My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 93 Zhang Juzheng's Alone Confrontation (Part 2)

October 2nd.

In Zhang Juzheng's house.

The cabinet has been busy with affairs these days, and Zhang Juzheng returns home very late every day.

The same thing happened today. As soon as they arrived at the cabinet in the morning, Zhang Juzheng and other cabinet ministers were invited by the emperor to the imperial study to discuss the case of Prince Dai.

The identity of the plaintiff Zhu Juntang has been verified. He is indeed a member of the royal family and his ten-thousand-word letter is also genuine.

However, Zhu Juntang took the Jinyiwei to investigate the place where the father and son were ambushed. Apart from a few blood-stained stones, he did not find the body of his father Zhu Chonghua.

Since the body could not be found, it would be difficult to verify whether what Zhu Juntang said was true or false.

Finally, an inspector had to be sent to Datong to investigate.

Gao Gong personally ordered Li Yiyuan, the Minister of Public Administration, to protect Zhu Juntang well. Then, the court started arguing again over the selection of the inspector.

The Censorate recommended Chief Censor Wang Guoguang to go to Datong to investigate the case, and the six ministries immediately wrote letters of support.

Wang Guoguang was a fourth-rank Censor-in-Chief, which was indeed a suitable rank. Moreover, he had served in the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice, and was considered a minister with experience in the judicial system. His resume was impeccable.

But the more this happened, the more the cabinet disagreed.

There is no doubt about Wang Guoguang's position. He is definitely biased towards the Censorate. Is there any doubt about what results he can find out after going to Datong?
Zhang Juzheng sat in his study. He rubbed his temples, pinched off a few hairs of his beard, and sighed deeply.

As an important cabinet official, Zhang Juzheng also had his own people in the Ministry of Rites.

However, this time Su Ze offended the Kedao too badly, and Zhang Juzheng's disciples and former officials did not dare to say a word. Moreover, Zhang Juzheng's people in the Censorate were of low rank and could not be compared with Wang Guoguang's qualifications.

Is this the end of it?
Zhang Juzheng was somewhat unwilling.

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng's eldest son, sixteen-year-old Zhang Jingxiu, suddenly knocked on the door of the study.

As the son of a prime minister, Zhang Jingxiu had been helping his father with clerical matters for a long time, and he began helping Zhang Juzheng with public and private affairs last year.

Zhang Jingxiu himself inherited Zhang Juzheng's reading ability and was very intelligent when he was young.

However, Zhang Juzheng was very strict in managing his household. Knocking on the study door when he was thinking about a problem was a taboo in the Zhang family.

Zhang Juzheng frowned and wanted to scold his son, but thinking that his son had always been obedient, he let his son go into the study.

"Father, the Deputy Censor of Huguang, Shi Duchen, has impeached the King of Liao and has sent a memorial to the capital."

When Zhang Juzheng heard this, his face changed immediately.

Shi Duchen, the Deputy Censor of Huguang, was a good friend of Zhang Juzheng. It was Zhang Juzheng's arrangement that arranged for him to be the Deputy Censor in his hometown of Huguang.

Zhang Juzheng and Shi Duchen had frequent correspondence, and Zhang Juzheng had repeatedly asked Shi Duchen to collect information on the King of Liao's illegal activities. However, Zhang Juzheng did not expect Shi Duchen to impeach the King of Liao at this critical juncture.

There must be something hidden in this. Zhang Juzheng asked, "How can it be such a coincidence?"

Zhang Jingxiu said:
"The Prince of Liao raped the Princess and caused a death. Everyone in Jingzhou knows about this. Shi Neitai must have felt the time was right before he filed a letter of impeachment."

The title of "County Princess" was given to women of the royal family. The King of Liao raped the County Princess, which was incest and also resulted in a murder case. It was indeed a good time for Shi Duchen to submit a memorial.

But why at this time?

Zhang Juzheng stood up, paced back and forth a few times, and then said:
"Take my visiting card to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and ask Li Yintai to keep it for a few days."

Zhang Jingxiu was puzzled by his father's decision. Zhang Juzheng looked at his son and sighed slightly.

If it were Su Ze, he would probably understand what he meant immediately, but he still had to explain it to his son.

Su Ze was not much older than his son, and Su Ze did not have a father who was an elder to guide him.

It's a pity that his daughter is too young. Zhang Juzheng didn't know why this idea suddenly came to his mind.

Congenital deficiencies can only be made up for later.

Zhang Juzheng explained to his son:
"If we submit the impeachment memorial against the King of Liao now, the Ministry of Justice will accuse us of targeting the royal family."

"So, I, your father, will suppress this matter first and expose this case after the Dai Fan incident is resolved."

Zhang Jingxiu suddenly realized, and he asked again:

"Father, in this case, wouldn't the Dai Wang case and the Liao Wang case be tied together?"

Zhang Juzheng showed a teachable expression. After all, his eldest son was not too dull. He said:
"That's right. If the Dai Wang case can be proven ironclad, then the Liao Wang case can be handled according to the Dai Wang case. If the facts are verified, the Liao Wang can be removed from the vassal state."

"Similarly, if the Dai Wang case cannot be resolved, then the Liao Wang case will have to be concluded in a muddled way."

Zhang Jingxiu naturally knew the grudge between the Zhang family and the Liao Palace. He quickly said:

"Then father!"

Zhang Juzheng sighed and said:
"This time, I, your father, will risk everything to help Su Zilin overthrow the King of Dai."
-
October 3rd.

Emperor Longqing suffered from insomnia.

After dawn, he got up from the dragon bed and rubbed his throbbing temples.

Emperor Longqing was already in poor health, and the recent turmoil in the court made his spirit even worse.

Zhu Juntang and his son crossed the border to file a complaint. Zhu Juntang accused King Dai of sending people to hunt him down, and the ten-thousand-word letter exposing King Dai's crimes in Datong had been on his desk for three days.

The six departments and thirteen departments argued for a long time, and now they finally decided to send the inspector to Datong to investigate the case.

However, the Cabinet and the Ministry of Justice were arguing over the selection of the Inspector General.

The cabinet opposed Wang Guoguang, who was recommended by the Ministry of Education, but the cabinet itself could not put forward a strong candidate, and even the cabinet itself was not united.

The chaos in Datong was getting worse and worse, and even spread to the whole of Shanxi.

There are many vassal states in Shanxi. In addition to the King of Dai in Datong, there are also the King of Jin in Taiyuan, the King of Shen in Lu'an and other vassal states of various sizes. They all wrote letters to appeal for justice for the King of Dai.

The military guards in Xuanfu and Datong also reported that the border was in turmoil. Although Zhao Dazhu had defected to the grassland, the other border guards were also in panic, and Altan's tribe was also ready to move.

All these problems made Emperor Longqing hesitant.

At this time, Li Fang, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, came to the side of Emperor Longqing and said:
"Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng requests to be confronted."

"Master Zhang?"

Emperor Longqing frowned. It was quite taboo for the cabinet minister to face him alone.

You left other cabinet colleagues aside and faced the emperor alone. Is there anything you can't say to your colleagues?

Zhang Juzheng has always been abiding by the rules and has never asked to be faced alone since he ascended the throne.

"Please ask Master Zhang to come to the Imperial Study."

Emperor Longqing probably knew why Zhang Juzheng requested to be confronted alone, so he agreed to his request.

Zhang Juzheng, led by Li Fang, came to the imperial study. As soon as he saw the emperor, he took off his official hat and said to Emperor Longqing:

"Your Majesty, I recommend Su Ze's memorial to your majesty, and I ask your majesty to thoroughly investigate the Datong Daifan case!"

(End of this chapter)