prosperous age

Chapter 564 563 Confessions
Lu Bu is a spy of Jin Yiwei, Wei Guangde has long suspected, but never had the idea of ​​touching him.

Anyway, I didn't rebel against him, so why should I deal with him? It's better to leave an eyeliner for the palace, so that they can rest assured.

Wei Guangde only needs to pay attention to his words and deeds in front of Lu Bu, as long as he doesn't say anything radical.

Therefore, it is not a bad thing to leave such a person who is arranged by Jin Yiwei or Dongchang. At least Emperor Jiajing will know that he has been recording "Yongle Dadian" at school during this time. .

When Yan Shifan came to the case, the Ministry of Criminal Justice became busy. Together with the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dali Temple, Yan Shifan, Luo Longwen and others began to be interrogated many times.

However, a group of old pedants focused their interrogation on Yan Song's private revenge and attack on upright officials during Yan Song's administration, as well as Lin Run's impeachment of slandering the imperial court and private fundraising Jingzhuang's intention to rebel, but they were resolved one by one by Yan Shifan, who had been prepared for a long time.

The so-called private revenge and attack against officials against Yan Song, Yan Shifan admitted that he did it, including using methods such as planting and framing, which directly led to the unjust deaths of Yang Jisheng and Shen Lian.

As for slandering the imperial court, he resolutely denies it. The private fundraiser is naturally his own parent worker. Yan Shifan does not deny at all that his family bought a lot of land. With so much land, it is natural to call more workers to help cultivate it.

The interrogation by the Ministry of Criminal Justice attracted the attention of many people in the court at first, but when Wanping and Daxing Counties, together with the instructors of the school, gathered all the students in Minglun Hall to investigate the counterfeit citizenship incident and caused bloody conflicts, everyone's attention All eyes shifted to Tixue Yushi Xu Yu, because this matter has an inseparable relationship with him.

But Xu Yu himself is actually involuntary.

Since he returned to Beijing as the censor of education from the Xunyan censor, he has received many reports about many students in the second county of Wanda taking the exam. He has conducted many discussions with the censor Zhang Yongming .

This time, because a large number of Beijing officials have to go on business trips, it is natural to find a large number of old accounts accumulated over the years to overturn, and the issue of the false identity of the students of the Beijing Normal University was also mentioned by Zhang Yongming of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. The matter is included in the scope of disposal.

And when this happened, Xu Yu, the imperial censor of Tixue, mishandled it, but after all, he was a fake scholar with a guilty conscience who deliberately contributed to creating the illusion that all living beings were bullied by court officials to deceive the world.

However, this caused fierce conflicts between the members and the guards, and it was mishandled after all.

At this time in the capital city, although most of the members of the Yan faction were sent on foreign missions, the remaining capital officials were not monolithic after all.

Although Xu Jie and Yuan Wei are very powerful, remember that when Yan Song was in power, He Qiquan invaded the government and the public, but there are still officials who impeach one after another. It can be seen that the third force dominated by the Qing Dynasty still exists.

Their existence is also the help of the imperial court to rectify the source.

When the cabinet discussed how to deal with the matter with the Ministry of Rites and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, He Qiming, who had given the matter to the Li Ke, had already impeached Xu Yu, the censor, and impeached him for his hypocritical talk, which made him lose the hearts of scholars for a long time.

Xu Jie was in the cabinet at this time and handed He Qiming's memorial to Yuan Wei.

"Injuring the student Ren Ziyu and others will be troublesome after all. It would be fine if he was a fake scholar, but he is a stunned young man who was encouraged by others."

For them, the most annoying thing is this kind of person.

I don't do your business at all, but I think I'm a top brat, and I take the lead in rushing against the arresting officer. The purpose is only to rescue the captured classmate. How pedantic, I have no ability to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong.

"Xu Yu was there at the time, and he mishandled it. It's really hard to deal with it. Please ask His Majesty to judge."

After Yuan Wei finished reading the memorial, he handed it to Zhang Yongming. After all, he was a member of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and he proposed the cabinet's handling opinion, but he still had to listen to the attitude of that side first.

"I went to see Li Shangshu when I came, and he also said that the Ministry of Rites will not pursue Xu Yushi's misconduct in this matter, and everything is for the court after all."

After briefly reading He Qiming's impeachment content, Zhang Yongming was relieved. Thinking that Emperor Jiajing would reprimand Xu Yu at most, there was nothing wrong with it.

As long as Xu Yu could take a step back at that time, not let the situation worsen in front of Minglun Hall, and arrest the counterfeit scholars afterwards, this bloody conflict could be completely avoided.

Hearing this, Xu Jie just glanced at Zhang Yongming, and then fell silent.

In fact, this kind of thing is not big or small.

If there is a commotion, it is really possible that the court will lose the hearts of scholars. This is a major event that will shake the foundation of the country.

It sounds illusory, but this is really the only way to live in this society.

In fact, the seemingly inconspicuous so-called heart of scholars is also what later generations call the heart of the people.

In the eyes of scholars, it is their fellow-men who deserve to be called citizens.

The hearts of the people are actually the hearts of scholars.

There is much help for those who are right, but little help for those who are unjust. The court is not at fault for this matter, but it involves the hearts of the people, and I am afraid it will not be handled so easily.

"Go back and tell Xu Xuan to write a self-defense statement as soon as possible. This matter cannot be delayed, and we must cut through the mess quickly and settle it as soon as possible."

Xu Jie said to Zhang Yongming.

Zhang Yongming understands, he also understands that this is serious, but he feels that there will be no punishment, reprimand is the greatest punishment.

Naturally, Prince Yu's Mansion knew about this kind of matter, but this matter did not come into the eyes of King Yu, and it would not attract the attention of Wei Guangde, Zhang Juzheng and others. Instead, they had no idea, and just let the court deal with it.

However, when Xu Yu impeached He Qiming as an evil party, Wei Guangde took it out and had a good time with Zhang Juzheng for a while.

"It's the same with Xu Yan. You just need to report the incident in detail. Your Majesty will naturally be able to distinguish right from wrong. Unexpectedly, he said that He Qiming is an evil party, and directly escalated the incident into a dispute between psychology and philosophy."

Zhang Juzheng said cheerfully.

In fact, no matter he or Wei Guangde, they have read the psychology and Neo-Confucianism, but they will never say that they belong to that school, they are more practical.

If it is beneficial to the current situation, their identities can be switched back and forth between the two factions, so there is no need to compete.

However, such a mentality of competing for right and wrong is the correct solution that most of the scholars in this era understand and support.

"Xu Yu can't use it much."

Wei Guangde laughed softly.

Unable to see the situation clearly, Zhang Yongming spoke indiscriminately, so why did he find such a thing? No wonder Xu Xuan overthrew Yan Maoqing's salt administration reform and demanded restoration of the original state, which directly cost the court millions of taels of silver in revenue.

"There are many pedantic people in Neo Confucianism."

Zhang Juzheng shook his head and commented, "It's no wonder that Xinxue is flourishing now."

Xu Yu's self-defense undoubtedly made the situation between the DPRK and China tense again.

The court itself is divided into Qingliu and Zhuoliu. Since the establishment of Xinxue, the factions of officials have added Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue. It has long been extremely complicated. The struggle between the Li and Li sects is transitional, and if it really develops to that point, the court situation will inevitably get out of control.

However, Emperor Jiajing, who likes to watch the courtiers fight each other the most, is uncharacteristically this time. Instead of suspending the matter first as usual and letting the courtiers fight, he issued an order the next day.

"Arguing about impeachment is frivolous, and playing and arguing are harsh, neither of which is official style, and each takes two months of salary."

Amid all the turmoil, 43 years of Jiajing passed.

In the first month of the 44th year of Jiajing, as in the past, Zhu Xizhong, the Duke of Chengguo, worshiped the sky on the Xuanji Palace, the Palace of Buyu, and all civil and military officials and pilgrims went to the Huangji Gate to perform five prostrations and three kowtows. Congratulations, no banquet, and money for the festival.

Wei Guangde felt that since he became an official, he had never seen the Zhengdan Grand Court Meeting, and it seemed that he would only be lucky enough to see the big event when King Yu ascended the throne.

However, half a month has passed, but there has been no news about the incident that Gao Gong mentioned at the beginning, which makes Wei Guangde a little puzzled, has the situation changed?
But by this time, the Ministry of Criminal Justice had sorted out Yan Shifan's crimes and was ready to go to Xiyuan after Xu Jie and Prince Yu's Mansion had a look at it.

Wei Guangde was urgently recalled to the palace again by King Yu. Before King Yu asked Wei Guangde to go to the Ministry of Criminal Justice, he found a reason to shirk, fearing that the matter would spread to the ears of Emperor Jiajing of Xiyuan and cause trouble.

King Yu also understood the truth, so he nodded in agreement with what he said.

But now that the palace has received the crimes sorted out by the Ministry of Criminal Justice, this matter cannot be publicized. Huang Guangsheng, Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, only copied two copies and sent them to the cabinet Xu Jie and Prince Yu's Mansion respectively.

Wei Guangde frowned when he took the charge from Li Fang, what was it all about?
The old accounts, the unjust killing of Yang Jisheng and Shen Lian are all listed in it. Does Huang Guangsheng feel that his neck is harder than a knife?
In the whole crime, there is almost no mention of Yan Shifan's intention to treason. It is all about the nasty things he did in order to gain power. Many of the key things were actually approved by Emperor Jiajing's flickering nod.

As far as Yang Jisheng is concerned, Emperor Jiajing may or may not have known about it, but judging from the fact that he did not pursue it after the incident, he may have had a hunch about this matter, otherwise he would never have been allowed to stay in prison for two years.

Yan Shifan admitted that he had bribed the jailer to extract a confession by torture, which seemed to be a serious crime, but it also depends on how deeply the Emperor Jiajing was involved.

If the death of Yang Jisheng was really approved by Emperor Jiajing, then the Yan family actually acted according to the order, and now they are talking about it, wouldn't it be a slap in the face of Emperor Jiajing?
"Your Highness, this crime is not acceptable."

After reading it hastily, Wei Guangde shook his head and said.

"Why?"

Of course, King Yu read it, and he felt the same for the evidence of the strict party treachery listed in it.

Just ask anyone, and no one will say that Yan Shifan is a treacherous and evil minister.

"The strict party cannot be judged as a 'treacherous party'. Otherwise, the crime will go to His Majesty, and the matter will just go away. Maybe Huang Shangshu and the others will still suffer."

Wei Guangde replied, and then he explained some doubts about Yang Jisheng's death to King Yu in detail.

Of course, the point is that it is impossible to inquire about Emperor Jiajing's attitude towards this matter.

"How can you say that?"

After hearing Wei Guangde's words, King Yu couldn't believe it.

"Your Highness, regardless of whether His Majesty was deceived at the time, or otherwise, to overturn the case for them is undoubtedly to say that His Majesty mishandled it at the beginning, and this is an embarrassing matter for His Majesty.

Even if His Majesty knew that he had made a mistake at the beginning, he would never admit it now.

His mistakes can only be corrected by Your Highness. "

In the end, Wei Guangde said softly to King Yu, "If you think about it, this matter will definitely be mentioned in the edict, so that you can set things right and give Your Highness a chance to clean up people's hearts."

"This"

King Yu didn't know what to say for a while. If Wei Guangde was right, he always felt that what he had learned was in conflict with what he had learned. He couldn't turn his mind around, but if he was wrong, he didn't dare to gamble.

This matter is no small matter, it is related to the major affairs of the future court, he will never tolerate Yan Shifan coming out of the prison of the Ministry of punishment.

In fact, what they didn't know was that Yan Shifan also sensed something was wrong at this time.

Since he entered the capital, the foreshadowing he left has never contacted him.

No matter how tightly guarded the prison is by Huang Guangsheng and others, it is absolutely impossible that no one will pass on the news to him.

There is a thousand days to be a thief, but there is no reason to guard against a thief for a thousand days.

As long as you have the heart, the news will definitely come in.

One or two changes of heart are understandable, what he prepared is not just a few, but many dark hands.

Therefore, Yan Shifan readily confessed to many crimes, and even explained in detail how he murdered those upright ministers.

Yan Shifan's confession made Huang Guangsheng and other judges feel like a treasure. He didn't expect Yan Shifan to admit all the crimes in this way, and finally he could give an explanation to those colleagues who died unjustly. A transcribed confession went to Xu Ge's old mansion to visit.

It's just that Huang Guangsheng has only been an official in the capital for a short time after all, so he doesn't know the way to do it.

Yan Shifan knew the character of Emperor Jiajing too well, he was self-willed and cared about saving face, if the emperor asked Yan Shifan for a crime, it would be equivalent to slapping himself in the face, so Yan Shifan had nothing to fear.

"Then how should the confession be written?"

At this time, King Yu was a little shaken by Wei Guangde's words, and asked immediately.

"Yan Shifan is an 'anti-thief' rather than a 'traitor', so we must take care of His Majesty's reputation."

Wei Guangde began to say: "Since he is a rebel, there must be evidence of rebellion. Lin Run's accusation of slandering the court and private equity are just evidence, and his crime is"

Speaking of this, Wei Guangde hesitated for a moment, and finally said cruelly: "Yan Shifan colluded with the Japanese pirates with the intention of rebelling. Apart from Lin Run's accusation, Luo Longwen, who was captured together with him, is the best evidence.

Luo Longwen was not only acquainted with the great Japanese pirates Xu Hai and Wang Zhi, but also had close contacts with other pirate leaders. There are traces of this.

When Luo Longwen served as an aide in Hu Zongxian's mansion, he exterminated Xu Hai Japanese pirates. Hu Zongxian also asked for credit for Luo Longwen, and later served as an aide in Yan Shifan's mansion.

Why did Luo Longwen escape from Guangxi and go to Fenyi, Jiangxi instead of returning to She County, Huizhou, in order to maintain the connection between the Japanese pirates and Yan Shifan.”

Wei Guangde told King Yu in detail the words he compiled to deceive Yan Shifan, and asked King Yu to judge from the side to see if there were any omissions.

But Yu Wang is not stupid at the moment, saying that the son of the chief assistant of the dynasty contacted the Japanese pirates in order to rebel. Didn't he know that contacting the border army would be more useful?

These words of Wei Guangde are logically feasible, but they will be flawed in response to Yan Shifan's identity and status.

When he shook his head, Wei Guangde just smiled and said: "As long as it makes sense logically, other majesties understand."

"Ok?"

King Yu was slightly taken aback when he heard the words, and then asked again: "Is it just this one crime?"

"It is mentioned in Lin Run's memorabilia, 'Shi Fan used Peng Kong's words to say that Nanchang warehouse has a king's spirit, and he used it to rule the country and make a king.'"

Wei Guangde said unhurriedly.

(End of this chapter)