Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 718 Hindsight
Zhang Yanling's judgment was not based on speculation.

Historically, Ma Wensheng did launch a "metaphysical" attack on Deng Changen and others at the end of the first month of the first year of the Hongzhi reign.

"... Ma Wensheng, the Left Imperial Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and others said that the temples of Yuezhen, Jidu, etc. all have stone coffins made by the former eunuch Chen Xi and the traitor Deng Changen. Around the coffins are talismans and a volume of Taoist scriptures written in mud and gold, as well as several gold and silver coins, dozens of gems of various colors, and one liter of each of the five grains. It seems to be a spell of nightmare. In each temple, the previous emperor sent Chen Xi to offer a sacrificial prayer. I don't know who wrote the text, but they were all engraved on the stone. According to the history of this dynasty, at the beginning of the new year, or when there was a flood or drought, sacrifices were offered to the gods of Zhenyue, Haidu, etc..."

To suppress the nightmare, also known as the nightmare victory, to put it bluntly, is a bad curse ritual.

In his memorial, Ma Wensheng clearly stated that Deng Chang'en and others used some witchcraft to influence the destiny of the Ming Dynasty, and even attributed natural disasters and man-made disasters to this.

Because Li Zisheng had died in prison at that time, and Deng Changen and others were exiled by the court, Ma Wensheng did not mention Li Zisheng in his memorial, but only attacked Deng Changen and others with all his might.

This does not mean that Ma Wensheng "forgave" the deceased Li Zisheng.

At the beginning of the first month of the intercalary year of the first year of the Hongzhi reign, the emperor issued a general amnesty, which included Li Zisheng's wife, who was exiled two thousand miles away. She should have been included in the amnesty.

"The Taoist priests Deng Chang'en and Zhao Yuzhi were pardoned for their deaths and sent back to the frontier guards. Since Li Zisheng died in the Prison and Law Department, the charges against Chang'en and others were filed against them for colluding with the inner officials. Those who took advantage of the situation and cheated were sentenced to death. Their wives and children were exiled 2,000 miles away and were pardoned, so they should be exempted and sent back to the original guards..."

Originally the emperor had issued an edict to pardon his life, and even Li Zisheng's wife could have been pardoned, but the judicial officials still argued to punish her according to the original crime.

Li Zisheng's family migrated two thousand miles and encountered extraordinary difficulties.

However, because of the existence of Zhang Yanling in this time and space, Zhang Luan saved Li Zisheng, who had done certain favors to the Zhang family, which led to a change in history.

Not only did Li Zisheng survive, he continued to serve as an official and made military achievements.

The eunuch Chen Xi, Chen Gui's backer, has not been dismissed from his post until now.

Deng Chang'en and Zhao Yuzhi, who bore the wrath of the civil officials, died in prison early, without waiting for the day of pardon. As a result, when people in the court mention "alchemists causing chaos in the country", the first person they think of is not Li Zisheng and Deng Chang'en, but the emperor's father-in-law Zhang Luan.

In this way, it goes without saying that the methods that Ma Wensheng and others have used in history will be used on Li Zisheng and Zhang Luan.

Zhang Luan himself did not participate in the construction of temples and Taoist temples, but in the middle of last year, he participated in the reconstruction of Wanhe Temple, and thus overthrew the powerful official Liang Fang. Ma Wensheng and others will definitely make a fuss about Wanhe Temple.

……

……

After meeting Zhang Yanling, Pang Qing hurried back to find the person who had assisted him in contracting projects in Beijing in his early years, and who had once given Li Zisheng a generous gift.

He also completed many tasks in the renovation of Wanhe Temple.

This man was named Yin Yi. He had obtained the status of a messenger officer due to his wealthy family background, and also got a job as a Taoist priest in the Daoluo Division. After the new emperor ascended the throne, the messenger officers were dismissed, and Yin Yi was among them. However, he still relied on his good relationship with the palace, especially the Imperial Household Department, to undertake many lucrative jobs.

"Master Pang, what exactly do you mean? Why can't I understand?"

When facing Pang Qing's questioning, Yin Yi was confused and had no idea about the purpose of Pang Qing's sudden appearance.

Are you short of money again and come to ask me for it?

Pang Qing said, "Let me ask you, in the past two years, the late emperor sent the eunuch Liang Fang from the Imperial Horse Administration to be responsible for rebuilding the Buddhist temples and Taoist temples around the capital. After the completion of the reconstruction, did he use the technique of suppressing nightmares?"

"this……?"

Yin Yi thought about it carefully and asked, "Nightmare Suppression? That's not a good thing. How could it exist?"

Pang Qing said coldly, "It may not have been used to ward off evil spirits when it was buried. It may have been used to pray for blessings. But as time goes by, if someone with ulterior motives finds it and falsely accuses it of being used to ward off evil spirits, or even links it to the natural and man-made disasters in the palace and beyond in the past two years, do you know how great the disaster will be?"

Yin Yi smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Master Pang, please don't scare me... If you really think there is danger, just send someone to take the things away... Or we can just take out some silver and spend money to avoid disaster."

At this point, Yin Yi still believed that Pang Qing was using this as an excuse to blackmail him.

What are you talking about witchcraft and sorcery? Who are you trying to scare?

Whether it is Chen Xi, Liang Fang, Deng Changen, Zhao Yuzhi and others, are they risking their lives to dare to curse the royal family?

The emperor gave you projects so that you could make money and get rich, but what you want to do is curse the emperor?
Even curse the destiny of the Ming Dynasty?
Do you think you have a long life?

Pang Qing said: "Take me to the nearest Taoist temple and dig out the things buried inside. If you can really get the job done, you don't have to pay me, I can even give you some money!"

"This……"

Yin Yi seemed to figure out some meaning, and asked doubtfully, "Is the situation really that serious?"

"Hurry up, use your connections to go to the nearest Taoist temple and dig out the stone coffin that was buried. If you can't find it, I'll chop you up first!"

Pang Qing said angrily.

……

……

Yin Yi felt that Pang Qing was serious this time.

That night he took Pang Qing to a Taoist temple outside Beijing.

The small Taoist temple has a small facade. It was hastily built due to the emperor's superstition about Buddhism and Taoism in the late Chenghua period. It was used to support and support the many outsiders who came to Beijing to eat and wait for death and called themselves Taoists.

When they arrived at the place, Yin Yixian called out a Taoist priest who was registered in the Taoist temple.

As the court cleared out monks and Taoists in Beijing, this place became idle. The Taoist Records Office arranged for three Taoists to stay here, who were responsible for worship and cleaning, and it was not even open to the public at ordinary times.

The Taoist who came to receive us was about fifty years old, with white hair and a youthful face, an immortal look, and holding a whisk in his hand. His Buddhist name was Hui Tong.

Pang Qing frowned when he heard it. Why does it sound like a monk's name?

However, at the end of the Chenghua period, all kinds of demons and monsters were rampant in the capital. Some of them claimed to be Taoists, and were not only proficient in Buddhism but also in Taoist techniques. Such people were common, and because they had the emperor as their backer, the capital was in chaos at that time.

Later, Ma Wensheng and others wiped out all Buddhists and Taoists in Beijing, not entirely out of selfish motives.

"Mr. Yin, what are you talking about? What stone coffin?"

Hui Tong was also confused. He looked at Pang Qing beside him and said, "In the past two days, the county yamen runners did bring government officials here and knocked around the Taoist temple, but I don't know why."

Pang Qing slapped his thigh fiercely and shouted, "It is so... If no one had pointed it out, who would have thought that a well-read scholar would make such a fuss about such a thing? A gentleman should not talk about strange things, it is simply a disgrace to society!"

Hui Tong looked at Pang Qing and said, "Sir, what do you mean?"

Yin Yi quickly interrupted: "Where is the stone box? Hurry up and take us to find it..."

"How can I just give it to you?"

Hui Tong complained, "That is the treasure of this temple. To put it bluntly, if it is taken out, it will definitely cause the wrath of the immortals. Later, this Taoist temple may collapse..."

Pang Qing's eyes lit up, and he asked with concern, "You mean, the things are still there and haven't been taken away by the government?"

Hui Tong shook his head: "I don't know."

"How could you not know?"

Yin Yi asked curiously, “Do you know what you are doing?”

Hui Tong said helplessly, "In the first two days, the county government's runners came with many officials and knocked and beat around the Taoist temple. They also didn't allow people in the temple to watch and locked us all in the firewood room in the backyard. Later, they filled all the pits they dug and let us out. They also threatened that it was a major case involving the royal family and that we were not allowed to ask any specific questions. They shouldn't... touch the foundation of the Taoist temple casually, right?"

Yin Yi looked at Pang Qing nervously and asked, "Master Pang, please make a decision quickly."

Pang Qing glared at him, as if he was angry that the other party added his surname to the address, which might allow outsiders to guess his identity.

Pang Qing waved his hand and said, "For the sake of caution, take me over to have a look."

"You two..."

Hui Tong was obviously reluctant.

Who would come here in the middle of the night and come in uninvited like an official?

As soon as Pang Qing called out, a dozen burly men holding bows, crossbows and swords immediately appeared behind him. Seeing this, Hui Tong immediately compromised and made a gesture of invitation: "Come, come, come this way. I will lead the way for you two."

……

……

Pang Qing brought a large number of people and started digging in front of the palace according to Hui Tong's instructions.

This alarmed everyone in the Taoist temple.

Then the remaining two Taoist priests who were sleeping also got up and looked at the group of people busying around in the dim light outside the door. One of them asked, "Brother Huitong, what are you doing?"

Hui Tong made a gesture to silence the crowd: "Don't make any noise, a group of strong men have come to the temple."

"Strong man?" This frightened the two Taoists.

The young Taoist priest who was lagging behind turned around and prepared to run away, asking, "Do you want to report to the police?"

"What officials do you want to report to? It's obvious that they have government backgrounds."

Hui Tong smiled bitterly.

"what?"

The young Taoist priest was stunned for a moment, then turned around and asked, "Are you from the same group as the people who came a few days ago?"

Hui Tong shook his head.

The older Taoist priest said, "What on earth are these thugs trying to do by coming to the Taoist temple to cause trouble? Could it be that the ancestors hid some treasure in the Taoist temple?"

Hui Tong obviously could not answer this question.

"Master, come out for a moment."

As they were talking, Yin Yi came into the room to greet them.

Hui Tong immediately pulled Yin Yi aside and asked in a low voice, "Is the person coming from Minister Yin's residence?"

The reason why Yin Yi was able to undertake the project and obtain the status of a royal Taoist priest was more because he was a relative of the former Shangshu Yin Zhi.

"can not say."

Yin Yi said, "Just cooperate. It won't do you any harm... Come out and take a look. Why is the stone box empty? The things inside were taken away, and you didn't even know about it?"

Upon hearing this, Hui Tong hurried out of the room and followed him to the place where the stone casket was buried.

At this time, Pang Qing was holding a torch, looking at the empty stone box that was opened below, with a gloomy look on his face.

Hui Tong said: "Why did you take it out? Where are the things inside?"

Pang Qing looked up at Hui Tong and asked, "That's what I wanted to ask you!"

"This this……"

Hui Tong was confused and looked at a loss.

Pang Qing called Yin Yi aside and whispered in his ear, "No matter what, we must go to Wanhe Temple tonight. There can't be any more mistakes."

Yin Yi whispered, "Wanhe Temple is a royal temple, usually very popular. It's also the place where the Empress Dowager often goes to burn incense and worship Buddha. If something like this happens there... I don't have the ability to do that."

"Do you know where Chen Gui lives? Send a letter for me and ask him to come see me."

Pang Qing said through gritted teeth.

Yin Yi said, "Can't you go there yourself? You know... Oh, by the way, you want to avoid suspicion, right? Okay, I'll go right away! How could the things in this stone coffin... disappear? The nightmare-suppressing thing... I can't tell you!"

At this moment, Yin Yi's mind was completely confused.

……

……

A Tatar delegation of 500 people, led by the young Tatar prince Batu Mongke, successfully arrived in the suburbs of Beijing.

The Ming side was led by Yang Shouchen, the right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, who cooperated with the officials of the Honglu Temple to keep most of the Tatars in the post house outside the city. Only Batu Mongke was allowed to lead a hundred personal followers into the city and stay at Huitong Hall.

Originally, the task of welcoming the envoys should have been the responsibility of Tan Ji and Zhang Yanling.

But since Huai'en took over on behalf of the emperor, he immediately went to connect with officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple, and tried his best to get the matter of welcoming the envoys back on the "right track."

When envoys came to the capital, no matter who they were, they had to wait for the emperor's order to arrange the specific time to enter the palace to pay homage.

If the emperor did not allow the envoy to pay homage, the envoy would leave the capital within half a month after leaving tribute and receiving generous rewards.

But each wave of envoys who came to the capital, in addition to paying tribute, had their own "demands". Among the envoys who mainly came to the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the various tribes on the grassland, the largest number were Koreans. They usually came to fight for the title of crown prince, to seek enthronement when the new king ascended the throne, etc. Sometimes they also came to celebrate the New Year.

In short, every time he came, he paid a small tribute, and then won huge rewards from the court and returned satisfied.

The purpose of the Tatars' visit this time was simple, which was to ask for the opening of a border market.

After receiving the envoys, Yang Shouchen went to the Hanlin Academy.

In the Hanlin Academy, Huai En had been waiting there for a long time, and the person in charge of receiving Huai En in the Hanlin Academy was none other than Liu Jian, the Hanlin scholar who had the greatest hope of entering the cabinet.

With the president of the academy, Zhang Luan, claiming illness and unable to go out, all affairs of the Hanlin Academy were basically handled by Liu Jian. Because of his outstanding abilities and as an official of the Eastern Palace system, Liu Jian has now become the most prestigious academic in the Hanlin Academy, and everyone else has to stand aside.

"Eunuch Huai, what exactly is going on with the inspection of the troops?"

After Yang Shouchen and Huai En exchanged greetings, he asked directly, "When we met the Tatars today, they were still asking about this matter. They don't understand why we would make some insignificant moves when they were on a diplomatic mission to Beijing. Is it to deepen the rift between the two sides?"

As a traditional civil official, Yang Shouchen was once deeply harmed by powerful officials.

Among the brothers of the Yang family, he and Yang Shousui suffered the most severe persecution.

Now that he has returned to the court, he could have been promoted to the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, but now the position has been usurped by Xu Qiong, whose reputation is far inferior to his, so he can only be resigned to the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

And this Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites was only a part-time job. Most of the time he could only hide in the Hanlin Academy and do a sinecure.

Huai En had a faint smile on his face and said, "The Tatars are concerned about the inspection of the troops, so why not tell them that Your Majesty may attend in person to reassure them, isn't that good?"

Liu Jian on the side said: "Will your Majesty's presence really reassure them? Not necessarily!"

Huai En had a clear smile on his face this time: "Things have been arranged, just waiting to be executed, why did you bring it up until now? Or, you can bring it up to His Majesty in person at the court tomorrow morning. There is no need to ask at this time. There is really no need."

He is just shirking responsibility.

There's no point telling me these things. I'm just acting as a middleman or a lubricant. It's pointless to give me suggestions.

Yang Shouchen said: "What is the purpose of this military exercise? To intimidate the Tatars? Or to show courtesy? This matter has not been discussed at the court meeting, and we really cannot understand it."

Huai En looked at Liu Jian standing aside and said, "Mr. Liu, what do you think about this?"

Liu Jian asked, "What does Eunuch Huai mean...?"

"Asking about your opinion, why are you asking me?"

Huai En smiled and said meaningfully.

Liu Jian looked at Yang Shouchen, probably thinking that his protest was a little inappropriate, but he still said seriously: "If this becomes a routine, we will have to conduct military exercises when foreign envoys come to Beijing. This is too much respect for these foreigners. It would be better to deal with it coldly."

Huai En asked, "I don't know how to deal with it coldly?"

Liu Jian said: "Put them aside for a while and then send them back. They should leave the way they came. They have no intention of submitting to the Ming Dynasty, so why should the court show too much kindness? Eunuch Huai, the Tatars did not send congratulations when Your Majesty ascended the throne, and they only came to congratulate after the defeat in the war with the Ming Dynasty. Not detaining them is already giving them enough face. Now they have to attend the military inspection ceremony with Your Majesty, which is really..."

"Right."

Huai En nodded and said, "Foreigners don't need to be given too much face. But right now, His Majesty is very concerned about this and has arranged people to coordinate this matter many times. I have repeatedly persuaded His Majesty, but to no avail. Now the best thing is to... wait and see."

When the time comes, even if you oppose it, I'm afraid you won't be able to make the emperor change his mind.

Besides, whether the emperor attended the military parade with Batu Mongke was just a formality. Security did not need to be considered. Even if the ministers had any objections, they did not have enough confidence to oppose it.

Liu Jian said: "Since your majesty ascended the throne, there have been many precedents set."

Yang Shouchen said bluntly: "Isn't it because that scholar Zhang has been instigating this behind the scenes? I wonder why scholar Zhang himself didn't go to inspect the troops? Hasn't he recovered from his illness yet?"

Huai En roughly figured out what Yang Shouchen was dissatisfied with.

But it seems that the hostility towards Zhang Luan is not as strong as imagined.

Although they blamed Zhang Luan for giving blind advice, it seemed that they were only blaming him for not showing up in person, but instead acting like a puppeteer hiding behind the scenes, secretly controlling everything and allowing the emperor to come out and show up in public.

Huai En said: "The inspection of the troops is initially scheduled for the day after tomorrow, and will be carried out on the outskirts of the city. If you object, tomorrow morning's court session will be the last chance to stop it. It's getting late, and we have done what we should do. It's time to leave."

After that, Huai En stood up and said goodbye.

Liu Jian stood up and prepared to go out to see him off, but Huai En signaled him not to go through so much trouble and then left.

(End of this chapter)