The ministers begged me to ascend the throne

The prince who was under house arrest in the East Palace did not become depressed. On the contrary, he worked harder than before.Start reading at [-] o'clock every day, and read all day long.In addition to studying during the day, he also copied Buddhist scriptures at night, for the late empress, for the late emperor and the late empress dowager, for the emperor, and for the Great Zhou Dynasty.

It was the suggestion of the head of the Xie family to let the prince read and copy Buddhist scriptures.The head of the Xie family was worried that the prince would lose his composure while being under house arrest in the East Palace and do something that would lose his mind and his sacred heart.So, he came up with this idea.As long as the prince is given something to do, his attention will be diverted and he will not be thinking about house arrest all day long.

The prince, who was under house arrest in the East Palace, did not know what was happening in the court.When he was under house arrest, the emperor issued a decree that no one was allowed to visit the prince, and no one was allowed to tell the prince anything outside the East Palace.

The head of the Xie family did not want the prince to know what was happening outside during his house arrest, lest he would be upset after hearing about it, so the prince had no idea what was happening outside.

At this time, he was studying in the East Palace.

In fact, he likes reading very much.He finds happiness and peace in reading.During these days, he ignored what was going on outside the window and concentrated on reading. His mood became very calm, not as impetuous as usual.

Suddenly, he felt flustered, and then a deep uneasiness surged into his heart.He had a bad feeling that something was wrong.

"Lu Cong! Lu Cong! Lu Cong..." The prince called loudly several times, and Lu Cong walked in quickly.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?"

"Did something happen outside?" The prince frowned and looked at Lu Cong sharply, "Did something happen?"

When Lu Cong heard this, something strange flashed across his eyes, but it didn't show anything on his face.

"Your Highness, why do you ask?"

The prince reached out to cover the left side of his chest, "Suddenly I felt flustered and uneasy. Something must have happened."

A smile appeared on Lu Cong's face: "Your Highness, you are worrying too much. Nothing happened outside."

"Really?" The prince didn't believe it.

"real."

"Is the King of Chu back?" The prince's first reaction was that the King of Chu was back.

"No, Your Highness, you have forgotten that something happened to King Chu in Jinling, and his whereabouts are still unknown." Lu Cong said, "There has been no news about King Chu in the capital. You are worrying too much."

"King Chu really didn't come back?"

"I really haven't come back." Lu Cong said again, "I dare not lie to you." The King of Chu did not come back.

The prince thought about it and thought so. Even if Lu Cong was brave enough, Lu Cong wouldn't dare to deceive him.

"Your Highness, are you not feeling well? Otherwise, I will call the imperial doctor for you?" Lu Cong said with a worried look on his face, "You have been a vegetarian these days. It is probably because your body can't bear it, so you are flustered."

The prince felt that what Lu Cong said made sense. Not only had he been a vegetarian every day during this period, but he had also been copying Buddhist scriptures very late every night. It was very possible that his body was really overwhelmed.He waved his hand and said, "No need."

"Then this servant will tell the kitchen to prepare a bowl of soothing soup for you."

"No, you go down."

"The slaves retire."

Lu Cong exited the study and raised his eyes to look in the direction of Chengguang Hall.He didn't know what was going on outside, but he felt that the atmosphere in the palace was different today.His Highness the Crown Prince's premonition is correct. I'm afraid something big is going to happen. I hope it has nothing to do with His Highness the Crown Prince, and I hope it's not the King of Chu who has returned.If the King of Chu came back, then the prince...he didn't dare to think about it.

At this moment, in the Chengguang Palace, the King of Chu reported to the emperor the truth about his trip to Pengcheng to investigate the copper theft in front of the civil and military officials of the court.

According to the investigation of the King of Chu, the prince and others had stolen tens of thousands of tons of copper in the past few years.In the past few years, the prince and others have secretly forged thousands of weapons.

The King of Chu also reported in detail the situation in Mount Wuhua.In order to forge weapons, the prince and others not only created a plague, but also killed the entire people in Guihua Village.Not only that, the people near Mount Wuhua were forcibly taken away to forge weapons, which made the people miserable.

After hearing this, the emperor looked very calm, but the faces of the civil and military officials were very horrified.

The King of Chu also investigated that the Duke of Qianzhen secretly had an arms deal with Han Zhong.Han Zhong forged many weapons for him in Shu.

Although all the civil and military officials guessed the purpose of the prince and the head of the Xie family in stealing the copper, they did not expect that the prince and the others would be so bold.

The King of Chu only talked about stealing copper, but did not mention that he was assassinated by the prince.However, just the matter of stealing copper to forge weapons is enough to shock everyone in the world.

The emperor said nothing and looked incomprehensible. I didn't know what he was thinking.

The ministers below were silent.

However, Dai Wang and Xuan Pinghou were very excited, their eyes full of ecstasy.They have been waiting for so many years, and finally they have to wait until the day when the prince is deposed, and tell them how to calm down.

At this time, Yushi Zhongcheng came out.He solemnly said that the prince and the Duke of Zhen were plotting rebellion by stealing copper and forging weapons, and asked the emperor to deal with them according to law.

Duke Zhen Guo, the son of the head of the Xie family, hurriedly knelt down and shouted loudly that he had been wronged, saying that someone had deliberately framed the prince and Duke Zhen Guo's palace, and asked the emperor to take a closer look.

When the censor Zhongcheng heard this, he sneered.He said that the King of Chu had made it clear just now, and with the gathering of witnesses and physical evidence, the Duke of Zhen still wanted to shout that he was wronged. Did he treat the emperor and everyone in the world as a fool?

The Duke of Zhen Guo kowtowed and argued that the prince and the Duke of Zhen Guo's office had no intention of rebellion.The ministers who supported the king began to revolt.They said that if the prince and the Zhenguo government had no rebellious intentions, why did they steal copper from Pengcheng and secretly forge weapons in Wuhua Mountain? Could it be that the prince and the Zhenguo government stole copper and forged weapons for fun?

The ministers who supported the King of Chu also began to reprimand the prince and the Duke of Zhenguo.They and the ministers who supported the king questioned the Duke of Zhen Guo one by one.

Nowadays, there are very few ministers in the court who support the prince. They and the Duke of Zhen are unable to fight back when they are questioned by the ministers who support the king of Chu and the king.

Among them, some ministers who supported King Jing scolded the prince and Duke Zhen, and attacked King Jing who was far away in Jinling.

At this moment, the ministers who supported the King of Chu remembered that when the King of Chu went to Pengcheng to investigate the theft of copper, he was assassinated countless times by assassins sent by the prince and the Duke of Zhen.

The prince was charged with another crime, that of killing his brothers.The ministers who supported King Dai, King Chu and King Jing denounced the prince as ruthless and inhumane.

The censors came out one after another and asked the emperor to severely punish the prince and the Duke of Zhenguo, and never let them go lightly.

Today's ministers are rarely united.On weekdays, the ministers are divided into several waves, each quarreling for their respective masters.Today, they were surprisingly unanimous in criticizing the prince and Duke Zhen.

How could Duke Zhen and the others be the opponents of the ministers? Faced with the continuous rebuke and questions from the ministers, they could not refute them at all.They knelt on the ground with pale faces, their eyes full of horror.

The emperor still didn't speak, and looked quietly at the ministers who were united below.

Seeing that the emperor was reluctant to express his position, Dai Wang hesitated for a moment and then knelt down.He first kowtowed to the emperor three times, and then begged the emperor in a pleading tone to spare the prince.

The emperor was not surprised at all when he saw the king interceding for the prince.

The Daiwang first played the emotional card to the emperor, saying that the prince was the emperor's eldest son, the child of the former empress, and had been canonized as the crown prince since he was a child.Then he said that the prince had been smart and kind since he was a child, and he took great care of his younger brothers.He also said that the prince was very filial. Not only did he always copy Buddhist scriptures and pray for the late empress, but he also respected the emperor.Finally, it was said that the reason why the prince did so many wrong things was because the prince was bewitched by the Duke of Zhen.

His expression was very sincere and his tone was very sincere, begging the emperor to give the prince another chance.

When King Dai said this, King Chu couldn't help but remain silent.He also knelt down and interceded for the prince.

Regardless of whether King Dai and King Chu sincerely plead for the prince, as the prince's younger brothers, they cannot just watch the prince get into trouble without helping, otherwise they will be unfilial and disloyal.

The emperor naturally knew in his heart that the king was not interceding for the prince sincerely, but just to show off.As for the King of Chu, the emperor guessed that he was somewhat sincere.

Although Yushi Zhongcheng knew that King Dai and King Chu were pretending to plead for mercy, he still had to oppose their plea.He sternly refuted the pleas of King Dai and King of Chu, and then asked the emperor again and again to severely punish the prince and the Duke of Zhen.

Other ministers echoed the words of Yushi Zhongcheng and begged the emperor to deal with the prince and the Duke of Zhenguo according to law.

The main hall of Chengguang Hall echoed with "Please the emperor severely punish the prince and the Duke of Zhenguo to rectify the national law!".

The emperor glanced at He Xiang and Liu Taishi, and asked with no emotion in his tone: "Do He Xiang and Liu Taishi think I should punish the prince?"

When the ministers heard the emperor's question, they all immediately became quiet, and then looked at He Xiang and Taishi Liu in unison.

He Xiang and Taishi Liu glanced at each other, and then Taishi Liu came out. He first saluted the emperor, and then said in a respectful tone: "What the censor Zhongcheng said is correct. The prince and Duke Zhen have seriously violated the laws of the Zhou Dynasty. Please report it to the emperor." deal with."

"He Xiang, what's your opinion?"

He Xiang said: "Your Majesty, stealing copper and forging weapons privately are both serious crimes, especially forging weapons privately. According to the laws of the Zhou Dynasty, one's family will be confiscated and exterminated."

Hearing this, the emperor raised his eyebrows slightly: "Are you asking me to seize the Duke's mansion?"

He Xiang said with a solemn expression: "According to the laws of Zhou Dynasty, this should be the case."

As soon as he finished speaking, other ministers immediately agreed.

"The prince also wants to exterminate the clan?" the emperor asked deliberately.

He Xiang and Taishi Liu quickly said that the prince did not need to exterminate the clan, but the prince had done such a treasonous thing and was no longer worthy of being the crown prince of Zhou Dynasty.

The emperor's expression suddenly became very gloomy, and his tone was full of chill: "Are you asking me to depose the prince?"

Taishi Liu was not afraid of the emperor's anger and boldly remonstrated that the prince's virtue was not worthy of the throne.

He Xiang followed Taishi Liu's words and directly asked the emperor to depose the prince.

The ministers who supported King Dai and King Chu were waiting for the words "deposed prince".They just said a lot of things, but they didn't dare to say this sentence.Because the words "deposed prince" cannot be said easily.

The other ministers did not dare to ask the emperor to depose the prince. They had been waiting for He Xiang to speak to Taishi Liu.

He Xiang and Liu Taishi were in important positions and were the emperor's confidants.It would be most appropriate for them to propose deposing the prince.Besides, for such a big matter as deposing the crown prince, He Xiang and Taishi Liu did not get the emperor's approval and did not dare to bring it up easily.

Now, hearing that He Xiang and Taishi Liu proposed to depose the prince, other ministers knew that this was the emperor's intention.

Since the emperor wants to depose the prince, as a minister, he must give his full support.

I went hiking yesterday and was so exhausted that I couldn't move at all when I got home, so there was no code word update.When I woke up today, my calf and stomach were so sore that I couldn't even walk.