After the prince left Beijing, he rigorously investigated the "Southern Tour Preparation Fraud Case" along the way from Beijing to Nanjing. Now, after nearly two months of work, he finally returned to Beijing.
Such a major event naturally attracted the attention of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, and Emperor Deqing did not delay and immediately announced the prince's appearance.
Next, both Emperor Deqing and the officials in the court, while waiting for the prince to enter the palace, were all distracted, secretly thinking about the changes in the political situation after the prince returned to Beijing.
Therefore, for a while, the atmosphere in the hall seemed a bit dull, and Emperor Deqing and the ministers chatted all the time.
However, Zhao Junchen had already made full preparations for the prince's return to Beijing and did not think too much about it at this time. He just took advantage of this time to summarize the rankings of the previous palace examinations.
Apart from Li Chunchen's unexpected ranking of 17th in the second class, the rankings of other candidates were not much different from Zhao Junchen's expectations.
Although Zhou Suwen, the number one scholar in this year's palace examination, has extraordinary abilities, in terms of true intellectual talent, he should still be inferior to Zhao Shancai. The reason why Emperor Deqing appointed him as the number one scholar was probably because of Zhou Shangjing's face - fact
When Emperor Deqing appointed Zhou Shangjing as the Grading Minister, it was originally a deal. Now the special care given to Zhou Suwen is also a tacit agreement in this deal - it's just that after Zhou Shangjing's officials saw Zhou Suwen winning the first prize, they
It is believed that if Zhou Shangjing has a successor, his morale will definitely be boosted and he will become more united, so it will be more difficult to deal with.
Zhao Shancai's knowledge and talent made him the well-deserved leader among the candidates of this year. It was only because there was no one in the court to help him that he fell to second place - if Zhao Shancai had defected to Zhao Junchen, Zhao Junchen would naturally become Zhao Shancai.
He tried his best to fight for it, but Zhao Shancai defected to the prince's party. The prince's party advertises "justice" most, and naturally will not help Zhao Shancai privately. However, under the current court situation, the "fairness" of the princelings is not important to Zhao Shancai.
, isn’t it the biggest injustice? At least, the number one pick that should have been his became Zhou Suwen’s.
As for Zeng Wei, who is second in the list, he is not weak in talent and has secret help from Zhao Junchen. Now he is ranked third and second place. It is expected. In addition, Zeng Wei's vision, knowledge, and methods are all extraordinary, so Zhao Junchen
Junchen has secretly decided to train and support him with all his strength in the future, and with Zhao Junchen's full support, Zeng Wei will soon become one of the core members of Zhao's party.
However, Liu Zimin was able to get the seventh place in the second class. Among the candidates who took refuge in Zhao Junchen, he ranked second only to Zeng Wei, which was an unexpected surprise. Although this person's knowledge and skills were far inferior to Zeng's
Wei, his personal ethics are also despicable, but his advantage is that he is diligent in doing things and quick to see opportunities. In addition, his late father, who was the leader of Qingliu, is quite prestigious. Therefore, Zhao Junchen decided to support Liu Zimin in the future.
In addition, among the twenty-one candidates who took refuge in Zhao Junchen, 11 of them were ranked in the second class. The other ten were ranked in the third class. For Zhao Junchen, this palace examination can be said to be a great one.
It’s a great harvest, and Zhao Junchen will give them different levels of promotion and support in the future based on their differences in ranking, ability, intelligence, personality, etc.
"My party members are all robbers, crooks, and thieves. Although the momentum is getting bigger and the number of people is large, there are not many of them who can be reused. Now it's time to inject some fresh blood... these
With my help, the candidates who succeeded in the imperial examination have already been branded as "Zhao Party". In the future, they will be promoted step by step with my help. Loyalty is not a problem. The most important thing is that they have just entered the officialdom and have not been influenced by the officialdom.
The big dyeing vat changed the color, but I just like to be opportunistic. I have strong plasticity. If I cultivate it well, maybe this will be the beginning of my real rise in the temple..."
And just when Zhao Junchen was planning the future development route of Party Zhao, someone in the hall suddenly said: "His Royal Highness is here~!"
…
When Prince Zhu Heyu strode into the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Zhao Junchen turned around and looked around secretly, with a look of surprise in his eyes.
Without him, just not seeing each other for a while, there was a huge change in the temperament of Prince Zhu and Yu.
Perhaps it is because Prince Zhu Heyu has been interrogating corrupt officials in various places during these days, and holds the power of life and death in his hands. At this time, Prince Zhu Heyu is raising his hands and feet, looking around, always giving people a domineering look.
This feeling of domineering combined with his original perseverance and uprightness will give people a great sense of oppression. Many corrupt officials with evil intentions will involuntarily feel guilty when they see the appearance of Prince Zhu Heyu.
Timid and confused.
Zhu Heyu's domineering and powerful power was so obvious that all the officials in the Hall of Supreme Harmony were aware of it. All the elites were naturally happy and excited. They felt that the prince had really grown a lot after leaving the capital to handle the case.
, and with the prince's domineering power and power, he will naturally be able to wipe out all the evil spirits in the court, ward off evil spirits, and restore peace to the world!
However, Zhao Junchen secretly shook his head.
In Zhao Junchen's view, Prince Zhu Heyu may have really grown a lot when he left Beijing to handle the case, but his growth was in the wrong direction!
As the saying goes, hardness is easy to break. The prince is already very straight. If he learns some tact and flexibility, he can be both tough and soft, and he may not be able to achieve great things in the future. However, the prince Zhu Heyu was in the trial of "Southern Tour Preparation Fraud"
During the "case", with the power of life and death in their hands and the help of factory guards, the corrupt officials along the way were trembling in front of the prince and did not dare to disobey at all. However, the prince Zhu Heyu mistakenly believed that all corrupt officials in the world were weak and incompetent.
, not only did they not learn to be diplomatic and flexible, but they became even tougher.
"Such a change is not an unexpected gain..."
Zhao Junchen thought secretly.
…
While Zhao Junchen was thinking secretly, Prince Zhu Heyu came to the imperial steps and knelt down to Emperor Deqing and said: "Father, I was ordered to examine the 'Southern Tour Preparation Fraud Case', and now I have done my best."
, come and recover!”
On the other side, when Emperor Deqing saw the change in Crown Prince Zhu Heyu, he also realized something was wrong. He frowned secretly, but did not show it. He just asked calmly: "Oh?" Southern Tour Preparation Fraud Case
'Is it done? What's the result? Report to me quickly."
Crown Prince Zhu Heyu looked resolute, raised his head and replied: "Father, my sons and ministers were ordered to investigate the case this time, from North Zhili to South Zhili. It was found that most of the local civil and military officials along the way were involved.
'Southern Tour Preparation Fraud Case'! After further investigation by Erchen, there are now seventy-one officials who have proven guilty. They were dismissed by Erchen and arrested and imprisoned. Among them, there are a total of 32 officials below the seventh rank.
There are 29 county magistrate-level officials above the seventh rank, seven prefect-level officials above the fifth rank, and three provincial and highway officials above the third rank...
...In addition, there are twenty-three local officials who are still suspected, ranging in rank. However, due to the rush of time, the son-in-law has not caught any evidence of the crime for a while, so he just controlled them and asked his father to issue an order.
I will continue to investigate...
...In addition, during the trial of the case, Erchen discovered that the "Southern Tour Preparation Fraud Case" not only involved officials along the way. There were also many people among the squires and merchants from various places who were involved. Now Erchen is the one who committed the most serious crime.
More than thirty people were arrested and imprisoned. As for how the squires and merchants who committed the crimes should be punished. I would like to ask my father to issue an edict..."
Although Emperor Deqing was in a deep state, his expression changed drastically when he heard these reports from Zhu Heyu!
He never expected that when the prince left Beijing to handle the case, he would convict seventy-one local officials in a short period of time! And there are still twenty-three local officials awaiting trial! There are also a large number of local squires.
Arrested with businessman!
With so many officials being convicted, wouldn’t it mean that the local officials from North Zhili to South Zhili were almost wiped out by Prince Zhu Heyu?!
Once this situation becomes known to the world, how much shock will it cause to the government and the public? In the eyes of the people, how evil will the current court look like? With so many local officials stepping down, how should local governance be carried out? Because
Emperor Deqing's southern tour led to such a large-scale fraud case, which is unprecedented in ancient times. How should future generations evaluate Emperor Deqing and the Ming Dynasty?
With so many questions, have Zhu Heyu never considered them?
There has been a saying that "the law does not punish everyone" since ancient times. Could it be that Zhu Heyu had never heard of it?
In fact, not only did Emperor Deqing's face turn pale, but as Zhu Heyu finished speaking, all the civil and military officials in the Hall of Supreme Harmony were also shocked!
However, before Emperor Deqing and his officials could wake up from the shock, Zhu Heyu dropped another blockbuster in the Hall of Supreme Harmony!
"Father, I have been ordered to severely punish corrupt officials from all over the country this time. I found that most of these corrupt officials are the disciples and former officials of the chief minister Zhou Shangjing, Ge Lao Huang Yourong, and Ge Lao Shen Changmao. The reason why these corrupt officials have been promoted to their current official positions over the years is,
It all depends on the support and recommendation of these three cabinet elders, so I want to impeach the three cabinet elders for not knowing people well, employing people improperly, and appointing private parties!"
At this time, Prince Zhu Heyu looked resolute and upright, but the words in his mouth made the civil and military officials in the court even more uproar!
Well! Zhu Heyu wiped out all the local officials from North Zhili to South Zhili, and now he even impeached three cabinet ministers in one breath! How much courage and recklessness does this require? How much shock will it cause?
With chaos?
For a time, all the officials were talking about it, and the scene in the Hall of Supreme Harmony became increasingly chaotic and noisy.
At this moment, Emperor Deqing, whose expression had been changing for a long time, finally spoke.
"I'm feeling a little unwell, so I'll leave the court today. I'll discuss all the court discussions tomorrow!"
With that said, Emperor Deqing ignored the chaos in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, stood up and left.
His steps were hurried and his expression was solemn.
With the departure of Emperor Deqing, the situation in the Hall of Supreme Harmony was finally no longer under control. Officials gathered together to discuss, or looked for their own backers to discuss countermeasures. For a time, the Hall of Supreme Harmony became...
Chaos.
Just as Zhao Junchen expected, with the return of Prince Zhu Heyu to Beijing, the temple, which had been gradually becoming calm, became lively again!
In fact, if Zhao Junchen hadn't secretly fueled the situation, I'm afraid things wouldn't have developed to this point!
However, regarding all this, Zhao Junchen acted as if it had nothing to do with him. He just glanced at Prince Zhu Heyu who was still standing under the imperial steps, shook his head, and turned around to walk outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
In fact, because Zhao Junchen's influence is currently limited to the capital and there are not many local cronies, and not many of the officials involved in the "Southern Tour Preparation Fraud Case" are Zhao Junchen's party members, so Prince Zhu Heyu
This time Zhao Junchen was not impeached by name. This is the first time in recent years that this has happened!
Therefore, from a certain perspective, this incident does not have much to do with Zhao Junchen.
Seeing Zhao Junchen leaving, a group of Zhao party members quickly followed.
They didn't know Zhao Junchen's plan. They just felt that the current situation in the court was in chaos and wanted to discuss countermeasures with Zhao Junchen to see if they could fish in troubled waters.
However, as soon as everyone in the Zhao party left the Hall of Supreme Harmony, they saw eunuch Zhang De hurriedly came to Zhao Junchen and said softly: "Master Zhao, His Majesty has a decree for you to go to the Imperial Study Room to have an audience."
…
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