Chapter 291 Fortunately Nanjing (18) The King’s Deception
"It's better to come early than to come well." Zhu Yijun pointed to the hourglass and smiled: "Rixin, come have lunch with me."
Gao Pragmatic was startled for a moment, then smiled and said: "Wei ministers obey the order."
The reason why Zhu Yijun suddenly decided to stay with Gao Jingjing to have lunch together was because, firstly, the relationship between the monarch and his subjects was deep for many years, and it was not just once or twice that he stayed with Gao Jingjing to have lunch together; secondly, he also deliberately tried to rub off on Xu.
What Hong Ji and Wang Yunzhong meant was that although the Ming Emperor's meals were not really a waste of time, he usually had plenty of time.
He knew very well that Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong must still be hungry at this moment, and Gao Jingshi was summoned first to discuss matters in the Western Regions. The two nobles would definitely know this news. If Gao Jingshi left immediately after talking about the Western Regions, they
Maybe they still have illusions, thinking that the emperor just wants to give them a beating, and does not really want to punish them severely.
But if Gao Pragmatic was left to dine with the emperor after talking about business, they would realize that the emperor was deliberately ignoring them, which would undoubtedly cause them greater psychological pressure.
Zhu Yijun just wanted to make them feel scared. Only in this way will they be more obedient and dare not have any thoughts that go against the holy will.
"Pass the meal." Zhu Yijun said lightly, and someone from the palace immediately went to make arrangements.
Not long after, lunch was delivered from the imperial dining room. Zhu Yijun’s lunch was indeed not luxurious, let alone compared with the famous old witch in the Qing Dynasty. Even if it was compared to the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Ming Dynasty emperor was
Eating this piece can be called a simple meal. Fortunately, although Gao Shishi usually eats exquisitely, he is not greedy for too much. These six dishes and one soup are very suitable in his opinion, with a combination of meat and vegetables and balanced nutrition.
The emperor's stay with Gao Pragmatic was not the same as "gifting a banquet", and there were far fewer rules than the latter. But even so, Gao Pragmatic, as a minister, was not qualified to sit on an equal footing with the emperor, so he just sat under Zhu Yijun, with nothing in front of him.
The six dishes and one soup were exactly the same. But there were still some differences. For example, the emperor's tableware could clearly see the golden dragon pattern, while Gao Pragmatic's bowls, plates, and cups were all covered with pictures of flowers and birds.
"Rixin, I know you love fish. Since you are in Jiangnan this time, how can you not try the Taihu whitebait?" Zhu Yijun pointed to a dish in front of him and said, "I also ate it for the first time yesterday when I visited Houhu Lake.
It’s indeed a unique experience. Although you are rich in the world, this is your first time back to the south of the Yangtze River, and this Taihu whitebait must be eaten as soon as possible when it comes out of the water. You can’t eat it in the capital..."
"Yes, Wei Chen accepted the order." Gao Pragmatic was not polite. He immediately picked up the chopsticks, picked up two or three small whitebait, took a bite, and praised: "It is indeed delicious and tender. Your Majesty is in a good mood."
Zhu Yijun smiled slightly and said: "As long as you like it, I will tell you later that if I eat here in the next few days, I will make an extra portion and send it to you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Gao Pragmatic thanked him quickly.
The monarch and his ministers chatted about government affairs while eating, and the atmosphere was very harmonious. Zhu Yijun wanted to serve wine midway, but was dissuaded by Gao pragmatism, and Zhu Yijun smiled and gave up. This shows that he attaches great importance to Gao pragmatism.
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At this time, Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong had been waiting outside the Qianqing Palace for a while. Although they were so hungry that their chests were pressed against their backs, they had no appetite at all. They just sat in the ear room in front of the palace and stared at each other.
"Uncle Cheng Shan, you are a senior in the court, can you give me some advice... What does the emperor mean?" Xu Hongji couldn't help but asked: "He summoned Duke Jing to discuss the changes in the Western Regions. It has been long enough, and now he still Duke Jingguo stayed to have a meal with him, but left us hanging here, what kind of regulations is this?"
Wang Yunzhong smiled bitterly and said: "My lord, isn't it obvious what the emperor means? This is beating us up."
Xu Hongji frowned and said: "But the emperor summoned us alone to inquire, instead of letting Dongchang and Jinyiwei come to enforce the law. Doesn't this mean that the emperor intends to turn a big issue into a trivial one?"
Wang Yunzhong sighed and said: "It is meaningless to guess what the emperor is thinking now. But one thing is certain, that is, the emperor is very dissatisfied with us. Otherwise, he would not have visited Xiaoling Mausoleum with you just a few days ago. I’m going to leave you here today, waiting for him to have dinner with Mr. Jingguo, do you think so?”
Xu Hongji suddenly panicked and asked hurriedly: "What Cheng Shanbo said is true. But the matter has come to this, what should we do now?"
Wang Yunzhong shook his head and said: "What else can we do? Now we can only place our hope on Duke Jingguo... After all, he promised us, and he should always support us at the critical moment."
Xu Hongji worriedly said: "Having said that, we have... after all, kept a distance from Duke Jingguo. Now, although Duke Jingguo said he wants to protect us, who knows how strong this hand will be? What if Duke Jingguo thinks that he only needs to protect us? It’s okay to use your head, but what should I do?”
Wang Yunzhong was not as pessimistic as he was, and comforted him: "The Duke has lived in Nanjing for a long time and is not familiar with Duke Jingguo. It is not surprising that he is worried like this. However, I did have some dealings with Duke Jingguo when I was in the capital. , According to what I have seen and heard, Duke Jingguo is someone who does not express his stance easily, but once he expresses his stance, he will not go back on his words.
Let me make it clear, he will never say that he will protect us, but in fact he will only protect us from losing our heads... Moreover, although this matter is big, the two of us are nobles after all, especially you, the Duke of the country. You are the Queen of Zhongshan. No matter how big this matter is, it is far from being a treason. How can you lose your head?
Since losing one’s head is not a serious crime in the first place, if Duke Jingguo’s ‘protector’ only protects our heads, wouldn’t that mean he loses his own face in turn?”
After hearing this, Xu Hongji felt that it was reasonable and felt relieved. He nodded and said: "What Uncle Cheng Shan said is reasonable. Even if Duke Jingguo wants to save his own face, he should try his best to protect us."
Wang Yunzhong reminded: "Mr. Guo, we may not encounter catastrophe this time, but we owe Duke Jing a huge favor from now on. In the future..."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Xu Hongji smiled bitterly and said: "I don't need to be reminded by Cheng Shanbo. Before I left the mansion and entered the palace, the masters in the mansion stopped me and gave me countless instructions. This is the truth."
The two of them looked at each other and saw helplessness in each other's eyes. They knew that from now on, there was someone above them who they must not offend.
There is not much morality to talk about in the officialdom. As long as the benefits are sufficient, no one can't betray it. But there is a prerequisite, that is, the other party has no ability to retaliate against you. If you owe a favor to someone like Gao Pragmatic, then there is nothing you can do about it.
It's impossible to pretend that this is not the case... because he is really capable of revenge on you, and you definitely can't withstand his revenge.
Of course "Wei Guogong" is powerful. After all, he is a descendant of Xu Da. Even the people who supported Zhu Yunwen during the Jingnan Campaign failed to eliminate Wei Guogong's line [of course this has a lot to do with Empress Xu]. On the contrary, the Xu family even had an extra Ding Guogong.
Tie.
However, if Gao Jingshi wants to take revenge, he does not necessarily have to cut off the prominent family of Wei Guogong - just get rid of you Xu Hongji, Wei Guogong has a lot of blood! With Gao Jingshi's current authority and honor, as long as he is willing,
The verdict can be overturned at any time, only the people will be moved without moving the title! But they have no room for resistance.
This is the power of power. In the face of absolute power, any resistance is futile. Therefore, if you owe me this favor today, I am afraid that you will never be able to repay it in your lifetime.
Both of them are distinguished and high-ranking officials, but when facing Gao Pragmatic, the chief minister of the government, they don't even have the courage to resist.
The two of them were speechless and fell into silence. They knew that from now on, they could only follow the lead of Gao and pragmatism, and they would never dare to have any thoughts of disobeying Gao and pragmatism. As for the full-scale entry of Beijing forces into Jiangnan, they could only
If you can force a smile, you can try to get some leftovers from this powerful dragon.
At this time, Gao Pragmatic was still dining with the emperor. He knew the emperor's intention very well, but he did not reveal it. Some words can only be understood but cannot be expressed in words.
He believed that after this incident, the nobles in Nanjing should be able to realize who is the real master of the court and who is the person who holds authority on behalf of this master.
"Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, and Yunzhong, Prince of Chengshan, came to see him——"
Following a loud shout from the eunuch of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong hurriedly walked into the Qianqing Palace. Although they were already empty, they could only endure it.
"My lord, Duke Xu Hongji of Wei (Yunzhong, Prince of Chengshan), is here to see the emperor. Long live my emperor."
"You two, please make peace." Zhu Yijun sat on the main seat, his voice could not detect any emotion or anger, and he said calmly: "My dear friends, I have called you here. I believe you also know why I have summoned you."
Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong looked at each other, and then Xu Hongji said bravely: "Your Majesty, the ministers and others have indeed committed negligence, but their loyalty to the emperor can be learned from the sun."
"Oh? Loyal?" Zhu Yijun sneered: "If you are really loyal, you should report the problem immediately when you find it, instead of waiting until the incident comes to light before you come to accuse me."
The faces of Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong became very ugly. Of course they knew that the emperor was trying to beat them. But now that the matter had come to this, they could only bite the bullet and continue to explain.
"Your Majesty, I am indeed guilty, but I have also been deceived." Wang Yunzhong said quickly: "Although I am responsible for supervising the renovation of the palace, the specific matters are handled by Wang Ling, the head of the Maintenance Department of the Nanjing Ministry of Industry.
Yu and others were responsible, but I was not aware of it for a while, so I was deceived by them."
"Really?" Zhu Yijun sneered: "Then why did I hear that you guys got a lot of benefits from it?"
As soon as these words came out, Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong's faces became very ugly. They didn't know what Gao Pragmatic told the emperor before, but they also knew that the emperor was forcing them to express their stance. If they couldn't give a satisfactory answer,
Then I am afraid that what awaits them will be severe punishment.
"Your Majesty, I did receive some gifts from them afterwards, but at the time I thought it was just a normal thank you... I was confused for a moment. Who knew they were so audacious and dared to make false reports and conceal them, and pass them off as good ones.
"After all, Xu Hongji didn't have much experience in officialdom, so he almost said everything after being deceived by Zhu Yijun.
Chengshan Bo Wang Yunzhong, as a noble of the Jingnan Department, had been hanging around in the officialdom of Beijing before coming to Nanjing to serve as a garrison minister. He obviously knew Zhu Yijun better and knew that Zhu Yijun would not care about Xu Hongji's words, so he quickly said: "I'll wait.
I just learned about these inside stories a few days ago, and I was so shocked that I quickly went to court to report the crime... Your Majesty, I and others are willing to hand over all illegal gains, and I only ask that the Emperor can forgive me for this unintentional mistake."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yijun did not continue to attack, but glanced at Gao Pragmatic and winked at him. However, after the emperor finished this action, he continued to say: "Forgiveness?"
After a pause, Zhu Yijun sneered: "Do you know how much money it will cost to renovate this palace because of your dereliction of duty?"
The faces of Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong became very ugly. They had heard something very wrong. The emperor was forcing them to give a more satisfactory answer...perhaps he was asking them to bear the responsibility of resuming work on the Nanjing Palace.
The cost of another repair.
"Your Majesty, I know my crime and I am willing to accept any punishment." Wang Yunzhong said bravely: "But I will never change my mind about my loyalty to the Emperor."
"Loyalty?" Zhu Yijun sneered and said, "I have seen your loyalty. But I want to know even more. If you have made this palace project look like this, will it collapse while I am still here?"
This is pure blackmail. No matter how many tricks are involved in this project, they don't dare to make the safety of the place where the emperor wants to live cannot be guaranteed. They are risking their own heads... No, they are not taking the Nine Tribes seriously.
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Zhu Yijun had read Gao Pragmatic's report and knew that the places where these people did a lot of work were in the palaces and courtyards that the emperor was unlikely to visit often, and they did it quite smartly. They generally looked good, but had a "shelf life"
It didn’t work. Gao Pragmatic even lamented at the time, saying that these people were all “good at fooling people.”
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Zhu Yijun himself immediately figured out the reason. It is not complicated: everyone knows that the emperor's visit to Nanjing is mainly to make a political statement, and it is impossible to stay in Nanjing for a long time.
In this case, as long as the Nanjing Imperial Palace looks fine within a year, it will be fine. Once the emperor leaves, even if the Nanjing Imperial Palace collapses, they can find 10,000 reasons to explain that it is purely a natural disaster.
The faces of Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong became very ugly. They felt that the emperor might not give up on them this time. But the matter was at this point, and they had no other choice.
"Your Majesty..." Xu Hongji gritted his teeth and was about to express his willingness to invest, when Gao Pragmatic suddenly laughed from the side.
When he smiled, the other three people in the room looked at him.
"Why is Yuan Fu laughing?" Zhu Yijun asked with a surprised look on his face. As for Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong, they were uneasy in their hearts. They didn't know whether Gao Pragmatic planned to take advantage of them or add insult to injury.
Gao Pingshi said: "Your Majesty, if we want to discuss who is the main culprit in this repair case, I believe that Wei Guogong and others cannot be counted, and they cannot even be counted as accomplices."
"Oh?" Zhu Yijun frowned and muttered: "How can you see that?"
Gao pragmatically said: "I have already calculated it. Although the amount involved in this case is large, the amount that ended up in the hands of Wei Guogong, Cheng Shanbo and other distinguished nobles was actually only 41 (a quarter), and the big head was not with them at all."
"Is this happening?" Zhu Yijun seemed quite surprised, and then he began to narrow his eyes and look at Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong. Surprisingly, the two men also looked shocked at first, and then kowtowed quickly: "Your Majesty, you
I also heard that Yuan Fu is really the best financial manager in the world, and he found out the flow of funds so quickly."
Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment, then asked Gao pragmatically: "Yuan Fu, what do you think about this..."
Senior executive Shi Ran said: "Although we have the general flow of funds, it is said that who else is involved in the case has not been fully identified. I think that since Wei Guogong and Cheng Shanbo are willing to take responsibility for their crimes, why not present this list? This is
That’s called exchanging merit for crime, isn’t it?”
Without waiting for Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong to answer, Zhu Yijun immediately patted the imperial couch and said: "Yes, since you all said you were deceived and said you were willing to cooperate, I will give you a chance. I want you to go back immediately and report all the people involved in the case.
The names of all the personnel are listed, and no one is allowed to be left out.”
"Yes, I will obey the order." Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong agreed quickly.
"In addition, according to your own words, I want you to immediately turn over all illegal gains to your internal funds." Zhu Yijun continued: "I will ask Dongchang to investigate. If I find that you have concealed something, I will not be lenient.
"
"I obey the decree, how dare I deceive the Holy Majesty." Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong agreed again.
"Okay, please step back." Zhu Yijun waved his hand, indicating that they could leave.
Xu Hongji and Wang Yunzhong, as if they had been granted amnesty, hurriedly bowed and left. After they left, Zhu Yijun looked at Gao Pangshi, shook his head and said: "Rixin, it stands to reason that you have been leading the army for many years, so you shouldn't be so merciful and soft-hearted!"
Gao Pragmatic smiled and said: "After all, your honor is the pillar of the country. Since it is not a serious crime of treason, it should not be lightly punished. As for punishment and confiscation... Your honor is not easy to touch. There are always guilty officials who can be touched."
Zhu Yijun burst out laughing and said: "How can something like this be lost and reaped in the east?"
Gao pragmatic raised his eyebrows slightly and asked with a smile: "Why not?"
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