That was a letter.

Judging from the age of the letter paper and the dryness of the ink, this letter is quite old.

The content of the letter was neither long nor short, and it could be written entirely on one piece of paper.

Prince Ding Zhu Cijiong subconsciously looked at the signature at the end of the letter.

After reading it, he stood there motionless as if struck by lightning.

It's not that he doesn't want to move, but that he can't move.

Because the body is no longer under control.

The letter was signed with a familiar name: Kong Yinzhi!

"This..." Li Xianzhong was the first to react, and stammered, "This is a letter from the current Duke Yansheng! How did his letter appear here?"

Liu Zhaoji said: "The letter is indeed signed with his name!"

Wu Sangui frowned and said, "I have never seen his handwriting, so I don't know if it is a forgery."

Huang Degong was blocked from the crowd because he was not very literate.

He shouted in a deep voice at the top of his lungs: "Don't worry about whether it's forged or not, just read the contents of the letter first."

"Yes, yes," everyone responded in unison and began to check the contents of the letter.

It would have been better if you didn't watch it. After watching it, everyone fell silent at the same time.

The scene also fell into dead silence.

Huang Degong, who was outside the crowd, was getting anxious. He shouted again, "Are you all mute? Speak? What does the letter say?"

There was no one at the scene to answer his question, only the sound of brief rapid breathing.

Huang Degong pushed through the crowd and came to Wang Yongji, patted Wang Yongji on the shoulder and asked, "What does the letter say?"

Wang Yongji swallowed his saliva and concluded, "This Kong Yinzhi claims to be the contemporary Yansheng Duke. In the 17th year of our dynasty, the Jiannu invaded the country and plundered through Qufu, Shandong. The Jiannu must have borrowed money from the Yansheng Duke, who replied that he could lend it, but not as much as 3 million taels, only 2 million taels of silver."

"In order to avoid being accused of aiding the enemy, the Jiannu need to go to the city to collect the silver after they capture Qufu."

"Also," Wang Yongji added, "this man who claims to be Duke Yansheng pledged his loyalty to the Jiannu in his letter."

"Is there anything else?" Huang Degong asked through gritted teeth.

"That's all," Wang Yongji said expressionlessly, "but based on the content of this letter, we can infer that the two sides exchanged several letters at the time, and this is just one of them!"

"Wait..." Huang Degong suddenly remembered something: "In the 17th year of our dynasty, Duke Yansheng was robbed of millions of taels of silver, and the real murderer has not been found yet. If the content of the letter is true, it means that Duke Yansheng played a trick on the court, right?"

Wang Yongji raised his finger to signal everyone not to make random guesses.

"Fuck it," Huang Degong didn't care at all. He hammered the wall next to him with his hand and said, "No wonder the Jiannu are so difficult to deal with. It turns out that someone is helping the enemy!"

"Yes, the two million taels of silver from the seventeen years of our dynasty are too valuable. If they could be used to support the court, the Jian Nu would not have survived until now!" Li Xianzhong looked resentful.

"Don't jump to conclusions," Wang Yongji said cautiously, "This letter is very likely a forgery. Before we find out the facts, it's best not to talk too much to avoid unnecessary trouble."

"That's right!" Everyone nodded and took a step back.

It seemed like they were telling Wang Yongji that they had not read the contents of the letter.

Wang Yongji was angry but also helpless. He could only say to Prince Ding Zhu Cijiong: "Your Highness, this is a serious matter. It is best for us not to get involved in it! Why not send the letter to the capital immediately and let the court and His Majesty handle it."

Zhu Cijiong had just recovered from his shock.

He never imagined that his father would actually take action against Duke Yansheng.

Confucianism and Confucianism represented by Duke Yansheng have long become tools to maintain rule.

Why did my father suddenly want to take action against him?

Zhu Cijiong was completely confused.

"Your Highness, Your Highness?" Seeing Zhu Cijiong didn't speak, Wang Yongji reminded him softly.

"Ah?" Zhu Cijiong said after recovering from his shock, "This matter is indeed very difficult. We should avoid touching this hot potato if possible. Let's send the letter to the capital as Governor Wang wishes."

To be on the safe side, Wang Yongji suggested: "Your Highness, send a few Jinyiwei, and I will send a few elite soldiers from the army, and let them go to the capital with the letter. How about that?"

"That's best."

After reaching a consensus, Wang Yongji and Zhu Cijiong immediately arranged for people to return to Beijing.

They themselves continued to search the city for valuables.

......

On September 11, the 24th year of Chongzhen, this letter along with the latest battle reports from the front line were brought to the capital.

At this time, the capital was shrouded in two topics.

One is that the Ping Liao army recaptured Shenyang and forced the Jiannu to "move the capital."

Such great news made the people in the city cheer and the entire capital was filled with joy.

The second topic was that Wang Zhixin, the governor of the East Factory, was impeached by all officials.

Some people think that this matter is directed at Wang Zhixin himself.

Some people think that on the surface it is aimed at Wang Zhixin, but in fact it is aimed at the current emperor behind Wang Zhixin.

Others believe this is an outright conspiracy.

Palace of Heavenly Purity.

Chongzhen sat on the dragon throne without saying a word.

People from the cabinet, six ministries and the Imperial Household Department stood on the left, and Wang Zhixin knelt on the ground on the right.

"Wang Zhixin, you solicited bribes under the guise of mining and exploited the gentry until their death. With both witnesses and evidence, can you convict him?" Shi Bangyao, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, asked sternly.

"Where is the witness? What is the physical evidence?" Wang Zhixin raised his head, looking dissatisfied.

"Call the witness, Censor Huang Zongxi, and bring up the evidence!" Shi Bangyao shouted outside the hall.

Amid the sound of footsteps, Huang Zongxi walked into the hall holding a booklet.