Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 172 Not only should he be executed, he should also be tortured to death!
The platform of the main hall of the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

The three ministers of the cabinet, officials from the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, and the main generals of the Imperial Guards all gathered here at this time.

It also includes Guo Rong, the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Zhu Houzhao summoned these important officials involved in the empire's military, internal affairs, justice and intelligence to a court meeting for one thing, which was whether to punish Urusborot for the crime of massacring countless Han people in Sanyuan County.

It can be said that the life and death of Urusborot involved the Ming Dynasty’s principles of military, political and judicial management.

Was it to avoid further escalation of the conflict and to prevent the little prince from attacking the entire country that he chose to forgive Urusborot?

Or should we insist on punishing the guilty and safeguarding the integrity of the Ming Dynasty's judicial sovereignty?

This forced Zhu Houzhao and the officials at the core of the empire to think deeply about it.

"Your Majesty, according to the law, this thief should be severely punished! But for the safety of all people in the world, this matter should be treated with caution. If you kill him rashly, it may anger the little prince and make him come to attack us with his whole country. The border troubles of our Ming Dynasty will be aggravated, and I am afraid that the Tumu Fort incident will happen again!"

The Cabinet Chief Minister Jiao Fang spoke first.

However, what he said was equivalent to saying nothing. It was equivalent to just starting off without expressing his own clear opinion. This was also a common trick used by veteran officials in the court. Before they understood the emperor's situation, they would generally not express their opinions immediately.

"Although the court has a lot of savings now because the tax source in Jiangnan is guaranteed, the fact that Mr. Ma is in charge of the three frontiers under the order of Your Majesty, building border walls, training local soldiers, storing grain and reclaiming wasteland has already cost countless silver. Now we have to build a road from the capital to Datong, expand the production of new firearms at the Ordnance Bureau, and provide famine relief in the Huaiyang area, all of which require money.
Although it was the Imperial Guards who recovered Hetao and their salaries came from His Majesty's treasury, the Ministry of Revenue still paid for building counties and setting up government offices, as well as transporting food and fodder. If the little prince raises his troops to attack again, the border troops will inevitably be involved in the battle. By then, the Ministry of Revenue's military expenditures will increase sharply, and its debt will be even greater!
Therefore, I think we should be patient! Let him go first. The little prince has not yet conquered the right wing of the Tatars, and he will not rashly attack the Ming Dynasty just because his son was humiliated! But if you kill his son, I am afraid it will completely anger him!"

Grand Secretary Wang Hua expressed his disapproval of killing Urusborot.

"But if this thief is not killed, where will the laws of our Ming Dynasty be? Countless Han people have died under his butcher knife. If he is allowed to return home in peace, will these Tartars still be able to slaughter the people of our Ming Dynasty at will in the future? Moreover, the law cannot be abolished! I think his crime cannot be forgiven! He should be killed!"

Zuodu Yushi Liu Yu said.

The officials present all started talking.

Some hoped that the court would still put the overall situation first and not kill Urusborot; others believed that a prince who broke the law was guilty of the same crime as a commoner, and that Urusborot should not be spared from punishment just because of his special status, which would disappoint the people.

Moreover, the former outweighs the latter.

After all, in the eyes of most court officials, compared with the safety of the entire Ming Dynasty, the Han people who were slaughtered in Sanyuan County were nothing. Of course, there were also reasons why they were not very confident that the Ming Dynasty could fight against the little prince. After all, these civil servants had all grown up studying Confucianism and still held the view that war should be avoided if possible.

Zhu Houzhao had no choice but to say, "Will not killing Urusbolot anger the little prince? I have already flogged him and stopped paying tribute to him. If the little prince dares to despise the Ming Dynasty and wants to destroy it, he can find a reason to attack. Do you think that if the little prince intends to attack the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty does not kill Urusbolot, he will not attack the Ming Dynasty?"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, the ministers began to understand a little and felt that it seemed to be true. Regardless of whether Urusborot was killed or not, as long as the little prince wanted to attack the Ming Dynasty, he would attack the Ming Dynasty. If the little prince was afraid of the Ming Dynasty, even if the Ming Dynasty killed Urusborot, the little prince would still be afraid and have reservations.

"The law cannot be abolished because of people, especially the execution of foreigners for crimes committed in our Ming Dynasty. This is the power of our Ming Dynasty's judicial department! We cannot be lenient or partial to a country because of its strength or weakness. Otherwise, wouldn't it make our Ming Dynasty look weak and incompetent, and wouldn't it make the people look at the court as incompetent?! This is called extraterritoriality! Our Ming Dynasty is not a vassal of other countries, so extraterritoriality should exist!"

Zhu Houzhao expressed his point of view clearly. Because people of that era had not yet heard of the concept of extraterritoriality, he did not say at the beginning that the Ming Dynasty had the independence of extraterritoriality, but explained it in a language that they could understand.

Therefore, after Zhu Houzhao's explanation, all the ministers understood more clearly that, as an empire, it must have extraterritoriality and the right to execute foreigners for crimes committed in its own country, so that it can be considered a country that is not subject to other countries.

"But Your Majesty! Now that the little prince is becoming more powerful, even the right-wing tribes of the Tatars cannot take him lightly. If we rashly provoke them to attack southward, it will probably lead to troubles on all sides. Moreover, the Tatars are mainly cavalry, and I am worried that they will take advantage of the unpreparedness to attack the capital, just like what Yesen did back then!"

As Zhu Houzhao attached more and more importance to military officers, military generals like Qiu Yue also participated in court discussions as the left vice minister of the General Staff of the Imperial Guard and put forward their own opinions.

"If the cabinet is afraid of the little prince, I can understand it. After all, the cabinet is the center of the world and needs to coordinate the overall situation. But why should your guards and even the entire Ming army be afraid? Is it necessary to consider whether Ming can deal with a foreign barbarian according to the law? As for the military crisis caused by the disposal, this is the business of your guards and even the entire Ming army. If you can't guarantee that Ming can deal with the foreign barbarians who commit crimes in Ming, then what is the point of the court and the people of the world supporting you officers and soldiers?"

Zhu Houzhao then said, "My Great Ming has an army and loyal and brave men who are willing to die bravely on the battlefield. Why does the court have to compromise and not dare to punish a foreigner who committed a crime? Why did the murderer who massacred the people of my Great Ming come to my Great Ming, but my Great Ming dare not punish him?"

Zhu Houzhao's words made Qiu Yue, Ma Wensheng, Zhang Mao and other military personnel ashamed. Qiu Yue even bowed his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me! I am not afraid of the enemy, but I am just considering the court. Now that Your Majesty has said so, I have nothing else to say. Since the court and the people of the Ming Dynasty support officers and soldiers like me, I should protect the dignity of the Ming Dynasty, even if I die, I will not regret it!"...

At this time, Ma Yongcheng, the governor of the East Factory, hurried in and came to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty! I just got the news that Urusbolot broke out of Huitong North Hall and killed a merchant from the Ming Dynasty in Wuman City!"

Zhu Houzhao and the officials present were all shocked when they heard this.

But because Zhu Houzhao had already decided to execute Urusbolot, the cabinet chief Jiao Fang directly expressed his opinion again: "How outrageous! Does this Urusbolot really think that the Ming Dynasty is a country that can be bullied? The matter of slaughtering our Han people has not yet been investigated, and now he has arbitrarily killed our Ming people in the capital. His crime should be punished! Your Majesty, I think this matter does not need to be discussed anymore. Such evildoers should be executed immediately!"

"Not only should they be executed, but they should also be tortured to death! The crime of slaughtering my Han people and the crime of killing my Han people without authorization, multiple crimes should be punished together, and I have already said that slaughtering the people is the same crime as regicide!"

Zhu Houzhao said after deep thought.

"I will obey your orders!"

At this time, a group of officials hurriedly stood up and replied.

Immediately, Zhu Houzhao asked again: "Have you prepared all the evidence of Urusborot's massacre of Han people in the Ming Dynasty?"

"Your Majesty, we have already prepared it. The confessions of the rebels Li Dongyang and Lu Zhonghe all mentioned that Urusbolot was the culprit! The evidence is irrefutable! As long as the court is willing to execute Urusbolot, it will not be difficult to prove his death penalty or even torture him to death!"

The Minister of Justice Min Gui replied.

"Very good. Now the three judicial departments of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple will immediately start the trial of Urusbolot for the crime of slaughtering and killing our Han people! The Ministry of Justice will immediately arrest him!

In addition, the Ministry of Rites informed the officials of the foreign vassal states in Beijing of the reasons for this incident, and asked them to remember the example of Urusbolot and abide by the laws and etiquette of the Ming Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty! At the same time, let the people of the world know the reasons for this incident! I will let the Second Attendant's Office assist you!

I want to let Urusborot know that not only do I want to kill him, but the people of the world also want to kill him!
Not only does the public opinion want him to be killed! Justice also wants him to be killed!
At the same time, it also helps win the hearts of the people and let the people of the Ming Dynasty know that the court is responsible and that their emperor will make decisions for them, even if they offend powerful neighbors! Of course, if there is a war in the future, the people will understand! The war is related to them!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, all the ministers understood Zhu Houzhao's intention, and they admired Zhu Houzhao from the bottom of their hearts. They admired that their emperor could use this incident to agitate public opinion. They didn't understand why the emperor, who grew up in the deep palace, always knew how to use public opinion! And he used this to tie the entire people to his chariot, so as to avoid being criticized by the gentry of the world for not conforming to public opinion.

"My Holy Emperor!"

The ministers could only express their admiration for Zhu Houzhao with these four words.

At the same time, Zhu Houzhao said to Ma Wensheng, Zhang Mao, Qiu Yue and even the Minister of War Xu Jin, "The people who are about to bear the greatest pressure are you who control the Ming army. The little prince knows that this matter will take at least half a year or a year, so time is very tight. Continue to prepare for a war!"

Zhu Houzhao then said to Wang Hua, who was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, "All requests from the Imperial Guards and the Ministry of War will be granted. We will provide as much food and as many people as needed. If you don't have money, you can borrow from the Royal Bank. Don't worry about the debt. Once we scare the little prince, we will slowly find a way to pay it back."

Then, Zhu Houzhao asked Ma Wensheng, Zhang Mao, Qiu Yue and even the Minister of War Xu Jin: "Are you confident that you can prove to the little prince of Tartar that the Ming Dynasty is not easy to mess with?"

"Your Majesty, I have it!"

Ma Wensheng and others responded in unison.

"Very good, let's get ready!"

Zhu Houzhao saw that Jiao Fang still had some worry on his face, so he called Jiao Fang again: "Prime Minister, what are you thinking about?"

Thanks to the book friend Zhan Li Mo Xin for the 100 Qidian coins reward

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(End of this chapter)