With Huaien's intervention, the chaos in the Wenhua Palace finally came to an end. Most of the courtiers were sent back to the Yamen, but the remaining relevant and important ministers were summoned to the Wuying Palace.
However, what is strange is that a group of internal servants led these ministers outside Wuying Hall, but did not let them enter the main hall, but let them go to the side hall.
Wynn stood in front of everyone, as if nothing happened, and said.
"My lords, Your Majesty said that you have worked hard in the morning and have not had breakfast yet, so I ordered the imperial kitchen to prepare meals and asked you to rest and eat in the side hall first, and then go to the audience in half an hour."
After that, Wynn waved his hand, and the waiter next to him was busy setting up stools and guiding everyone to sit down. Wynn bowed his hands to everyone and left Shi Shiran.
This move made everyone present look at each other in shock. Indeed, they were all a little hungry just after morning.
But the problem is, at this juncture, who is still in the mood to eat?
The emperor gathered these people together, but he asked them to have breakfast first... What was the emperor planning in his heart?
Everyone had doubts in their hearts, but with the instructions, they had no choice but to suppress their emotions and sit down.
Soon, a chamberlain delivered the royal meal, which was naturally delicious and delicious. However, everyone was worried at this moment, so they were a little bit dissatisfied with the food.
On the contrary, because of what had just happened, everyone present was silent at this moment and only focused on the meal in front of them. The silence in the palace was a bit scary, but it seemed a bit weird.
After about tea time, everyone had almost eaten some food, put down their chopsticks in unison, and looked at each other. Finally, the newly appointed chief assistant, Zhang Min, took the lead to break the silence.
He cast his gaze on He Wenyuan, who kept his head lowered, and said.
"Shilang He, His Majesty called us here because it must be a matter at the Wenhua Palace. This matter happened because of you. In any case, you should give an explanation to the superiors and subordinates in the court."
From the bottom of his heart, Zhang Ge has always been unwilling to get involved in this kind of thing, but now that he is in the position of chief minister, the responsibility of the cabinet to appease the government naturally falls primarily on him. .
What's more, Zhang Min usually just doesn't show off, but this doesn't mean that he doesn't have enough political vision. Although, in the eyes of the outside world, Zhang Min was able to get the position of chief assistant only because of good luck.
However, if you look carefully, you will find that Mr. Zhang Ge is not as simple as he seems on the surface.
He did not have a great reputation in the court, nor did he have extremely good political achievements. If he had not led the restructuring of craftsmen households when the emperor ascended the throne, he would not even have the qualifications to enter the cabinet.
In this situation, if it were anyone else, I am afraid that he would not be able to stay in the cabinet for long before he would be beaten down. However, Zhang Min has been able to stay in the cabinet stably. This skill is not just about being able to deal with the world. Wuzheng can do it with just a few words.
And probably no one knows this better than Yu Shiyue.
Seeing Zhang Min speak, everyone looked at He Wenyuan, except Yu Shiyue, who looked at Zhang Min.
During this period of time, the situation in the cabinet has changed drastically. Although Yu Shiyue's position is still stable, he has to re-examine the situation in the DPRK.
Among them, the most important thing is that everyone, including him, has been ignoring it before, the newly promoted chief assistant.
However, the more he took stock, the more he felt that this person was not simple.
You must know that Zhang Min has been on good terms with Yu Shiyue since he entered the cabinet. They often have the same attitude on many important government affairs. However, no one thinks that he is Yu Shiyue's person. Even Yu Shiyue himself has never been like this. Thought so.
This sounds awkward to say, but it is exactly the case.
Not everyone can grasp this subtle distance, but for Zhang Min, this is just the beginning.
There is no doubt that Zhang Min's success in becoming the first assistant this time was due to both luck and strength. However, it is also important to understand that without Wang Ao's help, Zhang Min might not have been able to do so smoothly. can be successful.
It is true that this change in the situation between North Korea and China is a win-win opportunity for Wang Ao and Zhang Min, but cooperation requires a foundation of trust.
Just like when Jiang Yuan was here before, he came to Yu Shiyue to express his goodwill, and Yu Shiyue did not dare to accept it easily. He was not sure what the other party's intentions were, and secondly, he also needed to take into account all aspects of consideration.
Consistency of interests is the prerequisite for cooperation, but without a sufficient foundation of trust, it is difficult to achieve cooperation. Yu Shiyue understands this very well.
But this is precisely the problem. You must know that from the outside world, Zhang Min has always been on the same side as Yu Shiyue in the cabinet. Now, Yu Shiyue suddenly discovered that he had long been in private contact with Wang Ao, and Yu Shiyue himself, But he didn't notice it at all. How could this keep him from being frightened?
Of course, as long as something is done, there will inevitably be traces. Yu Shiyue carefully recalled Zhang Min's series of actions after joining the cabinet, and soon discovered the clues.
Imperial Examination Fraud Case!
In this major case that shocked the world, Jiang Yuan was the main conspirator and Xiao Tan was the main culprit. There is no doubt about this, but many people have actually ignored it. In addition to them, Zhu Jian and Zhang Min were also involved.
Simply put, without the cooperation of Zhu Jian and Zhang Min, Jiang Yuan would not have been able to use the power of the cabinet to negotiate terms with Xiao Tan, and eventually joined forces to commit fraud, leading to this shocking case.
Later, several of them were punished. Xiao Tan attempted suicide and was dismissed from office. Jiang Yuan almost shouldered all the blame and attracted all the attention.
As a result, even Yu Shiyue didn't think carefully about why Zhang Min got involved here.
Now that I have come back to think about this matter, I realize that it is not simple.
The first and most important question is that Zhang Min has always been low-key and cautious. How could he take such a big risk and do such a thing?
Or to put it another way, what are the benefits of doing this?
If you think about it this way, the answer is almost ready to come out...
Wang Ao!
Although Yu Shiyue didn't pay that much attention to Zhang Min, he was always aware of Wang Ao's movements.
The case of fraud in the palace examination was investigated to the end and ended at Jiang Yuan. However, judging from Wang Ao's various actions, this case was inseparable from him.
Even if he didn't instigate it from behind, he should at least have tacitly allowed Jiang Yuan to do it. Otherwise, it would be difficult for Jiang Yuan to guarantee that he would be able to defend the Hanlin Academy after killing Xiao Tan.
In this way, Zhang Min's behavior in this case can be explained.
The imperial examination fraud case had no direct benefits for Zhang Min, but it allowed him to make friends with Wang Ao.
To this day, this case has long been settled, so Yu Shiyue has no way of guessing whether Wang Ao approached Zhang Min first, or whether Zhang Min took the initiative to approach Wang Ao. But in terms of the result, At least since that time, the two have had a friendship.
I'm afraid it was this friendship that allowed him to seize the opportunity during this change in the political situation...
An inexplicable meaning flashed in Yu Shiyue's eyes. He had a vague hunch that this Mr. Zhang Ge, no, he should be called Zhang Shoufu now, would be even more difficult to deal with than Wang Ao.
There was a voice in the hall again, which brought Yu Shiyue back to his senses. He Wenyuan, who had been bowing his head in silence, finally raised his head after hearing Zhang Min's question and said.
"Master Chief Assistant, this matter did not arise because of me. The Eastern Palace Prince is concerned with the etiquette and laws of the country. I know that now is not the time to discuss this matter in the court, so I just reported to Your Majesty secretly to express my opinion. However, , but I don’t want some Xiaoxiao disciples to deliberately spread the news, causing turmoil in the court and making the officials uneasy. This is not the official’s intention, but it is actually the Xiaoxiao disciples of this generation who want to cause chaos in the court!”
When things have developed to this point, He Wenyuan is no longer afraid of offending others.
As the saying goes, put yourself to death and live later. In the current situation, if you don't go crazy, you will die. If you go crazy, you may still have a chance of survival, so naturally, he has no taboos.
As he spoke, he stared at Zhu Yi opposite him and Xu Youzhen next to him. His meaning was self-evident...
Hearing this, Zhu Yi's face also darkened, but before he could speak, He Wenyuan continued.
"Just now, Duke Cheng asked me to report in front of the palace to investigate the case thoroughly. I feel that what he said is true."
"The lower official is a third-ranking official in the imperial court. He has a seal from His Majesty, and the memorial is sent directly to the emperor and to heaven. If His Majesty had not sent the memorial to the cabinet and the General Affairs Department, no one should know its contents."
"However, now that the contents of the secret memorial have been leaked for no reason, it can be seen that there are people in the court who have already regarded the law as nothing and pried into the secret memorial without authorization. Such an act of contempt for the imperial authority and such a disregard for the secret memorial is in vain."
"Therefore, I think it should be thoroughly investigated!"
After these words, the big hats were slapped on one after another, for fear that they were not enough to scare people.
However, after the words fell, the faces of all the ministers present showed a bit of contemplation.
He Wenyuan's words seemed to be a random attack, but they were also a way to solve the current situation.
Now that both the government and the public are focused on this matter, the best way, in addition to solving this problem head-on, is to divert everyone's attention to other things.
For example... how was the content of the secret memorial leaked?
In fact, the secret report system had precedents as early as the Taizong Dynasty, or even the Taizu Dynasty, but at that time, it was a privilege only available to individual ministers.
And now that His Majesty has ascended the throne, he has institutionalized it. Because of this, everyone is very aware of the problems involved.
Since it is a secret memorial, then what stands out is a secret word. It is like a secret memorial from an ordinary science and technology official. Perhaps the corresponding responsible minister in the cabinet can predict it in advance.
However, as long as a third-rank or higher imperial official like He Wenyuan is stamped with an imperial seal, no one except the emperor is allowed to visit.
This also means that, in theory, the content of the secret memorial is known only to the person who submitted it and the emperor himself. If this is the case, then it is normal for some unspeakable words to be said in it.
In the officialdom, it's not shabby to please the emperor. He Shilang is definitely not the only one who does this.
But the problem is that these contents can only be said in private. Once they are made public, it will undoubtedly be a huge political crisis for the people who submitted the report.
So in essence, He Wenyuan's words are deflecting conflicts. He is reminding the ministers present that if the secrets of his memorial today can be leaked, it means that tomorrow all of them will also have the secrets of the memorial. Possible leaks.
If they don't uncover the person behind the news, then the next person to face this situation may be one of them.
I have to say that this is a clever move to divert trouble to the east.
There is a system of secret memorials, and the ministers in the court, more or less, will definitely be acquainted with the memorials and do not want to be made public. Therefore, the leakage of the secret memorials is not just a matter of He Wenyuan. From this point of view, it is not It's impossible to divert the attention of everyone in the court, but...
"A thorough investigation? What a thorough investigation!"
"Shilang He is very skillful in using this trick to confuse the public. However, the whole court is talking about this. I'm afraid you won't be allowed to escape the blame like this, right?"
Sure enough, after He Wenyuan finished speaking, Xu Youzhen looked over immediately and said coldly.
The ministers present looked at each other and suddenly understood.
Just like He Wenyuan said himself, although this incident happened because of him, he was not the one who provoked it in the court.
Zhu Yi and others demanded a thorough investigation in the court, with the purpose of confirming the existence of this secret report, turning the rumors into substantive evidence, and then mobilizing the power of court public opinion to attack He Wenyuan.
But now, He Wenyuan himself has admitted that he has indeed read this memorial, so for Zhu Yi and others, there is no need to check again.
For them, the focus now is actually on how to stabilize the status of the East Palace by attacking He Wenyuan.
From this point of view, it is actually the people from the East Palace who want to make things worse now.
And this is also the reason why many ministers have not said much on this matter so far.
In fact, as long as you observe carefully, you will find that whether it was in the Wenhua Palace just now or in the Wuying Palace now, the people who spoke were all pawns, truly important ministers, even Yu Shiyue, who was the official of the Prince's Palace. He did not express any attitude towards this matter.
Of course, Duke Cheng Guo came forward, but after all, he was young. Although he had the title, his prestige and strength in the court were still not enough for the current palace.
Therefore, the current situation can actually be regarded as a continuation of the dispute at the Wenhua Palace just now. Because of this, the situations between the two sides are actually quite different.
Looking at the furious Xu Youzhen, He Wenyuan was very calm and said.
"Xu Xueshi, you are one of the few people who have been involved in the court's public discussion, and you have been trying to shirk the blame. How the court's public discussion goes, and whether I am guilty or not, you, a bachelor of Youchunfang, have nothing to do with it!"
