eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 169 Fight or not fight!

The officials of the Ariake generation grew up in rigid political correctness, and everything they revolved around was morality, so they really dared to resist the prestige and imperial power.

That's why Fang Xiaoru would say to Zhu Di: "Death is death, so don't be careless!"
This is something that we modern people who grovel, regard flattery as an advantage, and happily teach it to the next generation cannot understand.

In fact, is Liu Daxia afraid of offending the prince?Offended the emperor?

Not even thinking about it, at least he had to act like he wouldn't.

What he was really afraid of was what the crown prince was doing at the moment - exposing that hypocrisy.

Li Yancai and Xu Ruoqin are all people like him who keep fighting for the interests of the people.As a result, it was revealed on the spot that he was such a bold and corrupt official.

But he, Liu Daxia, questioned the crown prince based on this, and spread the news of how heavy the blow to his reputation was from the Qianqing Palace.

Even Emperor Hongzhi knew that this kind of counterattack was more deadly than removing Liu Daxia from his position.

However, the emperor is obviously more concerned about the nest case in Zhejiang.
Thinking about it carefully, from his point of view, he worked so hard and cooperated with these ministers so much. Regardless of the effect, he really worked hard to govern, treated his subjects leniently, and broke his heart for the country.

As a result, after working day and night for 17 years, this kind of thing happened!

That's why he acted like a madman, randomly grabbed a small bowl beside the bed and threw it on the ground!
And asked sharply: "There is such a shocking case in Zhejiang! Why has no one of you reported it to me?! If it wasn't the prince, I thought it was a clean and honest gentleman who was guarding the side of the emperor! In February this year, Do you agree that I want to build the Longevity Pagoda? How many ministers and my superiors, what did they say? The affairs of Buddhas, elders, ghosts and gods are not beneficial to the world, but harmful to the people. Looking at each other in this temple, there are groups of monks and Taoists, and they can’t enter. There is no calculation of rewards, exhaust the wealth of the world, exhaust the power of the world! What a exhaustion of the wealth of the world! What a exhaustion of the power of the world! Liu Daxia!"

"The old minister is here." People like Liu Daxia, when he is stubborn, he is taking advantage of the reason, and when he is not taking the reason, he has nothing to say, so at this moment, he touched his head to the ground, bearing the emperor's anger for life.

Emperor Hongzhi was so angry that his chest heaved violently. After a short pause, his face was tangled for a while, as if he remembered the friendship between him and Liu Daxia before.

So my heart ached again, and I couldn't bear to point at the old man, "Li Yancai, you recommended him, right?"

Liu Daxia suddenly became old, and there was unavoidable crying in his voice, "This person... was indeed recommended by the old minister. It is only because the minister is ignorant, old-eyed, ignorant of people, and improperly employing people, which led to this shocking case in Zhejiang. Corruption up to this point is all the fault of this minister. I only hope that Your Majesty... His Majesty can calm down the anger a little bit, and pay attention to the dragon's body! If it hurts His Majesty's dragon's body because of it, I will die and cannot atone for my sin."

Zhu Houzhao also stepped forward and patted his father on the back.

At this time, Emperor Hongzhi was only dressed in white, sitting on the dragon bed, and from time to time he clenched his fists and coughed lightly.

"Hey." Zhu Houzhao couldn't help sighing.

On the other side, Liu Daxia continued: "Kuangchen is old and frail, and his spirit is weak. I implore your Majesty's prospective minister to return to his hometown to spend the rest of his life!"

Before reading Wang Hua's letter,

Liu Daxia hasn't thought about resigning yet.

But after reading it, he already had to resign, even in the face of some ridicule.

Because in the moral battle with the prince, he has completely lost.

Emperor Hongzhi was still struggling at first, but when he heard Liu Daxia say this, he felt a twinge of pain in his heart, "My ministers... In the 11th year of Hongzhi, the prince once reprimanded the former Minister of the Household Department, Zhou Jing, here. I still remember it vividly. Prince, do you still remember?"

"My son remembers."

"Liu Shangshu may have heard it. If you remember, just say it again."

Zhu Houzhao followed the order, "At that time, Zhou Shangshu also asked to resign in the same way. The ministers said that sometimes they couldn't tell who was the emperor and who was the minister in the Ming Dynasty. The ministers asked the father to do this and ask the father to do that every day, but once When they encountered one or two unsatisfactory places, they frequently resigned and dismissed their posts, as if..."

The prince turned his eyes and said the murderous words, "It seems that the emperor has to listen to them."

This is not only for Liu Daxia.

All these ministers are.

"Let's talk about it. How should we deal with this matter?" Hong Zhi stroked his forehead, obviously having a headache.

Liu Jian had already had a draft in mind, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, I think that although Li Yancai, the governor of Zhejiang Province, and others plan to send 18 taels of silver to Beijing, the person who sent it is not necessarily Liu Shangshu, even if it is However, based on my understanding of Liu Shangshu, the money will definitely not be accepted. Therefore, the case of embezzlement of ink in Zhejiang is true, but it has nothing to do with Liu Shangshu. Moreover, if such a conviction is made, officials in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty would like to I don’t know how many officials want to offer bribes. They can’t think of it, and Liu Shangshu will be convicted together. Therefore, I feel that if this is the case, the Minister of the Ministry of War of the court will cause criticism.”

The cabinet chief is not impatient, but he can't let the situation worsen without easing it.Just as he persuaded Zhu Houzhao before,
Liu Daxia is a veteran of the three dynasties, it is really inappropriate to use the "money that has not been confiscated" to blow him up.

After finishing speaking, he also looked at Zhu Houzhao, who happened to meet his eyes.

In fact, Mr. Liu Ge didn't have to be so worried.

Because Zhu Houzhao has already expressed that compared with winning Liu Daxia, rectifying the officialdom in Zhejiang is obviously much more important.

Liu Daxia posed no threat to the East Palace.

Zhu Houzhao's current power and status are very stable, so he needs to do something reliable instead of venting his emotions first.

Liu Jian's words were probably in line with the emperor's wishes.
Because after careful investigation, Liu Daxia did not have any serious crimes. After all, he still confiscated the 18 taels. As for the crown prince competing for profit with the people, at most he was confused and deceived by these "corrupt officials" in Zhejiang.

So the emperor turned to ask, "Prince, what do you think should be done?"

Zhu Houzhao replied: "How to deal with officials corrupting ink has been established by our ancestors, and we only need to be punished according to the law."

What the emperor cared about was actually Liu Daxia.

But the prince was talking about those officials in Zhejiang.

In fact, how many people in this warm pavilion in Qianqing Palace predicted the prince's thoughts?So when these words came out, everyone was a little surprised.

He is really not interested in the tricks of the monarch, the minister, the gentleman and the villain.

The emperor asked: "Zhen, it's about Liu Daxia."

"I have no opinion on how Liu Shangshu should deal with it. I originally came to report the Zhejiang nest case to my father."

Liu Daxia had an epiphany at this time,
Donggong didn't pay attention to him at all.

But having said that, what is Yilu?What is the ancestral precedent for dealing with corrupt Mexican officials?
Why is the criminal fact found out,
The prince's suggestion has not been approved by all the officials?

The reason is that this so-called established rule was set by Zhu Yuanzhang, and Lao Zhu is the only one in history to deal with corrupt officials.
The law of the Ming Dynasty - all officials who accept bribes exceeding 60 taels of silver will be beheaded directly.

In other words, from Li Yancai to Xu Ruoqin this time, the prince's demands were all pulled out.

Since Emperor Hongzhi ascended the throne, he has never handled such a major case.

Even from Yongle to the present, there has never been such a major case.

In fact, we have to correct a concept, that is, the crime of corruption and bribery was not serious in ancient times, not to say that the consequences and impact it caused were not serious, but because people were inherently different at that time.

In ancient times, people had a hierarchy. I was a nobleman, you were a commoner, and even a pariah. We were not equal. I ate good food, and you ate poor food. This was as it should be.

Even many wise emperors liked to use corrupt officials or could tolerate corrupt officials.

Sometimes the emperor especially hoped that some military officers would be corrupt.

In the emperor's conception, he is rich all over the world, and the world is his, so what if he takes more to give to someone he likes or to achieve a certain political goal?

Moreover, Confucian ministers have long promoted a value of governing the country called "leniency of punishment".

It is often said together with the policies of governing the country such as "persuade agriculture and mulberry" and "prosper education".

Especially after the death of Qin II, the strictness of Qin law has always been a negative example used to educate the emperor.In fact, Qin's laws were harsh, and it also created Qin's unification of the six countries.

Anyway, the ministers of the past dynasties did not like harsh punishments and harsh laws. The reason is very simple.
When the punishment is severe, who will suffer the most?Naturally, the minister.

So emperors like Yongzheng have a bad reputation.

However, Emperor Kangxi was deeply influenced by Confucianism. In his later years, he began to slacken his administration, and blindly focused on tolerance and benevolence, which led to extreme corruption in the officialdom in the last years of Kangxi.

Hongzhi is also famous for his lenient treatment of officials.

With this as background,

In fact, it can be understood that the method Zhu Houzhao said to deal with the Zhejiang case was not accepted by the emperor and ministers at this time.

Therefore, as soon as he said that he must be punished according to the law,
There are three words in everyone's mind: too heavy.

Decapitation for rebellion, decapitation for resisting orders, decapitation for deceiving the emperor, becoming an official, is already an exploiting class, and exercising a little exploitative power, is this also a decapitation?
Liu Daxia did not expect that the prince would have such a heart of ruthlessness.

In fact, it was better for him to deal with this matter in a low-key manner. The killing of so many people must have shocked the whole country, so everyone knows that Liu Daxia made a fool of himself here this time...

I just don't know if this aspect is also the prince's intention.

On the other side, Li Dongyang immediately said: "Your Highness, if this case is handled in this way, I am afraid that it will cause too much criticism, and officials all over the world will be in a panic. They will wonder whether the crown prince is going to restore the way of Taizu, and whether Zhejiang is just the beginning. ? People are so panic-stricken, it's useless to be afraid of state affairs!"

Emperor Hongzhi did not expect this to be the case, "Prince, if this case is handled like this... Pull out the radish and bring out the mud, I am afraid that it will not only be the few people Wang Hua confessed to, so what will happen then?"

Zhu Houzhao is a person with clear goals.

His goal is to strengthen the country.

He couldn't accept that this piece of land that once had the power of the Han and Tang Dynasties was beaten every day by the Tatars whenever they wanted.

So there are some things that he doesn't argue about, such as how Liu Daxia handles them, but there are some things that he must fight for.

The main reason is to find out this kind of extremely bad case. If it is still lightly exposed, it will be even more difficult for him to do a good job in the administration of officials!
So Zhu Houzhao solemnly saluted, "Father, if this case is not handled in this way, will the people's hearts still be kept?! I know that there are countless officials in the world who have corrupted more than 60 taels of silver, but those people and those things have not been exposed. Being stabbed in front of the king, I thought that this should be a bottom line: as long as anyone or anything is exposed for their illegal actions, the court must give an explanation. If the court cannot do justice for the sky , then the common people can only rise up!"

(End of this chapter)