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As the gate of Huangji Palace slowly opened, all the officials became energetic.
Seeing that the "Grand Court Meeting" was about to begin, the officials did not dare to neglect. They all lined up according to their respective official positions. Under the leadership of Prince Zhu Heyu and several cabinet elders, they filed into the imperial palace. In the extremely palace.
After waiting for about a stick of incense, the officials heard the great eunuch Zhang Deyang singing a promise: "His Majesty has arrived, and all the officials are waiting to welcome him!!"
As Zhang De sang the promise, Emperor Deqing slowly came to the Huangji Hall, while the officials bowed and knelt down and shouted long live.
But he said that after Emperor Deqing sat on the dragon throne, he first asked the officials to stand down, and then took the initiative to speak slowly and said: "The purpose of my tour south this time is to inspect the situation of the important grain and wealth town in the south of the Yangtze River, spread the emperor's majesty, and emphasize The presence of the imperial court strengthens the local awe of the central government..."
After finding many high-sounding reasons for his southern tour, Emperor Deqing changed his subject and said: "However, during this southern tour, although I gained a lot, I also discovered many problems... Then That is, the local yamen are disobeying the imperial government’s decrees and lack of reverence, and the central government’s supervision of the local yamen is insufficient and communication is poor. Various situations derived from this can be seen many times!”
Of course, Emperor Deqing began to take advantage of the situation and take advantage of the opportunity to establish his authority.
While speaking, Emperor Deqing suddenly turned his gaze to Zhou Shangjing and said slowly: "Zhou Shangjing, take advantage of today's opportunity to personally explain to the officials in detail the Suzhou Yamen's concealment of the Japanese pirates' rebellion, and let them see it. Look, my Ming Dynasty is in such chaos now!"
After hearing Emperor Deqing's instructions, Zhou Shangjing's gray eyebrows raised slightly, knowing that Emperor Deqing was going to use his demotion to scare the officials and scare the tigers.
However, Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing had already reached a secret agreement when they were in Suzhou - Emperor Deqing would no longer pursue Zhou Shangjing's crime of asylum. But in exchange, in the next period of time, Zhou Shangjing must also fully cooperate with Emperor Deqing's actions to stabilize the situation between the government and the opposition.
so. Although Emperor Deqing has now made it clear that he wants to step on Zhou Shangjing to enhance his prestige, the improvement of Emperor Deqing's prestige is also one of the necessary conditions for stabilizing the situation between the government and the opposition. Considering the overall situation, Zhou Shangjing could only force himself to endure and cooperate silently.
From this aspect, Emperor Deqing had a small plot against Zhou Shangjing.
So Zhou Shangjing walked out of the queue slowly and said: "Old minister, I obey the order."
Then, in front of all the civil and military officials, Zhou Shangjing told the story of the Japanese pirate rebellion in Suzhou in an evasive manner, but he did not mention the fact that he secretly protected his grandson Zhou Suhai.
After Zhou Shangjing finished speaking. Emperor Deqing nodded slowly with a serious face, and asked Zhou Shangjing: "There is such a big trouble in Suzhou, and as the chief minister of the dynasty, you are not aware of it. What kind of dereliction of duty is this!? Therefore, I must I want to punish you for your negligence, remove you from the position of chief minister of the cabinet, and fine you with a salary of three years... Are you convinced by my treatment?"
Zhou Shangjing lowered his head slightly, also showing a look of awe. He said slowly: "I did make an oversight, and I should be punished. I dare not refuse!"
"That's good." Emperor Deqing's expression was very grim. Then he took the opportunity to announce to the officials that Shen Changmao would succeed Zhou Shangjing as the chief minister of the cabinet.
Originally, when the Suzhou Yamen concealed the Japanese pirates' rebellion, Zhou Shangjing's crime should clearly be "deceiving the emperor", and Emperor Deqing's punishment for Zhou Shangjing was also very light, almost nothing; but now, between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing, Under the clever cover-up, Zhou Shangjing's crime became a "crime of negligence." In this way, Emperor Deqing's punishment for Zhou Shangjing became very severe.
pity. Most officials did not understand the truth of the matter. When they saw that Emperor Deqing punished Zhou Shangjing severely just because of Zhou Shangjing's oversight, a powerful minister like Zhou Shangjing actually accepted Emperor Deqing's order without any resistance. They couldn't help but be shocked, and they became even more in awe of Emperor Deqing.
the other side. Seeing the changes in the expressions of the officials, Emperor Deqing's eyes flashed with satisfaction.
Nowadays, due to the rectification of business and taxation, the interests of the officials have been violated. Although the situation between the government and the opposition is a bit chaotic, as long as Emperor Deqing's prestige is still there and the officials are still in awe of Emperor Deqing, then Deqing will The emperor can still control the overall situation.
What's more, taking advantage of this secret agreement, Emperor Deqing could slightly suppress Zhou Shangjing's prestige, but he also killed two birds with one stone.
At the same time, Zhao Junchen, as one of the insiders, saw Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing acting together. Not only was there no sarcasm in his eyes, but a trace of solemnity flashed across his eyes.
Obviously, because of the secret agreement between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing, in the next period of time, Zhou Shangjing will unconditionally cooperate with Emperor Deqing's actions to stabilize the situation between the government and the opposition. This also means that after this secret agreement ends Previously, Emperor Deqing not only lost Zhou Shangjing's control, but also received Zhou Shangjing's support. Therefore, Emperor Deqing's control over the situation between the government and the opposition will also be unprecedentedly improved.
Because of this, Zhao Junchen has now secretly made up his mind that he will never do anything against Emperor Deqing's will before the secret agreement between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing ends.
At least, not on the surface.
Otherwise, even if Zhao Junchen was well prepared and anticipated the enemy, he would never be able to resist the combined power of Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing.
"It seems that many things need to be put on hold for a while."
Zhao Junchen thought secretly.
*****
However, while Zhao Junchen was thinking about it, Emperor Deqing had already begun to threaten officials.
"...Local officials despised the authority of the central government, violated the central government's orders, and even dared to deceive the central government. This situation must not be tolerated! If this continues for a long time, it will be a situation where the country will not be able to generalize! The hundreds of years of the Ming Dynasty will also be ruined. Sooner or later, it will be destroyed! Therefore, I have decided that from now on, if any official dares to disobey the central government order again, the crime will be increased to third level, and no mercy will be given lightly!"
Emperor Deqing's words were spoken solemnly and resolutely, seemingly to prevent the Suzhou Yamen from secretly concealing the Japanese pirates' rebellion from happening again, but Zhao Junchen knew the true intention of Emperor Deqing's decree. , in fact, it is just to stabilize the situation between the government and the opposition and pave the way for the rectification of business and taxation.
Then, Emperor Deqing said a lot more, either encouraging or warning, but most of them had the implicit intention of strengthening the authority of the central government, implying that the officials would never resist the imperial decree in the future, otherwise they would be severely punished.
Unlike Prince Zhu Heyu, Emperor Deqing was by no means a monarch who was easy to fool, so after hearing Emperor Deqing's hint, all the officials were subconsciously frightened. They never dared to underestimate Emperor Deqing. He was determined and did not dare to go against Emperor Deqing's will - especially after Emperor Deqing had just punished Zhou Shangjing heavily.
Therefore, as Emperor Deqing finished his statement, the atmosphere in Huangji Hall became extremely heavy. Although the officials were a little reluctant, they all accepted the decree and expressed their agreement.
Seeing the attitude of the officials, Emperor Deqing nodded with satisfaction.
Then, Emperor Deqing said: "Let's stop talking about the southern tour for now! Now, after four months, I have finally returned to the center of the capital. During this period, is there anything the court needs? Reported to me?"
As Emperor Deqing finished speaking, Zhao Junchen's eyes flashed slightly, knowing that the opportunity to impeach Huang Yourong had come.
Therefore, according to the prior arrangement, Zhao Junchen nodded slightly to Zuo Lanshan, Tong Huan, Qin Huaiyuan and other members of the "Zhao Party", indicating that they would come out to impeach Huang Yourong. In addition to retaliating against Huang Yourong, he also acted for Gu Quan, Zhan Shanchang, and Liu Chang'an. Three people were restored to official positions.
After receiving Zhao Junchen's signal, all the "Zhao Party" officials also cheered up and planned to act according to the plan and speak out.
However, before all the "Zhao Party" officials took action, others took the opportunity to speak.
I saw a supervisory censor named Li Yuran suddenly come out and report to Emperor Deqing: "Your Majesty's words, I deeply believe it! Officials of our dynasty should abide by the laws and disciplines of the court and resolutely implement the central government's decrees. This is the most important thing. If officials despise the authority of the court and violate central government orders, then His Majesty will not be able to govern a hundred officials, and a hundred officials will not be able to govern all the people, which will lead to chaos in the government and the public. Therefore, officials who violate the laws and regulations of the court must also be strictly punished. More punishment can serve as a warning to others..."
This supervisory censor named Li Yuran is a rare neutral official in the court. He has not taken refuge in any faction. He behaves very low-key on weekdays, but today for some reason, he quoted the classics and talked nonsense. A lot of them are in agreement with Emperor Deqing's attitude.
Just when the officials were getting impatient because of this man's verbose words, Li Yuran suddenly changed the topic and said: "As a supervisory censor, I am usually responsible for harassing and impeaching officials, but today I am... I heard something that must be reported to Your Majesty - there is a newly promoted young official who is outstanding in his own talents, but is lawless and disobeys government orders. This person is one of the officials who accompanied him south. He was supposed to return to the capital with His Majesty, but yesterday he left the southern patrol team privately and returned to the capital early without informing any superiors! Although this mistake is not serious, this person's attitude of contempt for the emperor and disobedience of government orders is. It is very obvious, and I believe that this person was obviously committing the crime against the odds and should be severely punished as His Majesty issued repeated orders!"
As Li Yuran finished speaking, the expressions of Zhao Junchen, Prince Zhu Heyu, Ge Lao Cheng Yuandao and others all changed slightly.
Among them, Zhao Junchen's eyes showed deep thought.
Because, through Li Yuran's description, they had already guessed who Li Yuran wanted to impeach!
On the other side, after hearing Li Yuran's impeachment, Emperor Deqing frowned and asked, "Oh? Yesterday, someone actually left the southern patrol team without reporting to the summit and returned to the capital early? Who was it?" "
Li Yuran replied slowly: "This person is Zhao Shancai, who is ranked second in the modern science and editor of the Hanlin Academy!"
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ps: The state is still very bad, I barely wrote more than 3,000 words, so I will post it first!
…(To be continued.)
