: Guo Zhishun pleads guilty and destroys relatives for justice

Author: grid fish

The Yu Zhong Dynasty case can be said to be the largest corruption case that has occurred in hundreds of years since the founding of the Song Dynasty. This person pretended to be a famous and honest official through the ages and swaggered through the city. For decades, he was admired by both the government and the public, as well as scholars.

And the iron-clad facts are before our eyes, which undoubtedly gave many courtiers and the entire scholar class in Dayan a resounding slap in the face.

I don’t know how many people feel embarrassed.

For a time, Yu Zhongchao became a hot topic of discussion between the government and the public.

And many discussions attached to Yu Zhongchao and his people are rampant.

The students of Yanjing Academy jointly submitted a petition to the emperor, issuing a proclamation against hypocrites like Yu Zhongchao, strongly demanding that the court thoroughly eliminate Yu Zhongchao's remnants of his party, and dig out many officials like Yu Zhongchao who are good at deceiving the world and stealing their reputation.

It's actually corruption.

The Yushitai and admonishment system under Yu Zhongchao's management were also agitated. Almost all the admonishment officials and admonishment officials were impeaching Yu Zhongchao, vowing to draw a clear line between them and completely eradicate such scum from the court.

For several days, the topic about Yu Zhongchao has not diminished at all. This is the first time in the Great Yanchao Hall.

Some people scold hypocrites and they must have bad looks.

He accused Yu Zhongchao of having cloudy eyes, dull and deep eyes, a smile with hidden knives, a sweet mouth and a sword in his belly, a cold aura, and a hooked nose.

Since ancient times, people with this "nose shape" tend to have a cold temperament and are full of scheming intentions.

He also cited two particularly obvious examples, one is King Gou Jian of Yue during the Spring and Autumn Period, and the other is Sima Yi during the Three Kingdoms period.

The former worked hard for many years, and finally defeated the State of Wu and eradicated its roots.

At the same time, Gou Jian also killed all the ministers who knew his humble experience, such as Wen Zhong, who inevitably committed suicide.

The latter endured for decades and endured the death of three generations of Cao Cao, Cao Pi and Cao Rui. In the process of capriciousness, he seized the power of Cao Wei and finally killed all the Cao family.

There is a folk saying that a nose is like an eagle's beak, pecking at the heart's marrow.

Therefore, a vigorous "Hooked Nose Self-examination Movement" broke out in the entire court, and any courtier with the same hooked nose as Yu Zhongchao immediately became the object of suspicion.

When the emperor heard about this, he just laughed it off.

Of course this is nonsense, but if they let them fiddle around for a while, the gust of wind will pass, so it's no big deal.

Moreover, the emperor's original purpose was to create suspicion and division within the inherent small groups in the court, so as to prevent them from forming a monolith, so that the courtiers would form cliques and resist the imperial power.

More importantly, which courtiers and local officials Yu Zhongchao colluded with? Many clues and evidence are in the hands of the emperor and the imperial guards. This is like a sword of Damocles, hanging high above some people's heads.

It makes some people uneasy.

Therefore, many courtiers came forward one after another and asked Jin Yiwei to transfer the case to the Department of Sanfa.

The emperor forbids it.

Tables of music continued to flow into the emperor's study room like a tide.

In the end, even the five veterans of the cabinet could not withstand the invisible pressure and took the initiative to seek an audience with the emperor, begging the emperor to transfer the case to the court.

In fact, this was a reason, because after all, even Li Gang was not sure how far the emperor wanted to investigate the case... The cabinet ministers entered the palace collectively, just to test the emperor's attitude.

Li Gang cleared his throat in embarrassment, cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I think... if Yu Zhongchao's case is widely implicated, I am afraid it will destabilize the court and be detrimental to the country. Moreover, this person has always been the leader of the Qingliu Party in the court. This

Now that he has been defeated, there is no one to preside over the entire Yushitai and the Court of Admonition, so it would be better for Your Majesty to decide on the candidate as soon as possible."

Wang Lin smiled indifferently and glanced at Wu Min, Zongze, Huang Qishan, Guo Zhishun and the others, "You guys? Do you have anything else to say?"

Wu Min composed himself and said: "Your Majesty, I think it would be a good thing for Dayan to take advantage of the Zhongchao case to clean up the court and remove some well-hidden black sheep.

But as it concerns an important official of the imperial court, should the case be handed over to the Three Law Departments?"

Huang Qishan cupped his hands and said: "I second the proposal!"

Zongze also said in a low voice: "I second the proposal!"

Only Guo Zhishun remained silent and stood quietly behind Li Gang and the others.

Wang Lin looked deeply at Guo Zhishun and suddenly said: "What does Mr. Guo think? Like Mr. Li and others, does he ask me to hand over the case to the Three Laws Division?"

Guo Zhishun twitched the corner of his mouth and said slowly: "Your Majesty, I... think that since your Majesty is personally presiding over this case, he should continue to take the lead in finding out the truth and understanding the case as soon as possible to avoid turmoil in the court."

Wang Lin laughed in his heart, thinking that Guo Zhishun could be considered a real old fox.

Unlike Li Gang and the other four, who only serve the public good, Guo still has some personal interests in mind.

After all, he is Guo Yuan's father, and he is considered a relative of the emperor.

In any case, he must stand on the same stand as the emperor, otherwise, he feels that the Guo family's status will not be guaranteed.

Therefore, Guo Zhishun rarely expressed his position on issues related to the emperor's attitude.

Li Gang and the other three also knew about his difficulties, and often pretended not to know, and did not pierce this layer of paper.

If the emperor had not asked him face to face today, Guo Zhishun would not have expressed his position anyway.

But Guo Zhishun's financial management ability is the best in the world, unmatched by anyone.

With him in control of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry, Dayan's business flourished, all industries prospered, and the treasury was no longer in danger of being empty.

And Guo Zhishun is very clear-headed.

He has never had anything to do with public children.

It's not that he didn't have any greed at all, but he maintained a tacit understanding and balance with the emperor.

The emperor continued to send benefits to the Guo family through Guo Yuan.

The various forms of gifts from the emperor were enough to ensure that the Guo family and their descendants would have enough food and clothing for several lifetimes. Guo Zhishun knew the seriousness of the problem and would not offend the emperor on fundamental principles or shake the foundation of the Guo family.

Guo Zhishun's own dedication to his duties also supervised and promoted the integrity of the entire Ministry of Household Finance and Taxation system.

Wang Lin smiled softly: "My dear friends, if you don't tell me, I also want to hand over this case. To tell you the truth, just after Xiao Yi left, Xiao Yi repeatedly requested that Jin Yiwei take the initiative to hand over all the case files and physical evidence.

The witnesses were handed over to Dali Temple.

But after repeated consideration, I don’t agree. Do you know why?”

Li Gang and others cupped their hands and said, "Your Majesty, please make it clear."

Wang Lin smiled: "Actually, the so-called Yu Zhong Dynasty's reputation as a hypocrite has been hidden for decades and deceived the world. It is simply nonsense.

The Yu Zhong Dynasty case involved dozens of courtiers and more than a hundred local officials. The Yu family was domineering in the local area and bullied the market. In his hometown and everywhere he served as a local official, the people were well aware of his reputation for hypocrisy.

Detective Jinyiwei learned that there have been countless complaints against the Yu family for controlling merchant trade over the years, but they have all been suppressed by local governments.

Therefore, Yu Zhongchao's Qing name was originally a false proposition. Many people in the court knew his true identity. The one who hid it was actually just me!

Of course, maybe there are also some of you cabinet veterans!"

Li Gang and others looked at each other in embarrassment.

"That's why I hesitated. If I handed this case over to the Third Law Department, it would really turn into an earth-shattering case. It involves the majesty of the imperial court's national laws. With the detectives of the Imperial Guards on the side, I think that the officials of the Third Law Department would not dare to do this.

This is a time of favoritism.

But if it is in the hands of me and Jin Yiwei, the consequences can be controlled... Do you understand what I mean?"

Li Gang took a deep breath, he understood the emperor's intention.

In other words, the emperor has his own opinion as to how far this case should be handled.

Of course, it depends on the development of the situation.

In other words, those who the emperor wants to deal with will definitely be involved in the case, and those who the emperor is unwilling to touch will probably pass the test this time.

Li Gang and Wu Min looked at each other, and they were worried that the emperor would hold on to him and take the opportunity to clean up the court. Since the emperor was "targeted", Li Gang felt that there was nothing to worry about.

Li Gang and others resigned, but Guo Zhishun was retained by the emperor: "Mr. Guo, Yuan'er has been feeling a little unwell these days. Why don't you go visit her palace."

Guo Zhishun was slightly stunned, then bowed and said: "I accept the order!"

…

Guo Yuan's palace garden is quiet and quiet, with many green bamboos planted there.

Covered by a sea of ​​bamboo, Guo Yuan wore a pink palace dress. She didn't apply makeup on her face, but she was still very beautiful.

She was sitting in the pavilion, reading the emperor's collected works with her head down, when she suddenly heard that the female official came to report that her father had come to visit, and she couldn't help but feel a little surprised and surprised.

Now that Guo Zhishun is in such a powerful position, he has become very taboo about many things.

He rarely visited Guo Yuan in the palace, and he did not even allow Guo Yuan to return to her parents' home often when she had nothing to do.

There were close contacts between powerful ministers and concubines, which was enough to arouse the emperor's suspicion.

But today it was the emperor who took the initiative to ask Guo Zhishun to come. In fact, Guo Zhishun was more surprised than his daughter Guo Yuan.

"My lord, Guo Zhishun, pays homage to the empress!"

"The daughter has met her father."

The father and daughter exchanged polite greetings, and seeing Guo Yuan's beautiful face and eyes full of happiness, Guo Zhishun felt a warm feeling in his heart.

On that day, he took the initiative to present his daughter to the then King of Qi. His original intention was to promote his career. But from his perspective as a father, it was a blessing for his widowed daughter to marry someone like Wang Lin.

Moreover, the emperor treated Guo Yuan very well.
To be continued...