Chapter Three Rewarding and Punishing Ministers for Merit and Demerit
Dongling Yuanyong came to the "Mingzheng Hall", and all the civil and military officials were already lined up in order waiting for his arrival!
Among the hundreds of officials, only a few important ministers loyal to Emperor Hongwen had met Dongling Yuanyong in private before as an adult. Most of the others either only remembered him as a child, or had never seen him at all!
Therefore, when his tall and handsome figure wearing a dragon robe walked through the hall towards the throne in the center of the hall, the hall was so quiet that you could almost hear people's breathing!
It wasn't until Dongling Yuanyong proudly swung his dragon robe and sat firmly on the dragon chair. Under his resolute and sharp eyes, all the officials knelt down and shouted respectfully:
"Congratulations to the new emperor on his accession to the throne. Long live my emperor, long live, long live...!"
"All the ministers are equal!"
Dongling Yuanyong has been far away from the imperial city and has been working hard at the border for many years. He seems to be less elegant than the one who grew up pampered in the palace, but his momentum is undoubtedly more intimidating!
Especially his handsome facial features that resembled Emperor Hongwen's, and the ministers had the illusion that the late emperor was in power.
However, Dongling Yuanyong looks more special than Emperor Hongwen. Probably because he lived outside the Great Wall for a long time, his skin color is slightly wheat-colored. This gives him a sonorous, firm and steady look, and he looks like a man who has experienced a lot of experience!
In fact, few of the officials can understand how they came to worship the abandoned prince fifteen years ago as the new emperor!
But this result was witnessed by them personally, because three days ago, on the day when Emperor Hongwen went to court for the last time despite his illness, before the ministers had time to bow to the king, a large number of imperial troops suddenly poured into the hall and quickly captured the Ximen clan.
, the ruler of Xia and Shang families!
Afterwards, amid the panic and discussions among the courtiers, Emperor Hongwen had someone read out the imperial edict to abolish the queen, Ximen Ruofeng, and the prince, Dongling Yuanxi, and to annihilate the three clans of Ximen, Xia and Shang!
Abolition of the Queen and the Crown Prince and the execution of the three powerful officials at the same time was a political move that almost overturned the entire Dacheng!
But Emperor Hongwen had made complete preparations before making this determination.
He personally read out the "Book of Guilt" and admitted that the annihilation of Queen Fuxuan and the Yin family fifteen years ago was his fault for listening to treacherous ministers and killing loyal ministers in vain.
So he decided to clear the innocence of Queen Fuxuan and the Yin family before closing his eyes, and severely punish the truly guilty ones!
In this earth-shaking coup, Emperor Hongwen took control of the three powerful officials of the Ximen family, Xia family and Shang family in the imperial city at the last moment, ensuring the internal stability of the imperial city.
Externally, Emperor Hongwen had already handed over the military power and inheritance of the national seal of Dacheng State to Dongling Yuanyong to control the external forces of Dacheng State.
This is the main reason why Dongling Yuanyong's return was so smooth and without any worries!
All this happened so quickly that most of the court officials couldn't figure out why Emperor Hongwen's "Book of Sin" and all the government orders came so suddenly.
The ministers did not doubt all the instructions issued by Emperor Hongwen. What they doubted was that even though Queen Fuxuan and the Yin family were framed fifteen years ago, Emperor Hongwen did not order a thorough investigation of the case that year. Those who proved that the Ximen family
, how was the evidence of Xia’s and Shang’s crimes resurfaced?
For the courtiers who were full of doubts, Dongling Yuanyong was actually well aware of their doubts, but he did not want to explain to them in a long way what happened between him and Emperor Hongwen.
However, he looked at the respectful and obedient officials in Tangxia and said concisely and respectfully:
"More than half of the ministers are familiar faces to me, and there are also new faces that I don't know. But regardless of whether you are newcomers or old friends, I have inherited the legacy of the late emperor and led Dacheng to prosperity and tranquility. For this reason, in the future, I will also
We need to rely on you all to perform your duties, and I hope you will spare no effort to work with me to benefit the people!"
"I will not give up even if I die!" All the ministers knelt down and shouted in response!
The shouts stopped, Dongling Yuan Yong let Baiguan Ping die. As the new emperor's first day in court, he had to issue quite a lot of holy orders!
At the beginning of this secret coup, You Zhongru, an important minister loyal to Emperor Hongwen, served as the secret messenger of Dongling Yuanyong and Emperor Hongwen!
Dongling Yuanyong had been away from the imperial city for many years. Even if he used his own methods to obtain evidence of the injustice of Queen Fuxuan and the Yin family. But if the evidence could not reach Emperor Hongwen, he still could not let the truth be told to the world in a legitimate manner!
Only by letting Emperor Hongwen personally make the grievances of that year known to the world would it be the best way for his mother and the Yin family to clear up the grievances!
However, Dongling Yuanyong knew very well that since Emperor Hongwen decided to order the execution of Queen Fuxuan and the Yin family in an instant, no matter whether he was deceived at the time or he deliberately took the opportunity to eradicate the Yin family's influence in Dacheng. For Hongwen
For the emperor to overthrow the execution order of that year, it would be equivalent to asking him to admit that he was the emperor who was at fault.
Emperor Hongwen was not a mediocre emperor, but he was also a self-respecting emperor, not to mention that the most taboo thing for monarchs in the past dynasties was self-denial!
This is probably the "pride" of the emperor. Even if he is wrong, he will never admit it easily!
However, Dongling Yuanyong, who has worked hard for many years, lives for the purpose of clearing the names of Queen Fuxuan and the Yin family, and the other is that he wants to regain the throne that belongs to him!
But if he wanted to do all this openly, he had to go through Emperor Hongwen's hands to achieve his goal.
To contact Emperor Hongwen, he had to find someone who had power and could persuade Emperor Hongwen from among the loyal ministers around him!
Therefore, You Zhongru, who was the most trusted person around Emperor Hongwen, became the primary candidate for Dongling Yuanyong.
Of course, the result of Dongling Yuanyong's choice of You Zhongru goes without saying, otherwise he would not have returned to his position without losing a fight today.
However, this can be regarded as a transaction. Therefore, after Dongling Yuan Yong went to court on the first day to bury the late emperor on the first day, he also issued the decree to promote the hero!
Among them, You Zhongru succeeded Ximen Zhende and took the high position of prime minister. Not only that, You Zhongru's daughter, You Kouyi, was also selected into the harem and was selected as a noble concubine!
Then there is the commander-in-chief of the Forbidden Army, Chu Pingyi, who was also promoted to a noble rank, and even his son who was not an official was granted a decent military position as an exception!
On the first day of the new emperor's reign, he rewarded many meritorious officials, big and small, and those who had no merit received generous financial rewards, which made everyone in the court peaceful and prosperous together...!
After rewarding, the next step is to severely punish those who deserve to pay the price!
However, no one has dared to touch the Ximen family so far, because the head of the Ximen family, Ximen Zhende, holds the "Exoneration Monument" in his hand!
In this regard, Dongling Yuanyong didn't mind and prepared to go to Ximen's mansion in person, because he knew what Ximen Zhende was struggling for.
At this time, the Ximen Mansion had been surrounded by heavy troops for three days. Compared to the Xia family and the Shang family, whose entire clan was sent to death row to await execution, the Ximen family looked like a skinny camel holding the "Exoneration Monument" given by their ancestors in Dongling.
Bigger than Ma, at least their family has no freedom, and they still live in the luxurious and comfortable Ximen Mansion and maintain the dignity they deserve!