The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Sir, Chief Assistant, can you check the room?"

Just when Wei Guangde and Li Chunfang finished their conversation and were about to exit, the sound of conversation suddenly came from outside the duty room door.

The owner of the voice, Wei Guangde, was no stranger. He could only say, "Cao Cao, Cao Cao has arrived." It was such a coincidence that as soon as they finished talking about Zhang Juzheng, the real owner arrived outside the door.

"Mr. Zhang Ge, the Chief Assistant is talking to Mr. Wei Ge."

The clerk outside the door replied.

"Uncle, what's the matter? Come in and talk."

Li Chunfang also recognized Zhang Juzheng's voice and immediately shouted to the door at a louder volume.

As Li Chunfang finished speaking, Zhang Juzheng appeared outside the door of the duty room, holding up his official robe with his left hand and stepping into the room.

However, Wei Guangde still noticed that in Zhang Juzheng's right hand, he was holding a memorial. He obviously came to Li Chunfang to discuss something.

Wei Guangde stood up and bowed his hands to Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Juzheng immediately returned the greeting with a smile, and then the two sat down.

If it were elsewhere, Wei Guangde should find a reason to resign. After all, he had to discuss business.

But where is this?

cabinet.

In the cabinet, there is nothing secret about memorial matters.

Since he had to find out sooner or later, and Zhang Juzheng had already arrived here with the memorial, Wei Guangde was curious about what happened to the memorial he brought over.

"Uncle, what do you want from me?"

Seeing the memorial in Zhang Juzheng's hand, Li Chunfang still pretended not to know what to ask.

"Master Chief Assistant, please take a look. This is the memorial just sent from Huguang."

He handed the memorial to Li Chunfang, and at the end Zhang Juzheng added: "I don't dare to make decisions on matters involving the King of Liao in Jiangling Prefecture, so I took them all."

"Oh, okay, let me take a look."

Li Chunfang smiled and said, "Hey."

Wei Guangde heard Li Chunfang's surprised voice and turned his head to look. At this time, what seemed to be one memorial in Li Chunfang's hand had turned into two.

Previously, Wei Guangde didn't realize that they were two memorials when they were stacked one above the other.

It's just that Li Chunfang was surprised, but Wei Guangde was not surprised. Just now Zhang Juzheng used the word "du", and he had a hunch that this matter in the Liao Prince's Palace might be a bit tricky.

At this time, Li Chunfang had already read the memorial, which was the memorial of Hong Chaoxuan, the envoy of the King of Liao who went south to investigate.

After a glance, Li Chunfang soon frowned.

The impeachments of Chen Sheng and Gao Guangxian were all verified, and there were many crimes. Although in the eyes of the royal family, they seemed to be small crimes that did not require much effort, many of the crimes Li Chunfang committed against the King of Liao were serious violations. The behavior of Confucianism is also very dissatisfied.

As for the extent to which the King of Liao was misbehaving in Jiangling Mansion, as long as he pleased, he could arrest and kill people on the streets; rape any woman he liked, regardless of status; have incest with the women of his clan; build palaces and temples without permission, and so on.

However, the Hong Dynasty memorial said that when the Liao king actually erected a "lawsuit of grievances" in the palace in order to quibble, he didn't take it seriously.

He's just a fool. He probably doesn't even know what the big banner means, so he dares to set it up casually.

After reading Hong Chaoxuan's memorials, the next one was written by Deputy Envoy Shi Duchen. Although she felt strange, Li Chunfang still read his memorials carefully.

The king of Liao was impeached on all charges, but none of them were falsely accused.

However, these are all mentioned briefly in Shi Duchen's memorial, and what he focuses on is that the King of Liao was not a minister, and actually erected a large banner in the palace, and his intention to rebel was obvious.

By this time, Li Chunfang's previous calmness was gone.

If it were just a memorial written by Hong Chaoxuan, this matter would have been laughed off, but if someone noticed it, it was no small matter.

Everyone actually knew what Zhu Di had done.

The battle of Jingnan was nominally "Qingjun side, Jingguo was in trouble", but in fact it was an incident caused by the descendants of the old Zhu family fighting for the world.

At that time, Zhu Di also launched a "rebellion" by launching a "Qingjun side". If it succeeded, it would naturally be a "just war".

Is it the King of Liao's duty to carry the banner of "litigation of grievances"?

If Shang Gang comes online, the King of Liao will basically be abolished.

"Shan Loan, you should also take a look."

Li Chunfang was a little silent, handed the two memorials to Wei Guangde, and then shouted to the scribe outside the door: "Quickly invite Mr. Chen Ge and Mr. Yin Ge to come over to discuss matters."

It is not a trivial matter involving the feudal lord, not to mention that it also involves "rebellion", which cannot be fooled.

It can only be said that at this time, the cabinet is not drafting the memorial, but needs a detailed memorial report to Emperor Longqing.

All decisions must be made by the supreme being in the palace.

Wei Guangde took the memorial from Li Chunfang and looked down carefully. When he saw the back of Hong Chao's selected memorial, he frowned. He noticed the key point that the King of Liao erected a large banner in the palace.

In fact, this was not due to Wei Guangde's sensitivity to this, but to his political acumen stimulated by the reactions of Zhang Juzheng and Li Chunfang.

After reading Shi Duchen's memorial, he understood Li Chunfang's current situation.

This matter is neither big nor small.

The King of Liao had been put under house arrest and was guarded by Jin Yiwei, so Shi Duchen's memorial was suspected of exaggerating the situation.

The matter is not small, but the main thing is his great influence. After all, he is the prince of the Ming Dynasty, and he still holds the title of prince of the first generation.

Zhu Zhi, the first king of Liao in the Ming Dynasty, was the fifteenth son of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. His mother was Concubine Han. Thinking about how many years it has been passed down, his influence in the clan is not small.

As for the impeachment charges, they are now trivial crimes.

After Emperor Jiajing reduced the vassalage, Wei Guangde still didn't know the Ming Dynasty emperor's attitude towards the clan.

While still thinking, Chen Yiqin arrived here first.

When I entered the door, I saw Wei Guangde had arrived, which was a little strange.

After Wei Guangde stood up and saluted, he handed Chen Yiqin all the memorials from Huguang in his hand to let him know what happened.

Not long after, Yin Shizhen also came.

All the cabinet ministers were present, but there was some silence in the duty room.

After reading the memorial, Chen Yiqin silently handed it to Yin Shizhen to let him know what it was about.

"Shi Duchen must be making a fuss out of a molehill."

After Yin Shizhen finished reading the memorial, he couldn't help but frown and said.

Wei Guangde just glanced at him and said nothing.

Everyone knows about this matter, but it is related to the clan and rebellion, which has become the most important matter in the court at the moment. Only Emperor Longqing can decide whether he is guilty or not.

"My uncle came to me with the Huguang Memorial to discuss this matter. Shandai happened to be there too, and we all found it a bit tricky, so we called everyone together to discuss how the cabinet should report this matter."

Chief Assistant Li Chunfang had regained her composure at this time and spoke calmly.

Reporting matters to the emperor below can be recorded truthfully, and how to deal with it is the emperor's business. However, when the cabinet reports to the emperor, it requires suggestions, at least to let the emperor know the cabinet's attitude.

But this time, the cabinet is obviously a bit embarrassed to express its position.

"Uncle, you'd better tell me your opinion first."

In cabinet meetings, the first and second assistants generally do not express their attitudes at the beginning of the meeting and set the tone of the meeting in order to avoid suspicion. Instead, they listen to the opinions of others first.

Therefore, in every meeting, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin were the last to express their stance.

The order in which the others spoke was based on the time they entered the cabinet. Zhang Juzheng was naturally the first, followed by Yin Shizhen, and finally Wei Guangde.

This is also the current order of the cabinet. Wei Guangde's imperial examination qualifications are less than those of Yin Shizhen, so Emperor Longqing gave Yin Shizhen the bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, and he could only be the last bachelor of Dongge.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng had already spoken: "Since the charges against the King of Liao have been verified, I will report the truth and ask your Majesty to punish him. As for erecting a large banner in the palace, it is just one more crime. What will your Majesty do?" Disposal is a family matter.”

According to the laws set by Zhu Yuanzhang, all matters within the royal family are family affairs, and the third division really has no right to interrogate, unless they get the emperor's order.

Zhang Juzheng's words should be quite satisfactory and the most common way to deal with it.

Wei Guangde nodded slightly. He thought so at the beginning. Anyway, it was the emperor who made the decision in the end. According to the investigation results of the imperial envoy, it was already confirmed that the King of Liao was guilty. There was not much difference between one more and one less.

"The crime committed by the King of Liao seems to be a bit minor. Should I ask your Majesty to punish him severely?"

Yin Shizhen now had a strong sense of justice. When he saw the crime of impeaching the King of Liao, he was very angry and felt that he should be punished severely.

Yin Shizhen felt that the "big banner" issue was an opportunity to eliminate violence and bring peace to the people. Such people should not be punished, but reduced.

Of course, if Emperor Longqing believed that the King of Liao was disobedient and it would be frivolous to reduce his rank, he should eliminate the country instead.

But at this time, he didn't know the emperor's thoughts, so he didn't dare to say these words.

"Your Majesty, please punish me severely."

Li Chunfang murmured, then looked at Wei Guangde and asked, "Shandai supports Shuda or Yifu?"

Wei Guangde was originally going to speak for Yin Shizhen, and the severity of the punishment didn't matter to him because it had nothing to do with him.

But just now Li Chunfang reminded him that according to his heart, if he was the first to express his opinion, he should be on Zhang Juzheng's side, so now he changed his usual attitude and chose to side with Zhang Juzheng.

"I think Uncle's handling is more prudent. Whether His Majesty wants a lighter or heavier punishment, that is a family matter. What the cabinet must do is to be fair."

Wei Guangde said.

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Li Chunfang said, "The King of Liao is guilty, but the punishment is not something that the court can decide. Zhengfu, what do you think?"

After Li Chunfang finished speaking, she looked at Chen Yiqin.

The attitudes of Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng were actually both asking to punish the King of Liao, but Yin Shizhen was more radical and hoped to ask His Majesty to punish him severely. In essence, there is not much difference.

As for Wei Guangde supporting Zhang Juzheng instead of helping Yin Shizhen this time, Chen Yiqin didn't take it to heart.

"Your Majesty has always been generous with rewards to each of the vassals when he first ascended to the throne. This time around the King of Liao, I think I can remind your majesty to appropriately increase the punishment to prevent the vassal kings from all over the country from deceiving your majesty's kindness and doing something."

Chen Yiqin's attitude was obviously to help Yin Shi's delirium. It was still the same as before. The only one who had changed was Wei Guangde.

However, the expression of Wei Guangde below did not change. It was said to be a big deal, but in reality, dealing with the vassal king did not seem to be a big deal, but it also needed to be treated with caution.

Many people may think that at this time, the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty were all in captivity, there was no threat, and they could be killed or killed by the emperor.

Although this is true, the influence is still too great after all.

How did Zhu Di rebel in the first place?

Wasn't it caused by Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen's continuous elimination of five vassal queens? If Emperor Longqing came to power, he would start to eliminate the king of Liao. Those who knew would certainly say that the emperor dealt with the scum of the clan impartially, and those who didn't didn't know what to say.

"Does the King of Liao have any heirs?"

Li Chunfang had concerns. Although Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen supported severely punishing the King of Liao, could they really do this?

Li Chunfang couldn't help but think about the conventions and how this matter was handled in the past.

Not to mention, even Emperor Longqing's laborer, Emperor Jiajing, had dealt with such a vassal king shortly after he ascended the throne, and that was King Qing Zhu Taihang.

In the third year of Jiajing's reign, King Zhu Taihuo of Qing paid bribes to eunuchs and others, hoping to help him recover his salary that had been cut off from the court. However, Emperor Jiajing found out about this and settled the old and new accounts together, deposing him as a commoner.

However, Emperor Jiajing had just arrived at that time, and he was not ruthless. He only abolished Zhu Taihang's own title. He did not abolish Qing Fan, but let Zhu Taihang's son Zhu Baofang be granted the title of Prince Qing.

Therefore, the first solution Li Chunfang thought of at this time was to depose the King of Liao as a commoner and let his son take over the title.

In this way, there are explanations to the court and the clan.

Naturally, Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizhen and Wei Guangde didn't know what Li Chunfang said, because the memorial did not mention that the heirs of the Liao prince's family were involved in the crime, so they couldn't answer it.

However, Zhang Juzheng was from Jiangling, so he naturally knew it, so he said: 'As far as I know, the current King of Liao Zhu Xian has no heirs. ’

"That's it."

Li Chunfang was in a dilemma now.

Asking Emperor Longqing to depose the King of Liao as a commoner was the heaviest punishment in Li Chunfang's opinion, and it was also the most eloquent one.

But now that King Zhu Xian of Liao has no heirs, this kind of punishment will definitely not work.

Thinking about it further, it seems inappropriate.

Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen deposed five vassal kings, and the previous emperor Jiajing deposed four. He did not make too many concessions, but the situation was different.

In addition to the previously mentioned King Qing, the second person who was deposed by Jiajing was King Zheng Zhu Hounan, but he was punished because he advised Emperor Jiajing not to indulge in cultivation and take pills.

Last year Emperor Longqing rehabilitated him and gave him many rewards.

The only ones left are the evil-doing King Zhu Zai of Hui and the King of Yi Zhu Diancui. These two are directly expelled from the country.

However, it was done at the end of the Jiajing Dynasty, when the emperor's status was already stable, and no one in the clan dared to have any objections.

In fact, if we compare it, the crimes committed by the Liao King are similar to those of these two relatives. If the incident had happened two years earlier, Emperor Xu Jiajing would have been abolished as well.

"If you have no heirs, you will be severely punished."

Li Chunfang said hesitantly.

This was meant for Chen Yiqin. After all, those were the severe punishments for the vassal king. It was not that he had not considered their suggestions, but reality did not allow it.

Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen actually understood Li Chunfang's plan, and they also hesitated after learning from Zhang Juzheng that the King of Liao had no heir.

Chen Yiqin glanced at Yin Shizhen, who nodded knowingly.

"In that case, what do you think of Master Shuda and Shandai?"

Chen Yiqin gave way.