After several days of rigorous interrogation, Li Dongyang made no progress. Of course Liu Wentai, Xu Hao, Gao Ting and the three others refused to admit that they had attempted to murder the emperor, and they completely denied the crime.
In fact, this is not surprising. The major crime of murdering the emperor is the crime of exterminating the nine tribes. Who is willing to admit it? If you admit such a crime, wouldn't it mean that the whole family, old and young, relatives and old friends will lose their heads? Besides, they are indeed not like this.
Do.
In fact, Li Dongyang didn't think they had the courage or motive to murder the emperor at all. According to normal reasoning, as imperial doctors, they were the ones who diagnosed and treated the emperor. If they did such a thing, wouldn't it be too stupid?
Because they are the first suspects.
Even if they had the intention to murder the emperor, they couldn't be stupid enough to increase the dosage of the last dose of medicine. Or, they could use any lethal drug to cause the emperor's condition to worsen and die, without making it so sudden and obvious.
After thinking about it, Li Dongyang believed that the problem may lie in the mistake of the person who handled it. The wrong dosage of the drug was the cause of the serious consequences, and it was not necessarily intentional.
However, Xu Hao and Gao Tinghe firmly refused to admit this speculation. They both remembered clearly that one person weighed the medicine and another person supervised the counting. It was impossible to make a mistake. Moreover,
The quantity is also clearly recorded in the medicine record book. Each medicine must be weighed and rechecked three times. With two pairs of eyes staring at each other, how could there be any mistakes? And according to the amount of medicine in the prescription, there is no way
As for what could lead to such serious consequences.
But even if they don't admit it, someone must take responsibility for the matter. The cabinet bachelors and the outer court officials believe that in any case, Liu Wentai's prescription is problematic in the first place. The medicine given to the emperor actually contains this kind of tiger and wolf nature.
Medicine, this is a mistake in itself. No matter how Liu Wentai explains that many medicines for warming and tonic are somewhat toxic, the emperor is suffering from wind and cold, so this type of medicine is included in the prescription. However, no one cares about this.
Liu Wentai was quickly handed over to the Ministry of Criminal Justice for trial, and he was investigated for improper use of medicine. The prescription contained tiger and wolf medicine, which violated the rules of treating the emperor, which ultimately led to Zhu Youtang's death from poisoning. No one raised any objections, and no one
Dare to raise objections.
Even if we knew that there was nothing wrong with Liu Wentai's approach, because this kind of warm and tonic prescription had to include this hot medicine, otherwise it would be ineffective. But the emperor died because of taking the medicine, and someone had to take responsibility.
Liu Wentai must be judged guilty.
In addition, as for the two imperial doctors Xu and Gao, although it is difficult to prove from the motives and records that they did it deliberately, or that there was a mistake in weighing that led to the serious consequences of the emperor's poisoning and death, but
It was impossible for them to break away from their relationship. After all, the fact was that the emperor took the medicine they sent and was later killed by the poisonous medicine in the medicine. These two people are suspected of committing a major crime.
Some officials believe that this incident may be a conspiracy to kill the emperor. The reason why these two people refused to confess was because they knew that they would die if they confessed. This view was rejected by the cabinet.
Several people severely rejected it.
Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and others all believed that at this time, it would be detrimental to the overall situation of the Ming Dynasty to make a big fuss about this matter. The emperor was newly mourned and the new emperor had just ascended the throne. At this time, everyone in the government and the public, and all the people in the world, were panic-stricken. At this moment
If some conspiracy theory is created and used by someone with ulterior motives to cause greater strife, the consequences would be unimaginable.
What's more, judging from basic common sense, this matter seems to be just an accident, not a murder.
Some officials believe that regardless of whether they admit it or not, they must be forced to confess. This is because there must be an explanation for this matter and someone must be punished. Otherwise, there is no way to give an explanation to the people of the world and to everyone in the government and the public. The emperor is obsessed with them.
It’s poisoned to death, what else is there to say?
This is in line with the wishes of several members of the cabinet. This matter must be ended as soon as possible without causing an uproar. The court must stabilize immediately and people's hearts must be at peace. The deceased has passed away, and now it is necessary to return to normal as soon as possible and get on the right track.
But the problem is that Xu Hao and Gao Tinghe resolutely refused to plead guilty. They refused to admit that it was their mistake, so the case could not be concluded. Moreover, Xu Hao and Gao Tinghe actually told Li Dongyang after one of Li Dongyang's interrogations that they
They suspected that someone had made a secret about the medicine that day and increased the dose. Xu Hao said that the eunuch Liu Jin who was with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had gone to the Taiyuan Hospital to get the medicine and acted suspiciously that day.
Li Dongyang felt a little scared after hearing this. He said nothing and immediately launched an investigation. As a result, Li Dongyang did not see Liu Jin's name on the signature book for receiving medicinal materials. When he went back and asked Xu Hao and Gao Tinghe, they said that Liu Jin just forgot to sign.
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Li Dongyang, Liu Jian and Xie Qian vented their anger in private. Both Liu Jian and Xie Qian believed that Xu Hao and Gao Tinghe were biting each other indiscriminately. In order to survive, these two people actually bit the head of the East Palace. Then
Isn’t that too much?
His Highness ordered someone to do something? Is that okay? Moreover, there was no Liu Jin’s name on the application book. No one in the Imperial Hospital saw Liu Jin going there. Only Gao and Xu said that Liu Jin had been there. Nine times out of ten, it was
The act of biting.
The three of them were very angry. Li Dongyang interrogated Xu Hao and Gao Tinghe again and had a showdown with them. Li Dongyang told them that no matter how they bite others, it is useless, and it is futile for them to fight to death. If they
If they refuse to admit their crimes, they will be transferred to Fusi Prison in Jinyiweibei Town for interrogation. At that time, they will have no choice but to refuse to plead guilty.
Xu Hao and Gao Tinghe were desperate. Originally, they had realized that someone had tampered with them. After thinking about it, Liu Jin's behavior that day was extremely suspicious, so they told them about Liu Jin's trip. However, Liu Jin was obviously prepared.
He didn't sign, and no one saw him coming, so what they said became a false accusation.
Admitting that the weighing error caused the emperor's death would inevitably lead to death, so they would insist on not admitting it. However, if they were sent to Fusi Prison in Jinyiwei North Town, it would still be death, and they would still die before death.
They will suffer even more severe torture. The two of them are imperial doctors, and in private
They had also seen the conditions of officials who were tortured and released from prison, and treated their injuries. The two of them naturally knew how harsh the punishments there were. Li Dongyang originally hoped that they would not deny it and admit their faults, but these two people did not.
Therefore, any hope was lost.
That night, Xu Hao and Gao Tinghe both tied a rope with the grass in the prison, hung it on the fence of the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, and committed suicide. The walls of the two prison cells had the words "injustice" written in plaster.
The two people who died refused to admit their crimes to avoid being thought to have committed suicide out of fear of guilt.
The matter did not change according to their thoughts. The two deaths were quickly characterized as suicides out of shame. Of course, Li Dongyang did not charge them with deliberately murdering the emperor, but only as a dereliction of duty and a mistake in weighing the wrong medicine.
The amount was too high, which led to the emperor's death from poisoning. This was also done to calm down the matter as soon as possible and give an explanation to the superiors and subordinates.
Following the suicides of Xu Hao and Gao Tinghe, Liu Wentai was dismissed from his post and imprisoned by the Taiyuan Hospital, Fang Shuhe was demoted, and a large number of related personnel were punished. The matter finally calmed down.
This incident had an extremely negative impact. It is simply unbelievable that such a thing would happen in the Imperial Hospital, and that the mighty Ming Emperor would lose his life because of such a low-level mistake.
Soon, the Zhengde Emperor Zhu Houzhao issued an imperial edict, instructing the Taiyuan Hospital to carry out a comprehensive purge of procedures and personnel, and set up corresponding institutions in the inner court to connect with the Taiyuan Hospital to increase the inspection of drug dosage and prescription contents. Any request for the emperor
The medicines and prescriptions used to treat diseases must be confirmed and inspected by the relevant officials of the inner court. A special drug testing supervisor is set up in the inner court. All drugs that are to be put into the emperor's mouth must be tested by dedicated personnel to prevent accidents.
In any case, the matter slowly calmed down. The civil servants in the outer court finally breathed a sigh of relief and no longer had to worry about this matter.
Of course, the happiest person was Liu Jin, who had been appointed eunuch in charge of the Bell and Drum Division due to Zhengde's accession to the throne. When he heard the news that Gao Tinghe and Xu Hao had committed suicide, he breathed a long sigh of relief.
Once the two of them died, it meant that he was safe. The days of worrying were finally over.
Facing the days ahead, Liu Jin was full of hope. The prince ascended the throne and became the emperor, and he became the most favored person around the new emperor. Although he is currently just a eunuch in charge of the bells and drums of the upper and lower dynasties and the music and etiquette in the palace,
However, Liu Jin knew that his current status was unmatched by others.
He is now not only the most favored person around the little emperor Zhengde, but he is also the person who knows Zhu Houzhao best, the person who understands the little emperor's preferences best, and the person Zhu Houzhao can't live without. With one word of his own, he can surpass those of the great scholars and ministers in the outer court.
Ten sentences. As long as you use this intimate and irreplaceable relationship with Zhu Houzhao properly, in the near future, you will quickly control the situation and get everything you want.