Punishment

Even if he wins in the end, the rebellion cannot be covered up.

How to block the long-term communication between the aristocratic family and the world?

Should everyone be killed?

That is unrealistic and impossible. If he wants to do this, it will inevitably trigger a big riot. Then some people with ulterior motives will be able to hold high the banner, and then he will be in big trouble.

When the time comes, his many years of planning will go to waste, and he won't get any benefits, and will be saddled with eternal infamy.

This is the result after doing it.

So what if you don't take action?

He knew very well what Emperor Hongwen's goal was this time, which was to take the palace into his own hands.

Duke Zhen Guo was unwilling to accept this. First of all, he had spent a lot of effort to control the palace today.

How could he be willing to be uprooted like this?

After all, this not only meant losing control of the palace, but also marked that Emperor Hongwen was completely out of his control. If the other party made any moves in the future, he would become very passive.

Duke Zhen Guo now has a headache and is very angry. How did the originally good situation turn into this situation?

"My lord, in my opinion, let's take a step back."

Hearing this, Duke Zhen Guo raised his head and looked at his steward, who was his confidant who had been following him for many years.

"You should know how much trouble it will bring to your father-in-law if you take a step back."

"Of course I know that, but the Duke made a mistake in one sentence."

"Um?"

"The trouble is not yours, but the Queen's. Since something like this has happened, you always have to give up some. The more reluctant you are to give up, the more you may end up giving up. It's the lesser of two evils."

"The imperial palace is important, but military power is your most powerful right to speak. As long as military power is in hand, Emperor Hongwen can't make any trouble. It's just a waste of time."

Duke Zhenguo was silent. Naturally, he also thought about this. The reason why he had not made a decision for so long was simply because he felt unwilling that the hard work of many years would not be cleared away like this.

But what the old housekeeper said is right, things have become like this, and you always have to give up something to calm down. If you continue to bite and don't want to let go, you will often lose more in the end.

Military power is a good thing, not only he likes it, but Emperor Hongwen also likes it, and of course those aristocratic families also like it.

This is the fundamental thing that he can guarantee in the future, and he must never give it up. Then he can only give up the queen and the palace.

That night, the imperial study room was brightly lit, and Emperor Hongwen, King Jin and others did not close their eyes.

Until the sky turned white, the two looked at each other and smiled.

Sure enough, the Duke of Zhen still did not choose to put all his money into action.

"This is a good thing, but I'm afraid your situation will not be too good in the future."

"It's never been better."

Emperor Hongwen smiled lightly.

Soon it will be time to go to court.

Because of what happened yesterday, today's morning was very lively.

Just as Emperor Hongwen had guessed, there were many people who came to court this morning, but they were all targeting the Queen and the Duke.

King Jin did not interfere, and Emperor Hongwen just quietly watched the impeachment of the ministers below.

Suddenly, the Duke of Zhen stood up.

"Your Majesty, I was deeply shocked and ashamed when I heard what the Queen did yesterday. The censors just now were right. The Queen's behavior is truly immoral and immoral."

As soon as he came out, Prince Ning thought he saw hope, but as he listened, he realized that something was wrong.

Just when he was about to stand up and say something, Duke Zhen Guo knelt down heavily.

"The old minister suggested that the queen should be abolished."

Boom!

As soon as Duke Zhen Guo said these words, it was no less than a thunderous explosion in the Jinluan Palace. Everyone looked at Duke Zhen Guo kneeling there in shock.

Those censors and officials were stupid.

They wanted to impeach the empress, but at most they wanted to have Emperor Hongwen punish her once or twice, and depose the empress. They had thought about it, but they knew very well that as long as the Duke of Zhen Guo was around, it was absolutely impossible to depose the empress.

They didn't even dare to mention it, for fear that they would be hated by the Duke of Zhen.

But I never expected that the Duke of Zhen would actually mention it himself.

Also shocked was Prince Ning, who was completely stunned.

The only ones who were not dumbfounded were King Jin and Emperor Hongwen, because there was no movement from Duke Zhen yesterday. In their opinion, Duke Zhen had already chosen to give up the queen.

However, I was still a little surprised by Zhen Guogong's decisiveness.

For a moment, the Jinluan Palace fell into a strange silence, and everyone's eyes were focused on Emperor Hongwen, wanting to see how he would make a decision.

"The Zhen Guo Gong's proposal is a little too much."

"Although the queen made mistakes and lost her virtue, she is my first wife after all. She has children and manages the harem for me. How can she be punished just for one mistake?"

"Your Majesty is wise."

Wen Songtao was the first to stand up. Although he didn't know Emperor Hongwen's true plan, he was also paying attention to what was going on in the capital yesterday.

The Duke of Zhen Guo did not take any action, but he made such a suggestion today. He knew exactly what it meant.

The deposed queen was not a good thing for Emperor Hongwen, and it directly aggravated the conflict between him and Duke Zhen.

Moreover, when His Majesty said such words at this time, he obviously did not think about deposing the Queen. As the number one royalist, he naturally had to stand up and support.

"It is true that the Queen made mistakes, but no one is a sage, and one should not be punished so harshly just because of a single mistake. It is absolutely inappropriate for me to do so."

Prime Minister Dong also stood up.

The prime ministers on the left and right spoke, and others also spoke one after another.

He is not a fool, the emperor has already said so, it is impossible to depose the queen.

Finally, Emperor Hongwen pretended to ask some questions, and finally decided on the punishment. The queen was temporarily imprisoned in Fengqi Palace to think about her mistakes, and the affairs of the harem were temporarily handled by Concubine Zhao.

After hearing such a decision, Prince Ning immediately asked for mercy, but was frightened back by the look from Duke Zhen.

"Uncle, why don't you let me plead for mercy in the court?"

After the dispersion of the dynasty, King Ning immediately went to Duke Zhen to express his dissatisfaction.

The Duke of Zhenguo just looked at him lightly.

"No one else said anything. If you go to plead for mercy, do you want someone to seize the opportunity and step on you again?"

"Don't forget that in those rumors yesterday, you and I were both one of the protagonists."

After saying that, Zhen Guogong strode away directly.

He has already seen clearly the future of Prince Ning, and he is afraid that he will never be able to take any further steps in his life.

Not only did His Majesty refuse to give in, but after this incident, if he ascends to power in the future, people all over the world will probably have something to say.

Prince Ning looked at Duke Zhen in silence. He could feel that his uncle seemed different today than before.

At this time, in the harem, Wang De personally brought His Majesty's imperial edict to Fengqi Palace.

After the reading was finished, Queen Wang was stunned, her face full of disbelief.

"Impossible, how dare he treat me like this, him."

"Empress, the content of this punishment is the result of discussions between Your Majesty and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, and the Duke of Zhen Guo also agrees to this."

"What!"

Queen Wang was shocked and lost her mind again.

Wang De smiled coldly in his heart and said nothing more, just asking her to hand over the Phoenix Seal.
Chapter completed!