Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 60: The blood of students, open your majesty's eyes
Jinyiwei Yamen.

Liu Dingzhi was in a daze in a small courtyard. Since Liujia Village was destroyed, he had gone to the county government, the prefectural government, and the provincial government to file a lawsuit. It can be said that he had a narrow escape from death.

Now, he finally came before the emperor, but he felt unreal. Would His Majesty really make a decision for Liujia Village? The criminal was the emperor's uncle.

"Hey, what are you daydreaming about? Come and meet His Majesty." A voice came.

Liu Dingzhi turned around and saw the emperor standing in the courtyard. He quickly stepped forward and knelt down, saying, "Student Liu Dingzhi, I pay my respects to Your Majesty."

Zhu Qizhen raised his hand and said, "Stand up and talk. I want to talk to you. Shi Biao, go get some wine and food."

Shi Biao, who followed behind him, took the order. He sat down on the stone bench in the yard and saw Liu Dingzhi still kneeling there. He was quite helpless: "I asked you to stand up. What? Are you going to disobey my order? Come and sit down and talk."

Liu Dingzhi was obviously very nervous, and he walked to stand beside Zhu Qizhen tremblingly, not daring to sit down. Zhu Qizhen sighed in his heart, in this ancient time, the emperor was really the supreme ruler, and ordinary people would be afraid when they saw him.

"Sit down." Zhu Qizhen pointed to the stone bench opposite, "I'm here to chat with you."

"As you wish." Liu Dingzhi then sat down.

Zhu Qizhen smiled, his expression very friendly: "I heard from Shi Biao that you are very brave, and you even broke through the Provincial Administration Office alone. Why are you so timid now?"

"When a student sees the emperor's face for the first time, it feels like the sun is shining overhead," said Liu Dingzhi.

"Hey, stop flattering me. I don't like that." Zhu Qizhen waved his hand.

After hearing this, Liu Dingzhi felt relieved a lot and felt that the emperor in front of him was not scary at all.

After a while, Shi Biao brought wine and food. Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and said, "Shi Biao, please go down. I am drinking with Liu Dingzhi. Don't disturb me."

……

After three cups of wine, Liu Dingzhi was no longer nervous and started to talk more.

"Your Majesty, I have been bullied by local gentry since I was a child. I have met many officials along the way." Liu Dingzhi blushed slightly, "I have never seen many good ones. Some of them are just trying to climb up the social ladder, while others are just trying to make money. I have never seen anyone who truly works for the people."

Zhu Qizhen frowned upon hearing this: "Has the Ming Dynasty come to this point?"

Liu Dingzhi picked up the wine glass, drank it all in one gulp, and said in a deep voice:
"It seems that Your Majesty is unaware of the sufferings of the people. In the eighth year of Zhengtong, there was a severe drought and the six provinces were full of starving people. In the eleventh year of Zhengtong, floods ravaged Jiangnan and millions of people were displaced. Humph, when I returned home from Jiangnan that year, I saw with my own eyes the bodies of the people floating on the river. However, those river officials embezzled the money allocated by the court for repairing the river embankments and even forced the hungry people to work on the river."

"In recent years, the land of Qizhou people has been annexed by powerful families, and the people have no choice but to flee famine and become refugees. Some people tried to go to Beijing to file a complaint, but were intercepted and killed. Countless people died on the way."

When Zhu Qizhen heard this, his face became extremely ugly.

Liu Dingzhi drank another glass of wine, knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, since I have the honor to see your Majesty, I must tell you these matters frankly."

"You dare to slander my kingdom, aren't you afraid of death?" Zhu Qizhen asked coldly.

"Of course I am afraid of death!" Liu Dingzhi spread his hands and smiled, "However, there are always people in this world who have to get their heads broken and bleed. I died in front of Your Majesty, so the blood will be splashed higher. Sooner or later, my blood will open Your Majesty's eyes."

His tone was firm and his eyes were clear. Zhu Qizhen looked at him and felt inexplicably moved. He had only seen such characters in TV dramas before, but today he finally saw them in real life.

"Get up." He raised his hand, "Tell me more about the officials you met along the way." "Officials, haha, in the words of the common people, he rides in an official sedan chair when he goes to the yamen, spends official silver when he leaves the yamen, and drinks official rice in his bowl. And he speaks in an official tone." Liu Dingzhi seemed to have given it all.

Zhu Qizhen was in no mood to laugh, and asked coldly: "Then you have never seen a good official?"

Liu Dingzhi bowed and said, "It depends on you, Your Majesty."

Zhu Qizhen took a sip from the wine glass and said with a smile: "Liu Dingzhi, you are really brave. If you survive this disaster, I will give you an official title and see how you handle it."

After saying that, he stood up and strode away.

……

The next day, morning.

After the court session, Zhu Qizhen said, "The Imperial Ming Ancestor's Instructions stipulate that if a vassal king commits a crime, it must be discussed and reported to the emperor. Today, let's discuss the crime of the King of Jing."

The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment when they heard this. This case involved the prince, so no one dared to speak lightly.

Duke Chengguo stepped forward and reported, "Your Majesty, Queen Mother, the Prince of Jing is the Emperor's uncle. According to the Imperial Ming Ancestor's Instructions, even if a prince commits a serious crime, he cannot be punished."

Many ministers agreed after hearing this. Most of them believed that even if the King of Jing was guilty, His Majesty only needed to reprimand him, or fine him his salary, or at most reduce his title, and that would be enough.

"I have also studied the Imperial Ming Ancestor's Instructions recently." Zhu Qizhen said coldly, "For the princes who have committed heinous crimes, I have the right to directly sentence them to death."

"Your Majesty, that is the serious crime of treason." Yu Shiyue, the Minister of Justice, bowed and said, "The crime of the King of Jing is not punishable by death."

As soon as he said this, there were even more voices of approval.

King Xiang saw that the time had come and bowed, "Queen Dowager, Your Majesty, I am in charge of the Great Zongzheng Court and have asked other princes. They all pleaded for King Jing. Please, Queen Dowager, Your Majesty, be lenient. This is a joint petition signed by the 32 princes of our vassal state, begging Your Majesty to spare King Jing's life."

Zhu Qizhen's face was stern, and the empress dowager's cold voice came from behind the curtain: "The crimes of the royal family and vassal kings are all decided by your majesty. I have no right to ask about it."

"Your Majesty, please have mercy!" King Xiang knelt on the ground.

In the hall, more than half of the ministers knelt down and shouted in unison, "Your Majesty, please show mercy." Zhu Qizhen's eyes were filled with coldness. Are you forcing me?

"My dear ministers, please stand up!" Zhu Qizhen raised his hand. "The case has not been fully investigated yet. I will make a decision after it is fully investigated. However, I have seen the situation in Qizhou in recent years. Natural disasters and man-made disasters have continued. They are all my people. I am extremely heartbroken! If the people can't eat, I am unworthy of being a king!"

The ministers fell silent, for they knew that His Majesty would not let King Jing off easily.

At this time, Zhu Qiyu, the Prince of Qin, who had been silent all this time, stood up and bowed: "Your Majesty, I am willing to share your worries. Please leave this case to me. If your Majesty is not convenient to do it, I will do it."

All the ministers were shocked and asked, "King of Qing, what are you going to do?"
Even Zhu Qizhen sitting on the dragon throne couldn't be dealt with by him. Is this my younger brother?
"Prince Qing, this assignment will offend people." Zhu Qizhen smiled.

"I am not afraid. Everything is for the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Qiyu bowed again. "As a prince of the Ming Dynasty, I have no choice but to do my duty."

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(End of this chapter)