Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 114 I don’t want this to happen, but he forced me to do this!
Zhu Houcong's words were like thunder, exploding inside Zuo Shunmen.

All the ministers could not help but tremble and knelt down.

Mao Cheng, the Minister of Rites who had just spoken for Kong Wenshao, even burst into tears at this moment:

"Your Majesty, your words make us feel ashamed!"

"His Majesty!"

"It's not that we are afraid of the invaders. We are admonishing the king for the people of the world!"

Assistant Minister Zhu Xizhou also cried and shouted.

At this time, the Prime Minister Liang Chu also looked at these ministers with tears in his eyes, and then held up the tablet and said to Zhu Houcong:
"What your Majesty said is absolutely true!"

"How can the barbarians interfere in the affairs of our dynasty?"

"Your Majesty is the ruler of the world! If Your Majesty still needs to look at the faces of the invaders, and cannot exercise the power of the world and cannot correct the laws of the world, then all the people of the world should be ashamed!"

"It would be fine if you didn't avenge your king and father, but how could you still bully the king? Such behavior is not only disloyalty, but also treason. You should be killed!"

After Liang Chu said this, the ministers who protected rituals were horrified.

If the emperor really listened to the prime minister's words, labeled them as traitors, and really launched a major party ban, and it was them who were subject to the party ban, then it would naturally be the most terrifying thing for them, as it would be equivalent to sentencing them to political death.

In short.

Although they wanted to label the Ritualists as traitors and completely morally deny and politically eliminate their officials, they did not want the disaster of Party Imprisonment to befall them.

Therefore, they could only be terrified at this time.

Liang Chu then said, "Your Majesty, they are probably frightened by the arrogance of the invaders, and they are also bookish, thinking that a compromise will calm the situation and avoid the disaster of war. However, they have all forgotten Su Xun's "On the Six Kingdoms" and even started to question the grand ceremony that was set in the past. Therefore, I ask Your Majesty to consider that they made a foolish move when they were threatened by the invaders and were at a loss on the battlefield, and not to take it seriously. Moreover, in the court, you should let people speak as Your Majesty said in the past, and the sky will not fall."

Zhu Houcong was silent for a while, then said, "Well! What the Prime Minister said is reasonable and moderate, and I don't want to cause a big party-imprisonment disaster, so I will give you one more chance. Today's discussion is only allowed to appear once. If you make such confusing remarks again in the future, you will be punished for misleading the emperor and disrupting the government!"

"Kong Wenshao was still executed by slow slicing!"

"The Kong family will also be dealt with as previously ordered!"

"Retreat!"

Zhu Houcong then ended his court session.

However, the civil servants of the ritual protection faction were unwilling to accept the failure of their purpose of admonishing the emperor.

After all, this time they took advantage of the threat from the invaders to confront the emperor directly.

The emperor and the prime minister wanted to end the dispute.

They don't want to.

Although they did think that the emperor would be afraid of the threat from the invaders, like most emperors, he would compromise and endure some things for the sake of stability.

But they also thought that the emperor might be a man of blood.

Because such emperors did exist in history.

And they had already thought of a countermeasure for this, which was to take advantage of what Meng Chun said, that most of the bureaucrats were ritualists, and imitate the story of crying at Wenhua Gate and arguing for the funeral of Empress Dowager Ciyi during the reign of Emperor Xianzong, and the example of crying and admonishing the emperor during his southern tour during the reign of Emperor Zhengde, and also make a big fuss by crying and admonishing.

In this case.

This is equivalent to forcing the emperor to be more tough, so that although they may temporarily sacrifice their political future, they can gain great reputation among the people and prepare for the next turnaround. By then, those who should restore their reputation will naturally restore their reputation, and those who should be promoted step by step with this performance will be promoted step by step.

Or they would force the emperor to compromise in order to avoid intensified political struggles and achieve their goals.

Historically, the non-rebellious Xianzong chose the latter for the sake of the overall situation when faced with this situation, while the rebellious Zhengde chose the former.

It seems that for the emperor, this is a game in which he will lose no matter which choice he makes.

That's why.

After Zhu Houcong announced his retirement from court, He Mengchun and other court officials, feeling helpless, did not leave but knelt at the foot of the palace.

Seeing this, some court officials who were preparing to go home dejectedly turned around and knelt at the foot of the palace.

As Liang Chu said, although many ministers of the Ritual Party did not care so much about protecting the rituals, under the influence of a large number of exaggerated rumors about the large-scale invasion of the Tartars, and as members of the landlord class, most of them only wanted stability, they also hoped that the emperor would compromise and endure humiliation for the sake of the world. As long as war could be avoided and everyone could avoid sleepless nights, it would undoubtedly be a better thing.

Therefore, for many days, the party's ministers also followed suit and chose to kneel down and make remonstrations, hoping that the emperor would follow the mainstream rather than arguing about right and wrong.

"you!"

"Does this mean that Your Majesty must be wronged?!"

Liang Chu, Wang Zun and other ministers who advocated rituals were shocked and angry when they saw this.

"We hope that Your Majesty will be a wise ruler and follow the will of the people!"

He Mengchun and others replied resolutely.

Zhu Houcong had not walked far at this time, so he naturally learned about the situation, so he said to the eunuch Qin Wen: "Go and announce the decree and let them leave. If there is something, just report it. Don't force the emperor to abdicate!"

Qin Wen agreed and left.

After Qin Wenlai conveyed Zhu Houcong's will to the court officials who knelt and protested before the palace, He Mengchun and other court officials who protected rituals refused to leave.

He Mengchun said: "Your Majesty must pardon the Northern Sect Kong family and reconsider the Grand Ceremony decree before we can retreat!"

"That's right! We would rather die than retreat without an imperial decree of pardon. I hope Your Majesty will understand the people's hearts and issue an imperial decree to retreat tens of thousands of enemy cavalry and avoid the disaster of war!"

Zhang Zan and others followed suit.

"The Grand Master is here, and I would like to request an audience with him!"

At this moment, Hanlin scholar Feng Xi suddenly ran in from Zuoshun Gate and said something very excitedly.

"Great!"

"I'm sure the Grand Master is also bowing down to us for the same reason!"

Many ministers of the ritual protection faction who still had illusions about Yang Tinghe became more excited. Suddenly, more officials from the six ministries, the Censorate, the Imperial Academy, and other government offices came to Zuoshunmen and knelt down.

The Imperial Academy officials who had just returned from outside, such as Wang Zhengyuan, also heard at this time that Taifu Yang Tinghe had entered the palace and that all officials had bowed down before the palace at Zuoshun Gate. They became excited again and came to Donghua Gate to bow down before the palace.

Soon.

From Zuoshun Gate to Wenhua Gate, more than two hundred court officials knelt down and made their appeals.

Moreover, there are officials on the way.

Even the Jinyiwei guarding here were shocked by the momentum, and many simple-minded people also felt that they must be really doing this for the good of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise they would not be so fearless of death.

Eunuch Qin Wen did not dare to take it lightly and quickly informed Zhu Houcong of the situation.

Zhu Houcong had no comment after hearing this, but only told Huang Jin: "Go tell the masters to act according to the plan!"

Huang Jin nodded in agreement.

then.

Zhu Houcong said again: "Send the order, ask the Grand Tutor to come directly to the Zuo Shun Gate to see me! Send the Prime Minister to come as well!"

Qin Wen said yes again and left.

As for Zhu Houcong, he was not afraid of such a thing happening.

Because he is not the historical Zhu Houcong, he has more experience from later generations.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong only said to himself at this time: "I don't want to do this, he forced me to do this!"

Let’s talk.

At this time, Yang Tinghe was supported by Yang Shen and walking towards the West Chang'an Gate.

His expression was solemn.

This was the first time he was going to see the emperor after recuperating for many days, and the purpose of this meeting was to kill people! To massacre the people!
Because he didn't expect that common people would participate in government affairs.

This is something he will never accept!
But what Yang Tinghe didn't know was that at this time, many soldiers, civilians and people from Dong'anmen to Xi'anmen and Damingmen came here one after another and knelt at the foot of the gate.

However, Yang Tinghe soon discovered something was wrong.

Because as he got closer to the imperial city, he saw more and more people gathering here, shouting slogans.

"Destroy the Kong Family Store and rescue Master Kong!"

Moreover, many people came holding large banners with tens of thousands of signatures, which read things like "Your Majesty, please punish the traitors of the Kong family" or "Support the holy monarch and kill the traitors."

Some people even listed the crimes of the Kong family in vivid detail in the crowd, and told how they had been tortured by the Kong family in Shandong.

even.

Many people who were watching the fun also knelt down because of this.

Yang Tinghe was stunned when he saw this scene.

"This is estimated to be no less than 100,000 people. Father, what should we do?"

Yang Shen couldn't help but be frightened by this scene, because there were too many people, a huge crowd, and the key point was that there were still many people gathered here.

The people move like smoke and gather like the sea.

In front of such a large-scale group of ordinary people bowing in front of the emperor, the mere hundreds of civil servants bowing in front of the emperor were nothing, just like a lone boat on the ocean.

Even though Yang Tinghe wanted to tell the people who interfered in the government that he would resolutely eliminate them and kill their entire clan, he was still a little afraid at this moment and just said, "Go back!"

Yang Shen was quite surprised.

But this time.

Eunuch Zhang Jin had already come running over: "Your Majesty, please ask the Grand Tutor to come to see you at Zuoshun Gate!"

Yang Tinghe therefore had no choice but to come to Zuo Shunmen.

Zhu Houcong first met Liang Chu here.

Liang Chu said with great sorrow: "Your Majesty, they are really going too far! But please don't be too angry and hurt your body. They are not targeting your Majesty, because in fact, since the reign of Emperor Taizu, they have been trying their best to fight for their own family's private interests!"

"I know!"

"But they cannot shake me today. Even if Taizu is resurrected, he cannot change me!"

"I said so!"

Zhu Houcong said in a deep voice, then looked forward, looked at Yang Tinghe who was walking towards him, and said: "Prime Minister, just watch!"

When Yang Tinghe came over, all the court officials in the palace became excited and hoped that Yang Tinghe would speak for them.

After Yang Tinghe arrived, Zhu Houcong asked, "Taifu, why did you come here today?"

"Your Majesty, I have heard that the border alarms are frequent and the people in the capital are restless, so I have no choice but to come here despite my illness to give you a face-to-face advice."

"Your Majesty, I ask you to immediately take the heads of the traitorous Qufu Kong family and display them to the public to vent the people's grievances!"

"I also ask Your Majesty to immediately jail those officials who refuse to leave the palace, and to execute the ringleader for suspected collaborators with the enemy!"

"Only in this way can we calm people's hearts, stabilize domestic affairs, and resist foreign aggression!"

"Your Majesty, please think carefully about this."

After Yang Tinghe said this, he bowed his head.

He Mengchun and others were all shocked.

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(End of this chapter)