Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 268 Question his nine clans and grind their bones to ashes!
After this, Yan Song really followed Zhu Houcong's wishes and organized more petition activities.

Zhu Houcong summoned Zhang Tong and asked, "Is there any news from Liangzhe? Has Li Yang, the Liangzhe Transport Commissioner, been captured?"

"Your Majesty, there is no news yet."

"Yao Lai, a Hanlin from Qingliu, sent me a letter and asked me to meet him tonight."

"I ask your Majesty for instructions."

Zhang Tong replied.

Zhu Houcong thought for a moment and said, "Go see him!"

talking.

Zhu Houcong smiled faintly: "It took them so long to meet you. It seems that they are really relieved about you."

"I guess he is afraid that if I take action too early, it will make Your Majesty more suspicious."

Zhang Tong replied.

Zhu Houcong nodded: "That makes sense!"

then.

Zhu Houcong looked at Zhang Tong again: "Is Liu Yinghuai really that stubborn? He has not spoken yet and has not given out other people?"

"no!"

"I tortured his children and grandchildren right in front of him, but he didn't care."

Zhang Tong replied.

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong couldn't help but say: "I didn't expect this old man to be so hard-hearted! But if he wasn't a hard-hearted person, he wouldn't dare to kill Doctor Zhou."

"Anyway, go meet them first and see what they have to say to you."

Zhu Houcong turned to Zhang Tong and gave him an instruction.

then.

That night, Zhang Tong went to a place called Ren'en Temple as promised.

But as soon as Zhang Tong entered a tall hall in the temple, the door was suddenly closed, and a large net suddenly fell from the roof.

Zhang Tong was quickly hung up before he could react.

Zhang Tong had no choice but to ask through the net rope that was as thick as his index finger: "What are you doing?!"

"Yao Hanlin, is this how you treat your friends?!"

Zhang Tong then asked loudly again.

Soon.

Yao Lai walked out of the main hall and bowed to Zhang Tong, saying:

"I'm sorry for the offense, please forgive me, General Ti."

"Why do you do this?"

Zhang Tong asked.

Yao Lai said: "This is not what I meant, it is what they meant. They want General Ti to tell you the truth. Are you the one that His Majesty deliberately sent to contact us, the Qingliu?"

Zhang Tong gnashed his teeth and said, "You still doubt me!"

"If General Ti doesn't tell the truth, they will have to throw you to death, just like Emperor Taizu threw the censor to death in the Censorate!"

Yao Lai replied with a smile.

Zhang Tong thought for a moment and said, "Then just throw me to death! I really have nothing to say. I am exhausted. It would be better if I died, so that I don't have to worry about being found out and punished by the emperor in the future! The only regret is that my family will be implicated by me!"

Zhang Tong's heart suddenly rose to his throat and he couldn't help but close his eyes, but he did feel a little regretful in his heart that he had served as a spy for the emperor.

But when Zhang Tong thought that his family would still be able to remain rich and prosperous after he was thrown to death, he felt that it was worth it to die loyally for the emperor.

When Zhang Tong thought he was going to die, the rope suddenly stopped about half a meter above the ground due to a mechanism.

Zhang Tong couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat on his forehead.

Yao Lai bowed to Zhang Tong again and said, "I beg you to forgive me again, this is a matter involving the imperial power, so we have to be careful!"

"Is this interesting?!"

Zhang Tong roared angrily.

Yao Lai said: "This is really not what I meant!"

"Who does that mean?"

Zhang Tong asked.

Yao Lai said: "Please don't ask this, General Ti."

"Okay, then I won't ask."

"But can you put me down first?"

Zhang Tong said.

Yao Lai asked a few monks to come out and release Zhang Tong.

Zhang Tong said after landing: "You bald asses, it seems that Gui E and the others didn't punish you badly enough, so you can tease this commander like this!"

"Why would Master Ti get angry with them?"

Yao Lai said this with a smile, and then asked Zhang Tong: "Did Liu Yinghuai confess?"

Zhang Tong laughed: "What do you think?"

"They should have guessed correctly. Apart from Li Yang, they should not have recruited anyone else!"

Yao Lai replied with a smile.

Zhang Tong was surprised and asked, "How do you know Li Yang?"

“I just found out about this, too.”

As Yao Lai said this, he handed the letter to Zhang Tong.

After Zhang Tong read it, he asked, "How did you receive this anonymous letter?"

Yao Lai said: "Every day when my father goes out, he can see it in the yard."

“Why would you do anything for them?”

Zhang Tong asked.

Yao Lai said: "Don't ask, General Ti. Just follow the letter and I will reward you handsomely if you succeed."

"The letter asked me to silence Liu Yinghuai! An important prisoner died in the imperial prison. Do you know how much responsibility I have to bear?!"

Zhang Tong asked angrily.

Yao Lai said: "It's been so long. Even if General Ti let him die suddenly, Your Majesty can only be suspicious, right?"

"You should understand that I am a close minister, unlike you, a Hanlin. Your Majesty does not need confirmation, just suspicion can make me die without a burial place!"

Zhang Tong gnashed his teeth and said, "It's not like he was left without a burial place. Being too cruel to your own people is not a good thing. Your Majesty is a holy and benevolent ruler. He must know this. At most, he may just not allow you, an old member of the palace, to take power."

Yao Lai replied.

Zhang Tong did not argue after hearing this, and only said a number: "Two hundred thousand taels of silver!"

"Master Ti has such a big appetite!"

Yao Lai's face immediately fell and he asked in a cold voice.

Zhang Tong laughed: "I am not greedy for this little money, but what they just did is too humiliating. Without so many silver dollars, I am not willing to do it!"

"I'll go ask them!"

"With such a large number, I can't make a decision."

Yao Lai replied.

Zhang Tong said, "It's better to hurry up. I'm afraid that Liu Yinghuai will confess one day, which will not be a good thing. You know, although I am in charge of the Northern Pacification Office, according to the rules, when he is interrogated, I will not be the only official sitting next to him!"

After meeting Yao Lai, Zhang Tong returned to the capital. He quietly entered the palace the next day and reported the matter to Zhu Houcong before the emperor.

"It seems that Liu Yinghuai is indeed valuable to them!"

Zhu Houcong said with a smile.

After Zhu Houcong said this, he asked Zhang Tong: "Can you find someone who looks like Liu Yinghuai among the death row prisoners in the prisons?"

Zhang Tong said: "It should be possible. He has already been tortured, so it will be easier to find him."

Zhu Houcong said: "If you can find it, you can give them a fake one, and transfer the real one to the East Factory and continue to interrogate him strictly! Use ginseng and deer antlers to keep him alive first. After all, it is 200,000 silver dollars. If you can get it, I will only take 60%, 20% will be yours, and the other 20% will be given to other officers and schools of the Northern Pacification Division."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Zhang Tong was overjoyed, and immediately went to the death row of the imperial prison to select someone overnight.

Let’s talk.

Here in Liangzhe.

After receiving the order to arrest Li Yang, the transport commissioner of the Lianghuai Salt Transport, Zhu Wu immediately took the Jinyiwei to the Lianghuai Salt Transport Office.

But when Zhu Wuyi arrived at the Salt Transport Office, the people there told him that Li Yang was gone.

"died?"

Zhu Wu was greatly shocked.

Guo Ding, the Imperial Censor of Salt, replied: "Yes, I have already reported it to the court."

"How long has he been dead?"

Zhu Wu asked.

Guo Ding replied: "He died not long ago, and his coffin is still in the nearby Huixiang Temple!"

After hearing this, Zhu Wu immediately took people to Huixiang Temple.

Guo Ding sneered secretly.

Zhu Wu actually saw Li Yang's mourning hall, and despite the kneeling pleas of his servants, he had the coffin opened, and then he saw Li Yang's body.

Zhu Wu gritted his teeth and ordered the arrest of Li Yang's servants. Then he came back and asked Guo Ding, "How did he die?"

"Hang himself!"

Guo Ding replied.

Zhu Wu asked, "Why did you hang yourself?"

"He left a letter. Tiqi will know after reading it."

Guo Ding gave the letter to Zhu Wu.

Zhu Wu took a look and found that it was Li Yang's handwriting, and Li Yang only left six words in the letter: "I am guilty and deserve to die."

"Oh shit!"

Zhu Wu couldn't help but grit his teeth and curse, and then he reported the matter truthfully to the court.

Zhu Houcong first learned about this from the Salt Inspector Guo Ding, and laughed in disappointment: "He's already dead! It seems that the people behind him put a lot of pressure on him!"

"Who are his nine clans?"

Zhu Houcong then asked about the Prime Minister Fei Hong and Wang Qionglai who were in the Imperial Study.

Fei Hongxian replied: "His origin is very simple. His parents died early and neither of them had brothers. He himself is also the only son, with no children. His wife also died early, and he only has a few servants."

"So, the clue is really broken?"

Zhu Houcong asked, and then said: "Then grind this man to dust for the crime of regicide and treason!"

Fei Hong nodded in agreement.

Then, Zhu Houcong asked Fei Hong: "Is Wang Ao coming to Beijing soon?"

"Yes, Lord Wang has already submitted the original document. It will arrive in the suburbs of Beijing tomorrow."

Fei Hong replied.

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong said, "Then you all go to greet him and say hello to him on my behalf."

"Yes!"

then.

Zhu Houcong instructed the eunuch Huang Jin, "You go there tomorrow too. Give him the silver seal of 'Elderly Elders' that I asked the Imperial Household Department to make, and tell him that I hope he, the former emperor's imperial teacher and a respected old minister, will use this seal to write to me more often in the future, so that I can become a good ruler soon!"

"Tell him that I have a banquet in the palace and he is waiting to see me."

No matter how you look at it, the fact that Wang Ao, a highly respected senior minister and the previous emperor's tutor, was willing to accept reinstatement and serve as a cabinet minister in the Jiajing Dynasty was a recognition of the emperor's legitimacy and moral ability, and it also increased his prestige throughout the world.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong should also give him some dignity and respect, although Wang Ao was willing to be reinstated more for the benefit of his fellow villagers in Nanzhi. He had to support himself and return to the power arena, and even let his fellow villagers pay a high price for him to join the cabinet.

Huang Jin quickly nodded.

After Fei Hong and others left, Zhu Houcong ordered again: "Call Yan Song!"

The next day.

It was a beautiful spring day with clear blue skies.

We will not mention what Zhu Houcong said to Yan Song when he met him last night. Let's just say that on this day, when Wang Ao had just arrived in the capital, he saw Fei Hong and other cabinet ministers coming to greet him. The chief eunuch Huang Jin came to see him holding a silver seal and said that the emperor had set up a banquet in the palace waiting for him. Wang Ao was so moved that he burst into tears and praised the emperor for his deep kindness.

"Mr. Zhenze, His Majesty summoned you to the capital, is it to reform the grain transport system?"

"Mr. Zhenze, your return to the cabinet is a blessing for us, the military and civilians. So, I think you must be advocating to change the official business to business business and save us, the military and civilians, from the dire situation, right?"

……

But at this time.

Many poor scholars wearing square scarves suddenly crowded in, and the government troops guarding the place were easily pushed aside by them tacitly, allowing them to easily come before Wang Ao and ask about the reform of the canal transportation.

Before Wang Ao had the time to take the handkerchief from his son-in-law to wipe away his tears and wait for others to praise this touching scene of harmony between the emperor and his subjects, he had to seriously face such an issue involving the fundamental system of the court.

(End of this chapter)