unclear

Chapter 499 Good intentions
Does the emperor need ironclad evidence? How should I put it, no need. With the power and ability that he currently controls, he can demote courtiers for any reason without asking for any evidence, or even pull him out and kill him. There are definitely people who are dissatisfied, but no one can stop it.

But political struggles also have rules. No matter how dirty tricks are used in private, they must be reasonable and legal on the surface. It is best not to break the rules unless it is absolutely necessary.

As for what the truth is, it doesn’t matter at all. What matters is how many people can believe it. If you believe it, the truth is also false; if no one believes it, the truth is also false.

If you have the ability to stab someone to death without being punished by law, should you go in and stab someone to death if you get in trouble? Obviously not. If you can convince or frighten the other party, as long as the trouble is solved, the cost will be much smaller than stabbing someone to death.

"This man's name is Zhou Dongyang, from Taizhou. Although I am from Zhejiang, I have never met him before, and I have never heard of him." Who is the deceased and where is he from? Now I am afraid that thousands of people know it. Xu Honggang didn't show any pretense and admitted it openly.

"You really don't know me?" the emperor asked again in a more serious tone.

"Reporting to your Majesty, I really don't know Zhou Dongyang!" Xu Honggang was a little flustered, but he felt that there was no loophole, so he gritted his teeth and denied it again.

"Humph, that's strange. Someone reported to me that a man named Zhou was caught in Xianghe County three days ago, claiming to be your master. According to him, Zhou Dongyang is his son and nephew. He came to Beijing to take the exam this time. To avoid suspicion, he did not live in the mansion, but found an inn.

On the second day after Zhou Dongyang arrived in Beijing, he went into the house to meet you under the guidance of his uncle. Not only did they formally introduce each other, but they also taught you homework.

Coincidentally, after the brawler was sent to the prison of the Ministry of Justice, you went to examine the body that day. Then Master Zhou and his wife hurried out of the city early in the morning, lying to the city guard that they went to Tongzhou to purchase.

The people did arrive in Tongzhou, but they did not buy anything. Instead, they boarded a canal boat heading south. The boatman said that Master Zhou and his wife were going to Yiwu with the boat and had paid double the fare, so they could leave quickly.

Master Zhou and his wife are now under custody in the army camp. The Royal Horse Supervisor has sent people to go south by sea to Zhejiang to look for Zhou Dongyang's parents and come to Beijing to identify their son's body and meet Master Zhou on the way. How should I impeach Xu Qingtian, the imperial censor of Zuodu, and convict him for his deception? "

Seeing Xu Honggang's iron-faced attitude of refusing to admit it, Hong Tao could only tear up his face and tell the truth. This is not the best choice. Although it can reveal the evil intentions of important officials in the court, it also reveals the fact that the emperor sent people to monitor his officials, which is of no benefit in establishing basic trust between each other.

Of course, it is not the worst case scenario. If the Haikou Division had not done a good job, from discovering Zhou and his wife leaving the house to following them out of the city, and then suddenly boarding the ship in Tongzhou, they immediately realized that there was a problem and contacted the local Jinyi guards in time to intercept and interrogate. Who would One can also imagine that the deceased Juzi was involved with Zuodu Yushi.

With this conclusive evidence, there is no need to arrest relevant people in large numbers, and the case can be turned into a solid case by going through the sieve in the Jinyiwei Prison one by one. It not only left the courtiers speechless, but also made the officials convinced, and avoided the subsequent public opinion war that might not be able to tell the winner or the right from wrong.

"Xu Honggang, you really know Zhou Dongyang!" After listening to the emperor's story, the first person to react was not the person involved, Xu Honggang, but Shen Yingwen, the Minister of Punishment. The reason why they imprisoned Guangdong and Fujian people and insisted that they were the murderers was that they were bewitched by Xu Honggang and felt that Zhou Dongyang's death was a God-given opportunity. If we can seize the opportunity to make a fuss about it, we can not directly defeat the emperor's New Deal, but we can also dampen its spirit and prevent it from spreading to Zhejiang and even the whole country.

It turned out that after a long time of planning and planning, all the like-minded colleagues who could help were mobilized, and dozens of people were involved, in the end it turned out to be a scam. How embarrassing!

"Whether I know Zhou Dongyang or not has nothing to do with the fact that I was killed. I have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. I will let your majesty handle it and die without regrets. However, it is natural law to kill someone to pay for life. I sincerely ask your majesty to take away his fame and name and hand it over to the three justice departments for discussion!"

Faced with the emperor's aggressiveness and the angry looks of his colleagues, Xu Honggang did not back down. Now that the matter has come to this, it is not wise to shrink back and beg for mercy. The best way to escape is to do the opposite. Attacking them will lead to rescue, forcing the emperor not to publicly protect those officials and making the matter bigger, so that he can save his life and family.

In fact, this trick was not learned from outsiders. It all relied on the emperor's personal actions and words and deeds. Interest exchange, as long as the price is right, there is nothing in the world that cannot be exchanged.

"I think this is the case. There is a reason why Xu Yushi deceived the emperor. He also needs to be found out when he got into a fight and injured someone to death. I personally requested to handle this case and give an explanation to the whole world and to Your Majesty."

Seeing that the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment confessed his crime, the Censor of Zuodu could not protect himself, and the minister of Dali Temple could not sit still. He still doesn't fully understand where this thing started and where it's going. But one thing became clear. The emperor was taking advantage of the situation again and used the Juzi murder case to attack the opposition forces in the DPRK.

If the emperor succeeds again, another group of officials who oppose the New Deal will disappear from the court, and the imperial power will be raised to a new level, a height that no one can contend with. At this time, except for the staunch royalists, no one wants to see this scene become a reality, so they have to help no matter whether there is danger or not.

"Explain? As the minister of Dali Temple, he made false statements without even understanding the facts of the case. Could it be that personal grievances are heavier than the court's laws! Why did Zhou Dongyang die? Was he killed by his son? Is it still necessary at this time? Trial?
Have you ever thought about it, if you just keep silent to avoid suspicion, why is it necessary to send the only person in the whole house who knows Zhou Dongyang back to his hometown? He also specifically told him to find Zhou Dongyang's parents immediately after returning home and move his family to Jiangxi immediately.

By the way, Ji'an Prefecture in Jiangxi Province is the ancestral home of Xu Yushi's mother. Am I right? Xu Honggang, Lord Xu? So what are you trying to hide? Is it possible that Zhou Dongyang has a hidden disease, such as epilepsy? "

To say that the chain plan laid out by Xu Honggang is indeed quite clever, the key point is not the design, but the inspiration. He didn't have much idea at first. At most, he wanted to compete with the emperor for the position of proctor at the imperial meeting.

But when Zhou Dongyang died in Jieyun Tower, the accompanying scholar returned home to report. On the way to the Ministry of Punishment, he suddenly had a whim and planned to use this incident as a trigger to set off a wave of opposition to the New Deal in scholars and the public.

(End of this chapter)