Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 90 Honor and Disgrace
There was silence in the field. The elders above looked solemn, while the ministers below bowed their heads with solemn expressions.
Qu Shisi looked at the others, hesitated for a moment, and was about to speak.

But before he could say anything, His Royal Highness the Regent spoke again.

"No hurry, Li Guoyong, let the rest of the people take a look too."

His Highness the Regent had a grim look on his face and waved his hand suddenly. Li Guoyong also responded respectfully, went downstairs to collect several letters, and then handed the letters to the ministers below.
But after receiving the letters, Li Guoyong took out one of them and handed only three letters to the ministers below.
Qu Shisi and other ministers above took a quick look and knew which letter Li Guoyong had put away. However, their expressions changed slightly, and no one knew what they were thinking about, but they did not say anything.

The ministers below looked at the four letters that had turned into three, and they were all a little surprised. They looked at the ministers above.

But at this time, several cabinet elders were silent and did not make any comments. All the ministers had to look away and stare at the letter in the hands of Zhu Zhijian, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
Zhu Zhijian opened the first letter, but after just a glance, his heart trembled instantly. When he saw Ding Kuichu's letter, he was stunned for a moment, and his face turned pale.

The three letters quickly spread throughout the hall, and after reading the letters, the fourth-rank officials in the hall could not help but exclaim in surprise, with stunned expressions on their faces.

According to the letter, Ding Kuichu had clearly known about the fall of Ganzhou four or five days ago.

Ding Kuichu had long been dissatisfied with His Majesty the Regent. After he ordered Wang Kun to test His Majesty the Regent and found that His Majesty the Regent intended to raise troops to the north to resist, in order to preserve the military power of the Guangdong Army, he actually thought of deposing the emperor.

According to the letter, this is clearly a conspiracy rebellion group with the Tang King as the precious treasure, Ding Kuichu as the core, and involving the Jinyi Tiqi, the Prime Minister of the court, the palace eunuchs, and the local generals.

Moreover, if they act as they say, they have a great chance of success and establish a new court with both legal system and legitimacy in Guangxi Province.

After reading the letter, the ministers were only shocked for a moment, and then quickly quieted down.

The hall became silent. Everyone lowered their heads and even suppressed their breathing, fearing that their breathing would attract the attention of others.

There was silence in the field, but at this moment a low voice suddenly sounded.

"How can this be……"

Zhu Zhijian's face was dull, and he still hadn't reacted until now.

He was too deeply tied to Ding Kuichu. When the Xin Dynasty was established, relying on the relationship with Ding Kuichu's subordinates, he jumped from the prefect of Zhaoqing to the left vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue, jumping two levels, and directly became a central official from a local official.

But it was precisely because of this that he became even more desperate. If Ding Kuichu really rebelled, none of them, Ding Kuichu's subordinates, would be able to escape.

If the court investigated, he would not only lose his position, but also his life.
Although Zhu Zhijian was talking to himself in a low voice, the hall was extremely quiet at this time, but his whisper was very clear in the hall, and everyone's eyes immediately fell on Zhu Zhijian.
When some ministers saw that the speaker was Zhu Zhijian, a hint of surprise flashed across their faces.

Everyone's eyes fell on Zhu Zhijian, and Zhu Zhijian suddenly came to his senses. When he found that everyone's eyes were focused on him, even His Royal Highness the Regent was looking at him with a sullen face, Zhu Zhijian instantly broke out in a cold sweat and quickly spoke

"Your Excellency, your Excellency is saying that this matter is of great importance. In addition to these letters, is there any other evidence in the court?"

The ministers were stunned at first, but then they realized that although the contents of the letter were too complicated to read, they were just a few letters.
There is nothing on it except the signatures of several people. If we want to convict these people of treason based on these letters alone, it seems that the evidence is insufficient.
The ministers were about to look up at His Majesty the Regent, but before they could raise their heads, an angry shout came from above.
"Evidence?" "If I had found other evidence, why would I have asked you to come here? I would have killed these traitors with a single blow."

The young Regent's face was distorted, and he slammed his hand on the table with a bang. He stood up directly, like a wounded beast, staring at the ministers below with a tyrannical look.
The huge roar continued to echo in the hall, and the ministers below were all shocked. They raised their heads halfway and quickly lowered them. At this time, no one dared to provoke His Highness who was already on the verge of rage.
The ministers bowed their heads, but His Majesty the Regent above continued to
As if the anger that had been suppressed for a long time was finally aroused, His Royal Highness the Regent walked from behind the table to the hall, pacing in front of it, roaring

"Thief, thief!"

"I appointed him as Prime Minister, but he wanted to betray me"

"The Ministry of War has given him the money, the Ministry of Revenue has given him the money, what else does he want? Does he want to be the emperor?"

In the study, His Royal Highness the Regent kept roaring

Zhu Zhijian secretly looked at the tyrannical Regent from above, and suddenly remembered the situation when Su Guansheng entered the court and Ding Kuichu sent troops to surround the Prince of Gui's Mansion.
Zhu Zhijian's heart was moved, and he couldn't help but think, "Don't say it, don't say it!"
The roar of His Highness the Regent continued to echo in the hall, and Qu Shisi and others finally reacted at this time, and led everyone to come out and salute, asking His Highness to calm down.

After the ministers saluted, the anger of His Highness the Regent seemed to have dissipated a little, and he sat back on the throne, but the crowd fell into silence again.

This matter was too sudden and too serious. Even the elders such as Qu Shisi did not know how to respond for a while.

The ministers were silent. At this moment, a figure suddenly coughed. Everyone heard the sound and their eyes instantly focused on the person who spoke in front of them.
After everyone saw clearly, their faces showed a little strangeness. The person who spoke was Su Guansheng.

Su Guansheng had a solemn expression on his face, but he ignored the gazes of others, looked at the letter on the table above, and spoke softly

"I am in charge of the Ministry of Works, and I am not familiar with these people. However, because of my handling of ministry affairs, I have had some interactions with the Ministry of Revenue where Ding Kuichu works. I recognize the handwriting of the third letter, and it should be from Ding Kuichu's handwriting."

Su Guansheng said this and stopped talking. The ministers were stunned at first, and then they all began to recall the handwriting on the letters.

The expressions of some ministers who had had dealings with Ma Jixiang, Wang Kun and others changed. They had not thought about it before, but now that they were reminded, they realized that the handwriting on the letter was exactly the same as the handwriting of the people they remembered.

When the ministers thought of this, their faces became even more solemn.
Qu Shisi glanced at Su Guansheng, who had become silent again, and his heart was slightly moved.

He thought for a moment, then stepped out and saluted, saying:
"May I ask, Your Highness, where are Ding Kuichu and others now?"

"These people have all been captured by the Jinyiwei and are being held in the imperial prison," His Royal Highness the Regent said in a cold voice.

The ministers below were shocked when they heard this. His Highness was so quick in his methods and so cruel in his temper.
The letter was found in the morning, and the arrests were already underway in the afternoon. However, everyone could understand that this was related to the throne of His Royal Highness the Regent, so how could they not be anxious?
When Qu Shisi heard that Ding Kuichu had been directly detained, his eyes lit up.

Regardless of whether this is true or not, now that Ding Kuichu has been captured, we can take this opportunity to get rid of Ding Kuichu and take back the power of the Guangdong Army to the court.
With Ding Kuichu here, it will be very difficult to mobilize troops to defend Guangdong. The Qing army may attack at any time. Only by getting rid of Ding Kuichu can the court be united and work together to prepare for the enemy.
If Ding Kuichu was killed, it would benefit his country and his people, so why would he care about his own honor?
Qu Shisi glanced at Lu Daqi and others who were silent on the side, and a hint of determination flashed in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)