I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 260 This Matter Puts Me in a Dilemma
"Did you do anything about the Xu family?"

In the Xiyuan Qinzheng Hall, Zhu Yijun asked in a stern tone.

Feng Bao knelt on the ground, straightened his upper body, and answered loudly: "To reply to the prince, this was definitely not done by the East Factory."

"Mr. Wenchang was busy with Liaodong affairs, and the Fanqing Consultation Office could not reach the southeast. After the Jinyiwei was restructured, his mind was no longer on that.

If it wasn't your Dongchang, who else could have done it?"

"In reply to your Highness, I think the Commercial Investigation Department can also do this."

"You said the mastermind behind this is Yang Jinshui?" Zhu Yijun asked indifferently.

Feng Bao immediately responded, "Your Highness, this is just my random guess."

"You are so bold to make such a wild guess." Zhu Yijun stared at Feng Bao who was kneeling on the ground, his eyes moved around his back twice, and continued, "Don't worry, he can't take your place."

Feng Bao knelt even lower on the ground.

"Get up." Zhu Yijun waved his hand, "Stand up and talk."

"Yes." Feng Bao climbed up and stood aside with his head down.

"Didn't you, the East Factory, notice anything unusual?"

"In reply to your Highness, the reports from the southeast region of the East Factory in the past did not show anything unusual. After the incident, I sent an urgent letter to them to investigate the matter, but they have not received a reply for a while."

Qi Yan said at the door: "Your Highness, Yang Jinshui is here."

"Please come in!" There was a flash of surprise in Zhu Yijun's words, which was noticed by the sharp-eyed Feng Bao, who lowered his eyes and flickered a few times.

"Your servant Yang Jinshui pays respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhu Yijun took two steps forward, stretched out his hand to help him up, and stared at him for a while, "Well, you have aged a lot. I know that you have worked hard in the southeast in the past few years."

Yang Jinshui replied calmly: "Your Highness, I am just doing my job."

"These days, people who can do their job well are rare." Zhu Yijun sighed, "I'm glad you're back. I've reorganized the inner court and divided it into four supervisors. The Supervisor of the Imperial Household is waiting for you to come back and take charge."

"Your Highness's trust in me is something I cannot repay even if I die."

“You don’t have to die, just do your best.”

"Yes."

"You should know Feng Bao, the governor of the Eastern Depot." Zhu Yijun pointed at Feng Bao and said.

"In reply to Your Highness, I studied with Feng Bao in the inner study hall, and we both worshipped under Mr. Huang." Yang Jinshui looked at Feng Bao and replied with a smile.

Feng Bao looked at Yang Jinshui with complicated eyes and smiled.

"You're all here, it's just right. There's something I can't figure out. Please help me with some advice."

"The slaves dare not!"

"Let's go out for a walk. It's sunny and windy outside, which makes us feel relaxed and happy. We can talk while walking."

"Yes."

In the corridor by the lake, Zhu Yijun walked in front with his hands in his sleeves.

Feng Bao and Yang Jinshui lowered their heads and followed closely behind.

Fang Liang was accompanied by more than twenty Jing soldiers who were guarding in front and behind.

"Yang Jinshui, Mr. Huang said you are very smart. Guess what is it that puzzles me?" Yang Jinshui hurriedly stepped forward and said loudly, "It should be something about the Xu Mansion."

"Yeah," Zhu Yijun nodded and motioned Yang Jinshui to continue.

“I am also very confused.

Xu Fan, the eldest son of the Xu family, was a very smart man. In the 45th year of Jiajing, he took over the affairs of the Xu Mansion because his wife's coffin was lost and he returned to his hometown in Songjiang. In the first year of Longqing, he actually seized more than 50,000 acres of fertile land by trickery. It was indeed incredible.

I think, firstly, Xu Fan is not such an arrogant person, and secondly, Xu Gong has always been cautious and would not let him be so ostentatious. But this happened, and then forced Songjiang prefect Cai Guoxi to kneel in front of Xu's gate with the two counties of Huating and Qingpu.

What's more coincidental is that this matter happened to Lord Gangfeng again. Lord Gangfeng is now temporarily stationed in the prefectural government office in Songjiang, and is fully committed to investigating the case of Xu's family occupying farmland."

Zhu Yijun shook his head: "No one in this world can stop Hai Gangfeng, not even me. Jinshui, you continue."

"Yes, Your Highness. It was indeed my servant who instigated Lord Gangfeng to go to the Xu Mansion."

Yang Jinshui said frankly, "That day, Lord Gangfeng took a boat to Shanghai via Liujiagang and found me directly. After a conversation, I joked, Lord Gangfeng, in the eyes of the people, there are two tigers in Songjiang, and they are causing great harm.

One is me in the mouths of the scholars, and the other is Xu Dalang in the mouths of the people. Lord Hai, you came to see me, so you must have checked me beforehand. In this case, you can't be partial to one and ignore the other. Xu Dalang, didn't you check me?

Lord Hai immediately asked me to go to Huating County. I didn't expect to encounter this incident. Your Highness, I dare not hide a word. Xu Kun complained in Songjiang, and I was in Shanghai, and my ears were already full of complaints.

I also wanted to borrow the sword of Gangfeng Gong's integrity and selflessness to deal with Xu Mansion and Xu Dalang, but I never expected to run into Governor Cai kneeling in front of Xu Mansion. "

Zhu Yijun put his hands in his sleeves and continued to walk slowly in front. Yang Jinshui lowered his head and fell behind by one step. Feng Bao also lowered his head and fell behind by one and a half steps.

"Yes, it's such a coincidence, so coincidental that everyone thinks you did it on my secret order." Zhu Yijun said quietly, suddenly stopped, turned around, stared at Yang Jinshui, and asked with deep eyes: "Yang Jinshui, after all these days, I'm sure you already know who did it."

Yang Jinshui fell to her knees and said loudly, "Your Highness, this incident was caused by me. I am willing to take all the blame. Please punish me severely."

"Yang Jinshui, do you think that you can be punished severely for this matter? I know how much land the Xu family has occupied. But the Xu family represents the Jiangnan family, and all the scholars in the world are watching.

Now is not the time to attack the Xu family. Well, my plan was going very smoothly, but this happened and it was turned into a half-cooked rice! It's not right to eat it, and it's not right not to eat it!
I am in a dilemma! "

Yang Jinshui knelt on the ground and said, "I know your Highness's painstaking efforts. Most of the ministers that your Highness can use are also Jinshi graduates, and they are scholars. Severely punishing the Xu family, who are the leaders of the literati, and abolishing the preferential treatment of the scholars may cause them to have dissent and become disloyal.

So Your Highness has been holding back and waiting for the right time. Now that the matter has been exposed by someone with ulterior motives, if Your Highness severely punishes the Xu family and supports the land survey, the scholars and the world's scholars will have opinions about Your Highness; if you let them go lightly, the land survey that has been planned for a long time may be abandoned halfway! "

"Yang Jinshui knows what I'm thinking. The person who secretly planned this is extremely intelligent and has a deep understanding of human nature and worldly affairs, but he lacks a sense of the overall situation and strategic awareness. It may be related to his current position." Zhu Yijun stared at Yang Jinshui and said word by word: "I am now more and more interested in who this great talent is who made Yang Jinshui give up his future and life!"

"Who on earth is it! Who wants to kill my Xu family?"

In the study of the Xu family, Xu Jie asked this question in a cold voice. Zhang Juzheng thought silently for a long time before speaking slowly.

"Master, I think the person who planned this has a special relationship with Yang Jinshui and is well aware of the situation in the southeast. He may also be familiar with Hu Ruzhen, Zhao Dazhou (Zhao Zhenji), Wang Zijian and other close ministers of the crown prince, especially Xu Wenchang, and then he has a say in front of famous people in the southeast such as Wang Fengzhou (Wang Shizhen). "

"Yes," Xu Jie nodded slowly, "If you are familiar with Yang Jinshui, you can know his and Hai Gangfeng's movements and seize the opportunity. If you are familiar with Xu Wenchang, Hu Ruzhen, Zhao Dazhou and others, you can know some inside information and get some help.

Then, through the introduction of Wang Fengzhou and others, he was able to speak to Cai Chuntai (Cai Guoxi), and then persuaded him to come to my Xu Mansion to pray, and then he knelt in front of my Xu Mansion.

This boy is good at making plans, is good at making changes, has a careful mind, and can see through people's hearts. He has the same strategy as Chen Ping and Jia Xu. But I don't care who he is now. I just want to know how Xiyuan will deal with this matter now that it has happened! "

Looking at Xu Jie's face full of age spots, Zhang Juzheng felt a sense of absurdity in his heart.

The teacher had never been so confused during the time of the late Emperor Jiajing.

But as a disciple, I don’t know how His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will deal with it!

This matter is indeed a dilemma for him!

(End of this chapter)