The great ceremonies were prepared by the Ministry of Rites, so this impeachment was also carried out under the presiding officer of the Ministry of Rites.

First of all, Lu Yunsun, a scholar in Chuzhou, took the lead in attacking, and after he read a "confession" against Chen Dong, some other joint scholars stood up to accuse Chen Dong of not doing it. At this time, from time to time, some people secretly observed the movements of the Prime Minister, but found that he didn't care at all, and did not look annoyed and angry at all, but seemed calm and leisurely. Chen Dong leaned back in his chair, his half-closed eyes did not look at Xuezheng who was talking, but looked at the towering dome of the main hall. The main hall is specially built by the Ministry of Rites for the study and political deliberations, which can accommodate 800 people to discuss matters, after the completion of the main hall, Chen Dong is busy with state affairs, and has not looked at it carefully.

The main hall is as high as more than 20 zhang from the pedestal to the roof, and the inner wall is the heavenly dome formed by the stacking of countless bucket arches. The width of the dougong gradually narrows, and finally the top of the dome is closed, and on the top of the three heavy eaves volleys and the dome, layers of sky light shine through the gaps between the heavy eaves, so that the light in the hall appears bright and soft. Under the illumination of the tranquil light, every part of the hall is beautiful, magnificent but not oppressive, delicate but not extravagant, delicate but not cumbersome. There are more than 500 scholars and officials in the hall, and they do not feel gloomy or depressed, which shows the ingenuity of the architecture of this hall. "In this hall, Deng Shouyi has put a lot of thought into it." Chen Dong secretly thought, "It's a pity that I only noticed this place today." He only showed admiration in his eyes, and in the eyes of others, it was a silent contempt for the impeacher.

Although the speeches of Lu Yunsun and others were impassioned, apart from the repeated remarks against Chen Dong, there was no arrangement of the meeting out of nothing. According to the Great Rites Law, after the impeaching party has gone through the first round of formalities, it is the turn of the impeached party to defend itself, and then the impeacher will speak again according to the defender's arguments, and if so, repeat it three times. In the meantime, if there is a discrepancy between the facts identified by both parties, either party may request the election of three scholars with a fair position, and after the approval of both parties, these three scholars will jointly clarify the facts of the discrepancy between the two parties, and then the academic administration will proceed with the impeachment procedure.

When Lu Yunsun and the others ended, Deng Su asked in a deep voice: "Prime Minister, do you have anything to say to Lu Xuezheng and them?" ”

"Chen?" Chen Dong raised his head and looked around at the gazes of many scholars.

He shook his head and said in a deep voice: "The fault of a gentleman is like the eclipse of the sun and the moon, and everyone can see it." Chen was recommended by everyone, and in the past few years, what he has done and said, everyone is not blind, and he is naturally clear. What else did Chen say? His eyes were like lightning, swept over the faces of the scholars, and turned back to Deng Sudao, "The Prime Minister still has a lot of state affairs to deal with, so I don't want to waste time and take advantage of my tongue, so let the scholars show their attitude." As soon as these words came out, the entire council hall was silent, and only the sound of people gasping for air was heard. This free and easy, like a poem in seven steps, is as calm as a written text, and even Lu Yunsun's eyes flashed a trace of respect.

"Then," Deng Su's expression was complicated, he nodded, and said in a deep voice to everyone, "In that case, let's take the roll call now!" ”

The scribe nodded, opened a book of resolutions containing more than 240 scholars, mentioned that the wolf had dipped ink in the inkstone, and nodded slightly to the book of the Ministry of Rites, signaling that he was ready. Deng Su also had a roster in front of him, he sighed lightly, turned the first page, and said in a deep voice: "Lu Yunsun and other fifty-one scholars and politicians jointly impeached Prime Minister Chen Dong, and now the roll call will be decided. Do you have any objections? He paused slightly, and no one stood up to object, so he called out loudly: "Hou Fangxiong of Ezhou." ”

"I'm against it!" Hou Fangxiong's voice was extremely loud, and the buzz echoed in the hall, and many people's faces changed.

Hou Fangxiong is a native of Ezhou and a veteran of the Society. At that time, all the Taixue students gathered in Panlou to advocate the establishment of the Society, and there was one of them. The exposé case brought down Tong Guan, and there was one of them. Chen Dong rushed to Ezhou for thousands of miles and advocated "respecting the Son of Heaven and not obeying chaotic orders", and there was still one of them. Hou Fangxiong encouraged the Ezhou scholars to respond to the uprising, and was naturally elected as the Ezhou scholar and politician. The roster of academic administration of the Ministry of Rites is based on the order in which the academic administration is elected by each state. At the beginning of Ezhou's initiative, most of the backbone of the council and society took the lead in responding in the state capital, so these scholars and politicians were ranked high on the roster of academic politics of the Ministry of Rites. Hou Fangxiong of Ezhou took the roll call, and immediately overpowered the other party in terms of momentum. The company took advantage of this, and some people were colorful, while others were indignant, but they couldn't say anything wrong.

Chen Dong nodded slightly to Hou Fangxiong, but Lu Yunsun's face was indifferent, as if he didn't care.

Deng Su was expressionless and continued to read: "Guangzhou Liu Gongliang! ”

"I'm against it!" Liu Gongliang still didn't give up, and the southern barbarian had a straight temper and glared at Lu Yunsun and the others fiercely.

Liu Gongliang has a distinct Cantonese accent, and he was Chen Dong's colleague when he was in charge of Guangzhou. After Chen went northeast, Wu Zilong and he prepared to respond in Guangzhou, and then Wu Zilong went north to help Chen Dong control the overall situation, and Liu Gongliang was elected as a student in Guangzhou, and encouraged the states and counties of Guangnan Road to respond to Ezhou's recommendation of a school and government. Although he does not have Wu Zilong's fame, his influence in Quang Nam Zhuzhou County is far greater than Wu Zilong's. After Chen and Wu broke up, Liu Gongliang also revised a book to persuade peace, but Wu Zilong politely refused and gave up.

"Tanzhou Xu Zizhuang."

All eyes looked at Tanzhou Xuezheng, and after a moment of silence, Xu Zizhuang said with a gloomy face: "Mean." ”

There were several exclamations and sighs in the hall, Hou Fangxiong, Liu Gongliang and others had complicated faces, and a trace of regret flashed in Chen Dong's eyes. Tanzhou was also one of the first states to expel local officials and raise corresponding uprisings. Xu Zizhuang's attitude is unexpected and reasonable. At the beginning, among the 96 people in Pan Lou, there was Xu Zizhuang. However, Xu Zizhuang and Wu Zilong were morally friendly. After Wu Chen made a bad fight, Xu Zizhuang stood on Wu Zilong's side. Zhao Xingde opened fire on Zhuque Street, and the students killed were Xu Zizhuang's protégés in Yuelu Academy. From then on, Xu Zizhuang and Chen Dong broke off their righteousness. Of course, he didn't want to praise the stinky feet of the royalist Lu Yunsun, but he was also unwilling to let Chen Dong go, so after deliberation, he chose the "mean".

Deng Su's face was as pale as if there was no wave, and he slowly said: "Huangzhou Guo Yuan." ”

"I'm against it!" Guo Yuan nodded to Hou Fangxiong.

On Lu Yunsun's side, some Xuezheng couldn't hide his disappointment, and someone gritted his teeth and said, "Don't you say that you are not a party?" "What's the panic?" Someone whispered, "It's good to have a little concentration." The best is yet to come. "There are more than 20 or 40 people in the academic administration, and they are decided one by one, and some people have to hesitate and deliberate, which is very time-consuming. For the two sides of the offense and defense, this big battle has just begun.

............

Xuezheng impeached the prime minister, and the eyes of the entire Ezhou and even the entire Great Song Dynasty were gathered in the Xuezheng Hall.

Since "respecting the Son of Heaven and not obeying orders", there has been no new thing that can be compared with this. Therefore, whether or not they care about partisanship, the very fact that this incident has aroused infinite interest in people. The scholars and politicians held a referendum in the main hall, and outside the main hall, in almost all the teahouses and restaurants in Ezhou City, rich gentry and merchants, peddlers and pawns, people were talking about this matter. Or they have their own opinions, they argue endlessly, or they are just curious to guess the final outcome of the matter.

There was a lot of noise everywhere, and an Accord on the third floor of Dengyun Building in the south of the city was exceptionally quiet. Ten Hao slaves stood in a row at the door with their chests and bellies, staring at the door with their eyes, and a murderous and evil aura came to their faces, frightening the guests next to them who did not dare to stay on this floor. In the private room, the two sat opposite each other, and a jade pendant was placed flat on the table between the two.

"This is the token." Cao Gu gently pushed the jade pendant forward and said in a low voice: "Take it, put it away first." ”

"Yes." The man hesitated slightly, "Is this really the point?" ”

"What, scared?" Cao Gu sneered, a chill flashing in his eyes.

"The last general will not dare." Jiang Nian, the head of the city guard, said in a low voice and took the jade pendant into his arms.

When Fang La was in turmoil, the imperial court ordered Wang Yan to select the elites of various departments to form a southeast battalion to pacify Fang La, and Cao Jieshuai laid Jiang Nian's cold son. Jiang Nian has experienced Wang Yan, Liu Yanqing, Zhao Xingde, and Wang Gui in the southeast camp, but he has always been a member of the Cao family. The performance can only be called decent, ten years of accumulated merit to rise to the capital, after the Ezhou Lisheng Rebellion, the imperial court divided the southeast camp into nine, 40,000 horses stationed outside the city, respectively by Yue Yun, Cao Gu, Liu Guangguo and other eight generals and disciples commanded. Twenty battalions of foot soldiers formed a city guard, which was stationed at the gates of Ezhou and maintained order. The Imperial Palace, the Prime Minister's Mansion, the Six Ministries, the State School and other key places are guarded by the direct division of troops in front of the Imperial Army. It was also at that time that Jiang Nian got a military position as the head of the city guard battalion.

"Don't worry. We won't go that way unless we have to. ”

Cao Gu suppressed the disgust in his heart and comforted this Cao family's meticulous work. Most of the officers above the head of the city guard army were from the army, and they were also attached to the scholars, so it was extremely difficult to infiltrate and buy. If it weren't for that, how could Cao Gu talk to a dog with a pleasant face. In his eyes, Jiang Nian was just a useful dog. And the dog has been out there for too long, I don't know if it's loyal. However, under the prohibition of the situation, Cao Di made up his mind to gamble on this game, and Cao Gu did not dare to disobey his father's orders, so he could only use this secret son who was likely to bring him into danger.

In the north of Ezhou City, in the camp of the Shenwei army led by Cao Gu, five hundred henchmen and elite cavalry have already been prepared, in case the situation evolves into the worst. Five hundred cavalry protected Cao Gu and other big men and went straight to Xiangyang in the starry night. If the situation really reached that point, the Cao family and the imperial court would inevitably tear their faces, and the Xiangyang army saw that they were going down the river and spread the word to crusade against Chen Dong, a rebellious rebellious minister and thief.