"Has anyone confessed?" Liu De asked Zhang Tang who came to report.
"Back to Your Highness, they only admitted that they had criticized you, but firmly denied that they were instigated by others..." Zhang Tang lowered his head and replied: "And... many of them insist that the late emperor has abandoned slander and rumors.
, cursed with the highest sin, therefore they are not guilty!”
"Not guilty?" Liu De couldn't help laughing after hearing this.
What those scholars said was absolutely correct. Liu De's grandfather did issue an imperial edict that abolished all laws that punished crimes based on speech. Even the crime of cursing the emperor, which was a crime that would have caused his head to fall in the Qin Dynasty, was abolished.
However, if they think this can be their talisman, they are totally wrong!
"It's so childish!" Liu De sneered.
In ancient and modern times, even the most cruel rulers at home and abroad may be able to maintain a certain degree of tenderness when facing things that have nothing to do with them.
However, once his interests are touched, no matter how gentle the ruler is, he can instantly transform into the most cruel person in the world.
Even if it is regarded as a beacon of freedom in later generations and emphasizes people's cooking, people can scold the president and protest in front of the White House. However, once these guys dare to break into Wall Street, the iron fist of free people's cooking will immediately teach them how to behave.
Let alone this feudal society before the Christian era!
If Liu De's memory is correct, then Zhang Tang, who is standing in front of him and reporting respectfully, will in the future invent the crime of "slander" and put his mortal enemy Yan Yi to death.
What's more, Liu De remembered very clearly that the edict of his grandfather, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, which abolished all crimes based on speech, had a prerequisite - that is, the person who committed the crime must be a peasant who could not read a word.
As for intellectuals, you are already literate and polite, but you still dare to challenge the authority of the government and insult the royal family?
If you are not planning to rebel, are you just planning to play tricks on the emperor?
Well, it seems that teasing the emperor is a more serious crime than rebellion!
In the former, except for the first offender, all the others have a chance to be pardoned, but in the latter... three tribes were destroyed! And there is no pardon!
"Have you read them the late emperor's edict?" Liu De asked with a smile. Up to now, Liu De has actually been under a lot of pressure. After all, this kind of arrest of scholars is a big deal no matter what.
It violates some taboos, and will step on some people's painful feet. If it were the Song and Ming Dynasties, even if Liu De was the prince now, he would probably be sprayed to death by all the civil and military officials. Fortunately, this is the Han Dynasty, the civil and military affairs of the imperial court.
Most of the officials were born into noble families, and the proportion was not high from poor families.
Most of the courtiers and tycoons had no feelings towards Liu De's actions of arresting the scholars.
In Lu Xun's words, the ministers did not think that the scholar Liu De arrested had the surname Zhao.
However, there are still some ministers who think that these scholars are "surnamed Zhao". For example, Wang Hui, the great minister, went to the palace today to file a complaint against Liu De in front of the cheap daddy.
Liu De could still withstand the criticism from one or two ministers.
But if this matter drags on for a long time, then...
However, no matter how anxious Liu De was, he could not show it in front of Zhang Tang and others.
A superior person must be able to express his emotions and anger without expressing his emotions.
What's more, if you are anxious about this kind of thing, then Zhang Tang and the others may inevitably have other thoughts!
"Back to Your Highness, I have already shown them the late emperor's edict..." Zhang Tang replied.
"How's it going? How many have spoken?" Liu De asked slowly.
Liu De knows better than anyone how soft the bones of a scholar are.
Generally speaking, if there is one strong person among a hundred intellectuals, it is already very good.
As for the remaining ninety-nine, you can refer to the ugliness of the Donglin Party after the Manchus entered the customs.
Under the three trees, during the punishment, Liu De didn't feel that he was so unlucky, and the people he caught were all hard-core.
"Your Highness, I have basically confessed..." Zhang Tang replied calmly - Zhang Tang had already mastered this kind of torture and interrogation when he was five years old, so he didn't think there was anything good about it.
He wanted to take credit, but the next moment, he replied excitedly: "It can basically be confirmed that the instigator should come from the palace. A scholar named Lin Jing confessed that the person who instigated him had brought out royal supplies...
"
This is a major case!
If we follow the rules of the Qin Dynasty, we must go to Guanzhong and exhaust all means to trace the identity of the instigator.
As long as the mastermind behind the scenes is dug out, to put it bluntly, Zhang Tang will come into the sight of the emperor, just like Chao Cuo of the previous generation naturally transformed from a prince to a courtier after handling the Fu Sheng incident.
Having said this, Zhang Tang couldn't help but get excited. He raised his head and asked for instructions: "Your Highness, I have brought all the prisoners' confessions. Your Highness, would you like to forward them to Your Majesty?"
In his view, if these confessions arrive before the Emperor's case, then the revival of Legalism is just around the corner - such a big and important case will definitely shock the world! It is not a mistake for Legalism to take advantage of the situation and replace the Huang Lao School as the mainstream in the court.
impossible!
But after hearing this, Liu De waved his hand and ordered: "Let me read the confession first and then speak..."
Zhang Tang, after all, is still too young!
Don’t understand politics!
Liu De sighed in his heart, if only this matter were as simple as Zhang Tang thought!
The confession is to be shown to the cheap daddy, but not now, not even in the daytime in full view of the public!
This case can only go so far!
The reason is very simple, politics.
The cheap daddy is now sharpening his sword against the princes. There are not many fools in the Guandong princes, so they must be connecting with each other and building momentum.
Under such a situation, if a scandal of royal internal strife broke out in the Han family, Liu De didn't even have to think about it to know what Wu and Chu would say.
Besides, Cheap Daddy also sent a hint of silk book today.
There are only two short sentences in the silk book: King Yan of Jiaoxi held a banquet with King Wu's envoy Gao Yao. Yao said: The Lord is motivated by traitors, acts as a decoration to evil ministers, loves small kindness, listens to greedy thieves, changes the law arbitrarily, breaks the ancestral system, and invades and plunders
In the land of princes, good people are punished, and the world suffers for a long time. Yan Dui said: "Yes."
If Liu De didn't understand what cheap daddy meant, then his three lifetimes would have been in vain.
Therefore, the arrested scholars can only be punished with the crime of arresting them or other crimes.
However, the person behind the scenes could not be let go so easily. Therefore, Liu De felt that he should continue to investigate and report the evidence to the cheap daddy after finding out.
Therefore, Liu De said: "You will find someone to let the public know about someone's confession that someone from the royal family was involved..."
Yesterday, the drama was released, but after waiting for a day, the guy was calm and didn't move, which made Liu De a little helpless.
But it will be different if Zhang Tang lets it go again.
Regarding the matter of nose and eyes, Liu De felt that if it were him, he would decisively silence him!
As long as that person makes a move, he will definitely leave a lot of clues, and then he can die!
Liu De knew very well that in this era, the most terrifying thing was not breaking the law. For example, King Liu Wu of Liang openly assassinated ministers in his previous life. The evidence was conclusive, but the cheap daddy couldn't do anything about him, and he didn't even dare to punish him.
The most terrifying thing in this era is to make the emperor hate you!
Once the emperor thinks you are a bad guy, even if you don't break any laws, you will still be dead!
For example, the deaths of Zhou Yafu and Dou Ying in the previous life...
