In July of the first year of Jingtai, Beijing City.

At this time, the dark tide in Beijing was surging, since the orthodox emperor was welcomed back, the entire court fell into an inexplicable silence, all the courtiers were on the matter, and no one in the court was willing to say a word.

At the moment, Emperor Taishang and Emperor Jingtai are secretly shouting, especially Emperor Jingtai is making every effort to eliminate the courtiers of Emperor Taishang's party, whoever says something that should not be said, or if he has two words, he may be used by people with ulterior motives, and end up in ruin, or even a different head!

Even Yu Qian, the secretary of the military department, Shi Heng, the governor of the right capital, Cao Jixiang, the eunuch of the division, and Xu Youzhen, the supervisor of the imperial history, are the same.

Yu Qian only deals with the affairs of the court every day, and never talks about or involves the imperial power.

And Shi Heng, the governor of the right capital, Cao Jixiang, the eunuch of the division, and Xu Youzhen, the supervisor of the imperial history, although they were biased towards the orthodox emperor of the Taishang Emperor, they all remained silent at this time in the face of the strength of Emperor Jingtai.

Just when the forces of all parties in the court were unanimously in line and did not express any opinions on the battle between Emperor Jingtai and Emperor Taishang's orthodox emperor, the battle between Liu Juntao, the chief military officer of Yanzhou Mansion, and Yu Shaoqin, the head of the Yu family, Tian Xun, the head of the Tian family, and Cao Baolei, the head of the Cao family, spread to the court and immediately caused a huge sensation.

In particular, Yu Shaoqin, the head of the Yu family, Tian Xun, the head of the Tian family, and Cao Baolei, the head of the Cao family, spread the news that Liu Juntao had privately expanded the army and supported 100,000 troops through their respective relationships in the court, and also spread the news that the remaining eight Nanzhili bigwigs were secretly killed by Liu Juntao, which immediately made the imperial historian in the court fall into extreme excitement.

Within a few days, Yushitai and many other officials wrote to impeach Liu Juntao, the chief military officer of Yanzhou Prefecture, asking Emperor Jingtai to immediately depose him, and sent Jinyi Wei to Yanzhou Mansion to arrest Liu Juntao and escort him to the capital to be imprisoned.

At the same time, many officials listed Liu Juntao's crimes, reprimanding him for fearing the enemy and avoiding the war and raising thieves for self-respect when facing the Warat army; When rushing to the aid of Beijing, he embezzled military salaries and embezzled seizures; privately expanded the army in the capital city of Yanzhou, and extorted violently; colluded with Shandong thieves, persecuted good people, etc., a total of 38 crimes!

With the clamor of these officials, the court, which originally seemed to be a pool of stagnant water, instantly became magnificent, and courtiers from all sides commented on this matter.

Shi Heng, the governor of the right capital, also jumped out when he heard the news and impeached Liu Juntao, accusing him of holding troops back against the Warat army.

And the eunuch Cao Jixiang and the superintendent Xu Youzhen did not have much contact with Liu Juntao, and the two were unwilling to be the first birds, so they did not impeach Liu Juntao with Shi Heng for the time being.

At the same time, Yu Qian, the secretary of the military department, was furious, and immediately denounced the expositions of Shi Heng, the governor of the right capital, and many imperial historians at the court meeting, and listed the significance of Liu Juntao's great military exploits in the defense of Beijing.

Moreover, Yu Qian questioned the imperial historians and the right governor Shi Heng in front of Emperor Jingtai in the court: "Liu Juntao, the chief military officer of Yanzhou Mansion, led 28,000 troops to invite 200,000 soldiers outside the Changyi Gate to fight 200,000 Warat Iron Cavalry to the death and did not retreat, and the officers and men of the whole army died thousands of people from the total number of thousands, and nearly 20,000 heads of thieves were killed. This is also called holding the army back? You're clearly reversing black and white! ”

Then, Yu Qian said on the issue of Liu Juntao's 100,000 troops: "The local defenders of Yanzhou Mansion have always been thin, and there has long been no one in the guards in various places, and the military households in various places have also fled repeatedly, which is the general status quo of the Ming Dynasty!" Liu Juntao led his troops to garrison Yanzhou Mansion, and he wanted to guard the land of a mansion, how could he do it without troops! Besides, General Liu's army expansion was also reported to the Ministry of War, and it was also approved by me! ”

Finally, regarding the dispute between Liu Juntao and those Nanzhili bigwigs, Yu Qian said; "Although Mr. Liu is too impulsive in this matter, even if he makes a fuss in this matter, are those big guys in Nanzhili so clean!"

Shi Heng sneered and said, "How do you say this? In order to protect Liu Juntao, does Lord Yu want to pour dirty water on those good people in Nanzhili? ”

Yu Qian ignored Shi Heng, but said directly to Emperor Jingtai: "If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can send Jinyi Wei to check those Nanzhili bigwigs to see if they have human blood on their hands, and see if their hands and feet are so clean!" ”

Seeing this, a speech official came out and said: "Even if those businessmen in Nanzhili are not very clean, that can't offset Liu Juntao's crime!" ”

Yu Qian snorted coldly and said, "Hmph! How can ordinary means be effective in dealing with those local evil heroes and powerful people, and who are also in collusion with the DPRK and China! The lives mentioned in these report documents, even if they have something to do with Mr. Liu, it is also an extraordinary thing for Mr. Liu! Even if the imperial court wants to investigate and handle this case, it must investigate and handle it together with both sides, and there must be no partiality! ”

As soon as these words came out, Shi Heng and those imperial historians immediately frowned, and they were a little speechless for a while.

After all, Shi Heng and many imperial historians and those bigwigs in Nanzhili are not clear, and the two sides secretly have close contacts, and these exchanges are accompanied by silver and human lives, and even a lot of interests for the imperial court!

At this time, if Emperor Jingtai really ordered a comprehensive and thorough investigation, these imperial historians in the court, and even Shi Heng, the right governor, would be implicated.

So, Shi Heng took the lead and said: "Lord Yu, why do you bother Your Majesty with a general soldier and a few wealthy businessmen, and use the elite of Beizhen Fusi, is it a bit of a fuss!" ”

"What do you mean?"

Shi Heng thought for a while, and then said: "I think this is good, this matter is said to be justified by the public, and the mother is reasonable, so let Liu Zongbing and those wealthy businessmen in Nanzhili collect evidence separately, limited to one month, and whoever has sufficient evidence at that time will be the truth!" How is it? ”

Yu Qian frowned slightly, obviously worried that it was so too Sven, it was all a trick of dancing and writing, and Liu Juntao was a martial artist, not necessarily as good as those wealthy businessmen in Nanzhili, so he hesitated a little.

At this time, Emperor Jingtai, who had not spoken, said in a deep voice: "In my opinion, what the Right Governor said is very reasonable, so it is decided!" ”

Seeing that Emperor Jingtai had made a decision, Yu Qian could only admit it.

After the day went down, Yu Qian hurriedly sent someone to send a message to Liu Juntao, asking him to hurry up and collect evidence of the illegal activities of those Nanzhili bigwigs, and at the same time not to act without authorization during this period.

Obviously, Yu Qian also knew that the death of the eight bigwigs had something to do with Liu Juntao, and it was even very likely that Liu Juntao did it.

However, Yu Qian is not a pedantic person, he understands that Liu Juntao was also forced by those bigwigs, and compared with some businessmen who only know how to accumulate money, Yu Qian of course wants to protect Liu Juntao, a brave general who can fight well.

Of course, Yu Qian also inevitably reprimanded Liu Juntao, and wrote several letters in a row, in which he was very dissatisfied with Liu Juntao's approach.

After Liu Juntao received Yu Qian's letter, he smiled and said to Lan Siqilan: "It seems that I have made the soldiers angry, and I have the opportunity to go to the capital another day, I must come to the door to ask for guilt!" ”

Lan Siqi also said with a smile; "Having said that, but Zong Zhen, should we hand over the evidence collected by the Investigation Department to Bingxian, so that Bingxian can speak better in the court, so as not to be entangled by Shi Heng and those fly-like officials!"

Liu Juntao thought for a while, and then said, "It's okay!" ”

So, Liu Juntao said to Liu Zi'an next to him: "Send someone to the capital immediately, be sure to hand over those evidence directly to Bingxian, and never have any accidents!" ”

Liu Zi'an nodded heavily, then turned around and left to run errands.

Then, Liu Juntao said to Lan Siqi again: "We are so busy here, then Yu Shaoqin, the head of the Yu family, Tian Xun, the head of the Tian family, and Cao Baolei, the head of the Cao family, must not be idle, and they should also spare no effort to search for news and evidence that is unfavorable to us!" ”

Lan Siqi pondered for a while, and then said: "This is easy to do, as long as the head town lets the soldiers and horses stationed in Xuzhou move, strictly investigates the road to Yanzhou Mansion in the north, and stops the spies of the three families outside, they will not find any valuable news!" ”