Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2392: Changes (XI) The Governor and the Commander

Although the Ying Palace tried every means to cover up the cause of Ying Prince's death, such a big thing could not be covered up. In addition, everyone knew that Ying Prince was addicted to women. Even though it was late at night and there had always been a curfew in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, it still could not stop the rapid spread of the news.

In less than half an hour, the palace had learned of the sudden death of the King of Ying. Zhu Yijun, who had gone to bed early due to his poor health, was urgently awakened. After listening to the preliminary report with a gloomy face, he issued an oral order to thoroughly investigate the cause of the King of Ying's death.

In order to thoroughly investigate such a sensitive case, the Imperial Guard had to be mobilized. However, this matter did not go smoothly. First, the palace spent a lot of time to contact Tian Yi, the governor of the Eastern Factory. Later, it was discovered that Wang Zhizhen, the governor of the Imperial Guard, was not in the city, but went to his villa outside the city. Therefore, they had to make special arrangements and go out of the city to find him and come back to command and deploy the actions of the Imperial Guard.

It can only be said that the death of Prince Ying was really at a bad time. From the emperor to the factory guards, and even the palace guards and city guards in the capital, all were forced to work overtime at night because of him.

Let’s first talk about the governor of the Eastern Depot, Tian Yi. The Imperial Household Department sent people to his residence outside the palace to find him. Logically speaking, with such an urgent matter and the emperor’s oral order, he should have come to “receive the order” as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, the servants in his house kept delaying. One moment they said that the factory supervisor had just gone to bed and asked if he could be informed again tomorrow morning. The next moment they said that they had already woken up the factory supervisor, but since it was an imperial decree, they naturally could not be negligent, so the factory supervisor was bathing and changing clothes... In short, it took more than half an hour to finally invite him out to meet them.

The key point is that when the new factory supervisor came out to meet, he didn't look like he had just bathed and changed clothes, but looked a little dusty, which made the people in the Imperial Household Department feel very strange. However, no matter how strange it was, the factory supervisor himself was also the second most important person in the inner court who was also the scribe of the Imperial Household Department, so the young eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department naturally didn't dare to question him, and even dared not to reveal a single word.

Why couldn't Tian Chang Du be "awakened"? Of course, it was because he was not in his own house at that time. His family servants went to Jingguo Mansion temporarily to invite him back to receive the order. As for what he went to Jingguo Mansion in the middle of the night, no one dared to ask.

Speaking of Jinyi General Wang Zhizhen, the reason why he was not in the capital city but ran to his own villa outside the city was said to be because he had caught a cold not long ago and therefore went to the villa outside the city for recuperation - there is no doubt that his villa has natural hot springs and is indeed suitable for recuperation.

As for whether the Jinyiwei commander-in-chief was negligent in not being on call in the capital, that was not the case. Although Wang Zhizhen was still the "top leader" of the Jinyiwei, he was the "left commander-in-chief of the Central Military Commander's Office in charge of the guard affairs", which was equivalent to the left commander-in-chief of the Central Military Commander's Office in charge of the Jinyiwei work, while the real "top leader" position of the Jinyiwei system, that is, the "Jinyiwei Commander", had been given to someone else.

This "other person" was Luo Sigong, who had stood on Gao Youshi's side in the Zhang Jing case and provided important confessions that sent Zhang Jing to death at a critical moment. However, this does not mean that Luo Sigong should be counted as a "Gao Party". After all, not long after that, Gao Youshi began to consciously withdraw his influence from the Factory Guards. Even if Luo Sigong had the intention of joining Gao Youshi at the beginning, it is certain that he did not succeed in the end.

Of course, things are not that simple. It has been said long ago that the Jinyiwei, as an organization formed by hereditary military households, has become increasingly rigid. Almost the only ones who are still injecting "fresh water" into the Jinyiwei are the sons of meritorious officials.

For example, in name, almost all of Gao Youshi's sons had hereditary positions in the Imperial Guard. His eldest son Gao Yuan, after being officially appointed as the Governor-General of Siam, still had the title of "Commander of the Imperial Guard" - yes, in theory, he was still the head of the Imperial Guard in name only! However, the actual significance of this title to him was that the Imperial Guard would give him a salary as a commander, but would not really let him take up the post.

Gao Youshi's other sons also had "jobs" in the Jinyiwei. For example, Gao Yan, the second son of the concubine, who was nine years old, had already stayed in Japan, preparing to take over as the second Shogun of the Edo Shogunate in the future, but he was also the "Jinyiwei Commander-in-Chief"; Gao Mu, the third son of the concubine, who was eight years old (his biological mother was Menggu Zhezhe), was also the "Jinyiwei Commander-in-Chief"... In short, Gao Youshi's youngest son, who couldn't even walk steadily, was already a captain of the Jinyiwei.

According to the custom of the Ming Dynasty, these hereditary positions of the Jinyiwei did not have to actually take up the office, but the Jinyiwei would still receive salaries. In fact, this was a form of officially recognized empty salary drawing. In essence, it was the emperor showing favor and rewarding certain contributions of the meritorious official by providing benefits to his sons and nephews.

However, if these sons of noble families really want to take up office, it is not impossible. For example, this kid originally wanted to take the imperial examination, but later found that this single-plank bridge was too difficult to walk on, and he was really not cut out for it, so he might as well join the Jinyiwei.

At this time, the Imperial Guard will also officially recruit him, but the position will not be exactly what the emperor gave you at the beginning. It will mostly depend on how many vacancies there are in the Imperial Guard. After all, senior positions are still one-to-one, and you can't squeeze out the position of "on-the-job employees". If you are willing, you can consider a position one or two levels lower?

Back to the Jinyiwei, because of the presence of Luo Sigong, the "Executive Vice President", the main trouble when Wang Zhizhen was not in the capital was that it was difficult to report the progress of the investigation directly to the emperor, and to cooperate with the governor of the East Factory - the status of the governor was too high, and you, a mere commander, really had no say. Only when Wang Zhizhen, who was the left governor of the Rear Army Governor's Office, came, was it possible to form a cooperative relationship with the governor.

Otherwise, the Jinyiwei would completely lose its independence and would have to obey the orders of the factory supervisor, a situation that the emperor actually did not welcome - the emperor always liked to see his subordinates check and balance each other.

It's like Shen Yiguan was hit so hard half a year ago, but he is still in the cabinet now, because as long as he is in the cabinet, Gao Youshi can't be said to be all-powerful. Even if Shen Yiguan can't restrict him at ordinary times, it's because the emperor needs Gao Youshi to promote reforms in an all-round way. Once the emperor changes his needs one day, Shen Yiguan can transform himself and immediately become the key figure to restrict Gao Youshi.

By the time Wang Zhizhen rushed back to the city and met with Tian Yi, the governor of the East Factory, Luo Sigong had already sent people to control the entire Yingwang Mansion. Seeing his immediate superior arrive, Luo Sigong breathed a sigh of relief and quickly reported the situation to the two direct supervisors.

According to Luo Sigong's report, he not only sent out the coroner directly under the Jinyiwei, but also invited the imperial physician from the Imperial Medical Bureau. The two sides jointly examined the body of Prince Ying and produced a very authoritative autopsy report.

What is certain now is that the King of Ying indulged in lust and his body was seriously overdrawn. Before his death, he took a large amount of "tiger and wolf medicine", which eventually led to excessive joy and tragedy - commonly known as horse stroke.

Not only that, the Jinyiwei also searched the Prince of Ying's mansion closely, and preliminarily examined the concubines, maids, eunuchs, guards and others who were related to the sudden death of the Prince of Ying tonight. But the problem was stuck here, because although the Jinyiwei found the "tiger and wolf medicine" that the Prince of Ying usually took in the Prince of Ying's mansion, according to the women around him and the eunuchs, these medicines were not directly purchased products, nor were they sent in from the outside, but were prescriptions provided by the Prince of Ying himself, and given to the servants to buy medicinal materials at the pharmacy, and finally made into finished products in the Prince of Ying's mansion.

In other words, there was no outside involvement in the source of the drugs, it was all handled by the Prince of Ying's Palace itself, and the Prince of Ying himself could even be considered the first person responsible.

Tian Yi's face was as gloomy as water, and he did not reply immediately after hearing this. Wang Zhizhen coughed violently a few times, frowned, and asked hoarsely: "How did the prince get this prescription?"

After all, he is the Jinyi Commander. Even though he is ill, he can still get to the heart of the matter when he speaks.

Luo Sigong quickly replied: "General Ti has a sharp eye. This prescription must have been presented to the prince by someone. It's just that the people in the palace refuse to admit that they did so, and the prince..." There is no evidence again.

Wang Zhizhen and Tian Yi looked at each other, both of them were a little troubled. After all, Wang Zhizhen's status was not as high as the factory supervisor, so he could only wave his hand to let the others, except Luo Sigong, step back a little, and then took the initiative to ask: "Supervisor, do you think this case should be investigated and resolved quickly, or should it be thoroughly investigated?"

Although Tian Yi was a veteran in the inner court and official circles, the position of factory supervisor was rather special after all. He had only been in office for a few days and was obviously still inexperienced in this kind of "business ability". Therefore, after a slight hesitation, he could not help but ask, "What do you think of what Ti Shuai said?"

Wang Zhizhen knew from his question that Tian Dugong really had no experience in investigating cases, so he did not answer first. Instead, he ordered Luo Sigong: "Stand guard a hundred steps away, and turn your back to each other."

Tian Yi didn't know what Wang Zhizhen was doing, but he consciously didn't ask. Luo Sigong just made two quick gestures after receiving the order, and the surrounding Jinyiwei retreated again, and took away all the people within a hundred steps, and searched all the houses again until they were sure that no one was there, and then they retreated. After retreating, those who were still in the open turned their backs to Wang Zhizhen, drew their swords out of their sheaths, and began to be on guard outside.

Wang Zhizhen then explained to Tian Yi, "There are many strange people in the world, and some of them can tell what someone is saying by looking at their lips. That's why the Jinyiwei has this method to prevent them so that we can keep our conversations confidential."

"Oh... I see. Marshal Ti is rigorous in his work, no wonder he is valued by Your Majesty." Tian Yi suddenly realized.

"You are too kind, Governor. These are the methods passed down from generation to generation by the Jinyiwei. I am just following the rules." Wang Zhizhen was modest for a moment, then went straight to the point, saying, "I heard that you took up this new position because of the strong recommendation of the Prime Minister. So please allow me to be bold and not to play tricks... Governor, now that the foundation of the country has been determined, do you think the life and death of Prince Ying is really important?"

Tian Yi was shocked to hear him speak so bluntly. After all, Prince Ying was a prince, and the eldest son of the emperor. His life and death... was not important? If this were to get out, Wang Zhizhen would lose his position, and even his head would be unstable!

Oh, no wonder he just wanted to "be on guard a hundred steps away, and turn his back to everyone", and even didn't want the possible "strange people" to read his lips. It turns out he really wanted to say something shocking.

However, Tian Yi immediately thought of what he had just said about his position as factory supervisor being "due to the strong recommendation of the Prime Minister." So doesn't that mean... Oh, oh, oh, I get it.

"Well, from this point of view, the life and death of King Ying is indeed not that important." Tian Yi reacted quickly. He knew that he had been tied to Gao Youshi's chariot and it was impossible for him to get off, so he answered according to Wang Zhizhen's words. As for Wang Zhizhen's position... Listening to his tone, is there any need to say it?

"In this case, it stands to reason that this case should be concluded quickly to avoid complications." Wang Zhizhen said calmly, "After all, the death of Prince Ying will only benefit the stability of the court, not harm it."

Tian Yi was shocked when he heard this, but he also immediately realized that there was something else behind his words, so he asked back: "Logically speaking? Does Ti Shuai have other opinions?"

Wang Zhizhen took a deep breath and said slowly, "Under normal circumstances, the death of the King of Ying would be fine, but the strange thing about this matter is the timing of his death... The biggest news in the court and the public today is undoubtedly the sudden illness of the Prime Minister. Lord Du, the King of Ying died when the Prime Minister fell ill. Don't you think there might be some connection between them?"

"What connection could there be? It can't be that the Prime Minister asked Prince Ying to die. There is absolutely no need for the Prime Minister to do that." Tian Yi's words seemed to come out of his mouth, but unfortunately he was facing Wang Zhizhen, who had been the governor of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for more than ten years. The latter could tell at a glance that the new factory governor was playing dumb.

However, Wang Zhizhen did not intend to point it out. He smiled and shook his head, saying, "The Prime Minister would never do such a thing... I am asking, is there anyone who can gain some benefit from the sudden death of the Prince of Ying? But there is a prerequisite for this benefit to be realized, that is, the Prime Minister suddenly falls ill and cannot take care of things for the time being?"

He chuckled and said, "Don't be afraid of being laughed at by the Governor. I have been in charge of the guards for many years and have some experience in investigating cases. One of my experiences is: whoever can benefit the most from the case is most likely to be the murderer." He paused for a moment and looked at Tian Yi and asked, "In your opinion, who can benefit from the death of King Ying? And how can they benefit?"

According to normal reasoning, the crown prince is the first beneficiary of the death of the King of Ying. After all, before the birth of the crown prince, the King of Ying, Zhu Changluo, was the most popular prince in the court and the public. Even if the crown prince has been appointed, if we follow the worst-case scenario, if something happens to the crown prince, wouldn't the King of Ying be the most likely to "fill in"? Therefore, theoretically speaking, the crown prince is indeed the biggest beneficiary of the death of the King of Ying - the potential first threat has disappeared.

But this is definitely not the correct answer, and the reason is simple: the prince hasn't even learned to walk yet, so how can a baby in swaddling clothes control the life and death of King Ying?

Not to mention the prince himself, the stakeholders around him do not necessarily need to kill King Ying, because as stakeholders around the prince, they only need to protect the prince and let him grow up smoothly. When the emperor passes away one day in the future, the prince will naturally be the new monarch. So what does it matter whether King Ying is killed or not?

Of course, Tian Yi also wanted to get these, but as long as he ruled out this possibility, the next situation immediately made his scalp numb: No wonder Yuanfu just told us about those arrangements. We originally thought that Yuanfu was just used to being cautious and made some arrangements just to be prepared. Unexpectedly...

"Master Ti, are you talking about... Prince Fu?" Tian Yi asked in horror. However, Wang Zhizhen just narrowed his eyes and did not answer.

Tian Yi raised another question at this time: "But if it is Prince Fu, and he wants to take the throne, although Prince Ying is one of the obstacles, he is not the biggest obstacle! Ah, it's bad!" As he spoke, he seemed to suddenly think of a possibility and scared himself.

Wang Zhizhen narrowed his eyes and looked at Tian Yi, but he could still smile slightly and said, "Does the Governor understand my concerns?"

Are you worried? I don't think you're worried at all!

Tian Yi took a deep breath, stared at Wang Zhizhen and said, "Master Ti, if you have something to say, you might as well say it directly! Master Ti will not doubt our position, otherwise he would not say these words to us, don't you think so?"
-

Thanks to book friends "Yuan Zhou", "Book Friend 20170107012220447", and "Book Friend 20240910133807207" for their monthly ticket support, thank you!