"Okay, then you go and come back early. After I ascend the throne, I will have to rely on you as the chief minister."
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty." Liu Yan left hastily. Jiang Shan never told himself about Yanjing's surrender to the Northern Zhou Dynasty, including the change of Jiuzhou Lake without notifying him in advance. Liu Yan already knew that his "confidant" did not
As "confidant" as I imagined.
"Liu Yan has the kindness of a woman. Your Majesty must make plans early." Jin Yan said in a low voice as he watched Liu Yan walk out of the meeting hall.
"I know it well." Jiang Shan replied expressionlessly.
…
At Yinshi, half an hour before the morning court, Zhang Zhiren returned to the Privy Council and was summoned by Jiang Shan alone. The situation in the West Camp of the Royal Forest Army was under control. Twelve people were killed, and more than 200 officers were either dismissed or arrested. The same was true in the East Camp.
In a similar situation, more than 10,000 officers and soldiers from the two battalions were transferred to the capital to control the situation.
Unlike the Chen and Xiao families, the Zhang family has no intention of competing for the heir apparent and has always had a harmonious relationship with the East Palace. Therefore, Zhang Zhiren’s cousin, Zhang Zhiliang, the father of Zhang Zhiren, the new family member, gave him the first letter from the deputy envoy of the Privy Council.
One instruction is to fully assist the prince in ascending the throne, and the second instruction is to severely punish Yang Dang who killed Zhang Xingchu!
It was these two things that Jiang Shan and Zhang Zhiren said. With Zhang Zhiren's sophistication, he naturally agreed! Since the relationship between Xu Muxue and He Qizhou is well known, and they were witnesses of Jiang Cong's death in the palace, Jiang Shan also
He highlighted Xiaoxue, who was actually indulging He Qizhou under the guise of hitting him, and explained the possible misunderstanding to Zhang Zhiren.
Zhang Zhiren's response was: Xiaoxue will be confined to his own residence, and rumors that are unfavorable to the prince will not appear. He hopes that the prince can protect the interests of the Zhang family in Shaanxi and Gansu.
The prince was so pleased that he took Zhang Zhiren's hand and went to court together. Those officials of the Chen Party who had just been released were all envious of him. But before meeting Zhang Zhiren, Jiang Shan summoned Zhang Wei. Zhang Wei only asked to see him for one thing.
That is to weaken Zhang Zhiren as soon as possible, because he is Zhang Xingchu's legitimate son! And Zhang Zhiren leads the most powerful lineage of the Zhang family!
Jiang Shan's reply was "wait". Only when the situation in the court stabilizes can he start to take back Zhang Zhiren's military power and deal with Xu Muxue, Xu Qinghan and others who have become hidden dangers.
…
Before dawn, Liu Yan returned to his home in the outer room of the inner city. Seeing that nothing happened, he felt a little relieved. Then he hurriedly called Liu Junzhi to the study. Mrs. Liu was a little worried and followed her in.
Liu Yan said: "After today's court meeting, the prince will ascend the throne as emperor. The original opponents Chen, Xiao, Xu Xuan, Shi Lan and others have all surrendered. Now they will start to deal with the common enemy-Yang Party! Junzhi, Yang
Our family has made great contributions to the country, and my father cannot bear their suffering. You go back to the armament hall today and ask Yang Shan to find a way to bring the message back. Tell the Yang family to make plans in advance and escape as many people as possible!"
"Father, the armament hall is still closed!" Liu Jun said anxiously.
"Most of the arrested Chen Party members have been released. King Cheng has surrendered. The armament hall cannot be sealed forever. The siege should be lifted soon. Be careful when you talk to Yang Shan so that no one can see it."
"Okay, what about He Qizhou? What does the prince plan to do with him?" Liu Junzhi asked.
"Regardless of whether He Qizhou participated in King Cheng's plan or not, he has been unable to stand up. Not even Lu Yuanbao can save him!"
"Did something happen to Master Yuanbao?"
"He was labeled as the leader of the Yang Party and is now trapped in Tianduguan. Alas, let He Qizhou wish for his own blessings. I have to go, the time for the morning court is coming soon." Liu Yan sighed and stood up to leave.
.
Seeing Liu Yan about to walk out of the study, Liu Junzhi couldn't help but ask: "Father, if the 'general' He Qizhou said was the prince, would you still assist him?"
"Which 'general'?" Liu Yan stopped immediately.
"That's the mastermind behind the assassin organization 'Yueyin' and the human trafficking case."
"Don't say this nonsense!" Liu Yan was slightly angry.
"What if the prince is still the person behind Liu Jinan?" Liu Junzhi asked again.
"King Cheng has admitted that he was the one who instigated Liu Jinan." Liu Yan said.
"Father, I'm just asking you, if the prince were that kind of person, would you assist him?"
"No, but what can we do? Junzhi, what do you want to say? Do you know something?" Liu Yan asked anxiously.
"Yes, Prince Renyi, how could he be such a person? Children, don't talk nonsense!" Mrs. Liu was even more anxious.
"Father, can you come back again after you retire? We will talk about it then."
"good!"
"Then I'll go to the armament hall later and we'll talk in the afternoon."
"Be careful and ask Master Hong to accompany you on the way back and forth."
"Oh." Liu Junzhi nodded in response, and then went up to the attic again while Xiao Cui went to work. He Qizhou in the boudoir could finally stretch his body, but after hearing the news that the prince wanted to do harm to the Yang family,
I was worried again. If the crime of murdering the emperor was really put on myself, then at least the Yi clan would be guilty of a serious crime. The Yang family would definitely not be allowed to sit there and wait for death!
Liu Junzhi said to He Qizhou: "I will immediately inform Yang Shan, Lin Chuan and Jiang Can, asking them to flee the capital immediately and go home to report the news, but I am worried..."
He Qizhou said: "Are you worried that they will be targeted?"
"good."
"Don't leave in a hurry. Let's think of a way to let them escape smoothly."
"Well, and you. I think father will help us. There are some things we can ask him to help with."
"Okay, I believe you!"
…
The court meeting went better than Jiang Shan had imagined. It was perfect. The three families unanimously supported the prince's immediate enthronement. Chen Yu clarified for himself in court that he was purely bewitched by Jiang Gui for helping King Cheng to force the throne. He admitted his guilt and asked to resign.
As an assistant, he asked the new emperor to impose the death penalty. Immediately after, more than 30 people from Chen's party petitioned for punishment.
Jiang Shan, who sat on the dragon throne for the first time, showed an emperor-like open-mindedness and praised Chen Yu for knowing that he could correct his mistakes and that he could do better. He only agreed to Chen Yu's resignation and allowed him to complete the handover procedures and move from the post of chief assistant to official positions. As for the others,
, most of them were kept in office as a result of their guilt, and no punishment was imposed for the time being.
Then the voice of severely punishing Jiang Gui was heard in the court, and Jiang Shan was handed over to the Tribunal of Justice for trial in accordance with the law, but he added at the end: This court is currently in a troubled time, and everything needs to be replaced. I really do not want to impose harsh punishments, so
Soon a summons will be issued to grant amnesty to the whole world!
Jiang Shan also directed the Ministry of Etiquette, the Department of Ancestors and other ministries to speed up the funeral process of the late emperor, and gave him the posthumous title of "Wu". A grand state funeral was held two days later.
Then came the rewards based on merit, and everyone under the prince's account was promoted: Jiang Di was made the prince; Jiang Xian was given the title of first-grade prince and tutor; Liu Yan was promoted to the chief assistant of the cabinet; Zhang Zhiren was promoted to the privy envoy; Mo Dezheng resigned due to the unfavorable war.
The privy envoy is now the Minister of the Ministry of War; Jin Yan returned to Beijing to serve as the second assistant to the cabinet; the post of Governor of Southern Zhili was taken over by Hu Mao; Jin Yue, Bu Hang, Pang Yuan and others were also knighted, and the commanders of the imperial army's battalions
Guan Jun was replaced by Jiang Shan's confidant.
As soon as the reward was decided, someone proposed to severely punish the three commanders of Jinyiwei. The proposer was Qingliu Zhong, but he was quickly refuted by more officials on the grounds that they needed these three people to maintain stability and apprehend the culprit. There were two culprits, except Cheng.
Wang, and the other one was He Qizhou, and then they were naturally involved in Party Yang. Faced with the fierce public sentiment among officials, Jiang Shan handed the case over to the Sanfa Division, Jin Yiwei, and the Military Inspection Division to jointly handle it, striving to arrest the culprits, and
Deal with Yang Dang’s disaster seriously and quickly!
The two most calm people at the court meeting were Liu Yan and Zhang Zhiren. Although they had been promoted to high positions and were highly praised by Jiang Shan, they clearly felt the different atmosphere in the court hall.
When Zhang Zhiren and Jiang Shan arrived at the main hall, he proposed to resign from his position in the court in the name of Ding You, but Jiang Shan did not agree, and instead made him an envoy. Although he resigned again, his resignation was still rejected.
, but "sympathetically" removed the position of Minister of the Ministry of War, which held real power. This attitude of rising up and down secretly but not letting him go made Zhang Zhiren feel faintly uneasy.
After returning home, Xu Muxue had been waiting at the door early. She couldn't help but come up to him and asked, "Grandpa, is there any news about He Qizhou?"
"Girl, didn't you say you had given up on that ungrateful guy? There is no news yet, but it is good news for you," Zhang Zhiren said.
"Did he really force Grandpa to death?" Xu Mu whispered sadly.
"It's possible. Grandpa still knew Uncle Yan's handwriting. Alas, my father never mentioned this matter. I think he has been feeling guilty for many years. Coupled with his old age and grief, he couldn't withstand the questioning of He Qizhou and Lu Baogen, and he couldn't stand it.
He is willing to tell Prince Cheng who encouraged him to take action, and then he will kill himself." Zhang Zhiren said.
"Grandpa, my great-grandfather didn't designate you as the head of the family. Is there any reason for this? I always feel that something is not right. Can you let me go back to Ganzhou and have a look?" Xu Muxue asked.
"It's very problematic. Uncle Yan's letter was not sealed with wax, and he never mentioned the head of the family. There must be something fishy in it. But you can't go out yet." Zhang Zhiren said as he brought Xu Mu into the study.
"Why? I have to go back to Ganzhou. My parents are still there, just in case..."
"Far water cannot save the near fire, and you alone cannot fight against them. It seems that the collusion between Zhang Zhiliang and the prince is not a matter of a day or two." Zhang Zhiren said.
"Well, without the help of our Zhang family, Jiang Shan would not have been smuggling on the trade routes and selling people for so many years. Grandpa, I don't think Zhang Wei has any good intentions, so you should be careful."
"I know this. This morning I was given the false title of Privy Councilor, but my position as Minister of War was taken away from me. Now the court's finger is pointed at Party Yang. I guess it won't be long before Jiang Shan takes action against me.
"Zhang Zhiren sighed.
"What should we do?"
"What else can I do? I heard what you said in Jiuzhou Pool. Jiang Shan has been planning this for a long time. After defeating his biggest opponent Jiang Gui, he now fully controls the three giants of Jinyiwei and successfully seized the military power. I have made some moves.
He will find an excuse, so just wait and see what happens." Zhang Zhiren shook his head and said.