Why did the emperor rebel?

Chapter 1170 Chen Shangshu’s strength
As soon as the words came out, all the officials were shocked.

Although, recently, some rumors have spread from the Ministry of Punishment, but at this moment, Jin Lian said it so firmly, it still caused an uproar among many ministers in the palace.

You must know that Jin Lian said this sentence as Minister of the Ministry of Punishment in the current court. As soon as this sentence came out, it could almost be regarded as completely confirming Chen Ying's crime.

All of a sudden, there was a lot of discussion in the hall, and whispers among the officials. Many people immediately looked at Chen Xun who was at the front. He looked as immobile as a mountain, as if what Jin Lian said had nothing to do with him.

Not only that, many other officials who had various relationships with Chen Xun among the six ministries of the imperial court, various monasteries and even Ke Dao, also remained silent.

As a result, some ministers in the palace immediately realized that in this situation, either they had given up struggling, or they were...prepared and confident!

If there is no accident, the latter is more likely. You must know that although Chen Xun has been very low-key in the past few years, in terms of the power of connections in the court, he can be regarded as one of the best among all the important officials. of.

The painstaking efforts in the Hanlin Academy for more than ten years cannot be shaken so easily. Although Gao Gu was defeated at the beginning, his final outcome was just being excluded from the political center, and he was still preserved.

Chen Xun's strength in the court was not as good as at the peak of his heyday, so it would be too much to say that such a case made Chen Xun give up his resistance.

If so, then...

There was a lot of discussion in the hall, and Jin Lian also stopped talking. At the same time, the ceremonial officer who maintained order shouted loudly.

"quiet!"

After a while, the palace reluctantly returned to silence.

Afterwards, Jin Lian spoke again and said.

"In this case, Wang Xuan accused Chen Xun, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, of accepting bribes and interfering in the election of officials under the guise of his son's name. When the imperial court recommended, Chen Ying did not accept bribes."

"According to the results of the interrogation of Liao Ting and Chen Ying, the magistrate of Ji'an, both of them stated in their confessions that this matter was plotted by them in private, and Chen Shangshu did not know about it, but Chen Ying's crime was true. Strict loss."

At this point, Jin Lian has finished talking, Wang Xuan is irrelevant, and the Ministry of Punishment will naturally convict and punish Chen Xun and Chen Ying. Regarding the case, we do not make any suggestions for the final handling opinion, but leave it to the emperor for final decision.

However, the facts of the case presented by the Ministry of Punishment are already very telling. At least the current evidence cannot prove that Chen Xun is involved. No wonder this Chen Shangshu is so calm.

Of course, the investigation of the case by the Ministry of Criminal Justice does not represent the final result. The case was revealed in court, and the test of Chen Xun will only be the beginning, not the end.

During this period of time, this case has been full of turmoil. Chen Xun and his disciples are thinking about how to escape the crime, but those forces in the court are not operating in all directions, wanting to get a share of it Woolen cloth?
You know, above the court, where there is strong, there will be weakness. The greater Chen Xun's power, the higher the right to speak. In contrast, the smaller the power of other ministers, the weaker the right to speak. Now there are Given such a good opportunity to attack Chen Xun, no matter whether it is someone who has a grudge against him, or who gets along with him in peacetime, I am afraid that they will not sit idly by.

The battle between the court and the court is like this...

Of course, the one who made the first move must have had a feud with Chen Xun. As expected, after Jin Lian's voice fell, Zhou Jian immediately came out and came forward to speak.

"Your Majesty, I think this case is still suspicious. Chen Xun, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, is definitely not just teaching children laxly."

"Ji'an is Chen Xun's hometown. Liao Ting was able to take the position of Ji'an magistrate because he has a deep relationship with the Chen family. Chen Ying is just a mere scholar. If Liao Ting didn't care about Chen Xun's face, how could he be willing to be with Chen Xun? He befriended?"

"What's more, no matter whether Liao Ting was recommended before or after Chen Ying accepted the bribe, it cannot be proved that Chen Shangshu did not show favoritism. Since ancient times, those who sold their official positions to win titles have first made money and then become officials, but there is also a saying that they first served as officials and then made money. At that time, Chen Shangshu You are a cabinet minister, can it be said that he promoted Liao Ting, how dare the latter not be grateful and obediently offer money?"

"What's more, bribery is not just about borrowing money. Liao Ting has protected Chen Ying in many illegal things, and it can also be used as a friendship to make Chen Shangshu recommend him for personal gain. I beg your Majesty to be clear and not to be deceived by this person!"

The relationship between the DPRK and China is very complicated, but, on the face of it, the person who has the worst relationship with Chen Xun is Zhou Jizhong.

At the beginning, the two had a grudge because Zhou Jian reported Chen Xun's youngest son Chen Rong's crimes when he was the censor in Jiangxi. The Chen family moved out of Chen Xun at that time, but Zhou Jian ignored it at all and continued Handling it impartially and strictly, the two also became grudges.

Not long after this incident, Zhou Jian was transferred back to the capital as a staff member. It seemed that he was promoted, but in fact, he was trapped in the capital and could not be transferred for several years.

In this case, Wang Xuan is the most conspicuous, but don't forget, Zhou Jian acted at the same time as Wang Xuan!
Because of this, Zhou Jian was also the most dissatisfied with the result of the Ministry of Punishment, and was also the first to stand up and question it.

Following Zhou Jian's appearance, several censors also raised doubts among Ke Dao, and they all felt that it was impossible for Chen Xun to not know what Chen Ying did.

Faced with this situation, Chen Xun still stood there without any argument, or in other words, at this stage, it was not yet time for him to come forward in person.

Although he was involved in this case, but to personally end up arguing with these ordinary censors... I am afraid that only a certain day official has this hobby.

There was no need for Chen Xun to come forward. As the opposition became more and more intense, Ye Sheng took the lead in the matter and said.

"Your Majesty, I think evidence should be used in everything. Chen Shangshu is an important minister of the court and the pillar of the country. How can he presume to convict him?"

"The Ministry of Punishment has come to this conclusion, so it must have been investigated by multiple parties. Now, these adults in the palace have not investigated, but just based on their feelings, they impeached and questioned the results of the Ministry of Punishment, which is unreasonable."

"Your Majesty has made a clear decree for a long time. If the officials hear the rumors, they should be played in secret. If they are impeached in the court, they need to have evidence. Now, these lords have no evidence, but they have conclusively accused an important official of the court. , not only illegal, but also suspected of resisting the order!"

Ye Sheng could not be regarded as Chen Xun's student, but he was a junior with great potential in Qingliu. It was a little surprising that he took the lead this time.

And obviously, this time Ye Sheng also learned the lesson, and he used the emperor's decree as a banner as soon as he came up, which immediately stopped the few officials who were about to make a move.

All of a sudden, many people in the hall began to hesitate. Seeing this situation, the first few important officials glanced at each other, and then Wang Ao, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, stepped forward and said.

"Your Majesty, I think what Lord Ye said is inappropriate. Your Majesty's original intention is to stop the trend of false accusations, not to suppress officials from speaking. Now this case is a court event reported by the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and it is not without reason."

"Since it is a court matter, then the ministers of the court can naturally raise questions. This does not mean that it is against His Majesty's will, but that it is unreasonable and unclear. I believe that Chen Shangshu is also willing to let the ministers express their doubts. Investigate everything to clear up Chen Shangshu’s innocence.”

As soon as this remark came out, Chen Xun who was on the side immediately raised his head, and his eyes fell on Wang Ao, with a bit of obscurity.

Seeing this situation, Zhu Qiyu looked at Chen Xun and asked.

"Chen Shangshu, what do you think?"

Chen Xun withdrew his gaze, stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said.

"Returning to Your Majesty, I did have faults in educating my sons that were not strict enough to cause such a catastrophe. However, I did not know what Chen Ying did. This matter was personally investigated by Jin Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, and Shu Liang, the eunuch of Dongchang, supervised the trial. , if the ministers in the palace have any doubts, they can also raise them, and I wish to prove my innocence."

This result was expected. Wang Ao had already said this. If Chen Xun denied it again, he would definitely be regarded as a guilty conscience.

However, from these words, it can also be heard that Chen Xun is actually dissatisfied in his heart, otherwise, he would not have specifically emphasized that this matter was investigated by Jin Lian himself, and Dongchang supervised the trial. The reason for this is nothing more than to tell everyone that neither of these two people can be influenced by him, so there is no problem with the results of the investigation.

Of course, no matter how dissatisfied in his heart, after all, Chen Xun did not express any objection, so Zhu Qiyu pondered for a while and said.

"Since this is the case, then you may wish to express all the doubts in your mind. If you misunderstand, you can return Chen Shangshu's innocence."

With these words, the minds of all the ministers below suddenly lifted up.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Cheng, a doctor in the household department, spoke out, saying.

"Your Majesty, I think Master Zhou's words are reasonable. How can Chen Ying alone make Liao Ting, who is the magistrate, bow his head and obey his ears? There must be someone behind this."

Since it is a rebuttal, then there is no reason for either side to speak. Again, there is no need for Chen Xun to personally come forward for this kind of matter.

Just as Liu Cheng finished speaking, Lu Qin, the prime minister of Honghe Temple, immediately stood up and said.

"This statement is wrong. Not to mention that Liao Ting is only on good terms with Chen Ying and is not submissive to him. Just based on what Mr. Liu just said, isn't it still conjecture?"

"In the memorandum of the Ministry of Punishment just now, it has been made very clear. Liao Ting has long admitted that he wanted to cling to Chen Shangshu, so he purposely made friends with Chen Ying, and Chen Ying was greedy for money and used his father's name to defraud money. This matter has nothing to do with Chen Shangshu from the beginning to the end."

"Master Liu is so anxious to criticize the important ministers of the court. Can I also say that there must be someone behind you who wants to take this opportunity to bring down Chen Shangshu so that the person who instigated Master Liu can take over?"

Ah this...

There are many young Jinshi who just passed the exam at the beginning of the year and are still watching politics, standing in the last row and looking at each other. Is it really okay to say these words?

Of course it is possible. Many ministers in the court have never been weak in the art of talking.

This Master Lu is one of Chen Xun's disciples. He was a royal censor before. He is notoriously difficult to deal with and dares to speak. With just a few words, he can treat the other person in his own way and directly fight against him. Left speechless.

However, this was not over yet. After Lu Qin finished speaking, Liang Heng, the censor of Henan Province who was also a disciple of Chen Xun, also stood up and said.

"Your Majesty, I think that Master Zhou's words just now, even if viewed as conjectures, are unreasonable."

"Wang Xuan accused Chen Shangshu of recommending Liao Ting as the governor of Ji'an for personal gain. Chen Shangshu has already explained this matter. Even if the time of recommendation is not mentioned, it was earlier than the time when Liao Ting bribed Chen Ying. The position alone is not consistent. "

"There are still documents in the palace that can be checked. When Chen Shangshu recommended Liao Ting, he was not transferred to the magistrate. Nanjing Gao Shangshu can also testify. Chen Shangshu has always admired Liao Ting. The recommendation is not without reason."

"In addition, according to common sense, even if Chen Shangshu acted for selfishness, as a cabinet minister at that time, there must be many people who wanted to follow suit and rush to give money. Why do you need to be like Lord Zhou? Like what you said, what kind of tricks are you playing with Liao Ting to promote first and pay later?"

As soon as these words came out, there was a burst of murmurs in the hall.

I have to say that compared to Lu Qin's aggressiveness, Liang Heng's words were calmer and more reasonable.

At that time, the war was over, everything was in ruins, and people were needed everywhere in the court. Chen Xun was in the cabinet, so there must have been many people who wanted to follow his path. Moreover, Chen Xun was still in charge of the Hanlin Academy at the time, and he had no shortage of capable people. Competent talent.

In other words, even if it was a bribe, it was because Liao Tingshang was rushing to bribe him. Chen Xun was able to accept his money because he looked down on him. How could there be any promotion first and then express it?

After these words, many ministers began to gradually believe in Chen Xun's innocence from their original suspicions.

Seeing this situation, another descendant of Chen Xun's hometown, Qian Shu, the censor of Shaanxi Province, came out, but he spoke directly to Zhou Jian.

"Lord Zhou, I heard that when you inspected the censors of Jiangxi Province, you found out that Chen Shangshu's youngest son had invaded the fields in Taihe County. Is there such a thing?"

Zhou Jian didn't expect that he would suddenly come at him, and he still brought up this matter at this time. You know, it was already a certainty that Chen Ying committed the crime this time. Now, Chen Xun's other son, Chen Rong, was mentioned. Wouldn't it further ruin Chen Xun's reputation?

Is it possible that Qian Shu also wants to bring down Chen Xun?
Although he was confused in his heart, the matter was indeed true. Zhou Jian hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said.

"Indeed..."

Afterwards, Qian Shu continued to ask.

"So, what was the result?"

Zhou Jian was even more puzzled by this question and frowned.

"Naturally, it should be dealt with impartially!"

So, Qian Shu nodded and continued to ask.

"Okay, how dare you ask how old Master Zhou was and how old Chen Shangshu was?"

Speaking of this, Zhou Jian finally changed his expression, as if he had faintly realized something...

(End of this chapter)