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At this time, Emperor Deqing was in a very conflicted mood.
As Zhao Junchen said, although the "Eight Kings Shipping Company" incident may seem true or false, it is of great importance and the timing is sensitive. It can only be investigated and handled secretly, and must not be made public!
As a result, Emperor Deqing was in a dilemma because he didn't know whether he should continue to hold Zhou Shangjing accountable!
If we continue to pursue the case, we must investigate the matter of "Eight Kings Shipping Company". However, whether the matters of "Eight Kings Shipping Company" are true or false, as long as they are revealed, it will inevitably cause an uproar and bring a heavy blow to the reputation of the royal family. Even if he could take advantage of the opportunity to bring down Zhou Shangjing, the gain would outweigh the loss.
However, if he does not continue to pursue the case, it will be equivalent to acquiescing to Zhou Shangjing's rhetoric, and Emperor Deqing will not be able to overthrow Zhou Shangjing. In this case, how can Emperor Deqing be willing to do so? What's more, if the "Eight Kings Shipping Company" incident was just a scam by Zhou Shangjing, and it happened to scare Emperor Deqing away, then this incident would be a great shame for Emperor Deqing in his life!
Therefore, after hesitating for a long time, Emperor Deqing was still undecided.
Emperor Deqing was a decisive and independent person. He had not been in such a hesitant situation for many years.
*
After hesitating, Emperor Deqing was not angry after hearing Zhao Junchen's suggestion. He just confirmed: "You mean, I shouldn't continue to pursue this matter and just let Zhou Shangjing go?"
Zhao Junchen said: "Your Majesty, the overall situation should be the most important thing at this time. You don't have to be obsessed with the gains and losses in front of you. As the saying goes, the future is long, and there may not be no better opportunities in the future."
There was a pause. Zhao Junchen secretly observed Emperor Deqing's expression, and after seeing Emperor Deqing's brows furrowed, he added: "However, after all, Zhou Shangjing has committed the crime of bullying the emperor, and even if there is a big reason, it cannot be ignored. Any punishment! As I wish, Your Majesty, you can take the opportunity to remove Zhou Shangjing from his assistant position and weaken Zhou Shangjing’s power and influence, but still retain his position as Pavilion Elder. This can serve as a warning to others and will not force Zhou Shangjing to do anything. Take the risk and spread the word about the Eight Kings Boat Company!"
After hearing Zhao Junchen's suggestion, Emperor Deqing still hesitated. Still can't make up my mind.
After pondering for a moment, Emperor Deqing said slowly: "Well, I have to seriously consider these things, so I won't mention them for now... In addition to asking for your opinion, I have one more thing to keep you here this time. I’ll leave it to you.”
Zhao Junchen vaguely guessed what Emperor Deqing was thinking, but he still pretended not to know and said respectfully: "Please give me your Majesty's instructions."
Emperor Deqing had a sullen face and ordered word by word: "I want you to investigate everything about the 'Eight Kings Ship Company' in detail! Of course. This matter cannot be made public yet, you can only investigate it secretly for the time being. , Collect evidence, wait until I make a decision, and then deal with it!"
As he spoke, Emperor Deqing's tone contained some murderous intent - obviously, "Eight Kings Shipping Company" had violated several taboos of Emperor Deqing one after another. Regardless of whether the Japanese pirate incident had anything to do with them or not, the people behind "Eight Kings Shipping Company" Those eight feudal kings will definitely suffer disaster!
Perhaps, in the next period of time, the titles of eight feudal lords may be cancelled.
Zhao Junchen understood Emperor Deqing's intentions, and his face also had a murderous look on it. He responded in a deep voice: "I accept the order."
Next, after seeing that Emperor Deqing had no other instructions. Zhao Junchen took the initiative to say goodbye and left.
Before leaving, Zhao Junchen secretly took another look at Emperor Deqing's expression - Emperor Deqing's brows were furrowed. There was a thoughtful look in his eyes, as if he was still hesitating whether to hold Zhou Shangjing accountable.
Perhaps Emperor Deqing was still unwilling and was thinking hard about ways to break the situation at hand.
According to Zhao Junchen's understanding of Emperor Deqing, he only thinks that everything is a 50-50 number. Whether Zhou Shangjing will be convicted is still uncertain. Everything depends on Emperor Deqing's considerations and mood.
"Of course Zhou Shangjing's plan succeeded. With the appearance of the 'Eight Kings Ship Company', the situation was turned around... However, if that was all, he still could not get out of danger, and neither would Emperor Deqing. I am willing to take action next, and the game between the two will probably continue for some time..."
When leaving the temporary imperial study, Zhao Junchen thought to himself.
*
Unfortunately, Zhao Junchen still underestimated Zhou Shangjing's scheming and Emperor Deqing's decisiveness.
In fact, the matter of "Eight Kings Boat Company" is not Zhou Shangjing's last trump card!
Zhao Junchen originally thought that the battle between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing would continue for a long time, and this was how things should have unfolded!
However, that night, a secret message from the capital was delivered to Emperor Deqing.
I don’t know what was written in this sealed envelope, but after Emperor Deqing received the secret envelope, he was thunderous and smashed all the objects at hand.
After venting his anger, Emperor Deqing finally calmed down. Then, Emperor Deqing actually found Zhou Shangjing, who was under house arrest in the Humble Administrator's Garden, and had a secret conversation with Zhou Shangjing for most of the night.
No one knows what the secret conversation between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing was. But on the morning of the next day, Emperor Deqing bypassed all the ministers and suddenly issued an imperial edict - saying that Zhou Shangjing "used power for personal gain" and "protected his tribe", so he dismissed Zhou Shangjing from his position as assistant, and He was fined three years' salary, but in view of Zhou Shangjing's hard work and meritorious service, he still allowed Zhou Shangjing to stay in the cabinet, and as a "retainer for his crime", he "made meritorious deeds"!
You must know that charges such as "abusing power for personal gain" and "protecting tribesmen" can be big or small. For Zhou Shangjing, they are just insignificant, but the charges that can really put Zhou Shangjing to death, such as "deceiving the emperor and neglecting the emperor" "Shang", "forming parties for selfish interests", etc. were all lightly bypassed in Emperor Deqing's imperial edict.
Suddenly, the game of fighting between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing came to an abrupt end at the last moment!
The final result was that both sides took a step back. Emperor Deqing punished Zhou Shangjing in a evasive manner. He only removed Zhou Shangjing from his assistant position, but still retained Zhou Shangjing's authority and power, and Zhou Shangjing accepted Emperor Deqing's punishment. , and did not fight back again, which was regarded as giving Emperor Deqing a step down.
Then, before the ministers could react, Emperor Deqing issued another decree, saying that the southern tour was over, and urged the relevant yamen to prepare as soon as possible and drive back to Beijing in the shortest possible time!
Obviously, the root of all this is due to the secret gift received by Emperor Deqing!
It was precisely because of this secret that Emperor Deqing stopped fighting with Zhou Shangjing, and hurriedly ended his southern tour and returned to Beijing as soon as possible!
Therefore, what exactly is the content of this secret document has become something that all ministers want to know.
However, Emperor Deqing did a good job of keeping secrets. No matter how much the ministers pried, they could not get any information and could only secretly guess in their hearts.
However, unlike most officials, Zhao Junchen knew the contents of this secret document very well.
In fact, for some reason, Zhao Junchen already knew the details of the secret document before Emperor Deqing received it!
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...To be continued.
