Although in the Ming Dynasty, civil servants were quite proud to have received the imperial staff and been sent to prison, but Xu Xun never claimed to be a loyal minister, so this trip to prison suddenly and inexplicably was really a whirlwind for him.
The experience of three thousand feet. Zhang Yong was even more baffled than him. As soon as the people from Beizhen Fusi appeared, he thought it was a joke. Now that he is sitting in the prison, he is standing in front of the wooden fence and walking back and forth.
Hui paced irritably, and finally turned his head to look at Xu Xun.
"Brother Xu, who do you think is persecuting us? Of course what we are doing is unreasonable, but there are many things that the emperor approves of that are not accepted in the six departments, but it is the one who makes such a big fuss openly.
There is no one in a hundred. The emperor is a benevolent king, but a benevolent king cannot allow them to catch serious people and pour dirty water on people for no reason!"
"Eunuch Zhang, it's useless to say this now. You'd better sit down." Seeing Zhang Yong stunned, Xu Xun turned around and sat down across from him. Then he said, "Since you said
In the past, I would like to ask, if something like this happened in the past, what was the usual result?"
"Of course ministers are more important than official officials, and official officials are more important than external officials, and middle officials... Hey, I am not boasting. Even Li Guang, who was greedy at the time, was not defeated by the officials, but by himself.
Those who commit suicide if they can't hold on to work are just like Liu Xiong, a middle official in the palace, Guo Yixiong, and Xu Huai, the county magistrate, pretend to be a gentleman and refuse to provide him with the supplies he should have. Liu Xiong was annoyed and left Guan Wen alone.
He saw Eunuch Fu guarding Nanjing, but when Eunuch Fu played, Xu Huai transferred Jiu Bian and never thought of returning to the court in his life. Eunuch Xiao, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, had participated in the recital several times, including the time last year, shouting and killing.
, but it’s still not stable?”
Speaking of this, Zhang Yong suddenly remembered that Xu Xun was not an eunuch, and hurriedly said: "As for you, Brother Xu, His Highness the Crown Prince obeys your words, and the Emperor also has great trust in you. There is no reason to blame you for such a trivial matter!
"
If he is not blamed, he is already in jail. If he is blamed, wouldn't it mean that he will be demoted, exiled, beheaded, etc. all at once?
Such a thought flashed through Xu Xun's mind, and he immediately looked at Zhang Yongdao with a moved heart: "Since Eunuch Zhang is not worried about his situation, then this impatient morning just now..."
"I'm afraid that the emperor is ill now and has this sudden incident, and something will happen in the palace." Seeing Xu Xun's facial expression changed drastically, Zhang Yong quickly lowered his voice and said, "His Royal Highness said that he was persuaded by you before.
Okay, but His Highness has always been the most stubborn in courage. If we get into trouble with the Emperor again, and because of a foreign minister's remarks, it is not impossible for the Emperor to get angry at us.
If that really happens, we can't even think of a way to do it in this prison, and then the sky and the sky will really be at a loss, and the earth and the earth will not work!"
Xu Xun was about to answer, but his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of several figures coming in from outside, so he changed his words and said with a smile: "That's not necessarily the case!"
Zhang Yong was stunned when he heard this. He turned around and recognized the person at the head, and he suddenly realized. He had heard that Xu Xun had connections in Jinyiwei, and it seemed that he could come in handy at this critical moment! Sure enough, just as he expected,
In his eyes, Li Yifeng, who was at the head, waved his hand, and the few guards in Jinyi immediately stepped back, while Li Yifeng stepped forward with a smile.
"Your Majesty, Eunuch Zhang, it is hard to disobey the sacred order. This time I have to let you suffer in prison. My lord has said that you can ask for food and drink, but you will never be short-changed. However, the emperors in the past two or three days have
The government has been exempted from the imperial court one after another, and the news outside is very bad. In particular, several East Palace officials are making the most noise, saying that they will never allow the crown prince to be with you, and at the worst, they will expel you from the capital. You can even take care of your father at home.
Wang Shouren has also suffered a disaster. Some people have accused him of being in league with a traitor. If you two are mixing up the gunpowder, he will definitely not be unaware of it."
The ones who made the biggest noise were the officials in the East Palace, not the officials in the Department of Science and Technology. Xu Xun was a little surprised at first, but then he figured it out. During the three months before the 500 people from the avant-garde of the government were in Xiyuan, Wang Shouren certainly did not just teach.
The prince learned about archery, and the Four Books and Five Classics were at his fingertips, and he talked about mountains, rivers, geography, and foreign customs. Emperor Hongzhi praised him and Wang Shouren generously, not only for training soldiers, but also because Zhu Houzhao drew inferences from one instance to another, which was very different from ordinary people who regarded reading as a fearful path.
situation.
But after all, this is taking away the jobs of those officials in the East Palace. I don’t think those people can’t notice it!
"Master Li, thank you very much!"
Seeing Xu Xun standing up and bowing to him, Li Yifeng smiled and said: "What's there to thank you for? It's a rare chance that I can repay you a favor. Your Excellency and I are both relieved. Your Excellency Zhang Beizhen Fusi is so
For many years, I have only given favors to others and never owed anyone anything. If you have anything to do, just ask the jailers below. They have all taken orders and will never dare to be negligent. However, I know your relationship with our Beizhen Fusi.
There are quite a few people there. If there is someone behind this unveiling, you will definitely not be allowed to pass this test easily. They will probably be joined by the Dali Temple of the Criminal Department. After all, if they add our Jin Yiwei, they will be the Three Law Departments."
Zhang Yong saw Li Yifeng and Xu Xun talking informally. Knowing that Qianhu, the head of Fusi in Beizhen, was indeed very close to Xu Xun, he quickly interrupted and said: "Li Qianhu, can you try to help His Highness the Crown Prince?"
Send a message? If it is difficult to enter the palace, you can go to Lingji Hutong and send a surprise to the other side. Just say that everything is fine with us, and please don't think of us, Your Highness, and don't fight with the emperor.
"
Li Yifeng originally thought that Zhang Yong was going to send a message to the prince asking for help, but he laughed when he heard the last part! "It's a simple matter... Just don't worry, Eunuch Zhang. You know the temper of His Highness the prince, and I don't dare to succeed even if it's possible."
I promise, just do your best.”
"No matter what, please leave it to Li Qianhu!"
"Then, Master, you..."
"Li Qianhu, can you come to my house? Mr. Nan Jian Jiu Zhang gave me many books, but I didn't have time to read them. Now that I have some free time, please do it for your convenience and send them to me for me to read quietly.
Meditate.”
"Okay, this is easy!"
On the morning of the third and fourth days, Zhu Houzhao went to the Wenhua Hall to listen to lectures. When he came back in the afternoon and evening, he was sick in front of the emperor. Not only did he clumsily give medicines himself, but he even tried different ways to make his father happy, without any of his previous attitude of stubbornly accepting death. Zhang
The empress was happy in her eyes. When her son was away in the morning, she had to nag and scold Emperor Hongzhi, saying that he should not have been so strict with Zhu Houzhao before. Emperor Hongzhi would not argue with his wife, so he just laughed it off.
This time he suddenly fell ill. It was just a little bit of wind and cold that was not a problem, but Liu Wentai stayed in front of the emperor that day and carefully said that he might as well use this to add some burden to the prince. He was immediately tempted, and then he deliberately wanted to take advantage of Zhu Houzhao's previous visit. The unbelievable "illness" angered the whole hospital and prevented others from checking his pulse. Zhu Houzhao was called back on the pretext of falling ill, and then issued an order to avoid court. As expected, the courtiers wrote letters asking An, and Zhu Houzhao also felt a little remorseful. It is to truly let his son know what the emperor is.
It is said among the people that it is difficult to be a lonely minister, but as an emperor, it is absolutely impossible for a single husband to do so!
So, on the night after reading the post, Emperor Hongzhi suddenly had a nosebleed. The bright red color shocked everyone in the Qianqing Palace. At first they wanted to persuade Zhu Houzhao to please the Qianqing Palace, but all of them backed down and went to the Imperial Hospital to inform the imperial magistrate and several imperial doctors. However, their faces were red with red cheeks, and they were obviously still angry. Because the emperor did not check his pulse, the emperor and several others kowtowed and said something that was not painful or itchy.
At this moment, several imperial doctors went down to consider the prescription again. Emperor Hongzhi was leaning on the couch with the support of Sun Hong, and his ears were full of Xiao Jing's report on the summary of today's memorial and the drafting of the cabinet vote the day before yesterday. As he listened, he just I felt extremely tired and closed my eyes unconsciously.
"Because the emperor was absent from court due to illness and did not have a banquet on the Dragon Boat Festival, Yuanfu Liu Gelao led his ministers to plant red flowers in various government offices...Tatars invaded Dushibao and other places and plundered them. They patrolled the censor's memorial and asked to arrest and question the guards. The capital commanded Ma Jing to guard the left counselor general Yang Ying and left the young prisoner Tang Lu to investigate the crime. The cabinet voted to suspend it for the time being, and he regretted the crime...Taichang Temple reported that there are shops that have received items from the Ministry of Households. Hongwu Tongbao is not widely available in the market..."
"Hold on! I remember that I ordered you to cast Hongzhi Tongbao a long time ago. Why are you still using Hongwu Tongbao now? Send an order to the household department to quickly go and investigate what is going on!"
"Yes, I obey your order!"
Although Xiao Jing wanted to persuade the emperor to rest in peace and recuperate and put aside these matters for the time being, seeing the emperor's abnormally red face, he still had to suppress his advice and then chose a few things. It was irrelevant. At the end, he was about to lead the others to retreat, but unexpectedly Wang Yue was suddenly stopped. He couldn't help but raised his head and glanced at the emperor, and saw that he had no intention of leaving him, so he was disappointed Exited the hall.
Seeing Xiao Jing and others quietly retreating, Wang Yue took a few steps forward, knelt down on the footboard in front of the dragon bed, and asked respectfully: "Does the Emperor have any other orders?"
"You go to Jinyiwei Prison to see what Xu Xun and Zhang Yong are doing, and then ask them to plead guilty."
Although he ordered Wang Yue to send people to check carefully to see whose handwriting it was, he still had to take into account the reaction of the ministers in the court, so even if he issued the edict, he had to bypass the cabinet after all. , you have to make a gesture first!
When Emperor Hongzhi said this, he ordered Sun Hong, who was standing next to him, to get some cold water. After raising his head and drinking it, he continued to say to Wang Yue: "I can't resist the distribution of these firearms and gunpowder. Now it's like this." The announcement was suspicious. If things continue like this, Zhang Yong will be fine. Xu Xun is a foreign minister, but it will be uncomfortable to be criticized by everyone! After he writes a letter to plead guilty, I can release him as a foreign minister, and no one will remember him in a year or two. This is what happened.”
"Yes, the emperor is very protective, and I will definitely let him know."
"go."
Emperor Hongzhi waved his hand tiredly, and when Wang Yue went out, he suddenly called out again: "Sun Hong!"