Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 234 How could it be a coincidence?

There is a leap September this year.

Both the special examination and the military examination were scheduled for the intercalary September.

The rebellion of Chu Zong had already happened. Zhu Changluo would have to wait for the people involved in the Chu Zong case, the robbery of the pole, and the beating and murder of the governor to come to Beijing, which would probably have to wait until November.

However, the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice had already issued official documents, announcing the emperor's characterization of the Chu Zong robbery case and the beating and murder of the governor: it was just an ordinary criminal case.

The focus of the investigation has become how the rumor that the former Marquis Dingyuan had deposited a large amount of treasure with Chu Fan spread to everyone.

After all, Wang Shouren was thrown into prison as soon as he submitted the memorial.

The emperor had put the matter of the court proposal on hold. Therefore, the emperor also wanted to find out whether there were outsiders who instigated the vassal states and mistakenly believed that the emperor was going to reform the clan salary immediately.

The first impact caused by this incident was that after the Enke examination, the three judicial officials gathered outside the Imperial Examination Hall, and first, thirty-nine candidates were invited to the Inspection Hall.

Of course, this incident caused a stir in the capital.

On the Chu vassal side, Hou Gongchen was ordered to go south.

The clan leader went to deal with the affairs of the Chu vassal state personally, and Liang Yunlong, the left governor who was ordered to temporarily serve as the governor of Huguang, was to come and clean up this mess.

Liang Yunlong received an official document from the Censorate, and the emperor also wrote him a letter personally.

So he now called over Li Tao, the Censor, Xu Yinghuang, the Prefect of Wuchang, and the magistrates and prefects of all the counties and prefectures in Wuchang Prefecture.

"The Chu clan rebellion, in addition to the resentment accumulated within the Chu clan over the years, your majesty and the court are now investigating whether local officials and gentry fanned the flames to promote the reform of clan salaries." Liang Yunlong stated clearly, and then said sadly, "Your majesty's order is clear. Zhao Taibao is dead, and the clan members who rebelled are certainly unforgivable. If someone instigated it, that would be the culprit. Only by carefully examining the slightest details can we comfort Zhao Taibao's spirit in heaven."

He glanced at everyone and said in a serious tone, "Don't be optimistic. If anyone among you knows about this, you will be rewarded if you speak out first. If anyone is involved, you may be forgiven if you turn yourself in now. The Minister of Literature, the Minister of Assistants, the Minister of the Court, and the Minister of Letters have all received letters. Your Majesty has clearly stated that a thorough investigation will be conducted, and it is not a problem to kill hundreds of families!"

Gong Nai was terrified when he heard this and felt miserable.

He happened to have heard some rumors before, so he was able to ask his advisor to keep a close eye on Chu Fan's movements and get the news first that night.

"Xiao Yu, what do you know?"

Gong Nai was startled and looked up at Liang Yunlong.

Liang Yunlong narrowed his eyes and stared at him without saying a word.

Gong Nai knew that something was wrong, and he failed to hide his expression well, so the experienced Liang Yunlong saw through it.

Thinking about the letters from the "four ministers" he had just mentioned, Gong Nai was afraid that he would be the focus of suspicion, so he quickly said, "I just heard some examinees talking about..."

Of course, there were provincial examinations in Huguang before, and students gathered there at that time.

But since Gong Nai had spoken, he thought for a moment and then gritted his teeth and said, "There are a few students who were listed on the vice list after the announcement of the autumn examination results, and are waiting for the examination at the University, and they are still talking a lot. The governor knows about this. I am the governor of Wuchang, and I also have a job to do in the examination at the University. I was ordered by the governor to host a banquet for the new candidates..."

He talked a lot, but in the end he pointed out one person: Li Cai.

"...Li Mengcheng?" Liang Yunlong frowned.

"Yes, since the governor knows Mr. Jian Luo, he must know that he was the governor of Xunyang and gave many lectures. Those who made the second list were all students of Mr. Jian Luo when he gave lectures in Yunyang. One of them is from Junzhou, and his family used to have business dealings with the Cheng family in Leping..."

Liang Yunlong's expression became serious: "Xiao Yu, you already know so much details, right? There is more to it than this, right?"

"I only heard them mention it at the banquet. Governor, I really don't know anything more!" Gong Nai shook his head repeatedly.

Anyway, he is very cautious, so it is enough for him to contribute a clue.

The family has given countless warnings and instructions, and now even Duke Yansheng has to find ways to protect himself. How could Gong Nai dare to get involved in those "big things"?
But at this moment, the Li Cai he mentioned made Liang Yunlong find a breakthrough, and he and Li Tao looked at each other.

"If I remember correctly, Li Mengcheng has now been demoted to Zhenhaiwei?"

Li Tao nodded. "If it weren't for the protection of the Minister of Culture, he would have been guilty of a serious crime, changing the office of the lieutenant general into a palace of learning, misappropriating military funds to teach, and inciting a mutiny. Later, he was imprisoned for five years for exaggerating his merits in the old expedition to Burma, and was rescued by the Minister of Culture, and was demoted to Zhenhai Guard. I heard that he still gathered students to teach in Zhenhai Guard, and his reputation spread far and wide."

"If it is related to him...is it because of old grudges, or because of the current academic dispute?" Liang Yunlong tried to figure out the motive.

"Whether it is true or not, we have to ask those candidates who were on the second list." Li Tao paused and said, "If it is really related to him, he has many students and old friends, and he has been rescued repeatedly by Mr. Shen and Mr. Wang. The Zhenhai Guard is in Taicang..." Everyone felt heavy-hearted and thought that this might really lead to a big case.

Among them, perhaps the strict implementation of preferential treatment, academic disputes, and even the right and wrong during the Wanli and Taichang years, as well as the resentment of the current officials in the court for not "doing anything" for the gentry were all included.

"Let's investigate along this line first." Liang Yunlong said, looking at the rest of the people. "As I said before, don't be lucky. This major case must be investigated thoroughly. The Left Commander of the Front Army, Ping Yi Bo, is on his way here, and the clan leader is also on his way south. The court may still be selecting important officials. Whether it is sending another governor or simply sending a governor-general, everyone should be prepared. I'm frank, the sooner this case is resolved, the better!"

Thinking that Pingyi Bo, who already had 3,000 standard-bearers and controlled the Yangtze River Navy, would come to Wuchang Prefecture in person, although he was saying that he was escorting some important officials of the Chu clan to the capital to verify their identities before the emperor, how could he know that there would not be the old events in Nanjing in the first year of Taichang?
In Beijing and Wuchang, students taking the exam were questioned first.

Gong Nai's "contribution" was just a clue, but he soon found out something strange about Liang Yunlong.

So the next day Gong Nai was called to his presence again.

Liang Yunlong stared at Gong Nai and did not speak for a long time.

"...Fourth Master?" Gong Nai's heart was pounding.

"What you heard was not just about Li Cai, and not just at the banquet for the new scholars, right?" Liang Yunlong said slowly.

"Ah? I just heard them arguing when I was passing by..."

"Them? Who's fighting with whom?"

"...I didn't pay attention to those two students." Gong Nai smiled, "The governor also knows that young candidates like to talk a lot. I just encouraged them one by one, and really didn't pay attention to what they talked about..."

Liang Yunlong's expression became more serious. "At that time, the Chu Zong case had already happened. You are the governor of Jiangxia County. How could you not pay attention when you heard them talking about the Chu vassal? If I really want to ask you, what is the relationship between the Mengyin Gong family and the Zhucheng Ding family?"

Gong Nai's legs went limp, his eyes flickered, and he said tremblingly, "Your Excellency, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding..."

After hearing Liang Yunlong mention the Ding family from Zhucheng, Gong Nai dared not hide it any longer.

After all, he was just afraid of being implicated.

It's actually not complicated.

The Zhucheng Ding family was actually just a new family, and only two generations of celebrities had emerged so far. One was Ding Chun, a previous generation, who was only a juren, and his son Ding Weining, who is still alive today, was a jinshi in the 44th year of the Jiajing reign.

The Mengyin Gong family has had five consecutive generations of Jinshi candidates. Since the two places are only separated by Yishui County, there is of course communication between them, but not much.

The reason why Gong Nai had contacts with the Ding family of Zangmashan in Zhucheng was because the ancestor of this branch of their family was born in Wuchang Prefecture.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, their family's ancestor joined the army and followed Taizu. He made many military achievements and was finally named the hereditary garrison commander of Haizhou. Then he moved to Shandong and finally settled in Zhucheng.

With only a hundred households, it certainly could not be considered a prosperous clan. So it was not until Ding Weining passed the imperial examination and went to Huguang to serve as the deputy envoy of Yunxiang Military Preparations in the Judicial and Administrative Office that some of the Ding clan members in Wuchang Prefecture saw hope and wanted to rely on this relationship to do something in Huguang.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, as he happened to meet Li Cai, who was the governor of Xunyang at the time.

The territory of Huguang was too large, and later it became the place where the world's temples were founded, so there was not only a governor of Huguang in the core area of ​​the governor's office.

Li Cai liked to give lectures, and he turned the lieutenant-general's office into a school. He also embezzled military funds and made soldiers serve as laborers, which eventually provoked the lieutenant-general to lead his tribe in a mutiny.

Both of them were appointed officials, and neither of them could escape the blame. After the terms were privately negotiated, one of the conditions was to blame the instigation of the mutiny on the deputy military commissioner Ding Weining.

The result was that Ding Weining was demoted. Ding Weining was so angry about this sudden misfortune that he resigned and returned home at the age of 40.

"Brother Ruan was well-known for his good governance in the past." Gong Nai explained, "The student just heard them praising Li Cai's kindness in teaching in the past, and he was upset for Brother Ruan, so he said a few words. Brother Ruan is well-known for his integrity. The student's family is poor, and he has been able to study all these years thanks to the support of the Ding family. Knowing that I was going to Jiangxia to be the magistrate, Brother Ruan felt sorry for his talent, so he just wrote to me and asked me to help with my studies..."

Liang Yunlong smiled after hearing this: "Isn't filial piety closely related to this matter?"

"Oh, Your Excellency the Governor!" Gong Nai was in a hurry. "Brother Ru'an has long devoted himself to the mountains and rivers and no longer cares about the disputes in the court. The matter of the Chu vassal has caused a lot of uproar. They just happened to quarrel because of such a case that their respective mentors had in the past. Your humble servant..."

"Is it really so?" Liang Yunlong's eyes sharpened. "On one side is the magistrate of Jiangxia County, the seat of Wuchang Prefecture. Ding Ru'an and you are both from Shandong, and Shandong also has the Duke of Yansheng. On the other side is Li Cai, who is now exiled to Suzhou Zhenhaiwei. The people who protected him back then are now one minister of literature and one assistant minister. The court has been strictly enforcing preferential treatment and exemptions, and the officials and gentry have been in a state of uproar in the past two years. Now that the royal family and vassal states have begun to cause chaos, and the old case is difficult to resolve, rumors have spread across the north and south in a matter of months. Do you really think this is just a coincidence?"

Gong Nai felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave. Beads of sweat the size of beans streamed down his face. His legs suddenly went limp.

"Futai, save me!"

(End of this chapter)