"Where did you get the hangover soup?"
Zhu Zaijing asked as he wiped his freshly washed face and looked at the hot soup on the table.
"After all, His Majesty is going to meet Master Yang and Master Pan soon, so it's good that the drunkenness has dissipated a little!"
"Why is my drinking so bad? I'm so happy! This matter has been completely reversed in just one day. I can kill three birds with one stone. I'm very happy!"
"Your Majesty said it! Your Majesty said it!"
"Okay!" Zhu Zaijing casually threw down his face towel, took a sip of hot soup and said, "Let them come in!"
Yang Bo and Pan Jixun walked into the house together.
"I will see you, Your Majesty!"
"No gift!"
The two of them got up and saw Zhu Xizhong on the bed, their faces full of disbelief.
"You should have heard about what happened in the capital! Zhu Xizhong was injured during the investigation, so I will not return to the palace for the time being. We will take out the key evidence here before going back!"
Afterwards, Zhu Zaijing briefly introduced the ins and outs of the whole thing.
"The people Zhang Dali arranged to meet should be the ones I've arrested!" Yang Bo said, "If that's the case, we should be able to get Li Yuan's smuggling evidence before dawn!"
In fact, Zhu Zaijing could have captured Zhang Dali based solely on his confession, and then looked for evidence while interrogating him.
But Zhu Zaijing, who is now murderous, doesn't want this.
He wanted to make the matter the biggest issue and deal with it very quickly, without giving others a chance to react or report a confrontation.
After all, these three places, Xungui, Jingying, and the Ministry of War, have to be cleaned up through this incident, and many, many people have to be killed.
In order to solve the problem with lightning force, Li Yuan's evidence must be sufficient and irrefutable.
"Yes, I have asked the Jin Yiwei to interrogate those people you brought. I believe there will be results soon."
Sure enough, under Jin Yiwei's memory summoning technique, those few people explained everything.
It turned out that they were Li Yuan's subordinates. They moved in two groups. After joining Zhang Dali and others, they were responsible for silencing them.
The other road is in Zhang Dali's hometown. After receiving the news from the capital, Zhang Dali's sister will be silenced.
This bastard never thought of giving the Zhang brothers and sisters a way to survive!
After knowing his viciousness, Zhang Dali agreed to correct him in court and reveal all his dirty secrets.
The firearms smuggling route used by Li Yuan and the Tatars was also found. Several Shanxi businessmen who frequently traveled to and from the capital were responsible for escorting the firearms all the way out of the Great Wall.
After leaving the Great Wall, there were a few traitors on the Tatar side. Yes, they were Han Chinese who had defected to the Mongols. They would contact them, pay with one hand, and deliver the goods with the other.
"How long has Li Yuan been smuggling firearms?" Zhu Zaijing asked.
"Your Majesty, he...he started in the 43rd year of Jiajing!"
"According to Zhang Dali, in the past few years he has sold at least 500 firearms, sulfur, gunpowder, and lead bullets totaling nearly 10,000 kilograms!"
Zhu Zaijing clenched his fists and began to choose a way to die for Li Yuan in his mind.
"Where are those Shanxi businessmen?"
"They came to the capital just three days ago and haven't left yet. The people below have already gone to arrest them."
Zhu Zaijing's face turned pale and he stood up slowly.
Zhu Xizhong also sat up on the bed, completely unable to tell that he was someone who had just been seriously injured.
Yang Bo and Pan Jixun also understood the seriousness of the matter and looked at Zhu Zaijing to wait for orders.
"Go back to the palace!"
…
The cabinet was on duty. Several cabinet ministers had been staying here for a day and a night. The emperor suddenly left the palace for some reason and sealed the place to prevent anyone from entering or exiting.
The cabinet room was very quiet. Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng were sitting together talking about these things. Gao Gong and Guo Pu were playing chess to relieve their boredom, while Li Chunfang and Zhao Zhenji were reading books silently.
There were several plates of pastries on the table for them to fill their bellies with, and Izuku and two of them followed.
This is true for cabinet ministers, not to mention the officials in the six ministries and nine ministers below. No one leaves their office area.
Suddenly, a young eunuch came outside and shouted, "Your Majesty has a decree. You will be in court in the morning in half an hour!"
Before anyone could ask any more questions, the little eunuch left again.
Several people looked at each other, wondering what was going on.
The emperor has been relatively diligent since he ascended the throne, but this is the first time he has given such a sudden notice to the court.
When the time came, everyone came to Huangji Hall.
After a while, Zhu Zaijing also changed into his dragon robe and arrived.
"Long live my emperor! Long live!"
"No gift!"
"We only discussed one thing this morning!" Zhu Zaijing said, "Everyone must be confused. What exactly happened?"
"I'm here to clear up your doubts!"
"Zhu Shitai checked the capital camp, stepped on someone's tail, and then was assassinated and almost died!"
The ministers were all stunned, and the palace was surprisingly quiet!
"After that, I blocked the news, and of course the palace. I personally took Zhu Xizhong to find the murderer. Guess what?"
"Zhu Xizhong, come out and let everyone see you!"
Zhu Xizhong's blood-stained clothes were not changed, and the cloth bandaging his eyes was removed, revealing horrific wounds.
Zhu Xizhong walked to the center of the hall and let everyone take a good look at his injuries.
"Zhu Xizhong encountered resistance when he investigated the murderer and almost died!" Zhu Zaijing said, "The murderer was Zhang Dali, a member of the Qianhu Family in Beiwu Camp."
"Bring him in!"
Zhang Dali was also brought to the palace.
"That's what happened. Someone didn't want Zhu Shitai to continue the investigation, so he stabbed him in front of his house. His son was injured, so I went to find someone, but I was also killed during the investigation!"
"Okay! Very good!" Zhu Zaijing was angry, "I didn't expect that our Ming Dynasty would have such a person. It would be a pity not to send him to kill the enemy outside the customs!"
The ministers had a general idea of what had happened.
Some had faces full of horror, some were filled with indignation, and some were observing the situation.
"Li Yuan, the doctor in the Ministry of War, don't you want to say something?"
Li Yuan walked out tremblingly and knelt down.
"Your Majesty, I don't know what to say?"
Zhu Zaijing stood up and walked slowly among the ministers.
"Tell me how you instigated Zhang Dali to assassinate Zhu Shitai, and how you threatened Zhang Dali's sister?"
"Your Majesty! How could I do this? I am a minister of the imperial court. I...I read the books of saints...I..."
"Oh, you don't have one?" Zhu Zaijing's tone became amiable, "So Dongchang, Jinyiwei, Wucheng Bingma Division, Jingshi Jiumen, these people have been playing all day? You have nothing to do and you are wronging someone. Minister, are you having fun?"
"You're saying we're all doing this just for fun, right?"
Li Yuan's speech was incoherent. "Chen...I...this...that..."
"Bring those people in!" Zhu Zaijing no longer gave Li Yuan a chance to speak.
The guards arrested Zhang Dali's family soldiers, the few people who were responding outside the city, and several businessmen.
Zhu Zaijing sent all their confessions to the ministers.
After a while, he asked, "Have you finished reading it all?"
