Outside Shangyang Palace.
The eunuch on duty stopped Zhang Zhengyang, stood on the steps, and spoke condescendingly.
"Master Zhang, Your Majesty has gone to bed. If you have anything to do, just write to the court tomorrow."
"I have something important to report. I'd like to ask Eunuch Xu to report it."
Zhang Zhengyang looked at the brightly lit palace, and heard the sound of silk and bamboo singing and dancing, and women chasing each other and laughing from time to time.
Eunuch Xu said, "We dare not disturb His Majesty's rest. Master Zhang, please come back."
"My lord, please see your Majesty!"
Zhang Zhengyang knelt down outside the palace gate, with tears streaming down his face and a sad voice, and kept asking to see His Majesty.
Dong Dong Dong kowtowed, blood oozing out from his forehead.
After a long time.
There was no response from the palace. Zhang Zhengyang's expression changed from determined to miserable and decadent. After three kowtows and nine bows, he stood up and left with difficulty.
"My lord, resign!"
…
In the palace.
Forty or fifty gorgeous palace maidens were dancing and playing in the palace, but there was no figure of Emperor Yongxing on the dragon chair in front of him.
After Zhao Yuan ascended the throne, Jianyuan Yongxing was established.
This year is still the eighteenth year of Hongchang, and next year will be the year of Yongxing.
Eunuch Xu quickly came to the small pavilion in the back hall, went in and knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zhang has left the palace."
Emperor Yongxing was leaning on a soft cave, with more than 20 people standing on his left and right, all of them noble officials. On the left was Liang Dong, the Minister of War, and on the right was Xie Wei, the Minister of Officials.
The two were Zhang Zhengyang's confidants, and at this time they had joined Emperor Yongxing's command.
The emperor and his courtiers, as well as the civil and military officials, all saw clearly that the powerful Prime Minister Zhang was bound to fall, and plans had to be made early.
Emperor Yongxing asked: "Xiang Zhang just retreated like this. Is there any disobedience?"
Eunuch Xu said truthfully: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zhang looked desperate and had no complaints."
"Zhang Xiang is still sensible."
Emperor Yongxing waved Eunuch Xu to retreat, and asked the eunuch waiting on one side: "Defu, can you find out who is spreading the rumor?"
Li Defu was originally an eunuch in the palace of the King of Qin. He had been serving Emperor Yongxing since he was a child. Now he became the chief minister of etiquette and the commander of the royal guards.
"Back to Your Majesty, there were too many people in the palace that night, and it will take some time for a thorough investigation."
Emperor Yongxing said coldly: "What's wrong with entering the palace to quell the rebellion? What I'm asking is who is spreading rumors about killing the sixth brother?"
Since the issuance of the enthronement edict, various rumors spread throughout Shenjing, such as usurping the throne, being unfilial, and other infamy, which made Emperor Yongxing's position unstable.
Li Defu knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, this old slave deserves to die. He has not completely controlled the Jin Yiwei yet."
Emperor Yongxing frowned slightly. He wanted to ask someone to drag this good-for-nothing out and beat him to death, but he ascended the throne in a hurry and there were too few people available.
The commander of Jinyiwei is too critical and sensitive, and would rather treat him as a loyal waste than let outsiders interfere.
"Your Majesty, anyone with a discerning eye knows that this matter is false. Those people don't care about the truth or falsehood at all. They only want to stain your Majesty's reputation."
Xie Wei said: "Instead of tracing the traces of the rumor mongers and letting others lead them by the nose, it is better to go straight to the root cause. The beneficiaries of this rumor are nothing more than those three!"
The former emperor's six princes, the eldest son was imprisoned in the cold palace, the sixth prince was dead, and there were only three people qualified to replace Emperor Yongxing.
Emperor Yongxing nodded slightly, a fierce light flashed in his eyes. He was soft-hearted when he killed his first brother, but he became much more comfortable when he killed him again. If he had not taken his reputation into consideration, he would have killed his three younger brothers, and the rumors in the capital would be self-defeating.
"This is a group of people who hide their heads and show their tails. After I negotiate peace with Dayong, I will send all the armies from all the prefectures back to the capital to punish them!"
Emperor Yongxing looked at the Minister of War: "Is the capital camp safe?"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty! I went to the Beijing camp alone and scolded the Sun family for only drinking the blood of soldiers and wasting their grace. I removed my authority on the spot. Several of the troublemaking soldiers were beheaded. No one dared to raise any objections. The military power of the Beijing camp was completely taken away. hand."
Liang Dong said quite proudly: "In order to prevent the Sun family from resurrecting, we have also disrupted the soldiers in the Beijing camp and transferred them to other yamen in Shenjing. It is already foolproof."
Emperor Yongxing praised: "Master Liang is really the pillar of the imperial court."
The capital camp was Emperor Yongxing's only worry. Even if other demons and monsters rebelled, it would be difficult to break through the imperial palace which was strictly guarded by the Imperial Army.
Now Emperor Yongxing has announced to the world, recognized by the Fengyang state governments, that the rebels cannot quickly attack the palace, and the arrival of King Qin's army will inevitably be wiped out.
At this time.
A voice came into the pavilion.
"Your Majesty, an assassin has been caught."
Emperor Yongxing snorted coldly: "Bring him in."
A white-robed monk came in, with an old face and a thin body.
The old monk held a man in night clothes in his hand, waved his hand and threw it to the ground. He did not kneel to Emperor Yongxing, but reported directly: "This man has a nickname of "touching the sky" and is very good at Qinggong. I heard that he was recruiting for the Prince of Chu's palace a few days ago. .”
Emperor Yongxing said: "A mere village man dares to claim the title of Heaven. Send him to prison for interrogation, check his nine tribes, and send him to the northern Xinjiang army to be exiled!"
"As commanded."
The monk snapped off the man's limbs and disappeared like a ghost.
Emperor Yongxing looked at the kneeling Li Defu and praised: "This is a good job. Although people in the world are not on the stage, they can prevent young people from snooping into the palace."
Li Defu breathed a sigh of relief, patted his horse and said, "Your Majesty, I don't dare to take credit. When those righteous masters heard that they were working with Your Majesty, they all rushed to join the Jinyi Guards as errands."
Emperor Yongxing said happily: "It seems that the people have returned to me!"
The two ministers twirled their beards and smiled, and the officials on the left and right clapped their hands and praised.
"Your Majesty has been ordered by heaven to live a long and prosperous life!"
Emperor Yongxing had great determination.
"Then according to the established plan, I will be a weak king for a few days, and when those clowns come out, I will catch them all."
…
Northwest corner of the palace.
A remote and cold nameless palace.
When the chamberlain on duty saw Zhang Zhengyang coming, instead of stopping him, he bowed and saluted.
"Prime Minister, His Highness has been waiting for you for a long time."
There was only one candle lit in the hall, which was dark and dark. The deposed prince Zhao Xian was pacing back and forth, looking quite anxious.
Zhang Zhengyang came in and said: "Your Highness, when encountering major events, you need to calm down!"
"Father-in-law doesn't know something."
Zhao Xian looked slightly bitter: "I heard from the palace servant that my younger brother has accepted the two ministers of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel, and holds the military power of the Beijing camp and the appointment and dismissal of officials. The throne is becoming more and more secure."
Zhang Zhengyang said: "Liang Dong, the old boy who talks about military affairs on paper, and Xie Wei, the grassroots who adapts to the wind, there is no need to pay attention to these two losers."
Zhao Xian asked doubtfully: "Aren't these two officials who were promoted by my father-in-law?"
Zhang Zhengyang was old and weak. Not long ago, he cried and kowtowed in Shangyang Palace. Most of his strength was spent, so he found a round stool and sat down.
"If you really promote ministers, the late emperor may have replaced me as the first assistant. In the future, when you ascend the throne as emperor, remember not to let only one voice in the court, even if it is wrong, there must be two!"
Zhao Xian bowed and said, "I sincerely follow my father-in-law's teachings."
"You should really listen to me. You shouldn't have interacted with the Li family in the first place. Why did you end up like this?"
Zhang Zhengyang knew that his son-in-law was of average talent and had no ability or intelligence, so he just wanted to make some moves, which turned what was once a sure chance of victory into a big headwind.
If it hadn't been for his daughter's request and he had a grandson, Zhang Zhengyang would have followed the late emperor's edict.
After holding the power of chief minister for twenty years and going through many ups and downs, Zhang Zhengyang was confident that he would send the other three ministers who cared about life to jail.
Not even the emperor’s own mother!
