With the emperor's approval, the Jinyiwei began to arrest people, led by three people, Jiang Tongzu, Ma Yiqian, and Lu Meng.
There is no direct evidence that these people were involved in the assassination of the emperor.
But just the resentment they spread in private was enough to arrest them.
Once the news of the assassination leaked, it immediately alarmed the ministers of the entire dynasty. The three ministers in the cabinet plus six ministers, as well as important ministers of the court such as the minister of Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, either sent letters to the emperor to advise or persuade the emperor. Just hand the note to the palace to meet the saint, not to mention other ministers.
This is also what makes Zhu Houzhao irritable. If he encounters this kind of thing once he leaves the palace, these old Confucian men will probably be even more annoyed with him in the future.
In the past few days, the harem was uneasy because of this matter, and so was the Qianqing Palace. Even Wang Hao, who had always 'indulged' him, spoke a little harshly.
"The Emperor is responsible for all the people in the world and is responsible for the country and the country. He has done a lot of good governance and has always been prudent since he became emperor. However, for some reason, he is always addicted to outings in the palace. At first, he was only in the palace, but gradually he became far away from the capital. The capital is for If there is any slight deviation in the foundation of the country, the earth will be shaken. I sincerely pray and hope that your majesty will put the country first and never do such things again!"
"Sir, don't be anxious. I have traveled far and brought many people with me. The so-called assassination is just a near miss."
"His Majesty!"
"Okay, okay. I promise sir, at least this year I won't leave the palace at will."
Wang Hao knew the emperor well. When he heard these words, he stopped worrying too much and just said: "Your Majesty, you really scared me to death. If anything goes wrong, I will give up this old man." It’s fate!”
"Shenwuwei, Jinyiwei and Dongchang all asked me to take them with them. What could happen? And speaking of it, it was a blessing in disguise. If these people didn't make a fuss, I didn't know there were so many hidden in the capital. People with evil intentions!”
"When Wei Chen entered the palace, the Jin Yiwei was already arresting people."
"But I haven't seen a few memorials about the harm caused by factory guards."
"Assassinating the Emperor is a grave crime."
"Sir, I've never worried that I would make the factory guards' harm worse."
Wang Yao cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty treats the veteran minister as a national scholar, and I also understand your Majesty's ambition. The so-called harm to factory guards only occurs when the monarch is weak or stupid, and it is absolutely impossible to happen in the Zhengde Dynasty."
Zhu Houzhao felt comfortable, "The one who knows me is sir."
"However, I would also like to ask Your Majesty to try your best not to involve too much."
"I have already told Jin Yiwei about this." Zhu Houzhao stopped mentioning the matter and asked instead, "I have been out for two days, what else do you have to do?"
Wang Hao nodded, "About Mr. Binzhi."
"Mr. Li Ge? What happened to him?"
"I have tried my best to retain Mr. Binzhi, but he seems to have decided to leave. He has lost his son one after another in the past few years, and it was okay for him to shoulder the important responsibilities of the cabinet. But now that he is relieved of his duties, his ambition has dried up."
Zhu Houzhao pursed his lips.
"Everyone has to have a purpose in life. He has no children, and if he has nothing to do, one year will be like ten years old. Besides, hasn't this heavy responsibility not been relieved yet?"
"Yes, but he really has no intention of going to the temple."
"Where is he from?"
"His ancestral home is Huguang, but he has lived in the capital with his father since he was a child."
"The capital city is not good. Many people can't see what they see when they look up, and they feel uncomfortable. Let me find him a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters. Why don't we let him go to Yingtian. We will transfer the current governor of Yingtian, He Jian, to Beijing. He Jian served as governor of the place for two years. Declare him to be in the capital."
He Jian was a traditional Confucian scholar-official.
But he used practical actions to protect his reputation. I am not a person who seeks fame and reputation, so in fact, the so-called reputation is the sense of existence, which is not that strong.
He used to serve as a magistrate in Henan. In the year of famine, he opened a warehouse to provide relief. The warehouses were not enough and he had to raise food everywhere. What is even more commendable is that he also tried every means to provide loans and cattle breeds to the people, and specific practices taught people how to do it. It’s better to teach a person how to fish than to fish’.
Governor Yingtian is also a relatively important position. Under his rule, Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture have more money and food than the two capitals and thirteen provinces every year. He has done a good job in the past two years. Farming cannot create a society with extremely rich materials, but he cares about the suffering of the people and pays attention to agriculture, mulberry and water conservancy, and has no bad reputation. In the feudal era, this was already a blessing.
When he was originally sent to Yingtian as governor, it was because of his rich experience in performing duties in Henan, Shandong, Sichuan and other places. Moreover, he was involved in politics from the prefecture, the chief envoy's yamen, the right chief envoy, the left chief envoy, and the chief envoy. , the governor sat all the way up like this. In fact, he was an official that Zhu Houzhao valued more.
Nowadays, local officials have reached the level of governor, which is almost the same.
"Where would Your Majesty like him to serve?"
Zhu Houzhao thought for a moment and said, "He was transferred to the position of Minister Zuo of the Ministry of Works."
As soon as Wang Hao said this, he understood that it was actually to let him take over as Minister of the Ministry of Industry.
Zeng Jian, the current minister of the Ministry of Industry, is seventy-three years old. He is the oldest person in the imperial court. Another Minister of Rites, Lin Han, was born in the ninth year of Xuande, just like Zeng Jian.
However, Lin Han's health is much better, and Zeng Jian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, has reported illness several times. He is seventy-three or eighty-four. If he keeps getting sick at this age, his body will not be able to bear it. After all, even young people have to be weak for a period of time even if they fall ill.
The question is, will Li Dongyang change his mind?
Zhu Houzhao was still a little concerned about this. He said to Wang Hao: "If you can't persuade me, then I will persuade you. The three of them are veterans left to me by the late emperor, and even if you don't mention this, Liu and Li Xie and Xie are also good ministers, but sometimes they have some differences of opinion with me. I don't really blame them for this. As a cabinet, sometimes we are helpless."
When you are the leader of a country, you must be broad-minded. How many wise kings sometimes tolerate the grievance even if they are dissatisfied with a certain minister.
This is still needed.
If you are narrow-minded and will retaliate for your anger, it may feel good at the time, but you will definitely become alienated in the end.
Furthermore, he was a descendant of later generations, and many of the things he did were certainly not understood by the great scholars of the time. It is normal for some disputes to arise. You're a very old man, you can't let go of all these grievances in your heart.
"Furthermore, in the court, after you sing and we appear on the stage, there will always be a fierce fight between us. But I still hope that there will be a bottom line in the fight. One step to the pavilion, the next step to prison, this kind of extreme I don't like the political atmosphere. As the old saying goes, there is hard work without credit. Those who come down from the cabinet are all gray-haired and old. They have worked hard for the country for decades. If they are inevitably liquidated in the end, I will not be able to avoid it. I can’t bear it.”
After Wang Hao heard what the emperor said, he felt really moved and moved. The emperor was so broad-minded that they, the ministers, didn't need to say anything else.
Even Wang Hao had a sore nose and red eyes, and praised: "My emperor is truly a benevolent king."
"Even so, there are still some people who want to commit assassination."
Having said this, Wang Hao's heart suddenly became angry, that is to say, the assassination failed, but it was really going to happen. It would be a huge disaster for the Ming Dynasty to lose such an emperor!
"Assassinating the monarch is a disloyal and unfilial act! Everyone will surely find him and punish him!"
Speaking of which, Li Dongyang's incident really happened just right.
A few days later.
As expected, the cabinet chiefs Li Dongyang and Xie Qian submitted their resignations and begged for their remains.
According to normal etiquette, even if the emperor agrees, he will refuse. This way of trying to stay will make everyone look good. Wait until the ministers continue begging for bones one after another, then agree at this time.
Basically, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian also followed this process.
But by the third time,
The emperor took the initiative to mention Liu Jian and Liu Xixian, the governor of Shandong, above the Fengtian Hall.
"Back then, Duke Xixian was also begging for bones. I couldn't bear that the late emperor left his ministers alone in the countryside, so I ordered him to patrol Shandong. In the past two years, although there have been disasters in Shandong, the governor has dealt with them effectively every time, and the victims They are often properly resettled. The East Three Prefectures were originally prosperous, but Jin Yiwei and I reported that now there are fields and streets where millet is planted, and the ponds are full of water and frogs are playing. The West San Prefectures are slightly worse due to inconvenient transportation, but Mr. Xixian is also I visited the prefectures and counties many times, firstly to develop water conservancy, and secondly to punish prisons. Every time I heard about it, I was greatly comforted. Mr. Li Ge, like Duke Xixian, was a minister of the late emperor, and I couldn't bear to leave Duke Xixian that day. Today I can’t bear to leave Li Ge like the skeleton of old beggar.”
"Moreover, the Ming Dynasty has a territory of thousands of miles and hundreds of millions of people. Only one Duke Xixian is not enough. Therefore, what I have in mind is that Mr. Li Ge can patrol another place for me. Just take it as my responsibility. The common people and Mr. Li Ge entrusted me with this sentence."
This was what the emperor whispered and spoke bit by bit during the morning court session.
Above the court hall, there are hundreds of civil and military officials on both sides, which can be said to have heightened the warmth between the monarch and his ministers to the extreme.
Li Dongyang is the one who can make the decision, but the emperor stated that he cannot be too high-minded.
And if there is no precedent like Liu Jian, you can also say that the emperor had other motives or thoughts, but because of Liu Jian, this matter has become very pure now.
It's just that the emperor can't bear to leave his virtuous ministers, it's that simple.
Li Dongyang knew that Wang Hao's words were what the emperor meant, but he did not expect that the emperor would give him such great honor when Wang Hao's persuasion failed. To be honest, his relationship with the emperor is not comparable to Liu Jian's, and there have been many disputes over the years. So he didn't dare to think about it.
But I didn't expect that things would actually come to this point.
So this emperor... when he is sensible, he will move you to death, but when he is stubborn, he will make you angry.
However, no matter what, at this point, the emperor can smile and forget all grudges when they meet, let alone him, a minister?
Li Dongyang trembled and knelt on the ground and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, the emperor's virtue is far-reaching and boundless. This is the foundation for the long-term success of our country."
The occurrence of this incident can be regarded as adding a little warmth when the Jin Yiwei was marching around the city.
But this warmth did not slow down Jin Yiwei. Jiang Tongzu was found to be in Shuntian Mansion, and Mao Yuwen had already rode on horseback to capture him and bring him to justice.
(End of chapter)
