After the court meeting this time, some families were happy and some were sad.
When the ministers returned to the city, they divided into several teams.
Wang Wen, Kou Shen, Xiao Weizhen, and Xue Xuan, the chief officials of the Three Law Departments, went back to the Ministry of Punishment to review the case. How to pin Sanyang on the charge of "colluding with the inner court and conspiring to depose the queen" is a big and thorny problem.
Although the emperor did not say it explicitly, the meaning was already obvious: If you, the three judges, are not able to understand the case, then all of them should go to the Ministry of Rites as ministers, and I will replace them with a group of more capable people.
Wang Wen and others were also under great pressure and did not dare to slack off at all.
However, Yu Qian was still unable to completely distance himself from Sanyang and Shanxi. He became increasingly bored, so he went home directly, preparing to leave the capital, a place of right and wrong, early the next morning.
After Wang Zhi, another one was scared away by Zhu Qiyu.
Wei Ji prepared three things for the new official to take office. He first went to see Emperor Gongrang, and then went home to write a memorial. This memorial was specially discussed with the emperor. Once it is made public to the court, it will inevitably cause another uproar.
He Wenyuan, Jiang Yuan, Luo Tong, Zhou Chen, Shen Yi, and Huang Pu also went back to their respective ministries to handle official business.
Only Chen Xun, Yu Shiyue, Zou Qian, Shi Pu, and Xu Youzhen had nothing to do, so they all gathered in the cabinet.
There are three ministers of the Ministry of Rites, one minister of the Ministry of Industry, and one deputy censor of the capital.
This time, the criticism and remonstrance against the emperor was mainly initiated by the Ministry of Rites, and Xu Youzhen seemed very uncoordinated here.
Although Zhu Qiyu still had doubts about Xu Youzhen, in the eyes of Yu Shiyue, Zou Qian and others, Xu Youzhen was now a complete confidant of the emperor.
In just over a year, Xu Youzhen rose from being a lecturer in the Imperial Academy of the sixth rank to being a censor of the deputy capital in the third rank. Such a speed of promotion can definitely be regarded as a blessing.
Zou Qian was the first to speak: "I don't think Sanyang colluded with the inner court. The palace is strictly forbidden, so there is no chance for foreign ministers to contact the inner court."
Chen Xun and Yu Shiyue both shook their heads. It was obvious that upon further investigation into the matter of deposing the queen, there were only three possibilities: one was that no one was deceiving him, or that Xuan Miao himself spoiled his concubine and destroyed his wife, deposing the queen without any reason.
The other is that Queen Hu herself was at fault and should be deposed.
The last situation is that Queen Hu was right and Xuan Miao was not wrong, but it was the treacherous ministers who caused the incident.
Ministers must not choose the first option if they want to keep taboos on behalf of His Holiness.
As for putting the blame on Empress Hu, that would be a real suicide attempt. The emperor was worried that there was no chicken to kill.
Therefore, the situation can only be the third one: treacherous ministers causing trouble.
So the key point of the debate now is: whether the treacherous official who caused trouble is San Yang.
Yu Shiyue smiled bitterly and said: "It's useless for us to just think about it. It involves the country's foundation. We, the three ministers of the Ministry of Rites, should go to the pilgrimage together to pay homage to the emperor. If that doesn't work, we have to go to the queen mother."
Chen Xun and Zou Qian seconded the proposal.
Xu Youzhen did not make things too difficult for the three of them and chose to serve in the cabinet.
Zhu Qiyu did not imprison Emperor Gongrang. At the same time, Cao Jixiang, Ma Liang and others were guarding Nangong. So Chen Xun and the others came to Emperor Gongrang easily.
After everyone saluted, they looked up slightly and saw Emperor Gongrang looking extremely hesitant.
Because Wei Ji was respectfully summoned by the emperor and had just come to pay his respects.
Wei Ji didn't want to talk to Emperor Gongrang anymore, so in a few words, he gave the key information: Today the emperor is determined to thoroughly investigate the death of Queen Hu, and wants to annihilate all those involved, regardless of master or subordinate. clan.
Zhu Qizhen had already received the news before Wei Ji came to Nangong. But when the words came out of Wei Ji's mouth, their weight was completely different.
After hearing other people's reports, Zhu Qizhen would think that his younger brother was bluffing. However, Wei Ji's qualifications and prestige were too high, and he was a great scholar who studied Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. It was absolutely impossible for him to tell nonsense about something he was not sure about, let alone deliberately deceive others.
Moreover, Wei Ji also emphasized that the emperor was definitely serious this time. He said that the Yi tribe was the Yi tribe. No one could escape by then, and there would definitely be heads rolling in and blood flowing like rivers.
It's strange that Zhu Qizhen was still happy after hearing this.
Although Zhu Qizhen was not personally involved at the time, he knew with his toes that if Empress Hu was really assassinated, who else could be behind it besides the Sun family.
That was the destruction of the three tribes.
After Taizong, in the Hongxi, Xuande, and Zhengtong dynasties, there was almost no such thing as annihilating the three tribes.
Zhu Qizhen scolded Chen Xun and others with a cold face: "You are all important officials in the court. My brother is acting so arrogantly. Why don't you give me advice?"
Who dares to answer this question? Once he explains why he did not remonstrate, wouldn't it be equivalent to admitting what Emperor Gongrang said, "The emperor behaves wildly and rebelliously".
After Zhu Qizhen slammed the tea cup in his hand, he angrily ordered Yu Shiyue and Zou Qian to leave.
When Chen Xun was the only one left in the palace, Zhu Qi took two steps forward, grabbed Chen Xun's sleeve, and asked in a cold voice: "Mr. Chen Ge, tell me the truth. Did San Yang collude with the inner court and conspire to destroy the emperor?" back?
You don't want to follow the story, and don't use official language. I just want to ask you, did Sanyang actually do that? "
Chen Xun raised his head in surprise and met Zhu Qizhen's cold and majestic gaze.
After all, Zhu Qizhen had been the orthodox emperor for fourteen years. Once he was truly angry, his momentum and coercion were extraordinary.
Chen Xun was stunned for a long time, and then replied: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for the death penalty, and promise not to tell anyone about the humble minister's words, so that I dare to speak."
"Okay, there are only you and me here. Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know. I swear by the gods of my ancestors that I will never reveal what happened today to anyone, let alone blame your beloved."
After that, Zhu Qizhen laughed at himself: "Besides, if you look at me like this now, do I still have the power to punish you?"
After receiving the guarantee, Chen Xun had no choice but to bite the bullet and reply: "I don't know whether San Yang took the initiative to collude with the inner court. But the inner court did take the initiative to win over important officials from the foreign court.
Queen Hu was the imperial concubine designated by Emperor Taizong personally for Xuan Miao. After Xuan Miao succeeded to the throne, she was canonized as queen. The legitimate wife is married, there is no doubt about it.
It is absolutely impossible to abolish the empress without fault without the support of important ministers from outside the court.
However, I thought that the only person who wanted to depose the queen was the inner court, and Sanyang had no motive to depose the queen.
It is even said that the reason why Empress Hu was able to be appointed as the Crown Princess was that she had the support of important officials from foreign dynasties.
If the inner court had not taken the initiative to reach a deal with the important officials of the foreign court, it would be impossible for the important officials to suddenly relent on the issue of abolition. "
Zhu Qizhen nodded, saying that it was true that when Emperor Taizong issued an edict to select the emperor's concubine, so-called auspiciousness appeared in Shandong. Qin Tianjian reported: When the star energy appears in Kui Lou, you should search for it in the Ji River.
Then the imperial envoy went to Jining and found Hu Rong's third daughter Yijin.
How to say this, hey, I can’t say.
Zhu Qizhen had also specially read the inner court's records of Queen Hu's life experience before, and what he remembered the most was the sentence: "Father is honored, he gave birth to seven daughters." In the early years of Hongwu, the eldest daughter was famous as Shanwei. With her talent and beauty, she served in Yeting and served in the palace, and she was quite popular as an envoy. The honorable man was then given the command of the Imperial Guards.
In other words, Hu Rong was awarded the position of commander of the Jin Yiwei because of his eldest daughter Hu Shanwei.
In the early years of Hongwu, Hu Shanwei used his talent and beauty to serve in Yeting and serve in the palace. He was quite popular as an envoy, and his father was promoted to an official.
In other words, Hu Shanwei is the woman Taizu loved?
After so many years, the secret behind it may not be clear.
But one thing Zhu Qizhen is sure of: Queen Hu's rise to power is not that simple, and there are indeed powerful forces behind her that cannot be underestimated.
And the 'inner court' did make a deal with the ministers of the outer court, and then brought down Queen Hu.
As for who is included in the 'inner court' here? His mother and queen would definitely not be able to run away, and his father, the emperor, was personally responsible for negotiating with important ministers from other dynasties, so that was naturally included.
His mother was arranged by Empress Dowager Zhang to enter the palace and support her in her rise to power. Although the Queen Mother Zhang looked reluctant, without the consent of the Queen Mother Zhang, it would not have been so easy to depose the Queen Mother.
Zhu Qizhen was a little scared. More and more people were involved. Once the investigation was carried out, it would probably be a life-and-death situation.
(End of chapter)
