late at night.
The master and the apprentice packed up their bags and walked farther and farther on the road that violated the law...
After returning, Zhang Slutty caught up on his sleep while Li Qing made breakfast.
After breakfast, Li Qing took off his apron, thought for a moment, put on his official uniform, mounted his donkey, and rushed to the palace again.
Compared to yesterday's sneakiness, this time he was aboveboard.
The donkey had been depressed for a long time. As soon as it went out, it spread its hooves and ran wildly. Its foot strength was no less than that of a war horse.
It wasn't until he entered the stable that he lowered his proud head to prevent himself from looking too out of place.
~
Fengtian Temple.
It had been a long time since Li Qing came here, and Li Qing even felt strange.
After all, the Ministry of War was only in the seventh rank in Shizhong. Although he could enter the court, he was only at the end of the crane and stood at the door. Li Qing's arrival did not attract anyone's attention.
Li Qing was not very popular, and the six subjects around him were too lazy to pay attention to him.
He didn't care, he was happy and free.
Li Qing was completely transparent, but there was one person who was completely different from him and attracted everyone's attention.
The eunuch in charge of the ceremony, Wang Zhen!
That's right, Wang Zhen is also here today, replacing the previous standing eunuch and standing on duty himself.
The officials looked at him angrily: How dare this eunuch do this?
Wang Zhen was not afraid at all: Come on, let's hurt each other and see who can't bear it first. If our family frowns, we are not men.
Touching the missing piece of his ear, he became even more angry.
Damn it, Grandpa Wang is fighting with you today.
Thinking of Li Qing's guarantee, he didn't panic at all. In addition, after Li Qing counterattacked before, he actually scared off the civil servant group, Wang Zhen was full of confidence.
In fact, he didn't want to do it mentally, but he had no choice.
He has offended too many people, and the cause this time is the Empress Dowager Sun's own father, who is determined to please the emperor. Even if he survives the civil service, the Sun family may not be able to tolerate him.
We can only survive this crisis by going all out and making the emperor realize his own value.
Yu Qian glanced at Wang Zhen, then looked back at Li Qing's position, already thinking about it.
——Back to the Western Sea, today!
A quarter of an hour later, Zhu Qizhen walked into the main hall. Today, he was dressed in a dragon robe. He was at the age when he was very handsome, and he walked with wind.
When Wang Zhen saw him coming, he immediately came forward flatteringly, bent down to welcome him and walked to the dragon chair.
Zhu Qizhen was a little puzzled. He didn't know the details because Li Qing didn't tell him.
Wang Zhenze thought Li Qing would tell him, so he didn't communicate with Zhu Qizhen.
Seeing Zhu Qizhen's doubtful look, Wang Zhenhui mistakenly thought he was confirming, so he nodded heavily, with a look of death on his face.
Zhu Qizhen was even more confused: I just want to say, why are you here if you can't hide in the Ceremony Supervisor? You just nod your head like a hammer. What the hell are you doing?
It was not convenient to ask at the moment, so Zhu Qi suppressed his thoughts, turned around gracefully, and sat on the dragon chair.
The ministers bowed down and paid homage: "Long live my emperor, long live long live...!"
"Everyone is safe!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
The ministers stood up and went back to their respective classes, staring unkindly at Wang Zhen, the temporary eunuch on duty, with no trace of murderous intent.
Wang Zhen seemed to be unaware of this. He cleared his throat, raised his fly whisk, and sang in a sharp voice: "Every official who has his own abilities will start playing early, but if he has no abilities, he will retreat from the court."
"To report to your Majesty, I have this report!"
A loud voice sounded.
All the ministers looked surprised and turned their heads to look outside, because the sound came from outside the palace.
This is interesting. Generally speaking, most officials in the capital have the power to go to court, but in the true sense, only these people in the palace can discuss matters. This situation is a report beyond the level.
This has always been a taboo in officialdom. The officials couldn't help but become curious as to which department the visitor came from. Most of them had the mentality of "taking advantage of others".
A trace of surprise flashed in Zhu Qizhen's eyes, and he nodded slightly towards Wang Zhen.
"Go into the palace and answer the question!" Wang Zhen sang loudly with a playful expression.
After a while, a strong man wearing a flying fish suit, with mantis legs and a horse waist, strode into the hall and arrived in front of the emperor.
It was the commander of Jin Yiwei, Ma Shun!
Why is he here?
The ministers looked surprised.
Commanders of the Jinyiwei, who hold the rank of third-rank official, are naturally eligible to go to court to see the saints, but this rarely happens because the Jinyiwei specializes in serving the emperor and usually go to court in private.
I haven't seen this kind of thing put out in the open and played in the court for a long time.
Could it be that something big happened at the border? The officials speculated.
Zhu Qizhen was also very curious, "Ma Shun, what are you playing?"
"Reporting to your Majesty, the Jinyi Guards have the power to supervise all officials. I have found out that many officials have done something illegal!" Ma Shun said respectfully.
"brush--!"
The expressions of the officials changed slightly, and all eyes were focused on Ma Shun.
Then, he looked at Zhu Qizhen, and then glanced at Wang Zhen.
Jinyiwei is under the jurisdiction of the Dongchang, which is also a subordinate department of the Supervisor of Ceremonies. It can be said that the Jinyiwei now is no longer as aloof as it was when the Hongwu Dynasty was first established;
He completely became the lackey of the Supervisor of Ceremonies and worked hard for him!
The reason why the Jinyiwei fell to this place was thanks to Ji Gang, the commander of the Jinyiwei in the Yongle Dynasty.
Ji Gang's collusion with civil servants made Zhu Di no longer trust Jinyiwei. After the establishment of Dongchang, he gave him control over Jinyiwei.
Later, Zhu Zhanji established the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and the immediate superior of Jinyiwei became the eunuch of the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
But this does not mean that the imperial power has been emptied out. In fact, in terms of loyalty alone, eunuchs are also the most loyal group.
The moment they saw the shocked expression on Zhu Qizhen's face, the officials were sure that this was Wang Zhen's handiwork.
Everyone couldn't help but feel furious: Damn, what did this eunuch think? He even complained first.
None of us have clean butts, but this time it was obviously Wang Zhen who was in the wrong, and took action first without thinking about him.
Moreover, it is a killer move right from the start!
Isn't this why the evildoer complains first?
Zhu Qizhen also realized that something was unusual, and he quickly figured out the key point. This was because Wang Zhen was forced to act urgently and was ready to strike first.
However, he didn't understand why Wang Zhen suddenly became so tough.
The opportunity was not to be missed. Zhu Qizhen put aside his doubts for the time being and immediately said: "No matter what, there is no need to worry about anyone or anything."
"I obey the order." Ma Shun opened his mouth, "The head of the Household Department, Liu Zhongcheng, accepted bribes from his hometown landlords and concealed the number of acres of cultivated land and the commercial taxes generated by restaurants and shops. The evidence is conclusive;
Among the thirteen supervisory censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Jiangxi Road, Henan Road, Shandong Road... all accepted bribes and protected local officials;
The invigilator of the Ministry of Rites was suspected of leaking examination questions during the imperial examination last year, and is under strict investigation;
Liu Hong and Tang Guang, both foreign ministers of the Ministry of Industry, and Song Zhishu, the chief of staff, embezzled public funds and money and deducted wages from the shipwrights when they were casting treasure ships.
When the craftsmen asked for it, they ordered the government servants to whip them, which seriously damaged the prestige of the court and brought shame to the emperor. There were more than a dozen shipwrights who were willing to accuse them on the spot, and were willing to rebel if it was untrue. "
Ma Shun's memory was limited and he couldn't remember the rest, so he just fast-forwarded to the end.
"Illegal deeds have been reported among officials, households, rites, soldiers, criminals, workers, the Procuratorate, and Dali Temple." Ma Shunweng said in a loud voice, "I am vigorously investigating, and all the things I just reported have been reported. evidence."
"Bang——!" Zhu Qizhen slapped the paper weight, extremely angry, "How brave!"
Ma Shun cupped his hands and said, "I sincerely request your Majesty to take away the people involved in the case in order to cooperate with the investigation."
"Accurate!" Zhu Qizhen said coldly, "Be quick and strict. I will see the results within three days."
"yes!"
"Your Majesty, I am wronged!"
'Thump thump...! 'All the people involved in the case knelt down. It would be better if some things were not investigated, but once it is put on the line, beheading is a light thing. After all, according to the law of the Ming Dynasty, sixty taels of silver must be peeled off.
Chen Yi, the censor of the right capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, came out and said, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Guards are accustomed to being beaten to death. We do not rule out the possibility that they will use torture for the sake of political achievement."
"I second the proposal." Wang Zuo, the Minister of Household Affairs, came out. "In my opinion, it is better to let the Ministry of Punishment, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple, and the Three Law Departments jointly try the case. Only in this way can fairness and justice be guaranteed."
Then, Jin Lian, the current Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, went out to report: "I second the proposal. In addition, I suggest that this case be put together with Wang Zhen and handled together."
The threat is self-evident.
"I second my opinion."
"I also second the proposal."
…
Second opinions are endless.
Zhu Qizhen frowned, and he realized that things were getting a bit big.
It even started to develop in an uncontrollable direction...
