The atmosphere in the flower hall is a bit gloomy.
What Zhu Yinxi said made sense, but it was obviously not what they wanted.
Seeing this situation, King Zhou narrowed his eyes and said.
"Then what do you mean by letting His Majesty make the decision?"
"Of course it's up to His Majesty to make the decision when there are things that should be decided!"
Zhu Yinxi opened his mouth and said.
"The matter of the military garrison is a foregone conclusion. You are all gathered here today. I don't think you intend to take back the land that the imperial court has cleared, right?"
this……
Everyone below looked at each other for a while.
They originally had such a glimmer of hope, but when Zhu Yinzhen asked, they did not dare to nod.
Because, the principle is the same.
They were unwilling to spit out what they had eaten, so how could the land that the court had taken back be returned to them now?
Unless he really fell out with the court, otherwise, there would be no chance of getting these fields back.
After all, they just can't swallow this breath right now.
So, after pondering for a moment, King Yi said.
"It belongs to the imperial court. Of course we will not be greedy. The reason why we are dissatisfied with this matter is simply because the ministers in the imperial court have ulterior motives, deceive the emperor, alienate the clan members of the Tian family, resort to cruel methods, and bully the clan. I want to
I just want to seek justice."
Having said this, King Yi agreed with Zhu Yincheng's views.
However, the other kings were still hesitant.
Of course it's important to vent your anger, but just venting your anger always makes you feel a little sorry that they came here.
At this time, King Zhou spoke.
"That makes sense. This is what I said to Your Majesty when I entered the palace yesterday. At that time, Your Majesty said that clan members are the vassal screen of the country. Since they are guarding the country for the country, they will naturally not be wronged.
"
Yes, this attitude is clear.
To put it bluntly, the emperor can save some face for them, but, again, what has been put into the pocket of the imperial court cannot be taken out again.
Hopes were completely shattered, and the faces of several feudal princes present couldn't help but look a little disappointed.
However, seeing this situation, Zhu Yinqi on the side hesitated and spoke.
"Everyone, I feel that the most urgent task at the moment is to report to Your Majesty and correct the atmosphere of the imperial court. This time, the army, local officials, and the imperial censor were ordered by Yu Qian and others, regardless of the superiority and inferiority of the superiors and inferiors, to regard our clan as
A person who is allowed to be slaughtered."
"It is precisely because of this that the current religious reform of the Ministry of Rites has taken place. Therefore, as long as this trend is eradicated and the court officials know that there is an order of hierarchy, everything can return to normal."
There is nothing special about these words, but Zhu Yinzhen spoke very slowly. With his tone, even the dullest person can realize that there is something in his words.
After frowning and thinking for a moment, King Lu asked.
"Back to normal?"
Zhu Yinqi nodded slightly and repeated it again.
"Back to business as usual!"
These four simple words made everyone's eyes light up.
The biggest pressure they are facing now actually comes from the tough attitude of the imperial court. Although the vassal king has a noble status, it also depends on who he is dealing with. In front of the huge state machine, even the vassal king has to be honest.
What's more, compared to the vassal kings in the early Ming Dynasty, the power in their hands has been stripped away very little.
Of course, it is precisely because of this that they pay more attention to the land and property in their hands, as well as their status.
To put it simply, the emperor was behind the imperial court, and the emperor had a firm attitude when it came to rectifying the military garrison.
Because of this, whether it is the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Punishment, the science and education officials in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, or even the local officials, they are all very confident.
Therefore, what is more serious than losing some land is that Yu Qian used a lot of methods that he shouldn't have used to rectify the military camp this time.
Moreover, these methods are effective, so the Ministry of Rites will carry out religious reforms at this time. If the kings still do not respond, then there may be any further measures in the future.
From this perspective, Zhu Yinqi’s words really hit the mark.
What they have to do now is to re-establish the authority of the clan and vassal kings in the court, so that these civil servants will no longer dare to take their ideas casually.
More importantly, when the imperial court passed by, there were various prohibitions against the vassals, but most of them were in vain. Why?
Because although the vassal princes could not fight against the imperial court, what they faced was not the imperial court as a whole.
There are very few, if not many, cases where ministers like Qian Qian, holding imperial edicts and patrolling various places.
Therefore, most of the time, the feudal princes faced local officials, and the highest official position was only at the governor level.
Although this group of people were under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, they had to bow their heads under the roof. If the vassal kings were not deeply rooted in the fiefdom, they were at least local snakes. It was difficult to achieve success and it was easy to do bad things.
Therefore, in most cases, these local officials are reluctant to provoke them. Of course, even if they want to provoke them, these officials do not have enough power.
However, Yu Qian's tour this time set an example for officials everywhere. Although they could not do anything to the lord, they could be unscrupulous towards people other than the lord.
In addition, if you don't directly provoke the feudal king, but under the banner of the imperial court, arresting people and grabbing land, it is also unscrupulous in specific matters.
So what they really want to shock are these local officials, and let them know that if they anger the feudal kings, there will be no good consequences.
As long as they still maintain respect and fear for the feudal lord, then there will always be a way to get back what they have lost now.
After all, that's what they've done before.
With this thought, the kings finally felt a little comforted and cheered up again, King Ning said.
"That's true, but what should we do? Is it possible to bring trouble in front of His Majesty like this?"
This was obviously a rhetorical question, but what was surprising was that after Zhu Yinxi heard this, he nodded seriously and said.
"Why not?"
this……
Prince Ning was speechless for a while, not knowing how to react.
Didn't you say it yourself, that it would be unreasonable to cause trouble in front of His Majesty?
How come this time, what's wrong with saying things righteously and honestly, and you are allowed to say all these truths and ironies?
King Ning felt depressed for a while, but King Lu on the side frowned and thought for a moment and said.
"Well said, why not?"
"Tomorrow we will go to the palace to seek an audience. We will report to Your Majesty the officials in the court who have shown contempt for their dignity and committed an undisclosed crime. Let's see if Your Majesty can make the decision for us."
As he spoke, King Lu's eyes fell on King Zhou beside him and asked.
"What do you think?"
"Listen to Brother Wang!"
King Zhou pondered for a moment, then nodded. After saying that, he turned sideways and looked at Zhu Yinqi beside him, and said.
"Back then, I will write a memorial. You can take it back to your father to see it. As a rule, when we submit the memorial, we always have to pass through the clan's mansion."
"clear……"
Zhu Yinxi nodded, his eyes flashed, but he didn't say anything.
…………
Prince Min's Mansion.
Zhu Huixuan was lying on the couch, holding a memorial in his hand, frowning and scanning line by line. Opposite him, Zhu Yinxi was sitting in a dignified manner.
After a while, Zhu Yinqi asked as he watched Zhu Huixuan put down the memorial.
"Father, do you want an attachment to this memorial?"
"Of course I want it."
Zhu Huixuan looked up at Zhu Yinxi and said calmly.
"That old guy King Zhou, wasn't that what he wanted when he called you over?"
As he spoke, Zhu Huixuan seemed to have thought of something and shook his head.
"So, compared to King Zhou, King Yi and these people are just idiots, and they want to exclude me and King Dai."
"They don't even think about the consequences if the vassal king comes to Beijing, the government and the public are paying attention, and he gathers together to discuss secretly in such a blatant way, and if word gets out..."
In today's meeting between the kings, Zhu Huixuan knew that these people didn't want him to go, and he didn't want to go in the first place.
But there was nothing he could do. King Zhou came to the door and took Zhu Yinqi away. As King of Zhou, he had no choice but to speak.
No one in the government or the government is a fool. It would be unbelievable to have so many vassal princes gathered in the capital just for the sake of visiting relatives.
So, why do they come here? You can figure it out with a little thought.
In this case, their secretive behavior is tantamount to deceiving others and making people laugh.
On the contrary, what King Zhou did was the smartest.
Zhu Huixuan was the clan's order. Logically speaking, when the clan members were wronged, it was only natural for him to come forward to uphold justice and negotiate with the emperor.
This group of people were afraid that he and King Dai had taken the initiative to donate the land in the mansion, and were afraid that he would speak to the emperor, so they deliberately chose such a time. It seemed clever, but in fact, how could this trick be concealed from anyone?
Woolen cloth?
Even, as Zhu Huixun said, they deliberately kept a low profile and excluded Zhu Huixun, but it gave people opportunities for people with ulterior motives to make fuss about it.
The identity of the vassal king is inherently sensitive. According to the ancestral system, it is actually against the rules for them to go to Beijing together. In this case, regardless of the clan order and secret discussions behind closed doors, Zhu Huixuan can only say that this gang
People have been living comfortably for too long, and they don’t know how much they weigh.
Seeing this situation, Zhu Yinqi nodded slightly, with a cold look on his face and said.
"I'm afraid it was Prince Xiang who came up with the idea again. This person has really brought shame on my clan. I don't know how he incited King Yi to set up such a situation..."
So, Zhu Huixun slowly sat up straight and said.
"The two of them have been banned in the Ten Princes' Mansion for so long. It's not surprising that they have some friendship, but King Zhou is not easy to deal with. You have to be careful."
Compared with the brainless King Yi, King Zhou is obviously the more thoughtful one.
In fact, for Zhu Huixun, it would be a good thing not to invite him to this kind of gathering.
Even if we don't mention the risk of being criticized, given his status, if it comes, his attitude will be difficult to deal with.
His clan order is not just about governing clan affairs. If the clan's interests are harmed, he will naturally have to make a statement.
This is no longer the category of being unreasonable, but these feudal kings are holding fire in their hearts and they need to vent.
At this time, Zhu Huixuan, as the clan leader, had to stand with them, otherwise, the fire would be spread on him.
Don't think that the vassal kings have no right to speak. The most important reason why King Xiang stepped down in the first place was actually because the group of Zongxue students made trouble every day and moved the elders of each family out.
If the clan's order fails to convince the public, then of course someone will have to be replaced.
It’s hard to disobey public opinion!
This is not the time to reason at all. At this moment, the position is far more important than the reason.
It is His Majesty's prerogative to rule in the middle and to be impartial. It is not his.
Therefore, Zhu Huixuan pointed out that it would be better if they abandoned him from the beginning to the end. When they made trouble in the palace and caused trouble, he would come out and end it by himself. There would be no risk and he would gain a good reputation. Why not
for?
Unfortunately, not everyone is so easy to fool.
At least not the King of Zhou. His intention of bringing Zhu Yinxi there was actually very obvious.
First, it means that he and others are upright and have not plotted anything shameful. For the vassal king, loyalty to the court is the prerequisite for everything.
The presence of Zhu Yinxi is equivalent to the presence of Zhu Huixun, and the presence of Zhu Huixun is equivalent to the presence of the imperial court. Even if word spreads, people may say that he is stirring up trouble in the imperial court, but at least he will not be accused of other crimes.
.
The second is to drag him along to cause trouble.
Yes, causing trouble!
Yu Qian has been in the officialdom for many years and has his own way of being an official, just like how Zhu Yinqi refuted the words of King Yi and others today.
Among the various fiefdoms, Yu Qian seems to be open and close, but in fact, he has a basis for everything and makes decisions before taking action.
Every step he took to persecute the feudal king must be based on sufficient evidence.
Therefore, if they want to rely on reasoning, these feudal kings must be in the wrong.
Therefore, what they want to do is actually make trouble!
Although it is said that at Zhu Yinqi's suggestion, they changed their direction and focused on the charges of local officials being disrespectful to the vassal king, exceeding their authority to arrest people in the palace, bumping into the king's carriage, and defying the clan.
However, it just gave them a seemingly tenable excuse to cause trouble.
In essence, they are still seeking revenge, or in other words, establishing their authority.
Since this is the case, naturally the more people, the better.
Sitting up from the couch, Zhu Huixuan walked slowly to the desk beside him, followed by Zhu Yinqi. Seeing this, the maid beside him quickly stepped forward to polish his ink.
Taking advantage of this moment, Zhu Huixuan placed the memorial on the table, spread it out gently, and said.
"Both King Xiang and King Yi were severely imprisoned by the emperor, so they lost their courage and acted too petty."
"We, the vassal kings, are originally members of the royal family. The emperor is the king of the country, but he is also the head of the clan. He should protect us."
"Private methods, don't say we can't compete with others, even if we can compete, what's the use except making people laugh?"
"We, the vassal kings, rely on the merits of Fanping Sheji and the blood of the Zhu family flowing through us. When we get to the palace, we strive for strength. Without strength, all the hype is of no use."
"There must be a reason, but it can't be made up too well. Just have someone you can understand. If you make it up too well, it will really seem like you have redressed the injustice..."