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

Chapter 913: Entering the Book of All Nations
Feng Sheng's face was as dark as water, and he looked very ugly. This minor official named Xia Yuanji had obviously come prepared.

Among the civil officials, Ru Rong, Ru Taisu and others who held high positions did not take any action, but in his opinion, Xia Yuanji must be the pioneer sent by these civil officials to explore the way. Those civil officials were determined to fight him to the death.

"Even so." Feng Sheng personally stepped out and bowed to Old Zhu who was sitting on the Danbi, saying: "Your Majesty, I still believe that Ma Ye has no motive to lie about military intelligence."

"The southwest is so important that there is no need for us to elaborate on it..."

A gleam of brilliance flashed in his eyes. He actually personally took action. In any case, the influence of civil officials in the court was far inferior to that of their military merits. The literati were eloquent and had a flattering appearance, but their military officials could make unreasonable demands. As long as they won the emperor's favor and insisted that the Shuixi tribe was suspected of rebellion and must be eliminated, that was enough.

As for how to win the emperor's heart... Ma Ye is the only nephew of the late Queen Ma! Your Majesty and the Queen have a deep love for each other, so are you afraid that he will not favor Ma Ye? Moreover, with the current national strength of the Ming Dynasty, it is possible to eliminate the harm of the chieftains in one fell swoop, and Your Majesty may not be unwilling.

The military heroes also started to make a fuss, and they came out one after another to support Feng Sheng's words. Seeing that the military heroes had launched a general attack, Ru Taisu, the Imperial Censor, could no longer sit still and hurried out to say, "Song Guogong's words are absurd. How could Ma Ye have no motive?"

"He must be trying to force Shuixi to rebel and kill innocent people to gain credit!"

"Let go... you're talking nonsense!" Geng Bingwen cursed. "My great Ming generals and officers are all loyal, who would dare to do such a thing as killing innocent people and taking credit for it?"

"If not, why would you force Ai Cui to death?"

"They must have discovered that Ai Cui had already shown signs of rebellion!"

"Nonsense! Bullshit!"

"Shut up, everyone!!"

Without waiting for the imperial censor to come out, Feng Sheng quickly shouted to the military heroes. Then he quickly bowed and said to Zhu: "Your Majesty, I think that this matter is not clear, and we cannot just rely on the one-sided statement of the Liu family women."

"You must know that the matter of Shuixi is small, while the matter of the world is big. I think..."

"For the sake of our Ming Dynasty... I'd rather kill someone by mistake than let him go!"

His voice was extremely cruel.

These words were like a thunderclap, causing the Fengtian Hall, which had just quieted down, to buzz again.

"..." Old Zhu sat upright on the throne, still not saying a word. He just narrowed his eyes and looked at Feng Sheng who was bowing down.

"Your Majesty, this..." Liu Shuzhen was so frightened that her face turned pale. If Shuixi was identified as a rebel, how could Shuidong survive alone? So she hurriedly stepped forward and made a suggestion.

Unexpectedly, a hurried guard suddenly entered the hall, interrupting the tense atmosphere in the hall.

"Your Majesty, the Minister of Praise, Duke Song, is outside the palace asking for an audience."

"Oh?" Old Zhu, who had been silent all this time, finally showed interest. He straightened up and said, "Master Song is actually interested in attending the court meeting today?"

"Hahaha, come on, invite him in. We haven't seen each other for a long time, and I miss him so much... Quick, prepare a seat for Master Song first!"

The Praise Doctor Song Gong is Song Lian, who is now concentrating on serving as the head of the Imperial College. Song Lian was once the first of the founding civil officials, but in recent years he has devoted himself to learning and education, and has not participated in the government for more than ten years. It is no wonder that Zhu was so surprised that he came here today.

Feng Sheng felt quite uncomfortable... He and his fellow military heroes were ready to throw a powerful punch, but because of Song Lian's arrival, it was like hitting a piece of cotton. This feeling really made him feel suffocated.

"Your Majesty, I am Song Lian, your servant. May your Majesty be blessed with good health..." Song Lian said tremblingly.

"Hahahaha, Master Song, you're already this old, why do you have to be so polite... Biao'er, go quickly and help your master sit down!"

Zhu Biao, who had been standing beside the Danbi, immediately responded, walked to Song Lian's side and supported the old man. Coincidentally, several eunuchs had just brought a chair, and Zhu Biao helped Song Lian sit down on the chair.

Song Lian was a man of high moral character and was one of the founders of the new school of thought. Many of the officials in the court had his disciples, and many civil servants bowed slightly to him when they saw him coming.

Song Lian, however, did not pay much attention to these disciples. Instead, he looked at Feng Sheng and other military heroes with a kind look in his eyes, and even nodded to them with great appreciation.

This made the military heroes somewhat confused about the situation.

"Master Song, do you have anything to advise us?" Old Zhu said with a smile. He was very friendly to this old friend, who was also one of the leaders of the new school that he supported behind the scenes. "Could it be that you are here for the Shuixi issue as well?"

"Shuixi? What's Shuixi about?" Song Lian looked like he had never heard of it before, and then smiled and said, "This old minister received the letter from the people in the market, and came here to present the people's opinions."

"Your Majesty, do you know what the most popular story in the market is these days?"

"Oh?" Old Zhu looked at Feng Sheng and the others with a half-smile on his face. "What's the matter?"

"It's about your majesty founding the country in the past, and leading the generals to fight in the south and the north." Song Lian laughed happily, and in front of all the ministers, he continued: "Your majesty obeyed the will of heaven and led the generals to rise up for the people to drive out the Yuan Dynasty. He went through hardships and dangers, but he never forgot his original intention and united his will to build today's foundation. Now the people are grateful for the kindness of your majesty and the founding heroes, and spread the good name of our Ming Dynasty monarchs and ministers. This is a good story!"

"Nowadays, people in the market all say that our Ming Dynasty has a benevolent and righteous army. Throughout the dynasties, how many generals can be called benevolent and righteous?"

"But our Ming Dynasty is full of brilliant generals, all of whom are benevolent and righteous. For example, the Duke of Song followed the will of his old friend and walked thousands of miles to liberate Gaoyou; the Marquis of Changxing occupied Changxing alone to protect the country and the people..."

Song Lian spoke eloquently, recounting the deeds of many of the nobles present. The versions he described were all the "great, glorious and beautified versions" that were circulating among the people today, and he praised all the nobles. Although many nobles felt ashamed to receive praise from the first civil official of the founding of the country, they also felt proud.

"Your Majesty, I praise you not because of how many enemies you have killed or how much blood you have stained... but because you always have the people in your heart. If you have the people in your heart, you are a benevolent and righteous army!"

"Some people say that killing one person is a crime, but killing ten thousand people is a hero. This is bullshit! Whether one is a hero or not should be judged by his or her heart. If one takes up the sword for the sake of justice for the people, even if he or she is defeated in the end, he or she is still a hero. But if one has no justice in his or her heart, even if he or she kills hundreds or thousands of people, he or she is nothing more than a ruthless butcher!"

"Your Majesty, there are many heroes among the nobles of our Ming Dynasty, and their benevolence is well known among the people... This is a great good deed! Today, tens of thousands of people have written letters to the people, requesting that a temple be built for the generals. I, an old minister, dare to ask Your Majesty to agree to the people's request and set this example so that the generals can be respected by the people and the benevolence of the generals of our Ming Dynasty can be passed down forever!" Song Lian's face was flushed, and he stood up and bowed tremblingly.

(End of this chapter)