Chapter 339 338 Conspiracy

During the time when he was waiting for news from the capital, Wei Guangde thought about what Weng Pu said when he had nothing to do, and suddenly he felt that it made sense.

Just like the matter of Prince Yu's Mansion being harassed by the Ministry of Revenue, did the Jinyiwei report it to Emperor Jiajing?

If not, there is naturally nothing to say. If so, why didn't Emperor Jiajing take measures to punish the Ministry of Revenue?

In fact, many of these things were what Wei Guangde had thought about before, and it was also one of the reasons why he decided to join Prince Yu.

But after being reminded by Weng Pu, Wei Guangde felt it necessary to talk to Lu Bing about this matter after returning to the capital.

Weng Pu knew that for the sake of the family, he gave up his persistence and avoided the vortex in the capital. As Lu Bing, he naturally knew the interests involved.

Wei Guangde suddenly felt that if he got the approval of Prince Yu's Mansion, he would try to communicate with Lu Bing after returning to the capital and pull Lu Bing to the chariot of Prince Yu's Mansion. The probability of success seemed very high.

According to Weng Pu, the current power of Prince Yu's Mansion cannot compete with Prince Jing's Mansion in any case, but if Lu Bing can be won over for secret support, then even if it cannot surpass it, at least it will be on par with it on the surface.

Lu Bing does not have much say in the court, and on the surface he seems to have no strength, but in fact, it is unknown how many officials' handles have already fallen into the hands of Jinyiwei, and perhaps they are just waiting for an opportunity to report.

Wei Guangde couldn't help but think of the eunuch Li Bin that Lu Bing wanted to deal with. Lu Bing had been eyeing him for more than a year or two. Not only did he want to collect solid evidence, but he was also waiting for an opportunity to impeach him when the emperor needed a large sum of money for the New Year.

Even if Emperor Jiajing still had some feelings for Tai, he could only raid his house for himself to have a good New Year.

His thoughts gradually became firm. After returning to the capital, he would consult Gao Gong first. If Gao Gong felt it was appropriate, he would find an opportunity to contact Lu Bing and test his attitude towards Prince Yu's Mansion.

Wei Guangde chose to stay quietly in Nanjing and wait for news. At night, he went out with Xu Bangrui to spend his days in debauchery. His life was quite comfortable.

Although the weather in Beijing was still cold, the court was already like a pot of boiling water.

After receiving the imperial edict from the cabinet, the six departments, in front of the ritual department, immediately organized a meeting to discuss Guo Xiyan's memorial. Emperor Jiajing had already made his attitude clear, so they naturally found problems in Guo Xiyan's memorial easily.

"It's a bit treasonous."

After reading Guo Xiyan's memorial in full, many officials thought this in their hearts. No wonder Emperor Jiajing was angry and wanted to punish him.

However, almost all officials knew in their hearts that the purpose of Guo Xiyan's memorial was probably because he took a risk for wealth and glory after being dismissed from his official position, but he was too strong in the memorial and got it in the wrong direction.

The news of the mutiny of soldiers in the Nanjing Zhenwu Camp that followed made the already turbulent officialdom even more boiling.

Zhou Yan, the head of the Censorate, did not allow the censors to interfere in the matter of establishing a crown prince. At first, although the censors did not say it, they were still very resistant in their hearts. However, after Guo Xiyan's memorial, they also keenly realized that someone seemed to be deliberately muddying the water behind the scenes.

It doesn't matter who is behind the scenes. The important thing is that establishing a crown prince is not a trivial matter. If it is not done well, it will cause trouble within the family and shake the foundation of the country.

If you don't want to participate in the matter of establishing a crown prince, then don't participate, but the mutiny of the Nanjing Zhenwu Camp is different.

Jiangnan Chengping, such a big thing happened suddenly, and there must be a powerful official to be responsible for it.

After carefully studying the memorials reported by Nanjing, Wei Guangde has made merit again. Forget it, they are all colleagues of the Censorate. Our Censorate will only impeach officials and will not ask for titles for people, so the things Wei Guangde did in Nanjing City were gorgeously thrown aside by the censors.

Continue to find the person who should be held responsible for this incident. Huang Maoguan treated the soldiers harshly and was the main person responsible for the mutiny. But since he was dead, it was fine. There was no need to be angry with the dead.

Then, I saw Ma Kun's name. Although it only appeared once, the proposal of Huang Maoguan to withhold the soldiers' military pay was actually proposed by Ma Kun, the then Minister of Revenue in Nanjing. Huang Maoguan was just executing the orders of the Minister of Revenue.

Good for you, Ma Kun. For such a big thing, there must be an official with enough weight to take responsibility. The Minister of Revenue is just qualified for this position.

So, all the censors of the Censorate in Beijing took action and unanimously impeached the current Minister of Revenue, Ma Kun, for being a sycophant, incompetent, and causing such a shocking event as the mutiny of the soldiers in the Nanjing Zhenwu Camp. He should be dismissed.

At this time, the censors of the Ming Dynasty were clearly divided and each had their own impeachment targets.

Lan Bi and other officials of the Six Departments reported that Xiyan was resentful and treacherous, and the Criminal Department even suggested that the three judicial departments should be tried and convicted, while the Censor of the Censorate focused on impeaching the Minister of Revenue Ma Kun.

The memorial was sent to the cabinet. Yan Song looked at the pile of memorials on the desk and had to call Xu Jie to discuss how to vote.

The last time Guo Xiyan's memorial was approved by Emperor Jiajing as "vote with the second assistant", Yan Song naturally did not dare to continue to vote alone at this time, at least let Xu Jie take a look and discuss a vote.

In fact, as long as the cabinet votes on general memorials that are not major, one cabinet minister is enough.

When Yan Song saw Guo Xiyan's memorial, he didn't take it seriously, which led to such a big mistake and was rejected twice by Emperor Jiajing.

When Xu Jie arrived, he understood that it was a memorial to impeach Guo Xiyan, and stroked his beard and said, "Sir Prime Minister, the power to deal with this is with His Majesty. We only need to ask for instructions, and there is no need to set any rules."

"Well"

Yan Song really felt that he was getting old now. He didn't even think of such a simple truth, and he was still thinking about how to vote. Could it be that without the East Tower, he really couldn't continue to sit in this position.

Nodding slightly, Yan Song smiled at Xu Jie and said, "That makes sense. Is the same thing true for those who impeached Ma Kun?" ’

"Ma Kun's matter is a bit troublesome. He should have been held responsible for what happened to Huang Maoguan, but he is already dead, so naturally he can no longer be held accountable. Ma Kun is the instigator, and I think he should be held accountable."

Ma Kun is not an official of Xu Jie's family. He and Yan Song have already reached a deal, but now they just see how to draft the impeachment memorial.

"Accountability."

Yan Song nodded, "Let's draw it up like this."

Soon, the memorial drafted by the cabinet was sent to the Supervisor of Rites, and Gao Zhong took it to see Emperor Jiajing.

"There is no need for the joint trial of the three law divisions. Since the six subjects all believe that it is treasonous and unethical, Guo Xiyan's evil words to deceive the people in passing the edict, and he is angry for no reason and wants to say goodbye to the emperor, ministers, father, son and brothers in a few words. Since ancient times, Xing Chen has used his death to gain fame. It's like those who want beauty.

According to the order, the patrol officer immediately executed him and sent a message to all the officials in the four directions."

News soon came from Xiyuan that Emperor Jiajing did not ask the three departments to interrogate Guo Xiyan, but directly ordered Guo Xiyan to be arrested and beheaded. However, in response to the Metropolitan Procuratorate's large-scale impeachment of Ma Kun, the Minister of Revenue, But he was temporarily detained and no instructions were given.

Guo Xiyan, who was staying at home at this time, was naturally aware of the changes in the court's trend in the past two days. All his friends in the past had closed their doors, which showed the crisis.

Although he didn't understand what was wrong with his memorial, he knew that he had made a mistake, but there was nothing he could do about it.

In his opinion, he is likely to go to jail this time, and then be tried and convicted by the three judicial committees. At that time, it will be the time to defend himself.

His self-defense in the lobby will be written into his memorial, and only then will he know where his memorial offended Mr. Xiyuan.

Sitting in the study, driving away the servants at home, Guo Xiyan was still thinking about ways to save herself, when she heard a sudden noise outside.

Not long after, there was a series of footsteps outside the house.

"Boom"

The wooden door of the study room was kicked open violently, and a Jinyiwei Baihu in Feiyu uniform had already walked into the room with a sinister smile.

"Who are you, and why did you break into my mansion?"

Although he had been mentally prepared, Guo Xiyan still tried his best to maintain his official authority at this time and shouted coldly to the Jin Yiwei people.

"Master Guo, don't ask questions knowingly. Your matter has been exposed. Come with me."

Without waiting for Guo Xiyan to speak, he waved his hand, and the two captains in Jinyi who followed him rushed over and directly pulled him up from the chair. Then another captain brought him bracelets and shackles, and he was quickly escorted out. .

Because there was no order to search the house, Jin Yiwei did not help move the things from the house this time. They just left a team of captains to block the front and back doors and not allow the Guo family to move around at will.

Emperor Jiajing ordered the execution of Guo Xiyan, but he did not make it clear whether it would harm his family. The Jin Yiwei could not act rashly at this time, and had to wait for the palace's order to act.

Guo Xiyan's case was handled very quickly. The Sixth Section meeting had already given their judgment. Regardless of whether it was considered manipulation, the evidence was considered conclusive. The Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple received instructions from the cabinet and quickly issued an official document.

On the second day after Guo Xiyan was arrested and sent to prison, while he was still thinking about how to defend himself, he was taken out of the prison and executed.

The news only spread among the officials in the capital after Guo Xiyan was beheaded. Everyone had different opinions on how quickly the imperial court dealt with Guo Xiyan and executed him so quickly. However, they all knew that establishing a prince seemed to be a taboo, and it was easy to do so. Untouchable.

Guo Xiyan was beheaded, and the happiest people were none other than King Jing and Yan Shifan. They saw another glimmer of hope in the court's vigorous actions.

Yes, Guo Xiyan's memorial stated that he wanted to protect the prince Yu Wang Zhu Zaijing, so he was naturally hostile to the King Jing's party.

When King Jing Zhu Zaizhen first heard that someone had written a memorial asking him to make King Yu his crown prince, and asked him to become a vassal as soon as possible, he was actually frightened. He was worried that his father would agree to it, even if he stayed in the middle, he would not be able to do so. Good sign.

Fortunately, within two days, news came that made him feel completely at ease.

In fact, King Jing himself knew that in the battle for the throne, the time of his birth was a natural disadvantage. In any case, King Yu was his elder brother and he was his younger brother. There was no equality at all.

The reason why he had this unreasonable thought was actually due to the unpopularity of Queen Yu's mother-in-law and the favor of his own mother-in-law, the Lu family.

Emperor Jiajing was reluctant to express his position after the death of the prince. However, after contact with Yan Shifan and verbal stimulation, he gradually came up with the idea of ​​​​competing for the throne.

By now, he can't look back.

Needless to say, after receiving the good news, a banquet was held in Prince Jing's palace, and his die-hard supporters Yan Shifan and others were invited to the banquet. He wanted to celebrate well.

It seems that Guo Xiyan's blood was not shed in vain. His memorial not only did not wake up King Jing, but further boosted his confidence in fighting for the throne.

His father had ordered the killing of officials who openly supported King Yu, so what else did he have to worry about.

At this moment, King Jing was in high spirits at the banquet. He felt that in the mind of his father, Emperor Jiajing, he should have been designated as the crown prince.

In fact, after the news of Guo Xiyan's murder came out, Prince Jing's Mansion received invitations from some officials from the capital. These were officials who had previously avoided Prince Jing's Mansion, but they seemed to have the same idea as Prince Jing.

But it's strange that although Yan Shifan is eating and drinking with others with a smile today, his eyes are looking at King Jing from time to time.

At the end of the banquet, Yan Shifan did not rush to leave to have fun, but sat there quietly without any intention of leaving.

Although King Jing drank a few more drinks, he still kept his head clear at this time. Yan Shifan's behavior today clearly revealed that he wanted to talk to him alone.

From time to time at the banquet, the confidants of the Yan family were officials of Prince Jing's Mansion. We can say that one will be prosperous and one will suffer, but Yan Shifan did not speak during the banquet. This naturally meant what Yan Shifan wanted to say to him. I'm afraid it's very confidential and important.

"Okay, everyone has drank a lot today, let's go."

As the owner of this place, I saw that many guests were drunk and staggering around, so I spoke at the right time to end the banquet.

Then a chamberlain came in to help the guests out, but only King Jing and Yan Shifan still sat there motionless.

Yan Shifan and King Jing are big drinkers themselves. After all, they were born in families like theirs, so their drinking capacity has long been developed.

Yan Shifan deliberately drank less wine, so he came prepared.

King Jing drank too much at first, but after discovering Yan Shifan's abnormal behavior, he also drank less, so he was still sober at this time.

"Brother Donglou, do you have something to say?"

Everyone had left, and only a few of his caring servants were left in the room. King Jing asked.

"Your Highness, please find a quiet place."

Yan Shifan still had a smile on his face and spoke slowly.

Soon, the two entered a secret room in Prince Jing's Mansion. The candles in the room were already lit. Here, except for a small window left on the roof, there were walls on all sides, which could effectively prevent people from eavesdropping on the conversations inside.

"But there are still variables in Guo Xiyan's matter?"

Along the way, King Jing was still thinking about the throne. Yan Shifan's behavior was really weird. Thinking of Mr. Yan Ge's status with his father, King Jing had to think about it.

"Guo Xiyan's matter has been settled. What I want to say is another matter."

After sitting down with King Jing, Yan Shifan replied to King Jing's question.

"In the past month, I have been thinking about who else in this capital can be harmful to His Highness except His Majesty."

Yan Shifan said immediately.

"Probably not. Even if my brother is lucky enough to win against me, he will at most arrange for me to become a vassal in one place. But given the current situation, he may not have a chance."

Before Yan Shi could finish his words, he was interrupted by King Jing.

This in itself was a bit rude, but King Jing was a little drunk at this time and didn't pay attention to it.

Yan Shifan shook his head and smiled, "Your Highness, there are actually many enemies we have to guard against, such as Lu Bing."