The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 463: Killing the Prince Consort to Uphold the Law
Although Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to immediately order the extermination of the Kong family, he did not lose his mind.

After calming down, he immediately gave Jiang Li an order:
"Go and encourage some of the victims to come to Beijing to file a complaint."

Jiang Li replied: "I have contacted more than a hundred victims and have properly resettled them."

"Send the order down now and send them to the capital."

Old Zhu was about to nod his agreement, but Zhu Xiongying said:

"Instead of sending them to the capital, let them come here on their own."

"Each household was given a copy of the Great Edict and asked to hold it all the way from Qufu to the capital."

"We need to make as much noise as possible along the way. The bigger the better."

"It would be best if they knew about this before they even arrived in the capital."

Jiang Li hesitated and said, "Will this alert the enemy? And there will definitely be officials blocking us along the way..."

Zhu Xiongying sneered, "We have to alert the enemy so that we can catch them all in one fell swoop."

"As for blocking them...plan a route for them."

"A route where reformists and military-turned-officials can lead the overall situation doesn't matter even if it takes a little detour."

The so-called military-to-official transfer refers to soldiers who have made military achievements and passed the assessment and are transferred to become officials.

It is one of the main sources of grassroots officials in the Ming Dynasty.

These people received relatively complete ideological education in the army, and they were vested interests of the Ming Dynasty and were very loyal to the court.

I am also very supportive of the new policy.

A big part of the reason why Chen Jingke dared to push through reforms despite pressure from conservatives was because of these military-turned-officers.

This was a condition that Wang Anshi did not have at the time, and it is also a condition that most reformers do not have.

Moreover, civil officials and military officials are naturally incompatible. These officials who come from the military are often incompatible with the conservative old bureaucrats.

There are many conflicts between the two sides.

This time when the people go to the capital to file a complaint, if any conservative officials dare to stop them, they will let military officers come out to escort them.

And anyone who comes out to stop it will be put on the blacklist.

When the matter is settled in the future, their whole family will be sent to enjoy peace in the underworld.

It cannot be said that all those who plead for the Kong family are bad people. Many of them are indeed good people, and they are just defending the Kong family as disciples of Confucianism.

However, the faction struggle does not care whether you are good or bad. If you participate, be prepared to die.

Old Zhu naturally supported Zhu Xiongying's idea.

With so many people going to Beijing to file complaints, the Kong family and Neo-Confucianism will definitely take action, which will make it easier to catch them all in one fell swoop.

Chen Jingke also thought this was a good idea.

This time we must act uprightly and use morality to eliminate the Kong family and defeat Neo-Confucianism.

This will ensure they don't come back to life.

After receiving the order, Jiang Li set out again.

He would personally go to protect these people who were crying out for justice.

As soon as he left, Zhu Yuanzhang summoned Li Shanchang:
"Shi Bai, you can leave now... Be careful, they may become desperate."

"After the incident, you can go to the local garrison in the name of inspection."

Li Shanchang said with a serious face: "Don't worry, my lord. I have been through so many storms. What can the Kong family do to me?"

Afterwards, the imperial court held a farewell ceremony for Li Shanchang with great fanfare.

His official task was to lead the Jinshi who had been admitted in recent years to visit the Confucian Temple in Qufu.

By the way, pay tribute to Confucius.

This is a very normal thing and no one doubts it.

But the secret mission is to prevent the Kong family from taking desperate measures.

If they behave like human beings and try to silence them, Li Shanchang will be able to suppress them.

Moreover, when the imperial court decides to take action against the Kong family, Li Shanchang will be the best executor.

In fact, it was not very appropriate to send Li Shanchang.

He is a member of the Legalist school, and his identity is a little awkward.

Moreover, his status is too high. If it is not a big ceremony like Confucius's anniversary, it would seem a bit of a waste of his talent to mobilize him.

But we have to deal with the Kong family, so it would be inappropriate for anyone else to go.

We can't let people like Xu Da and Fu Youde go, right?
Among the civil officials, the only one who had this ability and was trustworthy was Li Shanchang.

But this small flaw did not arouse anyone's suspicion.

Confucians, on the contrary, believed that this was another sign of Zhu Yuanzhang's submission.

Chen Ying directly shouted at a private gathering:

"We put a lot of pressure on him, and the emperor couldn't bear it anymore, so he sent Li Baishi to offer sacrifices to Confucius to appease us."

Everyone was very excited and raised their glasses to celebrate.

Halfway through the banquet, a servant came to tell him that the Left Vice Minister had sent someone to invite him to his house.

Chen Ying was very confused and felt embarrassed looking at the guests at the banquet.

However, he also knew that if there was nothing serious, Zuo Chuan would not look for him at this time. He could still distinguish between what was important and what was not.

So he stood up, apologized to everyone, and then hurried to Zuo's house.

After arriving at the place, I found that there were already seven or eight people there, and they were all core members of the Neo-Confucian School.

In the past, Chen Ying was not qualified to enter this small circle, ever since he confronted Li Shanchang head-on in the court last time.

Afterwards, he actively connected with others and gained great reputation, and then was included in the small circle by these people.

However, the core circle was almost all present, which made Chen Ying even more curious about what was going on.

He quietly observed the expressions of these people; some looked solemn, some were excited.

This made him even more confused.

However, Zuo Chuan didn't let him wait long and revealed the answer directly.

"The son-in-law Ouyang Lun smuggled tea, salt and other items in Shaanxi and Sichuan, with the amount reaching hundreds of thousands of strings of cash."

"His servants were arrogant and domineering, and they would beat up the inspectors and tax collectors at will. The locals were filled with grief..."

Chen Ying was shocked and asked, "Is this true?"

Zuo Chuan said affirmatively: "The inspector of Lantian County could not bear the humiliation, and after hearing that we were in charge of morality, he reported the matter to me."

"I sent people to investigate locally and have obtained sufficient evidence."

Chen Ying regained his composure, his expression became serious, and he said:

"I wonder what the Left Minister and the seniors are going to do?"

Zuo Chuan said righteously: "Of course we should make it public and give justice to the world."

After saying this, he immediately lowered his voice and said:
"I think that no matter how the emperor handles this time, we will win in the end."

The emperor's punishment of Ouyang Lun was a sign of submission.

If we don't punish him, it would mean that we are abusing our power and breaking the law to protect the royal family, which will to some extent make us lose the support of the people.

And these people will stand firmly on the moral high ground.

Ruling the world together with the emperor is no longer just a dream.

but……

Chen Ying took a deep breath and said seriously, "Have you ever thought about the consequences of doing this, Minister Zuo?"

Forcing the emperor to bow his head is completely different from forcing the emperor to kill his relatives.

Aren't you afraid of angering the emperor and causing him to kill people?
Three other people also nodded in support of him.

It’s better to take it easy.

Don't get carried away just because the situation is going your way.

Zuo Chuan said, "You want to take power without taking any risks. How can such a cheap thing happen in this world?"

"Censor Chen has always been a man who would rather break than bend. I thought you would stick with me and uphold justice, but I didn't expect..."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but shake his head, a look of regret on his face.

The meaning is obvious, it turns out you are just talking.

Chen Ying was young after all, and couldn't stand the provocation, her face flushed with anger:
"Who is afraid? I just... forget it, there's no point in saying more."

"Tomorrow I will be the first one to report Ouyang Lun. Is this satisfactory to the Left Minister?"

The disappointment on Zuo Chuan's face instantly turned into a smile, and he said apologetically:
"Oh, I was wrong. Don't be angry, brother. Please sit down quickly."

Chen Ying sat down again with his neck stiffened and said:
"I'm not afraid of death, but I'm worried that doing this will anger the queen."

Everyone couldn't help but nod their heads. Empress Ma was indeed an obstacle that could not be avoided.

Ouyang Lun is the consort of Princess Anqing, and Princess Anqing is the biological daughter of Empress Ma. Now everyone is targeting her son-in-law, and do they still want her to help speak for them in the future?
But Zuo Chuan had obviously considered this issue a long time ago:
"If we succeed this time, we won't need the Empress's protection in the future."

Everyone fell into deep thought, it seemed that this actually made sense.

The scholar-officials and the emperor rule the world together, and the next step is not to kill the scholar-officials.

By then, there will be no need for Empress Ma to say good things.

Besides, given Empress Ma’s health condition, I don’t know how many more years she can last.

It would be a pity to give up this great opportunity because of this concern.

Finally, these people were persuaded.

Impeach Ouyang Lun tomorrow.

Next, everyone went home to prepare.
-
Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the secret report on the table with a dark face.

"Crash..." He turned into a desktop cleaning master and knocked everything on the table to the ground with a wave of his hand.

"Ouyang Lun, we'll skin you alive."

After a long while, he finally controlled his anger and shouted to the door:

"Go and get the Crown Prince and Marquis Anping to come see me... Come to my bedroom to see me."

Then he took the secret letter to the bedroom.

Ma Niangniang was finishing her meal. When she saw him coming in angrily, she smiled and said:
"What's wrong? Who made you angry?"

Lao Zhu did not reply, but waved his hand and said: "Everyone retreat, no one is allowed to approach."

The eunuch left quickly.

When everyone left, Madam Ma frowned and asked, "Did something happen at the Kong family?"

Old Zhu glared at her fiercely and raised his hand high...

Then he gently placed the note in front of her:
"See for yourself."

He really wanted to slam the secret letter on her face, but in the end he couldn't bear to do it.

Empress Ma also felt Lao Zhu's anger.

Since their marriage, Lao Zhu has been angry with her no more than three times.

But she really didn't know what was wrong with her that made him so angry.

He picked up the secret letter and read its contents carefully, his eyes fixed.

"This is real?"

Old Zhu said unhappily, "Chen Ying risked being exposed to pass it on. Zuo Chuan already has enough evidence and is going to impeach him in court tomorrow."

Empress Ma took a deep breath and thought this was going to be troublesome.

Under normal circumstances, she could still help plead for mercy and at least save Ouyang Lun's life.

But now at this critical juncture.

Not to mention a prince consort, even if it was her own son, he would be skinned alive.

Soon her eyes became firm, and then she said sadly:

"Have pity on my daughter."

It's a pity that my daughter has to become a widow at such a young age.

The implication is that Ouyang Lun must be killed.

Old Zhu suddenly looked up at her and said in surprise:

"You won't plead for him?"

Ma Niangniang shook her head and said with tears in her eyes, "I want to keep him, but the law of the country prohibits it."

Old Zhu heaved a sigh of relief and said, "As expected of our sister, she is decisive."

"Sister, we will feel relieved if you don't plead for him."

Then he comforted her: "Don't be sad, it's not worth it for such a beast."

"Don't worry, Anqing. I will find her a better match."

Madam Ma sighed, "I'm afraid Anqing will be unhappy."

Lao Zhu said: "What's there to worry about? Time can dilute everything."

"Besides, the current social trends have changed, and it is still common for women to remarry. She will accept the reality."

Madam Ma said, "I hope so... How are you going to deal with this?"

Old Zhu's eyes flashed coldly, and he said, "That group of traitors wants to use Ouyang Lun to force us, so we can just take advantage of their trick."

I was a little worried that those rebels weren't standing high enough.

Now, when this case is solved, that group of traitors will truly stand on the moral high ground.

"When that time comes, we will put the Kong family in front of them. Haha... I can't wait any longer."

Soon Zhu Xiongying and Chen Jingke trotted over and saw Empress Ma in tears and Old Zhu who was comforting his wife.

Zhu Xiongying's first words were: "Grandpa Emperor, how did you offend Grandma Emperor?"

Old Zhu pointed at the table and said unhappily, "Look for yourself."

Zhu Xiongying grabbed the secret letter and glanced at it, then he exploded:

"Ouyang Lun, I...I...I will kill all his clans."

Chen Jingke patted his shoulder: "Calm down, he is the son-in-law of the emperor, nine clans ..."

But when he saw the contents of the secret letter, he also exploded:

"Ouyang Lun, I, Bu Cao... I... will kill his entire clan too easily. I must exterminate three of his clans."

Madam Ma said angrily, "You two bastards, do you want to kill Anqing too?"

Zhu Xiongying quickly apologized, "How could that be possible? Look at what you said...only the Ouyang family will be executed."

"I will never forgive anyone who dares to touch my aunt and her child."

Chen Jingke had calmed down and said, "All the people in the Ouyang family who benefited from this must die, and the rest must be exiled to Nanyang, Anxi, and Yanzhou."

Don't say you are innocent. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being a relative of his.

But Chen Jingke was indeed shocked by what Ouyang Lun did.

He was born into a typical family of ordinary scholars, and later became the consort of Princess Anqing.

Old Zhu thought highly of him and ordered him to be in charge of the Ancient Tea-Horse Road.

Just a little knowledge will show you how important this trade route is to the country.

I just didn't expect that he would dare to commit such a serious crime.

The point is, his behavior almost ruined the plan.

It is just as the saying goes, greed is like a snake swallowing an elephant.

Fortunately, they had previously planted a spy in the Neo-Confucian School, Chen Ying.

And he was secretly helping Chen Ying become famous.

Otherwise, how could he, a person of ordinary background and without any academic contribution, have such great fame in such a short time.

This time it was all thanks to Chen Ying, otherwise we would have been caught off guard facing the impeachment of the Neo-Confucian school tomorrow.

Although it will not lead to the failure of the plan, it will cause unnecessary trouble.

All we can say is that Ouyang Lun was originally guilty of a capital crime, and he happened to be reported at this critical juncture.

He couldn't survive even if he wanted to.

And think about it the other way around, using Ouyang Lun's head, the Neo-Confucian school was completely established.

It can be regarded as waste utilization.

As for Princess Anqing... Chen Jingke didn't feel sorry for her at all.

As the person who sleeps beside him, how could she not know that Ouyang Lun had committed such a serious crime?
Such a huge sum of money, hundreds of thousands of strings of cash.

If she hadn't helped to clear his name, would Ouyang Lun have been exposed only today?

All I can say is, she deserves it.

But there's nothing we can do about it, since she's a princess.

It’s already very good that we can deal with Ouyang Lun.

The truly pitiful one is Empress Ma. She is so old, not in good health, and still has to worry about her children's affairs.

However, Empress Ma did not plead for Ouyang Lun, which made Chen Jingke admire her very much.

If she were a man, I'm afraid... Lao Zhu would have been a good general.

(End of this chapter)