Chapter 241: The Counter-Intervention Plan

After Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, he had many things against Zhu Yuanzhang, but one thing he faithfully implemented Zhu Yuanzhang's iron rule, that is, the eunuchs were not allowed to interfere in politics, and the eunuchs were just slaves to serve the emperor, and their status was extremely low, but this did not mean that the eunuchs were machines and had no idea of ​​their own. In fact, as early as the later period of Zhu Yuanzhang's rule, the kings had bribed many eunuchs around Zhu Yuanzhang through various relationships, and inquired about various information about the emperor from them. For this reason, Zhu Yuanzhang once executed a group of eunuchs who had colluded with the kings, and strictly ordered eunuchs not to enter his study. In this way, it seemed that the eunuchs could not know political affairs.

However, in the 26th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang was paralyzed and basically spent his time in the bedroom, including handling some major events. At this time, his energy was greatly weakened and many details were not considered. Therefore, when he was dealing with major government affairs, he was unable to drive out the eunuchs he served beside him in time, so they also learned a little bit of inside information about the late Hongwu years.

There were two old eunuchs who served Zhu Yuanzhang personally at that time. One was dead last year, while the other was rushed to Xiaoling by Zhu Yunwen to guard Zhu Yuanzhang. The eunuch's surname was Qian, without a name, and he couldn't read a big word. Everyone called him Eunuch Qian. Although he was less than fifty years old, the eunuch's lifespan was not long. He knew that he could not live for a few years, so he spent every day like a walking corpse, waiting for death to come.

That night, Eunuch Qian added lamp oil to the spiritual throne of the late emperor as usual, and went back to his room. As usual, he was about to recite the Diamond Sutra thirty times before going to bed. But as soon as he entered the room, he was surprised to find that there was someone in his room. Several men in black surrounded him, and on his bed was sitting a man in his thirties. He was burly and smiling. Seeing Eunuch Qian showing fear on his face, he smiled kindly and said, "Eunuch Qian, don't be afraid, we won't hurt you."

"Who are you?" asked Qian's elder brother-in-law hoarsely.

"You don't have to ask who we are. You know too much and ignore you." The man's tone was still very gentle.

"What are you looking for me?" Eunuch Qian skipped his fear a little, and his words became much more smooth.

The man in green smiled and did not answer him directly, but gave a wink to the person next to him. An old man in black came up with a plate with ten yellow ingots of gold in it, "This is yours." The man in green pointed at the gold and smiled.

Mr. Qian glanced at Huang Jin, but shook his head and said, "I don't need gold. Just tell me what you have to do!"

"I know you have a younger brother in Qiantang County, so give him all the gold!" The man in green stared at Eunuch Qian's eyes and said.

Sure enough, a hint of panic flashed in Mr. Qian's eyes. The other party even knew his most secret thing. What were they doing for him?

The man in green laughed slowly, "You don't have to be afraid. This is our rule. Before doing anything, you must understand the other party's details clearly. It is not difficult to check your details. There is your sign of entering the palace thirty-five years ago in the palace, and you may have forgotten it."

"What the hell are you going to do?" Mr. Qian's voice trembled.

"It's very simple, I'll ask you one thing." The man in green suddenly became sharper than a knife. He stared into the eyes of Eunuch Qian and said, "I know that after the late emperor was paralyzed in the 26th year of Hongwu, you have been serving the late emperor and have never left for almost a day. I'll let you recall whether the late emperor had ever given Ye Tianming, the first important minister of the court at that time?"

This man in green is naturally the king of Yan. He is Ji Gang, the chief spy chief of Yan in the capital. Yesterday afternoon, he received an emergency order from Peking, ordering him to immediately find out whether the rumors that Ye Tianming had a secret order were true, and told him that he could investigate the clues of the eunuch. Ji Gang had already laid a lot of spy in the palace. Through the spy in the palace, he quickly found out the important clue of the grandfather Qian, and he immediately took people to Xiaoling.

Seeing that Mr. Qian was thinking, Ji Gang reminded again: "The secret decree does not necessarily look like an imperial decree, maybe a secret letter, maybe a wax ball, or maybe a gold box.

‘Golden Box!’ Eunuch Qian suddenly remembered it, and he nodded and said, “I gave Lord Ye a gold box. Song Ne, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, and Wu Chen were there. I remember that Lord Ye was very frightened at that time. He kowtowed three times and nine times and took the gold box. I forgot if it was an imperial edict inside.”

"Think about it again, is it a secret order?" Ji Gang guided him with a smile.

"It should be true! The Emperor seemed to have written something before, and it was put into the gold box."

"Thank you!" Ji Gang stood up and winked at the man in black behind. Immediately, a white silk wrapped around Mr. Qian's neck, threw it across the beam above, and pulled him into the air. As Mr. Qian's legs struggled weakly, Mr. Qian walked out of the door with a cold expression.

Late at night five days later, it was already the hour of Hai. This was the time when Zhu Yunwen finished his government affairs and was about to return to the palace to rest. He was about to leave the imperial study room, but a guard hurriedly came to report, "Your Majesty, Grand Tutor Huang is urgently asking for a meeting outside, saying that there are extremely important things to report to Your Majesty immediately."

"Call him to meet him!" Although Zhu Yunwen was already very tired, he summoned him without hesitation when he heard that Huang Zicheng had an urgent matter.

After a moment, Huang Zicheng hurried into the imperial study room, bowed and said, "I disturb Your Majesty's rest, and apologize to Your Majesty first!"

Zhu Yunwen waved his hand and smiled, "Huang Aiqing is too worried. I will never blame you for the sake of state affairs. Tell me! What important matter is it?"

Huang Zicheng immediately took out a letter and whispered: "Your Majesty, I discovered that Ye Tianming is unfaithful."

What Huang Zicheng wanted to say was that Ye Tianming had a golden box. He received a report from a Ye Tianming's slave the night before yesterday, saying that Ye Tianming had a secret order from the late emperor, which was inside a golden box. The slave also said that this was Ye Tianming's eldest son once said he was exposed when he was drunk. When the late emperor gave the secret order, Grand Secretary Song Ne was also present.

After receiving this news, Huang Zicheng felt like he had found a treasure. He immediately rushed to the home of Song Ne, a great scholar who had retired from office. After several inquiries and persuasions, Song Ne finally admitted that there was indeed such a thing. The late emperor asked Ye Tianming to open it again when necessary. However, when Huang Zicheng asked the content of the secret decree again, Song Ne committed suicide by taking poison. Although he did not know what the secret decree was written in this golden box, judging from Song Ne committed suicide by taking poison, this secret decree must be of great importance, and it is very likely to be a problem of the inheritance of the throne of the Ming Dynasty.

Originally, Huang Zicheng was determined to overthrow Ye Tianming, but when he realized the seriousness of the matter, he also became nervous and rushed to Zhu Yunwen overnight to report it secretly.

Zhu Yunwen was stunned after reading the letter. Ye Tianming actually hid a secret decree. He could see that the letter was Huang Zicheng's handwriting, but at the end there was Song Ne's signature. He hurriedly asked, "How did you know about this?"

"I learned that Ye Tianming's family slave was informed, and I specially checked the identity of this family slave. He was indeed a servant who raised horses in Ye Tianming's mansion. Your Majesty, what I want to say is that when I asked about the content of Song Ne's secret order, he committed suicide by taking poison."

"Ah!" Zhu Yunwen stood up suddenly and sat down dejectedly. Song Ne actually committed suicide by taking poison. A look of grief appeared on his face. When the emperor's grandfather asked him to learn to correct the memorial, Song Ne gave him a lot of help.

Huang Zicheng sighed and said apologetically: "I didn't expect this to be the case, but it also shows that the content of the secret decree is extraordinary. I hope Your Majesty will curb his grief first and put major events first."

Zhu Yunwen pinched his temple in pain and asked in a low voice for a while: "What should I do?"

The night was getting deeper and deeper, but Ye Tianming's study was still brightly lit. He was writing a memorial. He was about to remind the emperor not to just stare at the King of Yan, but also to pay attention to the ambition of Li Weizheng from Liaodong. He accidentally calculated today and found that Li Weizheng had an army of 300,000, which was the second largest force after the King of Yan, but he developed silently and occupied the Shandong Peninsula.

Ye Tianming had completely disregarded himself as his son-in-law at this time. He knew that the greater the power of Li Weizheng, the greater the pressure on his crime of collusion. In order not to be implicated by Li Weizheng, he decided to publicly report to the emperor in the morning court tomorrow, asking to pay attention to Li Weizheng's ambitions.

Moreover, recently, some people in the court have proposed that they simply appoint Li Weizheng as King of Goryeo to Zheng’s title, but Ye Tianming believed that it was absolutely impossible. The enthronement of Li Weizheng as King of Goryeo means that the Ming Dynasty will lose the vast land north of Liaodong and Shandong Peninsula, and even the wider land north of Liaodong.

When Ye Tianming was halfway through writing, he could not continue. Although he proposed to pay attention to Li Weizheng's ambitions, he could not find a way to deal with it. If the court adopts the method of resignation, it is very likely that Li Weizheng would be pushed to the side of the King of Yan, and he would really become a sinner.

Ye Tianming sighed and tore off the memorial he had just written. At this moment, the butler's panic sound came from outside the door, "Master, the emperor is here!"

Ye Tianming was shocked. He didn't even have time to change his clothes, so he crawled out of the study and ran to the hall. Hundreds of palace guards had already surrounded the hall.

In the hall, Zhu Yunwen was drinking tea expressionlessly. Ye Tianming hurriedly came in and knelt down and said, "I am Ye Tianming, please see Your Majesty!"

Zhu Yunwen did not let him get up, but asked coldly: "Mr. Ye, I heard a rumor that Lord Ye had a secret decree of the late emperor. I don't believe it very much, so I'll listen to Lord Ye clearing this matter."

After brushing the ground, Ye Tianming's face turned pale. Zhu Yunwen's words were like a sword. At the moment he had least expected, he stabbed into his chest with a sword. The golden box finally broke out. He shook his body and almost fainted.

"So, is this really the case?" Zhu Yunwen asked slowly.

Ye Tianming knew that this matter could not be hidden. If it were just rumors, Zhu Yunwen would never come to the door in the middle of the night. He must have had evidence. It is very likely that several other senior officials revealed this secret.

He nodded and admitted the matter. He then sighed and asked, "Does Your Majesty want to see this seal?"

Zhu Yunwen didn't say anything. After a while, Ye Tianming smiled miserably and stood up and said, "I'll get this seal."

Zhu Yunwen still didn't say anything, looking indifferently at the guards following Ye Tianming out. After a while, a guard walked quickly with a golden box, but Ye Tianming knelt at the door and did not come in. The guard stepped forward and whispered: "Your Majesty, this golden box should be sealed, but I found that it had been opened."

"Open it!"

A guard stepped forward, pried open the gold box with a dagger, took out a neatly folded white satin secret order from it, and presented it to Zhu Yunwen.

Zhu Yunwen looked at it and looked fear in his eyes. This was the secret order of the emperor's grandfather to establish the King of Yan. His hands trembled violently. What would happen if this secret order fell into the King of Yan's hands? He was shocked.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Several guards noticed his abnormality and quickly called in a low voice. Zhu Yunwen slowly came back to his senses. He was silent for a moment, and lit the secret order on the candle without hesitation, and threw it on the ground.

Zhu Yunwen looked silently at the secret order being burned to ashes. At this time, a murderous intent arose in his heart. Ye Tianming not only acted boldly and privately opened the secret order of the late emperor, but also knew that it was the secret order of King Yan ascended the throne but did not tell him. This clearly meant that he wanted to leave it to King Yan in the future.

Zhu Yunwen glanced coldly at Ye Tianming, who was kneeling at the door, and waved his hand and said, "Come back to the palace!"
Chapter completed!