Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 154: Poke a hole in the sky of the Ming Dynasty!
After being imprisoned, Xu Pu and Liu Daxia seemed relatively calm.

Xu Pu didn't even raise his eyelids: "Eunuch Liu, you are so brave!"

"Without the order of His Majesty, do you dare to punish a first-rank official of the imperial court?"

"It is a capital crime for a civil official to collude with a border general. Eunuch Liu and I have no grudges in the past or today, but he is trying to frame me to death right away..."

"Eunuch Liu, let me ask you one question: are you capable of taking the blame for framing an official of the imperial court?"

Xu Pu was originally the Minister of Revenue of the second rank, and not long ago he was promoted by Zhu Youtang to the Prince's Tutor of the first rank, and also the Grand Secretary of the Jinshen Palace, a low-ranking but powerful fifth-rank position.

It can be said that in the second year of the Hongzhi reign, Xu Pu truly achieved the highest position among ministers, second only to the emperor and above everyone else.

Without Zhu Youtang's very clear order, no one in the entire Ming Dynasty dared to touch such a first-rank official.

Liu Jin stood in front of the prison with a dark face, clenching the branding iron tightly in his hand, feeling extremely angry.

Xu Pu was right. Without Zhu Youtang's order, Liu Jin did not dare to punish Xu Pu without authorization.

He said this just now just to scare Xu Pu and make him confess.

But Xu Pu had been in the officialdom for decades and had seen all kinds of storms. How could he be scared by Liu Jin?
Liu Jin really could not bear the charge of framing an imperial official.

He was just a eunuch who was dependent on the emperor, and everything he did was based on the intention of the Ming emperor.

But just now Zhu Youtang only said that Xu Pu and Liu Daxia would be imprisoned in the Dongchang Prison, but he did not say that they would be tortured to extract confessions!
In such an issue involving a first-rank official in the court, Liu Jin did not dare to overstep his authority for fear of committing a serious taboo.

Liu Jin looked at Liu Daxia next to him. Liu Daxia had already leaned against the wall and dozed off, but as if he had sensed something in advance, he closed his eyes and said, "I am a second-rank official."

Well, even the second rank one wouldn’t dare.

Liu Jin threw down the branding iron in his hand, gritted his teeth, and said sinisterly: "Humph, let's see how long you can hold on!"

"Just wait, the East Factory will naturally find evidence to convict you!"

Xu Pu replied lightly: "Whether or not I can be punished is decided by His Majesty, not you."

Liu Jin felt uncomfortable in his heart, snorted coldly, and quickly left the Dongchang prison.

After Liu Jin left, Xu Pu and Liu Daxia opened their eyes, looked at each other, nodded slightly to each other, and then closed their eyes to rest again.

The abnormality in the account data alone cannot directly prove that these two ministers were in collusion with the border generals.

Therefore, Zhu Youtang had not yet convicted them, and Liu Jin did not dare to torture the two ministers.

But if Liu Jin couldn't deal with high-ranking officials in the court like Xu Pu and Liu Daxia, could he not deal with other small characters in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War?
That night, many officials from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue were taken away by the East Factory for investigation.

Even Yu Shen, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, accepted questioning from the Eastern Depot in his own house.

But the men from the Eastern Depot did not find anything unusual on Yu Shen.

In Yu Shen's house, after the men from the Eastern Depot left, the worry on Yu Shen's face was almost overflowing.

Especially after he learned that Xu Pu and Liu Daxia were both imprisoned by Zhu Youtang, the fear in his heart reached its peak.

But Yu Shen still forced himself to control himself and did not act rashly. Instead, he behaved very calmly.

Because he knew that some people in the court were more anxious than he was.

Yu Shen was right, there were indeed people who were more anxious.

But the anxious person is not in the capital, but in Nanjing!
……

Ying Tianfu.

Nanjing.

In the residence of Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Revenue in Nanjing, sat several important officials in the six ministries of Nanjing.

These officials are all from Jiangnan region, and they are the biggest force in Nanjing officialdom.

When Emperor Taizong moved the capital, he took away all the seals, imperial seals and other items from the capital, but left behind a complete team of six ministries.

Afterwards, the six ministries in Nanjing made a new set of seals and jade seals for Nanjing, and all specifications were made according to the standards of the capital.

It can be said that as long as the emperor of the Zhu family came to Nanjing, even if he was alone and even if he brought nothing with him, Nanjing could still immediately play the role of the capital.

At this moment, these Nanjing officials who were from Jiangnan gathered together because of Xu Pu's imprisonment.

"Prime Minister Xu was suddenly imprisoned. What should we do?"

"It is said that it is because of the accounts with the Ministry of War, but fortunately, he is only in prison and has not been convicted yet."

"Since Prime Minister Xu took office, he has taken good care of us Jiangnan scholars. We can't just stand by and watch them die!"

"Of course. As the leader of the Jiangnan scholars, we must save Xu Shoufu."

“But the question is, how do we save them?”

"You all know the temper of the current emperor. If we write a joint petition to beg for mercy, not only will we fail to save Prime Minister Xu, but we may also be implicated."

"Yes, His Majesty is now completely unyielding. We want to save Prime Minister Xu... but it's difficult!"

"..."

Zhang Sheng listened to the discussion of others with an expressionless face, and suddenly turned to look at the Nanjing Minister of War, Zhang Peng, who was standing beside him.

Not only does Zhang Peng have the same surname as him, but they are even from the same hometown, both from Qiantang County, Zhejiang Province.

Moreover, Zhang Peng was a Jinshi in the second year of Jingtai, and was a classmate of Yu Shen.

Fellow townsmen, classmates, and successful candidates in the same imperial examination, the story of Zhang Peng, Yu Shen, and Yu Qian is quite a beautiful one.

"Minister Zhang, what do you think about this matter?" Zhang Sheng asked.

Zhang Peng frowned, his face solemn.

"This matter is very difficult to handle." "Prime Minister Xu is in a high position and has great power. If it is not a matter of great importance, Your Majesty will not easily put him in jail."

"What's more, the Minister of War Liu Daxia was imprisoned with Prime Minister Xu..."

"And up to now, Yu Shen has not contacted us on his own initiative. This matter... is probably more serious than the sky."

After hearing Zhang Peng's words, everyone present gradually fell silent, with heavy expressions on their faces.

Finally, it was Zhang who broke the silence.

"Then can't we help a little?"

"Prime Minister Xu is a good official. Jiangnan cannot afford to lose him!"

"No matter how dangerous or difficult it is, we must rescue Prime Minister Xu!"

"Since this matter is more important than the sky, let's poke a hole in the sky!"

As soon as Zhang Xian finished speaking, he immediately received the support of most of the officials present.

"That's right! Jiangnan cannot lose Prime Minister Xu, just like the capital cannot lose the emperor! No matter what the cost, we must rescue Prime Minister Xu!"

"Minister Zhang Xian said it well! Since this matter is more important than the sky, let's poke a hole in the sky and rescue Prime Minister Xu!"

"Rescue Prime Minister Xu at all costs!"

"..."

The officials from Jiangnan who were present quickly reached a consensus and decided to rescue Xu Pu from the Dongchang prison at all costs.

Yang Peng, the Nanjing Minister of War, looked around at the officials around him. Seeing their determined and united eyes, he was also moved.

Such moments of unity are rare in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.

Yang Peng took a deep breath, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and he slapped the armrest of the chair heavily.

"Okay! In that case, let's work together to poke a hole in the sky of the Ming Dynasty and rescue Prime Minister Xu!"

……

Forbidden City.

Xianfu Palace, Xianyun Pavilion.

Ever since Zhang Wan'er was stripped of her title and demoted to a concubine by Zhu Youtang, she has been imprisoned here.

Now this place, like the Qingning Palace where Zhou lived, has become a de facto cold palace in the Forbidden City.

The things in the room were very simple and there was nothing to entertain.

Zhang Wan'er often sat on the cold hard wooden bench, staring blankly out the window, for the entire day.

Because Zhang Wan'er's status in the palace plummeted, the Xixinsi was not very concerned about the Xianfu Palace.

The charcoal delivered to Xianyun Pavilion was not only scarce, but also the lowest quality miscellaneous wood charcoal. Once it burned, it produced a lot of black smoke, which was very choking.

Zhang Wan'er could only order a small amount each time and place it on the ventilated window.

As a result, the temperature in the room was very low, and she could only wrap herself tightly in clothes, or even a quilt, to keep warm.

The first quarter of the day is the time when the concubines in the harem usually have their meals.

The door of Xianyun Pavilion opened, and Weihong, dressed in simple servant's clothes, walked into Xianyun Pavilion carrying a bowl of shabby meal.

"My Lord, it's time to eat."

Zhang Wan'er looked at the food in Weihong's hand, felt nauseous, and shook her head gently.

"I'm not hungry yet. I don't want to eat."

Weihong was anxious when she saw Zhang Wan'er like this, thinking that Zhang Wan'er still had a loss of appetite because of sadness.

"My dear, please eat a little more. You have eaten too little these days and you have become thinner."

"No matter what, taking care of your health is the most important thing!"

Weihong stood in front of Zhang Wan'er, her tone full of pleading and tears hanging on her eyelashes.

Zhang Wan'er looked at her personal maid and felt a little uncomfortable.

When she was Concubine Kang, the clothes worn by Weihong and Yicui were all made of high-quality materials tributed from the south of the Yangtze River.

Now that she was imprisoned in Xianyun Pavilion, the clothes on Weihong's body had become coarse cloth.

I don’t know what kind of injustice they have suffered in the palace now, or what kind of life they are living.

I am their master in the palace, their support and their backbone.

If anything happened to me, their lives in the palace would only become more miserable.

Zhang Wan'er sighed leisurely: "Okay, bring the lunch over."

Weihong wiped the tears from her eyes with relief, and said in a light-hearted manner: "There is meat in today's lunch, my lady, please eat it while it's hot. I'll go get you a cup of hot water."

Weihong handed the lunch to Zhang Wan'er and turned around to pour her some hot water.

Zhang Wan'er took the lunch and forced herself to take a bite.

But as the food entered my stomach, the feeling of nausea in my heart became stronger and stronger.

"vomit……"

Zhang Wan'er couldn't help but vomited out all the food she had just eaten!
　I checked the information and found that the Qing dynasty didn't care about calling concubines "xiaozhu"! They were usually called "zhuzi niangniang". The word "xiaozhu" was invented by Zheng Xiaolong in "Zhen Huan Zhuan". I think this word is easy to write, so I have been using it. There is no need to apply it too much to the Qing dynasty. After all, many things in the Qing dynasty came from the Ming dynasty.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)