Just when Wang Xian and Zhu Zhanji were discussing, in the study of the East Palace, the prince was also talking to several masters.

"Unexpectedly, Zhou Xin was arrested and imprisoned as soon as he came." The young Jin Wen said with a solemn look on his face: "Unexpectedly, Ji Gang turned the tables around."

"This is expected a long time ago," Yang Pu said in a deep voice: "We forwarded Zhou Xin's report, and the emperor didn't even read it, which is obviously only listening to Ji Gang's words." ”

"Although Zhou Xin is the chief judge, His Royal Highness is the person in charge, and the emperor can't just listen to Ji Gang's words." Huang Huai frowned and said: "As long as the emperor sees the crimes that Zhou Xin has tried, he can realize Ji Gang's sinister intentions. ”

"Makes sense," Kim praised.

"It's not that simple......" Zhu Gaochi shook his head slowly, he is a big fat man, he can't stand it when the weather is hot, at this moment everyone else is wearing strict official uniforms, only he is wearing a single shirt, and he also frowned: "It is said that Ji Gang was involved in Zhou Xin's case of Jianwen, and there is evidence in his hand to prove that he cannot escape the line, and his father will be angry." So this case is not easy to overturn. ”

"I see" Several East Palace speakers were surprised, they believed in the prince's words, as the prince's most trusted confidants, they knew that although Zhu Gaochi had a fat face, the city was deep and he also had eyeliner in the palace, so there must be evidence.

"But this man, we can't help it." Yang Pu said in a deep voice: "After all, in the eyes of the people of the world this time, Zhou Xin was ordered by His Royal Highness to investigate and deal with Jinyiwei. Now that he is in prison for this case, it will be disappointing if His Highness refuses to speak for him. After a pause, he said: "What's more, Zhou Xin's fame is too big, and his official reputation is excellent, so the impact will be even more far-reaching." ”

"Yes, a Qing official like Zhou Xin has to be protected. Otherwise, it will inevitably make the world centrifuge" Huang Huai nodded, hesitated for a moment, and said: "It will give King Han a chance." ”

"If you don't steam steamed buns, you have to let the world see that Your Highness is a loyal minister," Jin Wen also echoed.

"Zhou Xin, this person ......" Zhu Gaochi pondered for a long time, and Fang slowly asked: "What do you think?"

"A weapon of the nation!" Jin asked Lang Lang Dao.

"Well said," Huang Huai praised. Yang Pu nodded and said, "It can be called the spirit of a civil servant." ”

"The weapon of the country and the spirit of the minister." Zhu Gaochi patted the bookcase, then leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes: "Well said, well said......

Several of the lecturers knew that he was pondering, so they looked at him waitingly.

Sure enough, after the tea effort, the prince's eyes opened and he made up his mind: "Is there any way to save this person?" ”

"I can only strive for ......" Several lecturers are all gentlemen and knowledgeable, but they are weaker when they give advice. The stakes are very high, and he didn't dare to make up his mind, so Yang Pu said: "I'll go to see Brother Shiqi first tonight and pass on His Highness's will." ”

The so-called Shiqi brother is called Yang Yu Zi Shiqi, this person is known as Yang Shiqi, so he is called Yang Shiqi. As the name suggests, this is a strange man, gifted and intelligent, and he never forgets to read, but his family has been poor since he was a child, and he remarried an official with his mother, who knows that only a year later, his stepfather was relegated to the frontier for his crimes...... In the Hongwu Dynasty, this was too normal, and it was not normal for officials not to be convicted...... Yang Shiqi's life with his mother is once again in trouble.

Studying is a big money business, because his family is poor, he can't take the imperial examination like other scholars, but can only start from the very basics...... He taught at a private school at the age of fifteen, and later mixed into the system and became a county instructor...... The instructor is the assistant of the teaching, that is, the teacher of the county school, and finally has an official identity. As soon as his life was a little better, he tragically lost his official seal...... This is a felony to go to prison, but Yang Shiqi is not an honest nerd, he just abandoned his official position and fled, and then lived in the rivers and lakes for 20 years. In the Ming Dynasty, where household registration was strict and identity had to be checked everywhere, Yang Shiqi was able to live in exile for 20 years, which is enough to show this person's ability.

During his escape, he still insisted on studying hard, and he became quite famous in the circle of scholars. In the second year of Jianwen, Zhu Yunkang summoned Confucian scholars to write "Taizu Records", and the thirty-six-year-old Yang Shiqi was promoted as a compilation and successfully went ashore to clear his name. What's even more amazing is that because of his learning and responsibility in the compilation work, he was appreciated by Fang Xiaoru, the editor-in-chief of this book, and actually became the vice president of "Taizu Record" in one fell swoop

In the Yongle Dynasty, Yang Shiqi was really reused, and he, together with Xie Jin and others, was appointed as one of the seven scholars in the first cabinet of the Ming Dynasty, and since then, he has become an important minister of the imperial court and a confidant of the Yongle Emperor

Although Zhu Di pursued the ancestral system everywhere, the emperor was essentially a pragmatist, and he pursued two principles, when the ancestral system was in his own interests, then abide by it. If it doesn't match, pretend to be stupid and do whatever you want, such as the cabinet.

After the Hu Weiyong case, Zhu Yuanzhang announced that he would permanently abolish the position of prime minister. And leave the ancestral teaching丨 future generations are not allowed to reinstate the prime minister, and the minister has those who dare to make suggestions, and he will be dealt with seriously. In this way, all the power of the state is in the hands of the emperor alone, and the emperor's authority is unprecedentedly huge, and of course, the burden of the emperor has become unprecedentedly heavy.

For example, from 14 to 21 September of the 17th year of Hongwu, in eight days, a total of 1,160 documents and reports of various kinds were sent to Zhu Yuanzhang's desk, including 3,391 cases of various matters. On average, Zhu Yuanzhang has to read 200,000 words of recitals every day and deal with 423 state affairs. Even if you don't eat or sleep for 12 hours, you have to read more than 8,000 words in an hour and make decisions on more than 20 state affairs. Only Zhu Yuanzhang, a person who is outstanding in physical strength, intelligence, energy, and ability, and who loves his work infinitely, can persevere.

But even Taizu felt too difficult when he was old, so he set up scholars such as Huagai Palace, Wenhua Palace, Wuying Palace, Wenyuan Pavilion and East Pavilion, and selected those literary and historical officials with lower grades, older age, and mediocre political achievements to serve as assistants to help him deal with paperwork reports for consultants, but he could not participate in political affairs.

Now although Emperor Yongle is a generation of heroic heroes, but he does not have the ability of his father, in order to be freed from hard labor and focus on more important things, Zhu Di began to let those scholars participate in the handling of military affairs. Although his official rank is only five grades, there are no subordinates, no governing body, and even no special office space, it can be said that there is neither the name of the prime minister nor the reality of the prime minister. However, these scholars are all close to the emperor's cronies, serving the emperor every day, running under the palace, especially participating in the maintenance of the aircraft, their powers and responsibilities are not insignificant, so they are regarded as prime ministers at home and abroad.

However, in order to avoid the word "prime minister", which has become ominous, and its name is "Bun Yuan Pavilion", and it is done in the inner court, people vaguely call it "cabinet," .

The cabinet and the six departments are the only two institutions that work in the palace, and the cabinet is located in the Wenyuan Pavilion behind the Wenyuan Hall in Donghua Gate...... Wenyuan Pavilion is a library for books in the palace, and cabinet scholars naturally cannot be on duty in the library, but work in the low wings on both sides of Wenyuan Palace, and the conditions are very poor. Not to mention the low and cramped houses, they look like steamers in summer and ice cellars in winter, and when it rains, water accumulates, which makes people miserable.

Just looking at this value room, the cabinet scholars are indeed not linked to the prime minister, but it is the emperor's confidant advisory body, all wars, employment, and even the establishment of princes and other things, the emperor has to make decisions with the cabinet, and it is located in the inner court, and knows the emperor's movements well, all of which makes it the focus of attention of hundreds of officials. The status of several scholars has naturally risen, although it is only a fifth-grade scholar, but even a second-grade Shangshu does not dare to slack off.

At this time, the cabinet was not prosperous, and the original seven university scholars ...... Xie Jin was imprisoned, Hu Guang Ding Wei, and Huang Huai were responsible for tutoring the prince, in order to avoid suspicion, he had not returned to the cabinet for a long time, and Hu Yan went out to supervise the sacrificial wine for the prince, leaving only Yang Rong, Yang Shiqi and Jin Youzi. But the rest are elites, and the three of them assisted the emperor in handling the state affairs in an orderly manner, and won Zhu Di's trust.

On this day, the three of them were in the office, and the eunuchs beside the emperor came to pass the decree that tomorrow they would interrogate the rebel Zhou Xin in the Wenhua Palace, so that they would be present at that time, and think about how to question this person, so that he could not quibble. In order to give them a purpose, Zhu Di also sent the file of Zhou Xin's rebellion case together.

After reading it, the three of them were stunned, and none of them spoke, shocked, extremely shocked.

After a long time, Yang Rongwang sighed: "It's incredible, it's really incredible."

"yes." Jin Youzi nodded and said: "There are witnesses and physical evidence, and Zhou Xin's case of forging an order from the Zhejiang Metropolitan Division to let go of the Zheng family's fleet should be true." Said with a sigh and said: "A provincial platform, cold noodles and cold iron, actually cheated and bent the law, no wonder the emperor is angry."

The two scholars expressed their opinions, but Yang Shiqi, who was pushed by Yang Pu, did not say a word, only looked at the sunset outside the duty room, and only when the sun was about to set, the sunlight would shine into the cabinet duty room.

"Brother Shiqi, you can talk about it too." Jin Youzi has always sighed to himself about the two Yangs in the cabinet, so when he encounters something, he first asks their opinions: "Tomorrow's Wenhua Palace Imperial Trial, what should we do?" ”

"Since there are all the human and material evidence, what does the emperor want us to refute him?" Yang Shiqi came back to his senses and asked.

"Although the emperor didn't say it explicitly, the meaning is very clear, that is, to alert the officials." Jin Youzi said.

Yang Shiqi shook his head.

"Actually, it's because there are loopholes in the evidence." Yang Rong is a two-list jinshi, but he is not a nerd, but extremely strategic, and he is on a par with Yang Shiqi, and he can see the problem at a glance at this moment: "The Zheng family on the ship was carefully screened by Jinyiwei one by one, and only after making sure that there was no such person did they let them on board." And the emperor did not have a clear will, to eliminate the Zheng family, it was Tang Yun who was vain and good at making claims, so strictly speaking, Zhou Xin's rescue of the Zhao family was not a big rebellion, but a forgery of the military order of the capital, so that the emperor would definitely not be satisfied with his conviction. ”

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