Outside the Meridian Gate, the number of people kneeling has reached more than two hundred. There are Hanlin, Yushi, Imperial College Supervisors, and some officials. The movement here has already spread to the palace. There are three bachelors in the cabinet. He came in a hurry to scold him, wanting to prevent the situation from getting bigger. That's fine. What happened to make it such a big deal?
"Master Wang, what are you doing? Get up quickly. You are really disrespecting the etiquette of a monarch and his ministers. If you have anything to say, we can go to the palace and say it. Kneeling in the palace is like forcing the palace, but it is a serious sin. Master Wang, think twice." Li Dongyang said.
Yang Tinghe was thoughtful, thinking about yesterday's conversation, and then looking at the ministers and students kneeling outside the Meridian Gate, he began to understand His Majesty a little. He did not dissuade him, but chose to watch indifferently to see how His Majesty was going to deal with it.
Wang Qiong ignored them, didn't explain, and kept mumbling advice.
Behind him, those kneeling on the ground were some Qingliu officials of the fifth, sixth and seventh grades, as well as Sheng Yuzi.
The three pavilion elders don't know what happened yet. If they knew, they would probably join these people, but the content of the advice really made them frightened and worried.
After a while, people from the six departments also came to watch. Only a few people knew the whole story and stood aside to watch the show.
Another urgent memorial sent six hundred miles from the east was rushing to Beijing on the road. Just one day after the impeachment memorial of the Nanjing Supervisor and Censor, the entire Yingtian Mansion was completely in chaos. Jiao Fang and Zhang Zhong took The three thousand Iron Eagle Guards plus the state capital's guard station are only twenty thousand. It is really too much for the common people with so many futures.
God seemed to be on Zhu Houzhao's side, and the signs of natural disasters that shook the earth appeared on a large scale. First, there was a slight tremor in the earth, and then snakes, insects, rats and ants were scurrying everywhere, livestock were mourning, and fish died on the river with their bellies in the sky. , at this time, Jiao Fang took this opportunity, and the entire prefecture under the jurisdiction of Yingtian Mansion was upset. This time, Jiao Fang and Zhang Zhong did not need to forcefully drive them away with their soldiers, and they all moved towards the safe prefecture, fearing My parents lost two legs.
It was originally a matter of anger and resentment, but Jiao Fang and Zhang Zhong immediately became living bodhisattvas who saved people from fire and water. The Six Ministries of Nanjing prepared to impeach Jiao Fang and Zhang Zhong for their unscrupulous memorial. They had not even left the city yet, so they quickly chased them back and rewrote a request. A memorial for the imperial court to provide disaster relief and to plead for merit for Jiao and Fang.
Just kidding, anyone with a discerning eye can tell why Jiao and Fang came here and whose orders they acted on. If nothing happened, they would be the scapegoats. Now that a natural disaster has occurred, it is thanks to the two of them that this happened. The millions of people in the seven cities are able to survive proudly. What a great contribution this is. If we don't step up now and take some credit, how long will it take to do it?
There were censors on both sides of the Nanjing Inspectorate, and they were probably the ones who regretted it the most. When they got the news, they rushed to impeach Jiao and Fang. Looking at it now, it was really stupid behavior. They could even imagine that if His Majesty saw their memorial, , how disdainful and angry it would be, failing more than succeeding.
If their memorial is published and causes an uproar in the capital and the public, then the official career will be dark from now on, and His Majesty will really be "Jian in the Emperor's heart". One heart is not the other. The former is the emperor's joy, the latter is the emperor's anger. .
I rushed to Beijing after 600 miles, changing horses without changing people. I entered Beijing overnight and ran all the way through the pipeline. Fortunately, there had been no heavy rain recently. According to the footpath, I could arrive early the next morning.
Royal Palace, inner city.
A group of 500 imperial soldiers walked neatly from the direction of the inner city with swords and halberds. Their faces were expressionless and their steps were steady. The swords and halberds in their hands shone with cold light, full of murderous intent. They were the emperor's personal soldiers, guarding the palace city, and their eyes were filled with emotion. There will be outsiders, no matter what ministers or officials you are, in their eyes, there will only be dangerous ones and non-dangerous ones, and whether they kill or not is a matter of the emperor's word.
When everyone outside the Meridian Gate saw these forbidden troops, they were suddenly shocked. This was wrong. Why were the forbidden troops coming, not His Majesty's imperial troops?
Just listen.
"Surround it up."
Gao Lan ordered coldly.
Some students who did not understand the reason thought they had succeeded and were complacent. They did not know that the emperor was already furious and wanted to kill someone.
Among the six ministries, there was a young man wearing a brown robe. He was the eldest son from Qufu. He was the instigator of the new generation and the promotion of officials. He wanted to give the emperor a warning and remind him that in Qufu, there were still people. There is a Confucius family that has been passed down through the ages.
He is really unscrupulous to the extreme. If something doesn't go his way, he will cause trouble. Think about how murderous Emperor Hongwu is. He will lose his head if he disagrees with him. Ministers must first settle their family affairs before they go to court. Dynasty, but even such an emperor compromised with Confucianism.
You can imagine how pampered they were.
They control the world's scholars and control their opinions. In some fields, even the emperor's decrees are not as effective as a single word of theirs.
The eldest son looked at all this with cold eyes, staring at the palace. Today was not the day to go to the palace to have an audience, so he was ready to see a good show, so that when he had an audience with the emperor tomorrow, he could also show their prestige to the emperor.
This is indeed a little expert who is very good at seeking death.
The imperial guards pointed their swords at the people kneeling on the ground, and Gao Lan said coldly, "Your Majesty has a decree, and I will give you a quarter of an hour to leave immediately. Otherwise, you will be punished by the palace saint for disobeying the decree, and you will be killed without mercy."
Wow~.
The ministers were in an uproar. The Holy One was really decisive. Yang Tinghe was even more shocked. A word appeared in his mind, killing decisively.
Liu, Li and Xie, the three pavilion elders, were shocked when they heard this. Liu Jian could not stop talking and began to plead; "Commander Gao, please postpone your actions. I will go to the palace to see your majesty right now. Commander Gao, please be sure to wait for me to invite you." Imperial decree.”
Liu Jian said hello and led six officials of third grade and above to enter the palace in a hurry. As expected, things really got serious.
At this moment, Wang Qiong called Liu Jian: "Hold on, Mr. Liu. I have a memorial from the Nanjing Inspectorate here. I kindly ask you all to bring it into the palace and present it to His Majesty."
Liu Jian turned around, glanced at him thoughtfully, walked over and sighed, "Master Wang, why are you like this?" Liu Jian felt a little sorry for him.
Wang Qiong smiled and looked at the Forbidden Army soldiers surrounding him; "I am not asking for my life for myself, but for the people of the seven cities of Nanjing. Even if I die, I will have no regrets."
The words were high-sounding, but he was the only one who knew it. Liu Jian didn't understand what his doing this had to do with the people in the seven cities of Nanjing Prefecture. But he suddenly seemed to think of something, and his head buzzed. It couldn't be something. Something?
Liu Jian took the memorial and led all the adults to turn around and enter the palace. On the way, he opened the memorial and just glanced at it. Suddenly, he was so angry that one Buddha ascended to heaven and two Buddhas were born. He breathed heavily in his chest and almost couldn't recover. His eyes turned black and his body shook. He shook himself and forced himself to steady himself, his chest rising and falling.
"Jiao Fang abused his power. The eunuch Zhang Zhong mobilized 3,000 soldiers to take control of the guard station in the name of temporary recruitment by the imperial court, and drove the people from the seven cities under the jurisdiction of Nanjing Mansion to move away. Those who refused to obey were bound and convicted on trumped-up charges, and their lives were ruined. , mourning is everywhere, the people have no way to complain, and are in dire straits..."
A memorial was written full of charges against the two men. They beat the people, intimidated the people, and forced the people to move to the state capital, causing the state capital to be overcrowded, businesses depressed, and millions of people displaced. They had no food and clothing. It was so miserable that even Liu Jian After seeing this, they were so angry that they wanted to kill Jiao Fang and Zhang Zhong.
Thinking of the two of them, especially Zhang Zhong, the fair and pure father-in-law who was always with Zhu Houzhao, it seemed that he had disappeared for a long time. It turned out that he had gone to Nanjing Mansion. His Majesty finally did this ridiculous thing because of a comment from Qin Tianjian. After reading the memorial, Liu Jian sighed: "O late Emperor." Tears fell freely.
Xie Qian and Li Dongyang didn't know why Liu Gong was mourning. Xie Qian was impatient, grabbed the memorial, glanced at it, tears fell from his eyes, and shouted in a sad voice: "The two thieves deserve to die."
Li Dongyang received the memorial and was shocked. Sure enough, something big had happened. It was going to provoke a civil uprising, and he was out of control. His chest was heaving, and he was also irritated by Zhu Houzhao's reckless behavior and unwillingness to accept honest advice. The calmness of the past is gone.
"Go see the emperor." He said in a deep voice.
The ordinary ministers who were following behind them didn't know what had happened. They made the three elders so angry that something big was going to happen. This was everyone's wish. They didn't know whether it was right or wrong to enter the palace.
The ministers looked at each other, and they all secretly regretted in their hearts that they came to watch the show, but now they come if they don't come, so they had no choice but to go to the palace to see the saint. If they had known better, they would not come.
Outside the Meridian Gate, Wang Qiong and others knelt on the ground under the scorching sun. Everyone seemed to have infinite fighting spirit, with high momentum and resolute eyes, especially the students of the Imperial College, and some of their actions were echoed by others. As the saying goes, he thought he was asking for orders for the people.
Although everyone represents a different position, they all have a common purpose, which is to force the emperor to surrender. The Imperial College is to complain about what Wang Qiong said, and Enke's defeat was because of the unfairness of the imperial examination questions. , Eight-legged officialdom was the ancestral system of the imperial court, so they were dissatisfied, and when instigated by interested people, they took it for granted and decided to make a fuss.
The Hanlin Academy, the royal censors, are all just for the so-called clear name. As long as there are many people, what can your majesty do to them? The most is a slap in the face. The stick is good. If you get the stick, you will have fame. , and from then on he really gained a good reputation and was praised by others.
Everyone has their own motives. As for Wang Qiong, maybe he is really dedicated to praying for the people, or is it because of the humiliation of the imperial staff at the banquet. Maybe it is the latter. He does not care about asking His Majesty to admit his mistake, and has no idea that he is like this. What consequences would it bring to the court? He was extremely pedantic, arrogant and shameless, and wasted the image of a loyal, outspoken and upright minister who was not afraid of power recorded in later generations.
Zhu Houzhao was watching the memorial in the Yangxin Hall. In fact, he was informed that the three pavilion elders Liu, Li and Xie were mourning the late emperor in the square outside the hall. Therefore, he was enjoying the fruit plate brought by Liu Jinsong, but now he hurriedly hid it. After picking up the fruit plate, Liu Jin was ordered to fetch a large number of memorials, and he reviewed them in a pretentious manner, glancing out of the hall from time to time.
The sound of footsteps came, and so did Liu Jian's trembling voice with some anger.
"Old minister, Liu Jian, Grand Master of Huagaidian, Prince Grand Master, and Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, please come to see the Emperor." Liu Jian remembered in an angry voice that with his qualifications, he could just call himself an "old minister", so there was no need to introduce himself seriously. See I was really angry and wanted to criticize Long Lin.
"Old minister, Grand Scholar of Dongge, Taibao of the Crown Prince, Secretary of the Ministry of War, Xie Qian, please come to see the Emperor."
"Old minister Wenyuan Pavilion, Grand Prince and Tutor, Minister of Household Affairs, Li Dongyang, please pay an audience to the Emperor."
Zhu Houzhao felt a pain in his head, tooth, stomach, heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys. This was not enough, since a group of ministers and ministers from the six ministers also came.
"I invite you to pay homage to your Majesty."
Okay, they're all here, Zhu Houzhao's head is big.
He glanced at Liu Jin and wanted this bitch to give him an idea. If the ordinary people outside the Meridian Gate were okay, these were all ministers of the imperial court and they were loyal. If you lose your temper and challenge them, you would only make them angry. What's worse is that they'll cry until your head explodes, but ignoring them is even worse, and you'll just wait to be sprayed to death!
Liu Jin was also in a dilemma. If the original history was true, this guy would have relied on Zhu Houzhao's support to try every means to kill these people. But now he can't, so there is nothing he can do. He can only rely on His Majesty himself. He bowed his head in response. The image of the body is silent, indicating that there is no solution.
Zhu Houzhao was speechless. Forget it, let's talk about it in person.
"Xuan."
