The three cabinet bachelors were all there, and they were also paying attention to the situation in front of Zuo Shun's gate at any time. However, it was not until noon that the news came that the emperor had sent Huang Jin to take six of the officials who were crying at the gate and escort them to the gate.
Beizhen Fusi, but nothing too drastic happened at the scene.
As for the situation of these six people after entering Beizhen Fusi, the outside world does not know. "It seems that they have to go to the Criminal Department."
As the first assistant, Fei Hong was under the greatest pressure at this time. After all, not long after Jiang Mian had retired, something like this happened at this time, which also showed that the emperor did not pay attention to him as the first assistant at all.
Liu Chun asked: "Who is going?"
Since Liu Chun asked this, it was obvious that he didn't want to go, and the person who went could not be Huang Huang from the Lili sect... What do you mean, Huang Zan went? It's better not to add insult to injury, right?
"I'll go there myself," Fei Hong said.
When Liu Chun heard this, he looked at Huang Zan and saw that Huang Huang said nothing, which meant that Huang Zan had no intention to participate in this incident. Although Huang Huang was nominally the leader of the Lili faction, Liu Chun now knew the real force behind it.
The person is Zhu Hao.
Liu Cundao said: "If the Ministry of Punishment goes to Beizhen Fusi to ask for someone, or else... then we can only avoid escalating the situation as much as possible." Huang Zan said: "We can't find someone to go to the palace gate to persuade those officials who are crying.
Let's go back?"
This becomes an unsolvable problem.
People from the Yili sect would not take the initiative to persuade, and the people from the Lili sect were all dead-headed and could not persuade them. But if they did not persuade, they would not be able to get rid of the people in front of Zuo Shun's gate, and even if they sent people to persuade them, they would not be able to persuade them.
It's useless...
In fact, the root of the problem is not to persuade the officials at the palace gate to go back. In fact, someone should be found to persuade the emperor to take a step back and let the court quiet down. Unfortunately, the emperor did not listen to the advice.
As a result, it evolved into a situation where neither side had a way out. It seemed that it was better to let the emperor solve the problem once and for all by force, otherwise things could only remain in a stalemate indefinitely.
Expect the emperor to change his mind because of pressure? Is this possible?
Fei Hong did not comment, and sighed: "Let's go take a look first, and we'll talk about it later."
******
Fei Hong went to the Ministry of Punishment and tried to get the Ministry of Punishment to put pressure on the factory guards and release the six people imprisoned in Beizhen Fusi on bail.
It doesn't matter to others. The key point is that Fengxi, a scholar of Hanlin Academy, was imprisoned as a governor. Officials of this level are too sensitive, and there will be major changes in the court because of Fengxi's imprisonment.
No matter what, we must fish out Fengxi first.
In Sixianju, a "banquet" given by the emperor was going on at this time.
The banquet was very simple. It was a hot pot feast. This was Zhu Si’s favorite thing to eat after leaving the palace. In the palace, because he had to accompany his concubines to eat most of the time, eating hot pot was a bit inconvenient. In addition, eating hot pot was
In such an atmosphere, Zhu Si would have hot pot almost every time after leaving the palace.
"You gentlemen, you can use it as you wish." Zhu Si was very rude.
It is said that we are gathering together to eat hot pot, but in fact it is one pot per person, with a red charcoal fire underneath. The bone soup with spicy base is quickly boiled in the pot, and the aroma wafts out.
Except for a few people who often ate it, the rest were uncomfortable with such a diet, especially those who had never heard of hot pot, and felt that the emperor's eating habits were unusual.
"My lords, after lunch, I am going to send people to Zuoshunmen to capture some of the troublemakers and beat them with sticks on the spot. What do you think?"
Before the banquet had even begun, the emperor announced shocking news.
Xi Shu hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, this move will intensify the conflict and make it difficult to end the matter."
Zhu Si frowned and asked: "Xi Qing family, why are you always thinking about whether it can be ended? Those people are all ministers of the Ming Dynasty, but they are proud to be against me. I want to discuss etiquette for my own sake.
Is that for the long-term peace and stability of the Ming Dynasty? I let my father get the posthumous title. I don’t want to lose the father-son relationship with my father. Is there anything wrong with me? It’s because they are unkind, but now you ask me to restrain myself so that it ends well. This request is right.
It’s too harsh for me!”
Xi Shu didn't know what to say when he heard this.
good.
He had figured it out before that the reason why Zhu Hao gained the emperor's trust was because Zhu Hao's behavior style was almost unconditionally catering to the emperor.
Of course, this view is biased, but after Xi Shu determined that Zhu Hao was in charge of power, he naturally had this preconceived impression. Zhu Si looked at Zhu Hao: "Jingdao, what do you think?"
Zhu Hao said: "If the people at the palace gate haven't dispersed yet, it would be better to take the person to Beizhen Fusi than to torture him on the spot. We still need to be restrained in everything." "Yeah."
Zhu Si nodded, "I also have this intention!" Blessing!
Xi Shuxin said, Emperor, didn't you insist on using a cane at the palace gate just now?
Why did you change your mind as soon as Zhu Hao said he would arrest people in Beizhen Fusi before taking action? Or is Zhu Hao really such a great influence on you? Tang Yin asked: "Then...how many people were taken?"
Is it more appropriate to go to Beizhen Fusi?"
Unknowingly, we have begun to discuss the issue of how many people to arrest. It seems that the officials at Zuoshun's gate have become meat on the chopping board, the kind that can be chopped into pieces at any time.
Zhu Hao said: "Below the fifth grade!"
Don’t say how many people there are, just talk about the rank. Historically, in the Zuoshunmen case, Zhu Houcong took a total of 134 people of the fifth rank and below. Zhu Hao singled out the people below the fifth rank of Mingzheng and skipped it.
He has reached the level of Liubu Langzhong.
Zhu Si asked Zhang Zuo beside him: "How many people below the fifth rank are there at the gate of the palace now?" Zhang Zuo had received Huang Jin's report in advance and immediately replied: "More than eighty people."
In the Zuoshunmen incident involving Zhu Hao, the participation of officials above the fifth rank was greatly reduced, but the middle and lower-level officials did not decrease much. In some yamen, the number of officials involved was actually more than in history.
When Zhu Si heard this number, he nodded with satisfaction: "Then, below the fifth rank, send someone to persuade him in the afternoon. If the persuasion fails, he will be arrested immediately!"
After lunch, Zhu Si sent someone to have the troupe ready to start the gong, and then he wanted to have fun with the ministers close to him.
During the intermission before the opening of the opera, the emperor wandered off somewhere and was nowhere to be seen. Zhu Hao and others stayed in the meeting hall waiting.
Xi Shu walked up to Zhu Hao and looked at Tang Yin first. Tang Yin naturally looked away. Then Xi Shu said to Zhu Hao in a calm tone: "Jingdao, can you take a moment to speak?"
Zhu Hao stood up and walked to the door of the meeting hall with Xi Shu.
Xi Shu looked at the simple furnishings in the courtyard and sighed in a low voice: "I never thought that you were working for His Majesty. After entering the capital, I have seen so many people's love affairs. I thought I had an insight into the world, but I didn't expect that I would hit a wall with you."
Zhu Hao really wanted to say, if you feel surprised and inexplicable now, then there will only be more things that exceed your expectations in the future. I don’t know how you will feel at that time.
"If possible, I hope that you, Jingdao, can protect those colleagues who are advising on court affairs in front of Zuo Shunmen today. They are loyal to the emperor and the country, and have no selfish motives in discussing etiquette. Among them, many good talents for governing the country have been ruined. It’s inevitable that people will be disappointed.”
Xi Shu seemed to know that he did not have a high say in front of the emperor, so he hoped that Zhu Hao would use his influence to change the emperor's attitude and let the emperor let those people go.
Zhu Hao smiled faintly and said: "Xi Shangshu, please take back your words. I can't decide many things. I can't even make suggestions to Your Majesty. What I said is just what Your Majesty thinks and is expressed through my mouth!"
Xi Shu frowned: "So His Majesty has told you in advance what you should say?"
At this time, Xi Shu's expression became excited. It seemed that this statement would make him feel better.
If Zhu Hao decided everything, it would be really terrible. The emperor would actually listen to the strategy of a boy less than twenty years old and bring people around inside and outside the Ming Dynasty. This is simply taking national affairs as a trifle.
Zhu Haodao: "Sometimes you don't need other people's guidance. You can understand what His Majesty is thinking just by thinking with your heart. Who do you want to protect? The key is do those people need you to protect them? When they get to that point, they will have to bear the responsibility. Instead of letting others control their thoughts and destiny.
"Of course, if I speak for them, they can change their minds and I will do my best. But the problem is...
My words won’t change the result in any way, right?”
Xi Shu nodded: "Everyone's words are useless, Your Majesty will never look back!" "That's it."
Zhu Hao glanced at Xi Shu and felt that besides looking like a traditional civil servant, this guy was also quite open-minded. Unlike Zhang Cong who did things with a strong purpose, Xi Shu looked more like an idealistic minister.
"I can't change it, and Xi Shangshu can't change it. Even His Majesty himself can't go down that step, so why bother to change anything? The method your Majesty has chosen now is the best way to resolve this matter as soon as possible, just like us From the perspective of my colleagues at the gate of the palace, many of them probably want it to end as soon as possible."
If the group of people outside Zuo Shun's door heard what Zhu Hao said, they would definitely unite and tear Zhu Hao into pieces.
The key person Xishu is also a member of the Yili faction. Now everyone in the Yili faction is also suffering internally. Except for Zhang Cong who wants to take advantage of the opportunity to rise to power, the rest of them want to end it as soon as possible in exchange for the stability of the court.
"Then after they arrive at Beizhen Fusi..."
Xi Shu also wanted to remind, is it possible to make those crying civil servants in Beizhen Fusi feel better, at least without suffering physical pain?
Zhu Hao shrugged and said, "It is not for you or me to interfere with factory guard matters. We are sheep, so we should not think about the problem from the perspective of wolves. Xi Shangshu, I will go back first!"
After Zhu Hao finished speaking, he turned around and returned to the meeting hall.
Xi Shu stood there and didn't come back to his senses for a long time.
Zhu Hao's last words seemed to remind him that you are just a sheep, but you always want to influence the wolf's thoughts. Haven't you ever thought that if the wolf is unhappy, he will eat you, the sheep? Really? In the face of imperial power, who minister has the qualifications to challenge the emperor?
Xi Shu thought of this and then thought about the people making trouble in front of Zuo Shun's gate, and felt that they were stupid.
It may seem like an honest thing, but it is destined to have no good results. It will not bring any benefit except causing trouble for themselves, and may even cause themselves and their families to fall into the abyss of eternal destruction. Why bother?