Ganlin Palace.
All the officials who came to report the matter lowered their heads and remained silent. After a long silence, Zhu Yunxuan asked coldly, "What did he say?"
After the imperial envoy came back, the case was handed over to the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple. The Minister of the Ministry of Punishment took a step forward and replied cautiously: "Mr. Zeng Ge said that he taught his descendants wrongly and made a big mistake. He is ashamed of trusting His Majesty. I have no face to see you again. I implore His Majesty to deal with him...seriously."
Zhu Yunxuan's heart sank: "... he really said that?"
"Yes, it is his eldest grandson Zeng Jin and two grandnephews who wantonly amassed wealth in Qinzhou in the name of Mr. Zengge. Relatives in the clan also participated. The wind of enclosing land has been prevalent in Qinzhou, Yuzhou and other places for a long time. Repeatedly banned, Gein relied on the power of the king. In the early years, they only occupied those unowned lands, and later evolved into encroaching on the people's land. But the people's fields have reached five hundred hectares."
"Did Zeng Huai know about it beforehand?"
"I probably didn't know it. When I went to his home, Zeng Jin had already been whipped to pieces by Mr. Zeng Ge, and he was left hanging. Mr. Zeng Ge knelt down on the ground and said that he was willing to die to apologize. "
Zhu Yunxuan was stunned, recalling the poor scene he saw in Zeng Huai's hermit's home that day. His teacher was never a person who coveted wealth and pleasure, and he believed that he didn't know: "Who is it that pulls them into the group?"
"... It's King Xian. According to Zeng Jin's account, he met a steward of Prince Xian's mansion in a restaurant, and was moved by the other party's words, so he contacted his cousin and cousin in his hometown without knowing it. Family relatives, let them do things with King Xian's people, and after they tasted the sweetness, they will intensify."
Zhu Yunxuan slammed his fist on the imperial case, he knew that King Xian would be a disaster sooner or later, but he did not expect that he would do such a thing: "Since you said that the wind of enclosure has been prevalent for a long time, why has no one Have you reported it to the court?"
The official who reported the matter lowered his head, and said falteringly: "As early as the late Emperor, someone mentioned it, but..."
Without the other party talking, Zhu Yun also understood that his father probably knew about these things, but he just turned a blind eye and closed his eyes. His uncle had made great efforts when Emperor Zhaoyang ascended the throne. Although he is not so polite to his nephew now, for more than 20 years, Emperor Zhaoyang has always followed his lead, and Emperor Zhaoyang also valued him very much. It's just occupying some more land, so Emperor Zhaoyang naturally wouldn't do anything to him. Later, the King Xian became more and more daring. Not only did he occupy it himself, but he also recruited other nobles and important court officials to follow him. Use this to win people's hearts.
"What's more, this matter seems to have something to do with King Zhao."
Hearing this, Zhu Yunxuan frowned fiercely: "King Zhao? What are you doing to him?"
"According to Zeng Jin's confession, the ministers went to interrogate the steward of Prince Xian's mansion. According to him, using this method to coerce and lure Mr. Zeng Ge was an idea given to King Xian by a retainer of King Zhao's mansion. Zhao Wang pulled it for his own use, but the people in Zhao Wang's mansion told him that compared to Zhao Wang...Your Majesty, you trust Mr. Zeng Ge more, as long as Mr. Zeng Ge can say good things for King Xian in front of His Majesty, everything you want to do in the future will be cheap."
"They are so courageous!" Zhu Yunxuan punched the imperial case again, but this time he was completely annoyed, "Go and call King Zhao here!"
"Your Majesty doesn't need someone to summon the minister, the minister is here."
Liang Zhen walked into the hall slowly, glanced at the people present with a half-smile, and then looked at Zhu Yunxuan: "I don't know what your Majesty summoned the ministers for?"
Zhu Yunxuan looked at him coldly: "You persuaded King Xian to seduce Zeng Jin and use this as a pretext to blackmail Zeng Huai, do you recognize this?"
Liang Zhen raised his eyebrows, and asked the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment: "What does this matter have to do with this king?"
The Secretary of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs bit the bullet and repeated what he had just said: "The steward of King Xian's mansion has signed and pledged his confession, saying that it was indeed King Zhao's disciples who went to persuade King Xian to do this."
"A doorman? Which doorman? There are not many doormen in this palace. Which one are you talking about?"
Being blocked by Liang Zhen's words, the minister of the Ministry of Punishment wrote red and white in both red and white. After a long time, he embarrassed Zhu Yunxuan and pleaded guilty: "I didn't find that person, and it's not easy to go to Zhaowang's mansion to search..."
Liang Zhen sneered: "You go to search now, I open the door for you to search casually, I also want to know who did such a thing?"
Seeing his calm and relaxed attitude, Zhu Yunxuan's face became even colder, and he said in a deep voice: "King Zhao stays, you all step back first."
After everyone left, Liang Zhen hooked the corners of his lips with a smile, and asked Zhu Yunxuan: "Your Majesty, are you going to interrogate the minister yourself?"
"Did you ask someone to do it?"
"Yes." Liang Zhen readily admitted in front of Zhu Yunxuan alone.
Zhu Yunxuan's pupils shrank suddenly: "Why?"
"Old Zeng Ge's grandson, Zeng Jin, right? He's useless. In his thirties, he's still a nine-rank Zhan Shifu's recorder. Zeng Ge's old man was reinstated to be the chief assistant of the cabinet. He wants to ask the old man to help clear the way. Shutong promoted him as soon as possible, but this old Zeng Ge was too pedantic and rigid, and he was resolutely unwilling. Zeng Jin felt resentful, and when he was provoked by others, he naturally wanted to get back the ancestral shelter he didn't enjoy from other places. "
"I asked you why you did this?!" Zhu Yunxuan suddenly raised his voice, his eyes were filled with anger, and he hated Liang Zhen's playful smile so much.
The smile on the corners of Liang Zhen's mouth faded away, his eyes darkened, and he explained seriously: "Last year, Zhou Langzhong from the Ministry of Industry approached me and proposed to me to divert the Yellow River. Bu Shangshu mentioned that Mr. Zengge happened to be there at that time, and the two scolded him severely, saying that he was bewitching the public with evil words, harming the country and the people, and ordered him not to mention a word in front of others in the future, but the minister felt that this method was very It is feasible and imperative, but there must be a lot of resistance to get things done, not to mention that the group of people headed by King Xian are worried that they will hurt their interests and cause the enclosure of the land to be exposed. I will definitely not agree, and I will definitely try my best to dissuade... "
"So you just dispose of them all to kick these stumbling blocks? Is that how you handle things?!"
Liang Zhen narrowed his eyes lightly, and said slowly: "Your Majesty, as I said, those who bullied you will help you to bully them back. King Xian is not a good thing in the first place, and now the Dongchuang incident is what he deserved."
Zhu Yunxuan was furious: "What about Zeng Huai?! What did he do wrong?! In order not to let him hinder you, you lured his nephews and clansmen to do such things?! When did I need your help like this? Me?!"
"If those people can really keep their integrity, it's useless for me to seduce them...Does Your Majesty really think that Zeng Huai is suitable to be the chief assistant of this cabinet? Yes, he has high knowledge and good conduct, but he is also too old-fashioned and does not think about changing things. Always hold on to the set of sages and sages, and he can be a prince and a teacher like this, but he can't be a minister! Your majesty, you have chosen the wrong person from the beginning!... He has been urging your majesty to be a queen, and in What's the use of keeping such an old man by fanning the flames in His Majesty's ears to keep His Majesty away from his subjects?!"
Zhu Yunxuan sneered with red eyes: "I chose the wrong person? Do you think I can only have you by my side, and you will be satisfied if you listen to everything?! Yan Shixue is like this, Zeng Huai is like this, you will The cronies around me are removed one by one, but I just want to be controlled by you forever, and be a puppet emperor at your mercy!"
Liang Zhen's gaze deepened: "Is this how Your Majesty sees you?"
"Did I say something wrong? Since I ascended the throne, one by one, when have you respected my wishes? You can't understand my successors, you can't understand my reuse of others, and you humiliate me again and again. Zhen, stabbed the mark of humiliation on my body, and even forced me to take the fertility medicine that made my life worse than death! You have never seen me as a human being! I am nothing more than an object of yours. For myself, if I can't have my own will, everything depends on you, why do you?!"
Zhu Yunxuan's red eyes were full of hatred, and she vented her pain: "It's fine for you to do these things, but you still want me to thank you under the banner of helping me for my own good, and I'm disgusted by your hypocrisy! In your eyes Everyone else here is wrong, they all deserve to die, they are not worthy to point out the country in the court, only you are right, you are the most capable, if that is the case, why don't I give you the throne now!"
Liang Zhen frowned and took a step forward, clasping his shoulder: "Enough, stop talking."
Zhu Yunxuan pushed hard and backed away: "Why didn't you say it?! Does King Zhao dare to do it but not listen?! Isn't King Zhao the most shameless?! What? I can't listen to what I say right now?! What do I owe you?" ?! Even if you helped me get this throne, I should have paid it back, so why are you persecuting me like this?! Why?!"
At the end, he raised his hand and punched his stomach hard, enduring the sudden pain and bent down painfully, staring at Liang Zhen with tears streaming down his face: "Do you still want me?" Give birth to you a son? The absurdity of the desolate world! I hate this bastard so much! As long as I think of your blood flowing on him, I wish I could dig him out and burn his bones to ashes!"
Zhu Yunxuan fell down, Liang Zhen finally panicked, rushed forward to hug him, turned back and rushed to Gao An who was outside the hall and shouted loudly: "Go and send the imperial physician!"
Zhu Yunxuan's face had lost any color, and his head was covered with cold sweat from the pain. He was hugged by Liang Zhen, and there was no warmth in his eyes as he looked at him: "I won't let you get what you want, give up, never will!" …”
"Stop it," Liang Zhen lowered his head in a daze, and hugged him tightly, "I beg you...stop it."
Zhu Yunxuan's empty eyes fell on the piece of jade on the imperial case, tears blurred his eyes. With difficulty, he stretched out his hand to grab it, and threw it to the ground vigorously. After the harsh sound, the jade was torn apart.