unclear

Chapter 249 Time for settling accounts 4
Shen Li, Ye Maocai, and Gu Xiancheng are definitely hopeless. Even their biological fathers can only watch helplessly being killed. At the same time, they have to thank the emperor for not implicating several clans and leaving some blood inheritance.

However, Guo Zhengyu, the Minister of Rites, and Huang Jixian, the political envoy of Youtong, are both members of the Donglin Party. If they are both exiled to hard labor in the factory, it will cause great loss to the face of the Donglin Party, and efforts must be made to restore it.

As long as the power of trial and conviction can be handed over to the Three Judiciary Division, even if everyone cannot be saved, the more key figures among them can be exonerated to some extent, and some strength can be retained even if they are reduced to civilian status.After all, these people have many disciples and former officials, and they can still occupy part of the say in the court after a period of time.

As for why we must have the right to speak and confront the emperor, this issue is an irreconcilable natural contradiction.If the imperial power is not restricted, it will expand endlessly, which runs counter to the idea of ​​the scholar-bureaucrats to cultivate their moral integrity, harmonize their families, govern the country and bring peace to the world.

"If you are interceding for the traitor, there is no need to talk about it. I have already shown mercy outside the law. If you can avoid the death penalty, you will not be able to escape the penalty of life!"

Looking at Han Xu with a determined look on his face, Hong Tao planned to save him again.This scholar is a good person, not a scheming person, and has explained a lot of classics and history to himself.Even if you don't have the opportunity to be a candidate for future officials, doing some research on literature and history is still a useful talent.

"I believe that the accomplices should be tried by the Three Justices before being convicted. Such a hasty decision will damage His Majesty's holy name if something goes wrong." But Han Xu did not hesitate at all and still said his plea.

"Your Majesty, please be merciful and allow the Three Justices to try the case impartially..." With Han Xu taking the lead, the second bold one jumped out. Wu Daonan, the cabinet scholar, also said that the accomplices need to be tried and convicted and should not be dealt with hastily.

"Your Majesty, please have mercy and allow the Three Justices to try the case impartially..." Immediately afterwards, five or six officials followed suit, and then the number of people became more and more, and the momentum became louder and louder.

"Oh, you damn ghost who can't be persuaded by good words...Wang An, come and read it!" Facing the uproar, Hong Tao sighed and waved behind him.

"After investigation, it was found that Wu Daonan, a cabinet scholar, had participated in a conspiracy in Shen Li's mansion. Han Xu, the minister of the Hanlin Academy, had met alone with Prince Fu many times recently and made disrespectful remarks in private. Shen Li, Prince Fu and other prisoners all confessed. The evidence is solid, chamberlain, take these two people down and hand them over to the custody of the Jinyi Guards!"

Wang An's voice was definitely not as high-pitched and sonorous as the eunuchs specially selected by the Chief of Ceremonies to sing the edicts, but his voice carried far away, as if everyone could hear it clearly. You could hear a needle drop under the red osmanthus, and there was silence.

"I have done my best to be benevolent and righteous. When my biological mother was killed for no reason, I tried my best not to kill her because of her contribution to the imperial court. But if you insist on taking advantage of the situation and try to protect your own interests, then don't blame me for being selfless.

Based on the current confessions, there are far more people who participated, failed to report the knowledge, and sympathized with the helpers. If you insist on forcing me to kill, then I don't mind following Emperor Taizu's example and turning the court into a Shura field! "

Hong Tao got up from the throne and walked down from the throne. He walked and talked with his hands behind his back. As he talked, he looked around to see who else would continue to intercede for the rebels. How many people were really not afraid of death, nor were they afraid of a lifetime or several generations? His efforts were in vain in an instant, and the whole family fell into the abyss together.

"Huh... that's all! The cabinet ministers and the six ministries and nine ministers went to the Zhifang court to discuss, select suitable people to fill the vacancies, and disperse the dynasty!" Even when he reached the lowest step of Danbi, no officials came out again to plead for mercy. Hong Tao insisted on interceding. Then he turned around and walked up, giving an order contemptuously.His attitude was as if he was ordering the eunuchs in the palace. He had no intention of discussing or respectfully inviting him, and he had no intention of doing so from now on.

After pretending to be a good emperor who was tolerant, benevolent, and accepting advice and seeking treatment for seven full years, I was exhausted physically and mentally.Today I can finally take off my disguise and show my true colors. It’s not that I act recklessly, but I have enough cards in my hand. Even if my image is very bad, no one dares to challenge me face to face. This is called strength!
When Shen Li and others teamed up with the royal concubine Zheng to take the risk, it was not out of desperation, but because they felt that their own strength was getting stronger and they could not find a way to effectively curb it, so they had to take this step.

Unfortunately, God failed to fulfill his wishes. The arrangement was meticulous, and the timing was also very accurate. He found the weakest and most chaotic space in the harem, and used Cui Wensheng's extraordinary skills in poisoning to successfully put poison into the emperor's noodles. In the marinade.

Since the Shangshan Supervisor was under the control of Zou Yi, ordinary eunuchs and palace ladies could not get close to him, so the imperial concubine deliberately changed her approach and used the female officials of the Shangshi Bureau to secretly attack when the meal was being passed around.

In fact, the concubines Zheng and Cui Wensheng had secretly arranged the poisoning plan a few years ago. Unfortunately, because Chen Ju, Wang An, Li Shi, Zou Yi, Wang Guotai and others controlled the harem too tightly, they never planned it. Opportunity to start.

This time Zhang Ran took away more than half of the chamberlains and some of the eunuchs and maids from various supervisory bureaus. There was a shortage of many positions, and he had to temporarily transfer manpower. This opportunity appeared.

The royal concubine Zheng was not without any brains. Before she was poisoned, she had been wondering whether Prince Fu would be able to successfully inherit the throne after the death of the emperor.Otherwise, it was a coincidence that Gu Xiancheng got in touch with King Fu through Han Xu, a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy who often visited the government to lecture on history. After going back and forth, he quickly reached a consensus with Zheng's brother Zheng Guotai and planned to The inside and outside cooperated to win the imperial power in one fell swoop.

In fact, this plan should be considered very successful. Who would have thought that the emperor was a time traveler, and his body was different from ordinary people since he was a child. He was not sick and was not afraid of bites from various poisonous insects.For the same meal, the emperor ate twice as much as the empress dowager in the West Palace and took in at least twice as much poison, but there was no reaction at all.

What kind of poison did Cui Wensheng use that was colorless and odorless, yet so toxic and rapid?The arsenic commonly used by the ancients must not be used. It is not very soluble in water. If you add too much, it will not cause death. But if you add too much, it will be too obvious.

The legend of poison poison is that when the feathers of a bird are touched by wine, it becomes highly poisonous. It is colorless and odorless and can kill people immediately.But legends are just legends after all. There were eunuchs in the palace who specially prepared poisonous wine, but this kind of bird was never found. Instead, they mixed a variety of plant toxins, but the effect was not that fast, and the death was miserable.

There is even more misinformation about Hedinghong. It is impure arsenic trioxide, which is arsenic containing impurities.Because of its light red color, it was given such a mysterious name.

However, there is a poison produced in Lingnan that is more consistent with the Empress Dowager's symptoms. It is the sap of a tree and is often used by local people to smear on arrowheads to kill prey.

However, the storage time of this poison is relatively short. If you apply it on the same day, the toxicity will gradually weaken over time, and it cannot be stored for a long time, so it cannot be transported long distance from Lingnan to the capital.

(End of this chapter)