prosperous age

"Master Chief Assistant, can you check in?"

Just as Wei Guangde and Li Chunfang finished their conversation and were about to leave, a conversation suddenly came from outside the door of the duty room.

The owner of the voice, Wei Guangde, was no stranger, so he could only say "Say Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here". It was just a coincidence that they had just finished talking about the matter with Zhang Juzheng, when the master came out the door.

"Master Zhang Ge, Lord Shoufu is talking to Mr. Wei Ge."

The clerk outside the door replied.

"Uncle, what's the matter, come in and talk."

Li Chunfang also recognized Zhang Juzheng's voice, and immediately yelled out the door with a louder voice.

As Li Chunfang finished speaking, Zhang Juzheng appeared outside the door of the duty room, holding his official robe with his left hand and stepping into the room.

However, Wei Guangde still noticed that in Zhang Juzheng's right hand was holding a memorial, obviously he came to discuss with Li Chunfang on something.

Wei Guangde got up and bowed to Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Juzheng immediately returned the salute with a smile, and the two sat down.

If it was in other places, Wei Guangde should find an excuse to resign, after all, he wants to discuss business.

But where is this?
cabinet.

In the cabinet, there are no secrets about the memorials.

Since we have to know sooner or later, and Zhang Juzheng has already arrived here with the memorial, Wei Guangde is also curious about what is going on with the memorial he brought over.

"Uncle, what are you looking for from me?"

Seeing the memorial in Zhang Juzheng's hand, Li Chunfang still pretended not to ask.

"Master Shoufu, please take a look, this is the memorial just sent by Huguang."

Passed the memorial to Li Chunfang, and finally Zhang Juzheng added: "I don't dare to make decisions about the affairs of the Liao King in Jiangling Mansion, so I brought them all here."

"Oh, okay, let me see."

Li Chunfang smiled and said, "Huh."

Hearing Li Chunfang's surprise, Wei Guangde turned his head to look at it. At this time, what seemed to be one memorial book in Li Chunfang's hand had become two.

Previously stacked up and down, Wei Guangde really didn't see that there were two memorials.

It's just that Li Chunfang was surprised, but Wei Guangde was not surprised. Just now Zhang Juzheng used the word "du", and he had a premonition that this matter in the Liao Palace might be a bit tricky.

At this moment, Li Chunfang had already taken a look at the fact that it was the memorial to Hong Chaoxuan, the envoy who went south to investigate the Liao King.

Looking at ten lines at a glance, Li Chunfang soon frowned.

The impeachments of Chen Sheng and Gao Guangxian have all been verified. There are many crimes. Although in the eyes of the royal family, they seem to be petty crimes that do not require a lot of effort, but many of the crimes Li Chunfang committed against the Liao King are serious violations. The behavior of Confucianism is also very uncomfortable.

As for the extent of this Liao king's misconduct in the Jiangling Mansion, as long as he is happy, he can arrest and kill people on the street at will; rape the women he likes, regardless of their status;

However, Hong Chao did not take it to heart when he said that the King of Liao actually erected a "flag of injustice" in the palace for the sake of sophistry.

It's just a fool, I don't even know what the meaning of the big banner is, so I dare to erect it casually.

After reading the memorabilia selected by Hong Chao, the next book was written by Deputy Envoy Shi Duchen. Although she felt strange, Li Chunfang still read his memoir carefully.

King Liao was impeached for all crimes, but none of them were framed.

However, these are all mentioned briefly in Shi Duchen's memorials, and what he rewritten is that the Liao king was not a minister, and he actually erected a big banner in the palace, and his intention to treason was clearly revealed.

At this time, Li Chunfang's previous calmness disappeared all of a sudden.

If it was just the memorabilia selected by Hong Chao, this matter would be laughed off, but if someone noticed it, it would be no small matter.

Everyone knows what Chengzu Zhu Di did back then.

The battle of Jingnan was nominally "the side of the Qing Dynasty, and Jingnan was in trouble", but in fact it was a matter of the old Zhu's descendants fighting for the world.

At that time, Zhu Di also launched a "rebellion" with the banner of "the Qing emperor's side". If it succeeded, it would naturally be a "just battle".

Should the king of Liao fly the banner of "the banner of litigation for injustice"?
If Shanggang goes online, the Liao King will basically be abolished.

"Shan Loan, you should take a look too."

Li Chunfang remained silent, handed the two memorials to Wei Guangde, and then shouted to the clerk outside the door: "Quickly invite Mr. Chen Ge and Mr. Yin Ge to discuss matters."

It is not a trivial matter to be related to the vassal king, not to mention that "rebellion" is involved in it, which cannot be fooled.

It can only be said that at this time, the cabinet is not drafting the memorial, but needs to report a detailed memorial to Emperor Longqing.

All decisions must be made by the supreme being in the palace.

Wei Guangde took the memorial from Li Chunfang and looked down carefully. He frowned when he saw the back of the memorial to Hong Chao's selection. He noticed the key point that King Liao erected a big banner in his mansion.

Actually, it wasn't Wei Guangde's sensitivity to it, but his political acumen stimulated by Zhang Juzheng and Li Chunfang's reaction.

After reading Shi Duchen's memorial, he will understand Li Chunfang's situation now.

This matter is neither big nor small.

King Liao has been placed under house arrest under the control of Jin Yiwei, so Shi Duchen's memorial is suspected of exaggerating the situation.

The matter is not small, but the main reason is the great influence. After all, he is the prince of Daming, and he is still the first generation of prince.

Zhu Zhi, the first Liao king of the Ming Dynasty, was the No. 15 son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and his mother was Concubine Han. Think about how many years it has been passed down, and the influence in the clan is not small.

As for the crimes that were impeached, they are now insignificant petty crimes.

After Emperor Jiajing's cutting down the vassal, Wei Guangde still didn't know the attitude of the Ming emperor towards the clan.

While still thinking, Chen Yiqin came here first.

When I entered the door, I saw that Wei Guangde had already arrived, and it was a little strange.

After Wei Guangde stood up and saluted, he handed over all the memorials from Huguang in his hand to Chen Yiqin, letting him know what happened first.

Not long after, Yin Shizhen also came.

All the cabinet ministers were present, but there was some silence in the duty room.

After reading the memorial, Chen Yiqin handed the memorial to Yin Shizhen silently, letting him know what was going on.

"Shi Duchen has made a big deal out of a molehill."

After Yin Shizhen read the memorial, he couldn't help frowning and said.

Wei Guangde just glanced at him and didn't speak.

Everyone knows about this matter, but it has to do with the clan and treason, and it has become the most important matter in the court at the moment. Only Emperor Longqing can decide whether he is guilty or not.

"Uncle Da came to me with the Huguang Memorial to discuss it, and it happened that Shandai was also there, and I felt it was a bit tricky, so I called everyone to discuss how the cabinet should report this matter."

The chief assistant Li Chunfang had recovered his composure at this time, and spoke calmly.

The next thing to report to the emperor can be recorded truthfully, how to deal with it is the emperor's business, and the cabinet's report to the emperor requires suggestions, at least let the emperor know the cabinet's attitude.

But this time, the cabinet is obviously a bit uncomfortable.

"Uncle, it's better for you to talk about your own opinion first."

In order to avoid suspicion, the first and second assistants generally do not express their attitudes at the beginning of the meeting and set the tone for the meeting, but listen to other people's opinions first.

So in every meeting, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin are the last to express their views.

The order in which the others spoke was based on when they entered the cabinet. Zhang Juzheng was naturally the first, followed by Yin Shizhen, and finally Wei Guangde.

This is also the current order of the cabinet. Wei Guangde's imperial examination qualifications are less than Yin Shizhen's, so Emperor Longqing gave Yin Shizhen the Wenyuan Pavilion Bachelor, and he can only be the last Dongge Bachelor.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng had already opened his mouth and said: "Since the crimes of impeaching King Liao have been verified, I will report them according to the facts and ask Your Majesty to punish him. As for erecting a banner in the palace, it is just one more crime. What is your Majesty going to do?" Disposal is a family matter.”

According to the laws established by Zhu Yuanzhang at the beginning, the royal family is all family affairs, and the third division really has no right to interrogate unless the emperor's will is obtained.

Zhang Juzheng's words should be quite satisfactory and the most common way to deal with it.

Wei Guangde nodded slightly, he also thought so at the beginning, anyway, it was the emperor who made the decision in the end, and the King of Liao was already determined to be guilty according to the investigation results of the imperial envoy, one more and one less, the difference is not big.

"The crime committed by King Liao seems to be a little light, should His Majesty punish him severely?"

Yin Shizhen was overwhelmed with a sense of justice at the moment. When he saw the crime of impeaching King Liao, he was very angry and felt that he should be punished severely.

The "big 纛" incident, Yin Shizhen felt that it was an opportunity to get rid of the violence, and such a person should not be punished, but deposed.

Of course, if Emperor Longqing thought that the King of Liao was disobedient and that it would be trivial to cut his rank, he should remove the country.

But at this time, he didn't know the emperor's intentions, so he didn't dare to say these words.

"Your Majesty, please punish the crime and punish it severely."

Li Chunfang murmured, then looked at Wei Guangde and asked, "Shan Loan supports Shu Da or Yi Fu?"

Wei Guangde originally wanted to speak for Yin Shizhen, and it didn't matter to him whether the punishment was severe or not, because it had nothing to do with him.

But just now Li Chunfang reminded him that according to his heart, if he was the first to express his opinion, he should be on Zhang Juzheng's side, so now he changed his usual attitude and chose to stand on Zhang Juzheng's side.

"I think Uncle's handling is more secure. Whether His Majesty wants to be punished lightly or severely, that is a family matter, and what the cabinet has to do is still fair."

Wei Guangde spoke.

"Well, that makes sense."

Li Chunfang said, "The king of Liao is guilty, but how to punish him is not a matter for the court to decide. Zhengfu, what do you think?"

After Li Chunfang finished speaking, she looked at Chen Yiqin.

The attitudes of Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng are actually asking to punish Liao Wang, but Yin Shizhen is a little more radical, hoping to ask His Majesty to punish him severely. There is not much difference in essence.

As for Wei Guangde supporting Zhang Juzheng instead of helping Yin Shizhen this time, Chen Yiqin didn't take it seriously either.

"Your Majesty's first ascension to the Great Treasure, he has always rewarded all feudal vassals. This time, I think I can remind His Majesty to increase the punishment appropriately, so as to prevent the feudal lords from all over the world from bullying His Majesty's benevolence and doing something."

Chen Yiqin's attitude is obviously helping the Yin Shi, it is still the same as before, the only one who has changed is Wei Guangde.

However, Wei Guangde below didn't change his expression. He said it was a big deal, but speaking of it, it didn't seem like a big deal to deal with the vassal king, but it still needed to be treated with caution.

Many people may think that at this time, the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty were all kept in captivity, there was no threat, and the emperor could be killed or killed.

Although this is true, the influence is still too great after all.

How did Zhu Di rebel in the first place?
Wasn't it caused by Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunqi cutting off five vassal princes in succession? If Emperor Longqing came to power, he would start cutting down the Liao King. Of course, those who knew said that the emperor dealt with the scum of the clan impartially, but those who didn't know didn't know how to say it.

"Can King Liao have any heirs?"

Li Chunfang has concerns. Although Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen support the severe punishment of Liao Wang, can this really be done?

Involuntarily, Li Chunfang was thinking about the routine, how this matter was handled in the past.

Not to mention, even Emperor Jiajing, the labor and capital of Emperor Longqing, dealt with such a vassal not long after he ascended the throne, that is, King Qing Zhu Taixi.

In the third year of Jiajing, Qing King Zhu Taihui bribed eunuchs and others, hoping to help recover the slashed salary from the court. As a result, Emperor Jiajing found out, new and old accounts were settled together, and he was abolished as a commoner.

But at that time, Emperor Jiajing had just arrived, and he was not cruel. He just abolished the title of Zhu Taixuan himself, and did not abolish the Qing Fan, but let Zhu Taixuan's son Zhu Yufang take the title of King Qing.

Therefore, the first solution that Li Chunfang thought of at this time was to abolish King Liao as a commoner, and let his son inherit the title.

In this way, there are explanations for the court and the clan.

Of course, Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizhen and Wei Guangde didn't know Li Chunfang's words, because the memorial didn't mention that the sons of the Liao Palace were involved in the crime, so they couldn't answer.

But Zhang Ju is from Jiangling, so he knew it, so he said: "As far as I know, the current king of Liao, Zhu Xian, has no heirs." '

"That's it."

Li Chunfang was also in a dilemma now.

In Li Chunfang's opinion, asking Emperor Longqing to abolish King Liao as a commoner is the heaviest punishment, and it is also the most explainable one.

But now Liao King Zhu Xian has no heirs, so this kind of punishment will definitely not work.

Thinking about it further down, it seems that it is not suitable.

Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunqi abolished five vassals, and the previous emperor Jiajing abolished four, which is not too much, but the situation is different.

In addition to King Qing mentioned earlier, the second one who was deposed by Jiajing was King Zheng Zhu Houtan, but he was punished because he advised Emperor Jiajing not to indulge in cultivation and to take elixir and was abolished.

Last year, Emperor Longqing rehabilitated him and gave him many rewards.

The rest are Hui Wang Zhu Zaixi and Yi Wang Zhu Dianli, who are full of evil, and these two are directly expelling the country.

But that was at the end of the Jiajing Dynasty, when the status of the emperor had been stabilized, and no one in the clan dared to disagree.

In fact, in comparison, the crime committed by the Liao king is similar to that of these two relatives. If it broke out two years earlier, maybe Emperor Jiajing would also be abolished.

"If you have no heirs, you will be severely punished."

Li Chunfang said hesitantly.

These words were for Chen Yiqin, after all, those were the heavy punishments imposed on the feudal lords, and it wasn't that he didn't consider their suggestions, but the reality didn't allow it.

Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen both understood Li Chunfang's plan, and they hesitated after learning from Zhang Juzheng that the Liao King had no heirs.

Chen Yiqin glanced at Yin Shizhen, who nodded knowingly.

"Since that's the case, according to Shuda and Shandai's intentions, what do you think Mr. Shoufu wants?"

Chen Yiqin gave way.