"As the saying goes, the overall situation is the most important thing. If this causes turmoil in the imperial court, wouldn't this be putting the cart before the horse and making the Ming Dynasty even more unstable?"
Zheng Shili straightened his back, raised his hands and spoke, but his tone was inevitably sharp.
Zhu Di looked at Zheng Shili with a rare flash of appreciation in his eyes.
Originally, I just thought that this guy was a scheming scholar who deliberately stirred up public opinion to shine a light on corrupt officials, just like Qi De, Huang Zicheng, Yi Zimei and others before him.
But he didn't expect that after seeing such a killing scene, the scholar could stand up straight and speak out.
What a tough guy.
Didn't you see that the other scholars who were following suit were already so frightened that their faces turned pale and they couldn't even stand still?
Thinking of this, Zhu Di rarely spoke slower, but after a busy day, his voice was inevitably hoarse: "Does it mean you are not guilty if you stick to the old ways?"
"You heard just now that because of the leakage of the empty seal, so many corrupt officials took the opportunity to rob people's wealth and seize land."
"My father is so high up there that I don't know about every detail of this. Those officials come into contact with these empty-seal documents every day, don't they know the harm?"
Zhu Di asked with the power of blood evil, and the people even applauded:
"That's right! I know someone is being greedy but I don't dare, so I'm not guilty?"
"Maybe they haven't had time to take action yet... If it were any later, we might be the ones who get hurt!"
"Then Laoshizi Kongyin is not a good thing! They are guilty of hiding it from His Majesty. You still talk to them. What are your intentions?"
At this moment, even though Zheng Shili felt that he was worthy of the conscience of heaven and earth, he was speechless.
"Let's talk about Chao Gang's turmoil... Is it because they are afraid of Chao Gang's turmoil that they allow these people to do whatever they want and stir up the chaos in our Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Di said sternly.
"It's just because it involves too much! Any movement will cause chaos in the court! So all those officials turned a blind eye and allowed these worms to do whatever they want!"
"Like you, you think about the overall situation, so you just let it go!"
"It's a pity that they underestimated my father's courage and clearly saw the founding hero of our Ming Dynasty!"
"Why is the overall situation so important? It's obviously an excuse! The most important thing in this world is always the people!"
"Father said that he is not afraid of any turmoil in the imperial court, and he will not care about the protection of their officials and the fact that you literati are confusing right and wrong!"
"Anyone who harms the people, whether they do it personally or stand by and watch, must be punished!"
"Even if he cannot secure the throne, he must eradicate these cancers in one fell swoop!"
"Only in this way can the world be pacified, only the future generations be warned, and only then can we truly protect China for thousands of generations to come!"
As soon as Zhu Di finished speaking, the people began to clamor extremely enthusiastically. Many people even had tears in their eyes and could only shout loudly to express their inner excitement.
Your Majesty would rather offend officials all over the world than stand by our people!
I would rather the throne be unstable than to eliminate these corrupt officials for the people!
"Long live! Long live! Long live!" One after another, some people began to shout in the direction of the imperial city. Gradually, the sounds began to become more and more uniform, converging into a force that could shake the earth, and spread in all directions.
"..." Zheng Shili was speechless for a long time amid the shouts of long live. He knew that he had completely failed. No matter who you are, there is no way to control the emperor who showed such courage.
But, what's going on with the hot blood that is also stirring in the chest?
…
Yingtian, the imperial city.
"Lao Wu, have you heard this?" Lao Zhu and his two sons, Zhu Biao and Zhu Su, were at the Fengtian Palace Tower. They were here to enjoy the cool air and relax, and by the way, they listened to the Jin Yiwei reporting the news from Zhu Di. I heard that the people spontaneously paid their respects to the imperial city and shouted "Long live us". "It seems that someone in the south of the city is really shouting "Long live us?"
"...No, you must have heard wrong." Looking at Lao Zhu's proud look, Zhu Su secretly rolled his eyes. Look how proud this little old man is, South Street is half a day away from here.
Besides, even if the news was delivered by fast horse without stopping, it would still take several quarters of an hour. Now the cheers on South Street have stopped long ago, and if you can hear them, there are ghosts.
Because of Zhu Su's prior notification, Lao Zhu had arranged the only uneasy factor in the empty seal case properly. Zheng Shili's public opinion offensive came to nothing. The history books will never record that Zhu Yuanzhang was a bad person because of this case. A reasonable and cruel king.
Therefore, Lao Zhu was very happy, and he felt that his "public trial" was a strategist, very enjoyable, and it was an excellent plan.
It also gave him such a great reputation. When I look back, I will ask the historian to record it in the history books.
I completely forgot that this method was clearly suggested by Zhu Su in the first place...
I think of those lines written by Lao Zhu himself, the sentence "Even if you cannot secure the throne, you must eradicate the cancer at once." Zhu Su had goosebumps all over his body. This cheap old man of his own clearly values the chair under the Zhu family's buttocks very seriously. If anyone dares to make the Zhu family unable to sit on the throne, he will skin all the nine clans and turn them into grass. Now he can actually blush and come up with such disgusting words for the fourth child.
Sure enough, lying is a talent of politicians, and the emperor, who is the top politician, is no exception.
"Father, although officials who know the truth and fail to report it should be punished together, my child believes that they should be treated differently." Prince Zhu Biao had been smiling at Lao Zhu and Zhu Su joking. At this time, he just interjected and admonished. . "Among the officials involved in the air seal case, there are also many upright officials with official reputations. For example, Fang Keqin, the prefect of Jining, Shandong, and Zheng Shiyuan, the inspector-general of Huguang, etc."
"It would be a pity if we kill them all together. Seeing the children, it is better to punish them..."
Zhu Biao said on the one hand, and on the other hand, Lao Zhu's face began to look unhappy. How is it possible that he has never rubbed sand in his eyes all his life, so that he can easily let go of these ignorant officials?
In his opinion, if these faint officials were sincere towards the court and the Ming Dynasty, they would have reported to him the matter of the empty seal and many other corruption matters.
Since he stood by and watched the moths eating away at the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, it was obvious that his heart was not towards the Ming Dynasty, and his body was left to eat nothing. What's the point of sparing such a person?
When Zhu Biao saw this, he quickly winked at Zhu Su. Zhu Su understood and took over the conversation and said, "Dad, I think the elder brother is right."
"Let me ask you a question. Do you know what the most important and valuable resource is for a country to expand its territory? It is also the resource that the Ming Dynasty lacks the most right now."
"What is it?" Lao Zhu was interested in the topic of opening up new territories. After thinking about it, he asked Zhu Sudao.
"It's a human being." Zhu Su said solemnly. "Countless people!"
(End of chapter)
