Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 127 Who dares to take the lead in impeaching His Majesty? !
Wang, Wu, and Huai En were all sentenced to death on the same day.

However, Zhu Youtang deliberately blocked the news of Wang and Wu's deaths for a period of time.

Therefore, it took five days until the officials in the capital city learned that the two deposed empress dowagers had passed away.

The exact time of their death was also changed to the third day after Huai En's death and the fifth day after Huai En's death respectively.

The news of the successive deaths of the two deposed empress dowagers was like a bolt from the blue, shocking all the officials in the capital.

No matter how brutally Zhu Youtang killed people in the capital before, he was targeting civil officials and relatives of the emperor's wife.

But this time, it was aimed at the power struggle within the royal family.

The two Empress Dowagers were deposed one after another and then died one after another. Although they both committed suicide, everyone knew what happened.

For a time, people in the capital were in unrest.

Many people are speculating what happened to make Zhu Youtang so angry.

Not only were the titles and positions of the two empress dowagers abolished at the same time.

The two deposed empress dowagers committed suicide one after another shortly after this incident.

Although all the officials in the capital knew that there was something fishy about this matter, no one dared to mention it.

And what they fear in their hearts is that this kind of struggle involving the royal family will often implicate a large number of ordinary people.

By then, if it is not controlled well, the capital will be a river of blood and full of wailing.

Soon, their guesses turned into reality.

The Ministry of Justice set up a criminal factory at Caishikou in the capital.

The things they had been investigating finally came to fruition.

The Ministry of Justice was extremely quick in sentencing Fang Xian, Zhang Miao and others.

Almost as soon as they entered prison, they were sentenced and executed immediately.

The former Imperial Stable Supervisor reported to the eunuch Zhang Min that he was plotting treason and the entire nine clans were executed!
Fang Xian, the former Zuo Tongzheng of the Ministry of Public Security, was convicted of treason and his entire clan was executed!
However, the Ministry of Justice only gave the charges but did not elaborate on the details.

Not to mention other people, even the Minister of Justice Peng Shao didn't know what was going on.

Because this charge was made by Zhu Youtang himself.

Zhu Youtang did not, and did not need to, give any explanation.

Since His Majesty the Emperor has given the order, the Ministry of Justice will just follow it.

According to the principle that the fewer words, the bigger the matter, Peng Shao did not use it, nor did he dare to ask Zhu Youtang the reason.

Peng Shao simply ordered the Ministry of Justice to set up the execution ground immediately as quickly as possible and invited officials from the Ministry of Justice to preside over the execution.

This glorious and arduous task naturally fell to Fei Ju, who had a lot of experience in presiding over executions.

Fei Ju, a doctor in the Ministry of Justice, had to work overtime before the New Year to set up an execution ground at Caishikou and execute criminals.

Amid the heavy snow, Caishikou was packed with people. The people of the capital were naturally happy to see officials publicly executing people again.

Fang Xian, whose tongue had been cut off, was tied up and kneeling in the snow, mumbling something.

Zhang Miao, who was already dead, was also tied to a wooden stick, waiting to be executed.

die?
There is no use dying.

If the emperor orders you to be killed, even if you are already dead, you have to go to the execution ground and die again in a different way!
Behind them were their families, also waiting for execution.

When the time came for the execution, Fei Ju waved his hand, threw down the token, and ordered sternly: "Execute!"

"Yes!"

The executioners standing on both sides immediately stepped forward to carry out the execution.

After a moment, the onlookers burst into enthusiastic cheers!
When Zhang Miao and Fang Xian were executed, not a single official in the capital went to watch.

But their crimes were known to all officials in the capital.

Treason!
The great crime of killing the nine tribes!

Zhang Miao was just implicated by Zhang Min, and Fang Xian is one of the culprits!

This matter was of great importance. The Chief Minister Xu Pu and the Second Minister Liu Jian summoned the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet and the Nine Ministers of the Six Ministries to discuss the matter that night when they learned the news.

In Xu Pu's study, four cabinet ministers, four ministers of the six ministries, and three ministers of the imperial court, a total of eleven high-ranking officials from the capital, gathered together with sad faces.

"Prime Minister Xu, the sky is falling!"

"I humbly wish that the Holy Dynasty would rule the world with filial piety. The two Empress Dowagers were deposed and then passed away one after another. The sky is falling!"

Xie Qian, the Grand Secretary of the Dongge, had a sad face, as if it was his mother who had died.

Li Dongyang, the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, also looked a little embarrassed.

"Let's not talk about Wu's death for now. After all, she was the empress deposed by the previous emperor. It was the current emperor who honored her as the empress dowager. There is nothing wrong with your majesty deposing her now."

"But Wang is the late emperor's empress!"

"Your Majesty hastily abolished the title of the Queen Mother, which was already against etiquette. Now Queen Mother Wang has passed away..."

"Lord Liu, what do you think about this?"

As Li Dongyang was talking, he passed this thorny topic to Liu Jian who was sitting next to him.

Liu Jian, the Minister of Rites and Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace, had a blank expression on his face, but he was already cursing in his heart.

Not in accordance with etiquette?

No matter how great the gift is, can it be greater than the knife in your majesty's hand? !
Look at the current emperor. Is he an emperor who will be polite to you?

The current Majesty, when he is in a good mood and there is no conflict of interest, may sit down and talk etiquette with you.

But once it touches upon His Majesty's interests, you won't even be given time to speak politely, and your family will be asked to take care of your affairs on the spot! What's worse, you won't even be given family members to take care of your affairs.

How can we talk about etiquette?
What kind of etiquette?!
Liu Jian's face was a little gloomy, and he spoke carefully.

"Well... Tsk... it is indeed... Alas..."

Liu Jian just laughed it off and didn't say anything or express his opinion.

As the Minister of Rites, he is the first to bear the brunt of this time. He should stand up and speak as the representative of the clean stream.

But Liu Jian was a ruthless man who could give up his position as Prime Minister. He valued his own life very much. How could he dare to touch Zhu Youtang's sensitive nerves?
Seeing that Liu Jian was laughing, the other people in the meeting were unhappy.

The Minister of Works Jia Jun, who had some minor conflicts with Liu Jian during the last renovation of the three main halls of Fengtian, spoke in a sinister tone.

"Oh, our Lord Liu is really becoming more and more like the Lords of the previous dynasty."

The ministers of the previous dynasty were Wan'an, Liu Ji and Liu Wei, who were known as the three paper ministers.

The name "Three Paper Elders" seems to be mocking the elders for being idle in their positions, but in fact it is mocking the elders for being afraid of the late emperor and having no power.

Everyone present understood the sarcasm in Jia Jun's words, and Liu Jian's face turned very ugly.

In the end, it was the Minister of Personnel Wang Shu who smoothed things over: "Okay, Xixian has his own difficulties too."

"The question now is, after something like this happens, what attitude should our civil servants have?"

"Should we keep silent, or should we...impeach?"

Impeachment was the act of Ming Dynasty censors reporting the crimes of officials. They would directly write to the emperor to expose officials who violated the law, neglected their duties, or committed crimes in office.

In the early Ming Dynasty, this kind of impeachment was very powerful, and Zhu Yuanzhang would basically respond to any impeachment letter handed to him.

However, by the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the power of impeachment letters had greatly declined, and those who could submit impeachment letters were no longer limited to censors, but all officials could submit impeachment letters.

Moreover, the targets of impeachment were not limited to Ming Dynasty officials, even the emperor could be impeached.

The emperor who was impeached the most times in the Ming Dynasty was Emperor Shenzong Zhu Houzhao.

The most famous impeachment letter among them is the "Memorial on Public Security" which Hai Rui wrote to Zhu Houcong.

Finally, after factional struggles broke out in the late Ming Dynasty, impeachment letters were completely reduced to a piece of paper for wiping one's ass.

"Impeachment is a must!"

As soon as Xu Pu finished speaking, someone slammed the table and stood up, looking excited.

Minister of War Liu Daxia said with great force: "As important officials of the Ming Dynasty, we should set an example!"

"Your Majesty is wrong, are we just going to stand by and watch?!"

"If we continue like this, how will the officials below us view us?! How will the officials in the future view us?!"

"After this is recorded in history books, how will future generations view us?!"

When Liu Daxia mentioned history books, all the officials present were stunned and looked heavy.

These civil servants who claim to be clean officials value the reputation behind them the most.

However, Zhu Youtang's reputation was well-known, and these officials found it really difficult to be caught in the middle.

Liu Jian only adheres to one practical principle: only the dead care about their reputation after death, and only the living can truly do something that can change future generations.

Liu Jian nodded approvingly at Liu Daxia and said, "Minister Liu is indeed a loyal and upright official of our generation. Then you can write the first impeachment letter."

Liu Daxia was furious and anxious, and asked, "Minister Liu, as the Minister of Rites, don't you write a letter of impeachment?!"

Liu Jian shook his head slightly and kept silent.

Liu Daxia was annoyed when he saw Liu Jian hiding in the back, and turned to look at other people.

"What about you gentlemen?! Aren't you going to file a petition for impeachment too?!"

Those who were seen by Liu Daxia turned around, lowered their heads, and did not look at Liu Daxia.

When Liu Daxia saw that there were so many important people in the room, not one person stood up to support him, his expression became uncertain.

After he stood up, he never expected that the current situation would be like this.

Not a single senior official dared to join him in writing a letter to impeach Zhu Youtang!

For a moment, Liu Daxia stood there, feeling a little embarrassed.

At this time, a servant suddenly came to report.

"Master Xu, someone came from the palace and said that His Majesty wants to invite Elder Liu to the palace to discuss matters."

"what?!"

Liu Jian was so scared that he stood up immediately and looked at Xu Pu in panic.

"Prime Minister Xu, His Majesty knows that I am at your house. He won't misunderstand me, right?"

"This...what should I do?!"

Xu Pu's face was not looking good either: "Xixian, don't be anxious, just say you are talking to me about the Criminal Interrogation Ordinance."

"You pretended to be unaware of the passing of the two Empress Dowagers."

"Go quickly, Xixian, don't keep His Majesty waiting for too long."

Liu Jian nodded: "This is the only way, colleagues, I will leave first."

"Take care, Mr. Liu."

After Liu Jian bowed and said goodbye, he hurriedly walked out of Xu Pu's study and followed the eunuch from the palace into the imperial palace.

(End of this chapter)