Although most of the ministers in the palace now believe in Chen Xun's innocence, except for the people who Chen Xun had greeted in advance, they really have no connection, but they are still willing to intercede at this time and wade through this muddy water.
After all, the ministers cannot be regarded as the majority.
After a while, as a dozen or so ministers knelt down sparsely in the palace, no other ministers came out to plead for Chen Xun.
However, what is surprising is that the emperor sitting at the top looked at this scene but never had any reaction.
Seeing this situation, Chen Xun, who was kneeling down, couldn't help but feel uneasy. Without caring about anything else, Chen Xun quickly raised his head to look at the emperor, but saw that the emperor was looking at him leisurely.
Meeting the emperor's calm eyes, Chen Xun's feeling of uneasiness intensified. He was about to speak, but the emperor's voice fell silent at that moment.
"Where is the Ministry of War?"
Ministry of War?
The ministers present were a little confused. Could this be discussing Chen Xun's case?
What happened to the Ministry of War?
However, since the emperor opened his mouth, the Ministry of War naturally had no choice but to respond. Wang Ao immediately moved out of the queue, came to the palace, and stood among a group of kneeling ministers, standing out particularly conspicuously.
"I'm here."
Then, the emperor's voice sounded again and asked.
"Have there been any military reports from Yu Qian lately?"
This question made everyone even more confused. Could it be that this case has something to do with Yu Shaobao?
So, they all looked at Wang Ao, only to see that the latter actually took out a secret report from his sleeve and said.
"Your Majesty clearly knows that this is the military report that was just sent this morning. Because it is stamped with Yu Shaobao's seal, the red feather messenger is not activated. Therefore, I follow the order and plan to secretly send you a message after the morning court.
Your Majesty, the military report is here. Your Majesty, please read it."
This was a bit strange to say, but the minister who was familiar with the procedures of the Ministry of War reacted immediately.
The red feather emergency envoy was not activated, indicating that it was not an urgent military report that needed to be submitted immediately. Yu Qian's seal was stamped on it, which meant that this was a secret memorandum that should be sent directly to the emperor, and others had no right to open it.
But, it’s still not right!
If this is an ordinary secret report, then it should be sent to the General Administration Department rather than to the Ministry of War. If this is a military report, then why is it submitted in the form of a secret report?
?
You must know that military reports are generally related to the military situation on the front line. Therefore, whether it is a good news or other news, all you need is a quick word. Therefore, generally speaking, the chief officer of the Ministry of War has the right to foresee the news.
Even if it was such a big thing as the Civil War, when the military report arrived at the Ministry of War, Yu Qian, the assistant minister who stayed behind at the time, opened it, read it, and knocked on the que in the middle of the night to submit it.
Now Yu Qian has sent back a military report, but it is in the form of a secret report. This is really the first time, but I don't know what is written in this secret military report.
However, looking at the emperor's appearance, he seemed to have known about this military report for a long time...
The ministers below had different thoughts, but their eyes were fixed on the military report. The servant walked down the imperial steps, and the general took the report and quickly returned to the imperial court and placed it on the imperial case in front of the emperor. Zhu Qiyu did not
After hesitating, he raised his hand to open the wax seal on it, glanced at it briefly, and then nodded. The general handed it to Wynn next to him and gave instructions.
"read……"
So General Huaien took the report respectfully, glanced at it, and planned to speak.
To be honest, the current scene is really weird. As one of the Seven Qings, Chen Xun, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, is kneeling on the ground with a large group of people, waiting for a high-profile case to be finally revealed.
The final word, the perfect ending.
As a result, at this moment, the emperor did nothing to deal with the case. Instead, he began to let people read a military report from the Japanese army thousands of miles away.
This scene is simply so weird...
However, strange things were still to come. Wynn adjusted his voice and quickly read out the contents of the general's report. However, this first sentence surprised the officials in the palace.
"Prince Shaobao and Taishi Youdu Yushi, the governor of the right capital, Yu Qian, the military minister who conquered the Japanese. The governor of the right capital led the general Yinchen Zhang Shi who conquered the Japanese. The prince Taibao, the royal censor of Youdu, governor Zhu Jian, the Fujian minister, jointly issued a memorial..."
As soon as the words fell, there was a sudden burst of surprise and low discussion below.
It is not surprising that Yu Qian and Zhang Xi jointly submitted the memorial. One of them is the admiral and the other is the general who conquered Japan. In matters of military affairs, it is appropriate to jointly sign.
But what does this have to do with Zhu Jian?
While most of the ministers were still confused, some ministers seemed to have remembered something when they heard the three people's joint names, and their expressions changed a little.
As expected, what followed made the ministers in the palace feel that their outlook on life had been baptized.
"...Your Majesty, Yu Qian, received your Majesty's decree on the third day of October and was ordered to assist Fujian Governor Zhu Jian in investigating the case of collusion between officials at all levels in Fujian and sheltering Japanese pirates. The results have been obtained, and I will report this to Your Majesty."
Although it is said to be jointly signed by three people, it is obviously said that Yu Qian is the main author.
After saying these few words, many people in the palace were still confused, but the ministers in the cabinet couldn't help but look at each other, a little at a loss.
Purpose? What purpose?
You know, logically speaking, unless it is a particularly urgent matter, otherwise, the decree issued by the court, even if it is a secret decree, must be drafted by the cabinet, and then the corresponding six departments will stamp the matter and publish it.
hair.
Even in a very urgent situation, the cabinet process is basically unavoidable. However, why do they, the cabinet ministers, never have any impression of this decree?
Could it be said that it was a decree issued directly by the emperor himself?
But the problem is that Yu Qian is far away in Fujian. If he suddenly receives an imperial edict that is only stamped with a precious seal, but has neither the signature of the cabinet minister nor the seal of the six subjects, how can he determine the authenticity of the imperial edict?
?
Judging from the huge amount of information revealed in just a few sentences, this is obviously a major case. Under such circumstances, how could Yu Qian believe it so easily.
The correct procedure is to temporarily detain the person who delivered the edict, keep the edict, and then send three or more messengers to Beijing overnight to verify it.
The correct procedure is to temporarily detain the person who delivered the edict, keep the edict, and then send three or more messengers to Beijing overnight to verify it.
However, judging from this memorial, Yu Qian has obviously followed the imperial edict, which made many cabinet ministers unable to figure it out.
Several cabinet ministers looked at each other with blank eyes, and they all had the look of "Don't look at me, I don't know either." Of course, if you look carefully, you will find that on the face of a certain Yu Cifu,
I feel a little guilty for no reason...
Of course, no one in the court today paid much attention to this small detail.
Everyone was shocked by the huge amount of information contained in this sentence. In the sentence just now, there are two key words, one is to protect Japanese pirates, and the other is officials at all levels.
The former is alarming enough, but the latter means that there are definitely a lot of officials involved in the case. Otherwise, it would be impossible to use the term "all levels."
Not surprisingly, Wynn continued to speak and listed a long list of names.
"...Nan'an County Magistrate Ni Youze, County Chancellor Luo Lihua, Hui'an County Promotion Officer Fan Huajin, County Chancellor Ye Xiang... Ningyang County... Changtai County... Longxi County..."
Such a long list of names is frightening to hear. A rough calculation shows that there are nearly 20 counties involved, most of which are county magistrates, officials and county magistrates, and some counties
, almost all officials are involved.
There were thirty or forty of these names. Even if I were to recite them, I would have to recite them for nearly a cup of tea before I stopped.
However, just when they all thought the matter was over, Wynn took a breath and continued to speak.
"All the above-mentioned officials directly colluded with the gentry to provide shelter for Japanese pirates. In addition, there were also officials who accepted bribes and paid murderers. Local officials who were found to have colluded with Japanese pirates and wanted to report to the imperial court were all demoted.
It’s a frame-up, and what you say is not up to the ears of Heaven.”
"... Jia Yunren, the prefect of Quanzhou Prefecture, Zhang Yi, the official, and You Weikang, the clerk... Tian Yuanyin, the prefect of Zhangzhou Prefecture, Du Qianzai, the prime minister of the Prefecture... Tingzhou Prefecture... Yanping Prefecture..."
As the names were spoken one by one, all the officials in the court became a little numb.
It is too strange to say that this year's situation is too strange. Major cases one after another are constantly refreshing their knowledge. Whenever they feel that the current case is likely to be the biggest case in Jingtai Dynasty.
, there will always be new and bigger cases popping up.
Not to mention anything else, as far as the officials who have been read out so far are concerned, at least half of the officials in the entire Fujian officialdom have been involved.
Moreover, this is only disclosed. You must know that those who can be written in this kind of memorial must have solid evidence or are directly involved. If you include those who have not been found, or are indirectly involved,
Perhaps the entire officialdom in Fujian is almost in ruins.
As a result, when Wynn continued to read and officials began to appear one by one who admitted to the Provincial Envoys Department, the Provincial Envoys Department, and even the General Command and Envoys Department, the elders were able to calm down.
In the entire Fujian officialdom, since so many officials have been involved in this big dye vat, then the local three departments must not be able to escape their involvement, and it is not incomprehensible that they are even directly involved.
But even so, when they heard the next sentence, they couldn't help but be shocked...
"... Jia Xiuping, the governor of Zuo, colluded with the Liu clan, killed the people, smuggled weapons, and protected Japanese pirates. After being discovered by Fujian Governor Zhu Jian, he went crazy. He forged military orders and mobilized a thousand officers and soldiers to besiege the governor.
The Yamen intends to burn the evidence, and in accordance with the imperial edict, I order Yang Jun, the left deputy general, to lead three thousand elite soldiers to help Master Zhu Jian protect the governor's Yamen."
"Now the matter has been put down by Yang Jun and his troops. Jia Xiuping set himself on fire and died. The transferred officers and soldiers were put under guard on the spot. The officials involved were detained first. I, in accordance with the rules, together with the governor Zhu Jian and the guarding eunuch Yu Jing,
We jointly take over the defense of the Capital Command and Envoy Department, and please Your Majesty to send capable ministers to take charge of the overall situation as soon as possible. The remaining officials involved in the case have been detained pending trial..."
Many ministers in the court knew about Jia Xiuping. The former governor of Fujian was later demoted to the rank of envoy to the left due to poor political performance during the grand plan.
It should be said that he was also involved. Although it was surprising, it was also reasonable. What was shocking was that after the incident failed, Mr. Jia dared to forge military orders frantically and mobilize the garrisoned officers and soldiers to besiege the governor's Yamen.
, you know, this is a serious crime of confiscating a family and exterminating a clan!
Is this Jia Xiuping crazy?
The ministers below were talking a lot, but they didn't realize that Huai'en had already stopped talking on the imperial steps. The format of the memorial was clear to all the officials in the court, and they obviously hadn't finished reading it yet.
However, the ministers were waiting for a long time, but there was nothing to say about Wynn. So, many people raised their heads, only to see that at some point, Wynn had stepped aside, and the memorial that was in Wynn's hand just now was now
It has also reached the hands of the emperor.
However, looking at the emperor's expression, he was not surprised by this incident. He had obviously expected it. When the crowd gradually became quiet, the emperor finally spoke and said.
"This matter is of great importance. In Fujian, there are officials involved in the case from the governor's office down to the governor's office, the administrative envoys' department, the prosecutor's envoys' department, and even the commander's envoys' department. All prefectures and counties are involved in the case. Such corruption is shocking and shocking. People of this generation
Living above the temple, how can the country and the country not be in chaos?"
"Japanese pirates have been suppressed repeatedly along the coast, but it turns out that the real Japanese pirates are not at sea, but in my court of the Ming Dynasty!"
These last few words, with hidden anger, rang in everyone's ears like thunder.
Seeing this situation, except for some important officials in the court, all the ministers in the palace fell to their knees and shouted repeatedly.
"Your Majesty, calm down!"
As a result, everyone in the hall knelt down, making the few people kneeling less conspicuous.
After a while, the emperor's voice fell a little coldly and said.
"Such a major case occurred in Fujian's officialdom. The officials did not investigate the plan, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate did not report it. It is actually a negligence in their duties."
"Wang Wen, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was fined half a year, and his salary was reduced by half. Chen Yi, the censor of Zuodu, was fined one year. Wang Hong, the censor of the deputy capital, was demoted by half a grade. The censors were inspected by Fujian Dao and all were released from the capital.
Downgraded to one level, the Ministry of Punishment will immediately join forces with Fujian Governor Zhu Jian to conduct a strict investigation over the past years to see if any of the patrol censors have been involved and are guilty of accepting bribes for protection. Once found, they will be reported directly to the emperor!"
At this time, naturally one cannot say more than one word, otherwise, one may not know whose head the Emperor's anger will be directed towards.
However, if such a major incident occurs, punishment is certain. With the Fujian officialdom colluding like this, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, which is responsible for supervising all officials, must bear the primary responsibility, and the second is of course improper selection of personnel.
From this point of view, it was considered a mercy for the emperor not to let the senior officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Metropolitan Procuratorate go to the imperial prison.
Therefore, everyone whose name was called, including Wang Hong, kowtowed obediently and thanked him. Although it was a bit unfair to Wang Hong, it was like this in the court. Who asked the General Secretary of the Metropolitan Procuratorate to report that he was ill at home?
Now that Wang Hong is in charge, he can only blame himself for his misfortune...