Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1088 Still under control
Wuchang Mansion in Huguang, the thoroughfare of nine provinces, is an important stronghold of the Chu faction. Although it is not as prosperous as Nanjing, it is still comparable to the big cities in the south of the Yangtze River like Suzhou and Hangzhou.

After inspecting the horse troops in Huguang, Wang Yan came to Wuchang. However, he did not stay in the camp arranged by Wu Jinxi, the governor of Huguang, but next to the official school in Hankou New City. The rest of the time is spent fishing by the river and playing with the family.

He completely put on a posture of not leaving for the time being, as if he wanted to escape the summer heat in Wuchang, but the key point is that Wuchang is not a place to escape the summer heat.

In a flash of time, it was June, and the rice fields on the vast lake were golden. The summer wind blew past, setting off golden waves and the fragrance of rice.

Outside Wuchang Mansion, on a field ridge, Wang Yan was wearing a straw hat and rolled up his trouser legs, sitting by the rice field, covered in sweat, and several officials around him also looked like this.

There is no other way, the king of Chu wants to create an image of being close to the people, and go to the fields to harvest rice in person, and many officials can't just stand by the roadside and just watch, they can only sacrifice their lives to accompany the gentleman, and go to the fields to harvest together.

Wang Yan called a few old farmers, sat beside him, gave them some pastries, asked about this year's harvest while eating, and asked them how their lives were going.

Seeing the scene in front of him, Jin Bao, who was next to him, immediately asked for a painter to paint the picture, then engrave it, and print it in the official mansion newspaper for circulation among the people.

"Di Bao" is the earliest newspaper in my country, which appeared as early as the Warring States Period, but some people say it began in the Western Han Dynasty, in short, it is very early.

"Dibao", also known as "Dichao", is also known as "chaobao", "tiaobao" and "miscellaneous newspaper".

When the mansion newspaper developed to the Song and Ming dynasties, non-governmental businessmen also participated in it, copying the imperial government's decrees, engraving and printing, and some even attached comments, and then sold them in the market.

Wang Yan originally wanted to know about the people's sentiments in Huguang, but he made a show of doing it like this, which made him dumbfounded. Although Wang Yan felt a little awkward, he didn't say anything to stop him.

At this time, a group of Jinyiwei wearing flying fish suits and carrying embroidered spring knives came galloping from a distance on war horses.

The leader Yiqi hurriedly pulled back the horse by the side of the rice field, fearing that if he didn't control the horse and stepped on the rice, Wang Yan would not be able to spare him.

In the system of Ming Dynasty, Jin Yiwei directly obeyed the emperor's orders and was not subject to the control of the cabinet.Wang Yan is now the regent, performing some of the emperor's powers, and Jin Yiwei is under his command.

Wang Yan handed over the command of the Five Loyalty Army, but the command of Jin Yiwei is still in his hands, and he has no plans to hand it over for the time being.

The civil official group hates the Jinyiwei organization, but Wang Yan is very cautious when using the Jinyiwei, mainly for scouting news, obtaining intelligence, and even participating in anti-corruption. To be arrested, it is necessary to report the crime to the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and then take joint action.

By doing so, he made the bureaucracy forget the horror of Jin Yiwei to a certain extent.

The person who came was Yu Taichu, he dismounted from the horse, handed over the reins to his subordinates, and holding the Xiuchun knife in one hand, he hurried towards Wang Yan.

Wang Yan was talking to several old farmers, when Lu Shikui, who was beside him, saw Yu Taichu running over, he bent down and whispered something in Wang Yan's ear.

Hearing this, Wang Yan turned his head and saw Jin Yiwei who was coming from the ridge of the field. His eyes changed slightly. After a while, he turned his head and said to the old farmers with a smile that he still had business to do.

Several old farmers left with great interest, and Lu Shikui immediately led his bodyguards to form a circle around Wang Yan, holding their knives on their handles, with their backs to Wang Yan.

"Humble job, pay homage to Your Highness!" Yu Taichu walked directly into the circle, then bowed to Wang Yan who was sitting barefoot on the field ridge with one knee.

Holding an ear of rice in his hand, Wang Yan nodded, motioned him to sit down beside him with his eyes, and then asked in a deep voice, "How is the investigation going?"

After Yu Taichu sat down, he quickly replied in a low voice: "Reporting to Your Highness, Jin Yiwei has already found out that the attack on the mission group was indeed caused by the collusion between King Tang and King Lu and Shimadzu, and asked Shimadzu to do it."

"Is the evidence conclusive?" Wang Yan's expression darkened.

"It's not wrong, Jin Yiwei has already found out everything, but Tang Wang and the others acted very cautiously, and did not leave any clues from the beginning to the end."

Wang Yan frowned, "That is to say, even if it is known that they were involved in this matter, there is no evidence to convict them."

Yu Taichu nodded, and said in a hateful voice: "The humble job dispatched a team of hundreds of households, pretending to be businessmen, to Japan to capture one of the key figures, Tagawa Shichizaemon. The humble job thought that as long as he was brought back to the country, he would be able to obtain The key evidence is that Shichizaemon committed suicide as soon as Jin Yiwei arrived in Japan!"

"This Shichizaemon seems to be the elder brother of Zheng Guo!" Wang Yan was a little surprised. When he was in Guangzhou, he also bought some weapons in Japan through this Qizaemon. He didn't expect Zheng Chenggong to be so ruthless. can give up.

"It is indeed Zheng Zhilong who adopted Tian Chuan's son!"

"Did Jin Yiwei see the corpse?"

"That's not true, but there are quite a few Japanese who claim to have seen Shichizaemon die!"

Wang Yan shook his head and said thoughtfully: "Continue to investigate! In addition, Shichizaemon died as soon as Jinyiwei arrived in Japan. This is too strange. You need to check inside Jinyiwei to see if there are any spies."

Yu Taichu nodded his head heavily, "The humble job also feels strange, and I have already asked people to investigate again!"

Wang Yan nodded slightly, and suddenly asked: "How about the private soldiers recruited by King Tang and King Lu on Taiwan Island?"

Tang Lu trained private soldiers on Taiwan Island, thinking that Wang Yan didn't know about it, but the clan of the Ming Dynasty was not of one mind. Not all clans had the same ambition as Tang Lu. They thought that Taiwan Island was hanging overseas, and it was difficult to know about the pilgrimage. , but Wang Yan did not relax about the clan on Taiwan Island.

There is King Yu who wants his life on the island, he is not a peaceful master, what if he is caught off guard and ambushed again?Half of the reason why Wang Yan's bodyguards are always with him, so afraid of death is thanks to King Yu.

"Reporting to Your Highness, the insider reported that they recruited about 3 people in the name of recruiting Zhuang Ding. In February, the former Guizhou General Soldier Pixiong had quietly gone to the island to help them train troops. It is said that they are attacking Taiwan. The Dadu country in the middle of the island is preparing to train its troops by war."

Pixiong turned out to be a warlord in Guizhou, who had not always obeyed the imperial court's orders and insisted on recruiting troops and collecting taxes. After paying some money, I was saved from prison, but I didn't expect to turn to Tang Lu now.

When Wang Yan heard that Tang Lu had recruited 3 people so quickly, he couldn't help being a little surprised. If they were allowed to develop like this, when he went to the Northern Expedition, these people would suddenly attack from behind, and he might be defeated and die.

After the Manchus took control of Zhungeer, their strength increased greatly. To deal with the Manchus, the Ming Dynasty had to strengthen its own strength. Strengthening the strength of the cavalry was part of it. In addition, it had to eliminate internal threats. Tang Lu did this , Wang Yan did not dare to attack the Manchus in the north.

Wang Yan was silent for a while, and suddenly asked again: "Where is the third prince Zhu? Is there any news?"

The third prince Zhu is called by the folks, and I have heard it a lot, so Wang Yan usually said that.

Since the civil uprising in Jinhua, in the south of the Yangtze River, there have been rumors that the third prince Zhu is still alive from time to time, and there are even voices that he is too young to be a director. The third prince Zhu should be enthroned so that Ming can regain the north.

Wang Yan had a keen sense of smell, and felt that this was not a folk rumor, but someone who wanted to create momentum, so he ordered Jin Yiwei to conduct strict investigations.

Hearing Wang Yan's question, Yu Taichu's face turned serious, "Your Highness, Jinhua civil uprising, and Yuyao Hujiazhuang's extermination case, Jin Yiwei has been investigating for a long time, and finally made a breakthrough a few days ago!"

"Oh?" Wang Yan looked at him and couldn't help asking, "What did you find?"

"I found an old soldier in Yuyao. Judging from the information I learned from him, I am afraid that the third prince is really real, and I am afraid that the third prince has fallen into the hands of King Lu!"

Wang Yan raised his eyebrows, King Lu created so many troubles, it turned out that he had mastered the third prince Zhu and wanted to play a big game of chess.

(End of this chapter)