Jinyi Town Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 793

For a moment, He Liu even wondered if he, the Mad Dog and Butcher who had the most notoriety in Jinghua back then, was really old, so old that he was so confused.Unexpectedly, Lu Wan was let go by mistake.

After a while, he dismissed the idea.Lu Wan was not the culprit in the assassination case, and he was just a tool used by Zhang Jing.

Emperor Wanli asked He Liu, "Do you regret it now?"

He Liudao: "Let go of Lu Wan, the veteran has no regrets. Water has its source, and trees have roots. The reason why I, He Liu, became the Prince Shaobao of the Ming Dynasty and the Marquis of the Shanshan of the imperial court is all due to the support of the old commander Lu. .Drinking water and remembering the source, I must repay the kindness of the old commander. Besides, the old commander and the fourth generation of Lu have devoted themselves to the country. I can't just sit back and watch the Lu family die."

Emperor Wanli said: "But if you do this, you will put yourself in an unpredictable place."

He Liu smiled wryly: "Your Majesty, I have already lived to be 76 years old. It is a thief to grow old and not die. Do you know what I most hope to happen now?"

Emperor Wanli asked, "What is it?"

He Liudao: "I think one day I'll fall into a deep sleep, and the next morning I won't be able to wake up again."

Emperor Wanli suddenly changed the subject and asked a question that had nothing to do with the assassination case: "Do you know that Lord Jiajing said to Xu Jie back then: To be an emperor, you must learn one thing, and that is to give up. .”

He Liu kowtowed: "I know that the emperor wholeheartedly wants to support the third son of the emperor to be the crown prince. Behind the eldest son of the emperor, there is an old minister. The old minister's reputation is too great, standing on the side of the eldest son of the emperor, so that the position of the eldest son of the emperor is as stable as a rock. Therefore, the emperor intends to use the excuse of the minister to release Lu Wan privately, abandon the minister, and fulfill the third son of the emperor."

Emperor Wanli sighed: "He Liu, I am afraid that you are the one who understands my heart best in the whole world. I am forced to do so. The officials and the cabinet formed a group and forced me to appoint the eldest son of the emperor as the crown prince. In addition, With you alone, I'm afraid I can only fulfill the wishes of my courtiers. Oh, before Lord Jiajing's funeral, he had a deep talk with Lord Longqing. On the day I became the crown prince, Lord Longqing told him what Lord Jiajing said to him. Tell me. I was just a child at the time, so I didn’t understand. Now I understand. He Liu, do you know what Lord Jiajing said to Lord Longqing?”

He Liu kowtowed and said, "I don't know."

Emperor Wanli said: "Master Jiajing said: 'As an emperor, you must never fulfill the wishes of your subjects'! If I don't even count on the matter of establishing a crown prince, where is my authority? How can an emperor who has no authority sit so well?" Stabilize the dragon chair?"

He Liu remained silent and fell into deep thought.

He served the three emperors of the Zhu family for 56 years.In the end, they discovered that what the emperors were most concerned about was not the well-being of the common people in the world, but whether the dragon chair under their own buttocks could sit securely!

The emperors of all dynasties have always regarded the people as the most important thing, followed by the country, and the king is the least important thing.But in the end, they still regard their power as greater than the sky.

In the eyes of the emperors, compared with the supreme power, the long-term stability of the country and the country, and the well-being of the common people are probably worthless!
He Liu said: "Your Majesty, the emperor ordered his ministers to die, and the ministers had to die. If you kill the old ministers, you can fulfill the emperor. The emperor can take the life of the old ministers at any time. But there is one thing, the ministers have to report to the emperor, and ask the emperor to be arbitrary and punish him. The chief culprit. If so, the veteran can die in peace."

Emperor Wanli said: "It's not enough to let you die. At most, I will deprive you of all your powers, put you under house arrest, and show an attitude to those who support the eldest son of the emperor as the prince."

The attitude that Emperor Wanli wants to express is obvious, that is: whoever dares to support the eldest son of the emperor will be ruined by me!Even a veteran of the Three Dynasties like He Liu is no exception!

Emperor Wanli said again: "Tell me, what do you want to report?"

He Liudao: "Report to the Emperor, I have found out that the culprit behind the murder of He Shizhong and the assassination of Yang Wan six years ago was Zhang Jing, the Supervisor of Rites!"

Emperor Wanli frowned: "It's him? He Liu, do you have evidence?"

He Liu replied: "There is a witness. The witness is Huang Shixiang, the new manager of the Banking Bureau."

Emperor Wanli shouted to Wang Zhizhen outside the hall: "Bring Huang Shixiang to the hall!"

At the same time, Si Li supervised in a bedroom next to the room.

Zhang Jing hypocritically fed ginseng tea to his godson Huang Shixiang who was covered in scars.Suddenly, he backed away from the left and right sides.

Zhang Jing lowered his voice and said: "Xiang'er, you see. He Liu has already committed a felony and lost power. Godfather is now crushing him to death, like crushing an ant."

Huang Shixiang hurriedly said: "Godfather is wise and wise, how could He Liu be his opponent?"

Zhang Jing said: "If my prediction is correct, the emperor will summon you later."

Huang Shixiang is a smart man, he quickly said: "Godfather, I understand! After a while, I went to the main hall of Yongshou Palace, and I insisted that He Liu sent people to kidnap me and tortured me to extract a confession. Father! The reason why he tortured to extract a confession is because he wanted to frame godfather, a loyal minister!"

Zhang Jing said with a smile: "Oh, I have trained you for so many years."

Huang Shixiang said: "The son is not a fool. If you tell the truth to the emperor, not only will your godfather's head be lost, but your son's head will also be lost. If you hide the truth, not only will your son's life be saved, but your godfather will take care of your son in the future." , and greatly promoted his son."

When Huang Shixiang said the words "big plus promotion", his tone was obviously aggravated.From these four words, Zhang Jing could hear the threat.

Zhang Jing said: "Oh, you are my good son. Of course I want to promote you well! You will stay in the position of the supervisor of the Banking Bureau for a year and a half. Godfather will find an opportunity to let you go to the emperor's side Waiting on you. In a few years, your godfather will still welcome you into the Supervisor of Ceremonies. When your godfather dies, the seat in the hands of the Supervisor of Ceremonies will be yours."

At this moment, Wang Zhizhen walked in: "Eunuch Zhang, the emperor wants to see Huang Shixiang."

After two sticks of incense.The main hall of Yongshou Palace.

Huang Shixiang and Zhang Jing knelt on the ground.Zhang Jing wiped away tears.Huang Shixiang choked up and said: "Your Majesty, this servant is still strange. The servant did a good job in the position of supervising the eunuch in the eastern section of the canal, so why was he suddenly transferred to the capital? Now that I think about it, it must be He Liu who made it.*** *********** As soon as the servant girl entered Beijing, she was tied up by He Liu's men. He Liu asked them to torture me to extract a confession. Let me make up a lie! Said that He Shizhong was killed and Yang Wan was assassinated six years ago. The one is Eunuch Zhang! The servants really can’t bear the Jin Yiwei’s various tortures, so they have no choice but to confess.”

Zhang Jing cried at the side: "The emperor wants to be the master of the slaves! He Liu is deliberately trying to frame the slaves!"

He Liu glared at Zhang Jing: "Eunuch Zhang, you are quite good at singing oboe with Huang Shixiang."

Emperor Wanli said: "Forget it. Zhang Jing and Huang Shixiang, stop mourning in the main hall of Yongshou Palace! Get out."

Zhang Jing and Huang Shixiang led the order to retreat.

In the main hall, only Emperor Wanli and He Liujun and his ministers remained.

Emperor Wanli pointed to the dragon chair in front of him, and said to He Liu: "For this seat. As an emperor, sometimes you have to learn to abandon loyal ministers, and sometimes you have to learn to protect treacherous ministers."

He Liu kowtowed: "I understand. The group of gossip officials who only know how to make noise makes the emperor restless. To deal with those people, Zhang Jing is the most suitable tool."

Emperor Wanli smiled wryly: "If someone else could see through my thoughts, I would definitely not keep him. You, He Liu, are different. If I kill you, firstly, I will be sorry to my ancestors. Second, I will be sorry to myself .”

(End of this chapter)