Chapter four hundred and thirty second: the trial in the hall
There was a dead silence in Fengtian Hall.
From leaking military information to pretending to secede the city, the bosses originally thought that this case was already involved enough.
But I didn't expect that such a shocking thunder would appear in the end.
Following the emperor's words, Lu Zhong continued to speak.
"My lords, there are two places in Xu Bin's testimony that are different from what Xiao Weizhen confessed."
"First, the idea of leaking military information during the negotiation process and pretending to secede the city were all decided after discussions between him, Xiao Weizhen, and Zhang Fu. They were not his sudden ideas."
"Secondly, the origin of this strategy and the decision to ambush Xi Ning first came from Yuan Bin, the attendant of the Supreme Emperor."
"In order to prove that what he said was true, Xu Bin confessed many details and hand-drawn a golden knife pattern, claiming that Yuan Bin used this golden knife as evidence and ordered them to act accordingly."
As he spoke, Lu Zhong took out the drawing from his sleeve. Instead of handing it to the officials of the Department of Justice, he opened it directly and displayed it in front of everyone, saying.
"Jin Yiwei has verified this pattern with the internal officials, and it is roughly similar to the pattern of the golden sword made by the orthodox emperor for five years."
"While in prison, Xu Bin kept arguing that they had received the emperor's holy order. If they didn't do it, they would be disobeying the order. They did it out of desperation."
Now, the officials finally understood.
According to Xiao Weizhen, whether it was the pretense of seizing the city or leaking military reports, it was all Xu Bin's initiative and had nothing to do with the two of them, or at most, there was no obstruction.
But according to Xu Bin, the secession of the city and the leaking of military reports were all under the orders of the Supreme Emperor.
Since there was a decree that ordered them to do this, it naturally cannot be considered a crime.
But in this case, the one who has to bear these charges is the Supreme Emperor!
No wonder the emperor has been reluctant to announce the case.
You must know that the emperor's throne was ultimately obtained from the Supreme Emperor.
Now that something like this has happened, once the emperor takes the initiative to make it public, he will inevitably be discussed by the government and the public, as he is deliberately smearing the emperor.
After all, Xu Bin's testimony was just a solitary piece of evidence, and the only thing he could produce was the golden knife pattern.
However, this evidence can at best prove that Xu Bin has seen the golden sword before. It cannot even prove that he saw the golden sword in Wala.
Maybe Xu Bin had seen this thing by chance before the Emperor Tai Huang's Northern Expedition.
To prove that Xu Bin is telling the truth, we can only continue to interrogate Xiao Weizhen and Zhang Fu, but it is obvious that Jin Yiwei has achieved nothing so far.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have been delayed until now.
There was silence in the main hall for a moment, then Chen Yi, the censor of Zuodu, stepped forward and said.
"Your Majesty, this case has been tried so far and has a wide range of implications. It involves the reputation of the Supreme Emperor. We must not be careful. It is difficult to judge based on testimony alone. I ask your Majesty's permission to bring Xu Bin, Xiao Weizhen, and Zhang Fu to the palace to confront each other and find out the truth."
Yes, this is going to get bigger and bigger.
Under the thoughtful gazes of the ministers, the emperor nodded slightly and said: "Okay, take three people to the palace."
Therefore, Lu Zhong accepted the order, waved his hand, and asked several imperial guards who had been prepared to go to the side hall to bring the people up.
Not long after, Xu Bin, Xiao Weizhen, and Zhang Fu were escorted to the palace wearing prison uniforms.
Maybe Lu Zhong really didn't lie, and he didn't torture a few of them among the Jin Yiwei.
When they went to the temple, some of them were still in good spirits, but they obviously felt a little lethargic and their hair was a little messy.
From the important officials of the imperial court to the prisoners below, the dejected look made many ministers present couldn't help but sigh.
However, standing among the ministers, Jiao Jing looked at Zhang Fu and the others, feeling a vague sense of uneasiness in his heart.
"Long live my emperor, long live me."
The three of them paid homage and knelt on the ground.
The emperor did not ask anyone to be exempted from the courtesy and said directly.
"Xu Bin, Xiao Weizhen, Zhang Fu, you should already know why you three were arrested. Today, Tingju, in front of me and all the civil and military officials, must speak truthfully and not hide anything. Do you understand?"
The three people kowtowed again and said in succession: "I obey your decree."
So, Lu Zhong took Xu Bin's testimony from Du Ning, handed it to Xu Bin first, and asked.
"Sir Xu, this is the confession you confessed in prison. In this Fengtian Palace, I, the commander, will ask your Majesty once again whether what is written in the confession is true?"
In less than half a year, Xu Bin has aged significantly to the naked eye.
Hearing this, he took the confession handed over by Xu Bin, read it carefully, and then said: "It is not untrue. All the things written above were things I personally experienced in Wala."
Lu Zhong nodded, took the testimony back, handed it to Xiao Weizhen and Zhang Fu, and said.
"Master Xiao, Master Zhang, in your testimony, one said that the leak of military information was Xu Bin's impromptu initiative, and the other denied that he had leaked military information."
"But Xu Bin's confession not only alleges that the three of you discussed these matters together, but also alleges that they were all done under the orders of the Supreme Emperor."
"How do you two explain this?"
It should be said that this was the first time the three of them met after Xuanfu.
The last time they met, the three of them were close friends and fought side by side. This time they met, they recognized each other.
I have to say that the relationship between people changes too fast.
After reading each of Xu Bin's confessions, Xiao Weizhen tried hard to stabilize his mind and glanced at Zhang Fu who was equally calm.
Xiao Weizhen said: "This is obviously nonsense. Your Majesty, all the details of the mission's negotiations in Wala have been stated clearly in their confessions. Many parts of Xu Bin's testimony are completely false."
"Xu Bin was obviously afraid of being blamed by the court, so he made it up on his own. Even though the Supreme Emperor was trapped in Oala, he was still worried about the Ming Dynasty. How could he issue such an edict?"
"Your Majesty, Xu Bin is so audacious that he dares to commit treachery and frame up the Supreme Emperor in order to seek immunity from his crime. This is an unpardonable crime. Your Majesty, please tell me clearly."
Just as Xiao Weizhen was reading Xu Bin's confession, Lu Zhong also handed Xiao Weizhen's testimony to Xu Bin.
After reading it, Xu Bin's face turned red, he clenched his fists and said angrily.
"Xiao Zixing, how dare you bully me in front of the emperor!"
"When Yuan Bin came that day, it was obvious that the three of us were there. He took the golden knife as evidence and could still hear every word of his words. How could it be my impromptu idea?"
Facing Xu Bin's question, Xiao Weizhen snorted coldly and said.
"You deceive the king and ignore your superiors? I should tell you that you are right!"
"In the face of the Emperor, you still don't want to repent. In order to get rid of your guilt, you are determined to frame the Supreme Emperor. I advise you to turn around and be safe."
"Repent now. Your Majesty is merciful. After all, you were trying to save the Supreme Emperor, and then you told lies to protect yourself. Maybe you could spare the lives of your family."
If it weren't for the Jinyi guards holding him down, Xu Bin would have jumped up, jumped on Xiao Weizhen, and shouted angrily.
"Xiao Zixing, you shameless person, you said that I framed the Supreme Emperor. Then tell me, if it wasn't for the Supreme Emperor's fate, why would I dare to use the terms of cutting off the city to negotiate with you first? Don't I know that this matter
Will he be punished once it is reported back to the capital?"
"Also, how can it become my own decision to obtain the trust from Shawo Military News? After we clearly discussed it, we asked Yuan Bin to pass the message and got the permission of the Supreme Emperor."
It has to be said that although Xu Bin was extremely angry, he did not lose his mind.
These words caused many ministers present to ponder.
Although Xu Bin could not provide any evidence, from a logical point of view, it is indeed what Xu Bin said.
Even if the negotiation fails, it will be at best a crime of dereliction of duty after returning to the DPRK.
However, it should be noted that the difficulty of welcoming back the Supreme Emperor is well known to both the government and the public, and it is impossible to punish him too harshly for this.
He could arbitrarily propose conditions for seizing the city, or even leak military reports. This kind of thing could easily be a matter of life and death.
As the envoy of the mission and a second-rank official, Xu Bin had no need to take this risk unless he really had some unavoidable reason.
Then, apart from accepting the order of the Supreme Emperor, there seems to be no other explanation...