Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 137: Hanlin was beheaded and the great scholar failed in forcing the other party to surrender!
As soon as Zhu Houcong finished speaking.

The court suddenly fell silent.

Many officials were even surprised.

Zhu Houcong looked at the Minister of Justice Lin Jun and said, "Grand Minister of Justice, is it possible that I handled this matter incorrectly?"

"Your Majesty handled the matter very fairly and strictly!"

"Yang Weijun brazenly beat three people to death, and he deserved to be beaten to death."

"Yang Weicong led the Northern Zhili scholars to cause chaos in the county government office and threatened the local government office. He was indeed guilty of high treason and it is not unjust to execute him!"

Yesterday, the Minister of Justice Lin Jun received the case report submitted by the Daxing County Court regarding Yang Weijun's murder.

With the witnesses of the companions of the people who were beaten to death and the physical evidence of the notice written by Yang Weijun himself at Kaiyuan Temple to kill the unruly people and prevent them from borrowing money from Xiangshan Temple, Lin Jun himself could not deny it.

What's more.

The emperor must handle the matter impartially. It is impossible for him to favor the Northern Zhi scholars at this time and tell lies with his eyes open.

He can speak for the Beizhi scholars, but he will not, for the sake of the Beizhi scholars, disregard the impression he has on the emperor and do something like calling a horse a deer in front of the emperor.

After all, the emperor in front of him is not a weak person.

Zhu Houcong was very satisfied with Lin Jun's answer.

and so.

Zhu Houcong nodded and ordered: "Then execute Yang Wei congming immediately!"

"Today, anyone who distorts right and wrong and slanders Yang Shen in front of the emperor will be sent to prison and questioned. Did they distort right and wrong because they were paid, or do they have evil intentions?!"

"I am really disappointed!"

"As a court official, if you are so dishonest, you have read the books of sages in vain!"

After Zhu Houcong said this, all the officials who had initially impeached Yang Shen knelt down and cried:
"Your Majesty, please have mercy!"

"Retreat!"

Zhu Houcong did not say much and directly announced his resignation from court.

Those officials who impeached Yang Shen were all sent to prison.

The officials who escaped the disaster because they did not immediately submit a memorial to impeach Yang Shen were relieved but also surprised and talked about it on their way out of the court.

"What a great opportunity this is! The ministers have all requested that Yang Shen be executed, but Your Majesty has not followed their request and taken revenge on Yang Shen!"

"Your Majesty is so devoted to justice. Do you really want to be a ruler like Yao and Shun?"

"Your Majesty is so upright, it is a blessing for the country, but it will inevitably restrict the gentry too tightly in the future, which is not conducive to human relations!"

"In any case, we should resign as soon as possible, so as not to be accused of being idle and cowardly."

"Yes!"

"We also need to inform Editor Yang that your majesty is too wise, just like a wise ruler like Emperor Taizong of Tang. He did not take this opportunity to kill Yang Shen out of personal grudge, but instead accused the officials who impeached him of being unjust."

"So, they should stop their activities immediately and stop colluding with each other to avoid causing the emperor's wrath!"

When some officials were discussing this.

Yang Weicong was at home with his children, standing in front of his father Yang He with tears in his eyes.

Yang He, a famous scholar, stood on a stool, holding the rope with both hands, and said:

"I am already ill, and I am barely surviving."

"Now, if I can die for the Yang family and for the Northern Zhili nobles, it would be my honor, so you don't have to be sad. You should let everyone know that it was Yang Shen who forced me to death!"

"It is said that Yang Shen flatters the powerful and influential relatives and condones them to take advantage of the people, so as to achieve your majesty's goal of prohibiting the noble and influential relatives from lending money for profit and Yang Shen's dismissal and imprisonment!"

Yang Weicong nodded and choked up, "Yes! My son will remember this!"

then.

Yang He resolutely put his neck into the rope, kicked off the stool, and then grabbed it with both hands. Not long after, he stopped grabbing and died.

Subsequently.

Yang Weicong, Yang Weijie and others changed into mourning clothes, and with tears in their eyes, they carried Yang He's body and walked out of the study of Yang He, the former director of the Imperial College.

The Northern Zhili scholars who came to Yang's residence to mourn Yang Weijun were all shocked when they saw this scene.

"How is this going?"

Li Hong, the grandson of Li Lun, the former Shaoqing of Taipu Temple, couldn't help but ask when he saw this.

"My father hated the treacherous ministers who brought disaster to the country, the cruel officials who killed his son, and the unruly people who slandered him, which led to the tragic death of my cousin. So he chose to hang himself when no one was paying attention, in order to die to clear his name! His suicide note is the proof!"

"I have decided to carry the body to the Censorate. I ask the censors of the Censorate to make a decision on my father's behalf and report it to His Majesty."

"I just don't believe that in this bright and clear world, a treacherous and cruel official can really cover up everything with one hand!"

Yang Weicong answered passionately.

Li Hong was also filled with righteous indignation after hearing this: "Yang Shen, the Dianshi of Daxing, relied on the fact that he was the son of the Grand Tutor to manipulate the officialdom, treat the gentry harshly, and kill scholars. Now he even forced the great scholar to death. How can we sit idly by and watch? We must go together!"

"Let's go together!"

"Let's go together!"

"Let's go together!"

……

Originally, the Northern Zhili gentry were dissatisfied with the nobles and relatives of the emperor who lowered interest rates to seize their interests, and they were also angry about Yang Shen beating a scholar to death.

Now, because of the suicide of the great scholar Yang He, the anger of the scholars in Beizhi has been completely ignited.

then.

Many Northern Zhili scholars followed the Yang family and carried Yang He's body to the Censorate.

"Yang Shen persecuted scholars and forced great Confucian scholars to death. Please ask the Censorate to redress our injustice!"

"Yang Shen persecuted scholars and forced great Confucian scholars to death. Please ask the Censorate to redress our injustice!"

……

The Left Censor-in-Chief Wang Zun and the Right Censor-in-Chief Li Kun were all greatly surprised when they saw this.

"The great scholar Yang Gong was forced to death?"

Wang Zun couldn't help but ask about Li Kun because of this.

Li Kun said: "This is a big deal! Yang Gong is a great scholar in the north!"

"Tell His Majesty immediately!"

Wang Zun said.

Li Kun nodded: "That's right!"

then.

The two of them hurriedly left through the back door of the Censorate and went to the palace.

Let’s talk.

Yang Shen also learned about this from Ren Zhengxian soon after.

Ren Zhengxian could not help but pace in front of Yang Shen and said, "Brother Sheng'an, this is great. The Northern Zhili scholars have now accused you of forcing a great scholar to death!"

"I'm afraid I won't be any better. At the very least, I'll be charged with the crime of cowardly submission to you."

Ren Zhengxian said this and sat down in his chair dejectedly:
"If I had known it would be like this, I shouldn't have taken this position!"

"I'll go to the Censorate and take a look!"

After hearing this, Yang Shen only said this.

then.

He came to the vicinity of the Censorate with a gloomy face. When Yang Shen arrived near the Censorate, he heard voices denouncing him one after another.

This made Yang Shen grit his teeth and frown.

Naturally, he feels particularly aggrieved now.

What was unfair was that although he was clearly enforcing the law impartially, these Northern Zhili scholars were all scolding him, calling him a cruel official and also calling him brutal and pedantic.

But he did not regret it, he believed that the emperor would not let him suffer in vain.

"Is Hanlin editor Yang Weicong here?"

At this time.

The Jinyiwei came here with the imperial edict.

Yang Weicong thought that the Jinyiwei were here to listen to the complaint, and he was quite happy. He walked towards the Jinyiwei and said, "I am you! You are here to listen to the complaint. Yang Shen did force my father to death!"

Yang Weicong was about to wipe his tears when the Jinyiwei detained him.

Among them, a general flag of the Jinyiwei said: "According to the imperial decree, Yang Weicong abused his power to interfere with local government affairs and threatened local officials. He has conspired with the law, so he will be executed according to the law. He will be taken to the execution ground immediately and punished according to the law!"

"Follow us!"

After the general said this, he waved his hand.

then.

Two Jinyiwei captains dragged Yang Weicong away roughly.

Yang Weicong was greatly shocked.

"You can't kill me!"

"You can't kill me!"

"I'm the runner-up!"

"I am a Hanlin official!"

“I am the future ruler!”

Yang Weicong struggled and shouted loudly.

then.

Yang Weicong asked loudly again: "Your Majesty, why don't you kill Yang Shen? Why do you want to kill me?"

"Why not kill Yang Shen!"

"Why not kill Yang Shen!"

"Is it because his father is Yang Tinghe?!"

"Why?!"

"I understand. What you have is a forged imperial edict. What you have is a forged imperial edict, absolutely!"

"The treacherous officials in the court are all protecting Yang Shen!"

Yang Weicong shouted desperately until he was taken to the execution ground. He stopped shouting and just cried: "I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"

Click!

But soon.

Yang Weicong was beheaded.

The head was covered in blood after only a few rolls.

When Yang Weicong was taken away by the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Yang Shen saw this scene.

He couldn't help crying for joy.

He was glad that he did not make the wrong choice.

But the scholars from Beizhi who came with Yang Weicong were greatly shocked after seeing this scene.

They didn't expect such a scene to happen.

Yang Weijie himself was at a loss for what to do. His cousin Yang Weicong had been taken away. Was it necessary for him to carry his uncle's body and appeal for justice in the Censorate?

Li Hong, a scholar from Beizhi, was also very surprised by this. Although he began to wonder if this meant that the emperor did not lose his mind because of the death of the great scholar Yang He, he was still unwilling to miss this opportunity to force the great scholar Yang He to death.

Because this time, the low-interest loans issued by a group of noble relatives headed by Marquis Jianchang, Marquis Shouning, and Marquis Wuding had indeed seriously infringed on the interests of the Northern Zhili gentry and seriously disrupted the balance of interests between them and the Northern Zhili gentry in exploiting the local people!
Moreover, Li Hong thought that now that they were on the verge of a rebellion, they had no choice but to take action. Even if they stopped now, they would still be held accountable for taking advantage of the death of the great scholar to cause trouble.

So, Li Hong continued to call for action.

"Mr. Yang cannot die in vain!"

"Editor Yang was right just now. Your Majesty's order to kill him must be a forged decree. It was a treacherous minister who forged the imperial decree!"

"We must go and fight. We must go to the Marquis of Wuding's Mansion, the Marquis of Jianchang's Mansion, and the Marquis of Shouning's Mansion to encircle those treacherous officials who deceived the emperor and took advantage of the people! We will carry the corpse of the great scholar Yang Gong to fight. Even Yang Gong was not afraid of death, so neither should we!"

"Let all the officials in the court see that just because they don't dare to fight against treacherous officials and villains, it doesn't mean that all the scholars in the world don't dare to do so!"

"Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. Let Your Majesty see that people's hearts cannot be changed!"

Li Hong made such a call, and many scholars in Beizhi responded positively.

"Go fight!"

"Go fight!"

These Northern Zhili scholars came to the Marquis of Jianchang's mansion first, with the intention of beating Zhang Heling to death as soon as he came out.

Zhu Houcong soon found out about this.

"absurd!"

"Student Yang Weijie was beaten to death. He committed a crime himself and deserved to die!"

"Why does Yang He threaten the imperial court with death? Just because he is a great scholar, can he use death to disrupt the country's laws?!"

Zhu Houcong was furious and scolded him in front of all the ministers.

then.

Zhu Houcong said, "Also, what does this have to do with Marquis Jianchang, Marquis Shouning, and Marquis Wuding? Why do those Northern Zhi scholars make trouble just because Marquis Jianchang and Marquis Shouning lent money at a low interest rate? If they don't lower the interest rate themselves, what does it have to do with Marquis Jianchang, Marquis Shouning, and Marquis Wuding?"

"Your Majesty, I think that the people's resentment is boiling, and it is best to calm it down as soon as possible!"

Grand Secretary Mao Ji said something at this time.

Zhu Houcong laughed: "Calm down? Okay, I will order it to be calmed down. I can only order it to be calmed down by force! Those Beizhi scholars who are causing trouble will be killed for the crime of treason!"

"Shuntian Prefecture must abide by the rules of the Heavenly Family!"

"Draft the decree just like that!"

All the ministers of the cabinet were silent.

But then.

Minister of Rites Mao Cheng said: "Your Majesty, please think twice. Killing soldiers is unlucky."

"Your Majesty, please understand. The Qin Dynasty fell in the second generation because of the massacre of scholars..."

The Minister of Justice Lin Jun also followed suit.

But Zhu Houcong interrupted him and said, "Why didn't Taizu's North-South List case lead to the demise of the Second Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?"

Lin Jun was speechless for a moment.

But this time.

"The Queen Mother's decree has arrived!"

A eunuch's voice came.

(End of this chapter)