The Ming Dynasty's Spokesperson

"Who is the person who posted the poster?" Chen Ju, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, shouted at the Jinyiwei officer with a fluke mentality.

The reason why it is a fluke mentality is that there are too many large-character posters posted on the streets outside the right gate of Chang'an, and most of them will not attract attention.

By the time others have read the content of the poster, the person who posted the poster has already run away.

Then Eunuch Chen added: "Or has anyone seen what the person who posted the poster looks like?"

The Jinyiwei officer unexpectedly replied: "The man didn't leave, but was caught."

Eunuch Chen was overjoyed: "What is his identity?"

The Jinyiwei officer said distressedly: "The man is just an illiterate laborer. Someone paid him to post the poster on the road, and he did it."

Eunuch Chen: "."

So it is basically impossible to find out who posted the poster?

That's all the information. Eunuch Chen ignored his image and ran towards Yude Palace. He wanted to see Emperor Wanli!

Although at this moment, the emperor must have known the news - the factory guards must have given priority to reporting to the emperor, and there was no need for Eunuch Chen to inform him.

But Eunuch Chen wanted to clear himself as soon as possible and not let the emperor vent his anger on him!

Emperor Wanli's fat face was red with anger, and he roared at Eunuch Chen: "Who did it? How did people know about it?"

Originally, Emperor Wanli was quite proud of himself. He carefully planned to do a bad thing, but no one knew who did it. This was very fulfilling.

But I didn't expect that it would be directly posted on the street!

It's so embarrassing to be discovered and exposed after doing something bad!

The motive of Emperor Wanli's doing this is simple. The first is to force the first and second assistants to publicly stand in line and help him resist pressure.

Don't just know how to make things smooth over like before. In the end, he, the emperor, still faces the pressure of the censors!

Second, if the first and second assistants were unwilling to take sides and resigned, then under the turmoil of the court, the matter of enthroning the Eastern Palace on the winter solstice would naturally fail. Who would care about enthroning the Eastern Palace?

At this time, Chen Ju was temporarily relieved. Hearing the emperor's words, he did not intend to vent his anger on himself.

So he replied: "No one outside should know the inside story. Maybe some people made random guesses and hit the wrong car."

"Random guesses?" Emperor Wanli was stunned for a moment, and then continued to roar: "Someone dared to slander the emperor and father!"

In most normal judgments, the leak of the secret memorial was due to the mistakes of the cabinet or the secret room, and the emperor was not thought of.

After all, this matter was too unscrupulous. It is hard to imagine that the sacred emperor could be so unscrupulous.

But after this post was published, it suddenly opened up new ideas and guided the world to think about the emperor.

Seeing that the emperor was still angry, Eunuch Chen could only reply, "I will do my best to eliminate the impact."

He didn't dare to say that he had found out the truth, so he said that he had eliminated the impact - he had to express his attitude in front of the emperor.

Emperor Wanli waved his hand and said, "Then do it! We can't let the world continue to slander me!"

After ensuring his own safety, Eunuch Chen came out of Yude Palace and began to wonder who wrote the poster.

Although Eunuch Chen said that someone was making random guesses in order to appease the emperor, he didn't think so in his heart.

The key figures surrounding the leak of the secret memorial are still those in the cabinet.

Shen Shoufu? He is smart, but he is not an extreme and crazy person. He can't do things like writing a big poster to poke the emperor in the face.

Wang Xijue? Not like that either. With his personality, even if he saw it, he would only ask the emperor for an explanation in a wronged manner, and would not make it public.

Wang Jiaping? This person is more rigid. If his secret memorial was leaked, it is indeed possible to post a big poster, but it is not his secret memorial that was leaked now.

Zhao Zhigao? Not to mention, he is just a timid scoundrel, how can he have the courage to take the initiative.

Anyway, after thinking about it, Eunuch Chen still has no clue, so he can only think of a way to eliminate the impact first.

You can't let the emperor come out and tell the world "I am not, I don't have it".

After the content of this large-character poster spread, it shocked the officialdom of the capital again.

The previous mainstream view was that the secretary of the secretariat or the cabinet made mistakes in his work and was used by others to make trouble.

And now everyone looks at the emperor again, it seems a bit suspicious.

Although the situation was noisy, it was not very chaotic. After all, everyone knew the future direction, that is, the first assistant and the second assistant stepped down, and then there was a new round of big game.

But the poster pointed out the emperor, and the situation was so chaotic that people were at a loss.

The filial son Shen Yongmao has been at home these days, accompanying his old father who has been at the end of his career in the officialdom, mainly because he was afraid that his father would be upset and do something wrong.

It was not unacceptable for Mr. Shen that his father stepped down. After all, he still had Jiuyuan Zhenxian without his father, so it didn't seem to make much difference.

But what worried Mr. Shen was that his old father would do something crazy in a fit of rage, which would affect him in the future.

Today, Mr. Shen was a little shocked to see that his father actually asked the servants to prepare the carriage and seemed to be going out.

"What is father going to do?" Shen Yongmao asked hurriedly.

Shen Shixing replied with a straight face: "I'm going to Wenyuan Pavilion to be on duty."

Shen Yongmao was speechless. The public opinion environment outside was so bad, couldn't his father stay at home honestly? Did he still want to struggle to the death?

Shen Shixing snorted coldly: "I didn't resign, and the emperor didn't dismiss me, why can't I go?"

Shen Yongmao advised helplessly: "Now we are in a time of high winds and waves, and public opinion is not friendly to father, so don't go out."

Could it be that, old man, you really want to be "Yan Song" with a thick skin?

Shen Shixing sighed and said with determination: "I can lose, but I can't admit defeat easily! I can't let people think that I will step down easily!

Even if I leave, I have to arrange for my relatives, friends, old friends and fellow villagers to avoid being liquidated in the future.

How can I hide at home and ignore the world, and finally leave irresponsibly?

Young people like you lack the sense of responsibility of us old-fashioned people, and only think about yourself when encountering things."

Shen Yongmao replied: "Father, you worry too much! As long as you resign, many of the relatives, friends, old friends and fellow villagers you mentioned will immediately switch to Lin Jiuyuan, and it will be a seamless transition. You don't have to worry about the future."

Shen Shixing: "."

Although Uncle Shen advised to this extent, Shen Shoufu still insisted on going to Wenyuan Pavilion for a seat.

I don’t know if this is a sense of farewell ritual, or the old man’s obsession, or some other idea.

But Prime Minister Shen’s carriage did not display the Prime Minister’s banner, and went to the right gate of Chang’an in a low-key manner.

Halfway through the journey, he saw hundreds of people watching the unveiling of the notice on the roadside. Shen Yongmao also stepped forward to take a look, and then turned back to tell his father in the car.

Prime Minister Shen’s face changed drastically, and he hurriedly ordered Shen Yongmao: "Don’t go to Wenyuan Pavilion, turn around and go home!

At the same time, you should hurry up and take out the resignation memorial in the study and hand it in!"

Shen Yongmao asked: "Why is father panicking?"

Shen Shixing seemed to be ten years older, and said dejectedly: "I can’t let the emperor suspect that I am venting my anger and revenge because the secret memorial was exposed!

Maybe someone is also hinting and warning me! This damn court, I really can’t stay for a day longer!"

If I was "uninformed", in the eyes of Emperor Wanli, I was purely a victim, and there might be some affection.

If the emperor thought he knew in advance, it would be all over.

If Shen Shixing had thought about struggling a few times before to see if he could make a way out, now he has completely given up.

Now Shen Shixing only has one question in his mind, who is so cruel?

Is it Wang Jiaping who longs to be the prime minister? Is he afraid that he will be ruthless and become "Yan Song"?

At this time, another star figure, Huang Zhengbin, the former secretary of the Central Secretariat who bravely exposed and criticized the prime minister, was intoxicated by the flowers and applause of the censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

After a few days of touring and communicating in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Lu Guangzu, the left censor, personally met Huang Zhengbin.

During the meeting, Lu Zongxian highly praised Huang Zhengbin's righteous act, praised Huang Zhengbin's behavior of not fearing power and insisting on justice, and called Huang Zhengbin a contemporary righteous man.

Lu Zongxian also proposed that he hoped that Huang Zhengbin would continue to work hard and make new contributions on the road of upholding justice.

"So, what's wrong with Zhao Zhigao?" Lu Guangzu asked directly without playing tricks on a small figure like Huang Zhengbin.

Since you, Huang Yishi, can bravely expose Shen Shixing, it is reasonable to expose Zhao Zhigao, right?

In Lu Guangzu's mind, Shen Shixing is a thing of the past, and it is not an exaggeration to call him "a dead bone in a tomb". Zhao Zhigao is the new target of work.

According to the current trend, if Wang Jiaping becomes the first assistant, Zhao Zhigao will be the second assistant. And this is a second assistant with the full support of Lin Tailai, so we must make plans early.

Huang Zhengbin hesitated for a while, "I have said it long ago, Zhao Ge Lao is at most mediocre and has no guilt."

Zhao Zhigao basically does nothing in the cabinet, and he follows the first assistant when encountering major events, so it is not easy to find fault with him.

Not to mention the crimes of party-building and excluding dissidents. To put it bluntly, Zhao Si did not have the qualifications in the cabinet before.

Lu Guangzu casually accused him, "It seems that he is just a figurehead and follows the emperor?"

Just then, an imperial censor rushed in and shouted, "A poster appeared on the street outside the right gate of Chang'an! It mentions the emperor!"

After listening to it, Lu Guangzu couldn't figure out the trick for a while. What was the purpose of issuing such a poster?

Suddenly, another Jinyiwei officer came to the front of the room and said loudly, "I am Luo Sigong, the commander of the Northern Pacification Division of Jinyiwei, and I have been ordered to arrest Huang Zhengbin!"

Huang Zhengbin, who was talking to Lu Guangzu, was confused. What was going on? Why did the Jinyiwei come to arrest him?

Is the treatment in the imperial prison also something that a small person like him can enjoy?

Lu Guangzu stood up suddenly, his heart pounding!

He was not excited for Huang Zhengbin, a small person, but that damn feeling came again!

When everything was under control, the situation suddenly became like a frightened horse, running out of control all the way!

In the past few years, whenever I met Lin Tailai, this situation happened many times!

But Lin Tailai is obviously not in the capital now!

In the eye of the storm cabinet, Wang Jiaping, who should have been in high spirits, was quite irritable.

Logically speaking, the first and second assistants blew themselves up, and now Wang Jiaping, the third assistant, has become the temporary person in charge of the cabinet.

It should be very pleasant to enjoy the treatment of the first assistant in the cabinet every day.

But the fourth assistant Zhao Zhigao didn't know what was wrong with him. He angrily scolded Wang Jiaping for framing his colleagues in the cabinet every day.

Wang Jiaping couldn't bear it anymore and said: "If you have evidence or clues, you can report it to the emperor! If there is no evidence or clues, it is unreasonable!"

Zhao Zhigao retorted: "If I have real evidence, I would have reported it to the emperor long ago. Why can I only accuse in the cabinet?"

"Justice is in the heart of the people!" If it weren't for the need for stability and the fear of affecting the successor to the Prime Minister, Wang Jiaping really wanted to beat up Old Man Zhao!

Old Man Zhao shouted: "What is justice in the heart of the people? It's just that others dare not say it because of power!

In the past, the cabinet's Zhongshu Sheren mixed up the imperial edicts and memorials, and later the Zhongshu Sheren reported and exposed the Prime Minister's crimes. This is obviously a combination of punches!

If there is no organization and support from the cabinet strongman, how could such a thing happen?

Anyway, I, Zhao Zhigao, am a coward and don't have the ability to commit a crime! As for whether you, Wang Jiaping, have this ability, you know it best!"

Wang Jiaping was almost mad. If Zhao Zhigao was allowed to talk nonsense like this every day, what would happen if others really believed it?

As the saying goes, a lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth, and there is no shortage of conspiracy theorists in the world!

So Wang Jiaping made up his mind and asked Zhao Zhigao: "There have been censors impeaching you these two days, why don't you stay at home and think about the past?"

In fact, according to the old rules, once a minister is impeached by a censor, he must go home and stay at home, and then submit a resignation letter to ask the emperor for judgment.

But in recent years, as the situation has changed and the censors have become more rampant, this old rule can no longer be strictly enforced.

Because there are too many impeachments, if there are impeachments, the ministers of the court will have nothing to do, and the cabinet will be paralyzed every day.

So it is changed to a symbolic closing and resignation when there are more impeachments, and it is also based on free conviction.

Wang Jiaping just wanted to quote this old rule and let Zhao Zhigao go home and calm down for a few days.

Generally speaking, after being said, no one is embarrassed to stay at home unless they are very thick-skinned.

Zhao Zhigao said angrily: "You can drive me away first, but you dare to ask yourself, is it not you who caused the first and second assistants to suffer this time?"

Wang Jiaping replied: "I have a clear conscience!"

Zhao Zhigao turned around and left, but at this time, a secretary rushed over.

And reported: "Today, a poster appeared outside, which actually said nonsense that the secret memorial was leaked by the emperor, and now there is a lot of discussion outside!"

Wang Jiaping was shocked and said with a hint of meaning: "Is this true?"

First, he was surprised that someone posted a poster, and second, he was surprised by the content of the poster. The emperor can't be so shameless, right?

Zhao Zhigao didn't leave again, standing in the middle hall and shouting: "Wang Shanyin! You still say it wasn't you?"

Wang Jiaping: "."

It's out of line! In this situation, firmly denying that you committed the crime, wouldn't it be a disguised way of blaming the emperor?

This is not a question of fairness or unfairness at all. Let alone what the emperor thinks, it also involves the way of monarch and ministers!

As the saying goes, a son should not criticize his father's faults, and the relationship between the emperor and his subjects is better than that between father and son! The subjects have the obligation to take the blame for the emperor!