Night, Qianqing Palace.
Zhu Qiyu was sitting behind the case, and underneath him was Lu Zhong, the commander of the Jinyi Guards in a flying fish robe.
At this moment, Lu Zhong held a memorial in his hand and respectfully presented it to the emperor, saying.
"Your Majesty, I was ordered to investigate the case of King Guangtong and King Yangzong colluding with Marquis Ningyang and others. The investigation has now been completed. This is a confession. Your Majesty, please read it."
Zhu Qiyu took the memorial, glanced at it briefly, and closed it.
The Ming Dynasty treated clans favorably. In addition to not being pardoned for treason, clans with the rank of county king or above, even if they committed no matter how serious crimes they committed, would at most be deposed as common people and imprisoned under the high wall of Fengyang.
The two kings of Guangtong were already imprisoned anyway. For them, it didn't matter even if they were charged with one more crime.
They were not fools after all. Although Zhu Qiyu deposed their kingship, he did not remove their feudal state. If they admitted it honestly, at least his heirs could still seize the title.
Therefore, Jin Yiwei conducted the interrogation very quickly this time and obtained their confessions without much effort.
As for the content, since they had a private acquaintance with Marquis Ningyang, it was the truth, so there was no need to frame anything up, they could just confess truthfully.
Nodding, Zhu Qiyu put down the memorial and said.
"Things went well. How are Ningyang Hou and others doing in prison these days?"
Seeing the emperor's satisfied expression, Lu Zhong's anxious heart was relieved.
Since Jin Ying was escorted by Jin Yiwei last time and was almost assassinated on the way, he clearly felt that the emperor relied more on Dongchang.
This made Commander Lu feel quite uneasy. After returning, he severely dealt with the troops of Jin Yiwei.
This time I finally got a job, so I was more attentive and replied quickly: "As per your instructions, I will take good care of him and eat well."
"Ningyang Marquis and Xue Xuan are relatively peaceful, but Jiao Jing and Cheng'an Marquis are in a state of panic every day. They bribe the jailer to send news outside."
"However, the people I arranged are all close men, so they seem to have bribed the jailer, but in fact they were all sent to me, and nothing was leaked to the outside world."
Hearing this, Zhu Qiyu raised his eyebrows and asked.
"What are you stopping for?"
Lu Zhong blinked and froze on the spot, not knowing what to say.
Zhu Qiyu shook his head and said.
"Just ask them to spread whatever news they want to. This case is real. All they can do is ask for help. I would like to see how many of the people behind them can be brought out."
Lu Zhong had a hint of embarrassment on his face and said quickly.
"It's because I didn't think well. Your Majesty, please forgive me. Don't worry, I will make arrangements immediately after I return."
Zhu Qiyu didn't pay much attention and continued.
"Send this testimony to the Ministry of Punishment tomorrow. You don't have to worry about the rest. Just cooperate with the Ministry of Punishment. Jin Lian is also a smart man. He knows what to do."
After all, Zhu Qiyu was confident in this case. It was not that he wanted to frame Ningyang Hou and the others, but that they had fallen into it themselves, so they had no choice but to admit defeat.
Now that the whole government and the public are staring at this case, Jin Lian, the presiding judge, will not dare to have any evil intentions.
Lu Zhong nodded in agreement, and Zhu Qiyu asked again.
"Besides these, what else happened in Beijing in recent days?"
Since the last incident with Jin Ying, Lu Zhongpo had put a lot of effort into Jin Yiwei, and Zhu Qiyu knew this.
In addition to investigating and interrogating cases, spying on intelligence is also an important task for Jin Yiwei. The main business was almost done, so Zhu Qiyu asked casual questions.
After hearing this, Lu Zhong's face turned red for some unknown reason, and after a moment, Fang replied.
"Going back to the emperor, after the news about the morning court two days ago was spread, many mansions were talking privately, saying that the news about Miao Di was brought in early by Jin Yiwei. Because of this, you had a conflict with Yu Shangshu and insisted on The commander-in-chief needs to be replaced."
"oh?"
Zhu Qiyu blinked, feeling quite interesting, and looked at Lu Zhong with interest.
The latter's face became more and more embarrassed and he said.
"Your Majesty, this news was not released by me. It has been there for a long time. During the previous battle at Fanwala, the government and the public were spreading the news that the Jin Yiwei had spies lurking at the border and kept passing news back."
"Now that the incident in Miaodi has come out, the rumors are getting more and more evil. There are also rumors among the common people that the Jin Yiwei has secret guards with manpower all over the world. Even the slightest disturbance cannot escape the eyes of the Jin Yiwei. What do you think..."
Isn't this nonsense...
Lu Zhong's own family knew about his family affairs. The heyday of Jinyiwei was during the Hongwu period. However, in the last years of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu felt that Jinyiwei was powerful, so he killed Jinyiwei ruthlessly and almost destroyed Jinyiwei.
During the Yongle period, although Taizong and his elders reused Jin Yiwei, they trusted Dongchang more.
It was similar in the Renxuan period. In the Zhengtong period, Wang Zhen came out of the blue and suppressed the Jin Yiwei.
To talk about the development of Jinyiwei in recent years, that is, when Taizong and Xuanzong visited the border several times, Jinyiwei did leave some manpower at the border to spy on intelligence.
But the rumors in the capital are not so evil. Overall, Jin Yiwei's focus is still on the capital.
However, after finishing speaking, Lu Zhong found that the emperor's face became serious and he looked at him thoughtfully. After a while, the emperor spoke.
"Lu Zhong, do you know what is the difference between Jinyiwei and Dongchang?"
this……
Lu Zhong was speechless for a moment and did not answer.
Since Taizong established Dongchang, Jinyiwei and Dongchang have indeed had many overlapping functions, especially in terms of detective information. In many cases, Dongchang is stronger than Jinyiwei.
There is nothing that can be done about it. Jinyiwei is a court government office after all, and most of the people in it come from military households. Only in this way can we ensure that our wealth is clean.
Dongchang, on the other hand, is all-encompassing, and is obviously better at gathering information. Moreover, Dongchang is run by eunuchs, so it is more convenient to report information and so on.
It can be said that after the establishment of Dongchang, Jinyiwei's functions were actually severely squeezed. If there is anything that Jinyiwei can do that Dongchang cannot do.
That is, Jinyiwei has Beizhen Fusi and prisons, and can arrest people and try cases.
However, the interrogation power of Jinyiwei overlaps with that of the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple.
Nowadays, the civil servants in the court are powerful. In order to avoid criticism from the outside world, the emperor rarely leaves major and important cases to the Jin Yiwei for trial.
So in fact, Jin Yiwei's current status is still quite embarrassing.
Seeing Lu Zhong frozen in place, Zhu Qiyu shook his head and said without blaming him.
"Rumors are certainly rumors, but haven't you ever thought about turning them into truth?"
Where did this rumor come from? Zhu Qiyu was generally a little unsure.
The roots lie in the Battle of Wala. At that time, Zhu Qiyu led the ministers of the DPRK and China to formulate a border defense strategy.
But at that time, because Zhu Qiyu was foresighted, there were many sources of information that he could not explain, so he simply covered them up.
At that time, the incident involving Shi Pu happened, and Jin Yiwei regained his presence in the court.
As a result, everyone in the government and the public speculated that it was the Jin Yiwei who was secretly spying on the border information for the emperor. After all, the emperor lived deep in the palace. If there was any power that could control the border situation in advance, it could only be the Jin Yiwei.
It’s impossible, it’s really just the emperor’s guess.
But this is not an urgent matter. What is important is that it is not necessarily impossible for Jin Yiwei to do these things.
You must know that the power of Jinyiwei should not be limited to the capital in the first place.
As for the intelligence power in the capital, Dongchang is enough.
Jinyiwei is rooted in military households and is fully capable of performing in a wider world.
If Zhu Qiyu remembers correctly, towards the late Ming Dynasty, the Jinyiwei's power became more focused on local and border areas.
During the Wanli period, Jinyiwei's manpower could be found in various places such as Mongolia, Liaodong, Japan, and Korea.
In several foreign wars in the late Ming Dynasty, the power of Jin Yiwei cannot be underestimated.
Lu Zhong also had a vague realization. To be honest, he was really troubled these days.
Shu Liang is a very capable person. Ever since he took over the leadership of Dongchang, he has done everything very properly, almost stealing Jin Yiwei's limelight.
But now, from the emperor's words, he seemed to see another path for Jin Yiwei.
In the capital, Dongchang has the advantage, so why does Jinyiwei need to compete with Dongchang in this aspect.
The emperor was right. The Jinyi Guards are rooted in the military households of the guards. In many places, among the thousands of households, there are Jinyi Guards who directly take orders.
Especially near the border, when Taizong went to the north several times, the Jinyiwei all had retinues, leaving a lot of manpower at the border.
If all these people are utilized, the role Jinyiwei can play is definitely not comparable to that of Dongchang.
After thinking about this, Lu Zhong raised his head and looked at the emperor, but happened to see the emperor looking at him, and said with a meaningful tone.
"Lu Zhong, I have high hopes for the Jinyiwei. The borders of the Ming Dynasty are not peaceful. Mongolia, Liaodong, and Southwest are all places where the Jinyiwei can show their talents. Don't let me down."
Sure enough, Lu Zhong suppressed the excitement in his heart and immediately fell to the ground and said.
"Your Majesty, don't worry. I will live up to your Majesty's high expectations and do my best to serve the Ming Dynasty."
