Thinking of this, Chongzhen suddenly asked Li Ruolian: "Li Ruolian, I want you to go back to Beijing to gather the old Jin Yiwei troops to rebel, secretly set up an intelligence network, provide the imperial court with information on slave creation, and assassinate big figures who established slaves. Are you willing to go?"
"I am willing." Li Ruolian did not even hesitate at all, "I will go wherever the Holy One tells me to go."
Chongzhen nodded happily. There is no need to doubt Li Ruolian's loyalty and courage. For a minister who is willing to die for the Ming Dynasty, is it necessary to doubt his sincerity and courage?
Li Ruolian asked again: "Your Majesty, when will I leave?"
"There is no rush now." Chongzhen shook his head and said, "We have to find a suitable opportunity and then put on a show. Otherwise, if you go back to Beijing unexpectedly like this, it would be strange if Jiannu didn't arrest you."
Li Ruolian thought for a while and then said: "Your Majesty, how about taking this opportunity?"
"Okay." Chongzhen thought for a while and then said, "I will take this opportunity to pretend to abolish the Jinyiwei, and then you secretly encourage the officers and soldiers of the Jinyiwei to defect. Remember, the other officers and soldiers really defected, otherwise you will not be able to deceive Jiannu."
"Understood." Li Ruolian said solemnly, "I only select those Jin Yiwei officers and soldiers who are really willing to defect."
Chongzhen nodded slightly and then asked: "You are talking about the issue of correcting the imperial edict, who is the mastermind behind it?"
"It's hard to say," Li Ruolian said. "Maybe the remnants of the Donglin Party are taking the opportunity to take revenge on Shi Kefa, or maybe someone is coveting the position of Shi Kefa's chief assistant."
Chongzhen asked in a deep voice: "You mean Jie Xuelong?"
"The suspicion of Mr. Lu Ge cannot be ruled out." Li Ruolian shook his head and said, "Because after Shi Kefa was executed, the person who took over as the chief assistant must be Mr. Xie Ge. So according to the inference that whoever benefits the most is the culprit behind the scenes, Mr. Xie Ge may also be difficult to find.
To escape from the cunning attacks of the imperial historians, dismissal from office and going to court may be the only outcome. In this case, Mr. Lu Ge will become the chief assistant, so it cannot be ruled out that this is a plan to kill two birds with one stone."
"It's impossible for Lu Zhenfei." Chongzhen said flatly.
Li Ruolian was silent after hearing this. He would not argue with the emperor.
"I already know who instigated this matter." After Chongzhen finished speaking, he turned to Wang Cheng'en and said, "Wang Daban, summon the cabinet minister Xie Xuelong to come and see me."
"Old slave, take the order." Wang Chengen accepted the order and left.
Chongzhen asked Li Ruolian again: "Where is Shi Kefa now?"
Li Ruolian said: "He has been taken to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment for custody."
Chongzhen immediately stood up and said: "Let's go, you follow me to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment."
"Ah?" Not only Li Ruolian, but also the accompanying Crown Prince Zhu Cixiang was surprised.
Zhu Cixiang asked in astonishment: "Father, didn't you just ask Wang Daban to summon Mr. Jiege to come to Yilun Hall for an audience?"
"Hong'er, don't ask any more questions." Chongzhen said, "You will know what my father's intention is by then."
After saying that, Chongzhen turned around and left the Yilun Hall, and Zhu Cihong, Li Ruolian, Meng Ketu and others quickly followed.
…
Not long after Chongzhen left with Zhu Cixiang and others, Jie Xuelong followed Wang Chengen into the Yilun Hall in a hurry.
However, after entering the Yilun Hall, I found that the lobby was empty, not even a single figure could be seen.
"Where is Your Majesty?" Jie Xuelong asked Wang Cheng'en in astonishment, "Mr. Wang, why don't you see Your Majesty?"
"Our family doesn't know about this," Wang Cheng'en said calmly, "Our family just followed the holy order of Lord Long Live and summoned Mr. Jiege to come to Yilun Hall to meet you."
Jie Xuelong's face changed slightly when he heard this. This thing doesn't seem simple?
After hesitating for a long time, Xie Xuelong asked Wang Chengen again: "Mr. Wang, has the Holy Spirit left any decree?"
"Our family doesn't know about this either." Wang Cheng'en asked, but he didn't know. "Our family just obeyed the holy order of Lord Long Live and summoned Mr. Jiege to come to Yilun Hall to meet you."
Jie Xuelong's expression suddenly became even more embarrassing.
Then he started to wait. As time passed, Jie Xuelong's face became more and more embarrassed.
After waiting for almost an hour, Xie Xuelong's face had turned a deathly gray color, then he stood up with a long sigh and left Yilun Hall with staggering and heavy steps.
…
At this time, he was in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.
Shi Kefa said with a bitter look on his face: "Your Majesty, the guilty minister is shackled and cannot pay homage."
"Shi Kefa." Chongzhen said with a dark face, "You are so stupid. As long as I don't hold you accountable for your false edicts, and as long as you go to death and refuse to admit it, what can the Censor Yanguan do to you?"
Shi Kefa said: "With the old servant and the note as evidence, the guilty subject cannot deny it."
Chongzhen said angrily: "What the old servant said is only one side of the story. The note can also be forged, so it is not enough to rely on."
Shi Kefa sighed, shook his head secretly and said: "But the guilty minister's conscience told him not to lie. If you do it, you have done it. If you make a mistake, you are wrong. The guilty minister committed the crime of correcting the imperial edict and deserves to be punished.
!”
"I understand, I understand! Then I understand!" Chongzhen sneered, "This is a relief for you!"
After all, Shi Kefa was still a gentleman with a moral obsession and could not turn a blind eye to the mistakes he had committed.
Shi Kefa sighed again and said: "Your Majesty, the guilty minister has actually been in suffering during this period of time. One voice said to the guilty minister that he should not covet the position of chief minister and stay in the position, but another voice said
, The guilty minister should stay in the position of chief minister regardless of personal reputation, and do his best for the Holy Emperor, for the Ming Dynasty, and for our Han family's ancestral temple. The guilty minister is very conflicted and has never known how to make a choice. At this time, this happened
, it is indeed a kind of relief. The sinner finally no longer has to suffer and struggle, and can finally let go of his obsessions."
Chongzhen sneered: "You are freed, what will the cabinet do?"
Shi Kefa said with a calm face: "The Holy One has learned Taoism from Meishan, and his wisdom and martial prowess are far superior to those of the previous emperors. Even if Emperor Chengzu Wen or Emperor Taizu Gao reincarnate, they will only be like this."
"So there is no difference between guilty ministers or no guilty ministers."
Speaking of this meal, Shi Kefa added: "It might be a good thing if the guilty minister resigns, because the guilty minister knows his own abilities. He can barely do the job as a governor, but he is unable to do it as the assistant to the cabinet. This time the guilty minister
Giving up the position of chief assistant will be a blessing for Ming Dynasty."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "You are quite self-aware." Chongzhen snorted coldly and said, "If you go, who can be the chief assistant?"
"The Holy One has made his own decision on who should be the first assistant, so why should others comment?" After a pause, Shi Kefa continued, "It's just that Jie Xuelong definitely cannot be the first assistant. This person is a traitor and a loyal person, a villain!"
"How can you see that?" Chongzhen said coldly, "Why do you say he is a villain?"
Shi Kefa said: "Because that note was written by Jie Xuelong to the guilty minister."
Chongzhen said in a deep voice: "You mean that it was Jie Xuelong who reminded you of Jiao Zhao, right?"
"Yes." Shi Kefa said solemnly, "Because the cabinet palace is an important place of the imperial court, ordinary people cannot enter at all, and the direct room of the guilty minister is even more difficult for idlers to enter."
Chongzhen said: "But Jiexuelong can enter."
"Yes." Shi Kefa nodded slightly and said, "Gao Hongtu, Jiang Yueguang and Jie Xuelong can all enter, but it is Gao Hongtu and Jiang Yueguang who instigated Zhang Youyu to seize internal funds, so this person can only be Jie Xuelong."
Chongzhen looked at Shi Kefa and said nothing for a long time. After a long while, he said: "Shi Kefa, you have given me a difficult problem."
"The Holy One need not embarrass the offending minister." Shi Kefa said calmly, "Forging an edict is an unforgivable crime, and the offending minister should be punished. The offending minister only asks the Holy One to quote the examples of Gao Hongtu and others, and not to offend the offending minister's family.
.”
"It's not just that." Chongzhen said coldly, "Maybe you don't even realize that it is actually the most worry-free for me to have you as the chief assistant, because you are a morally flawless person, and you can be the leader.
With this first assistant, I don't have to worry at all about you forming cliques in the court, and I don't have to worry about you selling your official position and becoming corrupt, so I won't have to worry about changing to the first assistant."
"But..." Shi Kefa frowned and said, "The guilty minister is really not qualified to be the chief assistant."
"Ability?" Chongzhen snorted coldly, "With me here, do you need the first assistant to be capable?"
"Ah this?" Shi Kefa was stunned when he heard this. He had never thought about this. Thinking about it carefully, it seems that the Holy One really doesn't need a capable chief assistant? In this way, when encountering difficult things, he can only ask the Holy One for a ruling.
As a result, although the Holy Emperor no longer interfered with the cabinet on the surface, in fact he still had monopoly power.
If the world was at peace and the world was at peace, Shi Kefa would not agree with this. However, in the current Ming Dynasty, it is undoubtedly the most beneficial for the Sage to take over the power. On the contrary, the cabinet and the emperor are constrained by each other, which is detrimental to the Ming Dynasty.
After thinking about this, Shi Kefa couldn't help but feel a little regretful, but it was just regret. Regret would not lead to regret.
Chongzhen sighed: "Shi Kefa, I will definitely not be able to save you if I save you. Which emperor would dare to pardon the crime of false edicts? Unless he no longer wants to be the emperor, but I promise you that I will not involve your family."
"The guilty minister bows his thanks to the Holy Grace." Shi Kefa let out a long breath.
…
At this time, I was in Jie's house, Jie Xuelong's study.
Facing his eldest son Xie Xianhe, Xie Xuelong sighed and said: "Xianhe, the Jie family is entrusted to you. If possible, don't separate the family easily."
"Father." Xie Xianhe said miserably, "That's not what happened, right?"
"Isn't that the case?" Jie Xuelong said, "Haven't you ever thought about why the Holy One is like this?"
"Perhaps His Majesty was really negligent." Xie Xianhe said anxiously, "Or maybe His Majesty left temporarily due to other urgent matters, and the son thought that it would be better for his father not to think too much."
"Son, you still don't understand the Holy One well enough." Jie Xuelong shook his head.
"The Holy Spirit always makes decisions before taking action. How could he be negligent in matters like this?"
Speaking of this meal, Xie Xuelong said again: "The Holy One called my father to the Yilun Hall of the Imperial Academy, but when he went there, no one was seen and no explanation was given. This is enough to show that the Holy One never wants to see my father again."
"Father, these are all your speculations." Xie Xianhe said anxiously, "It's not credible."
"Although it is speculation, it is fact." Jie Xuelong sighed, "Because being a father has offended the Holy One."
