Bright Spring

Zhang Sheng said in a deep voice: "I'm afraid no one will believe it. According to the signs written in the newspaper, the fire in 'Xiaoyao City' has a strong smell of tung oil, and all the water tanks for fighting the fire have been knocked out! It looks like an accident. Soldiers, officials, and servants participated in the firefighting, not just our people, and it is impossible to hide the truth; I think the eunuch Wu Zhong is very suspicious, so it’s better to put it on him!"

Wang Gui sighed and said: "This is still unbelievable! Everyone in the world knows that the abandoned prince's family was sent to Fengyang to guard the mausoleum by the emperor; , The family of the abolished prince was murdered, which makes people even more suspicious! It is also said that an eunuch did it under our noses, who ordered it? I am afraid that there is no silver 300 taels here!"

Zhu Gaoxu was irritable and annoyed like a fire, but he didn't have an attack.Or because of the unhappiness and crises encountered in these years, there are too many!

He rubbed his rough palms on his forehead and cheeks, as if he wanted to rub the skin off!

After the two people around him talked, he didn't stop them, but felt that what Wang Gui and Zhang Sheng said made some sense.

After a while, Zhu Gaoxu finally stopped his trivial actions, and said coldly: "It is impossible to let everyone in the world believe it. The most important thing is, who do you want to believe?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, both Zhang Sheng and Wang Gui stopped talking, looking like they were thinking.

Zhu Gaoxu also pondered for a while, the surrounding was very quiet.But he seemed to be hallucinating, and he could vaguely hear the sound of a "tick-tock" clock in his heart!Time is indeed passing, but the sound is not, it is all imagined by him.

Sitting in a quiet and luxurious palace, this is not a battlefield, but at this moment Zhu Gaoxu feels like a battlefield!

"Timing is very important, it's fleeting! You can't delay the time." Zhu Gaoxu suddenly said, he patted the imperial case lightly, his eyes fixed, and he made up his mind, "Immediately summon the ministers to discuss the matter! Call all ministers and ministers , all the ministers of the temples, the royal family in Beijing, the dukes and marquises all went to the Hall of Martial Arts to discuss matters."

Zhu Gaoxu paused and said: "Those who haven't left the imperial city, tell them to go straight to the Hall of Martial Arts; those who have already returned home, send people to those people's homes to issue orders!"

The two bowed together: "Observe the decree!"

By the time the ministers arrived at the Wuying Hall one after another and Zhu Gaoxu also passed by in a sedan chair, it was already dark.

However, at this time, lights were lit on the streets in the palace, inside and outside the palace, and the surroundings were brightly lit.

The main hall of the Hall of Martial Heroes was converted into a place for the cabinet to work, but the throne above it was still reserved, and no one was usually sitting on it.When Zhu Gaoxu walked into the hall, he saw dozens of people already inside.

Everyone bowed and clasped their fists to face Zhu Gaoxu, and only waited for him to go up and sit down before saluting.

But Zhu Gaoxu did not go to the throne.He took out the secret letter from his sleeve pocket, first handed it to Jian Yi, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials next to him, and then said straight to the point: "My elder brother died in the fire in the imperial city of Zhongdu!"

Unexpectedly, the voices of talking just now disappeared all at once.

The dozens of people present became silent!

"All died, including my eldest brother's wife, concubine, and son." Zhu Gaoxu continued, "What happened late last night, that is, the night of April 26. This morning, the people who stayed behind in the capital wrote a memorial, and sent it urgently within [-] miles Arrived in the capital. I also just received the urgent report, and heard the sound of Youshi drums at that moment. Please circulate the report first, everyone."

Still no one spoke, and there was a dead silence in the hall.Zhu Gaoxu didn't sit up either, but stood to the north, very close to everyone.His gaze paused for a moment on Xincheng Hou Zhangfu's face.

Zhang Fu is one of the generals in the Northern Expedition, and he hasn't left Beijing yet.At this time, his expression was very serious, with a few vertical lines between his brows, but other than that, no other emotions could be seen.All the people summoned today are civil and military officials, all of whom are in charge of great power. They are indeed calmer than ordinary people, and no one made any noise.

Gradually, there were soft voices in the main hall, probably the person delivering the letter said a few simple conversations.

Because there are a lot of people, everyone consciously didn't read the secret letter for too long, and quickly read the content before passing it on to the next person.Even so, it took a long time for everyone to circulate it.

People were waiting and thinking. At this time, no one whispered in front of Zhu Gaoxu.

After the eunuch Wang Gui returned the crumpled letter paper, Zhu Gaoxu said, "Heaven and earth, ancestors and ancestors, I did not do this! It was not ordered by me!"

Some civil and military officials with their heads buried looked up at Zhu Gaoxu one after another, and some of them had puzzled expressions on their faces.

Zhu Gaoxu pointed to Zhang Sheng, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, and Wang Gui, the eunuch of the Supervisor of Rituals, and said, "Except for the officials who stayed behind in the central capital, those who guard the 'Deposed Prince' are all from the Jinyi Guard and the Supervisor of Rituals. I swear to God, at least God, The spirits of the ancestors and the ancestors in heaven, as well as the people in the Jinyi Guards, must know the truth."

Suddenly, there were voices of voices and discussions in the hall, and it seemed that some people believed it in their hearts.

After all, whether this matter was ordered by the emperor, the lackeys of Jin Yiwei and the Supervisor of Rituals must know about it!Under the surveillance and guards of so many people in the left-behind department of the Central Capital, someone had to deploy, prepare, and act in order to kill and abolish the prince's family. It was impossible to hide the matter from everyone!As Zhu Gaoxu said, Jin Yiwei and the Supervisor of Rites must know.

Zhu Gaoxu, as the Son of Heaven and the grandson of Taizu, spoke to the heaven and ancestors; if it was false, and there were people who knew about it...it is impossible!After all, all the ministers knew in their hearts that the deposed prince had completely failed, and it was very difficult to survive!

"According to the report, the fire last night was suspected to be arson." Zhu Gaoxu said, "I have decided to send the officials from the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Three Offices of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, as well as the commander of the Jinyiwei, to set off early tomorrow morning for the Central Capital. , find out the truth!"

At this moment, Hu Wei, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, bowed to him and said, "Your Majesty, I think it is impossible! If it is announced to the world that the abolished prince will be murdered by arson, there will be rumors in the world."

For a while, there was a lot of discussion in the hall, and finally it became lively.

Previously, there were only two people around Dongnuange and Zhu Gaoxu, and they also had disagreements on how to declare this matter; now there are dozens of people in the Hall of Martial Heroes, and it is even more difficult to speak together, and people have different opinions.

Zhu Gaoxu raised his head and made a gesture to make the ministers quiet down a little.With a sad face, he said solemnly: "Although the abolished prince has sins, he is still my son."

My father's son, my elder brother.This matter must not be covered up, it must be under the watchful eyes of everyone, find out the facts, and give an explanation to the royal family!I've made up my mind, you don't need to persuade me anymore! "

Suddenly a voice said: "The Holy One is wise!"

Zhu Gaoxu and all the officials followed the sound, and they were all surprised.Because the person who spoke turned out to be Xincheng Hou Zhangfu!

Zhang Fu's daughter and grandson were all victims; after all, it was stated in the report that all six members of Zhu Gaochi's family died, including the "imperial concubine" Zhang and her son.No wonder everyone was so surprised.

Apart from being surprised, everyone had different expressions.When some officials looked at each other coldly, they showed a faint look of contempt; they seemed to suspect that Zhang Fu would not even care about his relatives for the sake of wealth.

But Zhang Fu looked at him calmly, and said loudly, "This matter is absolutely impossible to be related to the Holy Majesty and the ministers whom the Holy Majesty relies on!"

He looked back and said: "During the 'Battle of Jingnan', I knew the Holy One; in the battle of conquering Annan in the Yongle period, I fought side by side with the Holy One, and I knew the Holy One very well. , That's why Annan Kingdom could be conquered within a few months! The timing and strategy of the Holy Majesty's affairs are as stable as Mount Tai, and it is absolutely impossible to be as hasty as what happened last night.

It is a serious crime to abolish the prince.Even if there are people in the palace who want to persuade the Holy Majesty to punish him, it should not be at this time (not long after he ascended the throne, weakening the military power of the vassal king, and on the eve of the large-scale Northern Expedition), let alone do it so ugly. "

Zhang Fu paused for a while, and continued: "If Jin Yiwei or the eunuch in the palace were ordered, why would they give the left-behind officers and soldiers the opportunity to witness it? What's the matter with the obvious signs of arson written in this memorial? ? The matter is so obvious, so only foolish people will disagree with each other and secretly suspect the Holy Majesty!"

When he said this, his voice gradually choked up, and his eyes were red.His sadness is so expressive and genuine that it doesn't look like it's fake.He choked up and said, "I'm a father who watched his own daughter die unexpectedly at such a young age... a white-haired man sends a black-haired man, do you know my sorrow?"

Zhang Fu suddenly knelt down on the ground with a "plop", crying: "My father passed away, and I am the head of the family. I promised to take care of the family before my father's spirit, and it is my duty to protect the relatives. Please find out the real culprit, and let me know the truth." Consolation ministers' late father and daughter are in the spirit of heaven."

Liu Sheng first went up to persuade Zhang Fujie to be sad and obedient, and soon many civil and military officials spoke good things.After all, it was Zhang Fu's daughter who died, so no matter who it is, it's hard to say anything.

Zhu Gaoxu stepped forward to help Zhang Fu up. He looked into Zhang Fu's eyes with emotion, and said sincerely: "Don't worry, the Lord of Xincheng, I will definitely deal with business and punish the bad guys severely! I have only been on the throne for a few months. Originally, only some cronies of the Han Palace were available. It is impossible that so many officials in the Sanfa Division are all my private individuals; let all the yamen investigate together, and it will be clear and fair to the deceased!"

When he said this, he also said sadly: "My elder brother and I were both born of our father and queen mother. We grew up together, no matter whether morality is right or wrong, I can't let go of brotherhood..."

"My lord's condolences, the dragon's body will be breathed!" Someone hurriedly persuaded.

All the ministers knelt down on the ground and said, "My lord's condolences!"

Zhu Gaoxu covered his face and said: "The Sanfa Division and Jin Yiwei have been preparing overnight, and we will set off as soon as possible tomorrow. We must find out the real culprit!"

Chapter 658 The Long Lonely Night

After dozens of monarchs and ministers discussed the matter, the night was already deep.

The eunuchs sent all the ministers out of the palace, and everyone walked out of the Xihua Gate, and then left the imperial city through the Xi'an Gate.The Xihua Gate was closed immediately, because it was already past the time to close the gates of the imperial palace.

The street lights beside the street are bright, and the lights on the towers near and far are bright.The Wu ministers talked in groups of three to five, and the noisy voices actually eased the previous tense atmosphere.

People walking beside Dali Temple Qing Gao Xianning, besides Qian Xun, a former official of the Han Palace, also Hu Guang, a scholar of the Imperial Academy!

Hu Guang was the one who defected to the abolished prince in the "Hongxi Dynasty", but now he can talk to Gao Xianning.Gao Xianning has been an official in the Imperial Academy since the Yongle period, and he has a good personal relationship with this not-so-famous Hu Guang.