As the bell of the Meridian Gate rang, the next hundred officials lined up, filed into the palace, formed again in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and then entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony to wait. There was no need to list all the procedures in detail, but it was said that Zhao Junchen was accompanying him. After the officials entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony, they waited for about a cup of tea, and then the eunuch Zhang De said "Your Majesty has arrived", and Emperor Deqing finally arrived belatedly.
Then, Zhao Junchen knelt down to greet the officials and shouted "Long live", but Emperor Deqing did not respond immediately. Instead, he sat on the dragon chair and looked at the officials for a moment, with an inscrutable look that made everyone in the palace After the officials knelt for a while, they finally said slowly in a majestic voice: "All my dear friends, please stand up."
The officials were not surprised by Emperor Deqing's attitude. In fact, ever since the preparations for the southern tour went awry and Prince Zhu Heyu was taken advantage of, Emperor Deqing has been deliberately showing his imperial majesty to all officials at any time. After these days, all officials have long been accustomed to this. .
After all the officials got up, Emperor Deqing did not wait for the eunuch Zhang De to shout, "If there is anything to do, report early, but if there is nothing to do, leave the court", he was the first to ask: "Sanfa Division, now the prince has left Beijing to handle the case, investigate and punish local corrupt officials, and deal with the aftermath. It has been five days since there was a flaw in the preparations for the southern tour. Your people are following us as assistants, but what news has come back? Is everything going smoothly?"
Ever since the prince left Beijing to investigate the case, Emperor Deqing would ask this question every morning in the morning court. In private, he sent Dongchang and Jinyiwei to closely watch all the details of the process when the prince left Beijing to investigate the case.
However, Emperor Deqing also understood that after the blunders in the preparations for the southern tour, the prince's current situation and reputation were already much worse. If there were any more mistakes in the investigation and aftermath of this investigation, the prince's I am afraid that the position is not stable, so I have been paying close attention to this matter these days and dare not relax at all.
By making such a statement, Emperor Deqing also clearly revealed his thoughts in order to intimidate those who were interested.
On the other side, after hearing Emperor Deqing's inquiry, the responsible persons from the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate came out one after another to report the news they had learned to Emperor Deqing. Knowing that Emperor Deqing was extremely concerned about this, Therefore, the reports are also extremely detailed. For example, which local corrupt official has been investigated and punished by the prince, how much stolen money has been seized, how many cronies have been implicated, and how many public complaints have been quelled.
In their words, Prince Zhu Heyu was obviously extremely capable, but he had already accomplished a lot in just five days.
Emperor Deqing had already known this news through Dongchang and Jinyiwei, but now that he heard it again, he looked attentive, nodding from time to time, and smiling with satisfaction.
Standing in the queue of hundreds of officials, Zhao Junchen also listened carefully, with a smile on his face. Obviously, his plan for the prince Zhu Heyu is now going smoothly. According to Zhao Junchen's plan, the prince next The more Zhu Heyu investigated and punished corrupt officials, the more he implicated cronies, the greater his influence, and the more difficult the final trouble would be!
However, the plan against the prince is only part of Zhao Junchen's plans. Today's focus is obviously not on that.
…………
When Emperor Deqing's inquiry ended, it was already a stick of incense time later.
After asking about the process of handling the case after the prince left Beijing, Emperor Deqing asked several examiners of the Jinke Examination in detail about the review process of the examination papers. After learning that everything was progressing smoothly, a flash of light finally flashed in his expression. With a look of satisfaction, he nodded slightly to the eunuch Zhang De next to him.
Zhang De has been accompanying him all year round, so he naturally understood Emperor Deqing's intentions. After Emperor Deqing's signal, he immediately took a step forward and said in a loud voice: "If you have something to do, please report it early, if nothing happens, go to court~~!"
Over the past few days, as the irregularities in the preparations for the southern tour have gradually subsided, there has been peace between the government and the public. Although there will inevitably be some minor issues, they can be dealt with through the cabinet and do not need to be discussed in the morning. Now with the eunuch Zhang De's With a shout, all the officials thought that the morning dynasty was finally over, and subconsciously they all breathed a sigh of relief, waiting for Emperor Deqing to announce his "retirement".
Who would have thought that changes would occur.
Zuo Lanshan, a second-rank official of the current dynasty and Minister of Industry, among the "Zhao Party", his status is second only to Zhao Junchen. Under the constraints of Zhao Junchen, he usually behaves in a low-key manner, always only wearing a pair of The ears are upturned, showing little expression.
But today, following the shouts of the great eunuch Zhang De, Zuo Lanshan was uncharacteristically out of the ordinary. With a look of guilt on his face, he knelt down in front of Emperor Deqing and kowtowed: "Your Majesty Zuo Lanshan... I have something important to report!”
Seeing Zuo Lanshan suddenly appear in the queue, all the officials were stunned.
Then, although it was Zuo Lanshan who made the remarks, everyone in the palace, including Emperor Deqing, secretly looked at Zhao Junchen aside, only to see Zhao Junchen lower his eyebrows, as if he had nothing to do with it.
But everyone knew that Zuo Lanshan, as a member of Zhao Junchen's party, had a high status in the court and always kept a low profile. Zhao Junchen must have been instigating such a sudden appearance to report "important matters".
However, no one would say anything about this situation. After Emperor Deqing gave Zhao Junchen a quick look, he turned his attention to Zuo Lanshan and asked with interest: "Oh? Zuo Aiqing has something important to do." Report? It’s rare, tell me what it is!”
However, Zuo Lanshan did not care about the changes in the thoughts of the officials, and still looked sad and guilty. With a little cry, he said loudly: "I am ashamed to trust your majesty, but I am not strict with you, know people poorly, and Raising tigers is a problem. A few days ago, a shocking fraud case was discovered in the Ministry of Works! No less than ten officials from the Ministry of Works were involved, and no less than 300,000 taels of stolen money were involved. However, in such a fraud case, the minister It’s only now that I realize... I am ashamed of Your Majesty, and please punish me! No matter whether I am imprisoned or dismissed from office, I have no regrets!"
Then, Zuo Lanshan burst into tears in front of Emperor Deqing and hundreds of officials. Zhao Junchen looked at him with admiration and thought that he was indeed an old minister. His acting ability was far superior. For young people like Zhao Junchen.
And with Zuo Lanshan's report, the whole court was suddenly shocked!
After all, more than ten officials from the Ministry of Industry and more than 300,000 taels of stolen silver were involved. This was definitely a major case! It will definitely cause a bloody storm in the DPRK! Who can not be surprised!
For a time, everyone in the court was talking about it.
On the imperial steps, Emperor Deqing quickly looked at Zhao Junchen, who was silent at the side, and then with a solemn expression, he asked Zuo Lanshan in a deep voice: "Don't rush to accuse me, what happened?" What’s going on, tell me clearly!”
After "crying" for a while, Zuo Lanshan finally "calmed down" and cried: "Your Majesty, this matter involves the Ministry of Industry. As the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, although I took the initiative to expose it, I want to avoid suspicion after all. Yes, so the case has been handed over to the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Your Majesty, please ask the Metropolitan Procuratorate."
"Oh? Metropolitan Procuratorate! What on earth is Zuo Lanshan talking about? Come out and explain it to me! It's so confusing that I'm confused!"
As he spoke, Emperor Deqing turned his attention to the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
Unexpectedly, all the officials from the Metropolitan Procuratorate also looked at each other in shock. Although Zuo Lanshan had transferred the case to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, they actually received no news at all!
However, some clever people turned their attention to the right deputy inspector of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Censor Gu Quan, and the new Censor Jin Duode.
Among them, Gu Quan, as one of Zhao Junchen's die-hard cronies in the court, was Zhao Junchen's thorn in the Metropolitan Procuratorate. It was naturally known to everyone.
As for the new censor Jin Duode, after Zhao Junchen comprehensively defeated Wen Guanliang, he held a banquet in Tianhai Tower and took the opportunity to inspect the officials in the DPRK who wanted to join him. Among them, Jin Duode was none other than Zhao Junchen. Junchen was one of the talents discovered at that time. Although his ability was average, his eloquence was excellent. After Zhao Junchen attacked the power of the Metropolitan Procuratorate a few days ago, there were many more vacancies in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so Jin Duode was placed there.
Now, Zuo Lanshan claimed that he had transferred the case to the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Considering the relationship between the factions, he probably handed it over to these two people.
Sure enough, following Emperor Deqing's inquiry, Gu Quan was the first to step out, his expression full of uprightness, and he said loudly: "Your Majesty, this case was taken over by me, and after careful investigation over the past two days, I found out that the case was taken by me. What your Lord said is true. There is indeed a huge fraud in the Ministry of Works! The perpetrator is none other than Tang Zheng, the right servant of the Ministry of Works! In addition, there are also some doctors and foreign ministers of the Ministry of Works. These people are The Ministry of Industry formed a party, deceived the superiors and concealed the inferiors, practiced favoritism and malpractice. Over the years, they committed corruption and perverted the law no less than 20 times, involving a total of no less than 300,000 taels of stolen money! This is indeed a major case that is rare in our country! Please also ask Your Majesty Insightful!"
As Gu Quan finished speaking, he saw the new censor Jin Duode coming out, but he was surprised and reported to Emperor Deqing: "Your Majesty, I have heard a lot about this case. Since entering the Metropolitan Procuratorate Since then, I have been secretly investigating this matter and have collected a lot of evidence. I was planning to report it to Your Majesty after the facts are confirmed. I never thought that Mr. Zuo, who knew everything clearly, found out in advance and devoted himself to serving the court. , not afraid of being implicated, actually reported it to His Majesty in public... I also ask Your Majesty to investigate the case strictly, and for the sake of Lord Zuo's loyalty, Lord Zuo will be exempted from the blame!"
While speaking, Jin Duode turned to look at Zuo Lanshan, but his face was full of admiration.
On the other side, as Gu Quan and Jin Duode spoke out, the entire court was in an uproar.
Among them, the elder Huang Yourong was even more shocked and looked at Zhao Junchen in disbelief!
Without him, Tang Zheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, was an official under Huang Yourong's family!
Huang Yourong didn't expect that just before going to court, he had a pleasant conversation with Zhao Junchen. The atmosphere was harmonious and he was ready to join forces to form an alliance in the future. He never thought that half an hour later, Zhao Junchen would attack him on the same day. The doorman!
Huang Yourong was always known as a smiling tiger in the court, and he was best at concealing his sword behind his smile. But today, he was attacked and deceived by others using his best methods. Naturally, the complex feelings and anger in his heart were not known to others.
But Zhao Junchen, who was being watched by Huang Yourong, still lowered his head and remained silent, as if what happened today had nothing to do with him.
In fact, this turmoil driven by Zhao Junchen himself has just begun. At this time, Zhao Junchen does not need to come forward yet.
Tang Zheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, was Zhao Junchen's carefully selected target. Zhao Junchen also had far-reaching considerations in targeting him first. To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come (Subscribe to this site, reward, and your support are my biggest motivation.)
