Jiajing Chengming

Nie Bao bowed his head and replied, his voice trembling slightly: "Your Majesty, I am innocent. It was all the people below who did the wrong thing. I didn't know they were messing around with the land survey."

His forehead was pressed against the ground and his lips were tightly pursed.

"It's the people below who are doing the wrong things."

Zhu Houcong sneered and looked at Nie Bao with eyes as sharp as a knife.

Snapped!
Zhu Houcong suddenly stood up and slammed the table, the sleeves of his dragon robe fluttering in the wind:
"What I hate to hear the most is people blaming the people below them when something goes wrong!"

"What do you do for a living? You let the people below you fool you. Are you blind or stupid?"

His voice echoed in the hall, shaking everyone's heart.

"Although I am not blind, I am indeed stupid. I have failed Your Majesty. I am guilty!"

Nie Bao replied with a slight tremor.

There was a hint of sob in his voice, and the cold sweat on his forehead slid down his cheeks.

Zhu Houcong sneered, with a hint of sarcasm flashing in his eyes:
"If you are stupid, then how did you pass the imperial examination? Did you ask someone else to take the exam for you?"

"minister……"

Nie Bao was speechless for a moment, as if his throat was blocked by something, and his face was as pale as paper.

Zhu Houcong's eyes were like torches, and he said coldly: "I think you don't really care about the country and the people, which is why the land survey has become a joke in Huizhou Prefecture!"

His voice was low and majestic, like an invisible sword piercing Nie Bao's heart.

"Your Majesty, I am truly wronged!"

Nie Bao howled hoarsely at this moment:

"I really wanted to do the land survey seriously. After receiving the cabinet's order, I issued the cards and asked them to do the survey as soon as possible. I also clearly told them not to falsify the information. It's because the people below ignored my words that this happened!"

"Your Majesty, please tell me clearly!"

His eyes were red and tears were welling up in them.

"enough!"

Zhu Houcong shouted harshly, his voice booming like thunder, shaking the hearts of everyone in the hall.

His eyes swept across the entire court, finally settling on Nie Bao, and he said coldly:

"I am too lazy to listen to your explanation. You are the prefect of Huizhou. I only want to ask you how the land survey work in Huizhou was completed. Regardless of whether you have excusable circumstances or not, now that such a twist has occurred, I have to kill you!"

As soon as Zhu Houcong said this, Nie Bao suddenly trembled, his body swayed like a leaf in the wind, and his face turned pale in an instant.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out, as if his throat was strangled by an invisible force.

The court officials present also held their breath. The hall was dead silent with only Zhu Houcong's voice echoing.

Nie Bao couldn't help but tremble at this moment, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and tears finally burst out of his eyes and slid down his cheeks. He sobbed softly:
"Your Majesty, please have mercy. I really did not mean to deceive you. I was just careless at the moment. I was really just careless."

His voice was trembling, like a candle in the wind that could go out at any time.

Zhu Houcong smiled coldly, his eyes as cold as ice:

"An official who loses his people is like losing his country!"

"I am the Son of Heaven, but what should I regard as Heaven? Naturally, I should regard the people as Heaven!"

"As the sage said, the people are more important than the king. So now that you have caused countless disasters to the country, even if you have lost the country, you are also deceiving the heaven. It is not me who wants to kill you, but the will of heaven!"

His voice was as piercing as the cold wind, and every word was like a knife, piercing Nie Bao's heart.

"Drag him out and have him sentenced to death by the three judges!"

After Zhu Houcong said this, Nie Bao gritted his teeth, his eyes full of resentment. He clenched his hands into fists, his nails dug deep into his palms, blood seeped out from between his fingers. He couldn't accept this result. The emperor actually said that the people are the heaven, and wanted to kill him on this basis!
"Your Majesty! Officials who are close to the people are like the parents of the people. Even if parents indulge in immorality, they cannot be killed for their children!"

"The situation of Huizhou's land reclamation is like this today because Nie Bao has no intention of disturbing the people and cannot bear to bully the gentry, so he indulged the corrupt officials and clerks. Your Majesty, killing him will not be enough to make the world sincerely convinced!"

"On the contrary, it is the new prefect Fu Hanchen and the many officials who were too strict in the land reclamation who used the name of land reclamation to bully the gentry and corrupt the virtue of Your Majesty. They should be severely punished!"

At this time, Yang Yi, the Imperial Censor, could no longer bear to see the emperor killing his fellow disciple Nie Bao over the land reclamation issue, so he stood up and expressed his opinion.

His voice was loud and clear, and his words clearly showed his dissatisfaction with the land survey.

Zhu Houcong said in a deep voice, his eyes like knives: "Absurd! I only know that the Book of Songs says: 'The gentleman is the parent of the people.' The gentleman here refers to the emperor, not the ministers. The people are my people, not yours. You officials are just governing for me, so how can you say you are the parents of the people? The people are ignorant and call you their parents. Should you really regard yourselves as the parents of the people?!"

"You are the parents of the people, then what am I to the people?!"

Zhu Houcong suddenly asked in a stern voice, his eyes as sharp as torches, piercing Yang Yi.

His voice exploded like thunder, shaking the hearts of everyone in the hall.

Yang Yi opened his mouth to speak, but after a long while, no words came out, as if his throat was strangled by an invisible force.

There was dead silence in the hall, with only Zhu Houcong's voice echoing.

This is indeed a loophole in Confucianism.

The "gentleman" mentioned by Confucianists in the pre-Qin period did indeed refer only to the Zhou emperor. It was only later that the local governors became the rulers of the people, and then became the parents of the people.

"Your Majesty is the father of all people, and we are not the fathers of the people. It is only because we have realized the true meaning of the saints that we have become the leaders of the four classes of people. We have the desire to protect the people and serve the country, and thus we can be employed by Your Majesty, eat Your Majesty's salary, and then do things to protect the people!"

"We are able to realize our ambitions because of your grace!"

"Yang Yi harbored a rebellious heart and was unwilling to accept the throne. He thought he was the people's parent and wanted the people to be filial to him. He wanted to use the name of parents to force the people to be under his control. He should be executed!"

At this time, the Prime Minister Zhang Cong stepped forward and expressed his own views. His words were as sharp as a knife and pierced Yang Yi's heart.

Zhu Houcong said coldly, his eyes as cold as ice: "Just as the Prime Minister said, Yang Yi is confusing right and wrong, saying that the local loyal officials who eliminated evil were bullying the gentry, and Nie Bao's disloyalty was said to be a kind heart that could not bear to spare his life. He is truly a treacherous and murderous person, drag him out and chop him off immediately!"

"Such evil people cannot be allowed to stay!"

At that time, the Jinyiwei came and dragged Yang Yi out.

Yang Yi's face turned pale in an instant, his eyes filled with despair and unwillingness.

His lips trembled slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

At the same time, his gaze swept across everyone in the hall, finally stopping on Zhang Cong, with a hint of resentment flashing in his eyes.

"Zhang Fujing, you have disrupted the great rites of the world and misled the emperor into not listening to public opinion. Sooner or later, you will die a miserable death. You will die a miserable death!"

Yang Yi's voice was hoarse and filled with desperate crying.

"You said that my Prime Minister would die a miserable death sooner or later, I will make sure you die a miserable death first!"

Zhu Houcong spoke first at this time.

"Issue an order. Yang Yi is stubborn and rebellious in the hall. He is disrespectful and rude. He is a man who has no respect for his father and the emperor. His heart is not right. Beheading is replaced by slow slicing. His bones are crushed and his ashes are scattered. His entire clan is exiled. Anyone who pleads for mercy will be punished as well!"

After Zhu Houcong said this in a deep voice, he looked at Yang Yi with lightning-like eyes.

Yang Yi was speechless and looked at Zhu Houcong, his eyes full of anger and confusion.

"His Majesty!"

"Zhang Fujing only deceived you into becoming an enemy of the gentry and wealthy families for his own ambitions. Why do you stand up for him even at the cost of being called a tyrant?"

Yang Yi asked loudly, with a desperate cry in his voice. (End of this chapter)