Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 912 What is Achievement?
Geng Bingwen's tone was extremely impatient. In terms of rank, he, the Marquis of Changxing, was a famous general of the founding of the country and a super-rank marquis conferred by the emperor, and his status was above all other officials. However, the young official in front of him was wearing an official uniform with only an oriole patch embroidered on it, and was obviously only an eighth-rank official.

If it weren't for His Majesty's order, he would have felt it was beneath him to even say a word to such a minor official, let alone answer his questions calmly.

Geng Bingwen spoke in a bad tone. He originally thought that this eighth-rank official would be afraid of his evil spirit and would not dare to ask more questions. However, unexpectedly, this official named Xia Yuanji just nodded slightly without any fear or trepidation. Instead, he continued, "So, what I just said was just your own groundless speculation, Lord Marquis?"

Geng Bingwen's face darkened and he scolded: "What groundless speculation, you bastard..."

"Marquis Changxing, please do not behave disrespectfully in front of the palace again." Ru Taisu, the imperial censor, stepped out from the line of civil officials and shouted.

Geng Bingwen was startled, and although he looked angry, he really stopped talking. Ru Taisu was the chief censor, the leader of the censors, and the censors in charge of court etiquette also came from his censorate, so his reprimand was not considered as interfering in other people's business.

Seeing that Geng Bingwen was at a loss for words, Feng Sheng had no choice but to step out and say, "What the Marquis of Changxing said is certainly not without purpose."

"Whether it is a false accusation or not, we can tell by looking at what Shui Xibu did."

"Liu, you came from Guiyang... Tell me yourself, when you left Guiyang, where were the leaders of the Shuixi tribes?"

Feng Sheng said calmly.

Liu Shuzhen's heart skipped a beat when she heard this. She opened her mouth but dared not say anything.

"Why... don't you dare to say it?" Feng Sheng sneered. This matter was the fundamental evidence that Feng Sheng had found to prove that Shuixi had rebelled. "If you don't want to say it, do you want the Duke of this country to say it for you?"

"...This..." Liu Shuzhen's forehead was covered with sweat. After thinking it over, she decided that instead of asking Duke Song to reveal it, it would be better for her to take the initiative to show her sincerity.

"...The leaders of the Shuixi tribes...were...at the gates of Guiyang..."

"Are only the leaders here, or are all the men in the tribe here?" Feng Sheng pressed.

"Yes... all the men in the tribe are here..."

"Your Majesty, the truth has been revealed." Feng Sheng said. "If you didn't intend to rebel and attack the city, why would you gather outside the city?"

"If this is not rebellion, what is?"

There was a buzz among the ministers, and everyone was talking about it. Liu Shuzhen's face turned pale. This was something she had never dared to tell the Emperor directly... After all, Madam Shez was so angry and grief-stricken that she set up camp and approached the city of Guiyang. Such a move was unacceptable in any way.

The Golden Palace was noisy for a moment, but the censor on duty had experience this time and hurriedly called for silence. After that, all the ministers quieted down again.

"Your Majesty!" Liu Shuzhen quickly knelt down and said prostrating herself, "The people of Shuixi gathered together not for rebellion, but just to seek justice for their own chieftain. Your Majesty, please understand the reason!"

"Xia Yuanji." Old Zhu only glanced at Liu Shuzhen, then turned his gaze to Xia Yuanji. He said with a half-smile, "What do you have to say?"

"Your Majesty." Xia Yuanji looked uncomfortable, but his expression was neither humble nor arrogant. He said calmly, "What Duke Song said is indeed reasonable. If any foreign race approaches the city of Daming, no matter what the reason is, it should be regarded as treason."

"But...are the people in Shuixi West a foreign race?" Xia Yuanji suddenly asked.

"The people from Shuixi are not Han people, of course they are a foreign race!" Geng Bingwen interrupted, speaking as if it were a matter of course.

"Aren't you Han Chinese?" Xia Yuanji narrowed his eyes slightly, but his expression became more respectful. "So, if you are not Han Chinese, then you are not a citizen of the Ming Dynasty?"

"In this case, many people in this Golden Palace are no longer subjects of the Ming Dynasty. Those who come to the court without an imperial edict are tantamount to treason. Your Majesty, please send the Duke of Song to kill all the foreign rebels."

Xia Yuanji bowed deeply, and Zhu Yuanzhang's face looked even weirder. Even among the ministers, some people showed strange expressions.

In the early Ming Dynasty, there were quite a few non-Han officials. For example, the Minister of Rites, Qie Si, was a Uighur. Tie Xuan, who made great contributions to the development of Fengmingzhou for the Ming Dynasty, also had Seljuq ancestry.

These were all the ministers that Zhu Yuanzhang trusted the most and they had made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. There were also many other officials of various ethnic groups who had made no contributions to the court but had also worked hard.

Even though Feng Sheng was already a high-ranking official, he felt overwhelmed at the moment because he had to go against so many court officials. He hurriedly stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, this is not my intention."

"Xia Yuanji, please don't confuse people here... Can the officials of the Ming Dynasty be compared with those barbarians in the southwest?"

"How can it not be compared?" Xia Yuanji was not afraid, but took a step forward. At this point, he really showed his edge, "During the Warring States Period, the southwest belonged to Chu. During the Qin Dynasty, Lingnan and Baiyue were opened up. When Zhao Tuo returned to Han, the southwest has been owned by China for more than a thousand years."

"For thousands of years, all the tribes in the southwest have been under the control of China... Can't they still be called Chinese people?"

"If we are closed-door and arrogant, and have no heart to embrace all rivers and seas, how can China expand its territory? If our ancestors had this idea, China would still only have Henan, with only a few thousand people... How could we have such a large territory!"

"Your Majesty, we are loyal to the Ming Dynasty and have no ulterior motives. How can the court regard us as aliens?" Liu Shuzhen also cried out in grievance at the right time.

"Your Majesty, I accuse Duke Song of inciting discord and speaking nonsense!"

"Your Majesty, I accuse Duke Song of making indecent remarks and slandering the people!"

"Your Majesty, I impeach..."

All of a sudden, many officials of non-Han descent came forward to impeach Feng Sheng.

"Okay!" Old Zhu suddenly spoke, making the final decision.

"You don't have to be so aggressive. We know that Feng Sheng doesn't mean that." Seeing beads of sweat on Feng Sheng's forehead, Lao Zhu smiled and smoothed things over for him. "But!"

His face became serious, and then he said: "The Yi people in Guizhou are also citizens of our Ming Dynasty! There is no doubt about that!"

"There is no need to discuss this! No one, no matter who it is, must have the intention to split our Ming Dynasty!"

"Yes." All the civil and military officials, whether convinced or not, could only bow their heads and respond.

"Since they are the people of the Ming Dynasty, and their leader was killed by someone, it is understandable that they gathered outside the city and wanted to seek justice." Xia Yuanji said.

He successfully filled the biggest hole of "Gathering people under the city in the western part of the water". He bowed and returned to the class, which was considered a successful retirement.

There was silence among the military heroes. No one had expected that this magic weapon that should have been a sure win could be so easily resolved by an eighth-rank minor official.

(End of this chapter)