Under Yan Zilian's arrangement, Yan Sikong finally met Zhao Fuyi secretly. Without saying a word, he knelt down with a thud.

"Sikong, hey...what are you doing?" Zhao Fuyi quickly pulled Yan Sikong up from the ground.

After the end of the first battle to quell the rebellion, Zhao Fuyi was stationed in Jingshan. Although he was only two or three hours away from Beijing, they had not seen each other very often. However, the friendship they had fought side by side in those days still existed.

Yan Sikong's eyes were filled with tears: "General Zhao, the Feng family has been wronged."

Zhao Fuyi sighed heavily, "I don't believe that the Feng family would rebel, but I saw the Feng family's army break into the hunting ground with my own eyes, and I personally stopped them. I also captured the people. What should I do?"

"If the Feng family wanted to rebel, how could they rush into the hunting ground without any rules? How could they be discovered so easily by the general? This was all premeditated. Xie Zhongren bribed Feng Ye's driver and stole the military token."

"What!" Zhao Fuyi was shocked. "Do you have any evidence?"

Yan Sikong frowned deeply: "I have found the prostitute that Xie Zhongren sent to seduce the driver, but now the driver is dead. No matter what we say, there is no evidence."

"Alas!" Zhao Fuyi paced back and forth, paused, and looked at Yan Sikong, "Feng Ye humiliated you, but you wanted to clear the Feng family's grievances without holding a grudge. You are really vain."

Yan Sikong coughed lightly and said, "Feng Ye and I have fought on the battlefield and shared life and death together. Even if we have had some grudges due to various reasons, I cannot let a meritorious and loyal minister like King Jingyuan be wrongly accused because of personal grudges. Moreover, if the Feng family is punished, the crown prince's position as heir to the throne will be in jeopardy!"

Zhao Fuyi nodded and said, "I once served under Prince Jingyuan, and I don't want to see him framed by treacherous people. I heard that the thief also urged Your Majesty to transfer troops from Datong to Liaoning. If the Datong army falls into the hands of Han Zhaoxing, that waste, Liaoning will be lost."

"Yes!" Yan Sikong stepped forward and said earnestly, "General Zhao, the Feng family has been wronged, and the whole world is trembling. The remnants of the Oirat have not been eliminated. If they hear this news, they will probably take the opportunity to make a comeback. This is not only a disaster for the Feng family, but also a national disaster."

Zhao Fuyi's face turned even paler. "But now... but now the evidence is solid. Even if I want to defend them, the situation that day was witnessed by all the soldiers. I cannot bear false witness with my eyes open."

"The general is the commander of the 30,000-man garrison. The general's words carry great weight in the court. If the general disagrees with this matter, Your Majesty must weigh it, and it can also shock the eunuchs."

Zhao Fuyi looked quite hesitant.

Yan Sikong said sadly: "Now I'm afraid only the generals can save the Feng family!"

Zhao Fuyi sighed: "I am just a military man, and I have no intention of getting involved in the disputes in the court. But how can I watch the eunuch party frame up the loyal officials and watch the hard-won defense line of Datong fall. In fact, I have already joined forces with several adults to jointly advise on this case."

Yan Sikong said happily: "Thank you, General, thank you, General!"

Zhao Fuyi waved his hands and said, "I am not sure either, especially since Your Majesty treated Mr. Yan coldly because of the Liu An incident, Xie Zhongren has gradually taken control of the situation."

"No, Your Majesty was also very dissatisfied with Xie Zhongren in the Liu An case."

"Oh? How did you know that?" Zhao Fuyi asked, then suddenly realized, "You knew about the question list a long time ago."

Yan Sikong nodded. "The earlier list of questions was proposed by me and has been submitted to the inner cabinet for approval. Liu An changed the list of questions temporarily. If it wasn't for Xie Zhongren's instructions, he wouldn't have dared to do it. Your Majesty originally wanted to use the imperial examination to weaken the Feng family army, but the teacher didn't care about your Majesty's face and impeached Liu An. This matter failed to achieve anything, so your Majesty is naturally dissatisfied with Xie Zhongren."

Zhao Fuyi pondered and said, "It seems that Xie Zhongren plotted to steal the military talisman and framed loyal ministers and famous generals in defiance of the world. He was afraid of angering His Majesty and wanted to get back at him."

"That's right. This plan is full of loopholes and extremely dangerous. If it goes wrong, I'm afraid the whole world will change. Xie Zhongren must be desperate, so the general's words may shake your majesty's determination."

Zhao Fuyi's eyes shone with determination: "Don't worry, I will do my best!"

"Thank you, General!"

——

Zhao Fuyi kept his word. A few days later, he and several influential military generals jointly wrote a letter to the emperor, raising various doubts about the Feng Jianping rebellion case and advising Emperor Zhaowu not to be used by treacherous officials and repeat the fate of Emperor Gaozong.

This memorial was not discussed with Yan Zilian in advance and was submitted directly at the morning court. When Yan Zilian and Yan Sikong learned the content of the memorial, they both felt dizzy.

Sure enough, this memorial stirred up a hornet's nest, implying that Emperor Zhaowu was the Song Gaozong who wrongfully killed Yue Fei. Emperor Zhaowu was so angry that he scolded Zhao Fuyi in the court. The eunuchs seized the opportunity and accused Zhao Fuyi of having been a subordinate of Feng Jianping and of shielding him. Emperor Zhaowu issued an edict, ordering Zhao Fuyi to return to Jingshan and not to participate in the case again.

Of course, Zhao Fuyi's goal was temporarily achieved. Emperor Zhaowu could not turn a blind eye to the advice of many military generals, especially the commander of the garrison army. Although he wanted to convict the father and son of the Feng family as soon as possible, he had to consider the direction of the court.

After this incident, the interrogation of the Feng family slowed down. Firstly, the father and son refused to plead guilty; secondly, there was no new evidence; and thirdly, the government was unsettled and Emperor Zhaowu did not dare to act rashly.

Yan Sikong and others were able to catch their breath. He asked Ali to urge She Zhun to do two things. One was to investigate the man in black that day, and the other was to continue preparing for a possible jailbreak.

But just when Yan Sikong thought he saw a glimmer of hope for a turnaround, God seemed determined to push them into the abyss.

At a morning court session, the censors under Xie Zhongren brought up the issue of maritime taxes in Jiangnan again, accusing Yan Zilian of shielding wealthy merchants and nobles from his hometown, which prevented the court from collecting maritime taxes and caused damage to the national treasury.

The maritime tax in Jiangnan was one of the most taboo topics in the court. As Xie Zhongren said, after Yan Zilian became the Prime Minister, he reduced a large amount of maritime tax in Jiangnan, which caused the national treasury to lose at least one million taels of silver every year. Even Shen Hexuan, who was Yan Zilian's student, criticized the fact that the wealthy Jiangnan province had less tax.

But Yan Zilian had no choice. As a student from Jiangnan, he and his faction of aristocratic officials mostly came from various prefectures in Jiangnan. The aristocratic officials were closely related to the local aristocratic families and were inseparable from them. Who could not protect them?

The maritime tax touched upon the lifeblood of the aristocratic class. Whenever it was brought up, there would inevitably be a huge fight, with both sides suffering losses. As time went by, no one dared to bring it up lightly.

Xie Zhongren chose this time to bring up the maritime tax again. His intention is despicable.

Sure enough, this time Emperor Zhaowu broke with his usual attitude and no longer interfered in the matter. Instead, he severely criticized Yan Zilian for unfair taxation.

It is said that at the morning court session that day, Yan Ge Lao, the chief academician of the cabinet, a veteran minister of three dynasties, who was already in his seventies and second only to the emperor, was scolded until his face turned red.

When I got home that night, I fell ill.