The platform of the main hall of the Qianqing Palace.

The three cabinet ministers, the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Criminal Department, the Dali Temple, and the main generals of the Guards all gathered here at this time.

At the same time, it also includes the commander of the Jinyi Guard, Guo Rong.

Zhu Houzhao summoned these important ministers involved in the military, internal affairs, justice, and intelligence of the empire to discuss only one thing, that is, whether to deal with Urusborot and punish him for the crime of slaughtering countless Han people in Sanyuan County that year.

It can be said that the life and death of Urusborot are implicated in the Ming Dynasty's principles of handling military and judicial affairs.

In order to avoid further aggravation of contradictions, so as to avoid the little prince from attacking the whole country, he chose to spare Urusborot?

Or insist that the guilty must be punished and maintain the integrity of the judicial sovereignty of the Ming Dynasty?

At this moment, Zhu Houzhao and the officials in the center of the empire had to think deeply about it.

"Your Majesty, according to the law, you should severely punish this thief! But for the safety of all the people in the world, this matter should be treated with caution, if you take the liberty of killing, I am afraid of angering the little prince, so that the whole country will come to begg, I will be the Ming border trouble will be aggravated, I am afraid that it will repeat the matter of the civil fort! ”

Jiao Fang, the first assistant of the cabinet, said first.

However, he said that this sentence was tantamount to not saying it, it was equivalent to making a start, but he did not express his clear opinion, which is also a common trick of the old ministers in the court, and he generally does not express his opinion immediately before finding out the emperor's veins.

"At present, although the imperial court has a lot of savings due to the protection of the tax source in the south of the Yangtze River, Ma Gong alone has spent countless silver on supervising the three sides of the army at the behest of His Majesty, repairing the border wall to train the village soldiers, and reclaiming the grain, and now it is necessary to build the road from Beijing to Datong, as well as the Ordnance Bureau's new firearms to expand production, and the famine relief in the Huaiyang area, all need to spend money;

Although it is the Guards who recover the Hetao, and the military salary of the Guards is His Majesty's internal money, but the establishment of the county and the establishment of the government, as well as the transportation of grain and grass, are still the household of the flower, if the little prince raises troops to attack again, the border army will inevitably enter the battle, and then the military expenditure of the household will increase sharply, and the debt of the household will be greater!

Therefore, the minister thinks that he should endure! Let him go back first, the little prince has not yet conquered the right wing of the Tatars, and he will not venture south to attack Ming because of the humiliation of his son! But if you kill his son, I am afraid that it will completely anger him! ”

Wang Hua, a scholar, expressed his disapproval of the killing of Urusborot.

"However, this thief does not kill, where is the decree of my Ming Dynasty, countless Han people have died under its butcher's knife, if they are allowed to return safely, will these Tartars still be able to wantonly slaughter my Ming people in the future! And the law cannot be abolished! The minister thinks that his sins cannot be forgiven! Kill it! ”

Liu Yu said.

The officials present all began to discuss.

Hopefully, the imperial court will still focus on the overall situation and not kill Urusborot; There are those who think that the prince is guilty of the same crime as the common people, and that he cannot be held accountable because of Urusborot's special status, which makes the people feel cold.

Moreover, there are more of the former than the latter.

After all, in the eyes of most courtiers, compared with the safety of the entire Ming Dynasty, the Han people who were slaughtered in Sanyuan County are nothing, of course, there are also reasons why they are not very confident that the Ming Dynasty can fight against the little prince, after all, these civil officials have all grown up studying Confucianism since childhood, and they still hold the view that war can be avoided if it can be avoided.

Zhu Houzhao had to say with all his might: "If you don't kill Urusborot, won't you anger the little prince, I have whipped him and no longer reward him for his tribute, if the little prince dares to despise my Ming and want to destroy my Ming, he can already find a reason to raise troops to attack, you think, if the little prince intends to raise troops to fight against my Daming, and I don't kill Urusborot, his little prince will not crusade against my Daming?" ”

When Zhu Houzhao said this, the ministers also understood a little, and felt that it seemed to be the case, whether to kill Urusborot or not, as long as the little prince wanted to crusade against the Ming Dynasty, he would crusade against the Ming, if the little prince was afraid of the Ming Dynasty, even if the Ming Dynasty killed Urusborot, the little prince would still be afraid and scruples.

"The law cannot be nullified by people, especially the execution of the sins committed by the Gentiles in my Ming Dynasty, which is the power of my Ming Law Division! I can't tolerate it because of the strength and weakness of my country, otherwise, wouldn't it seem that I am weak and incompetent, and wouldn't the people see the court as incompetent? ! It's called extraterritoriality! I don't belong to other countries, and extraterritoriality should be there! ”

Zhu Houzhao clearly expressed his point of view, because people in this era had not yet heard of the concept of extraterritoriality, so he did not say at the beginning that the Ming Dynasty had the independence of extraterritoriality, but explained it in a language they could understand.

Therefore, after Zhu Houzhao's explanation, the ministers also understood better that as an empire, it was necessary to have extraterritoriality and the right to execute the crimes committed by foreigners in their own country, so that it could be regarded as a country that did not belong to other countries.

"But Your Majesty! Now that the little prince is getting bigger and bigger, even the Tatar right wing departments can't wait to ignore it, and now they rashly provoke him to attack southward, I am afraid that it will lead to border troubles, and the Tartars are mainly cavalry, and the ministers are worried that they will take advantage of his unpreparedness to attack the Beijing division, just like the first thing in the past! ”

As Zhu Houzhao's attention to military attachés increased, military generals like Qiu Yue also participated in the court discussion at this time as Zuo Shilang of the General Staff of the Guards, and also put forward his own views.

"If the cabinet is afraid of the little prince, I can understand it, after all, the cabinet is the center of the world and needs to coordinate the overall situation, but why should you be afraid of the guards and even the entire army of the Ming Dynasty? Is it still necessary to consider whether the Ming Dynasty can deal with a foreign feudal barbarian according to the law, as for the military crisis brought about by the disposal, this is the matter of your guards and even the entire Ming army, if you can't guarantee that the Ming Dynasty can deal with the outside of the Ming Dynasty, then what is the use of the imperial court and the subjects of the world to support you officers and soldiers? ”

Zhu Houzhao said and said: "My Ming Dynasty has an army, and there are loyal and brave people who dare to die generously and shroud the body of horse leather, why do you still have the imperial court to compromise, and dare not deal with a crime?" Why did the murderer who slaughtered my Ming people come to my Daming, and I dare not ask for the guilt? ”

Zhu Hou's words made Qiu Yue, Ma Wensheng, Zhang Mao and other people in the military system very embarrassed, and Qiu Yue even bowed his hand and said: "Your Majesty forgives your sins!" Now that Your Majesty says so, the minister has nothing else to say, since the court and the people of the Ming Dynasty raise ministers and other officers and soldiers, the ministers should maintain the dignity of the Ming Dynasty, although they will die without regrets! ”

……

At this time, Ma Yongcheng, the commander of Dongchang, hurriedly walked in and came to Zhu Houzhao: "Emperor! I just got the news that Urusborot broke out of the North Pavilion and killed a businessman in Wuman City! ”

Zhu Houzhao and the officials present were all shocked when they heard this.

But because Zhu Houzhao had already decided to execute Urusborot, Jiao Fang, the first assistant of the cabinet, directly said again: "Presumptuous! Does this Urusborot really see me as a country that can be bullied? The matter of slaughtering my Han people has not yet been investigated, and now Yu Jingshi has killed my Ming people without permission, and his crime should be punished! Your Majesty, the minister thinks that there is no need to discuss this matter anymore, and such villains should be beheaded immediately! ”

"Not only should they be killed, but they should also be put to death! The crime of slaughtering my Han people and now the crime of killing my Han people without permission will be punished for several crimes, and I have already said that slaughtering people is the same crime as killing the king! ”

Zhu Houzhao said after deep thought.

"Your Ministers obey!"

At this time, a cadre of officials hurriedly got up and replied.

Immediately, Zhu Houzhao asked again: "Is the evidence of the crime of Urusborot's massacre of my Ming and Han people ready?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, I have long been prepared, and the confessions of Li Dongyang and Lu Zhonghe, who are against the party, all mention Urusborot as their culprit! Conclusive! As long as the imperial court is willing to execute Urusborot, it will not be difficult to prove his capital crime and even Ling Chi! ”

Min Jue, the secretary of the Criminal Department, replied.

"Very good, now the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Dali Temple of the Criminal Department will immediately open the trial of Urus Borot for the crime of slaughtering my Han people and killing my Han people! The Criminal Department immediately arrested him!

In addition, the Ministry of Rites told the ministers outside Beijing the reason for this incident, so that they could remember the example of Urusborot, and they must abide by the law of the Ming Dynasty and abide by the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty! At the same time, tell the people of the world to know the reason for this! I'll let the second chamber assist you!

I want Urusborot to know that not only I want to kill him, but the will of the world will also kill him!

Not only will the public opinion of the world want to kill him! The justice of the world will kill him!

At the same time, it also took this opportunity to win the hearts of the people of the world, so that the people of the Ming Dynasty knew that the imperial court was responsible, and their emperor and His Majesty would make decisions for them, even if they offended their strong neighbors! Naturally, if there is a big war in the future, the people will understand! The war is about them! ”

As soon as Zhu Houzhao said this, all the ministers also understood Zhu Houzhao's intentions, and they also admired Zhu Houzhao from the bottom of their hearts, admiring that His Majesty the Emperor could still use this matter to stir up public opinion, they didn't understand why His Majesty the Emperor, who grew up in the deep palace, could always know how to use public opinion! Moreover, in this way, the entire people were also tied to their chariots, so as to avoid being attacked by the gentry of the world, and the court did not conform to the will of the people.

"My Emperor Shengming!"

The ministers can only express their admiration for Zhu Houzhao with these four words.

At the same time, Zhu Houzhao said to Ma Wensheng and Zhang Mao, Qiu Yue, and even Xu Jin, the secretary of the Ministry of War: "Now the people who are about to bear the greatest pressure are those of you who control the Ming army, and the little prince knows that this matter is as short as half a year or as long as a year, so the time is very urgent, continue to prepare for a big war!" ”

Saying that, Zhu Houzhao said to Wang Hua of the Household Department: "The Guards and the Ministry of War agreed to all the requirements, and they asked for as much food as they wanted, and they gave as much food as they wanted!" Give as many people as you want! If you don't have any money, go to the Royal Bank for a loan! Don't be afraid of debts, and after you're afraid of the little prince, you can slowly find a way to pay it back. ”

Then, Zhu Houzhao asked Ma Wensheng, Zhang Mao, Qiu Yue, and even Xu Jin, the secretary of the Ministry of War: "Have the confidence to prove to the little prince of the Tartars, isn't Daming easy to mess with?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the ministers have!"

Marven replied in unison.

"Very good, let's go and prepare!"

Zhu Houzhao said that he saw that Jiao Fang still had some worry on his face, so he stopped Jiao Fang again: "Shoufu, what are you thinking?" ”