Zhu Youzhe used the edict to inquire about the handling results of the ministers on the examination and sale of the Ministry of Rites.∽↗∽↗,

In front of Wenhua Hall, except for Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, everyone else came. It was reasonable for Zhu Youzhang to take the opportunity to ask them for their opinions on the matter.

But to really discuss the matter, regarding the case of selling questions from the Ministry of Rites, only one need to give the scholars of the world an explanation, so that Tang Yin and Xu Jing were imprisoned without evidence.

But according to the legal principles, who should be punished should be to have someone testified and physical evidence before they can be asked for the crime. Now, based on Du Mu's false accusations and Hua Feng's memorial, he hurriedly sent Tang Yin and Xu Jing to prison and torture, which is inconsistent with the legal principles. The ministers will inevitably think: "You, Bai Ang, is the Minister of Justice, should advise Your Majesty to do things according to the law. How can you make innocent people wronged in order to one-sidedly emphasize the law and discipline?"

In the Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple and the Censorate were responsible for the finalization of cases of all sizes. However, now Tang Yin, Xu Jing and Hua Sheng were not under the Three-Secret Office, but the imperial prison. Even the ministers present were afraid of the imperial prisons of the Ming Dynasty.

Now Tang Yin and Xu Jing have not been convicted, but as long as they are sent to the imperial prison, they will not receive any confession after being severely tortured.

According to Bai Ang's opinion, no matter who it is, as long as it is related to the case, whether it is guilty or not, it will be taken down first. Although it is somewhat unreasonable, it is the best way to shut up the emperor and scholars. This is in line with the doctrine of the mean of Confucianism. If you don't seek merits but do nothing wrong, I will take whoever the public opinion points to, so that public opinion will naturally calm down and the court will be stable.

After Bai Ang's opinion was expressed, many ministers present stood on Bai Ang's side, especially Dali Temple Minister Wang Shi and Zuodu Censor Min Gui, who were both in charge of the Sansi Yamen. They basically kept pace with each other in some cases of all sizes. What's more, Bai Ang's "legal law" advocated always sounds correct.

Zhu Youting nodded, but thought for a little while. He was obviously considering whether to re-arrange the ranking of the new Kegongs. He even beat the new Kegongs and replaced them with someone else.

But at this time, several Hanlin bachelors stopped working.

Emperor Hongzhi asked Cheng Minzheng, who is also a Hanlin bachelor, to be the chief examiner. It is said that he leaked the questions, but now there is no evidence, so he will be imprisoned and questioned on the grounds of "legal law". If we are also the examiner in the future, if there is a little problem, and public opinion also accuses us of selling the questions, will the court be led by the nose and will also be imprisoned and questioned.

Cheng Minzheng made great achievements in both being an official and studying. Before the sell-off case, Cheng Minzheng was one of the most popular among the many Hanlin bachelors, and the famous scholars in the world were also respectful to Cheng Minzheng.

After the Suotuo case occurred, many people in the court realized that this was actually just a power struggle within the court. Just because Cheng Minzheng had a difficult problem, he was attacked and exploited by someone. Just imagine that even Cheng Minzheng was innocent, then Tang Yin and Xu Jing were even more innocent, let alone a Cheng-Examination Cheng Yuan Chenxi who had never had contact with Cheng Minzheng.

Jiao Fang, a Shaoqing of Taichang Temple and a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy, stood up first. He spoke to the person involved in the case of selling the subject and said: "Your Majesty, I think the case of selling the subject should be transferred from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Justice for thorough investigation. After the matter is found, the verdict will be finalized. As for the tribute scholars recorded, if the investigation is related to this case, they will not be tolerated; if there is no evidence in the investigation, the verdict cannot be opened, otherwise the law will not exist and people will be unable to accept it."

As Jiao Fang spoke, Li Jie and Wang Jiao stood on his side first, and then Xu Guan, the Minister of Works, agreed.

In this way, there are three votes on one side and four votes on the other side.

Zhu Youzhang looked up and said that as an emperor, he should have absolute authority, but since he became emperor, he has been severely clamped by court officials. Many times when he felt overwhelmed, he would hand over the matter to the ministers. Rather than saying that the biggest hero of Hongzhi's revival was Zhu Youzhang, it would be better to say that he was a famous inside and outside minister whom he valued. There was an iron triangle of the cabinet inside and the three gentlemen of Hongzhi outside. It was precisely because of these people that Hongzhi was prosperous all the time.

In this case, the most important opinion of the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet is whether to continue to investigate thoroughly or to imprison and torture all the crimes? As long as Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian express their opinions, others will basically not have any other opinions. But these three people are also very clear about their position. If one is not good, it will affect the emperor's will. Their decisions may even affect whether the case of the sale of the matter will be finalized.

So in this case, the three cabinet ministers chose not to express their opinions.

Zhu Youzhang did not force him, and then looked at Ma Wensheng and others, wanting to know what these people stand.

At this time, in addition to the seven who had already expressed their opinions, there were three grand scholars with unknown tendencies. The only ones who did not express their opinions were Tu Fei, Ma Wensheng, Zhou Jing and Yuan Shouzhi.

Among them, Tu Fei, the Minister of Personnel, the head of the six ministries, is the most important opinion. In addition to the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, he is the absolute top leader in the six ministries, and his vote can even be as high as others.

Among the four, Yuan Shouzhi's opinion was the secondiest, and he had the lowest official position, and he was on the position of Left Minister of the Ministry of Rites, which was somewhat related to the case of sales. Keeping silent is the best choice.

It is difficult to express opinions from one end or another. In fact, what we need to listen to now is the meaning of Ma Wensheng and Zhou Jing. Zhou Jing is a representative of the mean school. Basically, he supports the side of the group. He is a typical fence-bearer. Therefore, the most critical vote fell on Ma Wensheng, the Minister of War.

Ma Wensheng led troops in the northwest for many years and had a great reputation in the government and the country. In terms of his contribution to the Hongzhi Dynasty, he was no less than the iron triangle of the cabinet. No matter how strong the iron triangle of the cabinet was, he was only planned to be the emperor's vote, and he was executed by the government orders, while Ma Wensheng was a specific person responsible for the execution. Without him, how to pacify foreign barbarians in the northwest and how to invade the world and be safe.

Everyone looked at Ma Wensheng, and saw Ma Wensheng walking out with a tablet and saluted respectfully: "I think that if there is no evidence to start a large-scale verdict, it will only make the scholar feel disappointed."

One sentence shows his position and stands firmly on Jiao Fang's side, not supporting the "legal law and discipline" and imprisons all the people involved.

Bai Ang's frowns. Although he did not agree with Ma Wensheng's opinion, he dared not accuse Ma Wensheng in public. After all, Ma Wensheng was also a Jinshi. He made many achievements during his civil service. He also made great contributions to the military position as a literati. It was inappropriate for both of them to attack each other. But he couldn't help but ask: "The scholars studied hard for more than ten years, only seeking a title for the gold list for one day, but now they are in the imperial examination. The court should strictly enforce the laws and regulations. According to the intention of Shangshu Ma, they tolerate traitors. The scholars are not disappointed."

Zhou Jing came forward and said, "This Bai Shangshu cannot say this. In fact, Ma Shangshu's intention is to find out the truth first before the final judgment can be made. Now the scholars in the capital are just catching up on the wind and shadow, saying that who is related to the case of selling the papers. If they point to one, the court will take one, then it will be true that the law and discipline will not exist."

Although Zhou Jing’s words were reasonable, it sounded a little shameless to most people. You didn’t say anything just now, but now when you saw Ma Wensheng standing on Jiao Fang’s side, you immediately jumped out to agree, as if you were expected to be adopted by the emperor in the end.

As expected, after Ma Wensheng made a statement, Tu Feng and Yuan Shouzhi also expressed their attitude, believing that major events should not be made public.

In this way, the only one who truly supports the "correcting the law and discipline" and puts all the people involved in the case to imprison them is the head of the Sansi Yamen. They should have been the pioneers of maintaining the law and discipline of the Ming Dynasty. However, their opinions have not been supported by the ministers.

"in this way"

Zhu Youzhang paused slightly, "The memorial will be kept for the time being, and the palace examination will be held tomorrow as usual. Please come early tomorrow."

"Abide by the order."

All the ministers bowed and bowed.

Zhu Youzhang has too many worries. Since the ministers below have formed one-sided opinions, there is no need for him to make his own decisions against the minister's wishes. As for what he had before, it is no longer important.

Like most emperors who worked hard to govern, Zhu Youzhang wanted to live a more peaceful life and leave the difficult things to deal with when he was exhausted.

After coming out of Wenhua Palace, Bai Ang chased after him angrily, preparing to question Ma Wensheng. He had a good relationship with Ma Wensheng on weekdays, but the problem was that this case involved a criminal prison, so it would be fine if he, the Minister of Justice, could not get the support of those Hanlin scholars. Even a capable minister like Ma Wensheng was involved, and he felt a little angry.

"Brother Fu Tu. Do you have to refute my face in front of His Majesty that you are satisfied?" Bai Ang said so helplessly.

Among the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and the Seven Ministers, he was 64 years old and was considered a veteran. However, in terms of credit and qualifications, he was far less than Ma Wensheng, who was 73 years old this year.

In addition, Ma Wensheng rarely expressed his opinions on some court affairs. He used to try to be neutral and neutral, so that Zhu Youzhang would give him some face when he occasionally expressed his opinions. Even the emperor was like this, and Tu Fei and others were even more so. Therefore, in the previous voting, Ma Wensheng's vote was actually crucial.

Ma Wensheng smiled and asked back, "Then according to Tingyi, you must make this test and palace test a big upset before you can give up."

Bai Ang's face changed: "I just want to strictly enforce the law and discipline and involve the case, but Tang Yin, Xu Jing and one Huiyuan. Could it be that apart from these three people, it will affect my imperial examination and official position in the Ming Dynasty?"

Ma Wensheng sighed lightly: "Who knows whether one of them will become the backbone of the court in the future, and the stability of the country will be the body of one person."

Bai Ang was stunned by a word.

It's just three candidates. Even if one of them has won Huiyuan now, how long it will take to go from Huiyuan to the backbone of the court.

Ma Wensheng looked cautious when he said this, perhaps out of his love for talent, he felt that this should be done. But in Bai Ang's opinion, although these three people may make some contributions to the court, putting the three people in prison and questioning them so that the scholars could be calm and prepared for the next imperial examination, which was more obvious.

ps: The seventh update

After writing this chapter, the emperor felt relieved and finally explained the matter clearly. Before, Chen Xi helped Liu Daxia to do things, and then led to Zhou Jing and Ma Wensheng, which influenced the two of them by Liu Daxia's mouth, and then helped Chen Xi pass the danger. It was linked together. In this way, Chen Xi would not be so abrupt when he participated in the palace examination.

In fact, this case of selling the issue in the 12th year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty was full of loopholes, but just such a case was broken into a quasi-ministered minister of the Ministry of Rites and a great talent, which was enough to witness the darkness of the times. That was really a crime that would be a crime.

Okay, after writing this chapter, the emperor is ready to go to bed.

Before going to bed, the emperor paid a great tribute to the "Photography of the Face and Color" that he had just rewarded the leader. He didn't say that there will be another five update tomorrow, which means at least seven chapters updated. If the grades are good, it may be another eight chapters.
Chapter completed!