Back in Yangxin Pavilion, Emperor Jing'an sat down on the couch, a palace maid took off his boots, hugged his legs to the couch, took a blanket to cover it, and another palace maid brought a bowl of hot ginseng soup, and after drinking it, Emperor Jing'an's face recovered a little. He said to Qiu Deyong, "You go down first." Qiu Deyong took the two palace maids out, he personally closed the door, and did not stand down until he walked to the door of the outer hall.

Only Emperor Jing'an and Hu Jing, the head of the Inspection Division, were left in the house, Hu Jing was chubby, and his small eyes seemed to be always smiling, but inadvertently, a trace of cold light flashed. Emperor Jing'an asked, "Is it true that Liu Zhengzong was instructed by others?" ”

Hu Jing said: "It has not been verified yet. A few days ago, he was with some of his colleagues and the same year, and he mentioned that he was going to go to the book, but everyone else advised him not to do so. At night, he sighed in the study, hesitated for some days, and his son also persuaded him, but he was scolded by him, saying that what he said about eating the king's fortune and loyalty to the king seemed to be his own intention. ”

Emperor Jing'an sneered: "This kind of thing is so easy to investigate, it doesn't fall into the handwriting, the words are knocked on the side, the flames are fanned, and the people are taken to the ditch without knowing it." A look at the backgrounds of those who were with him might reveal something. ”

Hu Jing said: "The emperor Shengming is already investigating, and there will be a conclusion soon." ”

Emperor Jing'an said: "Tell me about today's events." ”

Hu Jing said: "Yes." The emperor made the public of the prince of Hongzhi today, which is indeed clever, and during this time, people who want to do their hands and feet have heard some rumors and started to act, but most people are still in the dark. Now that the matter is public, we can act justifiably, and those who harbor evil intentions must be even more cautious in acting. ”

Emperor Jing'an said: "We can't let them break their thoughts, if they don't move, we won't be able to grasp the handle." ”

Hu Jing said: "Yes, I will give them a chance." ”

Emperor Jing'an said: "I must ensure safety, I finally found it, I can't let my own nephew be in danger again." ”

Hu Jing said: "The Supervision Department and the Flying Fish Department have been dispatched, and we will make careful arrangements to not only protect the safety of Prince Hongzhi, but also to catch the mastermind behind the scenes." ”

Emperor Jing'an sighed with emotion: "It's been three years, I didn't even tell you, I directly asked Yi Jian of the Supervision Department to look for three years, and finally found Wei Qi." How's the leak going? ”

Hu Jing said: "It is still investigating, although this matter is very hidden, but after all, it has lasted for three years, and it is a sensitive period for the establishment of the national prince, and all aspects of attention are focused here. ”

Emperor Jing'an said: "Yu Yijian is very stable, and he reports to me directly, so it is said that there will be no mistakes in the middle." Perhaps, as you said, there was a wise man who saw the clue through a few things. But it is still necessary to check, and there will be big hidden dangers if you don't check it clearly. ”

Hu Jing said: "Yes, I am personally responsible for this matter. ”

Emperor Jing'an waved his hand, picked up the fold beside him, and looked at it, Hu Jing bowed and retreated.

After Lu Yichu withdrew from the Tiren Hall with all the ministers, everyone tacitly came to the political hall together. After sitting down, the ministers drank tea silently, and no one said a word. Zuo Zhenkun couldn't help it, put down the teacup and said, "Prime Minister, what should I do next?" ”

Lu Yichu asked rhetorically: "What to do?" ”

Zuo Zhenkun said: "The prince of the first emperor has been found, what should we do?" ”

Lu Yichu said: "The emperor didn't let us do anything in this matter, and the emperor didn't say much about the specific situation. ”

Shangshu of the Criminal Department said: "Zhou Shilang reported that the people from the Flying Fish Department of the Inspection Division arrived in Xiangfan, would they-"

"Shut up!" Lu Yichu hurriedly shouted, "Is this something that we should discuss?" Shang Shu of the Criminal Department suddenly felt speechless and quickly closed his mouth.

Lu Yichu sighed: "I know that everyone has a lot to say, this is indeed a big thing, and it is related to the future of my Dasui." But now that the former emperor and prince have not yet appeared, and the emperor has not clarified the matter of the crown prince, everyone should not care about it first, and do not publicize it. The military department and the household department stayed, and asked An Guogong to continue to study the affairs of Xiangfan and the northern border with us, and the rest of the people dispersed. ”

After the others left, Lu Yichu and others agreed: the Ministry of War immediately issued an order to Xiangfan, allowing Xiangfan to mobilize the soldiers and horses of the county, and once the Wudoumi Sect broke out, it would be suppressed immediately, and the required grain and grass would be raised by Xiangfan himself first, and then written off to the Ministry of Households. The government hall issued orders to Taiyuan, Hedong, and Hebei counties, requiring all counties to do a good job of clearing the walls, holding the cities and fortresses, and not sending troops without authorization to expand the incident.

After the incident, the military department Shangshu smiled bitterly: "The people in the north are going to scold us for being weak and cowardly again. ”

Tobe Shangshu said: "Then what should I do? The soldiers and horses have not moved, the grain and grass go first, the treasury has no money and no grain, Xiangfan is fortunate that he still has food, otherwise I don't know how to deal with it. ”

Lu Yichu said: "Report the plan to the emperor, and send it down immediately after approval." In addition, the Ministry of Household Affairs drew up a statement in advance on the appeasement of the homeless. ”

Hubu Shangshu said with a bitter face: "Prime Minister, the matter of the homeless people is a cold day of freezing three feet, and it is necessary to have land and money to appease the homeless." ”

Lu Yichu said: "Then you go and find a way, and let the household department draw up the article first." ”

Hubu Shangshu sat on the chair and said angrily: "I have no choice, just a few dollars a year, I can't make ends meet every year, if I can make money, do I still have to suffer this anger every day." ”

"You!" Lu Yichu wanted to get angry, but he held back again, and said in a slow tone: "It's not that you should make money immediately, but the emperor said that if you want to find a way to appease the homeless, we must always come up with a way." This is the responsibility of your household department, you go back and brainstorm ideas, let everyone think of ideas, and then organize the list, as for how to do it, is that the next step? ”

After An Guogong and the other three left, Zhan Shi of the Political Affairs Hall came to report, and the head of the Hanlin Academy asked to see him. Lu Yichu waved his hand irritably and said, "No." After thinking about it, he said: "You just said that I will go to the clan palace in a while and have urgent business, and I will hand over the documents if I have something." ”

After speaking, he walked into the small cubicle next to him to rest, sat down at the desk, picked up an official document, read it for a long time without reading a word, simply threw it on the table, picked up the teacup to his mouth, but forgot to drink it, just raised it for a while, and did not pay attention to the teacup crooked, and the tea poured on his body. The servant next to him hurriedly came up to clean up, he took the veil and waved his hand to the servant, and the servant bowed and withdrew. He wiped the hem of his clothes, dropped the handkerchief, and sat down in his chair in a daze.

After Ji Zhenyi returned to the General Affairs Division, he did not go to the public court in front, but went directly to the hut where he was resting behind, and after the servants who served the tea withdrew, he was alone in a daze.

Today's book on the coffin can be said to have been directed by him, because someone found him and asked him to find a way to arrange someone to write on the matter of the national prince. Due to the emperor's edict in the past, and the strict order of the political affairs hall later, he was not allowed to write on the affairs of the national prince, and as the secretary of general administration who transferred the edict and the transcript, he could not and did not dare to let his subordinates and cronies directly write the book, so he racked his brains and carefully designed this good play. He didn't dare to provoke the imperial history and speech officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, because Zuo Zhenkun's prestige was extremely high, and the people below him basically listened to him, and if he went to the event, it was easy to leak the news, so he chose Liu Zhengzong of the Hanlin Academy, who was a nerd with tendons. He asked his cronies to find a few so-called like-minded people, and in front of Liu Zhengzong when there was nothing to do, he pretended to be worried about state affairs, talked about the empty state reserves, the instability of the country, and the high-ranking officials only made a fool of themselves as high-ranking officials, and did not dare to make a direct admonition. After gradually arousing Liu Zhengzong's righteous heart, some people kindly persuaded him to protect his life and not risk his future and life to go to school. Liu Zhengzong, who had a tendon, was instigated by a few strokes, and a turbid breath came up, and he really made the feat of carrying the coffin to the book.

In front of Yongjinmen, Ji Zhenyi pretended to be sad on the surface to persuade Liu Zhengzong, but in fact, his heart blossomed. What I never expected was that the emperor was forced to show his face and make a statement, but a prince of Emperor Hongzhi fell from the sky, making the matter of the national prince even more uncertain.

Ji Zhenyi's heart went up and down, I don't know whether the outcome of today's matter is a blessing or a curse, thinking of Emperor Jing'an's words to punish the nine clans, his whole body is like falling into an ice cellar, regretting that he was involved in this matter that may never recover. He is already a second-grade general political history, although the general political secretary is a powerless and powerless Qingshui Yamen, but slowly boil up, maybe you can change to a powerful Shangshu dangdang, at least to protect the high-ranking officials. But with a bad thought, he was lured by the power of the marquis and the prime minister, and embarked on a road of no return.

While he was thinking wildly, the servant came to report, and Diao Qiming, the director of the Ministry of Works, asked to see him, he hesitated for a moment, but still asked the servant to bring him in. After Diao Qiming came in, Shi Li sat down, and after the servant finished serving tea, Ji Zhenyi instructed the servant to go out and close the door and not see anyone else.

Diao Qiming was born in Yinguan, because he has no fame, he is still a 6-grade master in his 40s, fortunately, he has money at home, he climbed up to Ji Zhenyi, a fellow villager, and gradually became Ji Zhenyi's henchman by sending a lot of money. Because he consciously lowered his figure, plus he was rich, he often invited guests to dinner, and made friends with some so-called Qingliu officials, this time he found a few Qingliu officials according to Ji Zhenyi's arrangement, and made a trap for Liu Zhengzong to get in. Today, I heard about Liu Zhengzong carrying the coffin and putting the book, so I ran to prepare to invite merit at this time, but when I entered the door, I saw Ji Zhenyi's face was not good, so I put away my smug look and asked cautiously: "Lord Ji, I don't know what the situation is today?" ”

Ji Zhenyi said angrily: "Okay, it's very good!" After speaking, he felt that his tone was too blunt, after all, Diao Qiming had completed what he had explained, and he was usually loyal and respectful to himself, so he softened his tone and said: "You did a good job, but something happened." Then he briefly told him what had happened in the Tiren Temple.

Diao Qiming blinked his eyes and asked puzzledly: "It's a good thing that the emperor agreed to establish a prince, why are you a little depressed?" ”

Even for a confidant like Diao Qiming, Ji Zhenyi never revealed his true purpose to him, so he couldn't tell him about his troubles, so he had to say perfunctorily: "A good thing is a good thing, but this matter of writing to the prince of the country, after all, violates the emperor's will." Then he lowered his voice and said: "You can't leak a little bit of what you do, otherwise you will be worried about your life." ”

Diao Qiming's face turned pale with fright, and he hurriedly said in a low voice: "Don't worry, my lord, there is no real evidence for this matter, and I won't mention it to anyone." ”

Ji Zhenyi nodded and said: "That's right, you don't have any contact with Liu Zhengzong in the future, and also, during this time, except for official business, don't come to me, don't go to my house, I will look for you if you have something." ”

Diao Qiming was even more nervous, and his voice trembled a little: "Will something happen?" ”

Seeing him like this, Ji Zhenyi comforted him in turn: "No, it's just to prevent yourself from being burned, and you should be careful when doing things." Seeing that Diao Qiming was still uneasy, he reassured him again and said: "Last time, I talked to Master Shi of the Ministry of Officials, and it is possible to transfer you next year, so you can't make any mistakes during this period." ”

Diao Qiming was excited, nodded again and again, and said: "Thank you for your cultivation, the humble position must only be the head of the adult." ”

What happened in the palace during the day today was like a muffled thunder in the deep sky, and the faint thunder gradually spread throughout the capital, and then spread to the entire Dasui. After nightfall, on the surface, the lights in the capital are still bright, lively as usual, and even more excited than usual, but people can feel a little nervous or uneasy in this excitement. Although 16 years have passed, most of the people in Shangjing still remember the bloody "Five Princes Rebellion" in the eighth year of Hongzhi.

Emperor Hongzhi and the current King of Jinling, Wei Li, were the biological sons of the empress, and Emperor Wei Chang, although the Jing'an Emperor, was only the adopted son of the empress. Therefore, after the death of the first emperor, the eldest son succeeded to the throne as Emperor Hongzhi, and Wei Chang and Wei Li were named princes respectively. After Emperor Hongzhi succeeded to the throne, he vigorously reformed, abolished the hereditary aristocracy, and changed it to the imperial examination; Abolish the family serfdom system, restore a large number of serfs to civilian status, distribute land by the state, and collect taxes. In just two years, the Tatars in the north were defeated one after another, the four northern counties were pacified, and the Uighurs in the northwest also paid tribute to the Dasu.

But the interests of the damaged nobles of the family were extremely dissatisfied, in the eighth year of Hongzhi, the five princes of the capital, first colluded with the Tatar invasion, and when Wei Chang led the army north to meet the enemy, concentrated the private soldiers of the five dukes, persuaded the soldiers and horses of the five cities, and gathered more than 20,000 people to surround the imperial city that night, and launched a rebellion. Emperor Hongzhi had only 3,000 Yulin troops and the inspection department guards around him, but he held out until the evening of the next day, when the Yulin army suffered casualties and the rebels attacked the imperial city. Emperor Hongzhi took Empress Huixian, holding the prince who was less than three years old, and climbed the highest star-picking tower in the palace, and burned himself to martyrdom with a fire, which illuminated the entire Shangjing City. That night, the prince Wei Chang, who received an urgent report, rushed back with 5,000 elite border cavalry, entered the capital in one fell swoop, and quickly put down the rebellion. Then Wei Chang began to take revenge frantically, and the five princes and officials who participated in the rebellion were beheaded all over the house, and the families of the nobles and officials involved were all beheaded, and the women and young children were unofficial, killing more than 50,000 people in total, and the huge room in the capital was empty.

According to the order, Wei Li, the king of Jinling, should have succeeded to the throne, but it was rumored in the capital that the Five Dukes rebelled and wanted to elect Wei Li as the emperor. In fact, the name of the Five Princes' rebellion at that time was "Qingjun Side", that is, to demand that Emperor Hongzhi abolish the empress. Because of her poor health, it was Empress Huixian who was in charge of the later period of the Hongzhi Dynasty, and she was the one who advocated reform, so she was deeply hated by the nobles. Because there was no conclusive evidence, Wei Chang did not punish Wei Li, but Wei Li was afraid of how dare he have the intention of succeeding to the throne and becoming emperor, and resolutely recommended Wei Chang to succeed him and call him Emperor Jing'an.

Over the years, just when people gradually forgot those turbulent years, because Emperor Jing'an had no children, the crown prince was vacant, and Wei Li, the king of Jinling, as the only prince, had three sons, and the son Wei Zong was known as the virtuous king in the south of the Yangtze River, and there were gradually voices inside and outside the court, hoping that Emperor Jing'an would establish Wei Zong as the prince. Although Emperor Jing'an suppressed these voices with an iron fist, he still did not fundamentally solve the actual problem. The appearance of the prince of Hongzhi out of thin air, disrupting all expectations, and recalling the "Five Princes Rebellion", in the skyrocketing fire, how did the little prince who was less than three years old escape, why was there no news, and suddenly appeared at this special time? Too many questions indicate more uncertainty, Emperor Jing'an is old, his health is deteriorating, and what will happen to the future of Da Sui, people are waiting in anxiety.

Not everyone was waiting, and on this night, many carrier pigeons soared into the sky and flew to various places in Dasui and even abroad, many people were hurrying and mysteriously wandering around, and many secret rooms were conducting secret conversations that were unknown to outsiders. Nearly a year of peace was broken, and Jing'an's 16 years were destined to end in turmoil and turmoil.