Chapter 227 Dealing with Zhang Liang (1)
"My lord! Ma Zhou, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Sun Fujia, the Minister of the Supreme Court, and Di Renjie, the Junior Minister of the Supreme Court, are outside seeking an audience!" an eunuch bowed.
Li Chengqian said without even looking up, "Let them in!"
"Yes!" the eunuch took the order and left.
"Eunuch, what did His Highness say?" Sun Fujia saw the eunuch coming out and hurriedly stepped forward to ask. Among the three, he was the most impatient.
"My lord, I will let you in. Please follow me!" the eunuch said and turned away. Sun Fujia and the other two hurriedly followed him into the hall.
"Your Highness!" Ma Zhou, Sun Fujia, and Di Renjie saluted Li Chengqian.
"No need to be polite! Please take a seat!" Li Chengqian put down the brush in his hand and said,
"Thank you, Your Highness!" After thanking him, the three walked to the side and sat down.
After the three of them were ready, Li Chengqian asked, "Since you three have come here, I believe that Zhang Liang's rebellion has already come to an end. Have you found out the truth?"
"Your Highness! After our interrogation, Zhang Liang's fake son Gongsun Chang and the magician Cheng Gongying have confessed. Here are their confessions. Please have a look, Your Highness." Ma Zhou finished speaking and motioned Sun Fujia to show Li Chengqian the confessions of Gongsun Chang and Cheng Gongying.
Sun Fujia hurriedly took out the confessions of Gongsun Chang and Cheng Gongying. An eunuch stepped forward to take it, turned around and handed the confession to Li Chengqian and stepped back.
Li Chengqian read the confessions of Gongsun Chang and Cheng Gongying, asking one or two questions from time to time, and Ma Zhou answered them one by one. Finally, Ma Zhou simply told Li Chengqian what had happened.
"So that's how it is. These two are just greedy and afraid of death. They confessed everything after a little intimidation!"
"In addition to the confessions, are there any other physical evidence or witnesses that can prove Zhang Liang's treason?" Li Chengqian asked.
It would be difficult to convict Zhang Liang if there were only confessions but no physical evidence or witnesses. After all, Zhang Liang was one of the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion.
If he turned the tables and said that someone else framed him, who could do anything to him? The twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion were not so easy to frame.
Of course, if Zhang Liang himself had confessed, this matter would be easy to handle!
"Your Highness! In addition to the confessions of these two people, there are the two hundred people that Di Shaoqing led his men to Anyifang to arrest. I don't know if Di Shaoqing has found out anything." Ma Zhou said.
Di Renjie bowed and said, "Your Highness! After my interrogation, these two hundred people are nothing but Zhang Liang's fake sons and Zhang Liang ordered them to hide in Anyifang secretly! They don't know if there are more."
"Zhang Liang has five hundred fake sons, and only two hundred have been found, which means that Zhang Liang still has three hundred fake sons who are unknown where." Li Chengqian asked.
"Yes!" Di Renjie nodded.
In other words, the others may not be in Chang'an, or they may be hiding in various places in Chang'an City.
"Did Zhang Liang confess?" Li Chengqian asked.
Without physical evidence and witnesses, as long as Zhang Liang can confess, the case can still be closed.
"Your Highness! Zhang Liang flatly denied the conspiracy to rebel. Even when the confessions of these two people were placed in front of him, Zhang Liang did not confess, and kept saying that he was wronged." Ma Zhou said.
Ma Zhou told Li Chengqian all the excuses Zhang Liang had made.
Li Chengqian frowned. Zhang Liang did not admit to treason, and he could not be convicted of treason without evidence.
But if he had no intention of treason, why did Zhang Liang have so many "adopted sons" and let them hide secretly in Chang'an.
The three of them waited quietly, waiting for the final answer from the Crown Prince.
"I will report this to my father! Thank you three for your hard work on this case! I will also report your contributions to my father." Li Chengqian said.
Li Chengqian thought for a long time, and finally decided to hand this matter over to Li Er, letting Li Er worry about it.
After hearing what Li Chengqian said, Sun Fujia breathed a sigh of relief. With the words of the Crown Prince, he was not afraid that His Majesty Li Er would blame him.
"Thank you, Your Highness! In this case, I will not disturb Your Highness! I will take my leave now!" Ma Zhou stood up and said goodbye!
He was the chief historian of the Prince of Jin's Palace and an important official in the court. It was inconvenient for him to be too close to the prince. It was a taboo to be too close to the prince.
Seeing that Ma Zhou had left, Sun Fuga also stood up and said goodbye and left. Only Di Renjie did not leave. He was a member of the East Palace, which was a well-known fact. There was no problem for him to stay.
"Your Highness! How do you plan to deal with this matter?" Di Renjie asked.
"I have no idea. It is better to report this matter to Your Majesty and let Your Majesty make the decision!" Li Chengqian said. "
I think that although there is not enough evidence for Zhang Liang's rebellion, since Gongsun Chang and the other two have confessed, I think Zhang Liang should have the same intention." Di Renjie said.
"What do you mean?" Li Chengqian asked.
"Since it is impossible to prove it, and Zhang Liang has the intention of rebellion, why not just do it once and for all and nip the harm in the bud to avoid future troubles." Di Renjie said.
After listening to Di Renjie's words, Li Chengqian understood something.
Li Chengqian said: "Okay! Just do as you say, I will go to see my father now."
"I'm leaving!" Di Renjie stood up and left.
Li Chengqian ordered Wang Quan to prepare a sedan chair and carry him to see His Majesty Li Er, and tell Li Er about Zhang Liang's affairs.
The next day, the morning court.
"Everyone, look, this is the confession of Gongsun Chang and Cheng Gongying. They have confessed that Zhang Liang conspired with them to rebel. Let's talk about how to deal with this matter." Li Er ordered people to show the confessions of Gongsun Chang and Cheng Gongying to the civil and military officials of the Manchu court.
After all the civil and military officials in the court had read it, Li Er finally spoke slowly: "What do you think about Zhang Liang's rebellion? Just tell me what you think."
"Don't be shy. I want to hear the truth, not flattery or words that go against your will! It doesn't matter if you are wrong. I won't blame you."
The ministers were unsure of what His Majesty Li Er was thinking, but since His Majesty Li Er had said this, it would be inappropriate for them to say nothing.
If anyone in the Taiji Hall could guess what His Majesty Li Er was thinking, it would be none other than Situ Changsun Wuji.
Everyone's eyes were focused on Changsun Wuji. Fu Ji felt the eyes of his colleagues and knew that if he didn't stand up, no one would dare to speak up.
Therefore, the eldest grandson Fu Ji must take the lead and set an example for his colleagues.
Now it is Comrade Fu Ji's performance time, and the ministers eagerly ask Fu Ji to start his performance.
Even the Crown Prince Li Chengqian, who was standing at the front, turned around and looked at his uncle, looking forward to his wonderful performance.
Li Chengqian knew in his heart that according to the course of history, Zhang Liang would die anyway, because he had violated Li Er's taboo.
But Li Chengqian didn't know whether the first person who took the lead in standing up and expressing his opinion to execute Zhang Liang was his uncle Zhangsun Wuji.
After all, it was not recorded in the history books, but only recorded that the ministers all thought Zhang Liang deserved to die, and only one person stood up to oppose, saying that Zhang Liang could not be killed without sufficient evidence.