It was already autumn, and the insects were all gone. Only the sound of wooden fish echoed in the small courtyard. Along with the faint sandalwood scent, it seemed particularly quiet and peaceful.
On the futon under the eaves, there was a young woman in palace clothes kneeling, sobbing and murmuring.
The Empress Dowager likes to be quiet, and rarely asks for help, especially when worshiping Buddha. She will only leave a few caring palace attendants by her side, and send the rest far away. This young woman is also here alone, with no one else around her.
After an unknown amount of time, the sound of wooden fish finally stopped, the door of the small Buddhist hall opened, and two palace attendants helped the Empress Dowager out.
The young woman hurriedly knelt down in panic, raised her head, and called out pitifully: "I'm madam." Tears rolled down like broken beads. But it was Concubine Shen Xian.
She changed from her usual bright and lively makeup, wearing only light-colored clothes, no makeup, no jewelry, and a plain little face with tears streaked across it, making her look particularly pitiful.
The Empress Dowager, who had always been fond of Concubine Shen Xian's clever tongue, showed no pity for her when she saw her like this. She only lightly ordered her to come: "Bring her here."
A palace servant responded and went to help Concubine Shen Xian.
Concubine Shen Xian had always been a pampered child. She had never knelt for such a long time. At this moment, her legs and feet were all numb. It was really painful and itchy, but she did not dare to show it at all. She forced herself to limp and follow the concubine with the help of the palace attendants. The Queen Mother entered the side hall.
After the two palace men were dismissed, Concubine Shen Xian immediately knelt down again, walked to the Empress Dowager, hugged her legs, and cried: "I know that I am a concubine. Even if I give my concubine ten thousand courages, I would never dare to have such evil intentions..."
"I was greedy for food, but I saw that the emperor also liked it, so I went to the emperor's side twice. I didn't dare to give it to the empress and concubine De, because they were afraid of getting more gossip. …”
"Your Majesty is your eldest son, and I don't know where I am! I just hope that the Queen will have a prince as soon as possible, so that I can have a child of my own as soon as possible. How can I harm the Queen..."
"If you harm the empress, what good will it do to you! I don't have any children of my own, and my family background is poor. How can I stand up for myself..."
"It is not easy to kill someone who wants to be harmed. I have only been in the palace for a long time, and there is no promising person in my family. How can I do such a thing?"
"What a heinous crime it is to murder the emperor's heir. How many heads in my natal family can be chopped off? Now that there is no trace of any benefit, how could my natal family help me..."
Seeing that the Empress Dowager was silently turning the beads, Concubine Shen Xian became more and more anxious. She ran out of words and began to speak more arbitrarily. When she thought of something that shouldn't be said, she blurted it out immediately. My brain also went numb, and I couldn't even turn even an inch.
After a long while, the Queen Mother slowly spoke, but only asked: "Who told you that the Queen was pregnant and then not pregnant again?"
Concubine Shen Xian's cries stopped suddenly. She was stunned for a moment, suddenly raised her head, and looked at the Empress Dowager blankly.
The Empress Dowager only stared at her calmly, her eyes like deep pools, so that she could not see the slightest light, "Who told you that it was your food that harmed the Queen?"
Concubine Shen Xian shivered unconsciously, trembling her lips and said, "Yes...yes..."
She collapsed at the feet of the Empress Dowager, her forehead touching the ground, her voice was broken, "It's my concubine who is ignorant... Yes, it was the little Eunuch Liu who was beside the emperor who brought people here to buy all the palace servants who bought food for me to eat outside the palace. I took it with me but never put it back. The palace has been keeping strict control over the past few days, and I am very frightened...just...just..."
She was so frightened that she suddenly collapsed and cried loudly, "I was confused for a moment, so I took the money and asked around. I found out that the Kunning Palace had invited an imperial doctor that day, and there was also a doctor who said there was blood and water, and also whispered The palace servants were dealt with silently..."
It is said that the inner palace is strict and no information is allowed to be passed on. In fact, from the concubines to the ordinary palace servants, everyone is diligent in inquiring about information to please the master and avoid getting into trouble.
Concubine Shen Xian is not as powerful as the queen, nor can she be compared to Concubine Wu De, who has the Zhang family and the queen mother behind her. She can only rely on the word "smart". It is also because of these two words that she wins the emperor's favor, so she wants to use these two words more and more. The word has been carried forward.
She wanted to find out what the Emperor liked, what the Emperor disliked, whether the Emperor was happy or not today.
Because she has always been generous and willing to give rewards, a lot of information will be sent to her without her asking.
This time, she was so frightened that she was inquiring about such earth-shattering news. There was no one around her who could discuss the matter. If the emperor didn't come, she didn't have the guts to go to the emperor's Qianqing Palace to cry. She had no choice but to go to the Qianqing Palace. The Queen Mother comes here and has a choice.
Moreover, she always felt that even if the Empress Dowager did not really like her, she had a good temper and would be able to listen to her excuses if she begged...
But now...
She didn't even dare to raise her head, and there was a chill in her bones.
It seemed like ten thousand years had passed before the Empress Dowager said: "You look smart, but you are a confused person. Do you know that?"
As if she had been pardoned, Concubine Shen Xian cried hurriedly: "I am confused, I am confused... I don't dare to ask around anymore... I don't dare to ask people outside the palace to eat anymore... But I really don't have that." Evil intentions, I know this for sure..."
The Empress Dowager sighed and simply said: "Go ahead."
Concubine Shen Xian also knew that she could not get an accurate word from the Empress Dowager. She came here to confess her feelings, but she did not really expect that the Empress Dowager would be able to eloquently say that she was not guilty, so she cried for a while and still He kowtowed and went away.
The Empress Dowager did not ask anyone to come in to wait on her. She stood up slowly and walked slowly to the courtyard.
The autumn wind blows, yellow leaves fall, and the courtyard that was cleaned cleanly in the morning is covered with a layer of gold in just one hour of chanting sutras and worshiping Buddha.
The Empress Dowager sat on the Taishi chair placed under the tree for her to rest. The sun was falling on her body, which was quite warm. She let out a long sigh of relief.
Concubine Shen Xian has always been like a little daughter raised in a boudoir. She loves to talk, laugh and play. She is picky and greedy. She likes exquisite and bright clothes. She lives a carefree life without thinking about anything. That kind of innocent happiness shines from the corners of her eyes and eyebrows, making people happy just to see her.
Who wouldn't like such a lively and pretty girl?
The Empress Dowager turned the Buddhist beads in her hand and looked at the clear blue sky. Her grandson was also a young man who loved playing and eating. It was fitting that he should have such a girl by his side to make him forget his worries and be happy.
But can this palace and this world tolerate such carelessness?
When Queen Xia was first diagnosed with pregnancy, the month was still young and Kunning Palace did not make any announcement. The emperor also knew the seriousness and did not make any move, but after all, this was his long-awaited eldest son, how could he not be happy. He didn't know. Has this joy fallen into the eyes of others?
However, not long after, Queen Xia suddenly began to have redness and pain in her waist and abdomen. The imperial doctor simply said that the fetus was unstable, prescribed a prescription to protect the fetus, and told her to rest in bed.
Queen Xia didn't dare to be rude, she lay still and barely dared to move, but she couldn't save the child in the end.
Although the imperial doctor did not diagnose any signs of poisoning, Empress Xia was always careful in her food and use of incense and never used anything from outside. The emperor was still furious and blocked the news and asked Liu Zhong to lead a thorough investigation.
Concubine Shen Xian is famous for her love of eating and playing. The Shen family often has new things coming in. Although Concubine Shen Xian is sensible and never pays filial piety to the Queen for such things, she always talks to the Emperor. Shared.
The emperor himself loved to go out of the palace and ate almost all over Beijing, and her food was also to his liking.
If this was taken advantage of, it would be possible for the emperor to harm the queen. Therefore, Liu Zhong was cautious and detained all the people who had been procured by Concubine Shen Xian in Chang'an Palace.
After all, Concubine Shen Xian was young and couldn't hold her breath. She asked for a few words, and after thinking about it, she couldn't sit still and hurriedly came to the Empress Dowager to kneel down and beg for confession.
The Empress Dowager sighed and looked at her coldly. Concubine Shen Xian did not have evil intentions, but she did have a loophole that could easily be exploited.
Concubine Shen Xian looked heartless, but she had brains. She thought she would be more cautious when leaving here.
I don’t know if she will throw away all those who love to eat and play.
Slowly, she became like other women in this deep palace, demure, dull, and lifeless...
The prayer beads turned around and around again, seemingly without end.
*
Yongsu Hall, a small hall on the west side of Qianqing Palace
Brother Shou is really in a bad mood lately.
He attached great importance to Queen Xia's pregnancy. In addition to his own feelings for Queen Xia, the words "eldest son" had different meanings to him and to the entire Ming Dynasty.
The prince is the foundation of the country.
But his eldest son died without a trace.
How could he not be angry!
Just as he was viciously trying to go through the inner palace with a grate, bad news kept coming from the outer court.
Following the severe drought in Shandong, droughts were reported in Henan, Huguang, Susong, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Lufeng and Huaiyang, and the price of rice soared.
Whenever there is a disaster, banditry will inevitably occur. In Caozhou, Shandong and other places, the bandit leader Zhao Shi and others robbed towns and villages, hoping to cause chaos with Zhao Zhong, the demon thief who had already been captured by Guide. Bandits broke out again in the coastal areas of Susong, Tongtai.
It seems that all the good luck in collecting farmland and launching new policies has been used up.
"It's been a year since the Jingwei Martial Arts School was reorganized. It's time to pull it out and see what's going on." Brother Shou held a sword in his hand, slowly making sword moves in the air, and ordered Liu Zhongdao to draw up a plan for the Shandong Suppression. The candidates for banditry. "Those who have come up for the military examination should also choose some good ones and let them go."
Simple bandits are not something to be afraid of, but there are those who deceive the public with monstrous words and coerce the victims. For a time, they have the tendency to spread. The imperial court ordered the Shandong Town and Patrol Division 3 to arrest them, and also asked the neighboring counties of Henan and Zhili to gather troops for defense.
Brother Shou also wanted to send some people there, firstly to show that the court was paying attention and to prevent the local government from slacking off; secondly, bandits were easier to fight than Tatars, so he also wanted to take the opportunity to train his troops.
Liu Zhong bowed his head and said, "Long live the wise men, we should let them experience a thing or two."
Brother Shou hummed, raised his hand and made two more moves with wrong steps, and then ordered: "Ask Cai Liang to select people from the Leopard Room warriors, um, also, let Luo Kedi go with the tiger head."
Liu Zhong responded with a smile on his face. By letting Gao Wenhu and the others pass, he would give them a chance to advance in military service.
Luo Kedi was Gao Wenhu's master when he first joined the Jinyi Guards. He was just a hereditary Jinyiwei, not a distinguished noble. Because he had some real skills in fists and feet, and was smooth and transparent, he took good care of Gao Wenhu at first, so he also fell into Brother Shou's eyes.
, and now he is also selected as one of the Leopard Room Warriors.
With him taking care of Gao Wenhu, Gao Wenhu will not be in any danger when he goes there, and this military achievement is almost guaranteed.
Liu Zhongzhuang asked again, as if unintentionally: "Long live the people who want to use the leopard room, how much money can be given to hundreds of households...?"
Brother Shou's sword move stagnated, then became a little sharper, and said coldly: "He doesn't need it anymore. Just let him serve in the Leopard Room."
Liu Zhong respectfully responded again.
At this time, reports came from outside that Princess Chun'an had arrived.
Liu Zhong was ordered to welcome the eldest princess into the house, then quietly left and went to find Cai Liang to arrange the emperor's many instructions.
The eldest princess Chun'an had just come from Kunning Palace to visit Queen Xia, "...the empress said she was open-minded, but she couldn't help but feel sad, her throat was bubbly, she still had a fire, and she also took the medicine given by the imperial doctor.
If it doesn’t go down, maybe… you should try acupuncture and moxibustion.”
Queen Xia had been longing for a child, but it finally came, and then it disappeared, and her whole body collapsed.
The palace was temporarily sealed off from the news, and Brother Shou did not send word that Xia's family had entered the palace. He only invited the Empress Dowager and Princess Chun'an, who had known about Empress Xia's pregnancy, to come and comfort her.
The eldest princess originally helped Queen Xia find a good doctor. She originally wanted to use it to protect the fetus, but she didn't expect that it would be used to nurse her back during the confinement period.
Brother Shou nodded and said: "Sorry for bothering my aunt. I will send someone to send a message to Shen Rui to recruit the old woman next to Junior Sister Yang to enter the palace..."
The eldest princess hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, you can't."
Brother Shou was stunned and asked curiously: "Auntie, are you going to recommend someone else?"
The eldest princess shook her head and said: "I don't want to recommend others. I just want to use her. It involves matters in the inner palace, and it is not easy to give instructions to the Shen family." She paused and said: "Although it is not appropriate for the queen to move at the moment.
, but always in Kunning Palace, looking at the old scene every day, I can't help but think of sad things, which only increases my worries. How about moving to Xiyuan for a short stay, and then quietly sending the doctor there, so that no one knows who he is.
Wherever I came from, I didn’t say that I was seeing a noble person to prevent her from talking too much."
Brother Shou was silent for a moment, sighed, and said: "That's fine. The doctor's side..."
The eldest princess said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I will make arrangements."
Brother Shou nodded, glanced at the eldest princess, and suddenly said: "Actually, Shen Rui and his wife are cautious people and act proportionately. Even if they knew about this matter, they would keep it secret. I think it was Zhou Xian's previous incident.
The thing is, Shen Rui made my aunt unhappy."
The eldest princess was stunned for a moment, then smiled faintly and said: "Your Majesty was joking. If he could sit down and have a drink with Zhou Xian calmly that day, I would tell your Majesty to be more careful about him. That day Xiao Wu and I
After talking about what he said later, I also know that he is a child with a clear sense of kindness and righteousness."
Brother Shou also laughed when he heard this, nodded and said: "He has always had that temperament. He seems to be harmonious, but in fact he is very stubborn. Don't be upset, my aunt."
Princess Chun'an smiled and said: "Your Majesty has a keen eye and knows people well. I didn't doubt him before I heard those words that day. He is really broad-minded. It's no wonder that a talented person with many years of experience is willing to die for your Majesty."
Brother Shou felt relieved after hearing this, and his smile became deeper.
But the eldest princess sighed again: "Brother Xian is also a good boy. Now that your Majesty is willing to use him, he is also grateful and loyal. When it comes to talent, he has also studied for many years and is not inferior to those who have been promoted."
Brother Shou's smile faded and he asked, "Has my great-aunt gone to see Uncle Chang Ning?"
Changning Bo Zhou Yu had suffered a stroke earlier, but it was relatively mild. This time he had another stroke, which was quite serious. He has been bedridden for a long time now, and he heard that it was not good.
And his elder brother Qingyun Hou Zhou Shou's health is not as good as before. After all, he is about seventy years old. If Zhou Yu goes away, I don't know if he can survive.
The reason why the Zhou family cooperated in every possible way was because Zhou Shou knew that his brother was about to die soon and was planning for his descendants, so he fully surrendered to Brother Shou and allowed Brother Shou to fight wherever he directed.
Hearing Brother Shou ask about Uncle Chang Ning, the eldest princess had a sad look on her face and said: "Uncle, he never listens to advice. It's useless whatever the imperial doctor says. It would be better if he could eat a lighter diet earlier."
, but he always drank meat and wine, and now even if he drank a bowl of bitter medicine, he would be scolded. He would only complain that there was no taste in his mouth, and would not give up until he ate the meat until it was stewed to a pulp. The imperial doctor had no choice.
Just procrastinate for days. After all, we have procrastinated through the whole summer. Maybe we can procrastinate through this new year.”
The eldest princess of Chun'an was also very favored by the Empress Dowager Zhou. She also had a good relationship with Mrs. Chang Ningbo, and the two families often interacted with each other.
Brother Shou shook his head and whispered: "To be successful in life, you must have all the fun. If you are not allowed to eat meat and wine, there will be no sense of living."
The eldest princess glared at him and said unceremoniously: "Your Majesty, you must not imitate the thoughts of those foolish people. You should take care of your dragon body."
Brother Shou laughed and shook his head: "Yes. I don't dare to waste my body. Don't worry, my aunt. I'm just expressing my feelings."
After a pause, he said: "I was still thinking about the candidates to suppress the bandits in Shandong. Then, let Zhou Fang and Zhou Shi go together."
Both of them were servants in the palace and were favored children in the family who were not honored by the nobility.
At that time, there were many noble disciples who wanted to join the Leopard Room. After losing the election, they went to the Jingwei Martial Arts School. They were all dandies with the idea of showing their face in front of the emperor to find a future. Later, they found that the rules in the martial arts school were very strict, and the Emperor also
If we don't come here often, one or two of them can't bear the hardship and both quit. It is rare for Zhou Fang and Zhou Shi to grit their teeth and persevere.
After hearing this, the eldest princess hurriedly thanked the Zhou family for their kindness.
After the two brothers Zhou Shou and Zhou Yu are gone, the Zhou family will no longer have the power it has now. If they even want to keep the family from falling, they will have to have particularly dedicated children. In fact, the most important thing is that it depends on whether the royal family still has the power.
Do you want to get ahead?
With what Brother Shou said today, no matter whether Zhou Fang or Zhou Shi could get ahead in the military in the future, Brother Shou would always be willing to give the Zhou family a chance.
After finalizing the matter of going to Xiyuan, the eldest princess resigned from the palace. Brother Shou sat quietly for a while, got up and went to Kunning Palace.
The emperor has been visiting Kunning Palace from time to time in the past few days. He has already given orders that the queen is not allowed to stay on the bed to greet her, for fear that she will catch the cold due to her troubles. When Brother Shou entered the inner palace, although Queen Xia was still on the couch despite her orders, she also
Peiyi sat up.
After these days of hard work, her round face has become noticeably smaller, and her face is very haggard. Her eyes are slightly red and swollen, showing that she has cried recently.
Brother Shou went over to tuck her back into the quilt. He didn't advise her not to be sad, but he talked about his troubles, "This group of monsters and thieves in Shandong are so rampant and they just take advantage of the situation. This year is not good.
In previous years, we would have dealt with them long ago."
Queen Xia was a standard boudoir girl at home. She only read some rules for women, and her father was white. She didn't understand any of these political matters. When she entered the harem, she only learned from the Empress Dowager, and did not compare with the previous dynasty.
Don't pay attention.
Occasionally, I heard the emperor say a few words, but it was just an ear.
It was the same now. She was listening quietly and unexpectedly heard about her own affairs.
"Although this year has been a bad year, with drought everywhere, Qingyang Bo's farm's golden autumn harvest is better than last year. Shen Ruirong's agricultural books and those who know farming are quite useful.
.”
Queen Xia's face showed some light, "It is also a blessing for the Xia family to be able to share some of the emperor's worries." She paused and then asked timidly: "Are we going to provide disaster relief again? But we need the Xia family to donate land.
Food? I don’t understand these things. Your Majesty, don’t think that I am a dull person and don’t know how to take the initiative to ask for help. If the Xia family can be used, the Xia family will obey.”
Brother Shou just wanted to make her think about other things, so he smiled and said: "I know your virtuousness and the Xia family's loyalty. Before the time comes, as husband and wife become one, and I want to use your things, I will ask
You want it."
Queen Xia breathed a sigh of relief obviously, and when she heard that the husband and wife were united, her eyes suddenly became hot and she was about to cry again, but there was a smile on her lips, which made people feel pity for her.
Brother Shou sighed inwardly and took his silly wife into his arms.
The child has no fate with us. We are still young and there will be many sons and eight sons-in-law in the future. Brother Shou has a lot of things to say, but this woman is so stupid that she can't change her mind. He doesn't want to
I'm talking about this.
"Recently, droughts have been reported everywhere, and I am very upset. I want to live by the water. Let's go to Xiyuan to stay for a while. Just the two of us. If we give birth to earth dragons as soon as possible, it will be warmer than in the palace." Brother Shou.
Playing with her little hands, she said casually.
Queen Xia wanted to say that she should not move during her confinement period; she also wanted to say that although she was ill recently, the palace affairs had not been handed over to other concubines. If she left the palace, would the palace affairs have to be handed over to other concubines?
in hand.
But after hearing "it's just the two of us" and thinking "husband and wife are one", she finally said nothing and responded softly.
*
When the eldest princess of Chun'an left the palace, she sent a message to the Shen Mansion in Renshoufang, expressing her intention to visit the Xu family.
Mrs. Xu was quite surprised. After all, the eldest princess of Chun'an has a high status as the imperial aunt. Even if the eldest princess's palace did not take care of Zhou Xian's previous affair, she would not be condescending to her as a relative.
A member of the Shen family.
Besides, it has been many days since this happened, so I don’t know what the princess meant by coming here.
But no matter what, it would be a great honor for the princess to come.
The gate of Shen's Mansion was wide open to welcome the eldest princess. The eldest princess did not show off her appearance. She did not bring any ceremonial guard with her. Instead, she drove several cars carrying various gifts.
The uncles and nephews of the Shen family were either in the Yamen or in the academy, and had not yet returned home. All the female relatives in the family followed the Xu family to welcome the eldest princess.
The eldest princess met everyone affectionately. She sat down in the main hall and exchanged greetings over a cup of tea. The third wife, Yang Tian, He and others were afraid that the eldest princess would have something important to discuss with Xu, so they were here. Unable to get in the way, they all got up and apologized and left.
Mrs. Xu also thought that the eldest princess wanted to talk about the Zhou family. Unexpectedly, the eldest princess didn't mention anything about the Zhou family. Instead, she praised Shen Rui and Yang Tian, and said clearly that the emperor was also in front of her. He praised Shen Rui face to face, which showed that Shen Rui was in the emperor's heart through experience, as if there had never been any misunderstanding before.
Mrs. Xu also understood in her heart that all the previous things were over, so she did not mention them. She thanked the emperor and the eldest princess for their kindness, and also praised Cai Liang and other young talents. She also expressed that she had heard about Pang Tianqing's talent and her relationship with Cai. The nine girls couldn't be more compatible.
The smile on the face of the eldest princess became more and more sincere, and the two of them talked about their children and family affairs like ordinary old women.
As they talked, they talked about the eldest princess's favorite granddaughter Cai Miao, who had been married to Nanjing for more than a year. Zhao Tong was about to give birth, but she was not pregnant yet, and the family was a little anxious.
Mrs. Xu then smiled and said that children are all destined to be born, so there is no need to rush, as the children will come naturally when the fate comes.
The eldest princess sighed, "Who says it's not true? I have a great-niece in my family, but she has no fate with her first-born child. It's less than three months old and she can't keep it. She's crying like something. We women know what's wrong with this." The meat that fell off is like cutting out the meat from the heart, how can it not hurt?"
"I heard something at the British government that day that there is a mother in your house who is proficient in gynecology..." The eldest princess said with a smile, "The child has always been close to me, but now he has some symptoms. I don't know... …”
Having said that, what else does Xu not understand? There is no reason to take relatives to other people's homes for medical treatment. This is to borrow Guizhi's mother.
Cai's consort's family is prosperous. Cai Liang is the eldest grandson of the eldest princess, but he is the fifth in the family. Cai Miao is the seventh among the sisters, which shows that there are many children in the family. The Xu family heard that they were nieces, but they only thought that they were Cai. Which of the girls in the family had left the court, didn't care.
What she was thinking about was the incident with the Zhou family. The Princess Palace couldn't express its apology directly, so she found a way to tactfully find a way to go to the house to prepare a generous gift for borrowing someone, so as to smooth over the previous matter. Otherwise, just borrow a person. How can a servant woman be worthy of such a big battle?
Mrs. Xu called Yang Tian to explain a few words that Guizhi's mother came here as Yang Tian's dowry mother. She had to inform Yang Tian, so she called Guizhi's mother to give some instructions.
Although Guizhi's mother knew that she was going to the eldest princess's mansion, after all, she had also been to the British Duke's mansion, and she had met the eldest princess. She knew that she was a kind master, so she was not afraid at all.
The eldest princess sat there for a while, and then went back with Guizhi's mother.
When Shen Rui came back in the evening and heard about this, he had the same idea as Xu and didn't care.
Yang Tian also said that during Cai Liang's banquet, the eldest princess had called Guizhi's mother to inquire about pregnancy and childbirth. She thought there was indeed such a pregnant Cai daughter. Guizhi's mother stayed at the Dachang Princess Villa for a few days before coming back.
Shen Rui has no time to pay attention to these trivial matters in the inner house. He is busy with official duties these days. Recently, there have been many reports of disasters and bandits in various places. The project at Wanjuan Pavilion has been completed. The new books printed here should be sent there. It's time.
Wanjuan Pavilion was built very quickly because it suited the taste of the civil servants in the court and had internal treasury to allocate money. The original intention was to rush for work and present it to the emperor as a birthday gift during the Wanshou Festival. However, this year was a year of disaster and the emperor was exempted from the obligation.
In compliance with the Longevity Festival, even banquets for officials were omitted in order to save money.
Part of the expenses for the palace banquet were directly used for disaster relief, which left all officials speechless and could only praise the emperor for his sage and caring for the people.
Wanjuan Pavilion has not yet been "completed". It is planned to wait until the first day of the New Year to win the jackpot. By then it will no longer be just a building. Various internal settings, including at least half of the books, should be in place.
Shen Ruiben also participated in the design of Wanjuan Pavilion, and also used some of the settings and rules and regulations of later libraries for reference. The books were placed in categories, how to arrange the reading area, and the borrowing area. Shen Ruiben was also very particular about it recently.
Run towards Wanjuan Pavilion on the other side of Xiyuan.
Qingzhuan Bookstore has also expanded its store several times, and has branches in and outside the city. Shen Rui also split the publishing process into assembly line production, and also recruited a group of apprentices from Qingyi Commercial School and Craftsman School.
"Internship" helpers to increase printing speed. On the other hand, Shen Rui also invested heavily in the bookshop to encourage craftsmen to improve printing technology.
Ever since he saw the report in the General Affairs Department that Susong, Hangzhou and other places were suffering from drought, Shen Rui began to look forward to Shen Qi's news from Songjiang and wanted to know what the situation was like there.
The planting techniques promoted in the fields of his family and Xia Huang's relatives in the north have achieved pretty good results, but that is because there is not much rain in North Zhili this year. If the yield in the south is reduced due to drought, it may be detrimental to the further promotion of scientific farming.
Influence.
While waiting for the news, he began to feel depressed about why the Biao Xing and the Car and Horse Xing were not immediately installed along the route from Songjiang Prefecture to Beijing.
Nowadays, only the line from Beizhili to Dengzhou in Shandong is somewhat rudimentary. Since Tian Feng left for Shanxi, the Shandong side has been put on hold.
However, Tian Feng's trip to Shanxi was not in vain. The people in the border village were fierce and fierce, which made him recruit many good people. Unfortunately, there was no progress in business matters.
From Tianshun to Hongzhi, the trade between Ming and Mongolia was mostly tribute trade and was intermittent. However, the Ming Dynasty was always wary of Mongolia and blindly imposed many restrictions, which led to the interruption of Ming-Mongolian trade.
Although there is no official mutual market, the private market is extremely active. It can be said that many generals are living on this income. Since it is the only way for people to make money, how can a foreigner like Zhao Hongpei squeeze in?
Unlike Liaodong, this place has never been "cleaned up". All kinds of relationships are complicated, many of which are directly involved in the palace. Liu Jin's people are even more chaotic. Zhang Yong is holding a big stick to inspect the granary and pasture.
, Zhao Hongpei followed behind holding carrots, and no stupid donkey bumped into him.
However, one of them, Shen Xuan, who served as a counselor in the Shanxi Chief Envoy's Department, gave Zhao Hongpei some convenience, but Shen Rui and Shen Ying did not expect it.
Since the Japanese incident, the breakup with the He family, and the division of the clan, the clan has been in depression. Shen Xuan and the other heads of the house have only been interested in face. Not to mention the New Year and the holidays, even if Shen Jin and Shen Rui get married, he only gives them gifts.
However, none of his relatives showed up. Now he is willing to extend his hand. I don't know if he has the intention to return to the clan, or if he sees the benefits of border crossing, he wants to get involved.
Shen Rui and Shen Ying were already very dissatisfied with the previous actions of the clan and Shen Xuan, and now they could only wait and see what happened and see how he would fare in the future.
A few days later, the list of personnel sent to suppress the bandits was issued. Shen Rui saw that Gao Wenhu was also on the list, and knew that the young emperor was deliberately training people who could lead the army. He couldn't help but feel sorry for Zhang Hui.
Once again, if Zhang Hui fails to keep his filial piety at this time, he will probably have the opportunity to practice one or two in the future.
Zhang Huixiang was also very concerned about this matter, and Gao Wenhu had an irreversible friendship with everyone, and was obviously a person that Shou Ge valued, so Zhang Hui went to Shen Rui to discuss the matter, and arranged for Shandong Bu's carriages and horses to be sold. The communication network said that with
Gao Wenhu only hopes that he can achieve military success soon.
Shen Rui naturally agreed, and the two brought Du Laoba, Tian Shun and others to Gao's house. They discussed various arrangements with Gao Wenhu in private. Fangcai invited You Xuan and other friends Gao Wenhu to have a farewell party.
You Xuan was extremely envious of Gao Wenhu's ability to suppress bandits with real swords and guns. However, although he was tall, he was actually still young. Not to mention You Xuan's consort would not let him go, even the emperor would not let him go because he was young.
Use him.
Everyone seemed to comfort him and encouraged him to study martial arts in Jingwei and learn his skills, so that he would be useful in two or three years.
After sending Gao Wenhu away, the news from Songjiang that Shen Rui had been waiting for also came, but it was completely different from what he was waiting for.
*
Du Cheng, the richest man in Yangzhou, was wiped out by a group of unknown bandits. No news of this incident had yet reached the General Affairs Department, but it appeared in Songjiang's family letters and was quickly delivered to Shen Rui.
Shen Rui and Shen Ying looked at the letters in their hands, their expressions changing for a moment.
The letters were written by Shen Jin and Shen Qi respectively, and they talked about the same thing.
Before the news of the murder of the richest man in Yangzhou reached Songjiang, someone hired a beggar to send a letter to Shen Jin, asking him to use the Zhang family's connections to wipe the matter clean. Otherwise, the story of Shen Yuan Xiaozhong's sleeping with the girl would be revealed.
The matter of pregnancy came out and was even blamed on him.
At the beginning, everyone sat together to discuss this matter. The child was not born in a filial piety. If he was really falsely accused, he would not be able to defend himself. At that time, Shen Rui also thought of Uncle Zhang Hui's incident and said that he might be accused.
The possibility on Shen Jin's head.
This kind of thing is never one person's business. The entire Shen family will become a laughing stock. In the future, this article will also become a talking point for political opponents in the officialdom to criticize the Shen brothers. How can the Shen brothers not take it seriously?
I didn't expect that I would be taken advantage of now.
These two letters from home were extremely careful. They were mixed with ordinary letters from home. They were written with vinegar and needed to be roasted before the words could be read. They were also hidden by close confidants. They changed horses but not people along the way. They killed several horses before using the last ones.
Sent to Beijing quickly.
Therefore, in the letter, Shen Jin had no taboos and directly stated that the maid Chunhua had been given a bowl of abortion pills. Both mother and child were dead and buried. This time, special people were sent to see the body, and the body was still there.
Yes, he is absolutely dead.
The Chunhua family sold off their daughter for three bushels of rice ten years ago, and have never had any contact with her again. We don't know what happened next. Xiao He also sent someone to check, and found that his family was still cultivating the land, and there was nothing unusual.
It can be seen that what the person who submitted the letter said about pinching Chunhua mother and son is pure nonsense.
Although this matter was a private family scandal, which was well covered up by the Shen family, when Zheng Laoan disappeared, Xiao He was in the capital, and there was no one to take charge of the family. Shen Yuan got angry and punished several servants, and then there was Xiao He.
The servant chief took advantage of the chaos and ran away.
Xiao He knew very well about Shen Yuan's physical condition. He once suspected that one of the people who ran away was related to Chunhua, so he ran away for fear of trouble. However, Chunhua refused to admit it until death, and the people who ran away were also captured.
If he doesn't come back, this matter will have to be dropped.
From this point of view, the person who submitted the letter was most likely to have a servant who had an affair with Chunhua, so he knew that there was a pregnancy in the filial piety, but did not know that both Chunhua's mother and son were dead.
This time, they used deception to deceive Shen Jin, hoping that he would be guilty and fearful and do things for them.
"If it were a bandit, I'm afraid it would be easier to just come to the door and extort money." Shen Ying sneered, "How can it be done in such a roundabout way? Who doesn't know the wealth of the Shen family, and besides, Brother Jin's daughter-in-law is the daughter of the Hou family. The dowry money is considerable, Brother Jin is not worth as much as a salt merchant, but the sum he gets is enough for those gangsters."
Shen Rui nodded and said: "Liu Jin reported Du Cheng's salt hoarding in his real name. The people here to investigate the salt have just been sent out. I'm afraid that before they reach Yangzhou, Du Cheng's family will be exterminated. It's clear that he will kill and silence him." The bandits chose Brother Jin to come forward. Brother Jin came forward not only to represent our Shen family, but also to represent the Zhang family more. This is because the people behind the so-called bandits want the Zhang family to come out and destroy this pool. The water is muddy.”
"The thief bites you to the bone," Shen Ying said. "Even if they don't have any solid evidence, as long as they spread the word, the Shen family's reputation will not be washed away. This time they are also demonstrating against our Shen family and want the Shen family to bow their heads. "
Who is the person behind Du Cheng?
Liu Jin has been taking too many actions recently, clearing out his land, checking Yan Yin, liquidating Liu Jian, Xie Qian, and Han Wenqi. Whether it is to use Du Cheng as an introduction, or to accurately attack the people behind Du Cheng, Shen Ying and Shen Rui can't help it for a moment. And know.
As for Yanyin itself, it touched the interests of too many people, including the Zhang family.
Shen Rui put away the letter and said, "I'm going to Little Eunuch Liu's place."
Shen Ying reminded: "It is normal for the General Affairs Department to have no secrets. If it is a major case of family extermination, the local government will never dare to hide it, but it will not report it hastily. It will always find a way to get out. Originally There is also a drought in the south now, and all the governments are in dire straits. With such a big case happening again, and in the year of Beijing inspection, the Yangzhou prefect must first consider his secret. However, there is no news from the General Affairs Department, and the Jinyiwei must have news to report to the capital. .”
Shen Ying expected it to be true. The Jin Yiwei itself was responsible for investigating world affairs and reporting news to the emperor in a timely manner. What's more, the commander of the Jin Yiwei, Yang Yu, was under Liu Jin's sect. Since Liu Jin had impeached Du Cheng, the Jin Yiwei was naturally keeping an eye on the Du family. If there is any disturbance, a message will be sent to Beijing immediately.
"Banzai already knew about this matter." Liu Zhong said meaningfully in the secret room, "Banzai will send Dongchang to investigate."
Seeing Shen Rui's frown, Liu Zhong sneered and said: "Long live my heart, I have a clear mind. He ordered Qiu Jushi, saying that since the bandits destroyed a family for money, they must loot them all and transport them out. The rich man You can’t just take away one or two bags from your house. Is Yangzhou Prefecture full of wine bags and rice bags, and let the gangsters openly take dozens of carts of things out of the city?”
Shen Rui couldn't help but hold his forehead. Brother Shou always focused on money, and he was speechless.
I heard Liu Zhong say coolly: "Liu Jin was rushing to Qiu Ju these days. He checked the shop under Qiu Ju's name and found out the tributes, but the two godsons who were in charge of the shop died in Beizhen." In Fusi Prison, Qiu Ju came to the imperial court to complain, saying that someone deliberately created this situation where there was no evidence of death and wanted to harm him so that he could tear him apart.
"Over there, we found out that the cloth shop owned by the noble family of Baoding Bo also sells tribute cotton cloth." Liu Zhong glanced at Shen Rui and said, "It is said to be Songjiang Shenjia cloth."
Shen Ruiqi said: "When did this happen? I didn't know!"
Liu Zhong waved his hand and said: "It's not a big deal at all. The Shen family's tribute cloths are all marked. These families also said that they bought ordinary Songjiang cloth and sold it under the name of the Shen family."
There was a sarcasm on his face, "The second mistress of Baoding House is the eldest daughter of Shouning House. I heard that she once wanted to use her sister Xiao Shen Zhuangyuan to set up a weaving factory in Songjiang when she returned to Songjiang. The cloth sold here
It's justifiable. However, I think Xiao Shen Zhuangyuan was very strict in running the family, so before the matter was accomplished, they sold some Songjiang cloth, and because of Miss Zhang's relationship, they sold it as tribute cloth."
Shen Rui didn't know what to say, and after a while he said: "It's strange that people over there want my Jin brother to come forward. I think it's because the Zhang family sells cloth, so it's easier to drag the Zhang family into the water, so I guess they're being sloppy."
Liu Zhongxu pointed at Shen Rui and said, "So, you have guessed that Qiu Ju is behind Du Cheng."
Shen Rui said with a dark face: "Qiu Ju and my Shen family don't celebrate the holidays once or twice."
When talking about Yangzhou salt merchants, it is too easy to think of the Yan family. It was Dongchang who ransacked the Yan family's house. Shen Rui still remembers getting the news at that time. He Dongsheng went to Qiu Ju, probably because he wanted to get information from the Yan family who was taken to Beijing.
The handle of the Shen family.
The Yan family's house was raided, and the He family's house was raided. They were both extremely wealthy families, with gold and silver in their hands, and the little emperor's inner treasury was filled to the brim as a result.
Now, the little emperor asked Dongchang to investigate the Ducheng family murder case, and the question he asked was...
"Did the emperor ask Qiu Ju to spit out the money..." Shen Rui asked softly.
What happened after the money was spit out? Qiu Ju went to investigate the case, and he was afraid that the case would be cleaned up even more. Did the emperor spare Qiu Ju after taking the money? Like those atonement silver at the border?
But this is to exterminate the family. With such evil intentions and cruel hands, will the emperor really let it go?
If Qiu Ju ordered someone to submit a letter to Shen Jin, he probably didn't expect that the emperor would ask him to pay the atonement money. But if Shen Jin is involved, Qiu Ju will not just throw the case on the Zhang family.
Implicate the Shen family? This is also self-protection.
Liu Zhong lowered his eyelids and did not answer. He only said: "Long live the holy tomorrow, how can you and I get a glimpse of the holy will?"
Shen Rui was already running through all kinds of thoughts and plans in his mind, and suddenly said: "Since the emperor asked Dongchang to investigate, has he appointed a responsible person?"
Liu Zhong was startled, shook his head and said: "Not yet. Maybe he is still beating Qiu Ju. Lu Ning, the eunuch guarding Yangzhou, is from Qiu Ju. He was the one who handled the Yan family's case last time. This time, the Du family's affairs will be handed over to him.
It's logical for him. Of course, it also depends on whether Liu Jin wants to intervene."
"Uncle." Shen Rui looked directly at Liu Zhong and said, "How about asking Wang Yue to come out and investigate the case?"
Liu Zhong was stunned, "Why do you think of him?" He shook his head again and again, "He was able to defeat Qiu Ju, but Liu Jin hated him no less than Qiu Ju. If he didn't die, Liu Jin would already hate him so much, how could he do it?
Let him come forward again."
Shen Rui lowered his head and smiled lightly, saying: "If the emperor wants to use him, no one can do anything. Liu Jinqiu Ju can't send someone to kill him again."
Liu Zhong just lowered his head and thought.
Shen Rui said nothing and only paid attention to Liu Zhong's face.
He also understood that Liu Zhong wanted to save Wang Yue in the first place, not only because he wanted to get Wang Yue's hidden clues in the palace, but also because he wanted to poke a living Wang Yue there to restrain Liu Jinqiu Ju, but it was definitely not to let Wang Yue return to the palace. Liu
If Zhong wants to stand out, he also wants to move away Wang Yue and other old people.
"Uncle Master knows why the emperor demoted Wang Yue in the first place. Now, no matter how good Wang Yue is, he will never let Wang Yue return to the ceremonial supervisor." Even in the secret room, his voice was lowered. It's almost inaudible.
Liu Zhong paused, slowly raised his head and glanced at Shen Rui, and finally said "hmm".
Shen Rui breathed a sigh of relief and smiled in return.
When Shen Rui returned home, he invited Shen Ying to come over and talk about it in detail, and finally said: "Little Eunuch Liu also mentioned the drought in Susong. Before the land was cleared, the emperor also asked me about the Shen family's farmland in Songjiang."
The muscles on Shen Ying's face twitched. Due to the severe drought in Shandong last year, Shen Li wrote a letter and mentioned many ways to prevent and fight drought. Shenjiazhuang's fields in Songjiang were originally experimenting and promoting planting methods, and many wells were dug. In spring and summer, when the rains were getting less and less, we took precautions early. Therefore, although Songjiang was also affected by drought, the Shenjiazhuang fields did not suffer much damage.
In the context of famine years, the Shen family's new batch of grain, coupled with the grain harvested in previous years as a large family in Songjiang, will also be a huge wealth.
Liu Zhong is the emperor's confidant, is this a blow to the Shen family?
Shen Ying stared at Shen Rui closely, waiting for him to continue.
Guo heard Shen Rui say slowly: "The Shen family has always built bridges and paved roads to benefit the hometown. Before such a disaster, it is also the Shen family's duty to help the village."
Shen Ying couldn't help but sigh and said: "Brother Rui, you are kind-hearted, but you are young and inexperienced. Do you think this grain and rice are easy to donate? It's not that the Shen family cherishes this grain and rice, it's because they can't be such a good person. .It is not uncommon for wealthy families to hoard and sell goods at high prices to make profits during lean years. The Shen family did this, not only to offend the local wealthy families, but also to offend other wealthy families in the disaster-stricken prefectures and counties."
He paused and said in a more serious tone: "What's more, in a disaster year, even if a private person sets up a porridge shed, he may be labeled as buying people's hearts. If the Shen family donates food in large quantities, it will be a clear excuse for political opponents. . Even if Mr. Yang Ge and Mr. Wang Ge are implicated, it is unknown."
Shen Rui sighed and said, "Brother Ying, don't worry, I can take care of you."
After all, this is not the past life. In the past life, if you donated money and materials to charity, you would only get unanimous praise from the government, the media, and all the people.
In this life, we must guard against the words "buying people's hearts".
Wang Hua had mentioned him as early as the Qingzhuan incident.
To decipher it, there is nothing more than the four-character mantra "Grace comes from above."
Shen Rui took a deep breath and said slowly: "What if the emperor decrees that Xufu County buys grain and rice from local wealthy households, and the Shen family takes the lead in responding, selling grain and rice at the average annual price in the past, and then dispatching the villagers to help with disaster relief? "
Shen Ying thought for a while and finally said slowly: "It's true. If this matter has won the Shen family's trust from the court and popular reputation, even if one or two unfounded and filthy stories are maliciously spread, no one will So gullible."
Shen Rui nodded and said, "I think so too. Since they want to discredit the Shen family, the Shen family wants to prevent them from discrediting them."
*
In the autumn and winter of the third year of Zhengde's reign, there were droughts of varying degrees in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, and disaster reports were piled on the desk of the young emperor.
The cabinet asked the disaster-stricken areas to retain autumn taxes for disaster relief, and the little emperor agreed to do so.
In addition, due to previous inspections of granaries in various places, it was found that there was a shortage of storage and grain and rice for disaster relief. The little emperor issued an order for the government of the disaster-stricken area and surrounding prefectures and counties to purchase grain and rice from local wealthy households.
Although the decree was issued, everyone from the cabinet to the Supervisor of Ceremonies was not very optimistic about it. They all thought that there were many people who were rich and unkind. It was just difficult to report it to the little emperor, and they were still planning other disaster relief methods.
On the side of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, Liu Jin took the opportunity to send Li Rong to Fengyang to handle disaster relief.
He was fully thinking that Li Rong's disaster relief was not good, and he just happened to stay in Fengyang to guard the imperial mausoleum and would not have to come back.
He had dealt with Qiu Ju recently and had driven away Li Rong. It was a smooth sailing time. He was so unhappy that he heard the news that the emperor wanted to use Wang Yue to investigate the murder of the salt merchant Du family.
More than seventy members of the Du family were slaughtered overnight, and the family property disappeared without a trace. How could the Yangzhou Prefecture cover up such a major case? The Yangzhou prefect delayed reporting it, which was to protect his own family during the event.
Just yarn.
As soon as the news spread, the world was shocked.
I've heard of bandits blocking roads and robbing people, and I've also heard of snitches targeting wealthy families and stealing a lot of things. However, it's rare for bandits to directly kill families and seize wealth in the city.
It is said that even a few ladles in the green forest are looking for who is responsible for this vote.
Liu Jin was also convinced by Qiu Ju's ruthlessness. His ancestor, Liu Zong, only killed a few officials with heavy yoke, but Qiu Houhou, an old boy, could wipe out his family in one breath!
However, this was his opponent. This opponent was a murderer without blinking an eye. No one had to be wary. For a moment, his desire to kill Qiu Ju became even stronger.
But he also deeply hated Wang Yue, who wanted to kill him in the first place!
He sent people to kill Wang Yue, but unfortunately he failed. He had many things to do at that time, so he left Wang Yue to linger in Nanjing. He didn't expect Wang Yue to jump out again at this moment.
He had already asked the Jin Yiwei people to let the emperor know that Du Cheng was Qiu Ju's man. But the emperor just asked Wang Yue to investigate the case of Qiu Ju's family extermination.
Do you just want to kill Qiu Ju?
After killing Qiu Ju, will the emperor take advantage of the situation and let Wang Yue, who once took charge of Dongchang, come back to take charge of Dongchang?
Liu Jin was extremely agitated for a while and held a meeting with his staff and confidants to study countermeasures to deal with Wang Yue.
His staff believe that, let alone the emperor may not use Wang Yue again, even if Wang Yue comes back, it will be better than Qiu Ju, who is currently in charge of the troubles of Dongchang.
After all, Wang Yue has always been upright, while Qiu Ju is ruthless, and everyone has a new understanding.
So when Qiu Ju heard the news, he didn't dare to act rashly. He just waited for Liu Jin to be the first to oppose Wang Yue's coming out and beat the drum himself. Liu Jin actually stood up and promoted the matter, causing the emperor to issue an edict to reprimand Yangzhou.
He then asked Dongchang to send people to investigate the case, and again appointed Wang Yue from Nanjing to take charge of the matter.
Qiu Ju was so angry that he turned around and beat Aunt Zhen half to death. He thought she had a bad idea, so he quickly sent people to remedy the situation. He even thought about whether to kill Wang Yue again, but he was in a hurry.
It was nearing the twelfth lunar month, and after experiencing several assassinations, Wang Yue finally arrived in Yangzhou and took over the control of Dongchang Fanzi sent from Beijing and the local Jinyiwei.
He quietly sent people back to Beijing and thanked Liu Zhong and Shen Rui. If it weren't for the escorts of Shunfeng Biaoxing, he would have died by Qiu Ju's sword again. He assured them that he would definitely do it this time.
They all tried the case and nailed Qiu Ju to death, leaving him beyond redemption.
Wang Yue's people hurriedly and slowly arrived in Beijing the year before last. Also rushing to Beijing the year before last was Zhezi from Dong Qihe, the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture.
Zhezhong carefully explained the details of the disaster relief, and praised the squires of the famous Songjiang Prefecture families headed by the Shen family and the Lu family for their understanding of righteousness, actively responding to the government's purchase policy, selling grain at fair prices, and taking the lead in organizing local charity houses to donate cloth, clothes and quilts.
When the goods arrive at the government office, they will be uniformly distributed to each county to help the victims survive the winter.
Songjiang Prefecture was ordered to provide relief through work, opening the door to accept the refugees and allowing them to work as workers. Before the freezing weather, Songjiang Prefecture repaired all the official roads one by one, built river embankments, sea embankments, and built anti-Japanese fortifications, etc.
Not only did the refugees not starve or freeze to death, but the local infrastructure was also renovated.
In addition, during the work process, some of those who are clever and willing to work are sent to local commercial schools and craftsmen schools. After completing the studies, they are planned to be recruited by weaving factories and shipyards as formal craftsmen.
In addition to clarifying the disaster relief matters, this time I mainly want to ask for instructions. Generally, refugees must be repatriated after a disaster, and Songjiang Prefecture hopes that these homeless people can settle here. Although these people have craftsmanship, they are also citizens.
A household is not a craftsman's household and does not serve as a craftsman's household.
It was the New Year's Day, and Songjiang Prefecture's Zhezi stood out among the bleak disaster relief and Zhezi asking the court to allocate more grain and rice.
The young emperor was overjoyed and praised the Songjiang Prefecture. He gave the Shen family, Lu family and other clans a plaque of "House of Accumulated Good Deeds", and also gave the ancestral titles of the sixth rank to several families who had donated more food and rice during the disaster relief.
Originally, according to the newly implemented law, such a false title would cost a lot of money to sell, and it would have to be built on a real road and built a bridge. Now, just giving up some grain and rice can lead to such a good fortune.
Many people in the south of the Yangtze River were moved and no longer played tricks in buying and selling. They sold less or even no grain, and generously took out some old rice to the government, hoping to exchange it for "the glory of their ancestors."
Some prefectures and counties also followed the example of Songjiang and began to provide work relief for some projects, which can be regarded as benefiting the local area.
The disaster relief effect is much better than before.
On the first day of the fourth year of Zhengde, Wanjuan Pavilion was officially completed, and the records of Xiaomiao Temple were also completed at this time.
For a time, hundreds of officials praised him, and his face was filled with joy.
All officials who participated in the construction of the Wanjuan Pavilion and the publication of books, participated in the excerpts of the Yongle Grand Ceremony, and participated in the compilation of the records of the Xiao Temple were all rewarded.
Supervisory Records President Zhang Mao, Li Dongyang, Jiao Fang, Yang Tinghe, Vice President Liang Chu, and those who participated in the Imperial Academy were rewarded with gold, silver, silk and other items. However, Jinke's Sandingjia, Level 2, and Level 3 Chuanlu were each promoted, and the three
Each of Dingjia was promoted to one level, while Hu Zanzong was promoted to two levels and became a Hanlin editor.
The biggest prize fell on Shen Rui.
In the twelfth month of last year, Cong Lan, the Secretary of General Affairs, was promoted from the right to the left. Before he was ordered to go to Yansui, Ningxia, Jizhou and other places to clean up farmland, Zhou Dong, Zuo Shaoqing of Dali Temple, and Wu Shizhong, Secretary of Shangbao, respectively.
Then Luo Qinzhong, the left counselor, was promoted to the right counselor, Liu Da, the right counselor, and Wei Na, the left counselor. The position of the right counselor was vacated.
This time, Shen Rui was in charge of the publishing of Wanjuan Pavilion books, participated in the excerpting and printing of the Yongle Grand Ceremony, and most importantly, provided advice on using work for relief, constraining the clan to cooperate in disaster relief, and was promoted to the right councilor.
Shen Rui is not the first to be directly promoted from the position of the seventh-rank official to the position of counselor of the fifth-rank official in the General Affairs Department. Ren Liangbi and Cong Lan have also done this.
Although there are discussions in the DPRK, the General Affairs Department has recommended more people in the past three years, and Shen Rui is considered an internal promotion this time.
And when it comes to merit, those who say slanderous words have to admit in their hearts that if they don't care about it, they just say that it is a disaster year, and even the clan leader can't persuade the clan to cooperate with the government to buy grain in large quantities.
This skill is truly unparalleled.
*
This official position was also extremely unexpected for Shen Rui.
It's not that he hasn't thought about being promoted. When Dong Qihe's report came out, Brother Shou met Shen Rui, praised him, and hinted that he would be promoted.
Shen Rui also discussed with Yang Tinghe and his son and Shen Ying that since Shen Ying and Shen Jin (Ding You) were both in Zhan Shi Mansion, it was impossible for the emperor to put another Shen family member in Zhan Shi Mansion.
As for other places, there is really no shortage of people from the sixth rank, and it would be better to stay in the position of the seventh rank of General Affairs Department.
And if you are in the sixth rank, you can be the chief of the six departments, and you can make plans. In terms of official positions, of course the first choice is the Ministry of Personnel, but if the Ministry of Personnel is in the hands of Jiao Fang, it will hinder your future; the second is the Ministry of Husbandry, and Shen Rui himself was quite interested in the Ministry of Industry.
After three or two years of being promoted to the sixth rank, if there is an opportunity, if you are promoted to the fifth rank, it will be a matter of course for you to move from the position of the fifth rank to the general secretary of the regular fifth rank.
No matter how they plan, they all think that if they jump two levels, they will be able to reach the sky.
But he didn't expect the little emperor to be so generous, so he directly gave it to the right counselor of the fifth rank.
Even Yang Tinghe was not exempt from vulgarity. He expressed his feelings about the solemnity of the holy family and said many things about doing good things to repay the holy grace.
On the Xu family's side, they restrained everyone in the Shen family to act more low-key, and said to Shen Rui: "Since the Emperor is trustworthy, you should act more cautiously."
Shen Rui naturally obeyed his mother's orders. He also knew that he had been promoted to an official position and many people were jealous, so he had to be extra careful.
However, everyone in the court has been busy with disaster relief recently, and the clearing of the father-in-law's land and the clearing of the farmland are also involved in many struggles, so no one has the leisure to touch him, a man who has seen the emperor's heart.
Shen Rui himself paid more attention to the news coming back from Shanxi. Zhang Yong left for half a year but failed to make any achievements. Zhao Hongpei never came back during the New Year and only sent news back, saying that the situation was not easy to open up.
Shen Rui couldn't help but reflect. It was probably because the trade in Liaodong was advancing so smoothly that he was blindly optimistic. He only felt that the trade was very profitable and the Western Front should be easy to advance. He didn't expect that it was because of the excessive profits that he was blindly optimistic. Let the Western Front form a hard shell on the door, and no outsiders are allowed to touch it.
Fortunately, Brother Shou did not show any impatience with the progress, and Zhao Hongpei was not under too much pressure, so he could still plan slowly.
Shanxi's transportation network, on the other hand, is being built quite quickly because officials are constantly fined and need to be escorted by standard traffic lines when transporting traffic.
Liu Jin's method of punishing rice is still going on. Originally, the cabinet proposed that in addition to losing the rice, the fined rice could also be transported to the disaster area. However, with Li Rong in Fengyang disaster area, Wang Yue in Yangzhou, and Shen Rui in Su Song, Liu Jin did not want to let the grain go. Any one of the rice gangs cannot afford to lose to Huguang, so they firmly refuse to agree to transport it to the disaster area.
Because Shen Rui sang the opposite tune due to the previous imperial letter submission, and Qian Ning blew the whistle, Liu Jin was not very happy about Shen Rui's promotion, but in the end, his person was promoted to Zuo Counselor, suppressing Shen Rui. On the one hand, and Zhang Yong was still touching his interests in Shanshan, he was quite satisfied with Zhang Yong, so he did not have any thoughts about Shen Rui, Zhang Yong's person.
The one he wanted to deal with right now was Qiu Ju.
Wang Yue is indeed a ferocious beast. He bit Qiu Ju and refused to let go. I wonder if Wang Yue is afraid that he will be assassinated by Qiu Ju at any time. If he finds out any clues, he will immediately send the evidence, confessions, etc. back. Beijing.
So much so that the emperor would receive a "criminal evidence" of Qiu Ju every now and then, which was a bit annoying.
Liu Jin felt happy at the same time, but couldn't help scolding Wang Yue for being stupid and pedantic. The emperor now made it clear that he wanted to dig out the Du family's money swallowed up by Qiu Ju. The main thing was that once the money came out, he only wanted to prove whether he was guilty or not. I'm afraid I won't even be able to keep Qiu Ju.
But Wang Yue was such a stubborn person. Gradually, he was not only thinking about the destruction of the Du family this time, but also the matter of the Yan family back then.
When the first evidence of Wang Yue's crime was placed on the emperor's desk, the emperor temporarily suspended Qiu Ju from his post, saying that he was allowed to avoid suspicion, and Wei Bin temporarily led Dongchang.
As soon as Qiu Ju lost the East Factory, Shen Rui immediately contacted Du Laoba, stepped up surveillance of Qiu Ju's private residence, and asked Liu Zhong to pay more attention.
A person as evil and ruthless as Qiu Ju would probably not sit back and wait to be killed.
Although Qiu Ju is no longer in the hands of Dongchang now, he has been in charge of Dongchang for several years and has raised many people. There are also some disciples and disciples who are too tied to him to change their family, and they are still under his command.
It was not for nothing that Qiu Ju had been in the palace for so many years. Wang Yue checked his progress, and he knew something about it. While he started to clean up some traces, he stepped up to press Pei Yuanhe for the results of the investigation.
Now, the results of this investigation are not only to kill Shen Rui, but also to do something big to divert attention, to let the emperor know his loyalty and ability, and then let him go.
Just after the Lantern Festival, Du Laoba's people who were following him noticed that doctors from Qiu Ju's house were coming in and out frequently, all of whom were good at pediatrics. Du Laoba's people pretended to be lying, saying that they were treating the young master of Qiu's house.
It seemed that the news had been deliberately spread in the house, saying that the master's adopted son caught a cold after watching a lamp lit on the night of Shang Yuan, and was seriously ill.
A few days later, there was a heavy wind and snow. The aunt who was raising the child in Pianqiu Mansion braved the wind and snow to go to the mountain temple to pray for the child to show her sincerity. In the end, the road was slippery, and the car and the people were overturned under the cliff.
Although he reported to Shuntian Prefecture, the snowy mountains were so steep that the men who gathered together could not go down to search. They thought that after one night, they would freeze to death even if they did not fall to death.
The Qiu Mansion immediately organized the funeral ceremony for the aunt.
Before he was even in his early teens, the young master also passed away, which was very sad.
Now that Qiu Ju had been fired from his post by the emperor, and the dead were just his aunt and his adopted son from nowhere, the funeral ceremony was held in a rather low-key manner.
Anyone with some ability in the court knew that now Eunuch Liu also wanted to clean up Qiu Ju, and Qiu Ju would not be around for a few days. The deceased had such an identity, so not many people came to express their condolences and send gifts.
Diagonally across from the Qiu Mansion, outside the carriage house, parked an ordinary rental carriage. It was inconspicuous and no one noticed it. The curtain was opened a crack.
In the car, a woman with her head wrapped in layers of white gauze and a thick quilt was leaning against the car, looking at the white lantern on the door of Qiu Mansion through the gap, her eyes filled with hatred.
"In this way, he made my sister and brother disappear in a legitimate way." Her voice was hoarse, and she spoke extremely slowly and with difficulty.
A man as thin as a bamboo pole beside her said sadly: "Fortunately, he wanted this to be reasonable, so he only hit the back of your head. If he had chopped you off with a knife, we would be looking for you, and it would only be your body."
.”
The woman said bitterly: "There are many people who have seen me. He wants to kill me in a reasonable and reasonable way, so I admit it. But my little brother is still so young and no one has seen him, yet he doesn't let him go!"
The man thought it was nothing to keep a girl from the church. He sent a criminal into exile without permission and raised him as an adopted son. This was such a big crime. How could he keep the little one?!
He thought about it, but he didn't say it out loud. He only said coldly: "Then you should hurry up and go to the court to avenge your brother."
The woman gritted her teeth and said, "Even if you carry me to the court, as long as I can still speak, I will bite off that beast's skin!"
However, before the woman's condition stabilized and she could be brought to court, Qiu Ju had already obtained the physical evidence delivered by Pei Yuanhe's horse and hurriedly entered the palace to see the emperor.
*
Dongnuan Pavilion of Qianqing Palace
"The daughter of Sun Mengsheng was born in the sixth year of Jingtai in her household registration. However, Sun Mengsheng arrived in Yueqing in the second year of Tianshun. She had no children or wife when she registered. In the third year of Tianshun, she brought a baby girl, but she bribed the scribe with money and registered her as Jingtai was born in the sixth year, and Tianshun added his mother Li in the seventh year."
"Sun Mengsheng's fortune is also very suspicious. At the beginning, he invested a huge amount of money to open many shops, buy farms, and raise merchants. Later, he bought a sea-going ship and became a maritime merchant. His business never lost money, but how much property he owned was unclear. No one knows about it. However, in Yueqing, he is not noticed, and no famous merchants in South Zhili have ever heard of his name."
"Sun Mengsheng, if you tear it down, you will be the descendant Mengsheng. The scholar in Huangliang's dream was named Lu. Sun Mengsheng's daughter's name was Sun Min. It was Lu Min who was one of the officials in the ceremonial department during the reign of Emperor Jing. He was highly regarded. In the first year of Tianshun, There was chaos in the palace for a while, and many palace officials and officials disappeared. Lu Min's whereabouts were unknown at that time."
This is talking about the change of seizing the door.
In the early eighth year of Jingtai's reign, Emperor Jingtai was critically ill. The imprisoned Yingzong was restored to the throne by Xu Youzhen, Shi Heng, and Cao Jixiang, and was replaced by Tianshun. Emperor Jingtai died suddenly and was buried with royal rites by Yingzong. It was not until Xianzong ascended the throne that an edict was issued. When he was restored to the throne of emperor, his posthumous title only had five characters: "Gongren Kangdingjing" and no temple name.
The situation in the court was changing. After Yingzong ascended the throne, he arrested Yu Qian and Wang Wen, important ministers of Emperor Jingtai, and killed them for treason and ransacked their homes. There was even more bloodshed in the palace, and all the palace servants serving Emperor Jingtai were slaughtered. Ten The second prison supervisor went through a major change of blood.
Of course, the palace was in chaos at that time, and it was not without palace officials who took the opportunity to escape.
"This Lu Min escaped from the palace with the gold and silver treasures in the palace. She concealed her identity outside and pretended to be his wife and daughter. She secretly made a huge fortune, including ships and bankers. She also befriended Shen Jun, the envoy of general affairs. Okay, what's the plan?"
"Then Shen Jun claimed to the outside world that Sun Mengsheng saved him, but then he allowed his son to break off the engagement with the benefactor's daughter, and then married the benefactor's daughter into a family whose parents were lost. Is this the way to repay his kindness?"
"Sun Mengsheng didn't care about Shen Jun's repayment of kindness, and allowed him to marry his only biological daughter arbitrarily, and in the end he was able to leave the property to him. Isn't it contrary to common sense!"
Qiu Ju's forehead was pressed to the ground, but his voice was loud, "There is something fishy about everything. How could Lu Min leave the palace and abandon his master since he was so trusted by Emperor Jing? He accumulated money, food and grass outside, raised military men, and was very special. Being on good terms with people from the General Affairs Department shows his disobedience!"
"Shen Jun must know Lu Min's identity. If he is so confident, he must be an accomplice!"
Brother Shou said nothing, silently listening to Qiu Ju's words, casually flipping through the evidence he handed over, and said calmly: "You are still just inferring. And these are not enough evidence."
Qiu Ju was not discouraged by these words. Instead, he raised his voice and said, "Your Majesty is kind, but there are many doubts, so you can't help but be careless."
As long as suspicion is planted... He paused and said in a measured tone, "It is a serious crime of treason. It is better to kill by mistake than to let go!"