The Liaodong issue will become increasingly sensitive in the Ming Dynasty. This matter is basically the starting point of party struggles. To put it bluntly, it is actually a struggle for interests.
At this moment, the Donglin Party was a little panicked. Wei Zhongxian took advantage of the Xiong Tingbi incident to arrest Yao Zongwen, and then arrested Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia, and Zhang Xiude. Now Li Ruzhen has been implicated.
If Yao Zongwen was just a small fry who defected from the Zhejiang Party, then Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia and Zhang Xiude were the people the Donglin Party wanted to protect.
Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia and Zhang Xiude must be protected, but now they are no longer the most urgent issue.
Besides, now that they have spoken, we can't accept it. The key is that Li Ruzhen is involved now. Who will Li Ruzhen implicate and how many people will be implicated? It's hard to say!
After hearing Gao Panlong's words, the faces of the people present all looked unhappy. Things had indeed reached a critical point.
"Although Wei Zhongxian is a eunuch, he has the look of an eagle and a wolf. From the moment he sent that Taoist priest into the palace, he had bad intentions." Zuo Guangdou also started at this time.
He continued loudly, "Upright men in the court impeached Wei Zhongxian, and he used the Xiong Tingbi incident as a retaliation. This is directed at us. Wei Zhongxian wants to drive upright men like us out of the court!"
"Wei Zhongxian is a treacherous and evil person. If we don't stop him, he will surely become a Liu Jin and Wang Zhi in the future, and the harm he will cause will surely be far worse than that of Liu Jin and Wang Zhi."
Everyone nodded in unison.
At this time, Zhao Nanxing also said with anger: "Comparable to Wang Zhen and his ilk."
Who is Wang Zhen?
In comparison, although Liu Jin and Wang Zhi were extremely harmful, Wang Zhen, the eunuch who caused the Tumu Incident, was truly a grave sinner for the Ming Dynasty.
Because of the Tumu Incident he caused, it was the turning point of the Ming Dynasty's decline.
Zhao Nanxing directly compared Wei Zhongxian to Wang Zhen, which shows how intense his anger was.
Everyone spoke up and discussed the matter.
Finally, everyone made a decision and jointly submitted a petition to impeach Wei Zhongxian, some even kneeling in front of the Meridian Gate.
Inside the imperial palace, Zhu Youxiao sat in a wheelchair with his chin propped up and a blanket covering his legs, listening to Chen Hong's report to him, his facial expression never changing.
After a while, Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said directly: "That's enough, no need to read it."
Zhu Youxiao was well aware that the Donglin Party was causing trouble.
After a moment's silence, Zhu Youxiao said, "Go and fetch Yang Lian and Gao Panlong for me."
At this time, Yang Lian was the Left Vice-Censor-in-Chief, and Gao Panlong was the Secretary of the Ministry of Rites. Both of them held high positions.
The reason why Zhu Youxiao wanted to meet these two people was very simple, that is, they were too famous.
Yang Lian's loyalty and integrity were praised by later generations, and Zhu Youxiao now wanted to see if he was capable of being used.
The same goes for Gao Panlong, who is also one of the leaders of the Donglin Party. If there are useful people in the Donglin Party, Zhu Youxiao is willing to do something to split the Donglin Party.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Chen Hong didn't dare to neglect it and quickly agreed, then turned around and went out to find someone. The emperor hadn't summoned anyone these days, and now he summoned Yang Lian and Gao Panlong. There must be something wrong!
Soon the two men arrived.
After hearing Chen Hong's report, Zhu Youxiao said, "Send Gao Panlong in and take Yang Lian to the side hall to wait. Don't let them meet again until they leave."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong agreed and turned to walk outside.
Not long after, Gao Panlong walked in from outside. After seeing Zhu Youxiao, he bowed immediately.
Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, indicating that Gao Panlong didn't need to be polite, and at the same time looked up and down at this man who was one of the famous leaders of the Donglin Party in later generations.
Gao Panlong looks good. He has a dignified demeanor when standing there and looks like an upright person. His overall image is like one in Zhu Shimao's sketch, but nothing can be seen from his appearance at the moment.
"My dear Minister Gao." Zhu Youxiao called Gao Panlong, but then he started coughing non-stop, as if he was going to cough out his lungs.
Gao Panlong quickly raised his head: "Your Majesty, please take care of your health!"
It was only then that Gao Panlong saw that Zhu Youxiao was actually sitting in a wheelchair with a blanket covering his body. His face did not look very good, and there was an abnormal flush on it.
Gao Panlong's heart skipped a beat. Has His Majesty's illness become so serious?
"It's okay. There are so many things going on in the court. I can't be at peace even if I want to." Zhu Youxiao said meaningfully.
"It is our fault." Gao Panlong bowed quickly.
Zhu Youxiao immediately laughed. "That's unnecessary. I called you here today to discuss something. I've received quite a few memorials lately, most of which impeach Wei Zhongxian. They say Wei Zhongxian framed loyal officials, persecuted and retaliated against censors, and tortured and coerced confessions. They say Wei Zhongxian has the eyes of an eagle and the back of a wolf, and that he's a Liu Jin or Wang Zhi type."
At this point, Zhu Youxiao looked up at Gao Panlong and said, "Isn't it just an investigation of a case and the arrest of a few people? How did it become such a big deal? Why do you have to teach me this, my dear minister?"
Gao Panlong quickly said, "Your Majesty, governing a country depends first and foremost on the administration of officials. Without peace and stability in the officialdom, officials are in a state of panic. How can we maintain good governance? Wei Zhongxian imprisoned people in retaliation for his impeachment. He disregarded the court for his own selfish interests. This is truly a heinous crime. I request that Wei Zhongxian be severely punished."
Looking at Gao Panlong kneeling down with his clothes lifted up, Zhu Youxiao laughed. He didn't know whether it was Gao Panlong's personality or the behavior of all Donglin Party members.
However, the Donglin Party has been speaking boldly and criticizing the emperor in their letters to the emperor for a long time, and even takes pride in finding faults and criticizing the emperor. Therefore, Zhu Youxiao did not care about Gao Panlong's words.
With a light sigh, Zhu Youxiao said weakly, "Alright, get up and stop kneeling."
When Gao Panlong stood up again, Zhu Youxiao said, "This is the petition submitted by the East Factory. You can take a look at it."
Zhu Youxiao winked at Chen Hong beside him and said, "Show it to Lord Gao."
Gao Panlong quickly reached out to take the question book, flipped through it quickly, and his face didn't look very good.
"Why did Yao Zongwen and others frame Xiong Tingbi? It's clearly written here. Liu Guojin colluded with Li Ruzhen to drive Xiong Tingbi away. Yao Zongwen had a grudge against Xiong Tingbi, so naturally he helped Liu Guojin impeach Xiong Tingbi. Of course, there's money to be made from this." Zhu Youxiao said, holding up another piece of evidence: "This is the confession of Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia, and Zhang Xiude."
"It clearly states here that they accepted silver from Li Ruzhen to impeach Xiong Tingbi. Each of them received three thousand taels of silver. It's a large sum, but three thousand taels each is fair."
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