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Chapter 491: Many eyes and ears
Ma Jinglun's family was already well-known in Tongzhou. His ancestors purchased a lot of fertile land along the canal and opened several shops since the Yuan Dynasty. Although he had no outstanding achievements in business in his lifetime, he was recognized as a scholar at the age of 17, was elected as a scholar at the age of 23, became a Jinshi at the age of 27, and became a supervisor and censor, so he can be regarded as a glorious ancestor.

Although Ma Jinglun was a scholar, he had a heroic temperament in his heart. He liked to make friends and spread wealth. When several friends passed away and their families were in dire straits, he was the one who buried them on their behalf, including his enlightenment teacher. He also purchased land outside the city and set up a charity village to bury poor people who had no money to buy a cemetery.

The most correct thing he did in his life was to listen to the words of his close friend Li Zhi and found "Half Moon Talk". From then on, Tongzhou Ma Zhuyi was not only an official and a local gentry who was generous with his wealth, but also became a well-known scholar from all over the country.

Every year, students from all over the country come from all over the country to pay their respects to the school. For this reason, he freed up the Lotus Temple in his home and opened a Wen Dao Academy. He invited scholars and scholars to teach here, hinting at the possibility of establishing a sect. Mutually.

"Ma Jinglun, common man, come to see your Majesty!" Since there was no prior notice, the sudden arrival of the emperor not only frightened the local officials and the royal guards, but also frightened Ma Jinglun, who was discussing scriptures with friends in the Lotus Temple.

I almost overturned the four-wheeled carriage. After running all the way, I finally got home before the emperor arrived. I quickly took a shower and changed clothes, and then knelt at the door with the whole family to greet him.

"We haven't seen each other for a few years, but we are much older. You need to take care of your health. Ban Yue Tan still cannot do without you. Since you are working for me, don't just be a commoner. You should still treat yourself as a king and a minister."

We already know enough about Ma Jinglun and Hongtao. Like Li Zhi, he is of Semu descent, but he does not believe in Islam, and neither of them has much interest in being an official. He prefers to gather friends among the people to discuss knowledge.

But we are among the people, and we cannot be among the people in our hearts. As the mouthpiece of the royalists, Banyuetan, although not organized on the surface, must be deeply imprinted in the bones. Don't be evasive, you must recognize it from the bottom of your heart.

"My body can still hold up for a few years. According to the "Ban Yue Tan", there is still half a mile to go. I am willing to personally lead the horse and kick the pedal for His Majesty!" The emperor was not around, and Ma Jinglun relaxed a little, but by this time he was also He didn't think the emperor made a special trip to see him, he just thought he was going to inspect the newspaper office.

"Hey, I'm not good at this. If I go, it will only cause chaos. Go find a quiet place. I have something to say."

Forget it about the newspaper office. Once you go there, the Jin Yiwei, Royal Horse Supervisor, and Cuju Team will have to work for at least an hour, and even the staff in the newspaper office will have to do a lot of work. In the end, it will be useless.

In Hong Tao's understanding, he must grasp the direction of national policy, handle diplomatic relations well, avoid war as much as possible, and strive to be the winner if he must fight. If he does these things well, he will be a good emperor. One of the most damning ways to do this is to go out to the people for business, which sounds friendly to the people, but in fact it disturbs the people and even harms them.

"Your Majesty, this is the flower hall in your home. There are no other rooms around. You only need to guard the two entrances of the garden so that no one can get close!" The emperor had something to say in private. This was a big deal, so Ma Jinglun immediately found a suitable place. , the Royal Horse Supervisor and the Cuju team first went in to clear the place, and then led the way in front.

"Have you heard about the case where Huixi Juzi gathered a crowd to fight and killed someone?"

It is really quiet in the flower hall, but it is a little cold, mainly because of the ventilation from all sides. Hong Tao took the horse stool sent by the Cuju team and sat at the door of the flower hall, where he could still get the sun. He lit a small cigar and waved to Ma Jinglun to sit down too.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, some of the officials from Shuntian Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture thought that the cost in the city was too high, so they lived in my villa. A few days ago, their colleagues from the same year came from the city and talked about this matter. I just heard about it. By coincidence, two of them were in Jieyun Tower that day. Although they did not participate in the fight, they witnessed the whole process. I asked them in detail and got a general understanding of what happened. I also wrote a secret report and handed it over to My little father-in-law."

As soon as Ma Jinglun heard this, he knew what the emperor was here for. Without any hesitation, he immediately told everything he knew. In fact, even if the emperor does not come, his secret memorial will still be sent to the Forbidden City. Over the years, running a newspaper was only one of the tasks, and investigating the situation among the people for the emperor was also a key task.

"Oh, where are those two candidates now?" When Hong Tao heard this, hey, it really took no effort at all. I planned to scare Zhou Daodeng here, but unexpectedly I got it wrong.

"I have already left them in another courtyard."

"Okay, this has been done well! Wang Cheng'en asked the Jinyi Guards to seal the Lotus Temple, and no one is allowed in or out. Lord One, in your opinion, what is the intention of someone in the court doing this?"

Hong Tao fully affirmed Ma Jinglun's actions, but it was a pity that this man was unwilling to become an official. Otherwise, with his political acumen and reputation, he would be perfect to succeed Li Zhi as the governor of Nanyang. Or simply go to work in the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers, and be a minister of the Ministry of Rites or something like that, and he will be a good hand in cooperating with you in educational reform.

"I carefully asked about the situation in Jieyun Tower. The first quarrel occurred between two tables of candidates. One table seemed to be from Guangdong and Fujian, and the other table was from South Zhili and Zhejiang. The two sides discussed the pros and cons of the New Deal. Debate, thus triggering excitement among other people.

I don't know who started pushing first, and a group fight broke out in an instant. During the fight, someone shouted loudly that he was going to kill someone. One of the soldiers fell to the ground and everyone dispersed. Only one Juzi named Zhang Chun stayed where he was. He was captured by the Jin Yiwei who came after hearing the news and sent to the Ministry of Punishment. It was probably from him that he was later implicated. "

Ma Jinglun did not immediately express his personal opinion. Instead, he briefly described the murder process that occurred in Jieyun Building based on his own sources.

"That's not what the Ministry of Punishment report I saw said. It only said that five of the officials were drunk and made a lot of noise, and had a quarrel with the officials at the next table, which led to a fight. Zhang Chun did not stay on his own initiative, but He was detained by the store and then captured by Jin Yiwei."

Even this simple description is quite different from the report from the Ministry of Justice that I saw, but it is still impossible to distinguish who is lying, or whether both are wrong.

This is a true portrayal of being an emperor. Sitting in the palace all day long, everything you see and hear is second-hand or even third-hand or fourth-hand information. , it is still difficult to understand the true nature of the incident.

If someone with the power to embellish and polish deliberately does not want the emperor to hear or see the true situation, there is no need to make up lies at all. He only needs to deliberately omit some details of the incident, emphasize one part and downplay another part, and the person will be able to do it without anyone noticing. of confusion.

(End of this chapter)