The ministers bowed to each other, and the scene was extremely grand.

Li Duan's face was as usual, without the slightest hint of arrogance.

He turned his gaze to look at Lu Shen in the ranks of martial artists, the two monarchs and ministers looked at each other, and everything was silent.

Fourteen officials joined forces to resign, and if they were ordinary emperors, they would at least have a lot of headaches, because if this kind of thing is not handled well, it will cause a lot of chain reactions.

But this was not a problem for Li Duan, he immediately suppressed the impatience of other people in the court by allowing the invitation, and then rewarded these officials who resigned for giving them dignity, which can be described as a combination of hard and soft, soft and hard, and solved a crisis that was enough to shake the foundation of the court in an understatement.

The most important thing is that he can give a plan to deal with it in an instant, and name fourteen successors who meet the requirements in one go, so that the officials' forced palace moves are self-defeating.

Although the Jiangnan clan is the largest interest group in the Great Qi court, they are not monolithic internally, especially when it comes to the struggle for power, it is an illusion to expect them to advance and retreat together consistently.

When some important ministers figured out this truth, they finally understood that at least in the current court, it was impossible to force the Son of Heaven to bow his head by those means.

Li Duan accepted the worship of the hundred officials, and then calmly walked back to the dragon chair and sat down.

At this moment, the pain in his body was alleviated, and the sigh of the shortness of life flashed in his heart, the emperor, who was just forty years old this year, stared at the civil and military officials below, and said slowly: "Everyone, how to deal with the people involved in the Hou Yu case?" ”

In fact, in the eyes of many officials in the DPRK and China, the murder itself is not a particularly serious crime for the things Hou Yu did, after all, he killed the people of Shazhou instead of the people of Daqi, and there is no such thing as killing good people and making meritorious deeds.

His biggest problem was that he violated the national policy set by the Son of Heaven, which caused the relationship between Daqi and the Shazhou Seven Divisions to continue to deteriorate, resulting in the Great Qi having to devote a part of its energy to dealing with the Shazhou Seven Divisions, and could not concentrate on dealing with the enemy in the north.

This crime is certainly not light, but it is not without merit.

Lu Shen, as the Qincha who was ordered to investigate and handle this case, had already expressed his attitude before, so he was not in a hurry to come forward again.

The other courtiers looked thoughtfully at the gold brick floor in front of them.

In the silence, another imperial historian Xu Zuo stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Nan'an colluded with the courtiers, deceived the king, made arbitrary claims, and disregarded the safety of the country, and should seize his title, confiscate his family property, behead the public, and announce his crimes and fate to the world, so as to alert the civil and military officials in the center and the frontier." ”

General Wang Yan immediately said-for-tat: "Xu Zhongcheng, the situation on the border is complex and cannot be generalized, and there is indeed something wrong with Nan'anhou, but the Seventh Department of Shazhou is not as innocent as Luo Jiujiu said!" The measures taken by Nan Anhou may be too radical, but it is also an indisputable fact that the Shazhou Seventh Division once attacked and harassed the border between China and North Korea! If the Shazhou Seventh Department really wanted to ask for peace, how could they expel the envoys sent by His Majesty one after another? ”

Xu Zuo frowned and said: "General, the soldiers are also murderous weapons, the fighters are against morality, and the fighters are at the end of the matter." Conspire against morality, use murder weapons, try to be at the end, forbid in the heavens, and the walker is unfavorable. Nan'anhou's actions not only deviated from the decision of His Majesty and the imperial court, but also deepened the contradictions between the seven divisions of Daqi and Shazhou. In the long run, where is the majesty of the center? Where is the majesty of Your Majesty? ”

Wang Yan was speechless.

If it comes to verbal warfare, how can he be the opponent of Yushi Zhongcheng, who was born in Jinshi and has five cars of learning, not to mention that the other party relies on the special status of Yushitai and the favor of the Son of Heaven, and will not be afraid of him, the general of the Northern Ya.

He could only flick his sleeves and say: "If you kill Nan Anhou, I'm afraid it will chill the hearts of hundreds of thousands of soldiers!" ”

This sentence is a little straightforward, but Wang Yan understands in his heart that now that the situation of the war is becoming more and more intense, the straightforward threat is more powerful at this time.

As for whether these hundreds of thousands of soldiers refer to the border army or the Beijing army, he did not say it explicitly, presumably the Son of Heaven and the Manchu Dynasty ministers on the dragon chair have their own estimates.

The evil aura on Xu Zuo's face flashed, and he was about to refute it, but he heard the Son of Heaven above cough lightly.

The ministers looked at it with concern.

Li Duan said lightly: "Xu Qing's family is reasonable, the evidence in this case is conclusive and irrefutable, Hou Yu betrayed my trust, deceived his superiors and subordinates just to satisfy his own selfish desires, therefore, I decided to deprive Hou Yu of his title, confiscate his family assets, and behead him to show the public!" ”

The privy envoy Guo Congyi frowned and raised his head, he didn't expect the Son of Heaven to be so ruthless that he really didn't give Hou Yu a chance to live.

At this moment, an old voice sounded in the hall: "Your Majesty, the minister has a play." ”

Hearing this voice, Li Duan's heart swelled with complicated emotions.

As for the left prime minister, Lee Do-yan, he knows more than everyone in the DPRK and China.

As the leader of the Jiangnan clan, this old man will often fight for the interests of the clan below, and he also has the opposite attitude to Li Duan in the matter of the Northern Expedition, but he has a unique wisdom and knows how to find a balance between imperial power and vassal power, so that the Great Qi court can maintain a certain operational efficiency in such a complex situation.

The border armies of Huaijing and Jingjing were able to maintain their strength, and Li Daoyan's knowledge generally played a very big role, especially the formation of the Jingzhou Feiyu Battalion that year, although this was Li Tianrun's idea, but the final success was inseparable from Li Daoyan's support.

Today's court meeting was tense from the beginning, and Li Duan had been focusing part of his energy on Li Daoyan, because he knew that the reason why he was able to move forward step by step was because the Jiangnan clan could not form a joint force, and the officials had their own plans, and none of the leaders stood up to twist them into a rope.

At present, only Li Daoyan has this prestige.

It was only at this moment, at the critical moment when Li Duan decided to raise the butcher knife, that he finally stood up.

Looking at the old man's solemn face, Li Duan said slowly: "It's okay to say it. ”

Li Daoyan coughed lightly, lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, Daqi has a system of eight discussions. Eight speakers, discuss relatives, discuss the reason, discuss the virtuous, discuss the ability, discuss the merit, discuss the noble, discuss the diligence, and discuss the guests. Hou Yu has had, this is an indisputable fact, and the old minister will not force his false appearance. However, Hou Yu has ability, merit, and the lord of the country, which is also a well-known thing. The old minister thought about it again and again, thinking that in the case of Hou Yu, His Majesty might be extra merciful and spare his life. ”

Li Duan said indifferently: "He has done so many things to deceive the king, and I still want to open up to him?" ”

Li Daoyan looked up at the Son of Heaven, and his old eyes showed a slight look of pleading: "Your Majesty, the title of martial arts can be atoneted, Hou Yu did not commit the crime of rebellion after all, and I hope Your Majesty's subordinates will be merciful!" Lao Chen knew that His Majesty was very angry at his actions to sabotage the relationship between Daqi and the Seven Divisions of Shazhou, but as the general said, the situation on the border was extremely complicated, and it was inevitable to use some radical measures in many cases. Your Majesty, it is not a pity for Hou Yu to die, but the stability of the overall situation is more important, please think twice! ”

Suddenly, a prayer sounded in the court, and countless officials echoed: "I implore Your Majesty to think twice!" ”

Lu Shen's eyes narrowed slightly, and although he couldn't determine the exact number, he also knew that at least half of the officials echoed Li Daoyan's request.

Compared with the situation in which this old man responded to his words like a cloud, the joint resignation of the fourteen officials just now was like a drizzle.

Now he finally understands why Lee Do-yan rarely makes a public statement at court meetings.

When Li Daoyan came forward, such as Ning Yuanfu, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, and Ding Hui, the secretary of the Ministry of War, the suspicion of Li Daoyan in their hearts during this time disappeared in an instant.

Among the Wenchen, Li Shizhi, the left attendant of the Criminal Department, lowered his head and lowered his eyebrows, with a respectful attitude like everyone else, but there was an extremely complicated thought in his heart.

Father eventually made a move, how good would it be if he didn't......

Li Daoyan raised his head and looked at the Son of Heaven on the dragon chair.

Looking at the old man's earnest and sincere gaze, Li Duan already understood his thoughts.

Whether or not to kill Hou Yu is related to the final direction of the court dispute, and it depends on whether he, the Son of Heaven, wants to add another fire under the already boiling oil pot.

There was both worry and pleading in the old man's eyes, and it was obvious that he did not come forward this time to force Gong Tianzi, but hoped to cool down the situation that was gradually getting out of control a little.

After a while, Li Duan, who had experienced countless inner struggles, said lightly: "Zuo Xiang's words are reasonable. ”

Li Daoyan couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Li Duan continued: "I have decided to remove Hou Yu from his official position, deprive him of the title of marquis of his country, exile him for 2,000 li, and never hire him. He pursued all the rewards he had received since he joined the office, and confiscated ninety percent of his family assets and put them into the treasury. This matter cannot be discussed again, and the offender will be punished with the same crime as Hou Yu! ”

Capital crimes can be avoided and living crimes cannot be escaped, and this will has almost blocked the way for generations of the Dehua Hou family to become officials, which can be described as the most severe punishment besides killing the head.

The ministers were silent for a moment, and then shouted under the leadership of Li Daoyan: "Your Majesty Shengming! ”

Li Duan took a deep breath and said: "The accomplices in this case, such as Chen Xincai, the right attendant of the Ministry of War, Yu Shouwen, the general secretary of the Privy Council, Wei Jixiang, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, Qiao Wendian, the director of the Ministry of Works, Shi Wangping, the former governor of the Chengzhou Governor's Office, and the former marching Sima Chen Zhixun and others, are all complicit in complicit, wantonly manipulating the authority of the imperial court, and treating the laws and discipline of the imperial court as nothing, and should be punished!" ”

Li Daoyan frowned slightly, but this time he did not continue to speak out against it.

Being able to save Hou Yu's life is already his confession to the Jiangnan family, this case is widely implicated, if he can't see blood in the end, how to calm the anger in the heart of the Son of Heaven?

At this point, he could only choose to watch from the wall.

Li Duan looked around at the ministers and said word for word: "You Si put these people in prison, verified their identity, and escorted them to the execution ground to behead them three days later!" The book of China will tell the world the details of Hou Yu's case in writing, so that the world will know that the imperial court will never allow these people to do anything wrong! ”

The hall was solemn, Li Daoyan bowed, and the ministers followed.

"Obey the order!"

(End of chapter)