The lobby of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
After Lu Zhong finished speaking, the other three people's brows wrinkled in unison.
When they arrived, it was Yu Shiyue who asked.
"What does the commander mean to investigate local officials?"
The officials in Beijing are almost all investigated, so those who are not in Beijing are naturally local officials.
Before Lu Zhong could answer, Chen Yi, the leader, shook his head and said.
"Although Wang Zhen has been domineering and possessing power over the years, he has never left the capital and has very little involvement with local officials. Even official business dealings are done through the Six Ministries. There are very few local officials who can be involved with Wang Zhen."
"Furthermore, the officials in the capital have investigated everything. The momentum is already loud enough. There are thousands of officials from all over the country. It is not appropriate to cause too much turmoil. I am afraid that the emperor does not intend this."
As soon as the old man opened his mouth, he directly denied this possibility.
In other words, even if Lu Zhong really meant this, Chen Yi would not agree.
It is true that Wang Zhen has abused power in recent years, but he did not want to usurp the throne and rebel, nor did he cultivate any local influence.
His influence is more in the central government, so if the local officials are investigated, they are simply implicated. That is a more serious matter than Wang Zhen's monopolization of power.
Glancing at Lu Zhong who was obviously feeling a little pity, Chen Yi snorted coldly and said in a deep voice.
"Now that we have reached this point, Commander Lu should stop showing off. I see the emperor's intention and have already decided to close the case. All that's missing is just an opportunity."
"Commander Lu brought us together today, but he was so ambiguous. Could it be that he wanted me to enter the palace in person to question the emperor?"
Chen Yike is different from ordinary court officials. Even though he is a scapegoat in front of the emperor, he is very powerful.
But in fact, the status of Zuodu Yushi in the court was second only to the Minister of Libu.
Others care about Lu Zhong, the commander of the Imperial Guard, but Chen Yi will not give him half face.
He didn't care about this matter before because the government is now stable and it won't have much impact on when the case will be concluded.
As the censor of Zuodu, he had more government affairs to deal with that urgently needed his attention, so he left it to Dali Temple to handle.
But now, since they have found him and come to his door, it is not appropriate to ignore them.
In fact, for Chen Yi, this is not a difficult problem.
After the army reported to the capital, the emperor gave the seven ministers a token to visit the palace at any time. I don't know why, but they have not taken it back until now.
This matter seemed difficult to Yu Shiyue, but for Chen Yi, it was just a matter of going to the palace.
This is much easier than dealing with this Jin Yiwei commander here.
"this……"
Lu Zhong stood up quickly, held his hands in front of him and smiled, saying.
"Master Zongxian, please don't get angry. This commander is just making guesses. Besides, before I finished speaking, several elders started trying to get rid of the local officials themselves. You can't blame me for this."
"snort."
Chen Yi snorted coldly and stared at Lu Zhong without saying a word.
Being in the center, he is qualified to have access to a considerable number of secret instruments, although they do not include Jin Yiwei's.
But at least, he knew far more than ordinary court officials.
Among them, Jin Yiwei has been infiltrating various mansions in the name of investigating crimes these days.
However, because the new king had just succeeded to the throne and needed to strengthen his control over the court, the senior officials in the court did not interfere too much.
But this tolerance is not unlimited.
At least, they will never let the Jinyiwei extend their power to every place.
Therefore, when Chen Yi said that he would go to the palace to question the emperor in person, he was not simply going to question the closing of the case.
Seeing this situation, Lu Zhong did not dare to neglect and said quickly.
"It's really the bosses who have misunderstood. This commander is talking about officials who are not in Beijing, but they are not local officials. After all, how can the local government have anything to do with Wang Zhen."
"What I'm talking about is the officials who were sent out of Beijing on business under Wang Zhen's orders but have not yet returned to Beijing."
At the end of his words, Lu Zhong's expression became serious, without any intention of joking.
Yu Shiyue and others thought about these words in their hearts, and cold sweat broke out on their heads.
During Wang Zhen's reign, officials who were ordered to go to Beijing for work and who have not yet returned to Beijing were dispatched.
As soon as these qualifiers came out, it became clear who Commander Lu was referring to.
Although Lu Zhong always said that what he said was all his own speculation.
But the officials present knew clearly.
In all likelihood, this Commander of the Imperial Guards came here under the instructions of the Emperor.
Officials below the third rank are not worthy of falling into the eyes of the emperor.
As for the officials of third rank and above who were sent to Beijing, the only ones who have not returned yet are...
Chen Yi also became serious and spoke.
"The high officials of the imperial court who are currently dispatched are: Wang Ji, the Minister of War of Jingyuan Bo, and Shi Pu, the Minister of the Ministry of Works. Both of them have been involved with Wang Zhen before. Commander Lu might as well say it bluntly. What he is talking about is Who?"
Although Wang Zhen's case has a wide range of implications, it is not particularly serious.
In the imperial court, officials of third rank and above were basically summoned for reprimand, and substantive punishments such as relegation and relegation were rare.
As for the real important officials of the imperial court, none of them were moved.
But obviously, Lu Zhong, or the emperor, felt that this matter was a bit too low-key.
For such a major case that shocked both the government and the public, there had to be someone with enough weight to suppress it.
In the previous episode, although Cao Jixiang and other eunuchs were dealt with, in the end, eunuchs were just eunuchs.
If you want to truly shock the courtiers, you must have someone who is comparable to the Qi Qing, and it is enough to be severely punished for this.
I'm afraid this is what the emperor calls "unfinished business."
Lu Zhong did not answer immediately, took a sip of tea and asked softly.
"Lord General Xian, since you said that these two elders are all involved with Wang Zhen, why can't they both be tried?"
Putting the tea cup in his hand on the table, Lu Zhong's expression was still very serious, without any intention of joking.
Yu Shiyue groaned in his heart. He never expected that he would reach this point.
These two are no small figures.
Not to mention Shi Pu, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, one of the serious Seven Ministers, his Minister of the Ministry of Industry is actually a professor. He was ordered to supervise the military affairs and go to Chuzhou to quell the rebellion.
As for Wang Ji, Jingyuan Bo's Minister of War, although his title of Minister of War was fictitious, he had accompanied the army on three expeditions to Luchuan, and his reputation and status in both the government and the public was no weaker than that of Qi Qing.
And more importantly, he is the only courtier in the Ming Dynasty who has been awarded a title for his military merits as a civil servant.
This is extremely important for today's civil servants.
Because Wang Ji was born as a scholar, but he was awarded a title for his military service, which meant that he could legitimately hold the official position of the Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army.
It is not that simple for either of these two people to move.
Yu Siqing really didn't expect that such an incident would happen just before the case was about to be closed.
He wanted to turn a big deal into a trivial matter, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that behind Lu Zhong, the commander of the Imperial Guard, was the emperor.
In other words, this time, maybe the emperor is taking the opportunity to adjust the situation of the court, or maybe he is taking the opportunity to prevent civil servants from eroding their relatives?
Yu Shiyue and Jiang Yuan looked at each other and felt a headache.
There is no way they can decide on such a big matter.
After thinking for a while, the two of them unanimously turned their attention to Chen Yi, who was silent.
Right now, only his old man can come up with this idea...
Chen Yi's gray eyebrows knitted together, but after a moment, he raised his head, shook his head gently at Lu Zhong, and said.
"The war is over, and the court should focus on stability. These two are both important officials of the court. To be recalled for trial at the same time would be too turbulent."
"What's more, although they are all involved with Wang Zhen, there are deep and shallow connections. Although we are doing justice, we should also put the overall interests of the court first."
"Therefore, what I want is to punish only the accomplice who has a close friendship with Wang Zhen among the two. As for the one who is only slightly implicated, once the cause is found out, he will be given an order to reprimand him."
"Commander Lu, do you think this is okay?"
