Passing through the long corridor behind the Wenhua Palace, it is the apse of the Wenhua Palace, that is, a small horizontal place above the I-shaped layout, which is also known as the main worship hall. Although each palace was decorated with a variety of colours and carvings, ceilings, columns and furniture, most of these colours and carvings were hidden in shadow in a time when only natural light was available.

As the main hall of the apse, the light is obviously worse than the front Wenhua Hall, but fortunately, it does not have to be divided into small rooms, so after opening the doors and windows everywhere, the transparent hall is brighter than the front Wenhua Hall, and there is no need to light candles during the day.

With a series of footsteps coming from far and near, soon Chongzhen led several eunuchs into the main hall from the middle corridor. After Wang Chengen entered the hall, he instructed the eunuchs guarding both sides of the corridor to bring hot water, so that Chongzhen could wipe his face and get rid of fatigue. When the eunuch brought the hot water, he personally delivered the wrung hot towel to Chongzhen, who was seated.

While the emperor wiped his face, Wang Chengen couldn't help but praise in his mouth: "How can several pavilion elders not be in a fair situation, they can't think of Your Majesty's words, so they are speechless, sure enough, only Your Majesty can control the overall situation."

But why did Your Majesty give them the opportunity to continue to discuss, the minister thought that if His Majesty gave an order just now, these courtiers would still choose to obey, so His Majesty would no longer have to worry about any repetition. ”

After wiping his face, Zhu Youzhen felt a sense of relief, and he said casually while handing the towel back; "After they lose their moral footing, of course I can make a decision, and they will inevitably give in.

However, this decision to be forcibly held down by my head and neck will inevitably make them rebellious. They may not oppose my policies in the open, but in the shadows they are not in a position to say.

I let them consult on their own, and the conclusions they have come to are their share of responsibility. Most people have a willingness to gamble and lose as decisions they vote on, so they tend to be more active in implementing policies.

For a small number of two-faced people who were in favor of the meeting and tried to oppose it after the meeting, it is enough to clean it up, and there is no big deal. It wouldn't hurt if they couldn't come to a correct conclusion after a long time of negotiation. Having lost their moral stance, the conclusions they came to were not binding on me.

After a while, you go to the Daming Times office to meet with Sun Zhiqi and Ruan Dacheng, and hand over some of the evidence of the clan's cruelty to the people, as well as the attitudes of some officials, and ask them to organize people to handwrite some critical words. Well, by the way, let them suggest that if these clans are really pardoned, they should move to the hometowns of these officials, and let them inspire these clans to abandon evil and follow good with their own morality..."

In the large conference room of the Wenhua Palace, when Chongzhen left, these officials were quiet for a while, and then they discussed the words left by the emperor.

After Chongzhen erected the banner of Emperor Taizu, the officials, who had always opposed the severe punishment of the clan that had committed crimes but had never rebelled, finally realized that they had encountered a moral trap. As courtiers, it's okay for them to scold the living emperor, but if they criticize Taizu, I'm afraid it will be no different from the rebel ministers.

Abandoning these criminal clans is not a great choice for these officials. However, what kind of punishment these criminal clans will receive is related to the punishment of the gentry class in the same cases in the future, and the status of the gentry is naturally higher than that of the clan, and they will naturally not be able to escape what kind of punishment the clan receives.

When these officials began to discuss, King Fu and King Shu, the two vassal kings who had been summoned by Chongzhen to participate in the meeting, suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Although among the people present, the two of them had the highest status, but as soon as these civil officials began to discuss, they and the Marquis of Fengcheng were excluded, which made the two people who came in high spirits feel very bored.

originally thought that he could take this rare opportunity to show his existence in the court a little, so that the officials in the capital would not ignore them too much. But at this scene, King Fu felt very regretful, he might as well stay at home and watch the beautiful women sing and dance.

Although the attitude of the King of Shu was not as negative as that of King Fu, he reacted that these civil officials were really not good people. Previously, they spoke out in solidarity with the clan to question the case of the rebellion of the two relatives in Shaanxi, and it seemed that he and King Fu and other clans could get some benefits from the emperor. As a result, after being suppressed by Chongzhen in the name of Taizu, he threw them aside, and didn't even bother to ask, as if he didn't have the surname Zhu in this world.

Not to mention that the two feudal kings were sulking in the Wenhua Palace, and after a long discussion, the officials gathered in the Wenhua Hall finally changed the previous uncompromising attitude of all parties and came to a conclusion with much higher efficiency than before. and elected Huang Liji, the first assistant, Sun Chengzong, the chief minister, and Yuan Keli, the secretary of the criminal department, as representatives, and submitted their decisions to Chongzhen.

When the three of them were taken by the eunuchs to the main hall, it was already past noon. After Zhu Youzhen saw the three of them coming, he instructed Wang Chengen: "Let the kitchen send them the prepared pasta, the two uncles and the Marquis of Fengcheng invite them to the side hall for dinner, and when I finish talking with the three gentlemen, I will talk to them." ”

After Huang Liji exchanged glances with the two colleagues, he got up and said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the ministers have discussed a preliminary result of several affairs in Shaanxi, can you report to Your Majesty now?" ”

Zhu Youzhen waved his hand at him and said, "Sir, sit down and talk, there are no outsiders here, so there is no need to be too formal." Tell me, what are your conclusions? ”

Huang Liji looked at the emperor with a calm expression and said: "After deliberation, the ministers and others thought that for the case of the rebellion of the Han and Qin domains, it was necessary to send officials to the local government to conduct a careful review, and always give the world a clear and unmistakable answer, so as to prevent the people of the clans and clans in various places from panicking and making unpredictable actions. ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and said, "Yes, after the cabinet and the criminal department discuss the personnel, they will report to the circle for selection." ”

Huang Liji then continued: "For the clans of Han and Qin who were not involved in the rebellion case, but committed other crimes, the ministers and others believe that they should be punished, but the crime should be reduced by one degree. For the trial of these clans, according to the old system, they were escorted to the capital and interrogated by the Zongren Mansion, which was also to maintain the dignity of His Majesty and the imperial court. ”

Regarding this article, Zhu Youzhen thought for a long time, and did not nod in agreement, but shook his head and said: "There are some people, if you don't let him shed his own blood, he doesn't understand that it hurts for others to bleed."

Punishment begins with soldiers, and law originates from rituals. In the past, the ancients made laws to protect the interests of the majority from the infringement of the few. Suppose that the country we live in is a big tree, and the law is an axe. The rulers use it to cut down dead and diseased branches so that the big tree of the country can grow healthily.

Looking at the behavior of today's Ming clan, nobles, and gentry, it is simply perverse. These people enjoy the privileges granted by the state, but they despise the laws of the state, and take the privileges granted to them by the state for granted, but they forget why they enjoy such privileges, as if the state exists to support them.

And some of them have even worsened, and just enjoying the support of the people is not enough to satisfy them. They also rely on their privileges to suck the bones of the people to satisfy their shameless and cruel **. These people are the blighted branches of the big tree of my Daming, if you don't eradicate them, sooner or later, the whole big tree will be implicated by them and fall down.

The court punished the guilty, not only to punish the sinners for their crimes, but also to warn others not to try to challenge the laws of the state. What's more, the clans of the Han and Qin clans harmed the local people in Shaanxi, and they were sent to the capital for trial, and who would bear the expenses for the local victims to travel to and from the capital?

I thought that they would be tried locally, in front of the victims. Except for the vassal king and the county king, all other clans involved in a murder case will be removed from the clan first, and then interrogated. Those below the rank of county king shall not be allowed to have their crimes commuted. That's my decision, what do you three think? ”

Huang Liji still wanted to persuade Chongzhen again, but Yuan Keli suddenly said: "Your Majesty has a strict heart for the law, and the minister thinks that this is a blessing for the Ming Dynasty, and the minister is willing to obey His Majesty's will." ”

Yuan Keli, like Huang Liji and Sun Chengzong, are all important ministers of the Four Dynasties, and Yuan Keli is still the secretary of the Criminal Department, since he has expressed his attitude, Huang Liji and Sun Chengzong finally remained silent.

Zhu Youzhen relaxed a little at this time, nodded at Huang Liji and said, "Shoufu continue." ”

Chongzhen's resolute attitude towards the clan made Huang Liji give up the last bit of thinking about maintaining the dignity of these clans, and he finally said the core issue, "After the ministers and others have discussed, they think that it is inappropriate to move the Qing, Han, and Qin domains out of Shaanxi, and I ask Your Majesty to consider it carefully." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at the expressions of the three of them, and then asked casually, "What's wrong?" ”

Huang Liji replied: "The ancestors canonized the pro-vassal feudal country, all of which were carefully considered. The Qing, Han, and Qin feudatories were all canonized in the early years of the dynasty, and their feudal states can be regarded as the key points of China's frontiers. The relocation of the three feudatories, the ministers and others are afraid that the northwest frontier will lose the seat of the clan and the feudal domain, which will make the local border army and few people sit large, which is not conducive to my country's border defense.

What's more, the San Francisco has a long history, and the savings of the fields and houses for generations are not a small amount in the local area today. Although the state was able to recover a lot of land after the relocation of the three feudatories, the state still had to allocate land to the feudatories after they moved to other places. This has come and gone, and the country has not gained much benefit, but has made the people of other provinces resentful of the imperial court, which may not be a good thing..."