The case of Li Yanxi of the Internal Affairs Office caused a sensation in the government and the opposition, and it not only involved the corruption case of the firearms factory, but even related to the life and safety of Emperor Yongzheng himself.

Some people say that Li Yanxi is the shadow of the south, and he has been buried in Jingshi, waiting for an opportunity to do some damage, but relevant insiders naturally scoff at this suspicion, after all, if Li Yanxi and others are shadows, then where is Yongzheng's life?

What really aroused more people's suspicion was still Prince Lian Yun Xi, because Yun Xi had been in charge of the Internal Affairs Office for a long time, if it was a hidden pile buried by Yun Xu, it was not impossible to find this possibility, but no one dared to break it. Once it is on the table, then the royal family will no longer have any prestige to speak of.

After all, from the second year of Yongzheng to the third year of Yongzheng, the royal family has caused many controversies because of various issues, such as Hongshi's sudden death, and no accurate result has been produced until now, so everyone also understands in their hearts that the water in it is not ordinary deep.

Seeing that Li Yanxi's case has not been brought to a conclusion, rumors have spread inside and outside the capital, which made Yongzheng extremely angry, and repeatedly ordered Prince Zhuang Yunlu to step up the interrogation, seeing that he was ineffective, and even conducted the interrogation himself, but because there were too few relevant clues, he did not get too many useful things for a while.

In the current Internal Affairs Office, there are mainly four people serving as the head of the Internal Affairs Office, including Li Yanxi, Fu Nai, Chang Ming, Lai Bao and others, to ensure that the power will not fall into the hands of one person, but relatively speaking, Li Yanxi and Fu Nai's qualifications are older, and Li Yanxi is in charge of the Yongzheng pill, which is naturally more critical.

Yongzheng opened the fold presented by Prince Zhuang Yunlu, read it briefly, and then frowned and said, "Prince Zhuang, do you think this matter is just because of the corruption of the minions below?" ”

Obviously, there are other meanings in Yongzheng's words, and Prince Zhuang Yunlu can naturally understand it, he feels that his juniors are sweating, and said in a low voice: "The slave thinks that there may be other circumstances in this matter, but now that he has been punished, if the punishment is too much, I am afraid that it will directly lead to the life of those slaves." ”

"But if it were that simple, would I be so aggressive?"

A sneer appeared on Yongzheng's face, but it made Yunlu, who was kneeling on the ground, feel a chill in his heart.

"The slave is really stupid, and I ask the emperor for advice."

"The focus of Li Yanxi's case is not what he wants to do, but who arranged it, whose cronies and backbones, and whose orders he received....... That's the point, you know? ”

When he said this, Yongzheng's voice was a little cold, so if Yunlu continued to pretend to be ignorant, then don't blame him for ignoring brotherhood.

Yunlu was already sweating on his forehead, he naturally understood what Yongzheng meant, so he had to whisper: "This matter is related to the clan relatives, and the slave thinks that he should investigate carefully and get the evidence before he can convince the public." ”

Yongzheng snorted coldly, "Since you want evidence, then you might as well go directly to your starling brother for advice, he has been in charge of the Zongren Mansion for a long time, maybe there are some things that you don't quite understand." ”

"Hey, minion command."

Yunlu's heart sank, and he was about to do it after all.......

What is the so-called consultation on the surface? In fact, it was to tell Prince Lian Yunxi that he wanted him to take the initiative to confess his guilt, and now Yongzheng no longer has the slightest patience, and he hopes to solve this big problem as soon as possible.

Yunlu came to Prince Lian's mansion with Yongzheng's message, but at this time, Prince Lian's mansion seemed particularly quiet, and there seemed to be few people left in the mansion, not like a palace at all, only an old man who guarded the door led Yunlu to the palace.

Yunlu felt a little strange in his heart, although Prince Lian Yunlu was not liked by the emperor, but the treatment of the prince was still guaranteed, and there were 10,000 taels of silver on the bright side, plus other rewards and income, life was usually very good - at least not as shabby as now.

When Yunlu was brought to the lime in the front yard by the old man, he saw a figure in a scribe's robe standing in the lotus pavilion, which looked a little sluggish, and the old man immediately arched his hand and said: "Lord, my lord is already waiting in the pavilion, please." ”

Yun Lu nodded slightly, he grew up listening to the name of the eighth elder brother since he was a child, after all, Yun Lu was born in the thirty-fourth year of Kangxi, and the Nine Dragons won the heir at the age when he had just learned about it, and he was even more curious about this eighth elder brother who was praised by the Manchu Dynasty, but he didn't have much to deal with.

When Yunlu walked into the lotus pavilion, the scribe turned around, it was the prince of Lian of the dynasty, Yunxi, but at this time, Yunlu was a little older than when Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, and there were already large pieces of white hair on his head, and even the wrinkles were much more obvious, as if he had become an old man who was almost at the age of a sixtieth birthday.

"I've seen starlings, how are starlings doing?" Yunlu bowed, with a little caution in his expression.

Yun Yu looked at Yun Lu in front of him, and couldn't help but feel a little envious, the other party had just arrived and stood up, and he didn't look like he was already dying, not to mention that the situation of the two sides was very different now.

"Sixteenth brother, it's rare that you have the leisure to come to the house today to see the starling, and you will stay in the house at night to taste your imperial sister-in-law's craftsmanship, but in recent years, our house has been a lot deserted."

Yunlu said in a low voice: "If you go back to the starling, this will not be a personal friendship, but for official business, the emperor wants the courtiers to ask the starling a few words, and when he asks, he has to give the emperor a reply, so he can only come to the starling's mansion next time to taste the craftsmanship of the imperial sister-in-law." ”

"Oh, I'm confused for my brother......."

A trace of sadness flashed on Yun Yu's face, he is such a smart person, he naturally knows what he is for, it is nothing more than his good brother's suspicion of the emperor has never let go of him, and now that he has seized this opportunity, he will naturally not let it go.

It's just that the two are brothers after all, Yun Xi didn't expect Yongzheng to chase Yu Si, and he refused to let him go at this point, a wry smile crossed his face, and he sighed leisurely: "You ask, the starling brother must tell you everything he knows." ”

"Yes, Starling."

Yun Lu immediately stood facing south, obviously about to start asking questions on behalf of the emperor, and the whole person became a little dignified, while Yun Lu honestly knelt on the ground, bowing his head and waiting for the inquiry.

"The emperor asked you, can the corruption case of the Internal Affairs Office have anything to do with you?"

"If you go back to the emperor, the minions of this matter have only heard of it, but they have never known about it at all."

"The emperor asked you, since you were in charge of the Zongren Mansion back then, didn't you know anything about the corruption of Li Yanxi and his party?"

"The slave is really stupid and incompetent, and he has failed the emperor's trust, and the slave is guilty."

"The emperor asked you, has Li Yanxi, the head of the Internal Affairs Office, ever had a close relationship with you?"

Hearing this question, Yun Xi's face was a little ugly, and he was very embarrassed: "If you go back to the emperor, when the slave was in charge of the internal affairs office, he had a lot of contacts with the slaves below, but they were all for official business, never suspected of private affairs, let alone communicated in private. ”

"The emperor asked you, then why did Li Yanxi say that you had given benefits to the minions below many times? Isn't it buying people's hearts? ”

Yun Yu bit his lip, there was no blood on his face, he just kowtowed and said sadly: "Since the emperor ascended the throne, the slaves have never had the intention of inviting people to buy people's hearts, and I hope the emperor will investigate clearly." ”

When the questioning was over, the faces of both of them were gloomy, how could a conversation like this be a conversation between brothers? It's more like interrogating the prisoner.

Yun Lu sighed softly, picked up Yun Xu, who was kneeling on the ground, and comforted him in a low voice: "Now the emperor is just in a moment's anger....... Starling, don't think about it, when the matter is clarified, it will be over, and the starling will still be a good starling at that time. ”

"Sixteenth brother, do you think I'm still okay?"

Yun Lu smiled miserably and looked at Yun Lu fixedly, but Yun Lu avoided his eyes, but this time Yun Xu's heart completely sank to the bottom, and it seemed that no one could speak for him anymore.

"Starling, take care, sixteen will return to the emperor."

..........

When Yunlu presented all the contents of Yunlu's return to Yongzheng one by one, Yongzheng dropped several teacups one after another, looked at Yunlu and sneered: "Yunlu's meaning, didn't I start buying people's hearts before I ascended the throne?" ”

Obviously, Yongzheng has discovered the flaws in Yun Xi's return, and this is something that everyone dare not deny, after all, before Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, the two sides launched a life-and-death struggle for the throne, who didn't do it to buy people's hearts? Even he Yongzheng himself bought the hearts of the Nine Gate Admiral Long Keduo to successfully inherit the throne.

Yun Xi has no way to explain this matter, and Yongzheng obviously will not give him another chance to explain, it can be said that at this point, the intentions of both parties have been vividly expressed.

Yunlu didn't dare to say much, but just knelt on the ground and cried in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the slave thinks that even though the starling brother has done these adverse things, he is also the bloodline left by the emperor, and he is also the emperor's sibling brother......."

"Hmph, do you think I'm going to kill him?"

"Slaves don't dare, slaves are stupid ........"

Yongzheng had a sneer on his face, "If you kill Yun Xi like this, it will ruin my reputation, if it weren't for the imperial examination...... I must hand this case over to the Three Law Divisions for public trial, so that the people of the world can take a good look at the black-hearted liver sausages in the belly of his Eight Sage Kings! ”

As soon as Yunlu heard Yongzheng's words, he was immediately a little silent, if he really wanted to do this, I am afraid it would be even more uncomfortable than killing him, this is a ruthless idea!

"He is unkind, but I will not be unjust, this matter will end here, those minions involved in the case, how to judge it, as for the eighth side, I will have a charter, step down."

Yongzheng said coldly, but then he opened a book of folds and began to read it, and Yunlu naturally knew about it and hurriedly retreated, this matter is over on the emperor's side, but he still has to finish it.

On 21 April, the case of Li Yanxi of the Internal Affairs Office came to an end, and Li Yanxi, the head of the Internal Affairs Office, sentenced Ling Chi to death, while Fu Nai, Chang Ming, Lai Bao, and others were all hanged.

In the past dynasties, it is the first time that the internal affairs government has been exchanged for blood on such a large scale, but it involves the inner court, so it has not caused too many waves, and everyone is waiting for the arrival of one thing, which is the real highlight.

Sure enough, on April 25, Yongzheng issued an edict to accuse Yun Yu of harboring selfish intentions, sowing right and wrong in case of trouble, and even inviting people to buy people's hearts everywhere, with bad intentions, together with Yun Yu, Sunu, Wu Erzhan and others, they were removed from the yellow belt and removed from the Zongren Mansion, which can be regarded as completely cutting off the foundation of Yun Yu, Yun Yu, Sunu, Wu Erzhan and other clan opposition.

On April 28, Yongzheng issued another decree to remove Yun Xi's wife to "Fujin", and returned to his foreign home, and ordered Yun Xi to be imprisoned in the Zongren Mansion, surrounded by a high wall, and only left two eunuchs around him to deal with it.

The so-called "Aqina", in Manchu means dog, and "Seth Hei" refers to pig, with these two names to Yun Xu, Yun Yu named, it can be seen that Yongzheng's heart resentment, so that after the holy decree came out, the ministers of the capital all pretended to be dead, and no one dared to speak to Yongzheng at this time.

After disposing of Yun Xi, Yongzheng relieved his mind a little, and asked the household department to allocate 500,000 taels of silver as the capital for the purchase of raw materials for the firearms factory, and ordered Dai Jing to hurry up the newly made musket artillery for the use of the Eight Banners New Army.

This is also a helpless way, after all, it is better to hold a bird gun than to hold a stick, and when the battle starts, I am afraid that I will not even have to use the bird gun, and then the big guy will really have to fight with Ning Chu with a stick.

Yongzheng also knew in his heart that the day of Ning Chu's Northern Expedition was close to one day, according to the following spy reports, the Fu Han army along the south of the Yellow River was already more and more day by day, more than 100,000 people were fighting hard against the horses, I am afraid that the Yellow River will be crossed this year, and then we will have to see a real chapter with Ning Chu.

The current Qing court only has about 100,000 fully equipped Eight Banners New Army, plus 50,000 Manchu and Mongolian cavalry, 450,000 old-fashioned Beijing Battalion Eight Banners, and 1560,000 Green Battalion soldiers distributed in the northern provinces, with a full force of less than 400,000 troops, which is the current property of the Qing court.

It seems like a lot, but everyone knows that this is nothing more than the Eight Banners New Army and the Manchurian and Mongolian cavalry have a certain combat power, which adds up to less than half, which is only 150,000 people, but once Ning Chu goes on a northern expedition, the troops that can be pulled out are at least between 200,000 and 300,000.

When the Qing court attacked more and less, it couldn't kill the Fu Han army on the opposite side, not to mention that at the moment, it was still fighting more with less, and no one dared to say that they could win.

I don't know if Yongzheng moved the heavens, or moved the ancestors of the Eight Banners, but it really brought variables to the current Qing court.