Chapter 172 Not only must he be punished, but he must also be put to death in a hurry!
The platform of the main hall of Qianqing Palace.
The three ministers of the cabinet, the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Ministry of Punishment, the Dali Temple, and the main generals of the Guards were all gathered here at this time.
At the same time, it also includes Guo Rong, the commander of Jinyiweidu.
Zhu Houzhao summoned these important ministers involved in the empire's military, internal affairs, justice, and intelligence for a court meeting, just for one thing: whether to deal with Ulus Boluot for his crime of massacre of countless Han people in Sanyuan County.
It can be said that the life and death of Urus Borot was implicated in the Ming Dynasty's principles of military and political justice.
Was he choosing to spare Urus Borot in order to avoid further intensification of the conflict and to prevent the little prince from attacking the whole country?
Or should we insist on punishing the guilty and safeguard the integrity of Ming Dynasty’s judicial sovereignty?
At this moment, Zhu Houzhao and the officials at the imperial center had to think deeply about it.
"Your Majesty, according to the law, this thief should be severely punished! However, for the safety of all people in the world, this matter should be treated with caution. If you kill him rashly, you may anger the little prince and make the whole country come to fight against it. Ming Dynasty will have border troubles If it gets worse, I’m afraid the incident in Tumubao will happen again.”
Jiao Fang, the chief minister of the cabinet, spoke first.
However, what he said was tantamount to not saying anything, it was tantamount to making a start without expressing his clear views. This was also a common tactic of veteran ministers in the court. They generally would not express their views immediately before finding out the emperor's background.
"Although the imperial court currently has a lot of savings due to the guaranteed tax revenue from Jiangnan, it has already spent countless silver just to supervise the three sides of the army in accordance with His Majesty's order, build border walls, train rural soldiers, and collect grain to reclaim wasteland. Now it is necessary to repair the land from the capital to The road to Datong, the Ordnance Bureau’s expanded production of new firearms, and famine relief in Huaiyang all cost money;
Although it was the Guards who recaptured the Hetao, and the pay of the Guards came from His Majesty's internal funds, the establishment of the county government, and the transportation of grain and grass were still spent on the household department. If the little prince raised troops to attack again, the frontier troops would definitely join the battle. , then the military expenditure of the Ministry of Revenue will increase sharply, and the debt of the Ministry of Revenue will be even greater!
Therefore, I think you should be patient! Let him go back first. The little prince has not yet conquered the Tatar right wing, so he will not rush south to attack the Ming Dynasty because his son is humiliated! But if he kills his son, I'm afraid it will completely anger him! ”
Grand Scholar Wang Hua expressed his disapproval of killing Ulus Borot.
"However, if this thief does not kill him, what will happen to our Ming Dynasty's decree? Countless Han people died under his butcher's knife. If he is allowed to return safely, will these Tatars still be able to slaughter our people of the Ming Dynasty wantonly in the future! And the law is not lawful. Damn it! I think you can’t forgive him!”
Liu Yu, the censor of Zuodu, said.
All the officials present started talking.
Some hope that the court will still consider the overall situation and not kill Urus Borot; some think that the prince committed the same crime as the common people, and Urus Borot cannot be exempted from punishment because of his special status, which chills the people.
And there’s more of the former than the latter.
After all, in the eyes of most courtiers, compared with the safety of the entire Ming Dynasty, the slaughtered Han people in Sanyuan County are nothing. Of course, there are also reasons why they are not very confident that the Ming Dynasty can fight against the little prince. After all, these civil servants are still Having grown up studying Confucianism, I still hold the view that war should be avoided if possible.
Zhu Houzhao had to say against all opinions: "If you don't kill Ulus Boluot, won't you anger the little prince? I have whipped him and will not reward him with tribute. If the little prince dares to despise my Ming Dynasty, he wants to destroy it." I am Ming Dynasty , you can already find reasons to raise troops to attack. Do you think that if the little prince intends to raise troops to attack my Ming Dynasty, and my Ming Dynasty does not kill Ulus Boluot, his little prince will not attack my Ming Dynasty? "
Zhu Houzhao said this, and the ministers also understood a little bit, and felt that it seemed to be true. Regardless of killing Ulus Boluot or not, as long as the little prince wanted to attack the Ming Dynasty, he would attack the Ming Dynasty. If the little prince was afraid of the Ming Dynasty, Even if the Ming Dynasty killed Urus Borot, the little prince would still be afraid and scrupulous.
"The law cannot be abolished because of people, especially the execution of foreigners for crimes committed in our Ming Dynasty. This is the power of our Ming Dynasty's judicial department! We cannot tolerate partiality because of the strength of the country, otherwise, wouldn't it appear that we The Ming Dynasty is weak and incompetent, so why don’t the people regard the court as incompetent? This is called extraterritorial power! The Ming Dynasty does not belong to other countries, so there is a reason for extraterritorial power!”
Zhu Houzhao clearly expressed his views, because people in this era had not heard of the concept of extraterritoriality, so he did not say at the beginning that the Ming Dynasty had the independence of extraterritoriality, but explained it in a language they could understand.
Therefore, after Zhu Houzhao explained, the ministers also understood more clearly that it turns out that as an empire, it must have extraterritorial jurisdiction and the execution power to deal with crimes committed by foreigners in the country, in order to be regarded as an empire that does not belong to other countries. country.
"But Your Majesty! Now that the little prince is getting bigger and bigger, even the right-wing Tatar ministries cannot take it lightly. Now that he hastily provoked him to attack southward, I am afraid it will lead to border troubles. Moreover, the Tatars mainly use cavalry, and I am worried that they will Attack the capital while it is unprepared, just like what happened before!"
As Zhu Houzhao paid more attention to military attaches, military generals like Qiu Yue also participated in the court discussions as Zuo Shilang of the General Staff of the Guards Army and also put forward their own opinions.
"If the cabinet is afraid of the little prince, I can understand it. After all, the cabinet is the center of the world and needs to coordinate the overall situation. But why should you, the Guards, and even the entire Ming Dynasty's army be afraid? Can the Ming Dynasty deal with a foreign barbarian in accordance with the law? Still worth considering Well, as for the military crisis caused by the disposal, this is the matter of your Guards and even the entire Ming army. If you cannot guarantee that the Ming Dynasty can deal with the foreigners who committed crimes in the Ming Dynasty, then how can the imperial court and the people of the world support you officers and soldiers? Use?”
Zhu Houzhao continued: "My Ming Dynasty has an army, and there are loyal and brave men who dare to die generously and wrap their bodies in horse leather. Why does the court have to compromise and dare not deal with a foreigner who has committed an crime? Why did the murderer who massacred the people of our Ming Dynasty come to us?" I, Da Ming, don’t dare to accuse me?”
Zhu Houzhao's words made Qiu Yue, Ma Wensheng, Zhang Mao and other people in the military system feel ashamed. Qiu Yue even handed over his hands and said: "Your Majesty, forgive me! I am not afraid of the enemy, but I am just thinking about the court. Now that your Majesty has said so, I have no other words to say. Since the imperial court and the people of the Ming Dynasty support the officials and soldiers, I should safeguard the dignity of the Ming Dynasty and never regret it even if I die!"...
At this time, Ma Yongcheng, the admiral of the East Factory, hurriedly walked in and came to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty! I just got the news that Urus Borot broke out of Huitong Beiguan and killed a businessman from the Ming Dynasty in Wuman City!"
Zhu Houzhao and the officials present were horrified when they heard this.
But because Zhu Houzhao had decided to execute Ulus Borot, the chief minister of the cabinet, Jiao Fang, directly expressed his position again: "How outrageous! Does this Ulus Borot really think that our Ming Dynasty is a country that can be bullied! Kill our Han people The matter has not yet been settled, and now he is killing the people of Ming Dynasty in the capital. His crime should be punished! Your Majesty, I believe that this matter no longer needs to be discussed. These villains should be executed immediately!"
"Not only must they be killed, but they must also be executed without delay! The crime of slaughtering our Han people and the crime of killing our Han people without permission now will be punished for several crimes. And I have already said that massacre of the people and regicide are the same crime!"
Zhu Houzhao said after thinking deeply.
"I obey the order!"
At this time, a group of officials stood up and replied.
Immediately, Zhu Houzhao asked again: "Have all the evidence for Ulus Boluot's massacre of the Han people in the Ming Dynasty been prepared?"
"Reporting to your majesty, we have already prepared it. The confessions of the traitor Li Dongyang and Lu Zhonghe all mentioned Urus Borot as the culprit! The evidence is conclusive! As long as the court is willing to execute Urus Borot, his death penalty can even be proved Ling Chi is not difficult!”
Min Gui, the Minister of Punishment, replied.
"Very good. Now the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Dali Temple Division of the Ministry of Punishment will immediately start a trial for Ulus Boluot for massacring our Han people and killing our Han people! The Ministry of Punishment will arrest him immediately!
In addition, the Ministry of Rites informed the ministers of the vassal outside Beijing about the reasons for this incident, asking them to remember the example of Ulus Boluot, and they must abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty and abide by the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty! At the same time, inform the people of the world and let them know the reason for this matter! I will ask the Second Attendant to assist you!
I want Urus Borot to know that not only I want to kill him, but the people of the world also want to kill him!
Not only the public opinion in the world wants to kill him! Justice in the world will kill him!
At the same time, it also uses this to win over the people of the world and let the people of the Ming Dynasty know that the court is responsible and that their Emperor will make decisions for them, even if they offend their powerful neighbors! Naturally, if there is a war in the future, the people will understand! The war is about them! ”
When Zhu Houzhao said this, all the ministers understood Zhu Houzhao's intention, and they also admired Zhu Houzhao from the bottom of their hearts. They admired that His Majesty the Emperor could still use this incident to agitate public opinion. They did not understand why His Majesty the Emperor, who had grown up in the palace, Always know how to take advantage of public opinion! And in this way, the entire people were tied to their own chariots, so as to avoid being criticized by the gentry all over the world for not complying with public opinion.
"My Holy Emperor!"
All the ministers could only express their admiration for Zhu Houzhao in these four words.
At the same time, Zhu Houzhao said to Ma Wensheng, Zhang Mao, Qiu Yue, and even Xu Jin, the Minister of War: "The ones who are about to bear the greatest pressure now are those of you who control the Ming army. The little prince knows that this matter can be as short as half a year or as long as a year." year, so time is very tight, continue to prepare for a big war!”
With that said, Zhu Houzhao said to Wang Hua, who was in charge of the household department: "I agree to all the requests of the Guards and the Ministry of War. I will give you as much food as you want! Give it to as many people as you want! If you don't have money, go to the Royal Bank for a loan! If you owe it, Don’t be afraid if you have too much debt. After you scare the little prince, you can slowly find a way to pay it off.”
Then, Zhu Houzhao asked Ma Wensheng, Zhang Mao, Qiu Yue and even the Minister of War Xu Jin: "Are you confident enough to prove to the little Tatar prince that the Ming Dynasty is not easy to mess with?"
"Report to Your Majesty, I have it!"
Ma Wensheng and others replied in unison.
"Very good, let's get ready!"
As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao saw that Jiao Fang still had a worried look on his face, so he stopped Jiao Fang again: "Chief Assistant, what are you thinking about?"
Many thanks to book friend Zhanli Moxin for the reward of 100 starting coins
(End of chapter)