……

……

Zhou Shangjing's tone was gentle and calm, but the content was like a bombshell, whether it was Emperor Deqing or Zhao Junchen, they were all shocked for a while.

Especially Emperor Deqing, after hearing Zhou Shangjing's explanation, his body shook and he almost fell!

Zhao Junchen is worthy of being the most proficient servant of the horse, after discovering the situation of Emperor Deqing, he hurriedly took a step forward, held Emperor Deqing's arm, his expression was concerned and anxious, and he said with relief: "Your Majesty, you must not be angry, you must take care of the Holy Body, or listen to the detailed explanations of Shen Ge Lao and Zhou Shoufu first, after we have completely figured out this matter, we may be able to find a solution." ”

However, although Zhao Junchen comforted Emperor Deqing, his emotions were fluctuating.

Just last night, after being reminded by Li Lun, Zhao Junchen had probably guessed what Zhou Shangjing's hole cards would be - that is, to form some kind of loss--if Emperor Deqing overthrew Zhou Shangjing, the imperial power would also be greatly damaged, and at such a time, Emperor Deqing might take the initiative to give up the attack on Zhou Shangjing.

It's just that although Zhao Junchen guessed the general direction, he couldn't think of a specific method, after all, Zhou Shangjing is the representative of the minister's power, and the relationship with the imperial power is a mutual antagonism, how can he tie his honor and disgrace to the imperial power?

Now, when Zhou Shangjing finally showed his hole cards, Zhao Junchen finally understood Zhou Shangjing's specific method!

Overseas trade has always been a business of making money and making a lot of money, but the Ming Dynasty has always pursued a policy of banning the sea. Merchant ships were not allowed to go to sea, and overseas trade was forbidden. In the Longqing period, the maritime ban policy was slightly relaxed. However, it is still subject to many regulations and restrictions.

However, the money is touching enough to make people take risks, so the consequence of the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy was the proliferation of smuggling at sea, and many merchants and dignitaries were secretly involved in making huge profits - so it is not surprising that there would be such a strong background smuggling ship line as the "Eight Kings Boat Company". After all, the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty also loved silver.

And Zhou Shangjing took advantage of this to link the rebellion of the Japanese in Suzhou with the "Eight Kings Boat Tour".

In this way, Zhou Shangjing's previous actions were no longer to protect the clansmen and bully the king, but to endure humiliation and maintain the prestige of the royal family, and suddenly changed from a heinous criminal minister to a well-intentioned loyal minister, and suddenly put Emperor Deqing in a dilemma.

Things have come to this point, think about it. Emperor Deqing was left with only two paths to choose from.

First, continue to investigate Zhou Shangjing's various crimes, pursue them relentlessly, and take advantage of this rare opportunity. Completely knocked down Zhou Shangjing.

But it is conceivable that if Emperor Deqing did this, he would have to investigate the matter of the "Eight Kings Boat Trip". Even if Emperor Deqing didn't investigate it clearly, Zhou Shangjing would definitely publicize the matter of the "Eight Kings Boat Trip"! Until that time. The actions of the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty who illegally smuggled goods, colluded with the Japanese and harmed the common people will inevitably cause an uproar between the government and the opposition. The prestige of the Ming Dynasty royal family will inevitably plummet because of this, and even cause the people to be hostile to the royal family.

For such a situation, Emperor Deqing naturally did not want to see it.

The second is to conceal the truth, and no longer investigate the matter of the Japanese rebellion on the surface, and the responsibility for Zhou Shangjing's various crimes is also lenient, as for the various crimes of the "Eight Kings Boat Trip", they are handed over to the factory guards to deal with secretly, and then the whole thing is gently exposed, just as if it never happened.

It's just that in this way, it means that the game between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing ended in the complete defeat of Emperor Deqing! Obviously, he has an absolute advantage, but he was reversed by Zhou Shangjing at the last moment when the victory was about to be announced, and in a way, Emperor Deqing was almost played by Zhou Shangjing between applause!

With the pride of Emperor Deqing, such an ending is also unacceptable!

However, by this time, the Deqing Emperor had no choice but these two options.

In a way, no matter how Emperor Deqing chooses, he will be a loser in this game!

Therefore, it is no wonder that after Emperor Deqing heard Zhou Shangjing's explanation, he was dizzy and almost fell down for a while, on the one hand, he was angry at the lawlessness and audacity of the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty, and on the other hand, Emperor Deqing felt humiliated, so he was a little ashamed and angry!

*

However, he said that after Emperor Deqing heard Zhao Junchen's relief, he stabilized his mind a little and finally calmed down a lot.

Then, Emperor Deqing stood firm, waved his arm again, and broke away from Zhao Junchen's support, just staring at Shen Changmao and Zhou Shangjing, gritting his teeth and asking, "Tell me all the news you know!" The 'Eight Kings Boat Line' is just smuggling, so why do you want to collude with the Japanese to plague Suzhou? I want to know the most detailed news! ”

Seeing Emperor Deqing like this, it can be said that he was extremely out of shape, Shen Changmao's eyes flashed a trace of pride, and he slowly explained: "Your Majesty, the most seriously damaged place in this invasion of Suzhou by the Japanese is Li Jiaji. Of course, in Suzhou, Li Jiaji is a notoriously wealthy place, and it is natural for the Japanese to regard it as a piece of fat, but in fact, as far as the minister knows, the reason why the Japanese will harm Li Jiaji is because of other internal information. ”

Speaking of this, Shen Changmao deliberately paused slightly, waiting for Emperor Deqing's question.

However, what Shen Changmao finally ushered in was not Emperor Deqing's questioning, but a piece of Huangshi paperweight!

It turned out that Emperor Deqing was now eager to know the details of the collusion between the "80,000 Boat Lines" and the Japanese Kou, but when he saw that Shen Changmao not only did not explain seriously, but proudly sold the guanzi, he was immediately furious.

In normal times, Emperor Deqing can still maintain his demeanor, but now that he is embarrassed and angry, where can he still maintain his demeanor? In a fit of rage, he grabbed the Huangshi paperweight on the desk and threw it at Shen Changmao!

Fortunately, Emperor Deqing's accuracy was not good, obviously aiming at Shen Changmao's head, but he only hit Shen Changmao's shoulder, otherwise, the emperor smashed the head of the elder of the pavilion, and it would cause a small turmoil.

After being hit by a paperweight, Shen Changmao has always been pampered, how can he endure the pain? Naturally, he couldn't help but scream loudly.

Then, Shen Changmao's screams stopped abruptly!

It turned out that between the screams, Shen Changmao saw Emperor Deqing's eyes - cold, ruthless, and full of murderous aura.

Such a look is very terrifying, even if Shen Changmao's temperament has always been cold, he subconsciously shivered, and in addition to being frightened, he actually forgot the sore spot on his shoulder.

Then, I only heard Emperor Deqing say in a cold voice: "I only want to know the detailed news of the Eight Kings Boat Company colluding with the Japanese to plague Suzhou, and I don't want to hear you go around in circles and sell the guanzi, I am in a very bad mood now, and I don't have that patience!" ”

Hearing Emperor Deqing's ultimatum, Shen Changmao finally did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly explained in detail the specific reasons why the "Eight Kings Boat Travel" colluded with the Japanese to plague Suzhou.

*

It turns out that the reason why Lijiaji is a well-known wealthy village and town in Suzhou is because Lijiaji is located at the intersection of the Yangtze River and several tributaries, and the geographical location is very good.

Qian Xianru, the shopkeeper of the "Eight Kings Ship", took a fancy to the advantages of Lijiaji's geographical location and wanted to build a warehouse in Lijiaji as a distribution place for the smuggled goods of the "Eight Kings Ship".

At the beginning, everything went very smoothly, because of the existence of Li Jiaji, the efficiency of smuggling of the "Eight Kings Boat Company" has improved a lot.

However, when the people of Li Jiaji discovered the smuggling activities of the "Eight Kings Boat Company", they became greedy and repeatedly demanded money from the "Eight Kings Boat Company", and also threatened the "Eight Kings Boat Company", declaring that if the "Eight Kings Boat Company" did not give them sufficient benefits, then they would go to the Yamen to denounce the smuggling crime of the "Eight Kings Boat Company".

The shareholders behind the "Eight Kings Boat Line" are the eight Ming Dynasty vassal kings, and the background is certainly profound, but at this time, there are some rat traps, for fear that things will make a big fuss, so there is a lot of tolerance and concession, but it makes the people of Li Jiaji more fearless.

In the end, after repeated conflicts between the "Eight Kings Boat Travel" and the people of Li Jiaji, Qian Xianru personally came to Li Jiaji to mediate, but he did not expect that he not only did not succeed in mediation, but suffered a lot of humiliation and threats.

So, Qian Xianru was annoyed and angry, and actually contacted the pirates, planning to teach the people of Li Jiaji a lesson.

It's just that Qian Xianru never expected that the ferocity of the Japanese was far better than the rumors, and he obviously just planned to teach the people of Li Jiaji a lesson, but he didn't expect that the Japanese would burn the entire Li Jiaji in one fell swoop, and most of the people of Li Jiaji were also killed, and even the Heshang Village and the West Neighbor Village near Li Jiaji also suffered great losses.

It's just that at this time, Qian Xianru can't regret it, so he can only hurriedly cover the Japanese and leave.

It is precisely because of the cover of Qian Xianru that the Japanese can come and go freely, and regard the patrol army of Jiangyin Military Town as an ornament!

In fact, because of smuggling, the top and bottom of Jiangyin Military Town have long been bought by the "Eight Kings Boat Company".

……

PS: This chapter was originally a big chapter of 4,000 words, but just as the bug was about to finish writing, the computer suddenly restarted, and there were only 2,000 words left, so I really wanted to cry without tears.

Well, I will send 3,000 words first, the content is incomplete, everyone forgive me!

…… (To be continued.) )