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

Chapter 1039 A shocking case
Zhu Shenzui sat there quietly without saying anything. He waited until several important ministers had finished speaking before he sighed.

"What you said makes sense. I understand your loyalty to the country. It was not my intention to use the factory guards this time, but I had no choice but to do it."

"Your Majesty, this is wrong. Why can't the three judicial departments handle this matter? As the Minister of Justice, I cannot agree with what Your Majesty said."

"As the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, I also do not agree with your Majesty's words. I request your Majesty to immediately issue an edict to recall the Embroidered Uniform Guards and quell the chaos." At this time, the Minister of Justice Fan Jingwen and Zhang Ruitu of the Censorate retorted. When the other ministers were about to speak up and express their attitudes, Zhu Shenzhui waved his hand and asked them to stay calm.

"You've come at the right time. If you hadn't come, I would have sent someone to look for you. Now that you're here, take a look at these first." Zhu Shenzhui didn't respond to his previous words and directly picked up a few booklets placed aside. Crown Prince Zhu Minlan understood and stood up, took them from his hands, then took a few steps forward and handed them to the Prime Minister Wen Tiren who was sitting in the front row.

Wen Tiren took the booklet in confusion, flipped through one of the books and started to look at it carefully. After just a few glances, Wen Tiren's eyelids twitched, his face suddenly changed, and he showed an extremely shocked expression.

Seeing him like this, the others became curious about the booklet that Wen Tiren was reading. Why did the Prime Minister look like this? Wen Tiren quickly finished reading the first booklet without saying anything. He handed it to the nearest person and continued to read the other booklets. In this way, the booklets were passed from one person to another, and soon everyone had finished reading the contents.

"No wonder the emperor was so furious and even mobilized the factory guards to arrest so many people. So this is what happened after all this fuss!" Wen Tiren thought to himself, and at the same time he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As the Prime Minister appointed by Zhu Shenzhu, Wen Tiren never formed a clique. What he pursued was only the position and power of the Prime Minister. Moreover, in these years, Wen Tiren did a good job as the Prime Minister. You should know that although he had been the Prime Minister for a long time before, he worked under Emperor Chongzhen at that time. Emperor Chongzhen was not an easy person to deal with. Working under him was timid, and if you were not careful, you would be blamed for the emperor. It was not easy to be this official.

Under Zhu Shenzhui, Wen Tihen felt much more comfortable. He enjoyed being the Prime Minister. Moreover, Wen Tihen still had some aspirations for political achievements. Even though his character was not very good, he was capable of getting things done after all.

Wen Tiren's greatest wish was to do his job as the Prime Minister in a stable and steady manner, retire peacefully after his term was up, and then return to his hometown to enjoy his old age after achieving success and fame. In this way, he would be heavily mentioned in history books in the future, writing about how Wen Tiren, the Prime Minister of the Yongming Dynasty, was. This was his greatest hope.

Before coming here today, Wen Tiren was worried about what happened suddenly in the capital. He didn't know why the emperor suddenly used the factory guards to do such a thing. With his political vision and judgment, Wen Tiren guessed that something big must have happened, otherwise it wouldn't have turned out like this.

But even so, Wen Tiren didn't want this matter to become such a big deal. Although Gu Guoen impeached him in public in the morning court a few days ago and directly put a hat of treason on his head, Wen Tiren believed that he had never treasoned, and even if there was a misunderstanding, it could be explained clearly. Later, Gu Guoen was suddenly killed on the street, which aroused the anger in Beijing. At this time, Wen Tiren just felt that this matter was difficult, but never thought of suppressing it by force, because he knew that once he did so, it would not only be ineffective, but counterproductive.

He never expected that Zhu Shenzhui would actually do this, and he used the factory guards to search the capital without any scruples, which made Wen Tiren worried. In his opinion, it was absolutely unwise for Zhu Shenzhui to do this, and such a method of coercion was definitely not a good thing. Once a greater backlash was aroused, not only would Zhu Shenzhui fall into trouble, but he, the Prime Minister, would also be regarded by everyone as the instigator. His reputation, which was not very good to begin with, would be completely ruined. In the future, let alone leaving a name in history, even if he left a name, it would be a bad name. This was a result that Wen Tiren absolutely did not want to see.

After reading these brochures, Wen Tiren's previous concerns were completely dispelled, and he also understood why Zhu Shenzhui would act so violently. He was secretly happy and relieved, and his mentality suddenly became much calmer.

Apart from Wen Tiren, Wang Jinwu had known some inside information for a long time. Although he did not officially participate in it, and Zhu Shenzhu did not let him get involved in the matter in advance to avoid suspicion, such a big event happened in the capital, and the new army was mobilized to impose martial law in the capital. As the first person in the army and a cabinet elder, Wang Jinwu could not have been unaware of the news, not to mention that he was the cousin of the current emperor.

As mentioned before, Wang Jinwu came here today just to make up the numbers. He was also suspected of being a spectator. Since the emperor had taken action in this matter, the cabinet and the court departments, especially the three judicial departments, would definitely be responsible for the finishing work. He was ranked third in the cabinet, so there was no need for him to stand out. He could just watch from the sidelines.

"How is this possible!" Wang Mingxuan exclaimed after reading these books, and his face became particularly ugly. The others also looked at each other, and for a moment it was difficult to imagine that the contents of these books were true, because what was said in them was really too shocking.

"These are the evidences that I asked the inner court to compile yesterday. You can take a look at them. However, this is a matter of the inner court. I have dealt with the palace people involved. But I still keep Wang Chengen and a few key figures. If you don't believe me, you can go and meet them and listen to what they say." Zhu Shenzhui threw out a few booklets to them and asked them to read the contents.

After taking it, everyone looked at it carefully. After they finished looking at it, they were even more speechless. They looked at each other with shocked expressions.

"This is shocking!" Zhu Shenzhu stood up and walked slowly in the hall, saying, "Since I became regent, I have devoted myself to the Ming Dynasty. I have worked hard for the Ming Dynasty over the years, working day and night. This is why the Ming Dynasty is now in a state of revival."

"I have quelled internal troubles, resolved bandits, and defended against foreign invaders. Although my military achievements cannot be compared with those of Taizu and Taizong, I have lived up to the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty and the people. After I ascended the throne, I have been even more cautious and worked hard for the country, eliminating corruption and reforming, and enriching the country. I believe that I have always treated officials and nobles in the court well and have done a lot of practical things. However, some people think that my throne was not obtained legitimately, and they are thinking about the previous dynasty and intend to restore the monarchy. They even colluded with the inner court, did improper things, and instigated the censors to impeach important officials in an attempt to disrupt the government of the Ming Dynasty. How can I tolerate such wolfish ambitions?"

"Tell me, to deal with such a person, why can't I use the factory guards? Taizu established the Great Ming Code, which contains ten serious crimes, among which treason, high treason, rebellion, evil treason, immorality, and great disrespect are all the former. For such a serious crime, do I have to convene a court meeting first, inform the three judicial departments, and then punish him? If so, where is the majesty of the Great Ming? Where is the majesty of the emperor? Why can't I do it with thunder and lightning?"

Wen Tiren did not hesitate any longer. As soon as Zhu Shenzhui finished speaking, he stood up and knelt down in front of the emperor, choking with sobs as he said, "As the Prime Minister, I actually failed to notice this matter. This is my fault! After Your Majesty ascended to the throne, our Ming Dynasty was gradually revived, but I didn't expect that there would be such a wolfish and ambitious person in the court who intended to rebel. It is really incredible. Your Majesty dealt with it with thunderous means. Not only do I have no objection, I also agree with Your Majesty's actions. As the Prime Minister, I should relieve Your Majesty's worries for our Ming Dynasty. I suggest that this case should be dealt with severely. None of these traitors should be let go. They should be executed! They should be executed!"

"Asshole! Are you, Wen Tiren, going to stir up a huge case just to please the emperor?" Some people at the scene agreed with Wen Tiren's words, but some people objected and couldn't help but curse in their hearts.

This matter was indeed not a small one. Treason was the most serious crime in all dynasties. Moreover, if the emperor had not learned the news in advance and acted decisively to mobilize the imperial guards, it might have been out of control in a few days.

But even so, some people think that this matter should not be involved too much. If Wen Tiren's suggestion is followed, all the people involved will not have a good ending, and a lot of people will be killed. Once so many people are killed, the impact will be even greater.

For a moment, some people couldn't help but think of several major cases handled by Zhu Yuanzhang during the founding of the country. Whether it was the Hu Weiyong case, the Li Shanchang case, or the later Lan Yu case, which case didn't involve a lot of people and cause bloodshed? If Zhu Shenzhu did the same, then who knows how many people would die under the butcher's knife. Although some of them had the means to die, there were still many people who were just implicated. Killing them all would be too much.

Immediately, Zhang Ruitu and others stood up and said that this case was of great importance. Now that the factory guards had arrested the person, the three judicial departments should intervene next. They should examine the case in detail and never let a traitor go, but they also could not wrongly accuse a good person. In other words, they could kill people, but they could not implicate others. They should kill as few people as possible and even better not kill anyone. They must not make this case into a major case like the one at the founding of the country, otherwise it would easily shake the foundation of the country.

Zhu Shenzhu knew the attitudes and opinions of these people. He understood their ideas, but he did not agree with their suggestions. You must know that among those implicated, there are not only officials and nobles, but also some other groups. Since these groups dare to do such a thing, they must bear the serious consequences of failure.

Even if there are many relatives, friends or old acquaintances among these people, it would be good enough for Zhu Shencui not to be directly implicated. As for letting him off the hook, there is no need to even think about it. Zhu Shencui had been considering this since the moment the operation began. These people must be dealt with severely and never let go. He wanted to shock the world with iron and blood, and then use this opportunity to reshuffle the political situation of the Ming Dynasty and completely reverse the previous political structure of the Ming Dynasty to prevent similar things from happening in the future.

(End of this chapter)