Chapter 83 Zhang Yu and others confessed about the death of the late emperor
After Zhu Houzhao listened to the details of Ma Yongcheng and Wang Yangming's arrest of Zhang Yu and other key criminals, he finally understood what happened in Shaanxi before. He also realized that Ma Yongcheng and others did not go to Beijing with Wang Shu at all, which caused Li Dongyang to mistakenly arrest Wang Shu. A group of people were massacred, thinking that Zhang Yu and others had also been successfully silenced. Even Zhu Houzhao thought that Zhang Yu and others had been successfully silenced at first.
Now that he heard that Zhang Yu and others had not been silenced, Zhu Houzhao naturally felt more confident to declare war on the entire civil servant group outside the palace!
actually.
At this time, the atmosphere in the Forbidden City had unexpectedly become serious.
At first, the civil servants who were angrily coming to the Forbidden City to kneel down and force Zhu Houzhao to compromise because they heard that His Majesty the Emperor had indiscriminately sent Li Dongyang and others directly to prison, now they all guessed what this meant when they heard that Zhang Yu and others were escorted to Beijing. What.
Most civil servants, especially those of fifth rank or above, are not ignorant. In fact, they all have heard that Emperor Hongzhi may have been killed, but they are not willing to take the initiative to mention it, even if they hear about it. The Yanguan didn't even think about making a fuss about this matter.
There is no other reason. Everyone is quite willing to see Emperor Hongzhi die.
Because there had been rumors for a long time, Emperor Hongzhi summoned Ma Wensheng before his death, intending to order Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and others to take office, reorganize the cabinet, start to increase commercial taxes, and reform the official administration, so as to replenish the national treasury and reduce the people's hardship.
These civil servants will naturally care about who serves as a cabinet minister, but they are more concerned about whether their own interests can be protected.
Emperor Hongzhi suddenly wanted to be a better emperor, that is, an emperor who made decisions for the people, which obviously violated their interests. They were naturally willing to see the emperor's death caused by the cabinet and the inner court.
Therefore, with the exception of Ma Wensheng, almost no civil servant was willing to be a detective to reveal the truth. They could not offend the cabinet and the inner court for the sake of the dead Emperor Hongzhi.
They were even willing to help cover up this fact when it was revealed. When they heard that Li Dongyang and others were imprisoned, they all actively came to plead for mercy, even if they didn't hesitate to offend Long Yan!
However, at this time, when they knew that Ma Yongcheng had brought Zhang Yu and other murderers who directly caused the death of Emperor Hongzhi to the capital, they all knew that they could not help cover up the truth now, and they even started to panic. , because they don’t know how many people will be implicated when the truth is revealed. Now they can only hope that Zhu Houzhao can be kind and not implicate too many people!
Moreover, at this time, these civil servants in Beijing had even begun to regret that they had followed them outside the palace to plead for Li Dongyang, so why not just stay out of the matter?
"According to the order! All the officials present entered the palace and knelt outside the Fengtian Gate, kneeling in line according to the court order!"
As the Supervisor of Ceremonies conveyed the words to Feng Guan, these civil servants all entered the palace in a polite manner and knelt down outside the Feng Tian Gate. They did not dare to complain at all. There was nothing they could do about it. They were now deeply afraid that their actions would be inappropriate. He was almost punished by His Majesty and became Li Dongyang's accomplice.
Ma Wensheng also followed the order and walked outside Fengtian Gate. At this time, the eunuchs had set up a row of chairs here. Ma Wensheng, as the chief judge, naturally sat in the center. Shi Daishan, the censor of the left capital, Min Gui, the minister of the Ministry of punishment, and the chief minister of Dali Temple Yang Shousui and the other three were called out from among the kneeling civil servants, and they all sat on the left side of Ma Wensheng.
At this time, Ma Yongcheng, the admiral of the East Factory, Gu Dayong, the admiral of the West Factory, and Guo Rong, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, also came over and sat on the right side of Ma Wensheng.
At this time, Zhu Houzhao also appeared on the jade steps of Fengtian Gate in a jade chariot, only staring at Ma Wensheng and others at the bottom of the steps and the civil servants kneeling in front.
Jiao Fang and Xu Jin also appeared with Zhu Houzhao.
At this time, Zuodu Censor Daishan was obviously trembling, and Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but ask: "Zuodu Censor Daishan! Why are you shaking? You are the one who will judge others today, and no one else will judge you!"
When Dai Shan was shouted out by Zhu Houzhao, not only did she not stop trembling, but she was so frightened that she slipped down from her chair and only bowed to Zhu Houzhao:
"Your Majesty, I have no personal relationship with Li Dongyang at all. It's just that my student married his granddaughter, but I have long since disowned that student! Your Majesty, please be more careful!"
Zhu Houzhao was speechless for a while, waved his hand and said: "In that case, why are you panicking? Just sit back!"
Dai Shan nodded before holding on to the back of the chair and sitting back down.
Seeing this, Ma Wensheng was quite speechless, and went straight to the topic, saying: "Everyone, I believe you have heard recently about the traitorous minister who was still alive and how the emperor cried at night in the mausoleum. His Majesty, the late emperor, also asked the late emperor to tell his grievances about his death in a dream. The death of my late emperor seems to have been unjust, and he may have been killed by a traitor and traitor!
Therefore, Ma Yongcheng, the admiral of Dongchang, requested that Zhang Yu and others who were guarding the border be arrested and brought back to Beijing for re-interrogation. Now that Zhang Yu and others have been escorted to Beijing, the case of the murder of the late emperor will be re-tried today! ”
With that said, Ma Wensheng shouted: "Bring people to commit crimes against Zhang Yu, Liu Wentai and others!"
Suddenly, Zhang Yu, Liu Wentai and others were brought up. The appearance of Zhang Yu, Liu Wentai and others made all the civil servants present tremble with fear. They did not even dare to look at Zhang Yu, Liu Wentai and others for fear of being implicated.
And at this time.
Zhang Yu himself was very indifferent, dragging the chain and walking toward Fengtianmen step by step, with a smile on his face.
Liu Wentai was not as calm as Zhang Yu. He only trembled: "I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I really don't want to die!"
Needless to say, there were other culprits, some were silent, some were giggling for no reason, and some were crying unconsciously.
The first person to appear in front of Ma Wensheng and others was naturally Zhang Yu.
Zhang Yu knelt down consciously.
Seeing this, Ma Wensheng asked: "Zhang Yu, you were the one who served the late emperor when he died. I am now asking you whether the late emperor was killed and by whom?"
"Our family dare not hide it. The late emperor was indeed killed by Liu Wentai. Liu Wentai added an extra penny of aconite to each dose of the emperor's medicine, and did not cook it first, thus harming the late emperor! The late emperor took this fever Death by medicine.”
As soon as Zhang Yu's words came out, everyone in the audience was in an uproar. Although everyone had guessed that the late emperor might have been killed, they were still full of horror after hearing it from Zhang Yu's mouth!
Even Zhu Houzhao himself couldn't help but clenched his fists and just looked at Zhang Yu coldly.
Ma Wensheng also became short of breath. He initially suspected that the death of the late emperor was suspicious. Now that he knew the truth from Zhang Yu, he was naturally very angry. He gritted his teeth and asked: "Is there any evidence?"
"At that time, we were the only ones who personally prepared medicine for the late Emperor. After decoction, we would remove the hot medicine from the medicine dregs and then show it to the late Emperor for inspection. However, in order to prevent future changes, we prepared the medicine dregs from the day before His Majesty's death. It has not been removed, and is hidden under the third stone step of Fengtian Gate! There is also a Nine Dragon Jade Pendant left by the late emperor!”
After Zhang Yu finished speaking, Ma Wensheng hurriedly asked Zhu Houzhao for permission to command Qian Shi of the Jinyi Guards to pry open the third stone step. As expected, there was a brocade box. When the brocade box was opened, it turned out to be a pile of medicine dregs and a Nine Dragons left by the late emperor. Jade pendant.
"This item is indeed the late emperor's. I saw him wearing it when he accompanied him out of the palace in plain clothes."
Jiao Fang, who once served in the Imperial Academy, said to Zhu Houzhao.
At this time, Yang Yingsui, the minister of Dali Temple who was well versed in medical science, grabbed the dregs of the medicine and said: "As expected, there are aconite, and there are obviously a lot more. This is a hot medicine. Liu Wentai, what crime do you deserve!"
< br>
Plop!
Liu Wentai, who had consulted Emperor Hongzhi, knelt down and said, "This official was also coerced by Shao Daxia!"
Shao Daxia?
This was the first time Zhu Houzhao heard about Shao Daxia. He thought that there was a Shao Daxia during the Longwan period, but he did not expect that there was a Shao Daxia during the Hongzhi period who could force the imperial doctor to kill the emperor.
At this time, Ma Wensheng had already asked Liu Wentai: "Who is Daxia Shao and how did he coerce you?"
"He killed one of my servants and threatened me. He told me to kill the late emperor within three days, otherwise he would kill me all over the house in three days. He told me not to be afraid, saying that Li Gefu and Xie Gefu would protect my life when the time came! ”
Liu Wentai replied.
As soon as Liu Wentai finished speaking, the officials present were once again shocked and became more convinced that Li Dongyang, Xie Qian and others were indeed involved in the murder of the late emperor.
Thank you book friend V Dream of Infinite √4000 starting coin reward. Thank you book friend Yu Linzixi for the 100 starting coin reward. Thank you book friend Youku for the 4100 starting coin reward
(End of chapter)