Hearing Hu Weiyong say that Lao Zhu's secret troop deployment was not aimed at him and others, the younger brothers who had looked frightened just now were immediately relieved and began to flatter Hu Weiyong.
Hu Weiyong did not get carried away because of these flattery words. He had heard countless similar words.
Just listen to him start to tell everyone, this is the real purpose of calling his brothers.
"Obey the order!"
"First, since His Majesty doesn't want us to know, then we have to pretend to know nothing. No one is allowed to act smart and spread it around, especially about the deployment of troops and horses, let alone make unreasonable comments."
"Second, after you return to your posts, you must quickly clean up all the memorial manuscripts that you have handled in the past six months. You must not leave anything that violates the laws and regulations of the imperial court. Even if there is something that cannot be dealt with, you must find a way to round it up. go back."
"This is the third thing. You should check yourselves. If anyone has poop on their butt, wipe it clean quickly and don't stink to others."
"As you command!"
Hu Weiyong was very satisfied with this when he saw that all the younger brothers went back to check and fill in the gaps with solemn faces.
Just when he picked up the Mu Ruyi gifted by Lao Zhu and was about to relax, a green-robed official barged in.
"To the Prime Minister, the Crown Prince has an order."
"At noon tomorrow, the emperor will enter the Fengtian Gate of the capital."
"Let your ministers meet you at the city gate. There is no need to go out of the city to greet you."
Hearing this, Hu Weiyong was stunned for a moment, and then he noticed something was wrong.
Why didn't His Majesty tell him when he returned to Beijing? Instead, he told such a small official.
Could it be that His Majesty's secret deployment of troops back to Beijing is not aimed at those arrogant and powerful generals, but against himself?
Thinking of this, Hu Weiyong's pupils shrank, and he quickly asked the little official in front of him, regardless of his dignity as prime minister.
"Li Jin, when His Majesty returned to Beijing, why didn't he inform the truth but informed you?"
"I don't know about this, Prime Minister," Li Jin replied.
Hu Weiyong saw through these obviously perfunctory words.
He realized that Lao Zhu must have given Li Jin a gag order.
So he started to make insinuations: "In the past six months, have you often delivered secret information to the Huangshan Palace?"
"Thank you to the Prime Minister, I don't do it all the time, but I do it every day according to the decree." Li Jin answered sincerely.
Hearing this, Hu Weiyong's heart was filled with uproar.
But he didn't show anything in front of Li Jin and found an excuse to send him away.
When he was the only one left in the room, Hu Weiyong could no longer hold back the panic in his heart.
He slumped down on the Taishi chair and was lost in thought for a long time.
In other words, Lao Zhu knew everything he had done in the past six months.
Realizing that Lao Zhu's return to Beijing was probably to deal with him, Hu Weiyong couldn't help but feel grateful that he had just explained it to his younger brothers.
As long as there is no evidence, Lao Zhu cannot touch himself.
…
The next day, Hu Weiyong led all the civil and military officials to pick him up at the city gate as if nothing had happened.
This shows how strong Hu Weiyong's psychological quality is.
As soon as they saw Zhu Yuanzhang's chariot, all the civil and military officials knelt down and kowtowed.
Lao Zhu took Zhu Biao out of the car and saw Hu Weiyong at the top of the hundred officials at a glance.
When the latter saw Lao Zhu, he immediately stood up and went to greet him.
"Your Majesty, Hu Weiyong, pays homage to your Majesty!"
Although Lao Zhu wanted to get rid of Hu Weiyong immediately, at this moment, it was obviously not the time.
He hid the murderous intent deep in his eyes and pretended to be patronizing, preparing to use this to confuse Hu Weiyong and make him lower his guard.
As the saying goes, life is like a play, it all depends on acting skills.
I saw Lao Zhu kindly put his hand on Hu Weiyong's shoulder and praised:
"Wei Yong, I've really worked hard on you these past six months."
"I have been ordered to carry out the government, and I can only do my best and not give up even if I die!" Hu Weiyong quickly expressed his loyalty.
"Okay, but you have been supporting me in the court, while we are enjoying the cool weather on Mount Huangshan."
"I feel a little bit sorry about this!"
What Lao Zhu said seemed to be true.
Those who didn't know thought that Lao Zhu was really sorry.
Hu Weiyong didn't know whether he was really stupid or fake. After hearing Lao Zhu's words, he breathed a sigh of relief, and his stiff face relaxed.
Smiling like a lotus flower.
"I see that Your Majesty is in good health. My hard work over the past six months has been well worth it!"
“So worth it!”
Seeing Hu Weiyong's excited expression, he knew that Hu Weiyong had been confused by him.
So in order to completely undermine Hu Weiyong's vigilance, Lao Zhu took advantage of this and used a move with a more graceful effect.
With a friendly smile on his face, Lao Zhu took Hu Weiyong's hand and walked towards the red carpet:
"Okay, Weiyong, let's go!"
"Your Majesty, I don't dare!" Hu Weiyong quickly refused.
"Hey~ let's go, come on!"
Lao Zhu didn't give Hu Weiyong a chance to refuse at all, and pulled him onto the red carpet.
No matter how you look at the smiles on their faces, they look like a picture of a monarch and his ministers in harmony, with a heart-to-heart relationship.
Zhu Biao, who was following Lao Zhu, watched this scene quietly and had to admire his father's patience.
He obviously hated Hu Weiyong so much that he could still act so kindly, as if nothing had happened.
Compared with my father, I am far behind!
…
After returning to the palace, Lao Zhu summoned Li Jin immediately to understand the situation.
The more he listened, the more Lao Zhu could not stop his murderous intention towards Hu Weiyong.
He abused power and violated the law, formed cliques for personal gain, and even attracted many generals.
What do you want to do?
Therefore, Lao Zhu quickly asked Zhu Biao, Erhu and others to conduct a thorough investigation.
Zhu Biao was responsible for re-reviewing the memorials of Zhongshu Province in the past six months, while Erhu was responsible for summarizing the evidence of Hu Weiyong's crimes reported by the spies.
…
"Your Highness, I am a military general. I cannot do the work of a civil servant!"
Yang Xuan completed the handover of the troops and horses in his hands. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he was called by Zhu Biao to reread Zhongshu Sheng's memorial.
This is completely a thankless task, and Yang Xuan doesn't want to do it.
What's more, Hu Weiyong has been Prime Minister for so many years, and his confidants have eyes and ears all over the government and the public. I am afraid that the army will be discovered as soon as it arrives near the capital.
After all, tens of thousands of troops, including navy, infantry, and cavalry, are not that easy to hide.
Knowing that Lao Zhu is coming back, will Hu Weiyong leave obvious flaws for himself?
If you think about it from his perspective, you wouldn't do that anyway.
Therefore, Zhu Biao is destined to find nothing.
But Yang Xuan couldn't say this.
Now, Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao all agree that such an investigation will definitely find evidence of Hu Weiyong's crime.
If Yang Xuan told them at this time, 'Don't waste your efforts, you will definitely not find evidence of Hu Weiyong's crime', one can imagine what the consequences would be.
Our predecessors have written down their experiences and lessons in history books.
Never act like you are smarter than the monarch at any time, especially during this special period.
Yang Xiu during the Three Kingdoms period is a good example.
Liu Bowen of this dynasty was also feared by Lao Zhu because he was too smart, so much so that he was granted the title of earl when the country was founded.
Logically speaking, Liu Bowen's credit should not be due to a duke, but at least to a marquis, right?
Who would have thought that he was just a count, and even his salary was the lowest among the counts.
For this reason, Lao Zhu also had a quarrel with Queen Ma.
…
