Soon after the officials filed into the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Emperor Deqing also arrived soon after. After another round of shouts of "Long Live the Mountain", the court meeting finally began.
Overall, today's court meeting was intense and boring.
The so-called "fierce" refers to the fact that courtiers with different opinions competed with each other at the court meeting and refused to give in to each other. The quarrels and heated debates continued throughout.
The so-called "boring" is because the situation of this court meeting was within the expectations of Zhao Junchen, Zhou Shangjing and others from beginning to end, and there were no surprises.
Because the chaos caused by Prince Zhu Heyu in Luoyang was too great and seriously violated the ethical concepts and official rules of this era, many officials believed that the seventh prince's ascendancy was a certainty and wanted to
Speculation was a way of currying favor, so at the beginning of the early dynasty, there were a large number of clear-minded officials, speculative officials, and even neutral officials who couldn't wait to impeach Zhu Heyu, hoping to depose Zhu Heyu in one go and support Zhu Hejian in power.
For a time, everyone was calling Zhu Heyu to be beaten, as if he was committing a heinous crime.
Then, the "Zhou Party" and the "Zhao Party" came forward to express their different opinions. They believed that although Prince Zhu Heyu's actions were excessive, they were also out of public interest. Moreover, the central court did not know the details yet.
It should be concluded rashly, in short, they are trying every possible means to temporarily preserve the crown prince Zhu Heyu and delay the seventh prince Zhu Hejian's ascension to the throne.
However, the momentum of condemning Zhu Heyu was too great. Even if the "Zhou" and "Zhao" parties joined forces, they were at a disadvantage for a while. They could only try their best to express some different views and barely prevent the temple center from quickly forming a unity.
Just an opinion.
Fortunately, just as Zhao Junchen expected, Emperor Deqing was also hesitant at this time. He had been sitting on the dragon throne without saying a word since he came to court, just quietly listening to the fierce arguments among the officials.
From beginning to end, he never showed any bias.
In this way, the officials spat countless words and argued for more than an hour. Seeing that no one could convince anyone, and it was getting late, Emperor Deqing, who had been silent for a long time, finally expressed his position.
However, Emperor Deqing still did not express his attitude at this time. He just asked Zhang De to collect the memorials prepared by hundreds of officials, saying that he would carefully read them and summarize the opinions of all parties before making a holy verdict.
After saying this, Emperor Deqing announced that he would go down to court. The officials wasted a lot of saliva, but in the end they only got a "re-discussion" result, which did not change anything.
At the same time, although Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing spent a lot of effort, they finally achieved their goal of delaying the seventh prince's ascension to the throne.
In this way, after the morning court ended, all the officials, either exhausted or unwilling, left the Hall of Supreme Harmony one after another.
But after Zhao Junchen left the Hall of Supreme Harmony with all the officials, he went in a circle to the imperial study room and asked Emperor Deqing to summon him for a private conversation.
Emperor Deqing seemed to be hesitant about Zhao Junchen's request for an audience, so Zhao Junchen waited for more than a quarter of an hour before finally summoning him.
*
When Zhao Junchen entered the imperial study, he found that there were two other people in the imperial study talking with Emperor Deqing, namely Zuo Zongzheng of the Zongren Mansion, Zhang Quan, the British Duke, and Lu Zhengming, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy.
Zhang Quan, as Zuo Zongzheng of the clan, had always assisted Emperor Deqing in managing the affairs of the royal clan, and was responsible for relaying the clan's requests and recording the clan's crimes and faults.
Lu Zhengming was a great scholar of the time, good at annotating classics and meanings. He had a very high status among scholars and could be called a master-like figure. Even when Zhou Shangjing saw him, he would be respectful. He was already in his late seventies and had always been in poor health.
He was often sick and often absent from court meetings, and even rarely went to the Hanlin Academy's Yamen. However, this man was a sign. Even though he was no longer able to hold an official position, Emperor Deqing always kept his position to show the power of the Ming Dynasty.
Culture flourishes.
Both Zhang Quan and Lu Zhengming have always maintained neutrality in the temple. They have never participated in party disputes, rarely express opinions, and will not compete with others for power. Although they have a high status, their presence is not
It's extremely low.
Emperor Deqing deliberately summoned these two people to talk at this time, and his intention was very obvious, which was to further find out the views of the clan and Confucianism on Prince Zhu Heyu.
After understanding Emperor Deqing's thoughts, Zhao Junchen entered the imperial study and stood aside silently, listening quietly to the conversation between Emperor Deqing, Zhang Quan and Lu Zhengming.
Just listen to Zhang Quan say: "Your Majesty, the prince's incident in Luoyang is too big, and now it has shocked all the clans and ancestors near the capital! Starting from last night, the threshold of the minister's home has been trampled to pieces. Inquiring about the news
, there is an endless stream of clan members and ancestors expressing their opinions!
The prince had just impeached each other with the vassals from various places. In the final analysis, it was just about power and responsibility. But this time he openly imprisoned King Fu and tortured the clan members. Naturally, many people will die and the foxes will be sad. It can be said that everyone is in danger.
Some people have even compared His Highness the Crown Prince to... Emperor Jianwen, believing that His Highness the Crown Prince is prejudiced and malicious towards the clan, and has no regard for blood ties. After ascending the throne, he might follow the example of Emperor Jianwen and cut down the vassal vassal again.
Moreover, according to Yichen, all this is just the beginning. When the news of the Luoyang incident spreads throughout the world, I am afraid that the backlash from clan members everywhere will be even greater."
After hearing Zhang Quan's report, Emperor Deqing frowned more and more, then turned to look at Lu Zhengming and asked: "Lao Aiqing Lu, what do you think of this matter?"
Lu Zhengming was too old and his reaction was a little slow. After hearing Emperor Deqing's inquiry, it took him a long time to react and said slowly: "Your Majesty, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty deposed hundreds of schools of thought and only respected Confucianism, it was because of the three principles of Confucianism.
Gang, Wuchang, Five Ethics, and Eight Virtues are all the principles of the world, which are most beneficial to the governance of the country and the education of the people! It can be said that since the Eastern Han Dynasty, Confucianism has been the basis of governance in all dynasties!
Among the "Five Constants", there is "benevolence" and "propriety", among the "Five Ethics" there is the saying of "ordering the elders and the young", and among the "Eight Virtues" there is also the word "Ti"!
However, His Highness the Crown Prince's actions in Luoyang were indeed excessive. Prince Fu was his uncle after all. The crimes under investigation had not yet been determined and had not received His Majesty's clear will. How could he be imprisoned at will? As for those clan members.
, they are all of royal blood and are his relatives, how can they be tortured arbitrarily?
Regardless of whether His Highness the Crown Prince is right about this matter or not, for us and other descendants of sages and sages, it is an evil act that ignores the general principles, because he has corrupted his moral example and given the world a wrong example. He must be criticized. In the future, this matter
If the incident is recorded in the history books, I’m afraid it won’t look good.”
When expressing their stance, Zhang Quan and Lu Zhengming remained neutral and only stated their opinions to Emperor Deqing from the perspective of clan and Confucianism.
But precisely because of this, Emperor Deqing did not dare to ignore their statements.
After Emperor Deqing was silent for a long time, he sighed slowly and said: "I am also deeply embarrassed by the current situation! Mr. Lu Aiqing, the British Duke, after you two go back, you must try your best to find ways to reduce the severity of this matter.
This will make it easier for me to make decisions in the future."
Upon hearing Emperor Deqing's instructions, both Zhang Quan and Lu Zhengming nodded in agreement, and then left the imperial study at Emperor Deqing's signal.
In this way, only Emperor Deqing and Zhao Junchen were left in the imperial study, as well as a few accompanying eunuchs.
Emperor Deqing remained silent and did not take the initiative to pay attention to Zhao Junchen. He was obviously in a very bad mood.
Seeing that such a silent atmosphere continued, Zhao Junchen turned his eyes, but put on a puzzled look, and asked proactively: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness has already submitted a secret to you, indicating that he
With the idea, he will take the initiative to act black to attract the grievances of the clan and severely punish the clan's crimes, and then it will be you who will act red to appease people and gain public support... Things are progressing according to His Highness the Crown Prince's plan. It can be said that everything is going well.
If it goes well, why are you unhappy?"
"It's so smooth!"
Following Zhao Junchen's words, Emperor Deqing's long-held anger was immediately aroused. Emperor Deqing, while scolding him angrily, even picked up the tea cup at hand and threw it at Zhao Junchen's feet, smashing it into pieces.
Debris all over the ground!
"He is not pretending to be a bad person. He is clearly pretending to be an unkind and domineering villain! Does he still have the word 'property' in his heart? How is this approach attracting the resentment of the clan? It is clearly attracting the resentment of the clan.
Criticism from all over the world! Has he ever thought about how I should punish him in order to stabilize the government and the opposition under such circumstances in order to quell the criticism of the world?
Indeed! I have the intention to depose him, but I am also his father and have placed high hopes on him. From the beginning to the end, I have never thought about deposing him and throwing him into the clan prison for life. That will only
Let him die in depression, and I will lose my black hair in vain! I hope that after he is deposed, he can still be a wealthy and idle man, with a safe and worry-free life! But his behavior does not force me to use the harshest means to punish him.
he?"
When Emperor Deqing shouted angrily, Zhao Junchen secretly looked up, only to find that Emperor Deqing, who had always been cold-tempered, had a hint of pain in his expression!
Seeing this situation, Zhao Junchen roughly understood Emperor Deqing's true thoughts. He was a little surprised. Unexpectedly, Emperor Deqing actually cared about the relationship between father and son at this time.
But Zhao Junchen had no sympathy for Emperor Deqing in his heart. Instead, he was a little sarcastic. Of course, on the surface, he looked sympathetic. He took a step forward and advised: "Your Majesty, please don't get angry. From what I see, the prince's behavior
Although it is a bit extreme, the situation is not that bad. As long as it is done properly, there is still room for recovery."