After getting the emperor's permission again, Lu Zhong completely stopped caring about it.
He turned around, took out another document from the case, and spoke to Du Ning.
"To answer the first question of Mr. Si Qing, whether the mission took the initiative to leak the information. According to the results of the interrogation by the Jin Yiwei, the mission was not tricked or accidentally leaked. Instead, during the negotiation, the mission took the initiative to reveal the secret.
The defense status of the nest."
In fact, although Tingju is trying criminal cases, it is not the same as ordinary cases.
In a general trial, the prisoner is brought in, witnesses and physical evidence are presented, the criminal's confession is obtained, the truth is clarified, and then the punishment is imposed.
But the problem is that this process often cannot be completed in a day or two, even if the case is simple or the matter is not serious.
However, if it is a major case or the case is complex, the process may take a long time.
All the civil and military officials in the imperial court were very busy and obviously did not have the time to play the game of trial with the judge.
Therefore, the significance of Tingju actually lies in the situation when the case enters a stalemate, or the case has been concluded but is questioned.
Bring the case to the court and accept the joint questioning of all civil and military officials.
In this case, it is particularly important whether the logical chain of a case is complete and whether the evidence is detailed and credible.
But on the contrary, the interrogation process is often omitted. Unless it involves the key and core facts of the case, the prisoner will be brought to the palace for interrogation in front of all civil and military officials.
Therefore, after Lu Zhong finished speaking, before he could produce any evidence, a censor came out and questioned him.
"May I ask, Sir Commander, what is the basis for Jin Yiwei's conclusion? If it is a confession from someone in the mission, how can it be proved that it was not a result of torture?"
This was a rude question, but after asking it, most of the ministers in the court nodded and waited for Lu Zhong's answer.
In fact, this is the impression of Jinyiwei in the courtiers' minds.
Because the Jin Yiwei is directly under the emperor, the various yamen of the imperial court actually have no power to supervise or restrict the Jin Yiwei.
Therefore, in the eyes of the courtiers, Jin Yiwei's trials were mostly based on torture to extract confessions, and subjugation. What's more, they were fabricated and fabricated accusations out of thin air, which was their specialty.
Of course, this cannot be completely blamed on the courtiers, because Jin Yiwei has indeed done this before, and he did it a lot.
Several famous Jin Yiwei commanders before, Mao Xiang, Jiang Yu, Ji Gang, and Ma Shun who were beaten to death by court officials at Zuoshun Gate.
When they were in charge of Jinyiwei, whenever a minister went to prison, few could escape intact. No wonder Jinyiwei had such a reputation.
Therefore, Lu Zhong was not angry, but said calmly.
"The Jin Yiwei may sometimes use torture when trying cases, but they also pay attention to evidence. This commander said that the mission deliberately leaked military information, which is indeed based on his confession."
"But in front of all the ministers and His Majesty, this commander must say that in the case of the mission, the Jinyi Guards have never used torture on anyone in the mission."
With that said, Lu Zhong unfolded the documents in his hand and continued.
"In addition, this confession is not from the mission, but from the traitor who surrendered to the enemy and was arrested by the mission, Xi Ning!"
As soon as this name was spoken, there was another commotion in the court.
Xi Ning's reputation in the Ming Dynasty is not much better than that of Wang Zhen.
Although Wang Zhen is domineering in his power, has great ambitions and lacks talent, bewitches the emperor, and is good at commanding, his crimes are numerous, and the bosses can scold him for three days and three nights.
But there is only one thing that everyone still recognizes. Wang Zhen is still loyal to the Supreme Emperor.
Especially the elders in high positions, they basically knew that for many of the ridiculous things Wang Zhen did, some of them took the blame for the Supreme Emperor.
But Xingning is different.
As one of the favored eunuchs of the Supreme Emperor, when Xi Ning was at his most arrogant, he even dared to occupy the fields and houses of the British government.
You know, that was when the British Duke Zhang Fu was still there. In the end, the Emperor didn't do anything to Xi Ning, but sent out all the servants who took action.
It was such a powerful official who, during the Civil War, saw that the situation was over and he did not care at all about the kindness of the Supreme Emperor to him and surrendered to the enemy without looking back.
Not only did he become the leader, he told Ye Xian all the terrain conditions he knew, and led Ye Xian's army all the way forward. He also repeatedly offered treacherous tricks to help Ye Xian.
From a national perspective, the courtiers must hate Wang Zhen the most, but from a personal perspective, Xi Ning is probably the most deserving villain.
In recent days, the incident of the envoy's arrest has made a fuss in the court, but few people have actually read Tao Jin's memorial and just followed it with discussion.
In addition, the case of the mission has never been announced, so the news about Xi Ning has not been publicized.
Therefore, it was indeed the first time for most of the courtiers to hear that Xi Ning had also been captured.
At that moment, the officials suddenly became commotion.
"What, Xi Ning was arrested too?"
"God bless the Ming Dynasty, and this traitor was finally arrested. Your Majesty, these traitors will be destroyed by the nine tribes."
"Yes, Your Majesty, please put this traitor to death in Ling Chi to vent the hatred of the army and the people."
All of a sudden, the court discussion was raging.
Seeing that the building was tilted like this, Zhu Qiyu raised his hand and pressed down. After everyone's emotions calmed down for a while, he said.
"Don't be anxious, gentlemen. The court has already concluded Xining's crime, and he will be executed sooner or later. However, Xining is an important witness in this case, so the matter must be dealt with after the case is completed."
With that said, Zhu Qiyu turned to Lu Zhong and said, "Lu Zhong, please continue, what did Xi Ning confess?"
Therefore, Lu Zhongcai continued to speak under the gaze of everyone.
"Xining's confession described a series of details of negotiations conducted by the mission and Ye Xian."
"According to Xi Ning's confession, when the mission first arrived, he had suggested giving the mission a cold shoulder to test its sincerity in welcoming the emperor back, and then put forward conditions based on the situation. Therefore, the negotiations with the mission have not been smooth."
"It wasn't until about half a month later that the mission proposed to cede part of the border town and promised to welcome the Emperor back in exchange for gold, silver and silk. However, because the matter was so important, they could not fully make the decision, so they needed to send someone who was familiar with and trusted by the Ming Dynasty first.
People, come back to Beijing with the mission for peace talks."
Lu Zhong handed the confession in his hand to Chen Yi, Jin Lian and Du Ning who were present, while narrating the main content of the confession.
The faces of the three elders who had received the testimonies all turned livid after they were circulated.
As for the other ministers, they were even more frightened and angry.
But this time, they were not facing Xi Ning, but the mission.
"What? Cut off the city?"
"Who gave them the courage to agree to such conditions?"
"He is simply the scum of the imperial court."
It should be said that the Ming Dynasty had given up some territories over several dynasties, but those were all given up voluntarily by the court out of strategic considerations.
Things like being forced to cede land can stir up the sensitive nerves in the hearts of civil servants.
You must know that after the Tumu Campaign, the imperial court once tried to negotiate peace with Ye Xian, sending him a lot of gold, silver and silk, and even tolerated Ye Xian's repeated breach of trust.
In the end, the biggest reason why the imperial court couldn't bear it anymore and decided to start a war even if it was beaten to the capital was that it also proposed a condition that the imperial court could never accept.
He wants Datong City!
It should be said that I still didn't understand the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty very well. In their view, things like cutting off cities would be something that would be infamy for thousands of years and be reviled by future generations.
Let alone an important town like Datong, even an inch of land cannot be forced to be ceded.
It was precisely because of this condition that the space for peace talks between the two parties was completely eliminated, and the subsequent Battle of Zijingguan took place.
However, there were a few who were calm and questioned.
"Your Majesty, Commander, Xi Ning's words may not be believed. Mr. Xu and Mr. Xiao are both important ministers of the imperial court. How could they agree to this matter indiscriminately? What's more, even if they agree, I, the Ming Dynasty, will never agree. Doing so would be unreasonable.
What’s the point?”
Faced with these doubts, Lu Zhong continued.
"Don't be impatient. Please listen to what I have to say. When the mission proposed that the city could be ceded, Ye Xian also had doubts. Therefore, in order to gain Ye Xian's trust, the mission agreed to cede part of the army that could be ceded.
Let me tell you the town’s defense status first to show your sincerity.”
"Because of this, I, the commander, said that the mission deliberately leaked military information and was not tricked. As for the more specific details, they are all recorded in the confession. Mr. General Xian, Jin Shangshu, Du Siqing, this commander
Is there any discrepancy between what he said and what he said in his confession?"
The eyes of all the ministers were focused on the three important ministers of the Dharma Division. Under the public gaze, the three of them looked heavy and shook their heads in unison.
At this moment, the testimony was held in the hands of Jin Lian, the Minister of Punishment. His expression was extremely complicated, and he sighed and said.
"What Commander Lu just said is consistent with what was written in the confession..."
This chapter has been completed!