Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 37: Interrogation by the Censorate
Jiang Mian and Mao Ji looked at each other in surprise after hearing this.

"So, Your Majesty is a man of great skill?"

Mao Ji then frowned and asked in a serious tone.

Liang Chu nodded.

At this time, Jiang Mian sighed, looked at the sky outside Wenyuan Pavilion, and said, "I didn't expect that your majesty is so scheming, but fortunately, he uses it to protect the country and the people!"

"But in this case, it will be really difficult for Your Majesty to recognize Xiao Miao as the Emperor's father during the grand ceremony."

"Even if you think of using the treasury to make up for the deficit and abolish the Wei Si Li Jian in the future, forget it!"

"Co-governance by the monarch and his subjects?"

Jiang Mian laughed when he said this, then glanced at Liang Chu and Mao Ji:
"I'm afraid Your Majesty only wishes to rule the world alone?"

"Your Majesty is naturally intelligent and a young and capable leader. It is not impossible for you to take charge of the overall power."

Liang Chu replied at this time.

then.

He looked at Jiang Mian and Mao Ji and said, "Since Taizu abolished the prime minister and divided power among the six ministries and departments, it has been difficult for our dynasty to have powerful ministers. And those who are actually powerful ministers are inevitably suspected of usurping power. Therefore, if the monarch is wise and sage and takes charge of the government, it would be a good thing."

"But even if our cabinet is willing not to fight, the whole world's clean officials will not agree."

"They only want the emperor to recognize Xiaomiao as the emperor's father, so that the rites and laws will benefit the main clan and be more important than human feelings! Let the affairs of the world be decided by public opinion!"

Mao Ji frowned and spoke.

"This is the root of the problem!"

Liang Chu nodded and said, then looked at Jiang Mian and Mao Ji: "Now our cabinet can be said to have its feet on two boats! One foot is on your majesty's side, and one foot is on the Qingliu side. No matter how you look at it, it is the most unstable state, so we must decide as soon as possible, which boat to go to?"

No heavy hammer is needed to play the drum.

Jiang Mian and Mao Ji knew that Liang Chu was right.

Now, these three cabinet ministers need to make a choice between the world's clean stream representing the interests of the scholar-official class and the imperial power.

Otherwise, the cabinet will be in a difficult position both internally and externally.

“Is there any choice?”

"I'm afraid that if your Majesty is not elected, the cabinet will be nothing more than a formality."

"We cannot, for the sake of our own reputation, really want to see the emperor who works hard to govern the country use eunuchs to restore the country!"

Jiang Mian smiled bitterly and said this.

Mao Ji also sighed and said: "That's right, I eat the salary of the emperor and I am loyal to the emperor. I can not plan for myself, but I must plan for the country."

Liang Chu nodded.

Mao Ji then asked, "Just where is Taifu Yang?"

"Don't let Yang Xindu know about these things! It's best to keep him in the dark. This is for his own good!"

Liang Chu expressed his opinion without hesitation, but was afraid that the two would not understand, so he looked at them and continued:
"He's too famous!"

"He was praised by scholars as a great elder who stabilized the country and a wise man who saved the country."

"But our emperor is ambitious and wise, so he would not hope that Yi Yin and Huo Guang really existed."

Jiang Mian and Mao Ji nodded.

Liang Chu then stood up and looked at Jiang Mian and Mao Ji: "Do your job well. Go and convince Qi Daluan and the others to understand that the most important thing right now is to clear the fields, not to eliminate the traitors. Whoever does not cooperate in clearing the fields is the remnant of Jiang Bin's party and a traitor who is attached to Jiang Bin. Whoever cooperates in clearing the fields is excusable."

"What the Prime Minister said is true."

"We tried our best to persuade them. Fortunately, His Majesty asked the cabinet to evaluate them. I believe they will not refuse to listen. He also asked them not to tell the tutor."

Mao Ji then echoed the statement.

Jiang Mian said: "But Wei Bin and Wang Qiong must be dealt with!"

"They have committed so many evil deeds that there is no scholar in the world who does not hate them!"

"For example, the governors and governors appointed by Wang Qiong in the previous dynasty, such as Wang Yangming and Qin Guosheng (Qin Jin), all of them were hated by the local tycoons!"

"Just like this time, if the Huguang Governor Qin Guosheng hadn't deliberately wanted Your Majesty to see the suffering of the people in Huguang, Your Majesty wouldn't have seen the refugees so easily. People who don't know would think that he just didn't want to flatter the emperor and didn't want to lie!"

"In fact, what he did was to flatter the emperor and father, so that His Majesty could show his kindness. He would also win His Majesty's favor. He is so cunning and worthy of being a disciple of Wang Qiong!"

"Only by arresting Wei Bin and Wang Qiong first can we convince the people of the world that we are truly eliminating the evil, and only then will the people of the world believe that those who do not cooperate with the land clearing are the remnants of Jiang Bin's gang." Jiang Mian said and then looked at Liang Chu.

Liang Chu thought about it, put his hands on the chair, stood up, nodded and said: "Okay! These two people must go to jail first, and then I will ask for this favor!"

"I will also bear the infamy of protecting evildoers."

"Anyway, I'm a well-known good guy."

Liang Chu smiled bitterly when he said this.

Jiang Mian and Mao Ji therefore both bowed to Liang Chu.

After Liang Chu left, Zhu Houcong took Huang Jin, Wang Chunjing and other close palace maids to the Imperial Garden and started running.

In order to better continue the lineage in the future, and even to cope with tedious government affairs and enjoy a longer national life, proper exercise is still necessary.

of course.

In Zhu Houcong's view, it was necessary not only for him but also for the people around him to exercise properly.

Therefore, as early as when Zhu Houcong was in the palace, he asked Huang Jin and other people around him to do exercises with him in the afternoon and evening.

Now Huang Jin and others have become accustomed to this.

Zhang Qiuxiang, who was in charge of the servants' daily life today, had already prepared hot water and other things with her maid in advance.

After Zhu Houcong finished running and rested for a while, he was helped to bathe, wash his hair and change into new clothes.

But now that Zhu Houcong had grown up, it was no longer convenient for Zhang Qiuxiang and other maids to enter the bathtub and kneel down to scrub Zhu Houcong's body, nor could they personally change his underwear.

But even so, bathing and washing hair for a noble like Zhu Houcong was still a big project. If it was a simple process, it would require more than ten people to serve, while if it was a luxurious process, it would require dozens of people to serve, and it would take a long time.

Therefore, after Zhu Houcong had bathed, washed his hair and changed his clothes, it was already night. When he came back from paying his respects to the Empress Dowager and Concubine Shao, it was basically around nine o'clock in later times.

Only at this time did Zhu Houcong do what he wanted to do.

Zhu Houcong chose to practice calligraphy at this time.

Because in this era, the emperor needs to have good handwriting.

That night, Zhu Houcong was practicing calligraphy, and Qiu Ju, the eunuch on duty in the Imperial Household Department, took two ink copies and waited outside the door.

The memorials and memorials of the Ming Dynasty, if not drafted by the Cabinet, were called the preliminary draft. If drafted by the Cabinet but not approved by the Silijian, it was called the ink draft. The ink draft that was approved by the Silijian became the red draft, which represented a clear imperial edict.

Seeing this, Zhu Houcong stopped writing and asked, "What's the matter?"

Qiu Ju came in and answered, "Your Majesty, this is the memorial in which the Imperial Censor Wang Jun impeached Eunuch Wei and the Imperial Censor Qi Daluan impeached the Grand Chancellor."

"How did the cabinet vote?"

Zhu Houcong asked.

Qiu Ju replied, "They will all be sent to the Metropolitan Procuratorate for investigation and punishment."

Zhu Houcong pondered for a while after hearing this, and then ordered: "Keep him here first, and go call Wei Bin."

Qiu Ju bowed and agreed.

Soon.

Wei Bin came to Zhu Houcong.

According to the current process of approval of memorials in the Ming Dynasty, memorials would generally be submitted to the Tongzhengsi first, then sent to the Secretariat, which would then send them to the Cabinet for approval. After the Cabinet's approval, the Secretariat would take them back and wait for the Silijian to present them to the emperor for approval.

Unless the emperor is really willing to work harder and not send the memorial to the cabinet for review, but handle it directly himself.

But this kind of situation is rare. Firstly, no one wants to be as tired as Zhu Yuanzhang. Secondly, the power of bureaucrats and literati has grown much stronger than at the beginning of the country. The authenticity of imperial edicts that are not drafted by the cabinet will be questioned by the bureaucrats. They will say that they are forged by eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department, or that they were drafted by people around the monarch who instigated the monarch. Then, the monarch will refuse to execute them, execute them passively, or even execute them deliberately and excessively.

As the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, Wei Bin had naturally seen the draft of the cabinet a long time ago, and he also knew that the cabinet required him to be sent to the Censorate for trial, that is, to be sent to the Censorate's prison for interrogation.

Therefore, when Wei Bin met Zhu Houcong, he showed signs of panic.

He knew that the emperor had just ascended the throne and his foundation was unstable. It was impossible for him to overturn the cabinet's opinion for him, so he would definitely be executed.

However, the extent of the punishment, whether to cut into pieces like Liu Jin or to spare his life, all depended on the monarch's decision.

When Zhu Houcong saw Wei Bin's uneasy look, he felt the charm of imperial power, the charm that can control the life and death of others.

This made Zhu Houcong feel comfortable and relaxed from the bottom of his heart, and it was involuntary. It was a natural chemical reaction after the secretion of hormones.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong calmly put down his pen, sat on the chair, and asked Wei Bin: "What did my brother leave for me before he passed away?"

Thanks for the tip from the captain
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(End of this chapter)