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"Did you find any clues there? Tell me in detail!"
Zhao Junchen reported slowly: "Your Majesty, I didn't find any clues, I just felt that during the trial of the 'Southern Inspection Preparation Fraud Case', the dynamics of the East Factory were really strange. [Read the full text] "
"Oh? Why is it weird?"
Emperor Deqing did not express his position while he was pondering, but just motioned for Zhao Junchen to continue speaking.
Zhao Junchen was not in a hurry and just continued to report: "Your Majesty, you also know that although His Highness the Crown Prince is in charge of the trial of the 'Southern Tour Preparation Fraud Case', His Highness the Crown Prince does not have the relevant experience, so the specific matters are still Most of them were handed over to the Sansi Yamen and factory guards, which is normal in itself, and there is nothing strange about the Sansi Yamen, but only Dongchang was too proactive and active during the trial."
"Keep talking!" Emperor Deqing raised his eyebrows.
Zhao Junchen nodded and said: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, when Dongchang was assisting the prince in handling the case, he was simply afraid of chaos in the world. If the local officials along the way had the slightest suspicion, regardless of whether there was any conclusive evidence of crime, they would They were arrested by Dongchang and interrogated severely. Under Dongchang's torture, the arrested local officials naturally said whatever Dongchang told them to say. This time, His Highness the Crown Prince arrested more than 70 people in total. Local officials, as well as many local officials, gentry and merchants were imprisoned pending trial. It can be said that they were widely implicated, but in Yichen's opinion, many of them were probably beaten by Dongchang... In other words, If Dongchang hadn't been there to add fuel to the flames, His Royal Highness would never have arrested so many people, and this matter would never have become such a big deal! And why Dongchang did this? It's really worth investigating!"
In fact, the Dongchang Yamen Club was so active and proactive during the trial. Just because Zhao Junchen's West Factory had repeatedly stolen the limelight some time ago, Emperor Deqing believed that Dongchang was incompetent and reprimanded him! Therefore, Dongchang plans to take this opportunity to assist Prince Zhu Heyu in reviewing the "Southern Tour Preparation Fraud Case." He once again proved his ability to Emperor Deqing and competed with Xichang for favors, so he naturally went too far when handling the case.
Emperor Deqing could naturally guess this, but when there was another explanation for this situation, and Emperor Deqing was always suspicious, he would inevitably think too much.
So, Emperor Deqing nodded and said, "What you said makes sense. Keep talking!"
On the other side, seeing that Emperor Deqing's attention finally shifted from him to Dongchang, Zhao Junchen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but his expression remained unchanged and he just continued: "Besides, there is another suspicious place in Dongchang. !Your Majesty, you also know that while His Royal Highness is away from Beijing to investigate the case, he will report the progress to Your Majesty every few days. In those reports, the total number of officials involved in the case mentioned is only twenty or thirty. Why? After the Crown Prince returned to Beijing, the number of people suddenly increased to nearly a hundred. If you had known that the Crown Prince would interrogate so many officials, Your Majesty, with your wisdom, might have stopped it long ago. How could it have caused such a big trouble today? "
Following Zhao Junchen's hint, Emperor Deqing's expression became more solemn and gloomy. And asked: "You mean... Dongchang did something secretly?"
Zhao Junchen nodded and said: "According to the information I know, because of Your Majesty's southern tour, there is not much time left for His Highness the Crown Prince to handle cases, so whenever His Highness the Crown Prince arrives, he will only interrogate some key cases. Officials, after the case is ascertained, will rush to the next place. As for the other officials involved in the case, they will be handed over to Dongchang... Therefore, in the report package sent to you by His Royal Highness, the officials involved in the case There were only twenty or thirty people, but after the prince returned to Beijing, the number of officials involved in the case increased several times. This is probably because Dongchang rushed to submit the results of their case to the prince before he returned to Beijing... It's just that this timing is too coincidental..."
After a pause, Zhao Junchen added: "Furthermore, as your Majesty said before, although His Majesty the Crown Prince has a straightforward temper, he still knows how to measure his measure on weekdays. However, he acted so recklessly this morning. I'm afraid. It was also because I saw so many criminal lists and evidence of crime provided by Dongchang that I was so angry that I lost my mind for a while."
"Dongchang..." Emperor Deqing's face was as gloomy as water, and he said slowly: "What the prince did, if they are really secretly fueling the flames... what is their purpose? Do they dare to betray me?"
Zhao Junchen had naturally already thought about the reason why Dongchang did this.
So, Zhao Junchen sighed softly and explained to Emperor Deqing: "Your Majesty, you also know the temper of the prince. He has read history books and only feels that eunuchs have disrupted the government in all dynasties. Even in this dynasty, there are Liu Jin, Wei Zhongxian, Wang Zhi, Wang Zhen and others have always disliked eunuchs in the palace. Over the years, they have repeatedly suggested to Your Majesty that you reduce the number of eunuchs in the palace and reduce the authority of the twelve eunuchs in the inner court. However, eunuchs have always been in charge of the East Factory. , and is also an important part of the twelve imperial eunuchs, how can they support His Highness the Crown Prince? Maybe... they did this just to shake His Highness the Crown Prince's position as the crown prince, and they don't want His Highness the Crown Prince to ascend the throne smoothly!"
"snort!"
As Zhao Junchen finished speaking, Emperor Deqing snorted coldly. Zhao Junchen secretly raised his eyes and saw that Emperor Deqing's eyes were flickering at this time. He was obviously thinking about something, and a piece of white paper on the imperial case was now It has been crushed into a ball by Emperor Deqing!
Seeing Emperor Deqing like this, Zhao Junchen knew that he had completely gotten rid of suspicion in Emperor Deqing's mind.
After all, no matter how powerful Zhao Junchen is, he cannot interfere with Dongchang's decision-making, and Dongchang's actions during the trial are really suspicious after Zhao Junchen's added jealousy and deliberate distortion!
On the other side, Emperor Deqing was silent for a long time, and finally said slowly: "What you said to me in the imperial study today must not be made known to others. I have my own plans for the next step."
Seeing Emperor Deqing's expression as gloomy as water, Zhao Junchen knew that Emperor Deqing had made up his mind, and Dongchang was about to be in trouble, and a purge and rectification was inevitable!
And this is also one of Zhao Junchen's goals!
The focus of Zhao Junchen's next plan is to infiltrate the army! But if the East Factory continues to operate as usual, with its pervasive penetration, Zhao Junchen's plan to infiltrate the army is likely to be discovered! By that time, it will naturally be a big trouble.
But as Emperor Deqing began to doubt Dongchang's loyalty, after a rectification and purge, Dongchang would not only be in chaos for a period of time, but also its strength would be greatly reduced. In this way, Zhao Junchen's plan to infiltrate the army can reduce many risks!
At the same time, in the next period of time, due to the weakening of the East Factory, Emperor Deqing will rely more on Zhao Junchen's West Factory!
In addition, Zhao Junchen took the opportunity to clear Emperor Deqing's suspicion of him, which was killing three birds with one stone!
However, Zhao Junchen did not show any pride, he was just as respectful and humble as ever, because Zhao Junchen understood that at this time, he must stay calm, otherwise he will only fall short!
Therefore, Zhao Junchen just said: "I understand, please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will never mention anything in the imperial study room today to anyone."
Emperor Deqing nodded, and after pondering for a moment, he suddenly changed the topic and asked: "Let's not talk about this matter for now. What do you think about the trouble the prince caused in this morning's court? I'm thinking about it. Even if I want to go, I can't find a perfect solution. If I support the prince next, the court will inevitably be in chaos. If I reject the prince's impeachment, it will inevitably damage the prince's prestige, but it will put me in a dilemma. Junchen, do you have it? How can you teach me?"
Zhao Junchen was slightly stunned, but he didn't expect that Emperor Deqing would really ask him for advice.
He didn't know if this was another test by Emperor Deqing, so Zhao Junchen was quite cautious. After pondering for a moment, he finally replied: "Your Majesty, now that the imperial examination has ended, your half-year-long southern tour is about to begin. If If it causes chaos in the court at this time, the southern tour may be delayed!"
Emperor Deqing's face darkened and he said: "You want me to reject the prince's impeachment? But in this case, won't the prince's prestige as the prince be damaged? My Ming Dynasty will still be handed over to the prince in the future. If His prestige has been damaged, how can he convince all officials in the future?"
Having said that, his tone was not firm. After all, Emperor Deqing had been looking forward to the next southern tour for a long time.
Zhao Junchen smiled slightly and reminded Emperor Deqing: "Your Majesty, you are in good health now. Your Highness the Crown Prince succeeded to the throne very early. Even if your prestige is temporarily damaged, as long as your Majesty is still there, you will not have to worry about it." Get these prestige back! What's more, Your Majesty, you can pass all the responsibility for His Royal Highness's reckless behavior to Dongchang in one fell swoop and let Dongchang bear the responsibility, which can also reduce the loss of His Highness's prestige!"
Upon hearing Zhao Junchen's suggestion, Emperor Deqing's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but nod!
Anyway, I have made up my mind to rectify Dongchang. In this case, it is a good choice to let Dongchang take responsibility for Prince Zhu Heyu!
…
Before, the big trouble that Prince Zhu Heyu caused was all because Zhao Junchen secretly fueled the trouble. This was because Zhao Junchen wanted to bring down the prince.
Nowadays, Emperor Deqing does not want the prestige of Prince Zhu Heyu to be damaged too much, and Zhao Junchen is doing his best to come up with ideas and solutions. This is to gain the trust of Emperor Deqing!
Because Zhao Junchen knew very well that Emperor Deqing still did not want to give up Zhu Heyu, so Zhao Junchen could not defeat Zhu Heyu in one go. He could only use the method of ant nest collapse to wear down Emperor Deqing bit by bit. Patience and confidence in Zhu Heyu! Even if you can't succeed once, you can't wait for a long time!
After what happened at court this morning, and the fact that Prince Zhu Heyu had previously messed up the preparations for the southern tour, Emperor Deqing might have doubted Zhu Heyu's ability.
This suspicion, like a seed, has been planted deep in the heart of Emperor Deqing. As long as there is water and soil nutrients, it will inevitably grow into a towering tree!
Zhao Junchen has already prepared these "water and soil nutrients"!
…
ps: Well, second update.
...(To be continued...)
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