I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 197 The mastermind behind the scenes (third change)

Everyone was extremely ashamed when Zhu Youxiao said that scholar-bureaucrats in the Ming Dynasty were not as unlimited as in the Qing Dynasty. They still had a strong sense of moral responsibility and literary character.

For example, although Donglin, Zhejiang Party and others did not agree with each other's political views, they still felt that everything they did was to revitalize the government.

Today, the emperor repeatedly reprimanded them, which made them feel ashamed.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty of failing to reorganize the government, which has led to constant criticism. As the chief minister of the cabinet, I cannot absolve myself of the blame. Please punish me."

Liu Yishen did not expect that the emperor would be so angry, but in this situation, as the chief minister of the cabinet, he must stand up and take responsibility.

But Zhu Youxiao waved his hand after hearing what he said.

"You did a good job, Liu Yishen. At least during this period, you tried your best to implement the New Deal and support the Liaodong war. This time, you also sided with the imperial court and supported Bi Ziyan. I think they are the ones who are guilty!"

After speaking, he pointed to Ye Xianggao, Han Xu, Sun Ruyou and others to support the removal of Bi Ziyan and others.

"Look at these people, who is not gray on the temples, who is not the pillar of the imperial court. But I see them dead, my heart is broken. My ancestors handed over the country into my hands, but they ended up like this. I feel very sad that these people have to push back and refuse to collect tax arrears."

"I would like to thank you now. Now it is becoming clearer and clearer to me that the trouble that worries Ming Dynasty is not outside, but in the court. It is in the Wenhua Palace! These people are criticizing them all day long and want the court to leave them alone. , so that they can be among the ministers who act recklessly."

"It's rotten, it's all rotten. If half of our Wenhua Palace is rotten, then the Ming Dynasty will be rotten! If you are all rotten, all parts of the Ming Dynasty will rise up, and Jianlu and Mongolia will also invade. , we will all die without a burial place! I have chosen a place, and the crooked-neck tree on Long Live Mountain is just right. When the Ming Dynasty dies, I will hang myself on it."

"When the time comes, I will be watching you from behind the palace every day to see if you 'loyal ministers' will be buried with the Ming Dynasty."

The more Zhu Youxiao said this, the more excited he became, angrily scolding the ministers.

The faces of the courtiers below were full of shame, especially those who had just pressed the palace to demand Bi Ziyan's dismissal. They were even more ashamed.

Originally they were criticizing the emperor from the moral high ground, but now they were criticizing them from the moral high ground. They were unable to refute, especially when Zhu Youxiao said he was impatient and said that he would hang himself when the time came. .This is clearly saying that they are rebellious ministers. If this word spreads, their reputation will be completely ruined.

"Your Majesty, I made a mistake. I was confused and did not take the overall interests of the court into consideration. Please punish me."

Ye Xianggao was the first to kneel down and kowtowed repeatedly to beg Zhu Youxiao to calm down. The same was true for Han Xu and others behind him.

"Please calm down your majesty. I will punish the ministers and others. Please calm down your majesty."

"It's because of your majesty's hard work that I don't have the strength to do it. I really deserve to die for my crime."

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Zhu Youxiao looked at these people and sneered in his heart. Can he just kneel down and beg for mercy?He didn't say anything, just watched the performance quietly.

At this moment, Shen Guan, who was also kneeling below, saw that the emperor was so angry and knew that the opportunity had come.

He originally agreed with Ye Xianggao to write a letter together, requesting Bi Ziyan to be dismissed.But in the end, he suddenly changed his mind because he knew a secret of Ye Xianggao, which allowed him to see an excellent opportunity to divide and attack the Donglin Party.

Unexpectedly, Wang Yingjiao launched an attack and blew up the story about Bi Ziyan, making the emperor furious. Now that he had cursed Ye Xianggao and others, it was the perfect opportunity to expose the matter.

"Your Majesty, there are constant criticisms due to Bi Ziyan's affairs. In fact, it is not Bi Ziyan's problem, but someone is secretly instigating it. There is a traitor in the court, and I know who is secretly driving it."

Shen Guan also took the risk. Although the political risk of exposing the matter was high, there was no better opportunity than this.

Such a sentence suddenly appeared in the midst of everyone's confession, and it was said by Shen Guan, the assistant minister of the cabinet, which made Zhu Youxiao instantly interested.He originally thought that Liu Yishen would be the first to attack, but he didn't expect that it would be Shen Guan.

"Shen Guan, you are an assistant minister of the cabinet. You know the risks of rashly criticizing the ministers of the court."

"Your Majesty, if I say this, there must be solid evidence."

Seeing the emperor's question, Shen Guan insisted that he had conclusive evidence, which made Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction. The ministers in the Cultural Palace also looked at Shen Guan, but Bi Ziyan looked at him with indignation and doubt. The self-sufficient group showed joy, knowing that a good show was coming.

Unexpectedly, Shen Guan was going to expose the so-called mastermind now. Shen Guan was an assistant minister in the cabinet, so the person he was exposing must also be a member of the cabinet. Then he looked at Liu Yishen and Ye Xianggao, wondering who it was.

"Then tell me, who is secretly instigating this?" "Your Majesty, Ye Xianggao, a great scholar of the Zhongji Palace, and an assistant minister in the cabinet, joined forces with Han Xu, a great scholar of the Dongge Palace, to usurp power. First, they instigated Feng Congwu and asked him to send a spokesman to the Meridian Gate. Before that, he impeached Xiong Tingbi, criticized the cabinet minister Liu Yishui, and tried to replace him.

After the matter failed, because of his secret relationship with Li Sancai, he accepted a bribe of 10 taels from Li Sancai, and Han Xu received a bribe of 5 taels of silver.Therefore, he secretly wrote a letter to his ministers, requesting that Bi Ziyan be impeached together, and promised that as long as Bi Ziyan resigned, Nan Zhili would be exempted from the debt, and Li Sancai would be exempted from the death penalty. "

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the palace. Unexpectedly, it was Ye Xianggao and Han Xu. Ye Xianggao had been independent for five years and his position was deeply entrenched. Shen Guan was really willing to risk his impeachment like this.

"That's nonsense. This Li Sancai did send someone to find me and offered me a bribe, but I didn't accept it at all. Your Majesty, please take a closer look!"

Ye Xianggao became anxious immediately after hearing this. He had indeed tried to persuade Feng Congwu, but there was no such thing as bribery. He only helped Li Sancai because of his relationship with him. Shen Guan was talking nonsense.

"That is indeed the case. Your Majesty, please be aware that this matter of inciting officials to be impeached and accept bribes is completely nonsense."

At this time, Han Xu also stood up and scolded Shen Guan, saying that he was talking nonsense.

But since Shen Guan said it, he would naturally not be afraid of what they said, because he already had evidence.

"Haha, just ask the housekeeper if this is the case. Your Majesty, Ye Xianggao encouraged Feng Congwu to criticize Xiong Tingbi and Liu Yishen. At that time, the matter was caught by the Engineering Department and was reported to Zhong Hui Shiyang and Shandong Road Censor Gu Zhen. I'm sorry, it's all Ye Xianggao's instigation. Your Majesty, this is a confession, please read it."

After Shen Guan finished speaking, he took out a question book from his sleeves, raised it with both hands and raised it above his head. Wei Zhongxian stepped forward to take it and handed it to Zhu Youxiao.

"Especially after the two men were dismissed and investigated, Ye Xianggao secretly sent 2 taels of silver to each of their homes. As for Li Sancai's bribery, I also sent someone to arrest the housekeeper and interrogate him, and the confessions were consistent. Write it down in the title book, and please ask Your Majesty to carefully review it."

At this time, the entire court was in a strange and terrifying silence. They were all staring at the question book in Zhu Youxiao's hand. They all knew in their hearts that the content inside would directly affect the direction of the center of the entire court.

Zhu Youxiao opened the question book and found that the content inside was almost the same as what Shen Guan said. There were also confessions signed by Hui Shiyang and others.

But he was very surprised. He asked Wei Zhongxian to interrogate Yan Guan. He had never read the report, so why did he end up here with Shen Guan.Besides, how could a cabinet minister be brought in for interrogation? Someone must have helped him.

Thinking of this, he glanced at Wei Zhongxian beside him, and he had already guessed it, but now was not the time to worry about it.

"The words in this question book are almost the same as what Shen Guan said, but whether it is true or not, I cannot accept one side of the story and will send people to continue investigating."

When Ye Xianggao and Han Xu heard this, they knew that the emperor had begun to doubt them. They knew whether they had done anything or not. They had nothing to say at this time and could only wait for the emperor to give up.

Shen Guan was not worried. These were all given to him by Wei Zhongxian. They were all first-hand information. They really couldn't be true anymore. Even if the emperor investigated further, so what. Now that the evidence was conclusive, could Ye Xianggao and others escape?

Seeing that the emperor had concluded that he would continue to investigate, Liu Yishen also stood up to support him.

"Your Majesty is right. This matter should not be rushed. It should be examined in detail. However, there are differences and disputes in the cabinet now. I, the chief minister of the cabinet, cannot bear the blame. Please punish me."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at him and ignored him.

He thought that he was still here to support the fire at this time. No matter whether the impeachment of Shen Guan was true or not, Liu Yishen was the big winner. He was wondering whether Liu Yishen knew about this matter in advance and arranged it calmly, otherwise he would I won't be so calm today.

"This matter is of great importance. Although Ye Xianggao and Han Xu are the chief ministers of the cabinet, the suspicion is difficult to clear up. In addition, today's support for the dismissal of Bi Ziyan really disappoints me. You two will stay at home and wait for the crime. Don't come to the cabinet for the time being. Let’s take care of the business, let’s wait until everything is settled.”

The two of them had already guessed that they would be like this, but they were Donglin Party members, but they criticized Donglin's chief assistant Liu Yishen. It was spread that they could not take off the label of wanton criticism.

"The Imperial Censor Feng Congwu and other relevant personnel related to this matter have all been placed in prison. The Third Law Department, together with the Supervisor of Ceremonies and the Jinyi Guards, will conduct an interrogation. Any news will be reported together."

Feng Congwu is the boss of Donglin and the leader of the public officials.After hearing this, Zou Yuanbiao, Zuo Guangdou and others all expressed their pleas, but it was of no avail.

However, they were also shocked when they heard that. Although they knew that Feng Congwu had been dissatisfied with Liu Yishui for a long time, they did not expect that the kneeling at the Meridian Gate that day was actually caused by him and Ye Xianggao teaming up. This left them with no choice but to continue. sigh.

This is still a matter of Ye Xianggao. Just now, so many people knelt down to demand Bi Ziyan's dismissal. Ever since they heard Zhu Youxiao's reprimand, they had been as silent as a chill, but they were impeached together and made them kneel down to demand Bi Ziyan's dismissal. The act of self-restraint has changed from a simple suggestion to an organized and premeditated political incident. Now that the mastermind is punished, they will definitely not be able to escape.

So when the matter was over and Zhu Youxiao looked at them, their hands and feet suddenly felt cold and they cursed Shen Guan in their hearts. They secretly swore that if they were not happy, they would also use Shen Guan, the traitor, as a backstop.

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(End of this chapter)