bookbashuk Chapter 175
Chapter 175
Chapter 175
Gu Tingye used the pretext of saving the fourth and fifth wives to force them to slander her.
If she says that, Gu Tingye will be unable to save her.
Since Gu Tingye cannot save people, the fourth and fifth branches of the family will definitely switch sides.
Upon hearing this, the people from the fourth and fifth branches of the family didn't have time to think much and immediately went to find Gu Tingye.
Upon hearing the demands of the fourth and fifth wives, Gu Tingye sneered, "This is treason! What can I do?"
"Second Master, I know Tingbing offended you before, but you can't be friends forever. You're brothers, even if you've been through thick and thin together," the Fourth Master said anxiously.
"brother?"
Gu Tingye sneered, "When they were plotting against me, why didn't they say we were brothers?"
"Gu Tingye!"
The Fifth Master said, "I heard that you deliberately framed them. Just because of some minor conflict, you framed your own brothers. You have such a cruel heart!"
"I heard?"
Gu Tingye glanced towards the backyard and said, "You heard it from that person, right? You were being used as pawns by her, so why didn't you go to her when something happened?"
"It concerns treason; how could you arrest someone without evidence? You actually believe such nonsense?"
Fifth Master's aim was undoubtedly to ruin his reputation; if this got out, it would be a scandal regardless of whether it was true or not.
Moreover, his reputation is already bad, so many people will believe it to be true.
"Think what you want, I can't help you with this."
After Gu Tingye finished speaking, he walked straight outside, completely ignoring the shouts behind him.
Yu Xingzhi's arrest caused quite a stir, and many officials contacted Han Zhang after receiving the news.
"My lord, the Emperor's actions have caused widespread panic; you cannot ignore this."
"Yes, back then, both the rebel prince and the emperor were candidates for crown prince. How could many of their colleagues in the court dare to offend them? It was inevitable that they would have some contact with the rebel prince. To label it as involvement in treason just because of that would be too unreasonable, wouldn't it?"
"That's right. I felt something was off when the Imperial City Guard raided those merchants. They're not stupid; how could they possibly fund a rebellion by the king?"
Han Zhang looked at everyone and said calmly, "This involves treason. How can I dissuade you?"
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
Does this mean His Majesty is not allowed to investigate? Or are those people innocent?
"Where's the evidence? There's no proof whatsoever. If I go before His Majesty and declare them all innocent, and evidence is found, how am I supposed to face the consequences?"
In any case, treason has always been a capital offense, with no possibility of escaping punishment.
Unless the rebel is a prince, the emperor might only place him under house arrest.
But this only applied to the princes; those who participated also met their demise.
These officials could find a whole host of reasons to oppose the emperor's killing of civil officials, but they had absolutely no reason to accuse him of treason.
There is absolutely no room for debate about this within Confucianism.
"My lord, we didn't ask you to dissuade His Majesty from investigating the traitors. But even if an investigation is to be carried out, shouldn't the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review be the responsible parties?"
"That's right. Every country has its laws and every family has its rules. The Imperial City Guard is a royal guard and does not have the power to judge or arrest people."
"If His Majesty uses the Imperial City Guard for all affairs from now on, what's the point of having the other government agencies?"
Han Zhang pondered for a moment and said, "In this matter, I am but a humble person with little influence. It would be better if we went together to see the Emperor and explain the implications!"
"That's excellent!"
Seeing that Han Zhang was willing to step forward, the others nodded in agreement.
Upon seeing this, Han Zhang immediately led a group of officials to Longtu Pavilion.
When the emperor learned of this, he knew that they had come because of the Imperial City Guard's arrest of civil officials.
However, she could hide for a while, but she couldn't hide forever, so she had no choice but to summon them into the palace.
"Your Majesty, we pay our respects!" Han Zhang and the others bowed.
"No need for formalities!"
The Emperor waved his hand and said calmly, "I haven't summoned anyone for a meeting, so why have all of you ministers come together? Has something serious happened?"
"Your Majesty!"
Han Zhang said, "We believe that it is against propriety to let the Imperial City Guard be responsible for investigating the traitors, while no one from the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, or the Censorate is involved!"
As the saying goes, "One person acts for private gain, two people act for public good." Each institution of the imperial court has its purpose and authority. The investigation of traitors should rightfully be a joint responsibility of the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review, overseen by the Censorate.
"We second that proposal!" the crowd responded.
"hehe!"
The Emperor smiled and said, "As you all know, the various institutions of the court have their own powers. I have a question: since the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review should be responsible, why did no one from the Ministry of Justice or the Court of Judicial Review mention thoroughly investigating this matter during the long period between the Prince's rebellion and my ascension to the throne?"
Faced with the official's questioning, everyone was speechless.
They were worried that the officials would use this as an excuse to implicate many people, so they wanted to give him a warning.
However, the show of force did not have the desired effect. How could they then submit a petition to thoroughly investigate the rebellious party?
"Are the officials from the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice here?" the Emperor asked calmly.
"We are here!"
Seven or eight officials stepped out from the crowd, came to the center of the hall, and bowed in respect.
"Tell me, why has no one mentioned thoroughly investigating the traitors?"
"Return to your majesty!"
The Minister of Justice said, "At that time, the late Emperor was in poor health and could not withstand any further stimulation, which is why we did not submit a memorial."
"Yeah?"
The emperor countered, "Then why has no one mentioned the late emperor's passing?"
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review replied, "His Majesty has just ascended the throne, and the people's hearts are unsettled, so this was not mentioned."
"Heh—haha—"
Upon hearing this, the Emperor couldn't help but burst into laughter, saying, "Then why didn't you speak up when I ordered the Imperial City Guard to investigate the traitors?"
"this--"
The official's words once again silenced everyone.
The reason they didn't speak up at the time was because the official announcement was too sudden.
When an emperor first ascends the throne, his first priority is to win over the people and stabilize his position.
Who would have thought that the government would start by investigating and eliminating traitors?
Because it was unexpected, no one was willing to be the one to take the lead.
Afterwards, it was naturally difficult to object, and in addition, people wanted to see how far the officials intended to go, so no one spoke up.
Later, it was discovered that the Imperial City Guard had only taken action against some merchants, without touching a single official.
In their view, it was a response from the government to them.
Naturally, he wouldn't say a word.
"snort!"
The official said coldly, "You didn't speak up back then, and no one has spoken up even after investigating for so long."
"The moment the civil officials were arrested, you said it was against etiquette and should be handed over to the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review. Could it be that some of you were involved in a rebellion and are afraid of being exposed, so you don't want me to continue the investigation?"
"We have absolutely no such intention!" the ministers exclaimed urgently.
"It's best if there isn't one!"
The Emperor coldly snorted, "If any of you are found to be involved, I will show no leniency!"
"His Majesty!"
The Minister of Justice, forcing a smile, said, "The Imperial City Guard has no jurisdiction over trials, and this concerns the cause of the case; the Imperial City Guard has no right to interrogate!"
"You make a good point. In that case, let's hand it over to the Ministry of Justice!" the Emperor said calmly.
Upon hearing this, the courtiers were all stunned.
The emperor initially refused, but now he suddenly changed his mind, which is very strange.
"I will order the Imperial City Guard to secretly gather evidence. If anyone is found to have colluded with the criminals and tried to exonerate them, they will all be severely punished!"
"this--"
The Minister of Justice was dumbfounded. The Emperor seemed to have backed down, but he dared not accept it.
Does anyone know what evidence the Imperial City Guard has in their possession?
If the Ministry of Justice takes over and really wants to investigate thoroughly, then what's the point of taking on this task that might offend people?
While other crimes might be considered innocent due to insufficient evidence, a serious crime like treason is unacceptable.
Those who had dealings with Prince Chong must prove their innocence.
Even if the Ministry of Justice has not done anything wrong, if the Imperial City Guard has more evidence than the Ministry of Justice, according to the Emperor's intention, it means that the Ministry of Justice is covering up the wrongdoing.
Who would dare to take that job?
"What's wrong?"
The Emperor said calmly, "Is my subject in a difficult position?"
"Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance and requires the cooperation of the Court of Judicial Review and the Censorate," said the Minister of Justice.
He had just said that the Imperial City Guard should not be in charge, so he naturally could not refuse this task now.
But he was unwilling to take the blame alone and drag the Dali Temple and the Censorate into the mess, since the law does not punish the masses.
He didn't believe the Emperor could take down the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate all at once.
"The Ministry of Justice is responsible for all cases in the country, so naturally it should be the Ministry of Justice in charge."
The Emperor said calmly, "After the Ministry of Justice has investigated and clarified the matter, the Court of Judicial Review and the Censorate can then attend and supervise the public trial."
"this--"
The Minister of Justice was sweating profusely; the Emperor was determined to put the Ministry of Justice in charge of this matter.
Although the Court of Judicial Review and the Court of Censors supervised the proceedings, they could only determine whether there were any problems based on the evidence gathered by the Ministry of Justice.
If anything goes wrong, the Ministry of Justice will still be the one to take the blame.
"His Majesty!"
Han Zhang stepped forward and said, "The Imperial City Guard has been investigating for so long, it would be inappropriate to change people rashly."
Your subject believes that the Imperial City Guard should continue the investigation, and when the trial takes place, the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate should send personnel to supervise and observe the proceedings to prevent wrongful convictions.
Upon hearing this, the emperor glanced at Han Zhang with surprise; he actually wanted to remove Han Zhang from his position.
Han Zhang was the Grand Chancellor, and he had the power to reject any imperial decree.
In other words, whatever decree he issued could not be carried out if Han Zhang disagreed.
This position is extremely important; he must control this position to do anything he wants.
It was only because he had just ascended the throne and did not want to cause too much turmoil, and there was no suitable candidate to succeed him, that he had not taken any action for a long time.
The Emperor is even more determined to replace Han Zhang now that Han Zhang has led the opposition against the Imperial City Guard's task of investigating traitors.
But then Han Zhang suddenly changed his mind, which surprised him.
Could it be that Han Zhang was forced to come, and it wasn't his own intention?
Is changing your tune now a gesture of goodwill towards him?
If Han Zhang were obedient, he wouldn't actually want to change.
After all, he didn't have a suitable candidate, and even if he replaced him with someone else, they might not listen to him.
The Emperor hesitated for a moment before saying, "The Grand Chancellor's words make sense. Let's do it this way. After the Imperial City Guard has investigated thoroughly, on the day of the trial, the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate will send people to observe and supervise!"
This was his bottom line from the beginning; if there wasn't solid evidence beforehand, there was no need to take action.
He didn't intend to mobilize many people this time; he just wanted to vent his anger.
Aren't you afraid that I will take action against civil officials?
Then I will not only take action, but also kill people.
He didn't care whether there was one person or ten.
"Your Majesty is wise!!" the crowd exclaimed in unison.
Wang You was unaware of what was happening in the palace, even though the Imperial City Guard had brought back the prisoners one after another and the interrogations had officially begun.
The only evidence the Imperial City Guard currently possesses are the account books and those letters.
Different people have different understandings of faith.
The reason why Prince Chong kept these letters was that he intended to use them to threaten these people at a crucial moment.
From this perspective, those who left the letter for the Prince Chong were not actually involved in the rebellion.
If he really wanted to participate, there was no need for Chong Wang to keep the letter.
-
Even if they were worried that the other party might betray them and keep the letter as a threat, they would still keep it separately.
However, these letters involved more than twenty officials, yet they were all put together.
The letter contained nothing more than boasting about being a king and expressing loyalty to him.
The boasts were simple, nothing more than saying how wise and powerful Prince Chong was, and how much better he was than Prince Yong.
His words made it seem as if the throne was rightfully his.
It depends on how you interpret it.
It could be said that it was written during the struggle between Prince Yong and Prince Chong for the position of crown prince, or it could be said that it was written in support of Prince Chong's rebellion.
Wang You felt it was more likely the former, but these letters were somewhat ambiguous.
Prince Chong kept these letters so that he could use them to threaten officials into taking sides after he launched a palace coup.
After all, he needed the help of his court officials to stabilize the situation after launching the palace coup.
Even when he forced the emperor to write an edict of succession, someone still needed to verify the authenticity of the edict.
This is the same as when Emperor Taizong ascended the throne.
The legitimacy of Emperor Taizong's succession to the throne remains a subject of much debate even in later generations.
Some people believe that Emperor Taizu did indeed groom Emperor Taizong as his successor from the beginning; otherwise, he would not have given him so much power and appointed him as the Prefect of Kaifeng.
Secondly, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was too chaotic, making it difficult for several sons to control the overall situation.
Emperor Taizu himself seized power from others, so he naturally understood this principle.
Furthermore, with the Golden Box Covenant in place, his throne was indeed passed down to him by Emperor Taizu.
However, these reasons need to be examined separately. Emperor Taizu did indeed initially groom Emperor Taizong as his successor.
Although Emperor Taizu seized the throne from the Later Zhou dynasty, many other states still existed in the north and south at that time.
When Emperor Taizu first ascended the throne, he personally led several military campaigns, and he was not sure if he would die on the battlefield.
At the time, his son was still young, and he worried that if he died, his son might seize the throne from the Later Zhou dynasty. Therefore, he groomed his younger brother to be his successor.
However, by the time of his death, only the Northern Han, barely clinging to life, remained, while the Song Dynasty was internally stable and militarily strong.
This can be seen from the fact that not long after Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, he destroyed the Northern Han and led his exhausted army all the way to the walls of Youzhou, where he recovered most of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun.
If Emperor Taizong hadn't been so impatient and had made proper preparations, he might have been able to reclaim the sixteen territories of Yan and Yun in one fell swoop.
In other words, the Northern Song Dynasty at that time was already a relatively stable regime.
As for the situation of a weak ruler and a strong minister, it did not exist. At that time, Emperor Taizu's two sons, the elder 25 and the younger 17, were considered adults in ancient times.
Under these circumstances, Emperor Taizu did not need to worry about these issues and naturally wanted to pass the throne to his son.
The third point is the Golden Chest Alliance.
This idea was proposed by Zhao Pu after Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, when some people questioned the legitimacy of his throne.
It is said that Empress Dowager Du asked him to witness the decision.
If that's the case, why was Zhao Pu the only witness? Why didn't Emperor Taizong mention it in the first place?
But it was precisely because Zhao Pu stood by him, and because Emperor Taizu had indeed initially groomed Emperor Taizong as his successor, that this matter was confirmed.
Similarly, if Prince Chong's rebellion succeeds, he will need someone to endorse him and validate the legitimacy of his throne.
These letters are the bargaining chips.