Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1027 Impeachment of Treason
The Ming Dynasty soon received news of the changes in Korea and Liaodong. When they heard that Hauge and Dorgon in Korea had fallen out, the two sides were hostile to each other, and there were signs of a civil war breaking out, the Ming Dynasty's monarchs and ministers applauded and celebrated, all with smiles on their faces.

Especially Zhu Shenzui, the instigator, was secretly proud. He did not expect that a casual move would have such a result. Now both Korea and Qing Dynasty were in chaos, and the two sides were in a situation where they were at loggerheads. Dorgon would definitely not let Hauge continue to live freely in Korea. No matter what, he had to get rid of Hauge, otherwise he, the regent of the Qing Dynasty, would not be able to control the Qing Dynasty's political power at all.

Moreover, although some of the 18 charges listed by Hauge were far-fetched, many of them were facts. Even though the cause of Empress Dowager Zhezhe's death, including the relationship between Dorgon and Empress Dowager Shengmu Bumbutai, was just a rumor without any real evidence, it was difficult to tell the truth from the false because of Hauge and those groundless rumors.

Even if Dorgon defended himself in front of everyone and Bumbutai made a solemn promise, who can guarantee that there were no people in the Eight Banners who believed in these crimes? You have to know that the Eight Banners were never a monolithic entity, and Dorgon could not cover the sky with one hand, even if he was the regent prince. Otherwise, why didn't Dorgon become the emperor in the first place? Wasn't it because there were not only people who opposed him in the Eight Banners, but also many of the civil and military officials under Huang Taiji?

If Hauge had been captured directly by Dorgon, then these rumors were nothing more than rumors. Although Dorgon would have some troubles, these troubles could still be resolved with a little effort.

But now Hauge is safe and sound in Korea, while Ajige was captured by Hauge. No matter how powerful Dorgon is, it is impossible for him to capture Hauge now. Don't forget that after annexing Ajige's followers, Hauge now has a lot of elite soldiers. Although these troops are not as strong as the troops controlled by Dorgon in terms of overall strength, the problem is that as the situation in Korea stabilized, the Korean army also stood on Dorgon's side. Even if the Koreans have poor combat effectiveness and are not good at fighting, they are still troops after all. In addition, the territory of Korea is not small, and there are cities as bases. It is not easy for Dorgon to get rid of Hauge in a short time.

Since Hauge could not be solved in a short time, Dorgon was in a lot of trouble. Rumors are rumors because they have the power of rumors. In addition, Dorgon's actions after becoming the regent prince also caused displeasure to many people. In addition, the death of Empress Dowager Zhezhe and the unclear relationship between Bumbutai made many people prefer Hauge rather than Dorgon.

Judging from these circumstances, it was not easy for Dorgon to deal with Hauge, not to mention that Korea was secretly supported by the Ming Dynasty. With the support of the Ming Dynasty, plus the territory and population of Korea, Hauge had enough confidence to compete with Dorgon, and it was hard to predict who would win or lose in the end.

This was the result Zhu Shenzhu was most happy to see. The Qing dynasty fell into internal strife and fratricide. No matter who won, the Qing dynasty would never be a rival to the Ming dynasty again after this incident. The same was true for Korea. The Lee dynasty had already been the last of its kind, and the nominal king of Korea was still in the hands of the Ming dynasty. Korea and Hauge were both pawns of the Ming dynasty. It was impossible to guarantee what Korea would be left with in the end, and the Ming dynasty would be the real winner.

Zhu Shenzhui was in a very good mood at the morning court today, with a faint smile on his face. He was even wondering when the war between Dorgon and Hauge would finally break out and to what extent it would eventually reach. While he was thinking this, the morning court was proceeding step by step. With the reports of the various ministries and some government affairs that could be handled at the morning court being issued one by one, the morning court was coming to an end.

"My dear ministers, do you have anything else to report?" Zhu Shenzhui asked casually after the Ministry of Works reported on the Yellow River flood control. This was just a normal question. Generally speaking, today's morning court would end here, and the next step would be to adjourn.

But unexpectedly, as soon as Zhu Shenzui finished speaking, an official stood up from the back and saluted towards Zhu Shenzui.

"Your Highness Gu Guoen from the Ministry of Justice has something to report!" an official in his thirties said to Zhu Shenzhui.

Zhu Shenzhui looked at him intently. He could not see the man's face clearly because he was far away, but he remembered his name. Gu Guoen, if Zhu Shenzhui remembered correctly, was a fellow Jinshi in the imperial examination he had just held. Among the candidates admitted that year was Gu Guoen, and because of his name, Zhu Shenzhui remembered him.

In just a few years, Gu Guoen became a censor of the Ministry of Justice as a fellow Jinshi. His promotion was not slow. You should know that although the position of censor is not high, it is only the seventh rank, but this position is different from the ordinary seventh rank official.

The so-called Six Ministries' Censorate is also called the Six Departments' Censorate. Although it nominally belongs to the Six Ministries, it is actually the court's supervisory department within the Six Ministries. In other words, it is used to supervise the censors of the Six Ministries. Although their official positions are low, their powers are great. Like the Censors of the Censorate, they have the power to directly impeach officials.

This position existed in ancient times, but when Zhu Yuanzhang determined the power of the Ming Dynasty officials, he specially defined it, which became the special position of the current Jieshizhong. As the Jieshizhong of the Ministry of Justice, Gu Guoen was naturally responsible for the supervision of the Ministry of Justice. The entire Ministry of Justice originally had eight Jieshizhong, and then some were added and reduced. Now, after Zhu Shenzhu adjusted the positions of various departments in the court, each department has basically fixed six Jieshizhong, and Gu Guoen is one of them.

Zhu Shenzhu was relatively polite to court officials, especially officials in the position of Jieshizhong, who served as supervisors of various ministries. If the emperor did not like such censors, then the position of Jieshizhong would become a formality and would no longer play a supervisory role.

When he heard Gu Guoen say that he had something to report, Zhu Shenzhui nodded slightly, and glanced at the minister and vice minister of the Ministry of Justice in front of him, wondering if there were any cases in the Ministry of Justice that he had overlooked in recent days? Or was it that the people below had concealed it from him and did not report it, so that Gu Guoen would directly report it during the morning court?
But when his eyes swept over these people, Zhu Shenzui found that they only showed surprised expressions, and were not panicked or nervous. As for the cabinet elders standing in front of him, they only showed surprise and no other expressions, which made Zhu Shenzui feel a little strange.

"Gu Guoen?" "I'm here!"

"If you have anything to say, come forward." Zhu Shenzhui said.

"Yes!" Gu Guoen replied, took a few steps forward and came to the front position.

After standing still, Gu Guoen bowed to Zhu Shenzhui and said, "Your Highness Gu Guoen has something important to report today!"

"speak!"

"Today I want to impeach the cabinet's chief minister Wen Tiren, the second minister Zhang Zhifa, the cabinet minister Wang Jinwu, the minister of war Chen Qiyu, the vice minister of war Chen Xinjia, the governor of Shandong Li Xin, the general of the cavalry Li You..."

No one expected that Gu Guoen would keep silent but speak shockingly. He actually impeached so many bigwigs in his capacity as a mere secretary. Among them were not only the Prime Minister, the Second Prime Minister, and the Cabinet Minister, but also the Minister of War, the Vice Minister of War, the Governor of Shandong, and Li You, the General of Cavalry who was actually the Commander-in-Chief of Shandong and the Admiral of the Shandong Navy. In addition to these people, he also impeached five officials at all levels from the local to the Ministry of War. The lowest official was of the fourth rank, and the highest official was a high-ranking official.

After these words came out, there was an uproar at the scene. Everyone stared at Gu Guoen in amazement and was speechless for a while. It was not unusual for a censor to impeach an official, but it was unusual to impeach so many officials at the same time, and so many high-ranking officials. Was Gu Guoen crazy or stupid? How dare he, a mere official, do this?

Not to mention the officials, even Zhu Shenzhui was stunned. For a moment, he seemed to think that there was something wrong with his ears. Did he hear something wrong?
"Haha, Lord Gu impeached me? I wonder what kind of invidious things I did to deserve Lord Gu's impeachment? Besides, you even dragged in so many important officials of the court. Lord Gu, please make your words clear." At this time, Wen Tiren stepped forward steadily, saluted towards Zhu Shenzhui first, then turned around and looked at Gu Guoen, asking coldly.

Not only Wen Tihen, but even the Second Assistant Zhang Zhifa became angry and directly asked Gu Guoen why he had the audacity to impeach him. If he wanted to impeach, he had to explain why he was impeaching. Even though the other party was a Censor-in-Chief and a censor, how could there be such rules for impeachment?

Not to mention the two big guys, even Zhang Ruitu, the head of the Censorate, frowned at Gu Guoen's actions. He looked at Gu Guoen with displeasure, as if asking Gu Guoen what exactly he wanted to impeach these adults for. Although the censors had the power to impeach based on rumors, this power was not used in this way. Moreover, today was the morning court session, and he, Gu Guoen, a small attendant, impeached so many people at once. These people included civil officials and military generals, and they were not all from the same faction. What exactly did Gu Guoen mean?
Facing the sharp gaze, Gu Guoen stood firm. He did not even look at Wen Tiren and the others, and continued to speak to Zhu Shenzhui: "I impeach these officials, who are appointed by the court and important ministers of the country, for colluding with foreign enemies and secretly communicating with the Jiannu. They disregarded the interests of the country and negotiated peace without authorization, surrendered to the enemy and sold out the country. Their crimes are unforgivable! As a censor, I cannot sit idly by and must stand up and risk my life to make suggestions!"

"What nonsense!" As soon as Gu Guoen finished speaking, the Minister of War Chen Qiyu could no longer stand and immediately scolded: "Where did you get these evidences? When did we surrender to the enemy and sell out our country? As a censor, you have no evidence to frame an important official of the court. Do you think that the laws of the Ming Dynasty are just for show?"

"Don't worry, Minister Chen. Since I can report this today, I have evidence!" Gu Guoen looked at Chen Qiyu and asked directly, "Since you asked, where are the Zhenglan Banner troops that surrendered to the Ming Dynasty? Where are the guerrilla general Jingwuer? What are the soldiers and horses of Shandong General Li Youtong's navy on Jeju Island doing now? Where did the materials transferred from Shandong to Korea go these days? Can Minister Chen give me an explanation for these?"

"Of course, if Minister Chen can't answer, can the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Ningshan Marquis tell us? As for the Shandong Governor Li Xin, I'm afraid he knows as much as you do, right?"

As Gu Guoen finished speaking, Chen Qiuyu and others' faces changed slightly, and even Zhu Shenzui, who was sitting in the upper seat, frowned slightly. Very few people knew about the Korean affairs, and it had always been handled by the Jinyiwei. The only people in the court who knew about it were the people mentioned by Gu Guoen, except for a few cabinet ministers. After all, there were some departments such as the Ministry of War that could not be avoided in this matter, and Shandong's assistance was also needed, so Shandong Governor Li Xin and Li You in Shandong were also participants.

But who would have thought that Gu Guoen would know about this, and use this as a basis to impeach these officials at the morning court today. On the surface, Gu Guoen was impeaching Wen Tiren and others, but in fact, wasn't it Xiang Zhuang's sword dance aimed at Pei Gong? The real target was the emperor himself? Where did Gu Guoen, a mere official in the Ministry of Justice, get the information? Where did he get the courage? Could it be...?
Thinking of this, Zhu Shenzhui's face suddenly darkened, and his eyes swept across the ministers of His Highness. Who instigated Gu Guoen's actions today, and what was the intention? Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but be alert.

(End of this chapter)