Xing'an was already a little distracted.
Others may not know what happened, but Xing'an knew it clearly.
Cao Jixiang saw that Xing'an lowered his head and said nothing, so he had to stand up and answer Zhu Qizhen's question: "Your Majesty, Chen Xiang left the palace and went home yesterday, and never came back.
The imperial city was under martial law early this morning, and no one was allowed to enter or exit. He was afraid that he would be blocked from the outside and would not be able to enter for a while. "
Zhu Qizhen asked again: "Who initiated martial law? Marquis Wu Ding?"
Cao Jixiang shook his head: "The ones surrounding the imperial city are the Tiance Guards, the original four guards of the Royal Horse Guards. The Jinyi Guards are nowhere to be seen.
From this point of view, the person who enforced martial law should be Hao Yi, the eunuch in charge of the imperial horse supervisor. "
"Aren't there tens of thousands of people in Jinyiwei? My brother doesn't use them at all?"
Cao Jixiang replied: "As far as I know, the emperor is quite afraid of Dongchang and Jinyiwei. Not only did he not reuse them, but he also took extreme precautions for fear that Jinyiwei would be detrimental to the emperor.
At the beginning of last year, after Wala was defeated and the capital had just calmed down, the emperor made reforms to Jinyiwei and transferred all six military craftsmen Qianhu Institutes under Jinyiwei to the outer city to build a new ordnance factory.
They also strictly ordered the Jinyi Guards in Beijing not to be equipped with heavy armor or firearms. "
Zhu Qizhen was extremely surprised when he heard this: "Jinyi Guards, as the first guard of the Supreme Guard, are not allowed to equip heavy armor and firearms. What is the reason for this?"
Cao Jixiang smiled bitterly and said: "The Jinyi Guards are no longer the first guard of Shangzhi. The Tiance Guards who are subordinate to the Royal Horse Supervisor are now the real first guards of Shangzhi.
The emperor did not allow the Jin Yiwei to possess heavy armor and firearms, so that when the Jin Yiwei launched a rebellion, they could be eliminated as soon as possible.
Your Majesty, you also know that without considering firearms, heavy armor versus light armor is a one-sided massacre. "
Zhu Qizhen took a breath of cold air: "In other words, if I plan to launch a mutiny, the Jin Yiwei can't count on it? My brother is really careful. When I was still in Oara, he was on guard against me planning a mutiny. ”
Cao Jixiang replied: "Not only the Jinyi Guards, but also the Five Cities Military and Horse Divisions were greatly adjusted by the emperor. Only the North City and Nancheng Military and Horse Divisions were granted to Empress Zhou's father and brothers.
The three most important military divisions, Zhongcheng, Dongcheng and Xicheng, were all controlled by the Wu and Guo families. "
Zhu Qizhen pondered for a moment and then asked: "Will Queen Zhou's family be willing to follow me in launching a mutiny?"
Cao Jixiang shook his head: "It is said that Queen Zhou and the emperor are very close, and Queen Zhou is very satisfied with the current situation. She even told the palace people around her that the prince only needs to be a prince in the future."
When Zhu Qizhen heard this, he frowned tightly.
Cao Jixiang quickly persuaded: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, the emperor previously ordered his slaves to supervise the 10,000 Beijing troops transferred back from Datong. With these 10,000 Beijing troops, plus the nobles, vassal princes, slaves and others, Ten thousand servants, a full 20,000 people, can give it a try."
Zhu Qizhen was still worried: "Ren Li and Mao Zhong are really willing to lead these 10,000 Beijing troops to launch a mutiny with me?"
Cao Jixiang replied with certainty: "They may not be willing now, but what if the situation changes? What if the emperor is seriously ill? The soldiers of the Fifth Army Camp and the Three Thousand Battalions are all devoted to His Majesty. What is missing now is just the opportunity."
"What about the Shenji Camp and the Xiaoqi Camp?"
Cao Jixiang smiled and said: "Shanxi was about to have a civil uprising caused by the emperor. The emperor had no choice but to transfer the main forces of the Shenji Battalion and Xiaoqi Battalion to Shanxi.
Your Majesty, please don’t believe that Shenji Battalion and Xiaoqi Battalion went to Shanxi to supervise the construction of the Great Wall defense line and collect the remains of civil engineering soldiers.
In fact, a civil uprising of the same magnitude as in the southeast is about to occur in Shanxi, and the Tartars in Hetao have been continuously driven away by the imperial army in the past two years, and it is very likely that they will also flow to Shanxi.
The emperor had no choice but to send a large army to garrison in advance. "
Zhu Qizhen suddenly realized that there was such a hidden secret in it.
After being excited, Zhu Qizhen calmed down and looked at Cao Jixiang thoughtfully, but he had doubts in his heart: Why didn't he say these things earlier? At that time, I couldn't get actual information, and what I heard was what others wanted me to hear. This was the failure of Tumu.
Does Cao Jixiang have any other plans now?
Thinking of this, Zhu Qizhen dismissed everyone and prepared to wait and see what would happen.
In the cabinet, the important ministers did not wait too long before they received the emperor's order: the Sanfa Division was ordered to summon Sun Zhong immediately to interrogate the case of Sanyang's collusion with the inner court and conspiracy to abolish the queen. Hao Yi, the eunuch of the imperial horse supervisor, was ordered to attend by the emperor. .
When Wang Wen and Wei Ji heard this, they immediately returned to the Ministry of Punishment.
At this time, Zou Qian suddenly grabbed Wei Ji and advised him: "This is a serious matter, so I ask you both to think about the country and not to shake the foundation of the country."
Wei Ji and Wang Wen looked at each other, neither of them gave a reply, and just left.
Returning to the Punishment Department, Wang Wen and Wei Ji saw that the Punishment Department was also filled with heavily armed soldiers. Xue Xuan, Kou Shen, and Xiao Weizhen were already waiting there with Sun Zhong.
Wang Wen and Wei Ji asked and found out that Sun Zhong had been poisoned by his grandson-in-law and almost died.
Only then did the two people understand why Zou Qian was afraid of shaking the country's foundation: there was internal strife in the Sun family. Now, once the Queen Mother Sun fell, both the Emperor Gongrang and the Crown Prince would suffer.
The two comforted Sun Zhong again before starting to examine the case.
Hao Yi attended on behalf of the emperor, which put a lot of pressure on everyone.
Wang Wen chose to try the case of Sun Zhong's poisoning first. Soon Sun Zhong's grandson-in-law was brought to the court. He saw that this stupid woman had been beaten to a bloody pulp. At the same time, a confession was also handed over. In front of Wang Wen.
Wang Wen sighed, this was in line with the process. The Jinyiwei was ordered by the emperor to commit the person to the imperial edict, complete the sentence, record the confession, and then send the prisoner and the confession to the Ministry of Punishment.
This is how Jin Yiwei has always tried cases. In this way, it saves the Third Law Division trouble.
Wang Wen and others confirmed the confession with Sun Zhong's granddaughter-in-law, and then sent her to the Metropolitan Procuratorate Prison for detention.
Immediately afterwards, Sun Zhong repeated yesterday's testimony.
Not only that, Sun Zhong improved more details this time, and added testimony that the Queen Mother Sun ordered the imperial doctor to poison Queen Hu and Princess Shunde, and that the Queen Mother Sun plotted to steal the palace prince as her own son.
Xue Xuan, Kou Shen, Xiao Weizhen and others were all frightened, but with Hao Yi listening, no one dared to say anything to stop them.
After Sun Zhong finished speaking, he signed the testimony very resolutely, and then sat down in the hall, waiting to confront Jin Ying.
But Sun Zhong thought too much. Jin Ying had already been subdued by Jin Yiwei's torture, and had already suffered all the punishments that needed to be dealt with. Now that the Queen Mother's own father has betrayed him, why should Jin Ying refute?
When things got to this point, everything went very quickly.
Sun Zhong was in the Ministry of Punishment and borrowed pen and paper to write a confession.
The Ministry of Punishment urgently delivered the confession, testimony, and Sun Zhong's confession to the emperor.
The Criminal Department and the Jin Yiwei separately went to arrest the people involved outside the palace, and Ruan Xi was responsible for arresting the people involved in the inner court.
At noon, when Zhu Qiyu was eating, all the documents from the Ministry of Punishment were delivered.
Zhu Qiyu looked at the copy and shook his head repeatedly.
Su Xi asked curiously: "Is what Sun Zhong said true or false? Did Queen Mother Sun really poison the queen mother? And she also secretly took the palace son as her own son? Once this testimony is released, I am afraid there will be violent turmoil between the government and the opposition. .”
Zhu Qiyu teased angrily: "What's true or false? Since Sun Zhong said so, we just believe it. Isn't there Jin Ying's confession as evidence?"
As for the civil and military officials, the government and the public, whether you believe it or not, let them do whatever they want.
It just so happens that the vassal king is about to go to Beijing. At that time, a meeting of the relatives will be held and let them decide how to deal with it.
Now, these testimonies, confessions, and Sun Zhong's memorial will be sent to the ministers for them to conduct court discussions. "
Su Xi confirmed: "Are the civil and military officials of the fifth rank and above in Beijing gathered at the Fengtianmen court meeting, and then the Sanfa Division will circulate these to the ministers in public?"
Zhu Qiyu smiled and said: "You little girl, how can you be more ruthless than me! Okay, you can write a reply to them. In addition, I will order Zou Qian to repay Gong and let the emperor know, and please let the emperor preside over the court meeting on my behalf. .”
Lin Xiangyu heard this and praised: "It's obvious that you two are a couple who love each other very much. One of you is watching the fun and it's not too big a deal, while the other is murdering someone and you're heartbroken. It's true that the husband sings and the wife follows suit, playing the harp and the harp in harmony."
Zhu Qiyu smiled and said: "As a concubine, Qi'er, you can also give half of your husband's advice."
"Then let the Marquis of Huichang attend the court meeting and give a speech to all the officials in person."
"good!"
…
The western suburbs are more than thirty miles away from the imperial city. If you run faster, you will arrive in half an hour.
Not long after the officials finished lunch, they were summoned by the cabinet to a meeting in front of Fengtian Gate.
Zou Qian, on the other hand, went to Nangong to ask for an audience with Emperor Gongrang.
(End of chapter)
