Seeing that the finger was pointed at him, Cui Yingyuan did not panic at all, but said with a slight sarcasm:
"If you say others are mad dogs, I think you are the real mad dog."
"I came to Shandong on the emperor's order. How could you know that?"
"Xu Hongru just mentioned the Kong family, but you are so excited. Could it be that you know something inside?"
"Or is it true that Xu Hongru and others are in cahoots with you and the Kong family, and you are also a participant in it?"
Cui Yingyuan's few rhetorical questions left the officials present speechless.
They also realized that their reaction was too intense.
Although they knew that the Kong family was definitely not behind the scenes, how could they be alienated from their relationship with the Kong family after serving as officials in Shandong for many years?
They have received no less benefits and favors over the years. They also know a lot about what the Kong family has done.
Apart from anything else, they are the participants in smuggling food supplies to Liaodong for sale.
Moreover, the Kong family annexed land and joined forces with officials like them to massively occupy the land of the military garrison in the garrison.
With the current emperor's methods, they can't even leave a whole corpse behind.
If the trouble really got to the capital and the emperor came in to investigate, they would be doomed.
Although they had not discussed it in advance, they now agreed on the idea that Xu Hongru should not be allowed to come to the capital.
But Cui Yingyuan held the imperial decree and had the support of tens of thousands of troops from Cao Wenzhao and Shen Yourong. Even if ten thousand of them were unwilling, they could not prevent Xu Hongru from being escorted back to Beijing.
Liu Zongzhou was even more miserable because he had just taken office.
He thought that capturing Xu Hongru would be a great achievement, but he didn't expect that the involvement would be so huge. For a while, he could only acquiesce.
Cui Yingyuan also understood the reason behind Chi Zesheng's change. After a few brief words with them, he immediately made arrangements to return to Beijing.
In order to ensure that Xu Hongru arrived in Beijing alive, he decided to escort him personally with Cao Wenzhao.
Hurrying slowly along the way, we finally reached the capital safely.
At this time, the capital's court was like a pot of boiling water, completely exploding.
After all, Xu Hongru's confession and identification of the Kong family as the masterminds behind the scenes was no small matter.
Naturally, it cannot be suppressed, so even before Cui Yingyuan returned to Beijing, Xu Hongru's confession and what happened in Shandong had already spread widely.
Most officials and gentry certainly don't believe it.
In their opinion, this is pure nonsense. The descendants of Confucius and Sheng rebelled, so it is more credible to say that the Ming Dynasty was destroyed.
In their opinion, Xu Hongru was just a dog jumping over the wall and took a random bite before his death.
Some extreme supporters even bluntly said that this was a conspiracy, and the purpose was to bring bad luck to the Kong family.
And they worked out a reasonable logic.
This incident was planned by the eunuch party headed by Wei Zhongxian.
Cui Yingyuan brought a large number of people to Shandong two years ago. Who knows what they went to do?
Two years later, a civil uprising broke out in Shandong, and Xu Hongru identified the Confucius family.
This is a shocking conspiracy that has been planned for many years and is specifically targeting the Kong family.
Many people appealed not to fall into the trap, and then wrote to the court one after another, hoping that the court could kill Xu Hongru quickly to prevent him from talking nonsense and ruining the reputation of the saint.
With the support of so many people among the people, the ministers who were officials in the government also took a rare bold step and united the front again.
They jointly submitted a letter asking the emperor to kill the eunuchs headed by Wei Zhongxian, so as to restore the Kong family's innocence and bring peace to everyone.
What they didn't know was that Zhu Youxiao didn't even read the joint memorial they had written so painstakingly, and threw it directly into the stove, thus contributing a little to keep him warm in this cold winter.
Just kidding, how could he come forward to respond to this matter? Silence is the best at this time.
Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied with the errand done by Cui Yingyuan.
Basically, no loopholes can be found, and people who don't know the inside story will not have the slightest suspicion that this was planned by him.
At most, some people suspect Wei Zhongxian with conspiracy theories, but what does this have to do with him?
When Xu Hongru and five others were imprisoned in the Jinyiwei Prison.
The latest newspaper from Daming Daily will be released accordingly.
The content in the newspaper caused a stir in the capital.
There is no other reason. The content positively explains that Cui Yingyuan went to Shandong on the emperor's order to investigate the White Lotus cult and smuggling businessmen.
It directly shattered some people's conspiracy theories, and the possibility of the eunuchs targeting the Kong family was completely eliminated.
This can be regarded as Zhu Youxiao's disguised response, because Daming Daily was founded as early as the forty-eighth year of Wanli.
It is under the jurisdiction of the Information Department and is a serious official organization.
Now that it has been in operation for more than two years, most people already know about Daming Daily.
Therefore, no one can question the content published by newspapers.
With the widespread dissemination and publicity of the newspaper contents, the discussion on Xu Hongru's confession has become more and more intense in both the government and the public.
Not to mention the educated gentry, even the ordinary people who were illiterate still did not dare or did not want to believe that the Kong family would rebel.
After all, the Kong family is the descendant of a saint, a great family that has been inherited for more than two thousand years. There has never been any remarks or incidents of rebellion by the Kong family in all dynasties.
Naturally, everyone will not believe it easily.
The reason why Daming Daily published such content was naturally under Zhu Youxiao's instruction.
He must guide and control public opinion, otherwise he will be passive.
His purpose in publishing these contents was to first tell the world what Cui Yingyuan's purpose was in going to Shandong.
After all, he holds in his hands a large amount of evidence of the Kong family's illegal activities, smuggling and collaborating with the enemy.
These are powerful evidences that will eradicate the Kong family. Let them have a solid foundation first, and then everything will be smooth sailing.
As for the Kong family, Zhu Youxiao also paid full attention to it.
After three days of silence, Zhu Youxiao finally reacted and would summon the ministers in the Wenhua Palace to interrogate Xu Hongru and the other five people in front of hundreds of civil and military officials.
Zhu Youxiao wanted to make everyone in the world speechless and completely confirm the fact that the Confucius family was rebelling, so that he would no longer have any resistance.
At this upcoming critical moment, Zhu Youxiao will inevitably feel nervous and uneasy, and at the same time, he will feel a little regretful.
He can eradicate Beikong, but he will never be able to completely wipe out the inheritance of the Kong family, let alone change the status and influence of Kong Sheng.
After all, this has not been done or realized in later generations.
Therefore, he will not be too whimsical.
For him, as long as he can kill Beikong, take back the land in Shandong, and obtain their wealth, money and food, it is enough.
After the edict was issued, the government and the public held their breath at the same time, and the noisy topics and discussions of the past few days disappeared.
Everyone was waiting quietly for the emperor's decision and the final result.