Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 237: The Fool
Of course, imperial decrees and news are faster than the fleet. Chen Lin only came to escort the relevant people to Beijing.

But who do the royal family of Chu listen to and trust now?
Fortunately, Hou Gongchen finally arrived in Wuchang Prefecture after traveling day and night.

For many dynasties, the presence of the Zongrenling has not been strong, and the presence of the Fumaduwei has become increasingly weak.

But for Chu Fan at this moment, the weight of the clan order was enough, especially the clan order that was ordered to leave the capital and go to Wuchang Prefecture to deal with the Chu clan case.

Hou Gongchen did not deal much with the local officials in Huguang, but went directly to the Prince of Chu's Palace and stayed there temporarily.

He pointed at another imperial consort, Wang Bing, and looked at Zhu Huakui and the eight princes of the Chu clan in front of him, and said with a serious expression: "According to the order, Prince Consort Wang and I will temporarily take charge of the palace. You may think too much, but the order is clear: no matter what the result is, the Chu clan will be there! This point must be clearly passed on. In addition, please invite the princesses and the generals of the Chu clan who are on the list to come to the palace."

"...Hou Zongling, what do you want to do by calling them here?" Zhu Huakui's face turned pale.

"The three princes who jointly impeached Your Highness, plus the Prince of Xuanhua, there are only four princes left in Wuchang Prefecture from the Chu clan. The two of us have been ordered to take over the affairs of the palace temporarily. Your Highness can rest assured that we will only ask the four princes and the officials of the palace for all matters. After such a big incident, how the Chu clan will deal with it in the future is related to every registered clan member. Since we cannot let the Chu clan think that Your Majesty has asked us to take over the Chu Palace, naturally the more clan members who make suggestions, the better. But the Chu clan has too many people, so we only invite the princess and the generals who guard the country."

Before they followed Chen Lin, the affairs of the Prince of Chu's Palace had to be handed over.

However, this handover is not easy.

Zhu Huakui has been treating his side branches harshly for so many years that they have become disunited.

Right now, Hou Gongchen and Wang Bing had to, firstly, appease the many clan members who had made serious mistakes, secondly, maintain the emperor's majesty, and thirdly, consider the possibility that Zhu Huakui's bloodline was indeed fine.

Therefore, they could neither distribute the royal palace's deposited silver nor make the Chu clan's branches believe that the emperor would handle the matter impartially this time and would not ignore their interests.

All Hou Gongchen and Wang Bing could do was to seal the account books and treasury in front of Zhu Huakui, the princes, the princesses' groomsmen, the generals guarding the country, and the officials of the palace, and then convey the imperial decree that the Chu vassal would not be abolished for this reason. Finally, they asked the generals guarding the country to convey the message one by one: tomorrow, all the registered relatives of the Chu vassal who have not been arrested must come to the palace.

The purpose was not to arrest more people, but to convey the imperial decree and tell the royal family of the Chu vassal state how to arrange their affairs during this special period of time.

One point is: after arriving at the palace to listen to the emperor's order, the clan leader and the prince's wife would visit every family.

As the clan leader, Hou Gongchen can indeed care about every clan member.

Only Zhu Huakui felt increasingly uneasy: Why did this feel like they were collecting evidence of his harshness?
In fact, when Liang Yunlong, who had a career in the frontier army, took over the post of governor, and some standard-bearing soldiers led by the Left General of the Front Army and the Yangtze River Navy also arrived in Wuchang Prefecture, the Chu clan relatives have of course calmed down a lot.

They had some idea of ​​what a serious matter it was to beat and kill the governor.

On the other hand, the entire Chu clan had only more than 3,000 people, and more than half of them participated in the riot that day.

Although some middle-level clan members who were still able to make ends meet also brought their servants and friends, there were more than a thousand clan members who were actually on the list, as "the law does not hold everyone responsible."

So since the clan leader came in person, the generals who guarded the country went to the palace and started to visit each house one by one. When everyone heard that the Chu vassal would not be eliminated, they felt more at ease.

The next morning, the courtyard in front of the main hall of the Prince of Chu's mansion was packed with people.

Although the Chu clan has nearly 4,000 people, they still have families, old and young. The one who came here at this moment is just the "head of the family" who has the title of clan relative.

The total number of people is not that large.

Then Ping Yibo came in with a number of Dutch guards, and the palace was surrounded by the standard-bearing soldiers of the Left Commander-in-Chief of the Front Army.

"Zong Ling, what does this mean?"

Chu Fan became flustered.

"Silence!" Wang Bing shouted, and spoke first, "Everyone in the Chu clan, listen to my order!"

Chen Lin calmly held the hilt of the knife at his waist and stood on the other side of Hou Gongchen.

Among the standard-bearers of the Left General of the vanguard army who formed a circle and guarded all the exits, the relatives of the Chu clan knelt down facing north in fear and uneasiness.

Hou Gongchen then took out a real written decree and slowly unfolded it.

"The Emperor, in compliance with the Mandate of Heaven, decrees: All the people in the Chu vassal state must listen to me carefully!" This was another decree written by Zhu Changluo himself, and it was delivered to him by Hou Gongchen in a hurry on the way.

"Is it that there are fewer people inside the high walls of Fengyang, or that fewer royal family members have been executed since the founding of the country? You have gathered together to become bandits, robbed in broad daylight, stormed government offices, and beat the governor to death. Is there anything else you dare not do? Do you think the Chu vassal state is not chaotic enough? Are you going to force me to give you an explanation next?"

As Hou Gongchen read these words, everyone in the Chu clan turned pale, imagining what kind of rage the emperor was in when he personally wrote such an imperial edict.

"Zhu Huakui! Regardless of whether you are of Zhu family blood or not, what's the difference between you and treason in making Chu vassal state like this? And those of you who robbed the pillars, stormed the government offices, and beat and killed officials, I know you have grievances and reasons, but you are all idiots, extremely stupid! The governor of a province died, and you didn't handle such a major case. How can the Zhu family still hold on to the throne? Do they still have the money to support the royal family?"

"There are four things! One is that the King of Chu has been dealing with the affairs of the palace unfairly for many years. Hou Gongchen and Wang Bing are ordered to investigate! One is that the Chu vassal clan impeached the King of Chu for doubting his bloodline. All the relevant people will follow Pingyi Bo to the capital. I will personally investigate! One is the case of robbing a pole, and one is the case of storming the government office and killing an official. Hou Gongchen will investigate on the spot after hearing the order. The leaders, the ones who took action, and the ones who took advantage of the chaos to rob other people's homes in Wuchang City will be removed from the list of clan members who are the main culprits and handed over to the officials in Huguang for judgment! If the investigation is unclear, they will all stay in the palace!"

"Appreciate this!"

As soon as Hou Gongchen finished speaking, Chen Lin raised his hand and said, "According to the order, the standard bearers draw their swords and serve as the vanguard of the clan law hall!"

"Have!"

After a chorus of roars, there was the sound of a long sword being unsheathed.

Everyone in the Chu clan was completely pale.

"Now that the decree has been read, Prince Consort, please place it on the table."

Hou Gongchen handed the imperial edict to Wang Bing, who placed it on the incense table used to receive imperial edicts, while the Chu vassal state remained kneeling.

"Let me say one more thing: Chu Fan will not be eliminated because of Your Majesty's grace. But the laws of the country and the family are above all else. Your Majesty has issued an order that the matter be divided into four parts. Now I am following the order to investigate the robbery of the pole and the case of Chu Fan storming the yamen and beating and killing an official."

Hou Gongchen paused, looked at Chen Lin again, and then said, "When the former Huguang Governor Zhao Kehuai inquired into the robbery case, he respected his status as a clan member and did not torture him to extract a confession, but instead he was insulted. Now I am following the order to enforce the family law. Except for the clan members of the Chu vassal who should go to Beijing, among the rest of the people, those who are involved in the two cases should come forward themselves. This way, at least my family will still be on the list of the clan office and still be clan members."

There was complete silence in front of the main hall of the Prince of Chu's Palace. Who would be willing to stand up?

"No one said anything? Then I can only arrest people according to the list given by Jinyiwei and torture the accomplices."

Hou Gongchen took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and said slowly, "The first petition of Zhu Huaqian, the assistant general, has arrived in the capital. The Council of State has just proposed to reform the clan salary system, and His Majesty knows that something bad is going to happen. The commander of the Jinyiwei has personally led many officers to the south. Now they have passed through Henan, Shandong and Jiangxi, and are on their way to Huguang. His Majesty's order to Commander Wang is to visit every vassal state except the Chu vassal state and explain the benefits and disadvantages to them. As for the Chu vassal state, they have already been secretly investigating."

Before he opened the paper, he looked at the Chu clan and its people, "There are grievances that should be redressed, and your majesty should deal with them. Now that things have gotten so chaotic, there must be an explanation. Without this explanation, how can your majesty refute the reform strategy of the clan salary presented by the Ministry of Rites? The royal family can even kill a provincial governor at will, so who can help the royal family govern the world with peace of mind? There is a prince commanding a personal visit to each clan, so what if the Chu clan is excluded? Your majesty has done his best, and I hope you will think of the Chu clan and its people, so that I can give an explanation and don't cause your majesty any more worries."

In the case of the robbery, after more than 30 people with names and surnames were rescued from the yamen by the relatives of the Chu clan, Liang Yunlong did not arrest even the 30 people who had committed the robbery for the time being in order not to intensify the conflict.

Anyway, he has a name and a surname, and he has already dispatched troops to close the city gates for many days, allowing only people to enter but not leave. All the important figures of the Chu vassal are now in the city.

Now the "bandit leaders" of the robbery case, Zhu Yunqin and Zhu Yunhong, looked ashen, but they were the first to shout in grief and anger: "If it weren't for the injustice of His Highness, why would we be so indignant? The elderly and children are almost unable to make ends meet, has he helped the relatives?"

"Your Majesty said that there are four things. If the people have grievances and grievances and have nowhere to turn to, does that mean they are not bandits or traitors if they become bandits and occupy the mountains and become kings?" Hou Gongchen shook his head. "I will investigate this matter impartially, and Your Majesty will definitely give Chu Fan a fair judgment! Chu Fan has committed such a disaster, and your minds are clouded by old grudges and new hatreds, but now you should think about which outsiders instigated you! Let me tell you that His Majesty has already issued a decree to the world that someone is plotting a rebellion. Does the entire Chu Fan have to bear this great crime?"

Zhu Huakui was trembling all over, and now even the Prince of Wugang, the Prince of Jiangxia and others were trembling all over.

"A governor died for no reason. Can this matter just be left unresolved?" Hou Gongchen was heartbroken. "Could it be that you were instigated and used by others? You have to be held accountable, but can you watch others get away with it? I might as well speak frankly!"

He pointed at Zhu Huakui and said, "As the King of Chu, you have caused disunity among the vassal states and caused such a change. The vassal states of Chu will definitely appoint someone else as the new king. But you have used the wrong method to seek justice. Your Majesty can only kill your relatives for the sake of justice! This is all I have to say. If no one comes forward, I can only follow the map and interrogate you according to the list submitted by the Jinyiwei!"

When Zhu Huakui heard Hou Gongchen’s words, his eyes went dark and he fainted.

When the middle and lower-level members of the Chu clan heard Hou Gongchen's news, they broke down emotionally, and many of them burst into tears.

If I had known that Your Majesty was so observant, why would we have made such a fuss?
Zhu Huaqian, who submitted a memorial to impeach Zhu Huakui, did not expect this to happen. Neither did the Prince of Wugang and others. However, Chu Fan robbed the pole, stormed the yamen, and killed the governor just like that.

Seeing the cold blades of the standard-bearing soldiers of the Left General of the front army, looking at the imperial edict and the piece of paper in Hou Gongchen's hand, someone finally kowtowed in one direction, then stood up with tears streaming down his face.

"If there is an explanation, Zong Ling doesn't need to hand over so many people, right?" He gritted his teeth and said, "I have the names of two beloved relatives and friends. Tell them to Zong Ling!"

(End of this chapter)