Chapter 2811: The King and His Subjects Fight Each Other, Each Using Their Own Methods

On this day, the indignant civil servants still failed to break into the palace and meet Emperor Yuan Jing. After dusk, they dispersed. But the civil servants did not give up and agreed to come again tomorrow. If Emperor Yuan Jing did not give an explanation, the entire court would be paralyzed.

It was also on this day that different voices appeared in the officialdom. Some people raised questions with concern.

"Everyone knows about the massacre of the King of Zhenbei. Where is the majesty of the court? The people of the world are probably extremely disappointed with the royal family and the court."

The King of Zhenbei is your majesty's brother, a prince, not an ordinary prince. At the same time, he is also the military god of Dafeng and the guardian of the northern border in the hearts of the people. Such a person massacred the city for his own selfishness. The sequelae brought about by this incident are that the people lose trust in the court, and the royal family loses face and loses the hearts of the people.

On the same day, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace was assassinated in his bedroom after dusk. That night, the palace gates were closed and the imperial guards searched the palace for the assassin but to no avail.

The next day, the four gates of the capital were closed. The Prime Minister Wang Zhenwen and Wei Yuan mobilized the five guards of the capital, the constables of the government office, and the night watchmen to search the whole city for the assassin, door to door, and the whole capital was in chaos.

Xu Zisheng watched coldly. The Crown Prince had nothing to do with this matter. Moreover, with the abilities of Wei Yuan and Wang Wenzhen, it was impossible for them to find any trace of the assassin. This matter was obviously planned by the two of them in order to force Emperor Yuan Jing to show up.

In the palace, in the bedroom, Emperor Yuan Jing, dressed in a Taoist robe and with an elegant appearance, sat cross-legged on a futon, his eyes half closed, glanced at the old eunuch next to him, and asked lightly.

"Has the assassin been caught?"

The old eunuch bowed, humble and respectful, and answered in a low voice.

"No news has been received. The assassin has not been caught yet!"

"Since we can't catch him now, we don't need to catch him in the future."

Emperor Yuan Jing opened his eyes, his eyes were slightly cold, his mouth corners slightly raised, revealing a somewhat sarcastic smile, and sighed with inexplicable emotion.

"Only Wei Yuan and Wang Zhenwen are interesting in this court, and the others are a little worse."

The old eunuch lowered his head and didn't respond. These two people were not something he could evaluate, so he could only pretend to be deaf and dumb.

"However, Xu Zisheng behaved very strangely. He didn't make any movement. He just stood outside the palace gate every day. This was not like his style. What was he planning?"

Emperor Yuan Jing seemed to have remembered a troublesome person again, and frowned slightly. Xu Zisheng was too calm. Although he hated Xu Zisheng for killing the King of Zhenbei, he didn't dare to underestimate this current number one Confucianist. He was a little worried that the night would be long and dreams would be many, so he spoke immediately.

"Send someone out of the palace to tell those people that there is no need to be ostentatious, but there is no need to be cautious."

Emperor Yuan Jing paused for a moment, made up his mind, and ordered again.

"Forget it, the night is long and dreams are many. Let's inform the cabinet that I will open a grand court meeting tomorrow and summon all officials to discuss matters. Discuss the Chuzhou case."

The old eunuch breathed quickly, his head was firmly lowered, his back was like a bow, and he responded in a deep voice.

"Yes!"

The body of the King of Zhenbei had been transported back to the capital for five days. At the time of the morning, the sky was dark, and Emperor Yuan Jing finally showed up.

Outside the Meridian Gate, in the stone lamps, the candles swayed with orange flames, reflecting the torches held by the two rows of imperial guards. The ministers gathered at the Meridian Gate in the cool breeze, silently waiting for the morning court. Occasionally, familiar officials bowed their heads to talk and whispered, but generally remained silent.

The officials seemed to be holding back their anger, swelling but restrained, waiting for the opportunity to explode. The air was filled with a heavy and tense atmosphere, and it was only a fuse away from exploding.

"Dong, dong, dong!"

When the sky was slightly bright, the drums on the tower of the Meridian Gate shook the sky, and the civil and military officials lined up in tacit understanding and entered the slowly opening palace gate one by one.

In the Jinluan Palace, officials of the fourth rank and above stepped into the hall and waited silently for a quarter of an hour. Emperor Yuan Jing, wearing a Taoist robe, came late.

After not seeing him for many days, the white-haired Emperor Yuan Jing gave people a haggard feeling, with swollen bags under his eyes and bloodshot eyes, fully showing the image of a brother who lost his brother.

The civil officials were shocked. Emperor Yuan Jing paid the most attention to health preservation and dragon body maintenance. Since he practiced Taoism, he was in good health and had a ruddy complexion. He had never looked so haggard. Many people looked at each other silently and felt a chill in their hearts.

Xu Zisheng stood below, looking directly at Emperor Yuan Jing, watching him being subdued, and smiled coldly, full of sarcasm and disdain.

The whole court did not know the details of Emperor Yuan Jing, but he did not know that this emperor was not as weak as he looked. He had achieved success in cultivation and had already reached the second-grade realm of transcending tribulation. His spirit and energy were perfect. This look was completely fake, trying to win the sympathy of the officials, which was simply ridiculous.

The old eunuch glanced at Emperor Yuan Jing, stepped forward, and spoke loudly.

"If you have something to say, please report it. If not, please leave the court."

The governor of Chuzhou, Zheng Xinghuai, strode out of the line, walked in front of the officials, bowed, and said in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, the Chuzhou general Huai Wang colluded with the Wushen Cult and the Dizong Daoist leader, and for his own selfish reasons, he was promoted to the second rank and massacred 380,000 people in Chuzhou City. Since the founding of Dafeng, this atrocity is unprecedented and outrageous. Your Majesty, please demote Huai Wang to a commoner, hang his head on the city for three days, and commemorate the 380,000 innocent souls, and announce it to the world."

Emperor Yuan Jing took a deep look at Zheng Xinghuai, his face expressionless, full of the majesty of the emperor, and a silent and heavy pressure pressed down on Zheng Xinghuai.

Surprisingly, facing the emperor who was silent and angry, Zheng Xinghuai, the governor of Chuzhou, was not afraid and looked at him bravely. He had made up his mind that even if he died in the Golden Palace, he would seek justice for the 380,000 innocent people in Chuzhou City.

At this time, Wang Wenzhen, the chief minister of the cabinet, stepped out, looked directly at Emperor Yuan Jing, supported Zheng Xinghuai, and said respectfully.

"The actions of the King of Huai have angered the heaven and the people, and the capital has been in an uproar for a long time. The people of Chuzhou are fierce. If we cannot give an explanation to the people of the world, there may be a civil unrest. Please, Your Majesty, demote the King of Huai to a commoner and hang his head on the city for three days to commemorate the 380,000 innocent souls in Chuzhou City."

In the court, the officials saw this and bent down to speak, and the voices rolled, shaking the Golden Palace.

"Your Majesty, please demote the King of Huai to a commoner, and hang his head on the city for three days to commemorate the 380,000 wronged souls in Chuzhou City."

Emperor Yuan Jing slowly stood up, looking down at the court officials with a cold face. The muscles on his face twitched slowly, and the veins on his forehead bulged. Suddenly, he flipped over the large case in front of him.

Clang! The large case rolled down the steps and hit the officials heavily. The heart-wrenching roar of Emperor Yuan Jing rang out in the hall.

"The King of Huai is my brother. What is your intention to demote him to a commoner? Do you still want me to issue a self-criticism edict? Do you still have me in your eyes? I lost my brother, just like I lost an arm. You don't know how to sympathize with me. You have been gathering at the palace gate for several days. Do you want to force me to death?!!"

Emperor Yuan Jing's face was hideous, his eyes were red, and he looked like a helpless old man at this time, full of sadness and grief.

The ministers had never seen Emperor Yuan Jing in such a state, and they were stunned for a moment. Emperor Yuan Jing had been in power for 37 years, and his image of deep scheming and superb political tactics was deeply rooted in the hearts of civil and military officials. They had never thought that one day, this deep emperor would be so helpless and sad.

This attitude was revealed in front of the ministers, and the contrast with the inherent impression made people feel sad, and the ministers' high spirits stagnated.

Before the ministers reacted from the huge shock, Emperor Yuan Jing sat down dejectedly, with an undisguised sadness on his face, and whispered.

"When I was still the prince, the late emperor was wary of me, and my position was unstable, and I was trembling all day long. It was Prince Huai who supported me silently. It was because we were brothers from the same mother and had a deep brotherly love.

"Prince Huai held the sword of the state, killed enemies for the empire, and defended the territory. If he had not been fearless in the battle of Shanhaiguan, how could Dafeng be prosperous now? You all should be grateful to him. "

"After the Battle of Shanhaiguan, the Prince of Huai was ordered to go north to guard the border for me. In the past ten years, he has only returned to Beijing a few times. The Prince of Huai did make a big mistake, but he has been executed after all. Don't you want to let him go even after his death?"

Emperor Yuan Jing interrupted the rhythm of the ministers so rudely that they couldn't react for a while and fell into silence, not knowing how to respond.

However, the civil and military officials fell into silence, but Zheng Xinghuai would not. He was extremely determined in his heart, like a vanguard on the battlefield, charging forward, without regrets, and fearless of life and death. He spoke loudly again.

"Your Majesty, merits and demerits are not offset! It is true that the Prince of Huai has made contributions over the years, but the court has already rewarded him according to his merits, and the people love him very much. Now that he has committed an unforgivable crime, he should be severely punished. Otherwise, it would be that Your Majesty is perverting the law for personal gain! "

Zheng Xinghuai seemed to have burned his boats and pointed his spearhead directly at Emperor Yuan Jing, not afraid of the emperor's anger and punishment.

Emperor Yuan Jing was furious when he heard this, and looked at Zheng Xinghuai with dangerous eyes and scolded him.

"Asshole, you have been jumping up and down in the capital these days, slandering the royal family and the prince. I have tolerated you until now because I think you have worked hard all these years. The case of Prince Huai has not been decided yet. As long as it is not decided, he is not guilty. You slandered the prince, which is a capital crime!"

"Your Majesty! I am not afraid of death, so why should I be afraid of death? !"

Zheng Xinghuai stiffened his neck and looked directly at the furious Emperor Yuan Jing. He did not show any fear, but his face was full of determination. He did not care about life and death, and it was not within his consideration. Why should he be afraid of the king's anger?

Wang Zhenwen suddenly spoke, interrupting Emperor Yuan Jing's rhythm, and raised his voice.

"Your Majesty! We will discuss the matter of Zheng the governor later. Let's discuss the matter of the King of Huai first. "

Emperor Yuan Jing looked at Wang Wenzhen deeply, and then his eyes swept across and paused at a certain point.

As if he had received some kind of signal, someone immediately stood up, bowed and saluted, and said loudly.

"Your Majesty, I also have something to report."

The officials looked in the direction of the voice. It was Yao Lin, the chief secretary of the Ministry of Rites. As everyone knows, the chief secretary is a professional troll, a mad dog in the court, who bites whoever he catches. At the same time, they are also the initiators of the court struggle, and this time they did not disappoint.

The chief secretary Yao Lin saluted, lowered his head slightly, and said loudly.

"I want to impeach the chief minister Wang Zhenwen for instructing the former Minister of Rites to collude with the demon tribe and blow up Sangpo. "

The officials looked at each other with strange faces. In the past few days, Wang Zhenwen led the ministers to block the palace gate, and his reputation was very high. He could be regarded as the vanguard of forcing the emperor to abdicate. It seemed reasonable that he was impeached at this time.

Next, Yao Lin announced several major crimes of Wang Zhenwen, such as condoning corruption and bribery by his subordinates, and accepting bribes from his subordinates. The Sangpo case was not mentioned, and the several charges listed later were indeed set in stone.

How could a clean-handed person be the chief minister of the cabinet? If you can't guarantee everyone's interests, who would be willing to follow you?

Emperor Yuan Jing was going to kill the chicken to scare the monkey. The ministers were shocked. Although Confucianism had the art of slaying dragons, there was still an insurmountable gap between the monarch and the ministers.

Emperor Yuan Jing was not a young emperor. He overlooked the court for half a century and was extremely majestic. Even Wang Wenzhen was no match for him.

Chief Assistant Wang Wenzhen raised his head and saw Emperor Yuan Jing looking at him coldly. He immediately stopped hesitating and said in a deep voice.

"Official, beg for bones"

Emperor Yuan Jing's eyes flashed with a stern look, and he was about to speak. At this moment, the censor Zhang Xingying came out and said loudly.

"Your Majesty, the first assistant, Wang Wenzhen, has been corrupt and accepted bribes, which has brought harm to the country and the people. He must not be left behind."

Zhang Yushi was from Wei Yuan. Emperor Yuan Jing was silent for a long time. He glanced at Wei Yuan who was like an old monk in trance and said calmly.

"Wang Aiqing's words are serious. You have worked hard for Da Feng and your hard work has made great achievements. I trust you."

The balance created by Emperor Yuan Jing has now become his biggest fetter. He does not dare to let Wang Wenzhen beg for bones, otherwise the balance in the court will be broken. Whether it is Xu Zisheng or Wei Yuan, they are both better than this leader. Mr. Fu is even more tough and radical, and by then he may no longer be able to practice Taoism with peace of mind.

In just a short moment, Emperor Yuan Jing, Wei Yuan, and Chief Assistant Wang Wenzhen had already completed a confrontation in the court hall.

Only Xu Zisheng remained motionless, watching with a cold eye, acting extremely calm. His calmness made Emperor Yuan Jing feel a little uneasy.

This time, Emperor Yuan Jing's small victory suppressed the arrogance of the ministers and shocked the princes. The chief assistants Wang Wenzhen and Wei Yuan were not at a loss, because the topic was brought back to the case of King Huai's massacre.

"Your Majesty, please severely punish the King of Zhenbei, convict him, and give an explanation to the world!"

Wei Yuan finally spoke, with a serious look on his face, looking directly at Emperor Yuan Jing and forcing him.

All the ministers in the court echoed again and agreed.

Emperor Yuan Jing glanced at them and found that a small number of people were still in place. He curled his lips without leaving any trace. After all, interests are the main priority in the court, and self-interest is above all else. Killing chickens to scare monkeys just now can scare a small number of people. It is already effective and very cost-effective.

"It's just that Xu Zisheng hasn't moved yet. What is he thinking about? It's confusing?"

Emperor Yuan Jing's eyes paused for a moment on Xu Zisheng, who had his back straight, and he felt more and more uneasy in his heart. The most noisy person in the past was so abnormal today, which made him very worried that he would make a big fuss.

"Your Majesty, Wei Chen feels that the Chuzhou case should be considered in the long term and we must not blindly convict King Huai."

The first voice of opposition appeared, and the speaker was Yuan Xiong, the censor of Zuodu. This guy had always flattered Emperor Yuan Jing, had no persistence or principles, and was a complete sycophant.

Emperor Yuan Jing frowned and asked in a pretentious manner.

"Why did Yuan Aiqing say this?"

Yuan Xiong suddenly became excited and said loudly and righteously.

"Prince Huai is His Majesty's younger brother and Prince Dafeng. This matter concerns the royal family's face and His Majesty's face. How can we draw a conclusion so easily?"

"Shameless!"

Although the civil servants above the court had their own thoughts and not all were honest and upright, they still had some bottom line. Seeing Yuan Xiong being so shameless, they couldn't help but curse in their hearts.

The last time Yuan Xiong used the imperial examination fraud case to allude to Wei Yuan, offending cabinet scholar Zhao Chuanfang and others. After the imperial examination, Zhao Chuanfang joined forces with Wei Yuan to impeach Yuan Xiong. In the end, Emperor Yuan Jing saved him and fined him three months of salary.

Now, Yuan Xiong has indeed become a knife in the hands of Emperor Yuan Jing, fighting back against the entire civil servant group on his behalf.

"Your Majesty, Yuan Du Yushi is right!"

At this time, another old man came out of the queue tremblingly on crutches. The old man's hair is silvery white, not black at all, and he wears a bright red crown with a golden five-clawed dragon embroidered on it.

This man is King Li, the younger brother of Emperor Zhende, the uncle of Emperor Yuanjing and Prince Huai, and is the highest-ranking person in the royal family today.

"Uncle Emperor, why are you here? Didn't I say that you don't have to go to court?"

Emperor Yuan Jing seemed to be taken aback and quickly gave instructions to the old eunuch beside him.

"Hurry up and show your uncle your seat!"

"If I don't come here, I'm afraid the 600-year-old reputation of the Feng Royal Family will be ruined at the hands of an unworthy descendant like you."

King Li snorted coldly, acting like an elder. He was obviously scolding Emperor Yuan Jing for being unworthy, but in fact he was opposing King Zhenbei's conviction.

Emperor Yuan Jing lowered his head and said nothing, as if admitting his mistake. The chair was moved. King Li sat down, turned the direction of the chair, sat down facing the ministers, snorted again, and said.

"Dafeng is the great favor of the people of the world, and it is also the great favor of my royal family. Emperor Gaozu had a hard time starting a business, and he wiped out the corruption of the previous dynasty and established a new dynasty. Emperor Wuzong killed the sycophants and cleared the emperor, and he spent a lot of blood and sweat. King Huai committed You have made a big mistake and deserved to die, but as long as I am alive, I will not allow you to tarnish the reputation of my royal family.”

Zheng Xinghuai was furious and the blood in his heart surged to his face as he retorted.

"Old prince, it has been six hundred years since the founding of the country, and there have been many kings who have issued slanderous decrees!"

Before Zheng Xinghuai finished speaking, he was forcefully interrupted by King Li, and the old man shouted violently.

"The king is the king, and the ministers are ministers. You have read the books of sages and sages, all of them came from the Imperial College. Have you forgotten the teachings of Cheng Yasheng?"

The princes suddenly felt their scalps numb. If Emperor Yuan Jing said these words, the princes would be so happy that they would give you their advice one by one. Being famous under the emperor's footsteps is the happiest thing in the minds of scholars in the world.

But it was King Li who said these words. King Li was very talented when he was young and was a famous talent in the capital. In front of him, the princes could only be regarded as juniors.

With his status as a prince and a senior scholar at the forefront, he relied on his elders and failed to do anything about them. The arrogance of the radicals was once again suppressed.

"Alas, Prince Li, think twice."

Wei Yuan sighed. He couldn't let Prince Li continue, otherwise he would lose today.

Prince Li straightened his back, with a wrinkled face, squinted at Wei Yuan and cursed.

"Hmph, this eunuch should have been a slave in the palace. If it weren't for your majesty's wisdom and giving you a chance, would you have the glory you have today?"

Wei Yuan lowered his head, showing a weak gesture, and then said.

"If Prince Li cares about the reputation of the royal family, he should not cover up this matter for Prince Huai. Yesterday, three great scholars from Yunlu Academy wanted to come to the capital to denounce Your Majesty, but I stopped them. The three great scholars said that the court can change the history books, but the history books of Yunlu Academy are not controlled by the court. Today, the King of Zhenbei massacred 380,000 people in Chuzhou City. In the future, the scholars of Yunlu Academy will remember this matter and pass it on to future generations. And Your Majesty, you are guilty of the same crime as your brother by shielding him, and everything will be recorded in the history books."