The Ming Dynasty's Spokesperson

The Grand Secretaries who returned to the Qianqing Gate waited for a long time, but no new orders came out.

But everyone was prepared for this, so they were not in a hurry.

Such a ridiculous thing happened in the inner palace. The emperor and the eunuchs must need time to deal with it internally and discuss countermeasures. At least they have to decide who to push out to take the blame, right?

Anyway, it's spring now, and it's comfortable outside. If the emperor is willing to give a seat and tea first, then he is a true wise ruler.

As for who is the mastermind behind the scenes, although the Grand Secretaries don't have the cheats like Lin Tailai to learn from history, they have already guessed it.

People who can become Grand Secretaries may have different temperaments and personalities. For example, Shen Da is generous on the surface, Xu Er is a hot-tempered old man, Wang San is very smart, and Wang Si is a Taoist scholar, but everyone's IQ is at a certain level.

If they still can't guess that the mastermind is Concubine Zheng at this time, they are not worthy of being Grand Secretaries.

Anyway, based on their understanding of the emperor and Zhang Cheng, Sun Xian, Tian Yi, and Chen Ju of the Imperial Household Department, none of them would do such a shameless thing.

Moreover, the concubines of the Ming Dynasty were different from those of previous dynasties. They were all selected from the people or the lower classes, and all came from small families.

With such a family background, it is conceivable that they have a certain level of knowledge and education, and it is normal for them to do some inappropriate things.

It can only be said that Lin Tailai is really good at attracting hatred. He even angered Concubine Zheng to the point of losing her mind and resorting to such appalling means.

It is said that in the Ministry of War yesterday, Lin Tailai scolded Concubine Zheng's father and even her brother.

To be politically correct, Lin Tailai was ambushed and besieged by a group of eunuchs, which was really his own fault.

However, when several university scholars recovered from the shock of the palace change, they all found that the incident of eunuchs besieging the "minister" just now might be a good thing.

It is not a bad thing turning into a good thing, but a real good thing. Anyway, the person who was "beaten" was Lin Tailai.

To give a simple example, after such a thing happened, would the emperor still have the nerve to ask several university scholars to support Concubine Zheng and the third prince?

The only pity is that, except for the inevitable few hits and the official hat being lost somewhere, Lin Tailai seemed to have no major problems.

If the only civil and military champion in history was beaten to death in the inner palace, the great disaster hanging over everyone's head would disappear.

Is a concubine who beat the only civil and military champion to death in history still worthy of being the mother of the country? Is her son still worthy of being the crown prince?

Only Lin Tailai needs to be sacrificed to turn the disaster into peace for everyone, but it's a pity that Lin Tailai is unwilling to sacrifice.

Lin Tailai just consumed a lot of physical strength, and he asked the gatekeeper to grab some water to drink, and suddenly shuddered.

Because he found that the eyes of the university scholars around him were very cold when they looked at him. He had never seen such terrible and inhuman eyes in his life.

Lin Tailai was puzzled by this, and didn't know what these old bureaucrats were thinking.

After a long time, an imperial decree finally came out from the inner palace, but it was not for the outer ministers.

Instead, fifty Jinyiwei officers and fifty warriors were summoned to the inner palace, and they were specifically required to "carry weapons".

Then the second imperial decree was for the outer ministers, ordering the university scholars and Lin Tailai to meet the emperor.

This shows that the inner palace has made preparations for the aftermath, but it is unknown what conditions will be "offered".

When Lin Tailai entered the Qianqing Gate for the second time, he looked up and found that the throne had been set up on the platform outside the Qianqing Palace.

The emperor was already in his seat, and around him were a large group of eunuchs in high-end clothes.

Lin Tailai wondered if all the eunuchs on duty in the inner palace at the moment came to watch the fun.

On the steps below the emperor, there were three lines of defense consisting of fifty armed Jinyiwei officers, fifty armed imperial guards, and fifty strong eunuchs.

The well-informed university scholars sighed, their feelings faded, and their hearts were far away.

In the past, when the emperor was still in court, even if it was a large court meeting with thousands of people, the security around the emperor was not so strict.

At that time, the civil officials closest to the emperor were the university scholars. There was no physical separation between the university scholars and the emperor.

And now, they, the university scholars, actually had to report to the emperor across three lines of defense.

Perhaps Emperor Wanli also felt that it was a bit awkward to accept the ministers' worship across three lines of defense, so he directly announced that the ceremony was exempted.

Shen Shoufu represented the foreign ministers and directly reported: "Dozens of eunuchs ambushed and beat the ministers who were summoned to the palace. It is really horrifying! Please let the emperor decide for us!"

Others may not feel it, but Lin Tailai only felt that these words were very familiar.

Then he suddenly remembered that this was what he said to the eunuch Chen Ju after the fight?

Shen Shoufu came straight to the point and talked about the case. It was obvious that he wanted to implicate the mastermind early, so that he could be invincible.

Or, to gain an advantage in the "negotiation".

Emperor Wanli directly passed the buck, "I have asked Zhang Cheng to investigate, let him tell you."

Zhang Cheng, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, came forward helplessly and said to Shen Shoufu:

"The matter has been preliminarily investigated. It was organized by the eunuchs Pan Zhongyi and others."

In any case, an explanation must be given to the external officials.

Shen Shoufu pretended to be very confused and said: "We external officials are ignorant of the palace personnel. I don't know which eunuch of the Imperial Household Department Pan Zhongyi is? Or what position does he hold in the palace?"

Zhang Cheng replied: "The manager of the Yikun Palace."

Shen Shixing continued to ask: "Why can a eunuch in charge of a side palace be so rampant? I wonder which empress lives in Yikun Palace?"

After hearing this, everyone knew Shen Shoufu's intention, or rather the collective intention of the four bachelors.

Shen Shoufu has always given people the impression that he likes to reduce big things to small matters.

But today, he was so inquisitive and serious that he seemed a bit angry as an honest person.

Emperor Wanli couldn't help but said: "Those people are not going for the gentlemen at all, they have nothing to do with them."

Generally speaking, emperors refer to academicians as "sir" in colloquial terms, and "gentlemen" refers to academicians.

After Shen Shoufu heard what the emperor said, he had no response at all.

Because the emperor's words are useless nonsense, and the response is a waste of saliva, just treat him with silence.

Zhang Cheng, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, had no choice but to step forward on behalf of the emperor and said: "In any case, Lin Tailai indulged himself in committing crimes in the inner palace, severely injuring dozens of ministers!

Isn't this a serious crime of deceiving the emperor and violating the prohibition? Why didn't you mention it when I saw Prime Minister Shen? "

Even if the mastermind in our palace did something wrong, wouldn't you Lin Tailai have done nothing wrong at all?

Lin Tailai was watching the excitement when he suddenly heard that he was mentioned and was about to step forward to refute.

But Shen Shoufu spoke first: "If Lin Tailai had just sat there and waited for death and was beaten to death or seriously injured, the consequences would have been more serious, and this would have been the real harm to the palace!

Fortunately, Lin Tailai had the courage to protect himself and prevented the situation from getting worse, so that the matter could be controlled this time!

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Of course, Lin Tailai did commit a big mistake by committing murder in the palace and should be punished, but the causes and consequences should also be taken into consideration. "

Lin Tailai looked at Shen Shoufu in surprise. It turned out that the senior Shoufu's eloquence was so good. He couldn't tell it at ordinary times.

Zhang Cheng had always been "quibbling" on behalf of the emperor. Now he felt tired and didn't want to pretend anymore, so he asked:

"Don't you know that Lin Tailai made such nonsense yesterday, which greatly offended the royal family Zheng?

Therefore, righteous indignation was aroused in the palace, and then the ministers besieged Lin Tailai! This is the cause and effect! "

Shen Shoufu seemed to be shocked, "Where is the indignation in the palace? Could it be that the imperial concubine Zheng is involved?"

Zhang Cheng was extremely impatient with these nonsense and took the initiative to lift the lid and said:

"What if it involves Empress Zheng of Yikun Palace? Do you still want to punish her?"

Shen Shoufu immediately returned to his true self, and said to Emperor Wanli very respectfully: "I dare not offend the imperial concubine in my lifetime! Everything must be obeyed by His Majesty's decree!"

His purpose was not to punish Concubine Zheng as the mastermind, that would be impossible.

As long as the window paper is peeled off and Concubine Zheng is involved, it will be enough!

Fourth assistant Wang Jiaping also stepped forward to assist and said: "When it comes to the imperial concubine, I naturally dare not speak nonsense, I just listen to Chen's decision!

But I don’t know what else your Majesty originally taught us when he called us in. "

I won’t mention Concubine Zheng anymore. Your Majesty, don’t mention Concubine Zheng’s son, right?

I don't know whether it was because he was so embarrassed or for some other reason that Emperor Wanli suddenly changed his color!

He said angrily: "Concubine Zheng, I have the responsibility to discipline her! But Lin Tailai committed an attack in the palace and seriously injured dozens of palace people. What do you gentlemen think?"

The emperor's anger is no joke. A single word can deprive a person of all his glory and wealth, and even his life!

Facing the angry emperor, even the unruly Lin Tailai could only bow his head and admit his guilt at this time, without being able to refute!

Those who dared to choke with the emperor have left their names in history, such as Cao Cao and his son, Sima Zhao and his son, Wei Zheng, and Bao Zheng.

For the first time since time travel, Lin Tailai felt a powerless feeling of humiliation, but he could only bury this feeling of humiliation in his heart.

At this moment, Lin Tailai understood firsthand what absolute monarchy meant.

In the past two years, Lin Tailai had become accustomed to tyrannizing others, and suddenly encountered the feeling of being tyrannized. It was really annoying from the bottom of his heart.

Facing the emperor's anger, the academicians did not dare to speak easily and quickly switched to the mode of "it is better to be silent than to speak a thousand words".

Anyway, it was Lin Tailai who the emperor was angry with, not them.

But the emperor would ask questions by name, and said to Wang Jiaping:

"Mr. Wang! You just asked why I summoned you? I will tell you clearly now!

My original intention is to agree with you on the time for the appointment of the eldest brother as the prince, tentatively scheduled for next winter.

In addition, there have been many discussions among the court officials recently, asking the eldest brother to come out to study, and he has long been educated by Yu!

I then thought that there is no one in the court who is more skilled in both civil and military skills than Lin Tailai, and I would like to invite Lin Tailai to teach Brother Xi! "

Several academicians looked at each other in shock. They couldn't believe a word of what the emperor just said.

The original intention was to discuss the date for the appointment of the crown prince, and the original intention was to invite Lin Tai to teach the eldest son of Emperor Xi.

The emperor could make up random things that didn't happen, and no one else could refute it anyway.

At the same time, Shen Shixing also had a premonition that some situations were going to get out of control.

As the chief minister, the biggest doubt I felt was why the emperor spoke to Wang Jiaping?

Under normal circumstances, if the emperor wants to express his position, he should say it to his chief minister!

And Wang Jiaping is only the fourth-ranked bachelor, and there are three more in front of him!

"You all know what I mean!" The emperor continued to say to Wang Jiaping: "But Lin Tailai has committed such a heinous crime. How can you teach me how to use him?"

Among all the university scholars, Wang Jiaping, who has the deepest connection with the Qingliu forces, is the one who is most enthusiastic about participating in the struggle for the foundation of the country.

Because only when there is turmoil, he, the fourth oldest, has the opportunity to make progress. If the situation is stable, he will always be the last.

It’s not that Wang Si is so obsessed with power, but he really can’t stand the three previous ones who are just sitting there doing nothing!

Hearing the emperor’s question, Wang Si felt that his chance had come.

It doesn’t matter whether the emperor’s words are true or false, and there is no need to tell the truth or false in politics, as long as you can see the opportunity!

So Wang Jiaping said in response: "Lin Tailai’s crime is the greatest, and no matter how your majesty punishes him, it will not be excessive!

But you must not give up your original intention just because of Lin Tailai’s crime.

The matter of enthroning the East Palace is a national ceremony, how can you give up because of Lin Tailai’s crime? "

Fuck! Everyone was shocked. Wang Jiaping’s words were equivalent to selling Lin Tailai directly, and selling him cleanly!

What Wang Jiaping meant was that as long as the emperor made progress on the issue of the foundation of the country, it didn't matter how Lin Tailai was killed.

Lin Tailai, who was good at guessing people's hearts, was also very confused at this moment. What exactly did the emperor want to do?

He was just a minor contradiction, not at the focus of the national foundation issue, and his political status was far lower than that of the university scholar. Why did the emperor always drag the topic to himself?

As if he would not stop until he killed himself. Could it be that his aura of Jiuyuan Xiangrui, like love, would also deteriorate and expire?

Or was Concubine Zheng a vixen and the emperor was fascinated by the vixen?

But from historical records, although Emperor Wanli doted on Concubine Zheng, he was still not the kind of tyrant who had no principles and bottom line in front of women.

For example, once Concubine Zheng tried to place two trusted eunuchs around Emperor Wanli or in the Silijian, but the two eunuchs were directly beaten to death by Emperor Wanli.

Emperor Wanli was very satisfied, and Wang Jiaping's answer was completely expected.

After all, Lin Tailai never showed mercy when killing people from the Qingliu forces. If there was a chance, the Qingliu forces would certainly not show mercy to Lin Tailai!

As expected, Wang Jiaping had no intention of maintaining the overall interests of the civil servants and scholar-officials class for the extremely hateful Lin Tailai.

What's more, there is a more righteous interface, after all, it is for the country!

Emperor Wanli sighed: "My eldest brother is young and weak, I want to observe for another year, and then enthrone him in the winter solstice next year.

But in the inner palace, Lin Tailai must be used to appease the resentment of Concubine Zheng, so that I can feel better.

What do you think, Mr. Xu and Mr. Wang?"

This time the emperor asked the second assistant Xu Guo and the third assistant Wang Xijue, and still did not ask Shen Da.

After a little thought, Xu Er and Wang San also replied: "I think that the great ceremony of the country should not be affected by Lin Tailai's serious crime."

Zhang Cheng, the eunuch in charge of the seal of the Silijian, curled his lips. This group of civil servants is not as united as the eunuchs of the Silijian of their generation.

Prime Minister Shen felt powerless to save the situation, after all, Lin Tailai was so popular.