Although under the control of Chongzhen, while the palace thoroughly investigated the incident in Yongning Palace, the outside world always maintained a peaceful atmosphere, but Huang Liji, as the first assistant of the cabinet, quickly smelled something unusual.

Chongzhen, who said that he was sick, could not come out, but he could still understand it, but the palace was suddenly cut off from the outside world, and no news could be transmitted, which made him realize that there seemed to be a change in the palace. As the head of the cabinet, every move of the imperial city is under his eyes, although the emperor and the cabinet have cut off contact, but there is constant contact with Wuyingdian every day, which makes him even more suspicious.

After being stopped by Wang Chengen for two consecutive visits to the palace, Huang Liji finally became angry when he visited the hospital for the third time. He announced to Wang Chengen in person that if he could not see the emperor again today, he would issue a state of emergency order in the name of the first assistant of the cabinet, take over all the power in the capital, and then bring hundreds of civil and military officials into the palace to find out.

Wang Chengen, who has always been neither humble nor arrogant in front of the cabinet ministers, has a somewhat weak attitude this time, and expressed his willingness to ask His Majesty's opinion again. After pestering at the gate of Qianqing Palace for more than an hour, Huang Liji finally walked into the gate of Qianqing Palace.

In the Shang study's room, Huang Liji saw Chongzhen who was sleeping with his little highness in his arms, and was relieved to confirm that he was not infected with any disease.

Seeing that Zhu Cizhao finally fell asleep, Chongzhen carefully handed him over to others to lead, turned around and confessed to Huang Liji, who had been waiting for a long time: "It's not me who is sick, it's the eldest prince." I was worried about his condition, and the cabinet was running normally, so I planned to be lazy and spend more time with him. Unexpectedly, Mr. Huang was frightened, which was my fault. ”

Huang Liji hurriedly replied: "As long as Your Majesty's body is safe, it is the luck of the Ming Dynasty." With His Majesty's support, it will be fine to come to the eldest prince. It's just that His Majesty is not only the father of the Great Prince, but also the father of the people of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how much Your Majesty loves the Great Prince, he can't put aside state affairs.

In addition, the minister also found that in the past two days, the army inside and outside the capital was suddenly heavily guarded, and the cabinet sent a letter to Wu Yingdian to inquire to no avail. The ministers and the ministers of the cabinet were extremely worried about this situation, so the ministers took the liberty of breaking into the palace ban today, hoping to solve their doubts from His Majesty. ”

Zhu Youzhen said with a smile: "Oh, when I returned to the capital five days ago, I found that the officers and soldiers guarding the gate of Andingmen were free and careless, so I asked the General Staff and the Gyeonggi Governor's Office to rectify the military discipline inside and outside the capital.

As for the palace, nothing really happened. But now that the queen has just given birth to the second prince, and the eldest prince is sick again, I don't want any rumors in the palace, so I asked Wang Chengen and Lian Shanxiang to arrest the palace ban more strictly, and please rest assured that Mr. and the gentlemen in the cabinet. If you don't have anything else to do, sir, please go back today, I really don't care about it now. ”

Huang Li was a little disappointed with Chongzhen's performance today, but it was a happy thing to be sure that Chongzhen was in good health. It's just that he quickly became worried again, seeing that Chongzhen loves the eldest prince so much, it will be difficult to guarantee that there will be no more turmoil in the palace for the position of the prince in the future.

Immediately, he relieved his heart again, by that time, he was afraid that he would no longer be in the court, and after shaking his head to abandon this worry, Huang Liji thought of something that he needed to tell the emperor.

"Your Majesty, the minister does have something to tell Your Majesty, which is about the construction of the railway from Tianjin to Xuzhou. This section of the railway passed through Qufu in the Shandong section, and Kong Yinzhi, the prince of Yansheng, and the gentry of Qufu wrote to the imperial court, thinking that the railway passing through Qufu was afraid that it would damage the cultural context of Shandong, so they asked the imperial court to suspend the construction of the Shandong railway.

After hearing this, the gentry of Gaomi and Qingzhou also followed suit, saying that the Jiaoji Railway under construction had damaged the local feng shui, and asked the imperial court to demolish it..."

After Zhu Youzhen, who had not been in a very good mood after returning to Beijing, he became even more annoyed in his heart, but in front of Huang Liji, he still tried his best to control his emotions and said: "Sir should know that the purpose of building the Jiaoji Railway is to shorten the distance between the north and the south and ensure the transportation of cotton from the north to the south and grain from the south to the north.

The construction of the railway from Tianjin to Xuzhou is to solve the problem that the canal cannot be navigated in winter, which is the lifeblood of the safety of the capital. Is it feasible for this Holy Father to be so rude and troublesome? I also heard that in the Confucius Temple in Qufu, all the titles canonized by my Ming Dynasty are not used, and the Confucian family also claims that there are only three families in the world, and his family is only with Jiangxi Zhang and Fengyang Zhu. Jiangxi Zhang, Taoist morale. Fengyang Zhu, an upstart, a small family.

I really want to know, what credit does he have for the country, and dare to treat the court as nothing? ”

Huang Liji's face changed suddenly, and he replied after half a sound: "Although this generation of Yan Shenggong is stupid and stubborn, but after all, Yan Shenggong is in charge of the world's lower veins, even if Your Majesty does not give Yan Shenggong face, he must look at the face of the Dacheng Holy Ancestor and give him some dignity." ”

Zhu Youzhen was silent for a long time, and finally waved his hand and said: "Let me think about this matter again, regarding the opposition of the Shandong gentry to the construction of the railway, the cabinet will press it for the time being." ”

After Huang Liji left, Zhu Youzhen finally couldn't help but erupt, broke a pencil in his hand, calmed down for a long time, and said to Wang Chengen: "Has Xu Xianchun returned to the capital?" If so, call him. ”

Wang Chengen agreed, and hurriedly went out of the study and summoned Xu Xianchun to the Qianqing Palace. After Zhu Youzhen saw him, he asked straight to the point: "How much have you found out about the matter of the Kong family in Qufu?" ”

Xu Xianchun didn't dare to slack off and said: "According to His Majesty's order, Xia Guan has sent a team of Jinyi guards to live in Qufu a year ago to inquire about the past deeds of Yansheng Mansion.

Since half a year ago, this team has finally gained the trust of the locals and collected a lot of bad deeds about the past of Yansheng Mansion. For example, there were originally 2,600 hectares of sacrificial land under the name of Yansheng Mansion, but in fact, the Kong family wantonly issued usury in the name of Yansheng Mansion, and forcibly occupied the land when the other party's repayment deadline had not arrived, even the distant tribes of Confucius refused to let go. In addition to the sacrificial fields, there are more than 3,000 acres of private fields, in addition to the big head in Qufu, the adjacent areas are also different.

In addition, in addition to lending usury to the township, the Confucian family in the Yansheng Mansion also occupied a piece of land outside the mansion as a market, forcing the villagers of ten miles and eight townships to trade in this market, and the Confucian family not only forced the villagers to buy and sell, but also collected commercial taxes from the villagers. Those who do not comply will be beaten at least and sent to the government for punishment.

The children of the close branch in the Yansheng Mansion have always been rampant and domineering in Qufu, and there have been endless incidents of beating and injuring villagers, because there are also a few slaves and maids, villagers, and foreign merchants who have been killed by quarrels. Because Qufu Zhixian has always been held by the Kong family, most of these cases have been suppressed.

So far, Jin Yiwei has collected more than 300 cases involving Yansheng Mansion, and the facts of the cases are clear and clear; In the cases involving Yan Shenggong himself, there were two murder cases and 14 property dispute cases. ”

Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but smile angrily and said: "Where is this Yansheng Mansion, it is clearly the king of the mountain who sits on the ground and divides the spoils, is it really the world of the Confucian family, isn't it the territory of my Ming Dynasty?" ”

Xu Xianchun waited very quietly, he didn't bother to pay attention to the descendants of the Dacheng Holy Master, and after reading the case files handed over by the Jinyi Guard, he was a little disdainful of the Yansheng Mansion where the scholars worshipped. The birthplace of the cultural context in the minds of these scholars is not as clean as their brocade clothes, but they worship Grandpa Yue, and they also know what it means to serve the country with loyalty.

Zhu Youzhen suddenly said to Wang Chengen: "Let the others go down first, I want to say a few words to Xu Xianchun alone." ”

Wang Chengen hurriedly commanded the eunuchs who were waiting in the study to leave the room, and personally guarded the door to prevent anyone from approaching.

After watching the door of the Shangshufang being closed, Zhu Youzhen looked at Xu Xianchun and said, "I came to you because I asked you to do something, you should guess that it is related to Yansheng Mansion."

Originally, I wanted to let the Yansheng Mansion go and enlighten them later. But now that this Yan Shenggong has jumped out to make things difficult with the imperial court, which has ruined my hundred-year plan, I can't tolerate him anymore.

Yansheng Mansion has always been regarded as a holy place by scholars, even if these cases are thrown out, scholars all over the world want to intercede for Yansheng Mansion. I don't have the time and energy to talk to the Yan Shenggong theory that these scholars support.

Therefore, I will not reason with Kong Yinzhi. You personally took people to Qufu to investigate the poisoning case of Kong Yinzhi, the prince of Yansheng, and followed Kong Yinzhi to the court to protest against the construction of the railway. ”

Xu Xianchun couldn't react for a while, he said a little overwhelmed: "Yan Shenggong was poisoned? I haven't heard from you yet..."

Under Chongzhen's gaze, he stopped his mouth, and only then did he understand the meaning behind the emperor's instructions. Seeing Xu Xianchun come to his senses, Zhu Youzhen said coldly: "Find a southerner to do it, clean up your hands and feet, and after Yan Shenggong dies, let those local wronged people accuse Yan Shengfu." I hope that in the future, there will be no need to canonize any Yan Shenggong. ”

Xu Xianchun's forehead finally began to sweat, and he said yes again and again, not daring to continue to think about Chongzhen's words. After explaining, Zhu Youcai and Wang Chengen came in and asked Xu Xianchun to be sent out of the palace.

After thinking for a long time, Zhu Youzhen said to Wang Chengen: "In the name of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, you will discuss with the three royal palaces in Shandong, let them take a stake in the Jiaoji Railway, and then send them the list of gentry who oppose the construction of the Jiaoji Railway, and then you don't have to worry about it anymore..."

When he was talking to Wang Chengen, he heard a rush of footsteps outside the door, and soon Wang Dehua ran in and reported to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the two of Shangshan's supervisors have been recruited..."

Zhu Youzhen suddenly interrupted the conversation with Wang Chengen, looked at Wang Dehua and nodded, and said, "Recruited?" Tell me, what did they recruit? ”