Chapter 649
Playing Tricks
Qi Zhen, courtesy name Anzhi.
Qi Ge Lao's cousin, the second-place scholar in the imperial examination of the twenty-fourth year of Zhengde's reign, entered the Hanlin Academy as a compiler at the age of nineteen.
In the twenty-seventh year of the Zhengde reign, he was appointed as a judge in Taiyuan Prefecture, a seventh-rank official, in charge of criminal cases and adjudicating major cases throughout the prefecture.
On his first day in office, Taiyuan found that the backlog of cases in the yamen filled three storerooms, which were covered with cobwebs.
The former magistrate left him a letter: "This place is fierce, and nine out of ten murder cases are unsolved. Be careful."
He ignored them, simply moved a table to the storeroom, and started reading from the oldest volume.
In three months, 731 backlog cases were resolved. Qizhen summoned witnesses again, re-examined the murder weapons, and rewrote the judgments. 626 backlog cases were concluded, and 96 wrongful convictions were retried.
When he left office, the people held up umbrellas to see him off.
Over the course of thirty years, he rose from the position of Investigating Censor to the position of Left Attendant Censor, Chief Attendant Censor, Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Councilor of the Court of Transmission, Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and Left Vice Censor-in-Chief.
He didn't rise through the ranks overnight; he took each step steadily and firmly.
In the seventh year of the Jianing era, Qi Zhen was promoted to Left Censor-in-Chief. On his first day in office, his first act was to impeach the Liu family, relatives of the emperor: "The Liu family's crime is not greed, nor arrogance, but usurpation. Usurpation means that a subject acts as if he were the emperor."
The decline of the Liu family also began on this day.
Emperor Ning once said that Qi Zhen was responsible for 60% of the credit for overthrowing the maternal relatives.
In the ninth year of the Jianing era, Qi Zhen presided over a joint trial by the three judicial departments to hear the case of the sudden death of Wang Baoying, the chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial. Xu Wenhe was then imprisoned in the Censorate.
Although the matter was dropped, it still created an enmity between him and Xu Wenhe.
In the twenty-fourth year of the Jianing era, he was dismissed from his post for criticizing the Crown Prince's illegitimate accession to the throne after drinking, arguing that the eldest son should be the heir. He later retired to Jizhou to manage the family's education.
Now, at the age of seventy-one, Qi Zhen has been reinstated, but he entered the capital with a coffin, not intending to return alive.
People often say that the emperor's mind is unfathomable, but the officials in the capital understand that to guess what the emperor wants to do, they only need to look at two things: where the money is spent and who the officials are.
Emperor Ning's reinstatement of Qi Zhen was both an attempt to overthrow the eunuch and a move to change the heir apparent.
……
……
Chen Ji stood in front of Donghua Gate, watching Changxiu's departing figure, pondering to himself.
If the Military Intelligence Bureau's Tianzhi wanted to kill a cabinet minister to make a name for himself, Qi Zhen would be the most appropriate choice: he was new to the area, unguarded, and the imperial edict would not leave the palace until evening, leaving even the Secret Service with no time to react.
At this moment, Jiao Tu and Yun Yang approached and interrupted Chen Ji's thoughts: "My lord, what were you talking about with that brat Chang Xiu?"
Chen Ji calmly said, "Qi Zhen has joined the cabinet."
Jiao Tu was taken aback at first, then her eyes lit up: "So the Military Intelligence Bureau's target is him? Should we go and guard Qi Town? This would be a great achievement."
Chen Ji shook his head: "I'm not going."
Jiao Tu's eyes darted around: "If you don't want to go, Yun Yang and I can go."
Chen Ji remained silent and did not rush to reply.
Jiao Tu said from the side, "Is Your Excellency worried about Lord Zhang's safety? Why don't you just have a eunuch tell him to stay in the Wenhua Hall and not come out? Anyway, he usually doesn't leave the palace until after midnight."
Chen Ji remained silent, standing beneath the vermilion palace wall outside Donghua Gate with his eyes closed: "Jiaotu, if you were to assassinate a cabinet minister, what would you do?"
Jiao Tu thought for a moment: "The Grand Secretary is not easy to kill. We need to keep an eye on him for a few months to confirm his whereabouts, see if he has any places he frequents, how many attendants he has, and how many of them are experts at the Dao Seeking Realm. Then we need to choose a way to kill him. The Grand Secretary's magic is easily countered, so it can only be done by an officer who is skilled in weapons, or perhaps with gunpowder. After succeeding, we need to leave the capital as quickly as possible, otherwise we will be found sooner or later and have to live in hiding from now on."
Chen Ji did not open his eyes.
Yes, what Jiao Tu said is exactly what one should do to assassinate a cabinet minister.
Those who frequently engage in assassinations know that the standard procedure for spies to assassinate important officials is to investigate their whereabouts, gather intelligence on security personnel, scout out key locations, choose the right time and opportunity, prepare weapons and disguises, prepare an escape route, fabricate a pretext, strike and retreat immediately, and disappear without a trace.
But that's not what the Military Intelligence Division did.
Psychological profiling is the art of reverse reasoning. Its underlying logic consists of only three questions: what did the other person do, what did the other person deliberately not do, and what did the other person do that was unnecessary but insisted on doing.
Sending yourself a New Year's gift and issuing a challenge are things the other party doesn't need to do but insists on doing.
At this moment, Jiao Tu advised again, "My lord, this time it must be a big shot from the Military Intelligence Bureau. It's obviously something that can earn you merit, so we can't delay any longer. Even if it's not for merit, we can't just sit by and watch a cabinet minister be assassinated."
Chen Ji finally opened his eyes and glanced at Jiao Tu: "If even your first reaction after hearing the imperial edict is that the Military Intelligence Bureau will target Qi Town, then Qi Town is not the real target."
Jiao Tu muttered under her breath, "What? I'm quite clever... So this was just a feint, meant to provoke my secret service into taking action?" Chen Ji instructed Yun Yang, "Yun Yang, go and take the news of the imperial edict to the Eagle House Division. It's best to let Xuan She find out unintentionally and give him the credit."
Jiao Tu's eyes lit up, her eyes crinkling into crescents as she exclaimed, "Wonderful! Lord Chen is becoming more and more like someone from my Secret Service."
Ke Yunyang reluctantly said, "Let Jiao Tu go, or we can both go together."
Jiao Tu said angrily, "Can't you even run an errand for the master? Go now!"
Yun Yang rolled her eyes before hurriedly leaving.
Chen Ji glanced at Jiao Tu: "Lord Jiao Tu, it's not that he doesn't want to run errands, it's just that he's worried about you being alone with me. He cares about you."
“I know,” Jiao Tu said, watching Yun Yang’s retreating figure. “My lord, do you think flowers can bloom in a place like Wu Nian Mountain, where snow covers the ground all year round?”
Before Chen Ji could answer, Jiao Tu turned around and laughed, "I was being pretentious. Look at my memory, how would you know these things if you've never been to Wunian Mountain... Sir, what exactly does the Military Intelligence Bureau want?"
Chen Ji sighed, "Yes, what are they trying to do... I'm afraid we'll have to drag them out and interrogate them in the Pipa Hall to find out what they're really up to."
Jiao Tu pouted: "How do we pull it?"
Chen Ji thought for a moment: "If the Military Intelligence Bureau's target was really Qi Zhen, how could they have known in advance that Qi Zhen would enter the cabinet on his first day in the capital?"
Jiao Tu awoke with a start: "Someone knows His Majesty's intentions. There are still people in the Military Intelligence Bureau stationed in the central government who can know His Majesty's decision in advance."
Chen Ji nodded: "This person is even more secretive than Lin Chaoqing."
The next moment, he walked towards Donghua Gate on his own, but was stopped by Jie Fanwei.
Just as Chen Ji was about to turn and leave, he heard a calm voice from the corner say, "Lord Chen, please come in."
He turned his head and saw a man dressed in a bright red fish-dragon robe standing under the eaves of the Wenhua Hall. He was strong and powerful, and was a stranger to him.
Jiao Tu reminded him from behind, "Commander of Jie Fan Guard, Li Dongyan... Be careful, this man hates my Secret Service, he didn't let you into the palace with good intentions."
Li Dongyan slowly began, “We are all ministers of the same court, serving the imperial court. Now, the Jing Dynasty traitors are wreaking havoc in the capital. Before I returned to the capital, I heard that Lord Chen often dealt with these scoundrels and even personally exposed Lin Chaoqing. He is truly a man of great talent. If Lord Chen comes to investigate the case, I will naturally welcome him.”
Chen Ji cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you. I happen to have something to trouble Commander Li with."
He stepped inside, and Jiao Tu made a move to follow, but Li Dongyan stopped her: "You don't need to come in. With your intelligence, you won't be of any help."
Jiao Tu rolled up her sleeves and rushed inside, yelling, "You son of a bitch..."
Li Dongyan sneered, and with a gentle push of his thumb, the sword at his waist was drawn an inch from its sheath.
Chen Ji raised his hand to stop Jiao Tu: "Wait for me outside Donghua Gate."
Jiao Tu pointed at Li Dongyan from a distance: "Listen to Lord Chen, I'll let you off the hook today."
Ignoring Jiao Tu, Li Dongyan turned his gaze to Chen Ji: "What does Lord Chen want to investigate?"
Chen Ji calmly said, "I want to check His Majesty's daily records. I want to know who found out yesterday that His Majesty intends to issue an edict today to bring Qi Zhen into the cabinet."
Li Dongyan shook his head: "There's no need to check the daily records. I can tell you right now. Yesterday, His Majesty summoned Grand Secretary Hu, Grand Secretary Chen, Minister Zhang Zhuo, and Minister Wang of the Ministry of War to the palace and asked, 'I intend to let Qi Zhen join the cabinet. What do you all think?'"
Chen Ji remained calm: "There are definitely more than just these four people."
Li Dongyan nodded again: "Before His Majesty summoned these four people to Renshou Palace, he first summoned seven Hanlin Academy probationaries to consult on matters, so these seven probationaries knew about it. After consulting with the probationaries, the imperial edict was drafted, so the three eunuchs in the Directorate of Ceremonial also knew about it."
Chen Ji pondered to himself, "In this way, the scope will be much wider. The Grand Secretaries will go back and tell their students and cronies, and the Junior Scholars will tell their teachers and relatives. One person tells ten, ten tell a hundred, and perhaps the news that Qi Zhen is going to join the Grand Secretariat has already spread among the officials and nobles in the capital yesterday."
Just as he was pondering, he heard Li Dongyan say in a deep voice, "I have inquired about Lord Chen's affairs. He is indeed a man of integrity, courage and wisdom. So I will say something that is more profound than I am: do not associate with those corrupt spies in the Secret Service. Go to the Imperial Guard. That is the place that is suitable for Lord Chen."
Chen Ji was taken aback.
Just then, Yun Yang turned back and rushed into Donghua Gate: "Something's happened."
Chen Ji turned around and asked, "What happened?"
Yun Yang gasped, "Before I even reached the Eagle House Division, I saw Xuan She leading men to surround Bianyifang, searching for Military Intelligence Bureau spies and stolen gunpowder. In the chaos, somehow, someone lifted the lid of the coffin that Qi Zhen had parked in the backyard of Bianyifang, as if to check if there was any gunpowder hidden inside."
Chen Ji frowned: "Did you find the gunpowder?"
Yun Yang explained, "No, they found nothing. Qi Zhen and more than twenty censors were furious. They are carrying a coffin to the Meridian Gate right now, saying they will beat the Dengwen Drum. If His Majesty does not severely punish the Secret Service, they will not accept the imperial edict and will kneel to death in front of the Meridian Gate. From what I heard, they want the censors to supervise the Secret Service. If the Secret Service takes any action in the future, the presence of the censors is required to prevent the Secret Service from continuing to act recklessly."
No sooner had the words been spoken than the sound of drums came from the direction of the Meridian Gate, one after another.
Chen Ji suddenly realized that this was exactly the result the Military Intelligence Division wanted. (End of Chapter)