Hongwu Daming: Why hasn't my son rebelled?

Chapter 184 This Is All His Highness Liao's Scheme

Hu Weiyong's downfall, in the eyes of all the officials, happened suddenly without warning.

When His Majesty the Emperor left Yingtian Mansion, he entrusted Hu Weiyong with important tasks, but he did not expect that half a month had just passed.

Hu Weiyong, who was serving as the supervisor of the country, had already entered Jinyiwei's imperial prison before his butt warmed up on the bench.

As the so-called centipede is dead but not stiff, Hu Weiyong has many party members, and hundreds of officials follow his lead.

Naturally, I don't want to easily believe that Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, a famous prime minister through the ages, can fall so easily.

After all, the emperor Zhu Yuanzhang trusted him very much. Wasn't that Liu Bowen also pulled down by Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, and he still dare not go to court to become an official?

Not to mention the emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, who handed over all affairs, big and small, to Hu Weiyong.

Including the deployment of materials on the front line, the appointment of officials and so on.

As long as it was the memorials and suggestions sent by Hu Weiyong, the emperor Zhu Yuanzhang passed it directly with a swipe of a pen.

Even above the court, Hu Weiyong was praised many times.

How could it fall so easily?

Some self-righteous and smart people began to analyze and said that this was the emperor Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately trying to hone Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, and by the way hit his spirit.

After all, those who achieve great things must first work their muscles and bones, and suffer their hearts!

There are different opinions outside, and everyone is still loyal to Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, at least for now.

Many people thought about this time, if they wrote a letter to intercede for the prime minister.

Maybe after Prime Minister Hu Weiyong comes out safely, he can get better benefits.

As a result, many opportunistic people began to write to Zhu Yuanzhang to intercede for Hu Weiyong.

Good guy, I'm afraid that Zhu Yuanzhang didn't catch all of Hu Weiyong's followers, and these guys came to the door by themselves.

Needless to say, let's write down the list one by one. As for these memorials, there is no need to reply, they are all detained, and they will be evidence later.

As for Hu Weiyong, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't go to see him at all, so he was locked in the imperial prison, and Jin Yiwei interrogated him day and night.

And as the days went by, the other officials realized that something was wrong.

Why hasn't Prime Minister Hu Weiyong been released yet?

Not only that, the officials who were quite close to Prime Minister Hu Weiyong were also arrested one by one.

Although more than half of the officials were not arrested at once like in the previous Kongyin case, the number of officials arrested this time is not a small number!

Almost one-third of the seats in this government office are empty, and several people are arrested every day.

If this trend continues, I am afraid that the government office will be caught empty.

In fact, according to Zhu Yuanzhang's intention, he wanted to arrest all these officials in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, and then replace them with a new batch.

Who knows if they have a broken relationship with Hu Weiyong?
However, under the persuasion of Prince Zhu Biao and Empress Ma, Zhu Yuanzhang did not really implement such a thing.

Only those officials closest to Hu Weiyong were imprisoned, while the rest were released after a short interrogation.

However, these officials from the three provinces and six ministries will definitely not be able to do it.

After all, these officials had written letters to speak for Hu Weiyong, and they were all followers of power. Zhu Yuanzhang definitely didn't want to use them.

Although it was said that Zhu Yuanzhang did all of this, many people in the court began to speculate that Zhu Qi, the king of Liao, was not leading behind this.

After careful analysis, there is indeed such a possibility.

Previously, when Hu Weiyong took the initiative to provoke His Royal Highness the Liao King, Zhu Qi first arrested Hu Weiyong's official servant, which was equivalent to cutting off Hu Weiyong's left arm.

Afterwards, His Royal Highness King Liao had nothing left to do. He thought he wanted to use the Minister of Officials to do something, such as framing Hu Weiyong.

Unexpectedly, there was no news, and Hu Weiyong also recruited a group of people to write a letter, requesting Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang to order Liao King Zhu Qi to rush to Liaodong to become a vassal. This obviously wanted to drive His Royal Highness Liao King out of the center of power.

As long as the people of King Liao are not in Yingtian Mansion, His Highness King Liao will naturally pose no threat to Hu Weiyong.

Everyone thought that the battle between Hu Weiyong and His Royal Highness King Liao was Hu Weiyong's victory.

But I didn't expect that His Royal Highness Liao Wang didn't go to Liaodong to become a fan at all, but stayed in Fengyang with Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

I came back in less than half a month, and the rest happened right after.

Hu Weiyong was arrested, and some officials who were close to him were unlucky.

No matter what, everyone is unwilling to believe that this is what Zhu Yuanzhang meant. It must be His Royal Highness Liao Wang who caught Prime Minister Hu Weiyong's handle.

Then set up this trick to make Prime Minister Hu Weiyong relax his vigilance, and was immediately caught.

But thinking about it, since the emperor left, Prime Minister Hu Weiyong was also extremely arrogant in Yingtian Mansion. It seems that those Jinyi guards saw all this in their eyes, so Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry!
His Royal Highness the King of Liao, really, Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, is so calculating!

This kid is so scary!
The lucky officials immediately shook their heads regretfully upon hearing such a statement.

Who is not good to offend? Do you have to offend His Highness King Liao?

Who is His Highness King Liao?
His cousin and cousin were all killed, not to mention that so many officials were overthrown by His Royal Highness Liao Wang in the Kongyin case.

Thousands of people were beheaded, and countless people were exiled to the frontier to do coolies.

His Royal Highness King Liao has never let anyone who is seven or eighty years old be spared.

There are also countless people who were personally beheaded by His Highness Liao Wang on the battlefield.

It can be said that His Royal Highness King Liao has turned into a god of killing since he recovered from his illness.

Either killing, or on the way to kill.

Of the people His Royal Highness King Liao wanted to deal with, he really didn't see a few who could escape.

When Zhu Qi heard this lecture for the first time, he was also in a dazed state. He really didn't do anything.

And Zhu Yuanzhang did not come out to clarify when he heard this statement, on the contrary, he took the default attitude!

He even once said in court:

"Hu Weiyong is a traitor who deceives his subordinates and conceals his superiors, if it weren't for my son's witty third son.

I have known for a long time that Hu Weiyong's words are ulterior motives, and I was kept in the dark by him.

But now that I have caught conclusive evidence, I will definitely not spare this traitor lightly. "

Poor Hu Weiyong, the former "virtuous minister", has now become a traitor in everyone's mouth.

Who dare not scold Hu Weiyong?
That is courting death, but there are also those who have far-sightedness and can see Zhu Yuanzhang's intentions.

Where is Zhu Yuanzhang dealing with Hu Weiyong?It is clearly using Hu Weiyong as a cover, this is to stop the prime minister!

Liu Bowen naturally saw it, but Liu Bowen no longer cared about the government.

He didn't say anything more. In Liu Bowen's view, it was natural to maintain the prime minister system.

In fact, as long as he is a courtier, he will protect the prime minister. It does not mean that all these courtiers want to monopolize the power and make the emperor empty.

But there have been too many vivid proofs in history that if an emperor is stupid, the prime minister is wise, and he can also take on heavy responsibilities.

Only the emperor is fatuous and the prime minister is incompetent, and the country will quickly weaken.

Liu Bowen didn't ask, but it's impossible for a high-ranking official like Lu Chang to ignore him.

When Zhu Yuanzhang was in court, he denounced Hu Weiyong for several crimes.

It simply described Hu Weiyong as a heinous and treacherous minister.

I almost didn't write a biography of a treacherous official for Hu Weiyong.

But after scolding, Zhu Yuanzhang quickly talked about the main topic, which is to abolish the prime minister system.

So that the kings who will live forever in the future will never have to meet such treacherous ministers and faces.

Those officials who had already thought of it, naturally knew it well.

And most of the officials were stunned. They didn't expect Zhu Yuanzhang's brain circuit to jump like this. There have been so many traitorous prime ministers in history, and he didn't see the abolition of the prime minister system.

But when everyone thought about it, they all understood that Zhu Yuanzhang pointed to the prime minister system from the very beginning.

But it is true that you understand and dare to stand up and speak out.

Who dares to speak out at this juncture?

Hu Weiyong has been scolded so bloody that he might die soon. If this person comes out to speak for the prime minister, it is tantamount to speaking for Hu Weiyong.

Those Hu Weiyong's party members are now either exiled or dismissed from office, and some of them have not come out of prison. Their lives and deaths are uncertain. Who dares to speak?
Naturally, someone would dare, that is Lu Chang.

As Lu Chang had said before, he was a rather old but loyal official.

He had also suggested before that His Royal Highness King Liao should hurry to Liaodong to become a feudal vassal. Of course he didn't have any enmity or grudge against Zhu Qi.

Nor is it Hu Weiyong's henchman. In fact, Lu Chang had a bad relationship with Hu Weiyong before, and the suggestions he said and recommended were all from the perspective of national interests.

So in Lu Shang's view, the prime minister system is a system set up to prevent the emperor from being stupid, how can it be easily abolished?

What's more, the prime minister system has been implemented a long time ago, and everyone has become accustomed to the emperor governing the country as the prime minister.

In this case, if a not very wise emperor comes, and there is no prime minister to assist him, wouldn't the world be in chaos?

There was nothing wrong with what Lu Chang said, but he said it directly in front of Zhu Yuanzhang and all the officials.

I have to say that Lu Chang is too courageous, and he really wants to tell Zhu Yuanzhang in private.

But Lu Chang really understood Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts, and also understood Zhu Yuanzhang's character.

If it is said in private, Zhu Yuanzhang will naturally not punish him severely, and may even be kind.

But it is not so easy to change this decision.

Whether it is to protect the face of the emperor, or not to change the order from day to day, such a thing that is detrimental to dignity.

Zhu Yuanzhang is unlikely to take back his order and restore the prime minister system.

Instead of waiting until the prime minister is actually abolished, it is better to stand up bravely now and put forward your own objections.

I believe that the courtiers will also oppose it with me. After all, the prime minister system is a necessary system that must exist.

But Lu Chang obviously overestimated the integrity of those officials in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.

Apart from himself, no other official came forward to say this, mainly because he didn't want to touch Zhu Yuanzhang's bad luck at this juncture,
Zhu Yuanzhang did not expect that Lu Chang would be so bold.

He has already done so many foreshadowing, and Hu Weiyong is already half dead, and so many officials have been arrested.

It stands to reason that no minister would dare to object again, but it seems that Lu Chang didn't see it at all, so he dared to come out to oppose the abolition of the prime minister system?
Zhu Yuanzhang was furious, patted the chair, and shouted at Lu Chang:

"Didn't you see a traitor like Hu Weiyong who almost messed up my Ming Dynasty?

Don't you hope that the king of future generations will not be able to meet a traitor like Hu Weiyong again? "

Lu Chang also said neither humble nor overbearing:
"This Hu Weiyong is indeed a villain, unworthy of virtue.

But not all of the history is full of traitorous faces like him, like Xiao He and Wang Anshi, but they are all good faces.

I also ask His Majesty the emperor to think twice about withdrawing the order and not to abolish the prime minister system. "

Lu Chang's words are beautiful, but they are useless on Zhu Yuanzhang's side.

Zhu Yuanzhang was angry with him again, but Lu Chang knelt down and asked Zhu Yuanzhang to take back his life as if he had made up his mind.

The other officials saw it, and although they didn't follow suit, they were all observing the emperor's wink.

If the emperor is weak or hesitates, then they must also hope to retain the system of prime ministers. Who doesn't hope that one day they can become prime ministers under one person and above ten thousand people?
Zhu Yuanzhang has a high level of political awareness and acumen, so he naturally knows that he must not back down as an emperor at this time.

If you back down, you will have to back down every step of the way, but anyone who disagrees with you will kneel down and explain the truth to you. Can you, the emperor, still do it?

Zhu Yuanzhang quickly ordered Jin Yiwei to drag Lu Chang down and beat him 30 times.

This Lu Chang is getting old, 30 boards is not a small amount.

When those Jinyi guards pulled Lu Chang down, Zhu Qi knew that Zhu Yuanzhang was really angry.

However, he was impulsive at this time. If Lu Chang was really beaten to death, Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely regret it.

So Zhu Qi winked at those Jin Yiwei, and after seeing His Royal Highness King Liao's wink, they knew it.

His Royal Highness King Liao obviously did not want to hurt Lu Chang's life!
But this is too watery, and it is unlikely, and now His Majesty the Emperor is angry.

If they hit him casually, and after Lu Chang took 30 boards, he immediately stood up and continued to talk back to His Majesty, then the lives of these Jin Yiwei would be lost.

Fortunately, this matter did not bother them, Jinyiwei who had experienced many battles.

As long as Lu Chang can be beaten unconscious without harming his life, he can make a good deal with the emperor.

Playing boards is naturally very particular, but Lu Chang thought he was dead.

When they were hit with a board, it was painful, but the guards in Jinyi only hit the flesh, and they didn't touch the root at all.

You can see that the spanked butt is bloody, but it is all exhausted, and all the energy is used on the flesh.

It didn't take long for Lu Chang to pass out from the pain. Fortunately, he didn't have a heart attack. Otherwise, he would have died on the spot if he had a heart attack.

But this kind of wound will go back to rest for a few days, and the skin will heal, and there will be no serious problems.

Zhu Qi was also relieved when he saw the Jinyi guards looking back at him. Fortunately, he saved Lu Chang, a loyal minister!
Stupid is a bit stupid, but the country really needs people who speak honest words like this.

(End of this chapter)