In the morning, Liu Muzhi thought that with his own influence and that of the Liu clan, as long as he had the support of the three envoys, he would be able to control the situation in a situation of "judging matters on a case-by-case basis"—it would be enough to deal with the Liu clansmen who were involved in murders and had committed crimes.

Now that there are too many cases, it has become a wave trend, and there is no end in sight, coupled with the joint efforts of the door to add fuel to the fire, Liu's building can no longer support it alone, if it can't get the strong support of Xu Minglang and other doors, the building will be overturned by the waves.

Fortunately, Xu Minglang finally agreed to help.

The time has passed, the slanting sun of Chijin is slowly sinking in the west, Liu Muzhi's luck is enough to listen to the power of cultivation, the drums of Jingzhao Mansion can still be heard, and every beat is like a needle piercing his heart, which always makes him restless.

Hearing the long summons of the eunuch, Liu Muzhi settled down, followed behind Xu Minglang, and entered the Chongwen Hall with several big men who held important positions in the six departments of the three provinces.

After saluting, Liu Muzhi saw Song Zhi put down the red pen in his hand, and looked at it calmly with a majestic expression in the folds piled up into two hills. He waved his hand casually and asked someone to prepare a futon so that the ministers of civil and military affairs in the hall could sit on the ground.

This move made Liu Muzhi realize that the young emperor in front of him already knew that there would be arguments and big arguments in this conversation at the moment. Looking at Zhao Xuanji, who arrived first with the top officials of Jiangmen, Liu Muzhi's heart was sinking and becoming calm.

He knew that the Hexi Liu family, a family with a history of 700 years and reached the peak of its power in this dynasty, would be determined here today, and even life and death.

Liu Muzhi found that Zhao Xuanji was also looking at him, the first person to be the first person to kneel and sit with the bearing of "Yuanyu Yuezhi", his body was as great as steel and iron bones, and his eyebrows were sharp as if he had the shape of Jin Ge, as if no matter how many frontal enemies he faced on the battlefield, no matter whether there were corpses under his feet and rivers of blood, he and the yellow flag behind him could always stand.

This is the spirit of a warrior. I can't avoid it.

At this time, Liu Muzhi clearly saw that there was a trace of undisguised banter in Zhao Xuanji's eyes, as if he was an enemy general who was being played by the other party!

He gritted his teeth secretly, stared at the other party for a moment, and said in his heart: "This is the court, not the battlefield! Even if you Zhao Xuanji can win a hundred battles, you are just a reckless man, you may be able to deter Xiaoxiao, but how can you make your father jealous!"

"War is just a continuation of politics, soldiers are just knives of the court, and the common people may be in awe of you, but when it comes to the court, are there still any famous generals who have been impeached and seized power by civilian officials throughout the ages, and even died in depression? Your fate is in our hands!"

Zhao Xuanji took Liu Muzhi's look in his eyes, showed disdain, and said secretly: "Piff, I don't know that I am dying at the end of my life! The general is not good at power calculation, not because he is stupid, but because he wants to spend his energy on studying the way of soldiers. If the generals have learned the scheming of officialdom, how can they still have the heart to ponder the art of war and train the officers and men of the three armies, how can you horsemen enjoy peace and have the opportunity to harm us behind our backs?"

The two looked at each other, although they did not speak, but they competed with each other, and they were already like swords and guns, and the murderous aura overflowed.

The main hall is very wide, enough to accommodate more than 100 people, more than 10 important ministers on both sides of the civil and military sides sit in two shifts, and a large area is empty.

The rectangular afterglow of the slanting sun was stretched very long, the cold wind rolled the curtains, the light in the corners gradually dimmed, the eunuchs standing in their hands were silent, and the air was filled with a cold, hard and dangerous murderous atmosphere.

Finally, the emperor's emotionless voice sounded slowly in the empty hall, like a low horn, "In one day, Jingzhao Mansion has received more than sixty murders involving the Liu clan, and I am very surprised and angry. Before that, I had always thought that my Daqi family was the pillar of the country and the humerus, but today's events have opened my eyes. Liu Qing, you come to tell me, did I misunderstand you before?"

Liu Muzhi got up and left his seat, and bowed down in the hall to plead guilty, he first blamed himself bitterly, admitting that he did not manage the family well, so that these black sheep appeared, and said that he would never tolerate it, and would thoroughly investigate the lawlessness of the clan, remove these rat droppings, and ask the emperor to punish him.

After speaking, Xu Minglang got up and came to Liu Muzhi's side, his face was sad and full of justice, and he said to the emperor in a voice full of anger: "Your Majesty, I have strict laws and regulations, and these big and small cases today will naturally be strictly investigated and dealt with by Jing Zhaoyin one by one, and the victims will not be wronged, nor will the guilty go unpunished."

"These cases all involve the Liu family, and there is also responsibility for participating in political affairs, but when the water is clear, there is no fish, and the family is big, and it is inevitable that there are some unfortunate clansmen, although the governor has the responsibility of negligence, but this is also because he is busy with official business, working hard day and night for the state affairs of Daqi, and has no time to govern the family, not intentionally conniving. I also ask Your Majesty to calm your anger for the sake of being diligent in official affairs. ”

His meaning is very clear, that is, to distinguish Liu Muzhi, or the vast majority of the Liu clan, from those who are guilty.

The scope of punishment for the murder case is controlled on the Liu clan members who directly cause death and injury, and does not care who instructed those Liu clan members, ignoring the root causes of the murder cases such as land annexation and printing money.

As a result, Liu Muzhi's culpability only involves the crime of negligence in "not governing the family strictly", so as to keep Liu Muzhi's official position as governor of political affairs.

After the beginning of the year, Liu Muzhi wanted to be the leader, and the one who proposed and promoted the "Privy Council" was the main general who withstood the opposition to the offensive of Jiangmen, and only when he stood firm and put great pressure on Jiangmen, could the Governor's Office of the Five Armies put forward the effect of "concessions" by civilian officials, so as to be implemented.

This is something that has been prepared for a long time, and now that it is ready to fly, Xu Minglang must keep Liu Muzhi, a role that cannot be easily replaced. If Liu Muzhi falls, this matter will have to be delayed again.

Zhao Xuanji listened to Xu Minglang's words, laughed, got up and left his seat, and bowed his hand to Song Zhi: "Your Majesty, Xu Xiang's words, the minister does not dare to agree. Today's murders reflect the fact that the Liu clan has committed crimes by unscrupulous means to seize wealth, squeeze the people, and disregard people's lives!

"The scale of the Liu clan's land annexation and the release of Yinzi money, and the number of people who have been killed, how can a few Liu clan members be the masters? Unless this person is the head of the Liu family!"

As soon as these words came out, the generals present immediately nodded yes, and praised Zhen Guogong for being reasonable. For a while, the big names in the door were like the bottom of the pot.

Liu Muzhi's face changed, and he turned his head and said angrily: "Zhen Guogong, you are a bloody spurt! What evidence do you have to say that Liu instructed these things? Jingzhao Mansion has not yet investigated the case, why did Zhen Guogong slander Liu so much?!"

Zhao Xuan snorted coldly, "Aren't you the head of the Liu family? If there are soldiers in the army who kill the people, how can this prince be innocent? If there are people in the Zhao clan who take people's lives without regard for people, let alone dozens of people, there is one of them who thinks that they can't get out of it!"

This truth is very straightforward, Xu Minglang and Liu Muzhi are just sophistry. However, if the battles in officialdom and power are all based on right and wrong, then it is not called officialdom.

Liu Muyi was speechless, Xu Minglang took over the conversation and said lightly: "Today's matter is actually very strange. So many bitter masters came to Jingzhao Mansion from Lantian and Shimen counties at the same time to express their grievances, but it was very coincidental, but the evidence was sufficient, and it was really powerful.

"And the cases they have stated are basically not happening in front of them, they have been separated by a few months, or they have been a few years, and one or two cases have been ten years ago! Zhen Guogong is not surprised, why did these bitter masters wait until this time to complain about their grievances, and why were they able to come together to settle their grievances? Didn't Zhen Guogong feel that there were people behind these people who were instigated and their purpose was not pure?"

Hearing this, many people changed their eyes.

These words are powerful.

Fools can also hear that Xu Minglang is talking about today's events, it is Zhao Xuanji who is making trouble behind his back, and it is Zhao who is trying to deal with Liu.

The murder case is real, Xu Minglang can't deny it, there are not many places that can make a fuss, from the perspective of the dispute between the family and the civil and military forces, turning the Liu family into a victim who was painstakingly calculated by the Zhao family can undoubtedly muddy the water.

If everyone thinks that Zhao's intentions are sinister, it may still have the effect of shifting thousands of pounds.

Weakening the generals and gathering the military power is a major plan of the imperial court, and it has been going on for a long time, and Xu Minglang doesn't think that it will stop now because the Zhao clan will fight back with the generals.

Zhao Xuanji understood the sinister intentions of Xu Minglang's words, and said coldly: "How can my father-in-law know about unwarranted things? If Xu Xiang thinks that there is something wrong with these murders, he can investigate it himself and find out the evidence." However, in comparison, every case in Jingzhao Mansion today has sufficient evidence. Which side should be dealt with first, Xu Xiang, as the head of the hundred officials, the prime minister in charge of the political affairs of the dynasty, won't he be out of line?"

Xu Minglang wanted to accuse the Zhao family of leading all this behind his back, but Zhao Xuanji knew that the other party couldn't find evidence at all, so he had a tough attitude. At present, the Zhao family has almost only Zhao Ning and Zhao Qiyue who have dealings with Yipinlou, and because there is no transfer of interests between the two sides, there is no trace of what can be claimed according to the map.

Xu Minglang snorted heavily, Zhao Xuanji's attitude made him realize that Zhao's plan may be very rigorous, and there are no flaws to be found. Originally, he also hoped to use the investigation to find out that the Zhao family was behind the scenes and used all this as a weight, or coercion, to exchange with the Zhao family to protect Liu Muzhi, but now it seems that this plan is afraid that it will not be realized.

Pressed for time.

Xu Minglang glanced at the book of the military department.

"Your Majesty, the governor of the government is loyal to the dynasty, for His Majesty for many years, has been working hard, has never made a mistake, and has made many meritorious deeds, now some people of the Liu family have crimes, and the family is big, it is inevitable that the wife is not virtuous and the son is not filial, and those who are guilty are punished, if they are still implicated in the governor's affairs, I am afraid it will make the ministers chill! Please Your Majesty to investigate!"

"Your Majesty, even if some members of the Liu clan are at fault, they are not for the sake of Zhulian, please take care of your majesty's feelings for serving as a governor for half your life and making outstanding contributions, don't chill the hearts of your courtiers!"

"Your Majesty, please!"

"The minister seconded the proposal, please Your Majesty to investigate!"

The important ministers in the hall all stood up and bowed down to protect Liu Muzhi.

This is Xu Minglang's third plan.

In order to protect Liu Muzhi, he first asked Liu Muzhi to admit limited responsibility, and argued that Liu Muzhi was only guilty of not governing his family strictly, and did not violate the law;

After this attempt failed, he insinuated again, saying that Liu's current crisis was caused by Zhao Xuanji, and it was a conspiracy carried out by Zhao to bring down Liu;

After this effort could not be effective, he came up with a killer plan: let the scholars take the lead to protect Liu Muzhi, on the one hand, to resist Zhao Xuanji and the momentum of the generals, and on the other hand, to put pressure on the emperor and create a situation where the will of the people is difficult to disobey.

The reason why Xu Minglang dared to do this, on the one hand, is that the door is not afraid of the generals, and he has been pressing the generals all these years, and he is powerful, powerful, and influential in the court;

On the other hand, it is also because the power of the dynasty is not only concentrated in the hands of the emperor, but also belongs to the emperor and all the families when there is a political group such as a century-old family and a thousand-year-old family.

In this case, once many families unite to put pressure on the emperor, or have a unified opinion on a certain matter, then the emperor can only obey the will of the people whether he wants it or not.

This popular heart, in the eyes of the superiors, has never been ordinary people, but the rich and powerful ruling class, those with vested interests!

Since ancient times, the so-called ministers who dare to speak out and die can still stand firm in the court and will not be killed by the emperor are all because they have a large group of interested families behind them, and their words and deeds represent the thoughts of that group of people. It's not that the emperor doesn't want to kill such people, but he can't, or the cost is too great to be worth it.

When there is no family behind the minister, there will be no longer anyone who often grabs the emperor's sleeve and sprays each other's faces, and can still stand in the court without falling, and even be famous for centuries. At this time, it is really easy for the emperor to kill a person or several people, whether he is an important minister or not.

Looking at the civil ministers who worshipped the land, Song Zhi looked embarrassed, and it seemed that it was difficult to make a decision. As for the anger in his eyes, it was hidden very deeply, and it was so well concealed that no one could detect it.

The sentence "Don't chill the heart of the courtier" is like a fish in the throat and a sword in the heart!

"Nonsense! If you share your worries for the dynasty, can you be exempted from all your crimes? If this is the case, everyone present, all of them are ministers, don't they need to pay attention to the laws of the dynasty?!"

Wei Chongshan, the Duke of Luguo, jumped out, shouted angrily at the civil officials, and then hugged his fist to the emperor, "Your Majesty, the Great Qi governs the country by strict laws, rewards and punishments, the Liu family has produced so many evil thieves, it is difficult to escape the blame for participating in political affairs, and he can manage his own family with this virtue, how can he deal with state affairs? Please Your Majesty punish him!"

"Your Majesty, the minister is a military general, and he knows very well that only by strict rewards and punishments will the army have combat strength, if the guilty are not prosecuted, then won't it be messed up?"

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

"Your Majesty, please be aware of it!"

The important ministers of the gate, after the big names of the sect were dispatched, were not to be outdone, and after Wei Chongshan took the lead in echoing Zhao Xuanji, according to the previous agreement, they all jumped out to express their attitude.

A hint of smile and relief flashed in Song Zhi's eyes. But soon, it was replaced by gloom. In an instant, it returned to the solemnity it had before.