Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 149 The whole family is imprisoned! Get rid of the Minister of Rites!
The fifth day of the sixth month in the first year of the Jiajing reign.

Follow the left door.

The scorching sun hanging over the red eaves made the ministers attending the court meeting here feel quite hot at noon.

Gu Dingchen felt especially hot, as if he was being roasted on a fire.

Because he was not only exposed to the scorching sun, but also stared at by the emperor's scorching eyes.

After Zhu Houcong shouted like this, Gu Dingchen also came back to his senses, and hurriedly knelt on the ground, sweating profusely and crying:

"I was confused for a moment and had such bad thoughts. I hope Your Majesty will show mercy!"

boom!
As Gu Dingchen spoke, he bumped his head onto the black floor tiles.

My head was hit so hard that I felt dizzy.

Gold stars appeared.

"It's just confusion, just bad thoughts?"

Zhu Houcong sneered.

then.

Zhu Houcong asked Gu Dingchen again: "Please answer me clearly, did your family collude with the pirates and participate in smuggling? Did you personally instruct the pirates to seize Yuyao and destroy the entire Wang family?"

Gu Dingchen clasped his fingers tightly on the ground and trembled with his lips.

A struggle between the conscience and the desire began in my mind.

He didn't know whether to admit it or not.

"Have!"

In the end, Gu Dingchen still couldn't withstand the pressure from the emperor and uttered these words through gritted teeth.

The ministers present were suddenly shocked.

Mao Cheng, a fellow townsman of Gu Dingchen, couldn't help but close his eyes and sigh in disappointment.

Zhu Xizhou also showed an uneasy expression afterwards.

Tao Zhongfu, Huang Kai and others were also very upset.

As for Gu Dingchen himself.

The word "yes" seemed to have exhausted all his strength, causing him to collapse to the ground with a pale face. Liquid even flowed out from under his official robe, wetting his shoes and socks and staining the ground.

Xi Shu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who was standing near him, couldn't help but pinch his nose.

Seeing this, Zhu Houcong had no choice but to prepare to leave the court early. He ordered: "Imprison Gu Dingchen and put him in prison! Make him hand in a self-confession! Send an order to the governor of Yingtian to immediately imprison all members of the Gu family and the officials and civilians involved in the incident!"

"Retreat!"

Zhu Houcong smiled when he left Zuoshunmen and went to the inner court.

If Gu Dingchen admitted that he had done these things, it would naturally save a lot of trouble in corroborating the evidence in this case, and would also allow Zhu Houcong to occupy the moral high ground more easily and achieve his own goals in the future.

Zhu Houcong had to be thankful that he came from later times and happened to be more familiar with the Ming and Qing dynasties.

otherwise……

If he really became an emperor only based on the first-hand information that the emperors of this era could obtain, he would probably find it difficult to know from the beginning that the gentry and thieves were not just in a state of hostility. Most of the time they were even in a state of cooperation. It was even possible that the gentry gave rise to thieves, or vice versa. Then he would really be deceived by the officials.

Such as this time.

If he had not distrusted the bureaucracy, he would have asked Zhou Shangwen to send night guards to follow these pirates in advance, and would have only chosen to believe the information provided by the Zhejiang governor.

Then he would only know that the pirates were annihilated in large numbers by Zhejiang government troops in Yuyao, but he would not know the fundamental reason why the pirates suddenly attacked Yuyao.

Next.

Gu Dingchen was dragged to the imperial prison, looking like a bereaved family member.

He really didn't expect that the emperor would know through the Yongwei Camp that the pirates under his command had withdrawn to Jinshanwei.

He also didn't expect that the emperor did not really believe the words of the Zhejiang governor.

Mao Cheng and Zhu Xizhou didn't expect it either.

The two of them are now on pins and needles, afraid that Gu Dingchen will betray them.

then.

In order to protect himself, Mao Cheng handed in a letter requesting retirement.

As long as the emperor allows him to retire, it means that he will not be held accountable for too much responsibility.

Zhu Xizhou submitted a letter requesting to see the emperor.

Zhu Houcong thought of the time when Mao Cheng had made things difficult for him when he came to Beijing, and how Mao Cheng had repeatedly shown during the grand ceremony that he would rather let himself, the emperor, suffer injustice than let the literati and officials suffer injustice.

In Zhu Houcong's view, Mao Cheng was not the crown prince of Liang and did not have the slightest loyalty to him as a subject.

His loyalty is only to what he considers as courtesy, and he wants to acknowledge himself as the die-hard supporter of Emperor Xiaozong, who has no feelings for him at all, and even seeks to eat up his main figure in the name of benevolence, righteousness, and morality!

That's why Mao Cheng tried to trick him into entering the capital with the ceremony of the crown prince when he came to the capital, and later tried to make him Emperor Xiaozong his father so that he could become a puppet whose value could be exploited at will.

and……

Mao Cheng was not only unkind to him as the emperor, but also to Zhengde.

Zhu Houcong naturally had no intention of letting Mao Cheng go.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong's response to Mao Cheng's request to retire was:

Not allowed!

After receiving this imperial edict, Mao Cheng understood that the emperor did not intend to let him land smoothly.

This made him even more anxious.

"Your Majesty, it turns out that you have hated me to the core. If so, how can I not die?"

Mao Cheng held the imperial edict in his trembling hands, tears streaming down his face, and continued speaking.

then.

Mao Cheng gnashed his teeth and said, "Zhang Fujing! Wang Yangming! If it weren't for you treacherous ministers who violated the etiquette, how could we have ended up like this!"

Until now, Mao Cheng had not regretted his previous idea of ​​sacrificing only the interests of the emperor. He just hated the ritual advocates among the civil officials even more, because it was these people who prevented the Jiajing Emperor, who was a foreign vassal, from being restrained in the power field, and instead made their situation worse and worse.

But even if Mao Cheng did not regret it, he did not dare to continue to offend the emperor at this time.

Therefore, not long after Zhu Houcong approved Mao Cheng's memorial, he learned the news of Mao Cheng's sudden death.

"Sudden death?"

Zhu Houcong chuckled.

He knew that Mao Cheng realized that he hated him to the core, so he chose to die early in order to obtain the greatest possible safety.

to this end.

Zhu Houcong announced a three-day suspension of court.

In any case, Mao Cheng was a minister who made great contributions to the enthronement of the emperor, and he was also the Minister of Rites.

Even if Mao Cheng intended to sacrifice him as the emperor and bully him as the emperor, in the words of Lu Xun, he wanted to eat him to maximize his own interests, but he did so under the banner of benevolence, righteousness and morality. People in the world would only think that Mao Cheng did this for the sake of your country and people. You, the emperor, should be grateful, not hate him. I'm afraid Mao Cheng himself thinks so too.

Therefore, on the surface, Zhu Houcong just treated Mao Cheng's sudden death with courtesy.

The necessary preferential treatment procedures will be in place. After Mao Cheng's death, Zhu Xizhou became even more panicked.

He knew why Mao Cheng chose to die suddenly.

It is obvious that the new emperor appears to be kind, but is actually vengeful and cruel.

If you don't give the emperor a decent explanation, the emperor will not give you a decent ending.

It just so happened.

Zhu Houcong also agreed to Zhu Xizhou's request for an audience shortly afterwards.

When Zhu Xizhou met Zhu Houcong, he bowed carefully without even daring to breathe.

After all, the emperor now really holds a grudge.

It would be bad enough if he just held a grudge, but he was also very scheming. He did not think highly of these scholars and officials, and had long harbored the greatest malice towards them.

Therefore, Zhu Xizhou did not dare to do anything that might displease this impure emperor.

"Why do you want to see me?"

Zhu Houcong showed no hostility.

Smiling.

The tone is calm.

Even though there had just been incidents of Nanzhi nobles like Gu Dingchen colluding with pirates to plot rebellion and Zhejiang civil officials deceiving him, the emperor.

But Zhu Xizhou was really terrified now, so he knelt down and said, "I am guilty!"

As soon as Zhu Xizhou uttered these three words, tears rolled down his eyes uncontrollably, and then he even burst into tears.

"Woo!"

Half an hour later.

Zhu Houcong finally heard Zhu Xizhou's intermittent explanation of how he dissuaded Gu Dingchen, how he helped Gu Dingchen manipulate the Zhejiang officialdom, why he did not report these situations to the emperor in a timely manner, and why he did these things without telling the emperor.

It stands to reason.

What Zhu Xizhou did were all very serious things.

At least the name of "unfaithfulness" is worthy of his title.

But Zhu Houcong did not get angry, he just said calmly: "You are the number one scholar selected by the Xiao Temple in the ninth year of Hongzhi. You must understand the principle of loyalty as a minister."

“But you do this now.”

"It makes me realize one fact."

"You ministers are loyal to the late emperor, not to me!"

"In your eyes, I am not yet a true king and father."

"is not it?"

Zhu Houcong asked and looked at Zhu Xizhou.

Zhu Xizhou's face felt as if he had been slapped. It was hot and he felt even more ashamed.

He wanted to deny it, but he had to admit that what the emperor said was indeed to the point.

He indeed missed Emperor Xiaozong more and was more willing to be loyal to him.

He also knew that if he denied it, the emperor would only become more dissatisfied, so he did not dare to deny it.

Zhu Houcong squinted at Zhu Xizhou and said, "If I grant you my wish and let you go to see the Xiao Temple, do you think I am kind or mean?"

"I don't know!"

Zhu Xizhou said with tears in his eyes.

Zhu Houcong suddenly stood up and waved his hand, saying with a smile: "You are not really loyal to the Xiao Temple. When you were in the Xiao Temple, I'm afraid you concealed what you should hide and lied about what you should lie about."

"You said yes or no?"

As Zhu Houcong said this, he turned around and asked Zhu Xizhou.

Zhu Xizhou choked up and said yes, and said: "I deserve to die!"

"Among all the civil and military officials in the court, the one who truly knows how to assist me is, at present, Elder Liang!"

"He said something very well. If you want the emperor to become a benevolent ruler, the key is to see what you do, rather than just talking, lying or fooling around to make the emperor willing to become a benevolent ruler."

"Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. If you don't want to be a saint first, how can you let me be a saint?"

When Zhu Houcong said this, Zhu Xizhou also understood what he meant, so he said with a smile: "I am stupid and don't know how to be a wise minister. Please teach me, Your Majesty."

"Just want to be a good minister."

"It means there is still hope."

Zhu Houcong crossed his arms, enjoying the cool evening breeze, and talked with a smile.

then.

Zhu Houcong added: "In the past, Emperor Taizu enforced the law strictly and killed treacherous ministers every year, but he could not kill them all. He even sighed that he killed them in the morning but they still committed crimes in the evening. I have to admit that it is really difficult to get rid of the thieves in your hearts! First there was Chen Jin, then there was Zhao Jian, and then there was Yang Tan. It seems that these treacherous ministers are really endless."

“Great doctors heal the country, medium doctors heal people, and small doctors heal diseases.”

"Governing a country is like treating it. To be a good doctor, you must treat the root cause."

"To cure the root cause, we cannot just focus on chopping off the head of a specific official. We must start from the root cause."

When Zhu Houcong said this, he looked at Zhu Xizhou and said, "Tell me, where is the root cause?"

Zhu Xizhou knew that this was the emperor testing him to see if he had the potential to become what the emperor called a "virtuous minister."

Zhu Xizhou also knew that whether he was virtuous or not was not up to him but in the hands of the emperor.

If the emperor says he will be a wise minister, then he will be a wise minister.

Now that the emperor is testing him, he must answer correctly and meet the emperor's standard of a virtuous minister.

If the emperor thinks he has the potential to become a wise minister, he can live; if not, he cannot live!

As a top scholar, and someone who came from Nanzhi, a place with the most competitive imperial examination system, he was best at taking examinations, especially those with questions.

He naturally knew what answer the emperor wanted.

only……

If he gave this answer, it would mean that he would betray his fellow villagers and even the gentry in the world. It would mean that he would no longer be a "virtuous minister" in the eyes of the literati, but only a "virtuous minister" in the eyes of the emperor.

Therefore, Zhu Xizhou hesitated and became conflicted.

Zhu Houcong was just giving Zhu Xizhou a chance, he didn't really need Zhu Xizhou to betray him.

Because there were many people like Zhu Xizhou who were good at writing eight-legged essays at that time, especially in Nanzhi.

"Send Qin Wen here!"

Zhu Houcong also called out at this time.

But at this time, when Zhu Xizhou heard the emperor calling the people from the East Factory, he once again felt the desire to survive. He gritted his teeth and immediately replied: "Your Majesty, the root cause is that Nanzhi is too rich!"

(End of this chapter)