Since the beginning of the Taishi Gong, the Han people have been paying attention to this kind of thing when they write history books.

One of the simplest questions: people in this era may not be able to collect enough detailed historical materials, and many things must be relayed or discussed by others to obtain the closest historical fragments to the truth.

In addition, it is normal for people with different positions to have different views on a certain historical event.

Therefore, the best history books should compile all the views and expositions on things that can be collected into the history books as much as possible, so that future generations can judge them.

That's what Tai Shigong did at the beginning, and he only recorded it in some history that was closer to ancient legends.

It is the same practice for the bookmakers to write the "History of Zhou", and it is impossible for them not to include the views of Wen Zhong, the prime minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty, who is a historical witness, on that period of history, regardless of whether they themselves agree with it or not.

However, it is this tradition of writing history that has caused the dealer to fall into another huge whirlpool before he clears the suspicion of the stabbing case.

Although they are both a bit far-fetched, any one of these two cases is enough to wipe out the Zhuang family.

Xu Shiyang himself only learned of such a case after arriving in Jinling at the end of 1798.

He looked at the records of the initial interrogation of the Zhuang family by the Criminal Department, as well as the evaluation of the case by the members of the cabinet, and then looked at the "History of Zhou" compiled by the Zhuang family.

According to the interrogation records, Zhuang's former doorman did participate in the Dali assassination case, but the hero did not contact Zhuang for five years.

Therefore, if Zhuang is one of the participants in the stabbing case, then more evidence is indeed needed.

But if it is true that all the participants are punished by the Nine Clans, then Zhuang, as one of the suspects, should indeed be punished.

As for the "History of Zhou" case, this fact is very clear, and the Zhuang family did include Wen Zhong's evaluation of Huaxia in the history books they compiled privately, and that evaluation was indeed to describe Huaxia's annexation of the Great Zhou as a conspiracy.

But whether or not to be convicted for this, and how to convict, is not something that the following case-handling personnel can decide.

The Cabinet's views on the matter are somewhat polarized.

The three scholars of the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Officials, and the Ministry of Households thought that this matter was not worth mentioning at all, and if the literati wrote a history even if they rebelled, it would inevitably be too easy for this rebellion.

However, the three scholars of the Criminal Department, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of War believed that this was a rebellion, and the other party's intention to rebel should not be denied because the other party was weak.

What's more, no matter how small a threat is, it is a threat, and it should be stifled and nipped in the bud.

Among the three auxiliary ministers, the first assistant thinks that the Zhuang family is a rebellion, and the two second assistants think that it is not, and it seems that the person who exonerated the Zhuang family has a slight upper hand.

But of the two more critical figures, the emperor believed that the Zhuang family should be severely punished, while the crown prince Xu Shiyang had just learned of the matter and had not yet expressed his position.

Therefore, Xu Shiyang's attitude has become the most critical vote to determine the fate of the Zhuang family.

This is not only a question of which side of the cabinet supports the most people, but also because Xu Shiyang is the real supreme ruler of the empire.

To put it simply, Xu Shiyang has a veto.

In fact, Xu Shiyang feels that everyone's evaluation of this time depends entirely on their respective positions, or P shares.

For example, the Criminal Department's insistence on convicting the dealer is mainly to show the enthusiasm and effectiveness of the work of the Criminal Department -- cracking this kind of major case of rebellion is a merit that can be publicized to the outside world for the Criminal Department.

The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War, mainly because they belonged to Xu Shiyang's lineage, represented the military aristocratic group of the empire, and were the main force in the original destruction of the Zhou (and other countries), so they did not want their exploits to be smeared as "rebellion".

The same is true of the emperor's desire to punish the dealer severely—he does not want to be accused of being wrong.

As for the cabinet members who oppose the severe punishment of the bankers, the reason is much simpler - the Ministry of Rites believes that this is how historians write history books, and this matter is normal.

Even if the official compiles the history of Zhou in the future, it is best to include Wen Zhong's evaluation of the empire, so that at least the empire can appear magnanimous.

The Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Households, and the two deputy ministers also have similar ideas, and they think that whether the empire swallows Zhou or not is considered a rebellion, it is actually a very indifferent matter, because the fact is that the empire wins, and the Great Zhou loses, and this is enough.

As for Xu Shiyang......

It's funny.

This was the first assessment of the case by the Imperial Crown Prince.

Everyone didn't understand what was interesting about this case, because they didn't know that there was a very similar case in Xu Shiyang's memory history.

He remembered that the case seemed to be that a rich man surnamed Zhuang in Huzhou recruited the world's wealthy men to continue the history of the former dynasty that had perished, but was denounced by the surname Cha, which led to the disaster of clan annihilation.

However, at that time, the Zhuang clan encountered a Tatar regime that was known for its brutality and replaced China with barbarians.

And the Zhuang family in this era was lucky to meet China, which was founded on nationalism.

"The Han people have the right and obligation to receive education, and we naturally also have the right and obligation to record the events of this era completely and correctly and pass them on to future generations."

Xu Shiyang wrote behind the sample of the case:

"My opinion is very simple, whether those evaluations of the empire are their own or not, this is not a crime, and naturally it is not a conspiracy."

"What's more, I can be sure that Wen Zhong did say these words, if you want to plot against you, then you have to arrest Wen Zhong from Chu State first."

"Actually, this case makes me feel that those old literati are not completely useless. So I allowed the Zhuang family to continue to compile the "History of Zhou", and I allowed them to check the archives of the pavilion of the previous Zhou, and the archives of the empire ten years ago—I didn't allow them to see more materials, but because the archives of the Imperial Council had a ten-year secrecy period, and they would check it year by year after the secret period had passed—anyway, the compilation of history books could not be completed in a year or two. ”

"Therefore, the Zhou Shi case should not exist at all. As for the stabbing case, please ask the Criminal Department to find tangible evidence, if Zhuang is not involved, then don't implicate too widely - even if you sit together, I think it is already very harsh to implicate three generations (father, son, and equal) - we must remember that we should have more patience and compassion in dealing with Han people, and in the future, as long as it is not heinous, we should act in line with the principle of 'less killing, less punishment, and lenient treatment' for Han criminals. ”

"Also, talk to Zhuang Yuncheng (the main culprit in the Ming History case), I hope to have the opportunity to personally write the preface to "History of Zhou".

"Ah, also, send someone to check on the Cha Jizuo who falsely accused the Zhuang family."

The last sentence is purely out of Xu Shiyang's private dislike for this person, but it is estimated that the criminal department that has been hinted at will not show mercy to his subordinates.

Such a person, it is impossible to say that he is above board, there are always some handles that can be grasped, and then he can taste the taste of being on the line.