In June of the thirteenth year of Hongwu, the attack officially began.
Hu Weiyong was sad on this day because not long ago, his son unfortunately fell off while riding a horse in the city and was crushed to death by a passing carriage.
In grief, he arrested the coachman and tortured him to death, which finally put an end to the pain of losing his son.
After taking a look at the memorials submitted, as expected, there were several memorials impeaching him for committing murder without going through the judicial system, so he intercepted them mercilessly, and casually collected charges and put several censors in jail.
As always, Zhu Yuanzhang seemed not to know what was happening.
But Hu Weiyong himself also knew that the emperor's patience was constantly approaching the limit, so he also accelerated the pace of rebellion.
However, what he didn't expect was that he didn't wait until the day when he officially took action.
On the 15th, there was an ordinary court meeting. Hu Weiyong stood proudly in front of the ministers as usual. Under the throne, his eyes glanced at the mighty dragon chair from time to time, and greed and desire flashed in his heart.
He didn't realize yet what would happen next.
When the palace official announced the start of the court meeting, Li Shanchang's eldest son Li Qi was the first to walk out of the group of courtiers.
Hu Weiyong glanced at him curiously. Why, Li Shanchang couldn't bear to wait for him to raise an army and wanted to return to the temple first?
But what the other person said next shocked him into confusion.
"Your Majesty, Prince Consort Li Qi impeaches Hu Weiyong, the Prime Minister of Zhongshu Province Zuo, for six major crimes!"
"The first crime is corruption and bribery! Since Hu Weiyong became Prime Minister of Zuo, he has accepted countless bribes from ministers every year, including gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings! His Majesty has said that if someone commits corruption over sixty times, he will be punished by death, and then Hu Weiyong will be punished for corruption There are more than sixty taels, and there are more than tens of thousands of people who have been tortured!"
"The second crime is to withhold the memorial. The summary of the official reports was sent to His Majesty and the Prime Minister in the book. It was originally intended to assist the emperor and stabilize the world. However, Hu Weiyong was so bold that he dared to keep the memorial privately. It was impeachment and undesirable. Those who conceal it and refuse to retaliate will be punished!"
"The third crime is to form a party for personal gain. However, those who do not respect their orders will be ostracized, impeached, demoted or even removed from office. They behave badly and regard the laws of our Ming Dynasty as nothing."
"The four crimes are life, death and deposed, and dare to self-determine! The appointment and dismissal of officials, the life and death of prisoners, how dare they be carried out without the official pronouncement and the consent of His Majesty! The previous time, just because of the death of his son, he privately killed the coachman, which was offensive. The imperial court is majestic!”
"The fifth crime is murdering a minister. The previous attempt to harm the Duke of Wei failed, and he also confused His Majesty with clever words, tricks, and sex, but he was fine. His actions should be punished!"
"The six sins are to bribe desperadoes, to conspire with foreign countries, to make military honors, to recruit troops, to commit treason, and to be extremely rebellious!"
"None of the six sins can be forgiven!"
"The disaster of the Sima family in the past has reappeared today!"
"I request you to kill Hu Weiyong immediately and exterminate his clan to inform the world!"
The court hall was quiet, only Li Qi's voice echoed.
As Hu Weiyong became more and more rampant, his various illegal acts were gradually revealed.
But he was the first to dare to say it.
After all, as Hu's gang grows stronger, fewer and fewer people dare to offend the independent prime minister. Everyone knows that His Majesty has definitely heard about what Hu Weiyong has done, but even His Majesty avoids his sharp edges and indulges him so much, so why bother to be the first person?
Think about Chao Cuo’s ending.
It takes great courage to stand up.
At this time, Hu Weiyong had calmed down.
Although this is Zhu Yuanzhang's home court, Hu Weiyong is not afraid.
Because his tentacles have already reached into the Han generals, there are also some of his people among the guards in the palace.
He has already begun to think about the purpose of Li Shanchang's actions. Is he really unmoved by the title of king? Did he just want to knock himself down with these few words?
He must have a backup plan.
Hu Weiyong was thinking when he saw a second person standing up in the court after Li Qi.
"Your Majesty, Yan Xincheng, a member of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, is here to impeach Hu Weiyong for his illegal activities!"
"Since the seventh year of Hongwu, Hu Weiyong has worshiped the left prime minister, and has acted arrogantly, until now he offends the power of God..."
"I also request that Hu Weiyong be killed to set the record straight!"
He turned his head suddenly and stared directly at Yan Ling.
It turns out that this is Li Shanchang's back-up plan.
"I impeach Hu Weiyong because he has no respect for his superiors, he is a slave to the common people, and he promotes and deposes in vain, which makes all the officials dare to be angry but dare not speak out. I ask your majesty to kill him, purge his party members, and calm the hearts of the people in the world!"
Another censor stood up.
Yushitai? Dr. Chen Ning, the imperial censor, is obviously my subordinate, why did they get involved?
There was no time to think so much. Hu Weiyong saw that the ministers were already getting ready to make a move, and something was wrong in His Majesty's eyes, so he hurriedly came out to defend himself.
"Your Majesty, this is a slander. I have a lot of loyalty to you, but it is actually the result of my being the Prime Minister of the Left for many years and causing dissatisfaction. I am suddenly attacked today. There must be someone who has conspired with many parties to put me to death. I hope your Majesty Mingcha." Hu Weiyong bowed down, and this time his face was no longer arrogant.
But even at this time, he was still quibbling and trying to bite back. Not only did he show that he was attacked by these people because he had been the prime minister for too long, but he also hinted that the people who attacked him must have formed a clique.
Because they had no evidence, he saw a somewhat frightened Li Cunyi and others from the crowd. They were fine, which meant that His Majesty had not received a direct confession.
With his own power, although he will arouse the emperor's suspicion, at least he will be safe for a short time.
At worst, after the next court meeting, I will find a way to make them completely speechless...
However, after hearing Hu Weiyong's defense, the corners of Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth above him curved slightly.
"slander?"
Emperor Hongwu, who had been silent, finally spoke, his voice full of sarcasm.
He waved his hand and made a "come" gesture.
A man quickly walked out from behind the curtain. Judging from his burly figure, he was obviously a military commander, and the official uniform showed that his rank was not very high.
However, just such a military attaché of the fourth rank (for a prime minister of the first rank) made Hu Weiyong's hands and feet instantly feel cold.
"You, you betrayed me..."
It was Lin Xian, the commander of the Mingzhou Guard and Hu Weiyong’s self-confessed supporter!
He knew that once this person appeared, there would be no chance to argue.
Because he has evidence!
When Hu Weiyong borrowed troops from Japan, he wrote a handwritten letter and stamped it with his personal seal! Otherwise, how could the Japanese country lend it to you if it is empty talk?
Now, the rebellion was confirmed.
Even the previous defense became a joke.
It is a matter of course that the ministers will attack the serious crime of treason. Even if you do not impeach, your loyalty to the emperor will be questioned.
The so-called forming a party, the so-called trying to replace oneself, are all rejected.
