Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 318: Arrest his nine clans and let the emperor personally judge them!
Zhu Houcong knew that Xie Qian would come to see him.

After all, Xie Qian was the one who was most severely abused by the wealthy people in the coastal areas.

He was just frightened.

But Xie Qian’s entire family was almost wiped out.

The key is.

Strictly speaking.

Xie Qian and the others are actually members of the coastal tycoons, and they all hope that the coastal tycoons will monopolize the profits.

As a result, Xie Qian was stabbed by his own people.

It's like you are shouting the same idea as me, but when you stab someone you stab me first. What's going on?

Is there any reason?
Therefore, this is undoubtedly more frustrating for Xie Qian.

When Zhu Houcong returned to the Qianqing Palace and saw Xie Qian, his expression was quite complicated, as if he had both pity and mockery.

Xie Qian, on the other hand, only felt endless grievances.

So, he knelt down directly in front of Zhu Houcong. He was old and frail, and he looked aggrieved like a child whose candy was taken away, and cried, "Your Majesty, please make the decision for me!"

Zhu Houcong pretended to be ignorant and asked: "Taifu, please stand up first. What decision should we make? Just tell me. I will make the decision if I can!"

"The Japanese pirates and the barbarians have no conscience and killed my entire family, leaving no one, young or old, male or female."

"I have letters from fellow townsmen and relics from my family as evidence."

As Xie Qian spoke, he took out the letter and the relics.

Zhu Houcong asked the eunuch Gu Dayong to take it, and then he held it in his hand and looked at it.

After seeing this, Zhu Houcong looked around hesitantly.

then.

boom!
Zhu Houcong picked up the cup of tea in front of Fei Hong and threw it directly on the carpet.

"Extremely abominable!"

"Cai Tianyou, Zhu Wan, what do these high officials do for a living?"

Zhu Houcong was furious.

Although he was not really angry about the Xie family being massacred.

But he was angry after all.

The kind of anger that comes from thunder and fury.

His eyes were filled with murderous intent.

Fei Hong and the others knelt down hurriedly, bowed their heads and kowtowed to the ground: "Your Majesty, calm down!"

Even Xie Qian, who had just stood up, had to kneel down again.

He was also quite surprised by the anger shown by the emperor.

But at the same time, I was also somewhat moved.

"Don't worry, Master. I will definitely make the decision for you!"

"Of course, I am not only making the decision for you, I am also making the decision for myself."

"They dared to destroy the families of the elders of two dynasties. These people are slapping my face! They are trampling my imperial system and national laws on the ground!"

Zhu Houcong then continued speaking.

then.

Zhu Houcong asked the people in the Imperial Study: "What do you think, how should this matter be handled?"

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, we should hold a court meeting to discuss this matter."

"Because this incident was undoubtedly done by smuggling pirates. They were dissatisfied with the imperial court's ban on the sea."

"So, should we strengthen the ban on sea smuggling and continue to crack down on it so that these pirates can be wiped out and the country can be boosted? Or should we open the sea for trade? We should listen to public opinion and decide on a countermeasure."

At this time, Fei Hong put forward his own views.

Zhu Houcong nodded: "Approved, the Prime Minister will preside over this court meeting."

At this time, Xie Qian bowed to Zhu Houcong and said, "Your Majesty, this old minister has suffered this family disaster, which is indeed related to the maritime ban, and it is indeed the work of smuggling pirates along the coast."

"Not only that, they also intentionally dragged the old minister's family difficulties onto Your Majesty and the court."

When Xie Qian said this, he took out Tao Huai's visiting card from his sleeve:

"I dare not hide this from your majesty. When Tao Huai, the minister of the Honglu Temple, met me and sent me a letter, he deliberately said that your majesty should be blamed for my family's troubles. He said that my family's troubles were caused by your majesty's determination to govern and your cleverness. He said that I should put this grudge on your majesty."

Xie Qian chose to betray Tao Huai, the Secretary of the Honglu Temple.

Because he has now gone to the other extreme, blaming his family's misfortune on his own failure to fully follow the Hadith and ancestral rules, and on the fact that people in the world have not fully followed the Hadith and ancestral rules.

In his impression, the world was peaceful during the Hongzhi period because everyone strictly followed the teachings and ancestral rules.

Starting from Zhengde, everyone began to disdain to abide by the Hadith and ancestral rules, even his own children no longer abided by them, and he himself also relaxed his vigilance.

Besides, whether or not to smuggle has little to do with the interests of his family now.

Therefore, Xie Qian began to consider what he believed to be the public interest of the country, and chose to betray Tao Huai and stab the big families along the coast.

"I beg Your Majesty to arrest this disloyal and treacherous minister immediately!"

"Even in my humble opinion, the troubles facing my family may be related to him. Even if they are not directly related to him, they are definitely caused by people like him!"

As Xie Qian said this, he bowed his head.

Fei Hong also stood up and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, I second the proposal. Since Tao Huai has such a rebellious heart, it is not too much to cut him into pieces! There is no king or father who is not wrong in the world, as the saints said. How can you blame your king or father like this!"

"Your Majesty, I second your opinion. It is unreasonable to slander your king and father. It is simply disobedience!"

Wang Ao also echoed.

Wang Qiong followed up and said, "Your Majesty, I also request that this man be arrested immediately. Since the Grand Tutor said so, and this man did go to Xie's house, there is no doubt that there is irrefutable evidence that he said such treasonous words!"

"Then arrest this person immediately and confiscate his house!"

"Also send an order to the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, the Imperial Guards, and the officials in Zhejiang to arrest all nine generations of his clan immediately!"

"As you say!" Zhu Houcong said, and then he said, "I also have something to tell you."

Therefore, everyone looked towards Zhu Houcong.

"The eldest prince disappeared for about two quarters of an hour not long ago, and was later found. However, when he was found, his mouth and nose were blocked with a cloth, and his wet nurse Zeng, who was beside him, committed suicide by swallowing gold at the scene."

After Zhu Houcong finished speaking, everyone in the imperial study was shocked.

"How audacious!"

Xie Qian couldn't help but say something at this time.

Wang Ao knelt on the ground with a look of shame on his face: "This is my fault!"

In Wang Ao's view, this was related to his support for strict maritime ban, so he took the initiative to admit his guilt.

Wang Qiong also knelt down upon seeing this: "I am guilty too!"

Because the current strengthening of the maritime ban was due to Wang Qiong's words "If we want to open the sea, we should first ban it", which led to the court's strict maritime ban and forced these big coastal households to take risks.

So Wang Qiong also started to plead guilty.

"I am the Prime Minister, and I am also guilty!"

Fei Hong also followed suit and pleaded guilty.

Seeing this, Xie Qian also knelt down and said, "I, your humble servant, also advocated a sea ban, so I am guilty too!"

"Everyone get up!"

"If I really want to blame someone for this, it's not you. I should blame you first!"

After Zhu Houcong said this, he smiled and asked back: "But am I really guilty?"

"Your Majesty is not guilty!"

"The ban on sea trade is a national policy. Even if this national policy is no longer appropriate, your Majesty cannot be blamed."

At this time.

Fei Hong replied.

Zhu Houcong nodded: "That's right! I am not guilty, and neither are you. The ones who are truly guilty are them!"

Speaking of it.

Zhu Houcong's face darkened: "First, secretly arrest Tao Huai and bring him here. I and the ministers of the Imperial Study will personally interrogate him. The Grand Tutor will also stay here and wait for the Jinyiwei to bring him here!"

"Yes!"

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Xie Qian said this at this time, and then continued: "In my humble opinion, using the eldest prince to threaten the emperor may also be related to Tao Huai! After all, he has shown disrespect to Your Majesty!"

Soon, the imperial edict arrived at the Jinyiwei.

"quick!"

"quick!"

"quick!"

Soon afterward, a large number of Jinyiwei split into two groups and headed to the Honglu Temple and Tao Huai's residence in the capital respectively.

Tao Huai was secretly paying attention to the news in the palace.

After all, he had already learned from Tao Xie that Tao Xie would arrange people to take action against the royal heir, so he began to pay attention to this matter.

"Are there any rumors in the palace recently?"

Tao Huai even went to the yamen to ask about his colleague Cheng Bin that day.

Cheng Bin shook his head: "I haven't heard any rumors."

"That's it."

Tao Huai only replied with one sentence, then returned to his seat, and continued to work with a smile on his face. This secret that only he knew made him feel very happy and excited, and he even wanted to tell it out.

But he knew he couldn't say it.

It is said that Tao Huai's ancestors were smugglers and pirates. Because they made a fortune in smuggling and business, they were able to spend money to launder their identities, and then buy land and study. By the time of his father's generation, they had started to take imperial examinations, and he even passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, which made the family begin to transform into a scholar family.

But for a family like Tao Huai, by his generation, they naturally had not completely changed their daring habits as smugglers.

To the extent that, he himself had no respect for the imperial power or the laws of the country, but only cared about profit. He even dared to do anything for profit. As for morality and consequences, he naturally did not consider them, nor did he examine his own shortcomings.

In his understanding, there is only the knowledge that wealth and honor can be achieved through risk.

After all, it was because of this that his family rose to become a family of officials and scholars.

Therefore, he dared to insidiously and boldly sow discord between the veteran minister Xie Qian and the emperor, wanting Xie Qian to deal with Zhu Houcong. He even had expectation but no fear when he thought that there might be a crisis for Zhu Houcong's royal heirs.

He was looking forward to the emperor's reaction, and even wanted to see the emperor compromise and fear.

But just as Tao Huai was secretly expecting this, the Jinyiwei had already broken into the Honglu Temple and ran straight to him. They locked him up from the chair roughly, making him feel as if his hands were about to be broken.

"What are you doing?"

Tao Huai looked shocked, as if from this moment on he realized that the emperor had his own violent apparatus.

Lu Bing, who was in charge of arresting him, took out the imperial edict and said, "I have received your order. I am taking you to the Imperial Study for trial!"

Tao Huai saw the red imperial edict in which Xie Qian reported him for being disobedient and having the intention of regicide and rebellion.

Tao Huai understood immediately, but he also became furious.

"How could Xie Qian do this!"

"He lost Haley, so he sold us out too. How could he do that? Doesn't he want to be a smuggler anymore?"

Tao Huai said inwardly with great fear.

Not long after, Tao Huai was brought before the emperor.

When he saw the emperor's gloomy face and the cold and unfriendly looks from his left and right, he began to truly feel the fear of imperial power from that moment on.

Therefore, Tao Huai immediately knelt down and pleaded tremblingly: "Your Majesty, please have mercy! I know I was wrong, and I will never dare to say such words again! I was also confused at that time!"

(End of this chapter)