I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 436 Shu Youliang is the best at persuading people

Yang Yunpeng traveled day and night and finally arrived in Xuzhou. He soon met the people sent by Wang Yi'e to pick him up at the Xuzhou Canal Wharf.

"My name is Wu Cheng'en, courtesy name Ruzhong. I am a tribute student of the Imperial College of Nanjing. I am currently a staff member of the Grain Transport Supervisor's Office. I have been ordered by Governor Wang to come and meet General Yang and all of you."

Yang Yunpeng looked him up and down.

Wu Cheng'en was in his sixties, with a broad forehead and a long face, bright eyes, and he wore a grey straight suit and a square scarf on his head.

"Are you Wang Ge'er's newly hired staff member?"

Yang Yunpeng felt a little strange because this aide was not yet in the governor's office when he left.

"Yang Zhongjun, I am a person of little talent and moral integrity, and my career has been a stalemate. In the 35th year of the Jiajing reign, I was selected as the county magistrate of Changxing County, Zhejiang Province as a tribute student. In the 36th year, I was transferred to Luzhou as the magistrate. In the 37th year, I was falsely accused and dismissed from office and returned home.

In the second year of Longqing, I was recommended by my predecessors to go to Qizhou to serve as the Jishan of the Prince of Jing's palace. This year, the imperial court reformed the feudal system of various vassals, and the Prince of Jing was summoned to Beijing, but he stayed in the palace and did not return. The student had no official position to do, so he had to return home.

Last month, Governor Wang heard of the student's reputation and invited him to join his staff."

Wu Cheng'en knew what Yang Yunpeng meant, and took the time to briefly recount his resume.

He had heard that Yang Yunpeng was Wang Duxian's younger brother, like a real brother, and his closest confidant. Since he joined the Caodu Yamen as a staff member, he still had to understand the social etiquette.

"I see. Mr. Wu, have you arranged the express boat? I need to see the commander-in-chief urgently. This is an urgent matter concerning the life and safety of Lord Hai."

Wu Chengen was stunned and asked quickly, "But is it Hai Qingtian Haigong of Haigang Peak?"

"Exactly."

Wu Cheng'en immediately replied: "The express boat is ready, General Yang can set off immediately. The students will escort the others south to Huai'an Prefecture."

Tian Sheng and Zhang Dao bowed and said, "Brother Yang, Mr. Wu, we were ordered to escort Brother Yang and Yu Xiucai's family south. Now that we have arrived safely, we are also going back to Yanzhou to inquire about the news of Lord Hai.

We are both members of the Imperial Guard, and our duty is to protect the people and safety of the coast guard, so we dare not neglect our duty."

Yang Yunpeng knew that he couldn't force it, so he quickly arranged the fastest boat for the two to head north.

So Yang Yunpeng took a speedboat southward, while Tian Sheng and Zhang Dao took Hai Rui's imperial edict and official seal and boarded a grain boat northward, first to Jining Prefecture and then to Qufu.

Wu Cheng'en escorted Yu Xiucai and his family, slowly sailing south on a canal boat.

At the Confucius Mansion in Qufu, Huang Wencai and Kong Shangtan came out and met Yu Buyan, the magistrate of Qufu, at the gatehouse.

"County Magistrate Yu, has that arrogant man found out the whole story?" Huang Wencai asked as soon as they met.

"Master Huang, I didn't have time to ask. After your servant sent the four arrogant people to the county government and told me the whole story, I was deeply saddened and my heart was burning.

The Confucius Mansion is a holy place for Confucian scholars, and the Confucius family is a model for scholars. They benefit their hometown and spread virtue to women and children, which is obvious to all and known to people far and near.

I didn't expect that a rebellious person would come out of nowhere and do such evil things as barking dogs, slandering the good deeds and moral conduct of the Confucius Mansion. This is intolerable! I hurried over in a sedan chair to clarify my position.

Justice is in the heart of people! Justice is in the world!
The reputation of Confucius Mansion for benevolence and righteousness cannot be tarnished by a few rebellious people!"

Yu Buyan became so excited at the end that his voice became shrill and hoarse.

Huang Wencai and Kong Shangtan looked at each other and casually bowed: "County Magistrate Yu is thoughtful. The Kong family will remember your kindness."

Yu Buyan was overjoyed and his face was full of smiles.

I came here eagerly, bowed low, and flattered you against my conscience, wasn't it just because of what you said?

Huang Wencai pondered for a moment and asked, "Are those four rebellious people still in the county jail?"

"Here, the county has instructed us to keep a strict watch on him, and not allow any negligence. When we return, the county will interrogate him strictly and give an explanation to the Confucius Mansion."

"These four people committed such a cruel act. I am worried that someone with ulterior motives may have been behind it. The eldest son of the Kong family and I would like to borrow your treasure hall to interrogate these four people."

"Master Huang, Master Kong, you can borrow my entire set of ceremonial guards and three shifts of yamen runners. You can borrow them all and do whatever you want with the trial!"

The three of them hurried to the court of Qufu County in a sedan chair. Yu Buyan asked the bailiffs to bring the prisoner, and at the same time he humbly asked Huang Wencai to sit in the main seat, Kong Shangtan to sit in the deputy seat, and he sat at the bottom to keep them company.

Huang Wencai and Kong Shangtan were not polite and sat down casually.

Soon, Hai Rui, Shu Youliang, Hu Guangsheng and Zhao Kuan were brought in.

Huang Wencai pretended to slam the gavel, and the sound of it scared even himself.

After coughing twice and calming himself, he said in an operatic tone, "Who are you? Tell me your names!"

Hai Rui took a quick glance and saw Huang Wencai sitting in the main seat in the court, wearing a brocade robe and a footless hat; Kong Shangtan, sitting in the deputy seat, was wearing a silk shirt and a student's scarf.

The person sitting at the bottom was wearing a green robe, the official uniform with a patch, and a black gauze hat on his head.

The officials are neither officials nor the people are neither people. It is really strange.

Hai Rui asked in return, "This gentleman sitting in the court with such a majestic manner, what is his official rank and position?" Huang Wencai was a little embarrassed, and Yu Buyan quickly came to his rescue, "Mr. Huang is a student of Dongping, a relative of the Duke of Yansheng, a pillar of the local area and the country. It is reasonable for him to try the criminal on my behalf."

"Reasonable? It's not reasonable for a county magistrate to say this. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, if an unofficial person sits in court without permission, he will be punished by exile for a thousand miles."

Yu Buyan was annoyed. "Asshole, we are the ones interrogating you now, why are you interrogating us instead! You, a troublemaker, have been unruly and unruly since you were brought in, roaring in the court, troublemaker, troublemaker!

Come, quickly drag this troublemaker away and give him twenty, no, forty lashes of the cane!"

Yu Buyan said angrily.

Hu Guangsheng and Zhao Kuan quickly stood on both sides of Hai Rui, looking unkindly at the restless yamen runners, ready to reveal their identities at any time.

Hai Rui had a gloomy face and found it extremely ridiculous to see Huang Wencai sitting in the court in such a ridiculous manner.

A monkey in human clothing!
How could a mere student sit in the county court so openly and decide the life and death of common people and determine the power and authority of the county?
Because he is a relative of the Confucius family.

In-laws!
In the eyes of people in Qufu and Hexian County, the relatives of the Kong family are the in-laws of the current dynasty!

Huang Wencai felt a little uneasy when Hai Rui stared at him, and his heart was shaken.

He was the representative of the Confucius Mansion and was well-informed. When he saw Hai Rui sitting opposite him, an old man with an unremarkable appearance and a seventh-rank county magistrate, he had no intimidating power and even the Confucius Mansion was nothing in his eyes.

There are not many people in the world who are not afraid of officials.

He is either an official or has been an official and has close ties with the officialdom.

Huang Wencai's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly called out to the guards in the hall, "Stop!"

He sat behind the desk, leaned forward, and showed a very amiable look: "Old man, as long as you tell me who is behind this, I will definitely take your advanced age into consideration and deal with you gently."

"The people behind this old man's instructions are the millions of people in several counties of Yanzhou who have been exploited and bullied by the Confucius Mansion!"

Yu Buyan was so angry that his face turned red. This was too outrageous!

Who do you think you are?

You actually dare to represent the millions of people in Yanzhou, do you think you are the Lord of the Sea? ?
"Mr. Huang is kindhearted and couldn't bear to see you suffer at your age. I didn't expect you to be so rebellious and say such lawless words without any consideration for good deeds!

Come on, come on, fight me! Fight me!
Mr. Huang, please don't stop me. If you don't let this unruly person know that the law is as powerful as a furnace, he won't know how powerful it is!"

Shu Youliang stepped forward to protect Hai Rui and said to Buyan, "You, the county magistrate, really have your eyes in your assholes. You only know how to flatter others and don't care about your own life or death.

Master Huang and Master Kong, who are sitting above you, have noticed something is wrong, but you are still barking non-stop. Do you really want to hit our masters?"

Yu Buyan’s face turned pale.

I'm just a servant of the Confucius family, but none of you take me seriously. You think a seventh-rank official like me is nothing, right?

If I don’t beat the shit out of you today, I’ll just be vegetarian today.

"Beat them! You arrogant and unruly people, I won't know how powerful you are until you beat me!"

"If you, Master Yu, really beat our master, the earth will shake and the mountains will be shaken. Your entire Shandong Province, including the Confucius Mansion, will be implicated."

Yu Buyan sneered: "You are about to die, and you still dare to talk nonsense here!"

Huang Wencai and Kong Shangtan understood what was meant, and hurriedly stopped Yu Buyan and said to Shu Youliang, "Please tell me more carefully. Where did your master come from?"

Shu Youliang turned to Hai Rui and said, "Master, I know what you are thinking. The Yansheng Mansion is too famous, and even if we bring this case to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, we may not be able to win.

You are ready to feed the tiger with your own body, and you are willing to die with the Yanshenggong Mansion at the cost of your life. This bastard county magistrate beat you to death because he protected the Confucius Mansion. No one in the world, from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to the common people, will let the Yanshenggong Mansion go.

But why bother, sir!

You don't know your own body. If you are really beaten to death by this dog official, Captain Hu, Captain Zhao and I will at most carry your coffin back to Beijing to report. If you are crippled by this dog official, I will have to carry your shit and urine and serve you all the way.

"Master, I am a clean person and I cannot stand the sight of shit or urine. Please give Captain Hu and Captain Zhao a chance to live. They failed to protect you, which is a dereliction of duty! At the very least, they will lose their jobs, and at worst, they will be exiled!"

Hai Rui turned his head aside and said, "Okay, okay, I know you are the best at persuading people. The more you talk, the more reasonable you are. Okay, you are the master, okay?"

"Haha, I'm the master. Wait a few more lifetimes." Shu Youliang turned around and said to Huang Wencai and the other two, "You ask who my master is? To be honest, my master will never change his surname or name. He is Hai Rui Hai Gangfeng from Hainan."

After these words were spoken, silence fell in the court.

Yu Buyan felt like he was suffocating, as if fate was strangling his neck.

There were a few banging sounds, and some of the yamen runners nearby were so scared that they dropped the water and fire sticks in their hands to the ground.

Huang Wencai and Kong Shangtan stared at Hai Rui with their mouths open, unable to believe it.

"Are you really Hai Hai. Hai Qingtian?!"

(End of this chapter)