Chongzhen Wiretapping System

Chapter 203 Is the Emperor a Tyrant?
As soon as they heard that all the officials in Beijing would attend tomorrow's court meeting, everyone knew that it was time for a showdown.

What the hell is there to say about the big treason case?It is estimated that there will be a resolution at the court meeting.

All of a sudden, there was a lot of discussion among officials, or among the people.They were all very curious, what evidence does the emperor have, to prove that everyone from the cabinet ministers to the grain merchants participated in the big treason case?
Just at this time, the martial law in the capital was finally lifted, and everyone was free to come and go, even if they left the capital.

As a result, the business of restaurants and teahouses has been booming again. Without exception, the hot topic of discussion in every place is tomorrow's court meeting.

"Tell me, Yang Ge's department... Did Yang Sichang conspire against him?"

"Who knows this? People's hearts are not in the belly!"

"I don't think so. As a cabinet minister, can he be as powerful as Zhang Shoufu in the Wanli period? It is impossible for a civil servant to usurp the throne in our Ming Dynasty!"

"That's right, he doesn't hold military power, and he doesn't dominate the court, so it's impossible for him to usurp the throne!"

"But doesn't the emperor have evidence? Let's see what the evidence is tomorrow!"

"..."

No matter where, the basic point of view is the same. No one thinks that Yang Sichang has the possibility of treason, even if he colludes with Xuanda Governor Chen Xinjia, Yushi Liu Meicai and others, as well as those grain merchants, basically there is no conspiracy possible!At least in the Ming Dynasty, there has never been any rebellion!

In this way, they became even more curious, what evidence would the emperor have to prove that these people conspired against him?
At the same time, in the hearts of the vast majority of people, they tended to prefer that Yang Sichang and others did not seek rebellion, and felt a little sympathetic to them, thinking that Emperor Chongzhen probably relied on his imperial power to force them to be rebel ministers.

Some people, from the perspective of the factory guards raiding the house, felt that the emperor used this method to search for a large amount of silver in a short period of time because the treasury had no silver.What this method is, no one dares to say clearly, but in fact it is unnecessary to say clearly, everyone understands that it is nothing more than framing them for treason.

"Ah, those grain merchants are indeed abominable, but if they are to be accused of treason, they are the ones who punish the nine clans. This is really too tragic!"

"That's right, there are also those censors who have been in the cold for ten years and have been officials for thousands of miles just for money. They have made a lot of money, and if they are arrested, they will be arrested. This sentence is treason, ah, it is too miserable!"

"Isn't it the same with Yang Gebu? He finally became a cabinet minister. This..."

"..."

As a result, no matter those officials or ordinary people, they had a vague sense of rejection of Emperor Chongzhen.I feel that the emperor's doing this is too much and too cruel.However, there was nothing they could do. The emperor was the emperor after all, and they could only sympathize with those courtiers who were convicted of treason.As for those grain merchants, there are not many people who sympathize with them. The only ones who sympathize are their family members.

So, under the eyes of everyone, the court meeting that everyone was looking forward to finally began.

This morning, all the officials in Beijing who were eligible to participate in the court meeting rushed to the outside of the Forbidden City early.Many people have hidden memorials in their hands.If the emperor can't provide convincing evidence for the treason case, they are ready to resign.If the emperor is allowed to go on like this, who can bear the hat of treason at every turn!

The future of everyone is at stake, and the atmosphere is more solemn than ever.At least in the eyes of these civil and military officials, it seems a bit tragic.It's like a bit of the tragic mood of Jing Ke's assassination of the King of Qin.If the evidence that it is really the emperor is not convincing, then the only option is to say goodbye to the official career.

This time, Emperor Chongzhen did not delay, and arrived soon. After the ministers greeted him, the court meeting began this time.

Zhong Yi, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, took the lead in coughing and went out to report: "Your Majesty, now the factory guards have arrested many officials, which has caused panic among the officials in the capital. Please make it clear to your Majesty, I don't know what crime these officials have committed before?" Many days have passed for the serious crime of treason mentioned, but where is the evidence?"

He was one of the few people in the Metropolitan Procuratorate who had not been arrested, and the censor in the Metropolitan Procuratorate's Yamen was basically caught by the factory guards.Whether it's emotional or rational, he has to come out and ask for an explanation.

Moreover, the Chief Assistant Xue Guoguan was not convincing. Many people knew that he was the emperor's running dog. Perhaps it was his idea to arrest so many officials.Therefore, no one expected Xue Guoguan to stand up for them.

The occurrence of this situation is actually largely due to Yang Sichang.It was him who spread Xue Guoguan's suggestion behind his back, making others feel that Xue Guoguan didn't consider the civil service group at all, and was helping the imperial power to damage the civil service group.

Lin Yuji, the Minister of Rites, also followed suit and said: "Your Majesty, it is really not easy to postpone a major rebellion case for a long time. Moreover, there was a rebellion case of Duke Yuan Chengguo just last time, and now there are also cases ranging from ministers of the cabinet to ministers of grain and grain. If Shang’s major treason case is dragged on, it may be unfavorable to the court, so please make it clear to your Majesty.”

Both of them secretly hid the memorial of resignation. If the emperor didn't give an explanation today, they would resign.

With the two of them taking the lead, many other courtiers followed suit, echoing their remarks, and the focus was on this major treason case.Because everyone knows about corruption, basically there is corruption, the emperor must be serious, but it is hard to say.Therefore, in order to break through the situation where the emperor would let the factory guards arrest people at every turn, the only way to break through is from the point of treason.

Seeing that a large number of courtiers below all demanded to release the evidence of the treason case, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but sneered in his heart, because he knew that these people, including the common people, are now in the public opinion because he, the emperor, is framing them for treason.

After scanning the expressions of the ministers, Emperor Chongzhen said with a cold face: "Since all the ministers want to know the evidence, then I will make it public today!"

After finishing speaking, he rolled his name and asked, "Where is Li Ruolian, Commander of Jin Yiwei?"

"The last general is here!" Upon hearing this, Li Ruolian immediately came out of the line and clasped his fists in response.

"Bring people up, and tell the princes in the court!"

Li Ruolian naturally knew who he was taking, so he agreed and went down to take him.

The courtiers at the bottom listened, all of them remained calm.They want to see, who is the emperor going to bring over to talk about the treason case?Is it framed, they believe they can see it!
To their surprise, the people brought by the Commander of Jin Yiwei turned out to be two young women.One of the censors who was not caught also recognized the two people, and couldn't help saying: "The daughter of Kochi County? You... you were taken away by the Jian captive?"

The visitors were naturally the two sisters Gao Qingxue and Gao Qingju.

Hearing the voice and looking at it, he recognized that it was the same year as his father, and he had met several times before.

As soon as he saw the old man, he forgot Li Ruolian's confession, and did not greet the emperor first, so tears came down, and he cried out sadly: "Uncle Guo!"

This Guo Yushi knew how to measure, and asked them to greet the emperor first, and then he wanted to hear what the two nieces would say?
Other civil and military officials were also curious. These two girls seemed to be the daughters of Kochi County who died for their country after the city was destroyed. What could they know?
After seeing the ceremony, Gao Qingxue began to talk about herself.It starts from the city being besieged by Jianlu, the city is broken, and the suffering begins.

"...The Nu family thought that there was no way out, but unexpectedly, a Jinyiwei spy took the risk to save the Nu family, promised to take care of the Nu family's younger sisters, and let the Nu family escape to report to the court..."

When Gao Qingxue said this, he glanced at these civil and military officials, and seeing that they were all paying attention, his voice was a little less sad, and a little more hateful: "It is said that there is a Shanxi merchant named Fan Yongdou, Tonglu, who is in the Jianlu army. I saw with my own eyes that Tazi and Prince Shuorui went out of the tent to meet the Fan thief. According to the information he inquired from the Tazi, there were many Shanxi merchants who had an affair with Liaodong Jianlu. How could Ming Dynasty have such traitors? Can you beat Jianlu? So he took the risk of letting the servant send this news."

When she said this, Li Ruolian, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, interrupted and said: "After Fan went to Jianlu's camp, Jianlu suddenly went south and raided Jinan Mansion, and King De fell."

Hearing these words, everyone who didn't know it couldn't help being very surprised.

Originally, they were all concerned about the major treason case of Yang Sichang and others, but they didn't expect that what the emperor sent someone to tell was another very shocking news.

Previously, the emperor deduced from the timing of the previous Jianlu invasions that there was a possibility of a traitor in the Ming Dynasty.However, it seems that Yang Sichang and others denied it, and the matter was never mentioned again.

Many officials present had heard of this Shanxi merchant, Fan Yongdou.After all, Fanji Bank is very famous in the capital.In the past, because of its good reputation, the banknotes in the hands of most people belonged to Fanji Bank.

But they soon realized that the Fanji Bank was closed down by the factory guards because it was found out in Cheng Guogong's treason case that he had an affair with the eunuch in the palace.

Thinking of this, Lin Yuji immediately asked, "I don't know who that Jinyiwei spy is, and when did he infiltrate the Jianlu army?"

"Yes, these things are really surprising. It's just Shanxi merchants, why do you want to cooperate with captives?" Zuodu Yushi also asked.

Li Ruolian glanced at the emperor, shook his head and said, "The identity cannot be announced yet."

Upon hearing this, many officials expressed their opinions.Can you tell me who this spy is?That's why you, Jin Yiwei, are talking nonsense.Maybe, there is no such person at all, right?

Li Ruolian guessed what they were thinking, but didn't pay attention to it at all, and turned around to give another woman an order.

Gao Qingju began to talk about the situation on her side: "The sisters of the Nu family are gone, and only the Nu family is left alone. When crossing the Wei River..."

She recounted the events of that day, among which, of course, Han Leyu who found her was mentioned.

This involves the emperor's powerful team, with names and surnames. Although the process seems to be thrilling, after all, there are other witnesses.

"Your Majesty, can you ask Han Leyu in person?" Lin Yuji bowed and asked the emperor for instructions.

But at this time, most of those who don't want to believe it still don't want to believe it. They feel that this can be made up, and they can't ask anything in person.

Han Leyu had already returned to Beijing at this time, and Emperor Chongzhen naturally would not disagree, so he passed on the decree, and Han Leyu, who had been waiting for a long time, arrived soon.

Therefore, Lin Yuji and others immediately asked Han Leyu about the details of the battle of Weihe that day.

Of course Han Leyu told the truth, and even took off his clothes on the spot to show the scar on his arm to prove that he was not lying.

But even so, those who don't believe it still don't believe it, because under the pressure of the emperor, these things can actually be made up.

Therefore, some civil servants countered: "Your Majesty, if it is only these evidences, if they are made public, the people may not be convinced, especially many Shanxi merchants will complain about injustice. This matter is of great importance, please be careful!"

Lin Yuji also said: "Your Majesty, it is human nature for businessmen to pursue profits, and those with black hearts do. But what does this have to do with Yang Sichang and others' treason case?"

He asked about a major treason case before, but the emperor asked people to say that Shanxi merchants cooperated with captives.He doesn't care about these Shanxi merchants, or he cares more about the big treason case.After all, the matter of treason affected them the most, and they didn't want the emperor to divert the topic.

Today, the emperor must give an explanation, otherwise, this official will not be able to be appointed.

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen just said indifferently: "Please be safe, don't be impatient, and wait patiently."

After finishing speaking, he nodded to Li Ruolian again.

Seeing the emperor's plain expression, Lin Yuji couldn't help being a little taken aback, and thinking about it, the emperor seemed to have a plan in his chest, that's fine, let's just watch.

So, this time, they didn't see Li Ruolian bringing anyone here, but they took out a confession from their sleeves and read it in public.

This confession belongs to Fan Fu of Fan Ji Bank.

It described the things that Fan Fu did, including the incident when he was secretly arrested by Jin Yiwei.

When this confession was announced, it was surprising.

If the agents of Jin Yiwei did not disclose their identities in the previous incident, then it might be made up, but this incident, with names and surnames, involved many people.

For example, it involved Liu Meicai, the censor, colluding with the palace people, and their conspiracy to overthrow Lu Xiangsheng, the commander of King Qin's army.In addition, there are soldiers guarding the city gate who can testify about the day of the arrest.

Although there is no explicit accusation of these things, each of these things has a very large impact.From these things, it can be seen that Fan Ji Qianzhuang wanted to influence the court situation and make the situation beneficial to Jianlu.

It was also at this time that many people suddenly realized that the factory guards must have noticed the problem with Fanji Bank a long time ago, and then followed up with Cheng Guogong's treason case and just caught it by the way?
At this moment, many officials felt that the water in this case of Shanxi merchants was very deep.Now that the censor Liu Meicai has been brought out, who will come next?When thinking about this, they thought of Yang Sichang.

At the same time, some of them also thought that they had more or less dealt with Fanji Bank.Could it be that there are problems with my own affairs?
Thinking of this, they became a little nervous.

In fact, when Fanji Bank became the number one bank in the capital, it was because many dignitaries provided protection and platform for Fanji Bank.Of course, most of them just do it for the sake of money.

Emperor Chongzhen scanned the courtiers below and soon discovered this phenomenon.After Li Ruolian disclosed the matter of Fan Ji Bank, the aggrieved expressions on the faces of many officials before seemed to be much less.

Hehe, the fun is yet to come!Emperor Chongzhen sneered in his heart, signaling Li Ruolian to continue.

　After writing [-] words yesterday, I felt like I didn’t want to write and couldn’t get into the mood, so I stopped writing.After thinking about it, under general practice, there may be three updates on weekends. If there are only two updates, I will explain it in the last chapter of this chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)