Zhu Ling had already made preparations. He left the palace with more than a hundred flags, and when he arrived there were only a few people left. Naturally, these people had been arranged by him in advance to collect evidence, and of course there were witnesses.
The so-called evidence and witnesses may be false or true.
Even though Zhu Ling was full of confidence in asking people to present evidence, Fan Jingwen still didn't believe it. He looked on coldly, flicked his sleeves, and straightened his back. He wanted to see what this so-called evidence was.
If His Majesty cannot produce it, then he is deceiving everyone, and he should give an explanation to Chen Yan and other officials whose homes were confiscated for no reason, and this explanation is naturally not something that can be easily deceived.
But Ni Yuanlu, who stood respectfully on one side, always felt that he was firmly controlled by His Majesty. Under such circumstances in the past, His Majesty was forced to compromise due to the advice of the ministers, and then the matter would be shelved.
, but since that day when he negotiated peace with the intruder, he has become a completely different person.
Could it be that, as my colleagues said, His Majesty is possessed by an evil spirit?
Wu Linzheng, who was also standing sideways, lowered his head at this moment. As the young minister of Taichang Temple, he was only responsible for some rituals and music. It was not easy to be invited here today. In the past, he was enjoying himself alone at home, but today he was standing up in the hall.
To refute everyone, I just got some rumors.
The day before, I happened to meet His Majesty's Eunuch Wang Cheng'en outside the palace. Originally, a third-rank official would never curry favor with eunuchs. If he said a few words, he would be regarded by his colleagues as having a close relationship with the eunuchs and being suspected of collusion. However, recently
His Majesty's behavior was actually the first since he ascended the throne seventeen years ago, so naturally he couldn't help but ask a few more questions.
After giving some more money, Wang Gonggong also told everything he knew. In particular, he said that His Majesty insisted on moving south. He called everyone outside the palace that day in order to retreat to Yingtian Mansion. However, because
The intruders did not withdraw from the Zhili area, and the rectification of the Beijing camp had only achieved initial results, so they gave up.
Although the homes of more than a dozen officials were raided, only the two biggest ones were Chen Ge, the cabinet minister, and Zhang Jinyan, the Minister of War. The others were just officials below the sixth rank.
In the case of high-ranking officials, ransacking their homes is just a bit of a fool's errand.
The ministers were afraid because they were frightened by the invading troops outside the city.
After hearing the words of the prince, Wu Linzheng went out of his way and angrily shouted at everyone in the hall. In his heart, he also sneered at these officials who were loyal and patriotic on the surface, but in fact were as cowardly as rats behind their backs.
The most important thing is that Your Majesty needs some people, or one person to cooperate with Your Majesty, to complete this idea of ​​persuading officials to agree to move south. At any time, civil servants are the backbone of the imperial court and cannot be abandoned.
I have long been tired of being the young minister of Taichang Temple for so many years. If this move can arouse His Majesty's attention to me, why not do it?
"I, Wu Linzheng, the Young Minister of Taichang Temple, believe in Your Majesty and believe that those whose homes were confiscated are all guilty, and that the proposal to move south is feasible and will definitely be feasible." He took a step forward and stood up.
The words were shocking, and everyone present was stunned for a moment. His move was obviously a unique one. Why didn't you say anything against Grand Scholar Fan just now? His Majesty asked people to collect evidence, and that's why you jumped out like this?
Especially Wu Ganlai and Chen Chunde, the imperial censor who had just argued with him, were the first to disagree and directly retorted: "Wu Shaoqing's statement has no evidence to support it. You are just sitting at home these days, why?
Is it related to the case of confiscating the house at that time? Moreover, His Majesty did not notify the cabinet or Dali Temple at all about this move, but only handed it over to the Jinyi Guards. Who knew? None of us know."
After saying that, he deliberately raised his head and glanced at Zhu Ling, then looked away again.
"When did Taichang Temple take care of these things?" Another censor Wang Zhang also stood up and scolded.
However, Wu Linzheng did not refute, but just sneered. The purpose of his move was just to express his attitude to His Majesty. Is there any evidence to prove this? Is it that as a young minister of Taichang Temple, he is not allowed to participate in this matter? What's the matter?
relation?
"You don't have to be like this. What if there is no evidence? What about Taichang Temple? If you want the Ming Dynasty, you don't have to worry about this." Zhu Ling was too lazy to continue playing Tai Chi with these people. After all, they were loyal ministers who died for the Ming Dynasty according to historical records. He
I didn't want to argue with them and eventually got angry and killed them in a fit of rage.
However, this Wu Linzheng has some discernment. So many ministers have different opinions from him, but he can see his own thoughts and support him in time.
He is a smart man.
It is useful in troubled times, but useless in prosperous times, but it is a bit tricky.
Wu Linzheng and several others retreated to the queue. The ministers stopped talking and kept their own thoughts. Academician Fan simply closed his eyes and waited.
What worries the ministers the most right now is the so-called evidence from His Majesty. They have been officials in the same dynasty as Mr. Chen Ge for several years, but they have never heard of him doing anything that violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, when negotiating peace with the intruders,
His Majesty was accused of being a traitor, and Mr. Chen Ge couldn't bear the humiliation. Who would have thought that His Majesty would directly confiscate his home?
It was actually what he did to kill the donkey! At the last moment, everyone was thinking about how to write a document for Mr. Chen Ge to tell the world that Mr. Chen Ge had to bear such an infamy for the eternal survival of the Ming Dynasty. It was not a selfish act.
.
The next moment, they received the news that Mr. Chen Ge's house had been ransacked by the Jinyiwei. Many people immediately collapsed on the ground when they heard the news. Many people even looked up to the sky in pain, feeling sorry for the loss of such a talented person in the Ming Dynasty.
Your Majesty insists that Mr. Chen Ge is collaborating with the enemy and treason?
This is ridiculous!
After a while, a group of royal guards rushed over. Following a small flag, they quickly walked a few steps in front of Zhu Ling. They knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, the evidence has arrived!"
"Bring it up."
"yes!"
When the ministers saw that the evidence from His Majesty's mouth had finally arrived, there was some commotion in the crowd, and they couldn't help but curiously looked outside. Although Fan Jingwen, who was standing next to Zhu Ling, had always had doubts about the evidence that Zhu Ling presented, at this juncture he was indeed a little confused.
Curious, I opened my eyes slightly and peeked through a crack.
I saw two Xiaoqi carrying a large box in front of everyone, and put it down in the middle. It made a heavy sound when it was put down. Obviously, this box was not light in weight.
Then one box after another was carried up and placed neatly in front of the ministers. After that, several people who were tied up were brought in and pushed to kneel in front of Zhu Ling.
before.
"Your Majesty, is this the evidence you are talking about?" Scholar Fan pointed to the boxes in front of him with confusion on his face. Obviously, these boxes were not reasonable in proving the officials whose homes were confiscated.
"Open him." Zhu Ling smiled, did not say anything, and ordered someone to open the box gently.
After accepting the order, Wang Guoxing immediately went down and led a few people to open the box. The moment he opened the box, the radiance emanating from inside immediately astonished the surrounding officials.
All the ministers exclaimed that the seemingly ordinary box actually contained a large number of gold and silver jewelry, and each piece looked priceless and truly precious.
When Fan Xueshi saw such a scene, he was extremely shocked. He had never seen such a huge amount of gold, silver and jewelry in his decades as an official. He had always heard that an official whose mansion was raided had hidden treasures.
There are so many gold and silver jewels, when they are arranged in order and opened, it is extremely spectacular.
But I had only heard about it, never seen it. What he saw today made him, who had always been honest, speechless. He only felt like there was a lump in his throat, and a thousand-foot-long light seemed to flash in his eyes.
Zhu Ling glanced lightly at the shocked faces of everyone, knowing that these things had an effect, their reactions were naturally similar to Fan Jingwen's current expressions.
The only difference is that Academician Fan knows how to pretend and control his expression so that he won't show it easily.
But the next box almost surprised everyone present. As the boxes were opened one by one, more gold and silver jewelry were revealed. Some sharp-eyed officials even discovered that there were actually more than ordinary ingots inside.
The silver nugget was several times larger. The imperial court had never issued such a piece of silver, so it must have been minted privately.
However, privately melting gold and silver and destroying the silver issued by the imperial court is also a violation of the Ming Dynasty! In the lightest case, the family property will be confiscated, and in the worst case, the person will be beheaded!
At this time, people knew in their minds that these things must most likely be hidden in the home of Mr. Chen Ge or several other officials. Why didn't everyone think that they belonged to His Majesty's internal funds?
Just because everyone knows that His Majesty himself is extremely frugal in food, clothing, housing and transportation, how could he have such a large amount of gold and silver?
"Scholar Fan, whose do you think these gold and silver belong to?" After all the boxes were opened one by one, Zhu Ling also issued a soul torture, which made Fan Jingwen, who was lost in some thoughts, feel as if he had been hit hard.
, speechless.
"Come here, bring those witnesses!"
[Author's digression]: We have entered the review week and have more time to write. Thank you all for your support. I will continue to work hard and finish this book!
I also hope that if you think you can, you can vote more, please! Please! Please!