In fact, there is no need to wait until after the Lantern Festival, because there is no impermeable wall in this world, especially for the major yamen in the capital, what news can be known to those who are interested in it in just a few days.

What's more, this matter is still so eye-catching, the story that Datong was attacked by the Mongolian people has been known to everyone as early as a few years ago, affecting countless people's hearts, and now people have not had time to be happy about it, and the debate on the truth of this war has also spread.

The sudden turn of victory, the number of kills far beyond imagination, and the inexplicable extra civilian hero...... Once these inside information comes out, no matter how you look at it, it will inevitably arouse suspicion in people's hearts, and they feel that there is some kind of ulterior secret hidden in it, and some people even begin to bluntly say that this is a victory forged by the civil and military officials at the border gates.

This kind of disbelief and criticism did not take long to start, and with the addition of a force, it became a condemnation of Hu Sui, Lu Zhen and others, and even many speech officials were impeached on this, and directly asked the imperial court to strictly investigate the matter and severely punish the relevant officials who cheated.

The force that can make the wind direction of the imperial court change so quickly and completely is naturally the prince Wang Zhen, who is now extremely powerful and countless officials are willing to use it.

Originally, when he learned of Datong's victory, he was still quite happy, feeling that he could use it for himself and pave the way for his expected initiative in the Northern Expedition. But later, when all kinds of strange rumors began to spread about this matter, and Lu Zhen's role in this matter was mentioned, Wang Zhen began to have a new mind.

For this guy who once spoiled his own good deeds, but has been at large and cannot be eradicated, the prince is quite disgusted. This time, Lu Zhen was transferred to his hometown as an official, although Wang Zhen ordered his family to take the initiative to make friends with him early on, and cooperated many times, but in fact, he didn't really want to turn the fight with Lu Zhen into a jade silk, but a kind of retreat out of helplessness.

Because he had already learned Lu Jin's audacity, that guy dared to do all kinds of things in the capital, let alone in Ulzhou. If he really found some lawlessness of the Wang family in the local area, and the Wang family relied on his identity to clash with it head-on, the prince would inevitably be affected a lot. Therefore, for the sake of safety, he will temporarily back down, but in fact, he still wants to get rid of Lu Zhen as soon as possible.

Now, the opportunity is in front of you. When he learned that this victory was closely related to Lu Jin, Wang Zhen immediately made a decision to use this to defeat him, and used his subordinate officials to deny and refute it.

The effect of this is quite significant, not to mention the court officials, many people in the capital seem to be a little unimpressed by the victory of Datong, and bluntly say that this matter must be forged by the people at the border pass, which is not credible at all.

When this statement was so loud that it finally reached the ears of the Son of Heaven through various channels, the young emperor could not sit still. When he first heard this statement, he thought that some people were jealous of the merits of the border soldiers who spread such rumors. But now, it's clear that things go far beyond that.

Although the fifteenth day of the first lunar month has not yet arrived, and the imperial court has not really entered a busy state, Zhu Qizhen couldn't hold it anymore, and called several important officials to his warm pavilion for questioning on the tenth day of the first lunar month.

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Although it is the first month of the new year, the weather in Beijing is still cold. Fortunately, there are several charcoal stoves in the warm pavilion in this palace, which makes the whole space as warm as mid-spring. Moreover, the gold silk beast charcoal burned in this furnace is the best quality, which is not only resistant to burning, but also has no smoke and fire, which is more comfortable than the heating in later generations.

However, in such an environment, several officials were not too comfortable, because they knew that it was really difficult for the Son of Heaven to ask them what they wanted to ask today, and in the case of not knowing what the truth was, no matter which side they stood on, there was considerable risk.

Zhu Qizhen's face had a hint of gloom, and after his eyes swept over the faces of several elders and the current important ministers of the court, he spoke slowly: "In the past few days, I have heard a lot of different statements about this great victory in the palace, and I guess you Aiqing have heard more than me." Then let's talk about it, how much do you think this victory is true? ”

Just from his words, it can be seen that Zhu Qizhen has also doubted this. Several officials who are good at observing words and emotions have some bottom in their hearts, and what they have to do next is to follow the meaning of the Son of Heaven.

However, it was not this kind of person that Zhu Qizhen wanted to consult at this time, but his eyes quickly settled on the old man with a white beard and a red face, and he was in good spirits: "British Duke, you are a general in the court, and you have dealt with the Mongolian people many times, what do you think about this?" ”

Zhang Fu's eyebrows were raised, but he sighed secretly in his heart, he couldn't escape after all. However, after all, he is a veteran of several dynasties and a military general, so he also has his own bottom line: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister thinks that those rumors outside are just groundless, and they are really inaccurate." ”

"So, is the British Duke convinced that this victory is worth it?" When the emperor saw that Zhang Fu, who knew the most about military affairs, said this, he unconsciously had some confidence in this matter, after all, this was also the result he wanted to see.

"This battle is bound to be true, but whether the specific result is as written in the good news, the minister does not dare to assert." Zhang Fu can only rely on his own experience to make corresponding judgments.

Hearing that this was not a too clear answer, Zhu Qizhen's brows furrowed unconsciously. However, he still knows this veteran of several dynasties very well, not because Zhang Fu is slippery, but because he has always acted cautiously and will not make assertions on such ambiguous matters. In this way, you can only ask others, thinking of this, the emperor looked at the current cabinet chief assistant Cao Nai, waiting for his answer.

As early as two years ago, in the eleventh year of orthodoxy, Yang Pu, who had gone through four dynasties without falling, died of illness in the court, and it was the middle-aged man in front of him who replaced him as the first assistant.

After seeing the gaze of the Son of Heaven, Cao Shoufu smiled bitterly in his heart. Of course, he knew who was behind today's incident, and even knew why Wang Zhen did it. However, if he wanted to say that he would protect a six-grade petty official, and he did so without any success, he was really not sure that he could do it, so after some contemplation, he said like mud: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that what the British public says is reasonable, and if you want to distinguish between right and wrong, you must continue to find out everything." ”

With Lord Shoufu setting an example, the answers of other officials became much easier, and many people followed this line of thought, neither denying nor affirming, anyway, it was just a procrastination. However, there are a few officials who have become Wang Zhen's party members, but at this time, they are clearly insisting that there must be something wrong with this matter, and that it is the civil and military officials of Datong who colluded to falsely report their military exploits.

And with their words, the emperor's face became more and more ugly: "According to what you and others say, it will be difficult for the imperial court to announce this matter to the world in the future?" Then I ask you, in this case, where is the prestige of the imperial court? ”

This is the most tangled problem of the Son of Heaven now. Because everyone was too excited that day, and the sergeant who delivered the good news did not deliberately enter Beijing in a low-key manner, so now not only the capital, but even many surrounding state and county officials and people have already known about the Datong victory, and now countless people are talking about it, and they are also waiting for the attitude of the imperial court after the fifteenth year.

If the imperial court does not say anything when the time comes, I am afraid that some bad statements will appear.

In fact, if this thing is true or false, it will be fine, and even the imperial court can take this opportunity to give birth to the civil and military generals of Datong, but now the monarchs and ministers in the court still can't come up with a definite answer to this, which makes them even more unsure of what to do.

Because if this big victory is true, but the court does not say it, not only will the people of the world laugh, but also the hearts of the border soldiers will be cold, which is not the result that Zhu Qizhen wants to see.

At this time, a slightly feminine voice suddenly sounded beside the Son of Heaven: "Your Majesty, the old slave thinks that the most important thing now is to find out the truth. Since you adults can't see through it for a while, then simply let the factory guards come out, and they will definitely be able to find out the truth as soon as possible. ”

"Hmm......" The Son of Heaven was stunned when he heard this, glanced at Wang Zhen who was talking beside him, and then fell into deep thought.

Now Wang Zhen's influence in the court is much greater than it was back then, which can be seen from the fact that he can speak in front of the monarch and ministers in such an important meeting. In the past, as a eunuch in the palace, he would not have the right to speak at all. Of course, this may also be related to the fact that Yang Pu is no longer in the court, and without this veteran minister to calm the scene, Wang Zhen has no scruples.

As soon as these words came out, the faces of many officials changed, and they secretly said that it was not good. If Wang Zhen really fulfills his wish, the strength of the factory guards will inevitably increase greatly, and their hands will be extended into the border army, and Wang Zhen's strength will inevitably rise, and it will not be far from his long-standing dream.

Cao Nai, as the first assistant, naturally couldn't watch such a thing happen, so he hurriedly spoke: "I'm afraid it's inappropriate for the factory guards to go out, Your Majesty, the minister thinks it's better to let the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate go to Datong to investigate." ”

"This ......," the Son of Heaven hesitated. If you talk about trust, it is naturally the people of the factory guard who reassures him more, but the proposal of the cabinet chief assistant is not easy to reject casually, which is a bit difficult.

And Yu Qian, who was at the back end of the ministers, sighed after hearing these words. Why do these people only think about the face of the imperial court, but ignore the reaction of the border soldiers? If what they said was true, and the imperial court sent someone to investigate, it would be too great a blow to the morale of the army.

Thinking of this, Yu Qian couldn't care about his official position being a little small, and immediately stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the minister has a ...... word."