Zhengde was startled, and glared at Zhang Yongdao fiercely: "Xiao Yongzi, I know that there are some contradictions between you and Liu Jin, but how can you link Zhu Ningxiao's rebellion with Liu Jin, I hate you the most for creating disagreements with each other, attacking each other out of nothing, you are all people around me, and you will die with each other, I will never agree." ”

Zhang Yongpu knelt down and kowtowed like pounding garlic: "The emperor is angry, the slave and maid are not made out of nothing, the slave and the maid are for the sake of the emperor's safety, if there is really someone around the emperor who is the mastermind of the rebellion, wouldn't it be an extremely dangerous thing." ”

Zhengde said angrily: "You are still stubborn, if you say that other people in the court and Zhu Ningjiao have colluded, I may still believe it, but Liu Jin will never do it." Several of you have followed me since the East Palace, and it is not a day or two, more than ten years have passed, don't you still understand who you are? It is absolutely impossible for Liu Jin to collude with Zhu Ningxiao to rebel, you don't have to say it again, otherwise I will punish you heavily. ”

Zhang Yong kowtowed to see blood on his forehead, and said continuously: "Your Majesty...... Emperor...... Listen to the slave and maid. ”

"Shut up and get out." Zhengde was really annoyed, picked up the kettle and smashed it, Zhang Yong didn't dare to dodge, the porcelain pot smashed on Zhang Yong's forehead and shattered, the hot water inside splashed Zhang Yong's head and face, and Zhang Yong's forehead and face suddenly blistered.

Zhang Yong ignored it, still knelt on the ground and shouted: "Your Majesty, today the emperor is going to kill the slave and maid, and the slave and maid will also say the word, even if they are dead, the slave and the maid are also loyal, please let the emperor allow the slave and the maid to say a few words." ”

Zhengde saw that Zhang Yong's face was burned and covered with blood, and he regretted it a little in his heart, and snorted: "Don't force me to cut off your head, you have made a lot of contributions these days, and I will reward you well, but if you are proud of your merits and want to frame others, I will not be soft." ”

Zhang Yongwu said to himself: "Slaves and maids are not afraid of death, but slaves and maids can't look at the emperor in danger and pretend to be confused." ”

Zhengde Zhengse said: "Xiao Yongzi, you are bent on entangled in this matter, if you can't make sense, I don't want to talk about personal feelings." ”

Zhang Yongdao: "If the slave's guess is not reasonable, let the emperor dispose of it." ”

Zhengde sighed, turned around and leaned against the head of the bed and closed his eyes for a long time, and said in a low voice: "Say it." ”

Zhang Yong stretched out his sleeve to wipe the blood on his face, the hot and red skin touched the painful heart on the sleeve, and his whole face became numb, he also knew that since he opened his mouth today, there was no way out, he just begged Song Nan to really have any way to bring down Liu Jin, otherwise this matter would not be stopped, thinking of Liu Jin's ruthless methods, Zhang Yong's heart shuddered.

The first reason for the slave's suspicion was that the slave learned that in August last year, Zhu Ningxiao had secretly come to the capital to meet Liu Gonggong in Liu Jin's Xiangshan Annex, and asked Liu Gonggong to speak well for him in front of the emperor and increase the number of Qingwangfu guards to 5,000. The emperor should not forget this matter. ”

Zhengde nodded and said: "Of course I remember, but Liu Jin has kowtowed in front of me to admit his mistake, it was Zhu Ningxiao who used the Qingwangfu to be located on the border and had the responsibility of guarding the border, and said that the Qingwangfu was willing to feed thousands of soldiers and horses for the imperial court. It was also for this reason that I agreed at that time, who would have thought that it was the rhetoric of Zhu Ningyao, a traitor? Liu Jin was also deceived by him, and it was not entirely his fault. ”

Zhang Yong sighed and said: "The emperor is benevolent, and he is not afraid that there is it in it; But the slave and the maid know otherwise, and the slave and the maid know another way. ”

Zhengde said: "What do you say? ”

Zhang Yong pointed to the account book and said: "The emperor looked at the account book of Zhu Ningyao's gold and silver exchanges, and there was a record on the last thirteen pages. ”

Zhengde stretched out his hand to open the account book, turned to the page and looked at it for a moment, frowned: "What does this mean?" ”

Zhang Yongdao: "The date on that page is August last year, that is the day when Zhu Ningxiao secretly came to Beijing, and the record spent 20,000 taels of silver, and the slave maid dared to figure out where the 20,000 taels of silver went?" Although there is no name of Gonggong Liu in the account book, Zhu Ningxiao did not enter the capital at all three days before and after he came to the capital, and only hid in Xiangshan, who did the 20,000 taels of silver give to? ”

Zhengde's brows twisted into a pimple, although he couldn't be sure that the 20,000 taels of silver were given to Liu Jin by Zhu Ningxiao to beg him to do something, but the timing was so coincidental, Liu Jin couldn't rule out this suspicion at all.

"Your Majesty, this matter is actually not difficult to handle, you just need to send someone to find out the clues."

Zhengde said slowly: "Even if Liu Jin accepts the money, it is still far from colluding with the conspirators, it can only be said that Liu Jin is a money obsessed with the trick and fell for Zhu Ningyao's tricks." ”

Zhang Yong hurriedly said: "What the emperor said is that the slave maid is just talking about suspicions, not that it must be collusion. The second suspicious thing is that this account book allegiance book contains the name of Zhang Cai, the left attendant of the Ministry of Officials, and this person is the person whom Liu Jin has strongly recommended to enter the Ministry of Officials, and is in charge of the examination and selection of the main officials in the northwest; Some of the officials who came out of the rebellion this time were all officials promoted by Zhang Cai after taking office, is it just a coincidence between the two? Is it a coincidence, or is it a deliberate arrangement by someone to make what happened in the northwest not appear to the world? Isn't it doubtful? ”

Zhengde's face became solemn, rubbed his hands and said, "Go on." ”

"Zhu Ningxiao began to prepare for rebellion a few years ago, hoarding military rations, weapons, armor, and even firecrackers in his palace; These materials are all armaments and materials that the imperial court specializes in manufacturing, transporting and distributing, and if Zhu Ningjiao obtains them in small quantities, it can be explained that they were taken from the hands of such a rebel general in Ningxia Town, but it is obvious that the border army in Ningxia Town could not have so many materials secretly sent to Zhu Ningyao. This letter of allegiance and account book also involves the head of the military department's armament department, the chief treasurer of the five military governors' offices, and some officials in charge of grain in the household department. If someone is in Beijing as Zhu Ningyao's agent, and this person must be able to suppress these officials of the various yamen, so that they can work for the same person and write allegiance. The power of this agent in Beijing can be described as extremely great, so big that these key figures in the various yamen dare not resist, or they are willing to obey. Who has such a great ability? ”

"Go on."

"The slave maid also heard about something in Ningxia Town, which is related to Song Nan, on the night of Shangyuan, Song Nan was assassinated by an unknown person on Cheng'en Lantern Street in Ningxia Town, and lost a lot of subordinates, and Song Nan almost lost his life. The suspicions before and after the event all pointed to the head of Li Zeng, the eunuch of the town army in Ningxia; Li Zeng was originally the personal eunuch next to Gonggong Liu, which made people have to wonder if he was ordered by someone to assassinate Song Nan. ”

Zhengde knew about this, but it was the first time he heard that this matter was related to Liu Jin, and he was surprised: "There is such a thing? Did Song Nan tell you personally that he suspected that it was Li Zeng's hand? ”

Zhang Yong shook his head and said: "No, Lord Song didn't mention a word to the slave maid about this matter at all, or Yang Yiqing inadvertently talked about it on the way back, and the slave maid was suspecting that Liu Jin had something to do with Zhu Ningyao, and this matter was definitely a suspicious point." Your Majesty, you think, Song Nan has long seen the signs of Zhu Ningxiao's rebellion, so he didn't go to Ningxia Town, just to collect more evidence. And at this time, if it was really Li Zeng's assassination of Song Nan, it was clear that he wanted to kill people for Zhu Ningyao; Li Zeng is the deceased of Gonggong Liu, doesn't it indirectly show that there is a tacit understanding between Gonggong Liu and Zhu Ningyao. ”

Zhengde's mouth was dry, he licked his lips, Zhang Yong got up and poured a cup of tea on the table and handed it to Zhengde, Zhengde drank it in one gulp, put down the teacup and said softly: "I ...... I'm a little confused, Liu Jin...... It is unlikely that Liu Jin will do these things, and there may be some misunderstanding in this. ”

Zhang Yong said softly: "Your Majesty, the slaves and maids don't believe in these things, but if you can find out these things, you can let the emperor feel relieved, and if you really have nothing to do with Gonggong Liu, it will be equivalent to proving his loyalty." But if Gonggong Liu is really a rebel minister by the emperor's side, it is extremely beneficial to the emperor and the court to dig it out earlier, and the emperor's safety is a big matter, and the slaves and maids dare not take this risk, so they must tell the matter today. ”

Zhengde was silent for a long time and asked, "Do Song Nan know all these things you said?" ”

Zhang Yong shook his head and said: "Lord Song doesn't know anything, this account book and allegiance book were also searched by the slave maid before Song Nan's Jinyi Guard, and they didn't even show it to Lord Song." ”

Zhengde stared at Zhang Yongdao: "Why don't you let him know?" ”

Zhang Yong said softly: "The slave maid is also making her own opinion, the slave maid thinks to herself, there is a dislike between Lord Song and Gonggong Liu, if these things fall into the hands of Lord Song, maybe Lord Song will lose fairness out of personal grudges, and make trouble in the city, which will be difficult to clean up." ”

Zhengde nodded and said: "You did the right thing, if Song Nan knew this, he would definitely blow up, Xiao Yongzi, you are getting more and more sophisticated, I am very happy." In your opinion, what should be done about this? ”

Zhang Yong thought for a while and said: "It is naturally better for the slave to find out in secret, but the slave and maid have nothing to do, what should the emperor say?" ”

Zhengde's mind was also blank, on the one hand, he didn't believe that Liu Jin really colluded with Zhu Ningxiao to rebel, on the other hand, in response to many doubts, he also wanted to know the truth, thinking about it, this matter is not suitable for publicity, the courtiers in the court have gone through it, and no one can let him rest assured that he can entrust this matter.

"When will Song Nan return to Beijing?"

"Lord Song is probably already on the way, he stayed to stabilize the order in the city, assist in the change of guards at the passes outside the city, etc., these things are also three or two days, and he will lead the Shenshu camp back to Beijing within three days."

"Okay, just wait for him to return to Beijing, and I will entrust this matter to him."

"Your Majesty, aren't you afraid that Song Nan will pretend to be a public servant?"

"I'm sure he's not so confused on such a big thing, and besides, I'm so easy to fool? There is no full evidence, he wants to fool me, but he doesn't think about it, he is a smart person, he will not fail to understand this. ”

"Your Majesty, if Lord Song investigates this matter with all his heart, it will definitely come to light soon."

"You go, go to the hospital to see the injury on your face, my hands are heavy for a while, you will rest for a day tomorrow." Zhengde couldn't bear to look at Zhang Yong's swollen face like a pig's head, and comforted him.

"Slave maid...... Shane. Zhang Yong choked up.