Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 74: Defection! We have to kill some and arrest some! (Please read on)

Before Zhu Houcong came, Zhang Cong and others were not afraid when they were surrounded by the pro-ritual faction, but after hearing what Zhu Houcong said, they could not help but burst into tears.

Liang Chu and other ministers were even more respectful and kowtowed, saying:

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Zhu Houcong still had a serious expression on his face and continued:
"Even the crimes of treacherous officials cannot be tolerated!"

"If those who express different opinions are treacherous ministers, then there are endless treacherous ministers to kill in my Ming Dynasty!"

"I am not the tyrant ruler of this corrupt world who will punish people for their words!"

After Zhu Houcong said this.

The Left Censor-in-Chief Jin Xianmin and others from the Pro-Rites faction could not help but feel extremely ashamed and choked up as they said:
"We are willing to die! We have failed the emperor's expectations!"

Even Yang Shen couldn't help but feel touched at this time, thinking:
"If you want people to talk, the sky won't fall. Is that something a fifteen-year-old boy can say?"

"A fifteen-year-old emperor would have such a broad mind?"

Yang Shen couldn't help but think of his father Yang Tinghe's criticism of him for not being broad-minded enough.

This made him even more surprised at the emperor's performance in front of him. Suddenly he felt a little depressed, thinking that he was not qualified to be the emperor's teacher.

But soon.

Yang Shen became excited again.

Because he felt that there was nothing wrong in upholding rituals, and the more wise and broad-minded His Majesty was, the more he should listen to the advice of his ritual-protecting group, put personal connections aside and follow the correct rituals to preserve the virtue of Emperor Xiaozong and let the whole world know that the emperor was willing to follow the correct opinion and posthumously honor Emperor Xiaozong as the Emperor's father in order to follow Emperor Xiaozong's example and not let his line of descendants be extinct.

Zhu Houcong leaned back and said, "Many of the ministers have not spoken yet, so let's continue the discussion, starting with the Prime Minister."

Liang Chu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I think what Hanlin Zhang Cong said is enough to correct the etiquette, and there is no room for rebuttal!"

"Whether it is according to the will or the words of the saints, Your Majesty only needs to inherit the throne, not the successor, because the ancestral temple and the altar of the land were created by Taizu and Taizong, and cannot be said to be the private property of the Xiao Temple. Therefore, Your Majesty does not need to succeed, and can follow the imperial ancestral teachings and follow the order of succession from the elder brother to the younger brother."

Liang Chu's words greatly disappointed the ritual-protecting faction, and even Wang Zhengyuan and others became angry.

After all, the Prime Minister did not lead them to facilitate the emperor's change of parents.

Even the deputy assistant Jiang Mian closed his eyes and sighed, and at this time stepped out and said:
"Your Majesty, I dare not agree with the words of the Prime Minister!"

"The etiquette should be based on public opinion and human nature. People all over the world want Your Majesty to follow the example of Xiao Miao and regard Xiaozong as the emperor's father. They cannot bear that Xiao Miao will be extinct, and recognize the lineage as the lineage of Xiao Miao. Your Majesty is also the descendant of Xiao Miao, so Your Majesty should follow the etiquette and suppress relatives."

After Jiang Mian said this, he glanced at Mao Ji.

Mao Ji then stepped forward and said:
"Your Majesty, I dare not agree with what the Second Assistant said!"

"Your Majesty's feelings are also human feelings. If we talk about public opinion, we should regard your Majesty's feelings as human feelings. As for whether your Majesty will inherit the lineage of the Xiao Temple or the lineage of the Taizu Temple, it is not based on public opinion, but on the ancestral teachings and national system!"

"If everyone follows public opinion, then can't you also be deposed because of public opinion?"

When Jiang Mian heard what Mao Ji said, his face suddenly changed and he quickly prostrated himself on the ground:

"Your Majesty, I have no such intention. Everything I do is for Your Majesty's sake!"

The Minister of Rites Mao Cheng and other pro-ritual factions also looked at Mao Ji in surprise.

But that's it.

The Minister of Finance Yang Tan also stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, what Zhang Cong has said can already preserve the relationship between your Majesty and your son. There is no need to discuss it further!"

The Minister of War Wang Xian also said: "Your Majesty, what Zhang Cong said is correct. The greatest virtue in the world is filial piety. If filial piety is not achieved, loyalty will not be achieved. I dare not be a disloyal minister, so I dare not advise Your Majesty to be an unfilial son!"

Yang Shen was shocked and thought, "What's wrong with these northern eunuchs? Didn't they promise my father that when the ceremony was held, they would work together to make His Majesty recognize Xiao Miao as the Emperor's father?"

The Minister of Justice Zhao Jian sneered, he knew the reason.

Therefore.

Zhao Jian immediately reported: "Your Majesty, Zhang Cong's theory is indeed easy to mislead people, but I believe that there must be people in the court who cannot refute it. I request that you issue an order to convey Zhang Cong's theory to the court and hold a court meeting on another day."

"Let more court officials, and even civil and military nobles, discuss this theory, so as to show your majesty's virtue of listening to people's opinions, and to prevent your majesty and the people of the world from being confused!"

At this time, the Left Censor-in-Chief Jin Xianmin also understood what Zhao Jian meant, and said:
"Your Majesty, I second the proposal. Since we want to discuss the ritual, we should gather more people to discuss it. How can we just listen to Zhang Cong's opinion?"

Yang Shen also wanted his father to comment on this matter, so he followed suit:

"I second this motion!"

"I second the proposal!"

When many of the younger generation of ritualists saw Yang Shen second the motion, they also followed suit.

Zhang Cong was very confident in his own ideas, and hoped to identify the bureaucrats in the world in this way, so as to achieve his political goals.

"Your Majesty, I also hope that what I say to other ministers is in accordance with the proper etiquette, so I am not afraid of people's criticism." Zhu Houcong nodded. He understood the implication of Zhang Cong's words.

Therefore.

Zhu Houcong smiled and said, "This is the best way. Let's discuss the matter. Even if we disagree with the discussion, we can ask for permission to discuss it again. Instead of fighting here, we must be polite!"

"This time, I will let it go because it was your first time discussing etiquette, so it was inevitable that you would have a heated argument. I will not pursue it, but this will not happen again!"

"If anyone continues to defy the laws of the country and disrespect the imperial authority, I will never let him off easily!"

"Then issue an edict to discuss the grand ceremony again in two months, and to present Zhang Cong's opinion to the court officials, so that all civil and military officials can participate in the discussion, and to gather in Wenhua Hall on the fifth day of September to discuss the grand ceremony!"

Zhu Houcong left after saying this.

"Please keep this in mind!"

then.

This court meeting was thus declared over.

When leaving Wenhua Hall, Jiang Mian could not help but ask Mao Ji when they were the only ones walking side by side: "Why did you suddenly not follow the ceremony of Your Majesty recognizing Xiao Miao as the Emperor's father?"

"Do you think this is fair to the temple?"

Jiang Mian then asked another question.

Mao Ji smiled and said, "Sir, don't you think it would be a disservice to the Emperor to sit back and watch the two Zhang relatives continue to act recklessly because Empress Dowager Cishou is still your Majesty's mother, and be unable to be controlled, so that their wives' families will be in embarrassment in the future?"

Jiang Mian was quite surprised after hearing this, and continued to ask Mao Ji: "Why did you suddenly ask this, is it because you know that Your Majesty is a monarch with ambitions and dare not take away his private feelings, or is it because you have a personal grudge because the imperial store was taken away by the relatives of the emperor?"

Mao Ji chuckled, without making any comment, and just brushed his sleeves and walked away.

Jiang Mian was not the only one who was surprised. The Minister of Justice Zhao Jian also met with the Minister of Revenue Yang Tan afterwards:
"It's fine that Liang Shunde has always been afraid to speak out, but today he actually echoed Zhang Cong's opinion. Could it be that he is unwilling to protect etiquette just because the two Zhang brothers robbed the imperial store?"

"I have never seen such a relative!"

Yang Tan replied directly.

"It's been two dynasties, and there's still no progress!"

Then, Yang Tan asked Zhao Jian: "Are you still willing to endure this kind of punishment from your in-laws?"

"No matter what, we scholars and officials cannot really force Your Majesty to not follow the system of the Filial Piety Temple. Compared with the damage done by the Zhang family's relatives, and asking Your Majesty to follow the correct ritual and recognize the Filial Piety Temple as the ancestors, which is more important? Can't you clearly distinguish it?"

Zhao Jian looked at his fellow countryman with a stern face.

Yang Tan laughed, then waved his hand and said, "What is the correct etiquette? It remains to be clarified. I only know that these two relatives are really greedy. If we don't kill them, we will not be able to appease the anger of the people and restore order to the court!"

After saying this, Yang Tan left first.

Zhao Jian stood there for a long time without moving.

And that time.

Editor Wang Zhengyuan came to Zhao Jian and said, "Dear teacher! I think Zhang Cong's theory should not be known to the world."

"I know."

Zhao Jian replied in a deep voice.

Wang Zhengyuan was quite surprised after hearing this: "Then why did my dear teacher ask for permission from the emperor to publish Zhang Cong's theory to the world?"

"If not, it would be difficult to kill this man!"

Zhao Jian said with a sullen face.

then.

Zhao Jian smiled coldly and said, "Among the cabinet ministers, two support Zhang Cong, and among the nine ministers, two have defected. In addition, many of the ministers below are eager to echo Zhang Cong and win the emperor's favor. The situation is not so ideal for us, the guardians of the ceremony. Therefore, we cannot really let Your Majesty go against the majority and make a dictatorial decision at this time and directly decide on the grand ceremony!"

Zhang Chong was shocked for a moment, then nodded: "Master, that's right."

……

"It looks like I'm going to kill a group of people and arrest a group of people, but I'm the only one who can kill them, and I'm the only one who can arrest people. Whoever I want to kill can be killed!"

After Zhu Houcong left the Wenhua Hall, he thought about the previous scene and muttered to himself while thinking deeply. Then he said in a deep voice: "Send Huang Jin here!"

"The Chronicle of Ming Dynasty" records: Shangshu Zhao Jian whispered to Chong: "If you get the imperial edict, kill him." The emperor was honest and knew about it, so he issued an imperial decree, appointing Gui E and Zhang Cong as Hanlin academicians, Fang Xianfu as Imperial Lecturer, and severely reprimanded Chong and Jian and punished them.

Because historical records mentioned that the Minister of Justice wanted to overturn the table, so it was written here that the Minister of Justice wanted to kill Zhang Cong.

In addition, the price of Zhuidu has dropped again. Please support it by reading it first. Don’t raise it yet. Wait until it is put on the shelves before raising it.

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(End of this chapter)