On May 25, 1629, the ninth year of the Apocalypse

Outside Zhengyang Gate of the capital, more than ten teams of Han generals and Jinyiwei were standing outside the door with their chests and belly folded, observing the passing officials, palace maids and eunuchs in high spirits.

Today is the day for the court discussion, so there are many officials coming and going, so they cannot be careful. In order to ensure safety, Zhu Youxiao even ordered the mobilization of some of the Beijing camp troops to be deployed outside the imperial city to ensure the safe convening of the court discussion.

As the name suggests, the court meeting was the court ministers' meeting and was also the deliberation system of the court in the Ming Dynasty.

Some people may ask, don’t the emperor attend morning court every day? Every morning court, almost all the officials in the capital have to attend court. Isn’t it great to discuss matters there? Why do you need to establish a court discussion system?

In fact, those who are interested know that morning court is more of a ritual, and those who really handle major and specific matters have to hold a small meeting, so the court discussion naturally arises.

To put it bluntly, the number of people discussed in court is much smaller than that in the morning court, ranging from twenty or thirty to hundreds of people, and the scale depends on the size and severity of the matter.

Today's court meeting was chaired by Zhu Youjian himself. The officials participating in the court meeting included three cabinet masters, the ministers of the six ministries, and subordinates, the left and right ministers, the Siwu, and the Langzhong officials, and the total number reached seventy or eighty.

If the meeting of this level is based on the later generations, it can be called an enlarged meeting of the Politburo, so the specifications of this court discussion are very high.

The reason why the court meeting was held today is that it is because of the 800-mile urgent memorial sent by Zhejiang Governor Pan Ruzhen two days ago. In the memorial, Pan Ruzhen asked the court to be anxious, claiming that after Anqing Prefecture, Huizhou and Ningguo Prefecture were also captured by bandits, and tens of thousands of people became the souls of bandits under the sword, and hundreds of thousands of people were tragically ravaged by bandits.

After Huizhou Prefecture and Ningguo Prefecture were captured by bandits, the bandits led by Li Zi expanded rapidly like snowballs. In less than a month, tens of thousands of people gathered to rush towards Hangzhou Prefecture. If the court did not send reinforcements, Hangzhou Prefecture might be in danger.

In fact, it was not just Pan Ruzhen during this period. The emergency documents sent by the gentry and officials in Jiangnan flew over like snow, and the entire court was shocked.

Even though an official wrote a letter to impeach Duke Xinguo Yang Feng, who was unable to suppress the bandits, was watching the bandits poison Jiangnan, and was alone in possession of heavy troops but turned a blind eye to the bandits who were close at hand. He probably had the intention of owning troops and respecting them.

Some officials also wrote to the court to request the Ministry of War to deprive Yang Feng of his military power and select another good general to command the army to eliminate the bandits.

In less than six or seven days, Zhu Youxiao's Long case was almost filled with memorials.

At the beginning, Zhu You proofreaded these memorials with the method of staying at the top of the board and not sending them out, neither submitting or criticizing them. This move is also a way for the emperor to deal with his ministers. Even if you give more memorials, your buddy will ignore you and see who can waste it.

However, the officials of the Ming Dynasty were not easy to fool. When the officials found out that the emperor ignored them, they were angry and actually went to the Meridian Gate to kneel. The scene of hundreds of officials kneeling outside the Meridian Gate was really spectacular, and finally alarmed the cabinet and Zhu Youxiao.

Seeing that the matter was about to get worse, three other court masters, Sun Chengzong, Zhu Guozhen, Han Yu, had to go to Zhu Youxiao to complain to him. Zhu Youxiao had no choice but to agree to hold a meeting to discuss the matter, which led to today's court discussion.

Since there are many people holding the meeting, the cabinet decided to set the venue for the court meeting in Wenhua Hall.

Today, Zhu Youxiao was wearing a dragon robe, a black gauze and a gold-wire hat, and his eyes were bright and bright, looking at the hundreds of officials below. Behind him were two palace maids who were fanning, and Wei Zhongxian and another eunuch stood with his hands hanging down.

"I will meet my emperor, and I wish you a long life!"

After everyone greeted each other, Zhu Youxiao smiled faintly.

"My dear friends, today I convened a court discussion at the request of the cabinet's three members, Sun Ge Lao, Zhu Ge Lao and Han Ge Lao, and the content of the discussion was about the rampant bandits in the south of the Yangtze River. Now I would like to ask you to speak freely."

"Your Majesty, Wang Hengzhuang, the doctor of the Ministry of Rites, has a memorial." A thin official in his forties stood up from the train.

"Tell me!" Zhu Youxiao said.

Wang Hengzhuang shouted loudly: "I have reported to Your Majesty. During the period when I impeached Duke Xin, Yang Feng, led his troops to suppress the bandits, I watched the bandits poison Jiangnan. I was suspected of having a self-respecting force. I hope Your Majesty will clearly observe.

Now that the bandits in the south of the Yangtze River are raging, countless people are slaughtered. All of them are caused by Yang Feng’s inaction. I ask Your Majesty to immediately issue an order to dismiss the Duke of Xinguo and investigate it, and select another good general to replace Yang Feng and lead a large army to suppress the bandits."

Zhu Youxiao said calmly: "Well, is there any?"

"besides."

Wang Hengzhuang also said: "In the years since the establishment of the Jiangning Army, it has fought eastward and westward, destroyed Jiannu in the north, and captured Taiwan in the south, which has indeed made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. However, it is precisely because of this that the Jiangning Army has been in a state of great destiny in recent years, so I believe that the court should restrain the Jiangning Army to avoid the rampant situation of vassal states in the late Tang Dynasty."

There was silence in Wenhua Hall, and all the officials looked at Zhu Youxiao sitting on the dragon throne. Their eyes were so hot that they could see flowers from Zhu Youxiao's face.

Sun Chengzong, Zhu Guozhen and Han Dong, three cabinet masters were suddenly shocked. What did these people want to do? They dared to attack Yang Feng at this time.

A smile appeared on Zhu Youxiao's face, and he said calmly: "Oh... Wang Aiqing said that we should prevent the situation of rampant vassal states in the late Tang Dynasty?"

"That's right!" Wang Hengzhuang looked solemn and bowed: "I know that Duke Xinguo has made great contributions to the country and is the pillar of the Ming Dynasty. But because of this, Duke Xinguo should set an example. Now he has achieved success and fame. In order to avoid suspicion, it is a way to retreat bravely. This move is definitely out of public intention and has no disrespect to Duke Xinguo."

Zhu Youxiao did not answer Wang Hengzhuang's words, but looked at the officials below and asked, "Is this what you mean?"

Some officials in Wenhua Palace looked at each other and said in unison:

"I'm going to discuss it!"

"I'm going to discuss it!"

"These idiots!"

The three parents of Sun Chengzong sighed in his heart. These idiots actually threatened the emperor so blatantly. Do they really think this was the case when Zhu Youxiao was trembling as if he was trembling when he first ascended the throne five or six years ago?
Chapter completed!