When a new king succeeds to the throne, it is inevitable that there will be a long period of adjustment for everyone in the court.
For the emperor, it takes time to slowly stabilize his position and manage his prestige.
For courtiers, it is also necessary to understand the temperament and bottom line of the new monarch's preferences through various court affairs.
This process may be long or short, intense or peaceful, depending on the specific situation.
But one thing is certain.
This process of running-in usually starts from the moment the new monarch ascends the throne in terms of time, and in terms of situation, it usually focuses on the confrontation between the monarch and his ministers.
As for the initiator, it may be the emperor or a courtier, but it is not necessarily the case.
In fact, the emperor, no, I should say the emperor, personally conducted this expedition.
This is a typical running-in process.
The Supreme Emperor hoped that his image among his ministers would be that of a capable and decisive king who inherited the military power of his father and ancestors.
The ministers hoped that he would be safe and sound. For this reason, Wang Zhi even led hundreds of officials to the palace to admonish him before the expedition.
But unfortunately, there was no way to stop the Supreme Emperor who insisted on going his own way.
If this is a victory, then the Supreme Emperor will naturally prove his correctness once again, and his prestige in the court will be greatly increased.
But failed...
Let’s not talk about the Supreme Emperor who is far away in Mobei, but let’s talk about the new king Zhu Qiyu.
Although he had been in charge of the country before, it didn't last long. Secondly, as he said before, there is a big difference between the governor of the country and the emperor.
This time Wang Zhenyi's punishment was obviously a test passed by the courtiers.
Two clear choices!
Either kill them all, cleanly and without any sloppiness, or forgive the death penalty for some people whose crimes were not serious.
There are explanations for both treatments, and the courtiers argued for a long time. In fact, from another level, they were also stepping down for Zhu Qiyu.
In this way, no matter how he handles it, he will not be criticized.
This kind of maximum discretion can actually tell a lot about a person's style.
If Zhu Qiyu chooses the former, it means that he is a monarch who is decisive in killing, advocates harsh punishments, can be ruthless, and does not care about reputation.
And if he chooses the latter, it means that he is a king who cherishes his feathers and has a benevolent heart.
After testing out the new monarch's governance style, the ministers can decide what attitude they should adopt to cooperate with the new monarch.
After understanding this section, Zhu Qiyu did not hesitate, pondered for a moment, and then spoke.
"Wang Zhen and his party have committed extremely heinous crimes and should be severely punished. However, since I have handed over the matter to the judicial department, the judicial department should handle it according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty."
"Mr. Dali Temple, I ask you, except for Mao Gui and other eunuchs, are there any laws and regulations to base the punishments on the others?"
The scope of Wang Zhenyi's party is actually very wide. In addition to the eunuchs in the palace, there are also some court officials, royal guards, and even low-level miscellaneous officials.
Relatively speaking, those extremely powerful eunuchs are not the focus of the debate. They are the emperor's slaves and are not protected by the Ming Law.
What's more, they have a close relationship with Wang Zhen. Even if there is no civil engineering matter, their daily behavior alone is enough to kill them.
What the courtiers were really arguing about was the treatment of the low-ranking imperial guards and miscellaneous officials who had taken refuge with Wang Zhen and relied on his power to act recklessly.
Some of these people did commit serious crimes, but some of their crimes were not serious. They were just doing things for Wang Zhen and seeking benefits.
After listening to the new king's questions, the ministers probably had some idea.
Since the Ming Dynasty laws and regulations have been mentioned, does it mean that the sentence should be lightened?
After being called by the emperor, Yu Shiyue naturally could no longer remain silent and took a step forward.
"Back to the emperor, except for the eunuchs and others, the officials, royal guards, craftsmen, etc. who relied on Wang Zhen, although they are guilty, if they follow the laws, they will not be punished with death."
"During the interrogation of the three divisions, the ministers and other officials agreed that Wang Zhen's crimes were heinous. To warn future generations, he was sentenced to death by beheading. However, if purely based on legal regulations, this punishment does appear to be too severe."
Zhu Qiyu nodded.
This was actually commonplace in the Ming Dynasty.
In fact, except for the Qin Dynasty, in the process of handling cases in all dynasties, the law was only one of the basis for consideration in sentencing, but not all.
After all, in most cases, cases are adjudicated to maintain the stability of rule.
In order to achieve this goal, there are actually many basis for reference in the actual case handling.
For normal cases, in addition to the law, there are also similar previous cases, and these two are the main components of the penalty.
If it is a major and important case like Wang Zhen's, normally there are four bases for sentencing, two of which are the law and similar previous cases.
The other two are, one is the seriousness of the consequences of the incident, and the other is the public sentiment and public opinion in both the government and the opposition.
In addition, for some special cases, etiquette, law and morality can also become one of the basis for sentencing.
At least in the current Ming Dynasty, these types of penalties are basically the same in effectiveness.
Therefore, Yu Shiyue said that if the punishment is purely based on the law, the punishment is too severe, but if it is based on the seriousness of the consequences of the incident, a more severe punishment is appropriate.
However, even though Yu Shiyue said this, his attitude was still very neutral. He was still explaining the reasons for his punishment without saying much else.
So Zhu Qiyu said: "In this case, it is better to follow the law. In this case, except for Wang Zhen and other people who committed the most heinous crimes, who were punished severely, the rest of the people were dealt with according to the law."
Yu Shiyue glanced around and saw that neither Chen Yi nor Jiang Yuan spoke, and the other big guys didn't express any objection, so he took a step forward and said.
"I accept the decree."
The matter was settled like this, but as he walked back, Yu Shiyue had a doubt in his heart.
Is it over that simply?
Admittedly, this result is considered a relatively good result for the courtiers.
Of course, this does not refer to Wang Zhen's gang members who were lightly sentenced. No one cares whether these people die or not.
Anyway, most of Wang Zhen and his confidants have been killed, and those who are still alive cannot escape the death penalty. The rest are small minions who cannot commit crimes and the elders feel good about them being forgiven.
The reason why this is a pretty good result for the courtiers is because of the hidden meaning behind the new king's light sentence on these little people.
From this look, the new emperor does not seem to be an emperor who will engage in war at will and want to kill people at every turn.
This reassured the courtiers.
In addition, the new king said that he would deal with it in accordance with the law, which also reassured the courtiers.
Because this also shows that the new king pays attention to rules. Since he abides by the law when handling cases, he will naturally also pay attention to etiquette and court rules when handling government affairs in the future.
This, together with the previous one who doted on powerful traitors and almost trampled the imperial code under his feet, made the courtiers feel even more at ease.
Logically speaking, this is a good thing.
But Yu Shiyue always felt that something was wrong...
As if to verify this feeling, before he could take two steps back, he was stopped again.
"Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate will listen to the decree."
So Yu Shiyue moved back, stood back together with Chen Yi and Jiang Yuan who were still in the hall, and knelt down together.
Zhu Qiyu glanced at the three of them lightly and said.
"Last time, I ordered the three departments to jointly interrogate Wang Zhen's case, and you were all sentenced to death. Although I was concerned about the fierce public opinion between the government and the opposition, it was ultimately inappropriate."
"From now on, the three divisions will re-examine the case. Except for those who have committed the most heinous crimes, they will be severely punished. Since the eighth year of Zhengtong, all others who have been attached to Wang Zhen and have committed crimes, regardless of whether they are involved in the palace or outside the palace, have high or low official positions.
, all dealt with in accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty."
"If the persons involved are court officials, the Ministry of Punishment can summon them by order. If they have no meritorious status, Shuntian Prefecture will cooperate with the Ministry of Punishment to detain them first. If someone in the palace is involved, the Third Division can inform the Jinyi Guards, who will imprison them under orders.
.”
Having said this, Zhu Qiyu stood up from his throne, looked down at all the ministers present, and his voice became stern.
"I have ordered Lu Zhong, the commander of Jinyiwei, to be the new commander of Jinyiwei and coordinate with the three divisions to handle this matter."
"Wang Zhen's incident is actually the most harmful thing to the country since the founding of our dynasty. I think all of you, my dear friends, also understand this."
"Therefore, I don't care who or how many people are involved, as long as they touch the law, they will be dealt with according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, and they will not be tolerated in vain."
"My dear friends, do you understand?"
Yu Shiyue took a breath and vaguely understood something, but now he couldn't let him think too much.
Since the emperor has adopted such a tough stance, it means that this matter is not negotiable.
Looking at each other, Yu Shiyue, Chen Yi and Jiang Yuan prostrated at the same time.
"I accept the order and will definitely live up to His Majesty's trust!"
The officials below also prostrated themselves on the ground and shouted in unison.