Xing'an is already a bit of a ghost.

Others may not know what happened, but Xing'an knows it.

Cao Jixiang saw that Xing'an lowered his head and didn't speak, so he had to stand up and answer Zhu Qizhen's question: "Emperor Qiqi, Chen Xiang went home from the palace yesterday, and he never came back.

Early this morning, the imperial city was under martial law, and no one was allowed to enter or leave, and he was afraid that he would be blocked out and would not be able to enter for a while. ”

Zhu Qizhen asked again: "Who initiated martial law?" Marquis of Wuding? ”

Cao Jixiang shook his head: "Surrounded outside the imperial city is the Tiance Guard, that is, the original Four Guards of the Imperial Horse Prison. Jin Yiwei was nowhere to be seen at all.

From this point of view, the person who enforces martial law should be Hao Yi, the eunuch who holds the seal of the imperial horse supervisor. ”

"Aren't there tens of thousands of Jinyiwei? Brother doesn't need it at all? ”

Cao Jixiang replied: "As far as the slave maid knows, the emperor is quite jealous of Dongchang and Jinyiwei. Not only did it not reuse, but it was extremely precautionary, for fear that Jinyiwei would be unfavorable to the emperor.

At the beginning of last year, Wara was repulsed, and as soon as the Jingshi calmed down, the emperor reformed Jinyiwei and transferred all the six military craftsmen and thousands of households under Jinyiwei to the outer city to build a new ordnance factory.

It was also strictly ordered that the guards in Beijing should not be equipped with heavy armor and firearms. ”

Zhu Qizhen was extremely surprised when he heard this: "Jinyi Wei, as the first guard of the upper rank, is not allowed to be equipped with heavy armor and firearms, what is the reason?" ”

Cao Jixiang smiled bitterly: "Jinyiwei is no longer the first guard of Shangzhi, and Tiancewei, who is subordinate to the Imperial Horse Supervisor, is now the veritable first guard of Shangzhi."

The emperor did not allow the Jinyi Guard to have heavy armor and firearms, so that when the Jinyi Guard launched a rebellion, he could be eliminated as soon as possible.

You also know that without considering firearms, heavy armor against light armor is a one-sided massacre. ”

Zhu Qizhen gasped: "In other words, if I plan to launch a mutiny, Jinyiwei can't count on it?" My brother is really cautious enough, and when I was still in Warat, he was guarding against me from plotting a mutiny. ”

Cao Jixiang replied: "Not only Jinyiwei, but even the Five Cities Terracotta Division has been greatly adjusted by the emperor, and only the North City and Nancheng Terracotta Divisions have been given to Empress Zhou's father and brother.

The three most important soldiers and horses in Zhongcheng, Dongcheng, and Xicheng are all controlled by the Wu and Guo families. ”

Zhu Qizhen pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Will the queen's family follow me to initiate a mutiny?" ”

Cao Jixiang shook his head: "It is said that Empress Zhou and the emperor's side are very close, and Empress Zhou is very satisfied with the current situation, and even said to the palace people around her that the prince can be a prince in the future as long as he can be a prince in peace." ”

When Zhu Qizhen heard this, he frowned tightly.

Cao Jixiang hurriedly persuaded: "Don't worry, the emperor ordered the slaves and maids to supervise the 10,000 Beijing troops transferred back from Datong. With this 10,000 Beijing army, plus 10,000 families made up by Xungui, vassal kings, slaves and maids, there are 20,000 people, and they can fight. ”

Zhu Qizhen was still worried: "Ren Li and Mao Zhong are really willing to take this 10,000 Beijing army to launch a mutiny with me?" ”

Cao Jixiang replied with great certainty: "They may not be willing now, but what if the situation changes?" What if the emperor is seriously ill? The soldiers of the five military battalions and the three thousand battalions are all looking forward to Your Majesty, and what is lacking now is just the opportunity. ”

"What about the Divine Machine Battalion and the Horseman Battalion?"

Cao Jixiang said with a smile: "Shanxi was about to have a civil uprising by the emperor, and the emperor had no choice but to transfer the main forces of the Shenji Battalion and the Xiaocai Battalion to Shanxi.

Emperor, don't believe that the Shenji Battalion and the Xiaoqi Battalion went to Shanxi to supervise the construction of the Great Wall defense line and collect the remains of civil engineering soldiers.

In fact, a civil uprising of the same scale as the southeast is about to occur in Shanxi, and the Tartars of Hetao have been driven away by the imperial army for the past two years, and it is likely that they will also flow to Shanxi.

The emperor had no choice but to send a large army to garrison it in advance. ”

Zhu Qizhen suddenly realized that there was such a hidden secret in it.

After excitedly, Zhu Qizhen, who had calmed down, glanced at Cao Jixiang thoughtfully, but he had doubts in his heart: With these words, why didn't he say it earlier. At that time, I couldn't get actual information, and what I heard was what others wanted me to hear, so there was a civil engineering failure.

Now this Cao Jixiang, do you have any other plans?

Thinking of this, Zhu Qizhen waved everyone away, ready to wait and see.

In the cabinet, the important ministers did not wait too long, and ushered in the emperor's will: ordered the three law divisions to immediately summon Sun Zhong to try the case of Sanyang's collusion with the inner court and conspiracy to abolish the queen, and the eunuch Hao Yi was ordered by the emperor to observe.

When Wang Wen and Wei Ji heard this, they immediately wanted to return to the Criminal Department.

At this time, Zou Gan suddenly grabbed Wei Ji and persuaded: "The matter is serious, please also think of the country and don't shake the country." ”

Wei Ji and Wang Wen glanced at each other, but neither of them gave a reply, so they left straight away.

When they returned to the Criminal Department, Wang Wen and Wei Ji saw that the Criminal Department was also full of heavily armed soldiers, and Xue Xuan, Kou Shen, and Xiao Weizhen had already accompanied Sun Zhong and waited there.

When Wang Wen and Wei Ji asked, they found out that Sun Zhong was poisoned by his granddaughter-in-law, and he almost died.

Only then did the two understand why Zou Gan was afraid of shaking the country's foundation: the Sun family actually had internal strife, now it's okay, once the Empress Dowager Sun falls, Gongrang Emperor and Crown Prince will have to suffer.

The two comforted Sun Zhong again, and then began to try the case.

Hao Yi listened on behalf of the emperor, which brought a lot of pressure to everyone.

Wang Wen chose to conclude the case of Sun Zhong's poisoning first, and soon Sun Zhong's granddaughter-in-law was brought to the court, only to see that this stupid woman had been beaten to a bloody pulp, and a confession was also handed to Wang Wen.

Wang Wen sighed, this is also in line with the process, Jin Yiwei was ordered by the emperor to commit the edict to prison, used up the punishment, recorded the confession, and then sent the prisoner and confession to the criminal department.

Jin Yiwei has always tried cases in this way, and in this way, it saves the trouble of the three law divisions.

Wang Wen and others confirmed the confession with Sun Zhong's granddaughter-in-law, and then sent her to the Metropolitan Procuratorate Prison for detention.

Immediately afterward, Sun Zhong repeated yesterday's testimony.

Not only that, Sun Zhong perfected more details this time, and added the testimony of Empress Dowager Sun instructing the imperial physician to poison Empress Hu and Princess Shunde, as well as Empress Dowager Sun's plot to take the son of the palace as her own son.

Xue Xuan, Kou Shen, and Xiao Weizhen were all frightened, but with Hao Yi listening, everyone didn't dare to say anything to stop them.

After Sun Zhong finished speaking, he signed the testimony very resolutely, and then sat down in the hall, waiting to confront Jin Ying.

But Sun Zhong thought too much, Jin Ying had already been subdued by Jinyiwei's torture, and he had already recruited all the recruits. Now that the Queen Mother's father is all backlashed, what else does Jin Ying refute, let him do whatever he wants.

At this point, everything goes very fast.

Sun Zhong was in the criminal department, and borrowed paper and pen to write a plea for guilt.

The Criminal Department urgently delivered the confession, testimony, and Sun Zhong's plea to the Imperial Palace.

The Criminal Department and Jinyiwei went separately to arrest the people involved outside the palace, and Ruan Xi was responsible for arresting the palace people involved in the inner court.

At noon, when Zhu Qiyu was eating, all the copywriting from the Criminal Department was delivered.

Zhu Qiyu looked at the copywriting and shook his head again and again.

Su Xi asked curiously, "Is what Sun Zhong said true or false?" Did Empress Dowager Sun really poison her mother? And also take the son of the palace as the son? Once this testimony is published, I am afraid that the government and the opposition will be in turmoil. ”

Zhu Qiyu teased angrily: "What is true or false, since Sun Zhong said so, we will believe it like this." Isn't there also Jin Ying's confession as evidence.

As for the civil and military officials, the government and the opposition, believe it or not, whatever they do.

It just so happens that the vassal king is about to enter Beijing, so when the time comes, a meeting of the relatives will be held and they will decide what to do.

Now first send these testimonies, confessions, and Sun Zhong's recitals to the ministers for court discussion. ”

Su Xi confirmed: "Is it to let the civil and military officials of the fifth rank and above in Beijing gather in the Fengtianmen court, and then the three law divisions will send these to the ministers in public to circulate?" ”

Zhu Qiyu smiled: "You little girl, why are you more ruthless than me!" Okay, you can write them an approval. In addition, I ordered Zou Gan to report to Gong to let the emperor know, and asked Gong to let the emperor preside over the court meeting on my behalf. ”

Lin Xiangyu praised when she heard this: "It is obvious that the two of you are a couple who love each other, one is not a big deal to watch the excitement, and the other is to kill people and punish the heart. ”

Zhu Qiyu said with a smile: "You'er, you're a concubine, and you can also come up with half an idea for your husband." ”

"Then let the Marquis of Huichang also go to the court meeting and personally talk to the hundred officials."

"Good!"

……

The western suburbs are more than 30 miles away from the imperial city, and if you hurry up and let go, most of the hours will be there.

Not long after the hundred officials finished lunch, they were summoned by the cabinet to the court meeting in front of Fengtianmen.

Zou Gan, on the other hand, went to Nangong and asked to see Emperor Gongrang.

(End of chapter)