Xue Yan went back to Dali Temple, took some things, and returned to the signing room of the Ministry of Rites. At this time, within twenty steps outside the signing room, idlers were no longer allowed to approach, and Zhu Gaoxu's confidant Chen Dazhui was responsible for watching the outside.

As the sun sets, the quaint courtyard of the Ministry of Rites is very peaceful. But the surrounding sentry posts added a bit of tension here.

There is a small window on the high part of the west wall of the room; The sunlight that was originally obliquely shining in is getting flatter and flatter, and from the angle, it is not far from the unitary time!

In a tight and hasty time, Zhu Gaoxu was still calm. He sat next to the table, his movements were very calm, and there was no sense of panic, he was silently and quickly browsing the secret scroll that Xue Yan had taken.

After a while, Zhu Gaoxu glanced up at Xue Yan and said quietly: "Xue Siqing sit." ”

Xue Yan, who had stood for a long time, then hugged his fists and said, "Xiaguan Xie Wang Ye gave him a seat." ”

Zhu Gaoxu looked through the things placed on the table, and after a while, he finally put those things down from his hands. He straightened his waist, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Xue Yan and said: "These things are of great use, Xue Siqing has made great contributions, and this king guarantees that you can make up for it." ”

"The prince is benevolent......" Xue Yan hugged his fists and said, with a thoughtful expression on his face. It seems to be thinking about where it will be useful.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu sorted out his thoughts and said in a very fast voice: "These things can at least confirm that the first emperor died in the East Palace!" ”

Xue Yan nodded and asked, "There is something unclear about the lower officials, why did the crown prince (Gao Chi) want to investigate the case?" ”

"It's not important for the real sake." Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand lightly and said quietly, "The key is what we have to say." ”

Xue Yan nodded solemnly and said, "The prince is reasonable, and this is what the lower officials mean." ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Let's say this: the crown prince only wants to launch a coup d'état in advance, and wants to imprison the emperor before assassination; However, the first emperor was suddenly assassinated, and his plan changed. Later, when the crown prince was defeated and in a hurry, he became angry and angry, so he wanted to find out the culprit of the unauthorized action and vent his personal anger! ”

Xue Yan asked, "How can the prince confirm this?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu replied: "Make a confession, such as Wang Gou'er's testimony, and then get it." ”

Xue Yan groaned, "Isn't that ...... Not so believable? ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "That's why this king said that what can be confirmed is that the first emperor died in the East Palace." That's enough for the facts. As long as some of the things are true, then the whole thing is like being true. ”

"Makes sense......" Xue Yan said thoughtfully.

The two of them kept talking about lies, but they were both very serious, as if they were real.

…… The sun is already approaching the horizon. Zhu Gaoxu and others made some preparations and sent troops to close the Hongwu Gate, the left gate of Chang'an, the right gate of Chang'an and other intersections; And sent people to bring the people of the central government offices near the imperial city to the Chengtian Gate.

In addition to thousands of officials, there are also scribes, servants, officials, and guards from various government offices, and when people arrive one after another, they are simply full of people, at least several thousand! All of them have public offices, but there are people of all ranks, and their clothes are colorful and varied. In addition, there are a large number of soldiers and soldiers of the Crime Cutting Army on the brick square.

Zhu Gaoxu and several civil officials and generals all stood on the south side of Chengtianmen and the Outer Wulong Bridge. At this time, a number of tables were moved there, and a table was being built; From a distance, it looks like you're on a stage.

The square between the Chengtian Gate and the left and right gates of Chang'an was already full of dense people at this time. In this situation, it is like the festival of the City God Temple, where people gather and crowd together to watch the play.

It didn't take long for the humble "stage" to be prepared. On the table, there is a chair directly above it; On the left and right, there are two rows of benches.

Zhu Gaoxu took off the iron helmet on his head, handed it to Chen Dazhui beside him, and stepped onto the "stage". He cleared his throat, raised his hands and said, "Everyone......"

The noisy crowd below gradually quieted down a lot, and countless eyes were fixed on Zhu Gaoxu on the stage.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "In the past two years, something has happened; All of you here, hundreds of millions of people in the world, should know some general facts. That is, the first emperor died, and the king Zhu Gaoxu fled from Beijing alone; Then there was the 'Battle of Crime'. This is a well-known fact! ”

He paused for a moment and said, "So, what happened in the palace in the first place?" This king raised troops to fight crimes and went through difficulties to enter Beijing, just for this truth! It is also for today's black and white justice! In order to punish the great evil who has lost his conscience! ”

In the crowd of thousands, no one questioned these simple facts, and many nodded thoughtfully.

Zhu Gaoxu continued: "This king will say another fact. In the middle of the year before last, the king entered Beijing from the battlefield of Annan to offer prisoners, and was ordered to enter the palace, and then the palace gate was closed! During the period from the closure of the palace gate to the transfer of the coffin of the first emperor to the Qianqing Palace, were only a few civil and military officers allowed to enter the palace? !

These people are: Yang Rong, Yang Pu, Yang Shiqi, Jin Zhong, Yuan Hui, Guo Zi, Tan Qing.

This is a fact in plain sight! If this king is wrong, everyone present is near the thousand-step corridor at the beginning, and you can stand up and refute it! ”

Zhu Gaoxu waited for a while, and when he saw that no one questioned it, he said, "Okay! Based on the above two facts, this king asked the truth in the palace at that time! Come on, cast lots! ”

The sergeants came with plates.

The crowd of thousands of people, although the people stood in a messy and untidy manner, and they were not at all comparable to the military formation, but they were divided into places. The so-called things gather people by like, not to mention that the Ming Dynasty has a strict hierarchy and a difference between respect and inferiority, and those who are officials do not despise standing with people like Xu Gong.

So the sergeants divided into groups and began to scatter notes in a clump.

Most of those notes were blank sheets of paper, with only a small amount of the word "one" written on them. Anyone who picked up a note with a written note was invited out by the sergeants; There are all these people, including high-ranking officials, mere errand servants, and so on.

The people who caught the lot were invited to the "stage", and the civil and military generals, according to the level of their official positions, were divided into two sides and sat on the bench; Officers, guards, etc., stood by.

There were more people on the "stage" and the decoration was richer, and the emotions of thousands of officials were also mobilized. Some are dignified, some are afraid, some are strange, and some are relish......

Zhu Gaoxu shouted: "Bring the people involved, Yang Rong, Yang Pu, Yang Shiqi, Yuan Hui, Guo Zi, Tan Qing, and Haitao up!" (Jin Zhong is dead and is not among them; Haitao belongs to the internal officials, not the ministers. ）

Seven people were brought onto the stage by the soldiers and stood in the middle facing the crowd. Almost all of them wore official uniforms and black gauze hats, because at this time they were only suspected, and they were not convicted!

Zhu Gaoxu sat back on the chair on the throne and asked loudly: "This king asks you, what caused the death of the first emperor?" ”

None of them said a word, they all frowned and thought about something, their expressions were exactly the same!

Zhu Gaoxu pointed at Yang Rong and said: "Yang Rong, you wrote that palace newspaper, saying how this king disobeyed the first emperor and how he was arrogant out of the palace; How did the first emperor take the red pill offered by Ji Gang and died. Tell you now, is that true? ”

Yang Rong was silent for a while, and then looked up at people's attention. His face was very embarrassed, and soon turned red.

At this time, Yang Rong held back a word and said, "Yes." As he spoke, he looked frightened and turned his head to look at Zhu Gaoxu.

But Zhu Gaoxu was not angry, he said coldly: "Very good! Take Xue Yan of Dali Temple! ”

Xue Yan was followed by two sergeants "escorted" and walked onto the stage with a baggage.

Zhu Gaoxu's voice was very loud and full of neutrality, and he asked loudly: "Xue Yan, the secretary of Dali Temple, before this king entered Beijing, were you investigating the death of the first emperor at the behest of my eldest brother?" ”

Xue Yan replied: "Back to the Han King's words, yes." ”

Zhu Gaoxu asked, "How do you prove it?" Is there any real evidence? ”

Xue Yan said: "Xiaguan has several holy decrees from the Holy Lord (Gao Chi), and he is allowed to enter the Imperial Prison, the East Palace, and the Harem to investigate the case. Please look at the King of Han. ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "You don't need to show this king, let everyone on the table verify the authenticity of the holy decree!" ”

The sergeant took the evidence from Xue Yan's hand, put it on a wooden plate, and showed it to the people on the table for verification. Gao Chi has been an emperor for almost two years, and most of the Beijing officials are familiar with Gao Chi's handwriting; After they checked it, they all said that it was a holy decree written by the present and stamped with a seal.

Zhu Gaoxu also casually pointed to a civil official and asked him to read out the content of the holy decree in public.

At this moment, the eunuch Brother Meng stood up and testified! He said that when the emperor issued a holy decree, he was once in charge of grinding ink. This witness was not arranged by Zhu Gaoxu in advance, it was an accident.

The celebrant and eunuch Haitao glanced at Brother Meng with resentful eyes. They must have known each other.

With the witness Xue Yan and Brother Meng, the physical evidence is the holy decree of Gao Chi's personal seal. Zhu Gaoxu made a conclusion loudly in public: "Xue Yan was in the investigation of Emperor Xian's death before, and this matter was instructed by the crown prince (Gao Chi), and it has nothing to do with this king!" ”

Under the conclusive evidence and reasonable conclusions, no one stood up to question them. Even Yang Rong Haitao and other seven members of the East Palace did not say anything to refute...... The rebuttal must be done with evidence, otherwise it will be vexatious and useless in front of everyone.

Zhu Gaoxu immediately entered the next link and asked loudly, "Xue Siqing, what did you find?" ”

Xue Yan's throat squirmed a few times, his expression was very solemn, and he hesitated slightly. But Zhu Gaoxu waited very calmly, believing that Xue Yan understood what to choose at this time.

"Knock knock......" The drums on the castle tower sounded in the distance. The officers and men of the Crime Suppression Army, who took over the defense of Zhengyangmen, did not forget to beat the drum of the unitary time.

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