After presiding over the disbandment examination of the shuji scholars, Wei Chen felt free and concentrated on writing the memorial about Yun's Eucalyptus in Dengzhou.
Nowadays, the debate in the court about this incident is intensifying. The emperor and the queen mother are secretly competing over this incident, which has affected the entire court.
Even if Wei Chen is in a peaceful place like the Hanlin Academy, it is difficult for him to stay out of the matter, and he will be involved sooner or later.
In particular, Wei Chen's identity is sensitive. He is an old person promoted by the late emperor and has a close relationship with the new emperor. It is very likely that he will be caught in the middle by the imperial party and the rear party, and neither party will be able to please him.
In this case, Wei Chen might as well turn his passivity into initiative and declare his position and attitude as early as possible to avoid suffering the consequences.
Regarding the content of the memorial, Wei Chen already had an idea in his mind.
This time, Wei Chen decided to write two memorials, one to the emperor and one to the queen mother.
As far as Wei Chen knew, the emperor wanted to reduce Yun's crime because he felt pity for Yun, a weak woman, so he felt compassion for her.
It's just that the legal provisions of the Great Zhou Dynasty were a bit vague in this regard, so Wen Yanchang and the officials of the Ministry of Punishment held on to it, and the trouble continues to this day.
In the memorial that Wei Chen submitted to the emperor, he mainly elaborated on one point: no matter what the circumstances, the verdict must be guaranteed to reflect the spirit behind the laws of the Zhou Dynasty.
What is the spirit of the Great Zhou Law?
It is to guide people in the world to adopt good and abandon evil, rather than simply punishing for the sake of punishment.
Therefore, when the basis for a judgment is clear and laws can be cited, it must be resolutely implemented.
And when it is impossible to make a judgment relying on laws and regulations, and it causes great controversy, the best solution in this case is to make a judgment that most people think is fair based on the common good of human nature.
Among the Yun family, Yun family was unwilling to marry Wei Da. She was forced by her uncle, especially during the mourning period of her mother. No matter how you look at it, Yun family was the one who was bullied, but she was more mature than ordinary women. Just be brave and dare to fight.
Moreover, although Yunshi slashed Wei Da dozens of times, it only sounded scary. In fact, Wei Da did not suffer any fatal injuries. The most serious injury caused to Wei Da by Yunshi's dozens of cuts was Just a broken little finger.
Wei Chen believed that if he could find a random commoner in Bianjing City and tell Yunshi's true story and ask them about their attitude towards Yunshi, most people would sympathize with Yunshi.
In fact, after such a long time, similar public opinions have shown signs of being revealed. The discussions among the people in Bianjing after dinner have proved that the sentence of mitigating Yun's crime is what the real people want.
Therefore, Wei Chen implored the emperor to comply with the people's wishes and issue an order to reduce Yun's crime.
And based on this incident, the relevant laws and regulations were adjusted afterwards to clarify their implications, so that when officials encounter similar incidents in the future, they can have laws to follow and no longer need to trouble the emperor to issue orders.
This memorial is completely in line with Wei Chen's style. It is realistic, reasonable, and its vision and structure are much higher than other officials in the DPRK.
Moreover, Wei Chen was not attached to either the imperial party or the rear party. He came up with a solution to the matter simply by explaining and interpreting the legal provisions and legal spirit, easily avoiding political positions.
Of course, no matter how penetrating Wei Chen's discussion in the memorial was, in terms of the final result, he still supported the reduction of Yun's crime. He had the same view as the emperor, and was bound to be disliked by the queen mother.
Now that the jade seal is in the hands of the Queen Mother, if the Queen Mother still refuses to let go, even if Zhao Zongquan deliberately issues the order, it will be useless to reduce Yun's crime.
Therefore, Wei Chen wrote another memorial to the Queen Mother alone.
In the previous memorial, Wei Chen had already explained the truth very thoroughly. In this memorial, there is no need to talk about any big principles, but to firmly grasp the word "love" and move people with love.
At the beginning of the memorial, Wei Chen did not get straight to the point, but mentioned an old incident.
Back then, Zhao Zhen was walking in the imperial garden. As he walked, he suddenly felt thirsty and unbearable, so he looked back frequently. However, the attendants behind him failed to understand Zhao Zhen's meaning and had no reaction at all.
When Zhao Zhen returned to the palace, he couldn't wait to ask for water from Empress Dowager Cao, who was still the queen at the time.
After Queen Mother Cao brought the water, she saw Zhao Zhen drinking for a while, and couldn't help but ask: "Why don't the officials ask the attendants for water outside, and they are so thirsty?"
Zhao Zhen smiled bitterly and said: "I signaled them with my eyes several times, but they didn't bring water. I was afraid that if I asked them again at this time, someone would be blamed by the supervisor, so I had to hold back and say nothing. "
This is not a story, but something that really happened, and it was widely circulated among the maids and chamberlains, and Queen Mother Cao was the one who experienced it personally.
Wei Chen mentioned this matter in the memorial, firstly to express his respect and remembrance of the late emperor, and secondly to evoke Empress Dowager Cao's memories of those years.
The late emperor was so merciful to his attendants. Empress Long Yubin even took Renzong as her temple name. People in Bianjing went on strike and cried in the streets. The smoke from burning paper money covered the sky. There is no need to say more about what kind of person the late emperor was in his life.
Therefore, Wei Chen boldly asked Empress Dowager Cao in his memorial to think about it. If the late emperor were still alive today, with his conduct and behavior, what would he do if he met Yunshi Gu of Dengzhou?
In the study room of Wei's house, Wei Chen moved his pen with his wrist, almost without adding any details, and finished the two memorials in a short time.
The next day, these two memorials were sent to Zhao Zongquan and Empress Dowager Cao respectively.
After Zhao Zongquan read the memorial, he was immediately overjoyed and ordered people to copy the memorial in his residence newspaper and circulate it to the government and the public.
For a long time, the debate between the DPRK and China about Yunshi's Eucalyptus has actually been limited to the legal provisions. However, Wei Chen jumped directly out of this framework and considered the issue from the essence of the law and the original intention of establishing the law, which is obviously higher than They are more than one chip away.
And Wei Chen is worthy of the name of Shiwenzong. The article is not only profound in intention, but also sophisticated and skillful in writing. Every word is exquisite and sharp, and there is not a word of nonsense in the whole article.
As soon as this memorial came out, not to mention the Ministry of Justice was dumbfounded, even the Metropolitan Procuratorate, which had always been unmatched in its ability to criticize people, was dumbfounded.
Convincing people with reason is mostly like this.
The only thing to worry about now is the attitude of Queen Mother Cao.
Everyone in the government and the public believed that even if Empress Dowager Cao knew she was being unreasonable, she would still insist on it for the sake of face.
But no one expected that the day after Zhao Zongquan's order to forgive Yun was sent to the Empress Dowager Cao, the Empress Dowager Cao stamped it with a jade seal.
It is said that this was also the credit of Wei Chen's memorial. I don't know what Wei Chen wrote in the memorial, but it actually made Empress Dowager Cao shed tears after reading the memorial and changed her mind.
Empress Dowager Cao also sighed: "If Wei Shaozhan hadn't written directly, the Ai family would have almost made a big mistake. Only today did the Ai family know that the only person in the court who knew the late emperor was Wei Shaozhan!"
In November, the imperial court officially issued an edict, recognizing the verdict of Xu Feng, the magistrate of Dengzhou, and convicting Yun of the second degree, and reducing the sentence from hanging to exile.
In the blink of an eye, in February of the following year, Longtuge proposed candidates for the examiner of the Enke examination.
After several discussions, Zhao Zongquan and the Empress Dowager Cao unanimously decided to appoint Wei Chen, the young master of Zhan Shifu and a bachelor of the Imperial Academy, as the examiner of the Enke examination.
