Zheng Zhichang has reached a height he should not have reached.
A fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites suddenly became a second-rank censor of Youdu, and with the support of the Han Dynasty Party, he massacred everyone. The Qi King's Party and the Princeling Party, who seemed to have controlled the entire court before, suddenly fell silent, and were beaten by the Han King's Party and fled.
Only now did the King of Han understand the truth: it was not the King of Han who became stronger, but King Qi and the Crown Prince who became weak.
If the King of Han could have figured out the intentions of King Qi and the Crown Prince in advance, he should have stopped after getting a taste of the advantage, instead of continuing to expand his power unscrupulously and suppress his political opponents.
By acting like this, the King of Han had caused a serious imbalance in the court. So the emperor took action, and with a single decree, Zheng Zhichang, now the core figure of the Hanwang Party, was deposed.
Zheng Zhichang was dropped into the Ministry of Punishment. There is no doubt that Zheng Zhichang was like a little sheep that got into the wolf den of the Ministry of Punishment where the princelings were densely packed. It was a luxury to keep a whole body.
From the beginning, King Qi and the prince had a tacit understanding to set a trap for King Han!
While eating the cheese laid out by his two mortal enemies, King Han got into the trap. When he reacted, the rope was already around his neck!
…
Party strife is like a life-and-death battle between swordsmen. An inadvertent flaw can lead to a devastating defeat after being caught by the opponent. In an uproar, the whole game is lost. There is no dull knife to cut flesh, just a sharp knife to cut through the mess.
The Qi Prince Party and the Princeling Party, which had been in decline before, suddenly rose up and suppressed the Han Prince Party. Those who followed the wind also knew that the defeat of the King of Han was certain, so they turned to King Qi and the prince one after another, adding insult to injury to the King of Han.
The emperor issued an order to re-propose the previous Jigang rebellion case, including more than 40 Qi princes and princeling ministers, including Lu Chaoyang, the envoy of Jinyiwei Town, Yang Rong, cabinet scholar, Lu Zhen, the minister of rites, and Xia Yuanji, the minister of household affairs. The trial will decide whether to plead guilty, and the three departments of the Ministry of Punishment, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Dali Temple will conduct a joint trial.
This is basically a trial without any suspense. Most of the three judges are princelings. This is equivalent to asking one's own family to try one's own family. How can anything be found in the trial? Although Zheng Zhichang, who was relegated to the Ministry of Justice, tried hard to disrupt the situation, it was still harmless.
The real big change came when the emperor moved the King of Han to Le'an Prefecture in Shandong and ordered him to set off immediately.
The King of Han did not resist again this time, and he had no reason to resist. He had lost everything in the court. If he didn't accept the vassalship honestly, King Qi and the Crown Prince would eat him alive!
…
East Palace
The prince sat leisurely in the inner hall, took a sip of tea from the blue and white porcelain tea cup, and couldn't help but admired: "Good tea, elegant aroma, fresh in the mouth, this is the finest Dongzhi Maojian."
"If the prince likes it, I still have many at home, and I will send them to you tomorrow." Wuzhong, the Minister of Punishment, said with a smile.
Wuzhong was originally the minister of the Ministry of Industry, but he resigned due to Ding You. After King Qi's "blood splattered on the Fengtian Palace", all the left and right censors in the Metropolitan Procuratorate were vacant. Liu Guan, the former Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, moved to the left capital as censor. However, as a result, the Ministry of Punishment became vacant again. The prince found the opportunity to report to the emperor. He took over Wuzhong and took charge of the Ministry of Justice.
If we insist on speaking, the reason why Wuzhong recovered so quickly has something to do with King Qi.
"Put the tea aside first, over there at the Criminal Department..." The prince paused here.
Wu Zhong smiled at the corners of his eyes: "Don't worry, Your Highness, if Zheng Zhichang is in the Ministry of Punishment, I will definitely make it difficult for him to die. The officials of the Ministry of Punishment will not make it easy for Zheng Zhichang."
The prince shook his head: "No, that's not what I mean. What I mean is to let the Ministry of Punishment relax on Zheng Zhichang. There is no need to target him."
Wuzhong was stunned: "Why is this?"
Zheng Zhichang jumped from the rebellion of the princelings to the Hanwang party, and even fought back against the princelings. There was a deep hatred between the princelings and this person, and they wanted to eat his flesh and sleep with him. But now the prince wants the prince's gangsters from the Ministry of Punishment to treat Zheng Zhichang softly. What kind of thing is this?
The prince smiled slightly: "Think about it, why can we drive the King of Han away to the vassal state so easily this time?"
Wuzhong said without thinking: "Of course it was because of His Highness's foresight and foresight that the King of Han was ignorant and was easily overthrown by His Highness. The King of Han compared Zheng Zhichang to a sleeping dragon and a phoenix chick, haha, this person is nothing more than that. The King of Han was defeated, and Zheng Zhichang took the most credit. Wei, I thought this person named Zheng was a hidden stake we sent to the King of Han..."
Before he finished speaking, Wu Zhong's eyes widened: "Wait, could it be... Zheng Zhichang is really one of ours?"
The prince smiled and said nothing. He seemed to have said nothing, but he seemed to have said everything.
Wuzhong felt that his brain was running out: "This, this is unreasonable..."
The representative elected by the Hanwang Party is a member of their princeling party?
Wait, what role does the prince play in this?
As a princeling, Zheng Zhichang was bribed by the King of Han to fight against the princelings. In fact, his true identity was that he was a swindler for the princelings? Mission Impossible?
Directly driving into the enemy's high-level hidden stakes?
In fact, the prince has been controlling the Hanwang Party's attacks and leading the Hanwang Party to destruction?
Wu Zhong suddenly realized an important question: "Zheng Zhichang, how should we deal with it?"
Although this dear friend has made great contributions to the princelings and kicked his archenemy, the King of Han, out of the capital and went to Shandong to join the vassal state, no matter how slow the King of Han is, he can find clues in the process of reflecting on his failure. Once he realizes If he was tricked by Zheng Zhichang, he would definitely lose his mind and take revenge crazily.
In addition, how should the princelings face Zheng Zhichang?
In this party struggle, there were not a few princelings who were defeated because of Zheng Zhichang, otherwise the King of Han would not have trusted this person so much. Faced with such a person with multiple identities, a princeling will also feel grudge.
The relatives who stood on King Qi's side also did not fare well, and they also glared at Zheng Zhichang. If someone wants to take revenge on this person, presumably his relatives will also be happy to help him add insult to injury.
Zheng Zhichang has offended all three major factions in the court. How can he survive? Can the prince be saved?
"To be precise, Zheng Zhichang did not expect that he would die well."
The prince said quietly, "He has already calculated that he will be surrounded and suppressed in the end, and there will be no way out. His last thought is to drag a few more Han Wang Party members and Qi Wang Party members to hell."
Wu Zhong was a little confused. What kind of lunatic is this?
He didn't even think about how much profit he could make in the end, so he just wanted to bury a few people with him and help the prince eliminate his enemies? Did the prince give this guy some ecstasy soup?
"How majestic...huh?" Wu Zhong was just about to admire Zheng Zhichang's integrity, but suddenly felt that something was wrong, "Zheng Zhichang wants to deal with King Qi?!"
What does this matter have to do with King Qi!
Aren't the princelings and King Qi's party close comrades-in-arms? They all joined forces to deal with the King of Han. Why do they want to turn against King Qi now?
"King Qi, without any effort, he got rid of the King of Han with the help of Gu." The corners of the prince's lips raised, "When the King of Han becomes vassal, he will be the only opponent left."
Lu Zhong was silent, that was indeed the case.
In the previous Jinling City, King Qi, the Crown Prince, and the King of Han were three pillars. Prince Qi's Mansion and the East Palace had a common enemy - the King of Han, so they could unite with mutual trust. But now seeing that the King of Han is about to be driven out of the capital, the relationship between King Qi and the Crown Prince The relationship between them has become more subtle.
In the final analysis, where are the real friends among the parties? They are just trying to get what they need. As for the prince, he just chose to strike first.
There is no shame in using despicable means, but it is the losers who are the most shameful.
…
After the news that the King of Han was about to establish a vassal state was announced, Zhu Gaojie also returned to Prince Qi's Mansion from Songlu Mountain. The training plan for the sergeants has been roughly outlined. With Chi Rong in Songlu Mountain, the next training can go smoothly even without Zhu Gaojie, Prince Qi.
He was training troops in Songlu Mountain not simply because he wanted to train the palace guards. The palace guards can train at any time, so why choose the time when they will fight the King of Han the most fiercely?
Another important reason is to confuse the King of Han, create a false impression, and gain more opportunities for the princelings to counterattack the King of Han. Even if the King of Han falls, Zhu Gaojie can safely return to Prince Qi's Mansion and resume his life, but the training at Songlu Mountain cannot stop. This is his core team.
Zhu Gaojie didn't know that the prince was thinking of stabbing him in the back, but even if he knew, he didn't care.
Because Zhu Gaojie is now planning a plan to deal with the princelings.
He and the prince had the same ideas. After the fall of the King of Han, both sides were preparing to strike first and catch the other side off guard.
The biggest characteristic of the Zhu family is that they kill each other.
Zhu Gaojie called Su Wu and asked, "Did the emperor explain the date when the king of Han became a vassal?"
"It hasn't been announced yet, but there is news from the palace that the Han Dynasty will not be delayed until the end of the month." Su Wu replied.
Su Wu does not currently hold a position in Prince Qi's Mansion. His status is similar to that of Su Qing, a retainer in the Prince of Han's Mansion. He is a staff member. To be precise, he is more like Zhu Gaojie's personal secretary.
During the days when Zhu Gaojie was in Songlu Mountain, Su Wu was in contact with the palace and paid attention to the goings-on in the capital. Su Wu would compile a long letter and report to Zhu Gaojie every day based on the collected intelligence.
"At the end of the month... Let me think about it." Zhu Gaojie touched the short beard on his chin. This was a subconscious action when he was thinking.
The ancients paid attention to etiquette and filial piety when growing beards. The body, hair and skin were protected by parents and could not be damaged at will unless there were special circumstances. After the death of his father, a man cannot shave off the beard on his upper lip. If his mother dies, he must keep the beard on his chin. Although many people in the Ming Dynasty did not take these etiquette seriously, Zhu Gaojie still abided by this etiquette. After Queen Xu died of illness, he has been growing a beard.
Zhu Gaojie has no feelings for his biological father Zhu Di, but he always respects his mother Empress Xu.
The main reason is that Zhu Di is unreasonable and treats his own son like a monkey all day long.
(End of chapter)
