Jiuxi

Chapter 389 Chapter 387 [Bloodlight Appears]

All the ministers bowed down and the scene was extremely grand.

Li Duan's expression remained as usual, without the slightest hint of arrogance.

He turned his eyes to look at Lu Chen who was in the ranks of martial artists. The eyes of the emperor and his ministers met, and everything was in silence.

Fourteen officials jointly resigned. If it were an ordinary emperor, not only it would cause chaos, but at least it would be a headache, because if this kind of thing is not handled well, it will cause many chain reactions.

But this was not a problem for Li Duan. He immediately suppressed the impatience of other people in the court by allowing the petition, and then rewarded these officials who resigned to give them dignity. Resolve a crisis that could shake the foundation of the court.

The most important thing is that he can give a response plan in an instant and name fourteen successors who meet the requirements at once. In this way, the attempts of those officials to force the palace to be defeated will be self-defeating.

Although the Jiangnan clan is the largest interest group of the Da Qi court, they are not monolithic within them. Especially when it comes to power struggles, it is an illusion to expect them to always advance and retreat together.

When some important ministers figured out this truth, they finally understood that at least in the current court, it had become impossible to use those means to force the emperor to bow his head.

Li Duan accepted the worship of the officials, then calmly walked back to the dragon throne and sat down.

This crime is certainly not a light one, but it is not without some considerations.

As for whether these hundreds of thousands of soldiers refer to the frontier army or the Beijing army, he did not say clearly. Presumably the emperor on the dragon throne and the Manchu ministers had their own estimation.

When it comes to war of words, how could he be the opponent of the Yushi Zhongcheng, who was a Jinshi and had a wealth of knowledge? What's more, the other party relied on the special status of the Yushitai and the emperor's favor, and would not be afraid of him, the general of Beiya.

Privy Councilor Guo Congyi frowned and raised his head. He did not expect that the emperor was so cruel that he really did not give Hou Yu a chance to survive.

Wang Yan was speechless immediately.

At this moment, the pain in his body was relieved, and the sigh that life was short flashed through his heart. The emperor, who was just forty years old this year, stared at the civil and military officials below, and said slowly: "Dear gentlemen, regarding the How to deal with the people involved in the Hou Yu case?"

This sentence was a bit straightforward, but Wang Yan knew in his heart that now that the dynasty war was getting more intense, straightforward threats were more powerful at this time.

He could only wave his sleeves and say: "If we kill all the Marquis of Nan'an, I'm afraid it will chill the hearts of hundreds of thousands of soldiers!"

Hearing this voice, Li Duan felt a surge of complicated emotions in his heart.

In the silence, another censor, Zhongcheng Xu Zuo, stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Nan'an has colluded with the courtiers, deceived the emperor, made arbitrary decisions, and ignored the safety of the country. He should be deprived of his title and property. Behead him in public, and inform the world of his crime and fate. Only in this way can we alert the civil and military officials at the central and border areas."

Li Duan said calmly: "Xu Qing's family is right. The evidence in this case is conclusive and irrefutable. Hou Yu betrayed my trust and deceived others just to satisfy his own selfish desires. Therefore, I have decided to deprive Hou Yu of his title and confiscate him." Family wealth, behead him and show him to the public!"

As an imperial envoy with orders to investigate the case, Lu Chen had already expressed his attitude before, so he was in no hurry to come forward again.

In fact, in the eyes of many officials in the DPRK, what Hou Yu did, including murder, was not a particularly serious crime. After all, he killed Shazhou people instead of Daqi people, so there was no case of killing a good person and taking credit for it.

His biggest problem was that he violated the national policy set by the emperor, which caused the relationship between Daqi and the Seven Tribes of Shazhou to continue to deteriorate. As a result, Daqi had to allocate part of its energy to deal with the Seven Tribes of Shazhou, and was unable to concentrate all its efforts on dealing with the enemies in the north.

Xu Zuo frowned and said: "General, a soldier is a murderous weapon, a warrior is against virtue, and a fight is the end of things. Conspiracy is against virtue, and it is easy to use a murderous weapon. If you try yourself at the end, God forbids it, and it will be detrimental to those who do it. Marquis of Nan'an What he did not only deviated from the decision of His Majesty and the court, but also deepened the contradiction between Daqi and the seven Shazhou tribes. If he was not severely punished, wouldn't everyone in the frontier generals follow his example in the future? If this continues, where is the majesty of the central government? Your majesty is majestic. Where is it?"

The other courtiers looked thoughtfully at the gold brick floor in front of them.

The evil look on Xu Zuo's face flashed away, and he was about to retort when he heard the emperor above him cough several times.

At this moment, an old voice sounded in the hall: "Your Majesty, I have my own memorial."

The ministers looked at him with concern.

General Wang Yan immediately said tit for tat: "Xu Zhongcheng, the situation on the border is complicated and cannot be generalized. Nan'an Marquis does have something wrong, but the Seven Shazhou tribes are not as innocent as Luo Jiujiu said! The measures adopted by Nan'an Marquis may be too much. Radical, but it is an indisputable fact that the Seven Shazhou Tribes once harassed our border with North Korea! If the Seven Shazhou Tribes really wanted to seek peace, how could they expel the envoys sent by His Majesty one after another?"

He knows Left Prime Minister Li Daoyan better than anyone else in the court.

As the leader of the Jiangnan clan, this old man would often fight for the interests of the clans below him. He also held an opposite attitude to Li Duan on the Northern Expedition, but he had a unique wisdom and knew how to influence the imperial power. Only by finding a balance point between the government and the power of ministers can Da Qi court maintain a certain operating efficiency in such a complex situation.

Li Daoyan's knowledge played a very important role in maintaining the strength of the border troops in Huai and Jing. Especially in the establishment of Jingzhou Feiyu Camp. Although this was Li Tianrun's idea, the final success was inseparable from Li Daoyan's knowledge. support. Today's court meeting has been tense from the beginning. Li Duan has been focusing part of his energy on Li Daoyan, because he knows that the reason why he can move forward step by step is because the Jiangnan clan cannot form a joint force. Each official has his own plan. A leader steps up to unite them.

At the moment, only Li Daoyan has this prestige.

Until this moment, at the critical moment when Li Duan decided to raise the butcher's knife, he finally stood up.

Looking at the old man's solemn face, Li Duan said slowly: "It doesn't matter what you say, Prime Minister Zuo."

Li Daoyan coughed slightly, lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, Daqi has always had the system of eight discussions. The eight discussions are to discuss relatives, discuss old friends, discuss talents, discuss abilities, discuss merits, discuss nobles, discuss diligence, and discuss guests. It is an indisputable fact that Hou Yu has a fault, and the veteran will not forcefully pretend to do so. However, everyone knows that Hou Yu is capable, meritorious, and has the title of Marquis of the country. The veteran thought about it again and again, and thought that in the Hou Yu In this case of Jade, Your Majesty may be extra merciful and spare his life."

Li Duan said indifferently: "He has done so many things that deceive the emperor and ignore his superiors. Why should I show mercy to him?"

Li Daoyan looked up at the Emperor, with a hint of pleading in his old eyes: "Your Majesty, the martial arts title can offset the crime. After all, Hou Yu has not committed the crime of treason. I hope your Majesty will show mercy! I know that your Majesty has destroyed him. Da Qi and Shazhou Seven Ministries are very angry about their actions, but as the general said, the situation on the border is extremely complicated, and it is inevitable to use some drastic measures in many cases. Your Majesty, it is certainly not a pity to die for Hou Yu, but the stability of the overall situation is more important. Your Majesty, please think twice!”

In an instant, a cry of prayer rang out in the court hall, and countless officials echoed: "I beg your Majesty to think twice!"

Lu Chen narrowed his eyes slightly. Although he couldn't determine the exact number at a glance, he knew that at least half of the officials agreed with Li Daoyan's petition.

Compared with the situation where the old man responded to everything he said, the fourteen officials who just signed their resignations were like a drizzle of rain.

Now he finally understood the reason why Li Daoyan rarely expressed his position publicly at court meetings.

When Li Daoyan came forward, people such as Ning Yuanfu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Ding Hui, the Minister of the Ministry of War, and others, all the suspicions about Li Daoyan in their hearts during this period disappeared in an instant.

Among the civil servants, Li Shizhi, the left minister of the Ministry of Punishment, lowered his head and lowered his eyebrows. He was as respectful as the others, but he had extremely complicated thoughts in his heart.

My father finally took action. It would have been better if he had not taken action...

Li Daoyan raised his head and looked at the emperor on the dragon throne.

Looking at the old man's sincere eyes, Li Duan already understood what he was thinking.

Whether to kill Hou Yu or not is related to the final direction of the imperial conflict, and it depends on whether he, the emperor, wants to add another fire to the already boiling oil pot.

There was both worry and pleading in the old man's eyes. It was obvious that he was not coming forward this time to force the emperor into the palace, but in the hope of cooling down the situation that was gradually getting out of control.

After a while, Li Duan, who had experienced countless inner struggles, said calmly: "The Prime Minister Zuo is right."

Li Daoyan couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Duan continued: "I have decided to remove Hou Yu from all his official positions, deprive him of his title of marquis, exile him two thousand miles away, and never hire him. I will seize all the rewards he has received since he became an official, and confiscate 90% of his family. The funds will be deposited into the national treasury. This matter cannot be discussed further, and those who violate it will be punished with the same crime as Hou Yu!"

It is impossible to escape the death penalty, and this decree has almost blocked the career path of several generations of the Dehua Hou family. It can be said to be the most severe punishment besides beheading.

The ministers were silent for a moment, and then under the leadership of Li Daoyan, they shouted: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Li Duan took a deep breath and added: "There are a number of accomplices in this case, such as Chen Xincai, the right minister of the Ministry of War, Yu Shouwen, the general secretary of the Privy Council, Wei Jixiang, the director of the seal verification department of the Ministry of Personnel, Qiao Wendian, the director of the Information and Appraisal Institute of the Ministry of Industry, and the former chief of the Chengzhou Governor's Mansion. Shi Wangping, the former Army Commander Chen Zhixun and others are colluding with each other, wantonly manipulating the power of the court, treating the court's laws and regulations as if they are nothing, and they should be punished!"

Li Daoyan frowned slightly, but this time he did not continue to object.

Being able to save Hou Yu's life was already his explanation to the Jiangnan family. This case had many implications. If there was no blood in the end, how could he calm the anger in the emperor's heart?
At this point, he could only choose to sit back and watch.

Li Duan looked around at the ministers and said word by word: "Yousi will put these people in prison, verify their identities, and take them to the execution ground three days later to behead them in public! Zhongshu will write down the details of Hou Yu's case and tell the world, so that everyone can know it. You know, the imperial court will never allow these people to act recklessly!"

The whole hall was solemn, Li Daoyan bowed, followed by the ministers.

"The minister obeys the order!"

(End of this chapter)