Jinyi Town Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 123 Is there a backstage

On August 40, the 29th year of Jiajing, the imperial envoy He Liu returned to the capital with Zhao Jianzhi's body and confession; witness Zhao Kui returned to the capital.

Inside the main hall of Yongshou Palace.

Yan Song, the chief assistant of the cabinet, Xu Jie, the second assistant, Li Chunfang, a member of the cabinet, Yan Shifan, the elder of the Xiaoge, Zhang Juzheng, the minister of the Ministry of war, Gao Gong, the minister of the household department, Lu Bing, the commander of Jinyiwei, and He Liu, a hundred households of Jinyiwei, knelt down in front of the hall.

Lu Fang stood beside the green gauze curtain and waited on him with the palm seal of the supervisor of ceremonies.

Emperor Jiajing whispered something to Lu Fang.

Lu Fang shouted: "Give a seat to Elder Yan Ge."

Two young eunuchs carried a chair into the main hall, and helped Yan Song who was over eighty years old to sit down.

"Boom~" Emperor Jiajing knocked a copper in the green gauze curtain.

He Liu knew that this was the secret behind the emperor's request to report the defeat of Datong Wei.

He Liu clasped his hands and said, "Report to the Emperor, the defeat of the Datong Guards was due to the collusion and treason of the Datong governor Zhao Jianzhi!"

As soon as He Liu's words came out, all the ministers showed strange expressions.

Li Hu, the general soldier of Datong, belongs to Yan Song.Governor Zhao Jianzhi is a member of King Yu.

Originally, Yan Song was ready to take the blame for Li Hu, the defeated general.Who would have thought that Jin Yiwei Lao Liu in front of him would throw the blame on King Yu's side with a single sentence!
"Boom~" Emperor Jiajing knocked again.That means "go on".

He Liudao: "Zhao Jianzhi was greedy for rewards and high positions from the Tatars. When the Tatars attacked the city, he ordered his subordinates to open the northern gate for the Tatars; he tampered with the gunpowder used by the defenders; he also sent his cronies to spread rumors in the city. Bewitching..."

Second assistant Xu Jie knew that now he had to stand up and defend Zhao Jianzhi!Because saying that Zhao Jian is collaborating with the enemy is tantamount to attacking Prince Yu!

Xu Jie said: "He Liu. Zhao Jianzhi is a loyal minister who set himself on fire and died for the country! If you say that he is collaborating with the enemy and treason without evidence, it is slandering Zhongliang!"

He Liu cupped his hands and said, "Xu Cifu, my subordinates dare not talk nonsense. Zhao Jianzhi didn't burn himself to death! He found a corpse and pretended to set himself on fire, but in fact he ran to the Tatar's Huerbato and did it there. The tax collector! This subordinate personally took more than a dozen brothers from Jinyiwei to the grassland to catch him and bring him back to Datongwei!"

Xu Jie asked in surprise, "What? Where is Zhao Jianzhi now?"

He Liu replied: "Dead. On the outskirts of Datongwei, he broke free from the rope, beat my brother and fled. My brother accidentally killed him with a knife!"

Xu Jie was suspicious: "Could it be that He Liu murdered and framed Zhao Jianzhi? It must be so! The generals and local officials at the border often 'run away' after defeat. It must be that Zhao Jianzhi was afraid of taking the responsibility of losing Datong, so he pretended to commit suicide He died for his country and found a place to hide. He Liu found him, killed him to silence him, and framed him as collaborator!"

Xu Jie didn't believe that Zhao Jianzhi, Gao Gong's student, would do such a nasty thing.

Xu Jie said half-sarcastically: "You said that you took Jin Yiwei's people to the grassland to arrest Zhao Jianzhi? They are all yours. Naturally, whatever you say, they will follow suit."

He Liudao: "The people who saw Zhao Jianzhi working as a tax collector for the Tatars, besides my subordinates, were the governors of the Zuoge Third Battalion! In addition, Zhao Kui, Zhao Jianzhi's nephew, was ordered by him to open the door for the Tatars. The city gate. The present witness Zhao Kui has been brought back to the capital by me. Xu Cifu can interrogate as much as possible. Also, a few days before Zhao Jianzhi escaped and was executed on the spot, he wrote a statement in his own handwriting, stamped his fingerprints, and drew a detainment! "

Zhang Juzheng knew that it was time to help Xu Cifu.He said, "Confessions can be forged!"

He Liu took out Zhao Jianzhi's confession from his bosom, and said, "Here is the confession. Xu Cifu, Zhang Butang, and Gao Butang are all great calligraphers! You can tell the authenticity once you test it."

Emperor Jiajing shouted a word in the dragon tent: "Check!"

Cold sweat broke out on the head of Hubu Shangshu Gao Gong: He was afraid that Zhao Jianzhi would confess himself as the mastermind behind the scenes in the confession!

Lu Fang said: "Over there, there is the memorial that Zhao Jianzhi submitted before. Somebody, go and get it, and compare it with Xu Cifu, Zhang Butang, and Gao Butang!"

A young eunuch led the way.Not long after, I brought Zhao Jianzhi's previous memorials.

Xu Jie compared the memorial with Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng carefully, and Xu Jie had to admit: "To the emperor, this is indeed Zhao Jianzhi's handwriting!"

Gao Gong let out a long breath.He felt strange, he knew Zhao Jianzhi too well!A little man without bones!It fell into the hands of Jin Yiwei, why didn't he confess to him as the instigator?Could it be that He Liu was deliberately protecting him, the Minister of the Household Department?
He Liucai didn't want to protect Gao Gong.He just didn't want King Yu to be involved!Gao Gong is King Yu's attendant and one of the closest people to King Yu.If Gao Gong becomes the culprit who caused the death of tens of thousands of soldiers at the border, then King Yu's position as heir may be unstable!
Arresting Zhao Jianzhi just made King Yu lose face.Grasping Gaogong will make King Yu lose his position as the crown prince.To choose one of the two, He Liu can only choose the former.

Zhang Juzheng didn't know the inside story, he said: "The confession is not forged, it may be obtained by torture..."

What Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng said just now meant that Zhao Jianzhi was framed.It's self-explanatory who framed and framed, isn't it Jin Yiwei who handled the case?

Lu Bing, the commander of the Jinyiwei, finally couldn't bear it any longer. He said, "Could it be that Zhang Butang is questioning that the dozens of brothers sent by the Jinyiwei to Datong are colluding with each other, insisting on calling a Zhongliang who 'self-immolated' and martyred his country a real one?" A traitor? Could it be that Zhang Butang is questioning our Jin Yiwei's loyalty to the emperor?"

When Lu Bing mentioned the word "self-immolation", he deliberately emphasized his tone.Bringing back Zhao Jianzhi's body at least shows that Zhao Jianzhi is deceiving the emperor!Regardless of whether he is treasonous or not, just for deceiving the emperor, he deserves to die.

Zhang Juzheng quickly defended: "I didn't mean that."

He Liudao: "There are confessions and witnesses. Zhao Jianzhi is indeed the chief culprit in the defeat of Datong."

Emperor Jiajing asked He Liu loudly in the green gauze curtain, "He Liu, does Zhao Jianzhi, who defected to the enemy and treasonable country, have any background?"

Xu Jie, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were all shocked: they were afraid that He Liu would say the word "King Yu".

Yan Song and Yan Shifan were secretly delighted, and they only waited for He Liu to say the word "Yuwang" to see how the Yuwang party would end.

However, He Liu said to Emperor Jiajing word by word: "My Majesty, Zhao Jianzhi has no backer. This fellow has taken refuge in the Tatars only for the generous rewards and high officials' salary of the Tatars."

Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Yan Shifan wanted to speak up, but it made him worse.But Yan Song, his father, winked at him quietly, which meant: Since Li Hu has been exonerated, he should accept it as soon as he is good!
Emperor Jiajing said: "There are both personal and physical evidence. In my opinion, Zhao Jianzhi's collusion with the enemy and traitorous country can be done for real! Gao Gong, Zhao Jianzhi is a student who worships under your school. You are doing a good job as a teacher!"

Gao Gong fell to his knees with a "plop" and said, "I'm guilty!"

Emperor Jiajing did not let Gao Gong get up, but said to Lv Fang: "Prepare the decree. The former governor of Datong, Zhao Jianzhi, colluded with the enemy and treasoned the country, and punished the three clans. Li Hu, the general of Datong, was wronged, and Wu San, the general of Zhenguo, stayed on as the general of Datong. "

Lu Fang said: "I will draw up an order immediately."

Emperor Jiajing said: "Let's all go down. He Liu stays."

Not long after, the officials withdrew from the main hall of Yongshou Palace.He Liu and Emperor Jiajing were left in the hall.

Emperor Jiajing asked He Liu sullenly: "He Liu, I'll ask you again, Zhao Jianzhi, do you have a backer?"

(End of this chapter)