Qufu County Magistrate Kong Hongyi knew he had said the wrong thing, and quickly corrected himself, "That's not what I meant. I meant for He Shun to behave himself and tell the truth honestly."
"I'm telling the truth!" He Shun said calmly.
"I...I'm going to kill you, you idiot!" Kong Hongyi suddenly cursed.
He was so angry at He Shun's rogue attitude, and coupled with the fact that He Shun had just insinuated Duke Yansheng, he couldn't help but burst into cursing.
He Shun is not someone to be trifled with. Soldiers like them are used to swearing on a daily basis, and swearing during training is commonplace.
Seeing Kong Hongyi cursing, he immediately started to curse back: "You bastard! You bastard, if you have the guts, come out and fight me!"
Amid the surprised expressions of the crowd, the two imperial officials started cursing in the front hall of the Censorate.
As the two men cursed more and more fiercely, the officials in the front hall and the back hall all looked strange.
Most people want to laugh, but they have to hold it in their hearts due to face.
"Shut...shut up!" Seeing the quarrel getting more and more intense, Shi Bangyao, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, spoke up to stop them, "You two should explain the matter clearly first before you start quarreling!"
In the following time, the two engaged in a long period of mutual accusations.
He Shun insisted that he chose to surrender because of Kong Hongyi's instructions.
However, Kong Hongyi stated that he and Duke Yansheng were completely unaware of the situation and that opening the city and surrendering was He Shun's own idea.
Shi Bangyao first asked He Shun: "He Shoubei, you are the general guarding the city. No matter who came up with the idea of surrendering, offering the city will be a capital crime."
"I advise you to recognize the situation as soon as possible and tell the truth."
Shi Bangyao wanted to tell He Shun that he had committed a capital crime by surrendering the city, and there was no need to drag Kong Hongyi into it.
He Shun bowed deeply to Shi Bangyao and said, "Your Excellency is wise, and everything I said is true."
"You..." Kong Yinzhi pointed at He Shun's face, shaking with anger.
He Shun continued, "Just like what you said, surrendering without a fight is a capital crime. But don't forget, dying in battle is also death. It's death inside and outside, so why don't I choose to die on the battlefield and let myself go with more glory?"
Everyone at the scene was stunned.
He Shun's remarks do make sense.
Not only can one gain fame by dying on the battlefield, but his family can also receive corresponding pensions.
Kong Yinzhi stretched out his shaking right hand, pointed at He Shun and cursed: "You...you are always at odds with me, but when you knew you were going to die, you chose to surrender, and then framed me and dragged me down. You deserve to be killed!"
When everyone heard this, they felt that what Kong Yinzhi said made sense.
When people know they are going to die, most of them would choose to drag their enemies down with them to die together.
Shi Bangyao was in trouble.
What they say seems to make sense, but what is the truth?
He Shun surrendered?
Kong Hongyi surrendered?
Or...the two of them are playing a self-torture trick?
If the truth cannot be found out, how will this matter end?
After all, millions of taels of silver were looted from the Yanshenggong Mansion, and not only the imperial court, but also scholars all over the world were paying attention to this matter.
Someone must be held accountable!
After another half an hour of interrogation, the two men still gave the same response, so Shi Bangyao could only announce that the trial would be rescheduled to another day.
While Shi Bangyao was speaking, Chongzhen opened the door and walked out.
If his identity was discovered by the officials, both of them would be embarrassed.
After leaving the Censorate two miles away, Li Ruolian walked quickly to Chongzhen and said, "Your Majesty, the matter in Qufu..."
"It's not easy." Chongzhen said something that no one else could understand, but Li Ruolian could understand.
He knew that the Ming Emperor in front of him wanted to take action against Duke Yansheng, but he had never found a suitable opportunity.
Even if He Shun and Kong Yinzhi both pointed out that it was Duke Yansheng who ordered them to surrender, the scholars in the world would not believe it.
After all, he is their spiritual leader!
Scholars are most easily incited.
Especially those young people who have read a few books and have not been beaten by society. Their heads are full of the teachings of saints, and they think that the descendants of saints are as virtuous as saints.
Little do people know that the descendants of saints are no different from ordinary people, some even worse than animals.
For example, the 61st Duke Yansheng, Kong Hongxu.
He set up a private torture chamber, raped more than 40 women, and was responsible for four murders. After a joint trial by three judicial officials, he was sentenced to beheading.
As a result, the ministers were unhappy and wrote letters to the emperor requesting a lighter sentence.
Under pressure from court officials and scholars across the country, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty simply stripped Kong Hongyi of his title, demoted him to a commoner, and ordered his younger brother Kong Hongtai to inherit the title of Duke Yansheng.
After experiencing the beatings of society, scholars will quickly recognize the true face of society and at the same time deny the descendants of saints in their hearts.
But they will not unveil the veil of the saints' descendants, because they will use this veil to beat the young people who come after them.
So that they can submit to him.
Only in this way can we suppress the young people and prevent them from catching up.
Chongzhen certainly understood this truth.
Once he directs the blame to Duke Yansheng, the scholars will rise up in opposition.
The matter of Duke Yansheng is very difficult to handle.
but...
Chongzhen would not give up, and he dealt a heavy blow to this feudal cancer.
The group walked for a while and soon arrived outside the imperial city.
Seeing that no one was around, Chongzhen asked Li Ruolian in a low voice, "Can the Jinyiwei imitate the handwriting of Duke Yansheng?"
Li Ruo Lian was startled, and after checking around to make sure that no one was around, he whispered, "Of course it is possible, but it will take time, and it will require a handwritten letter from Duke Yansheng so that I can imitate it."
Chongzhen breathed a sigh of relief: "I have his handwritten letter, you can go get it later. There is no rush for this matter, it is just a plan for the future."
“It may take several years or even more than ten years to be useful.”
Li Ruolian blinked and vaguely understood Chongzhen's intention.
The group continued walking and soon returned to the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Just after changing clothes, I saw a familiar figure walking outside the hall.
Chongzhen looked carefully and remembered the other person's identity and name: Gao Qiquan, the eunuch supervisor of the Guanning Army!
Previously, the queen's eunuch had died a violent death.
Chongzhen was furious and asked Wang Zhixin to investigate the murderer. It turned out that someone had killed people in the name of Gao Qiquan and leaked the secret recipe of fine salt.
After repeated consideration, Chongzhen decided to recall Gao Qiquan.
"Your Majesty, I'm back." After seeing Chongzhen, Gao Qiquan immediately ran to the gate of the Qianqing Palace and started to kowtow to the ground with his head.
Chongzhen snorted coldly and ordered, "Come in and talk."
Gao Qiquan felt a chill all over his body and had no choice but to crawl into the Qianqing Palace on his knees.
Before he came back, he already knew what had happened in the palace. Although he knew in his heart that he had nothing to do with it, he still felt uneasy.
As soon as Gao Qiquan entered the Qianqing Palace, the palace door was immediately closed from the outside.
Gao Qiqian panicked immediately. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly: "Your Majesty, I am innocent! I have never had an affair with Yangwu Hou Xue Lian, and I don't even know Xiao Shunzi and the others."
"Please spare my life, Your Majesty."
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