The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 510 This vat can crush people to death

Yongkang Princess Mansion.

For several days, there was a lot of excitement in front of the palace. People in the court knew that Cui Yuan had made meritorious service in the northwest and had a great victory like "beheading two thousand people". They felt that Cui Yuan's ennoblement was not a problem. In addition, Cui Yuan himself was a relative of the emperor. , many people, especially those who were related to the royal family, came to give gifts and establish relationships.

Yongkang herself was very depressed and did not go out for three days to thank guests behind closed doors, mainly because she had not yet figured out her brother's routine.

"Princess, there are more and more people asking to see you outside, and the gift lists have also been presented. Don't you take a look?"

Yongkang's wet nurse Gui Shi came in and saw Yongkang just sitting in front of the dressing table staring at the mirror in a daze, so she couldn't help but ask a question.

Yongkang asked: "Have you calculated how much you sent?"

Gui Shi said: "There are many gifts that cannot be calculated in detail, but in total, they are probably worth four to five hundred taels of silver. But there are some things that even the pawn shop cannot accept."

"Then go to the pawn shop and ask first." Yongkang said.

"This doesn't seem good." Gui Shi was also in a dilemma.

Someone gave you a gift, but you changed hands and went to a pawn shop to cash in the gift. If someone found out, they might think that the Princess Mansion would go bankrupt.

Yongkang said: "Collect the rent for the land outside the city for the next few years. Tell them clearly that if you pay it in advance, you can get a 1000% reduction in rent and tax. Then sell some of my jewelry. The total will be almost [-] taels." ”

Gui Shi asked: "Do you have to do this? I heard that Cai Guogong is not a money-grubbing person."

Yongkang looked a little unhappy.

She stayed at home for the past two days and was just raising money to give gifts to Zhou Zhou. Of course, she was not trying to bribe Zhang Zhou, she had a more "deeper" intention.

Yongkang said: "I don't care whether he is greedy for money or not. I just want people to know that I, the eldest princess, will go bankrupt to give him gifts for the sake of my son-in-law's future. If I sell or pawn some things, I will also give him gifts." You might as well tell outsiders directly that those are all my dowry! Don’t be afraid of publicity!"

Upon hearing this, Gui Shi understood that this was to put Zhang Zhou on the stove of a "treacherous minister".

Didn't the emperor ask me to beg Zhang Bingkuan to let us reconcile?

Then I’ll give it away!
I have to make everyone in the world pity me and make people think that Zhang Bingkuan is taking advantage of the situation, so that I can stand on the moral high ground. After the emperor brother hears the public discussion, he will definitely sympathize with his sister's grievances, and then there is no need I went to beg Zhang Bingkuan.

Gui was considered an old man in the palace. She vaguely felt that the little mistress was playing with fire, but there were some things she couldn't say clearly.

"Then I'll make arrangements now." Gui could only follow Yongkang's instructions.

……

……

Enter Zhang Zhou's residence.

Li Rong and the commander of the Jin Yiwei, Mou Bin, appeared at the house again. This time they came to convey to Zhang Zhou that the emperor wanted to investigate Zhu Hui and other former ministers. Li Rong also made it clear that the emperor wanted Zhang Zhou to come. Taking the lead in handling the case does not require Zhang Zhou to personally go into battle, but he will be the overall person in charge, just like investigating the Liaodong nest case.

Zhang Zhou sighed and said, "Eunuch Li, if I have an idea, I'll just say it."

"Please speak." Li Rong said.

Zhang Zhou said helplessly: "Let me judge the merits and demerits of the protector of the country in the name of Minister of the Ministry of War. It may be acceptable, but if he is investigated as a factory guard, it will be difficult for me to come forward. That's exactly what you want." It is not easy to investigate a protector, but there are so many meritorious officials and generals in the court, so there will be resentment."

According to the meaning of Zhang Zhou's words, Zhu Hui alone is nothing, but there are other dukes like this and that duke behind him. Which one is not an old hero?
If I check on Zhu Hui, others will think that they are my next target, and they will be on the same side as Zhu Hui. If I check on Zhu Hui, I will offend a whole group of people.

Li Rong smiled and said nothing.

I'm thinking in my mind, are you afraid of offending others now?When His Majesty asked you to clean up the military and political affairs of the Nine Borders, you readily accepted it.

Zhang Zhou said: "Eunuch Li, why don't you tell His Majesty and let someone else do this?"

"Don't," Li Rong said bitterly, "Without Mr. Zhang's advice, how can the people below have the intention to handle this matter well? Our family will also be in trouble."

Bystanders?

Am I just a bystander?

If you are not responsible, then let me, Li Rong, do the things that offend others?At any rate, I will be your subordinate. If the sky falls, it will be you, Zhang Bingkuan, who can hold it up. Otherwise, my old body, half buried in the earth, will not be able to withstand it.

"Commander Mou, tell me." Li Rong then threw the problem to Mou Bin.

Mou Bin said seriously: "Beizhen Fusi sent people to thoroughly investigate what he had done since the ninth year of Hongzhi's reign, especially after he took charge of the Three Thousand Battalion and coordinated the management of the Beijing Battalion. Accepting gifts from the generals in the Beijing camp, plus cheating on weapons forging and other matters, the amount of corruption and bribery amounted to at least 4 taels of silver."

Check Zhu Hui?
The Ming army has never been shy about corruption and bending the law. Especially during the Xiaozong dynasty, the emperor was lenient and basically turned a blind eye to the misdeeds of the generals below, including matters such as camp procurement and official promotions. , even flipping requires money.

Zhu Hui was the emperor's trusted general before Zhang Zhou, but he was trained by Zhu Youtang as the commander-in-chief of the northwest of Pingjing. Historically, the army that resisted the Tatar invaders in the 14th year of Hongzhi was also led by Zhu Hui. Big shit. The fact that his achievements were not generously rewarded by the emperor illustrates this problem.

Now if we really want to investigate Zhu Hui's illegal and criminal facts, we really don't even need to investigate. The evidence is all on the surface, and every investigation will be accurate.

Zhang Zhou said: "Isn't this very clear? Do you still need me?"

Mou Bin calmed down and said: "Such a major case can be handled by you, Mr. Cai Guogong. It will be easier for someone with a lower rank to handle the matter."

"This..." Zhang Zhou said, "Do you want to report to His Majesty immediately?"

Li Rong continued: "I have already reported it."

Zhang Zhou asked: "The matter is so clear. How should your Majesty deal with it, or should it be discussed in the court. With the current situation, the war has just ended, and if you want to investigate the leader of the army, I am afraid that it will weaken the morale of the army. Oops... I have no idea about Jian. I have never been very familiar with prison matters, so I should ask someone from the Department of Justice about this matter."

"Haha." Li Rong said with a smile, "Your Majesty leaves the matter to you, you decide."

Zhang Zhou said: "That means, if I say I want to confiscate Duke Bao Guo's house, is that okay?"

Li Rong nodded and said: "Of course it is possible, but I have to report it to His Majesty. I believe His Majesty will also adopt this opinion."

Zhang Zhou smiled bitterly and said: "Do you want me to be the villain? If I remember correctly, this is a good news in the northwest. Even if Baoguo Gong did not perform well in this battle, he can still be regarded as containing the main force of the Tatars. Or maybe it confuses the Tatars and just ransacks their homes and asks for the crime, isn’t it... too serious?”

Li Rong and Mou Bin looked at each other.

I was thinking in my heart, this Cai Guogong dared to say it.

You said you're going to be the villain, does that mean His Majesty wants you to take the blame?Even if this is the case, can you explain it clearly in front of us, the emperor's envoys?

Li Rongdao: "Mr. Zhang, you should know that His Majesty is very determined to clean up the army. The overall situation of this battle is won, but due to the delay of Baoguo Gong and others, the opportunity to fight was missed. It was obvious that a great victory could be achieved. Now, However, we have achieved a good result that is neither better nor worse. His Majesty is not only happy about this, but also extremely annoyed."

"Oh." Zhang Zhou nodded in understanding.

The emperor was not satisfied with the results of the war.

If you can kill thirty thousand enemies, don't kill four thousand.

"So." Li Rong added, "Your Majesty wants to clarify the canonical punishment. If everyone is like the Bao Guo Gong, who is afraid of the enemy and is not guilty this time, others will follow suit in the future. Sir, you don't have to worry about other people's opinions. Because as far as our family knows, there are many people in the court who have opinions about him, and even the generals in the northwest have many complaints against him."

"Really?" Zhang Zhou's tone seemed to be a joke.

Li Rong continued: "Your Majesty's intention is that now that this battle has been won, for those who are determined to fight for their country and their country, but are not capable, a small punishment or a large warning will suffice. But for those who are capable, but do not move forward due to fear, , it must be dealt with severely."

"For example?" Zhang Zhou asked.

"In addition to Duke Baoguo, there are also Uncle Ping Jiang, Marquis Anyuan and others..."

Li Rong made a list of punishments.

Basically, they are all direct descendants of Zhu Hui, people in a small circle.

Zhang Zhou said: "I heard that Marquis Anyuan has a strong background. Will there be any trouble if we punish him?"

Li Rong was surprised and said: "Sir, you are doing things under the emperor's orders. Are you still worried about offending others? I believe that as long as the person you ask to investigate is... a noble person, you will have to give in. This is to clear away moths for the imperial court, and there is no selfish intention. "

Zhang Zhou smiled without saying a word.

You, Li Rong, are really good at pretending. You know that Liu Jing is from the Empress Dowager Zhou. When Liu Jing was misbehaving in Guangdong and Guangxi, he was only deprived of his title and his life was saved. Now he can even regain his title. Let me check if he is looking for a big boss for himself. trouble?
No wonder the guards in your factory always want me to top the tank. Emotions can really crush people to death.

"Let me think about it again. I believe that Your Majesty is not in a hurry. I would like to trouble you two to check the background of this case so that I can be prepared." Zhang Zhou also knew that he could not refuse this kind of thing, so he delayed it for now. .

"Yes." Li Rong understood at a glance that Zhang Zhou understood the "rules."

The case that the emperor asked to investigate was to punish an old minister. Under this background, it highlighted Zhang Zhou's power in the court. What reason could he have to avoid it?

Afraid of offending others?

Is that your persona of Cai Guogong?

Even if you do nothing, you have offended a lot of people in the court, and there are many people who want to kill you. They will not deepen their hatred of you because you investigated Zhu Hui, but they may do so. Fear of you.Convincing people with virtue is worse than intimidating them.

……

……

Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youtang is accepting Li Rong's response.

"Bingkuan accepted it? Very good." Zhu Youtang smiled and nodded, "He is right to worry about offending others, but I hope that he will have prestige in the governor's house. Others may not need to respect him, but they must be afraid. he."

After hearing this, Li Rong probably knew that the emperor had suffered "losses" from civil servants for too many years.

He has always been a benevolent emperor in the eyes of civil servants, and he is told to uphold moral standards every day, but in fact, Zhu Youtang hopes that others will fear him as the emperor, instead of others just respecting him out of courtesy as in the past.

Li Rong asked for instructions: "Your Majesty, how should Duke Bao and others be convicted?"

This is to ask to what extent we should pursue it.

There are crimes including dismissal, seizure of title, imprisonment, house raids, and exile to death. There is a lot of room for Zhu Hui's crime of delaying the war, and he may even not be held accountable at all and just be given credit.

Zhu Youtang continued to look at the memorial in his hand and said casually: "Bingkuan has already taken over, why should I worry so much? He will think about it."

Again, it was left to Zhang Zhou’s discretion.

Even though Li Rong had always been leaning towards Zhang Zhou, he now felt that the emperor's trust in Zhang Zhou was a bit too much.

The punishment of one prince is handed over to another. If the crime is taken lightly, others will think it is retaliation. It is clear that your majesty only trusts Zhang Zhou in your heart, but why do you think you are giving your trust? Where are the people digging traps?

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing."

"Say."

"The eldest princess Yongkang has been selling off her property in recent days. She said she wanted to give gifts to Duke Cai Guo, and she made it known to everyone."

As soon as Li Rong told the story, Zhu Youtang understood the intention of the imperial sister after just a moment. He frowned and said: "My eldest princess, she sold her family property to give gifts to others? Is this a disgrace to herself?" , or are you throwing me away? Is she deliberately embarrassing me? Go see her and tell her that if you use methods I don't like, Mao Ren can continue to come back and be his idler. I can't bear it anymore!"

"Yes."

Li Rong was also laughing secretly.

You, Princess Yongkang, do you really think your methods are so clever?

His Majesty wants you to reconcile with Cai Guogong. Every time you cause trouble, you want to show that you are the emperor's sister. Aren't you looking for trouble for yourself?

Li Rongxin said that it is indeed troublesome for a woman to head the household.

……

……

When Li Rong went to Princess Yongkang's mansion, You Yazi came to inspect the goods and was ready to cash in the gifts given by others.

When the Princess Mansion learned that the eunuch, the Chief of Ceremonies, had arrived, she quickly went to inform Yongkang. Yongkang also came out to greet him in person. She thought her royal brother had changed his mind.

"Your Highness, Princess, let me make it clear that Your Majesty thinks that you are causing trouble, and specially asked your servant to send a message. If you no longer think about how to settle the past with Cai Guogong, then Prince Consort Cui will only get some land and houses after returning to Beijing. For the reward above, you don’t have to think about the rest.”

Li Rong wasn't too polite either.

With his status, there is really no need to be humble to a eldest princess. At most, it is politeness.

Yongkang said: "What does this mean? When did I get into trouble?"

Li Rong shook his head and said: "What you have disgraced is not your own face, nor the face of the royal family, but your Majesty's heart."

When Yongkang heard this, he bit his lower lip and wanted to hit someone.

Everything was clearly planned well, but he waited for public opinion to take the bait and evaluated Zhang Zhou as a villain who bullied the emperor's relatives, so that the emperor's brother would take pity on him. However, before the plan could succeed, the matter was exposed.

"Brother Huang asked me to reconcile with Zhang Bingkuan. How to reconcile? Do you want me to come to him to beg him?" Yongkang said sharply.

"You haven't tried it, how do you know it won't work?" Li Rong didn't care about that.

You've already told me the plan yourself, why do you still want me to teach you?

Yongkang said: "Where is the royal family's face?"

Li Rong said with a smile: "This is your choice. In your opinion, the consort's achievements in this battle are due to the help of Cai Guogong behind the scenes? No matter what you think, at least in His Majesty's heart, the consort would not have been helped by Cai Guogong. There is absolutely no chance to make meritorious deeds.”

"Is this to deny that the prince-in-law risked his life to kill the enemy and serve the country?" Yongkang said angrily.

Li Rong shook his head and said: "I don't dare, I'm just telling the truth. If you think that the consort is strong, then you don't have to ask Cai Guogong. Maybe with his own ability, the consort will have a chance to succeed in the future?"

Yongkang was speechless for a moment.

Although she knew that her husband was capable and courageous.

But the key point is that she also understands that Zhang Zhou is in charge of the Ming Dynasty's military affairs. As long as Zhang Zhou "digs a hole", Cui Yuan will have no choice but to admit defeat.

"As for the gift, you can give it to me, but if something bad happens again, I can't do anything about it." Li Rong said, "Goodbye."

Yongkang did not send Li Rong away, but looked at Li Rong's back and stamped his feet angrily.

She has been a princess since she was born, and was born with a golden key in her mouth. She seems to have never suffered from this kind of cowardice, which she simply cannot accept.

……

……

At night, inside the theater.

Zhang Zhou was watching a play in a private room on the second floor, enjoying the petty bourgeoisie life, drinking tea and listening to music. On the table next to him were messy design drafts, but none of them satisfied him.

On the side, Wang Mingshan was wearing the clothes of a royal guard. She looked down at Zhang Lushui who was washing Zhang Zhou's feet. There was an unspeakable hostility in her eyes. Obviously, in her eyes, this woman from a foreign country had ulterior motives. Need to be careful.

Across the screen, near the door of the private room, a lobbyist was arguing with Zhang Zhou.

"... Bao Guo Gong has long admired your style, and specially asked me to prepare a generous gift. There is also a house in the capital, a village outside the city, and [-] hectares of fertile land, all of which were prepared by Bao Guo Gong early in the morning. In addition, Duke Baoguo has recently studied your art of war."

"Stop it! I have never written any art of war."

"It was summarized by outsiders based on your tactics. It is comparable to Sun Tzu's Art of War. Everyone in the army reads it. Duke Baoguo also benefited a lot after studying it."

When the lobbyist said this, Zhang Zhou was amused.

Liu Gui on the side smiled and said: "Here, are you joking? There really is such a book on the art of war. Why haven't I seen it?"

The lobbyist said: "Send a copy to this official later."

"My lord, he said he would give me a book on the art of war. Do you think I should read it carefully?" Liu Gui asked for instructions.

Zhang Zhou said rudely: "After studying my art of war, I only studied how to avoid fighting and how to stay out of trouble when encountering the Tatars. Then stop studying it as soon as possible. If you say that this is based on my tactics, I can’t afford to lose this person.”

The lobbyist also didn't expect Zhang Zhou to be so rude.

They are all ministers of the same palace, why is this a direct irony?
However, it also indirectly shows that the emperor may be a little impatient with Baoguo Gong, and may want to question him.

"The village, the house, the fields, as well as the servants, livestock, etc. are all ready-made. In addition, Duke Baoguo also selected some singing and dancing concubines from the south of the Yangtze River, and they are all prepared for you, Duke Cai Guo." The lobbyist continued.

Zhang Zhou said: "No need, let him enjoy it by himself. As a Taoist, I can't care about this. By the way, I may come to your house in person in a few days. You should be prepared. Don't think I'm rash then. .”

"Uh?"

The lobbyist was stunned upon hearing this.

Come to the door in person?

Do you think you don't want to accept the conditions I've offered, and you want to come personally to discuss the conditions for Duke Baoguo to return?

(End of this chapter)