Of course, there are many people in the official position who hear about things and make up the right and wrong, but similarly, the establishment of this official position also has advantages. There are also many people in this position who expose darkness, fight against corruption, and criticize the emperor's inappropriateness. Let the unhealthy trends converge.
And unless the officials' nonsense goes too far, they will not be punished. This is to protect them and make them dare to speak out and give advice.
The other emperors, even if they really hated him, would at least transfer them to another position. There would also be many officials among them to help the official speak to prevent them from suffering because of this loophole.
Therefore, in general, the rule that officials are not punished for speaking out has been passed down for more than two hundred years in the Ming Dynasty. The few exceptions are all well-founded and convincing to everyone.
But this time, an official was punished and sent to jail in front of everyone, and the reason was even more inexplicable.
Everyone could see that the official was just giving advice as a "routine", but the emperor actually used his imagination to put a big hat on his head, and then directly gave him advice in full view of everyone. Taking off his official uniform in a humiliating manner was a violation of this rule!
Is the emperor's approach tough? Very tough.
But there are more loyal officials.
Someone held his head high, strode out of the ranks of officials, and said loudly:
"The speaking official has the right to report without being punished, and what he said is not true, nor does it mean what your majesty said. Punishing him for no reason is really a big mistake. Please, your majesty..."
Zhu Changxun's face turned even colder, his fists tightened involuntarily, and he shouted loudly before he could finish speaking:
"Drag him down and put him in jail!"
The wolf-like general of the Han Dynasty immediately pounced on him and beat him in the same way.
But then, someone else stood up:
"Your Majesty, you have to send troops to conquer. This is the first mistake. It is to punish the officials who spoke out. The second mistake is to punish the loyal ministers. This is the third mistake. Just like how King Li stopped slandering, it is absolutely undesirable..."
Before he finished speaking, Zhu Changxun had already kicked the table in front of him over. His eyes were red and his teeth were clenching.
Obviously, what he had just done had made some upright ministers angry. This minister actually compared him with King Zhou Li!
How could the arrogant Zhu Changxun accept such a comment?
"Drag him down and throw him into the imperial prison... No, give me a heavy beating with a hundred imperial sticks and throw him in again!"
He said this almost in a growl.
The imperial guards rushed up, knocked the official to the ground, took off his official uniform, and tied him up.
Seeing the third courtier being dragged down by the Han general, the court finally fell into silence.
A hundred imperial staffs, but still a heavy blow, maybe the official will be dead.
Three people in a row were dismissed from their posts and imprisoned for just a few words of advice. Some even encountered the imperial staff. Such cruel tactics finally shocked the ministers.
They did not expect that the emperor who had behaved like a humble gentleman a few years ago would suddenly act so cruelly.
For a moment, no one really dared to speak.
Among the crowd, Zuo Guangdou frowned.
He was originally aggrieved because Yan Chenhao was forced to "reflect", and he even complained about the emperor's decision to insist on sending troops. Now that the other party was doing this, how could he bear it?
His footsteps moved slightly, and he was about to stand up and become the next adviser.
But at this moment, a hand stretched out, grabbed Zuo Guangdou's sleeve, and stopped him.
Zuo Guangdou couldn't help but turn his head and saw a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties looking straight ahead.
He recognized this man. His name was Yan Wenchuan. He came from the lineage of Yue Guogong. He was now the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel. He had a good relationship with him. He was also a Jinshi in the same department back then.
Now take action and stop him.
His lips moved slightly, and his voice was as thin as a mosquito’s moan:
"When Your Majesty is angry, don't fly into the flames... keep yourself useful for the future."
Zuo Guangdou gritted his teeth, feeling unwilling to do so, but remembering that he was still needed to take charge of the upcoming water conservancy project, he paused and finally retracted his feet.
The court hall fell into silence.
The corner of Zhu Changxun's mouth curled into a sneer, and he sat back in his seat.
Seeing the ministers lowering their heads or looking at him with fearful and shocked eyes, he felt a sense of satisfaction that he had never experienced before.
This is the majesty that the world's supreme being should have! On the contrary, even his own eunuchs would be afraid of his ministers, and ministers would even dare to refute their own words!
It turns out that this is the feeling of supremacy... He murmured to himself inwardly, feeling a little intoxicated. This was the first time in the nine years since he took the throne that he had experienced the feeling of those ministers having nothing to do.
Taizu's method is indeed not bad.
The entire court scene remained silent for a quarter of an hour before Zhu Changxun finally spoke slowly:
"Do you have any other matters? Feel free to report them."
Still silence.
Even if someone has something wrong, they are not willing to speak out now. God knows how the emperor who just showed his true face will deal with this matter.
However, when Zhu Changxun saw that no one was speaking, he narrowed his eyes and said coldly:
"Why aren't you talking? Could it be... that you think the emperor is a tyrant and that it would be useless to report him? Or do you think you look down on the court and want to resolve the matter privately?"
Gan.
Hearing this sentence, the ministers cursed in their hearts, why, it's not enough not to speak.
But there was no other way. Seeing the emperor's face turn cold again, several officials still stood up tremblingly and reported some matters.
Fortunately, Emperor Wuxing did not show such a tyrannical side anymore, which somewhat relieved the ministers.
It was not until the end of the court meeting that Zhu Changxun asked casually:
"Mr. Yan Ge has been reflecting at home for several months. How is the situation now?"
The courtiers below looked at each other, and then Yan Chenhao's disciple came out and reported:
"Your Majesty, the elder heard about the great victory in the mansion, and he also praised your Majesty very much. I heard that he often regretted what he did that day, saying that it was because of his confusion that he did such a treasonous act to contradict your Majesty. .”
Of course this is nonsense, and this disciple is also smart. If he hadn’t said so, this “reflection” might have lasted until the Year of the Monkey!
As expected, Zhu Changxun had a look of satisfaction on his face after hearing this.
"In that case, let him..." The emperor paused. He intended to remove Yan Chenhao directly or give him a sinecure. However, Yan Chenhao was different from those low-ranking officials of the sixth and seventh grades who had stood up before. Acting like this will inevitably lead to problems, so I thought about it and said:
"Let him resume his position as chief assistant and assist me!"
He sighed deliberately:
"Although he made many mistakes in this matter, he did it for the sake of the court after all. Since he has made his mistake known, I will forgive him this time. I think he will change his mind after this incident."
The ministers looked at each other, then they all bowed down and said:
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Listening to the praises below, Zhu Changxun sat back on the dragon chair with satisfaction, a smile on his face.
(End of chapter)
