"What the Marquis of Jianchang said is reasonable, and since the Marquis of Jianchang dared to vouch for Prince Qing's Mansion, and he had the background to report, I don't think there is any need to worry about the matter of Prince Qing's Mansion. If there is no conclusive evidence, I don't think we can continue to talk about it randomly. I want to hold others accountable, not make false accusations." Zhu Houzhao said.
All the ministers cupped their hands and said, "Your Majesty, your Majesty."
Zhu Houzhao looked at Li Dongyang and said: "Li Chief Fu, your cabinet has never come up with any opinions on the issue of accountability for the rebellion. I want to hear what you think."
Li Dongyang hurriedly bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I actually have no opinion and nothing to say."
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said: "As the chief minister of the cabinet, do you have any opinions on this matter?"
Li Dongyang hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I insisted on what the veteran said, and the veteran put forward two opinions. The veteran agreed with Master Jiao and Lord Zhang. This Zhu Zhixiu rebellion should have been planned for a long time. Ningxia town officials or Forced by the power of rebelling against the vassal, it may have been bribed, or it may be possible to cling to it. In short, it has indeed been riddled with corrosion, and it is necessary to completely clean up and replace it. However, since Ningxia Town is a border town, it is still necessary to stabilize it. Yes, so the veteran believes that, first, we should not act too hastily, so as not to intensify conflicts and stir up trouble again. Second, we must treat them differently. Those who commit crimes can be forced or active. They cannot be generalized. If it is too harsh, isn't it necessary? There are a lot of people involved, and it involves a wide range of things, which is also not conducive to the stability of the situation."
Li Dongyang didn't say what he said. They were just dispensable suggestions. They sounded solid and moderate. There was truth in them, but he didn't say that the court would do the same.
"That's all?" Zhu Houzhao frowned.
Li Dongyang nodded and said: "That's all, I have nothing else to say, veteran. In short, Zhu Zhixiu's rebellion has been subsided, and the aftermath has been properly dealt with. I hope that the impact will be eliminated soon and the peace of Ningxia Town will be restored. This is the best solution." Important.”
Zhu Houzhao lost the slightest interest in Li Dongyang's words. But out of respect, he still nodded and said: "What Li Shoufu said is pertinent, and Yang Yiqing should be told to act accordingly."
Li Dongyang bowed in salute and stepped back slowly.
Zhang Yanling smiled. As he expected, Li Dongyang refused to touch some sensitive things and talked a lot of useless nonsense. Jiang is still old and spicy, and Li Dongyang still has patience.
Zhang Yanling turned to look at Yang Tinghe, only to see Yang Tinghe clenching his teeth and lowering his head, as if he was suffering from something.
"In this case, there is nothing to discuss about this matter. It is nothing more than to hold Ningxia Town officials accountable and to screen and purge them. If you have no other opinions, this matter has been settled. According to what Li Dongyang said "Two points should be advanced slowly, and we should not go too far. We should not be unreasonably suspicious of Prince Qing's house and make people panic." Zhu Houzhao said.
"My ministers...obey the order!" All the courtiers bowed.
"Wait a minute, I have something to say." Yang Tinghe suddenly said loudly.
Everyone looked at Yang Tinghe in surprise, seeing that he was angry, his face was red, and he walked out of the queue quickly.
Zhang Yanling sighed in her heart: Yang Tinghe seemed to be unable to bear it any longer.
"Yang Tinghe, what do you have to say?" Zhu Houzhao asked with a frown.
Yang Tinghe said loudly: "Your Majesty, there is someone else who should be responsible for this rebellion, and it is a big responsibility. I don't think we can let it go."
Li Dongyang frowned and said in a deep voice: "Tinghe, don't talk nonsense. Those who should be held accountable will be held accountable. This matter has been agreed today, and there is no need to say more."
Yang Tinghe turned around and looked at Li Dongyang and said: "Sir, Chief Assistant, Tinghe must speak out. Tinghe is an official, otherwise Tinghe's heart will not be at peace. This is Tinghe's personal matter and has nothing to do with Mr. Chief Assistant."
Li Dongyang stamped his feet and shouted: "You bastard, don't say much."
Yang Tinghe bowed deeply and said: "Master Chief Assistant, Tinghe is sorry. Tinghe cannot listen to you."
Li Dongyang's face turned pale and he swayed as if he was about to faint. The officials beside him hurriedly stretched out their hands to support him.
Yang Tinghe had already spoken when facing Zhu Houzhao.
"Your Majesty, I believe that although Zhu Zhixiu's rebellion was due to his wolfish ambition, the imperial court also has unshirkable responsibilities. Since the responsibility is to be pursued, it should be pursued to the end. There is no point in covering up. Tolerating and supporting traitors will only If you make things worse, worse things will happen in the future. So I have to stand up and tell the truth."
The officials in the palace looked at Yang Tinghe, some frowned, some sneered, and some waited to see the excitement. Many people knew that a good show was on.
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said: "Yang Tinghe, what do you mean by this? The responsibility of the imperial court? Do you also think it is my responsibility?"
Yang Tinghe shook his head and said: "I don't dare. This matter is not the emperor's responsibility, but the responsibility of Liu Jin, the eunuch and eunuch of the inner court. Everyone understands this, but everyone does not say it, because they do not dare to offend. Liu Jin is just captured by his power. If I am not afraid, I will tell the truth."
There was silence in the palace, and breathing could be heard. Li Dongyang closed his eyes and shook his head, Liu Jin had no expression on his face, Zhang Yanling had a sneer on his lips, and all the officials in the palace had different expressions.
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said: "Liu Jin's responsibility? Could it be referring to Liu Jin's Qingtun policy?"
Yang Tinghe said in a deep voice: "It seems that the emperor is well aware of it. It is the policy of Qingtun. Everyone in the government and the public knows that Zhu Zhixiu's rebellion took advantage of the incident in Qingtun in Ningxia that caused complaints between the army and the people of Ningxia. The excitement of the masses led to a mutiny among the troops. Otherwise, how could Zhu Zhixiu dare to act even if he was ambitious? Zhu Zhixiu's crime is unforgivable, but should he not be held accountable for causing public resentment? This is like handing a knife to a murderer. If it were not provoked by Qingtun The people were angry, and Zhu Zhixiu did not dare to raise troops. The chaos in Ningxia Town caused tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians to be killed and wounded. The morale of the army was unstable, the people's livelihood was ruined, and the losses were huge. It also damaged the reputation of the court and the reputation of the emperor. How can the pursuit of accountability be perfunctory? What happened?"
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said nothing.
Yang Tinghe raised his voice and continued: "Your Majesty, the most terrifying thing is that everyone in the court knows the reason, but no one is willing to stand up and clarify the matter. How sad. Knowing that this matter is Liu Jin's responsibility, no one dares to To put it bluntly, in the final analysis, it is a matter of eating the emperor's salary but not being loyal to the emperor. He has failed to fulfill his responsibilities as a minister. Since the beginning of his studies and officialdom, I have decided to repay the imperial court with my life and devote myself to the Ming Dynasty. Although I almost died I have no regrets. Therefore, I must stand up and clarify this matter. Please ask the emperor to judge."
Zhu Houzhao frowned and didn't know what else to say for a moment. The debate on this matter has been going on for more than a day or two. It is not a new idea that the Qingtun incident in Ningxia caused public resentment and was used by Zhu Zhixiu. . He had already mentioned it when the chaos broke out in Ningxia. However, he had actually forgiven Liu Jin, and Liu Jin also cried and admitted his mistake in front of him. Zhu Houzhao did not intend to delve into this matter.
But now that Yang Tinghe is making such a fuss, it is a bit difficult to deal with it in front of all the civil and military officials.
"This...Yang Tinghe, I think this matter should be discussed again. Liu Jin's policy of clearing the villages...I also agree. The cabinet also agrees. The starting point is to rectify the border towns and farmland, increase money and food for the court, and He sent soldiers to the border town to solve the problem of money and tax shortage. Liu Jin did not know that this matter would be taken advantage of by Zhu Zhixiu. This is not his fault. You can't blame Liu Jin for Zhu Zhixiu's mistakes, right? Just like the Marquis of Jianchang As he said, Zhu Zhixiu will rebel sooner or later. He is ambitious and has betrayed the imperial court a long time ago. If he is not doing it for farming, he may be doing it for other things. Do you think so or not?" Zhu Houzhao said in a deep voice.
Zhang Yanling felt a chill in his heart after hearing these words. He knew that Zhu Houzhao protected Liu Jin and was extremely fond of Liu Jin, but he never had an intuitive impression of the extent of his favor.
Now, in front of the ministers, Zhu Houzhao defended Liu Jin and excused him, which gave Zhang Yanling a more intuitive impression.
After all, Yang Tinghe is also a cabinet bachelor, and his words are weighty. He made accusations, and Liu Jin should defend himself. The emperor was eager to defend Liu Jin, which is enough to explain everything. Liu Jin's status in the emperor's mind can be said to be It's as solid as a rock.
Liu Jin is indeed capable. He was originally very passive in this matter, but in just one month, he was able to make the emperor completely forgive his mistakes, which is really surprising.
"What the emperor said is absolutely true. The policy of clearing the villages proposed by Eunuch Liu is a good thing, but it only affects the interests of some people who invaded and occupied the military villages in the local area, so they held a grudge and mutinied and surrendered to the enemy. Could it be that the imperial court had to bow to them because of this? ?To condone and condone them just because you are afraid that they will cause trouble? This is unreasonable." Jiao Fang said in a deep voice.
Yang Tinghe said coldly: "Master Jiao, if it was just a normal Qingtun, how could such a change happen? That Zhou Dong acted recklessly, enriched himself in the Qingtun affairs, and did not act in accordance with the Qingtun policy at all. This made the world angry and people resentful. Only then did Arousing the anger of military households. Please tell me, who will bear this responsibility?"
Jiao Fang said in a deep voice: "That's Zhou Dong's fault. What does it have to do with Eunuch Liu? There is also An Weixue, the prefect of Ningxia, who is extremely harsh on the military households. He had deep grudges with the military households before. Putting together several reasons, we can Changes will happen, how can we generalize."
Yang Tinghe laughed and said: "Zhou Dong's fault? Who recommended Zhou Dong? Zhou Dong was only a sixth-grade idler, who recommended him to take up the post of Marble Shaoqing? This person's reputation is very bad, everyone said that he has great ambition and talent, so why did Liu Jin Do you strongly recommend him to do such an important thing? Who did Zhou Dong collect money from in Ningxia and pay tribute to?"
Jiao Fang frowned and said: "Yang Tinghe, don't talk nonsense without evidence. You are already making assumptions and making false accusations."
Yang Tinghe took out a letter from his sleeve, held it up high, and said loudly: "Evidence? I have a letter written by Yang Yiqing from Ningxia. He has checked it clearly. Zhou Dong falsely increased the military households' acres in Ningxia. It was convenient for cleaning and collection. Whenever a bribe was given, the land would be returned. He did not go to Qingtun, but to scrape the land. In three months, he asked for 800,000 taels of bribes. The money was packed into several cars and transported to the capital. After Zhou Dong was killed, the whereabouts of the money disappeared. Dare I ask, where did the money go? Whoever recommended him to Qingtun is the biggest suspect. Besides, how could Zhou Dong have the courage to plunder on such a large scale? "
Jiao Fang was stunned and looked at Liu Jin, who looked gloomy. He could not continue to defend. Who knew what was written in the letter Yang Tinghe held in his hand.
"Liu Jin, is what Yang Tinghe said the truth? Did you instruct Zhou Dong to use the Qingtun incident to extort bribes and line your own pockets?" Zhu Houzhao shouted with a frown.
Liu Jin fell to his knees, kowtowing, tears streaming down his face, and said sadly: "Your Majesty, can't you see? Someone is trying to pour dirty water on me. I just want to serve the court." Why is it so difficult to do something? Zhou Dong failed to live up to the expectations of the court and made a big mistake. The servant did not know the person, and he was extremely ashamed and resentful. The servant and the emperor have already reported the responsibility for the distant leader's poor recommendation. However, someone wants to It is absolutely unacceptable for me to slander my servant and collude with Zhou Dong, to blame my servant for all these mistakes, and even to ask my servant to bear the responsibility for Zhu Zhixiu's rebellion."
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said, "But Yang Tinghe's words are true, how do you explain it?"
Liu Jin sighed and said: "There are people who just don't like me, and I can't do anything about it. They did this before, and now they still refuse to let me go. Since the emperor thinks that I have done this, please give me death." Lest they regard the slave as a thorn in their flesh. The slave really can’t stand it and they won’t let go of them staring at the slave every day. The slave is willing to die to prove his innocence.”
Zhu Houzhao frowned and looked at Yang Tinghe and said, "Did Yang Yiqing write the letter in your hand?"
Yang Tinghe said: "This report to the Emperor is exactly what Yang Yiqing wrote to me."
Zhu Houzhao said: "It said that Zhou Dong asked for bribes? Did it say that the money Zhou Dong asked for bribes was given to Liu Jin?"
"Exactly." Yang Tinghe said loudly.
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said: "Why don't you write a memorial about such a big event? Instead, I sent you private letters to inform you?"
Yang Tinghe was stunned for a moment, then bowed and said: "Because... there is no evidence for these things... yet. The relevant people are dead or missing. The whereabouts of the dirty silver have not been found. Therefore, it cannot be formally reported."
Liu Jin heard this and said sadly: "Your Majesty, please listen, they dare to make up charges when there is no evidence at all. I have told the emperor a long time ago that they are not willing to let me go. The emperor still gives me this Once you die, everything will be over."
Zhu Houzhao shouted: "Shut up, I'm making inquiries, don't make any noise."
Liu Jin shut up and knelt on the ground crying.
Yang Tinghe hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, although the evidence is not sufficient, can't the Emperor see the connection? How could Zhou Donghe De be transferred from the sixth-grade idle post to the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, and then be recommended to Qingtun? Among them... …”
Zhu Houzhao interrupted him in a deep voice: "Yang Tinghe, what I want is evidence, not conjecture. Where is the evidence? Why doesn't Yang Yiqing give the facts? Your private letters can also be counted?"
Yang Tinghe was stunned. At the same time, he heard Li Dongyang's long sigh behind him.