The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 328 Deal and Confession

Qianqing Palace.

Yang Tinghe, Fei Hong and others were fiercely impeaching Zhongshan Hou.

According to the court system, this case involves serious implications and is undoubtedly the biggest case in the Zhengde period. It should be jointly tried by the three judicial departments.

Starting from the 17th year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu Gaodi stipulated that the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate would form three judicial departments to jointly try major cases; in case of particularly major cases, the three judicial departments would work together with the ministers of various ministries and the Tongzhengshi to conduct a "nine-ministerial trial"; cases personally assigned by the emperor would be tried by the three judicial departments together with the Jinyiwei.

The Ministry of Justice is one of the Six Ministries, in charge of law and prisons; the Dali Temple is equivalent to the Supreme Court in later generations, which was the Supreme Court in the Qin and Han Dynasties and the Dali Temple in the Northern Qi Dynasty. It has been in charge of the trial of criminal cases in all dynasties; the Censorate was the highest supervisory, impeachment and advisory agency in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

This is like in later generations, a certain security agency with the power of investigation and trial cannot bring a public prosecution on its own, a certain procuratorate that brings a public prosecution cannot convict a criminal on its own, and a court with the power to convict cannot investigate and collect evidence on its own.

In the division of the power of trial and the power of sentencing, a certain public security agency that holds the power of trial has no power to pronounce a verdict, and the court that has the power of sentencing is not responsible for the trial.

Why should the power of trial and the power of judgment be separated?

Because criminal suspects must have the opportunity to defend themselves, if one department can both try and judge, it will definitely not care what the suspect says and will be more likely to miss evidence that is favorable to the suspect. If the power of trial and sentencing is concentrated, it will often lead to torture and disregard for human life, which can easily lead to false and wrongful convictions.

As for the three major judicial departments of the Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of Justice was in charge of trials, the Dali Temple was in charge of reviews, and the Censorate continued to be in charge of supervision while its functions remained unchanged.

One department conducts preliminary review, one department reviews, and another department supervises. This was the judicial process for handling major cases in ancient times to ensure judicial fairness, a simple principle of justice.

According to this system, this case, whether it was Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao's rebellion or Li Dongyang's conspiracy, was an absolute major case.

In order to ensure judicial fairness, the court should form three courts to conduct a joint trial.

As a result, the prisoner Li Dongyang was kidnapped by the army led by Zhongshan Marquis Tang Hao as soon as he arrived at the city gate of the capital, and was taken to the Caishikou execution ground!
What does Tang Hao want to do?
Is lynching an abuse of power to settle personal grudges?
The Minister of Punishments Wang Jianzhi, the Minister of Dali Temple Geng Ying, and the Left Censor-in-Chief Fei Hong immediately found the Chief Minister of the Cabinet Yang Tinghe, and then went to the palace together to meet the emperor.

Zhu Houzhao was in a good mood at first. After all, he could take this opportunity to purge the entire court, clarify the administration, and officially begin to implement the new policy.

As a result, at this critical juncture, the damn savage started to make trouble again.

Are you bored and have nothing to do?
Li Dongyang is definitely going to die this time, why do you have to create trouble?
However, Zhu Houzhao could roughly understand that the savage was really angry this time, so he wanted to execute Li Dongyang personally.

After all, Li Dongyang almost plotted to kill Tang Hao this time, and caused the Ming Dynasty to lose a brave general like Lei Xiong. It would be strange if the savage guy was not angry!

In addition, Li Dongyang has repeatedly shown up to oppose him and others, and this time he even wants to turn the court in the capital upside down.

Not to mention the savage Tang Hao, even the emperor himself was extremely furious and wished he could kill the old dog as soon as possible.

When Zhu Houzhao thought of this, he had an idea in his mind.

"Lord Tang was almost killed by Li Dongyang's scheme, so he was a little angry and did something that disregarded the law. It's understandable. It's human nature!"

"Why do you have to make a fuss about this and talk about a bunch of useless things?"

Fei Hong's expression became serious, and he said solemnly: "Then please issue an order immediately to stop the Zhongshan Marquis from abusing private punishment, so as to avoid any adverse effects."

Tang Hao is only a military hero. No matter how powerful he is, he cannot act arbitrarily, and he cannot represent the laws and regulations of the Ming Dynasty!
Therefore, Tang Hao is not qualified to execute Li Dongyang!
Even though Li Dongyang is guilty of a heinous crime, he should be tried jointly by the three judicial departments before being sentenced. Only in this way can people's hearts be corrected and the laws be enforced!
There was nothing wrong with Fei Hong's request, and Zhu Houzhao, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, naturally could not refuse.

So he immediately ordered: "Zhang Yong, draft an order immediately, ordering Lord Tang to hand over the prisoner Li Dongyang to the Ministry of Justice!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Houzhao gave Zhang Yong a look.

After all, the latter had been with him for such a long time, and considering the current situation, he reacted immediately.

Just at this moment, Fei Hong spoke again.

"Your Majesty, according to the court system, this case should be handed over to the three courts for trial. As the Left Censor-in-Chief, I should go with Zhang Dayong to receive the prisoner."

Fei Hong knew very well what the two of them were thinking. It was nothing more than delaying time and allowing the Marquis of Zhongshan to kill Li Dongyang!
The imperial edict has only arrived after the people are dead, so what’s the point?
Zhu Houzhao glanced at Fei Hong coldly, then put on a smiling face.

"Come to think of it, Lord Fei was once my husband."

"The contents of this book, The Illustrated Book of the Emperor, are obscure and difficult to understand. I beg Lord Fei to give me some pointers!"

Hearing this, Fei Hong frowned immediately.

Your Majesty, are you intending to keep him here?

Is it necessary to kill Li Dongyang?

You have to know that Li Dongyang is no ordinary person. He is a veteran of three dynasties, a half-master of Hongzhi, a leader of the gentry, and a great writer...

If His Majesty the Emperor really kills Li Dongyang without any regard for the consequences, it will damage his reputation as the Emperor Zhengde!

"Your Majesty, minister..."

Before Fei Hong finished speaking, Yang Tinghe on the side spoke first.

"Your Majesty, the imperial edict must go through the cabinet. Why don't I go with Zhang Dayong to issue the edict together?"

Everyone nodded when they heard this. This was the best solution.

Zhu Houzhao looked at the imperial teacher, was silent for a moment, and then nodded.

He chose to give Yang Tinghe a chance. If Yang Tinghe interfered again today, Zhu Houzhao would not mind putting people into the cabinet to divide the power of the Emperor Zhengde's teacher!

Therefore, Zhang Yong and Yang Tinghe went to draft the imperial edict, while Fei Hong and Wang Jianzhi were forced to stay and study the "Illustrated Explanation of the Imperial Edict" with the Emperor.

Yang Tinghe returned to the cabinet and ordered the secretary to draft the decree, then went to the Imperial Household Department. However, Zhang Yong seemed unaware and was doing his own thing. Seeing this, Yang Tinghe did not urge him, but found a seat to sit down, and then closed his eyes and thought.

For him, it is better to eliminate Li Dongyang, an unstable factor, as soon as possible!

What Yang Tinghe needed was a clean and efficient system of civil officials who could help him realize his political ambitions, not a group of corrupt officials who only knew how to fight for power and profit, nor an ambitious person like Li Dongyang!

Therefore, it is better to let nature take its course and fulfill the Emperor's wishes.

The two of them worked together tacitly to buy time for Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao.

At the same time, at the Caishikou execution ground.

Tang Hao personally escorted Li Dongyang to the execution ground.

"Lord Tang, I have a favor to ask of you!"

Li Dongyang suddenly stopped and said sincerely: "Zhao Fan is the only one left in the Li family's lineage. Please, Lord Tang... spare his life so that he can live out the rest of his life in peace."

Li Zhaofan was adopted by Li Dongyang as his son, so according to etiquette and law, he was already Li Dongyang's son.

And what Li Dongyang did this time was guaranteed to be a collusion with the Japanese to assassinate important officials of the court. In more serious cases, it was to disrupt the capital and attempt to subvert the Ming Dynasty!
No matter what, Li Dongyang is guilty of a capital crime. The only difference is whether he will die alone, or his entire clan, including Li Zhaofan, his last relative, will be exterminated!

"Why?" Tang Hao asked calmly.

Li Dongyang turned his head to look at him and said with a smile: "I will admit all the charges in exchange for Zhao Fan's life, how about it?"

"The reason you kidnapped me from the Jinyiwei and brought me to this market is not because you want to kill me and destroy my reputation, right?"

"If I don't admit it, then the common people and scholars will naturally not be convinced, and your goal will be difficult to achieve!"

Tang Hao sneered when he heard this and said, "You are a eunuch, what reputation do you have?"

"But I can promise you that I will leave a trace of blood in your Li family."

After hearing this, Li Dongyang nodded silently, and then let Tang Hao escort him to the execution ground.

When the common people and scholars in the audience saw Li Dongyang, they were instantly excited!

"That...that is...Master Li?!"

"Yes, it's Li Dongyang, the Grand Secretary!"

"What's going on? Why did the Marquis of Zhongshan arrest Li Xueshi and behead him?"

"Master Li is the wise prime minister of our Ming Dynasty!"

As a group of scholars recognized Li Dongyang's identity, the ministers around him became more and more confused.

Tang Hao took the file from Leng Hantie and then read it aloud.

"Li Dongyang, the former Chief Clerk of the Ning Palace, was from Chaling, Huguang. He passed the imperial examination in the eighth year of Tianshun... He was promoted to the chief minister of the cabinet in the third year of Zhengde, but later resigned. In the sixth year of Zhengde, he was appointed as the Chief Clerk of the Ning Palace."

After briefly recounting Li Dongyang's life experience, Tang Hao then began to state Li Dongyang's crimes.

"He has received the emperor's grace but has no intention of serving the country with loyalty. He has formed many cliques and colluded with them to encroach on the country's interests. He has also formed a clique with the former Minister of War Liu Daxia and others to pursue personal interests and bring chaos to the government... Li Dongyang, do you recognize him?!"

All the common people and scholars looked at Li Dongyang. They couldn't believe it, and didn't want to believe it, that the famous scholar Li Dongyang, who was once famous all over the world, would actually be such a... treacherous minister!
Looking at the confused or angry people and scholars below the stage, Li Dongyang felt extremely bitter.

Tang Hao's accusations against him were both true and false.

At least in Li Dongyang's opinion, what he did was not considered as forming a clique for personal gain.

"This old man... is guilty!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole place was in an uproar.

All the common people and scholars were instantly enraged and looked at this famous scholar in disbelief.

Tang Hao then spoke again, shouting: "When Li Dongyang was the chief of Ning Wang's palace, he colluded with Ning Wang's prince and raised assassins... causing unrest in the capital... Li Dongyang, do you admit it?!"

As soon as the words fell, the whole audience exclaimed again.

It turns out that the turmoil in the capital not long ago was actually a show planned by Li Dongyang!

Li Dongyang seemed to have been drained of all his energy and nodded numbly.

"This old man... is guilty!"

Admit it in person and plead guilty in public!
What else is there to say?

The outraged common people and scholars immediately cursed Li Dongyang and even shouted "Kill him!"
In other words, he was a famous figure in the world, with a good reputation all his life, but it was all ruined today, and he will be infamous for eternity even after his death!
At this moment, a shout came from afar: "Spare his life!"

Tang Hao smiled when he saw this, then drew his knife and chopped it down immediately.

Blood gushed out and Li Dongyang's head fell to the ground.

(End of this chapter)