Cui Shangshu and Wang Zhi were arrested and imprisoned one after another, which immediately caused turmoil and unrest in the entire capital.
Not only did the officials feel uneasy, but those involved were almost frightened out of their wits!
Zhu Gaojie's order to the Jin Yiwei and the army was to directly follow the evidence, start with the big ones, and then catch all the small fish and shrimps at the bottom.
And when these people discovered that important ministers like a minister had been captured and imprisoned, they were all frightened.
Since Zhu Gaojie ordered the entire capital to be sealed off, these people couldn't escape even if they wanted to. They were trying to connect with each other, but they were caught in the face by the guards and soldiers in the streets!
Within a few days, due to Zhu Gaojie's decisiveness, the assassination was almost over. Nearly a hundred officials from the DPRK and the Central Government were arrested and imprisoned. Thousands of people were involved and were put under centralized custody to be screened and dealt with one by one.
However, Zhu Gaojie, who was in the palace, did not give the order to stop. Instead, after paying homage to the old man, he directly ordered the arrest of many chamberlains and imperial doctors and asked the Jin Yiwei to torture them severely.
"Dong Guo?"
After hearing this name, Zhu Gaojie couldn't help but frown slightly.
"Is he behind this?"
The Duke of Ming Dynasty was named Xu Jingchang.
This name is rarely known in later generations. He is an out-and-out unpopular nobleman. This man is the son of Xu Zengshou, the fourth son of King Xu Da of Zhongshan. Because Xu Zengshou had a good relationship with Zhu Di, he had revealed Jianwen to Zhu Di many times. One party's intelligence was killed by Zhu Yunzhen. After Zhu Di succeeded in the Jingnan incident, he was grateful for his contribution, so he was posthumously named Duke of Dingguo, and Xu Jingchang succeeded him.
As for Xu Jingchang, the extremely lucky Duke of Dingguo, it has to be said that he does not have the shadow of King Xu Da of Zhongshan, nor does he have the loyalty of his father. He is just a second-generation ancestor with a bad record, and he is usually arrogant. , was rampant in lawlessness, and had been impeached by many censors before, but thanks to Zhu Di's tolerance, he was not deprived of his royal title.
However, as the saying goes, a white-eyed wolf is bestowed with kindness. Zhu Gaojie also thought that this person would be the one who bribed the imperial doctor and the chamberlain to poison the old man!
You know, before Zhu Gaojie went on the expedition, even though the old man had fallen into a deep coma and was unconscious, because he had undergone acupuncture many times and all matters had been handed over to the chamberlains and imperial doctors, the old man's original physical condition was It can definitely last for a long time.
This is also the reason why Zhu Gaojie can go to war with confidence. After all, the old man is the emperor of Jingnan. After the Yongle Dynasty, he has great prestige both among the people and the court. Logically speaking, nothing will happen in the palace.
But something surprising happened just like that!
As soon as Zhu Gaojie returned to the capital, he set out to turn the entire capital upside down. In addition, the Jin Yiwei and the army sergeants were merciless, so some clues were quickly discovered.
Later, they were directly traced to Duke Dingguo!
"Oh, it's really a big departure..."
Zhu Gaojie shook his head, very annoyed with this guy who dared to be so bold:
"Thinking of murdering the king, doesn't this guy know that the title of Duke Dingguo above him was only obtained by the old man's personal decree?"
"What is this called? Repaying kindness with vengeance? Prospering rice for kindness, fighting for rice for revenge?"
Zhu Gaojie felt very speechless in his heart. The old man had a great reputation all his life, but he would die at the hands of such a coward!
It's so funny and infuriating!
"Are you sure you've checked everything out?"
Yang Rong had already understood the matter clearly, and even went to the prison, accompanied by Shen Qingyu, to meet Duke Dingguo in person, and scolded him face to face, scolding him to the point of being extremely insane.
Seeing Zhu Gaojie asking a question at this time, he immediately answered:
"It is indeed correct. I have read all the confessions, and also questioned the several chamberlains and imperial doctors. The people who handled them have also verified them one by one. It is because of this evil man who has no regard for God's kindness and has a bad heart that he can do such a heinous act. Act of!"
"Your Highness, would you like to inquire again?"
Zhu Gaojie's face was as dark as water. He was too lazy to deal with such a sinister person and waved his hand directly:
"Since it's true, let's deal with it according to the law. If you need to be expelled, you will be expelled. If you need to confiscate your property, you will confiscate it. I only have one request, be strict and severe!"
"Otherwise, it's hard to get rid of the anger in Gu's heart!"
After deciding the fate of this man and his family in a few words, Zhu Gaojie asked about the assassination again:
"What do those people have to say?"
Shen Qingyu and Yang Rong looked at each other, and finally he replied:
"Your Highness, Wang Shangshu has been very calm and silent since he was imprisoned, but Cui Shangshu is a little afraid of death and has explained many things in detail..."
"Almost all of the six departments were involved, and there was also bad public opinion in the Imperial College. Shuntian Mansion was even given orders by these people, asking them to fish in troubled waters and try to resist to the end..."
Yang Rong and Xia Yuanji listened quietly on the side, both of them looked a little unhappy. After all, after investigation, almost everyone from the six departments and five temples, two courtyards and one prison, and six departments and thirteen divisions participated in the assassination. This incident even secretly formed a very bad public opinion.
This made Yang Rong, the chief minister of the cabinet, and Xia Yuanji, who had always believed that the Ministry of Revenue was loyal, feel a little depressed.
His Royal Highness is clearly the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty with unparalleled achievements, benevolence and generosity, so why are there so many people opposing him?
Is it just because His Highness is lenient to the people and dislikes wealthy families?
But even so, it's not to the point of committing such a major rebellion...
Seeing the heavy expressions on their faces, Zhu Gaojiu understood what they were thinking, and Shen Qingyu, as a royal guard, was even less likely to cover up these things. He thought thoughtfully, and it seemed that this net had indeed picked up a lot of debris. With sludge!
"Now that everything has been found out, I have nothing to say."
Zhu Gaojie stood up, walked a few steps in the hall with his hands behind his back, and then said to several people:
"Although Gu is not willing to go on a killing spree, he is not someone who refuses to fight back even after being bullied by others."
"These people, who have great responsibilities from the imperial court and were greatly favored by the late emperor, have time and again plotted to kill Gu. They even risked ruining the fate of the Ming Dynasty and tried to bury Gu and the Ming army in the hands of foreigners!"
"You still have the audacity to carry out assassinations several times in public! This is a heinous crime and an unpardonable crime!"
"I have ordered you to go to court tomorrow morning to discuss this matter!" (End of Chapter)
