Tian Ergeng was interrogating an official in the Imperial Prison and forcing him to admit that he had colluded with the rebel Chen Xin, when he suddenly heard the guards outside the gate come to report that the emperor had arrived at Jinyiwei and walked directly towards the Imperial Prison.

Tian Ergeng was thinking about tidying up his clothes and going out to greet Chongzhen, when Zhu Youzhen had already walked into the interrogation room made of heavy blue bricks.

Glancing at the bloodstained torture instruments in the interrogation room, and then at the officials who had fainted after being tortured, Zhu Youzhen frowned and asked, "Who is this?" ”

Tian Ergeng maintained a respectful state of bowing, and replied without squinting: "This is Yushi Zhou Lian, a friend of Men Chen Xin, and the minister suspects that there is a group headed by Men Chen Xin in the Imperial Procuratorate..."

Zhu Youzhen interrupted him impatiently, "Okay, needless to say, take the person down first, and ask the imperial doctor to come over and treat the injured official." From now on, there is no order from me not to punish these officials. ”

Tian Ergeng was a little surprised, but he still quickly made a gesture to his subordinates, and the two brocade-clothed guards immediately dragged the fainted official out of the room.

"You sent someone to arrest Qu Shiyun in the matter of Huke?" Zhu Youzhen looked at Tian Ergeng and said coldly.

Hearing that Chongzhen's tone was a little unkind, Tian Ergeng immediately defended himself: "Qu Shiyun and the three families of Wu, Wang, and Xu who vouched for the Wenxiang Sect's rebel bandits, many of the thirteen officials have dealings, and the minister just asked him to come back for questioning. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at Tian Ergeng and said even more indifferently: "Tian Baihu, are you making a mistake?" Do you think that I set off this change to put you or Jinyi Wei above the court? ”

Hearing Chongzhen's murderous tone, Tian Ergeng suddenly didn't dare to try to defend anymore, he knelt down in front of Chongzhen, and hurriedly defended himself.

"The minister has no intention of taking power by this, the minister is just bent on sweeping away those ministers in the court who do not know how to practice for His Majesty. Your Majesty is a clear guide. ”

When Zhu Youzhen spoke, Lian Shanxiang and the two guards behind him had already pressed their hands on the Xiuchun knife at their waists, looking eager to take down Tian Ergeng as soon as the emperor gave the order.

Zhu Youzhen looked at Tian Ergeng silently for a long time, and finally did not give the order to arrest people, he moved his eyes to the table on the side of the room, and walked over.

Zhu Youzhen grabbed a stack of confessions on the table and looked at them, at first he looked at one or two of them more carefully, and then he glanced at the ten lines at a glance.

Zhu You reviewed the confession in Yang's hand, and asked Tian Ergeng mockingly: "This is the result of your interrogation in the past few days?" ”

Tian Ergeng, who was kneeling on the ground, turned around, and replied in a frightened face to Chongzhen: "The minister has asked them to put a handprint on it, and these prisoners have already admitted that it is true..."

Tian Ergeng didn't finish speaking, Zhu Youzhen had already walked to the edge of the burning charcoal basin with his confession.

He threw the confessions in his hand into the charcoal basin one by one, and quietly watched them turn into ashes, Tian Ergeng watched the hard interrogation of several days of sleepless interrogation being reduced to nothing by Chongzhen, and couldn't help but be a little flustered, not understanding what the emperor meant.

After burning the confession, Chongzhen turned around and walked in front of Tian Ergeng again, "This is also called a confession?" There is no time, place, no circumstantial evidence, and no physical evidence, just someone admits to conspiring with someone to rebel against the imperial court, are you afraid that the world will not know, is this a case of factory guards wantonly framing court officials?

I also thought that with Zuo Guangdou, Yang Lian, Wei Dazhong, Yuan Huazhong, Zhou Chaorui, Gu Dazhang and others in front, Gao Panlong, Zhou Shunchang, Zhou Qiyuan, Miao Changqi, Li Yingsheng, Zhou Zongjian, Huang Zunsu and a few people behind, you can always learn some lessons. It seems that I am really mistaken, after so many years, you have not grown at all. ”

Tian Ergeng was dumbfounded and speechless, he really didn't understand why Chongzhen was so angry, whether it was Jinyiwei or Dongchang handling the case, wasn't it always like this. Even if the three legal divisions handle the case, it is only that there are fewer torture tools and punishments, and in essence, they are all case-handling ideas that do not recruit and fight.

Zhu Youzhen looked at Tian Ergeng, who was still confused, although he was submissive, and finally understood that if he wanted these people to understand his thoughts, it was useless to just rely on hints.

Zhu Youzhen raised his head and shouted at the door of the room, "Who is there outside?" ”

The commander of the Jinyi Guard made Luo Yangxing suddenly appear at the door and replied: "Minister Luo Yangxing is here, please give instructions from Your Majesty." ”

"Go and put all the officials arrested today back to me, and send those who are injured to the Tai Hospital for treatment." Zhu Youzhen ordered directly.

For the investigation of the Wenxiang Sect's rebellion against the party, he was unable to intervene, which had already made the new commander of the Jinyi Guard dissatisfied with Tian Ergeng.

But as the former leader of Jinyiwei, Tian Ergeng is not a fortunate person without roots, and no matter how dissatisfied Luo Yangxing is, he can't stop Tian Ergeng, who is ordered to investigate the case.

Therefore, Luo Yangxing could only sit and watch, and Tian Ergeng regained the wind and rain in Jinyiwei. Since the establishment of the Jinyi Guard, there has never been an example of the Emperor being able to regain the trust of the Emperor after the Jinyi Guard commander stepped down.

However, Tian Ergeng seems to be breaking this convention, which makes the already young Luo Yangxing a little impetuous.

Seeing Chongzhen personally suppressing Tian Ergeng today, Luo Yangxing suddenly became lucky.

Zhu Youzhen looked at Luo Yangxing, who was still at the door and did not leave, and couldn't help but ask strangely: "Don't you have anything else to report to me?" ”

Waiting for Chongzhen to hand over the power of trial to his Luo Yangxing, he realized that he seemed to be happy too early.

The emperor didn't seem to have any intention of plucking Tian Ergeng to the end, and he couldn't help but say, "Does the minister want to ask, in what name did Your Majesty release them, or did he just let them go without saying anything?" ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while and said, "You asked this question very well, tell them when you release them." They were released not because they were not suspected, but because the court intended to give them a chance to mend their ways.

Starting tomorrow, they will temporarily suspend their posts and go to the newly established Central Government Academy at the Taiji Factory to report to Mr. Liu, so that they can study hard, recognize their mistakes, and truly confess to the imperial court, otherwise it will not be so easy to get out when they enter Jinyiwei again. ”

Luo Yangxing left with a question on his face, he really didn't understand what the inevitable connection between learning and admitting mistakes was.

After watching Luo Yangxing leave, Zhu Youzhen instructed Lian Shanxiang: "You go to guard outside the door, I want to talk to Tian Baihu about something." ”

When the heavy wooden door was closed, the light in the room dimmed. Zhu Youzhen pulled a chair and sat down in front of the charcoal basin.

Zhu Youzhen put his hands close to the warm charcoal, turned his back to Tian Ergeng and said, "Tian Baihu, what do you think I asked you to investigate the Wenxiang Sect's anti-party case?" ”

Tian Ergeng held back the words that came out of his mouth, thought about them carefully in his mind, and then said carefully: "It is to crack down on those officials who obstruct His Majesty's implementation of the new policy in the court." ”

"It seems that you know my purpose very well, but do you think that if you arrest those who oppose the New Deal, no one will oppose the New Deal?" Zhu Youzhen looked at the firelight and said.

Tian Ergeng opened his mouth, but he didn't make a sound. When the Duke of Wei was in the dynasty, he was known as 9,900 years old, and his power was hot. But the struggle against the Donglin Party has always failed.

Although Wei Gonggong won a complete victory in the middle of the court, and the ministers of the Donglin Party were either arrested or driven back to their hometowns, the end of arresting so many Donglin Party members was that the Donglin Party members became a model praised by the corporal people in the world, and the forces of the factory guards retreated back to the vicinity of the capital.

The wanted Donglin Party members can walk freely in the locality, and the local officials and gentry have covered it one after another, and the factory guards are not only helpless, but once they go to the local arrest, they have become street rats that everyone in the local area shouts and beats.

Tian Ergeng really can't think of how to solve the tangled situation in front of him, he has been in Jinyiwei for so many years, and most of the solutions to the problem are related to violence, the so-called "under the three trees, why not ask for it".

When violence can't solve the problem, the former commander of the brocade guard suddenly becomes helpless.

"The minister is really incompetent, please make it clear to Your Majesty." Tian Ergeng stubbornly pleaded guilty to Chongzhen.

"I want you to handle the case, not for you to portray these people as heroes who rebel against the factory guards, nor for you to make a big deal in the court. You have arrested all the officials in the court, is there anyone else doing things for me?

Besides, what else can you get by such a simple and crude arrest method except to put everyone in the DPRK and China in danger and oppose it en masse? Do you think I'm going to fight my civil and military officials to the end for your sake? ”

Zhu Youzhen's tone was not intense, but Tian Ergeng felt that he had a sweaty feeling on his back, and he had to apologize to Chongzhen again.

Zhu Youzhen turned around, looked at Tian Ergeng who was lying on the ground and said: "I will now formulate two rules for you, first, you are not allowed to torture the arrested officials, at least not to use corporal punishment; Second, without my consent, the Six Books and the members of the Cabinet were not to be investigated, as well as the members of the Royal Academy of Sciences. ”

For the latter provision, Tian Ergeng can still understand, but for the first provision, he is a little hesitant. This is like letting Jinyiwei abandon his martial arts, and there can still be some results there.

He couldn't help but whisper: "Your Majesty, if you can't use the punishment, if these officials resist death and don't recruit them, then as soon as the officials they have befriended in the DPRK and China are negligent, won't this case end without a problem?" ”

Zhu Youzhen couldn't help laughing and said: "If you recruit it, it will be a capital crime, and that stupid person will confess?" These officials have studied hard for ten years before they can become officials. You have to carefully refine your qualifications before you can finally serve as the six ministers and cabinet ministers.

Now that you have made everything they have fought for in the past come to naught, they will naturally resist to the death.

Tell them that they are now honest and frank and explain their problems clearly, and the court can still forgive them in the attitude of curing the sick and saving people. As long as there are meritorious service performers, it is not necessarily impossible for officials to be reinstated.

But those who try to resist to the end, or talk nonsense, are trying to fight against the imperial court, and they are killing themselves..."