……

……

Seeing that Zhou Shangjing still bowed his head and didn't say a word, it seemed that he had accepted his fate and no longer had any resistance, Emperor Deqing sighed inexplicably, and seemed to be a little disappointed.

Then, Emperor Deqing instructed the eunuch Zhang De: "Let them all come in, I just have something to discuss with them." ”

As he spoke, Emperor Deqing moved his steps and allowed himself to stand in front of Zhou Shangjing - in this way, after the ministers entered the temporary imperial study, they would see the scene of Zhou Shangjing kneeling at the feet of Emperor Deqing at a glance.

Emperor Deqing did this, not only to establish his imperial majesty, but also to deliberately humiliate Zhou Shangjing.

*

Soon, the important ministers of the imperial court have already rushed in, headed by the elder Shen Changmao and Shaobao Zhang Cheng, in two rows.

Seeing Zhou Shangjing kneeling at the feet of Emperor Deqing, he was quite downcast, but all the ministers were not surprised, but many people looked at Zhou Shangjing with a little mockery.

Up to now, most people have the same opinion as Emperor Deqing, who believes that Zhou Shangjing is hopeless and will collapse.

Most of the important ministers of the court present were suppressed by Zhou Shangjing for most of their lives, and seeing that Zhou Shangjing was finally about to collapse at this time, it was naturally inevitable to have some schadenfreude.

Regarding the change in the expressions of the courtiers, Emperor Deqing naturally saw it in his eyes, and he became more and more confident in his heart, thinking that the overall situation had been decided.

So, after the ministers stood still, Emperor Deqing said slowly: "Yesterday, the people must have heard about the civil uprising in Canglang Pavilion, but what is the root cause of this civil uprising. Some Aiqing already know, but there are also others who don't know the details......"

After speaking, Emperor Deqing glanced around at the ministers, and finally stopped his gaze on Zhao Junchen.

Last night. The letter presented by Zhao Junchen to Emperor Deqing can be said to explain the story of Zhou Shangjing's protection of Zhou Suhai very clearly, and it is obvious that Xichang has already found out the whole thing.

So, Emperor Deqing said: "Zhao Junchen, you are not only the head of the household, but also in charge of the Xichang detective, and you have been following this matter to investigate." It's up to you to explain it to the ministers. ”

Hearing Emperor Deqing's order, Zhao Junchen came out and said, "The minister obeys the order." ”

Then, Zhao Junchen said to the ministers: "In June last year. Two boatloads of pirates entered Suzhou along the Yangtze River, totaling about 120 people. After they entered the territory of Suzhou, they burned, killed and looted all kinds of evil along the way, and the people along the Yangtze River suffered greatly. Thereinto. Heshang Village, Xilin Village and Lijiaji were the most seriously damaged! In particular, Lijiaji was originally a well-known and wealthy place in Suzhou, but after the ravages of the Japanese bandits, nearly half of the people in the place were killed and wounded, and the entire village was burned to the ground!

Although the garrison military towns in Suzhou also sent troops to resist, the Suzhou army had not fought for many years, and nearly 1,000 soldiers were killed by more than 100 pirates...... Ultimately. The pirates stayed in Suzhou for more than two days before they calmly left! Duration. The victims are unknown, and the Suzhou garrison did not dare to fight again after the initial defeat......"

Hearing Zhao Junchen's description, Emperor Deqing snorted angrily, and the ministers changed color one after another.

Although they also knew about the ravages of Suzhou by the pirates, they never thought that the pirates would be so arrogant and cruel, the military towns of Suzhou would be so incompetent and cowardly, and the plight of the people of Suzhou would be so miserable and miserable!

However, neither Emperor Deqing nor the ministers interrupted Zhao Junchen's argument.

Because, for them, the next thing is what really matters.

After a pause, Zhao Junchen continued: "This kind of thing is naturally extraordinary, it stands to reason that the Suzhou government and the Suzhou garrison should report to the imperial court as soon as possible, but the civil and military officials in Suzhou are worried that they will be punished by the imperial court, so they are trying to hide this matter in vain!" So, they found the grandfather of Zhou Suhai, the governor of Suzhou, that is, Zhou Shangjing, the first assistant, hoping that Zhou Shoufu could use his power and influence to help the Suzhou officials cover up the matter! It is a pity that Zhou Shangjing, as the head of the dynasty, is deeply trusted by His Majesty, and has assisted the court for many years. Therefore, it is not until today that we know about the Japanese rebellion in Suzhou! ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Junchen glanced at Zhou Shangjing, shook his head lightly and sighed, as if he was very sorry.

Then, Zhao Junchen said: "However, Skynet is magnificent, negligent but not leaky!" Zhou Shangjing's actions of bullying the monarch, even if he can hide it for a while, how can he hide it for a lifetime? Now, His Majesty has traveled south to Suzhou, and the people of Suzhou have long heard of His Majesty's name as the Holy Monarch, and after they experienced the Wokou Rebellion, they could not express their grievances, the great revenge could not be avenged, and the losses could not be compensated. Although the people arrived a step late, His Majesty had already moved to the Humble Administrator's Garden to live temporarily, but things have developed to this point, and Zhou Shangjing's bullying can no longer be concealed! However, Zhou Shangjing still had a fluke mentality, made mistakes again and again, and united with the Suzhou garrison to disperse the people, and finally caused a civil uprising, which also increased his own responsibility! ”

After speaking, Zhao Junchen did not join his own opinion, but after saluting Emperor Deqing, he retreated to his position.

Emperor Deqing nodded and said slowly, "That's the way it is!" It's all as Zhao Junchen said! All kinds of crimes, Zhou Shangjing is now confessing! Zhongqing thinks, how should I deal with this matter? ”

Hearing Emperor Deqing's inquiry, all the ministers were emotional.

The opportunity to take revenge and fall into the well has come!

Wang Baoren, the secretary of the Nanjing Ministry of Officials, was the first to come out and said: "Your Majesty, Zhou Shangjing, as the first assistant of the current dynasty, disregarded the emperor's grace, bullied the king, shielded the clansmen, formed a party for personal gain, and finally provoked a popular uprising, and the impact was even worse!" What an unforgivable sin! The minister believes that in order to warn future generations, he should be punished heavily! ”

Wang Baoren was originally very hopeful to enter the cabinet, but because of Zhou Shangjing's calculations, he was relegated to Nanjing to serve as the head of the household department, and since then he has stayed away from the center and wasted more than ten years of good time! Therefore, Wang Baoren hated Zhou Shangjing to the core, and his attitude was the most intense.

After hearing Wang Baoren's suggestion, Emperor Deqing raised his eyebrows and asked, "Then what do you think is a heavy punishment?" ”

A trace of cruelty flashed on Wang Baoren's face, and he said word by word in a firm tone: "Dismissal, raiding, questioning!" And publicize the world! At the same time, it is also necessary to investigate the responsibility of many of Zhou Shangjing's friends, and no one must be allowed to escape! ”

Emperor Deqing's brows furrowed, and he only felt that Wang Baoren's conviction was a bit heavy, but he didn't say anything, just turned his gaze to the other ministers!

Pavilion elder Shen Changmao came out and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Wang Shangshu's measurement is really too heavy!" Zhou Shangjing's guilt, of course, is not to be lightly understood, but he has assisted the court for many years, and he is an old minister of the three dynasties, not only highly respected, but also has a lot of merit and hard work. But if you ask the public, it's a bit too much! Why not use merit to compensate, just remove him from his official position, demote him to a commoner, and let him return to his hometown? ”

Hearing Shen Changmao's statement, everyone present was subconsciously stunned!

Like Wang Baoren's situation, Shen Changmao has also been suppressed by Zhou Shangjing for many years, and he has also suffered a lot of secret losses between open and secret battles, plus Shen Changmao himself is a ruthless and ruthless character, it is very rare not to fall into the well for Zhou Shangjing at this time, why did he intercede for Zhou Shangjing?

For a while, whether it was Emperor Deqing or all the important ministers in the court, they all looked at Shen Changmao with a look of surprise.

Under the attention of everyone, Shen Changmao is a business-like and selfless appearance.

On the other hand, Zhao Junchen was also surprised.

After experiencing the ups and downs of the Huan Sea, Zhao Junchen is now a loyal believer in the view that "human nature is inherently evil", and Shen Changmao will intercede for Zhou Shangjing, how strange this kind of thing is.

In addition, Zhao Junchen didn't believe that Zhou Shangjing was already tied up anyway, but he thought in his heart: "Something is wrong!" Zhou Shangjing would never be caught like this, coupled with Shen Changmao's abnormal performance...... Is it ......?"

……

…… (To be continued.) )