Chapter 175: Life and Death
Zhu Yuanzhang's face was ferocious, his eyes were flashing, and he was full of anger.

He seemed to be trying hard to suppress his anger, and looked at Deng Qianqiu and asked, "Are the confessions there true?"

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry, Deng Qianqiu said hurriedly, "Your Majesty, it is true. I have compared the confessions of Fei Ju and Lu Zhongheng... and... some stolen goods found in the Lu and Fei families. There is no discrepancy between what is here and their confessions."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were dim, and the murderous intent in them became stronger and stronger.

"However..." Deng Qianqiu said, "Only the situation of the Yiluansi, I dare not guarantee it. This is just my guess. Lu Zhongheng's confession is also confusing. It is obvious that he does not know the truth."

Deng Qianqiu couldn't help feeling a little regretful at this time.

He had offended people like Hu Weiyong. It can be imagined that he must have become a thorn in their eyes and a thorn in their flesh.

But... Deng Qianqiu knew very well that the real way to put Hu Weiyong to death was to collude with the Yiluansi.

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed surprised. He pursed his lips and looked at Deng Qianqiu meaningfully.

In fact, he had already seen the loopholes in this confession, which was the most important and unacceptable case, and it obviously had many loopholes.

This kid Deng Qianqiu has made things so bad that he has directly broken off with those people, and the situation has even reached the point where they are like water and fire and cannot reconcile with each other.

Logically speaking, for Deng Qianqiu, only by cutting the weeds at their roots can the hidden dangers be completely eliminated.

Therefore, even if he concealed what he had just said, if Zhu Yuanzhang was even the slightest bit negligent, he might actually make the case true, and in this way, the Hu party would never be able to be reborn.

But Deng Qianqiu still honestly told the real situation.

If it were someone else, let alone mentioning this loophole, even if the case was found to be untrue, at this point, I am afraid they would fabricate charges and put their opponent to death.

While Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised, he was thinking in his heart, what kind of person is this Deng Qianqiu?

However… Although Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised by Deng Qianqiu’s behavior, he did not reveal this meaning, but only said: “Just a suspicion?”

Deng Qianqiu said: "The things I doubt are all in the confession, but Lu Zhongheng's explanation is obviously vague. Who is colluding with this Yiluansi, what position this person holds, and even... whether this matter is true, I am not sure."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Deng Qianqiu steadily and asked, "Do you want to continue investigating?"

Deng Qianqiu said calmly, "This... I dare not make my own decision. I will leave it to your majesty to decide."

Zhu Yuanzhang had a grim expression. The number of people involved in the confession made him extremely vigilant.

At this time, he was actually a little unsure. Although he knew that Hu Weiyong was good at winning people's hearts, he never expected it to go to this extent.

But it’s hard to say whether he committed any heinous crime.

If it were Zhu Yuanzhang ten years later, I'm afraid he would have killed them all.

But it was the fourth year of Hongwu at that time. Zhu Yuanzhang in the fourth year of Hongwu still seemed to be mocking Liu Bang for killing his meritorious officials. He was really narrow-minded. They founded the country with you and made great contributions. You, Liu, are using the trick of cooking the dogs after the rabbit is dead. Isn't it a bit unfair?

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang looked doubtful and worried.

After a while, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him and asked, "If you were me, how would you deal with it?"

Deng Qianqiu was still staring at Zhu Yuanzhang's decision calmly, but his sudden question caught Deng Qianqiu off guard.

This is not like you, you are Zhu Yuanzhang!

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang staring at him, Deng Qianqiu had to think for a moment and said, "There are indeed some illegal and disorderly things in the investigation, but it can't be said to be a capital crime. So... I think that according to the Great Ming Law, we should verify the situation and deal with it as it should be. Your Majesty has formulated the criminal law, so you should abide by it. If even Your Majesty does not abide by it, then... everyone in the world will know that this criminal law has become a piece of waste paper, a dead letter."

"Stupid!" Zhu Yuanzhang said with a straight face: "This is just a woman's kindness!"

Zhu Yuanzhang scolded, but even though he scolded, his tone was not harsh.

It seemed that he thought Deng Qianqiu was childish, but he had to admit that there were admirable things about Deng Qianqiu.

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke in a serious tone, "I am a commoner, but now I have become the emperor. Along the way, I have seen many intrigues and life-and-death struggles. A little kindness today may lead to a fatal disaster tomorrow. Many times, you cannot follow the so-called etiquette and criminal law by heart, do you know that?"

Deng Qianqiu said with a very learned look on his face: "Yes."

At this time, he should rush into the palace and report: "Your Majesty, Duke Han is at the Meridian Gate..."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned cold. He looked up and saw that it was drizzling outside the palace. His eyes flashed and he said, "Isn't he sick?"

"Yes." Ye Gaixian said, "But for some reason, Duke Hanguo knelt outside the Meridian Gate and refused to get up, saying that... he had failed the emperor's grace."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked strange, but also had some unusual emotional fluctuations. He asked, "Who else knelt with him?"

I should also say first: "And Hu Weiyong..."

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered and said, "Come in."…………

Duke of Korea Li Shanchang was regarded as the first meritorious minister in the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Not only was he promoted to Duke of the State after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, becoming the leader of all meritorious ministers, but he also served as the left prime minister for a long time, presiding over the government affairs of the world.

It can be said that Li Shanchang is definitely one of the most important figures in the Ming Dynasty, and his every move touches people's hearts.

Under the drizzle, the elderly Li Shanchang had a pale face. The old man was soaked from head to toe. The white hair on his head and the white beard under his chin were stuck together!
He has experienced too many hardships in his life.

But now, we are still faced with wind and rain, and we are in an extremely miserable state.

As a result, people who entered and left the palace, when they saw that the person kneeling there was Li Shanchang, immediately showed a look of panic, and immediately began to tiptoe, being careful everywhere.

The eunuchs came out of the palace in the rain and wanted to persuade Li Shanchang, but Li Shanchang remained unmoved.

He closed his eyes and knelt motionless, letting the wind and rain blow on him, only coughing from time to time.

Kneeling behind him was Hu Weiyong.

Hu Weiyong cried, "Mr. Li, all the sins are mine. Why do you have to blame yourself so much? Please go home and rest."

Li Shanchang still ignored him, his face was heavy and there was an indescribable sadness on his face.

Not long after, another person came in the rain.

It turned out to be the current Left Prime Minister Wang Guangyang, followed by the Chief Censor Liu Ji and several others.

They had also heard the news in the Secretariat, so how could they sit still?

Even though Wang Guangyang, Liu Ji and Li Shanchang did not have a harmonious relationship at the beginning, they were still just juniors in front of Li Shanchang. Now that Li Shanchang was kneeling here, what qualifications did they have to sit high up in the Secretariat and give orders about the country.

Immediately, several people also knelt down.

Finally, an eunuch came out of the palace and said hurriedly, "Quick, invite Duke Han and the other dukes into the palace. Your Majesty has been waiting for you for a long time."

The eunuchs rushed forward and helped Li Shanchang up.

Liu Ji and Wang Guangyang also stood up immediately. They looked at each other and seemed to have noticed the subtle changes that might happen next.

…………

“Your Majesty…” Li Shanchang walked into the palace tremblingly. He was soaking wet. He bowed and kowtowed, saying, “This old minister is guilty of a thousand deaths… cough cough… cough cough…”

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was filled with anger, and he was obviously extremely dissatisfied with Li Shanchang's behavior at this time.

But seeing Li Shanchang's appearance at this time, he couldn't help but suppress the anger in his heart and said, "Please take a seat."

In the whole world, the only two ministers who were qualified to meet Zhu Yuanzhang and be granted a seat immediately were Li Shanchang and Xu Da.

But this time, Li Shanchang did not sit down, but continued to kowtow, and said tremblingly: "I... have received such great grace from Your Majesty, but I am full of selfish thoughts and always attach too much importance to the friendship between hometowns. Now I think about it, what is the difference between this and forming a clique? This time... such a big incident has occurred. Lu Zhongheng and Fei Juren have always been taken care of by this old minister. This old minister... this old minister is really ashamed."

At this point, Li Shanchang choked up and shed tears in the hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, pointed at the confession on the table, and said coldly: "Are you saying that you are the leader of these people?"

Li Shanchang said, "Yes."

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Hu Weiyong out of the corner of his eye.

"What about Hu Weiyong?"

Li Shanchang said: "Hu Weiyong is actually a student and old official of this old minister. On weekdays... I have always taught him to take care of his fellow townsmen and old friends, so that... when I retire due to illness, many people will not be taken care of... Your Majesty, when Your Majesty started the army in Huaixi, many people from Huaixi followed Your Majesty. Some of these people were crude, some were greedy, and some were ignorant of the ways of the world... They were of mixed quality. However, they all became prominent because of their merits. Over the years, this old minister has been most worried about them..."

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression kept changing.

Hu Weiyong also kowtowed at this time: "Your Majesty, I am guilty of a thousand deaths. What Lord Li said is really to protect me. I am... a lowly official, and I have received Your Majesty's grace to be where I am today. But I am already the right prime minister, but I still have such selfish thoughts. I am guilty of a thousand deaths."

As he spoke, he kowtowed continuously.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes swept past Leng Feng, but he looked at Hu Weiyong with a strange look, and said word by word: "Then... Yiluansi... how do you explain? Colluding with Yiluansi, do you know... what is the crime?"

After hearing this, Hu Weiyong seemed to be frightened out of his wits: "Your Majesty...Your Majesty..."

…………

I recommend a book, written by Changfeng, titled: This Doctor is a Little Fierce.

(End of this chapter)