As the gate of Huangji Hall slowly opened, all the officials were refreshed.￥f
Seeing that the "Grand Court Meeting" was about to begin, the officials did not dare to neglect. They all lined up according to their respective official positions, and under the leadership of Prince Zhu Heyu and several cabinet elders, they filed into the imperial palace.
Inside the Ji Palace.
After waiting for about a stick of incense, the officials heard the great eunuch Zhang Deyang singing a promise: "His Majesty has arrived, and all the officials are waiting to welcome him!!"
As Zhang De sang the promise, Emperor Deqing slowly came to the Huangji Hall, and all the officials bowed and knelt down, shouting long live.
But he said that after Emperor Deqing sat on the dragon throne, he first asked the officials to stand down, and then took the initiative to speak slowly and said slowly: "My purpose of going south this time is to inspect the situation in the important grain and tax town in the south of the Yangtze River, spread the emperor's majesty, and emphasize
The presence of the imperial court strengthens the local awe of the central government..."
After finding many high-sounding reasons for his southern tour, Emperor Deqing changed the topic and said: "However, during this southern tour, although I gained a lot, I also discovered many problems... Then
That is, the local yamen obeyed the imperial government’s decrees and lacked respect, and the central government did not supervise the local yamen and communicated poorly. As a result, various situations derived from this can be seen many times!”
Of course, Emperor Deqing began to use the topic to his advantage and took advantage of the opportunity to establish his authority.
As he spoke, Emperor Deqing suddenly turned his attention to Zhou Shangjing and said slowly: "Zhou Shangjing, take advantage of today's opportunity to personally explain to the officials in detail the Suzhou Yamen's concealment of the Japanese pirates' rebellion, and let them see it.
Look, my Ming Dynasty is in such chaos now!"
After hearing Emperor Deqing's instructions, Zhou Shangjing's gray eyebrows raised slightly, knowing that Emperor Deqing was going to use his demotion to scare the officials and slay the monkeys to scare the chickens.
However, Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing had already reached a secret agreement when they were in Suzhou - Emperor Deqing would no longer pursue Zhou Shangjing's crime of asylum. But in exchange, in the next period of time,
Zhou Shangjing must also fully cooperate with Emperor Deqing's actions to stabilize the situation between the government and the opposition.
Therefore, although Emperor Deqing has made it clear that he wants to step on Zhou Shangjing to enhance his own prestige, the improvement of Emperor Deqing's prestige is also one of the necessary conditions for stabilizing the situation between the government and the opposition. Zhou Shangjing, considering the overall situation, can only force himself.
Be patient and cooperate silently.
From this aspect, Emperor Deqing made a small plot against Zhou Shangjing.
So Zhou Shangjing walked out of the queue slowly and said: "Old minister, I obey the order."
Then, in front of all the civil and military officials, Zhou Shangjing told the story of the Japanese pirate rebellion in Suzhou in an evasive manner, but he did not mention the fact that he secretly protected his grandson Zhou Suhai.
After Zhou Shangjing finished speaking, Emperor Deqing nodded slowly with a serious face, and asked Zhou Shangjing: "There is such a big trouble in Suzhou. As the chief minister of the dynasty, you are not aware of it. How is this?"
Dereliction of duty!? Therefore, I must punish you for your negligence, remove you from the position of chief minister of the cabinet, and fine you a three-year salary... Are you convinced by my treatment?"
Zhou Shangjing lowered his head slightly and showed a look of awe. He said slowly: "I did make an oversight and should be punished. I dare not refuse!"
"That's good." Emperor Deqing's expression was very stern, and then he took the opportunity to announce to the officials that Shen Changmao would succeed Zhou Shangjing as the chief minister of the cabinet.
Originally, when the Suzhou Yamen concealed the Japanese pirates' rebellion, Zhou Shangjing's crime should clearly be "deceiving the emperor and ignoring his superiors". Emperor Deqing's punishment of Zhou Shangjing was also very light, almost nothing; but now. Between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing, Zhou Shangjing's crime was turned into a "crime of neglect" under clever cover-up. In this way, Emperor Deqing's punishment for Zhou Shangjing became very severe.
Unfortunately, most officials did not understand the truth of the matter. When they saw that Emperor Deqing punished Zhou Shangjing severely just because of Zhou Shangjing's oversight, a powerful minister like Zhou Shangjing actually accepted Emperor Deqing's order without any resistance. , couldn't help being shocked, and they became more and more in awe of Emperor Deqing.
On the other side, seeing the changes in the expressions of the officials, Emperor Deqing's eyes flashed with satisfaction.
Nowadays, due to the rectification of business and taxation, the interests of the officials have been violated. Although the situation between the government and the opposition is a bit chaotic, as long as Emperor Deqing's prestige is still there and the officials are still in awe of Emperor Deqing, then Deqing will The emperor can still control the overall situation.
What's more, taking advantage of this secret agreement, Emperor Deqing could slightly suppress Zhou Shangjing's prestige, but he also killed two birds with one stone.
At the same time, Zhao Junchen, as one of the insiders, saw Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing acting together. Not only was there no sarcasm in his eyes, but a trace of solemnity flashed across his eyes.
Obviously, because of the secret agreement between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing, in the next period of time, Zhou Shangjing will unconditionally cooperate with Emperor Deqing's actions to stabilize the situation between the government and the opposition, which means that after this secret agreement ends Previously, Emperor Deqing not only lost Zhou Shangjing's control, but also received Zhou Shangjing's support. Therefore, Emperor Deqing's control over the situation between the government and the opposition will also be unprecedentedly improved.
Because of this, Zhao Junchen has now secretly made up his mind that he will never do anything against Emperor Deqing's will before the secret agreement between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing ends.
At least, not on the surface.
Otherwise, even if Zhao Junchen was well prepared and anticipated the enemy, he would never be able to resist the combined power of Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing.
"It seems that many things need to be put on hold for a while."
Zhao Junchen thought secretly.
*****
However, while Zhao Junchen was thinking about it, Emperor Deqing had already begun to threaten the officials.
"...Local officials despised the authority of the central government, violated the central government's orders, and even dared to deceive the central government. This situation must not be tolerated! If this continues for a long time, it will be a situation where the country will not be able to generalize! The hundreds of years of our Ming Dynasty will also be ruined. Sooner or later, it will be destroyed! Therefore, I have decided that from now on, if any official dares to violate the central government order again, the crime will be increased to three levels, and no mercy will be given!"
Emperor Deqing's words were spoken solemnly and resolutely, seemingly to prevent the Suzhou Yamen from secretly concealing the Japanese pirates' rebellion from happening again, but Zhao Junchen knew the true intention of Emperor Deqing's decree. , in fact, it is to stabilize the situation between the government and the opposition and pave the way for the rectification of business and taxation.
Then, Emperor Deqing said a lot more, either encouraging or warning, but most of them had the implicit intention of strengthening the authority of the central government, implying that the officials would never resist the imperial decree in the future, otherwise they would be severely punished.
Unlike Crown Prince Zhu Heyu, Emperor Deqing was by no means a monarch who was easy to fool, so after hearing Emperor Deqing's hint, all the officials were subconsciously frightened. They never dared to underestimate Emperor Deqing's
He was determined and did not dare to go against Emperor Deqing's will - especially after Emperor Deqing had just punished Zhou Shangjing severely.
Therefore, as Emperor Deqing finished his statement, the atmosphere in Huangji Hall became extremely heavy. Although the officials were a little reluctant, they all accepted the decree and expressed their agreement.
Seeing the attitude of the officials, Emperor Deqing nodded with satisfaction.
Then, Emperor Deqing said: "Let's stop talking about the southern tour for now! Now, after four months, I have finally returned to the center of the capital. During this period, is there anything the court needs?
Reported to me?"
As Emperor Deqing finished speaking, Zhao Junchen's eyes flashed slightly, knowing that the opportunity to impeach Huang Yourong had come.
Therefore, according to the prior arrangement, Zhao Junchen nodded slightly to Zuo Lanshan, Tong Huan, Qin Huaiyuan and other members of the "Zhao Party", indicating that they would come out to impeach Huang Yourong. In addition to retaliating against Huang Yourong, he also acted for Gu Quan, Zhan Shanchang, and Liu Changan
Three people were reinstated to their official positions.
After receiving Zhao Junchen's signal, all the "Zhao Party" officials also cheered up and planned to act according to the plan and go out to speak.
However, before all the "Zhao Party" officials took action, others took the opportunity to speak. They took advantage of them.
I saw a supervisory censor named Li Yuran suddenly come out and report to Emperor Deqing: "Your Majesty's words, I deeply believe it! Officials of our dynasty should abide by the laws and disciplines of the court and resolutely implement the central government's decrees. This is the most important thing.
As a matter of fact, if officials despise the authority of the court and violate central government orders, then Your Majesty will not be able to govern a hundred officials, and a hundred officials will not be able to govern the people, which will cause chaos in the government and the public. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly punish officials who violate court laws and decrees.
More punishment can serve as a warning to others..."
This supervisory censor named Li Yuran is one of the rare neutral officials in the court. He has not taken refuge in any faction. He usually behaves very low-key, but today for some unknown reason, he quoted scriptures and spoke verbosely.
A lot of them agreed with Emperor Deqing's attitude.
Just when the officials were getting impatient because of this man's long words, Li Yuran suddenly changed the topic and said: "As a supervisory censor, I am usually responsible for harassing and impeaching officials, but today I am...
I heard something that I must report to Your Majesty - there is a newly promoted young official who is outstanding in his own talent, but is lawless and disobeys the government orders. This person is one of the officials who accompanied him south.
He was supposed to follow His Majesty back to the capital, but yesterday he left the southern patrol team privately and returned to the capital early without informing any superiors! Although this mistake is not serious, this person's attitude of contempt for the emperor and disobeying the government orders is
It is very obvious, and I believe that this person was obviously committing the crime against the odds and should be severely punished when His Majesty gave him repeated orders!"
As Li Yuran finished speaking, the expressions of Zhao Junchen, Prince Zhu Heyu, Ge Lao Cheng Yuandao and others all changed slightly.
Among them, Zhao Junchen's eyes showed a look of deep thought.
Because, through Li Yuran's description, they had already guessed who Li Yuran wanted to impeach!
On the other side, after hearing Li Yuran's impeachment, Emperor Deqing frowned and asked, "Oh? Yesterday, someone actually left the southern patrol without reporting to the summit and returned to the capital early? Who was it?"
"
Li Yuran replied slowly: "This person is the second best in this subject, Zhao Shancai, the editor of Hanlin Academy!"
…
ps: The state is still very bad, I barely wrote more than 3,000 words, so I will post it first!