readx; The outer city of Jingshi, the overpass, two o'clock in the afternoon. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

In fact, the spring is cold and the sky is also gloomy, even if Zhu Youzhen took into account the temperature problem and deliberately set the public trial at noon, the temperature is still hovering around zero.

However, at this time, the vicinity of the overpass was already crowded, and tens of thousands of people had already crowded the surrounding streets and alleys. They kept rubbing their frozen hands and stomping their frozen feet on the ground, but their spirits were extremely excited, and they all looked forward to Zhengyangmen. The public trial of the five tigers and five biao was originally very happy; This time it was the emperor's personal trial, which is an unprecedented thing, who doesn't want to see this excitement?

The avenue leading to Zhengyangmen was guarded by Li Laiheng and thousands of Qin soldiers along the way. Originally, the common people were most afraid of the officers and soldiers, and they usually had to walk around when they saw the soldiers and horses of the Five Cities; But they were full of reverence for these Qin soldiers who wore Shaanxi accents and usually did not smile, and kept praising each other: "Tsk, you see how straight people stand and how stable their guns are!" It's such a cold day, and I don't move at all! ”

"It's coming, it's coming!"

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the crowd, and I saw that the middle gate of Zhengyang Gate was wide open, and dozens of fast horses were slowly coming towards the overpass on the bluestone avenue. The leader was dressed in bright yellow robes and a sword hanging from his waist, followed by dozens of elite warriors in heavy armor.

As the group got closer, the people saw more and more clearly. I saw that this person was only sixteen or seventeen years old, with a white face and red lips, and his eyes were like stars. Although he looks a little similar to the Wensheng Gongzi of this era, he sits upright on the horse and has a straight waist, and the arm that carries the reins is very powerful at a glance, and he looks a little like a soldier. Between the gestures, with a peaceful, calm but proud bearing of the world, people can't help but admire at first sight.

"This is today!" I don't know who it was, but the crowd shouted a heartfelt shout of praise.

Only then did the people react, and the black pressure fell to their knees, shouting "Long live my emperor" and "Long live the auspicious lord". The scene was a little chaotic for a while, and the Qin soldiers hurriedly stepped forward and raised their spears, blocking everyone out of the cordon.

The young man on that horse was none other than Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youzhen. Seeing this, he smiled slightly, and said loudly: "Fathers, the weather is cold, and the ground is too cold. Hurry up, don't freeze your body. ”

There is a saying that "small people are afraid of officials like tigers", these ordinary people are usually bullied by the soldiers and horses and the officials of the Shuntian Mansion, and they thought that His Majesty the Emperor, who was the supreme leader of the empire, would be even more unpredictable, and they would kill people when they stared. Now the young emperor is actually greeting everyone, which is a treatment that everyone never expected.

The people burst into tears of gratitude, but they bowed even more. Zhu Youzhen had to smile bitterly, and sped up a little to reach the overpass.

This white marble single-hole arch bridge is located between Zhengyangmen and the Temple of Heaven on the Longxu Ditch, which was originally specially designed for the emperor to hold a ceremony to worship the heavens, hence the name. There are fences on both sides of the bridge to prohibit the passage of the people; If people want to cross the river, they can only detour to the wooden bridge in the distance.

At this time, the throne had been set at the highest part of the arch of the bridge, and Zhu Youzhen got off the horse and ascended to the throne, and asked Su Maoxiang, the secretary of the criminal department, who was waiting on the side: "Have you brought the criminals?" ”

"Your Majesty, I have already brought it."

"Good!" Zhu Youzhen suddenly raised his voice an octave, "Bring up the prisoners Tian Ji, Wu Chunfu, Li Kuilong, Ni Wenhuan, Tian Ergeng, Xu Xianchun, Cui Yingyuan, Sun Yunhe, and Yang Huan!" ”

There was another commotion in the crowd, and some officials of the Criminal Department had already opened the prisoner cart and escorted out the nine loyal minions of Wei Zhongxian. Tian Ji and other "five tigers" usually serve as officials in the court, and the common people don't know much about them, but they are better; However, Xu Xianchun and other "five biaos" were all military attaches of Jinyiwei, who were in charge of arrest in the past, and they did too many immoral things, so the people were extremely angry, and they were scolded by the onlookers as soon as they appeared. If it weren't for the Qin soldiers to maintain order, I'm afraid these people would have been torn to pieces by the angry crowd.

These nine people knew that a great disaster was coming, and they were so frightened that their faces were like ashes; However, there was a hint of luck, because they knew that the people of the Three Law Divisions were unwilling to reopen the case, and the emperor was very young and perhaps did not know how to deal with criminal proceedings. As long as you deal with the words prepared in advance, you may be able to get through the tricks and pick up a life.

Zhu Youzhen glanced at the prisoner kneeling below, first asked the three law divisions to check their identities, and then asked: "As an official of the imperial court, you don't think about being loyal to the monarch and loving the people, and colluding with the traitor Wei Zhongxian to deceive the superiors and subordinates, bend the law for bribes, frame Zhongliang, and wantonly kill, can you be guilty now?" ”

The nine people trembled, and Xu Xianchun, who was the fattest and usually the most arrogant, peed his pants on the spot. However, Tian Ji was a secretary of the Criminal Department after all, and he was able to stabilize it a little, so he kowtowed and quibbled: "Your Majesty, the criminal ministers and others did not intend to be evil, but Wei Zhongxian ordered the ministers and others to impeach the courtiers in the name of the first emperor. The ministers are only based on hearsay, and whether the person who plays the performance is guilty or not will be judged after being tried. As for Wei Zhongxian's unauthorized approval of red, it is not up to the ministers and others to stop it, and I hope that Your Majesty will be a saint! ”

Tian Ergeng also hurriedly said: "Your Majesty Mingjian, Xu Xianchun and I are all Jinyiwei. The Jinyi Guard's edict was only ordered to be tortured, and among them, there were occasional cases of excessive punishment and inadvertent death, and the ministers were also guilty of negligence. However, it is also true that the person on trial took bribes, otherwise how could he recover the stolen money? Crimes such as perverting the law for bribes and framing loyalty, the ministers really dare not admit it! ”

Seeing that a few people avoided the serious, they refused to admit their guilt, and the surrounding people were in an uproar. Zhu Youzhen was not in a hurry, and flipped through the confessions carefully arranged by the Three Law Divisions and said: "As you and others confessed, it is a fact that Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Zhou Shunchang, Huang Zunsu and others took bribes of thousands or even tens of thousands of taels of silver?" ”

"Exactly!" Cui Yingyuan hurriedly kowtowed, "At that time, they had all confessed to the painting, and the ministers compared it for a few days, and each time they could recover hundreds of taels of stolen silver..."

"Wait!" Zhu Youzhen hurriedly interrupted, "Since you have the confessions of Yang Lian and others, Master Su, the file of the year should be sealed in the Criminal Department, right?" ”

Su Maoxiang's face changed suddenly, and he snorted: "The minister has just arrived at the Criminal Department, so I don't know..."

"Li Laiheng, hurry to the yamen of the Criminal Department and transfer all the relevant files!" Zhu Youzhen immediately ordered.

Li Laiheng took the order and left, and soon brought back more than 20 boxes of files, all with seals on them. Zhu You's prosecutor found a box of "Donglin Rebel Party Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Zhou Shunchang" and others, opened it, took out a volume of "Yang Lian" and unfolded it, and saw that the confession had Yang Lian's signature and drawing.

Tian Ergeng and the others breathed a sigh of relief, secretly thinking that there is a file here, this is called an iron case, and it is difficult for you to overturn the case even if you are the emperor.

Zhu Youzhen smiled and said, "Is this confession true?" It seems that I need to verify it myself. Please Mr. Yang! ”