention to the emperor.
Seeing this situation, the emperor hesitated for a moment, picked up a memorial from his hand, and said.
"This is just now, the clan ordered King Min to write a self-report jointly with all the kings. The content is to impeach Yu Qian, the Minister of the Ministry of War, and various local officials. In the name of rectifying the military settlement, they cleverly seize the clan's land and indulge in the subordinate officials and Yamen servants. Injuring royal officials and wantonly bullying the clan and vassal kings are unjust crimes."
"Yu Qian, it is written here that you led people to personally rob the land granted by Prince Zheng's Mansion, broke into Prince Ning's Mansion without purpose, ordered the officers and soldiers to surround and blockade Prince Yi's Mansion, and secretly ordered the government officials to conflict with the people in the Prince's Mansion in the prince's fiefdom, and then ordered the officers and soldiers to intervene. They forcibly collected the fields, and injured and guarded the officials of Prince Zheng’s Mansion, Prince Ning’s Mansion, Prince Yi’s Mansion, etc.”
"Please take a look at this memorial and tell me, are these impeachments true?"
He said this with a calm voice, and no emotion could be heard.
However, the more this is the case, the more serious it is.
The chamberlain handed the memorial to Yu Qian. Yu Qian took it with both hands, bowed, and opened the memorial to read.
The memorial contained a lot of content, but Yu Qian was very fast. In less than a moment, he put the memorial together, handed it back to the chamberlain, and returned it to the imperial desk.
As a result, everyone's eyes fell on Yu Qian.
Yu Qian didn't keep everyone present waiting for too long. After sorting out his thoughts for a while, he said.
"Your Majesty, regarding the affairs of the Prince of Yi's Mansion, my subordinates acted in accordance with the order. In early April, the imperial court received a memorial from the Luoyang County Magistrate, stating that the servants of the Prince of Yi's Mansion deliberately obstructed the court from clearing the abbot, killing three county officials and injuring a government servant. Seven people, later on, the patrolling censor Zhang Feng personally presided over the Qing Dynasty, and were attacked by gangsters in the fields. According to the people and those pursued by the county government, the gangsters hid in Prince Yi's mansion."
"Subsequently, Zhang Feng was invited to a banquet at Prince Yi's Mansion. During the dinner, he also saw someone who looked similar to the attacker. King Yi even threatened Zhang Feng during the dinner that he must leave Luoyang within ten days, otherwise his life would be at risk."
"According to His Majesty's order, I went to various places to preside over the rectification of military camps and investigated the case. In order to capture the thugs who attacked Zhang Feng, I dispatched officers and soldiers and surrounded the Prince Yi's Mansion. The consequences were confirmed. These thugs were hiding in Prince Yi's Mansion. Now that the case has been concluded, the case file evidence has been transferred to the Ministry of Punishment. If Prince Yi has any questions, he can transfer the case files of the Ministry of Punishment to investigate."
Even in the face of the oppression of the kings, Yu Qian remained calm and explained things clearly one by one.
"As for the land granted by Prince Zheng's palace, the ministers dare not touch the land granted by the late emperor. However, the number and location of the land granted by Prince Zheng are inconsistent with the fish scale album kept by the imperial court. According to the inspection of the censor and local officials, Zheng The large amount of land granted under the prince's name was actually obtained from private cultivation by local officials and soldiers after he became a feudal lord. It is not a real land grant. According to the imperial regulations, this kind of privately cultivated land should be used as a military camp."
"If Prince Zheng has any objections to this, he can compare the previous imperial edicts, the fish scale atlas archived by the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the latest atlas after the Qing Dynasty by the Ministry of War, and you will know at a glance."
"There is also the matter of forcibly breaking into Prince Ning's Mansion. After I arrived at Prince Ning's fiefdom, Prince Ning invited me to visit the mansion several times. However, when I arrived at Prince Ning's Mansion, Prince Ning stayed behind closed doors and refused to come out. I I waited outside for a long time many times, but all failed.”
"Later, local officials had an armed fight with the guards of Prince Ning's Palace in Qingzhangzhong. Prince Ning sent the Palace Chief to send a message to invite the minister to come to the palace. The minister went with only two followers. However, after arriving at the palace, he found that the palace guards were driving the minister away with short sticks. He came out and claimed that I was the one who broke into the palace by force. I have already written a written report to Your Majesty about what happened."
"In addition, the so-called secretly instructing the government officials to conflict with people in the palace, and then ordering the officers and soldiers to intervene to forcibly reclaim the fields, is really conjecture. Everything I said and did was in accordance with the imperial system and regulations, or there may be officials and government officials who were in charge of the Qing Dynasty and the rectification of the army. During the process, there were conflicts with people in the royal palaces, but they all happened for a reason and were not intentional. Every time there was a conflict, I reported the details to His Majesty and did not hide anything from the court. If the princes felt that something was wrong, Please ask Your Majesty to order a thorough investigation, and I am willing to cooperate."
Yu Qian's calm voice echoed in the not-so-empty hall, with clear organization and a gentle tone. He explained every impeachment in the memorial clearly.
Seeing this situation, the emperor pondered for a moment, then turned his gaze to King Zhou and others aside and asked.
"Uncle King Min, uncle King Zhou, uncle King Lu, what do you think?"
The thing is actually very clear. Yu Qian is not stupid. Although he has great determination and goes to various places to organize military camps, but this does not mean that he will act recklessly and without rules.
Even if he didn't mention whether he would be punished or not, even if it was just to organize the military affairs, he still had to be careful when he acted.
Otherwise, if he took back the front foot forcefully and the kings of the back foot sued the court and asked for it back, then he would have wasted his time.
Therefore, although Yu Qian used very tough methods in the king's fiefdoms, he never did it without reason. All the tough methods were used after trying various methods to prove ineffective and he had already mastered the evidence. It will be used only under certain conditions.
This explanation cannot be said to be careless. Even King Yi, King Zheng, King Ning and others have a twinkle in their eyes. Although they are still full of hostility, they already have a bit of an overpowering taste. .
However, it is a pity that they are just the first ones. The people Yu Qian really has to deal with are King Zhou and others.
Facing Yu Qian's 'justification', King Zhou pondered for a moment and said to the emperor.
"Your Majesty, Yu Shaobao said that every time he and various local officials had conflicts with people in the royal palaces, they reported the details to Your Majesty. I believe that Yu Shaobao will not lie about this, and there is no need to lie. However, , I have only one question, and I would like to ask Your Majesty to clarify it for me."
As he spoke, King Zhou's tone became cold. He glanced at the ministers next to him from the corner of his eyes, feeling a bit chillier for some reason. Then, King Zhou said.
"I dare to ask Your Majesty whether Yu Shaobao reported arresting people in the palace, breaking into the palace, and besieging the palace. These things were reported in advance or afterward."
"If it was reported in advance, could the things he instructs his government officials and soldiers to do have His Majesty's decree?"
"If there is one, where is the holy decree? Is there a copy left in the palace that I can take a look at?"
(End of chapter)
