Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 226: Impeachment in the court, the imperial envoy goes south!
The next day.

In the Forbidden City under the bright winter sun, Emperor Jiajing Zhu Houzhao was coming towards the Zuoshun Gate.

As soon as he arrived at Zuoshunmen to review the court, Xiong Jia, the Chief Censor of the Criminal Department, submitted a memorial to impeach Zhang Lun, the former governor of Donglai, for colluding with local tyrants in Fujian to embezzle the Donglai gold mine for his own benefit, and requested an imperial decree to send three ministers of the Judicial Department to investigate.

This means that the case of collusion among bureaucrats and wealthy people to take over the Donglai gold mine has officially entered the judicial process of the Ming Dynasty and will be handled as a special major case.

Zhu Houcong naturally agreed and ordered the court officials to recommend candidates for the imperial envoy.

Huang Chenze, the military censor, reported to the court that the matter involved state funds and local powerful families, and that sending high-ranking officials would not be enough to show the court's attention to the matter. Therefore, he recommended cabinet minister Fei Hong, Left Censor-in-Chief Wang Shizhong, and Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Zhang Jie as imperial envoys to investigate the matter.

Followed by.

Minister of Revenue Deng Zhang, Minister of Punishment Zhao Huang, and Minister of Works Tong Rui all agreed with this proposal.

Zhu Houcong knew that this was the result of Yang Tinghe's secret operation.

Although Yang Tinghe had lost his reputation among the middle and lower level ritualists, he still had many disciples among senior officials who were willing to follow his instructions.

This was exactly the result Zhu Houcong wanted, so he approved his request.

Minister of Revenue Deng Zhang, Jinyiwei Commander-in-Chief Zhang Jie and others were all secretly delighted by this, and they all knew that this was a favorable situation caused by Lai Yuan's silence.

They only thought that the emperor had to let his trusted attendant Xiong Jia make the matter clear in the court so quickly because he did not know more secrets from Lai Yuan, the former Fujian Provincial Inspector, so that he could formally send people to the south to investigate.

at the same time……

They believed that the emperor certainly did not know that Huang Chen, the so-called loyal minister of the Zhengde Dynasty who was demoted for advising Zhengde on his southern tour and then reinstated by Shi Yao, was a fellow townsman of Mao Ji, but was actually Yang Tinghe's man. Recommending Fei Hong could only mean that Yang Tinghe had made a suggestion, so he agreed to Huang Chen's recommendation. They only thought that Fei Hong wanted to make achievements and prepare to replace Mao Ji as soon as possible.

Because this is what Fei Hong told them before he went to court today, saying that he had asked the emperor for permission in order to make merit and prepare for his future as prime minister, and at the same time clean up the aftermath of the Donglai incident.

But Lai Yuan's death also gave the ritual-protecting faction hope of cleaning up the emperor's henchmen.

Therefore, at this time, the Imperial Censor Zhao Chun stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I accuse Lu Song, the commander of the Jinyiwei of the Northern Pacification Division, of using excessive punishment, which caused the former Imperial Censor Lai Yuan to die. He is a cruel and ruthless official and should be severely punished to prove your majesty's benevolence of not tolerating excessive punishment!"

"I second the proposal!"

"Lu Song used harsh punishments, corrupted the law, disrupted social order, and killed scholars and officials like ants. This is something that the Holy Dynasty cannot tolerate! If we don't punish him severely, it will not be enough to serve as a warning to others!"

Yang Yiying, the Chief Censor, also echoed.

"I second the proposal!"

"Your Majesty, Lu Song should be executed! Please choose a close minister who understands the general situation and the rules to manage the imperial prison, instead of someone who is a stickler for discipline!"

"I second this motion!"

"Lai Yuan was a Jinshi after all, and he was also a censor of the Metropolitan Censorate. He was beaten to death in the imperial prison. If this gets out, it will damage your majesty's virtue and even affect your majesty's prestige!"

……

……

For a while, many court officials came forward one after another to impeach Lu Song for the incident involving Lai Yuan.

As a fourth-rank Jinyiwei commander, Lu Song was naturally qualified to attend court meetings.

At this moment, because he saw so many court officials impeaching him in the court, he could not help but clench his fists, bite his lips, and his heart was suddenly filled with anger!

and……

As more and more court officials used the Lai Yuan incident to impeach him, even high-ranking officials such as the Deputy Censor-in-Chief and the Minister began to impeach him, Lu Song's anger grew more and more intense.

He couldn't help but look at Zhang Jie, the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who was also in the court.

He was now very sure that Zhang Jie was the one behind Lai Yuan's death, otherwise the civil servants would not have recommended Zhang Jie for no reason.

"Issue an imperial decree to take away Lu Song's crown, robe and sword, and to remove him from office and detain him in the imperial prison!"

"The Northern Pacification Office will be headed by Zhang Tong!"

Zhu Houcong asked in a deep voice.

Of course he knew that Lai Yuan’s death had nothing to do with Lu Song.

but now……

First, it was to stabilize the situation in the court, so that when the massacre in Fujian happened next, there would be no unexpected changes in the court;

Secondly, it was also to teach Lu Song a lesson, so that he would be more cautious in the future and also be more jealous of officials in the outer court. So he agreed to the request of these court officials and issued an imperial decree to imprison Lu Song.

At this time, the Jinyiwei under Luo An came over and took Lu Song away.

At this time, Lu Song just cooperated and shouted loudly: "I am ashamed of your cultivation, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Houcong said nothing.

At this time, the ritual-protecting faction, including Censor Zhao Chun and Assistant Censor-in-Chief Yang Yiying, began to snicker.

Zhang Jie, the commander of the Imperial Guard, also secretly grinned.

Even the Minister of Revenue Deng Zhang breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, during this period, because of Xia Yan's secret report, not only did the emperor fail to order the Donglai gold mine to be shut down, but Lai Yuan and Zhang Lun were also imprisoned. The truth behind it was likely to be revealed, and he, the former Nanjing Minister of Revenue, would be implicated.

it's good now.

The imperial envoy investigating the case is Lord Fei, who accepted a lot of beautiful jade in exchange for gold because he liked jade, and Zhang Jie, the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who is also involved.

Lu Song, who investigated the case most seriously, was also imprisoned because of Lai Yuan's death.

It just so happened that the new Chief of Criminal Justice, Zhang Tong, was also an insider secretly developed by my side. When the time came, His Majesty would naturally be more willing to believe the false information provided by my side by reporting more plausible news through Zhang Tong.

Thinking this way, Deng Zhang naturally did not think that the Fujian affairs would implicate him, and he felt much more relaxed. Before Fei Hong left Beijing for Fujian, Zhu Houcong summoned him alone.

"I only allow you to destroy the evidence involving yourself."

"Of course, if there is a Taifu, I will allow you to handle it yourself."

"But you can't be partial to other people!"

After summoning Fei Hong, Zhu Houcong gave Fei Hong these instructions.

He believed that people like Fei Hong would know the consequences of going against his will again.

After all, there are so many examples of ministers being killed before.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong did not say anything more about the consequences.

then.

Zhu Houcong then asked Huang Jin to pass another secret decree to Fei Hong, saying: "Also, open this secret decree after you arrive in Fujian, and don't show it to anyone else!"

Fei Hong nodded in agreement, took the secret decree and put it into his sleeve.

Zhu Houcong continued, "During the cold winter, you still have to go south to handle cases. It must be hard work!"

"To repay your majesty's generosity, how dare I refuse to work hard? I will sacrifice my life to serve the country!"

Fei Hong replied.

"You don't have to sacrifice your life to go to Lingnan. If you do, I will be very disappointed."

Zhu Houcong smiled and said
Fei Hong knew what Zhu Houcong meant, that as long as he did a good job, he would really be made the prime minister.

This made Fei Hong feel as if he had eaten a hundred-year-old ginseng, and he suddenly felt a lot more energetic.

After leaving the palace, Fei Hong came to Yang Tinghe and told him about this.

"His Majesty is willing to use you as the Prime Minister, which is a good thing!"

"Right now, the debt owed by the Outer Court to the Inner Court is getting bigger and bigger, and Mao Laizhou refuses to cheer up. I can only rely on you! I can't go back!"

Yang Tinghe said this with a smile, but he could still hardly conceal the disappointment in his eyes.

Fei Hong consoled him, "Your Majesty still remembers the contribution of the Grand Tutor. This time, he allowed me to go to the south and if I find any evidence against the Grand Tutor, I can handle it myself."

"The Emperor's grace is so great!"

After hearing this, Yang Tinghe could not help but stand up and bow to the north.

Fei Hong also followed suit and bowed.

After meeting Yang Tinghe, Fei Hong officially left Beijing.

When he left Beijing, many court officials, including Minister of Revenue Deng Zhang, chose to come to Chaoyang Gate to see him off.

The Minister of Revenue Deng Zhang even saw him off and asked him to be alone with him beside a willow tree for a while.

Deng Zhang said to Fei Hongyan: "You may not know, but I haven't had a good sleep during this period. I have nightmares even when I fall asleep. Now I can only ask you to protect me."

Fei Hong nodded: "I know! I didn't sleep well either."

Deng Zhang sighed, then took out a piece of beautiful jade from his sleeve: "It is said that a sword adorns a hero, and a jade adorns a good minister. This time you have come to the south to handle a case, and it must be very tiring. Before you leave, I have nothing else to give you, so I will give you this jade as a gift, and to show my respect for you as a good minister who assists the country!"

When Fei Hong saw the jade, he was indeed distracted for a moment, but he still accepted it.

"You know, I was in charge of Donglai's finances when I was in Beijing as the Minister of Finance of Nanjing. Sometimes I had to do something. If you see evidence against Deng when you go south, please spare me!"

Deng Zhang couldn't help but bow to Fei Hong and said.

After hearing this, Fei Hong said, "You are such an elegant person. How can I believe the false accusations of a few local traitors? Even if there are, I will not believe them and will destroy them as false evidence! I will also do what Wang Xinjian did!"

At that time, Wang Yangming had been conferred the title of Xinjian Earl.

Therefore, Fei Hong also called Wang Yangming this way.

Deng Zhang was deeply moved after hearing this, and hurriedly bowed to Fei Hong again: "It is my great honor to have you as my lord!"

Fei Hong returned the greeting and said with a smile, "You don't have to do this, sir!"

then.

Under the watchful eyes of Deng Zhang and others, Fei Hong got on a carriage and went to the south with the Left Censor-in-Chief Wang Shizhong and the Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Zhang Jie.

Because it was winter and the canal was frozen, Fei Hong and others did not take the boat.

Therefore, after walking for a distance, Fei Hong said to Zhang Jie: "Send a fast horse to the south first to inform them of the relevant matters! To reassure them and prevent them from causing chaos in a hurry!"

Zhang Jie smiled and said, "Don't worry, Lord, I have already done so!"

……

……

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will definitely take good care of Elder Fei!"

Zhu Houcong released Lu Song after Fei Hong left and met him in Qingning Palace. He asked him to go to Fujian with Qianhu Shi Bao to cooperate with Fei Hong and secretly keep a close eye on these Fujian tyrants.

Therefore, Lu Song said this when he bowed to Zhu Houcong before bidding farewell.

Zhu Houcong nodded after hearing this and said, "Go!"

(End of this chapter)