Chapter 686 785 Huguang Council Meeting

"Is the Prime Minister in the duty room?"

Just when Wei Guangde and Li Chunfang finished their conversation and were about to leave, there was a conversation outside the duty room.

Wei Guangde was not unfamiliar with the owner of the voice. It could only be said that "speaking of the devil brings the devil". It was just such a coincidence that they had just finished talking about Zhang Juzheng, and the owner was outside the door.

"Lord Zhang, the Prime Minister is talking to Lord Wei."

The clerk outside the door answered.

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

Li Chunfang also recognized Zhang Juzheng's voice and immediately shouted to the outside of the door.

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

However, Wei Guangde still noticed that in Zhang Juzheng's right hand, he was holding a memorial, and it was obvious that he had something to discuss with Li Chunfang.

Wei Guangde stood up and bowed to Zhang Juzheng, and Zhang Juzheng immediately smiled and returned the greeting, and then the two sat down.

If it was somewhere else, Wei Guangde should have found a reason to resign, after all, they wanted to discuss official business.

But where is this?

The cabinet.

In the cabinet, there is no secret about the memorials.

Since it will be known sooner or later, and Zhang Juzheng has brought the memorials here, Wei Guangde is curious about the memorials he brought.

"Uncle, what do you want to see me for?"

Seeing the memorials in Zhang Juzheng's hand, Li Chunfang pretended not to know and asked.

"Prime Minister, take a look, this is the memorial just sent by Huguang."

Handing the memorial in his hand to Li Chunfang, Zhang Juzheng added at the end: "It involves the matter of the Liao King in Jiangling Prefecture. I dare not make a decision on my own, so I brought them all here."

"Oh, okay, let me see."

Li Chunfang smiled and said, "Huh."

Wei Guangde heard Li Chunfang's surprise and tilted his head to look. At this time, the memorial in Li Chunfang's hand, which seemed to be one volume, had become two volumes.

Previously, Wei Guangde really didn't realize that there were two memorials stacked up together.

Li Chunfang was surprised, but Wei Guangde was not surprised. Just now, Zhang Juzheng used the word "all", and he had a hunch that the matter of the Liao Wang Mansion might be a little tricky.

Li Chunfang was already looking at the memorial on the top, which was the memorial of Hong Chaoxuan, the envoy who went south to investigate the Liao Wang.

Li Chunfang frowned soon after reading ten lines at a glance.

Chen Sheng and Gao Guangxian's impeachments were all verified. There were many charges. Although they seemed to be minor crimes and not worth the trouble in the eyes of the royal family, many of the crimes committed by Li Chunfang against the Liao Wang were serious violations of Confucianism, which was also very indignant.

As for the extent of the Liao Wang's rampages in Jiangling Prefecture, he could arrest and kill people on the street as long as he was happy; rape any woman he liked regardless of her status; commit incest with the women of his clan; usurp the power to build palaces and temples, etc.

However, when Hong Chaoxuan said in his memorial that the King of Liao had actually put up a "banner of injustice" in the palace in order to quibble, Li Chunfang did not take it seriously.

He was just a fool, and he probably didn't even know what the big banner meant, but he dared to put it up casually.

After reading Hong Chaoxuan's memorial, the next one was from Deputy Envoy Shi Duchen. Although he felt strange, Li Chunfang still read his memorial carefully.

The King of Liao was impeached for all the crimes, and none of them was falsely accused.

However, these were all mentioned in Shi Duchen's memorial, and he focused on the fact that the King of Liao was disloyal and actually put up a big banner in the palace, and his intention to rebel was obvious.

At this time, Li Chunfang's previous calmness disappeared in an instant.

If it was just Hong Chaoxuan's memorial, this matter would just be laughed off, but if someone noticed it, it would be no small matter.

Everyone actually knew what Chengzu Zhu Di did at the beginning.

The Jingnan Campaign was nominally "clearing the court and calming the country", but in fact it was a matter of the descendants of the old Zhu family fighting for the world.

At that time, Zhu Di also launched a "rebellion" under the banner of "clearing the court", and it was successful, so it was naturally a "war of justice".

Is the banner of "litigating injustice" something that the King of Liao should fight?

If it is exaggerated, the King of Liao will basically be ruined.

"Shandai, you can also take a look."

Li Chunfang was silent for a while, handed the two memorials in his hand to Wei Guangde, and then shouted to the clerk outside the door: "Go and invite Chen Ge Lao and Yin Ge Lao to come and discuss the matter."

It is related to the vassal king, which is not a trivial matter, not to mention that it involves "rebellion", which is not something that can be fooled.

It can only be said that at this time, the cabinet is not making a vote on the memorial, but needs to have 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 lowered his head to read it carefully. When he saw the back of Hong Chaoxuan's memorial, he frowned. He noticed the key point that the King of Liao had erected a big flag in the palace.

In fact, it was not that Wei Guangde was very sensitive to this, but that he was politically sensitive because of the reactions of Zhang Juzheng and Li Chunfang.

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

This matter is not big, but not small.

The King of Liao has been controlled and placed under house arrest, and is under the supervision of Jinyiwei, so Shi Duchen's memorial is suspected of exaggerating the situation.

The matter is not small, mainly because of the great influence. After all, he is a prince of the Ming Dynasty, and the first generation of the prince title.

Zhu Zhi, the first King of Liao in the Ming Dynasty, was the fifteenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty. His mother was Concubine Han. Think about how many years it has been passed down, and his influence in the royal family 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 that Wei Guangde had already 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 little 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 originally gave Yin Shizhen a 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 and 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 original intention, 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 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 Shizhen. 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?

It was caused by the fact that Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen successively eliminated five vassal kings. If Emperor Longqing came to power and started to eliminate the Liao Wang, those who knew would of course say that the emperor was dealing with the scum of the royal family impartially, and those who didn't know wouldn't know what to say.

"Does the Liao Wang have any offspring?"

Li Chunfang had concerns. Although Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizun supported the heavy punishment of the Liao Wang, could they really do so?

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, dealt with such a vassal king shortly after he ascended the throne, and that was the Qing Wang Zhu Taihong.

In the third year of Jiajing, the Qing Wang Zhu Taihong bribed eunuchs and others, hoping to help the court recover the salary that was cut. As a result, Emperor Jiajing found out and settled the old and new accounts together, and demoted him to a commoner.

However, at that time, Emperor Jiajing had just arrived and was not ruthless. He only abolished Zhu Taihong's title, and did not abolish the Qing vassal. Instead, he let Zhu Taihong's son Zhu Yifang inherit the title of Qing Wang.

Therefore, the first solution that Li Chunfang thought of at this time was to abolish the Liao Wang as a commoner and let his son inherit the title.

In this way, both the court and the royal family would be explained.

Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizhan and Wei Guangde naturally did not know what Li Chunfang said, because the memorial did not mention that the Liao Wangfu's descendants were involved in the crime, so they could not answer.

However, Zhang Juzheng was from Jiangling, so he naturally knew, so he said: "As far as I know, the current Liao Wang Zhu Xian has no descendants. '

"Is that so."

Li Chunfang was also embarrassed.

Asking Emperor Longqing to abolish the Liao Wang as a commoner was the heaviest punishment in Li Chunfang's opinion, and it was also the most explainable one.

But now Liao Wang Zhu Xian has no descendants, so this punishment is definitely not acceptable.

Thinking further, it seems that none of them are appropriate.

Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen deposed five princes, and the previous emperor Jiajing deposed four, which was not much different, but the situation was different.

In addition to the previously mentioned Prince Qing, the second one to be deposed by Jiajing was Prince Zheng Zhu Houwan, but he was punished because he advised Emperor Jiajing not to indulge in cultivation and take elixirs and was deposed.

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

The remaining ones were the evil Prince Hui Zhu Zai𫭢 and Prince Yi Zhu Dianliang, who were directly deposed.

However, that was at the end of the Jiajing Dynasty, when the emperor's position was already stable, and no one in the royal family dared to object.

In fact, if you really compare them, the crime committed by this Liao Prince is similar to that of these two relatives. If it broke out two years earlier, Emperor Jiajing might have been deposed.

"If there is no offspring, heavy punishment will be imposed."

Li Chunfang said hesitantly.

This was said to Chen Yiqin. After all, there were only so many severe punishments for the vassal kings. He had considered their suggestions, but reality did not allow it.

Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhan actually understood Li Chunfang's plan. After learning from Zhang Juzheng that the King of Liao had no heir, they were a little hesitant.

Chen Yiqin glanced at Yin Shizhan, who nodded knowingly.

"In that case, let's follow the opinions of Shuda and Shandai. What do you think, Prime Minister?"

Chen Yiqin gave in.