As the Minister of Punishment uttered these words, a buzzing sound suddenly appeared in the court hall.
Almost all the officials understood that there seemed to be something good to watch at today's court meeting!
As one of the more important books among the six books, the Minister of Punishment openly expressed dissatisfaction to His Highness the Crown Prince?
Almost all the officials and ministers in the palace knew that the Confucian scholars stormed the Academy of Arts and injured Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs. Many of them also knew who was standing behind the Confucian scholars.
Now, it seems that the two sides are going to have a head-on confrontation?
This made many people couldn't help but whisper to themselves, don't let the city gate catch fire and harm the fish in the pond...
This is an extremely important moment for the Ming Dynasty. The prince may be enthroned as emperor in a while. How could this suddenly happen?
The civil servants seem to be dissatisfied with His Royal Highness? Or is there a reason?
"quiet!"
Seeing that the palace was becoming more and more noisy, the censor on duty immediately came out to maintain order.
Zhu Gaojie, on the other hand, stared at the Minister of Punishment for a long time, with a half-smile on his face.
"Zhou Qing, what you mean is that I am doing a bad job."
The Minister of Punishment rushed forward, cupped his hands, and said with a serious face:
"Your Highness, please tell me why you imprison so many Confucian scholars? And why do you force the Jin Yiwei to take over the torture?"
"I'm afraid that if something happens to these Confucian scholars, a big disaster may happen!"
Zhu Gaojie looked at him again, with a cold look in his eyes, but he asked:
"The Ministry of Punishment said that a rogue is here, but the Ministry of Rites, Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate should all come forward and speak out."
"Let's see if we are just arresting people randomly and not following the laws of the country..."
Hearing what Zhu Gaojie said, Wang Zhi, the Minister of Civil Service, quietly winked at the people around him. Although the matter was somewhat different from what they had imagined, the arrow had to be fired. At this time, it was time for the civil servants to stand up.
.
He didn't believe that at such a critical moment, the prince could withstand the tremendous pressure from the civil service group!
After receiving Wang Zhi's secret signal, many important ministers from the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, the Dali Temple, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and other nine ministers came out one after another to express their views on the matter.
"Your Highness, our court attaches great importance to scholars, how can we imprison them?"
"Exactly, even if they are imprisoned, they cannot be allowed to interrogate them. Isn't this nonsense?"
"What mistake did the Confucian scholars make? They just wanted to go to the liberal arts academy and be moved by emotion and reason. After all, Confucianism is our major school, and those taught in the liberal arts academy are really uncivilized!"
"boom!"
Zhu Gaojie slapped the desk hard, interrupting the ministers, and then said calmly:
"What crime did the Confucian scholars commit?"
"They committed a heinous crime!"
He looked around at the ministers in the palace and found that there seemed to be no surprise on their faces, so he couldn't help but smile coldly:
"You think Gu is joking, right?"
He pointed his finger at the Minister of Punishment:
"I want to ask you, according to the Ming Dynasty's legal system, where does the Academy of Literature belong?"
The Minister of Punishment was stunned for a long time before he said slowly:
"It belongs to the imperial court official school..."
"Okay, I'll ask you again, what is the crime of gathering a crowd to attack the imperial court's official schools and beating important ministers?"
The Minister of Punishment was sweating slightly on his forehead, but he still said slowly:
"The so-called law does not punish everyone. According to my understanding, the Confucian scholars at that time just wanted to go to the Academy of Arts to ask for advice. As a result, the poor students in the Academy got angry and hurt people for no reason. In the chaos, they accidentally hurt Xia Shangshu...
…”
A good law does not blame everyone!
What an unintentional hurtful person!
Zhu Gaojie sneered slightly in his heart, "You civil servants like you are not going to be able to get away with it today with your yellow mouth and white teeth."
"I just want to ask you, is it true that these Confucian scholars attacked the Academy of Arts?"
The Minister of Punishment shook his head. He would never agree with Zhu Gaojie. Otherwise, how could he rescue these Confucian scholars?
How could you give Zhu Gaojie such a big embarrassment?
"I think that the Confucian scholars are not only innocent, but also meritorious!"
At this time, the minister of Dali Temple appeared on the side and said to Zhu Gaojie in a stern tone:
"The Confucian scholars just went to the liberal arts academy to exchange knowledge. As a result, those poor students felt that they were dirty, so they hurt others, and Xia Shangshu was injured."
"In my opinion, those students in the liberal arts academy have committed serious crimes! They must be severely punished!"
"There are also those hospital guards who are also helping the evildoers, and they must be severely punished!"
"Yes, that's exactly what it should be..."
Soon, as those important ministers came forward, dozens of civil servants also appeared in the court, and began to rebuke the students of the liberal arts college with righteous faces, demanding that Zhu Gaojie immediately release the Confucian students, and immediately imprisoned those students from poor families to the sky prison.
Heavy punishment!
Many officials looked at the lively scene in the palace, beat their drums secretly in their hearts, and began to whisper to each other:
"what's the situation?"
"Are you asking His Highness the Crown Prince to bow his head and admit his mistake?"
"Look at the elders in front of you, can His Highness still be able to withstand their cooperation..."
Along with the buzzing noise, Zhu Gaojie looked at the chaos in the hall and sneered:
"This is your explanation to Gu?"
The Minister of Punishment looked at each other, took a step forward, and said loudly:
"Your Highness, the Confucian scholars are not guilty. Please release them immediately!"
"Those poor students in the liberal arts college are the real culprits!"
"Please give an order from His Majesty the Crown Prince to take them into custody immediately and punish them severely!"
This was a countermeasure they had already discussed a long time ago. Whether they were guilty or not depended on their words. The three ministers would stand up to support the Confucian students and demand heavy punishment for those liberal arts students. I didn't believe the prince could handle it.
They have almost gathered the power of the entire six ministries and nine ministers. In addition to Xia Yuanji's household department, the Ministry of Industry, and the two departments that Zhu Gaojie can control, what can the prince do to resist such a powerful force?
Wang Zhi, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was even more satisfied. He glanced at Yang Rong, the chief minister of the cabinet not far away, and sneered secretly in his heart:
"I asked the Kong family to take action and hold back those bachelors. I don't believe that you, a bare-chested chief minister of the cabinet, can do anything to help the prince!"
"There is also an old guy like Xia Yuanji, who is clearly injured and still insists on going to court. Well, let him see. The prince can only submit in front of us!"
When everyone was having different thoughts, Zhu Gaojie stood up, looked around at everyone in the hall, and said calmly:
"The discussion was quite lively."
"However, I can tell you clearly today that these Confucian scholars have committed a serious crime!"
"I must pick out a few of them and chop off their heads!"
"Also," Zhu Gaojie said coldly:
"I might as well tell you one more thing."
"Those generals who disobey orders and refuse to save them have already given orders."