Under such circumstances, Chen Hong naturally recruited a group of people from outside. It was not difficult for him to handle some small tasks.
With the emperor's support, Chen Hong's status will become higher and higher, and he will be able to win over more and more people.
This incident was a good proof of that. I handed over the task to Chen Hong, and he handled it very well.
Zhang Laosan's incident could be said to be a fuse. As long as there is this fuse, he can ignite a big bomb.
As for saying that the emperor was not magnanimous by doing such things, it depends on the time and the matter.
In Zhu Youxiao's opinion, given his current situation, why should he still act like an emperor?
Anyone who continues to act like an emperor is a fool.
Just like the late Qing Dynasty, when the emperor was obsessed with prestige as the Celestial Empire, what was the result? No prestige at all.
All the face is lost.
The Ming Dynasty is in this situation now, so it has to wait for death with all its dignity.
Zhu Youxiao didn't have this idea in his mind anyway. When was this happening?
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.
Besides, who would dare to bring the case to the emperor's head?
Even if something really happened, it was Wei Zhongxian and Chen Hong who deceived me. What does this have to do with me?
Look at the Taizu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. How did he do things? He would make a case of treason, and regardless of whether you actually committed treason or not, as long as you did not comply with his wishes, he would kill you directly.
The same goes for the literary inquisition in the Qing Dynasty. They just put you all in there.
I don't have the energy to argue with the Donglin Party now, nor do I have the energy to investigate one by one. Anyway, those who oppose me will be overthrown directly. This is what Zhu Youxiao thought.
As for whether innocent people will be hurt by mistake, who cares?
What the emperor was worried about was never accidental injuries, but that no one would work for him.
In Zhu Youxiao's view, someone would soon come to work for him.
The Donglin Party is not without opponents, and those opponents wish that all the Donglin Party members would die.
As for the Neo-Confucian school, Zhu Youxiao did not care about it. He was about to promote the School of Mind, which was the doctrine of Li Zhi.
There were also many people who supported the School of Mind. In their view, the Donglin Party was a heretic, and heretics should be put to death even more than pagans.
Over the years, Neo-Confucianism has been actively engaging with the School of Mind, both overtly and covertly, and suppressing it is needless to say. More importantly, they have also physically eliminated those who practice the School of Mind.
How did Li Zhi die?
There was a theory that was established there, and if he tried his best to suppress it, Zhu Youxiao believed that many people would turn against it, after all, no one had any bottom line.
Zhu Youxiao never overestimated the bottom line of the Ming gentry. They were all willing to surrender to Wei Zhongxian and even write poems for him. Where was their bottom line?
Logically speaking, it is a bottom line for scholars to curry favor with eunuchs. If they can do such things, what can't they do for an emperor?
What did these people do when the Later Jin invaded?
Those who should surrender should surrender, and those who should serve as officials should serve as officials.
He is the legitimate emperor, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, so there is nothing wrong with them being loyal to him.
As for those who did not want to become officials, as long as they did not rebel and stayed honestly in the countryside, Zhu Youxiao would not bother with them.
"Your Majesty, Wei Zhongxian is here." At this time, Chen Hong walked to Zhu Youxiao and spoke softly.
During this period, Emperor Tianqi was always thinking about problems alone, and Chen Hong was afraid of disturbing him, so he spoke very carefully.
As someone who served beside the emperor, Chen Hong was deeply touched. The current emperor was very different from the previous emperor. Although he didn't dare to speak out about the things he did, he knew them in his heart.
If he made a mistake, he would be beaten to death, and no one would speak up for him. So Chen Hong was very careful with his words.
Zhu Youxiao nodded gently. He also knew why Wei Zhongxian came, and he directly ordered: "Let him in."
Not long after, Wei Zhongxian walked in from outside.
He held the court records in his hand, knelt respectfully on the ground and saluted Zhu Youxiao, saying, "Your servant Wei Zhongxian pays homage to His Majesty."
Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and asked directly, "What brings you here? Has the trial at the Three Judicial Departments concluded?"
Wei Zhongxian quickly said, "Your Majesty, there has been a small incident. I dare not make the decision on my own, so I have come to report this to Your Majesty."
As he spoke, he raised the court record in his hand and said, "Your Majesty, here are the records of today's court trial. During the trial, Yao Zongwen said that I framed him. However, I have here the letter of repentance Yao Zongwen wrote while he was in the East Factory."
"Li Ruzhen feared the majesty of the emperor and sincerely repented, revealing the truth in the hall. He had indeed intended to frame Xiong Tingbi, so he approached Liu Guojin and entrusted him with the task. Liu Guojin and Xiong Tingbi were at odds, and after receiving money from Li Ruzhen, he secretly colluded with other censors to frame Xiong Tingbi."
"However, according to Feng Sanyuan, although he accepted bribes from Liu Guojin, the reason he framed Xiong Tingbi was not because of Liu Guojin's bribes, but because someone instructed him to do so."
"This person is Zou Yuanbiao, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. Zou Yuanbiao, Gao Panlong, Yang Lian, and others all graduated from the Donglin Academy. They formed cliques, pursued personal interests, and excluded those who disagreed with them. Fang Congzhe was one of them who was excluded in this way. Because of the case of the late emperor, they reached a settlement with Fang Congzhe. As long as Fang Congzhe resigned and returned home, they would release him and would not pursue his crimes."
When Wei Zhongxian said this, he suddenly heard a bang and a teacup exploded on the ground in front of him.
Debris flew everywhere. Wei Zhongxian shrank his neck and quickly banged his head on the ground, saying anxiously, "Your Majesty, calm down!"
Zhu Youxiao was furious at this point. He stared at Wei Zhongxian and shouted, "Is this true?"
Wei Zhongxian hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, how dare I lie about such a serious matter!"
There was a sudden silence in the hall.
Everyone knows that His Majesty is really angry.
In order to fight for power and profit, a group of ministers made private transactions and ignored the case of the late emperor.
Shouldn't the truth behind an emperor's death be investigated? Shouldn't the truth behind it be revealed?
They actually dared to promise Fang Congzhe that they would not pursue him as long as he resigned.
By doing so, they were using the late emperor's name to exclude dissidents. How could they be loyal to the country or the emperor?
Of course, Zhu Youxiao had known all these things for a long time and was very clear about them in his heart.
However, at this time he had to be angry, and he had to be furious.
"Wei Zhongxian!" Zhu Youxiao suddenly raised his voice considerably. "I'll leave this matter to you to investigate. All the criminals from the three judicial departments will be transferred to the Eastern Depot. The Supreme Court Minister is dismissed from office pending trial for failing to exercise due authority. Zou Yuanbiao, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Metropolitan Censorate, is dismissed from office pending trial. Yang Lian, the Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief of the Metropolitan Censorate, is dismissed from office pending trial. Order the Imperial Guard to immediately go to Fang Congzhe's hometown and escort him to the capital for me!"
"Playing politics, abusing power, forming cliques for personal gain, I will get to the bottom of it all this time!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
