After entering midsummer, the weather is extremely hot.
Dongchang arrested people on the street, and it spread all over the capital at once, seeming to make the temperature in the capital even higher.
Liu Jin also knows where his destiny lies.
So Dongchang was arresting people outside, while he turned around and went into Qianqing Palace to report.
Zhu Houzhao was lying under the pavilion, and the two chamberlains beside him kept fanning the wind. "Speaking of it, the review by the Ministry of Justice has been almost half a month. You must remember to urge them. How many people do they review in a day?"
"Your Majesty, there are three or five in one day."
A trace of meditation flashed in the emperor's eyes,
"It's extremely bad to delay things like this. For those 'false opinions' in the capital, it doesn't matter how many people you arrest, as long as the evidence is conclusive. But the anger of the people is difficult to eradicate, so let them delay for a long time I still don’t know what will happen. I can only use the strong wind to sweep away the fallen leaves. After that, it will be over.”
The night is long and the dreams are many, but the longer the time passes, the worse it will become.
And it’s annoying to hear this every day.
In addition, Zhu Houzhao still had some ominous premonitions.
After pondering for a while, he got up from the stone bench. The attendants and eunuchs all lowered their heads and followed him at a faster pace.
"The presiding judge of the Salt Prosecution Case has entered the palace. Let Mr. Li Ge and Mr. Xie Ge come with him!"
In fact, neither Li Dongyang nor Xie Qian entered the palace to bother the emperor about arresting people by the Chief of Ceremonies.
Because the emperor could stop them with just one word. For example... have these people ever discussed government affairs in public?
If so, then the Director of Ceremonies arrested him correctly.
Nowadays, the emperor's will cannot be changed, and the behavior of the Supervisor of Ceremonies and Supervisors cannot be stopped.
Most of the Salt Class officials who were interrogated jointly by multiple parties could not escape the fate of being disgraced and dead.
But this kind of crime basically does not involve the issue of exterminating the nine tribes. This has led to the influx of many officials' families into the capital, just like Gu Zuo's first wife Xie, who made various connections and made various efforts.
A man who serves as an official in the court is basically the backbone of a family or even a clan.
Even the crazy Zou Cheng, as his relatives, must do their best to rescue him.
"...Liu Jin is a smart and smart person. He also knows that arresting people on the street must be justified and people will not be able to grasp the excuse. But in the end, he is still a person with evil intentions and greed for power."
Wang Bing, Minister of War, was also one of the interrogators.
As a civil servant, no matter what kind of internal struggles there are, the overall dislike for the eunuch who is the chief of etiquette and holds the seal is still the same.
"You are obviously a villain, but you insist on pretending to be a gentleman. Then there are more methods available. Mr. Li Ge and Mr. Xie Ge must know that there are many people in the capital asking for mercy recently. But not many of them work. Nowadays The Chief of Ceremonies is powerful, so they should go to Eunuch Liu."
Li Dongyang and Xie Qian both frowned.
This method is a bit shady and not decent enough.
The reason is simple, that is, let the family members of those criminal officials send money to Liu Jin.
Isn't he greedy?
Huh, maybe.
But looking over this long period of time, how many eunuchs hold power but refuse money thousands of miles away?
If he himself is not upright and sues the emperor, how can he defend himself?
"But this matter is not something a gentleman would do." Li Dongyang said thoughtfully.
Xie Qian didn't speak, but he probably had the same idea.
Wang Bingze said: "Those who achieve great things don't stick to trivial matters. Besides, with a villain like Liu Jin, why do we need to talk about benevolence and righteousness? He probably doesn't even know how to write these two words! If not, we still have What kind of means? Are we just going to watch Liu Jin grow bigger step by step? Eunuchs harm the country and harm the people. Compared with this, what do our personal gains and losses mean?"
Hearing him say this, his realm has improved to another level.
Yes, people like Liu Jin are harmful to the country. Get rid of him for the sake of Ming Dynasty!
"...If he notices it?"
"You can't detect it." Wang Bing put his hands behind his back, "As far as I know, someone is already looking for a relationship with him in private. The people we arranged are mixed in, real and fake, fake and real, how can we distinguish between the real and the fake?"
Too.
In fact, Wang Bing had already thought about it.
Just like Ouyang Feng practicing the Nine Yin Manual, three sentences are true and one is false. How much ability does it take to react?
But to this extent, the fight between foreign ministers and internal ministers becomes more serious. Basically, they are actively framing each other and digging holes into each other.
Just as he was talking, a young eunuch came outside and explained the emperor's oral instructions clearly and respectfully.
The cabinet was not far from the Qianqing Palace. Since it was the Holy Spirit's decree, the three old men had no other thoughts. They held the pipe hats on the table between their arms, looked at the hot sun before going out, and wiped their foreheads. Khan took a step forward anyway.
Han Wen, Min Gui and Ying Gong are in the Ministry of Punishment, and the distance is about the same.
The rhythm in the palace still seems to be unhurried,
But outside the palace, some people were already anxious to death.
Especially the relatives and friends of Shao Guoyi and others who had just been arrested by the Supervisor of Ceremonies felt like a bolt from the blue when they heard the news.
Those people in Yunsi Yamen have real crimes that even a thousand mouths cannot explain clearly. But what about these people? That’s really leisurely!
What ideas can a woman like Shao Guoyi's wife make at this time? I only know that my husband has a few acquaintances on weekdays, so I go to find them in a hurry. No matter what, there must be a way first.
However, with the scorching sun in the sky and the ground being as hard as iron, she walked all the way and asked, finally finding a house, but when she knocked on the door and told her identity and purpose of visit, the housekeeper slammed the door shut!
Shao Yushi’s family?
The Supervisor of Ceremonies is interrogating him, and now he is looking for our family! This is not only bad luck, it is a real danger!
Therefore, Mrs. Shao was scolded by others several times.
People who are inherently vulgar will squint and shout, "It's blinding your dog eyes! It's not enough for your own family to be unlucky! You have to bring trouble to other families?! Evil woman, get out of here!"
It is also a very serious crime to make irresponsible remarks about government affairs.
Who the hell wants a little bit of it?
But what can Mrs. Shao do?
If one family didn't work, she would find another one. The sweat on her face was like beads of sweat falling drop by drop.
When she found a house, she went to hit the copper ring.
"Open the door! Please open the door!"
After two days of this, she finally found a good person who was willing to open the door for her the next evening.
At this time, Mrs. Shao's lips were chapped and her face looked tired.
After meeting the head of the family, she didn't say anything else and just knelt down to beg for help.
This man's name was Jie Dongyuan, and he was a doctor of the Five Classics in the Hanlin Academy. His daily duty was to study Confucian classics and explain them when necessary. Generally speaking, it belongs to academic circles.
Perhaps this kind of people are not so utilitarian, so they couldn't bear the anxiety of a woman on a hot summer day and let her in. Otherwise, if he continues like this, he will faint on the street.
Xie Dongyuan asked his servants to give her a cup of tea, and said comfortingly: "Sister-in-law, get up first. I really don't dare to accept such a gift from you. I've heard a little bit about Brother Shao. You sit down and drink some water, and we'll go together." Think of a way."
Mrs. Shao seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw and said with sobs: "I am a woman, and I don't know anything about officialdom. It's just that in the past two days, no one except Dr. Xie wants to see me. Dr. Xie, please help me." My husband, otherwise...otherwise the whole family will have no choice but to let him go!"
Xie Dongyuan also found it difficult, "Mrs. Sister-in-law, please listen to me in detail first. The name of the person that Brother Shao offended this time is Liu Jin, the first eunuch of the Clerk of Ceremony. Brother Shao's crime is to make unreasonable comments on government affairs. Xie didn't hide it. Madam-in-law, this crime is extremely serious. If you want to save Brother Shao, I'm afraid..."
well.
It was fine, so why do you have to cause all this trouble yourself?
Mrs. Shao became even more panicked when she heard this, "Dr. Xie, please save my husband! You...what do you want? As long as I can find it, I will bring it all."
"Mrs. Sister-in-law, that's not the case. You call me doctor... but the doctor of the Five Classics of the Hanlin Academy that Xie serves is only an eighth-grade official, not even a seventh-grade county magistrate. Xie just wants to help, but there is nothing he can do."
Xie Dongyuan was also a little ashamed.
But what he said was true,
The only thing to blame was that the eunuch was too bad and Shao Guoyi was too impulsive.
Most of the officials in Beijing were also shocked by the action of the Supervisor of Liturgy. As Zhu Houzhao said, the anger in people's hearts is probably difficult to eradicate, so it is impossible to cure the root cause, but it is still possible to treat the symptoms.
At least there are fewer crazy people in the bustling restaurants all over the capital.
Some people are like this. Although they claim to be reasonable, the truth they can understand is never the so-called truth.
Qianqing Palace,
When the emperor met with ministers, he didn't have many polite words. He got straight to the point.
"It's not that I'm impatient and want to rush you all. It's just that the salt class case shouldn't be delayed for a long time, especially after I heard Jin Yiwei's response. In fact, the charges of many people have been clear for a long time. Why has there been no movement after half a month of trial?"
"Your Majesty." Han Wen stepped forward, "There are many people involved in the salt class case, and the case is quite complicated. It is a major case that has not been encountered in many years. I want to study all the details carefully to avoid miscarriage of justice or miscarriage of justice." , wronged good people.”
This is not bad. But if Zhu Houzhao was so easy to get rid of, then he would not have so many ministers respectful and afraid.
"What you said is correct. Let me ask you, out of the forty-six people arrested in Yunsi Yamen, how many of them have been confirmed to be related to the sale of illegal salt?"
When Liu Jin heard this question, he squinted his eyes and secretly glanced at Han Wen,
Our family is easy to fool, but His Majesty is not easy to fool!
Han Wen didn't even think about deceiving the emperor, and even if he wanted to, he couldn't because the supervisor was still there.
"Your Majesty, we can confirm that there are thirty-three of these forty-six people."
Zhu Houzhao said along the way: "Now that it's confirmed, let's submit the case files of these thirty-three people first. After he signs his signature, you chief prosecutors will sign it, and the supervisory officer will also sign it. Then it will be sent to the cabinet, which will draft it. Send your opinion to me for review!"
this……
If this was sent to the palace and approved by the emperor's pen, who in this Ming Dynasty would be able to change the fate of these thirty-three people?
There was no profound meaning in what the emperor said. He was just dissatisfied with this efficiency.
There are a lot of discussions in the capital. The Chief of Ceremony can arrest someone today for a few days, but it won't be long before he returns to his old ways.
"Your Majesty..." Wang Bing, Minister of War, wanted to say something.
But Zhu Houzhao interrupted him, "I don't want to hear any more unnecessary words. Sometimes I find it difficult to understand. Is it so difficult to kill a few corrupt and cowardly officials who do not abide by the laws of the court?! The thirty-three officials mentioned today I don’t care what method you use, you must get everything ready and send it to the palace tomorrow!”
"Yes..." The emperor expressed his position like this, and several ministers were speechless. "I will only obey the holy will."
Wang Bing originally wanted to delay for a while so that their layout could be more leisurely, but he didn't know why the emperor was suddenly so eager. Was he aware of something or was he provoked by someone?
Alas, plans can't keep up with changes, that's what they say.
The emperor personally urged,
Several presiding officers did not need to sleep any more tonight.
No matter what, we must first get all the signatures on the thirty-three case files, and ensure that they will be sent to the cabinet at dawn the next day.
Zhu Houzhao didn't want to be bothered anymore. As long as Zhu Bi approved it and the dust settled, there would be nothing to fight about.
It's just that some people want to complain, but it will be over after a few days.
On the second day, all six ministers and nine ministers came.
The emperor never does anything secretly, he does it in front of all of them. That’s why everyone was called over!
"... What is recorded in those case files are the charges against the officials of the Lianghuai Transportation Department. According to my previous imperial edict, these people deserve to be punished for their crimes!"
The last three words even echoed from the temple!
"Today I finally know why the salt policy of the Ming Dynasty was so corrupted. Because it is so difficult for me, the emperor, to kill these corrupt officials, let alone the ministers?!"
"His Majesty."
Min Gui has always had a weird temper. This time he had something to say, "Weichen and the others never thought of defending their crimes. The disadvantages of the salt class were exposed by Da Situ. Weichen just felt that, The money for the salt lesson is nearly 30% of my income next year, so I can't touch it easily. Moreover, the case of the Lianghuai Transportation Department is not limited to Lianghuai, but also the transportation departments of Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong and other places. Your Majesty wants to kill all the salt from Lianghuai Official, that is to kill all the salt officials in the world, but can the salt class withstand such a shock?! The Lord is worried about the humiliation of his ministers, and his majesty is angry, for the sake of the country and the people. I am also remonstrating for the sake of the Ming Dynasty and your majesty! I hope your Majesty will understand these words from the bottom of my heart!"
Zhu Houzhao's eyelids couldn't help but twitch, "What Minister Min said is right. But I have been in charge of politics for a few years. Don't I understand what you are saying? The officials of the Ming Dynasty loved to rely on the law to avoid blaming the public. These words "the world is shaking" are used indiscriminately! It seems that they want to scare me! Huh! I am not afraid! Sometimes governing a country is also about determination. The so-called kindness does not control soldiers, justice does not control wealth. If you don't have this determination, don't say salt. After all, which of the shortcomings can be truly improved?! The court is shaken, the world is shaken, and I also want to see if my empire in the Ming Dynasty will be destroyed in an instant!"
In fact, as a descendant, he himself hopes that you will be well, I will be well, and everyone will be well. But gradually I also discovered that you must not just be loose and soft, otherwise you really won’t be able to push through anything.
In fact, all the ministers knew how determined Zhu Houzhao was. But by this time, such problems are still evident. If he doesn't keep a closer eye on this matter, he might be dragged out.
Or just imagine if it was Hongzhi, even if he was in this situation, he wouldn't be able to push it away. In that case, it was probably... a few students criticized the eunuch, and received no punishment, because the factory guards were suppressed by the emperor and did not dare to move. Then the situation worsened, and more people began to denounce it, and then the court persuaded The voice of remonstrance will be like the waves, and several important ministers will probably speak out one after another. When it comes to the emperor, he is soft-tempered.
Okay, then this matter needs to be considered in the long run. From a long-term perspective, it is basically a complete failure.
Then other officials took a look, oh? Nothing happened. So they danced and sang.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao repeatedly mentioned the competition of will. This is not empty talk, but his true feelings.
Many things are just a matter of courage. If you do it, you will do it. What can you do?
Under the deadlock, Liu Jin knelt down in front of the emperor.
"Your Majesty, please issue an order!"
Zhu Houzhao stood up and said, "I, following the orders of my ancestors, rule the world with one person, but I do not serve the world with one person! This is righteousness, righteousness for oneself, and righteousness for the people of the world!"
In fact, the imperial edict had already been written, and the atmosphere was already here, so Liu Jin presented it and asked the emperor to use his seal.
…
"I have three virtues: kindness, frugality, and not daring to be the first in the world!"
…
(I am a little busy today and am posting a 4,000-word chapter. Please forgive me. This cat is engaged in demolition. You will know how many bad things are going on here just by thinking about it, and they are endless)
(End of chapter)
