The western warm room of the Qianqing Palace.

It took Emperor Longqing a long time to digest these overly explosive news.

"Hurry up and pass the message to Master Zhang..." His head was buzzing and he felt a little confused. He habitually asked for help from outside the court.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zhang asked me to bring a message to Your Majesty. The cabinet should not intervene in today's matter. Your Majesty, please make a quick decision!" But Feng Bao said boldly: "A slight delay will cause an uproar..."

"Hmm." Long Qing stroked his chin, as if thinking hard.

What on earth does Master Zhang mean? I really want to call him over to find out.

But since Master Zhang doesn't think it's appropriate for him to come forward, of course he can't be forced...

Forget it, Master Zhang will definitely not harm me.

So, Emperor Longqing, who couldn't figure it out, simply gave up thinking.

Let's follow Master Zhang's advice and cut the Gordian knot first.

"How are the injuries on both sides?" Long Qing asked, standing barefoot on the carpet, with his hands on his knees, "Did anyone die?"

"Your Majesty, both sides suffered casualties, but no one was killed." Teng Xiang replied quickly.

Well, because they swung the bat too hard, some people dislocated their shoulders, and some twisted their waists. Oh, and one person lost his front teeth while chasing someone. If you think about it, the damage is pretty serious.

"Who started it first?" Long Qing asked again.

"Censor!" the four eunuchs answered in unison.

"Uh..." Emperor Longqing blinked in disbelief. He actually wanted to ask which eunuch took the first step.

"How is that possible?"

"I have already interrogated the subordinates." Teng Xiang replied confidently, "They all said that it was Shi Xing, the official in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, who first knocked Xu Yi, the wine, vinegar and noodles department, to the ground with one palm."

"Shi Xing is a skilled martial artist, and he knocked Xu Yi unconscious in one blow. The guys got angry and started fighting with them."

"Really?" Emperor Longqing looked at the eunuchs suspiciously.

Although he is close to and trusts the eunuchs around him, it does not mean that Bubble does not have his own judgment.

No matter how I think about it, I feel that the censors' behavior is unreasonable.

~~

"How dare I deceive Your Majesty?" Seeing that the emperor was suspicious, Teng Xiang quickly swore to heaven, then whispered, "Oh, by the way, there is one more thing. We went to argue with him with sticks."

Censors were searched when entering the palace, so they were naturally unarmed.

"Hey." Upon hearing this, Emperor Longqing kicked Teng Xiang to the ground and scolded him with a smile: "You old fellow are not being honest. After all, wasn't it your people who ambushed them at Huiji Gate?"

"Your Majesty is wiser than me!" Teng Xiang quickly stood up and kowtowed with Feng Bao and the others, saying, "Our little thoughts could not escape Your Majesty's wise eyes."

"Don't try that on me." Long Qing smiled complacently, then looked at the eunuchs and said calmly, "Tell me, was it you who ordered this?"

"We absolutely wouldn't dare to do that!" All the eunuchs pointed to the sky and swore, denying it flatly. They firmly denied knowing about it beforehand and refused to admit that they had provided convenience and support to their subordinates.

"You guys are pretty decent." Long Qing snorted, stood up and said, "The palace is not a place for people to run wild, and no one is exempt from this."

"Yes." The eunuchs buried their heads deep in the carpet and exchanged glances with each other. In the end, Meng Chong was more aggressive and suddenly raised his head and shouted to the emperor:

"But that's Zuo Shun Men, where beating someone to death is not against the law, Your Majesty!"

"Huh?" Emperor Longqing was stunned for a moment, then he remembered that Huiji Gate's original name was "Zuo Shun Gate"!

Zuoshunmen is a magical place. After the Tumubao Incident, angry civil servants beat Wang Zhen's three accomplices to death here, and this place has become a lawless place where treacherous officials and slanderous officials are punished.

Officials who were unhappy could rant at Zuoshun Gate as much as they wanted, and no one would care even if they cursed the emperor. And it was said that even if someone was beaten to death here, they would not be held accountable according to previous precedents.

During the Jiajing period, Yang Shen, the Junior Minister of State, planned to use this lawless place to ambush the two leaders of the "succession faction", Zhang Cong and Gui E.

Unfortunately, Zhang Cong learned the news in advance and did not dare to go to work.

Gui E was ambushed, but he was a martial artist, so when he saw that things were not going well, he sprinted a hundred meters and escaped the encirclement...

Later, Yang Shen made full use of this place and organized all officials to kneel and cry in front of Zuoshunmen, which almost drove Emperor Jiajing crazy.

Even when Emperor Jiajing overturned the table and ordered the beating of Yang Shen and others in court, they were taken to outside the Meridian Gate for execution, and not directly at the Zuoshun Gate.

Tradition is something that needs to be respected...

But later, when Emperor Jiajing moved to the Western Garden and no one lived in the Forbidden City, people gradually forgot about the incident at Zuo Shunmen.

~~

After hearing Meng Chong's reminder, Longqing's anger disappeared immediately.

Yes, it was the civil officials who kept saying that beating someone to death in Zuoshunmen was not against the law that created this "fine tradition".

It's impossible that only the officials are allowed to set fires and the people are not allowed to light lamps, right?

It is not illegal for a civil servant to beat people, but it is illegal for a eunuch to beat people?

That doesn't make sense...

"Okay, I think you guys planned this carefully."

Longqing raised his foot and kicked in vain. The eunuchs laughed awkwardly but just insisted that it was the impulsive act of the subordinates.

Emperor Longqing put his hands behind his back and paced back and forth on the carpet for a while. Finally, he made up his mind and said in a deep voice:

"The eunuchs were resentful and gathered a crowd to ambush the censors. Although there was a saying that Zuo Shunmen would not punish the death of a person if he was beaten to death, now Zuo Shunmen has been renamed Huijimen, and the so-called tradition has become history."

"So we can't just shirk it with tradition. We must punish severely to serve as a warning to others." The emperor looked at Teng Xiang and the others and said, "Order the Imperial Household Department and the Internal Affairs Department to arrest and interrogate the perpetrators. Tie the principal offender to the inner factory and give him 60 strokes of the cane and send him into exile. The accomplices will be given 30 strokes of the cane to see the effect... Do you accept this?"

"All twenty-four bureaus are your Majesty's servants, so we will naturally accept your Majesty's orders without any complaints."

The people in the Imperial Household Department first adjusted their attitudes, and then said angrily: "It takes two hands to clap, but the censors have also taken action..."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong, who had been keeping out of the matter, also said to the emperor sinisterly, "The six departments are becoming more and more outrageous. If Your Majesty only punishes the eunuchs this time, they will look down on us even more."

"Don't exaggerate..." Long Qing couldn't help but frown.

"Your Majesty is too kind!" Chef Meng shouted, "Let me give you an example. All the impeachment memorials against Zhao Hao came from the six ministries, but not a single one came from the Censorate!"

"Do Zhao Daizhao and his son have the ability to control the Censorate?" Teng Xiang also shouted.

"Of course, these two small officials don't have that ability..." Feng Bao said with a fatal blow: "But there is a father and son who are capable of controlling the six departments!"

Li Fang actually admired Xu Ge Lao in his heart, but seeing the general trend, how could he dare to go against everyone? So he kept silent.

ps. Second update, please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets~~