blue bird song

Chapter 122 Xuanyuan Xiayu (2)
Li Shoufu and Zhuo Cifu were even more afraid to defend the Zhang brothers, but they were also unwilling to severely punish the Zhang brothers, so the stalemate persisted.

The emperor was not in a hurry, and said lightly, "We will discuss it later." Announcing the end of the court meeting.

Zhang Yan and Zhang He were the same as last time. They panicked for a while at the beginning. Seeing that there was no movement in the court, they became mad again, "He has a guilty conscience! He dare not move our house!"

Zhang Yan and Zhang He were drinking and having fun in Taixing Building. In order to grab a beautiful and coquettish singing girl, they had an argument with another group of people and fought violently.The Zhang brothers brought quite a few thugs, and the other group of people looked at the gentle and gentle, but they also brought a lot of servants and servants.

Zhang Yan was delighted to see it, so he took a tea bowl and smashed it on the head of a man in brocade clothes.The brocade-clothed man stared at him for a while, and Fang fell heavily.

They were in high spirits when they were fighting, and a large group of troops came from Wucheng soldiers and horses, surrounded the Taixing restaurant tightly, and arrested all the people from the two parties who were fighting.

Zhang Yan didn't take it too seriously, it was just a fight and hurt someone, it was nothing.Not to mention hurting people, but killing someone, I am the brother-in-law of Emperor Hongzhi, who dares to punish me for my crime?
Injuring a lot of people is really nothing to Zhang Yan.But this time, unfortunately, the person he injured was Li Shoufu's youngest son, and the injury was still very heavy. The Li family boy was dizzy and was seriously injured.

With such identities, the Shuntian Mansion can't control them, and they are in front of the imperial court again.

The emperor comforted Li Shoufu gently, "Although it was smashed, there is no danger of life. You don't have to worry about it."

Li Shoufu stiffened his neck and was speechless.

The emperor meant that the Li family should be more magnanimous, and let this matter be wiped away, so as not to hurt Emperor Hongzhi's relatives.Li Shoufu doted on his youngest son the most, so he resigned in anger.He didn't really want to resign, but he was just angry, and it was also a demonstration to force the emperor to do something, and stop blindly pampering the Zhang brothers like Emperor Hongzhi.

This time, the emperor agreed.

"Qing begged twice and three times to go. It must be because you have made up your mind. I can't stay any longer." The emperor smiled calmly, "After you return to your hometown, you will take care of me at ease. If you are well, please return to Beijing to support me." country's effectiveness."

Li Shoufu didn't expect the emperor to be right, and his eyes went dark.

"Can you leave me?" Li Shoufu did not believe in evil, "I am in charge of most cabinet affairs. Once I leave, who will take over as Shoufu? Who can convince the public?"

Yang Daqi, who had just joined the cabinet, was appointed by the emperor as the new Chief Assistant, and soon took over the cabinet.With the emperor's support, Yang Daqi is humble and calm in his work. After he took over, the cabinet has been stable without major disturbances.

Since Li Shoufu had been approved to resign, it was inconvenient to stay in Beijing for a long time, so he had to leave Beijing and return home.

"The Zhang brothers did a lot of evil, because of him, the emperor lost a chief assistant!" It is rumored that Li Shoufu resigned in anger because of the Zhang brothers. official career.

King Yi, who was far away in Fuzhou, handed in a memorial to defend himself, "I have never thought of wrongdoing, and Zhang's proposal has already been sternly rejected." As for not reporting, this can also be considered, after all, the Zhang brothers are Zhao Empress Mu's younger brother is inconvenient to come out because of affection.

As soon as King Yi's memorial was published, two groups of officials in the court began to request severe punishment of Marquis Shouning and Uncle Jianchang.Of these two groups of people, one group is simply not convinced by the misconduct of the Zhang brothers, and the other group is fighting for Li Shoufu's injustice. No matter how different their starting points are, their actions are the same.

The emperor sighed, "Although the Zhang brothers are royal in-laws, they have offended everyone, and I can't defend them." He ordered the arrest of Zhang He, Marquis of Shouning, and Zhang Yan, Uncle Jianchang, and put them in prison.

In the cabinet, because of Li Shoufu's resignation, no one had the nerve to go to Yuqian to intercede for the Zhang brothers.The courtiers did speak for the Zhang brothers. Nie Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment was righteous and strict, "Zhang He, Marquis of Shouning, Zhang Yan, and Uncle Jianchang, crimes should be discussed. The court discussion has not yet reached a conclusion, and it seems too urgent to be imprisoned all of a sudden. A little bit."

There was no result in the court discussion, so why did they arrest people? It was too urgent.

Nie Shangshu is actually a very upright person. He does not approve of what the Zhang brothers have done. However, he was promoted by Emperor Hongzhi, and his kindness cannot be repaid. He is unwilling to severely punish the Zhang brothers under such circumstances. of.

If Emperor Hongzhi was still alive, he would remonstrate: Take care of your brother-in-law, he is too arrogant.But now that Emperor Hongzhi has passed away, it seems that it has become Emperor Hongzhi's last wish to treat and indulge the Zhang brothers, and Shangshu Nie couldn't bear to violate it.

Yang Daqi stood beside him, calmly and politely said: "Lord Nie, may I ask what is the difference between imprisonment and conviction? Is it the same as that crimes should not be imprisoned? You have to wait until after the court discussion. Imprisonment? Since the last court meeting, Uncle Jianchang has escaped justice and has seriously injured one person, and the wounded has not yet recovered. Is it because Marquis Shouning and Uncle Jianchang are not imprisoned, do they want them to continue to do evil and hurt people?"

Nie Shangshu glared at Yang Daqi, "The younger brother of Empress Zhaomu, even if he committed a crime, he should not be imprisoned suddenly! They are the ones who go to prison, and the ones who lose face are the late emperor and the royal family!"

"It's shameless, let's talk about it." Xu Dashi couldn't help but said, "Where did you start talking about being imprisoned suddenly? Shouninghou and Jianchangbo have been accused a long time ago, and the court has long been accused. Just because of this court discussion, how can you say that you are suddenly imprisoned? Your Majesty is merciful, and has never been able to bear more punishment. He was arrested and imprisoned until the evidence of the crime was convincing. Don't Lord Nie know?"

The two cabinet ministers attacked together, Nie Shangshu couldn't stand it, and gradually had nothing to say.

Nie Shangshu's famous words in front of the imperial court were passed on by someone, which annoyed several young people from the Imperial Academy and Ke Dao.A minister of the Ministry of punishment, the standard for convicting treason is whether it is successful or not, and the relatives commit crimes, and they should not be imprisoned until the court discussion fails. How did such a foolish person become the minister of the Ministry of punishment?
A few young people couldn't hold back, and often went to the Ministry of Punishment to "ask" Shangshu Nie.

It's just being polite, but in fact, it's not asking for advice, it's just going to debate with Nie Shangshu.Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers, so a few hot-blooded young people went to the Ministry of Criminal Justice aggressively, starting with criminal names, and "asked for advice" one by one.This was difficult, so I changed to another one immediately. The four young people took turns to "ask" for advice, and Nie Shangshu was sweating.

She's so old, she's been wantonly frivolously treated by a few brats!Nie Shangshu was a straightforward person, and in a fit of anger, he handed in his resignation.

The emperor didn't even ask the reason for his resignation, and didn't even make a superficial attempt to persuade him to stay. He agreed directly, "You are old, and I can't bear to force you to stay."

Nie Shangshu came out of the Qianqing Palace in a daze, really feeling that his old face was dull and lonely.The minister handed in his resignation, even if the emperor didn't like it, he would at least keep it.But the emperor didn't even bother to save face, so he decided right away...

Shangshu of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, a senior member of the second rank, that's all.

After Nie Shangshu left office, the emperor successively summoned Meng Duan, the left servant of the Ministry of Punishment, and Song Xian, the right servant, to the Qianqing Palace.In addition to asking about the official affairs of the Ministry of Punishment, he also asked, "If Xun Qi breaks the law, how should he be dealt with?" Meng Duan answered calmly, "Punish according to the law", and Song Xian was lenient, answering "Besides the law, there are still human feelings." .

After discussing with several cabinet ministers, the emperor appointed Meng Duan as Minister of the Ministry of Punishment.The first thing Meng Duan did after taking office was to be ordered to try the case of Shouninghou and Jianchangbo's treason. The Zhang family's letters, Yiwang's Shangshu, and the master who came out of the head, all the witnesses and material evidences, Shouninghou Zhang He, Zhang Yan, Bo Jianchang, really conspired to abolish the establishment, which is not a courtesy of a human minister.

This is treason.

During the court meeting again, Meng Duan held the case files and talked eloquently, listing the evidence one by one, and everyone was speechless.Meng Duan came to the conclusion, "This is treason", and no one objected.

However, the faces of many people present showed sadness and unbearable color.The death of the Zhang brothers is not a pity. Poor Empress Zhaomu lives alone in the harem. Both her husband and son are lost. Now even her younger brother can't be kept.Empress Zhaomu, she is the widow of the late emperor, the person whom the late emperor favored the most during his lifetime.

There is no doubt about the conviction, but when the time came for sentencing, there was another quarrel.

The felony of treason must be punished by the clan.That is to say, not only the two brothers Zhang He and Zhang Yan were going to die, but also members of the close branch of the Zhang family could not escape death.

"How can this be done? Isn't Queen Zhaomu surnamed Zhang? Isn't she also a member of the Zhang clan? Could it be that Queen Zhaomu was killed together?" "Queen Zhaomu is a married woman and is not included in the clan." All the members of the queen's family have been punished, how can she live alone?" There was endless quarreling.

How could he treat Empress Zhaomu's natal family like this?Opposing officials were outraged.

Conspiracy to abolish the establishment, but also want to protect the clan?Supporting officials are also very persistent.

Officials who support the clan's punishment of the Zhang family believe that conspiracy is treason, and treason is the clan's punishment.The officials who opposed the family punishment were very angry. Zhang He and Zhang Yan also wrote a letter to King Yi, suggesting that King Yi's adoptive son should be given to Queen Zhaomu.This matter is both big and small, isn't it just two ignorant and lawless sons and sisters who are used to being uncles of the country and are reluctant to part with the glory and wealth of the Zhang family, so they have made a foolish move?These two people have no skills, why should he want to abolish the emperor and establish the line of Yiwang?It's just arguing, is it worth being serious with him?Family punishment, it's too ruthless.

The two sides could not settle down, and the court meeting was fruitless.

The sentencing has yet to be determined, but the charges have been confirmed, which is very scary.Empress Zhaomu in the harem was heartbroken when she heard that her two younger brothers had been sent to prison. After knowing that the charge of "conspiracy" was confirmed, she was even more dizzy.

Empress Zhaomu has always loved these two younger brothers. She cried for a long time, and ordered the palace servants to change her brocade clothes and jewelry, and put on old clothes. "The emperor is in Kunning Palace now?" asked Knowing that, she suppressed her shame, walked out of the gorgeous palace in worn-out clothes, and walked to Kunning Palace step by step.

She came here to plead guilty, so it would be too insincere to come in a sedan chair.

On this road, every step she took was very difficult, as if she was walking on the tip of a knife.Married as a crown princess, she became a queen back then, and her emperor husband treated her like jewels and treasures. For more than ten years, the scenery has been infinite. Where did she suffer and endure this hardship?

What an embarrassing humiliation.

Empress Zhaomu walked up to Kunning Palace, gritted her teeth cruelly, and knelt down on both knees.She knelt on the cold ground, feeling sad: How long ago did she fall to this point?How could Queen Zhang, who was born in a dream moon and was so precious, be reduced to this point?
Ah Yan, Ah He, my sister is all for you.Empress Zhang thought of her two younger brothers, her heart was broken.

The palace man was startled, and quickly reported in.Not long after, the Emperor and Empress Qi came out side by side, followed by many servants and court ladies, all of them held their breaths and were extremely respectful.

"Why is sister-in-law like this?" the emperor asked politely.

Empress Zhang described her in distress, but the emperor had no mercy in his heart.How many times did she think of harming Niuniu and Xiao Congcong, and how many times did she indulge her natal brother to do evil and harm the village?She didn't deserve her brother's respect and love, not at all.

The only blemish on my elder brother's famous name is her, the Zhang family.The emperor looked coldly at the kneeling Empress Zhang, with a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes.

Standing beside the emperor, Qingque said with a smile, "Why does my sister-in-law do such a big gift? Please get up and talk."

(End of this chapter)