In late May, negative remarks about Prince Donggong spread in Daliang and intensified.
As a result, the imperial court began to intervene in public opinion. On the one hand, it controlled the spread of rumors, and on the other hand, it organized personnel from the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Rites to go to the Northern First Army barracks still stationed in northern Xinjiang to thoroughly investigate the matter of "donation from the East Palace Party" in order to provide information to the Prince of the East Palace.
A clean slate.
After hearing the news, Zhou Min, an aide to Prince Zhao Hongli of the Eastern Palace, suggested that he go to Northern Xinjiang in person to thoroughly check the account books before the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Rites, and count the gains during the Northern Xinjiang campaign, so as to avoid any mistakes and being caught by Yong Wang Hongyu.
At that time, Luo Yao, another staff member of the East Palace who heard these remarks with his own ears, argued with Zhou Min as usual, but unfortunately he still could not quarrel with Zhou Min.
In the end, Prince Zhao Hongli agreed to the matter and entrusted Zhou Min to go to the station where the First Army of the North was stationed to take charge of the matter.
At this time, the "Northern First Army" was mostly stationed in the areas of "Linfen", "Quwo" and "Anyi" in the west of Hedongjun. Of course, this refers to the "Northern First Army", as for the manipulation behind the scenes.
of this army
The representatives of the nobles of the East Palace Party, the heads of the family, have always been temporarily living in "Anyi", and the baggage, grain, and gold and silver jewelry captured during the war were eventually transported to "Anyi"
.
Well, originally, according to the agreement, the Donggong Party forces planned to digest the property and land obtained during the Northern Xinjiang Campaign internally, and divide the proceeds equally in proportion to the amount of effort they had made.
However, some time ago, due to Yongwang Hongyu's attack, all the gains of the Yongwang Party in northern Xinjiang were handed over to the court, so that Zhao Hongli, the prince of the East Palace, was forced to have no choice but to be persuaded by Zhou Min.
After reaching an agreement, he made an independent decision and handed over these huge war profits to the court. This made the representatives of the nobles and family heads who temporarily lived in Anyi very dissatisfied.
Of course, dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, but it does not mean that any nobles broke away from the Donggong faction and switched to King Yong. In fact, the rumors about Daliang Chuanlun were just lies deliberately released by someone in order to destabilize them.
Inside the East Palace Party.
On May 30th, the last day of the month, Zhou Min arrived in Anyi.
At that time, Wang Yu, the grandfather of Zhao Hongli, the prince of the East Palace, and the head of the Wang family, was in Anyi. When he heard that Zhou Min had arrived in Anyi, he immediately sent someone to summon Zhou Min for questioning.
After all, the reason why he hurried from Daliang to Anyi in the first place was to discuss the matter with the noble families of the Donggong Party. However, before they could come to a conclusion, the Donggong side came with a move to kill first and then tell the story.
He advocated handing over the war interests of the Donggong family to the imperial court.
Regarding this, the aristocratic family members in the East Palace were very angry, and Wang Yu saw all this.
Therefore, as soon as Zhou Min arrived in Anyi today, he was summoned by Wang Yu to question him.
"How can you encourage the prince to make his own decisions and hand over all the people's income to the court?"
In response to Wang Yu's question, Zhou Min was neither anxious nor annoyed, and slowly explained: "My lord, I am instigating the prince. You must know that given the situation of the prince at that time, not even a day can be delayed..."
Fight for danger
It is no less than a battle on the battlefield, how can it be delayed for three to five days? Even if the East Palace made the correct response the day after King Yong launched the attack, there are still unfavorable remarks about the prince in Daliang today, let alone a delay of three days.
Five days?”
Wang Yu was left speechless by Zhou Min. After all, almost all the strategies Zhou Min used were conspiracies that could be put on the table. He was not afraid of being exposed at all. Otherwise, the resourceful Luo Yao would not have caught him so far.
There is no way Zhou Min can handle it.
"Why did Mr. Zhou come to Anyi today?" Wang Yu asked suspiciously.
In fact, Wang Yu was somewhat wary of Zhou Min. After all, Luo Yao, another staff member of the East Palace, had mentioned to him many times that Zhou Min was a member of King Yong and a spy.
But unfortunately, Luo Yao has not been able to catch Zhou Min so far, so Wang Yu is also a little confused: Is Zhou Min really as Luo Yao said, a spy sent by King Yong, or is he a spy sent by King Yong?
He said that in fact, there was something wrong with Luo Yao's character. As Zhou Min said, he didn't like others.
After hearing this, Zhou Min explained: "In recent days, rumors that are unfavorable to the prince have spread throughout Daliang, which has seriously affected the prince's reputation. Therefore, the imperial court has intervened in the matter... A few days ago, a Langguan from the Ministry of Punishment reported to the imperial court.
This matter was investigated in the hope of finding out the truth. So the court
So he sent the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Rites to investigate the matter thoroughly... Sir, you and I both know that this is when King Yong started to attack the prince. Therefore, the prince asked me to come to Anyi, prepare the account books in advance, and seal the income.
The money and goods must not be used by King Yong's people."
Having said this, Zhou Min lowered his voice and asked in a low voice: "Master Zhang, before I count the spoils of war, I hope you can tell me thoroughly that no one has touched those things, right?"
"This..." Wang Yu deliberately showed hesitation, wanting to see Zhou Min's reaction to this.
Unexpectedly, when Zhou Min saw his expression, a look of horror suddenly appeared on his face, and he exclaimed: "Zhang Guozhang, these things cannot be moved! ... You, you are pushing the East Palace into the fire pit!"
Seeing Zhou Min's anxious expression, Wang Yu immediately dispelled many of his doubts about him, and hurriedly greeted: "Sir, don't be surprised, sir, don't be surprised, I am a person who doesn't know the importance of things?" At this point, his eyes flashed.
Turning around, he pretended not to care and said: "It's just some young people who took some small things...it doesn't matter."
But after hearing this, Zhou Min frowned deeply and said in a deep voice: "Master Zhang, if in the past, this matter would not have been a big deal, but now it is different from the past. King Yong's people are staring at us.
Well...even if we take one tael of silver secretly, King Yong will exaggerate it to tens of thousands taels. When the time comes, how will you handle yourself in the East Palace?"
Having said this, Zhou Min took a deep breath and said categorically: "Master Zhang, I hope you will come forward to summon the nobles, representatives of the aristocratic families and heads of families who are in Anyi at the moment, and Zhou will personally talk to them!...This time in Bei
Even if it’s a piece of cloth or a piece of silver, I can’t get my hands on what I’ve gained in the territory!”
Seeing Zhou Min's solemn attitude, Wang Yu could not doubt him. He immediately nodded and said, "Okay, I will contact everyone immediately."
After Wang Yu left, Zhou Min's entourage took a few glances outside the tent of the military camp. Seeing no one around, they scratched their heads and said to Zhou Min: "Sir, why did you go back to remind the people in the East Palace? Wouldn't it be impossible to arrest them?
The handle to the East Palace?"
As soon as he heard this, he knew that this follower was actually a member of King Yong. He might be a secret agent and a top-notch thief.
"Silence!" Zhou Min frowned and interrupted the entourage, then lowered his voice and explained: "Wang Yu, it was clear that he was testing me just now. Huh, it's all because of that guy Luo Yao..."
"What about this?" the attendant asked hesitantly.
After hearing this, Zhou Min showed an unpredictable look on his face, and said contemptuously: "Do you really think that the Donggong Party has no selfish motives? Haha... If I relax supervision on them, they will doubt my identity; but if I push hard,
In turn, they will come to me privately and beg me to relax my standards... They have invested a lot in the First Army of the North, and now they have gained nothing. Do you really think they have no resentment in their hearts?"
"Is that so?" the entourage asked in surprise: "Don't they understand that this matter is related to the East Palace?"
"This is the human heart." Zhou Min glanced at his entourage and said with a half-smile: "Just watch, they will come to me..."
The next day, Wang Yu summoned many nobles from the East Palace faction, representatives of aristocratic families, and family heads who were in Anyi.
Zhou Min attended this meeting.
During the meeting, he first apologized to everyone present on behalf of Prince Zhao Hongli of the East Palace, and explained to them "why the East Palace has to make independent decisions and decide to hand over everyone's income to the imperial court." Those impassioned and righteous words impressed everyone present.
The noble sons were speechless.
At the end, Zhou Min also made a vivid metaphor.
"...Everyone, in my opinion, for a towering tree, the prince is like the root, and you are the branches and leaves. If the root does not exist, how can the branches and leaves be attached?"
After listening to Zhou Min's words, everyone present was speechless, or one person asked: "Mr. Zhou, is it really impossible to intercept even the slightest bit?"
"No!" Zhou Min, who was secretly sneering in his heart, shook his head with a righteous face and said soothingly: "Don't worry, everyone, the East Palace will definitely give you corresponding compensation in the future, but this time... you can't!"
The nobles and children of aristocratic families left with disappointment.
In the next few days, Zhou Min put on an attitude of comparing every penny he spent, and began to take stock of the ledgers and physical loot presented by the Donggong Party.
Unsurprisingly, after taking a few glances at Zhou Min, he guessed that the things presented could never be everything.
So he found Wang Yu, hoping that Wang Yu could cooperate with him and talk to those people.
Maybe Wang Yu was still doubting Zhou Min's identity at first, but now that he saw Zhou Min's business-like attitude, he felt a little embarrassed.
You must know that the aristocratic families within the Donggong Party are attached to the Donggong because of their interests, but this time because of the relationship with the Donggong, those families have suffered huge losses, and it is difficult for the Wang family to live in the middle of it.
Therefore, he implicitly asked Zhou Min if he could do something with the account books and donate some war profits to the court "less" so that the noble families could make up for some of their losses.
Zhou Min, of course, sternly refused: "Master Zhang, those people are confused, are you confused too? How long has it been since then, and you still care about this?"
Wang Yu's face was full of embarrassment and he said: "But if Mr. is so serious, people's hearts will be scattered... Sir, haven't the people from the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Rites not arrived in Anyi yet? Don't you have the final say on how to write this account book?
?”
Zhou Min still refused sternly: "No!... It's hard for me to explain to the prince."
Seeing this, Wang Yu went back with regret. As a result, many people came to visit Zhou Min one after another that night, asking him to do something with the account books.
After being persuaded by this group of people for a day or two, Zhou Min finally relented: "Come on, in that case, Zhou will have the courage to make a false account for you... However, since you have taken the things, you must
Give me a receipt so that I can give it to the prince. Zhou Mou made it known in advance that since you have taken the things today, they will not have a share in the compensation that the prince will give you in the future."
The people who came together to persuade Zhou Min looked at each other and felt that this was acceptable.