Okay, then according to what the eldest prince said, we will enter the palace to face the saint!"

Shen Yichen nodded without hesitation, wanting to figure out all this mystery, but in fact, the mystery was on Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu.

As long as you can see the emperor, then it is equivalent to seeing the sky through the clouds.

In this way, Shen Yichen and Zhu Yi left the Chengguo Mansion and went to the Forbidden City in the same carriage. Compared with the tranquility of the night in the past, groups of soldiers with different numbers appeared on the streets at this time, also heading in the direction of the Forbidden City.

On weekdays, some vendors and fireworks alleys may have felt that something was wrong with the outside atmosphere, so they all hid in the house and looked at the situation outside through the cracks in the windows.

"Several troops and horses in the Beijing camp rushed to the Beijing Division, and they also made such a big battle, it seems that His Majesty has no control over the situation."

Zhu Yi said lightly, under normal circumstances, as a ruler, stability is the first priority. The news of the death of the crown prince was not announced to the world, and such a large army was transferred to the palace, which would cause a lot of chaos in the hearts of the people of Jingshi.

With the governing ability of Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu, even if he is immersed in the pain of losing his beloved son, he will not make so many stupid moves, which means that there are other people in power in the court.

"If Yuanfu Chen Xun is in control of the overall situation, he will not be so fanfare, it seems that it is the hand of a eunuch with no experience in governance."

Shen Yichen guessed very accurately the main messenger behind the transfer of the soldiers and horses of the Beijing Division, after all, the central government has been an official for so many years, and he still knows what the ability of the ministers of the court and the central government is. To use a phrase from later generations, that is, you can question their character, never doubt their intelligence, and under normal circumstances, there will rarely be any stupid tricks.

But the group of eunuchs is different, they can read and write or rely on the credit of the inner study built by the Renxuan and Xuan dynasties, and during the period of Taizu Taizong of the Ming Dynasty, most of them were illiterate and illiterate, and they did not have the vision and ability to deal with crises.

Regarding Shen Yichen's speculation, Zhu Yi was noncommittal, and the carriage came to the vicinity of Chengtianmen under the control of the coachman, and at this moment it was already densely packed with soldiers from the Beijing camp, and most of their faces were full of doubts and confusions, and they didn't know why they were urgently recruited into the imperial city at night.

The gate of the palace had been blocked by the soldiers of the Beijing camp, and there was no way for Shen Yichen and Zhu Yi to get out of the carriage and walk. Fortunately, the soldiers and horses stationed in the Beijing Division were familiar with Shen Yichen, and no matter which battalion they were, they all avoided on both sides and vacated a passage, which allowed Shen Yichen to walk to Chengtianmen without any obstacles.

On both sides of the palace gate stood the soldiers and horses of the four guards, they were fully armed and looked at their comrades in front of the palace gate with vigilant eyes, and in addition, they also placed all kinds of horse-rejecting guardrails, looking nervous and ready for war.

Shen Yichen didn't hesitate too much, he strode forward to the general who was on guard, and said to him, "This official is Shen Yichen, the cabinet minister, go to the palace to face the saint, and ask the general to make a way."

After that, Shen Yichen took out his tooth card to prove his official title.

As a result, what Shen Yichen didn't expect was that the generals of Tengxiang Siwei who were guarding the door didn't have the idea of taking the tooth card for inspection at all, and just hugged their fists and replied: "I'm sorry, Ben will receive an order to guard the palace gate, and all the officials of the court are not allowed to enter the palace to meet him."

"Who issued the order?"

"Duke Cao."

Sure enough, the visions of soldiers and horses from all walks of life in the capital were written by eunuchs!

The expected scene happened, and Shen Yichen could only say in a roundabout way: "This general, I also serve as the secretary of the military department, and I need to urgently enter the palace to deal with the transfer of soldiers and horses, and I hope it will be convenient."

"Elder Shen Ge, it's not that the last general is unwilling to make it convenient, but Teng Xiang Siwei is the Son of Heaven's own army, and he only obeys His Majesty's orders and the governor, please don't let the last general be embarrassed."

The generals who guarded Chengtianmen immediately rejected Shen Yichen's request. The reason is that he received a death order from Shangfeng, and he is not allowed to let any of the ministers into the palace, otherwise he will be punished for dereliction of duty!

The military department has theoretically the right to transfer troops and horses in the world, but in fact, if the emperor's personal guards do not have the emperor's edict, at least at this stage, they will not obey the orders of the military department.

Hearing the answer of the palace guard, Shen Yichen's face was a little ugly. He enjoyed a high prestige and reputation among the three major battalions of the Beijing Division, but he had no influence on the Tengxiang Four Guards.

Because of the change in the first year of Jingtai, Zhu Qiyu learned a vivid lesson, he must firmly grasp the Son of Heaven's personal guards in the Forbidden City, and not allow the influence of all forces. This led to the fact that after the reorganization, Tengxiang Siwei did not have to sell the face of any ministers, even if the secretary of the military department and the governor of the five armies could not do it.

"To the north, the other party is also responsible, let's think of another way."

Zhu Yi saw that Shen Yichen was blocked, and stepped forward to admonish, he was from a family of military generals, and he knew the severity of the prohibition of military laws, and Chengtianmen would definitely not be able to enter.

However, at this time, there was a commotion from the soldiers behind him, and Shi Heng, the prince of Zhongguo, led a group of subordinates to the palace gate.

Seeing Shi Heng appear here, Shen Yichen was really a little surprised, under normal circumstances, the death of the crown prince belongs to the category of government affairs, and the military generals will not take the initiative to intervene unless they are summoned by the emperor's holy decree to prevent the situation of military chaos in government.

Even if the order on the transfer of troops is issued by the cabinet and the military department, not led by the honorable relatives. As the head of the honorable relatives, Zhu Yong, the Duke of Chengguo, stayed in the mansion to avoid suspicion, and Shi Heng, the Duke of Zhongguo, took the initiative to come to cause trouble?

Compared with Shen Yichen's surprise, Shi Heng looked as usual when he arrived, and even greeted him with a smile on his face: "Shen Ge Lao is really well-informed, he rushed to the Forbidden City so quickly, my father is really ashamed."

"Zhongguo Gong is polite, the cabinet department heard that something had happened in the palace, and specially came to meet the saint."

Shen Yichen replied, the news of the death of the crown prince has developed to this point, and the high-level of the central center must already be known to everyone, so there is no need to hide and play dumb riddles.

"It's better to come early than to come by chance, why don't Shen Ge Lao and his father enter the palace to face the saint together?"

Shi Heng invited him, but the smile on his face was full of deep meaning.

"The Cabinet Department is waiting for the news from the palace, and it will take a while."

"Really? Then Ben Gong is not polite to take the first step."

Shi Heng arched his hand to Shen Yichen, and then strode past him and came to the defenders of the Chengtian Gate.

An unexpected scene happened to Shen Yichen, the guards who had been blocked by Chengtianmen before, when they saw Shi Heng leading people over, they directly asked his soldiers to make way for them, without even the most basic inspection and questioning steps!

"Shi Heng can go in directly?"

Not to mention that Shen Yichen didn't expect it, Zhu Yi, who was standing on the side, was also dumbfounded, Shi Heng was just an upstart who rose by relying on the Jingshi Guard War, how could he control the Tengxiang Four Guards who were the pro-army of the Son of Heaven, and what kind of secret was there.

Seeing this scene, Shen Yichen couldn't help but think of the description in the previous paragraph of "History of the Ming Dynasty", after the change of seizing the door, Shi Heng was pampered and arrogant, and one day led thousands of households Lu Wang and Yan Jing into the palace and went straight to the Wenhua Palace, and just happened to bump into Zhu Qizhen, who was working inside.

After taking a photo, even the emperor was confused, and asked Shi Heng how he led the two of them all the way to Wenhua Hall unimpeded, but Shi Heng said indifferently that these were his two henchmen, and they had the merit of welcoming the emperor, so please promote the two of them to official positions.

From this historical description, it can be seen that Shi Heng has at least achieved the point that he can enter and exit the palace gate at will, and the guards dare not or cannot stop him. But the question is, does Shi Heng now have this kind of power?

In the past few years that he has not been in the Beijing Division, even the pro-army of the Son of Heaven like Tengxiang Siwei, Shi Heng has already put his hand into it?

With a stomach full of questions, Shen Yichen turned his gaze to Zhu Yi and asked, "Eldest Prince, has Shi Heng even won over Teng Xiang Siwei?"

"Impossible, Your Majesty has been in charge of the four guards in person all these years since the change of seizing the door. The generals were replaced by old men who used to be the chief of honor and guard of the palace, as well as a group of Tartar officials recommended by Cao Jixiang, and it was difficult for them to be bribed and won over by Shi Heng."

Listening to Zhu Yi's answer, Shen Yichen instantly realized the problem. It's no wonder that when he "formed an alliance" in Agarwood Building, Shi Heng knew the situation in the palace very well, and directly said that the prince Zhu Jianji's wind and cold were not accidental, but someone behind him.

The reason why his intelligence is so accurate is that there are also Pengbi henchmen in the palace, and it is likely to be Cao Jixiang, the palm seal of the Imperial Horse Supervisor!

Unexpectedly, even if history has changed, careerists will eventually attract each other invisibly, and the two still collude together to work for women.

"Eldest Prince, without further ado, let's enter through the Donghua Gate!"

If Chen Xun or Xing'an alone controls the situation in the palace, Shen Yichen has nothing to worry about, these two people are at most refined and self-interested, and they have some careful thoughts about seizing power, and they will not have any disadvantage to Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu.

But Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang really had the courage to control the emperor, and then support their favorite prince to the throne, and finally became the actual rulers.

Donghua Gate is a side gate of the Forbidden City, and Shen Yichen goes to Wenyuan Pavilion every day to work. He estimated that Teng Xiang Siwei would take over the palace guards, and the speed should not reach the point of replacing all of them, and Donghua Gate should still be garrisoned by Jinwu Left Guard and Yulin Left Guard.

Shi Heng's easy entry also gave Zhu Yi a sense of crisis in her heart, and she immediately nodded and responded, "Okay, let's go to Donghua Gate now."

The two left from Chengtianmen and got into the carriage, urgently urging the coachman to gallop in the direction of Donghua Gate, but when Shen Yichen and Zhu Yi arrived, there were also two groups of sergeants standing densely in front of the door, and the two sides were handing over.

It was obvious that Shen Yichen was still a step late, and Tengxiang Siwei had already begun to take over the garrison of Jin Wuwei and Yu Linwei in Donghua Gate.

However, at this time, Shen Yichen couldn't control so much, he led Zhu Yi and walked straight towards Donghua Gate. Jin Wuwei and Yu Linwei's generals were very familiar with Shen Yichen, and when they saw him coming, they subconsciously hugged their fists and saluted.

However, the generals of the Tengxiang Four Guards, who took over the defense, received an order that no one was allowed to enter the palace, and they immediately prepared to block it in front of Shen Yichen.

"Jin Wuwei and Yulin Wei soldiers listen to the order, the cabinet department must urgently go to the palace to face the saint, and those who block it will be treated as rebels, and you are still stationed at Donghua Gate waiting for the order!"

Tengxiang Fourth Guard Shen Yichen can't give orders as the secretary of the Ministry of War, but the other Upper Twelve Guards pro-army, except for Jinyiwei, have been transferred from the Governor's Office of the Five Armies to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War.

If it weren't for the change of seizing the door, Tengxiang Siwei was bewitched by Guo Jing to participate in the rebellion, and attracted the Jingtai Emperor Zhu Qiyu to take charge of it, maybe even the authority of the palm seal of the imperial horse supervisor would be encroached upon by the Ministry of War, and the 12 guards were all under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War.

In the face of Shen Yichen's order, Jin Wuwei and Yulin Wei were stunned for a moment, and the trust and prestige they had been in contact with for a long time made them not hesitate too much, and immediately made a combat readiness posture in front of Teng Xiang's four guards and horses.

Seeing this situation, the Tengxiang Siwei generals who took over Donghua Gate did not panic, Xing'an and Cao Jixiang had long expected this to happen, which is why they had to go through the process of voting to approve the red to obtain procedural justice.

I saw him take out a holy decree from his bosom and said, "Elder Shen Ge, this is Your Majesty's decree prohibiting any minister of civil and military affairs from entering the palace, please don't make it difficult for the general!"

In other words, when ordinary officials see that the other party can come up with a holy decree, I am afraid that they will retreat in their hearts, and they will not dare to break into Donghua Gate again. But Shen Yichen didn't care so much, he still crossed the threshold in stride, leaving only two words.

"False edict!"

False edicts?

Shen Yichen didn't know whether to say it was self-confidence or a rampant definition, which stunned all the soldiers in Donghuamen. For a while, even the soldiers and horses of Teng Xiang Siwei didn't dare to stop them, and could only watch Shen Yichen's back disappear from sight.

Stepping on the stone slab of the Forbidden City, Shen Yichen and Zhu Yi rushed directly in the direction of the emperor's bedroom. The defense in the palace has always been tight on the outside and loose on the inside, and the palace maids and eunuchs who met along the way, whether they knew Shen Yichen and Zhu Yi or not, knew that the other party was not easy to mess with when they saw the two crimson official uniforms, and none of them dared to stand up and ask about it.

Just like that, I came to the door of the Qianqing Palace, which was brightly lit, and the open door was full of people.

Seeing this scene, Shen Yichen completely confirmed that his guess was correct, not only the crown prince Zhu Jianji passed away in the palace, but even the emperor had an accident and could not control the overall situation!

of the doorway

When the guards saw Shen Yichen coming, their faces were filled with a look of surprise, and it wasn't until the other party walked through the threshold that they remembered to stretch out their hands to stop them.

But at this point, Shen Yichen no longer had any scruples, and immediately shouted angrily: "Get out of the way, don't force the cabinet department to deal with it after the military law!"

The identity of the cabinet minister and the secretary of the military department is here, as long as it is not for the emperor to order it to be stopped, no guard will dare to offend Shen Yichen, and his two pairs of arms are put down, watching Shen Yichen enter the Qianqing Palace.

It's just that after entering the palace, Shen Yichen met countless pairs of eyes, Chen Xun, the first assistant of the cabinet, Shang Shuyiming of the Ministry of War, Xing'an, Cao Jixiang, the master of ceremonies, Cao Jixiang, the prince of Zhongguo, Wu Jin, the Hou of Gongshun, etc., all stood in front of the royal couch.

Behind them, Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu was lying there bloodless, Shen Yichen was considered to have completed entering the palace and facing the saint, but he didn't expect the situation to be so bad!

(End of chapter)