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

Chapter 1040 Advice
Zhu Shenzhui immediately stated that it was not appropriate for the Three Judicial Departments to intervene in this case right now. After all, no one could guarantee that there were no escapees among the people arrested, and it was even more impossible to ensure whether anyone within the Three Judicial Departments was involved in the case.

At present, all those arrested have been imprisoned and are under the charge of the Jinyiwei. In this case, it would be more appropriate for the Jinyiwei to continue investigating first. After all the investigations are completed and it is ensured that there are no omissions and the files are sorted out, it would then be appropriate for the three judicial officials to intervene and carry out the executions.

But as soon as these words were spoken, Zhang Ruitu, Fan Jingwen and Wang Mingxuan immediately became anxious. Zhang Ruitu was the actual head of the Censorate, and there were many censors among those arrested. Although Zhang Ruitu hated what these censors had done and why they were involved in this case, he had to persuade them because of his status.

After all, if the case got out of hand, the Censorate would lose face, and he, the Right Censor-in-Chief, would not be able to represent the case. Moreover, after reading the case files that the emperor had just given them, Zhang Ruitu could see that, except for a few who were directly involved in the case, most of these censors were deceived and used, even Gu Guoen who had died before was the same. He just trusted others' words, and because of greed, he did something wrong. Although he made a big mistake, he was not guilty of treason.

Moreover, the Censorate should have intervened in advance to prevent the situation from escalating. So Zhang Ruitu objected to this, claiming that the Imperial Guards were only the emperor's personal soldiers, and although they had the power of supervision, they did not have the power of justice. Because the incident happened suddenly, it was not excessive for the emperor to use the factory guards to arrest the criminals, but since the criminals had been caught, the official judicial department of the court should follow up, instead of letting the Imperial Guards continue to be responsible for interrogation and investigation.

After all, everyone knows the methods of the Imperial Guards, and everyone knows what the Imperial Prison is. Once the Imperial Guards use torture to get confessions for the sake of merit, few people in the world can withstand it. If this is the case, the subsequent development of the case will be out of control, and the expansion of the case will be out of control, and it will be too late by then.

As for Fan Jingwen, he was the Minister of Justice, and the Ministry of Justice was in charge of the law. If the case of treason was allowed to be handled by the Jinyiwei, what would he be doing as the Minister of Justice? As a matter of duty, Fan Jingwen had to express his opposition both publicly and privately, and argued with reason, demanding that the Ministry of Justice intervene in the case immediately.

Wang Mingxuan has always had a tough character and is an upright person. Although he is no longer in charge of the Ministry of Justice, he still sticks to his principles in this matter and strongly demands that the three judicial departments intervene in the case to avoid subsequent escalation.

Apart from the three of them, Fan Fucui and Kong Zhenyun in the cabinet also expressed their attitudes, pleading with the emperor to put the overall situation first and hand over the case to the three judicial departments for joint investigation. As for the emperor's belief that someone in the three judicial departments was involved in the case, in order to ensure that the case was investigated correctly, they said that there was actually no need to worry about it, and that the three judicial departments and the Jinyiwei would investigate the case together. With the supervision of the Jinyiwei, there would be no problems within the three judicial departments. If this was still not reassuring, as cabinet elders, they were willing to work with the three judicial departments and the Jinyiwei to conduct a thorough investigation, so that they could ensure that there would be no mistakes.

After this suggestion was put forward, Yang Sichang and others also expressed their agreement. In particular, Chen Qiyu, the Minister of War, and Xu Shiqi, the Minister of Personnel, also expressed their attitudes, suggesting that the case be investigated according to the opinions of the two elders, which would be more prudent.

"This..." Faced with everyone's strong opposition, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but hesitate. This was different from his original idea. If he let the three judicial departments intervene now, he might be afraid that the final outcome of the case would be somewhat different from what he had planned.

Although he was unhappy, what the ministers in front of him said made sense. Although Jinyiwei was useful, it was not the official judicial department of the court. The crime of treason would eventually be convicted and tried by the judicial department, which Jinyiwei could not replace. Moreover, if all cases were handed over to Jinyiwei, although efficiency could be guaranteed, once rumors spread that the so-called treason was forced to confess by Jinyiwei, it would be disadvantageous to the final conviction of the case.

"What do you think, Mr. Qian?" Zhu Shenzhui asked, his eyes falling on Qian Qianyi, who had been silent all the time.

Qian Qianyi smiled bitterly in his heart. To be honest, he really didn't want to get involved in this matter after he learned the truth. You know, several of the people arrested were members of the Donglin Party. Although the Donglin Party is very different from the previous Donglin Party, because of the previous Jiangnan case and the emperor's several actions against the Donglin Party in recent years, the Donglin Party is no longer as influential or powerful as before.

Moreover, ever since Qian Qianyi was in charge of the Jiangnan case last time, the Donglin Party has been split. Now Qian Qianyi is still the leader of the Donglin Party on the surface, but in fact he has already defected to the Emperor's Party and become the emperor's man.

Qian Qianyi just wanted to be an official in peace and stability, and he also hoped to enter the cabinet as a senior official. As for other things, he didn't care much. He came to the Yangxin Palace today because this matter was too big, and the Jinyiwei also arrested many people because of the students and scholars. As the Minister of Rites, Qian Qianyi had to persuade the emperor to make a break for the students and scholars, so as to show his attitude and gain political benefits.

But Qian Qianyi did not expect the situation to change like this. So after he figured out the cause, he said nothing and began to follow the crowd to reduce his presence. But who knew that after he did not express his opinion, the emperor directly asked him again, which made Qian Qianyi secretly complain.

After calming down, Qian Qianyi stood up and said, "When the emperor is angry, millions of people die and rivers of blood flow. I understand what your majesty is thinking. After all, this case is serious. Not to mention your majesty, even I was shocked when I read the files just now. There are such horrific things in the world. From my personal point of view, these people do not deserve to die. Even if your majesty punishes them all, it is their own fault."

"However, Your Majesty, I have something to say. Although it is reasonable for Your Majesty to do so, Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven of the Ming Dynasty, the current Holy Lord. Your Majesty's every move is watched by all. Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, the Ming Dynasty has reversed its decline, suppressed rebellions at home, resisted the Jiannu abroad, appeased the local areas, reduced taxes, and restored production. Your Majesty's governance in the past few years is obvious to all. The Ming Dynasty has also been revived under Your Majesty. In my opinion, Your Majesty is a great ruler. God has bestowed Your Majesty on the Ming Dynasty, which is a blessing for the people of the Ming Dynasty and the world!" "Flatterer!" Qian Qianyi's words made everyone present feel ashamed. It's a pity that you, Qian Qianyi, are the current top scholar, the Minister of Rites, and the leader of the Donglin Party. Where is your character? Where is your integrity? How could such words come out of your mouth? Although everyone admits that the Ming Dynasty's current glory is indeed due to Zhu Shenzhu, if there was no Zhu Shenzhu, given the chaos caused by Emperor Chongzhen, no one would be able to predict what the outcome of the Ming Dynasty would be.

But even so, you can't be so flattering. What's the difference between this kind of talk and fawning on officials?
However, although everyone looked down on Qian Qianyi's attitude in their hearts, no one objected out loud, because everyone saw that Zhu Shenzhui was very pleased with Qian Qianyi's words and had a smiling face.

Qian Qianyi continued, "Your Majesty is the wise ruler of the Ming Dynasty. Your Majesty's dignity cannot be violated, but your Majesty's reputation cannot be tarnished. This case is of great importance. If Your Majesty insists on only letting the Jinyiwei handle the case, even if the facts are finally found out, I am afraid that people will criticize it. After all, the Jinyiwei has always had a bad reputation, and it is hard to guarantee that the evidence obtained by the Jinyiwei will be believed."

"If this is the case, even if the three judicial departments finally convict him, people will have a preconceived opinion, which is not a good thing for Your Majesty. For Your Majesty's sake, since the conviction will come sooner or later, I suggest that the three judicial departments intervene in the case as soon as possible. In this way, there will be no problems in terms of law and procedure. As for what Your Majesty is worried about, I don't think it's a big deal. Hand the case over to the three judicial departments and the Jinyiwei can follow up at the same time to ensure follow-up progress and fairness."

"If Your Majesty is still worried, as the others have said, Your Majesty can appoint important officials to supervise the case and report directly to Your Majesty. This will eliminate some possibilities. There is another benefit to doing this, which is to let the subjects of the world see Your Majesty's magnanimity and generosity, so as to protect Your Majesty's reputation!"

"What do you think, gentlemen?" Zhu Shenzhui seemed to be really moved by Qian Qianyi's words. With a slight hesitation in his expression, he asked other important ministers.

Seeing that Zhu Shenzhui's tone seemed to have changed, why didn't everyone understand that the opportunity had come? Immediately, everyone expressed their opinions that Qian Qianyi was right. Since the case was basically clear, the next step was to continue to investigate and try the case. The benefits of the three judicial departments' intervention were obvious. It was more appropriate for the court to come forward and execute the canonical sentence. In this way, the people of the world could see the fairness and justice of the Ming Dynasty's judicial system, and it also prevented some people with bad intentions from using this opportunity to smear the emperor. This way, they could achieve the best of both worlds.

After listening to what everyone said, Zhu Shenzui concentrated and thought for a long time, and finally nodded slightly.

"Since you gentlemen have all done so, I cannot act on my own. I will follow your advice and let the three judicial officials intervene in this case."

"Your Majesty is wise!" When these words were spoken, everyone was delighted and quickly stood up to salute the emperor.

However, although Zhu Shenzhu agreed to let the three judicial officials intervene in the case, he also put forward conditions in front of everyone.

There are three conditions. First, the Jinyiwei must supervise the three judicial departments, and the chief officers of the three judicial departments must be in charge of the case. Moreover, the officials involved must first be checked by the Jinyiwei to make sure they have nothing to do with the case.

Everyone agreed with this point. After all, no one wanted problems to arise within the three judicial departments. If the investigation turned out to be led to the person handling the case, wouldn't that be a joke?
As for the second point, in addition to the three judicial departments, the cabinet and the six ministries also need to intervene and supervise the case to ensure its implementation. There is no objection to this point, and the involvement of the cabinet and the six ministries is a good thing, which can also prevent the subsequent case from getting out of control.

As for the third point, it was something that no one had expected. Zhu Shenzhui asked the crown prince Zhu Minlan to participate in the case as his representative. All the progress of the case and all the information must be reported to the crown prince, who would follow up on the follow-up of the case. Although this request surprised everyone, as the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Minlan had this power. In addition, the emperor had already made concessions on the issue of the three judicial departments. If he refused on this matter, it might be counterproductive. In the end, everyone agreed.

Just like that, after discussing the follow-up arrangements, Zhu Shenzhui immediately decided on the matter. The Crown Prince and Cabinet Elder Kong Zhenyun, together with officials from the Three Judicial Departments and the Embroidered Uniform Guards, would try the case together. As the case progressed, they would decide whether to make adjustments based on actual conditions. As for the arrested persons, they would continue to be detained in the imperial prison and guarded by the Embroidered Uniform Guards, but the interrogation and other work would be handed over to the Three Judicial Departments.

(End of this chapter)