There are more and more people surrounding Su Zongshan. From the ministers to the subordinates, everyone listens to his command and is served by him. His minions have spread all over the government and the public. Among them, there are many who admire his fame and power.
Most of the people who voted for him were forcibly recruited by Su Zongshan through some despicable means.
Since Niu Yuan lost power, he has been crazy about the power of the second-in-command. Now that he has an opportunity, he will do it by any means. He is uncharacteristically gentle and uses the private parties he organized before to make them
Under the banner of Liu Zhennian, he was accused of hunting down dissidents everywhere.
, to coerce his colleagues and force them to surrender to him, otherwise they will be impeached and dismissed from office. Officials like Lu Zhixian are either grateful for his great kindness, or they are afraid of what he did in the first place.
He accepted the bribe, so he was respectful and afraid in his heart, so he obeyed and worked for him.
After two months of careful management, Su Zongshan had secretly cultivated a powerful clique without disturbing Liu Zhennian. Knowing that the overall situation was decided, he put down his hand at this moment.
The butcher knife was replaced with the original one
appearance. In fact, he doesn’t want to quarrel with others for no reason. When his desire is satisfied, he has no motivation to continue to strengthen his reputation. In addition, he has no pursuit of national politics, neither new politics nor old politics. All he does is to firmly maintain
this seat.
Out of this mentality, he began to enjoy himself with his party members. He often entertained people at home and entertained them with the best wine he bought. When he heard their complaints that his family was short of royalties recently, he acted generously.
The land was sealed with one hundred taels of silver; when talking about the family's children's fame, he readily sent out several confidants
, in the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites made careful arrangements to ensure that he could be admitted as a Jinshi and get a good job. He treated people so generously that all the officials were naturally willing to associate with him, and even officials who were not his party hated him.
When I got up, the court hall was filled with a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere all day long, and people no longer had to be as nervous as before.
With no one to restrain them, Su Zongshan's cronies began to act unscrupulously. For example, Lu Zhixian, the Minister of Rites, took the lead in embezzlement. He not only misappropriated the money allocated by the Ministry of Revenue, but also deducted the expenses of the ancestral temple. As long as there was money to be earned,
In certain places, they will do whatever they can to break the bones and suck out the marrow, and they also want to pocket the public property in the treasury bit by bit.
But they were still not satisfied, and soon set their sights on a very lucrative deal - the Ministry of Works was going to build a new temple, and the cost would be at least 10,000 taels. This news was revealed to everyone by a doctor from the Ministry of Works.
Yes, he said that the minister also wanted to profit from it and planned to make a plan with Su Shenzheng. After hearing this, the party members were very happy and hurriedly reported these words back to Su Zongshan.
Su Zongshan was tired of them causing trouble everywhere, but he thought that it was not easy for these people to gain power, so he should be somewhat tolerant, so he agreed to their pleading, called his most trusted Shi Zhengxiu, and told him the whole truth.
In recent days, Shi Jianzheng often hangs out with this group of "old party members". He is used to listening to the dirty conspiracies of you and me, and has completely seen their true colors. Unfortunately, he discovered it too late.
He was riding a tiger and was unable to get off, so he had to obey Su Zongshan's order and go to the Ministry of Industry.
Shi Zhengxiu was afraid of being recognized by others, so he walked out of the capital hall from the side door, stood at the door, and looked at the street carefully. He first looked at the east side and saw officials coming and going; then he looked at the west side.
The road extends straight to the forbidden gate, which is still wide open.
'Now is the time to sleep at noon. The eunuchs are also waiting for the emperor. There may be no one on the road to the forbidden area...' Such an idea suddenly appeared in his mind, and then he had an idea. He did not go to crowded places and walked through the forbidden area.
Take the inner detour and walk to the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry.
With this in mind, he weighed his feet and slowly moved toward the west. Seeing that there was no one around, he took a confident step and crossed the corridor, stepping on the bricks and stones of the corridor without thinking.
However, in his daze, he forgot about the forbidden road. He bumped into red walls everywhere and couldn't find the right path. He went round and round and came to the gate of the East Palace. He didn't know where he was. He stopped and looked around when he suddenly heard the gate behind him.
There was a creaking sound, and when I looked around, I saw that the prince was wearing a yellow robe, surrounded by several young eunuchs, and was about to step down the steps.
Shi Zhengxiu panicked, his legs became weak, and he knelt down on the ground. He quickly moved his knees back a few times, and then he was a little farther away from the door.
"Veteran Shi Zhengxiu pays homage to His Highness!" He could only shout loudly.
There was a trace of surprise on the prince's face, and he hurriedly walked down the steps and called Shi Zhengxiu: "The old prisoner is asking me to get up. I wonder why you are here?"
"Chen...chen..." Shi Zhengxiu said cowardly, and suddenly came up with a way to deal with it, "I just feel guilty in my heart, and I came here to apologize to you!"
"Excuse me? What's your crime?" the prince asked in confusion.
Shi Zhengxiu never thought that when he said these words, he was caught off guard: "I... wasn't the minister impeached by the ministers a few days ago?"
"Impeachment?" The prince stroked his beard and thought thoughtfully, "Oh, this is a common thing. The ministers are dissatisfied with everyone, and there are no less than ten million articles of impeachment. You, a Tianjian, have mingled with anything.
Big thing? As the saying goes, you are not afraid of the shadow. You don't need to pay attention to those rumors. Let's go, let's go to see my father."
Shi Zhengxiu was stunned for a long time, and then he kowtowed to the prince's back. His head was on the ground, but his eyes were covered with bloodshot eyes, looking straight ahead.
"Looking at his reaction, His Highness the Crown Prince is completely unaware..." He murmured, "This little thief, Su Zongshan, dared to use the name of the Crown Prince to deceive me. It was obviously a deliberate attempt to trap..." His voice became more and more trembling.
, but the anger has not yet fully burst out.
"What? There will be auspicious signs tonight?" Liu Zhennian looked at Si Tianjian and Jianzheng in front of him. He was not happy. Instead, he raised his eyebrows slightly angrily, as if he was questioning him.
"That's right," Shi Zhengxiu said with an exaggerated and flattering smile, "There are signs this morning, which will be an unprecedented good omen!"
Seeing that everyone was in disbelief, he gritted his teeth and said, "If I tell a lie, I will be punished by heaven and earth!"
Liu Zhennian nodded solemnly, seemingly convinced. Seeing his reaction, Gui Fu quickly stood up and said with a smile: "This is really a blessing from God for our country! Since there is an unprecedented auspicious sign, why not celebrate it? Today?
In the evening, lights will be brightly lit in the Sitian Prison, a banquet will be held and hundreds of officials will gather there to await his arrival. What do you think?"