Jinyi Town Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 794 The end of this battle has just begun

Emperor Wanli actually knew it well.He Liu's claim that Zhang Jing murdered He Shizhong is definitely not groundless.

However, as an emperor, sometimes you have to make decisions against your will.Emperor Wanli has already made a decision: give up He Liu and protect Zhang Jing.

In the evening, Emperor Wanli suddenly summoned civil and military officials of the fourth rank and above in the capital to gather outside the gate of Yongshou Palace.

The three elders of the cabinet, Zhao Zhigao, Shen Yiguan, and Zhang Wei, led the ministers in a daze, and all knelt outside the gate of Yongshou Palace.

The officials were acutely aware that He Liuye was not wearing the unicorn uniform that represented Jin Yiwei to the rank of Zuo Dudu.Instead, he put on a commoner suit.

Zhang Jing came to the gate of the palace with a yellow zhezi imperial decree. He deliberately raised his voice and declared: "There is a decree. Jin Yiwei Zuo Dudu, Zhenshan Hou He Liu, is a repeat offender in the assassination case of Yuyuan. He participated in the assassination of the emperor." The eldest son is suspected.

And He Liu has colluded with powerful officials and made friends with the inner court for several years, what is it?
In the past 56 years, I have been running around the king's affairs, and I am quite tired.Now he will remove his title of Jinyiwei Zuo Dudu, and retain the title of Marquis of Zhenshan.Under house arrest at home, to support his life. "

Among the charges against He Liu announced by Emperor Wanli, the most important four words are "colluding with the inner palace"!What is the inner palace, the empress and the princes are the inner palace!
Everyone in the imperial court knew that the sixth master had a close relationship with the queen, and he always supported Concubine Gong and the eldest son of the emperor.The emperor added "colluding with the inner palace" to the charges, which is to tell the civil and military courts: whoever dares to support the eldest son of the emperor as the heir apparent in the future, I will ruin his reputation!Even a veteran of the three dynasties like He Liu is no exception!

He Liu kowtowed and said, "The guilty minister accepts the order."

Zhang Jing took out another imperial edict from his sleeve: "Wang An, the governor of the East Factory, and Chen Ju, the deputy governor and eunuch who supervises Jinyiwei, listen to the edict!"

Wang An and Chen Ju kowtowed and said, "Your servant accepts the order."

Zhang Jingdao: "There is a decree. The factory and Wei are the slaves of my family. When was the surname 'He'? The two of you are the highest officials sent by me to the factory and Wei. However, He Liu's order is always and everything is obedient. Like a slave of He Liu's family. If I knew this before, why did I set up two positions as the governor of the East Factory and the eunuch of Jinyiwei?

From now on, people from the factory and Weizhong are not allowed to meet He Liu privately.The affairs of the factory and Weizhong must not be disclosed to He Liubanfen.Violators will be punished by the law of the factory and the family, and will be killed without mercy! "

Wang An and Chen Ju kowtowed: "Your servant accepts the order."

Zhang Jing glanced at Wei Zhongxian beside him, and Wei Zhongxian quickly gave him the third imperial edict with both hands.

Zhang Jing continued to proclaim the decree: "The three cabinets are always listening to the decree."

Zhao Zhigao, Shen Yiguan and Zhang Wei kowtowed: "I accept the order."

Zhang Jing said: "There is a decree. Zhao, Shen, and Zhang made friends with Jinyiwei's slaves in private. How could I not know? Foreign ministers make friends with house slaves because of ulterior motives! I think the three of them worked quite a bit in the cabinet. , Penalty for half a year, to show that the punishment is light! From now on, civil and military officials of the imperial court should take this as a warning."

Zhao, Shen and Zhang kowtowed to the leader.The three of them knew clearly that the emperor was beating them: don't join Chang and Wei and support the eldest son of the emperor, otherwise, I will definitely want you to look good!
After a stick of incense, the officials dispersed.He Liu still knelt outside the gate of Yongshou Palace.A bleak autumn wind blew by, and the dead leaves outside the palace gate were flying all over the sky.

Zhang Jing looked at He Liu with a full smile: "Liu Ye, you have lost. You have lost completely."

He Liu stood up suddenly, and asked Zhang Jing with a smile: "The battle between you and me is not over yet, how can we talk about winning or losing?"

Zhang Jing sneered: "Master Liu, I know that you have a strong temper and refuse to admit defeat. But this is a man, sometimes you have to admit defeat. Starting today, you will be under house arrest. The emperor has made a decree that from now on, people in the palace When it comes to court officials, no one is allowed to meet you in private. You are like a toothless tiger."

He Liu restrained his smile and said seriously: "Zhang Jing, do you think the battle between the two of us has already been decided? It's a big mistake. This battle has just begun! Although the butcher is old, he The butcher knife in my hand is still sharp! If I don't kill you, I will be in vain!"

After speaking, He Liu turned around.Trying to straighten his body, which was rickety due to aging, he strode towards the gate of the palace.

For some reason, Zhang Jing, who thought he had won the victory, suddenly felt a bit of chill in his body after hearing He Liu's words.He couldn't help shivering.

Zhang Jing said to himself in his heart: What are you afraid of that old man He Liu?The emperor's will has made him lose his power!Lost allies!He is now like a piece of fish on your chopping board!A dead fish whose head has been beheaded and bled out, what do you have to be afraid of?
Even though he thought so in his heart, the chills on Zhang Jing's body continued to shake.

He Liu's sentence just now, "Although the butcher is old, the butcher's knife in his hand is still sharp", echoed in Zhang Jing's mind for a long time, making his hair stand on end!

Zhang Jing returned to the main hall of Yongshou Palace.

Emperor Wanli asked, "Have all their courtiers left?"

Zhang Jing replied: "Report to the emperor, they are all gone."

Emperor Wanli stared at Zhang Jing and said, "Although He Liu is under house arrest, he has always been a veteran of the three dynasties. If anything happens to him at home, I will let you be buried with him."

Emperor Wanli stripped He Liu of his power and forcibly broke up his allies.But he never thought of taking He Liu's life.Because Emperor Wanli knew that if he killed a loyal minister like He Liu, he would not only be unworthy of being the Ninth Five-Year Lord, he would not even be worthy of being a human being!

Zhang Jingdao: "Your Majesty, although this servant has public grievances with He Liu, he has no personal enmity. This servant will never, and dare not, have the heart to kill him."

Emperor Wanli sneered: "Oh, there are public grievances, but no selfish enmity? What you said is really high-sounding! Is there really no personal enmity? I don't think so, right?"

Zhang Jing wanted to explain, but Emperor Wanli waved his hand and stopped him: "Zhang Jing, please pass on another word of mouth for me. Order Wang Hexiang, the governor of the left army, to send five hundred soldiers from the Beijing battalion to guard the He residence! The daily food is provided by the Shangshan Supervisor. If someone poisons the food and kills He Liu, I will take your head regardless of whether you ordered it or not!"

When Zhang Jing heard the name "Wang Hexiang", he felt very familiar.He kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Wang seems to have been Yu Dayou's subordinate during the Longqing period. Yu Dayou had a good relationship with He Liu back then. It seems inappropriate for Mr. Wang to visit He's mansion."

When Emperor Wanli heard the words, Long Yan was furious: "Zhang Jing, do you want to learn from those eloquent officials and sing against me in everything?"

Hearing this, Zhang Jing kowtowed again and again: "Slaves dare not!"

Emperor Wanli said: "Forget it, get out."

Zhang Jing turned around and walked towards the entrance of the main hall.

Emperor Wanli suddenly stopped Zhang Jing: "Zhang Jing, who are the left and right door gods on the folk ghost exorcism stickers?"

Zhang Jing replied: "Report to the emperor. Jiangbei people stick to Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde. Jiangnan people stick to Wu Yigong Qi Jiguang and Zhongjie Gong Hairui."

Emperor Wanli asked again: "Which two door gods are posted on the door of your outer house?"

Zhang Jing took no time to flatter Emperor Wanli: "The servants serve the emperor every day, and they are imbued with the emperor's awe-inspiring righteousness. They are not afraid of ghosts and ghosts, so they don't stick to the door god."

What Emperor Wanli said next made Zhang Jing break out in a cold sweat.

"I see, you'd better put the portraits of Wu Yigong Qi Jiguang and Zhongjie Gong Hairui on the door. Otherwise, if a ghost surnamed He breaks into your outer house in the middle of the night and coughs up your guts, How will you do things for me in the future?"

(End of this chapter)