In the Chongzhen Dynasty, most of the Donglin Party members were soft-boned embryos and did not wronged them. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

At the beginning of March, when some Qingliu officials in the Nandu and Jingshi Dynasty were still swearing and impassionedly proving the innocence of Qian Qianyi, Hui Shiyang and others, and constantly writing books to call for rescue for their arrest, Qian Qianyi, Hui Shiyang, and Zhao Zhilong had written a confession written by themselves in the Fusi Prison in Jinyi Weinan Town, and they had already been sent by Luo Yangxing to the palace of Jingshi.

As for what these people experienced in the prison of Jinyi Weinan Town, Emperor Chongzhen didn't care at all, the only thing he cared about was these confessions written by Qian Qianyi, Hui Shiyang and others.

These confessions, as soon as they were sent to the capital by Jinyiwei, were immediately ordered by Emperor Chongzhen to be posted outside the gate of the Tongzheng Envoy.

Later, it was copied by the imperial court newspaper of the general political envoy Si Mingfa in the world, and then spread all the way along the post road from Beijing to Jiangnan.

The confession of Qian Qianyi and others had already spread in the circle of Beijing officials the day after it was posted outside the gate of the General Political Envoy.

The officials on the periphery of the Donglin Party, who had made generous statements and strongly proved Qian Qianyi's innocence in favor of the world, immediately died down.

Qian Qianyi admitted in his confession that he had met and corresponded with Hui Shiyang, and also admitted that he and his student Ren Shu had spread remarks in the letter to discuss the government and oppose the opening of the sea, and at the same time sincerely expressed that after the Donglin Academy was demolished by Wei Zhongxian, he continued to insist on making regular monthly contributions, organizing lectures and lectures at the Donglin Conference, discussing the government and other behaviors, and of course acknowledging the existence of the "Donglin Covenant", the organizational charter of the Donglin Party, and so on.

However, Qian Qianyi also said in the confession that he did not do it for his own selfishness, but for the public, saying that the political affairs were paid to the six ministries, and the public opinion depended on the Qing Discussion, which was the law of the ancestors, which had a long history, and was not the creation of the children of Donglin, etc., and asked the emperor to be gracious and forgive his mistakes with the practice that those who do not know are not guilty and those who have no heart are not guilty.

Historically, Qian Qianyi, who shaved his hair and lowered his hair under the pretext that his scalp was too itchy, was of course a complete soft bone, and Hui Shiyang, who had already surrendered to Li Zicheng a few years before Qian Qianyi's surrender, was the same.

This person is not only a soft bone, but also an out-and-out official fan.

When Li Zicheng led the army to occupy Shaanxi, Hui Shiyang had been dismissed from his official position by Emperor Chongzhen, and was living in his hometown in Shaanxi at that time.

After defecting to Li Zicheng, he also took the initiative to go to Yulin to persuade his younger brother Hui Shixian, who was a general in Yulin City at that time.

His younger brother Hui Shixian felt that Hui Shiyang, who had surrendered to the thief, was not worthy of being his brother at all, so he not only refused to see him, but also changed his name to Hui Xian because of this.

When Yulin City was finally captured by an army led by Li Zicheng, Hui Shixian did not choose to surrender like his brother Hui Shiyang, but chose to commit suicide and die.

The gap between the two brothers can be seen from this.

Hui Shiyang was born in the Criminal Department, of course he knew the truth of "under Sanmu, why can't you ask for it", not to mention that this time he entered the edict of Jinyi Weinan Zhenfu Division, so after he was arrested by Jinyiwei and escorted to Nanjing, in front of Luo Yangxing, his actions were much happier than Qian Qianyi.

Hui Shiyang, who participated in the handling of the eunuch case, clearly knows the emperor's routines, and also knows what Luo Yangxing wants, so he does not contradict it, and writes whatever he wants.

And Qian Qianyi insisted on it for half a month, and learned that Qian Xiangkun, the secretary of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites who wrote to him and rescued him, was also approved by the emperor, and understood that the emperor would not easily let go of those who criticized the government this time, and he also knew that even if he confessed, the guilt would not be great, so he soon stopped insisting that he was innocent.

As for Xincheng Bo Zhao Zhilong, Emperor Chongzhen didn't care whether he pleaded guilty or not.

Because no matter whether he pleads guilty or not, now Emperor Chongzhen, who knows the general trend of the future, has to clean him up, and he will also deal with a group of honest and shameless Nanjing nobles through it.

After getting the confession of Qian Qianyi and others, Emperor Chongzhen knew that this time the struggle with the Jiangnan gentry class should be over for the time being.

On the morning of the fifth day of the third lunar month, Emperor Chongzhen took the standard equipment for summoning ministers, that is, the chief officials of Jinyiwei, Tiancewei and Yulinwei, as well as the new imperial attendants and military attachés, to set up the Wenhua Hall and discuss matters with the cabinet ministers.

Emperor Chongzhen looked at several ministers present and said: "Qian Qianyi, Hui Shiyang, and Zhao Zhilong have written a confession, and they have confessed to the crime of colluding with each other in private, instructing the officials, and collectively attacking and opposing the opening of the sea.

"Now these people are in Nanzhen Fusi Prison, and I don't think it is appropriate to delay their treatment for a long time. Today, I and I will discuss how to deal with it. ”

Li Guowei saw that the emperor looked at himself after saying this, so he bowed down and said, "Your Majesty Shengming!" The minister thought that these people were nominally criticizing the government and opposing the opening of the sea, but in fact they were colluding with the party to seek personal gains. It is not a small crime to frustrate the country's politics with selfish interests. The minister thought that it was better for the Jinyi Guard to be handed over to the ministry to discuss the crime, or to the three law divisions to discuss the crime together, so that the imperial court officials should have nothing to say. ”

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen knew what Li Guowei meant, in fact, he was worried that after the emperor directly convicted these people, the Kedao Yanguan and even Jiangnan Shilin would definitely continue to be controversial in the future, and if it was convicted after deliberation by the three law divisions, at least no one could find fault with the procedure.

This is the difference between the Imperial Prison and the Criminal Department Prison, and it is also the difference between the Jinyi Guard and the Three Law Divisions.

In the eyes of the government and the opposition, and in the eyes of the people of Shilin, the former is the inside, and the latter is the outside, so the former is private and the latter is public.

To put it bluntly, the criterion for the former to hear cases is the will of the emperor, and the biggest criterion is politics.

The criterion for the latter to hear cases is the law, that is, the Da Ming Law, and the biggest criterion is public opinion.

But Emperor Chongzhen didn't want to hand over this incident to the Criminal Department, or even the Three Law Divisions for trial, because this incident was obvious, it was an edict and prison incident, and it had little to do with whether these people really broke the law.

If it were to be handed over to the three law divisions to discuss the guilt, they would probably not be able to deliberate a result that would satisfy the emperor.

After all, even if it is a book to criticize the government and oppose the national policy, it is really not a big crime in the Shilin atmosphere at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Back then, Emperor Hai Rui Jiajing scolded the emperor for a bloody squirt, but there was nothing at all?

As for some other people who wrote to insult the emperor and criticize the government, there were more people in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, and most of them had nothing to deal with, and at most they were dismissed from office.

And Qian Qianyi is currently just a former court official living at home, and he has no official position, and it is likely that he will only be reduced in the end.

For such a person, simply depriving him of his Jinshi background will not have a great impact on his own prestige, and the deterrent effect on Jiangnan Shilin will not be too obvious.

What's more, in the Three Law Divisions, that is, in the Criminal Department, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Dali Temple, all of them are mainly Qingliu officials who are very bookish, and these people themselves are inextricably linked with the Donglin Party.

Although Li Guowei wanted to settle the controversy as soon as possible and calm down the matter as soon as possible, his proposal was unacceptable.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen said: "I have handed over this case to Jinyi Wei Nanzhen Fusi before, and Nanzhen Fusi has really lived up to expectations. Now, Qian Qianyi and the other three have also pleaded guilty separately. I don't see the need to transfer to Jingshi and hand it over to the Three Law Divisions for trial and conviction. In my opinion, it will be directly convicted by Nanzhen Fusi. ”

Handed over to Nanzhen Fusi for conviction, that is actually the meaning of direct conviction by the emperor.

Speaking of this, Emperor Chongzhen looked at several ministers, and then said: "As for Qian Qianyi and Hui Shiyang, I don't think there is any need for further trial. As Shoufu said, the crime of forming a party for personal gain is not a small one. However, there were no serious consequences, and I decided to give it a lenient sentence. ”

As soon as Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, he decided to give it a lenient sentence, and several ministers led by Li Guoyi, the first assistant of the cabinet, looked up at the emperor together, and then bowed down and said, "Shengming is no more than Your Majesty!" ”

In the eyes of these ministers, the emperor's determination to clean up Hui Shiyang, Qian Qianyi and others is the same as removing Zheng Sanjun, Qian Shisheng and others from their official positions, but it is just killing chickens to show monkeys and clearing the way for the imperial court's great policy of opening the sea.

Now that this goal has been achieved, and the focus of discussion between the government and the opposition has shifted to the emperor's handling of the Donglin party, there is no need to grasp this issue and delve into it endlessly.

After all, Jiangnan Shilin's influence in the public opinion of the government and the opposition is not a joke, and these ministers don't want to all of them to be traitors.

Seeing that several important ministers he trusted said this, Emperor Chongzhen first smiled slightly, and then suddenly said solemnly: "I have made up my mind, Hui Shiyang was demoted from Liupin, and he was demoted from the political envoy of Zuobu in Zhejiang to Yazhou Tongzhi, the capital of Qiongzhou, Guangdong. On the day of the arrival, he rushed to Qiongzhou with his family and relatives to take office. ”

The so-called Qiongzhou Mansion is the Hainan Island of later generations.

At this time, the Qiongzhou Mansion was subordinate to the Guangdong Political Envoy Department, and it had jurisdiction over the thirteen counties of the three prefectures.

Among them, Yazhou is the Sanya of Hainan in later generations.

Speaking of which, it is really difficult to say whether letting Hui Shiyang go to Yazhou is to be degraded and punished, or to let him enjoy Qingfu.

As for Qian Qianyi, as a dismissed official, he gathered people in Suzhou to give lectures, incite discussions, recruit disciples, and engage in associations, and his harm and crimes were far greater than those of Hui Shiyang. I decided to deprive Qian Qianyi of his Jinshi origin, confiscate all the family property and land, and exile the whole family and servants to Dongfan, and they will not be pardoned. ”

Speaking of this, looking at the surprised cabinet ministers, Emperor Chongzhen continued to smile and said: "Jiangnan has never lacked scholars who read the books of sages, since this Qian Qianyi likes to give lectures on the altar and be a good teacher, then let him go to Dongfan and give lectures to those immigrants."

"Also, those of his so-called protégés and disciples who are willing to go with him will inform the Yamen, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and they will all be allowed to go."