The first day of the twelfth lunar month in the twenty-fifth year of Chongzhen.
Chongzhen, who had not attended court for five months, announced in a very rare move that he would attend court.
This news caused a huge sensation in the officialdom of the capital.
They are thinking...
What on earth happened that made Chongzhen, who had not attended court for several months, suddenly announce that he would go to court!
Is his health failing?
If this is true, then the top priority is to recall the prince from Nanjing to prevent any accidents.
The officials thought something was wrong.
Fan Jingwen and Xie Sanbin had just met Chongzhen and said that there was nothing wrong with his health.
Officials in the capital are all smart people.
Some of them suddenly realized that even if Chongzhen was in good health, he might still recall the prince from Nanjing.
The crown prince is the heir to the throne and the future emperor.
Although they did not dare to curry favor with the prince openly, they could take the opportunity of writing official documents to the prince to make him familiar with their names.
So.
The number of official documents leaving the capital and sent to Nanjing suddenly increased.
early morning.
Civil and military officials gathered in the court.
Under the expectant eyes of the officials, Chongzhen walked into the hall with a frivolous step.
As soon as he showed up, the officials couldn't help but widen their eyes and almost exclaimed.
The once radiant Chongzhen.
There was no color on Chongzhen's face now, as if he had some serious illness.
Because Chongzhen's condition was so bad, the officials began to discuss the matter in low voices.
"What's wrong, Your Majesty?"
"Yes, his face is pale and bloodless, it seems..."
"Be careful with your words! Although your majesty looks a little pale, he is plump and well-proportioned, and he is not sick!"
"Stop talking, the officials from the Censorate and the Honglu Temple have started taking names!"
The last part of the court meeting in the Ming Dynasty was to deal with officials who behaved improperly in the court.
Improper behavior includes being late, whispering, etc.
It was under the charge of the censors of the Censorate and officials of the Honglu Temple.
Although they will not be dismissed from office, punishments such as salary deductions will make it difficult for officials to bear.
Under the scrutiny of officials from the Censorate and the Ministry of Rites, the court quickly quieted down.
"Everyone," Chongzhen said directly, "I have not attended court for several months after the Liao Dynasty was pacified. I wanted to take this opportunity to rest. After all, I have not rested for 25 consecutive years."
"But!" Chongzhen changed the subject: "Someone actually spread a rumor that I was ill and seriously ill."
"Ridiculous! I am in perfect health."
After saying this, Chongzhen began to breathe heavily.
The ministers present looked at each other in bewilderment.
Some people think that Chongzhen was indeed ill, and his illness was serious.
Otherwise you won't breathe heavily when you speak.
Although some people headed by Xie Sanbin also noticed that something was wrong, they just thought Chongzhen was fake.
Just take some supplements and it will be fine. It's not a serious illness.
"In addition," Chongzhen was still furious, "some people actually asked me to allow the prince to return to Beijing. What is their intention? Are they afraid that I will not die? They have ulterior motives, ulterior motives!"
With a snap.
Chongzhen slammed the dragon desk with his right hand, making a harsh sound.
Since many people had written similar memorials, the court immediately fell to the ground and said, "We are guilty, please forgive us, Your Majesty!"
They thought that after they knelt down, Chongzhen's anger would be slightly reduced.
But they found that Chongzhen's body was shaking all the time, as if he was very angry.
In fact, they all misunderstood Chongzhen.
The reason why Chongzhen was shaking was because his hands hurt from slamming the table.
He was shaking to relieve the pain.
After a moment, Chongzhen continued: "Anyone who dares to speak up and ask the prince to come to Beijing will be severely punished."
Everyone responded in unison: "We obey your order."
After dealing with this matter, the Minister of Rites Shi Kefa stepped forward.
He cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have something important to report."
Chongzhen sat on the dragon chair and waved his hand, "Speak."
Just like yesterday, Shi Kefa first impeached the Nanjing nobles for privately minting the Ming Dynasty Yuanbao.
Then they impeached Zheng Zhilong, saying that he was a government soldier in name only but a pirate in reality.
"Everyone," Shi Kefa said to the ministers in the court, "Zheng Zhilong took the court's salary and robbed passing merchant ships, which is fine, but he even smuggled supplies to the Jiannu! If such a person who harms the country and the people is not severely punished, the Ming Dynasty will be in danger..."
Every time Shi Kefa spoke, the court became a little quieter.
By the end of the conversation, one could hear a pin drop in the huge court.
In the eyes of all the civil and military officials in the court, Shi Kefa was too brave.
It would have been fine to impeach the nobles and powerful officials, but they actually impeached so many people at once.
There are complicated relationships behind each of them.
Regardless of whether the impeachment is true or false, the court needs to investigate.
If each of them retaliated against Shi Kefa during the investigation.
One can imagine what happened to Shi Kefa.
"Does Lord Shi have any evidence?" asked an imperial censor.
"Of course there is evidence!"
"Where's the evidence?"
"It's hard to explain in a few words, but I reported the evidence to His Majesty yesterday!"
After hearing this, all the officials looked up at Chongzhen.
Chongzhen's face was colder than the ice outside.
He looked at Xie Sanbin and asked, "Minister Xie is the chief minister of the cabinet. How do you think he should be dealt with?"
Xie Sanbin’s first reaction was to conduct a thorough investigation.
After all, Shi Kefa impeached nobles and military generals.
These people are mortal enemies of the civil servants.
But on second thought he felt it was inappropriate.
A thorough investigation means to find out the whole story, the ins and outs of the incident, and all the people involved.
He was a member of the Donglin Party, and the South was the Donglin Party's base.
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