Chapter 547 Chaos
Zhengde was shocked and stared at Zhang Yong and said fiercely, "Xiao Yongzi, there are some conflicts between you and Liu Jin. I know, but how can you connect Zhu Huan's conspiracy with Liu Jin? I hate you for creating disagreements and each other's infighting. You are all people around me, and you are killing each other. I I will never agree."
Zhang Yongtong knelt down and kowtowed like a garlic: "The emperor's anger, and the maidservant is not born out of nothing. The slave maidservant is for the emperor's safety. If there is really someone around the emperor who is the mastermind of the conspiracy, isn't it an extremely dangerous thing?"
Zhengde said angrily, "You are still being obstrate. If you say that other people in the court have something to do with Zhu Yu, I may still believe it, but Liu Jin will never do it. You have followed me from the East Palace. It's not a day or two. More than ten years have passed. Don't I understand who you are? Liu Jin will never collude with Zhu Yuqi to plot a rebellion. Don't say any more, or I will punish you severely.
Zhang Yong kowtowed his forehead and saw blood, and repeatedly said, "Your Majesty...Your Majesty... listen to the words of the maidservant."
"Shut up and get out." Zhengde was really annoyed. He picked up the warm pot and smashed it. Zhang Yong did not dare to avoid it. The porcelain pot hit Zhang Yong's forehead and smashed it. The hot water inside spilled on Zhang Yong's face, and there were blisters on Zhang Yong's forehead.
Zhang Yong ignored it and still knelt on the ground and shouted, "Your Majesty, today the emperor is going to kill me, and I will say something. Even if I die, I am loyal. Please let me say a few words."
Zhengde saw that Zhang Yong's face was scalded and full of blood, and his heart was a little regretful. He hummed, "Don't force me to cut off your head. You have made a lot of contributions these days, and I will reward you well, but if you are proud and want to frame others, I will not be soft."
Zhang Yongwu said to himself, "I am not afraid of death, but I can't look at the danger of the emperor but pretend to be confused."
Zhengde said righteously, "Xiao Yongzi, you are obsessed with this matter. If you can't make sense, I won't talk about personal affairs."
Zhang Yong said, "If the guess of the maidservant is unreasonable, let the emperor dispose of it."
Zhengde sighed, turned around and leaned against the head of the bed, closed his eyes for a long time, and said in a low voice, "Say it."
Zhang Yong stretched out his sleeves to wipe away the blood on his face. His hot red skin touched the painful heart on his sleeves, and his whole face became numb. He also knew that since he opened his mouth today, there was no way out. He only asked Song Nan to really have any way to bring down Liu Jin, otherwise this matter would not be done. Thinking of Liu Jin's fierce hand Duan, Zhang Yong's heart shuddered.
The first reason for the slave maidservant's suspicion is that the maidservant learned that in August last year, Zhu Huanyu secretly came to the capital to meet Liu Gong in Liu Jin's Xiangshan courtyard, and asked Liu Gonggong to speak well for him in front of the emperor and increase the number of soldiers in Qingwang's palace to 5,000. The emperor will not forget this matter, will he?
Zhengde nodded and said, "Of course I remember, but Liu Jin has kowtowed and admitted his mistake in front of me. At the beginning, it was Zhu Yuqi who took the position of the Qing Palace and had the responsibility of garrival on the border, and said that the Qing Palace was willing to feed thousands of soldiers and horses for the court. Once the border town was needed, the guards of the palace were allowed by the generals of the border town to dispatch the enemy. It was also for this reason that I agreed at that time. Who would have thought that it was the rhetoric of Zhu Xiaoqi, a traitor? Liu Jin was also deceived by him, which was not entirely his fault.
Zhang Yong sighed and said, "The emperor is kind and generous, and he is not in it; but what I know is not like this. What I know is another saying."
Zhengde said, "What do you say?"
Zhang Yong pointed to the account book and said, "Your Majesty, look at Zhu Yuqi's gold and silver account book. There is a record on dozens or three pages."
Zhengde reached out and opened the account book, turned to the page for a moment, and frowned, "What does this mean?"
Zhang Yong said, "The date on that page was last August. That was the day when Zhu Yu secretly came to Beijing. It recorded that 20,000 taels of silver was spent, and the slaves and maidservants dared to spend 20,000 taels of silver? Although there is no name of Eunuch Liu in the account book, Zhu Xiaoqi did not enter the capital at all for three days before and after he came to the capital, but only hid in Xiangshan. Who did these 20,000 taels of silver be given to?
Zhengde's eyebrows twisted into a pimple. Although he was not sure that these 20,000 taels of silver were given to Liu Jin to ask him to do something, Liu Jin could not rule out this suspicion at all.
"Your Majesty, this matter is actually not difficult to deal with. Just send someone to find out and know the clue."
Zhengde said slowly, "Even if Liu Jin received the money, it is still far from collusion. It can only be said that Liu Jin is a money fascination and has been hit by Zhu Yu's trick."
Zhang Yong hurriedly said, "What the emperor said is that the maidservant is just suspicious, not necessarily collusion. The second doubtful thing is that Zhang Cai, the left servant of the Ministry of Officials, has the name of Zhang Cai in the book of allegiance, and this person is Liu Jin's efforts to recommend to the Ministry of Officials, who is in charge of the election of the main officials in the northwest. Some of the officials who rebelled this time are officials promoted after Zhang Cai took office. Is it just a coincidence between the two? Question mark Is it a coincidence, or did someone deliberately arrange to make what happened in the northwest not appear in the world? Isn't it doubtful?"
Zhengde's face became solemn, rubbed his hands and said, "Go on."
"Zhu Yu began to prepare for rebellion a few years ago. His palace hoarded military food weapons and armor, and even firearms; these materials were specially manufactured, transported and distributed by the imperial court. If Zhu Wei obtained a small amount, it can be interpreted as being seized from the rebel generals of Ningxia Town, but obviously the border troops of Ningxia Town. It is impossible for so many materials to be secretly given to Zhu Yuqi. This letter of allegiance and account books also involve the head of the Armed Forces Department of the Ministry of War, the general treasury of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, and some officials who are in charge of grain in the Ministry of Household. How these people are related to Zhu Xiaoqi, who is far away in Ningxia Town and does not often come to the capital. If someone is the agent of Zhu Xiaoqi in Beijing, this person must be able to suppress these officials of various government agencies so that they can work for the same person and write a letter of allegiance. The power of this agent in Beijing is so great that the key figures in these government sectors dare not resist or be willing to obey. Who has such a great ability?"
"Go on."
"I still heard something in Ningxia Town, which is related to Song Nan. On the night of Shangyuan, Song Nan was assassinated by an unidentified person on Cheng'en Huadeng Street in Ningxia Town, losing a lot of his men, and Song Nan almost lost his life. Before and after the incident, the doubts all pointed to Li Zeng, the eunuch of Ningxia Town; Li Zeng was originally a close eunuch next to Eunuch Liu, which made people doubt that he was ordered by someone to assassinate Song Nan.
Zhengde knew about this, but it was the first time he heard that it was related to Liu Jin and was surprised: "Is there such a thing? Did Song Nan personally tell you that it was suspected that it was Li Zeng's hand?
Zhang Yong shook his head and said, "No, Lord Song didn't mention a word to the slave at all, or Yang Yiqing accidentally talked about it on the way back. Originally, the slave suspected that Liu Jin had something to do with Zhu Xiao, and this matter was absolutely a doubt. Your Majesty, you think that Song Nan has long seen the signs of Zhu Yuqi's rebellion, so he doesn't want to go to Ningxia Town, just want to collect more evidence. At this time, if it is true that Li Zeng set up a bureau to assassinate Song Nan, it is clear that he wants to kill Zhu Xiaoqi; Li Zeng is an old friend of Duke Liu, which indirectly shows that there is a tacit understanding between Duke Liu and Zhu Xiaoqi.
Zhengde's mouth was dry and licked his lips. Zhang Yong got up and poured a cup of tea on the case and handed it to Zhengde. Zhengde drank it. After putting down the tea cup, he whispered, "I... I'm a little confused. Liu Jin... Liu Jin is unlikely to do these things. There may be any misunderstanding among them."
Zhang Yong whispered, "Your Majesty, I don't believe these, but if you can find out these things, you can let the emperor feel relieved. If you really have nothing to do with Eunuch Liu, it is equivalent to proving his loyalty. But if Eunuch Liu is really a rebellious minister beside the emperor, it will be extremely beneficial to the emperor to the court earlier. The emperor's safety is a big thing, and I dare not take this risk, so I must tell it today.
Zhengde asked in silence for a long time, "Does Song Nan know what you said?"
Zhang Yong shook his head and said, "Lord Song knows nothing about it. This account book and the letter of allegiance were also searched by slaves before Song Nan's brocade guards, and they didn't even show it to Lord Song."
Zhengde stared at Zhang Yong and said, "Why didn't you let him know?"
Zhang Yong whispered, "I also made my own decisions. I thought that there was a gap between Lord Song and Eunuch Liu. If these things fell into the hands of Lord Song, maybe Lord Song would lose justice out of personal resentment and make trouble all over the city, which would be difficult to clean up."
Zhengde nodded and said, "You are very right. If Song Nan knows this, she will definitely blow up. Xiao Yongzi, I am very happy that you are becoming more and more sophisticated. In your opinion, what should we do about this?
Zhang Yong thought for a moment and said, "It is naturally better for the maidservant to find out secretly, but there is nothing I can do. What did the emperor say?"
Zhengde's mind was also blank. On the one hand, he did not believe that Liu Jin really colluded with Zhu Huanqi to plot a rebellion. On the other hand, in response to many doubts, he also wanted to know the truth and thought about it. This matter was not suitable to be publicized. The courtiers in the court went through it once, and no one could trust him to entrust this matter.
"When will Song Nan return to Beijing?"
"Lord Song may be on the road. He stayed to stabilize the order in the city and assist in changing the pass outside the city. These things are only three or two days. Within three days, he will lead the Shenshu camp back to Beijing."
"Okay, I'll wait for him to return to Beijing, and I will entrust this matter to him."
"Your Majesty, aren't you afraid that Song Nan will pretend to be public and private?"
"I believe he won't be so confused about such a big matter. Besides, is I so fooled? Without complete evidence, he wants to fool me, but he can't think about it. He is a smart man and won't understand this.
"Your Majesty Mingjian, if Lord Song tries his best to investigate this matter, something will soon come out."
"Go ahead. Go to the imperial hospital for the injury on your face. My hands are heavy for a while. You can take a day off tomorrow." Zhengde couldn't bear to look at Zhang Yong's swollen face like a pig's head and comforted him a few words.
"I'm a maidservant...thank you." Zhang Yong choked.