Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Thinking of this, Chongzhen suddenly asked Li Ruolian: "Li Ruolian, I want you to go back to Beijing to gather the old troops who instigated the rebellion against Jinyiwei, secretly set up a spy network, provide the court with information on the establishment of slaves, and assassinate the big men who established slaves. Are you willing to go?"

"I am willing." Li Ruolian didn't even hesitate at all, "I will go wherever my Majesty tells me to go."

Chongzhen nodded happily. There is no need to doubt Li Ruolian's loyalty and courage. For a courtier who is willing to die for the Ming Dynasty, it is necessary to doubt his honesty and courage?
Li Ruolian asked again: "My lord, when will I leave?"

"Don't worry now." Chongzhen shook his head and said, "You have to find a suitable opportunity, and then act in a play, otherwise you will return to Beijing so abruptly, it will be strange if Jiannu doesn't arrest you."

Li Ruolian thought for a while, and then said: "My lord, why don't you take this opportunity?"

"Okay." Chongzhen thought for a while and then said, "I will take this opportunity to pretend to abolish the Jinyiwei, and then you will secretly incite the officers and soldiers of the Jinyiwei to defect. Remember, the other officers and soldiers really defected, otherwise they will not be able to fool Jiannu at all."

"Understood." Li Ruolian said solemnly, "I only select those Jinyiwei officers and soldiers who will really defect."

Chongzhen nodded slightly, and then asked: "You are talking about coercion, who will be the mastermind behind the scenes?"

"It's hard to say." Li Ruolian said, "Maybe the remnants of the Donglin Party are taking the opportunity to take revenge on Shi Kefa, or maybe someone covets Shi Kefa's position as chief assistant."

Chongzhen asked in a deep voice: "You mean Xie Xuelong?"

"The suspicion of Mr. Lu Ge cannot be ruled out." Li Ruolian shook his head and said, "Because after Shi Kefa was executed, the one who took over as chief assistant must be Mr. Jie Ge, so according to the inference that whoever benefits the most is the culprit behind the scenes, Mr. Xie Ge may also be difficult. Escaping the pretentious attacks of the imperial historians, dismissing his post and going to court may be the only ending, if this is the case, Elder Lu Ge will become the chief assistant, so it cannot be ruled out that this is his plan to kill two birds with one stone."

"It's impossible for Lu Zhenfei." Chongzhen said decisively.

Li Ruolian was silent when he heard the words, he would not argue with the emperor.

"I already know who instigated this matter." After Chongzhen finished speaking, he turned his head and told Wang Cheng'en, "Wang Daban, call the cabinet assistant Xie Xuelong to come to see me."

"The old slave takes the order." Wang Chengen took the order and left.

Chongzhen asked Li Ruolian again: "Where is Shi Ke legal person now?"

Li Ruolian said: "He has been taken to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment."

Chongzhen got up immediately and said: "Go, you follow me to the prison of the Ministry of punishment."

"Ah?" Now not only Li Ruolian, but even the prince Zhu Cihong who was accompanying him was also surprised.

Zhu Cihong asked in astonishment: "Father, didn't you just ask Wang Daban to call Mr. Xie Ge to Yilun Hall for an audience?"

"Don't ask too much, Hong'er." Chongzhen said, "When the time comes, you will know what the emperor's intention is."

After finishing speaking, Chongzhen turned around and left Yilun Hall, Zhu Cihong, Li Ruolian, Meng Ketu and others hurriedly followed.

……

Not long after Chongzhen left with Zhu Cihong and others, Xie Xuelong followed Wang Chengen into Yilun Hall in a hurry.

However, after entering the Yilun Hall, they found that the hall was empty without even a single figure. …

"Where's Your Majesty?" Xie Xuelong asked Wang Cheng'en in astonishment, "Mr. Wang, why don't you see Your Majesty?"

"Our family doesn't know about this." Wang Chengen said calmly, "Our family just obeyed the sacred order of Lord Long Live to summon you to come to Yilun Hall to see him."

Xie Xuelong's face changed slightly when he heard this, it seems that this matter is not simple?
After hesitating for a long time, Xie Xuelong asked Wang Chengen again: "Old Mr. Wang, does the Holy Majesty leave any will?"

"Our family doesn't know about this either." Wang Chengen didn't know anything about it when he asked, "Our family just obeyed the holy order of Lord Long Live to call Mr. Xie Ge to come to Yilun Hall to see him."

Xie Xuelong's expression suddenly became more embarrassing.

Then he started to wait. As time passed, Xie Xuelong's expression became more and more embarrassing.

After waiting for almost an hour, Xie Xuelong's face had turned dead gray, then he got up with a long sigh, and left Yilun Hall with staggering and heavy steps.

……

At this time in the prison of the Ministry of punishment.

Shi Kefa said with a bitter face: "My lord, the sinner is in chains, so I can't pay respects."

"Shi Kefa." Chongzhen said with a dark face, "You are so embarrassing. As long as I don't pursue your coercion, as long as you refuse to admit it, what can the imperial historian do to you?"

Shi Kefa said: "With the evidence of the old servant and the note, the guilty minister cannot be denied."

Chongzhen said angrily: "What the old servant said is just one-sided words, and the note can be forged, so it is not enough to rely on."

Shi Kefa sighed, shook his head secretly and said: "But the criminal minister's conscience tells the criminal minister that you can't lie, if you do it, you do it, if you make a mistake, you are wrong. !"

"Understood, understood! Then I understand!" Chongzhen sneered, "This is a relief for you!"

After all, Shi Kefa is still the gentleman with moral cleanliness, unable to turn a blind eye to the mistakes he has made.

Shi Kefa sighed again, and said, "Your Majesty, the guilty minister has been in torment during this period of time. A voice said to the guilty minister that you should not covet the position of the chief assistant and stay in love, but another voice said , the guilty minister should stay in the position of chief assistant regardless of personal praise or reputation, and do his best for the sage, the great Ming, and the ancestral temple of our Han family. The guilty minister is very contradictory and doesn't know how to choose. , It is indeed a kind of relief, the guilty minister finally no longer has to suffer and entangle, and can finally let go of his obsession."

Chongzhen sneered and said: "You are relieved, what should the cabinet do?"

Shi Kefa said calmly: "The Holy Majesty realized Taoism from Meishan, and his wisdom and martial arts are far superior to those of the previous emperors. Even Emperor Cheng Zuwen or Emperor Taizu Gao would be no more than that."

"So there is no difference whether there is a guilty minister or not."

Speaking of this meal, Shi Kefa said again: "If the criminal minister is resigned, it may be a good thing, because the criminal minister knows his own ability, and he can barely do the job as a governor, but he is not capable enough to serve as the cabinet minister. It is a blessing for Daming to give up the position of chief assistant."

"It's quite self-aware." Chongzhen snorted coldly and said again, "If you go, who will be the chief assistant?"

"Whoever can be the chief assistant sage can make his own judgment, so why should anyone else speak his beak?" After a pause, Shi Kefa said again, "It's just that Xie Xuelong definitely can't be the chief assistant. This person is a treacherous and loyal person, villain!" …

"How do you know?" Chongzhen said coldly, "Why do you say he is a villain?"

Shi Kefa said: "Because that note was written by Xie Xuelong to the guilty minister."

Chongzhen said in a deep voice: "You mean to say that it is Xie Xuelong who reminded you of the false edict, right?"

"Yes." Shi Kefa said solemnly, "Because the cabinet office is an important place for the court, ordinary people can't get in at all, and the direct room of the criminal minister is even more difficult for idlers to get in."

Chongzhen said: "But Xie Xuelong can enter."

"Yes." Shi Kefa nodded slightly and said, "Gao Hongtu, Jiang Yueguang and Xie Xuelong are all allowed to enter, but it is Gao Hongtu and Jiang Yueguang who instigated Zhang Youyu to seek internal money, so this person can only be Xie Xuelong."

Chongzhen watched Shi Kefa remain silent for a long time, and finally said after a long while: "Shi Kefa, you have created a problem for me."

"Your Majesty, there is no need to embarrass your guilty ministers." Shi Kefa said calmly, "Correction is an unforgivable crime, and the crime should be punished. The guilty ministers only ask His Majesty to quote the example of Gao Hongtu and others, and do not offend the criminal minister's family." .”

"It's not just this." Chongzhen said coldly, "Maybe you don't even realize that you are the chief assistant, which is actually the most worry-free for me, because you are morally flawless. As the first assistant, I don't have to worry about you forming a clique in the court, let alone worrying about you selling your official title and corrupting you, even if you change the first assistant."

"But..." Shi Kefa frowned, "The criminal minister's ability is really not enough to be the chief assistant."

"Ability?" Chongzhen snorted coldly, "With Zhen here, do you need the ability of the chief assistant?"

"Ah this?" Shi Kefa was stunned when he heard this, but he hadn't thought about it. Thinking about it carefully, it seems that His Majesty really doesn't need a capable chief assistant?In this way, if you encounter difficult things, you can only ask the Holy One for a ruling.

As a result, although the Holy Majesty no longer intervened in the cabinet on the surface, in fact he still monopolized power.

If the world is peaceful and the world is stable, Shi Kefa will not agree with this, but in the current Ming Dynasty, it is undoubtedly the most beneficial for the Holy One to monopolize the power. On the contrary, the cabinet and the emperor are constrained by each other, which is not good for Daming.

After figuring this out, Shi Kefa couldn't help feeling a little regretful, but it was just a regret, and regrets are never regretted.

Chongzhen sighed: "Shi Kefa, saving you will definitely not save you. Which emperor dares to pardon the crime of coercion? Unless he doesn't want to be emperor anymore, but I promise you that your family will not be implicated."

"Sinner thank you for your grace." Shi Kefa let out a long breath.

……

At this time in Xie's house, Xie Xuelong's study.

Facing his eldest son Xie Xianhe, Xie Xuelong sighed and said, "Xianhe, the Xie family is entrusted to you. If possible, don't separate the family easily."

"Father." Xie Xianhe said miserably, "That's not the case, is it?"

"That's not the case?" Xie Xuelong said, "Haven't you ever thought about why the Holy One is like this?"

"Perhaps the sage was negligent." Xie Xianhe said anxiously, "or maybe the sage left temporarily because of other urgent matters. My son thinks it's better for father not to think too much."

"Son, you still don't know enough about His Majesty." Xie Xuelong shook his head.

"The Holy Majesty always makes decisions before acting, so how could he be negligent in this kind of matter?"

Speaking of this meal, Xie Xuelong said again: "The Holy Majesty called Weifu to meet him in the Yilun Hall of the Imperial College, but he didn't see anyone and didn't give any explanation. This is enough to show that the Holy Majesty never wants to see Weifu again."

"Father, this is all your speculation." Xie Xianhe said anxiously, "It's not credible."

"It's speculation, but it's a fact." Xie Xuelong sighed, "Because I offended the Lord's Ni Lin for my father."