Chapter nine hundred and eighty seventh. The end and the beginning (1).
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The next day, in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, after the court meeting began.
Following the eunuch Zhang De's words, "If you have something to do, please report early, if nothing happens, please leave the court." Prince Zhu Heyu, who had attended the morning court again after many days, stepped out of the queue.
When he came out of the queue, Prince Zhu Heyu's expression was extremely serious, with a hint of determination.
Yesterday afternoon, when Lu Chunxiao, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, informed him about the collusion between Zhan Shanchang and the feudal princes, Zhu Heyu was furious, but also hesitant.
Zhu Heyu was not sure whether he should take the initiative to expose this matter.
Over the past year or so, Zhu Heyu has gradually understood the principle of "do more and make more mistakes, do less and make fewer mistakes, and do not do better". Now he has finally ended his confinement and returned to the court. The most important thing is
The thing should be to keep a low profile, establish a firm foothold, and rebuild your reputation. It is better to do less than to do more, rather than causing trouble again.
For Zhu Heyu, the biggest trouble in this matter was not the deep-rooted vassal forces, but Zhao Junchen who stood behind Zhan Shanchang.
Zhu Heyu already wanted to ease the relationship with Zhao Junchen, and Zhan Shanchang was apparently Zhao Junchen's confidant. If Zhu Heyu came forward to impeach Zhan Shanchang for colluding with the feudal princes, Zhao Junchen might be implicated.
, his relationship with Zhao Junchen will continue to deteriorate.
But just when Zhu Heyu felt hesitant because of this relationship, Zhao Junchen "happened" to send someone to send a return gift to Zhu Heyu.
Some time ago, when Zhao Junchen became the assistant minister of the cabinet and the new uncle, Prince Zhu Heyu sent a valuable gift to the Zhao mansion. It was natural for Zhao Junchen to send a return gift to the East Palace at this time.
matter.
Zhao Junchen's return gift was also very simple. It was an ancient copy of "The Book of Changes" from the late Song Dynasty.
After Zhu Heyu got the "Book of Changes", he took a look at it and found that Zhao Junchen had specially used a red pen to outline one of the sentences in the "Book of Changes".
"Poverty leads to change, change leads to generalization, and generalization leads to long-term development" - from "The Book of Changes".
After seeing this sentence, Zhu Heyu suddenly became enlightened.
Zhu Heyu naturally knew Emperor Deqing's intention to depose himself and replace him as heir apparent.
Therefore, he must try to change his situation at this time!
But if you want to change your situation, you must do something!
If he does nothing and just keeps a low profile to maintain stability, his situation will only gradually deteriorate and will never be restored!
For Zhu Heyu, his current situation could not be worse. Now that he has found an opportunity, he should act decisively! Even if this matter did not go well and was punished by Emperor Deqing
The punishment would only be to be deposed a few days in advance, but if he could handle this matter beautifully, he might be able to save the situation.
What's more, judging from Zhao Junchen's hint, he doesn't seem to care about Zhu Heyu's impeachment of Zhan Shanchang.
Therefore, Zhu Heyu finally made up his mind to stand up and take the initiative to expose the matter.
Not only should we take the initiative to expose this matter, but we should also try to obtain the power to investigate and adjudicate this case.
For Zhu Heyu, this was his last resort!
*
In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, after seeing Zhu Heyu taking the initiative to go out, several powerful ministers who had received the news in advance looked solemn.
But most officials have not yet realized the seriousness of the situation. They looked at Zhu Heyu with a look full of schadenfreude, feeling that Zhu Heyu could not help but want to cause trouble again. In all likelihood, in the end he
His head hit the south wall hard, and his face was covered in blood.
Zhu Heyu didn't pay attention to the different looks of the officials, but said with a solemn expression: "Father, I have something important to report!"
Emperor Deqing looked at Zhu Heyu with complicated eyes, as if he saw a deer struggling to its death after falling into a trap.
After a moment of silence, Emperor Deqing regained his indifference and majesty, and said slowly: "Oh? What is it? Is it so serious? Tell me."
Zhu Heyu raised his voice again and said loudly: "I want to impeach the former minister of household affairs Zhan Shanchang for colluding with several vassal kings, tampering with the household album, illegally annexing land, and oppressing the people!"
After saying this, there was an uproar in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
The impeachment of Prince Zhu Heyu not only affects the core members of the "Zhao Party", but also affects several vassal kings! Once this kind of thing is not handled well, there may be chaos in the government and the public!
Zhu Heyu ignored the shock and uproar of the officials and immediately reported the crimes of Zhan Shanchang and several vassal kings to Emperor Deqing in detail.
After hearing Zhu Heyu's report, not to mention the officials' increasing horror and discussion, Emperor Deqing's expression also changed.
The impeachment of Prince Zhu Heyu had both advantages and disadvantages for Emperor Deqing.
The good thing is that Emperor Deqing has indeed had the intention to reduce the vassal vassal for a long time. Especially for the owners behind the "Eight Kings Shipping Company", Emperor Deqing has deeply hated them for a long time.
Emperor Deqing naturally understood the various benefits of reducing vassal status.
Today, the number of clans in the Ming Dynasty has reached hundreds of thousands, and nearly half of the annual court tax revenue is used to support these borers. Emperor Deqing will have a headache every time he sees this expenditure. If he does not try to weaken the
The clan power and the imperial court will be brought down by them sooner or later!
What's more, once the financial resources accumulated by those feudal princes for hundreds of years are returned to the imperial court, the imperial court's financial situation will soon be greatly improved. Not only will Emperor Deqing be able to have enough to eat, but the people will also be liberated! At that point
At that time, Zhao Junchen's importance will also be greatly reduced.
Compared with these benefits, the blood relationship between Emperor Deqing and those feudal princes was simply insignificant and not worth mentioning.
Although there are many advantages, there are also many disadvantages.
The imperial court is currently focusing on the Hetao War, the plan to abolish the Six Ministries of Nanjing is being implemented, and the replacement of the crown prince is also getting ready. It can be said that it is a troubled time, and Emperor Deqing is having a hard time stabilizing the situation.
At this time, once the imperial court stirs up troubles to cut down the vassalage, the chaos in the temples will further expand, and even Emperor Deqing will be hard-pressed to stabilize the situation.
At the same time, Prince Zhu Heyu took the initiative to expose the matter, apparently wanting to accept the case, which also made Emperor Deqing hesitate.
Emperor Deqing was worried that once Zhu Heyu accomplished this matter, his reputation among the government and the public would greatly increase, which would inevitably affect his plan to replace reserves.
In comparison, although Zhan Shanchang had become Emperor Deqing's spy on Zhao Junchen, his life and death was just an insignificant matter. Even if Zhan Shanchang lost his role because of this matter, Emperor Deqing would naturally
There are also ways to find new eyeliners.
In this way, after hearing Zhu Heyu's impeachment, Emperor Deqing did not express his position immediately, but pondered for a long time with a changing expression.
After a long cup of tea, Emperor Deqing finally made a decision.
However, Emperor Deqing suddenly thought that after the war in the Hetao ended, if the court wanted to stabilize the situation in the Hetao area, it would need to garrison troops, move borders, reclaim land, build cities, etc., all of which would require a huge amount of money.
Therefore, if the imperial court takes the opportunity to get rid of these feudal princes involved in the case this time, the money will be found soon!
The Loop incident was related to Emperor Deqing's historical evaluation and was the most important thing in Emperor Deqing's heart. This made Emperor Deqing finally make up his mind.
As a result, Emperor Deqing immediately changed his expression to a furious expression and said angrily: "How dare this happen? You are really daring! According to my decree, Zhan Shanchang is summoned to see you immediately! I want to question him personally."
*
However, Emperor Deqing did not know that when he summoned Zhan Shanchang, the Zhan family was already in chaos.
On the morning of this day, Zhan Shanchang, who was always accompanied by Zhan An, suddenly cried loudly in the study room of Zhan's house.
"Master! Master, what's wrong with you? Master! Someone come quickly! Someone come quickly! Master, he... he is dead!"
Such movement immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the Zhan family.
Soon, everyone hurried to Zhan's study room, and were shocked to find that Zhan Shanchang was lying motionless on the desk, his body was cold and stiff, and he was no longer breathing.
Zhan Shanchang was seen holding a small porcelain vase in his right hand, and in front of him was a memorial to be sent to Emperor Deqing.
After seeing the death of Zhan Shanchang, the Zhan family suddenly burst into tears.
Zhan Shanchang's wife, Mrs. Guo, passed out on the spot. Zhan Shanchang's eldest son, Zhan Mingde, was working as an official in another place, but his younger son, Zhan Mingxin, was still somewhat calm. Despite his panic, he still remembered to report to the official.
After all, Zhan Shanchang was a former official of the imperial court. After Shuntian Mansion received the report from Zhan Mansion, because Shuntian Mansion Yin was in court, Shuntian Mansion colleague Xue Gui, Judge Zhang He and others rushed to Zhan Mansion in person to investigate.
.
The cause of Zhan Shanchang's death was soon discovered, but he died from drinking poison.
In the porcelain bottle held by Zhan Shanchang, there was still some poisonous Hedinghong.
Then, people from Shuntian Mansion soon discovered Zhan Shanchang's memorial.
This memorial was obviously going to be presented to Emperor Deqing, but because of the seriousness of the case, Xue Gui, a colleague of Shuntian Prefecture, opened the memorial carefully and took a look.
Then, Xue Gui discovered that this was a confession. In this memorial, Zhan Shanchang confessed his secret collusion with the vassal kings, saying that his evil deeds were unforgivable and he deserved death. He was quite willing to die to apologize.
the meaning of.
In this era, the investigation of cases was not as sophisticated as that of later generations, and there were no means of collecting fingerprints or shoe prints. Many cases were solved as long as the facts of the case seemed reasonable.
At this time, seeing the red crane in Zhan Shanchang's hand and the apology note he left before his death, Xue Gui, a colleague of Shuntian Prefecture, thought that he had found out the truth of the case, that is, the cause of Zhan Shanchang's death was suicide out of fear of guilt.
However, out of caution, Xue Gui specially summoned Zhan Shanchang's youngest son Zhan Mingxin, his long-term follower Zhan An, and Zhan's steward Li Houde for questioning.
Zhan Mingxin is only seventeen years old and currently studying in the Imperial College. He is smart and smart, and has always been the favorite of Zhan Shanchang. He is also quite familiar with Zhan Shanchang's handwriting.
Therefore, after seeing Zhan Mingxin, Xue Gui expressed some relief, handed him Zhan Shanchang's confession, and asked, "Can you identify it carefully? This is the handwriting written by your father?"
Zhan Mingxin quickly opened the memorial and took a closer look, but he recognized the handwriting in the memorial at a glance, which was the same as Zhan Shanchang's handwriting.
At the same time, the contents of this memorial made James Mingxin look pale.
He originally thought that the sudden death of his father had meant that the sky had fallen, but now he discovered that his father had committed suicide out of fear of crime and had committed a serious crime of colluding with the vassal king. In this way, the Zhan family members would also be punished.
Implicated.
"It's...it's my father's handwriting." James Mingxin said tremblingly.
Xue Gui further confirmed his judgment, but still turned to Zhan Shanchang's long-term follower Zhan An and asked: "According to Shuntian Mansion's judgment, Mr. Zhan passed away around midnight last night. Why didn't you find out the news until this morning?
"
Zhan An also had a trembling voice and a panicked expression as he replied: "After my master returned home yesterday, he asked the villain to leave the study. He said that he was going to prepare an important memorial alone. He strictly ordered not to let anyone disturb him.
I had no choice but to wait for orders outside the study at any time. Even if Madam wanted to see the master, she was stopped by the villain... Waiting until this morning, the villain saw that the master had not given any orders, even if he did not order tea or see anyone, he could not bear it.
I couldn't help but go into the study to check, and then I found... Master, he has passed by!"
As he spoke, Zhan An's body couldn't help but tremble.
Zhan An's performance was too panicked, but it was natural to be flustered under such circumstances. Xue Gui believed that he had found the truth. Zhan An's statement further confirmed Xue Gui's judgment, so there was no doubt in his mind.
, just turned his gaze to Li Houde next to him.
After Xue Gui looked at Li Houde, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he felt that Li Houde's temperament did not seem to be that of an ordinary servant.
But Xue Gui didn't think much about it and just asked: "Are you Li Houde, the steward of the Zhan family? I heard that Master Zhan only summoned you to talk to him after he returned to the government yesterday? How was Master Zhan's performance at that time? I talked to you some more.
What?"
Li Houde lowered his head and replied: "The master did seem to be thinking a lot when he was talking to the villain yesterday, but the villain had no idea at that time that the master already had death intentions."
Hearing Li Houde's answer, Xue Gui immediately frowned.
Zhan An's flustered behavior did not arouse Xue Gui's suspicion. On the contrary, Li Houde acted too calmly when answering, which made Xue Gui feel a little suspicious.
At the same time, Li Houde did not answer Xue Gui's second question at all, which was the content of the conversation between Zhan Shanchang and Li Houde.
Therefore, Xue Gui's expression suddenly became more serious and he asked: "Then what was the content of the conversation between your master and you yesterday? Why didn't you tell me?"
Li Houde couldn't help but hesitate a little when he saw Xue Gui's doubts.
The content of his conversation with Zhan Shanchang last night involved Zhan Shanchang's secret of spying on Zhao Junchen for Emperor Deqing. This kind of thing cannot be told to Shuntian Mansion under any circumstances.
However, if Li Houde lies casually, he will be exposed by Xue Gui soon.
In the end, Li Houde took out an iron plate from his arms and handed it to Xue Gui, and said softly: "It involves court secrets. Please forgive me for not being able to tell you frankly."
Xue Gui took the iron plate and looked at it, only to see the word "Dongchang" written on it.
After seeing these two words, Xue Gui's hands trembled slightly and he almost dropped the iron plate in his hand to the ground.
At the same time, Zhan Mingxin and Zhan An looked at Li Houde with horrified expressions. They did not expect that this steward of the Zhan family was actually from Dongchang!
Xue Gui's backstage is Zhou Shangjing. Normally, he is not particularly afraid of Dongchang, but once this case involves Dongchang, it is obvious that he cannot continue the investigation, otherwise he will find some things that should not be allowed to Shuntian Mansion.
things discovered.
Therefore, Xue Gui immediately handed over the Dongchang iron plate to Li Houde, and at the same time turned to Zhan Mingxin and said: "The cause of Master Zhan's death was most likely suicide due to fear of crime. It is better to submit this case to the court for decision.
, Shuntian Mansion will not interfere..."
Before Xue Gui finished speaking, he saw a Shuntian Mansion official walking into the room quickly and reported quickly: "An angel came from the palace, saying that it was His Majesty who sent an order to summon Zhan Shanchang to the Hall of Supreme Harmony immediately!
"
After hearing what this Shuntian government official said, everyone in the room couldn't help but look at each other.
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ps: Well, this is the first update, a chapter of nearly 5,000 words, and there will be another update after midnight!