Chapter 569 Even heaven can’t save you, King Su said!
The more upright officials who had received favors from Chen Fan, students of the Imperial Academy, Chen Fan's colleagues, and some nobles all jointly wrote a letter to the emperor again. There were dozens of people in total, all of whom were relatively prestigious.
It demanded that eunuchs be prohibited from interfering in government affairs, and listed the various lawless acts committed by the eunuchs' children in the countryside, including occupying land, coercing the people, bullying men and women, and even coercing grassroots officials.
Because he was worried about the people's revenge, he made friends with those illegal bandits and gathered the masses. It can be said that he aroused the anger of heaven and people.
But the emperor didn't believe it at all.
Or believe it but don't care.
Because the eunuchs were his confidants, they helped him seize power from his in-laws.
As for the people, he is indeed the king and father, but how can he care about the people he has never met?
The world is his private property, he can give it to whomever he wants. Even the five surnames can leave the Han Dynasty if they don't like it. Now there are various countries in the Western Regions, Liaodong, and Lingnan that do not belong to the Han Dynasty.
Faced with the emperor's silence, the scholars became more and more angry. There was no hesitation, no wavering, and no surrender. The emperor had to give an explanation.
We are the people of Zhuxia, serving the Han Dynasty. We are subjects, not your slaves!
So they united more people and wrote another letter, demanding severe punishment for the eunuchs.
This time the emperor finally did not remain silent, but issued a violent decree directly accusing these scholars of being disloyal to the emperor and their fathers.
They colluded into a clique, had no thought of serving the country, and only pursued their own interests!
The emperor's blatant rejection and accusation chilled the hearts of upright scholars.
"What is the Emperor doing?"
"Mr. Zhong Ju died unjustly. Shouldn't we seek justice for him?"
"How can a few eunuchs be compared with an important official of the country like Lord Zhongju?"
"What are we, the scholars who have read the books of sages, in the eyes of the emperor?"
"Your Majesty treats your subjects like grass!"
"Your Majesty treats your subjects like grass!"
Angry shouts were heard and were heard by the eunuchs who had been keeping an eye on the scholars.
The attendant was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly exaggerated and wept before the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, these scholars formed a clique, and they did not repent after being rebuked by you?
What a rebellion this is!
I heard these scholars cursing in private, and some even said things like "the king treats his subjects like grass."
Although I have never read the books of sages, I still know what King Su said. Don't these scholars regard you as their enemy?
How outrageous and disrespectful this is.
Are these people still thinking about Fengtian Jingnan?"
The emperor was furious when he heard this. He had been holding a grudge for a long time. He had given power to the Five Surnames before, but the Five Surnames were unwilling to use their fame to suppress the scholars and were unwilling to take the blame for the emperor.
This made the emperor very dissatisfied.
If a minister does not take the blame for his king, does that mean he should be allowed to make mistakes?
The emperor has not yet had time to punish the five families, but he did not expect that the scholars would come knocking at this time.
In the emperor's view, these scholars just couldn't figure out their own identities. They were either from a family of Confucian scholars, or from aristocratic families, or they were the children of great Confucian scholars.
After a lot of effort, there were a few talented people from humble backgrounds, but they were soon taken away by wealthy families, and some even quickly changed their identities and became new wealthy families.
In the Han Dynasty, it only took one generation to create a powerful family, and it only took two generations of great Confucian scholars to create a family of Confucian classics.
The emperor didn't trust these people at all.
An imperial edict was issued from the Forbidden City and posted in Luoyang, "Chen Fan supports students from the Imperial College and associates with students from various counties. What is he trying to do?
Isn't this forming a clique?
You all wrote a letter together on behalf of Chen Fan. Aren't you in the same party as Chen Fan?
I know that you people like to make friends with scholars, seek personal gain, form cliques, plot to seize the country, slander the court, and even attack the emperor and father. This is simply treason.
I am kind-hearted by nature and do not want to pursue the issue of you, the sons of saints. Little did I know that you were so arrogant, slandering your relatives, accusing your king and father, speaking nonsense about insignificant people, and secretly making enemies.
I am angry.
Issue an edict.
The one who wrote a letter to Chen Fan speaking out against the constant attendants was imprisoned and executed.
All his followers, relatives, friends, and close associates were thrown into prison.
If such treacherous people leave the court, the world will surely be peaceful.
Inform the counties and states of the Han Dynasty so that everyone in the world knows my intention.
Inform the various countries in Xia, so that the rulers of all countries know my intentions, and those who flee to other countries should be sent back. "
As soon as this decree was issued, Luoyang fell silent almost instantly. This was something no one had expected, that the emperor's punishment would be so severe.
How can there be any reason in this world to punish people for their words?
What's more, the punishment was so severe that nearly a hundred people were imprisoned and executed, including more than thirty in Luoyang. They were taken away to prison almost soon after the imperial edict was issued, and then died in prison.
The rest of the party members were in the county and managed to escape the disaster. When they heard the news, they fled.
Because the imperial edict had to be issued to all counties and prefectures, they had to either escape from the Han Dynasty and enter areas that the Han Dynasty could not control, or escape from those powerful families who were not afraid of the court's pursuit and hide.
These party members were basically people with good reputations, and many of them had made contributions to the country, but they did not expect that they would be imprisoned and killed so easily.
…
The Kingdom of England.
The prefect received an order from the court to arrest a wanted criminal. He heard that the wanted criminal had escaped to the state of Yinghou.
Given the status of the Yinghou Kingdom, an ordinary governor probably wouldn't even dare to visit.
At most, they could report to the court that the party members had disappeared.
But this prefect was different, he was the son of a palace attendant.
After his uncle became a royal attendant, he suddenly became prominent. From a local gangster, he became a prefect in just a few years because of his ability to make money.
He was extremely vicious and had become even more outrageous since he took office as a prefect. He had extorted an unknown amount of money from the counties and prefectures for the palace eunuchs.
Not to mention the ordinary people, even the wealthy families in the county were forced to commit suicide by him.
People like him will naturally be assassinated every two or three days.
If his uncle had not sent people to protect him closely and he himself was also very cautious, he would have died countless times.
When faced with Yinghouguo, his first reaction was that he was rich and had many beautiful women, so he would be an easy target to plunder.
Facing the concerns of his subordinates, he just laughed wildly and said, "So what if I offended Marquis Ying?
Back then, I held the unmarried daughter of Marquis Liu under me, arrested him and put him in prison, and then I bullied his wife right next to him.
how?
It's just that I was sent to prison, and there will be amnesty in a few days. I have been well fed and well-dressed in prison, and I have also gained some weight.
I have heard of Luo's.
If you are so powerful, why don’t you become the emperor yourself?
I'm afraid it's just a lie.
If you have the guts, Lord Ying, kill me!"
…
It turns out that if you offend Ying Hou, you will really die!
This was the most real thought in his mind as he looked at the sharp sword piercing his heart. Large mouthfuls of blood gushed out of his mouth. It was clear that he was about to die as he breathed in.
He looked at the man in front of him with a look of disgust, as if he had killed a dog, and whispered, "Marquis Ying, aren't you afraid that His Majesty the Emperor will blame you?"
"Ying Hou?"
The man repeated, then sneered and said, “Who the hell are you, are you worthy enough to see the Lord?
I am merely your stable-servant.
The Lord said that if you say anything rude, he will kill you. It would be unlucky for the Lord to kill a bastard like you personally."
Not Ying Hou?
It's a stable boy!
He felt extremely humiliated. He was a high-ranking official in the imperial court, a frontier governor, and a governor of a region, yet he died at the hands of a groom.
Ying Hou, you are going too far!
He wanted to shout out this sentence, but he couldn't say anything. His eyes went dark and he fell down.
"Take the bodies of these people to the mass grave and give them to the wild dogs as a snack."
The groom waved his hand casually, looked at the blood on the ground, fanned his nose, and said with disgust: "It really dirty the land of my Yinghou Kingdom."
In the Marquis's Mansion.
Luochuan was half-embracing his wife, and they were both painting with a brush, as if they were completely unaware that a prefect had come.
As for the screams, they were like music, making the painting more freehand.
When there was a knock on the door, Luo Chuan said loudly, "Got it."
Then the footsteps gradually faded away, the two smiled at each other, and continued painting.
…
A prefect was brutally killed in Yinghou State!
This matter was really too big, and the person involved was the son of a notoriously vicious eunuch. The emperor's eunuchs were so furious that they immediately went to the emperor and cried.
The emperor did not expect that Ying Hou would be so bold as to kill an important official with an official rank of two thousand stones, so he immediately issued an imperial decree with harsh words to hold him accountable.
In fact, this has already surprised many people, because according to the emperor's previous practice, he should have directly ordered the arrest of Ying Hou and then imprisoned and executed him.
But now they have only issued an order to hold people accountable, which gives people a very weak feeling.
Ying Hou's reply quickly spread, "Zhang Taishou's words were rude and insulted the Luo family.
I simply killed him directly and left his body intact, which was already a mercy.
Please tell Your Majesty that there is no need to thank me in person.
The Yinghou Kingdom does not like to receive foreign guests. "
These words really leave me speechless.
Everyone was speechless and looked up at the blue sky. It was indeed the sun hanging high in the sky, and the world remained the same.
But why did Ying Hou dare to be so domineering?
Insult to the Luo family?
What a good death!
Not to mention the emperor, even heaven couldn’t save him.
The Emperor Suwang said so!
————
Since the rise of the Han Dynasty, there has been a strong sense of righteousness and bravery, and scholars have the spirit of chivalry. They will respond to grievances with justice, repay favors, and value their honor over death.
The emperor carried out secret activities, which led to his favoritism, and the punishment was passed on to the common people. He carried a sword and traveled around the country, and it almost became a custom.
When Mohism declined and Confucianism flourished, the emperor personally appointed eunuchs and appointed eunuchs as the political commissar.
The scholars were resentful and established their own local governments. The scholars attached themselves to the officials in the court and brought shame to the whole country, which aroused their morale and made comments on the officials.
As a result, the world likes loyal and righteous people, and is tired of vassalages. People are willing to destroy their families for a scholar rather than flatter a eunuch.
When Zhongju went to the disaster, it was like boiling oil on a raging fire, and the custom became more prosperous! ——"Book of the Later Han Dynasty·Biographies of the Party Prisoners"
(End of this chapter)
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