Chapter nine hundred and eighty eight. The end and the beginning (2).
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While Emperor Deqing was waiting for Zhan Shanchang to enter the palace to see him, he also discussed with officials the affairs of the vassal king involved in the case.
However, all the officials were very taboo about this matter and did not dare to express any clear attitude.
After all, there is really something fishy about this matter.
The Metropolitan Procuratorate suddenly received a secret report letter. The report letter listed in detail the evidence of collusion between Zhan Shanchang and the feudal princes. But who sent this report letter to the Metropolitan Procuratorate? How was it collected?
These criminal evidences? What is his purpose? Is it to target Zhan Shanchang or to target those vassal kings?
No one can explain these things clearly, and not many people can deduce the subsequent development of this matter.
At the same time, this matter involves the royal family after all. Even if Emperor Deqing makes the decision to cut down the vassalage today, it cannot be aimed at all members of the clan. After cutting down the vassalage, he may have to try to appease him.
The officials were in the spotlight today, and they might be implicated later.
What's more, the source of this matter is just a report letter. The content in the report letter seems to be conclusive evidence, but it may not be true, and there may be no evidence.
Therefore, after Emperor Deqing discussed with the officials for a long time, he still did not come up with any conclusion. He just asked the Ministry of Household Affairs to bring over the relevant fish scale albums and yellow albums for inspection. Indeed, many secret modifications and substitutions were found.
trace.
Emperor Deqing and all the officials knew that this matter still needed to be explained by Zhan Shanchang himself.
Maybe, after Emperor Deqing questioned Zhan Shanchang, he would further summon Zhao Junchen who was recuperating at home.
Zhao Junchen's influence in the Ministry of Household Affairs is deep-rooted. If he said that he had no knowledge of this matter, no one would believe it.
However, after waiting like this for more than a quarter of an hour, Emperor Deqing and the officials did not wait for Zhan Shanchang to appear. Instead, they met Xue Gui, a fellow magistrate of Shuntian Mansion.
After Xue Gui entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he immediately knelt down and reported: "Your Majesty, the former Minister of Household Affairs Zhan Shanchang was found dead in the study by someone from the Zhan family this morning! When your Majesty summoned Zhan Shanchang,
Wei Chen was investigating the cause of death in the Zhan Mansion, and discovered that Zhan Shanchang had written a confession before his death, and asked Your Majesty to review it."
After saying that, Xue Gui took out Zhan Shanchang's confession and held it on his head.
At the same time, after hearing Xue Gui's report, all the officials in the Hall of Supreme Harmony were shocked. No one expected that Zhan Shanchang would die like this.
Soon, Emperor Deqing took over the apology letter from the eunuch Zhang De and read it carefully with a frown on his face.
After reading Zhan Shanchang's confession, a trace of doubt flashed in Emperor Deqing's eyes.
Just looking at the circumstances of Zhan Shanchang's death, it seems that he received the news from the Metropolitan Procuratorate in advance and knew that his crime could no longer be concealed, so he committed suicide out of fear of guilt.
This situation seems very reasonable.
However, Emperor Deqing understood Zhan Shanchang's character and believed that Zhan Shanchang would be lucky no matter what under such circumstances. Even if he was just sitting back and waiting for death, he would never have the courage to commit suicide!
Therefore, Emperor Deqing believed that Zhan Shanchang's death was quite strange.
If Zhan Shanchang was still alive, Emperor Deqing didn't care whether he was still useful in monitoring Zhao Junchen. Collusion between court ministers and the feudal princes was one of the biggest taboos in Emperor Deqing's heart. Emperor Deqing would definitely punish him severely, even if
Since he lost an informant like Zhan Shanchang, Emperor Deqing would be able to find another one in the future.
However, Zhan Shanchang died suddenly, which aroused the suspicion and attention of Emperor Deqing!
Because of Zhan Shanchang's sudden death, Zhao Junchen will undoubtedly be one of the beneficiaries!
If Zhao Junchen had noticed Zhan Shanchang's betrayal in time through some channels, then Zhan Shanchang's death would have eliminated the hidden danger and eradicated the root cause! If Zhao Junchen had not discovered Zhan Shanchang's betrayal, Zhan Shanchang's responsibility for all the crimes before his death could also be completely cleared.
Zhao Junchen’s criminal relationship with the vassals.
However, after Emperor Deqing suspected Zhao Junchen, he remained calm.
This was just Emperor Deqing's speculation without any concrete evidence, so Emperor Deqing could not show his suspicion in public and could only investigate this matter secretly.
Therefore, after Emperor Deqing read this apology memorial, he just said to the officials with a solemn expression: "In this memorial, Zhan Shanchang confessed his crime of colluding with the vassal princes... From this point of view, the vassal prince
They secretly colluded with officials from the Ministry of Revenue to tamper with the album, so there should be no falsehood."
While talking, Emperor Deqing handed Zhan Shanchang's apology memorial to the eunuch Zhang De, and asked Zhang De to pass the memorial to several cabinet elders and ministers for circulation.
While several important officials in the imperial court were circulating this memorandum of apology to each other, Emperor Deqing lowered his head and looked at Xue Gui, and said: "Zhan Shanchang's sudden death is indeed a possibility of committing suicide out of fear of guilt, but he also knows how to be in awe...
But this matter involves several vassal princes, so Shuntian Mansion should not get involved and leave all matters to Jin Yiwei."
After hearing Emperor Deqing's instructions, Xue Gui felt relieved and quickly agreed.
This pool of water is really too deep, and Shuntian Mansion originally didn't want to get involved, so it would be best to pass the matter over to the factory guards.
At this time, several important officials in the imperial court had already circulated Zhan Shanchang's apology memorial.
After looking at each other for a few times, Shen Changmao immediately made a statement and said: "Your Majesty, now it seems that Zhan Shanchang's crime of secretly colluding with the vassal king and tampering with the album privately is indeed true... However, is this crime only the fault of Zhan Shanchang?
, but it is also worth pondering! As we all know, Zhao Junchen has always had the sole power in the Hubu Yamen. It is absolutely impossible to say that Zhao Junchen had no knowledge of this matter! Therefore, the veteran believes that this matter needs to continue to be investigated.
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When expressing his stance, Shen Changmao bypassed the crimes of the vassal kings and directly pointed the finger at Zhao Junchen.
In Shen Changmao's view, it was better to leave it to Emperor Deqing to decide how to deal with these feudal kings involved, but this time was a great opportunity to further suppress Zhao Junchen.
As Shen Changmao took the lead in expressing his stance, several cabinet ministers and ministers all agreed. After Zhou Shangjing pondered for a long time, he also expressed his agreement with Shen Changmao's statement.
Only Zuo Lanshan and Chen Dongxiang raised some objections after seeing everyone pointing the finger at Zhao Junchen, but obviously they were unable to influence the direction of public opinion.
Emperor Deqing looked like he still trusted Zhao Junchen and said slowly: "Zhao Aiqing has always made outstanding achievements in the household department in the past few years. Logically speaking, he should not be involved in this matter, but since all the beloved ministers are
I think there are doubts about this matter, so future investigations should naturally be more detailed."
After hearing what Emperor Deqing said, the officials in the Hall of Supreme Harmony had different expressions. Many officials looked gloating, thinking that Zhao Junchen was about to be in trouble.
At this time, Prince Zhu Heyu asked again: "Father, what should we do with these feudal princes involved? Since Zhan Shanchang has confessed, it means that these princes illegally annexed land and oppressed
People, the crime of concealing tax evasion is true, and we must not let it go easily. I personally ask you to investigate this case!"
When it comes to clan affairs, Prince Zhu Heyu is the only one among the officials who does not need to be too taboo, but he once again mentioned the crimes of the vassal kings.
Emperor Deqing considered the pros and cons repeatedly in his mind. After pondering for a long time, he finally nodded and said: "Since you are the one who recommended yourself, you will be responsible for the cases of the feudal princes. I will also send orders to the factory guards to obey your orders! However, handling the case
When this happens, you must be cautious and measured."
After hearing Emperor Deqing's decision, Zhu Heyu didn't have much joy in his expression. Instead, he became more serious and said in a deep voice: "I obey the decree."
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Next, after Emperor Deqing discussed some matters with the officials, the court meeting finally came to an end.
However, everyone knows that as the collusion between Zhan Shanchang and the feudal princes is exposed, a huge storm will soon sweep across the government and the public, and the situation in the temple will probably be further chaotic.
But he said that after the court meeting ended, Zhu Heyu stayed in the Hall of Supreme Harmony and waited for a while.
Zhu Heyu was about to start investigating several vassal kings involved in the case. This matter was no small matter. He originally thought that Emperor Deqing would specially summon him after coming to court and give him detailed instructions.
However, Zhu and Yu waited and waited, but never waited until Emperor Deqing summoned him.
Then, Zhu Heyu received the news that Emperor Deqing immediately summoned the factory supervisors and commanders of the two factories and one guard after he came to court. He did not know what he had to explain to them, but it was obvious that he would not summon them again.
Zhu Heyu died.
After seeing this situation, Zhu Heyu couldn't help but feel a little cold-hearted, and moved away from the Hall of Supreme Harmony with an expressionless face, and walked outside the Meridian Gate.
After seeing Zhu Heyu appear, his personal eunuch Xue Gao quickly asked: "Your Highness, should we return to the Prince's East Palace next or where should we go?"
After Zhu Heyu pondered for a moment, he replied: "I went to Zhao Junchen's mansion. I heard that he is seriously ill. I will leave the capital soon to investigate the cases of the vassal kings, but I want to take the opportunity to visit him."
After hearing Zhu Heyu's instructions, Xue Gao's expression was full of surprise.
As Zhu Heyu's personal eunuch, he was naturally aware of Zhu Heyu's change in attitude during this period, but he did not expect that Zhu Heyu would take the initiative to see Zhao Junchen.
But soon, Xue Gao calmed down the surprise in his expression, and after helping Zhu Heyu get into the sedan chair, he ordered the bearers to rush towards the Zhao mansion.
However, Zhu Heyu did not know that just as he was rushing to the Zhao Mansion to see Zhao Junchen, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, Hong Jin, also left the Forbidden City and headed towards the Zhao Mansion after having a secret conversation with Emperor Deqing.
He rushed there, but no one knew what the secret mission that Emperor Deqing had given him was.