Not to mention the changes in the minds of Emperor Deqing and Zhao Junchen.
However, he said that just when Emperor Deqing summoned Zhao Junchen, major forces in the DPRK also inquired about the details of Zhao Junchen's assassination.
In this regard, the major forces in North Korea and China also have their own thoughts and preparations.
Zhou Mansion.
Since Zhou Shangjing lost his position as the chief minister of the cabinet, acted more and more low-key, and has always been blindly cooperating with Emperor Deqing's statements these days, Zhou Shangjing's mansion has gradually become a little deserted, no longer the bustling scene of the past. Officials on the wall no longer came to Zhou's mansion as often as before to greet Zhou Shangjing and please him. On the contrary, Shen Changmao's mansion not far away was becoming increasingly lively.
Zhou Shangjing's momentum seems to have become much more deserted, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that although Zhou Shangjing has lost his position as chief assistant, his power has not declined, and the core members of the "Zhou Party" are still loyal to him. His low-key attitude at this time is just a kind of latent attitude.
On this day, Zhou Shangjing was originally handling court affairs in the Wenyuan Pavilion in the palace. After learning about Zhao Junchen's assassination, Zhou Shangjing was keenly aware of the various subsequent impacts this incident would have, and immediately sent people to investigate the matter. After learning the truth, he returned to the mansion to take charge and pay close attention to the changes in the situation.
After the detailed information about Zhao Junchen's assassination spread, Zhang Bochong, the Minister of Punishment, quickly asked to see Zhou Shangjing and reported the latest progress of the case to Zhou Shangjing.
"Mr. Ge, according to Mr. Zhao, the person who assassinated him was a short and stocky man with a Shanxi accent. He had a black mole on his right cheek. He was skilled in his actions and struck fiercely. He seemed to be a habitual criminal. After the Ministry of Punishments received the news, , an investigation was immediately conducted, and the identity of this person was found in the case. The murderer was named Zhang Wei. He was originally from a military household. Later, he gathered some green-skinned scoundrels and became a horse thief near the Taihang Mountains. He committed countless murders, robberies, and crimes. However, he was vigilant in his work and his whereabouts were unpredictable. Therefore, the local government could not do anything about him. It was not until a few days ago that his traces were discovered and garrison troops were sent to exterminate him. Unfortunately, Zhang Wei escaped alone and was not arrested. He has since lost his trace, but I didn’t expect that he came to the capital and assassinated Mr. Zhao..."
In the study, Zhang Bochong reported to Zhou Shangjing in detail.
After Zhou Shangjing listened to Zhang Boxhong's report, his old face showed no expression. He just shook his head and said: "The specific identity and past experience of the murderer are just an insignificant matter. I don't care about it. I just want to Know the identity of the behind-the-scenes commander of this murderer! In this regard, your punishment department should pay more attention to this aspect. In addition..."
At this point, Zhou Shangjing glanced at Zhang Bochong, his tone softened slightly, and then said: "When the Criminal Department is catching the murderer, it needs to cooperate more with Shuntian Mansion. If the murderer can be caught first, it might as well give the credit to Shuntian Mansion. , because of the assassination of Zhao Junchen, Xue Gui, as the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, may encounter many difficulties, but he also needs this contribution to stabilize his position, and you and I also need to help him a lot... What do you think, Bochong?"
Zhang Boxhong's eyes flashed slightly, as if he was a little reluctant. After all, the assassination of Zhao Junchen had a great impact, and he had a lot of credit after solving the case. If he could lead the Ministry of Punishment to solve the case, he, the newly appointed Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, could also quickly establish his prestige and completely sit down. To stabilize the position of the Ministry of Punishment, on the contrary, if he wants to cede this credit to Shuntian Prefecture, Zhang Bochong will have to spend a lot of energy to appease the officials of the Ministry of Punishment. The pros and cons can be seen at a glance.
However, after all, Zhang Boxhong was someone who had the overall situation in mind, and he also knew the importance of Shuntian Mansion to Zhou Shangjing, so after hesitating for a moment, he still lowered his head and said: "I follow Mr. Ge's instructions, and the Ministry of Punishment will fully cooperate with Shuntian Mansion to investigate the case.
."
Zhou Shangjing was keenly aware of Zhang Boxhong's reluctance, but he said: "I also know the difficulties you face, Boxhong, but things have priorities, so I will wrong you for the time being. However, Xue Gui has been the Yin of Shuntian Prefecture for many years.
, you have the widest connections in the capital. If you can help Xue Gui get through the difficulties, I think Xue Gui will repay you. With Xue Gui's support, it will be much easier for you to do things in the capital in the future, but you don't have to worry too much.
Immediate gains and losses.”
Zhang Boxhong said quickly: "Mr. Zhou Ge, you are serious in your words. Master Xue and I are both your disciples, and we should support each other. Naturally, the lower officials will not care about each other."
After saying that, Zhang Boxhong seemed to have thought of something again, and suddenly whispered: "Mr. Ge, I heard a theory that the assassination of Mr. Zhao was related to the imperial court's business tax rectification. It seems that some people don't want to see Zhao.
Junchen was rectifying commercial taxation, so he sent someone to assassinate him... The chief minister of the cabinet, Shen Changmao, has always been a leader against the rectification of commercial taxation. Because of the fight for "Yellow Party" officials, he even had a public conflict with Zhao Junchen last night.
With Shen Changmao's temperament, he must hate Zhao Junchen deeply..."
Speaking of this, Zhang Boxhong's tone was mysterious and he tested: "Mr. Ge, do you think we should use some means to implicate the case to Shen Changmao when we are investigating the case? In this way, Shen Changmao's position as chief assistant will be
If you waver, maybe it will return to your hands..."
After hearing Zhang Bochong's probing, Zhou Shangjing's seemingly dim old eyes flashed slightly, and he seemed to be moved.
In fact, after hearing about Zhao Junchen's assassination, Zhou Shangjing had this idea immediately.
However, Zhou Shangjing finally shook his head and said: "Let's put aside the fight for power and the partisan strife for the time being. Now that the situation in the court is unstable, we can't just scheming against each other. As ministers of the court, our top priority is still
Help His Majesty stabilize the situation. If the situation in the court continues to be chaotic and eventually gets out of control, it will be of no long-term benefit to us people..."
As he spoke, Zhou Shangjing's old eyes flashed with wisdom, and he continued: "What's more, I gave up the position of chief minister of the cabinet to Shen Changmao, but I did it deliberately. The current situation is quite complicated, and the business and tax rectification matter
It will trigger a series of changes. Under such circumstances, the position of the chief minister of the cabinet may not be easy to sit in. Once something unexpected happens, it is easiest to take the blame. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a hot potato, and only Shen Changmao cannot see it.
Only when the situation is clear, I can’t wait to grab it, thinking that I got a bargain... When this potato is no longer so hot, I will naturally take it back, but the time is not yet ripe..."
After hearing Zhou Shangjing's explanation, a flash of admiration flashed in Zhang Bochong's eyes. He admired both Zhou Shangjing's long-term vision and his way of serving as a minister.
Although Zhou Shangjing is a powerful minister in the court, he has done a lot of things such as fighting for power and profit, suppressing dissidents, and forming parties for personal gain over the years. However, unlike several other powerful ministers in the court, Zhou Shangjing always takes the overall situation of the court into consideration whenever and wherever he works.
He has always had a bottom line and knows how to combine his own interests with those of the court. This may be the real reason why Zhou Shangjing has been able to control the situation between the government and the opposition over the years!
Just as Zhang Bochong respectfully agreed, Zhou Shangjing said: "However, although I will not deliberately use this matter to target Shen Changmao, Zhao Junchen might, with his temperament, definitely use this time to The opportunity will stir up trouble and make a big fuss... That's all, we don't need to get involved in this matter. We can just let Zhao Junchen deal with Shen Changmao, but we can't let Shen Changmao's position as the first assistant go too smoothly..."
As he said that, Zhou Shangjing's expression gradually became cautious, and he seriously warned Zhang Boxhong: "So, no matter how the situation in the court changes during the next period of time, you should ignore it and just concentrate on investigating the case. You must report this matter." Investigate thoroughly! I always feel that Zhao Junchen’s assassination is by no means that simple, and the truth hidden behind the scenes may be more important than Shen Changmao’s matter!”
Recently, Zhou Shangjing has always felt that there is a hidden force secretly surging in the court, and it seems to have a big plot. However, Zhou Shangjing has never been able to find the root of this hidden force, which makes Zhou Shangjing even more vigilant.
Now, Zhou Shangjing vaguely felt that Zhao Junchen's assassination might have something to do with this hidden force!
At the same time that Zhou Shangjing was giving instructions to Zhang Boxhong, the seventh prince Zhu Hejian also received detailed news of Zhao Junchen's assassination.
Still in the study room of the Seventh Prince's Mansion, Zhu Hejian had lost the mood to practice calligraphy and just stared coldly at Qin Xi in front of him, with a faint murderous intent surging in his eyes.
However, Qin Xi was kneeling in front of Zhu Hejian with his head bowed, but he could not see the change in Zhu Hejian's expression.
"The person who assassinated Zhao Junchen was a short and stocky man with a Shanxi accent. Before he assassinated Zhao Junchen, Zhao Junchen had met Zhao Shancai in private... Interesting, I remember that the assassin you hired to assassinate Zhao Shancai was named Zhang. Wei, is he born as a horse thief in Taihang Mountain? He is also short and stocky, and has a black mole on the right side of his face? What a coincidence, they are exactly the same!"
After staring at Qin Xi for a moment, Zhu Hejian finally spoke.
Hearing Zhu Hejian's inquiry, Qin Xi's body trembled slightly. He knew that not only had he failed in his errand, but he had also caused huge trouble to the seventh prince Zhu Hejian, so he no longer had the calmness and calmness of the past, and felt quite a bit in his heart. Confused.
However, although he was panicking, Qin Xi still reported the information he knew to Zhu Hejian in detail, and replied: "Your Highness, the characteristics of the murderer who assassinated Zhao Junchen are indeed consistent with Zhang Wei. After learning about this, my subordinates He also quickly sent someone to contact Zhang Wei and wanted to ask him what happened. However, Zhang Wei and the middleman Zhang Zhantang suddenly disappeared...I am afraid that this incident was indeed done by Zhang Wei. It should be that Zhang Wei recognized the wrong person. , when he assassinated Zhao Shancai, he mistook Zhao Junchen for Zhao Shancai, and secretly followed him to assassinate him, which led to what happened today."
Zhu Hejian laughed angrily and said: "You promised me that the assassination of Zhao Shancai will be foolproof. Is this what you call foolproof? How important is the assassination of Zhao Shancai? When you are looking for people, you can't find some With eyes?"
Zhu Hejian was very angry, but his tone was still slow and low.
Hearing Zhu Hejian's rebuke, Qin Xi's body trembled slightly, but he did not dare to refute anything and just lowered his head to listen to the instruction.
Seeing Qin Xi like this, Zhu Hejian became even more dissatisfied with him.
As if he thought that reprimanding Qin Xi was just a waste of time, Zhu Hejian's expression became even colder, but he changed the topic and asked: "Now that things have happened, how do you plan to restore the situation?"
Qin Xi quickly replied: "My subordinates have asked people to secretly search for traces of Zhang Wei and Zhang Zhantang. Once they are discovered, I will kill them immediately and silence them, and will never let them fall into the hands of the government."
Seeing that Qin Xi finally understood the urgent task, Zhu Hejian's expression softened slightly and said: "You personally lead people to handle this matter! Don't make any mistakes again!"
Hearing Zhu Hejian's instructions, Qin Xi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly promised: "Your Highness, please trust me again. I will never make any mistakes this time!"
After saying that, Qin Xi saluted Zhu Hejian, then stood up and left Zhu Hejian's study, preparing to lead people to do things in person.
Looking at Qin Xi's leaving figure, Zhu Hejian's eyes became colder.
Suddenly, Zhu Hejian said: "Jia Lun!"
As Zhu Hejian's voice fell, a young eunuch pushed open the door and stood in front of Zhu Hejian with his hands lowered, his expression respectful but his eyes cold.
This young eunuch has an unattractive appearance, but he has served Zhu Hejian personally for many years. His name is Jia Lun. He has always been responsible for liaison between Zhu Hejian and the inner court, and he is Zhu Hejian's true confidant.
"This Qin Xi, the people under Qin Xi, and of course the desperado named Zhang Wei, cannot stay. Please inform the inner court and ask them to help solve this matter!" Zhu Hejian said.
Jalen didn't say much, he just nodded to express his understanding, then turned and left.
The prince Zhu Heyu has always disliked seeing the inner court. He believed that eunuchs had been eunuchs in all dynasties. This situation was particularly serious in the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years, so he treated the inner court very harshly. Zhu Hejian took the opportunity to attack the inner court.
It has won over many powerful eunuchs, and after many years of operation, it has initially gained the support of the inner court. Even Liu Qing of the inner study hall has acquiesced in this matter.
Especially Dongchang, to a large extent, is under the control of Zhu Hejian. Zhu Hejian had many shady things, which were all covered up by Dongchang, or even handled by Dongchang himself. It is precisely because of this that many of Zhu Hejian's actions were
It has never been noticed.
However, Zhu Hejian has always been cautious and will never easily use this power in a capital city where the forces are entangled and there are eyeballs from all sides.
However, now that things have happened, in order to cover up his flaws, Zhu Hejian can only use Dongchang's power.
If nothing unexpected happens, both Qin Xi and Zhang Wei will disappear completely soon.
However, Zhu Hejian was still vaguely uneasy. He always felt that although he had made a decisive decision, there should be a follow-up to this matter waiting for him.
Therefore, Zhu Hejian sat in the study with a rather deep expression, constantly considering the subsequent changes.
Zhu Hejian felt that he should leave another escape route as a backup!
…
ps: Two chapters in one, more will be updated tomorrow.