……

……

When Emperor Deqing came to the Taihe Palace, his expression was extremely solemn.

Today's court meeting is related to the abolition of the prince and the government of the vassal king, the national fortune in the next hundred years, and the stability of the center and the locality.

In fact, for the importance of today's court meeting, not only Emperor Deqing deeply understood, but most of the officials also knew it.

A few days ago, Emperor Deqing summoned all the pavilion elders and the six Shangshu in the imperial study, and those words had already spread all over the government and the opposition - there was naturally no possibility of secrecy for so many people to participate in.

To this day, all the officials understand that the only topic of today's court meeting is the mutual impeachment of the crown prince Zhu and Yu and the vassal kings.

The court meeting has been suspended for nearly ten days, and there is a backlog of many important government affairs, but these government affairs are insignificant compared to the affairs of the crown prince and the vassal kings, and they can only continue to delay.

However, some scheming people are keenly aware of the opportunity and dare to do the opposite!

This person naturally refers to Zhou Shangjing, the first assistant of the cabinet!

*

With the eunuch Zhang De's "something to play early", Zhou Shangjing immediately stepped out of the ranks and said slowly: "Your Majesty, the old minister has something to play!" ”

Seeing Zhou Shangjing's statement, Emperor Deqing thought at first that Zhou Shangjing wanted to take the lead in expressing his opinion on the lawsuit between the crown prince Zhu Heyu and the vassal kings, and couldn't help but feel a little relieved in his heart, thinking that Zhou Shangjing was worthy of being the first assistant of the dynasty and the old minister of the three dynasties.

So, Emperor Deqing nodded and said, "Zhou Shoufu, please speak." ”

Emperor Deqing deliberately used the word "please", and his attitude was very polite, but Zhou Shangjing's subsequent words made Emperor Deqing's face change.

I saw Zhou Shangjing say with a solemn expression: "Your Majesty, Li Xun, the former governor of Shanxi, has been escorted to the capital to wait for his arrival, and it has been five days now!" At the same time, Wang Zheng, the former governor of the trilateral government, was also convicted for more than a month, and he has not been convicted and punished...... These two people colluded with each other and privately appeased the Mongols and sued for peace, which can be described as a great crime that is unforgivable, and I hope that Your Majesty will make a holy judgment as soon as possible, declare to the world the crimes of these two people, track down the responsibilities of the people involved, and make an example of each other! ”

As Zhou Shangjing's words fell, all the "Zhou Party" officials came out one after another to agree.

Suddenly, Emperor Deqing's face couldn't help but sink.

Zhao Junchen stood in front of the queue of hundreds of officials, secretly glanced at Zhou Shangjing, and secretly said "old fox" in his heart.

Such a statement is not only a falling stone, but also adding fuel to the fire!

But the next moment, Zhao Junchen also stepped out of the ranks and expressed his support for Zhou Shangjing's statement, and raised his voice: "Your Majesty, the minister seconded the proposal!" The crimes of Wang Zheng, Li Xun and others have been delayed for too long, and it is time for the imperial court to punish them! ”

After seeing Zhao Junchen's attitude, the officials of the "Zhao Party" naturally stood up one after another and expressed the same attitude.

"Your Majesty, the nature of the crimes of Wang Zheng, Li Xun and others is extremely bad, no matter how heavy the punishment is, it is not too much, and it is not a way to delay it like this, I hope Your Majesty will make a decision as soon as possible!"

"Your Majesty, Wang Zheng and Li Xun and others colluded with Mongolia and appeased and sued for peace, which can be said to be of great importance and wide involvement, in addition to the fact that these two people committed crimes that cannot be forgiven, the relevant accomplices must also be found out and punished together!"

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the crimes of Wang Zheng and others have already been determined, and there is no need for a detailed trial, and there is no need to delay time at all, and I hope that Your Majesty will be arbitrary!"

For a time, with the extremely rare joint statement of the "Zhou Party" and the "Zhao Party", the Taihe Hall was filled with voices asking Emperor Deqing to severely punish Wang Zheng, Li Xun and others, as if this matter was the most urgent matter for the imperial court at present.

*

When it comes to the means of acting at the opportunity and pushing the boat along the river, Zhou Shangjing is really incomparable.

In this regard, Zhao Junchen's experience, acumen, and vision are all inferior, and they are more than a step behind.

Obviously, Zhou Shangjing's sudden statement to the court this morning is to take advantage of this opportunity to slightly suppress the "imperialist party" forces that have been expanding more and more recently.

Because of several great victories on the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu, as well as the great achievements of the imperial court in recovering the Hetao region, the factions that benefited the most among the major factions of the imperial court were undoubtedly the "Zhao Party" and the "Imperial Party".

Zhao Junchen is the first meritorious man, taking the opportunity to promote a large number of cronies, recruit many friends, and extend the tentacles of the "Zhao Party" to the army, although it is a lot of gains!

But if it is compared with the overall harvest of the "Imperial Party", it is even less than that!

The members of the "Imperial Party" have always been concentrated in the forbidden army and factory guards, and the imperial court must rely on them when fighting, and they cannot be avoided in any case when discussing meritorious deeds after the war.

Therefore, as the dust of the Hetao war settled, the "Imperial Party" could be said to have gained a lot -- Liang Fuchen became the deputy assistant of the cabinet, and the call for Wang Shou, the secretary of the Ministry of War, to join the cabinet was also increasing, and a large number of members of the "Imperial Party" took the opportunity to occupy important positions, and the prestige of the government and the opposition was also greatly enhanced.

If this situation continues to develop, I am afraid that the "imperial power" will completely overwhelm the "vassal power"!

And Zhou Shangjing, as a representative of "courtiers", is naturally unhappy to see such a situation and must do something.

The breakthrough chosen by Zhou Shangjing was Wang Zheng, the former governor of the trilateral government!

Wang Zheng had united the governors of Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi to privately appease the Mongols and sue for peace, and no matter how severely punished such a crime was, Emperor Deqing himself hated his crimes.

However, Wang Zheng used to be a close confidant of Emperor Deqing and a core member of the "Imperial Party," and because most of the members of the "Imperial Party" were born in noble families, the phenomenon of marriage, marriage, and cooperation between them was extremely common, and it was not an easy task to get the members of the "Imperial Party" to completely dissociate themselves from Wang Zheng, nor was it a task that could be completed in a short period of time.

Therefore, Emperor Deqing did not dare to punish Wang Zheng too early, otherwise he would hit the "Imperial Party" and affect the future of the relevant "Imperial Party" officials.

During this period of time, Emperor Deqing has repeatedly stated in public that he wants to punish Wang Zheng severely, but he has repeatedly suppressed this matter for various reasons, and once he had already issued a holy decree of condemnation and punishment, but temporarily changed his mind and took it back.

For Emperor Deqing, it is necessary to wait until the influence of this incident gradually fades and the "imperial party" and Wang Zheng are completely cut off, then the best time for him to convict and punish Wang Zheng.

In the face of Emperor Deqing's deliberate delay, Zhou Shangjing has never argued with reason, everyone thought that Zhou Shangjing had already given up this opportunity, who would have thought that Zhou Shangjing was just waiting for the right time.

Today, Zhou Shangjing finally found the best opportunity, he chose to make a sudden attack at this time, just to force Emperor Deqing to express his position, take action in advance, and severely punish Wang Zheng!

Today's court meeting, the focus is to discuss the mutual impeachment between the crown prince Zhu and Yu and the vassal kings in various places, and the attitude of Emperor Deqing is also very clear, that is, to let the prince and the vassal kings lose both and be severely punished, and then he can justifiably replace the prince and suppress the power of the vassal king.

Now, Zhou Shangjing is the first to mention Wang Zheng's conviction and punishment - in this way, because of the order of the two things, Emperor Deqing's conviction and punishment of Wang Zheng has become the vane of the next topic of today's court meeting!

If Emperor Deqing's conviction and punishment of Wang Zheng were too light, the next crimes against the crown prince Zhu Heyu and the vassal kings in various places could only be dealt with lightly, after all, their status was more noble and their crimes were lighter, and they should not be severely punished in a reasonable way, and the goal of deposing the prince and suppressing the clan could not be accomplished.

However, if Emperor Deqing chooses to severely punish Wang Zheng in advance, and because the relationship between the "imperial party" and Wang Zheng has not yet been completely dissolved, once Wang Zheng is severely punished, Zhou Shangjing will be able to take advantage of the situation in the future to implicate and combat the growing momentum of the "imperial party".

The most important thing is that Emperor Deqing is currently secretly promoting the entry of Wang Shou, the secretary of the Ministry of War, into the cabinet and auxiliary government, and once Wang Shou is allowed to enter the cabinet smoothly, the "imperial party" will have two cabinet assistants at the same time, and the Deqing Emperor's interference in the cabinet will be further strengthened.

Wang Shou is the secretary of the military department, although it is because of the great military exploits of the imperial court some time ago, but he also has shortcomings, he and Wang Zheng are distant relatives and friends, the two have a lot of cooperative industries, Wang Shou's eldest son's wife is still Wang Zheng's niece, and the implication is not deep.

During this period of time, Wang Shou has been busy dissociating himself from Wang Zheng, not only forcibly driving away his daughter-in-law and annexing the shares of Wang Zheng's family, but also wanting to remove Wang Zheng himself from the family tree, making a lot of noise, but the effect has not yet appeared, if Emperor Deqing convicts and severely punishes Wang Zheng now, Wang Shou's entry into the cabinet will inevitably be affected!

Therefore, Zhou Shangjing's statement seems to be only aimed at a Wang Zheng who has lost power, but in fact, it is related to the dispute between "imperial power" and "vassal power" in the temple, and the impact should not be underestimated.

Zhou Shangjing's plan was not informed to Zhao Junchen in advance, and Zhao Junchen was inevitably a little hindsight at this time, but he quickly understood this, and naturally actively expressed his support.

Once the "imperial power" completely overpowers the "vassal power", Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing will not have a good time in the future, and they must cooperate at this time, and they don't care that Emperor Deqing will be unhappy.

*

Emperor Deqing, of course, was not happy!

He is good at the emperor's mental technique, and immediately perceived Zhou Shangjing's thoughts, and after seeing the joint efforts of the "Zhou Party" and the "Zhao Party", he was quite angry in his heart, but he also felt deeply in a dilemma!

The timing chosen by Zhou Shangjing was so good that Emperor Deqing was of course unwilling to let Zhou Shangjing get his wish, but he found that he had no more choices!

After all, for Emperor Deqing, the matter of the abolition of the prince has been decided for a long time, and it is related to the inheritance of the country! Taking the opportunity to suppress the power of the clan can greatly reduce the burden on the imperial court, and it is also related to the future national fortune of the Ming Dynasty! And these two things also require the active cooperation of Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing.

Compared with these two things, the temporary victory or defeat of "imperial power" and "vassal power", and the slight delay of Wang Shou, the secretary of the military department, to enter the cabinet for a period of time are just inconsequential matters.

So, after Emperor Deqing stared at Zhou Shangjing and Zhao Junchen with gloomy eyes, he gritted his teeth and said slowly: "What everyone Aiqing said is reasonable, the crimes of Wang Zheng and Li Xun and others are no different from rebellion, and they should be severely punished. …… Spread my will, Wang Zheng and Li Xun are extremely evil, and there is no forgiveness for killing! The sentence will be executed immediately after the decree, and there is no need to wait until the autumn! Within the three clans, all the family property was confiscated, and the clansmen were confiscated! Within the nine clans, all official positions and fame will be removed, and the court will never hire them! ”

With Emperor Deqing's decree, the officials naturally praised Emperor Deqing's benevolence.

On the other side, Zhou Shangjing and Zhao Junchen have achieved their goal and are no longer entangled.

For Zhou Shangjing, Wang Zheng's conviction and punishment is just a reason to crack down on the "imperial party", and there will be many means in the future, but it is not yet time to play;

For Zhao Junchen, he once promised Li Xun to secretly shelter Li Xun's clansmen, but Zhao Junchen has already escorted Li Xun's clansmen to Taiwan safely, and has successfully connected with the Zheng family, so naturally he will no longer intercede for Li Xun to spare his life.

However, taking advantage of the opportunity of the officials to praise Emperor Deqing together, Zhao Junchen secretly looked up at the change in Emperor Deqing's demeanor and found that Emperor Deqing's face was already covered with a layer of frost.

Then, Zhao Junchen turned his head to look at Zhou Shangjing again, and found that Zhou Shangjing's face was still calm at this time, and he didn't seem to realize that his actions had angered Emperor Deqing.

"Because of the matter between the crown prince and the vassal kings, Emperor Deqing was already in a very bad mood! Now that Zhou Shangjing has taken the opportunity to calculate again, I am afraid that he will become more and more angry!

And Emperor Deqing's emotions will undoubtedly affect his subsequent judgment and decision...... With Zhou Shangjing's old scheming, it is impossible not to have expected this!

In other words, Zhou Shangjing's statement today is intended to provoke Emperor Deqing, not just to rebalance the 'imperial power' and 'vassal power', maybe it has another goal......"

Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen also quietly made a decision, thinking that he had to be cautious, and the timing of standing in line to express his stance should be delayed, in case he was taken advantage of by Zhou Shangjing.

Prior to this, Zhao Junchen deliberately cooperated with Zhou Shangjing's actions, which can be regarded as a happy cooperation, but if Zhou Shangjing wants to use Zhao Junchen, he will never show mercy!

And just when Zhao Junchen was thinking about it, Zhou Shangjing was already out of the queue again, still in a slow and calm tone, and said: "Your Majesty, the old minister still has something to do!" ”

……

……