After dealing with the matter of the King's Heart, before the ministers left, hurried footsteps were heard outside the palace door.
"Your Majesty, there's news from Liaodong!" Someone came to the palace gate and shouted.
All the ministers turned their heads in unison and looked towards the source of the voice.
There were two dusty young men standing there, one wearing the regular uniform of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the other wearing the uniform of the Liaodong Frontier Army.
They knelt on the ground and raised the objects in their hands above their heads.
Chongzhen pointed at Wang Chengen with his chin.
Wang Chengen immediately understood and shouted to the Jinyiwei outside the palace: "Show it up!"
The Jinyiwei handed the newspaper and an envelope to Wang Chengen.
Wang Chengen took it and opened the newspaper and read: "On September 17, the 24th year of our dynasty, the main force of the Ping Liao army entered Shenyang City... While searching for supplies in the city, I found a letter. Please take a look, Your Majesty."
"A letter?" Chongzhen pretended to be surprised: "Is it a letter from Jiannu to me?"
Wang Chengen read the newspaper and then looked at the Jinyiwei who delivered the letter.
After confirming that the Jinyiwei who delivered the letter knew nothing, he said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the Tangbao did not say who wrote the letter, and the person who delivered the letter did not know the specific situation."
"Then open the envelope, take out the letter and read it to everyone!" Chongzhen said nonchalantly.
"Your Majesty," Wang Chengen said with an embarrassed look on his face, "I am afraid there may be words disrespectful to Your Majesty in this."
"Don't worry, it won't happen!" Chongzhen said firmly: "If there was any disrespect, Wang Yongji would have warned us long ago."
That’s right!
Wang Chengen quickly opened the envelope and began to read.
"On the first day of September in the first year of Shunzhi. I humbly humbly say that the prosperity of the country has just begun. All nations look up to the rule of the Reform Movement. The government is upright and just. The nine emperors are full of benevolence for the beginning of a new era..."
At first, everyone thought it was nothing.
As the content unfolded, someone noticed something was wrong.
Huang Zongxi was the first to frown: "This... This doesn't seem to be a letter from Jiannu to the Ming Dynasty. It looks more like someone is flattering Jiannu."
"That's right. Let's continue listening." said another censor.
When Wang Chengen read out that the writer of the letter claimed to be Duke Yansheng, everyone present widened their eyes.
Especially Chongzhen, he stretched out his right hand to interrupt Wang Chengen and showed an incredible expression.
Minister of Revenue Xie Sanbin first looked at Chongzhen, then at his colleagues beside him: "Everyone, I...did I hear it wrong just now? The writer of the letter claims to be Duke Yansheng?"
"Minister Xie also heard that the writer of the letter called himself Duke Yansheng? I thought I had heard it wrong!" Minister of Rites Huang Jin sighed.
Next, Wang Chengen slowed down his speech.
With every word he said, Chongzhen and the ministers' faces became uglier.
In the letter, Kong Yinzhi not only pledged allegiance to the Jiannu, but also aided the enemy.
Aiding the enemy is a grave crime punishable by extermination of all nine generations of your clan!
When the last sentence was read, the entire Qianqing Palace was in deathly silence.
No one dared to make a sound.
Many people are too nervous to breathe loudly.
I could only lower my head and breathe slowly.
Chongzhen stood up from the dragon throne angrily, and then quickly sat back down.
He pretended to think for a moment and then said decisively: "This letter must be forged! Duke Yansheng is the Duke Yansheng of the Ming Dynasty. He will never pay tribute to the Jiannu, let alone give money to support the Jiannu. The Jiannu's move is to make me take action against Duke Yansheng, so as to alienate the relationship between the scholars of the Ming Dynasty and me!"
"Your Majesty is extremely talented and wise. We, your servants, cannot even compare to you!" Several officials immediately knelt down and saluted, and began to flatter Chongzhen.
The cabinet and other ministers also said similar things, intending to put the matter to rest.
It’s not that they don’t want to delve into it, but they think it’s too ridiculous.
The Ming Dynasty had not yet fallen, so why would Duke Yansheng submit to the Jiannu?
"Your Majesty," Imperial Censor Huang Zongxi suddenly said, "I think we should ask the Ministry of Rites to find the handwritten letter of Duke Yansheng and compare the handwriting with this letter. If the handwriting is different, it means that the letter is indeed a forgery."
"If the handwriting is the same..." Huang Zongxi paused at this point.
Although the following words were not spoken, everyone present understood one thing.
If the handwriting is the same, it will be a huge case.
It has been one of the most important cases in the world since the Qin and Han dynasties.
"I don't think it's necessary to check the handwriting," said Huang Jin, the Minister of Rites. "This is a complete frame-up by the Jiannu. If we check the handwriting, it will show our lack of trust and respect for the Duke of Yansheng. If the news gets out, I'm afraid it will be criticized by scholars all over the world."
"I second the motion."
"I second the motion." Several ministers echoed Huang Jin like a tape recorder.
"Minister Huang is wrong!" Huang Zongxi waved his hand. "It is precisely because the Jiannu framed Duke Yansheng that we have to help Duke Yansheng clear his suspicion. Checking the handwriting is the simplest, most direct and effective way."
"If the handwriting is not checked, Duke Yansheng will always be accused of collaborating with the enemy. This is not a good thing for Duke Yansheng, the court, or even for scholars all over the world."
After Huang Zongxi expressed his opinion, several ministers immediately stood up and turned into parrots.
"I second the motion."
"I second this motion."
Led by Huang Jin and Huang Zongxi, the entire Qianqing Palace was filled with discussions.
Some people think that handwriting should be checked, while others think it is completely unnecessary.
When everyone had finished discussing, Chongzhen stood up and waved his hand: "Everyone,"
After everyone was quiet, he looked at Fan Jingwen and asked, "How do you think this matter should be handled, Lord Fan?"
Under the gaze of everyone, Fan Jingwen slowly stepped forward and said, "I think we should verify the handwriting and give justice to Duke Yansheng."
"But..." Fan Jingwen suddenly became cautious: "The handwriting verification should involve more people, especially the six ministries and nine officials."
The reason why he said this was that he felt that there was something strange about this matter.
He served in the Cabinet for nearly ten years.
In his opinion, Chongzhen was a man of extremely clever means.
If Chongzhen wanted to deal with someone, he would not do it openly.
After all, Chongzhen was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. How could he personally deal with his own ministers?
Chongzhen would find a way to put that person in a passive position, then let the ministers attack him, and finally make a hypocritical decision.
Now that Duke Yansheng was in trouble, his first reaction was that Chongzhen was going to deal with Duke Yansheng.
If the six ministries and nine officials are not involved, only the Jinyiwei will be allowed to verify the handwriting.
Then this matter fell completely into Chongzhen's control.
That's why he said what he just said.
Fan Jingwen changed his mind and felt that he might be wrong.
Duke Yansheng was a tool used by the Ming Dynasty to rule over scholars throughout the world. To deal with Duke Yansheng was to deal with the Ming Dynasty itself.
How could His Majesty do such a thing as stabbing himself in the back?
Something is wrong. Something is so wrong!
Fan Jingwen, who has always been shrewd and calculating, was also a little confused.
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