Zhu Qi had no intention of discussing with them at all. All the ten main culprit clans had been executed. The only thing to consider now was what the basis for the division of this tenth clan was.
Classmates and friends, these concepts are too broad, and there must be a standard for measurement.
Seeing that the emperor's attitude was so firm, Cao Nai and others had no room for maneuver, so they could only shake their heads silently.
After this coup, the emperor's sentencing standards for officials will be increased again, and life will only be harder for everyone in the future.
"To your Majesty, I have something to say."
At this time, Kuang Ye suddenly stood up.
The three of them went to the temple to meet the saint. Cao Nai and Zhang Yi were talking all the time, and they almost forgot that there was someone behind them.
At this time, he turned around to look, with a look of approval on his face. Kuang Shangshu was over seventy years old and the oldest minister in the dynasty. He might be able to make the emperor change his mind.
Zhu Qizhen still had a stern face and said: "Speak!"
Kuang Ye said: "At the time of the crisis, I was sixteen years old. I had just passed the scholar examination and studied under the great Confucian Wang Jing of Taihe."
Zhu Qizhen was a little confused. What did this old guy mean when he suddenly mentioned Jingnan?
Could it be that he was implying that he, the emperor, killed too many people?
Damn, in the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties, tens of thousands of people were implicated in one case, why can't they be killed when they come to me?
Just as he was about to get angry, Kuang Ye continued: "As for the Fang Xiaoru case that shocked the world, I once heard my mentor mention that the so-called execution of the ten tribes was not a momentary anger of Emperor Taizong, but... there was another hidden reason."
Zhu Qizhen was stunned for a moment. Cao Nai and Zhang Yi were also a little surprised and looked at Kuang Ye, waiting for him to continue.
"After Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, he appointed Chen Ying, the imperial censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, to be responsible for investigating the remaining members of the Jianwen Party. His mentor Wang Jing and Chen Ying were classmates, so the veteran knew a thing or two about the situation at that time."
"Censor Chen Ying repeatedly conducted an inventory for several months, and the final list submitted was twenty pages long, with a total of 873 people. Most of the officials were related to Fang Xiaoru, and the list far exceeded the nine tribes and spread to the ten tribes. .”
Zhu Qizhen asked: "You mean, it's not that Emperor Taizong asked the ten clans to kill Fang Xiaoru, but because this person formed a party for personal gain and attracted more than 800 people. In this way, when Emperor Taizong raised troops to appease the Qing emperor, the Qing people Are these the people?”
Kuang Ye nodded and said: "Back to the emperor, that's right!"
Zhu Qizhen frowned and thought for a moment, then asked: "What official position did Fang Xiaoru hold in the first place?"
Cao Nai knew better, so he replied: "After Emperor Jianwen came to the throne, Fang Xiaoru successively served as a Hanlin minister and a Hanlin bachelor."
"What?"
Zhu Qizhen said in surprise: "Fang Xiaoru is so famous, but he is just a bachelor of the Imperial Academy?"
Cao Nai nodded and said: "Exactly."
Zhu Qizhen seemed a little funny and asked: "How can a mere Hanlin bachelor win over 800 party members?"
Kuang Ye replied: "In the early years of Jianwen, the New Deal was implemented and the recommendation system was restored. This suggestion was put forward by Fang Xiaoru, and he implemented it. In just three years, as many as a thousand people were recommended to serve as officials in the imperial court. The 873 people identified by Shi Chenying all have direct or indirect relationships with Fang Xiaoru."
Zhu Qizhen was not familiar with these matters. Even his predecessor, a veritable emperor, would not study the history of Jingnan.
The King of Yan, Zhu Di, raised an army to quell Jingnan, and was labeled as a rebel. He himself was too lazy to clean up his act. I just rebelled, so what?
Later generations of descendants acquiesced in the fact that their ancestors rebelled and started, and no longer pursued the details at that time. They only knew the results.
Kuang Ye continued: "These 873 people actually have one thing in common, that is, they are all from Jiangsu and Zhejiang."
Zhu Qizhen immediately discovered the problem and asked: "Isn't this a blatant clique? No matter how stupid Emperor Jianwen is, he cannot tolerate such a thing!"
Kuang Ye said: "The veteran speculated that perhaps when Emperor Jianwen discovered that something was wrong, he could not help himself."
There is no final conclusion on this matter, so we can only rely on speculation. Just imagine, Emperor Jianwen launched a new policy with the advice of Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru and others. He must have wanted to achieve something.
Who would have imagined that the New Deal, open and running, has become a means for these people to form cliques and pursue selfish interests.
The recommendation system allowed you to bypass the imperial examination and promote your own people at will. By the time Emperor Jianwen discovered the clues, there were already a thousand more people in the court.
It happened that at this time, his biggest opponent was King Yan in the north, and he had no time to deal with internal affairs.
Until the Yan army broke the city and King Yan Zhu Di succeeded to the throne, this issue was left to the new emperor to deal with.
After Kuang Ye said so much, Zhu Qizhen also understood that when Zhu Di ordered the execution of the ten clans of Fang Xiaoru, 873 people were implicated, it was definitely not a moment of anger, but he had to do it.
Today's situation is very different. Yang Dan's accomplices are all old-fashioned officials and gentry. Their participation in rebellion is a capital crime, and there is no need to use Yang Dan's identity to implicate them.
If Yang Dan was ordered to be punished by the Ten Clan and the friends he was implicated in were accepted, his classmates would really be innocent.
Zhu Qizhen was not a die-hard member, so he immediately made concessions: "Then punish the nine tribes, but we must strictly investigate the comrades, and we must be strict and not lenient!"
Cao Nai and others breathed a sigh of relief and saluted, "I obey your order!"
The incident began to spread, and in the capital alone, more than 20% of the officials were arrested.
However, their base camp is not the capital, but Jiangnan!
From beginning to end, the Jiangnan gentry were the strongest force against the imperial power, but they did not usually show it.
According to Yang Dan's account, as early as the Renxuan period, smuggling gangs in Jiangnan were already rampant.
They even instituted the Ming Dynasty Sea Ban. Among the so-called Japanese pirates, no more than 30% of them were real Japanese, and most of them were hired by the Han people.
Even in the Japanese mainland, the actual combat effectiveness was pitifully low. Just one Shiheng, with hundreds of soldiers and horses, was able to subdue them.
Since the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban, the huge profits from smuggling at sea have all fallen into the hands of the gentry on the southeast coast. With Zheng He's voyage to the West, the imperial court took away most of the profits. Although these people were unwilling, they could only smash them when they met Emperor Taizong. The teeth sink into the stomach.
However, with the death of Emperor Taizong and the succession of Emperor Renzong, they regained their maritime trade rights.
From that time on, Jiaozhi was gained and lost again, becoming an important transit point for maritime smuggling. Emperor Xuanzong prepared to restart his voyage to the West, but found many obstacles and had to stop.
Suddenly, Zhu Qizhen saw a confession that frightened him.
This is a huge conspiracy!
Emperor Xuanzong did not die normally, but was murdered as he prepared to resume his voyages to the West again.