Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 260 Excerpt
The court meeting ended early, and Emperor Jingwen walked back to the East Palace like a puppet.

The last two hundred secret guards, originally commanded by Emperor Jingwen, received orders from the Supreme Emperor and sealed off the East Palace.

Only then did Emperor Jingwen realize that the ultimate control of the secret guards assigned to him was in the hands of the Supreme Emperor.

But so what if he knew, the East Palace was sealed by two hundred secret guards, and there was no way to communicate with the inside and outside.

Jia Qiang walked towards the cabinet. He was still a little confused at the moment.

This major event that caused Emperor Jingwen to be imprisoned was not planned by him. In fact, even if he planned it, it would not be able to affect the two old censors.

Originally, this matter would not have become such a big deal. If the two old censors did not die to remonstrate, the worst result would be that Emperor Jingwen wrote a letter of self-condemnation and then went to worship the heaven and earth to ask for forgiveness.

However, the two old censors remonstrated with each other to death, and they happened to catch up with the imperial meeting, making the matter reach an unprecedented level.

In the civil service system, it is an honor to remonstrate with someone's death. Once a civil servant does this, the other civil servants will not miss the opportunity to make the dead remonstrating official famous, and they will inevitably make things worse.

Emperor Jingwen also brought it on himself. The previous case confessed by Prince Zhongshun's dead man had greatly damaged Emperor Jingwen's reputation.

Now it happened again that Emperor Jingwen sent troops to Dali Temple to silence him. This behavior made Emperor Jingwen lose the hearts of all his ministers. When the wall fell and everyone pushed it down, no official dared to speak for Emperor Jingwen.

Even those officials who had taken refuge with Emperor Jingwen did not dare to persuade him on that occasion.

If I really want to persuade him, I am afraid that I will become a traitorous minister throughout the ages and be recorded in the annals of history.

Many officials don't think death is terrible, but it is absolutely unacceptable to be written into the annals of history.

"No, if Emperor Jingwen is imprisoned, then the Rongguo Mansion will escape!" Jia Qiang suddenly thought of something.

He couldn't help but shake his head and laugh. Although he didn't have any good impression of Rongguo Mansion, he didn't need to rush to Rongguo Mansion's demise.

He first went to the cabinet lounge to change into a second-grade official robe, and then entered the cabinet hall.

At this moment, the two cabinet bachelors were sitting on the main seats, looking at the papers in their hands, while the other bachelors were doing nothing, waiting for the two cabinet bachelors to delegate tasks.

"Bang!" Academician Tian slapped the book in his hand heavily on the table.

"There has never been such a king since ancient times!" he said angrily.

Academician Deng's face was also full of anger. Originally, according to the way of monarchs and ministers, no matter how angry they were, they would not act like this.

However, the Supreme Emperor imprisoned Emperor Jingwen, and Emperor Jingwen was left with the title of emperor. In addition, what Emperor Jingwen did was unacceptable to the two cabinet bachelors, so they broke out on the spot.

Jia Qiang knew that it was an excerpt from the three-level trial, and he also knew the contents of the excerpt.

It was Lin Ruhai who informed him in advance that once the contents of the book were announced, it would be a huge blow to Emperor Jingwen.

But Lin Ruhai didn't expect that Emperor Jingwen would be imprisoned by the Supreme Emperor before the book was announced.

The contents of the excerpt include many cases interrogated from the mouths of Prince Zhongshun's dead men. Many of these cases were matters that Prince Zhongshun did for Emperor Jingwen.

In addition to murder, there are many cases where no one was killed. Killing soldiers to attack political opponents and make money. It is extremely rare for a king to do this.

From the mouths of the secret guard leaders and secret guard sergeants, many things were also found out. They were all orders issued by Emperor Jingwen. He used killing, poisoning, serious injuries, coercion and other means to achieve his own goals for his own selfish purposes.

This is not a king, this is a mountain king.

In fact, Emperor Jingwen did so many things that he couldn't help.

In the early days, he wanted money but no money, wanted people but no one, wanted power but no power. He was almost a puppet emperor.

So for the sake of money, he asked Prince Zhongshun to find ways to get money. Prince Zhongshun was a guy with no lower limit. While getting money for Emperor Jingwen, he also got some money for himself.

Prince Zhongshun made money, not business. He disliked the money too slowly, so the quickest way was to steal it.

Prince Zhongshun was an open thief, and some wealthy businessmen who came to the capital, and even the families of officials who had a relationship with them, became his targets.

When Emperor Jingwen had no power, many officials refused his orders. He would give in on some things, but there were some things he had to complete, so he asked Prince Zhongshun to send people to kill people to solve the problem.

It was this method that was the smoothest and most suitable for the situation at that time, which made Emperor Jingwen more and more comfortable with it.

Even after Emperor Jingwen gained some power, he would still use such methods secretly.

It's like a child who stole money once, and then found that it was so easy to get money, so he took action again and again. As long as nothing happened, he would keep adding more money until the day he lost it.

This was the case for Emperor Jingwen. He could solve his troubles in the simplest way, so why use complicated means.

That is to say, when dealing with Jia Qiang, considering Jia Qiang's own strength, he did not choose to use dead soldiers to deal with Jia Qiang directly.

Of course, perhaps this option exists, but the time has not yet come to implement it.

The confessions of Prince Zhongshun's dead soldiers and the secret guards would theoretically not appear, because neither the dead soldiers nor the secret guards would confess. However, with Jia Qiang's participation, the impossible became possible. , only then did these confessions appear.

The academics in the cabinet circulated the transcript of the joint review of the three departments, and they were all filled with indignation.

"This document will be presented to the Supreme Emperor. Our cabinet's opinions need to be unified!" Academician Tian said in a deep voice.

"The cabinet's opinion is to ask Emperor Jingwen to abdicate. Do you have any objections?" Academician Deng seemed to have made a decision with Academician Tian, ​​and he asked aloud.

"I agree!"

"I agree!"

……

One by one, cabinet members stood up and expressed their opinions. It was impossible for anyone to remain silent at this moment.

You must know that every member in the cabinet represents a force.

Even Jia Qiang, a newcomer, still has his own power. Dali Temple, Jiu Province Checkpoint, and many military towns in the north are all his apparent power.

"I agree!" Jia Qiang also stood up and expressed her attitude.

None of the cabinet members spoke out against it. They knew very well that once this report was announced, Emperor Jingwen's already notorious reputation would become even more difficult to deal with.

How could such a king rule the world again?

Not to mention that with the Supreme Emperor still around, Emperor Jingwen couldn't even fight with force.

Today's cabinet did not handle other government affairs. It only handled the transcripts of the joint review of the three departments, which were signed and affixed by each cabinet member.

Then everyone stayed in the cabinet, and the two cabinet bachelors sent the Zhezi to the Daming Palace.

Originally, only the young eunuchs had to complete the task of sending the zhezi to the Daming Palace, but this time the zhezi was so important that two cabinet bachelors personally sent it there.

In the Daming Palace, the Supreme Emperor lay tiredly on a chair. He was too old, and what had just happened had consumed a lot of his energy.

He thought of Jia Qiang's massage. When he coughed, Jia Qiang's comfort would make his whole body feel comfortable. "Master, Academicians Tian and Deng are waiting outside the palace gate. They said they are here to give away the coupons!" Dai Quan walked up to the Supreme Emperor's ear and whispered softly.

"Bring me a cup of tea, make it stronger, and then let them in!" the Supreme Emperor ordered, rubbing his head.

Dai Quan quickly went to pour the tea. He carefully put in the tea leaves. After letting them go once, he thought about it and added a few more.

He knew that too much tea would be bad for the Emperor's health, so he would not rely on others to do this, but would only handle it carefully by himself.

After placing the tea in front of the Supreme Emperor, he went to inform the two cabinet bachelors.

The Emperor took a sip of strong tea, which made him feel better.

"Old minister, I pay my respects to the Supreme Emperor!" The two cabinet ministers entered the hall and knelt down to salute the Supreme Emperor.

"Give me a seat if you are flat!" the Supreme Emperor ordered.

A young eunuch brought a stool, and two cabinet bachelors, Xie En, sat down.

"Your Majesty, this is the document that was reviewed by the three departments. Please review it!" Academician Tian said, holding the document in his hands.

Dai Quan took the fold and sent it to the Supreme Emperor.

"What is the opinion of your cabinet?" the Supreme Emperor asked as he opened the fold.

"Prince Zhongshun reduced the prince's title to a commoner, banned him forever, and Emperor Jingwen abdicated the throne!" Academician Tian replied in a deep voice.

The Supreme Emperor looked at Zhezi's hand and paused. He did not expect that Academician Tian would give such an opinion.

You must know that making such a decision requires the approval of the entire cabinet.

Emperor Jingwen's time as emperor is not short. Even if he cannot influence the cabinet much, there will always be no one in the cabinet to speak for him.

The Supreme Emperor continued to look at Zhezi, and each of the crimes made him understand why no one in the cabinet spoke up for Emperor Jingwen.

If he hadn't had the book in hand, he would have doubted whether the contents in the book were false.

Of course, he knew better that if he could submit a written statement and it was the result of a joint review by the three departments, it would be impossible to fake it.

At this time, he was almost completely disappointed with Emperor Jingwen.

It is not surprising that a dignified king would do some dirty things in private. Kings are also human beings, and they will make mistakes. When they have great power, they will also get lost in power.

But after the king does something dirty, he needs to clean up the aftermath and leave no trace behind.

The best king, the dirty things he does cannot be linked to himself. Even if he is found out, it has nothing to do with the emperor.

But look at Emperor Jingwen, there are so many cases one after another, and they all point at Emperor Jingwen's nose and say that he did it.

The Supreme Emperor also knew that someone must have used tricks to make the dead soldiers and secret guards talk, but he no longer wanted to ask about those things. Now that he had reached this stage, he had to consider Emperor Jingwen's final disposition.

This matter will not be decided for a while. It is not easy for Daqian to change an emperor.

"I agree that Prince Zhongshun will reduce his title to the rank and file and find a two-acre meager field with grass and reeds on the outskirts of Beijing so that he can stay there forever!" the Supreme Emperor said in a deep voice.

He did not say how to deal with Emperor Jingwen. The two cabinet bachelors also understood that the matter was serious and it was impossible to make a decision on how to deal with Emperor Jingwen in a short time.

"The cabinet will write the document, and then send it to the Daming Palace, where it will stamp it!" the Supreme Emperor continued.

This sentence decided the outcome of Prince Zhongshun. Even though he was a prince and the most powerful prince in Daqian, he had no ability to object after the cabinet and the Supreme Emperor reached a common opinion.

After seeing off the two cabinet bachelors, the Supreme Emperor did not speak for a long time.

Dai Quan quietly took away the strong tea in front of the Supreme Emperor and replaced it with a cup of light tea.

"Choose a fertile one from among the palace maids, and let her spend the rest of her life with Prince Zhongshun!" the Supreme Emperor commanded with a long sigh.

Although he is incompetent, he is his own son after all, and he must always leave a heir for him.

What the Supreme Emperor said was fertile, did not mean the beautiful ones.

The aesthetics of Daqian is morbid beauty, and thin women are regarded as beautiful, while women who are fertile have thick bodies, and even having a few children will not have any impact.

Dai Quan bowed and agreed, and he soon had a suspicion in his heart.

The only people in the palace who meet these conditions are the maids of the Huanyi Bureau.

The maids there often wash clothes, and many of them are physically strong.

The members of the cabinet received replies from the two cabinet bachelors and learned about the punishment of Prince Zhongshun, so they ended their work early today.

Jia Qiang left the palace and headed towards Jiahou's mansion.

When he arrived at Ningrong Street, he found that there were many carriages and horses in front of Rongguo Mansion. He was secretly surprised at why there were so many visitors to Rongguo Mansion.

However, he was surprised and had no intention of prying, and was too lazy to take care of the affairs of Rongguo Mansion.

"Sir, Mrs. Lin is waiting for you in the study!" Feicui reported immediately after Jia Qiang entered the house.

Jia Qiang was not surprised by Lin Ruhai's arrival.

Now that the power of the cabinet has increased greatly, many officials may want to use the cabinet to inquire about the response from the imperial court.

That is to say, Jia Qiang has few friends, so not many people come to visit her.

"Master, there is one more thing. Many debtors came to Rongguo Mansion. I heard that Wang Xifeng borrowed a lot of money outside!" Feicui added in a very gossipy tone.

Only then did Jia Qiang know why there were so many carriages and horses outside Rongguo Mansion. It turned out that they were here to collect debts.

The reason why Wang Xifeng borrowed a lot of money was because the Rongguo Mansion really didn't have much money. In addition, she borrowed money without interest through the relationship with the Rongguo Mansion, and then transferred it to loan sharks. In this way, she could get more money by doing the opposite. Much silver.

It's just that her actions are based on the stable status of Rongguo Mansion.

At today's court meeting, the Supreme Emperor imprisoned Emperor Jingwen. Emperor Jingwen had no power and only had the empty title of emperor.

Not to mention Concubine Xiande's Yuanchun. Emperor Jingwen lost power, and Concubine Xiande lost even more power.

Rong Guofu, which originally relied on Yuanchun, also plummeted, from being sought after by everyone to being forced into debt.

It is not easy to get back the usury loans that have not expired. Many people in the government did not know about the money Wang Xifeng borrowed.

At this moment, Wang Xifeng was also in a panic, and she and Jia Lian were at a loss.

(End of this chapter)