Over the past year, Wei Zhongxian has received less abuse from these literati and Confucian scholars?
But what's the result? Those who cursed and insulted him are either going to see the Lord of Hell or suffering endless torture in the prison.
"With the irrefutable evidence in front of us, what else is there to say? So what if your words turn the world upside down? Can it change the facts?"
Wei Zhongxian's arrogant words instantly broke the guard of these fearful officials.
And Wei Zhongxian's next words left them speechless.
"Our family is just telling the truth to Lord Long Live, so why are you so eager to excuse those profiteers who are causing harm to the country and the people? What is your intention? Could it be that you are colluding with the profiteers?"
Although Wei Zhongxian is a rogue with almost zero level of ****, he has been in the world for so many years.
After more than twenty years in the palace, he was able to protect himself, win favor with the Hakka family, and gain the emperor's attention. How could he not have any real information!
The level of speaking and doing is still good. Although it is not too clever, it is enough to deal with these talkers.
Seeing that these officials were frightened and speechless at his words, Wei Zhongxian continued:
"Why, our family just said it casually and you all shut up. Doesn't this mean there is no three hundred taels of silver here?"
Only then did they realize that they had fallen into Wei Wei's trap without realizing it.
Now, no matter whether they continue to speak out and accuse Wei Zhongxian, or whether they remain silent and watch what happens, they will be labeled as profiteers and associates.
Although Wei Zhongxian didn't understand any big principles, when it came to this routine, these civil servants who were well-read in poetry and books and full of economics were not necessarily his opponents.
Zhang Dawei knew that something was wrong, so he immediately gave up his verbal dispute with Wei Zhongxian and directly advised the emperor:
"Your Majesty, the words of the factory guards must not be taken lightly. They rely on Your Majesty's divine power to exercise power, oppress the people, and frame and murder loyal ministers and righteous people in the court."
"The factory guards are running rampant in the capital, arresting people and lynching them arbitrarily, and public resentment has already boiled over!"
"Everyone in the world hates the factory guards so much that they wish they could eat their flesh and drink their blood. Why can't your Majesty see it?"
"Besides, these so-called evidences of guilt have no factual basis at all. The so-called ironclad evidences are only a few pieces, which are really unconvincing!"
After Zhang Dawei finished speaking, he knelt down and knelt down on the ground with a heartbroken look. At first glance, he looked a bit like those ancient high-ranking scholars admonishing the emperor.
He had no choice but to frantically throw dirty water on the factory guards to get a slim chance of survival.
Wei Zhongxian was not panicked at all, and even felt a little ridiculous. He immediately retorted:
"What do you mean by a few things that are not credible? From our point of view, you are probably stupid because of reading. Are there obvious facts that you want to turn upside down?"
"Let me tell you that these crimes were all confessed by the profiteers themselves. We are just interrogating them as usual!"
Confess on your own? What does this mean? Could it be that the factory guards have arrested people and put them in jail?
Wei Zhongxian snorted coldly and did not answer. Now these people were so anxious that they almost didn't press for questions.
Zhu Youxiao scolded, and the hall quickly became quiet, and then officially announced that all the people on the memorial list had been arrested and interrogated.
When the officials learned that the emperor secretly sent factory guards and troops to Shanxi to arrest all the wealthy gentry and merchants there, they were shocked.
They looked at each other in disbelief, wondering if they had heard wrongly.
The emperor had already taken action, but they had been kept in the dark.
If I had known this was the case, I would not have stood up for those businessmen even if I had killed them, at least I would not have defended them so blatantly and exonerated them!
After what happened today, even if they are not on the emperor's blacklist, they must be under focused surveillance and investigation.
Several officials have already shown signs of despair. They are completely finished. They like to use torture and want to get to the bottom of everything. The ruthless emperor will not let them go.
Zhu Youxiao immediately dismissed all the officials who had just quarreled with Wei Zhongxian on suspicion of being profiteers and party members and handed them over to the Ministry of Punishment for interrogation.
In fact, what he did was completely unreasonable. Among so many dynasties, there are very few examples of people being investigated because of suspicion.
This will only happen unless they are the kind of people who have committed public outrage and been criticized by thousands of people. But at most, they have only been dismissed from their posts or retired from official positions, and they have not directly been sent to prison.
Wang Xiangqian, the first assistant, felt the emperor's determination and finally couldn't help but voice his advice.
But it had no effect. Zhu Youxiao just gave him a few perfunctory words and stopped responding. Wang Xiangqian knew that he was not trying to please him, so he didn't say anything more.
Zhang Dawei closed his eyes in despair and allowed the guards to pick him up and drag him out.
The court hall fell into a deathly silence. Today's great court meeting was really too difficult for the officials.
Either he was directly killed in battle, or he was dismissed from his post and imprisoned, and so many unbelievable things happened. It was simply too shocking.
They had no way of guessing the emperor's temperament and ways. Without any mental preparation, big events would happen from time to time.
It can be said that they are all in danger now. After all, their foundation is not clean.
Zhu Youxiao did not directly order how to deal with those Shanxi merchants, but directly ignored the matter and discussed other matters.
The reason why he wanted to announce it at the court meeting was just to make the smuggling party reveal itself.
Now that the matter has been made clear, Zhu Youxiao has nothing to hide.
Zhu Youxiao immediately issued an order to draw up a decree. Chen Qiyu, the governor of Shanxi, was changed to the governor of Xuanda. He was changed from Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Personnel to Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of War. He was also the governor of Shanxi Yiying military affairs and military preparations, as well as food and salary matters.
The governor of Shanxi was no longer established, and the governor of Shanxi was re-established. Wang Sanshan, the censor of Youqiandu, was appointed as the governor of Shanxi to assist Chen Qiyu in rectifying border defense and military affairs and handling people's livelihood and internal affairs!
The reason why Zhu Youxiao made such an arrangement was that he was afraid that the civil and military generals in Shanxi would jump over the wall because they were afraid of their responsibilities to the imperial court.
After all, once these people, who have long ignored the court and the emperor, are really pushed into a hurry, it will only be a matter of time before they cause chaos and cause trouble.
Chen Qiyu and Wang Sanshan both have certain military skills and are not bad at managing politics.
They are barely qualified both in civil and military affairs, so it is the best arrangement for them to go to Shanxi.
Once the so-called mutiny and civil unrest really breaks out, they will be able to handle and suppress it in time. Even if it doesn't work, there are still soldiers and horses in Xuanzang all over Guizhou. He doesn't believe that Shanxi's sky will turn upside down!
Then he issued another decree, and Sun Chuanting was promoted to Shanxi Youbuzheng Envoy, responsible for appeasing the people who were displaced due to disasters.