"It is a good thing but not a wish, and the crime is extremely immoral. Someone sent an envoy to examine the case." [Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Volume 50, Biography of the Eight Kings of Xiaoming]
Weiyang Palace, Xuanshi Palace.
The emperor was shocked by Liu Miao's abnormal words and deeds, but he soon regained his composure, stared at him and said, "You are quite surprised." He stood up from the table, walked around for a long time, and then slowly said:
"No one has mentioned Prince Chen before. You dared to speak out as soon as you took office. It seems that you have a lot on your mind."
"The evidence of King Chen's rebellion is conclusive. Xu Jian, the councilor, was once the Prime Minister of Chen State and participated in the army to attack Dong. He relied heavily on the strength of Chen State." When Liu Miao came, he had already thought of his wording and showed no cowardice: "Later, the imperial court worshiped Zhong Shao as Prime Minister of Chen State.
The army went on an expedition, and the food, fodder, and weapons provided by the Chen State were useless. If there was no intention of looking into the cauldron, how could the Chen State have such a huge army and armor?"
He deliberately wanted to amplify the seriousness of King Chen's rebellion, so he changed his usual calm and low-key style and spoke incessantly, speaking plausibly. The key is that every sentence is worthy of scrutiny and does not mean any false accusation. Zhong Yao, the servant, saw the emperor's
His face was a little gloomy, and he seemed to be a little worried, so he winked at Zhong Ji, the minister of Huangmen. Zhong Ji understood and knew that Zhong Shao was more or less involved in this matter. If he was investigated, it would be obvious to King Chen that Zhong Shao was the king's prime minister at that time.
Why didn't you point it out at the time? So he smoothed things over and said: "I remember that the court did have a proposal to punish me at that time, but because of the continuous conquests and the disturbance to the clan, I decided to temporarily discuss it for the sake of the overall situation. After the world was peaceful, my brother wanted to be punished.
According to the newspaper, I didn’t expect that I would appoint the governor again. After all, I found out that I missed something important. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”
Zhong Ji properly placed the blame on Zhong Shao, which immediately made the emperor's face look much better. It was not the emperor who made the mistake, but the people below him who made the mistake. There is a difference between the two.
Liu Miao also broke out in cold sweat when he heard this. He didn't expect that there was such a level. He just pushed King Chen out and diverted his attention. If the emperor really lost face, he wouldn't be able to bear the consequences this time.
gone.
"In this case, we should quickly let Zhong Shenfu tell the truth about the matter."
The emperor stared at Liu Miao faintly and said to the people around him: "There is also Xu Jue. When he responded to challenge Dong, he used the soldiers of Chen State! I remember that King Chen also led a crowd to garrison at that time and called himself the general of the Fu Han Dynasty. This matter
He must have something to do with Xu Jian, so let him visit Tingwei himself and explain everything he has to say clearly, otherwise, the law will not tolerate mercy."
After hearing this, Liu Miao gritted his teeth, bowed his head and said, "King Chen is plotting a rebellion. I am loyal to Zongzheng and must punish him!"
The emperor was startled when he heard the other party's arrogance, and then said: "You want to go to the Chen Kingdom? Today I am calling you, and I want you to take over the affairs of the Langye Kingdom."
Liu Miao's heart skipped a beat when he heard that. He couldn't figure out for a moment whether the emperor's plan was good or bad. Now that it was all said and done, Liu Miao had no chance to regret it: "I think that compared with Chen State and Langxie State,
Next, the affairs of Chen State are more important, and the deeds of its king are known to the public. However, only one person has spoken about the Langxie matter at the moment, so there is still room for investigation... Moreover, King Langxie and his ministers are uncles and nephews, so they should avoid suspicion.
It is not advisable to move forward in order to preserve justice.”
"What Zong Zheng said makes sense." Zhong Yao interrupted at the right time, seemingly speaking for Liu Miao fairly, but when the other party lowered his head, there was a contemptuous smile on his lips: "Now we should quickly order Liu Ai, the governor of Yuzhou.
, Receive the favor of the King of Chen to examine the evidence of his crimes, and then send Da Hongxu to Zhijie and Zong Zheng, the Tingwei of the State of Chen."
What Zhong Yao said is almost exactly the same as the process by which Emperor Xiaoling dealt with King Liu Kui of Bohai. With these people, King Chen was equivalent to being sentenced to death.
At this time, Pang Tong, the minister of Huangmen, put forward a different opinion: "Not long after the death of the King of Jinan, the kings in various places were isolated and frightened. Although the court wanted to formally punish King Chen, it is best to deal with King Chen step by step. Chen Xiang Zhang Fan,
It is his responsibility to walk in a clean manner and advance and retreat according to the law. The affairs of the Chen State belong to his duty. I think that he can be investigated first, and then he can be ordered to be the governor of Yuzhou. Otherwise, Zhang Fan, as the king's prime minister, will have to take the blame and resign first.
"
Zhongji also realized that if he wanted to be blamed, shouldn't that kind of thing be the same? So he also supported Pang Tong's view and asked Chen Prime Minister Zhang Fan to investigate first. No matter how the investigation turned out, as long as the court stated that it did not blame Chen Prime Minister
For the sin of dereliction of duty, the rest is easy to explain.
Zhong Yao didn't object after hearing this.
The emperor nodded and said casually: "Let Zhongshu draft an imperial edict based on this, and govern the Chen Kingdom first, and then discuss other matters."
Because of Liu Miao's sudden mention of King Chen's past, although King Langxie's turmoil has not ended, it no longer attracts too much attention.
Chen Wang and Liu Chong thought that since the imperial court had not investigated him for so long, he would have been fine long ago. Unexpectedly, the Queen of Autumn was settling accounts at this time. He originally wanted to make excuses, but Xu Jun confessed everything as soon as he entered Tingwei Prison.
At this time, the emperor adopted Zhong Yao's suggestion and asked Liu Ai to test King Chen.
Liu Miao breathed a sigh of relief at this point. Before he was about to leave for Chen State with Dahong Zhou Huan and Tingwei Yang Pei, Liu Yu specially invited him into the mansion. After meeting, Liu Yu asked accusingly: "Report
Prince Chen, why didn’t you discuss this matter with me in advance?”
"What does Liu Gong mean by this?" Liu Miao felt extremely confused. Even if the other party didn't help him, now he was blamed for making arbitrary decisions. Did Liu Yu really regard him as his official?
"King Chen's rebellion should have been severely punished. In the past, due to various reasons, he was not allowed to enforce national laws. Now that the matter has been exposed, how can we allow him to continue to be aloof from the law?" Liu Miao's heart dropped, and his tone was a little unhappy: "Could it be that
Isn't this current situation what Mr. Liu wants to see?"
Seeing this, Zhao Gai hurriedly stepped forward to smooth things over: "Uncle Zong has misunderstood! Mr. Liu has been worried for days and is trying to save Langxie. Who would have thought that Uncle Zong had a clever plan of his own, so that our efforts were in vain, so we feel aggrieved."
." He pulled Liu Miao's sleeve and said with a smile: "The matter of King Chen is of great importance. No one expected that it would be exposed like this... Do you know why?"
Liu Miao's eyelids twitched. For some reason, he suddenly felt a chill behind him, as if he had made some mistake.
"Why?"
"Of course King Chen is running around, and there are people in the court who protect him." Zhao Gai said slowly and glanced at Liu Yu's face.
Liu Miao subconsciously got rid of Zhao Gai's sleeve, took half a step back, and said in confusion: "Could it be that... how is this possible..."
Zhao Gai frowned, looked at Liu Miao's defensive look, and said casually: "This has nothing to do with Liu Gong. It is just that it involves too many people, including former Zongzheng and others. Liu Gong is only occasionally involved. It is revealed now.