There was a bang, and a restaurant in Chongwenmen in the capital exploded!

Xu Yanqing, the eldest son of Dingguogong, also happened to be killed on the spot.

Along with the explosion, there were four people who had just rushed into the restaurant, and these four people were seen by many passers-by holding the earth-shattering thunder made by Ouchi.

And a strong smell of gunpowder also made people more convinced that it was the little grandfather Xu Yanqing who was killed by the person who made the firearms and gunpowder in Ouchi.

As soon as the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division knew the situation, they immediately rushed over, and the people from Shuntianfu also hurried over, and the people from Dongchang naturally did not lag behind.

And I don't know who is making waves, and soon someone directly said that the murderer who killed Xu Yanqing was the craftsmen who had just been freed, because this case was the same as the case of the three court officials who were killed, they were all firearms and gunpowder, and someone instigated them behind their backs, so the officials and people in the capital had to believe that the craftsmen did it.

At this time, Xu Guangzuo, the Duke of Dingguo, also knelt directly in front of Zhu Houzhao, crying so much that his liver and intestines were broken: "Your Majesty! The ministers have always been conscientious and conscientious, loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and never relied on the power to bully the people, but now, I don't want my son to be so cruel to these craftsmen! Your Majesty, you have to make decisions for your ministers! ”

Zhu Houzhao also knew that Xu Yanqing, the eldest son of Xu Guangzuo, the Duke of Dingguo, was killed by the bombing, and he also felt very headache and anger about this, not to mention that the Duke of Dingguo was Xu Da, and the family that ranked among the top few in the Ming Dynasty was Xu Yanqing himself, as the eldest son of the Duke of Guogong, his identity was also very special.

And now, Xu Yanqing was killed, and once it is not handled well, the entire Xungui Group will also be involved in the matter of whether the craftsman registration system should be canceled.

"I have been strictly investigated by the people in the East Factory, and I will give you an explanation! You get up first, go home and wait for news! ”

Zhu Houzhao saw that Xu Guangzuo, the Duke of Dingguo, was full of tears at this time, and he could only persuade him with good words.

"Your Majesty! The minister wants to ask, when can the people of Dongchang find out, last time those Diao people killed the court officials, and they also asked the people of Dongchang to check, but there is no result until now, and the people of Dongchang have killed people!

Now, these murderers have died on the spot, how can they be checked! The minister came to ask His Majesty today, not to ask His Majesty to avenge the minister's grievances, and the minister doesn't care what enmity or grudge my son has with them! The minister just wants to ask His Majesty to see that the Xu family has made meritorious contributions to the Ming Dynasty, and let the minister avenge the murder of my son! Whining! ”

This Xu Guangzuo whimpered and cried as he spoke, and his iron fist was clenched very tightly.

Zhu Houzhao didn't have any anger, and asked coldly: "What do you want?" ”

"The minister wants all those craftsmen and people to be buried for my son! They were the ones who killed my son! ”

Xu Guangzuo gritted his teeth and said.

"Ridiculous! Forbid! None of them were the murderers who killed Xu Yanqing, they were all ordinary people, how could they kill them indiscriminately! ”

Zhu Houzhao reprimanded.

"Your Majesty! I can't die in vain! He's the son of our Xu family! ”

Xu Yanqing said and kowtowed directly: "No matter what, please Your Majesty severely punish these Diao people!" Don't let them go for the people! ”

"You keep saying that it was Xu Yanqing who was killed by these craftsmen, and now the people of the East Factory have controlled the scene, and according to the people of the East Factory, the faces of the people who killed Xu Yanqing are very clear;

If these craftsmen can be recognized, they can naturally check their names and surnames, and confirm who these people who killed Xu Yanqing are, so as to punish their families, if not, it means that there is another conspiracy in this matter, and someone deliberately planted the blame for these craftsmen, otherwise how can they have this reason to kill the court officials first and then kill the eldest son of the Dingguo Mansion! ”

As soon as Zhu Houzhao said this, Xu Guangzuo, the Duke of Dingguo, also knew that his entanglement would only make His Majesty the Emperor unhappy, and now that Zhu Houzhao said that he should first identify whether the murderer is really these craftsmen, he is not good at entanglement.

At this time, the area around Chongwenmen has been blocked, and the craftsmen on the other side of the Ministry of Industry and the War Bureau have also been gathered here.

These craftsmen thought that the imperial court really wanted to return their freedom, but they didn't expect that they would be summoned by the imperial court again, so they were also worried about whether the imperial court regretted it, and wanted to go back on their word, not to ban their craftsman status, and continue to let them have to be exploited by officials in the Ministry of Industry and the War Bureau.

Zhu Houzhao also came here in person, and also asked the people of Dongchang to carry the bodies of several other craftsmen suspected of murdering the imperial court officials, so that these craftsmen could identify them, until now, Zhu Houzhao also did not believe that these craftsmen would be violent murderers! I don't believe that these craftsmen really dare to kill the officials of the imperial court first, and then kill the eldest son of the national government, if these craftsmen really dare to do this, then the officials of the Ministry of Industry and the War Bureau will not be able to control them.

The cabinet ministers, the Ministry of Crime, the Ministry of Industry, the Shuntian Mansion, the Governor's Office of the Five Armies and the Wucheng Soldiers and Horses Division also arrived here, at this time, Zhu Houzhao also directly asked these craftsmen and people who were still registered:

"I let you and others serve as people, and let you and others fend for themselves, in order to make you and others be good people, but now the government has reported two cases to me, both of which are said to be done by you craftsmen, first killing three officials of the imperial court, and now killing the little grandfather of the Dingguo Mansion!

And because of this, many ministers suggested that I should not ban the craftsmen of Er, and even strictly control You, etc.! Rebuke you and others for the people! Disgruntled with the imperial court! Dingguo Gong even asked for you to be buried with his son! Tell me! Do you really have the courage to murder court officials, dare to kill the sons of nobles, are you really so lawless! ”

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he let his people re-transmit his words loudly.

At this time, these craftsmen who had just been released as citizens knew that they had been so misunderstood by the imperial court, and even knew that they would actually be regarded as Diao people who dared to kill the officials of the imperial court, and after knowing that their status as free people might be deprived because of this, and even their lives might not be guaranteed, these craftsmen were also anxious, and they knelt down one by one, and denied it with nonsense.

"Wronged! Your Majesty, how dare we kill the official! ”

"What a wrong! We are already more humble than the people, how dare we have such courage! The emperor is discerning! ”

"Your Majesty, the younger one is their lieutenant chief, since he took them back to the fang after taking them back to the fang, he has never lost any population, even if he went out, he also made a report, and they are all now, and there is no killing!"

"Yes! Emperor! The small one is also the chief, and he can also testify, and there are no fewer people in our workshop! ”

……

Zhu Houzhao knew that his ban on the artisan registration system was now completely angered by the interest groups behind him, so that these interest groups had to create incidents to provoke themselves and the Ming court.

Now even the nobles of the imperial court have been used by them, and if they want to win this reform war, they can no longer only rely on a few reformist officials around them, but also mobilize these craftsmen who have really benefited, let them fight for their own rights and interests, and let them know that if they don't support themselves as the emperor now, their interests will be damaged.

In this way, Zhu Houzhao will also have more supporters, and he will no longer have to be afraid of the interest groups behind this!

Now, as soon as these craftsmen heard Zhu Houzhao's explanation of the situation, they were indeed anxious.

Moreover, although they said it very messily one by one, they were arguing nonsense, some said that they could not have the courage, some said that they had never seen the people around them kill people, and some said that they could only endure the conflict with the court officials and nobles even if there was a conflict, but this also gave Zhu Houzhao a new solution.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao instructed at this time:

"In this case, now you have grown up in each workshop, identify these murderers who killed the imperial court officials and the eldest son of the Guogong Mansion, and see if they are the craftsmen of your workshop, and in addition, the people from the Ministry of Industry and the War Bureau will name them according to the current registered craftsmen! Click on one and stand this way! ”

Zhu Houzhao said and pointed to the street on the right.

So, the head of each workshop was led by the people of the East Factory to begin to identify, in ancient times, the people were all living in a workshop, so as long as these murderers are craftsmen, these chiefs can be identified, of course, it is impossible to deny, because the Ministry of Industry will also name, once denied, the number of people is different from the number on the roster will be wrong.

"Your Majesty! After all the identification, the elders said that they were not from their place! ”

After a long time, the chiefs of each province had already identified the book, and the people from Dongchang also came to Zhu Houzhao to report the situation.

"Roll call!" Zhu Houzhao said.

So, the people from the Ministry of Industry and the War Bureau began to roll out names according to the roster, and Chi Zong, the young eunuch on the side, couldn't help wiping the cold sweat on his head.

"Your Majesty! The number of people named is the same as the craftsmen present! ”

When it was almost dark, Ye Heng, the left attendant of the Ministry of Works, and Chi Zong, the young eunuch, reported the situation, and Ma Yongcheng, the commander of the East Factory who was supervising from the side, also nodded.

After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but shout: "Since it is unanimous, then why did your Ministry of Industry and the War Bureau say that the murderers of the court officials were all registered craftsmen, and their names were even the right ones recorded on the roster!" ”

"Your Majesty spares your life! The ministers don't know why this is happening, the name of the murderer was reported by Shuntianfu, presumably something went wrong in Shuntianfu."

Ye Heng, the left attendant of the Ministry of Works, and Chi Zong, the young eunuch, hurriedly threw the pot to Shuntian Mansion first, and the young eunuch Chi Zong's heart beat fast, he didn't expect His Majesty to let these craftsmen identify him, and he didn't expect that His Majesty would protect these craftsmen one by one, and even now he had to find out the mastermind behind them, and refused to give up, so he began to be afraid that the conspiracy between himself and Zeng Jian, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, would really be completely exposed by Zhu Houzhao.

"Go and pass on the Shun Tianfu Cheng Dang Haiwu!" Zhu Houzhao commanded in a cold voice.

But at this time, Qin Yu, who was standing next to Shuntianfu Chengdang Haiwu, saw that Shuntianfu Chengdang Haiwu's eyes suddenly widened, and his whole body twitched, Qin Yu hurriedly supported Shuntianfu Chengdanghai: "Your Majesty! The party government seems to have committed suicide! ”

As soon as Qin Yu's words were finished, Ma Yongcheng, the commander of Dongchang, first bowed his hand to Zhu Houzhao, and then immediately ran over, wiped the snort of Shuntianfu Chengdang Haiwu, and then came back and replied to Zhu Houzhao: "Emperor! He's dead! Suicide by taking poison! ”