When most of the civil servants in the Wenhua Palace heard Liu Zongzhou's words, they lowered their heads or turned to look elsewhere.
Obviously, they should know, but no one wants to say it. Zhang Mingwei looked at this and came to this conclusion in his heart. He couldn't help but become more curious, and looked at the speaker with concern.
Liu Zongzhou was heard playing angrily: "Your Majesty, Liang Yizhang, the magistrate of Shangqiu County, was hacked by thieves but survived. After the thieves left, he luckily escaped with his life. He said that the reason why Guide Mansion fell into the hands of thieves was because Hou Fangxia, the son of Governor Hou Xun, led When the family broke through the city gate and left, they injured the defenders. This caused chaos among the people at the city gate, and the bandits took the opportunity to invade the city."
"What?" When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he was immediately furious and shouted sternly: "Is this true?"
When he said this, he turned to stare at Chief Assistant Zhou Yanru. If such a thing really happened, why didn’t the Chief Assistant report it just now?
Seeing the emperor coming towards him, Zhou Yanru complained in his heart, scolded Liu Zongzhou, and then replied: "Your Majesty, this matter is just a one-sided statement from Liang Zhixian. The ministers may have other hidden agendas, so they dare not report the untrue news." .”
"What other secrets could there be?" Liu Zong was furious when he heard this on Monday. Before Emperor Chongzhen could speak, he angrily rebuked, "Being greedy for life and fearing death, using his father's official position to suppress the defenders and unable to open the door, so he attacked the officers and soldiers. This is not Something obvious?"
Hou Xun, who had just been resurrected some time ago, replaced Ding Qirui as governor of Huguang, Henan, Sichuan and the armies north and south of the Yangtze River. He was so powerful that he was one of the few ministers in the Ming Dynasty.
More importantly, he was benevolent to Zuo Liangyu, who had a large number of soldiers. It was because of this that the court thought that he could manipulate Zuo Liangyu. At least that was what the court thought, so it gave him such great power.
Therefore, Liu Zongzhou's guess may not be unreasonable.
However, before Zhou Yanru could speak, another cabinet minister, Wei Zhaocheng, stood up and refuted him: "It is also possible that the Shangqiu County Magistrate was worried that the court would pursue the crime of losing the city, so it is unknown that he framed Hou Fangxia!"
"How unreasonable!" Liu Zongzhou said even more angrily after hearing this, "Guidefu City is a fortified city, how could it fall so easily? Besides, Magistrate Liang himself was wounded by a knife, and his wife Zhang, his son, daughter, and servants Everyone is dead, and you still dare to slander him? From my perspective, you are afraid of offending Hou Xun or taking money from the Hou family, right?"
Upon hearing this, several people in the Wenhua Hall immediately came out to refute it. They accused Liu Zongzhou of slander and complained to Emperor Chongzhen, demanding that Liu Zongzhou be punished.
Suddenly, there was a quarrel in the Wenhua Hall!
Emperor Chongzhen was so quarreled by them that his head hurt. If it were the original him, he would definitely think that what Zhou Yanru and others said was more reasonable, and considering that Hou Xun is currently in charge, he would most likely suppress this matter.
However, after last night's experience, he knew that the country was not far away from being subjugated at this time, and he also knew that the character of the chief minister Zhou Yanru and others had been stained. Therefore, he was 50/50 and felt that both sides were justified.
As a result, he couldn't make up his mind. He had no choice but to turn his head to look at Zhang Mingwei and ask: "Sir, what do you think of this matter?"
"..." After hearing this, everyone turned their attention to this strange guy in a python suit, feeling speechless in their hearts. How much does it take for someone to gain the emperor's trust to ask this person's opinion on everything?
Zhang Mingwei was already thinking about this issue when Liu Zongzhou and others were arguing. Therefore, when Emperor Chongzhen asked, he frowned slightly and asked Liu Zongzhou: "Is that Hou Fangxia dead or alive? If so, where is he?"
Liu Zongzhou knew that his words were tantamount to asking questions on behalf of the emperor, so he immediately replied: "I don't know where he is now, but according to what Liang Zhixian said, Hou Fangxia took advantage of dawn to kill the defenders and leave the city, and he should have broken out."
This means that we don't know whether Hou Fangxia is dead or alive. Zhang Mingwei thought about it, and then asked again: "Then where is Magistrate Liang now?"
"Currently recuperating in Yucheng." Liu Zongzhou knew this and gave a definite answer.
After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei turned around and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, we still need to find out the truth about this matter. Therefore, we will wait for County Magistrate Liang to recover from his injuries and find out the exact whereabouts of Hou Fangxia before starting the investigation." This case. In short, the court has a principle: it will not wrongly accuse a good person, and it will not let go of an evil thief!"
When he said this, he even blinked his eyes. Because he was speaking to Emperor Chongzhen, none of the officials saw it.
Emperor Chongzhen originally felt that what Zhang Mingwei said made sense, but when he looked at him with a wink, he knew that he had something else to say. He understood, nodded, and said solemnly: "What you said is very true. This matter must be investigated clearly." Only then can we draw a conclusion. The imperial court must not distinguish between loyalists and traitors, and only when loyalty and treachery are praised and traitors punished can there be hope for the Ming Dynasty!"
Hearing this, Liu Zongzhou couldn't help but his eyes lit up. These words spoke to his heart. So, he loudly played: "Your Majesty, I have my own intention to play!"
"Huh?" Emperor Chongzhen listened and nodded in agreement. But I thought he was still entangled in this matter, and felt a little unhappy in his heart.
Unexpectedly, Liu Zongzhou did not say this at all, but said righteously: "I was inexplicably moved when I heard what your majesty just said. This is indeed my hope for the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, I ask Lu Xiangsheng, who died in the battle, to hunt down the miscreants." The treacherous minister Yang Sichang has been arrested and punished by the domineering commander-in-chief Zuo Liangyu. Only in this way can all the commander-in-chief and commander-in-chief know how to be vigilant about themselves."
This sentence has been buried in his heart. In the original history, it was not until December that he said it to Emperor Chongzhen because the court continued to lose cities and territory. Now, because of Zhang Mingwei's butterfly effect, the news came out many months in advance, taking advantage of the Guide case. Then, he stared at Emperor Chongzhen with some expectations, hoping that the emperor would allow him to play.
However, his words put Emperor Chongzhen in trouble again.
You know, Yang Sichang was the minister he relied on most before. Even Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War who he relies on most now, was recommended by Yang Sichang. Therefore, it would be emotionally difficult for him to label Yang Sichang as a traitor who had harmed the country.
But after all, due to Zhang Mingwei's butterfly effect, he already knew that Ming Dynasty would perish in two years. After Zhang Mingwei's analysis, Chen Xinjia was also very likely to collude with Shanxi merchants. In this case, Yang Sichang may also be unclean. Therefore, if it was just this, he might have made a decision on the spot.
But the fundamental reason why Emperor Chongzhen was in trouble was that Liu Zongzhou wanted him to arrest and punish Zuo Liangyu.
Who doesn't know that Zuo Liangyu is arrogant and domineering? Even when it was too late to fall, Emperor Chongzhen knew it very well. However, there is no other way. Zuo Liangyu has a large number of troops, claiming to be more than 100,000 soldiers and horses. Although he is arrogant and domineering now, at least he is still fighting against the bandits!
What if you touch him and force him to rebel? Besides, after the defeat of Songshan, the main force of the imperial court was wiped out, so Zuo Liangyu's troops became even more important.
At this time, even if the court wanted to capture Zuo Liangyu and bring him to justice, it would be powerless!
Thinking like this, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to turn to Zhang Mingwei and ask for help: "Sir, what do you think of this matter?"