() Emperor Chongzhen was discussing the Spring Festival with the cabinet and six ministers in the Wenhua Hall. He meant that the Xiu Mu should be cancelled. However, some cabinet ministers were not happy and said that it would be fine if the rewards were cancelled. Now that the Xiu Mu is cancelled, the court
It's so unkind. The reasonable person knows that the emperor is worried about his people, but the unreasonable person thinks that the emperor is mean and ungrateful.
In fact, these cabinet ministers may not have this thought, but what they said was that they were thinking about Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen was a little hesitant after being deceived by several people, and he thought about whether his decision was too unreasonable.
.Festival.
Bi Ziyan, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, also thought that there was a large army gathering outside the city, and King Qin's army kept coming, so he could still take a rest. The festival is the most important festival of the year, and ancestors must also pay homage.
No more.
Just as the palace was bustling with noise, Wang Chengen, the eunuch in charge of the East Factory, hurried in and asked to see him urgently.
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he told his ministers to shut up and deal with urgent matters first.
Wang Chengen knew that Emperor Chongzhen meant to let these ministers know the seriousness of the matter and clarify the current situation. At that moment, he loudly reported in a sharp voice: "Your Majesty, Uncle Zhongxing was attacked by horse thieves on his way back to the capital from Tongzhou."
Emperor Chongzhen was shocked when he heard this. He stood up from his throne and asked urgently: "How is Master Zhong?"
"Uncle Zhongxing was hit by an arrow in the chest, but thanks to His Majesty's great blessing, he was not injured."
Wen Tiren was also very concerned about Zhong Jinwei's safety. When he heard Wang Chengen say that he was fine after being hit by an arrow in the chest, he didn't believe it. He knew that Zhong Jinwei couldn't go around wearing armor. So, he asked Wang Chengen: "He was hit in the chest.
One arrow, nothing wrong, right?"
Wang Chengen looked at him without saying a word, then looked back at Emperor Chongzhen. Seeing that the emperor also showed doubts, he said: "Your Majesty, the details of Uncle Zhongxing's assassination are not very clear to me. The messenger was sent to protect Mr. Zhongxing."
One of the staff is outside the palace now. You can call him in and ask for more information."
Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said: "Quickly pass."
Ministers in the Wenhua Hall, you look at me and I look at you, wondering who is so bold as to assassinate the famous man in front of the emperor at the feet of the emperor.
After a while, the sound of hurried footsteps came. As soon as they entered the palace, they knelt down and chanted: "Wang Peng, the commander of the Dongchang Division, bows to the emperor, long live, long live, long live."
As soon as he finished speaking, Emperor Chongzhen said: "You can come forward and explain in detail where Master Zhong was assassinated."
"Yes." Wang Peng stood up as ordered and stood as close as possible to the ministers in the palace without daring to go any further. He reported to the emperor in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, your Majesty, your subordinates and the captain Gu Baichuan will escort Zhong Xingbo on his way back to the capital.
Halfway through the journey, there was a ruins. The people had built new huts for travelers to rest. Unexpectedly, horse thieves killed the people and disguised themselves as Zhongxing Bo near the bus. Zhongxing Bo was shot in the chest by an arrow. Fortunately, he was blocked by a book. The captain woke up and escorted Zhongxing with Yan Yingyuan.
Bo escaped from the shed, but the horse thieves were ambushing soldiers at both ends of the road, with the largest number on the capital side, so they had no choice but to flee to Tongzhou. The horse thieves ignored their subordinates and dismounted to intercept them, and all but four of them left to pursue Bo Zhongxing. There were twenty-three in total, and among the four
Duo. More than ten people were killed and injured by Yan Yingyuan. The rear commander and Yan Yingyuan were injured one after another. At the critical moment, Guan Ning's army refused to take back the camp at night, so he was saved. Five or six horse thieves escaped."
Although Wang Peng did not dare to lecture in the palace, and the mellow descriptions were more thrilling than the details, everyone in the palace could tell that they encountered a group of horse thieves who had carefully prepared an ambush in advance. The number of people was so different, and they were still able to escape. How dangerous it was.
You can guess it without saying anything.
Emperor Chongzhen was relieved when he heard that Zhong Jinwei was fine.
However, the assistant minister Cheng Jiming had doubts on the side. He asked Wang Peng: "Who is that Yan Yingyuan? Why is he with you if he has such courage?"
"Yan Yingyuan is one of the leaders of the Tongzhou Martial Arts and Minzhuang, and the future brother-in-law of Zhongxing Bo. Zhongxing Bo is going to recommend him to serve in King Qin's army in the capital, so we go together." Zhong Jinwei mentioned to them that his brother-in-law wanted to take the Martial Arts Examination in the capital.
Therefore, his current identity should be a martial arts examination. In order to explain Yan Yingyuan's martial arts prowess, he speculated that Yan Yingyuan was a martial arts examination.
Zhou Yanru, who had just joined the cabinet, also asked Wang Peng: "How do you know that these horse thieves are here to assassinate Uncle Zhongxing instead of just robbing?"
"These horse thieves came specifically to kill Uncle Zhongxing. When my subordinates intercepted them, they did not kill me first. Instead, they went after Uncle Zhongxing with all their strength. They even spared the captain who was injured and unable to fight back and pursued Uncle Zhongxing. They also added silver on the way.
We must take Zhong Xingbo’s head.”
The ministers below still wanted to ask, but Emperor Chongzhen became angry above: "In the outskirts of the capital, at the feet of the emperor, there are hordes of horse thieves, and they dare to assassinate the earls of the imperial court. It is simply lawless!"
He then said to Wang Cheng'en: "Anyone who has made a contribution in escorting Master Zhong this time will be rewarded. You should send someone to meet Master Zhong."
"Yes." Wang Cheng'en was secretly happy that his man had finally shown his face. Seeing that the emperor had no other instructions, he asked Wang Peng to go to Dongchang to transfer people to assist Uncle Zhongxing.
When Emperor Chongzhen saw that Wang Chengen had made arrangements, he began to liquidate those responsible. He said angrily: "What does Shuntian Mansion, which is in charge of public security in the capital, do? Is it because he is dissatisfied with me and indulges horse thieves to slap me, the emperor, in the face?"
Someone come."
Several guards on duty outside the palace immediately entered and bowed their hands to Emperor Chongzhen: "Here you are."
"Go to the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen immediately, remove the Shuntian Prefecture Magistrate from his post, and arrest those who are incompetent in the relevant punishments and arrests." Emperor Chongzhen ordered.
Just when Jin Yiwei was about to agree, Assistant Minister Li Biao said: "Wait a minute."
Then he turned to Emperor Chongzhen, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the top priority is to find out the whereabouts of the escaped horse thief and apprehend him as soon as possible. This will make the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture guilty and meritorious service."
Wen Tiren also added: "Your Majesty, we still need to find out who paid for Zhongxing Bo's head."
In the suburbs of the capital, horse thieves are so raging, how can the public security be reassuring? Emperor Chongzhen really didn't want to let Shuntian Mansion go, but what the several ministers said made sense. After thinking about it, he said: "Go and notify Shuntian Mansion.
, give him three days to find out the matter, otherwise he will be dismissed and prosecuted!"
Seeing that the ministers made no further objections, the several imperial guards on duty took the order and left.
With such a big thing happening at the emperor's feet, Emperor Chongzhen could not bear it, whether from the perspective of public security or for the sake of face. He remembered what Zhong Jinwei had said before, binding the hands and feet of the factory guards was like blocking his own eyes and ears.
So, he said: "My dear ministers, in the suburbs of the capital, King Qin's army is gathering, but horse thieves dare to act illegally and assassinate the earl of the court. Such illegal things happened, which shows that the public security of the capital is bad in ordinary days."
These horse thieves have gone too far. They are so unscrupulous and are a threat to the ministers. Who knows if they will fall on themselves in the future.
Based on this idea, the ministers below all agreed with Emperor Chongzhen's statement, but they slightly disagreed that the security in the capital city was not that bad.
Emperor Chongzhen ignored their objections and continued: "After I ascended the throne, I withdrew all factory guards because I trusted the abilities of various places to help me manage the place. As a result, I was greatly disappointed."
When the ministers heard the tone of Emperor Chongzhen, they felt a little bad. Just as they were about to explain, Emperor Chongzhen spoke first: "I am determined to station in Jinyi everywhere, and all departments of the capital will be stationed in Dongchang to detect thieves and understand the sentiments of the people."
Previously, Emperor Chongzhen just let Dongchang go out to investigate some specific matters. Now he decided to follow the previous practice and restore the old system. Of course, he knew that these civil servants would definitely be unwilling, so he was prepared.
Sure enough, the civil servants below objected one after another, and Cheng Jiming changed his words and said: "Your Majesty, the public security in the capital has always been good. What the horse thieves did this time was just an occasional incident, and there is no need to go into such a big fight."
Zhou Yanru also said: "Your Majesty, the disasters caused by factory guards are worse than tigers, and even worse than horse thieves."
Li Biao, the assistant minister, said: "Your Majesty, you must not undo your sage actions since you ascended the throne!"
...
Basically, there is no one who doesn't object. If you really want to say that there are some who don't object, there are a few who don't say anything, such as Wen Tiren, Bi Ziyan and others. They have a clear conscience. Whether you let the factory guard go or not has little to do with them.
.
"Okay, today I will tell you in detail about the disaster of factory guards." Emperor Chongzhen said when he saw that they were talking about the factory guards.
Wang Chengen on the side gritted his teeth with hatred for those civil servants. I didn't offend you, so why am I annoying you so much?