Since they have accepted the order, everyone can go do their own work, and the emperor will not keep everyone in Qianqing Palace for too long.
And when these people left, the attendant suddenly handed over a note saying that the eldest princess Yongkang wanted to see her.
Zhu Houzhao was a little surprised, but it was good to see his aunt. It happened that he had just been nervous and could take a rest now.
Princess Yongkang's elder Zhu Houzhao was 13 years old. In modern times, it can be said that she was not yet thirty, but she was obviously not young at this time.
Therefore, there is quite a sense of grace in the posture.
Zhu Houzhao smiled and asked her to stand up, "Auntie, there is no need to be polite. They are all family members."
"The etiquette cannot be abolished, the emperor is now the emperor."
Zhu Houzhao is her junior and her support. Of course, the courtiers thought that the emperor was old, but Zhu Houzhao's appearance was actually still childish... so Princess Yongkang also had a look of love in her eyes.
"Auntie is entering the palace at this time, but what's the matter?"
Princess Yongkang came here to complain. She wanted to tell the emperor everything about Yongkang Hou Xu Qi's visit to her home.
So when asked, he immediately started talking non-stop.
When he finally finished, he said: "Logically speaking, my aunt, a woman, shouldn't talk too much about court matters. But if the things that Marquis Yongkang came to the house to say were not reported to the Holy One, I would feel really uncomfortable."
"My family is still different after all." Zhu Houzhao felt relaxed for a while, and a smile appeared on his face, "I am very touched that my aunt can have such a heart. But aunt doesn't have to worry about this matter, I will handle it properly."
After hearing this, Princess Yongkang felt relieved.
"That's good."
With that said, she stopped wasting the emperor's time and stood up to leave.
Zhu Houzhao stopped him and said, "It's not easy for my aunt to go to the palace. If there is nothing else, please accompany me to the Yongshou Palace."
Princess Yongkang didn't expect it, but she didn't say much nonsense and just obeyed the order.
On the way, she walked beside the emperor.
"...Some time ago, one of my nobles had a miscarriage, and her health has improved a bit now. But she is depressed all day long, and the days in the palace are extremely miserable. If my aunt is free, she can also comfort her for me. "
Princess Yongkang also vaguely knew something about this.
But how can I put it, this kind of thing is not easy to talk about after all.
"Okay. By the way, Your Majesty doesn't have to worry about this. Your Majesty is in the prime of his youth and will definitely have more children and grandchildren in the future."
"I'm fine."
Princess Yongkang thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, when it comes to comforting people, I am not particularly good at comforting people. But if your Majesty allows me, I can tell you some things about Buddhas and elders. There is a god in your head. As long as you are sincere, It’s not difficult to get pregnant again.”
Engage in feudal superstition and beg gods?
Zhu Houzhao didn't do this himself, so he really ignored it.
After Princess Yongkang reminded her, she actually felt that it was not impossible. This kind of thing is about a spiritual sustenance. It is actually good to have this thing when you are depressed.
Anyway, Buddhism and Taoism are also things that encourage people to do good.
Believe it if you want, there is religious freedom even in the 21st century.
So he felt that if it could help improve his mood, there was nothing wrong with it. It was better than living in the harem every day. If this continued, even healthy people would get sick.
"My aunt is sincerely helping, so why don't I not allow it? If possible, you can take her to pay homage to Guanyin and other gods from time to time."
Princess Yongkang couldn't help but laugh. What do you mean by worshiping all the gods? What the emperor said was really funny.
"Then I will go to Yongshou Palace to make an appointment with the two nobles on an auspicious date."
"Both of you?"
"Of course there are two of them. They will both give birth to dragon children for His Majesty. Should only one of them go?"
Hi.
Zhu Houzhao didn't worry about it so much, "That's fine."
Princess Yongkang rolled her eyes. Queen Mother Zhang would definitely be happy to see something like this happen, so it should be no problem.
…
…
The other side.
The first thing Han Wen did after receiving the order was to go to Xiyuan.
Because Marquis Yongkang had already handed over to Zou Cheng, there was no problem in arresting people in this way.
But Zou Cheng is still acting crazy in the house. He doesn't wear clothes properly and his hair is messy. The most important thing is that he exudes a foul and smelly smell, which makes people unable to get close. Basically, he is an annoyance to others and a disgusting thing to dogs.
Han Wen and Min Gui were both there. Fortunately, the two old men were well-informed. At most, they frowned.
Han Wen asked the servant kneeling next to him, "Have you found a doctor to diagnose and treat your master?"
"I told you to take it with me, but most of the doctors were unwilling to see my husband when they saw him like this. Even if there were some who were willing, they would send me away."
Both Han Wen and Min Gui knew in their hearts that this was just an act.
"Bring a chair and help your master sit down."
"Yes, little one, go right here."
Zou Cheng's performance is indeed realistic. His eyes are dull, and sometimes he giggles, drools, and even pulls out Min Gui's beard.
This made the unsmiling old man very angry.
After Zou Cheng sat down, Han Wen also sat down, supporting the table with his elbows, "Your Majesty, you don't believe you are crazy."
That's what he said.
Min Gui stared carefully, and there was indeed no change in Zou Cheng's face.
"According to Yongkang Marquis Xu Qi's confession, you have known him twenty years ago. Over the years, you have cooperated and helped each other, and you are considered old friends. It was he who helped you get the fat job of the Lianghuai Salt Envoy Come down. You reciprocate the favor. On the one hand, it will open the door for him to buy more salt. On the other hand, it will also become a link between him and the salt merchants."
】
Zou Cheng still didn't respond.
Han Wen was not in a hurry and continued anyway: "Your Majesty is very angry with you for pretending to be crazy and acting stupid. Your life cannot be saved no matter what. If you are really crazy, killing a lunatic will not make any difference. If you are pretending to be crazy, then kill a lunatic." The courtier who lies has nothing to lose. Ambassador Zou, you are a local official. Maybe you don't understand the emperor's mental methods today, so you made this stupid move."
"Besides gossiping, I just want to tell you something else. Gu Liqing will be released soon."
Zou Cheng's eyes flashed slightly,
He had feelings about this.
At the beginning, he was still very proud in front of others, but he didn't expect that he would completely reverse his attitude within a month.
But that's all.
Han Wen saw that he was focused on pretending, so he lost interest and called to the people around him, "Catch him and put him in jail. He will die after all. It's up to you."
Zou Cheng was troubled, he was doing this just to survive!
But it’s hard to stop pretending at this time.
Anyway, when Zhu Houzhao first heard about this situation, he didn't want to pay attention to such a person. If he beheaded and killed, there would be one less lunatic in the world.
Afterwards, the two ministers left the West Garden in a carriage.
People from the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple went to the West Garden to affix a seal, and the court wanted to confiscate this place.
In addition, the Ministry of Household Affairs also sent a letter to Yangzhou Prefecture, requesting that Zou Cheng's residence be inspected and his property returned to the public, but his family would not have any good results.
All in all, everything has begun.
But the Marquis of Yongkang is a little more complicated. After all, the Xu family is a title personally conferred by Emperor Taizong Yongle. If there is no sufficient reason, he cannot be convicted at will.
Otherwise, other honorable ministers will have to speak.
To this end, Han Wen also invited a British public prosecutor to try the case at the Yamen of the Ministry of Justice.
on the street,
The carriage carrying the two ministers drove to the Xingbu Yamen.
Min Gui said: "The salt envoys from the Huaihe River and the Marquis of Yongkang were imprisoned, and the imperial court issued such an edict. The court was bound to be shaken. Nowadays, there are officials in various disciplines who applaud him, but there are those who say that your majesty governs the country too fiercely. It exists. I am not worried, but I am worried that someone will use it to frame others. It is so harmful."
"So you and I need to examine it more carefully. And no matter who it is, it's not easy to get across the lake at His Majesty's side."
"You are also at the forefront."
Han Wen sighed, of course he understood.
But he no longer needed to talk about this issue.
The carriage suddenly stopped halfway, and through the sound of horse hooves, Han Wen heard a familiar voice.
He opened the curtain and said, "Deputy Envoy Mao, what do you want?"
"Uncle Nanning was reported. An account book was found in his house, which contains accounts of how he ordered relatives to sell salt at high prices and sell private salt privately. From the fifteenth year of Hongzhi to the present, every transaction is clear .”
Han Wen and Min Gui were actually quite calm after hearing this.
The number of people involved in the salt class is definitely indispensable. Nowadays, it is possible for any number of people to be included.
It's just that such hard evidence can be found in such a short period of time. It seems that Jin Yiwei's infiltration into Nanning's Mansion has reached an unimaginable level.
It's hard to say if it wasn't because of Mao Yuwen's resentment towards Nan Ningbo.
"If that's the case, let's send someone to arrest him first. Once the interrogation is clear, Your Majesty will make a decision."
Mao Yuwen was not in a hurry. Being too anxious would make him look bad. Now that the situation has been decided, what is there to be anxious about?
"yes!"
On the contrary, it should be Uncle Nanning who is so anxious.
Within three days in the capital, one marquis and one uncle were imprisoned respectively. Only then did people discover that the emperor was really serious.
At the same time, this matter is really big. In fact, apart from people in the government, there are also those private salt dealers. They are also people who resell private salt, right?
The question is, these days, how many salt merchants are not involved in private salt? In this way, I don’t know how many people will be killed?
If this continues, the storm will actually be much bigger than imagined... As long as it requires money, many salt merchants can tolerate it, but it is different if the court wants to kill people with a knife.
In the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the Salt Transfer Department in Lianghuai and Huaidu, there were also Salt Transfer Departments in Liangzhe and Zhejiang provinces, and in some other small places there were Salt Class Promotion Departments.
The matter occurred in Lianghuai, so the first place to investigate was naturally Yangzhou.
Marquis Yongkang and Uncle Nanning have already been imprisoned. These two are not strong bones, so Jin Yiwei will naturally get the list.
As a result, from the capital to Jiangnan, a rigorous arrest campaign to investigate illegal salt trafficking officially began.
