……

……

As the door of the Imperial Palace slowly opened, all the officials were in good spirits.

Seeing that the "Great Dynasty Meeting" was about to begin, the officials did not dare to slack off, and they all lined up according to their respective official ranks, and under the leadership of the crown prince Zhu Heyu and several elders, Yuguan entered the Imperial Palace.

After waiting for about a stick of incense, the officials heard the great eunuch Zhang Deyang singing loudly: "Your Majesty has arrived~ Hundreds of officials are welcome!!"

With Zhang De's singing, Emperor Deqing slowly came to the Imperial Palace, and the officials bowed and bowed, shouting long live.

However, he said that after Emperor Deqing sat on the dragon chair, he first asked the officials to calm down, and then took the initiative to speak and said slowly: "I am going south this time to inspect the situation of the grain town in the south of the Yangtze River, spread the emperor's prestige, emphasize the existence of the imperial court, and strengthen the local reverence for the center......

After finding many high-sounding reasons for his southern tour, Emperor Deqing changed his words and said: "However, during this southern tour, although I have gained a lot, I have also discovered many problems...... That is, the local yamen's decrees to the central court are in defiance of yin and yang, lack of reverence, insufficient supervision of the local yamen by the central court center, and poor communication, and the various situations derived from this are repeatedly visible! ”

Of course, Emperor Deqing began to take advantage of the topic and took the opportunity to stand up.

As he spoke, Emperor Deqing suddenly turned his gaze to Zhou Shangjing, and said slowly: "Zhou Shangjing, take advantage of today's opportunity to personally explain in detail to the officials that the Suzhou Yamen concealed the rebellion of the Japanese Invaders, and let the officials see what the chaos of the Ming Dynasty has become now!" ”

Hearing Emperor Deqing's order, Zhou Shangjing's white eyebrows raised slightly, knowing that Emperor Deqing was going to use his demotion to knock on the mountain and shock the tiger and kill the monkey and make an example to the officials.

However, Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing had already reached a secret agreement as early as Suzhou - Emperor Deqing would not continue to pursue Zhou Shangjing's asylum crimes. But in exchange, in the next period of time, Zhou Shangjing must also fully cooperate with Emperor Deqing's actions to stabilize the situation in the government and the opposition.

Therefore, although Emperor Deqing is now clear that he wants to step on Zhou Shangjing to enhance his prestige, the prestige of Emperor Deqing is also one of the necessary conditions for stabilizing the situation in the government and the opposition, and Zhou Shangjing is out of consideration for the overall situation. But he can only endure himself and cooperate silently.

From this point of view, Emperor Deqing can be regarded as a small calculation of Zhou Shangjing once.

So, Zhou Shangjing slowly stepped out of the queue and said, "The old minister obeys the order." ”

Then, in front of hundreds of civil and military officials, Zhou Shangjing told the story of the Suzhou Rebellion in a trivial manner, but it did not mention that he secretly shielded his grandson Zhou Suhai.

After Zhou Shangjing finished speaking, Emperor Deqing nodded slowly with a serious face, and asked Zhou Shangjing again: "There is such a big mess in Suzhou. As the head of the dynasty, you don't even know it, what a dereliction of duty!? Therefore, I must punish you for negligence, remove you from the position of chief of the cabinet, and fine you for three years...... Are you convinced of my disposition? ”

Zhou Shangjing lowered his head slightly, and also showed a look of awe. said slowly: "The old minister did overlook and should be punished." Don't dare to disagree! ”

"That's good." Emperor Deqing's expression was very cold, and then he took the opportunity to announce to the officials that Shen Changmao would replace Zhou Shangjing as the first assistant of the cabinet.

Originally, in the Suzhou Yamen's concealment of the Japanese rebellion, Zhou Shangjing's crime should obviously be "bullying the king", and Emperor Deqing's punishment of Zhou Shangjing was also extremely light, almost nothing; But nowadays. Under the avoidance and skillful cover-up of Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing, Zhou Shangjing's crime became "the crime of negligence", so that Emperor Deqing's punishment of Zhou Shangjing was very heavy.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of officials do not know the truth of the matter. When they saw that Emperor Deqing had severely punished Zhou Shangjing just because of Zhou Shangjing's momentary negligence, and that Zhou Shangjing, a powerful minister like Zhou Shangjing, accepted Emperor Deqing's will without any resistance, they couldn't help but be shocked, and their hearts became more and more in awe of Emperor Deqing.

On the other side, seeing the change in the expressions of the hundred officials, a trace of satisfaction flashed in Emperor Deqing's eyes.

Now, because of the rectification of business and taxation, the interests of the officials have been violated, and the situation in the government and the opposition is certainly a little chaotic, but as long as the prestige of the Deqing Emperor is still there, and the officials are still in awe of the Deqing Emperor, then the Deqing Emperor can still control the overall situation.

What's more, taking advantage of this secret agreement, Emperor Deqing can also suppress Zhou Shangjing's prestige a little, but he also kills two birds with one stone.

At the same time, Zhao Junchen, as one of the insiders, saw the cooperation between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing, not only did he not ridicule, but a trace of solemnity flashed in his eyes.

Obviously, because of the secret agreement between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing, in the next period of time, Zhou Shangjing will unconditionally fully cooperate with Emperor Deqing's actions to stabilize the situation in the government and the opposition, which means that before the end of this secret agreement, Emperor Deqing not only lost Zhou Shangjing's containment, but also got Zhou Shangjing's support, so Emperor Deqing's control over the situation in the government and the opposition will also be unprecedentedly improved.

Because of this, Zhao Junchen has now secretly made up his mind that he will never do anything against Emperor Deqing's will before the secret agreement between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing ends.

At least, not on the surface.

Otherwise, Ren is Zhao Junchen is well prepared and anticipates the enemy first, and it is absolutely impossible to resist the combined forces of Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing.

"It seems that many things need to be put on hold for a while."

Zhao Junchen thought secretly.

*****

said that just as Zhao Junchen was thinking about it, Emperor Deqing had already begun to threaten hundreds of officials.

“…… Local officials must not be tolerated in contempt for the authority of the center, in defiance of the central government's decrees, and even daring to deceive the center! If this goes on for a long time, it will be a situation where the country will not be the country! The hundreds of years of my Ming Dynasty will be destroyed sooner or later! Therefore, I have decided that from now on, if any official dares to violate the central decree again, the crime will be increased by the third degree, and there will be no leniency! ”

Emperor Deqing's remarks were solemn and resolute, and it seemed that they were intended to prevent the Suzhou Yamen from privately concealing the rebellion of the Japanese invaders, but Zhao Junchen knew that the true intention of Emperor Deqing's will was actually to stabilize the situation of the government and the opposition and pave the way for the rectification of commercial taxes.

Then, Emperor Deqing spoke a lot, either as an encouragement or a warning, but most of them implied the intention of strengthening the authority of the central government, implying that the officials must no longer resist the imperial decree in the future, otherwise they will inevitably be severely punished.

Unlike the crown prince Zhu and Yu, Emperor Deqing was by no means a foolish monarch, so after hearing Emperor Deqing's hints, the officials were all subconsciously in their hearts, and they never dared to underestimate Emperor Deqing's determination, nor did they dare to go against Emperor Deqing's will - especially after Emperor Deqing had just severely punished Zhou Shangjing.

Therefore, with the completion of Emperor Deqing's statement, the atmosphere in the Imperial Palace was extremely heavy, and although the officials were a little reluctant, they also received the decree and expressed their approval.

Seeing the attitude of the officials, Emperor Deqing nodded with satisfaction.

Then, Emperor Deqing said: "The matter of the southern tour, let's talk about it here for the time being!" Now, after four months, I have finally returned to the center of the capital, and during this time, what does the imperial court need to report to me? ”

As Emperor Deqing's words fell, Zhao Junchen's eyes flashed slightly, knowing that the opportunity to impeach Huang Yourong had come.

So, according to the prior arrangement, Zhao Junchen nodded slightly to Zuo Lanshan, Tong Huan, Qin Huaiyuan and other members of the "Zhao Party", signaling them to come out to impeach Huang Yourong, and in addition to taking revenge on Huang Yourong, he also restored his official positions for Gu Quan, Zhan Shanchang, and Liu Changan.

After receiving Zhao Junchen's signal, all the "Zhao Party" officials were also in good spirits, and they planned to act according to the plan and make speeches.

However, before the "Zhao Party" officials took action, the opportunity to speak was taken by others.

I saw a superintendent named Li Yuran suddenly come out and report to Emperor Deqing: "Your Majesty's words, the minister thinks so!" If the officials despise the authority of the imperial court and violate the central decrees, then Your Majesty will not be able to govern the hundred officials, and the hundred officials will not be able to govern the people, which will cause chaos in the government and the opposition, so it is necessary to severely punish the officials who violate the laws and regulations of the imperial court in order to set an example......

This superintendent named Li Yuran is a rare neutral official in the court, and he has not defected to any faction, and he behaves extremely low-key on weekdays, but today for some reason, he actually quoted scriptures and nagged a lot, all of which agreed with Emperor Deqing's attitude.

Just when the officials gradually felt a little impatient because of this person's long-winded words, Li Yuran suddenly changed his words and said: "As a supervisor of the imperial history, the minister is responsible for pestering and impeaching hundreds of officials on weekdays, but today I heard about a matter, and I must report it to Your Majesty - there is a new young official, relying on his own talent, but he is lawless and does not obey the decree, this person is one of the officials who accompanied him to the south, and he should follow His Majesty back to Beijing together, but he left the southern tour team without permission yesterday, Without informing any of my superiors, I returned to the capital ahead of schedule! Although this mistake is not big, but this person's attitude of contempt for the king and violation of the decree is very obvious, and the minister thinks that when His Majesty has repeatedly ordered and reaffirmed, this person is obviously committing a crime against the wind and should be severely punished! ”

As Li Yuran's words fell, people such as Zhao Junchen, Prince Zhu Heyu, Pavilion Elder Cheng Yuandao and others all changed their faces slightly.

Among them, Zhao Junchen's eyes showed a thoughtful look.

Because, through Li Yuran's description, they have already guessed who Li Yuran wants to impeach!

On the other side, after hearing Li Yuran's impeachment, Emperor Deqing frowned and asked, "Oh? Yesterday, someone left the southern patrol team without reporting to Shangfeng and returned to the capital ahead of schedule? Who is it? ”

Li Yuran replied slowly: "This person is Zhao Shancai, the eye of the current science list and the editor of the Hanlin Academy!" ”

……

PS: The state is still very poor, I barely wrote more than 3,000 words, and I sent it first!

…… (To be continued.) )