He had a good night's sleep.

Yesterday, after Chun Tuo and Luo Yuan dealt with the matter of pretending to be Qiu Tuo and Dong Tuo's internal servants, Xiao Tuyou felt that the matter was finally over. This was originally a huge mistake, but I didn't expect it to bring unexpected gains. The first is that there is a huge rift between the king of Ganzi and the king of Xiangting, and the second is that there is a deep hatred between Rongzhu, the father of the melting cliff, and the king of Ganzi, and it can no longer be bridged. Although the king of Beiling County has not been eliminated for the time being, there is a rift between the other two meritorious county kings, between the meritorious county king and the most powerful and prestigious county guard, which can be regarded as a great gain. Even, in the eyes of Xiao Tuyou, who has always advocated balance and containment of all parties, getting rid of the king of Beiling County is more valuable than successfully provoking contradictions between various powerful factions. Therefore, the current result is more satisfying than successfully poisoning the king of Beiling County.

Xiao Tuyu also clearly felt that Guangluqing's attitude towards himself was also slowly changing. Originally, Luo Yuanyi always put on a look and tone in front of him, and through the past few days of jointly dealing with the Rongya case, Luo Yuanji's eyes obviously had fear and a little more respect, which greatly increased his confidence. In fact, when Emperor Longwu was alive, although he admired Emperor Longwu's eloquence and strategy, he was quite unimpressed by Emperor Longwu's means of restraining the royal family and princes and ministers. In his opinion, Emperor Longwu was blindly strong and strict, lacking flexibility and warmth, and the result was that the clan and princes and ministers all feared Emperor Longwu, but none of them liked him either. As a leader, it is more important to be liked by your subjects than to be feared by your subjects. Being liked is a private emotion, so it lasts longer. Being feared is a sense of business, not powerful. And winning the love of others is the greatest strength of the company, and this advantage is unmatched. This is also the fundamental reason why he was able to get the unanimous support of the clan and succeed to the throne smoothly without being questioned.

He also took Dou Ji alone late yesterday night, escorted by the embroidered messenger, secretly went out of the palace and met with Prime Minister Hong Tong. Hong Tong was Emperor Longwu's most trusted confidant minister, and he had a deep loyalty to Emperor Longwu. Not only that, Hongtong's political wisdom and political means are also extraordinary, the reason why Emperor Longwu was able to rise all the way, from a concubine to the prince of the county, until he became the Emperor Longwu who was supported by all the people, until later cutting the domain, restructuring and so on, are closely related to Hongtong's planning, planning and operation. Hong Tong has served as the prime minister since the founding of the Longwu Emperor, and in the past 13 years, he has accumulated a huge network advantage and political appeal. After Tuyu succeeded to the throne, there were two people who were most feared, one was Empress Xuanren, and the other was Prime Minister Hongtong. Empress Xuanren was quite knowledgeable, and took the lead in supporting and bowing down to herself that night; But Hong Tong never expressed his position, and he never came out of his illness. Xiao Tuyou has been waiting for Hong Tong to return to obedience, but Hong Tong has not expressed the slightest position.

Last night, Xiao Tuyou couldn't help it, so he decided to go to the Prime Minister's Mansion to visit Hong Tong in person. There was silence in the Prime Minister's Mansion, without the prosperity and busyness of Emperor Longwu when he was alive. As long as Hong Tong submits to himself, it symbolizes that the major political forces inside and outside the court are basically submissive to him, and his hard-earned throne will basically be able to sit firmly. Of course, he also made the worst plan at the same time, if Hong Tong insisted on not returning, he would find a reason to secretly execute him to prevent the legacy of raising tigers.

Who knows, when Hong Tongyi saw Xiao Tuyou, he immediately expressed his submission. Not only that, Hong Tong also promised to persuade the ministers of the court and the county guards to submit one by one through letters. This was a result that Tuyou never expected, and it once made Tuyou vigilant, feeling that there must be some deception or some conspiracy in this. But Hong Tong's candid statement gradually dispels his doubts. More importantly, Hong Tong profoundly analyzed the ideas, achievements, and hidden dangers of Emperor Longwu's administration. Hong Tong believes that Emperor Longwu saw the disadvantages of the county system, and also keenly discovered the advantages of the county system, and it was wise to cut the feudal system, but the speed of implementation was a little too impatient, resulting in the whole country was not very adaptable, and the Emperor Longwu himself did not have enough understanding of the shortcomings of the county system. Hong Tong did not fully agree with the governance of Emperor Longwu, and had long expected the counterattack of the county king's clan. At the same time, Hong Tong also unceremoniously predicted and criticized the new policy idea of abolishing the county defense system and fully restoring the county state system. Regarding the emperor's thoughts and hardships, Hong Tong made a comprehensive deduction and analysis, and all of them were in line with the facts. In addition to Hong Tong's inference and penetrating analysis, what moved the emperor the most was a passage from Hong Tong, Hong Tong said: "Forgive the ministers for being reckless, if the minister's guess is correct, Your Majesty probably got the support by promising the county kings and clans to restore the county system, right?" However, the minister thought that when His Majesty restored the old system of the county, it was the beginning of the fall of the country. This made Xiao Tuyu break out in a cold sweat, he fully agreed with Hong Tong's analysis, and immediately admitted that what Hong Tong said was true. Tuyu happily admitted his mistake and asked Hong Tong for a way to deal with it. Hong Tong took out the new policy program that he had written long ago, which not only saved the face of the "re-county state" that Lu Tuyu had already proposed, but laid out the essence of the county guard system in the "re-county state", and named it the "new county state system". According to Hong Tong's introduction, the "new county system" has both the advantages of the county system and the county guard system, but it has both its drawbacks, and can be called a perfect system. He sincerely invited Hong Tong to continue to serve as his prime minister, and promised that he would continue to trust Hong Tong as Emperor Longwu trusted Hong Tong. However, Hong Tong suggested that in order to ensure that the emperor could establish a new dynasty as soon as possible and gather authority, it was best for him to be a minister. Xiao Tuyou resolutely disagreed with Hong Tong Zhishi, and even went to the ground and begged Hong Tong to stay in office. Hong Tong said that he did not serve as the prime minister, but also for the smooth implementation of the current government policy, he was the prime minister of the Longwu Emperor, fully supported and implemented the county guard system of the Longwu Emperor, and now he has turned to the implementation of the "new county system", which will reduce the prestige of the imperial court, and will also make the implementation of the new policy not smooth. However, the sincerity of the attempt to comfort Hong Tong was very sufficient, and no matter how Hong Tong explained, he would never allow Hong Tong to leave. In the end, the two sides compromised with each other and reached an agreement, and Hong Tong nominally returned to his hometown, but in fact secretly stayed in the holy capital and served as the emperor's secret counselor, but completely hid behind the scenes, never letting the second person know. Hong Tong's unexpected submission and consent to secret assistance completely established his confidence. In Xiao Tuyu's view, Hong Tong is the talent he needs most to govern the country, which even Luo Yuan can't compare. Xiao Tuyou believes that although Luo Yuan is good at scheming and has a variety of methods, he has great talent and strategy, but he has no valuable suggestions for the country's major policies, and the huge power and intertwined network of the Luo family make Xiao Tuyou deeply uneasy. But Hong Tong is different, he has been at the top of the center for a long time, participated in the whole process of Emperor Longwu's founding, cutting feuds, and restructuring, and knows almost everything about the country's big and small things, big and small systems, and big and small personnel, and is a real honest person who seeks the country. The most rare thing is that Hongtong's "secret assistance", in this way, all the wisdom of Hongtong will be completely transformed into his own ideas, and Hongtong's own influence will be completely superimposed on himself, which makes all Hongtong's strategies more selfless than Yu Yuanji, and at the same time, the wisdom that Hongtong contributes to himself will make him more wise and martial, which is very helpful for suppressing the rising authority of Yu Yuanji and establishing the emperor's own imperial authority as soon as possible. He repaid the favor and happily promised Hongtong that he would definitely reuse Hongtong's heirs, and once the time was ripe, he would also invite Hongtong to come out of the mountain to govern again. Hong Tong did not dispute this.

In short, the many changes in the past month after succeeding to the throne made Xiao Tuyou firmly believe that his emperor would definitely do better, more successful, and more popular with the people than Emperor Longwu. Sooner or later, the subjects will also call themselves "Emperor Chongjing", and even give themselves a more majestic title than "Emperor". He became more and more convinced of this.

At the end of the hour, several ministers such as Guangluqing Luo Yuanxuan, Tingwei Dugong, Zong Zhengqing, Shaofuqing, and Wei Weiqing rushed to the front hall of Qianyuan Palace, where they waited for the emperor.

When the time came, Chang Ji, the king of Xiangting County, and Xiao Shihuan, the king of Ganzi County, paced into the front hall of the Qianyuan Palace successively, and were arranged on the east and west sides.

"Your Majesty has arrived!" The sound of Chuntuo's singing sounded.

"Hooray!"

"Flatten. Give the king of Xiangting and the king of Ganzi to see the seat and tea. Before he could sit down, he commanded.

Sure enough, as Chun Tuo expected last time, the emperor gave the two county kings another seat.

Waiting for Chang Ji and Xiao Shihuan to sit down, Xiao Tuyu spoke: "Yesterday, the Nangong guards found Qiu Tuo and Dong Tuo outside the Holy Capital. The two slaves escaped from the holy capital, only to be killed by wolves in the woods, and their faces and organs were eaten. Fortunately, Chun Tuo was astute, and through many details, it was confirmed that they were Qiu Tuo and Dong Tuo. Hum! O slaves and maids, if they have not sinned, how can I add sin to them without cause? They escaped from the palace without permission, and according to the law, it is still a capital crime, so they can be regarded as innocent. "Tu Ulala talked about such a large article, and the main idea is one, that is, these two slaves and maids were not poisoned, and their sin was only to escape from the palace for no reason. Yu Yuan heard this meaning. Of course, Chang Ji, the king of Xiangting County, and Xiao Shihuan, the king of Ganzi County, also heard this meaning.

Seeing that everyone didn't answer, Xiao Tuyu asked, "King Xiangting, do you still have any questions?" ”

"There is no doubt about it."

Regarding Chang Ji's reply, Xiao Tuyu and Luo Yuan had already expected it. Chang Ji is a man who keeps his word, and he said yesterday that as long as the evidence is conclusive, he will not take sides. Now that the two chamberlains have been found, and Chang Ji's only doubt has been relieved, he naturally won't dwell on it anymore.

Tuyu nodded, glanced around the hall, and then said, "That's good." I have called you here today to settle this case today. How to convict, Lieutenant Ting, tell us about it. ”

"Whoa." Tingwei Dugong walked out a few steps forward from the east column, bowed down and replied: "According to the law: killing the clan is a heinous crime, and it should be punished with Ling Chi capital punishment. Rongya is a noble relative, according to the law, it should be discussed. Although it is expensive, it is inevitable that you will die. Therefore, what we need to discuss today is, if Ling Chi is not sentenced, what capital crime should be sentenced, beheaded, beheaded, hanged, or given to commit suicide? ”

"Lord Tingwei, slow down." King Xiangting stood up and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the minister has objections. ”

"You say. You sit down and say, sit down and say. The Emperor said.

"Your Majesty, the poisoning of the melting cliff led to the death of the emperor, the evidence is conclusive, and the minister has no objection to this. However, Fang Cai Tingwei said that the crime of recklessness would inevitably lead to death, but the minister did not dare to agree. After speaking, he paused for a moment, this was waiting for the emperor's permission for him to continue.

"Just say it." There was not the slightest hesitation in the Emperor's tone, as if he completely agreed with the opinion of King Xiangtingjun.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. There are two reasons for this. First, there is a reason for the move to melt the cliff. During the great mourning, the king of Ganzi County molested the dancing girl in public, saying that he was mad and had no king, which was by no means excessive, whether it was according to the law or according to the rules of the royal family, this is a great crime of disrespect. Out of righteous indignation, Rongya dissuaded the indecency of the king of Ganzi County, which can be called a righteous act. As a relative and elder, the king of Ganzi County can't be happy if he hears it, and even humiliates Rongya's parents and family in public. This grandson of the minister, the minister knows. Although Rongya is not talented, but he is the most filial and sexual person, how can he be calm when he hears that someone humiliates his parents and family, and how can he bear it? In addition, Rongya is young after all, and he is still in the age of dancing elephants, and his blood is strong and impulsive. That's when he made the poison. Therefore, although Rongya's move is revenge, it is not 'revenge for personal gain', but out of 'righteous indignation'. Second, the original intention of the cliff was not to kill the Wanderers. Rongya grew up in the military camp since he was a child, and he didn't know how medical science was, and of course he didn't know the poison and strangeness of Purple Star Roland. Not to mention the melting cliff, even the imperial physician in the palace didn't know about it. Therefore, the minister dared to guarantee his life, and Rongya just wanted to use the poison of Purple Star Roland to punish the king of Ganzi County, but he didn't think that this poison was so violent, so it caused a huge disaster and caused this series of suspicions. The act of melting the cliff and poisoning it is really hateful, but after all, it cannot be regarded as deliberate murder, it can only be regarded as manslaughter, and it is extenuating circumstances, and it has a reason to atone for the crime. To sum up, the minister thinks that the crime of melting the cliff is not among the heinous ones. First of all, he should be exempted from capital crimes. ”

This was a change that neither Tuyou nor Yu Yuan expected. Changji, the king of Xiangting County, has always done what he says, and he will never go back on his word and keep his promises. Yesterday, he had already said that as long as he found two chamberlains and confirmed his innocence, he would have "no objection" to the court's punishment of Rongya. Moreover, these two truths cannot be refuted by anyone!

Yu Yuan thought about it, and it was normal for King Xiangting to do this. From the point of view of personal feelings, the love for his grandson is shared by everyone, and it is not particularly strange that a person with a fiery temperament and great friendship like King Tingjun would face his grandson being executed. These are not what Yu Yuanyi is most worried about, he is most worried that if the king of Ganzi County does not give up and insists on executing Rongya, and the king of Xiangting County argues with reason, then I am afraid that this case will not be decided for a while. This is something that neither the Emperor nor Yu Yuan wants to see. But how to deal with and mediate, Luo Yuan has no clue.

At this time, Xiao Tuyu glanced at the king of Ganzi and said, "Shihuan, do you have anything to say?" ”

Xiao Shihuan stayed for a while, slowly got up from the seat, knelt on the ground with a plop, solemnly kowtowed, and said with a crying voice: "Your Majesty, the minister is guilty, please Your Majesty severely punish the minister for the crime of disrespect." Just like what the king of Tingjun said, every sentence is reasonable. Last night, the minister reflected late at night, extremely annoyed, this is probably the reincarnation of retribution. At that time, if the minister hadn't been seduced by the Liuchuan Dancing Princess, he couldn't control himself suddenly, and the great changes that followed would not have occurred. In the end, it is because of the minister's lack of self-cultivation and lack of virtue. The obscenity and disrespect of the ministers in public, the outrageous remarks, and the insults that melt into the cliff are really sin on top of sin, and it is indeed the cause of all things. Therefore, although the act of melting the cliff is a crime of homicide, there is indeed a forgivable reason. The minister agreed with the proposition of the king of Xiangtingjun and was willing not to pursue the death of Rongya. It's just that although the minister's crime is unforgivable, the grandson of the minister is innocent, and he was killed at a young age. Yigui is exempted from the death penalty of Rongya, and the minister has no objection, but if Yigui is not guilty of Rongya, the minister would rather die than accept it! ”

Hearing this, Yu Yuan's hanging heart finally fell. Logically speaking, the statement of the king of Ganzi County can also be understood: if the king of Xiangting County grabs him and does not let him go, the case of Rongya may not be resolved for a long time, and if the case is not resolved for a day, the revenge of the followers will not be avenged for a day, which is absolutely intolerable to the king of Ganzi County; Second, if this case continues to ferment, the crime of molesting the dancing girl during the funeral of the king of Ganzi will be exposed, and the direction of public opinion in the court will change greatly, and the upright people of the court may formally impeach the king of Ganzi for his disrespect, and at that time, even if the emperor intends to protect him, but because of the aftermath of Emperor Longwu, for the sake of the national etiquette system and the emperor's own reputation, the emperor has to give the king of Ganzi a punishment, and it doesn't matter how big or small the punishment is, but with this point, it will make the face of the king of Ganzi uncontrollable. The most favored prince of the clan was punished during the great funeral of the first emperor, which should be included in the clan archives, and it is also likely to be included in the official history of the Dazhao, with such a stroke, the king of Ganzi and his descendants will be despised, which is also unacceptable to the king of Ganzi. Yu Yuan generally believes that this move by the king of Ganzi is a way to understand the current affairs.

Xiao Tuyu glanced at Yu Yuanxuan, then turned to Tingwei Dugong and said: "Tingwei, you see, the king of Tingjun and the king of Ganzi have said so, according to the law, how to convict Rongya?" ”

"Your Majesty. Originally, homicide cases were handled in accordance with the principle of 'no investigation, no investigation and no punishment'. Since His Royal Highness the King of Ganzi County agreed not to pursue the capital crime of Rongya, then Rongya can naturally be exempted from the death penalty, and the scope of the discussion is much broader. According to the law, they can be imprisoned, confiscated, or exiled. ”

Seeing that Chang Ji and Xiao Shihuan no longer raised objections, Xiao Tuyu nodded and said to Du Gong: "Du Gong, you are the court captain, what do you claim?" ”

"Your Majesty, the minister's intention is to put Rongya in prison, first, to show severe punishment, and second, to discipline him, and collect his temperament."

"The minister has objections." Xiao Shihuan said loudly: "Your Majesty, if you only put Rongya in prison, it is too light. In the event of amnesty, the melting cliff can be released immediately. The minister pleaded and sentenced Rong Ya to exile. ”

He didn't speak. Captain Dugon did not speak. At this time, he had to come forward again, he turned to Chang Ji and asked, "His Royal Highness the King of Xiangting County, do you have any objections to His Royal Highness the King of Ganzi County?" ”

Chang Ji suddenly burst into tears, shook himself up from his seat, knelt down and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for not killing the melting cliff." Although the melting cliff is excusable and unintentional, but after all, it is to kill the people of the clan, or an innocent child, this crime is not small in any case, His Majesty and the king of Ganzi County can spare him from death, and the minister is satisfied. The melting cliff was exiled, and the minister had no objection. After saying that, he bowed down.

Once again, he was surprised. The King of Xiangting and the King of Ganzi reached an agreement so easily! Things changed so quickly, and the case was closed so smoothly, which greatly exceeded his and the emperor's expectations. He originally thought that today would be a tough battle, and deduced countless situations in advance, but he didn't expect that none of them appeared, and the battle did not start, and in a blink of an eye, the matter was settled. Of course, this is a good thing. The sooner the case is decided, the less involved it will be, and the less risk it will be to the emperor and himself, and it doesn't matter whether Rongya is executed or exempted from death, imprisoned or exiled. Yu Yuan's heart was completely relaxed.

Xiao Tuyou's heart also relaxed, he glanced at Tingwei Dugong, and did not speak. Du Gong understood the emperor's eyes, knelt down simply, and said, "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this case can be decided. Later, the minister will go to Rongya to confess and draw a prisoner. There are all human and material evidence, and there is His Majesty's extrajudicial mercy, which can be regarded as a very light punishment. The minister expected that Rongya would not refuse to admit his guilt. Chen suggested that the conclusion of this case was that Rongya had been killed by mistake for some reason, and it was proposed to be sentenced to exile to Shamrock Island. It will be carried out immediately after the mourning. Although Dugon's conclusion is only a few words, it hides a lot of ingenuity and takes into account the concerns of all parties, which fully reflects Dugon's ability and is very comforting.

The island of Shamrock that Dugon refers to is a large archipelago in the East China Sea. Sanye Island is rich in gold, is the main site of gold mining in the imperial court, is the financial lifeline of the imperial court, has always been a special administration of special mining and special transportation, management is extremely strict. Gold mining requires a lot of manpower, in order to protect everything, Sanye Island adopted a special military and political system, in addition to the independent establishment of the Sanye Prefecture in charge of defense and administration, but also use more criminals to fill the labor of gold mining, is the first choice for the imperial court to exile prisoners.

At this point, the case is finally decided.

Xiao Tuyou secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "What about this case, this can be regarded as a verdict." I won't say anything about the case itself, you all participated in the trial and judgment of the whole process, and you all know very well what is going on. I want to talk a little bit about the case today. Zong Zhengqing, you go back and sort out the case file, draw up a few clan precepts, attach them to the back, and send them to all sects for careful study. Zongzheng is going to take regular exams. ”

Xiao Tuyou got up from the throne, slowly paced down, walked to the middle of the princes and ministers in the palace, looked at everyone one by one, and then said: "You probably think it is strange, why do I try this case in person so vigorously, and let Zong Zhengqing do those things with such fanfare. Why? Because the root of this case lies in the noble relatives of the clan, and in the misconduct of you and your descendants. During the mourning period, these messy things happened, if it spread, how would outsiders think of us? They'll laugh at us clansmen. It's only been thirteen years since the founding of the Great Zhao Holy Dynasty, why did the clan and nobles all degenerate and corrupt like this?! This is the period of great mourning, the period of great mourning of Emperor Longwu! Shihuan, why don't you know the inspection so much, you are molesting in public, and you are venting your hatred and poisoning, what are you all doing?! You're digging your own grave! In the previous dynasty, Dagao's country was not long, more than a hundred years. But now I look at what the Dazhao clan and the nobles are doing, I'm afraid that our Dazhao will not even have a century-old national ancestry, and no matter how solid the foundation is, it can't withstand your tossing! You are all princes, nobles, pillars of the court, the first emperor and my most trusted people, but look at these things you have done! Well?! Shouldn't we be ashamed of ourselves, shouldn't we reflect on ourselves? Zong Zhengqing, you go and inform all the clans that during the mourning period, if anyone dares to cause trouble again and lose face to the first emperor and me, I will never tolerate it. ”

"Your Majesty Shengming!" "Your Majesty Shengming!" And they all knelt down.

Subsequently, the court lieutenant Du Gong and Zong Zhengqing went to Ruolu Zhao Prison together to explain to Rong Ya the trial process and the conclusion of the discussion, Du Gong specially explained that His Majesty, the two county kings and the ministers out of benevolence, made an exception to spare Rong Ya's death, reminded Rong Ya that it is rare to be so determined, and suggested that Rong Ya should not make a senseless struggle and confess his guilt as soon as possible. To Du Gong's surprise, Rongya did not hesitate at all, did not say anything, pleaded guilty and was detained.

Chang Ji returned to the palace and ordered Hou Huojing, the capital of Zuo, to write down the matter simply into a special note, and immediately send it to the Canaan County Shourongzhu couple with the cloud pigeon that is a specialty of Xiangting County. The cloud pigeon is actually not a pigeon, but a kind of falcon that is only produced in the special species of Xiangting County, the size is slightly smaller than the general falcon, flies extremely high and very fast, can travel eight thousand miles a day, and is very spiritual, can be used to transmit information after taming, accurate and fast, the land of a hundred miles must be reached, there is no deviation, so it is called "cloud pigeon". Due to the scarcity of cloud pigeons, and extremely difficult to tame, the Xiangting County Royal Mansion monopolized the cloud pigeon and the cloud pigeon trainer, and strictly forbade the use of the people, and the cloud pigeon became the exclusive thing of the Xiangting County Royal Mansion and the Xiangting Army, and other counties and even the Holy Capital did not have this thing. This is also one of the magic weapons of the Xiangting army, although the number is small, but the combat power is extremely strong. Since Rongzhu was the son-in-law of the king of Xiangting, the king of Xiangting gave him two of them to facilitate the exchange of information between them. After sending the letter, the king of Xiangting County had nothing else to do, but according to the words of the king of Beiling County, waiting for the emperor to announce the political program of the new dynasty before the end of the funeral.

Xiao Shihuan is still full of sadness, but he is helpless, a few days of hard work, as if he is dozens of years old, it turns out that the heroic posture and heroic open-mindedness of the king of Ganzi County have disappeared without a trace.