Why did the emperor rebel?

Chapter 1172: Solving the Puzzle Part One
Although most of the ministers in the palace now believed in Chen Xun's innocence, except for the people Chen Xun had greeted in advance, they really had nothing to do with each other, but they were still willing to come forward at this time to intercede and take this troubled water. Ministers, after all, cannot be regarded as the majority.

After a while, as a dozen or so ministers knelt down sparsely in the palace, no other ministers came out to plead for Chen Xun.

However, what is surprising is that the emperor sitting at the top looked at this scene but never had any reaction.

Seeing this situation, Chen Xun, who was kneeling down, couldn't help but feel uneasy. Without caring about anything else, Chen Xun quickly raised his head to look at the emperor, but saw that the emperor was looking at him leisurely.

Meeting the emperor's calm eyes, Chen Xun's feeling of uneasiness intensified. He was about to speak, but the emperor's voice fell silent at that moment.

"Where is the military department?"

Ministry of War?

The ministers present were a little confused. Could this be discussing Chen Xun's case?
What happened to the Ministry of War?

However, since the emperor spoke, the Ministry of War naturally had no choice but to respond. Wang Ao immediately moved out of the queue, came to the palace, and stood among a group of kneeling ministers, standing out particularly conspicuously.

"The minister is here."

Then, the emperor's voice sounded again and asked.

"Have there been any military reports from Yu Qian lately?"

Asking this question made everyone even more puzzled. Could it be that this case is still related to Yu Shaobao?
So, they all looked at Wang Ao, only to see that the latter actually took out a secret report from his sleeve and said.

"Your Majesty clearly knows that this is the military report just sent this morning. Because it is stamped with Yu Shaobao's seal, the red feather messenger is not activated. Therefore, I follow the order and plan to secretly send you a message after the morning court is over. Your Majesty, the military report is here, please read it."

This was a bit strange to say, but the minister who was familiar with the procedures of the Ministry of War reacted immediately.

The Hongling Emergency Envoy was not activated, indicating that it was not an urgent military report that needed to be submitted immediately, and Yu Qian's seal was affixed, which meant that this was a secret melody, which should go directly to the imperial court, and no one else had the right to open it.

However, it is still wrong!

If this is an ordinary secret report, then it should be sent to the General Affairs Department rather than to the Ministry of War. If this is a military report, then why is it submitted in the form of a secret report? ?
You must know that military newspapers are generally related to the military situation on the front line, so whether it is a victory report or other news, what is needed is a fast word, so generally speaking, the chief officer of the Ministry of War has the right to predict.

Even if it was such a big thing as the civil war, when the military report arrived at the Ministry of War, Yu Qian, the assistant minister who stayed behind at the time, opened it and read it, then knocked on the que and submitted it late at night.

Now Yu Qian sent back a military report, but it was in the form of a secret report. This was really the first time, but he didn't know what was written in this secret military report.

However, looking at the appearance of the emperor, it seems that he has known about this military newspaper for a long time...

The ministers below had different thoughts, but their eyes were fixed on the military report. The chamberlain walked down the imperial steps, and the general took the report and quickly returned to the imperial palace and placed it on the imperial case in front of the emperor. Zhu Qiyu did not After hesitating, he raised his hand and opened the wax seal on it, glanced at it briefly, then nodded, passed the general report to Wynn next to him, and gave an order.

"read……"

So General Wynn took the report respectfully, glanced at it, and planned to speak.

To be honest, the current scene is really weird and can't be any weirder. As one of the seven ministers, Chen Xun, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, led a large group of people to kneel on the ground, waiting for a high-profile case to be finally heard. The final word, the perfect ending.

As a result, at this moment, the emperor did not deal with the case. Instead, he began to let people read a military newspaper from the Japanese army that was thousands of miles away.

This scene is simply so weird...

However, strange things were still to come. Wynn adjusted his voice and quickly read out the contents of the general's report. However, this first sentence surprised the officials in the palace.

"Prince Shaobao Taishi Youdu Censor Admiral Yu Qian, the military minister who conquered Japan, the right governor led the Japanese general Yinchen Zhang Xiang, and the crown prince Taibao Youdu Yushi Governor Zhu Jian jointly signed the performance..."

As soon as the words fell, there was a sudden burst of surprise and low discussion below.

It is not surprising that Yu Qian and Zhang Xi jointly submitted the memorial. One of them is the admiral and the other is the general who conquered Japan. In military affairs, it is appropriate to jointly sign.

But what does this have to do with Zhu Jian?

While most of the ministers were still confused, some ministers seemed to have remembered something when they heard the three people's joint names, and their expressions changed a little.

As expected, what followed made the ministers in the palace feel that their outlook on life had been baptized.

"...Your Majesty, Yu Qian, received your Majesty's decree on the third day of October and was ordered to assist Fujian Governor Zhu Jian in investigating the case of collusion between officials at all levels in Fujian and sheltering Japanese pirates. The results have been obtained, and I will report this to His Majesty."

Although it is said to be jointly signed by three people, it is obviously said that Yu Qian is the main author.

After these few words, many people in the palace were still confused, but the ministers in the cabinet couldn't help but looked at each other, a little at a loss.

Will?What purpose?
You know, logically speaking, unless it is a particularly urgent matter, otherwise, the decree issued by the court, even if it is a secret decree, must be drafted by the cabinet, and then the corresponding six departments will stamp the matter and issue it. hair.

Even in a very urgent situation, the cabinet process is basically unavoidable, but why do these cabinet ministers never have any impression of this decree?

Could it be said that it was written by the emperor himself and directly issued the decree?
But the problem is, Yu Qian is far away in Fujian, if he suddenly receives a decree that is only stamped with a seal, but has neither the signature of the cabinet minister nor the seal of the six departments, how can he determine the authenticity of the decree? ?

Judging from the huge amount of information revealed in just a few sentences, this is obviously a major case. Under such circumstances, how could Yu Qian believe it so easily.

The correct procedure is to temporarily detain the person who delivered the edict, retain the edict, and then send three or more messengers to Beijing overnight to verify it.However, judging from this memorial, Yu Qian had obviously followed the imperial edict, which made many cabinet ministers unable to figure it out anyway.

Several cabinet ministers looked at each other with blank eyes, and they all had the look of "Don't look at me, I don't know either." Of course, if you look carefully, you will find that on the face of a certain Yu Cifu, I feel a little guilty for no reason...

Of course, no one in the court cared much about this little detail.

Everyone was shocked by the huge amount of information contained in this sentence. In this sentence just now, there are two key words, one is to protect Japanese pirates, and the other is officials at all levels.

The former is shocking enough, but the latter means that there are definitely a lot of officials involved in the case. Otherwise, it would be impossible to use the term "all levels."

Not surprisingly, Wynn continued to speak and listed a long list of names.

"... Nan'an County Magistrate Ni Youze, County Chancellor Luo Lihua, Hui'an County Promotion Officer Fan Huajin, County Chancellor Ye Xiang... Ningyang County... Changtai County... Longxi County..."

Such a long list of names is frightening to hear. A rough calculation shows that there are nearly [-] counties involved, most of which are county magistrates, officials and county magistrates, and some counties , almost all officials are involved.

There were thirty or forty of these names. Even if I were to recite them, I would have to recite them for nearly a cup of tea before I stopped.

However, just when they all thought the matter was over, Wynn took a breath and continued to speak.

"All the above-mentioned officials directly colluded with the gentry to provide protection for Japanese pirates. In addition, there were also officials who accepted bribes and paid murderers. Local officials who were found to have colluded with Japanese pirates and wanted to report to the imperial court were all demoted. It’s a frame-up, and what you say is not up to the ears of Heaven.”

"... Jia Yunren, the prefect of Quanzhou Prefecture, Zhang Yi, the official, and You Weikang, the clerk... Tian Yuanyin, the prefect of Zhangzhou Prefecture, Du Qianzai, the prime minister of the Prefecture... Tingzhou Prefecture... Yanping Prefecture..."

As the names were spoken one by one, all the officials in the court became a little numb.

It is too strange to say that this year's situation is too strange. One big case after another constantly refreshes their knowledge. Whenever they feel that the current case is likely to be the biggest case in Jingtai Dynasty. , there will always be new and bigger cases popping up.

Among other things, as far as the officials who have been read out now, at least half of the officials in the entire Fujian officialdom have been involved in the incident.

Moreover, this is only disclosed. You must know that those who can be written in this kind of memorial must have found evidence or are directly involved in it. Perhaps the entire officialdom in Fujian is almost in ruins.

As a result, when Wynn continued to read and officials began to appear one by one who admitted to the Provincial Envoys Department, the Provincial Envoys Department, the Punishing and Prosecution Department, and even the Capital Command and Envoys Department, the elders were able to calm down.

In the entire Fujian officialdom, since so many officials were involved in this big dye vat, then the local three divisions must not be able to escape their involvement, and it is not incomprehensible that they are even directly involved.

But even so, when they heard the next sentence, they couldn't help but be shocked...

"... Jia Xiuping, the governor of Zuo, colluded with the Liu family, killed the people, smuggled arms, and protected Japanese pirates. After being discovered by Fujian Governor Zhu Jian, he went crazy and forged military orders and mobilized 1000 officers and soldiers from the capital to besiege the governor's office. , intending to burn the evidence, I follow the imperial edict and order Yang Jun, the left deputy general, to lead three thousand elite soldiers to help Master Zhu Jian protect the governor's Yamen."

"Now the matter has been put down by Yang Jun and his troops. Jia Xiuping set himself on fire and died. The officers and soldiers transferred were placed under guard on the spot. The officials involved were detained first. I, in accordance with the rules, together with the governor Zhu Jian and the guarding eunuch Yu Jing, We jointly take over the defense of the Capital Command and Envoy, and please Your Majesty to send capable ministers to take charge of the overall situation as soon as possible. The remaining officials involved in the case have been detained pending trial..."

Many ministers in the court knew about Jia Xiuping. The former governor of Fujian was later demoted to the rank of envoy to the left because of poor political performance during the grand plan.

It should be said that he was also involved. Although it was surprising, it was also reasonable. What was shocking was that after the incident failed, Mr. Jia dared to forge military orders frantically and mobilize the garrisoned officers and troops to besiege the governor's office. You know, this is a serious crime of ransacking your family and exterminating your family!
Is this Jia Xiuping crazy?

The ministers below were talking a lot, but they didn't realize that Huai'en had already stopped talking on the imperial steps. The format of the memorial was clear to all the officials in the court, and they obviously hadn't finished reading it yet.

However, the ministers were waiting for a long time, but there was nothing to say about Wynn. So, many people raised their heads, only to see that at some point, Wynn had stepped aside, and the memorial that was in Wynn's hand just now was now It has also reached the hands of the emperor.

However, looking at the emperor's expression, he was not surprised by this incident. He had obviously expected it. After the place gradually became quiet, the emperor finally spoke and said.

"This matter has a lot to do with it. From the governor's yamen down in Fujian, the chief envoys, the criminal envoys, and even the command envoys, all the prefectures and counties have officials involved in the case. Such corruption is shocking. People of this generation Living above the temple, how can the country and the country not be in chaos?"

"Japanese pirates have been suppressed many times along the coast, but it turns out that the real Japanese pirates are not at sea, but in my court of the Ming Dynasty!"

These last few words, with hidden anger, rang in everyone's ears like thunder.

Seeing this situation, except for some important officials in the court, all the ministers in the palace fell to their knees and shouted repeatedly.

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

As a result, everyone in the first hall knelt down, but it seemed that the few people who were kneeling were not so conspicuous.

After a while, the emperor's voice fell a little cold and said.

"Such a major case occurred in Fujian's officialdom. The officials did not investigate the plan, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate did not report it. It is really a negligence in their duties."

"Wang Wen, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was fined half a year, and his salary was reduced by half. Chen Yi, the censor of Zuodu, was fined one year. Wang Hong, the censor of the deputy capital, was demoted by half a grade. The censors were inspected by Fujian Dao and all were released from the capital. Downgraded to one level, the Ministry of Punishment will immediately join forces with Fujian Governor Zhu Jian to strictly investigate whether any patrol censors have participated in it over the years and are guilty of accepting bribes for protection. Once found, report it directly to the emperor!"

At this time, naturally one cannot say more than one word, otherwise, one may not know whose head the Emperor's anger will be directed at.

However, if such a major incident occurs, punishment is certain. With the Fujian officialdom colluding like this, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, which is responsible for supervising all officials, must bear the primary responsibility, and the second is of course improper selection of the Ministry of Personnel.

From this point of view, the emperor did not let the officials and the bosses of the Metropolitan Procuratorate go to the imperial prison, which was considered a mercy.

Therefore, everyone whose name was called, including Wang Hong, kowtowed obediently and thanked him. Although it was a bit unfair to Wang Hong, it was like this in the court. Who asked the General Secretary of the Metropolitan Procuratorate to report that he was sick at home? Now Wang Hong is in charge, and he can only blame himself for being unlucky...

(End of this chapter)