Under the winter night, the Chongzheng Palace is a bit colder than usual, giving people a sense of darkness, like a giant beast crawling in the Bian Palace, and the palace door is like a mouth that bites people.
Huge mouth.
Rows of candles illuminated the palace brightly, but there were still areas where the light could not reach. And Emperor Liu just liked to stay in those shadows, and bright light could not illuminate his whole body.
As he grew older, Emperor Liu's eyesight gradually deteriorated. Therefore, when reading memorials, his face would often get closer to him subconsciously, and it would be difficult to see things.
The warm-toned light reflected on Emperor Liu's face, illuminating half the majesty and leaving half a shadow, giving people a strange feeling. Today's Emperor Liu also gives people an increasingly inhuman feeling.
When the Zhao family and his son were worried about their future, Emperor Liu was also thinking about Zhao Pu's problem. His face was expressionless, but under the candlelight, it looked uncertain, as if it reflected his mood at this time.
What Emperor Liu read was some black material about Zhao Pu. These materials came from many sources, including Wude and the Imperial City Department, as well as the secret impeachment of Zhao Pu by internal and external ministers accumulated over the years. Of course, some of them came from Liu.
The emperor was very annoyed and collected evidence from the Lu family's secret room.
It has to be said that the secret files of the Lu family are of extremely high value. The reason why there were so many cases involving Lu and so many people were dealt with is that in addition to Emperor Liu's intention to govern and secretly promote it, the dark materials from internal and external bureaucrats are also one of the reasons.
, the competent authorities only need to search according to the picture and investigate one by one.
Of course, the situation regarding Zhao Pu's part is a bit special. Lu Meng was in charge of the inspection at the beginning. After discovering the materials about Zhao Pu, he knew the sensitivity of it. While bringing back the Ministry of Justice, he decisively sealed up Zhao Pu's part and sealed it.
Report to Emperor Liu quickly.
Emperor Liu was very satisfied with Lu Mengzheng's decisiveness, and gave instructions, keeping them secret, to submit some of the materials to the imperial court. At this time, Emperor Liu became completely murderous towards Lu Duoxun.
Not only was he collecting dirty information about Zhao Pu, they were political enemies and it was normal for them to have something in their hands. Emperor Liu believed that Zhao Pu might also have a lot of stuff about Lu Duoxun in his hands.
What really made Emperor Liu angry was the materials in that secret room. In addition to letters and transactions with his party members, there was also a large amount of bureaucratic black material. Obviously, so much of it was basically obtained through the Metropolitan Procuratorate and
Collected by the two major systems of Wudesi.
From these things, we can see how serious Lu Duoxun's use of public weapons for personal gain was. Through these materials, he could at any time frame charges, attack political opponents, and use this to blackmail officials.
This is no longer a simple political struggle. It's no problem to convict him of conspiracy and treason, not to mention that Wu Desi is involved.
Therefore, when these things are exposed, Lu Duoxun's fate is almost doomed. If he just forms a party for personal gain, embezzles and accepts bribes, Emperor Liu may not really take his life, but Lu Duoxun has too many opportunities to take death.
way.
As for the materials about Zhao Pu, Emperor Liu kept suppressing them and kept silent until the Lu case gradually subsided, then he picked them up for study. At the same time, he also reviewed the secret files collected by the Imperial City Division and the Wude Division.
The materials about Zhao Pu contain a lot of content and complicated personnel matters. Basically, the charges against Lu Duoxun charged by the Ministry of Punishment can be applied to Zhao Pu.
None of these Kaibao prime ministers is cleaner than the other. There is a pile of shit and urine under their butts that cannot be wiped clean, such as corruption, monopolization of power, cliques, selfish pursuits, etc. Zhao Pu himself may be relatively clean, but his relatives, friends, disciples and colleagues, How could it not be involved at all?
Emperor Liu took these things lightly and didn't pay too much attention to them. Even he himself had a selfish side, not to mention the ministers below, even Shi Xizai, a moral gentleman who was known for his integrity, was not dust-free. Wu Gu, not to mention Zhao Pu who has too many shortcomings.
Emperor Liu had a keen eye for fire and knew very well that many things were not that important to him. He only cared about their utilization value. Even his insistence on official governance and one after another anti-corruption campaigns were just means to ease conflicts and consolidate rule. If even these Even if you can't see through it, Emperor Liu is unqualified as an emperor.
Therefore, when reading Zhao Pu's materials, Emperor Liu was also targeted, and just laughed at most of the things. However, through these things, he still saw some things that made him afraid.
For example, during his eighteen years as prime minister, Zhao Pu accumulated too much political capital and promoted too many people. His influence on the entire bureaucracy was deep-rooted.
In Lu Duoxun's words, most of the world's officials come from Zhao Pu's sect, and most of the rest are involved with him. Of course, this statement is somewhat absolute, somewhat extreme, and somewhat superficial, but it can also reflect Zhao Pu's prestige.
The composition of the people Zhao Pu used was also very complex. There were capable ministers and officials, but there were also scum and scoundrels. Especially some people in the center had strong selfish desires, were corrupt and sought personal gain, and did not know who they were.
In the past, there were many attacks against Zhao Pu's party members. Some were blocked by Zhao Pu, and some were captured. However, Zhao Pu tried his best to protect everyone and everything. Under such circumstances, how could Zhao Pu use them cleanly? to describe.
These situations are also not surprising, and Emperor Liu can accept them. Since he uses Zhao Pu and gives him power, it means that this situation will happen with a high probability.
After all, if Zhao Pu, the prime minister, wants to sit firmly and make a difference in the court, he needs real power, especially organizational and personnel power, and a group of available people.
As long as Zhao Pu himself has no problems, there will be no big problems for the court. The past eighteen years have also proved this. Although there have been various malpractices, Zhao Pu has made great contributions and suffered greatly in the prosperous age of Kaibao. It’s laborious.
Of course, it is not that there are no taboo cases. For example, in some cases collected by Wu Desi, it was mentioned that Zhao Pu had private contacts with Zhang Dejun, the imperial envoy. Although they were not frequent and close, there were definitely secret transactions.
This was naturally something Emperor Liu hated deeply. With Lu Duoxun and Wang Yinwu in front of them, it would not be so shocking if Zhao Pu and Zhang Dejun were exposed again, but Emperor Liu's anger can also be imagined.
However, after all, it was the Wude Division that reported it. The discord between the Imperial City and the Wude Division was well known to both the government and the public, and Emperor Liu no longer trusted Wang Yinwu.
Therefore, although this situation aroused Emperor Liu's strong suspicion, it was somewhat discounted. However, no matter what, when Emperor Liu began to carefully review these black materials, it also meant that Emperor Liu was very suspicious of the situation.
Zhao Pu indeed had other considerations.
Regarding Zhao Pu's party in the DPRK, he really did not intend to continue to let it go and had the intention to rectify it. Emperor Liu could not detect Zhao Pu's testing performance for more than a month, but he easily exposed it in a few words.
But such a reaction just proves that he has made up his mind, and he believes that with Zhao Pu's intelligence, he also knows it in his heart. In fact, so far, the monarch and his ministers already know each other well.
However, Zhao Pu was constrained by power. On the one hand, he sought a way out, but on the other hand, he still retained this extravagant hope.
As for Emperor Liu, the reason why he hasn't taken action yet is because he is worried about the impact. After all, the Lu case has caused so much trouble. It can be said that the whole country is shocked. If the matter is not over yet, if Zhao Pu is taken down again, then the court may really be in trouble.
Emperor Liu needed to give the court a chance to breathe, or at least wait until the impact of the Lu case subsided slightly before taking action.
On the other hand, Emperor Liu has not yet made a final decision on how to arrange Zhao Pu. He needs to consider it comprehensively and take another look at Zhao Pu's performance.
Of course, one thing that is certain is that Zhao Pu will not follow Lu Duoxun's footsteps. This old fox has always been measured. More importantly, Zhao Pu, the Kaibao Prime Minister, is an iconic figure in the "Kaibao Prosperity".
There was no way Emperor Liu could break the flag himself. Otherwise, it would not only hurt Emperor Liu's face, but also hurt the country.
What's more, it is undeniable that Zhao Pu has made great contributions to the Han through his hard work. Although Lu Duoxun is a famous figure in the political arena of the Han, his weight is indeed much lighter than that of Zhao Pu. Naturally, he cannot use the same method to deal with Zhao Pu.
In Emperor Liu's view, a basic decency must be left to Zhao Pu after all. Emperor Liu also believed that as long as he came to a conclusion, Zhao Pu would actively comply. This was Emperor Liu's understanding of Zhao Pu, and it was also the king and his ministers.