Zhu Youzhen thought for a long time after reading this secret report, and then said to Wang Chengen: "Today's matter is almost handled, let's go back to the Qianqing Palace first, you send someone to call Tu Wenfu and Li Chaoqin by the way, and I want to meet them after I return to the palace."

In addition, you should order a copy of this secret report, give it to Mr. Huang in the afternoon, and pass it on to the rest of the cabinet tomorrow morning. Tell them that I hope that the latter matter will only be known to the cabinet for the time being, and that it will not be spread out yet. ”

Wang Chengen agreed, and then called the two waiters who were waiting outside to give a few words, and then personally held the wooden box with Zhang Daojun's dense folding, and left with Chongzhen.

When Chongzhen returned to the Qianqing Palace, Tu Wenfu and Li Chaoqin were already waiting at the gate of the palace, looking at the sweat on their heads, obviously they ran away after receiving a message from the inner servant.

After greeting the two into the upper study, Zhu Youzhen asked Wang Chengen to state the contents of Zhang Daojun's secret fold to the two of them.

"The two of you have been working in the celebrant for so long, so you shouldn't be strangers to political affairs. So I came to you to ask, what do you think about the case of the Shu King bandit discovered by Xu Yingyuan? ”

Just after listening to the content of Wang Chengen's statement, Tu Wenfu and Li Chaoqin had not recovered from the shock when they heard the emperor's questioning.

They immediately glanced at each other, and their minds were thinking urgently about what Chongzhen's purpose was in suddenly summoning them to ask this question.

Tu Wenfu and Li Chaoqin are both former members of the celebrant eunuch, but they are also Wei Zhongxian's cronies. Since the new emperor ascended the throne and Wang Chengen became the chief celebrant eunuch, the two have basically been marginalized in the celebrant eunuch.

With the restructuring of the 24 yamen and the change of the way the celebrant approves the red, the status of the celebrant who has always been high and powerful is also declining, and the status of the two of them, the marginalized celebrant and eunuch, has plummeted.

Tu Wenfu's situation is better than Li Chaoqin's, although he passed the Hakka relationship and was reused by Wei Zhongxian, but he was still kind to people in the inner court.

Moreover, he took charge of the imperial horse supervisor with the pen of the priest, the governor of Taicang, and the second library of Jieshen. Although he seized the mansion of the eldest princess of Ning'an as his official office, it was called "Household Headquarters". Hundreds of people often followed each trip, and officials below the ministry needed to participate in the court when they saw him, and the momentum surpassed the crowd.

But he did not make any major mistakes in handling political affairs, and he was far more honest than other eunuchs. In addition, under the recommendation of Wang Chengen, he was the first to take refuge in Chongzhen, and made a great contribution to stabilizing the situation in the palace, so he was soon appointed by Chongzhen to manage the Xishan Workshop and other affairs.

As for Li Chaoqin, it is different, he is Wei Zhongxian's real sworn friend, and he participates in all the big and small affairs planned by Wei Zhongxian.

Therefore, when Wei Zhongxian lost power and was sent to Fengyang to guard the mausoleum, the inner court and the outer court forces that had been suppressed by Wei Zhongxian hated him only because of Wei Zhongxian.

Therefore, although both of them were marginalized in the ceremonial supervisor, Tu Wenfu could still be recommended by Wang Chengen to do something, but Li Chaoqin completely became a transparent person in the ceremonial supervisor, and everyone treated him as if he did not exist.

As far as Li Chaoqin himself is concerned, the days of being ignored now really make him a little like a year. Although Chongzhen did not take away his title of eunuch of the ceremonial eunuch Bingjun, the delay in making a conclusion about him made him even more worried.

After nearly a year of transparent life, he found that he was not as good as Wei Zhongxian, and he was sent to Fengyang to guard the tomb at the beginning, which can be regarded as a result. It's also better than living a life of fear every day like now.

Today, he was suddenly summoned by Chongzhen and asked them about their suggestions on the handling of the case of the Shu King and the bandits, which immediately made Li Chaoqin realize that this may be his last chance to turn over.

Tu Wenfu's situation is much stronger than Li Chaoqin's, so he is naturally more cautious. After all, they are slaves of the Son of Heaven, but the King of Shu is a relative of the Son of Heaven.

Although since the Yongle Emperor Fengtianjing was difficult to succeed, the emperors of all dynasties have been very wary of the actions of the vassal kings in various places, but in this society that governs the world with benevolence and filial piety, it is obviously not a good reputation to be too mean to relatives.

Therefore, the emperor's vigilance against the rebellion of the vassal king did not mean that he would be happy to see his domestic slaves bullying the vassal king. Even if there is really a case of the Shu King bandits, it should be a report from local officials, not Xu Yingyuan.

Local officials were inherently responsible for monitoring the actions of the feudal kings, and their reports would not arouse suspicion among the clan and the people of the world. But Xu Yingyuan is a eunuch in the palace, and he came forward to testify against the Shu King and the bandits, which not only slapped the local officials, but also made the clan and the people of the world suspect that there is Chongzhen's meaning behind this matter.

Tu Wenfu thought for a long time, and finally said to the emperor: "The minister thinks that there may be something hidden in the matter of the king of Shu's banditry, Your Majesty should wait a little longer, and wait until more detailed information comes from Sichuan, and Your Majesty will make a decision." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked up at him and asked quietly, "Do you mean that Xu Yingyuan may have wronged the King of Shu?" Or what do you think is going to be hidden in this? ”

Wang Chengen, Wang Dehua, Xu Yingyuan, and Gao Qiqian were all eunuchs who accompanied His Majesty when he was in the palace, although Xu Yingyuan's relationship with Zhu Youzhen was not as close as that of Wang Chengen and Wang Dehua in front, and it was not something that he, a person who served halfway, could evaluate.

What's more, Tu Wenfu is not only familiar with Wang Chengen, but also has a good relationship with Xu Yingyuan, so he didn't plan to speak ill of Xu Yingyuan in front of Chongzhen.

Tu Wenfu thought for a moment in his mind, and then replied to Chongzhen: "The minister didn't say that Gonggong Xu wronged the king of Shu, but since ancient times, the most lucrative business in the world is nothing more than the profit of salt and iron.

It's just that salt is the exclusive domain of the imperial court, and the vassal kings of various places cannot directly boil salt and sell it except for asking His Majesty for a reward.

But the ironsmith workshop is different, as long as the weapons and armor that are strictly forbidden by the imperial court are not made, it is not a big problem.

Although feudal lords were not allowed to have large-scale weapon workshops, if they were only workshops to build agricultural tools and iron tools in general, then the imperial court was basically not easy to interfere with.

However, in order to avoid suspicion, these feudal lords generally did not directly run such workshops themselves, but entrusted them to the merchants, or joined hands with the merchants, and only demanded a fixed annual income.

Since these workshops have been handed over to merchants, with their greedy and lucrative style, it is normal to occasionally create some contraband.

Therefore, the minister estimated that perhaps some of the weapons in the Lu'an rebels did come from the ironware workshop under the name of the King of Shu, but the King of Shu may not be related to the Lu'an rebels.

Besides, when the rebels captured Chongqing and marched into Chengdu, the king of Shu still gave some money for the labor army. Now it is said that the king of Shu is a bandit, which is a bit unreasonable. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at Tu Wenfu, his eyes couldn't help narrowing, and then he said: "What you said is quite reasonable, but even if things are really as you say, this King of Shu still objectively has banditry behavior." Li Chaoqin, don't you have anything to say? ”

After listening to the conversation between Chongzhen and Tu Wenfu, Li Chaoqin, who was questioned again, deliberated on the tone of the emperor's previous speech, and finally made a decision to take a risk.

"The minister's thinking is different from that of Tu Gonggong, Shuzhong has not been in war for more than 200 years, and the army of the whole Sichuan is stationed in Chongqing.

After this extravagant Chongming raised troops, Chongqing, which was heavily guarded, was broken within ten days, but when the rebels went to the Chengdu Plain of Pingchuan, they timidly delayed for a long time, and soon after they were repelled by the weak Chengdu army, which is really a bit strange.

What's more, the richest area in Sichuan is the Chengdu Plain, and if Yu Chongming wants to seize Sichuan and claim the king, he must occupy this place as the foundation of the king's hegemony.

However, after occupying Chongqing, he focused on the mountainous eastern Sichuan region, but did not do much for the rich and flat western Sichuan region, which had the meaning of dividing Sichuan with the king of Shu. The meaning of this is really intriguing, isn't it?

The minister thought that the king of Shu was a bandit, and he would rather believe that he had it than that he didn't. If His Majesty agrees, the minister is willing to go to Sichuan to assist Gonggong Xu in investigating the case and clarifying the doubts of the people of the world. ”

Li Chaoqin suddenly jumped out and hit the black stick at the king of Shu, and he had the attitude of making the gangster case a reality, which frightened Chongzhen.

However, he quickly reacted, and this is a good person to do things. Regarding Xu Yingyuan's report on the Shu King's banditry, he actually didn't pay much attention to it in his heart. The only thing that annoyed him a little was that the hat Xu Yingyuan wore for the King of Shu was really inappropriate.

What he needs now is to first ask the king of Shu to hand over the ownerless fields that were swallowed up after the Hao'an Rebellion, which will be used to resettle Shaanxi immigrants and reward meritorious soldiers. As for the sealing of the Shu King's Mansion and his savings, he did not plan to plan now, lest the King of Shu take risks.

But things have come to this point, and he doesn't want to back down and let the King of Shu get out. Sichuan Chengping has been in peace for more than 200 years, and the savings of the King of Shu are amazing. These money and wealth are placed in the palace of the king of Shu, but they only satisfy the extravagance of the king of Shu alone, and they have no contribution to the Ming Dynasty.

Now that the King of Shu has been spared, God knows if there will be such a good excuse next time. Although Li Chaoqin's words were a bit impatient, they were in line with Chongzhen's intentions. As for Tu Wenfu, although what he said is very pertinent, it is definitely not a good choice with the mud.

Zhu Youzhen clenched his chin with his right hand and thought for a long time before he spoke: "I understand the opinions of the two, then you should go back first..."

was summoned inexplicably, and was sent away in confusion, Tu Wenfu and Li Chaoqin were both a little confused about this. However, compared to Tu Wenfu's composure when he left, Li Chaoqin was a little disheartened when he left.

However, in the afternoon of the next day, Li Chaoqin was summoned by Chongzhen again. When he entered the upper study, he found that he was the only one who had been summoned today, which made him not only have some expectations in his heart.