Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 47 The imperial edict has arrived!
The human heart is the most fickle.

No matter how loyal your subordinates are today, they may betray you tomorrow.

Only by solving this problem fundamentally from an institutional perspective can we eliminate future troubles forever.

A founding emperor, especially one who has climbed up from the bottom, is always in a dilemma on this point.

Because when we conquered the world, we relied on brotherhood.

Only with a group of loyal brothers working hard with him can he make a name for himself.

After the country was established, the brothers who had followed him at the beginning would naturally think that since the country was conquered by everyone together, it should be divided together.

After all, that's what brothers always do.

We share the money together, eat the meat together, and drink the wine together.

But countries are different after all.

The country needs to get back on the right track. It is impossible to divide the country and the people as they did in the past when they divided gold and silver.

The country needs a complete system, and everyone can only act within the scope permitted by the system.

But doing so would be seen by the brothers who had followed the founding emperor to conquer the world as if the "boss" had betrayed them.

No longer caring about the interests of the brothers, no longer having brotherhood!

This is a fundamental conflict of interest.

To some extent, it can even be said to be unsolvable.

Irreconcilable contradiction!
Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty has been established for more than 20 years, and the necessary systems have basically been established.

The only drawback is that many of the brothers who had followed Zhu to conquer the world are still alive.

"I understand. I am willing to accept any punishment." Fu Ye said sincerely, "As long as the general is safe, I am willing to die."

Zhu Yunhuan looked at him deeply.

I thought that it was because of people like you who were willing to die for Lan Yu that Lan Yu was in danger of being killed.

Otherwise, there would be no need for Zhu to touch Lan Yu.

But there was no need to explain this to Fu Ye at once.

Institutional problems can only be solved from an institutional perspective.

It is meaningless to target individuals alone.

Zhu Yunhuan turned to Lan Yu and said, "Uncle, I will do my best to save your life when we meet in the court tomorrow. However, I'm afraid you will have to pay a heavy price."

"Lan Yu understands!" Lan Yu said, "Everything is at your disposal."

"You should not complain about Grandpa Huang." Zhu Yunhuan looked at him and said, "You are in this situation today because of your own fault."

"When my father was still alive, the Emperor could let you do whatever you wanted and indulge you. But now that my father is gone, the situation is completely different."

"The Emperor didn't send anyone to stop me today because he still has deep feelings for you and can't bear to see you beheaded. You have to understand his painstaking efforts."

Lan Yu smiled calmly and said, "I know what your majesty is thinking."

"Since I was scolded by His Highness that day, I have been reflecting on my situation every day in my residence these days, and I have already figured out the difficulties Your Majesty is facing."

"The country is of great importance. Your Majesty also has his own reasons!"

Zhu Yunhuan looked at him and said seriously, "There is one thing you must remember."

"Tomorrow when you arrive at the palace, whether it's the Emperor or other officials, if they ask you about a crime, you can confess or not."

"Just one thing. The foundation of your survival is your loyalty to my father."

"Although my father is gone now, as long as you remember this, you should be able to pass this level smoothly."

Lan Yu's heart trembled, and he said quickly: "I remember it."

As the two were talking, someone came to report outside.

"Yuan Tai, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, comes to ask to see His Royal Highness the King of Wu!"

Zhu Yunhuan was slightly stunned.

He is still quite young, and had lived in the inner palace for a long time before. Only recently was he named King of Wu and allowed to live independently.

There was no contact with court officials.

The Left Censor-in-Chief must have come here because of Lan Yu's matter.

"not see!"

Zhu Yunhuan replied straightforwardly: "Just say it's too late today and I'm resting. If you have anything to say, let the Left Censor-in-Chief talk to you tomorrow."

"Lord Yuan said there was an urgent matter and he had to see Your Highness. Otherwise, he would not leave tonight." The servant reported.

"If you don't want to leave, then don't leave!" Zhu Yunhuan sneered.

He won't buy into this kind of rogue tactics.

At this time, someone else came to report.

"Minister of Justice Yang Jing and Dali Temple Minister Zhou Zhiqing come to see you!"

Three judges coming together?
It’s quite a big scene!
Zhu Yunhuan was about to refuse when someone came to report: "Your Highness, the Ministry of Justice has sent a large number of people, saying that if Your Highness does not leave, they will break into the mansion and arrest you."

Zhu Yunhuan stood up suddenly, turned around and walked out.

In front of the palace of Prince Wu, rows of soldiers were lined up in an orderly manner.

The torches illuminated the surroundings.

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan coming out, Yang Jing, the Minister of Justice standing in front, saluted first: "Your subordinate Yang Jing, I pay my respects to the prince."

"Your humble servant Yuan Tai and your humble servant Zhou Zhiqing pay their respects to His Majesty." The Left Censor-in-Chief Yuan Tai and the Supreme Court Justice Zhou Zhiqing also saluted.

Zhu Yunxun smiled and said, "Three adults are visiting my palace at the same time, but I wonder what's the matter?"

"Your Highness!" Yang Jing bowed slightly and said, "This evening, Your Highness led the Jinyiwei to capture Duke Lan Yu of Liang and took him back to the Prince Wu's Palace." "According to the Ming Dynasty law, if Duke Lan Yu of Liang commits a crime, he should be handed over to the Ministry of Justice for detention."

"There is absolutely no reason to detain someone in the palace."

"If anything happens to Lan Yu, it will be bad for His Royal Highness the King of Wu."

"I am here to take away Duke Lan Yu of Liang and take him to the Ministry of Justice. I hope Your Highness the King of Wu will grant me permission."

After listening to him, Zhu Yunxun did not answer directly. Instead, he looked at Yuan Tai and Zhou Zhiqing and asked, "Are you two here to ask for someone as well?"

Yuan Tai said: "The Censorate has the duty of supervising all officials."

"I am honored to be the Left Censor-in-Chief, so I have no choice but to investigate."

"I heard that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu had arrested the Duke of Liang, so I came to ask what crime the Duke of Liang, Lan Yu, had committed? Why did His Royal Highness arrest him but privately locked him up in the mansion instead of sending him to the Ministry of Justice?"

Zhou Zhiqing said, "As the Minister of the Supreme Court, I also want to know what crime the Duke of Liang, Lan Yu, committed? Where is the case file? Can I have a look? And why did His Royal Highness the King of Wu lock him up in the King of Wu's mansion?"

Let’s face the crime together!
You reacted so quickly that you couldn't even wait overnight?
The three judicial departments were all judicial organs of the Ming Dynasty, but their responsibilities were different.

Generally speaking, the Ministry of Justice is responsible for trying a case, the Dali Temple is responsible for reviewing it, and the Censorate is responsible for supervising the case throughout the process.

If there is a particularly important case, the three judicial departments will jointly try it.

The Dali Temple and the Censorate were purely civil institutions. If they wanted to mobilize troops, they could only issue written documents and notify other government offices to cooperate.

Because the Ministry of Justice is also responsible for arresting criminals, it has a large number of police officers and soldiers, and can dispatch its own troops.

The incident happened suddenly tonight, and only the Ministry of Justice could send people quickly.

Zhu Yunhuan said coldly: "Tomorrow, the king will report the crime committed by the Duke of Liang to Grandpa Huang, so you three don't need to worry about it."

"It's so late today, and the Ministry of Justice's prison has long passed the lock-up time."

"The Duke of Liang will be detained in this palace for one night. I will report to the Emperor tomorrow and he will make the final decision."

In this era, prisons are locked at night.

In principle, once the prison is locked, no one is allowed to enter or leave.

Unless there are extremely special circumstances, the prison will not be opened at night.

To take in new prisoners, we have to wait until the next day.

Therefore, it is not surprising that people are temporarily locked outside for a night.

However, normally, the criminals would only be locked up in the yamen instead of being taken back to the mansion.

Moreover, the Duke of Liang is such an important person that the Ministry of Justice will definitely make an exception for him and open the cell door at night.

Zhu Yunhuan said this just to muddy the waters.

Faced with the three aggressive judges, he used the tactic of "delaying".

After all, the other party has the legal advantage.

"Your Highness, I think this is inappropriate." Yuan Tai said, "The Duke of Liang is a powerful figure with great military achievements. He also has a significant influence in the Ming army."

"It is against the law to have private relations with the King of Wu's residence."

"Your Highness suddenly arrested the Duke of Liang and did not disclose his crimes. This matter has already caused a great uproar in the city. If Your Highness continues to deal with it in this way, there will be even more rumors."

"Besides, if something unexpected happens, it will be difficult for Your Highness to explain."

"Your Highness, please hand the person over to the Ministry of Justice immediately!"

Yang Jing also bowed and said, "Your Highness, please hand the person over to the Ministry of Justice immediately!"

Zhou Zhiqing continued, "Your Highness, please hand the person over to the Ministry of Justice immediately!"

Zhu Yunhuan's expression changed slightly, and he angrily asked, "What if I insist on not handing over the person?"

"Then I have no choice but to offend Your Highness as it is my duty."

Yuan Tai waved his hand and ordered, "Come, go into the Prince of Wu's mansion and bring out the Duke of Liang, Lan Yu."

The soldiers who came forward immediately swarmed forward.

Zhu Yunhuan immediately stopped them and shouted, "How dare you! I want to see who dares to do this."

I didn't expect that these civil servants are more difficult to deal with than those noble military generals.

Lan Yu could not be handed over to these people under any circumstances.

But the other party kept talking about the laws of the Ming Dynasty, and he couldn't find a legitimate reason to refuse.

Now I can only use my status as a prince to stop him forcibly!
Yuan Tai took two steps forward and bowed respectfully, "The Censorate has the responsibility of supervision. Your Highness, if you arrest Lan Yu without providing evidence of his crime, it is already against the rules. There is absolutely no reason to detain him in your own residence."

"I hope Your Highness will understand and not make things difficult for us!"

Seeing that the other party was still pestering him, Zhu Yunhuan frowned and said, "What if I want to make things difficult for you?"

"I can arrest Duke Liang directly, but I can't arrest you three judges?"

"I am standing right here. If anyone dares to break into the palace today, don't blame me for being ruthless."

He didn't want to be an enemy of the Three Law Enforcement Department, especially at this juncture.

After all, as the highest judicial body in the Ming Dynasty, the Three Courts had a great say in how to convict Lan Yu.

If you can avoid offending others, try your best.

However, if the other party pushes too far, then he cannot be blamed.

As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of Yang Jing, Yuan Tai and Zhou Zhiqing all changed.

at this time.

A sharp and piercing voice suddenly sounded from not far away.

"The imperial edict has arrived!"

(End of this chapter)