After hanging up the video, Emperor Chongzhen followed Liu Weichao's suggestion and began to silently figure out what to do next.
Of course, he did not ask about the specific handling of those Nanjing nobles, nor did Liu Weichao say anything. At least in Emperor Chongzhen's view, this matter did not need to be asked.
……………………
In the afternoon, when the political envoy Chen Yuanyuan was busy publicizing the Liaodong victory, someone suddenly came from the palace. It was Concubine Tian who came to invite her to talk.
Chen Yuanyuan was extremely grateful to Concubine Tian and was her benefactor. Everyone knew this. Therefore, Chen Yuanyuan immediately put down her work and went to the palace first. Others could understand.
But who would have expected that when Chen Yuanyuan arrived at Concubine Tian, she saw that Emperor Chongzhen was also there, so Chen Yuanyuan hurriedly greeted her.
Emperor Chongzhen stopped and asked her to avoid the ceremony, and then said bluntly: "I asked you to come here. I used the name of my beloved concubine. I just didn't want too many people to know. I have something to ask you to do!"
When Chen Yuanyuan heard this, she felt a little strange. Logically speaking, if Emperor Chongzhen wanted to tell her ministers to do things, he could just pass on the orders directly. Why would he use the name of Concubine Tian to avoid people's attention?
So, she waited for the order with curiosity.
Just listen to Emperor Chongzhen saying to her: "You must have heard about the case of Nanjing Xungui, right?"
Needless to say, this goes without saying. The public opinion field in the capital was almost all about the Nanjing Honorable Case, and it almost overshadowed the Liaodong War. As the top leader of the Political and Communication Department, how could Chen Yuanyuan not have heard of it?
.
Afterwards, Emperor Chongzhen continued to tell her: "Xichang went to war in Nanjing. In fact, they not only secretly sold the steam engine blueprints to the Western Yi, but also colluded with the bandits, tried to let Zhang Xianzhong's bandits go, and killed the Jinyi guardsmen...
…”
Chen Yuanyuan was shocked when she heard this. She didn't expect this inside story, so it's no wonder that there was such a big war in Nanjing!
These nobles are really brave!
She was thinking that after Emperor Chongzhen gave her a brief introduction, he directly ordered: "I want you to carry out targeted publicity and guide public opinion regarding the things committed by Nanjing nobles. I believe that they alone
If you dare to collude with the bandits, the officials and gentry who have been tortured by the bandits will hate these Nanjing nobles to death, and others, and their crimes must be made known to everyone!"
Having said this, he paused and then added: "Don't be too direct. I just need you to publicize this again. After the matter of Nanjing Xungui is officially announced, it will be enough to make them all wish for Nanjing Xungui's death."
!”
After hearing this, Chen Yuanyuan was a little confused for a moment as to what Emperor Chongzhen wanted to do.
Logically speaking, if the nobles of Nanjing committed such a big thing, Emperor Chongzhen, as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, can punish him however he wants, so why do he have to do it multiple times?
If you don't understand it, you still don't understand it. There is no problem in following the emperor's will.
When she saw that Emperor Chongzhen only ordered this matter, she did not dare to neglect it and hurriedly left the palace.
What Chen Yuanyuan didn't know was that at the same time, Emperor Chongzhen also wrote a secret edict and sent it to Ma Shiying in Shaanxi at an accelerated speed of 800 miles.
Emperor Chongzhen's purpose this time was not just to punish the Nanjing nobles, but to fundamentally change the honorary system. Therefore, he had to make a plan.
Today's Zhengtongsi started from scratch. Although the time is too short compared to other yamen, after several years of operation, especially under the attention of Emperor Chongzhen, it has actually been tempered.
Another thing is that the new yamen will not have so much internal friction and will be very efficient.
No, within a few days, the public opinion in the capital had some changes, and there were many topics about remembering the bitterness and thinking about the sweetness.
"The great victory in Liaodong, with recovery in sight, our Ming Dynasty will finally have peace in the world!"
"Yes, it's really not easy! Your Majesty is so wise!"
"Think about those days when thieves were all over the place. You didn't know that those thieves who killed a thousand people would definitely bring trouble to my wife, my uncle, my eighth grandpa, and my whole family. What a tragedy!"
"If nothing else, just because the thieves dug up the dams of the Yellow River and tried to flood Kaifeng, I don't know how many people in the lower reaches of the Yellow River suffered. Those thieves deserve to be cut to pieces!"
"..."
The evil deeds done by the bandits back then were told one by one, and it was not limited to Zhang Xianzhong.
It has only been a few years since the peace, and almost everyone has experienced that troubled time. After saying this, they all hate the chaos of thieves and cherish the difficulty of peace in the world now!
Originally, no one thought about the cause of these public opinions. They all thought it was the emotion caused by the Liaodong victory.
However, later on, the number of memorials impeaching the East-West Factory in the South suddenly decreased, and the number of memorials impeaching the Nanjing Honorable Men suddenly increased. After the real reason why the East-West Factory arrested the Nanjing Honorable Men was exposed, some people began to vaguely feel that the capital had previously
The turn of public opinion seems to be a bit abnormal.
Because after the news about Nanjing Xungui was exposed, the public opinion in the capital was originally reviewing the rebellion of the traitors that year. It turned out that Nanjing Xungui actually dared to collude with the traitors to cause rebellion. Now that it was over, the target of the attack was naturally directed at Nanjing Xungui.
, this is a crime of public outrage, and it is not just a crime like stealing steam engine blueprints that seems to have nothing to do with most people.
Suddenly, the crowd was excited, and almost everyone shouted to kill the Nanjing nobles;
On the civilian side, the Metropolitan Procuratorate system, which is the so-called clean stream in the officialdom and must stand on the moral high ground, also took the lead in impeaching Nanjing nobles.
If we really want to judge the crime according to these crimes, this can definitely be regarded as the crime of rebellion. Some radical officials, who want to show off, are already in the court, following the public opinion, shouting that the Nanjing nobles should be executed
Nine tribes!
After the official memorial from the East-West Factory was sent to the capital, this public opinion reached its climax.
At this time, Ma Shiying from the southwest also submitted a memorial, following the formal process, from the General Affairs Secretary to the cabinet, telling all the difficulties he had faced when he was in Nanjing, and even Zhang Xianzhong's command almost broke through the defense line with the cooperation of the nobles.
It focuses on describing how much of a crisis it would cause if Zhang Xianzhong's troops fled to Jiangbei, and the strategy of copying the title to suppress thieves would probably fail. In that case, the world would be at peace so quickly.
As soon as his memorial was made public, even the civil servants who were watching the excitement couldn't sit still.
Although they understood that the reason why those Nanjing nobles did this was actually to resist Ma Shiying's rectification of Nanjing, but the method was too scary, and more importantly, it was not done secretly and was actually exposed.
Then there is nothing more to say. The world is very excited. It would be politically incorrect if we don’t step on the nobles at this time.
Therefore, in obedience to the people of the world, all the nobles in the capital put their tail between their legs and behaved like a good person. They even hid in their own houses and secretly cursed those nobles in Nanjing. If they want to die, they should pull them down and don't hurt others!
Some of those who were related to Nanjing's nobles began to worry about their own safety. If they rebelled, the Nine Clans would be implicated, and they would really be implicated.
In the Forbidden City, during a certain imperial meeting, Emperor Chongzhen was discussing how to punish Nanjing nobles. During this period, the treasure hanging on his chest suddenly glowed and made a sound, causing the imperial meeting to be interrupted for a while.
When Emperor Chongzhen returned from the apse, he made a direct decision and announced that the Metropolitan Procuratorate would send people to go south quickly to assist Dongchang and Xichang in arresting those who were involved with Nanjing nobles, and escorted the main criminals to Beijing.
Trial by three courts.
This behavior of Emperor Chongzhen was immediately interpreted by everyone in the court as: Emperor Taizu was so angry in heaven that he did this because he issued a decree to the current emperor.
Reminiscent of Emperor Taizu's methods back then, even some people in the capital who wanted to speak for the nobles of Nanjing were so frightened that they shut up.
If you are misunderstood as a member of the Nanjing Honorable Party, you may be in serious trouble.
The three-chamber trial was the highest-level interrogation method in the Ming Dynasty. However, people at this time basically did not think that those Nanjing nobles were unjust.
If the evidence is not really caught, who would dare to frame these nobles in Nanjing!
Many people are speculating on how the Nanjing Xungui case will end.
One thing is clear, this case is definitely one of the most important events in the Chongzhen Dynasty, there is no doubt about it!
While waiting for the principal criminals of the Nanjing Honor Case to be escorted to the capital, public opinion in the capital gradually began to reflect. Of course, this started under the instruction of Emperor Chongzhen.
"After they were all the founding heroes, why would their descendants do such things that undermine the foundation of the Ming Dynasty?"
"Yes, logically speaking, when the court is in trouble, they should be the most active ones!"
"It's true that in the midst of a national crisis, they, who are enjoying their glory and wealth, not only do not want to serve the country, but also try to collude with the rebels. This is simply deserving of death by a thousand cuts!"
"If their ancestors were aware underground, the coffin boards might not be able to hold them down, right?"
"That's right, these people have forgotten their ancestors, just like those traitors who took refuge in the Jianlu before!"
"It seems that after a hero, he may not be a hero! The court really treated them too favorably!"
"That's it, don't you think that they are all useless? After so many years of war, do they still have half the heart to serve the country? Do they still have half the ability of their ancestors?"
"It sounds like it's true! Since the founding of our Ming Dynasty, except for the first few generations of heroes, it seems that all the hereditary nobles have done nothing?"
"Are you crazy? You dare to say such things? Do you believe that you will be taught a lesson by them later?"
"Haha, now those nobles are being beaten by everyone, how dare they come out to teach others a lesson?"
"..."
Amid such discussions, by coincidence, the Liaodong prisoners of war and the Nanjing nobles were escorted to the capital at about the same time.