Through word of mouth among the people, the news that Duke Yansheng Kong Yinzhi had surrendered to the enemy spread rapidly in the capital.

In just one day, nearly half of the people in the capital knew about this.

Walking on the streets of the capital, everyone was talking about this.

Ordinary people just have the mentality of watching the show.

Duke Yansheng has nothing to do with them.

It doesn't matter whether this matter is true or false, as long as it can give them something to talk about and make them happy.

Some people think it is true, some people think it is fake news.

Some people thought this matter was too absurd and immediately reported it to Shuntian Prefecture, asking the government to track down the person who spread the rumor.

The capital is located at the foot of the emperor, and any commoner may be a relative of a noble or high-ranking official.

After receiving the report, Shuntian Prefecture did not dare to arrest anyone directly, but immediately sent people to the city to inquire about the situation.

When the bailiff told him the information he had collected, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture was speechless.

After the news spread, there are already several versions.

The original version was that Duke Yansheng pledged allegiance to the Jiannu in the letter, and provided the Jiannu with two million taels of silver when they marched south in the 17th year of Chongzhen.

As the news spread, it became known that Duke Yansheng personally went to Liaodong to pay tribute to the Jiannu, provided intelligence when the Jiannu marched south in the 17th year of Chongzhen, and provided the Jiannu with tens of millions of taels of silver.

In addition, the Kong family was sent to join the Eight Banners and fight with the Ming army on the battlefield.

In order to vent their emotions, many people will process the information they receive before telling others.

So the message quickly changed.

Shuntian Prefecture suddenly didn't know how to deal with this and could only pretend not to know for the time being.

Let’s wait until things get out of hand.

Jinyiwei commander Li Ruolian originally wanted to arrest the man on the third day, but the news spread too quickly.

He had to start arresting people a day in advance.

It would be better if they didn't catch him, as news doesn't spread that fast.

After all, many people who are unwilling to believe will stop spreading it, as if rumors stop at the wise.

After the arrests began, the speed at which news spread increased exponentially.

As soon as the Jinyiwei who came to arrest people left, the neighbors gathered together and started talking.

Someone asked: "What virtue and ability did Wang Laowu have that the Jinyiwei could personally come to arrest him?"

"Because Wang Laowu spread rumors."

"What rumors are you making up?"

"He said that Duke Yansheng had betrayed the enemy and assisted the enemy,"

"What happened? Tell me more..."

"I...I dare not say it. If I say it, I will be arrested by the Royal Guards."

"Don't worry, we all know each other on the street. As long as we don't tell anyone, the Royal Guards won't know."

"Okay, I'll say it once, and you listen carefully..."

Soon after he finished speaking, the Jinyiwei came nearby and arrested the person who "spread rumors", and warned everyone before leaving: Don't believe rumors and don't spread rumors!

But there are too many people who spread rumors.

In less than half a day, the prison in Shuntian Prefecture was filled with prisoners.

Inside Wenyuan Pavilion.

Chief Minister Fan Jingwen and several cabinet ministers are working.

"Everyone!" Minister of Personnel Qiu Yu walked in quickly. "It's a mess, a mess, a complete mess."

Everyone stopped writing at the same time and looked at Qiu Yu.

Fan Jingwen asked, "What's wrong? What's the mess?"

"It's all chaos outside!" Qiu Yu picked up the teacup on the table, drank the tea in it, and said, "I don't know which official leaked the news, but now the people of the entire capital know that Duke Yansheng has surrendered to the enemy."

Fan Jingwen's first reaction was that Chongzhen was behind this, so he immediately asked, "What is the attitude of the palace?"

"I don't know what the palace's attitude is, but the Royal Guards have already started arresting people." Qiu Yu had a fearful look on his face. "Anyone who talked about this matter was thrown into jail by the Royal Guards. Now the jail in Shuntian Prefecture is already full of prisoners. The governor of Shuntian Prefecture thinks this is not a solution, and wants our cabinet to come forward to resolve the issue."

Arrested so soon?

Fan Jingwen felt that Chongzhen was deliberately putting on an act for him, but he had no evidence to prove it.

He thought for a moment and asked, "Has anyone read the latest issue of the 17th Year of Chongzhen?"

"My Lord," said Minister of War Wang Jiayan, waving his hand, "I read it, from beginning to end."

"Is there any news related to Duke Yansheng?"

"No, they were all good news from Liaodong and the list of names of fallen soldiers." Wang Jiayan replied.

"Lord Fan!" Qiu Yu said, "The Imperial Guards are arresting people on a large scale. Shuntian Prefecture is overwhelmed and the people are complaining. We have to find a way to stop them, otherwise the situation will only get worse."

"No hurry!" Fan Jingwen said very experiencedly: "The Jinyiwei must have received instructions from His Majesty before arresting people. Since His Majesty has already taken action, there is no need for us to intervene."

"The evidence of Duke Yansheng collaborating with the enemy has been confirmed. We have to have an attitude, right? We can't just pretend we don't know, right?" Qiu Yu asked again in a low voice.

"We really need to take an attitude," Fan Jingwen thought for a moment and suggested, "Let's jointly submit an official document, asking His Majesty to order the current Duke of Yansheng to come to Beijing for a confrontation."

"Confrontation is useless. This is a capital crime that could cost you your life!" Huang Jin, the Minister of Rites, shook his head and said, "He will definitely not admit it."

"Whether the Duke of Yansheng recognizes it or not is not important. What is important is that we have a stance." Fan Jingwen smiled and said, "This matter has a huge impact. We cannot make the decision. Your Majesty needs to make the final decision."

Fan Jingwen said half of his words and didn't say the second half.

There are only two possible outcomes if Duke Yansheng surrenders to the enemy.

One is that Duke Yansheng is guilty, and the other is that he is not guilty.

In short, there are two results: killing and not killing.

Fan Jingwen always suspected that Chongzhen was the mastermind behind this incident.

He didn't want to become Chongzhen's knife, and even more so he didn't want to be used by Chongzhen to kill Duke Yansheng.

He is a man who cares about his reputation.

Regardless of whether Duke Yansheng was guilty or not, he did not want him to die in his hands.

So he wanted to push the initiative to Chongzhen and let Chongzhen kill people himself.

Chongzhen had already guessed Fan Jingwen's thoughts.

In the matter of Duke Yansheng, ordinary spectators are at the first level.

The more astute officials are on the second level.

The people from the six ministries and nine ministers are on the third level.

Fan Jingwen was alone on the fourth floor.

But the Ming Emperor Chongzhen was in the atmosphere!

He was high above everyone else, able to see everything that everyone was thinking.