Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 189 Interrogation
Seeing Mr. Zhuang walking back and forth with an impatient face and no calmness like usual, Cao Song couldn't help joking, "I didn't expect Mr. Zhuang to be so eager? It looks like he's more than 30 years younger!"

This is laughing at himself like a boy, Mr. Zhuang stopped, looked at Cao Song, then looked at Cao Yong and Wei Hei who were happily watching the fun, and said with a smile: "Don't laugh at the old man, there is always your own heart That day! If you don’t become a father, you won’t know what it’s like!”

Cao Song curled his lips, but he didn't believe it: "What's so good about being a father? It's just a lot of babies, so it's worth being a human being?"

Cao Yong looked at Wei Hei, thinking about how to persuade him again, let him find a good woman to marry earlier, he is already 34 or [-] years old, it is not good to stay like this forever.

Wei Hei has been by Cao Yong's side for ten years, when he saw him looking over, he immediately understood his plans, he hurriedly waved his hands and said: "My lord, don't plan on Lao Hei, if you envy Mr., you should start a relationship with the princess as soon as possible!"

In one sentence, Mr. Zhuang and Cao Song both looked at Cao Yong. Cao Yong was smiling and didn't know how to answer, so he heard the two mothers-in-law come to announce the good news: "Congratulations to Mr., as if Mrs. added a daughter!"

Mr. Zhuang was stunned immediately, and asked in disbelief: "Little Qianjin? Is this a daughter?"

Everyone in this world is patriarchal, and this Mr. Zhuang's reaction is also normal, and the two women are still laughing together: "Yes, it weighs six catties, and it looks like a blessing!"

Mr. Zhuang's previous wife only had two daughters, and she married to the south long ago. This time, she was looking forward to a son, but she didn't expect to have another daughter, so she felt a little disappointed.But he is over half a hundred years old, and his experience is complicated and tortuous. His disposition is more open-minded than ordinary people.Originally, I didn't expect to have any more children, but now I have a little girl, so that I won't be lonely in my old age, it is already a blessing, so why ask for it?

After thinking about this, he laughed happily, and then waved his hands to Cao Yong: "Okay, okay, I got the letter, please go back, everyone! It's cold, my daughter dare not hug outside, get ready Let's see after three rites!" After finishing speaking, she happily went to the back room by herself.

But even Cao Song, who just said that the little milk boy was boring, was disappointed, scratched his head and said: "Mr. is too unkind, why don't you tell us to wait for nothing!"

Wei Hei smiled and said, "Look a few days later, what's the point? Young Master, Second Young Master, this is a happy event. Shall we have a good drink tonight and congratulate Mr.!"

Cao Yong nodded his head, Mr. Zhuang's life was very deserted in the past two years, he just went out to drink tea and watch plays all day long, now he has more daughters-in-law and children, and he finally looks like living a life.

Just as they were talking, Chuyu, Zijing, Yuqin, and Nanny Zhang came out.Because when they came just now, Cao Song and Wei Hei were not there yet, so they greeted each other again.

Except for Mammy Zhang who had regrets on her face, Chu Yu and the others all had joy on their faces.Speaking of the newborn, Chu Yu smiled and said, "It's pink and tender, and the eyes haven't been opened yet. Looking at the general appearance, it looks more like Aunt Lianqiu!"

Among the people present, except Nanny Zhang, although the rest of the people have never been parents, but because there are no elders in the mansion on weekdays, they all follow Cao Yong to respect Mr. Zhuang, and now they are really happy for him.

It was Cao Song, who suddenly remembered something, and asked, "This... this gentleman's daughter, what should we call us?"

In a word, I asked everyone to look at me, and I looked at yours, and they all laughed in the end.

Everyone originally thought of this newly added baby girl in the Banyan Courtyard as a junior, but after Cao Song asked him this question, he was relieved.Although this baby girl was just born, she is of the same generation as everyone else.

That night, there was a banquet, and Cao Yong and the others planned to have a good drink with Mr. Zhuang.Because Mr. Zhuang remembered that Cao Yong was going to Changchun Garden to attend the court meeting tomorrow, he asked everyone to measure it and drink well the next day.

*
The next day, Cao Yong wore the royal uniform of the princess' forehead and rode to Changchun Garden.

The location of the Chaohui is in the Arrow Hall inside the Great West Gate of Changchun Garden. The Chaohui on the [-]th is also here. Cao Yong has been here before, so he knows the place.As soon as he entered, he couldn't help being stunned. This was not like a court meeting, but more like a clan meeting.

All the kings, Bei Le, Bei Zi, Gong, all the clans who can be called famous in the capital have arrived, and there are seven No. 80.The [-]th, [-]th, and [-]th princes who were not knighted were also there, but there was no thirteenth prince.

Thinking of the thirteen elder brothers who are in a difficult situation right now, Cao Yong couldn't help but sighed in his heart.Although there was no explicit order to confine them, Kangxi exempted the thirteen elder brothers and Fujin from entering the palace to pay their respects.

The prince is not allowed to go out of Beijing unless he is ordered, and he has no errands, so others will hide when they see him.Elder brother Thirteen was full of arrogance in his bones, he didn't want to see their faces, he seemed to have surrounded himself, and he didn't leave the house easily.

There are no more than thirty ministers of civil and military affairs, some Cao Yong knows and some don't. Looking at the supplementary clothes, they are all high-ranking officials of the first and second ranks of civil and military affairs.

Maybe it was because of something, the atmosphere in the hall was very dignified.The lords and Baylor whispered in twos and threes, and sometimes looked at the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs.

When the sixteenth brother saw Cao Yong coming, he also changed his usual laughing appearance, and said to him solemnly in a low voice: "It seems that something big is going to happen, let's just wait and see!"

Cao Yong nodded in agreement, but he was puzzled in his heart, it is less than 51 years, is the prince going to be abolished in advance?Since the Great Court Meeting at the beginning of the month, Kangxi has issued several ministers in one breath, and the prince is generally aware of it.

Although the princelings were dealt with almost the same during the "one waste", but with the restoration of the prince in 48 years of Kangxi, the forces formed around the prince expanded rapidly in just three years.

Although anyone with a discerning eye could see that Kangxi was dissatisfied with the prince, the prince's position may not be secure.However, under the instigation of the desire for power, who would scruple about this much.

The most important thing is that Kangxi is old, almost sixty years old, which makes the ministers below have to make their own calculations from time to time. "One emperor and one courtier", this is not a good relationship with the prince, how to keep the glory and wealth?

After the Great Court Meeting at the beginning of the month, Zhao Shenqiao, the Zuodu censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, who was demoted to four ranks and remained in office, once participated in the Imperial Academy to edit Dai Mingshi's "stealing literary names", former Zhushengshi's "privately engraved anthology", "maniacal speech" , Immediately attracted the attention of scholars.

Although Dai Mingshi is only an editor of the Imperial Academy, he is well known as a great Confucian of the time.He is a native of Tongcheng, Anhui, whose name is Tianyou, and whose name is Nanshan. He is now in his 50s.As early as 30 years ago, he was famous for his literary talent. He used to teach in Lanqi as a tribute student, and was awarded the county magistrate.

In the 44th year of Kangxi, Dai Mingshi went to Shuntianfu to participate in the autumn examination. He failed in the next year's examination.Later, he was awarded the editorship of the Imperial Academy and participated in the compilation of the Ming History Museum.

Although Cao Yong has never met Dai Mingshi, he has heard of him for a long time.Calculated from this, Dai Mingshi was still the same year as Gu Na and Ma Jun.After the first release of the rankings, Ma Jun deliberately complained about Dai Mingshi's No.2.Because the new number one scholar Zhao Xiongzhao, who has risen above the world's great scholars, was born in a governor's family, and his talent is not well-known, many people speculated that his number one scholar was not innocent, and was suspected of bribery.

But Zhao Shenqiao is Zhao Xiongzhao's father, who was promoted from Governor Pianyuan to Zuodu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate last year. How could this not arouse some people's speculation?Some people even suspected that Lord Yu Shi deliberately made up charges and wanted to put him to death, so as to stop others from pursuing him.

I don't know what Kangxi thought, but he didn't intend to dispose of Dai Mingshi with great fanfare immediately, but asked the Imperial Academy to investigate the matter strictly.

Afterwards, Cao Yong and Mr. Zhuang once talked about this matter, and they had the same opinion, that is, Mr. Dai was a little unlucky and was involved in the battle of the prince.

Zhao Shenqiao has been in Beijing for more than a year since he was a first-rank official. If he really wanted to deal with Dai Mingshi, a seventh-rank official, why wait until this time?He is a "drunkard who doesn't care about drinking", who doesn't know that Dai Mingshi is the best friend of He Zhuo, the eighth elder brother's teacher?The prince was afraid that he was struggling desperately, trying to divert Kangxi's attention, but he failed.

Cao Yong stood in the hall of arrows, thinking of Dai Mingshi, always felt something was wrong, as if he had forgotten something.

*
Hearing the sound of the whip, the rites and music began, and Kangxi went to court.Everyone bowed three times and kowtowed nine times, and when Kangxi called out, they returned to their seats.

For a while, Kangxi didn't speak, and the silence in the hall made people feel depressing.Cao Yong raised his head slightly and looked on the dragon chair. When he saw Kangxi, he was taken aback.

We haven't seen each other for more than ten days, Kangxi seems to be several years old, his eyes are sunken, and he is too thin.Cao Yong thought about Kangxi's care for him in the past few years, and his fear of the emperor faded a lot, with a bit of concern on his face; thinking of Cao Yin in Jiangning, he has also reached such an old age, if history If it can't be changed, it will be next year...

Kangxi sat on the dragon chair, looking at everyone with a livid face, just in line with Cao Yong's line of sight.Seeing Cao Yong's unabashed concern and worry, Kangxi was quite moved and nodded slightly to him.

Cao Yong woke up, knowing that he was overstepping, so he lowered his head.

I heard Kangxi say in a dignified tone: "Today, there are ministers of the country who are supporting the crown prince. All the ministers are people who have been employed by me. They have been favored for 50 years. What is the intention of those who attach to the crown prince? "

The word "clique" made everyone's hearts shudder when they heard it. The "Pearl Case" and "Suo'e Pattern" all had this "clique", and so many officials were implicated in it.

Everyone held their breath and listened to Kangxi: "E Chan, Geng E, Qi Shiwu, you know?"

This Eshan is the capital of the Han army in Xiangbai Banner, Geng E is the minister of the Ministry of War, and Qi Shiwu is the minister of the Ministry of Punishment.First, E Shan came out, kowtowed and replied: "I report to the Lord Long Live that the slaves are supported by the emperor, and they are generously favored. If you know this, how dare you hide it?"

Geng E also came out: "Reporting to the Lord Long Live, the slave really doesn't know. If he knows it, dare he not report it?"

Qi Shiwu said: "The slave does not walk everywhere, and he really doesn't know about it!"

The three of them knelt in a row, but Kangxi didn't cry out. He snorted coldly and said, "I don't know? I've heard about it a long time ago. Even though I didn't find out the truth before, do you think you can deceive me?" , calling out: "Come here, Zhang Boliang, the man with the coat!"

This piece of Boliang is the coat of Anjun Prince's Mansion. When everyone hears his name, they will understand what happened to Kangxi.

Speaking of it, it was still the old thing of the year before last.In November of the 48th year of Kangxi, the king of Anjun, Marhun, died of illness. Before his death, he made his son Hua Yu the eldest son.This aroused the dissatisfaction of his mother and brother Fu Guogong Jingxi.

Both Jingxi and Marhun are the legitimate sons of Yuele, king of Lao'an County, and the uncles of Bafujin.Although Wang Yuele of Lao'an County made Marhun his son before his death, after his death, his sons still fought endlessly for the throne.In the end, when it came to the imperial court, Marhun inherited it.

Because Jingxi had accumulated grudges against his elder brother's house for many years, shortly after Ma Hun's death, he filed a lawsuit and filed a lawsuit.This is the case of "Tuo Heqi and others forming a party and drinking together", which refers to the fact that during the funeral of An Jun Wang Maerhun, some Manchu officials headed by the nine-door admiral Tuo Heqi gathered for a banquet at Dutong Eshan's family many times. suspected of forming a party".

At that time, Kangxi ordered an investigation, but because there was no evidence, it was finally dismissed.Now it seems that old things are going to be brought up again.

Sure enough, as everyone expected, after Zhang Boliang, the wrapper, was brought up, Kangxi called seven or eight commanders of the capital, deputy capital, and forward commanders to come out and order Zhang Boliang to identify him.

After Zhang Boliang looked at it, he said: "It's true!" There are still a few of them who are not in Beijing because they are released to the outside world.

Cao Yong watched with cold eyes, and finally understood the reason for Kangxi's anger. Among these people, except for the two officials, the Minister of the Ministry of War and the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, the others, such as the admiral of the nine gates, the commander of the Qianfeng battalion, the commanders and deputy commanders of each banner, were all leaders. He is not a soldier, but he leads the garrison in the capital.These forces are entangled together, what does the prince want to do?
Cao Yong originally thought that Kangxi's "second abolished prince" only affected the monarchy because of the existence of the prince.Looking at it now, with this step by step, even the Ninth Five-Year Lord will be heartbroken because father and son have reached this situation!

After Zhang Boliang's denunciation, Kangxi questioned the Dutong and Deputy Dutong, but everyone still used various reasons to justify themselves, saying that they were innocent people, and no one dared to admit the crime of "forming a party".

Kangxi was so annoyed that he pointed at all the people involved in the case and yelled at Qi Shiwu as "the most useless person, worse than a dog and pig"; People also have their own reprimands.

Perhaps tired of scolding, after a long rest, Kangxi said: "The crown prince, my son, the rift between my father and son, there is no other reason, it is these villains who make trouble. If this generation of villains, if you don't Punishment, how can the country be safe?"

Then, Kangxi ordered that the top hats of these people be removed immediately, and the clan mansion be imprisoned, and the interrogation will be held immediately after those who have been released from the outside world return to Beijing.

After Kangxi dealt with the "clique" people, he dispersed.

From the beginning to the end, it seems that there is nothing wrong with these princes Baylor, but who can completely stand by and watch?Those who had contacts with the prince in private were all shocked, this attack Qi Shiwu and others in front of them was killing chickens and frightening monkeys; those who had contacts with other princes and elder brothers were labeled Xiaojiujiu.

Seeing everyone holding back the joy or fear between their brows, Cao Yong only felt that it was boring, so he heard Brother Sixteen sighing beside him, and couldn't help but turn to look at him.

The sixteenth elder brother smiled at Cao Yong and said, "It's extremely boring. Are you busy in the yamen, or should we go for a stroll in the city?"

Because today he is going to participate in the court meeting, Cao Yong explained all the errands of the Fujian Division yesterday, and now he is also troubled in his heart, so he nodded his head.

The two were about to go out when someone said, "I'm going too!"

But the seventeenth elder brother, he is the same age as Hong Shu, fifteen years old, just half a year old, smilingly waiting for the sixteenth elder brother to respond to Cao Yong.

Today, Elder Sixteen works as an errand in the Ministry of Industry, and is not confined to the palace like in the past.Seventeenth elder brother is still studying in the study, and finally left the palace because of the court meeting, so of course he doesn't want to just go back like this.

Cao Yong and these two elder brothers are lazy people. They are tired of talking about these things in the court and officialdom. They rode horses and wandered around the city leisurely twice.

When it was meal time, everyone was a little hungry, so they wanted to find a cleaner restaurant to eat.

For some unknown reason, I am optimistic that both of them are full of customers.The seventeenth brother thought about it for a while, and said to Cao Yong and the sixteenth brother: "Look, this is not far from the mansion of the thirteenth brother. I haven't visited him since I came back from outside the fortress. Why don't we go to his place for a meal?" ?”

Brother Sixteen was startled when he heard Brother Thirteen was mentioned, then he looked at Cao Yong, and seeing that he didn't look embarrassed, he smiled and nodded: "Good idea, I really miss Brother Thirteen!"

Seventeenth elder brother is a child after all, he immediately beamed with joy when he heard it, and accidentally showed a bit of complacency, as if he had accomplished something beautiful.

Cao Yong looked a little wrong, thinking about it, he was the one who sent people to the restaurant to inquire, and brought everyone to the front door intentionally or unintentionally.

Hey, Cao Yong doesn't know whether to admire Mr. Kangxi or to sympathize with him. These princes and elder brothers are all human beings.I can't blame him, the emperor's father, for having a headache. The two little ones in front of me are all extraordinary, let alone their dozen or so brothers.
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(End of this chapter)