The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 185

Zhang Zhou has not yet passed the Jinshi examination, but he is going to the court for the first time.

He didn't feel honored either.

Because he went to Fengtian Temple that day, not to attend or discuss state affairs, but as a "criminal suspect", he went to Fengtian Temple for court debate to clear himself of suspicion.

Xiao Jing was in charge of leading Zhang Zhou into the palace. On the way, he mentioned to Zhang Zhou that the emperor specially summoned Liu Jian, Xie Qian and Xu Qiong last night. Even if this matter is in the past, Zhang Zhou can completely have nothing to do with the case.

"Eunuch Xiao, if I say that, will those ministers really let me go?"

There was no discomfort between Zhang Zhou's speech, but a little expectation.

This is what Xiao Jing did not expect.

Ordinary people would feel stage fright when they thought about going to the court, meeting the emperor, or going to the court to debate, and being interrogated by many people, but this... seems to be afraid that the matter is too small, and there is no stage for him to perform, and he will not be decent enough.

After all, Xiao Jing is also a human being, and he saw that Zhang Zhou might want to find trouble, so he quickly reminded: "Enough is enough, His Majesty is in charge, Mr. Liu Ge and the others will speak for you, and there will be no trouble at that time."

Zhang Zhou nodded: "Your Majesty is really caring. I'm afraid that things won't go as planned, so it's better to be prepared."

"what to prepare?"

Xiao Jing asked with wide eyes.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Naturally, I need to prepare more reasons to excuse myself. Ever since I entered Beijing, I expected such a day to come, but I didn't expect it to come!"

……

……

Fengtian Temple.

All the ministers have filed into the hall to wait, and the civil servants and Wu Xun are separated from each other.

As for the entrance of Fengtian Hall, there were three people standing. Besides Zhang Zhou and Hua Chang, the two parties involved in the impeachment incident, there was another... Zhang Yanling who had just come out of Beizhen Fusi.

The emperor asked him to go to Piantouguan as a general on the same day. Before he left, he came to listen to the hadith as usual, but as a "sinful minister", he could not directly enter the class of ministers, he could only wait outside .

"Humph!"

Zhang Yanling came earlier than Zhang Zhou.

It was also because he was pulled out of the cell before dawn, and it was not the time he chose to enter the palace.

When he saw Zhang Zhoulai, he snorted coldly.

Probably because he looked down on Zhang Zhou a little bit.

As for who is standing on the other side... Zhang Yanling didn't want to know and didn't bother to ask.

……

"Xuanjian Changbo, Hua Chang, and Zhang Zhou enter the palace!"

Inside, the court meeting has just begun.

After the minister finished his salute, he was about to summon the three people outside.

The three entered Fengtian Hall side by side.

In the spacious Golden Luan Hall, the emperor is high above the ground, and the ministers are dressed in official uniforms and stand on both sides, giving people a very solemn and solemn feeling.

The Forbidden City, Zhang Zhou has entered, the furnishings are quite different, mainly because it has been remodeled later.

Others are cautious, but Zhang Zhou came to experience history and humanities in person.

"I see you, Your Majesty."

The three saluted.

When Zhu Youtang saw Zhang Zhoulai, his expression settled down.

"The three nobles don't need to be too polite!"

Zhu Youtang said, "Uncle Jianchang, in the past few years, treacherous people in the local area have plundered people's wealth in your name, and they are the one party to the chaos. Although it cannot be proved that this matter was caused by you, it is difficult for you to get rid of it. I ordered you to arrive at Biantouguan within ten days, and as a general, assist Wang Yue, who is in charge of the military affairs, to resist the invasion of Diyi. I will give you an hour to go home and pack up, let's go!"

As he spoke, Zhu Youtang gestured to Dai Yi who was beside him: "Give him the order!"

The implication is that you come to see me today, and then you can get out!
"One hour, ten days... Your Majesty..."

Of course Zhang Yanling wanted to fight.

He still wants to defend himself, so why should he say that I have something to do with those troublemakers in the local area?Is there any evidence?Bring out the witnesses and evidence!I have been so useless for so many days, I want an explanation!

Zhu Youtang said with an angry look on his face: "If you don't leave again, you will be relieved of your military post, and I will let you take up your sword and go to the city to become a soldier!"

Zhang Yanling originally wanted to say that it is a thousand miles from the capital to Piantouguan, let me arrive in ten days...won't I be exhausted?

But being threatened by his brother-in-law...

He could only leave in despair.

……

The first matter of the court meeting was passed smoothly like this.

Afterwards, it seemed that he was not going to talk about Hua Chang's participation in the impeachment case. After Hua Chang saluted, he was listed after the civil servants of the Eastern Class. After all, he was a minister, and there was always room for him to stand.

But Zhang Zhou was more embarrassed.

He has no official position, no title, just a tribute student and a suspect, no matter how you look at it, there is no place for him in the court.

But it was Zhang Mao, the British prince who was the leader of the Spanish martial arts. He turned to look at him with a smile, and made room to the side.

It means, come here, Bingkuan, let's stand together.

Compared with Wenchen's indifference to Zhang Zhou, Wu Xun was very polite when he saw Zhang Zhou, so he almost nodded and bowed to Zhang Zhou to introduce himself.

It seemed that they also welcomed Zhang Zhou to stand with them.

And Zhang Zhou continued to smile, he didn't go either way, he just stood in the middle... That feeling of being watched by the audience is quite good.

Anyway, I came to the court to argue, and I will stand where the emperor tells me to stand. If I stand according to your guidelines, someone will definitely say that I don't understand the rules.

But even so...

The civil servants all looked at Zhang Zhou with mockery, as if they really regarded Zhang Zhou as a humble citizen who didn't know etiquette.

……

Seeing this posture, Zhu Youtang didn't talk about anything else.

With a wave of his hand, he sent Xu Jing, the Minister of the Household Department, who had already left the class of ministers, to go back.

"Gentlemen, yesterday, the accountant of the household department, Zhonghua Chang, impeached Cheng Minzheng, the chief examiner of the imperial examination, to ask questions in advance, and there were candidates Zhang Zhou, Tang Yin, Xu Jing and others who might be involved in the examination. Among them, today I called Gongsheng Zhang Zhou to confront Hua Chang face to face."

When the emperor said this, Hua Chang quickly walked out of the class of ministers again, and said, "Your Majesty, I have evidence of Cheng Minzheng's questioning."

"Bring it up!"

Zhu Youtang is also welcome, you have evidence, right?take it!
Hua Chang hurriedly changed his words: "There are witnesses."

This almost panting statement, even civil servants, many people are frowning.

It’s not shameful to say that it’s just rumors, but if you insist that you have evidence, the emperor wants it from you, but you say it’s a witness, and you know your feelings, even if you go to find someone right away, you won’t be able to come back for a while.

So you want to express that the words "reported" from your mouth are tantamount to witness testimony?

At this moment, Bai Ang, Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, came out and said, "Who are the witnesses, but they have listed their confessions and signed them? Let them be handed over to the Judiciary, and they will make a decision together."

Hua Chang said: "Not yet, but it can be added at any time. Please also issue an order from His Majesty to imprison all those involved in the case and hold them accountable in court. Everything will be clear."

There was no evidence, but even civil servants probably knew that Hua Chang's news was based on hearsay.

Although from a legal point of view, rumors and rumors are not faults, but when it comes to such a big matter as the Ministry of Rites will examine the question, without going through the details to prove it, they rashly played it, turning the rumors from the outside world into a big case , this approach is a bit too much.

At least the civil servants felt that Hua Chang was too impatient.

Zhu Youtang said: "If you have no evidence of crime, there is no reason to imprison the person you impeached. Your so-called witness testimony can be supplemented later. You can list the list together. Let Dongchang go to capture him and discuss the matter face to face in the court."

As soon as the emperor's words came out, Hua Chang was also a little confused.

Is the emperor so serious?

Isn't it rumored that there is a problem outside?I just sorted out the rumors outside and reported it. According to the logic, shouldn't everyone be imprisoned, interrogated severely and then give an explanation to the world?
What do you mean if you have to drag him to the court for a face-to-face confrontation?

"Return to Your Majesty... I... I can't remember who they are at the moment. I have to go back and check again... But the scholars in the capital have already talked about this. If you continue to spread it, I'm afraid it will cause a commotion among the scholars, and it will be broken." Rules and regulations!"

Under Hua Chang's embarrassment, he continued to argue for himself.

Not only do I have no witnesses to testify, I don’t even know who the witnesses are. I only speak the truth, and people outside are talking about it.

At this time, Hua Chang was already sweating profusely.

Zhang Zhou was standing beside him, laughing in his heart.

Before I even opened my mouth, you, Hua Chang, are already in such a mess. You probably don't know where you are wrong... If you only report Cheng Minzheng, Tang Yin and Xu Jing, the emperor probably sent Jin Yiwei to arrest them by now, but you Fortunately, if you have to add me, you probably don't know who can be messed with and who can't, right?
Zhu Youtang's face was calm, and he said calmly: "Just because of a few comments from folk scholars, you openly reported a Hanlin bachelor and three candidates in the imperial examination, and criticized the fact that there is a problem with the great event of Chunwei's promotion of talents. The disadvantages, but also use it as evidence in court to close the case? Do you know how much is involved behind this?"

Hua Chang knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, I have a sincere heart, and the sun and the moon can learn from each other!"

No longer mentioning the evidence, only talking about his loyalty, but also emphasizing that this is his duty.

"Dongchang!" Zhu Youtang shouted.

"Here!" Xiao Jing has long disliked Hua Chang, there is no way, who let Hua Chang provoke Zhang Zhou?

People who are highly valued by the emperor, if you dare to participate in the impeachment without evidence, you are looking for your own death.

Entering the Imperial Prison will not make you feel good.

Zhu Youtang said: "Take him down and send him to Fusi in Beizhen, and ask if there is any reason..."

Before Zhu Youtang could finish speaking, Zuodu Censor Min Gui hurried out and said, "Your Majesty, no! Please think again."

Many civil servants also realized that the emperor's actions meant to intensify the conflict between the imperial court and the civilian scholars. Instead of arresting suspects, arrest whistleblowers?close
Didn't check, just leaned to one side like this, what do those scholars who are making trouble outside think?
Zhu Youtang glared at Min Gui and said, "Min Qing's family, do you have an opinion?"

Min Yu said: "Your Majesty, the issue of the issue has been going on for a long time. If it was all based on speculation, it would definitely not cause such an uproar. If the Hu Ke was questioned by the official Zhonghua Chang without verification, it would definitely trigger more scholars. In order to make widespread false comments, please Your Majesty put the overall situation first and give the scholars an explanation!"

Zhu Youtang almost gritted his teeth and said, "If you are only afraid of the scholars' false opinions, you must conduct a thorough investigation based on what they discussed, and hand over the courtiers who made their false opinions to justice, what prestige does the imperial court have? How can the imperial court rely on the Chunwei Examination when it seeks talents and appointments?"

"Gentlemen, don't you hope that future important court affairs will be coerced by scholars' arguments, and everything will be led by the nose?"

(End of this chapter)